Family History for Beginners: The 1930 U.S. Census

If you’re new to family history, a great place to start is the 1930 U.S. census. It is the most recent U.S. census available to the public and contains information on more than 123 million people. Most people can locate a parent, grandparent, or even great-grandparent in the 1930 U.S. census. And, once you do, it will give you a wealth of information about that person, including his/her address, age, immigration dates, military service, and much more...

Continue Reading

The Complete Mayflower Descendant and Other Sources, 1600s-1800s

This database is the only electronic publication of the entire forty-six volumes of The Mayflower Descendant authorized by the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. Combined, the works on this database reference the names of approximately 200,000 individuals. While the majority of the records date from the 1600s through the 1800s, a number of references date back as far as the 1400s and some date well into the first half of the 1900s....

search now

The Last Name Game

by Michael John Neill

Names create significant problems for genealogists. This week we focus on the last name used by our ancestor and how that name appears in various records. Our discussion is not meant to be entirely comprehensive but rather to motivate the genealogist to realize that last names might not be as simple as they seem. When family historians begin crossing linguistic, time, or cultural borders, assumptions about last names might need to be changed.

We begin simply... with how names are listed in records...

read more...