The next best thing to a personal genealogist, this guide gives you all the knowledge to trace your heritage, and sort through the vast amount of information online, in family scrapbooks, in libraries, and at courthouses.

Of all family history sources, death records are probably the least used by researchers. They are, however, frequently the most revealing of records, giving a far greater insight into our ancestors' lives and personalities than those records created during their lifetime. Heritage leads readers through the various types of death records, showing how they can be found, read and interpreted, and how in many cases they can be used as a starting point...

The distinguished scholar examines the origins and history of African-American ancestry as he profiles nineteen noted African Americans and illuminates their individual family sagas throughout U.S. history.

Learn how to use innovative techniques to unearth hard-to-find ancestors. The authors use up-to-date and highly organized methods and techniques to show you how to find the elusive details to round out your genealogy research, and get past the brick walls that have stumped you. They cover a variety of software programs and specialized genealogy tools, and even address using modern social networking as a practical source.

Who are we, and where do we come from? The fundamental drive to answer these questions is at the heart of Finding Your Roots, the companion book to the hit PBS documentary series. As Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. shows us, the tools of cutting-edge genomics and deep genealogical research now allow us to learn more about our roots, looking further back in time than ever before. The author investigates the genealogical histories of twenty-five...

Traces the author's three-year investigation into what constitutes family, describing how, after receiving an e-mail from a stranger who claimed to be a distant cousin, he embarked on an effort to build the biggest family tree in history. "A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: 'You don't know me, but my wife is your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database.'...

"Maud Newton's ancestors have vexed and fascinated her since she was a girl. Her mother's father, who came of age during the Great Depression in Texas, was supposedly married thirteen times, and survived being shot in the stomach by one of his wives. His father purportedly killed a man in the street with a hay hook, and later died in a mental institution. On her father's side, a Massachusetts ancestor was accused of being a witch, who cast sickness...

Featuring new coverage of Web 2.0 applications such as push technology, streaming video, blogs, podcasts, and social networking, Genealogy Online, Ninth Edition covers the wide array of ancestry-related networks, websites, and other online services, and explains how they all work. --from publisher description.

Unlock new records in your family history research by understanding the historic events of your ancestors' eras. This quick and convenient guide outlines the major political, military and social events in the United States from the colonial era through 1940. It also includes immigration trends and census dates to help you narrow your research focus and find genealogy records faster.
Use The Genealogist's U.S. History Pocket Reference to...

Using a case study approach, the book takes a single source item - an 1890 marriage certificate purchased at an antiques event - and uses it to highlight the questions you should be asking yourself about your own family documentation and how this can be used as a basis for online research. --publisher.