Over the last few years I have found a new love: county record offices. County records are an underutilized tool for English genealogical research, possibly because of the cost of the records or lack of knowledge on how to find these offline records.
Genealogical research in England can be fairly straightforward, except for when it is not. Many researchers use census records, church records, probate …
read moreSeveral websites such as www.ancestry.com, www.familysearch.org, and www.fold3.com have Revolutionary War index cards which are digitally indexed and easy to find. Some of these cards have lots of great information, such as the one for Deliverance Wilson. It lists the captain’s name, what town the captain was from, dates of service, and a description of what the company did in the 16 days referenced on the muster and pay roll.
read moreSometimes when a record set or image is hard to read on one genealogy website, I look for it on a different website hoping their version is better. So when I suspected a pension file was incomplete on Fold3, I examined the same file on Ancestry and was surprised at how different the images were.
read moreKarl Kowallis arrived in NYC from Germany in 1893. Over 100 years later, in 1995, his daughter told the story of Karl being a stowaway. Her story was documented as follows: “Lacking sufficient money for passage, Karl managed to board the ship and stow away undetected. After some time at sea, either a crew member apprehended him, or he turned himself in to the captain. Whichever reason it was, the captain gave Karl the opportunity to work off his fare doing work on board ship.”
read moreThe 1950 census was released last week and locating census records for family members has already instigated some great conversations.
Looking at the 1950 census may spark memories for those whose names are found on the records. Information about them and their families might remind them of stories. Seeing the names of neighbors may take them …
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Karen Kowallis, MEd, AG® is an Accredited Genealogist® with a passion for learning, teaching, and researching.