Family Tree Firsts - Page 4 of 13 - FamilyTreeUniversity.com

Family Tree Firsts is a genealogy blog following the adventures of Brian Parotto of Hampshire, Ill., a budding genealogist, as he works his way through the Family Tree University curriculum and reports on his family history research.

Living in Lineage Society Limbo

The last few weeks were a whole lot of crazy around here—crazy being defined as: woman in her mid-thirties jumping up and down, hooting and hollering, giggling manically at the mailbox while her children stare at her wide-eyed, pretending that no, this woman is definitely not related to them. Why did I do this? Well, each time I opened my mailbox there was a wonderful genealogical goody in there! I have buckled down and started to really focus on setting goals for my genealogy research. … Learn More →

Why I Wore Pajamas to a Genealogy Conference

Finally, a conference where you can sit around in your PJ’s and not leave the comfort of your own home. Or, if you have plans, you don’t even have to change them! In less than a month, Family Tree University will be hosting its Fall Virtual Conference. I have to say that I am beyond excited. With this conference, you can attend at your leisure while still having time to spend with friends and family, and not even have to worry about missing work. As … Learn More →

Photos for Posterity and Wedding Picture Envy

Recently, my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary, as well the anniversary of our meeting for the first time 20 years ago. Yes—we’re one of those couples. We met in high school, survived college together and now have a great marriage. I’ll count my blessings Bing Crosby-style later tonight. So the other day I pulled out our photo album and had a nice stroll down memory lane. As I looked through the pictures, the day came back to me: everyone’s smiling faces, the candid … Learn More →

Hidden History in 1940 Census Indexes

As additional indexes to the 1940 US census continue to be released, I find myself rushing to the internet to see who else I can uncover. I’ve already bored countless people with how cool it was to find my one-year-old dad with his parents in Indiana. As of now, I have found both sets of my–and my husband’s—grandparents, and (of course) lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. The best part of all has been reading the answers they gave to the questions. For instance, occupations: … Learn More →

Collateral Lines: To Trace or Not To Trace

In my early days of genealogy research (yes, just a few short months ago), I became obsessed with collecting every little scrap of information that popped up on my computer screen. It was as if I was a teenager playing a video game, in which the goal was to collect all the family history gems as fast as I could to win the game. But there wasn’t any game to win, and this process of collecting everything I found without really reading was a habit … Learn More →

Why Genealogy is the Best Medicine

Some days I can feel the genealogy gods smiling down upon me. How else could I spontaneously stumble across new information that I’ve been actively seeking, search after search, for months? I know the old saying–insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results–but I’ve found that doesn’t always hold true with the internet. Sometimes you find new stuff with the exact same searches. I also blame the cold medicine. Not much else I want to do right … Learn More →

Magical Moments with Military Pension Files

As many of you may remember, a few months ago I went to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and looked at military pension files. Well, I am still reading through all of them. With nine files to go through, and two active kids, it may take a while to read through each one. However, I am completely surprised, and fascinated, by the information that I’ve found. I thought I would share one of my discoveries with you. Charles Combs, my 4th Great-grandfather, served … Learn More →

Beauty of a Breakthrough: Marching Down a Maternal Line

Every family tree seems to have at least one maternal line that just stops. I have some that seem to end abruptly, with no clues suggesting where to go next or who these women were. I can’t find a single record of them. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. There are a number of these grandmothers in my, and my husband’s, family trees. They silently mock me; puzzles to be solved as soon as I can find the right crumb to lead me down their path. … Learn More →

One Family, Double Enumeration: A Tale of Two Georges

My husband’s family tree has given me fits of frustration ever since I began researching it. My main family line and his main family line both seem to end and without clear answers as to where to look next. For my family, I know I have to scour Virginia records. For his family, I know I have to discover when his Bennetts immigrated to the United States from Ireland. When my journey to trace his family began, I thought I had a good lead on … Learn More →

Genealogy in Jamestown: Living Our Family History

One of the best things about doing genealogy in Virginia is the opportunity to go and live history. I can go into my back yard, dig a hole, run my hands through the red clay and know that 150 years ago Civil War soldiers were here fighting the Battle of the Wilderness. I love the fact that I can enrich my boys’ lives with educational outings so that they can live, see, feel, and experience what they learn in the classroom about our early-American ancestors. … Learn More →