All Blog Posts (3,110)

This week I’m looking for ancestors of Leaty (Lankford) West, whose gravestone I found several weeks ago. I have her parents as Wyatt Lankford and Morning Tabitha Bruer.

“Wiet” and Morning Lankford were enumerated on the 1880 Census in the Alaculsa District of Murray County, Georgia. I feel somewhat confident that these are Leaty’s parents, because they are . . . → :…

"Washington came back from the presidency in 1797 and he was looking frankly for an…

With so much information available online, it’s easy to forget the wealth of publications that are only available in print or on microfilm and that can often be found at libraries.

I find it helpful to prepare before visiting a library, otherwise I become overwhelmed with all the choices when I get there. Most libraries today have . . . → :…

Amos Johnson and his wife Betty are buried in Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery in Gilmer County, Georgia. They may be my 3x-great-grandparents, Amos and Elizabeth; however the dates don’t quite match up.

Census records (1850 and 1860) indicate that Amos Johnson was born about 1826, while the birthdate on this stone is 1817. The stone also records Amos’ death in . . . → :…

Hi, my name is Quincy Cruse and I'm looking for some answers in my history for my family with the last name Cruse.So can anyone help me?

James R. Jones ...now there's a name I'd never heard until becoming addicted to family research.

Jamie, me bucko, you're my 3rd great grand pop on my dad's side of the clan. It's been great to meet you .... even if only through paper documents. A terrible shame it is that not one of the Heiterts of the last generation knew your story. Then again .... perhaps they did but decided to take the better part of caution. Trust me, Jamie; I never…

I’m looking for information on Robert West, who may have been my 3x great-grandfather. I’ve identified Robert as the father of William West, my great-great-grandfather based on two facts: 1) the Robert West family includes a William W. West in 1850 and 1860 in Polk County, Tennessee, and 2) William himself was enumerated as head of . . . → : CONTINUE…

I recently got back from a 10 day trip to China where I visited the main cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I had a really great time although I haven’t finished organizing and tagging all my photos and hope to get that done soon before I forget all the finer details of where each photo was taken. As I go through notes and photos I’ll be adding some thoughts to this “China Diary” over the next couple of months. …

My friend Maureen Taylor, aka www.maureentaylor.com The Photo Detective, just published her newest book, “The Last Muster.”

“A remarkable work of documentary history, The Last Muster is a collection of rare nineteenth-century photographic images—primarily daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and carte des visite paper photographs—of the…

It fascinates me to find connections between different branches of my family tree, possibly because I’ve always known there was a connection between my parents (besides the obvious).

Before you start thinking “cocktails in Appalachia,” I should explain that this is not a close connection. My father’s (maternal) great-grandmother is my mother’s (paternal) first cousin twice removed. . . . → :…