It went on my genealogy to-do list after a random search of historical newspaper website GenealogyBank resulted in newspaper notices when my third-great-grandmother filed for divorce in 1879 (below), and again when the divorce was granted two years later.

You know when you think something is going to be a big ordeal so you procrastinate, then when you finally get the ball rolling it turns out to be a piece of cake and you wish you did it ages ago?

I had checked FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com and USGenWeb to see if I could get digital or microfilmed copies. Nope. So I thought I’d have to figure out which of the two county courthouses to go to, find time to make the trip, get a babysitter, search out the records, and so on.

When I started planning a visit and called the courthouse (after first checking online for info on old records), the nice lady there said, “Oh, we don’t keep records that far back,” at which point I may have made strange choking sounds. Then she continued, “You’ll have to call the state archives in Frankfort.” 

I checked the Kentucky State Archives’ website and learned it does have divorce records from the time and place I needed, and you can print a request form to fill out and send with a $15 fee. Easy peasy.

A few days later, I had an email from a state archivist. The file was 103 pages(!) and I’d need to send an additional fee for copies of the whole thing.

When I called to pay over the phone, I asked the archivist what’s typically in a historical divorce file, just to make sure I wouldn’t be ordering a bunch of blank pages. She flipped through and said it looked pretty meaty, with lots of depositions. “We’ll get this copied today and sent out tomorrow,” she said.

After a few days impatient days, The Big Envelope was in my mailbox.  The first page had this on it:

I spread out the pages on the counter, squinting at the handwriting and trying to glean all the clues I could—such as my third-great-grandmother's maiden name—while protecting them from my 2-year-old's applesauce splatters.

"Meaty" is an accurate description. So far I've found all the makings of a tabloid-worthy divorce: accusations of cruelty and mental instability (along with a physician's testimony about my ancestor's "cycles"—I guess doctor-patient confidentiality was still in the future), custody fights, and insinuations of an improper relationship between my third-great-grandmother and a younger man.

I'm still going over the papers and I'll blog more later about genealogical clues I discover (that way I can call it work). 

Thinking about researching your ancestors' court records? Click here for FamilyTreeMagazine.com tips on finding the right courthouse.

Then check out our courthouse research guide digital download, available in ShopFamilyTree.com. 

Depending on the type of court records you're looking for, you'll also find in-depth help in our Using Guardianship Records in Genealogical Research video class with Marian Pierre-Louis and our Using Criminal Court Records on-demand webinar with Judy G. Russell.

Tuesday, February 05, 2013 9:11:39 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

I know great genealogists who never share their research because they’re scared of source citations. They dread going back through their files to identify exactly where they learned a birth date or the name of Granddad’s church. They worry they didn’t copy down every little piece of publication information, like a volume number or editor’s name. And formatting footnotes sounds exactly NOT like the way they want to celebrate finding their family.
 
My presentation “Simple Tips for Solid Source Citations” focuses on a process of managing sources all the way through the research process to prevent most of those fears. What I'll show you is a way of thinking that makes us better researchers: more aware of our sources from the get-go, more organized and more confident in our conclusions.
 
First, I’ll talk you through the process of evaluating sources the first time you use them. I’ll talk about what information to gather, both from the source and about the source.

One valuable tip I share is how to find full source information on websites like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and some less user-friendly data sites. You’ll see different ways of capturing source data, whether you’re a paper-based person or a paperless person (or a combination). I’ll show you how to store source data in a way that links it to the information you found in it, so you don’t scramble years later to put the two together.

Finally, I’ll talk about options when you’re ready to write—yes, we’ll talk a bit about footnotes and Why They Are Not So Scary.
 
By the end, you’ll know how to handle sources well and, better yet, you’ll want to! Don’t miss out on learning this core skill during the Virtual Genealogy Conference.

I love the idea of managing sources from the start—so you can evaluate how reliable the information is, easily create a source citation and keep that citation with the data you found. I'm looking forward to Sunny's video class!

The Virtual Genealogy Conference is sponsored by

Monday, February 04, 2013 9:19:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• The National Archives is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Lincoln issued on Jan. 1, 1863 to free slaves in states that had seceded. You can go online to watch a video about what the proclamation meant and how the document is being preserved, see images of it, and find out about upcoming programs. Also learn about the Emancipation Proclamation’s history at the National Archives; Featured Documents website.

• An interactive online map—a companion to the PBS "American Experience" documentary The Abolitionistslets you explore the story of the abolitionist movement in America. Powered by History Pin, the Abolitionist Map of America has images, documents and videos from dozens of libraries, museums and other institutions.
  
  Cincinnati, located on the boundary of free and slave states, was a major Underground Railroad stop. Our Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Genealogy Local History Department selected images and recordings on subjects such as the site of local antislavery newspaper the Philanthropist, the focus of two anti-abolitionist riots in 1836; and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, where the Uncle Tom’s Cabin author lived with her family for various periods of time from 1833 to 1836. 

• Subscription genealogy site Ancestry.com has added collections to its African-American history records including Danish West Indies Slave Records 1672-1917 (these are also part of Fold3's Black History Collection, which is free in February) and U.S., Buffalo Soldiers, Returns from Regular Army Cavalry Regiments, 1866–1916. Explore Ancestry.com's African-American history records here.

• The Cincinnati library's Genealogy and Local History Department also is one of many libraries offering African-American history and genealogy workshops this month, including a seminar (Feb. 9) and a class on Searching for Descendants of African American Civil War Soldiers (Feb. 23).Learn more here.

• The African-American Genealogical Society of Northern California in Oakland has a Black Family History Day on Feb. 10, with classes, one-on-one consultations and more. Learn more here.

• The African American Genealogical and Historical Society of Tennessee in Nashville is holding a research workshop Feb. 16. Learn more here.

Friday, February 01, 2013 1:45:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center, which destroyed most records for Army personnel discharged from 1912 to 1960, and air force personnel discharged from 1947 to 1964
• privacy restrictions for post-WWI soldiers
• service in a lesser-known war, without widely available or publicized records
  
• service during peacetime, rather than a specific war
• several similarly named soldiers, any one of which could be your relative (at $80 a pop, you won't be ordering that pension unless you know it belongs to your guy)
• a POW
• a female ancestor in the Army Nurse Corps, Cadet Nurse Corps, Women Airforce Service Pilots or other unit
• ... or you just don't know what records are available with regard to your ancestor's military service, or how to get them

• Date: Wednesday, Feb. 20
• Starting time: 7pm EST (that's 6pm CST, 5pm MST and 4pm PST)
• Duration: 1 hour
• Registration: $49.99 (but save $10 if you register before Feb. 13)
• Includes: participation in the live event, the ability to watch the webinar again as many times as you like, a PDF of the presentation slides and our "Brick Wall Busters: Proving Military Service" handout.
  

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 11:06:44 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• Court Slave Records for Washington, DC
• South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732–1872
• US Colored Troops Civil War service records
• Southern Claims Commission records
• The Atlanta Constitution newspaper
• WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards

• A Genealogists Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors by Franklin Carter Smith and Emily Anne Croom
• Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers Family Tree University Independent Study course
• African-American Genealogy Value Pack (combines several of our ancestors research helps for black ancestors)

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 1:20:42 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• Just a reminder: You have until Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET to register for our Family Tree Magazine VIP giveaway! Some lucky person will win a free one-year VIP subscription, which includes a subscription to the print magazine, a Family Tree Plus membership (giving you access to exclusive how-to articles on our website), tuition discounts at Family Tree University, 10 percent off every ShopFamilyTree.com order, and our Family Tree Toolkit. Register here for your chance to become a Family Tree VIP for free! 

• The Minnesota Department of Human Services is gathering bids for a project to digitize 5 million pages of old adoption records dating as far back as the late 19th century. The records are now on about 2,000 rolls of microfilm and likely include thousands of adoptions (the exact number isn’t known because files vary in length). Adoption records in Minnesota become public after 100 years, according to TwinCities.com, and 2017 is the 100-year anniversary of the law mandating adoption recording. 

• The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) has started a new society to promote the preservation of records in the National Archives and Records Administration. The Society of Preservation Patriots will recognize those who’ve contributed $250 or more to FGS’s Stern-NARA Gift Fund or to its Preserve the Pensions initiative (which supports the digitization of War of 1812 pensions). Learn more about the society and how to become a member on the FGS Voice blog.
  

• The official bloggers for the RootsTech 2013 conference, taking place March 21-23 in Salt Lake City, are holding giveaways for RootsTech registrations. Bloggers set their own means of entry; visit each blog (find a list here) to learn how to enter that blog’s giveaway.

• You might’ve heard about HBO's upcoming fictional genealogy series, "Family Tree." It stars Chris O’Dowd as a Brit who occupies himself by investigating his family history after he loses his job and his relationship. Thanks to contributing editor Rick Crume for sending me a link to an Entertainment Weekly article about the show. Do you plan to watch?

Friday, January 25, 2013 11:14:37 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [1]

Family Tree University’s Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference takes place Feb. 22-24.You get an all-access weekend pass 15 half-hour video classes, live chats with genealogy experts, an attendees-only message board and more. It’s a great option for people who want to get better at doing genealogy without having to take time off work or pay the travel expenses.

Click here to see the Virtual Genealogy Conference video class topics and chat schedule. 

Click here to register for the Virtual Genealogy Conference. 

Remember, you have until tomorrow, Jan. 25, at 11:59 p.m. ET to save $50 with promo code WINTERVCEARLY.

Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:11:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

This according to the Irish news websites IrishCentral and siliconrepublic. 

The vital records, new on the site, range from the 1800s to 1958. Read more about them here. 

Findmypast.ie is a website from brightsolid publishing, which also operates findmypast.com (US), findmypast.com.au (Australia and New Zealand) and findmypast.co.uk (England, Wales and Scotland), among other genealogy websites. When you visit from the United States, you may get a pop-up suggesting you use the American site, but you can just close it and carry on.

Also, if you're in the United States, be mindful of time zone differences when you plan your search session(s). Findmypast.ie is based in Dublin, which is five hours ahead of the US East Coast.

Update: Now that Irish Family History Day is upon us, I found more information about this offer. Visit findmypast.ie's Irish Family History Day page for a promo code that gets you 50 free credits to use the site's pay-as-you-go records. The code is valid through Jan. 31.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 12:04:31 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]