US-REC Study Group

Pedigree Analysis: Start With What You Know

23 March 2012 Analysis

I’m sure we’ve all heard it said that, in genealogy, you should start with what you know and work from there. In The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, Greenwood argues that we “must have a name, a date (at least a period of time), and a reasonably specific place or locality” in order to do [...]

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Making a Research List of Published Family Histories

24 February 2012 Research

Once upon a time I had a list of published family histories and other books that I wanted to consult. I kept it on my phone. This was three or four phones ago, and when that phone died, the list went with it. I never got around to re-creating the list and I only remember [...]

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Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 1

1 February 2012 Analysis

Captain Thomas Hemphill is the ancestor who really got me interested in genealogy, but I’ve had his will sitting in my inbox ever since it arrived in the mail from the North Carolina State Archives in 2009.  Yes, almost three years.  Why has it been languishing, you ask? Well, it’s not just a will – [...]

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Genealogical Maturity Model – 2012 Assessment

30 January 2012 And More

Late in 2009, the Ancestry Insider started a series of posts proposing a self-assessment model for genealogists, which culminated in the Genealogical Maturity Model.  While I don’t agree with all the descriptions, it can be a useful way to measure one’s skill set.  I’ve used the tool before, but did not keep a record of [...]

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Goals for an Organized Research Process

22 January 2012 And More

One of our first topics in US Records Study Group was “Organizing and Evaluating Research Findings.”  When people talk about “being organized,” I think they are often referring to the physical “stuff”:  the documents, photos, and artifacts that they have accumulated.  Can any of this stuff be located at a moments notice? I have a [...]

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Techy Stuff for Genealogy

14 January 2012 And More

We’re talking about computers & technology in US-REC Study Group.  We have chapters to read in Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy and in The Source, but honestly, I learn more tech tips from my genea-friends than books could ever cover.  So, in the spirit of sharing, here are some of the tech tools I use [...]

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