Before the Revolutionary War, geography, topography and a strong indigenous people presence shaped migration patterns. This webinar covers the dominant push-pull forces and challenges for colonial migration. Using maps and other graphics, the major migration routes by region will be described: New England, mid-Atlantic and southward from Virginia. Famous paths such as the Kings Highway, the Great Valley Road, and the Fall Line Road as well as less well-known paths such as the Greenwood Path and the Forbidden Path will be covered. Using a set of case studies, the process of locating clues in local histories, land records, and vital records is unfolded.

Learn from a Professional Genealogist, with an expertise in Tennessee genealogical records, how to get the most out of the Tennessee State Library and Archives. You will learn how to use the vast TSLA website to your advantage and how to make your visit to the archives successful.

Michigan is a state of many people: Native Americans, fur traders, French explorers, British military, and then settlers from all over the world including many from Canada and the Northeast U.S. The records and indexes are amazing as are the libraries, historical societies, archives, universities that are filled with resources. Online indexes and record images add to the dream. Learn about the people, resources, businesses, farms, military, and vital records.

Upon completion of the Transcontinental and other railroads throughout the American West, many Chinese immigrant railroad workers went to work building levees in the Sacramento River delta. This process reduced flooding and created rich farmland. Many ethnic groups have farmed in this area and their children had to attend segregated schools for a number of years. Learn about this fertile ground, the people who lived there, and what they left behind.

When we think of settling the West, our minds will often turn to the broad expanses of the American West that conjures up scenes of broad prairies and herds of buffalo and antelope. Such was not the case in the First American West. We also may think of the Canadian provinces of the same name. After the signing of the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, Britain ceded land that would eventually comprise the Northwest Territory. Just five years later, the first settlers would leave their homes in New England and begin their journey to the “Territory Northwest of the River Ohio”, and establish their first city – Marietta. Eventually the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota would be included.

Just as some New Englanders left their declining farms and headed west, industrialization arrived in New England and our ancestors’ lives and records changed forever. The days when deeds and probate would solve genealogical problems gave way to a dizzying array of new census collections, state mandated vital records, poorhouse, prison and asylum records, sturdier cemetery markers, and military pensions. Let’s re-teach ourselves as we trace 1800’s ancestors.

Looking for Rhode Islanders in the Revolutionary War era, or 1865-1935? The Rhode Island colonial and state census collections offer amazing details, but each enumeration is quite different. Looking for all men 16 and over in 1777? Exact dates of birth? Civil War service? Name of school attended? Learn how to navigate the arrangements online and match family members to their records.

The 46th state has a much longer history and more available records than most people realize. You may have discovered a possible link to Oklahoma, a Choctaw word meaning “red people.” Or perhaps you want to search for an elusive ancestor who may have hidden in Indian Territory or Oklahoma Territory, the “Twin Territories” that combined to become Oklahoma. This introduction to Oklahoma genealogical research will highlight the unique records that were created due to our unusual and exciting history.

Montana has 56 counties, and there’s a plethora of sources available across this 4th largest state. You’ll get a quick tour of Montana genealogy treasures online. Also, a tour of Montana sites and their specific genealogy databases available from archives and local history societies, along with a site-specific guide telling of the latest archives, museums, libraries and historical/genealogical societies open to aid in your search for ancestors, and ghost towns and mining camps, too! We’ll experience historical Montana maps available online, learn how to plan a specific trip to maximize the archives and local historical sites where other records (taxes, poll taxes, road taxes, poor taxes, boulevard districts, real estate additions, types of directories available per area, etc.), and note the specific genealogy and history societies/museums available to provide local helps. You’ll have access to a 30+ page (online) of the resources and references noted in the presentation.

Nestled along the Eastern seaboard of the US, Delaware has a long history. From Native Americans, arrival of Europeans in 1609, boundary disputes and immigration, to migration to near and distant locations, Delaware’s history affects how to find your ancestors. Learn when records became available and where to find them to research your roots in the First State.

Researching ancestors who lived in colonial New England can be challenging. This webinar begins by tracing settlement patterns, setting the stage for understanding key records and where to find them. For the 17th century, many unique published resources exist to help the family researcher. During the colonial years, several conflicts such as King Philip’s War and the Seven Years War affected settlement and thus the surviving records. The 18th century culminated in the Revolutionary War, but also saw the continued growth of settlement and ultimately resources for the family historian.

Understanding the history of a state will help you find genealogical records when searching before they became a state and to recognize names and places in their research. Georgia operated under two different government structures before the Revolutionary War and was the only state that stayed mostly under the control…