Thinking About Becoming a Board-certified Genealogist?

The Genealogical Proof Standard states that analysis and correlation of data is necessary before we can say something is proven, but what techniques are best? Many people collect information but don't know how to manipulate it for evidence analysis. Spreadsheets, timelines, maps, charts and tables are a few of the…

Eli Bush's grandfather was reported to be Daniel Bush, but was his father Jacob? Witness the research process unfold as land, probate, census, tax lists, and church records are correlated. Watch out for pitfalls such as different men with the same name and other red herrings.

To correlate evidence, you must have evidence to correlate. Typical researchers stop too soon in their evidence collection, believing they have found all there is to find about a soldier. There is more to military research than the compiled military service record or the pension application file. A reasonably exhaustive search is not limited to the two or three typical record sources.

A one place study explores an ancestral place in depth by studying the history, the environment, and the people of a place over time. Learn practical strategies for conducting your own OPS and how it helps you meet the Genealogy Standards. See how the assembled information can add rich context to your ancestors' lives, fill gaps where records are lacking, and uncover forgotten connections within a community.

Many immigrants entered the US under the Displaced Persons Act. Based on specific criteria, eligible displaced persons (DPs) could be admitted to the US if they would not become a public charge and have safe and sanitary housing and employment without displacing some other person. The displaced person or refugee was the concern of the International Refugee Organization. The US created the Displaced Persons Commission to oversee the act’s enactment. Is your ancestor named in the record sets created? The presentation will discuss the History of the Act and the records created as a result of the Act.

Research on a man's mysterious second marriage identified his wife as a romance scammer who preyed on Civil War veterans. This case study shows how evidence correlation and reasonably exhaustive research cut through the lies and misdirection in a woman's records to establish her identity and reveal her sometimes deadly deception.

From the beginning of European settlement in North America, free and inexpensive land has been a tool for enticing settlers to migrate to new areas. The English and Spanish granted large tracts to individuals in return for bringing new people into areas with sparse European populations. Bounty land was granted to soldiers in America’s early wars. The end of the American Revolution led to a number of Federal plans to sell or grant vast acreages of public domain land. Homesteading opportunities attracted Americans and immigrants to the west after the Civil War. The availability of affordable land was a catalyst for the migration of many of our ancestors.

After years of using census records, genealogists may take for granted that they're using them fully and correctly. But as they learn about genealogy standards and best practices, do they go back and re-think their census practices? What does it even mean to evaluate a census record? Let's learn a bit more about the U.S. census and the specific ways that standards can help us to maximize its usefulness.

Minna and Ada Everleigh, Chicago’s most famous pair of sisters, fabricated many details of their lives in order to run their shady business. Learn to sort fact from fiction.