When people hear the word “genealogy,” they often picture dusty family trees, black-and-white documents, or hours spent scrolling through census records. Others imagine rich storytelling—tales of immigration, family recipes, scandals, wars, or love stories passed down through generations. The truth is, genealogy and family history are two sides of the same coin—but they’re not exactly the same thing. In an earlier blog post, “What is Genealogy?”, I quoted a phrase I picked up

Genealogy can feel like a thrilling treasure hunt, especially when you stumble across a new ancestor or uncover an unexpected family connection. But even the seasoned researcher can fall into the bad habit of chasing rabbit holes every once in a while. You’ll start with one ancestor and end up at the public tree of a 3rd cousin 5x removed for a completely different ancestor, completely unsure how you got there. To be fair, great discoveries can  happen that way. However, prof

I am not one to use vulgar language in any way. Nevertheless, my father taught me an age old saying that sticks with me to this day, and it perfectly conveys the message I wish to convey in this blog post. He wrote the word ASSUME on a piece of paper and declared the following, pointing to each letter in the word: "When you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of U and ME." Unfortunately, genealogists can be the biggest "asses." With a plethora of online public ancestry trees and rese

Once you’ve gathered what you can from home and family (see How to Start Your Family Tree ), the next big question is: what records do I look for? The fact of the matter is that the majority of records genealogists use weren't made for genealogists. Our ancestors were included in records as they interacted with some higher agency, typically a governmental authority or church body, so the purpose of the records were most likely not to help a future descendant uncover their an