RAOGK Blog

How to Estimate a Date of Death With a Will

Death records are one of the things that we want to find for each ancestor. However, there are times when that record doesn’t exist.  (Don’t you hate it when an ancestor dies before that state started keeping death records?!) If you can’t find a death record and his or her tombstone hasn’t been found or

2019-05-03T11:06:38+00:00January 7th, 2016|Probate Records|0 Comments

Olde Virginia Vital Records

Such a long-standing early English colony and one of the original U.S. states, you would think all vital records would be available.  Unfortunately, they are not because such early information just wasn't officially recorded all the time. There was no state law requiring vital documents, births-marriage-deaths, to be recorded until 1912.  To help make available

2019-05-03T11:06:38+00:00August 18th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Social Security Applications and Death Index

A major untapped resource for those researching their family members is the information available from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and from the actual Social Security applications that your ancestors originally filled out. A good point to start is with the Social Security Death Index also referred to as the Death Master File. 

2019-05-03T11:06:38+00:00August 13th, 2015|US Vital Records|1 Comment

Family History – Is it the Same as Genealogy?

You may well have asked yourself that question more than once as you have researched your family. Starting with a definition: Genealogy - a study of family ancestors with pertinent data such as birth, marriage and death dates, usually using vital records as a source. Family History - an in-depth study of a family lineage

2019-05-03T11:06:38+00:00August 6th, 2015|General Genealogy|0 Comments

FamilySearch.org – Inexpensive Beginning Research

Just starting your family history research, you might not know much yet. Start by writing out what information, name, dates, locations you do know, even if you need to place a question mark by something.  You would be surprised at how much you may already know. Next, go to living relatives; older siblings, parents,

2019-05-03T11:06:38+00:00August 3rd, 2015|familysearch|0 Comments

Great Starting Point – Family History Centers

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), along with the Genealogical Society of Utah, for many decades gathered, collected and preserved vital records, family histories, documents, pedigrees, lineage charts and any other sources to build a complete picture of a family’s ancestors.  The work has covered every area in the United States and

2019-05-03T11:06:39+00:00July 25th, 2015|General Genealogy|0 Comments

Got a Baffling Ancestor?

Working a month or years on your family history and you have had at least one or more ancestors for which little information is gathered on to date. You might not even have a name yet, only that it is a grandfather or grandmother on your mother's side.  This known as 'hitting a brick wall'.

2019-05-03T11:06:39+00:00July 23rd, 2015|General Genealogy|6 Comments

How to Solve the Problem of Missing 1890 Census Data

The United States government began taking a census of the entire population every 10 years in 1790.  The information contained in these census records is invaluable in tracing ancestral roots.  Unfortunately, there is one significant gap in this chain of genealogical information, the data from the 1890 census.  This was the 11th census of the

2015-06-17T10:39:40+00:00June 17th, 2015|C Records, General Genealogy|2 Comments

FHL is looking for Volunteers

FamilySearch is looking for volunteers to go into record repositories all over the United States.  We would like these volunteers to do an inventory or listing of these record repositories.  Some of the record repositories may include courthouses, churches, and historical societies, both big and small. FamilySearch will provide web-training and support.  The web-training takes

2019-05-03T11:06:39+00:00April 22nd, 2015|General Genealogy|0 Comments

What is an Enumeration District?

To enumerate means to mention items by naming them one by one, just like you would do when you count out loud.  However, enumeration has to do with more than just coming up with a total count.  It means that you identify each item by naming it specifically, as in a list. It is this

2019-05-03T11:06:39+00:00April 12th, 2015|General Genealogy|0 Comments
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