Are you reading everything in every record you uncover? I’ll be honest. My answer to this question years ago would have been, “well, I think so,” and I would later discover just how wrong that answer was.

You see, back in the day, I used to be a grab-and-go genealogist. I would grab the few pieces of information I wanted from a record and move on to the next record, and rinse and repeat. It wasn’t until I realized I was missing important clues in records that I really...

I remember seeing a lot of people comment during the lead up to the 1950 US census release that they didn’t understand the hype and really didn’t care to look for people because they “knew” them. I have continued to see this in the week following the release, and I have to say that I strongly disagree with this notion, and I’ve got three reasons why that I’ll share in this article.

1. It’s a Record

As part of the Genealogical Proof Standard, we are...

You’ve probably spent some time over the last several days trying to find people in the 1950 US census (I know I have!).

But it’s not an easy task, especially without a solid index and search tools that we’re used to.

That said, I’ve been creating a variety of videos that address some of the issues and offer solutions and workarounds. Here’s what I’ve posted so far (more coming, so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!):

• How to Find Your Family in...

This post contains an affiliate link. You can review my full Disclaimer here.

The release of the 1950 US census is right around the corner on April 1, 2022, so you might be wondering how you can be ready to start searching on Day 1. In this post I’ll walk you through my process so you can use it or adapt it for your own preparation.

Before we dive in, you might be wondering why I’m prepping for the census release. First, I want to know who in my database may be in the 1950 census,...

Figuring out which church a family attended can be a challenge, especially when there are no city directories to consult or county histories fall short on detailing churches. So where can you turn?

The Works Project Administration's Historical Records Survey located and cataloged church records. The resulting inventories, many of which were published in the 1930s and 1940s, can help you figure out which churches were in a particular area at a particular time, so you can identify potential...