This lecture will discuss military pensions (Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War) and railroad employment pensions. Learn how to find the family details and stories of your ancestors by using these financial documents.
This lecture will review the different DNA tools available on the major DNA testing web sites (Ancestry, FamilyTree DNA, and MyHeritage). We will also discuss third party tools like AncesTrees, GEDMatch and DNA Painter.
Researching African American ancestors can be challenging, especially when trying to break through the 1870 brick wall to discover more about ancestors prior to the end of slavery. In this presentation, we will discuss go-to records and demonstrate creative search strategies for piecing together your family history.
This lecture researches the primary and secondary sources associated with those involved in the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692.
This lecture looks over resources for locating Massachusetts Native American Ancestors. Covered in this lecture will be case studies relating to the Massachuset-Punkapoag people.
This lecture is an in-depth overview on how to get started in genealogical research for War of 1812 veterans.
This lecture is an in-depth overview on researching Colonial War veterans before 1775.
German immigrants first arrived to American shores in large numbers in the late 17th century, and today nearly 45 million Americans have German heritage. Published resources are an essential tool for researching your German-American ancestors. There are treasure troves of published resources including general guides, dictionaries (both for words and surnames), books on paleography, and published records including immigration, census, and military records. Join our expert as they share go-to published resources for German family history research in America.
Continued urbanization characterized much of 20th-century Pennsylvania. This lecture will look at records that emerge in the 20th century—including state-wide vital records—as well as changes in records and record keeping that persisted since the 17th century. We will also discuss the topic of “access” and a review of key research repositories.
Pennsylvania experienced even more transformation in the 19th century. Westward expansion and settlement continued across the Allegany Mountains, aided by growth in transportation systems such as canals and railways. Steel, coal mining, and oil made Pennsylvania an industrial powerhouse, fueled by a labor force of millions of newly arrived immigrants. This lecture will explore several records that emerge during this period, including federal passenger lists, Civil War pension files, published genealogies and local histories, employment records, and other less commonly used records.
