August 8, 2025 I’ve always known there were lots of cousins on my Fernelius side of the family. As it turns out, I don’t have a huge number of first cousins on this side – only seven. However, when I researched an earlier generation the number of cousins exploded. My dad was one of …
Ancestral Occupations
August 1, 2025 I’ve never paid much attention to the occupations of my ancestors. Like many family historians, I’ve assumed that most of them were farmers. I’ve recently realized that this means I know less about my ancestors than I might. Knowing someone’s occupation can help us understand why an ancestor lived where he did, …
Ancestral Divorces May not Have Been so Rare After All
July 25, 2025 Last week I wrote about finding divorce records. I mentioned that these records are searched for less often than other kinds of vital records. That’s because many of us don’t realize that divorce was an option for our ancestors. Many genealogical resources state that divorces were very rare in America’s past. …