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Do Schools Keep Records of Past Students?
With the 2020 school year being as crazy as it has been (thank you, coronavirus pandemic), Breanne and I began to wonder about past school years, school records, and what records get kept. Do schools keep records of past students? Schools generally keep records for 2-3 years after a student leaves the school or graduates […]
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How Far Back Do Surnames Go? A Brief History
Last names are a lot of fun – but sometimes they aren’t super easy to track. Then again, it’s also a lot easier to track family history when you’ve got a family surname to help you make sure you’ve got the right, Charles! So how far back do surnames go? Surnames in China date back […]
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When Did Your Ancestors Come to America? Let’s Find Out!
Thanks to statistics and how history played out, the odds are that your family hasn’t been in America for more than a few hundred years at most. This means that, at some point, someone in your family line immigrated to America. When did my ancestors come to America? Immigrants to the United States are usually […]
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Can Anyone Today Trace their Family to Roman Times?
Roman history is full, rich, and deeply nuanced. It’s fun to imagine what it would be like back then – and it’s intriguing to wonder what your ancestors did back then. Were they part of the vast Roman empire? Or were they elsewhere in the world? Can anyone trace their family to Roman times? While […]
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How Accurate is Mormon Genealogy?
Growing up, I assumed that all records were both boring and infallibly correct. As it turns out, not all records are boring – and it’s important to question the validity of every record. How accurate are Mormon records? Mormon genealogy records are based on a shared database, which means there can be errors due to […]
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Ancestry: How Far Back Do Records Actually Go?
While indexing isn’t one of my favorite activities, I know it’s important because it creates digital access to vital records. But how far back do ancestry and genealogy records actually go? And how far back can I expect to find genealogy records? The earliest genealogical records are from China in 1500 B.C. European-based records go […]
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Can Anyone Trace their Lineage Back to the Bible?
While reading the Bible, I’ll admit – I struggle during the sections where they list all of the genealogies. Even so, it’s cool to think that all of those names could contribute to our genealogical knowledge – if only we could trace a lineage back to them. While there are individuals who claim to trace […]
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Why Are Some Last Names So Common?
Growing up with a rarer (and deceptively simple to pronounce) surname, part of me envied kids who had more common last names – that didn’t get tripped up on during that first day of school attendance. But it has made me wonder – why some last names are more common than others. So, I asked […]
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How Many Generations Ago Was America Founded?
It’s fun to find ways to connect your family to historical events. One way to do that is by comparing time in generations instead of years. How many generations ago was America founded? America was founded in 1776, which is between 7 and 10 generations ago (depending on the definition of generation used). A family’s […]
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Cost Analysis of Hiring a Genealogist – with Quotes
When you’re thinking about doing genealogy and you get stuck, it’s totally normal to wonder about hiring an expert to help you get things done. But how much will that cost you – and what will you get out of it? Hiring an individual genealogist costs an average of $65 per hour while hiring a […]
Category: Genealogy
Genealogy studies humanity and how we’re all related. Genealogy studies our history so we can understand and move forward together.
