Your Pennsylvania Ancestors

What digitized genealogy records can you access at home for free? Listen in as Aaron McWilliams tells me. Links: More from the Pennsylvania State Archives pastatearchives.org Listen to Podcast Episode 1: Pennsylvania State Archives Also see my blog post on Updates from the PA State Archives Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter Make a discovery about your ancestors? I'd love to hear abo...

Highlights of my conversation with Aaron McWilliams at the Pennsylvania State Archive on their most popular genealogy records. Links: More from the Pennsylvania State Archives pastatearchives.org Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter Make a discovery about your ancestors? I'd love to hear about it! Have a question on how research in PA? Submit it here for the  Research Q & A Become an I...

Going back in time in genealogy means fewer and fewer records to search. For me to be effective at researching John Curry's family, I need to make a research plan. I did it in three steps looking at all the possible records I could chose from. Inner Circle Members gets access to my Research Plan template and my personal written plan as an example. Links: Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsl...

Knowing the history of our ancestor's surnames can help us in research, particularly Irish research. In this episode I interview author Robert Bell of The Book of Ulster Surnames, reissued in 2021. Robert share why surname research matters and some pieces of Scots Irish history you won't want to miss. Links: The Book of Ulster Surnames by Robert Bell The History of Ulster by Jonathan Bardon Place...

Looking in PA county histories is often recommended for genealogists. But how useful are these books? What will I find in county history books and is it useful for my research of John Curry's ancestors? Links: Find county histories for any county on the Internet Archive Read my blog post on 9 Ways to Use County Histories in Genealogy Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter   Make a discov...

John Curry died suddenly at age 33 leaving little information about his life. Can researching his children and his siblings provide some clues to his life? Is it worth the time to do all this extra research? Let's find out! Links: PA State Archive Vital Records Indexes for publicly accessible state birth and death certificates not yet digitized and indexed on Ancestry. Newspapers.com for obituary...

Not every genealogy record we want is online and indexed for easy searching. In fact the majority of records are not even digitized! This is certainly the case for marriage licenses in PA, and in this episode I start online to look for John Curry's marriage record before contacting the county to get it. Links: Ancestry's two largest marriage license databases Pennsylvania, U.S., Marriages, 1852-19...

Searching through 20th century census records seems like it should be easy. Can I find John Curry in the 1920, 1910, and 1900 census? Not without some challenges. See how I figured it out in this episode. Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter Make a discovery about your ancestors? I'd love to hear about it! Have a question on how research in PA? Submit it here for the  Research Q & A Be...

The first step in genealogy research often means starting with a 20th century death certificate. Follow along as Denys analyzes a 1923 Pennsylvania death certificate to start the research for John Curry's ancestors. Links PA Death Certificates on Ancestry.com Learn how to get free access if you live in Pennsylvania Historical International Classification of Diseases on Wolfbane.com Subscribe to PA...

Join me as I research some of my family history and share the process through out the season! Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter Make a discovery about your ancestors? I'd love to hear about it! Have a question on how research in PA? Submit it here for the  Research Q & A Become an Inner Circle Member and get exclusive content while supporting the podcast Catch-up on all the past epi...

Denys spent the winter doing a lot of reading and has two history books to recommend. Ready to break the narrative of what you know about American history? These books will do it! Sometimes when you can't make progress in genealogy research, its because you don't understand the history of the time and place you are searching. In public schools we learned a simple version of history because every s...

Have you ever wondered what your ancestors ate? Food ethnographer and author William Woys Weaver shares why food traditions and food culture matter in understanding our past. William's Roughwood Table is preserving our food history. Also a special preview of Don Yoder's future genealogy archive. Topics Discussed: What is food ethnography Why food traditions and culture matter in understanding our...

To understand Pennsylvania's past, genealogists need knowledge of PA farming. Most of PA's first immigrants were farmers and agriculture dominated the economy for 200 years. Dr. Sally McMurry, professor emerita of history of Penn State University shares highlights from her comprehensive book, Pennsylvania Farming: A History in Landscapes . Topics Discussed: The impact of agriculture on the PA econ...

Millions of American have German ancestry that can be traced to early Pennsylvania. Author James Beidler shares good practices and common mistakes in researching our German American ancestors. Topics Discussed: The two waves of German immigrants into Pennsylvania Underutilized resources in genealogy research Common mistakes in German research Why you need good maps of the right time period  The up...

Denys shares what to watch about Pennsylvania genealogy at RootsTech 2021. And also how to take advantage of everything at this free event hosted by FamilySearch.org. Don't miss it! Upload your family tree at FamilySearch.org to connect with cousins Feb 24-26, 2021. See all the sessions I mention in the episode at RootsTech.org  Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter Make a discovery abo...

What can cemeteries tell us beyond the names, birth and death dates of our ancestors? Turns out a whole lot! Learn how to interpret your ancestors gravestones with Lara Thomas of Berks County Association for Graveyard Preservation. Lara walks us through real examples of gravestones and we learn: How to interpret the location of the grave in relation to the church building Looking for memorial plaq...

Genealogist Dean Henry of Family Pearl, LLC shares his expertise in researching African-Americans in Pennsylvania. The genealogy of ancestors of African descendent requires using records beyond the PA's borders and Dean tells us how to get started.  We cover: Misconceptions of African-American research. Important record groups to use at the federal, state, and county level. Key groups to join on y...

The Ulster Historical Foundation team and I had a rollicking good time talking about the challenges Americans have doing Irish research. Fintan Mullan, Executive Director of UHF; Gillian Hunt, Research Officer; and William Roulston, Research Director of UHF walk us through what not to do in our genealogy research. Five Common Misconceptions or Mistakes in Irish Research: Irish research is pointles...

The Ulster Historical Foundation team and I had a rollicking good time talking about the challenges Americans have doing Irish research. Fintan Mullan, Executive Director of UHF; Gillian Hunt, Research Officer; and William Roulston, Research Director of UHF walk us through what not to do in our genealogy research. Five Common Misconceptions or Mistakes in Irish Research: Irish research is pointles...

Denys gives a preview of the podcast for 2021. Hear the topics planned and what you can look forward to throughout the year. Subscribe to PA Ancestors Discoveries Newsletter Make a discovery about your ancestors? I'd love to hear about it! Have a question on how research in PA? Submit it here for the  Research Q & A Become an Inner Circle Member and get exclusive content while supporting the podca...

Denys Allen covers for family historians: Free history resources available online History resources specific to your ancestors' time and place How to search these history resources Stories of discoveries she made on her ancestors.  Timestamps: 00:46  How knowing history helps genealogy research 02:53  Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography 06:27  Pennsylvania History Magazine 08:09  Local hi...

Denys Allen covers for family historians: the four major changes in child adoption laws in Pennsylvania the first thing to do when researching adoption how to request an adoptee's original birth certificates what can prevent you from getting that original birth certificate and how adoptees used to seek out their birth parents. Timestamps: 00:37 A way to think about adoption research 03:44 Guardian...

In this episode, Denys Allen interviews Jenn O'Donnell of the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, FOMMCI.  Jenn shares the work of FOMMCI, tips on making record requests of your ancestors there, and how to connect with the Friends organization and participate in the ongoing restoration. If you want to see visuals of some of the work of the Friends of Mount Moriah, check out the video on the PA Ances...

In this episode, Denys Allen interviews Lara Thomas of Berks County Association for Graveyard Preservation, BCAGP.  Lara shares the work of BCAGP, tips to find your ancestors in these tiny cemeteries, and how to keep these graveyard preserved for the future. If you want to see visuals of some of the work of BCAGP, check out the video on the PA Ancestors YouTube Channel (link below). Timestamps: 02...

In this episode, Denys Allen covers the types of voting records, namely voting registers, available during three different time periods in Pennsylvania. If you want to see a visual listing of voting register items, check out the video on the PA Ancestors YouTube Channel (link below). Timestamps: [00:00:13] History of Voting Records in PA [00:04:06] What is in Voter Registration Records [00:08:00]...