Tag Archives: familysearch.org

I have been asked by people who are new to genealogy where they can go to get help from an expert, and where they can view records that are categorized as “restricted.” There are two equally valid choices, for different reasons: the nearest FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library A FamilySearch Center (they were called Family History Centers until early 2023) is a small room in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) building set aside for genealogical research. You do not have to be a church member to use this room, and no one will EVER give you …

    It’s a good thing when I get to start yet another column with the above headline. I have some new tips for those of you who may be frustrated a little with how it works. First of all, familysearch has released a lot of new Cook County births in the past few weeks. They have most of the births indexed from 1878-1933 so far, and they plan to extend that to 1940. There are some suburban Cook County births already indexed up to 1938 (Evanston, Oak Park, Melrose Park etc.) but almost no Chicago from 1933-1940 as of …

      A few years ago, I received a phone call from a cousin I had not heard from in some time. Some years earlier, this distant relative and I had been in regular contact while I was working with them on their branch of the family tree. They gave me the data on the descendants and photographs, so the tree would be up to date. I gave them ancestry going farther back than they ever dreamed. Then they called me years later to tell me that they found the same ancestry data on the internet and I should …