The full reference list below serves two purposes. First, it identifies all the sources that were referenced in Battle Maps and Charts of the American Revolution with Explanatory Notes by Henry B. Carrington (1881; Internet Archive). Second, these references provide a fuller explanation of the battles (in addition to other elements of the Revolution and US history in general), which may be helpful for adding context to your genealogy research. All of the references were written prior to 1881, so the perspective may be a little different than you remember from your own school days. Each book is available for free online (a link follows the reference).

Anderson, John J[acob]. A Grammar School History of the United States. Clark and Maynard, 1874. Internet Archive

Barnes, A. S. A Brief History of the United States. A. S. Barnes, 1880. Internet Archive

Bush, C. E. Berard’s History of the United States. Cowperthwait, 1878. Internet Archives

Carrington, Henry B. Battles of the American Revolution, 1775-1781. A. S. Barnes, 1876. Internet Archive

Goodrich, Charles A. History of the United States of America; for the Use of Schools. Rev. ed. By William H. Seavey. Brewer and Tileston, 1867. Internet Archive

Goodrich, S[amuel]. G[riswold]. A Pictorial History of the United States. E. H. Butler, 1867. Internet Archive

Hassard, John R. G. A History of the United States of America. Catholic Publication Society, 1878. Internet Archive

Holmes, George F. A School History of the United States of America: From the Earliest Discoveries to the Year 1870. University Publishing, 1870. Internet Archive

Lossing, Benson J. A Common-School History of the United States: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Mason Bros., 1865. Internet Archive

Quackenbos, G[eorge] P. Illustrated School History of the United States and the Adjacent Parts of America: From the Earliest Discoveries to the Present Time. D. Appleton, 1865. Internet Archive

Ridpath, John Clark. History of the United States: Prepared Especially for Schools. Jones Bros., 1879. Internet Archive

Sadlier’s Excelsior Studies in the History of the United States for Schools. William H. Sadlier, 1879. Internet Archive

Stephens, Alexander H. A Compendium of the History of the United States from the Earliest Settlements to 1872. E. J. Hale, 1872. Internet Archive

Swinton, William. A Condensed School History of the United States. Ivison et al., 1871. Internet Archive

Scott, David B. A School History of the United States: From the Discovery of America to the Year 1877. Harper, 1879. Internet Archive

Thalheimer, M[ary] E[lsie]. The Eclectic History of the United States. Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., 1880. Internet Archive

Venable, W. H. A School History of the United States. Wilson, Hinkle & Co., 1872. HathiTrust

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It was another crazy year, but one focused on self-care. That said, I didn’t spend much time on my business this year (outside of contract work). Instead, I concentrated on my personal research, special projects, and creative outlets. While I didn’t meet all of my 2024 goals, let’s see what I did accomplish and what my plans are for 2025.

2024 Accomplishments

I completed the Copyediting Certificate Program through Writer’s Digest. It was a great course, and I learned some new things while reinforcing my editing skills.

I attended the SLIG 2024 Spring Virtual, Gothic Script and Fraktur Workshop with Warren Bittner and Methods and Strategies for Slavery Era Research at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute.

I did not finish writing my book. In fact, I don’t think I made any progress on it at all in 2024. I am not even sure this will carry over into goals for 2025. I am going in a different direction and not sure if I can do both projects at the same time.

I did continue working on my genealogy hub in Notion, but I am still not where I want to be with it. The idea is to have my hub mesh with my problem-solving framework, and I am still working through how this looks in Notion (but it’s getting there!). The challenge is that there have been so many great enhancements in Notion since I initially built my hub, meaning there is even more I can do (this is the nerd in me coming out!!).

I really wanted to finish Katherine Schober’s German for Genealogists course. I did, however, make progress. During SLIG in early 2024, I also went through lessons from both of Katherine’s courses (the other being Reading the Old German Handwriting), but I did this haphazardly so that I could focus on the lessons that were the same or similar across all three at the same time. Therefore, there are still a few lessons in each course I need to finish, which I WILL do in 2025.

While I wanted to publish at least one short guide/booklet in 2024, it never made it to my priority list. Although it won’t go on my goal list, it is still an open project.

Although not on my goal list, I took a somewhat impromptu trip to Salt Lake City, where I spent a week researching and sightseeing. My research focus was on my Hessen ancestors, and after sorting out the filming situation (don’t ask!), I was able to find all sorts of church records for my family. I was even able to push back two generations in some cases, and there’s still more work ahead. It’s been great meeting these ancestors!

2025 Goals

There’s a bit of a theme for 2025, and that is getting caught up!

Learn German. I declared this as a New Year’s resolution and started immediately on the first of January. The goal is to complete at least one lesson per day. I am using Rosetta Stone and to date, I have already completed the first unit, which was 37 lessons (clearly I’ve done more than one a day…I’m really enjoying it). There are 19 remaining units, each with 39 lessons, so at the one-a-day pace, I should be able to get through nine units, if not one or two more.

Finish Katherine’s courses German for Genealogists and Reading the Old German Handwriting. As I said above, I’m just about done with both!

Starting in February, I plan to publish at least one instructional video to my YouTube channel each month.

Attend three institutes:

• SLIG, Advanced New England Research: From the Colonial Period to the Early 1900s with Josh Taylor
• GRIP, Merging & Separating Identities: Strategies and Tactics to Identify and Solve with Jan Joyce
• IGHR, Building an African American Research Toolbox with Tim Pinnick

Attend the Ohio Genealogical Society conference. The OGS conference served as my NGS conference last year because OGS held its conference in person. I had a blast and plan to attend again (and again!). (Unfortunately, I will miss the NGS conference this year, as I have medical appointments at Cleveland Clinic that week.)

Teach at GRIP. I can’t wait to head to Pittsburgh and teach this year at GRIP. My course, Navigating the Genealogical Research Process: Advanced Strategies for Success, is hands-on, and both Taneya Koonce and Josh Taylor are joining me!

Take a trip to the US Army Engineers Museum at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. My grandfather served in WWII in a combat engineer battalion and I am hoping to learn more about what he did and his experience.

Run the following questions through my problem-solving framework to build solid research plans. I have working hypotheses for each but need to complete more research to prove or disprove them. I don’t have a lot of time, but I plan to work on one between February and the end of June, and the other from July until the end of the year. Working through both of these will also help me further develop my genealogy hub in Notion.

• Who is the father of Sarah (Norton) Webster, born about 1780 probably in Vermont, and wife of Aaron Webster of Oakland County, Michigan, and Cayuga County, New York?
• Who is the father of Polly Wheeler (Smith) Parks, born about 1781 probably in Connecticut, and wife of Robert Parks of Oakland County, Michigan, and Cayuga County, New York?

Spend two hours a week working on my passion project. In late 2023, I decided I wanted to research African Americans who served in the American Revolutionary War. The plan is to compile details and write short biographies for each person I identify. I set the stage in 2024, which included identifying appropriate and reliable sources, creating a process to make things easier and consistent, and developing a Notion database to track all my research. My goal is to identify, research, and write about those who served from Massachusetts and Connecticut by the end of 2025.

Read one genealogical/historical periodical each week. I have a stack a mile long going back at least four years. The goal is to shorten, if not eliminate, the stack!

Watch one webinar from my backlog each week. Doing so will cut the backlog in half!

Spend one hour each week adding digital items to my FOREVER account. Right now the focus is on photographs, which I would like to complete by the end of the year, if not sooner (at which point I will switch to genealogy records).

Determine whether or not to proceed with a new book idea. This is something I’ve been entertaining for about a month but not for the first time. I need to do some brainstorming and research before I make a decision, especially since it will take me in a slightly different direction. But, just noodling on it for a few weeks and talking to a few confidants, I think this might be something that will benefit the genealogy community in numerous ways. If I do decide to move forward, I plan to spend three hours a week working on it.

This looks like a lot, but I’ve structured my goals in ways that make them doable (in the past, I either overestimated the time needed or thought I could take on the world). I will also be tracking my progress differently, making me more accountable. Fingers crossed that there are a bunch of check marks this time next year.

So what about you? What goals did you accomplish in 2024, and what do you have planned for 2025? Drop me a comment and let me know!

© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Julie’s Genealogy & History Hub; the appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

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© Julie Tarr. 2024 Achievements / 2025 Goals was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

I can’t believe it’s been sixteen years since I began my genealogy blogging journey.

Although I haven’t done much blogging here or at my Genealogy in Action blog, I do have a lot of planned content for both. Now I just need to find the time to sit and write. On the plus side, I did update this blog’s theme s few months ago; it is now mobile-friendly and less cluttered.

As always, I want to thank everyone who follows either of my blogs—your support means the world to me.

Stay tuned!

© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Julie’s Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

The post Celebrating 16 Years of Genealogy Blogging first appeared on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub.

© Julie Tarr. Celebrating 16 Years of Genealogy Blogging was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

This post contains affiliate links. You can review my full Disclaimer here.

It’s that time of year! All of the organizations that offer genealogy webinar series have either announced their 2024 schedule or are in the process of posting it.

Here’s the rundown:

• Association of Professional Genealogists
• Board for Certification of Genealogists (hosted by Family Tree Webinars)
• Florida State Genealogical Society
• Georgia Genealogical Society
• Germanic Genealogy Society
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars
• New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors)
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
• Ontario Ancestors
• Southern California Genealogical Society
• Utah Genealogical Association Genealogy Pro Talk
• Utah Genealogical Association Virtual Chapter
• Wisconsin State Genealogical Society

© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Julie’s Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

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© Julie Tarr. Genealogy Webinars: 2024 Series Announced was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure statement here.

It’s been a doozy of a year…I’m surprised my head’s above water. I set out to accomplish some lofty goals in 2023, but was not as successful as I’d like.

So what did I accomplish?

Finish the ICAPGen accreditation process! I did it!!! I’m now an accredited genealogist

Finish writing my book. Nope, not this year. I did get a good amount of writing done early in the year, so I’m about a quarter (maybe a third?) of the way done

Finish at least one of Katherine Schober’s courses, preferably the German for Genealogists course. Nope, didn’t even make any progress

Publish at least one short guide/booklet. Nope, didn’t happen, but I do have a plan for one

Write at least one article for publication. Nope, didn’t even send out any queries. Although, technically, I did have an article published in the January 2023 issue of Internet Genealogy (“Watch YouTube Videos to Grow Your Genealogy Skills”), but it was written and submitted in 2022

Attend two institutes (maybe three). I attended four

• Bridging the Gap: New England to the Midwest, 1780–1850 with Josh Taylor at SLIG
  
• Mastering the Art of Documentation with Tom Jones at GRIP
  
• Researching New York with Karen Mauer Jones at IGHR
  
• Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum (second time) with Angela McGhie at SLIG Fall Virtual

Keep building/testing my genealogy research hub in Notion. I did spend a decent amount of time on this, but it’s still not ready for prime time

Not on my list, but an accomplishment nonetheless, was digitizing all of the slides and films in my possession. I ended up sending the items to FOREVER. They did a great job, better than I could have done (and it saved me a lot of time I didn’t have!)

Also not on my list was getting the APG Quarterly caught up. When I took over in August 2022, it was several issues behind. With the help of my team, I managed to get us caught up in March 2023

Here’s what’s on tap for 2024:

Complete the Copyediting Certificate Program through Writer’s Digest.

Attend one institute (maybe two). This year it will be SLIG Spring Virtual, Gothic Script and Fraktur Workshop with Warren Bittner and possibly something at IGHR or GRIP.

Finish writing my book.

Continue working on my genealogy hub in Notion.

Finish Katherine Schober’s German for Genealogists course.

Publish at least one short guide/booklet. This will hopefully be accomplished in Q1

So what about you? What goals did you accomplish in 2023 and what do you have planned for 2024?

© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Julie’s Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

The post 2023 Achievements / 2024 Goals first appeared on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub.

© Julie Tarr. 2023 Achievements / 2024 Goals was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

It’s been 15 years since I started my genealogy blogging journey!

I realize I haven’t posted much lately. I’ve been dealing with some health issues since early 2020, and my own research took a back seat to other things like running my business and working toward accreditation. Things are better, and after I’m done playing catch-up with a dozen things, I plan to get back to my research and posting about it here.

As always, I want to take a moment to thank all of my loyal followers for sticking with me all these years. It truly means a lot to have your support and I hope that you find little nuggets of gold that help you along your own genealogy journey.

© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Julie’s Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

The post Celebrating 15 Years of Genealogy Blogging first appeared on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub.

© Julie Tarr. Celebrating 15 Years of Genealogy Blogging was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

This post contains affiliate links. You can review my full Disclaimer here.

It’s that time of year! Nearly all of the organizations that offer genealogy webinars have announced their 2023 schedule.

Here’s the rundown:

• Association of Professional Genealogists (has 1Q posted)
• Board for Certification of Genealogists (hosted by Family Tree Webinars)
• Florida State Genealogical Society (looks like they’re still working on finalizing their schedule)
• Georgia Genealogical Society
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars
• Ontario Ancestors (has 1Q posted)
• Southern California Genealogical Society
• Utah Genealogical Association Genealogy Pro Talk
• Wisconsin State Genealogical Society

These organizations also run monthly webinars, but I haven’t seen their schedules posted yet. They would be found at the links I’ve provided below.

• Germanic Genealogy Society
• Utah Genealogical Association Virtual Chapter

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© Julie Tarr. Genealogy Webinars: 2023 Series Announced was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure statement here.

It’s been another whirlwind of a year. After more than two years of doctors and tests, poking and prodding, I finally have a diagnosis–another chronic issue where the treatment contradicts my other chronic condition and vice versa Fortunately Cleveland Clinic has specialists there that have dealt with both issues, so hopefully I can get some sound treatment advice and start feeling better! Unfortunately, it’ll be awhile before I’m able to go.

Needless to say, this took a toll on many of my goals, but I did manage to accomplish some things this year. Let’s take a look.

First, I wanted to attend three institutes…I ended up attending four!

• SLIG – Operation Jumpstart: Beyond the Basics of Military Research with Michael Strauss (wonderful!!)
• GRIP – Beyond a Name and Date: Advanced Practices in Social History with Gena Philibert-Ortega (excellent!!)
• GRIP – Women and Children First! with Judy Russell (this was a last-minute addition and it was great!!)
• IGHR – Land Records: Using Maps in Genealogical Research with Melinda Kashuba (lots of fun!!)

I also wanted to publish at least one short guide. While I didn’t technically publish a new one, I did rebrand and revise Your Guide to Genealogy Educational Opportunities and presented it to my email list as a special gift. If you’d like a copy, you can grab it by filling out the short form at the end of this post.

Another goal I had was to publish an article outside of my APG Quarterly “Writing” column. I can check that off the list. I wrote an article about using YouTube for genealogy education, which will appear in the Dec/Jan issue of Internet Genealogy.

I did create a FOREVER Storage account and purchased FOREVER’s photo management software Historian. I spent some time with both and came up with a plan for how I want my workflow to be. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far in getting things into Storage. However, I took advantage of a big sale and purchased a “box” where I can send in items to be digitize (I sent in a gazillion slides and three reels of film). I have two videos about this (unboxing and packing). I just sent the box in last month and as of a few days ago, everything had been digitized and uploaded to my FOREVER Storage account. So even thought I didn’t get as far as I wanted on the project, just getting that difficult stuff digitized was a huge accomplishment (not to mention a huge time- and money-saver). (Note: The link to FOREVER is sort of an affiliate link. Basically, if you sign up, even for a free account to check it out, we each get a $20 coupon.)

One thing I had hoped to do was finish writing the narrative I started for my Hanfler and Leppin families. While I did not get any writing done, I did add a chunk of research to the mix, which will complete the family.

The biggest thing I wanted to do was figure out how I could use Notion as a genealogy research hub. While I had built many of the components of the research hub last December, I hadn’t really touched it until earlier this week. But, I’ve used Notion for everything else in my life, from tracking my migraines to running my business, and everything in between. I simply love that it can do everything I want in one place. No more going from Evernote to Trello to Todoist to Asana to Airtable to OneNote, etc. Notion is an all-in-one solution and I absolutely love it (and I can’t stop talking about it, but I promise, right now, I will). I suppose there’s still time to accomplish this goal in 2022, but with my workload for the rest of the month, I just don’t think that’s going to happen.

Obviously, the one thing I didn’t accomplish was finishing my book. I have bits and pieces written, but it’s a long way from being finished (to the powers that be, please let it get done in 2023!).

The other thing I didn’t get done was my ICAPGen accreditation. I’m actually waiting on them (although I do still have some prep work to do). Fortunately, I still have time and it will be completed in 2023.

I also didn’t finish (or really start) on the German courses I purchased from Katherine Schober. That is definitely going to get done in 2023!

And why I thought I could find time to work on my own research this year is beyond me. It always goes to the bottom of the priority list. And with chronic illness, anything that at the bottom of the priority list doesn’t get done because we just don’t have many productive hours in the day.

Although not planned, I did land a new gig as the managing editor for the APG Quarterly. My team and I are currently playing catch up, so the September issue, which was my first, was released just last week. December is in progress and we’ll be back on track with the March 2023 issue. (FYI – APG is the Association of Professional Genealogists.)

Another thing I didn’t plan on was creating a YouTube channel. Granted, I’ve had a channel for 11 years when I posted my Flip-Pal demo video. And in 2021, I posted a few videos as an experiment. Early in 2022, my husband encouraged me to focus on videos and on YouTube in particular. For awhile I was posting about once a week. But since I was named editor (see above) in August, I’ve been a little sporadic. I plan to get back on track after the first of the year and post every other week. If you’re not yet a subscriber, I encourage you to head on over and check it out!

Okay, now this one isn’t a genealogy-related goal, but it is a big deal. After 31 years, I quit smoking! This is not something I like to share publicly. I’m I was one of those run-and-hide smokers that didn’t like people to know about my bad habit. But there it is. I’m just over the two-month mark and I’ve been fine the whole time.

So what are my plans for 2023:

Finish writing my book. This needs to go higher up on my priority list and I just need to keep plugging away at the tasks associated with the project. I also need to stop pushing the deadlines for those tasks out!

Finish the ICAPGen accreditation process!

Finish at least one of Katherine Schober’s courses, preferably the German for Genealogists course, which I have started and love so far.

Publish at least one short guide/booklet.

Write at least one article for publication.

Attend two institutes (maybe three): Bridging the Gap: New England to the Midwest, 1780–1850 with Josh Taylor at SLIG, Military III with Michael Strauss at IGHR, and possibly Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills with Paula Stuart-Warren at GRIP (I’ve heard it’s a great course and sometimes it’s nice to have a refresher and/or learn other people’s perspectives).

Keep building/testing my genealogy research hub in Notion. Once that’s done, it’s time to turn to the DNA component of the research hub.

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© Julie Tarr. 2022 Achievements / 2023 Goals was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

Your guide to genealogy-related gift ideas to add to your own holiday wish list in 2022!

This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure statement here.

Genealogical Reference Books

There are so many books to choose from, but these are my go-to books and I recommend them for anyone working on their genealogy.

• Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources, Third Edition
• The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, Third Edition
• The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, Fourth Edition
• Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researcher, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians
• Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards
• Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Third Edition Revised
• Genealogy Standards, Second Edition
• Mastering Genealogical Proof (also available for Kindle)
• Mastering Genealogical Documentation (also available for Kindle)

In addition to these general resources, there are some topic-specific books that I also highly recommend. They include:

• The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy, Second Edition
• Genetic Genealogy in Practice (also available for Kindle)
• Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies
• Organize Your Genealogy: Strategies and Solutions for Every Researcher
• How to Use Evernote for Genealogy
• Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures, Second Edition
• Land & Property Research in the United States
• Reading Early American Handwriting
• The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Germanic Ancestry in Europe
• The Family Tree Italian Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family Tree in Italy
• The Family Tree Irish Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Ancestors in Ireland
• Guide to Genealogical Writing (also available for Kindle)
• A Recipe for Writing Family History

Genealogical & Historical Non-Reference Books

And then there are some fun reads, including:

• Hey America, Your Roots Are Showing
• Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist
• Only A Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy & Its Aftermath (New Edition, 2015)
• Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret
• Finding Dolores: An Adoptee’s Mid-Life Search for the Beginning
• Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA
• Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate

Genealogical & Historical Fiction Books

Most genealogists love a good mystery book…these have a genealogical or historical twist:

• Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Crime Mysteries by Steve Robinson (currently 7 books in the series)
• Michael Stoddard American Revolution Mysteries by Suzanne Adair (currently 4 books in the series)
• The Forensic Genealogist by Nathan Dylan Godwin (currently 9 books in the series)
• Venator Cold Case Series by Nathan Dylan Godwin (currently 2 books in the series)
• Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mysteries by M J Lee (currently 9 books in the series)

You can find more history- and genealogy-related mysteries here (there are a bunch!).

Magazines

Some of my favorite genealogy magazines include:

• Family Tree Magazine
• Internet Genealogy
• History Magazine
• American Spirit

Society Memberships

There are plenty of genealogical and historical societies out there at all levels: national, regional, state, and local. Two of the more popular national/regional societies are the National Genealogical Society and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Professional-related societies include the Association of Professional Genealogists and the American Historical Association. To find other societies, start with the listing provided at Cyndi’s List.

Software & Apps

These are the most popular genealogy database programs:

• Legacy Family Tree (PC)
• RootsMagic (PC and Mac)
• Family Tree Maker (PC and Mac)
• Heredis (PC and Mac)
• Reunion (Mac)

In addition, there are plenty of other genealogy-related software tools that might be of interest to you:

• Personal Historian
• Family Atlas
• Genelines
• Charting Companion
• Evidentia
• Clooz

And don’t forget about photo-editing software to help you preserve your photo collection and documents. I personally use Photoshop because I also use several other Adobe products in the Creative Cloud. I’ve heard that Photoshop Elements is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop and still provides a wide range of capabilities suitable to the needs of genealogists. Another option popular among genealogists is Vivid-Pix RESTORE.

If you are looking for digital photo and/or document storage, then FOREVER Storage may be for you. FOREVER is a unique cloud-based storage system that lasts for your lifetime plus 100 years. Basically, you buy storage space (not via subscription!) and then you own it and the company’s protocols make it possible for your FOREVER Storage archive to live on after you’re gone. You can start out with 2GB for free to check it out and play around with it to see if it’s something you want to invest in. Plus, they have photo organization software called Historian, as well as stuff for digital scrap booking. They also have a way to create products with your photos, such as mugs, calendars, photo books, puzzles, and more. Need to get your stuff digitized? They have a service for that too!

A non-genealogy program that may be of interest to you is Folder Marker. You could color code surname folders based on the color associated with your grandparents’ lines (blue for paternal grandfather, green for paternal grandmother, red for maternal grandfather, and yellow for maternal grandmother), or use it for projects, client work, and other things.

Subscription Websites

• Ancestry.com – Lots of stuff! Records and indexes, variety of types covering many places. Make sure you specify if you want a US or World subscription.
• Fold3 – Their focus is on military-related records. However, they also have a big collection of non-military records including city directories, newspapers, and censuses. You can get this with an All Access Ancestry subscription.
• Newspapers.com – Lots of digitized newspapers from 1700s to 2000s. Upgrade for complete access. You can get this with an All Access Ancestry subscription (but would still need to upgrade for complete access).
• GenealogyBank – Oodles of newspapers at your fingertips. This is my personal favorite website for newspaper research. They also have a Historical Documents collection, which has some rather interesting resources.
• Findmypast – Major focus is on the UK and Ireland, however they are adding US record collections all the time. Of particular interest is their British and Irish newspaper collection.
• MyHeritage – Good set of records “including the world’s largest collection of newspapers.”

Office Supplies

I love office supplies! I’m always finding new goodies that I find helpful for research. Here are a few that I really like to use.

Tools & Gadgets

There are many tools out there that come in handy for the genealogist. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Kindle Fire – Now known as Fire tablets, there are many options to suit anyone’s need. As far as genealogy is concerned, here’s my story. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas in 2011 and had no idea how much I would use it for genealogy. I went an entire week at the Family History Library with only the Fire, while my laptop stayed in the hotel room. It’s also great to have my genealogy database at my fingertips for those times when I’m at a family gathering and people start asking questions…quick, easy access, and they have their answer. You can read more about how I use my Kindle Fire for genealogy here. Not into the Kindle? Consider other tablets or the iPad.
• Brother DS-640 Mobile Scanner – I’ve had this DS-600 version of this scanner for several years and I love it. The great thing about this mobile feed scanner is that you can scan legal pages in one scan. It’s also a great backup for when the Flip-Pal batteries are dead. Although I don’t have one, I hear a lot of people talk about hand-held “wand” scanners as another mobile scanner option.
• CZUR Aura-B Book and Document Scanner – I recently saw a genealogist rave about this…it may go on my own wish list this year!
• Luxor L340 Home Office Double Sided Magnetic White Board (48” x 36”) – Bought this in 2016 and LOVE it (read my post about it)! Wish I had room for two more!
• Wolverine Titan 8-in-1 High Resolution Film to Digital Converter – An older version of this product has been on my own wish list for years—the new version does even more! It has a great rating and is exactly what I need to convert all of the film, slides, and negatives I have in my possession. Perhaps Santa will get it for me this year…

DNA Testing Kits

There are now five major players in the arena for genealogical autosomal DNA testing.

• Family Tree DNA (also does testing for Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA)
• 23andMe
• AncestryDNA
• MyHeritage
• Living DNA

Education

There a several educational opportunities available to us. Why not add one of these opportunities to your list?

• Genealogy In Action – Yes, a shameless plug Right now I offer one course, as well as an annual subscription to the Genealogy Scavenger Hunt.
• National Institute for Genealogical Studies – Tons of courses to choose from. You can even earn certificates in a variety of areas, including American Records and Professions Development.
• National Genealogical Society Courses – NGS offers two types of “at-home” learning opportunities—American Genealogical Studies and Continuing Genealogical Studies.
• Family Tree Magazine – Has a variety of courses available.
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars – A subscription grants you access to tons of webinars covering all sorts of topics.

Jewelry

I love jewelry and family history, so why not combine them? There are plenty of jewelry items out there, many of them customizable to include the birthstones of children. But since I don’t have any children, I tend to gravitate to the one’s without the customizable stones. Here are some of my favorites:

T-Shirts & Sweatshirts

I have all sorts of genealogy-related T-shirts and sweatshirts. Here are some of my favorites.

Novelty Items

Anything with a genealogy touch always makes a great gift: T-shirts, mouse pads, notebooks, mugs, etc. These are the two places I go when I want to give myself a genealogy-related gift:

• JMK Genealogy Gifts
• Fun Stuff for Genealogists
• Ancestry Agency Shop

What about you? Do you have any suggestions? What are you asking for this holiday season? Leave a comment and let me know.

The post 2022 Holiday Gift Guide for Genealogists first appeared on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub.

© Julie Tarr. 2022 Holiday Gift Guide for Genealogists was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

Last week was my final institute for 2022. Yes, I did four of them, only because I wanted to take advantage of the virtual offerings and everything aligned with my 2022 educational goals.

This time around I took Land Records: Using Maps in Genealogical Research, with Melinda Kashuba through the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). I’ve been wanting to take this course since I first learned about it (and institutes!) some 13 or so years ago. And of course, I was not disappointed.

I LOVE maps and use them a lot for genealogy (especially for problem-solving), but I had a few goals in mind before class started. I wanted to:

• Learn more about topographic maps, since I hadn’t used them since college.
• Explore different types of maps that I’d never thought of to use for genealogy or had never even knew existed.
• Discover new places/ways to find maps.
• Strengthen my map skills overall.

I got all of this and more! Melinda, Jerry Smith, Kimberly Powell, and Michael Strauss were all incredible instructors. Even in the virtual environment, there was still hands-on and small group learning, which I appreciated. I learned about all sorts of other maps that I wasn’t familiar with (or not very familiar with), such as migration maps, statistical maps, and military maps. I got more training in plotting metes and bounds parcels (and learned about a program I can use for free to make life easier). And I simply had fun playing with and learning more about maps all week.

Overall, if you want to learn more about maps, this is the institute course to take!

P.S. I’d also like to say that the IGHR staff and volunteers did an excellent job behind the scenes making the week an enjoyable one.

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© Julie Tarr. This article was first published at Julie’s Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.

The post IGHR 2022 Debrief first appeared on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub.

© Julie Tarr. IGHR 2022 Debrief was originally posted at Julie's Genealogy & History Hub; appearance of this article elsewhere, without my permission, violates copyright.