The Blog
Guides, tutorials, and deep dives into genealogy research, DNA testing, and family history.
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Research Skills
87 Genealogists Reveal What They Wish They Knew Before Starting
Look, I get it. You just discovered your great-great-grandmother's maiden name and you're ready to trace your lineage back to...
Genealogy Life
The Ghost in Your DNA: Why You Feel Connected to Ancestors You’ve Never Met
It's 2 AM. Again. You're hunched over your laptop, squinting at a baptism record from 1847. Your eyes are wet....
Research Skills
8 Census Records That Hide Extra Information in Plain Sight
Let me show you something most newbies completely miss. Right there, in plain sight, in some census records, there's hidden...
Latest Posts
History & Heritage
10 Diseases on Death Certificates That Don’t Exist Anymore (And What They Really Were)
Your great-great-grandfather's death certificate says he died of "dropsy." What the hell is dropsy? Here's the thing: a 19th-century death...
History & Heritage
Why Your Ancestor’s Age Changes in Every Document (And No, It’s Not Just Bad Handwriting)
Your great-great-grandfather was 4 years old in 1860. Then he was 10 in 1870. By 1880, he was somehow only...
History & Heritage
Sorry Grandma, I Can’t Make Soap, Cloth, or Fire From Scratch
Sometimes I think about my great-great-grandmother watching me live my life. And I'm pretty sure she'd give me three months....
History & Heritage
Why Your Great-Great-Grandmother Took Photos of Dead Relatives (And Why It Wasn’t Weird)
Somewhere in your family's old photo collection, there might be one that feels... off. The person is lying down. Eyes...
History & Heritage
Your Great-Great-Grandmother Thought Photography Could Steal Her Soul (And Other Wild Beliefs From the 1800s)
The 1800s gave us the steam engine, electricity, and modern medicine. It also gave us people who refused to be...
History & Heritage
Why Everyone in the 1800s Named Their Kids the Same Thing
Picture walking into a one-room schoolhouse in 1880. The teacher calls out "Mary!" and four girls look up. She tries...
Nostalgia
30 Forgotten Foods Your Grandparents Grew to Survive
Your great-grandmother knew something modern grocery stores have erased from memory. Back when families couldn't just swing by the supermarket,...
Nostalgia
25 Forgotten Poor Man Meals Your Grandparents Ate To Survive
Your grandmother's kitchen held secrets. Not the gossipy kind. The survival kind. The kind where a single egg became dinner...
DNA
At 70, He Discovered an Unexpected Cousin
Christian, who lives in Deauville, France, began exploring his genealogy over thirty years ago. Among the few traces left behind...
Nostalgia
17 Reasons Summer Was Better in the 70s
Summer hit different in the 70s. No Instagram. No TikTok. No constant notifications pulling you away from the moment. Just...
Nostalgia
21 Forgotten Toys Every ’60s Kid Played With
The cardboard box is torn open. Wrapping paper flies everywhere. And there it is—the toy you've been dreaming about for...
Nostalgia
10 Playground Classics That Taught Us Everything About Life
Remember when playgrounds were adventure zones? When a trip down the slide meant risking burns and flying off the end...