Year: 2025

Strategy: Voting RegistersBy Dale E. Lee and AI2025.01.15 Using Voting Registers Genealogists are constantly seeking reliable resources to trace their ancestry and build a vivid picture of their family’s past. Voter lists and registers are powerful, yet underutilized tools that can provide unique insights into family history. These records offer details that go beyond basic identification, revealing a person’s location at specific points in time and sometimes even including valuable clues about age and citizenship status. What Are Voting Registers? Voting registers, or voter lists, are official records maintained by governments to document eligible voters in a specific area. These […]

Strategy: Chain Migration and Cluster ResearchBy Dale E. Lee and AI2025.01.08 Chain Migration and Cluster Research Genealogy research is often compared to solving a puzzle, where every piece offers a glimpse into the past. While traditional methods such as census records, vital records, and wills are staples of genealogical investigation, two powerful but lesser-known strategies—chain migration and cluster research—can significantly enhance your efforts. These approaches focus on understanding the social networks and community dynamics of your ancestors. Using them opens doors to discovering origins, migration patterns, and familial connections that might otherwise remain hidden. Understanding Chain Migration Chain migration is […]

Strategy: Military Records and Pension FilesBy Dale E. Lee and AI2025.01.01 Military Records and Pension Files: Lesser-Known Strategies Military records are a treasure trove for genealogists, offering far more than dates and places of service. These documents can reveal an ancestor’s birthplace, family relationships, and even details about their community. Pension files, in particular, are a goldmine, containing affidavits and testimonies from family members, neighbors, and fellow soldiers that paint a vivid picture of an ancestor’s life. This article outlines some lesser-known strategies for harnessing military records in uncovering your family history. 1. Mining Pension Files Pension files can be […]