Gale’s Passenger and Immigration Lists Index: A Must-Have Source on Immigrant History

| By Tara Atterberry | John Harrower, a Scottish businessman, was forced to leave his home and family in December 1773 in search of a more stable means of employment. He traveled across Europe for more than six weeks but was not able to secure employment and was desperate for work. As a last resort, … Read more

Identifying Your Canadian Roots

By Jena Crable

For many U.S. genealogy wayfarers, their journey usually includes a stop in Canada. Surprisingly, this is true for persons with and without French-Canadian roots. Not surprisingly, living along the 3,000-mile border that separates the U.S. from its northern neighbor are innumerable families who share common ancestries as a result of their desire for greater economic, religious, or political freedom–in one country or the other.

Read moreIdentifying Your Canadian Roots

Get Started in Genealogy with the 3 W’s

GenealogyConnect

October is National Family History Month. Do you have the genealogy and family history resources that genealogists and enthusiasts in your community need? And do they know how to get started?

Help your family historians and researchers make deeper historic connections while exploring their roots. Gale Genealogy Connect – the ideal complement to fact/people-based genealogy sources – fills in the rich context and real stories surrounding chronology that pre-dates accessible public records.

Get started in genealogy with the 3 W’s:

Read moreGet Started in Genealogy with the 3 W’s

Tracing Native American Genealogy in Federal Records of  Five Civilized Tribes  

Native American Genealogy By Rachal Mills Lennon

Excerpted from the book, Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes

The history and culture of the American South are unique, owing chiefly to the intermingling of the races and the diverse ethnic

backgrounds of countless families. Modern Southerners proudly boast traditions–real or not–of Native American ancestry. Odds are, these traditions lead directly back to the so-called Five Civilized Tribes. The Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians dominated a broad swath of territory from North Carolina to Mississippi before their forced removal westward. Long hailed for their adaptability to “white” ways (hence the designation “civilized”), these nations have gained near honorific status among Southeastern genealogists.

Read moreTracing Native American Genealogy in Federal Records of  Five Civilized Tribes  

Virginia Genealogists Need SWEM

By Joe Garonzik

The two-volume Virginia Historical Index (aka “Swem’s Index” or “Swem”), originally published in 1934, encompasses the contents of the following seven serial publications: “The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography” (VMHB),Vols. 1-38; the “William and Mary College Quarterly” ( aka the “William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine” W&MCQ), Series I, Vols. 1-27 and Series II, Vols. 1-10; “Tyler’s Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine” (TQ), Vols. 1-10; the “Virginia Historical Register and Literary Advertiser,” Vols. 1-6; the “Lower Norfolk County Virginia Antiquary,” Vols. 1-5; “Hening’s Statutes at Large,” Vols. 1-13; and the “Calendar of Virginia State Papers,” Vols. 1-11.

Read moreVirginia Genealogists Need SWEM