ROOTS & BRANCHES

Earlier this month, I traveled to Tarrytown in the Hudson Valley for the New York State Family History Conference, primarily as a vendor of the several commercially published books I’ve authored. And while sales were great and I had the chance to sneak a few listens to lectures from some of the genealogy world’s top …

It’s not often that I’m an “early adopter” of, well, just about anything. Normally I like to see a track record – especially before I plunk down money to purchase a product or service. But when Katherine Schober of SK Translations, a German-English translations service, decided to offer a “premium” membership with her company, she had me at the proverbial “hello.” Of course, Schober …

It’s sometimes the case that genealogists get a little single minded. (Beat) OK, now that those of you who are single-minded genealogists (or know one) have gotten the laughs out of your system – what genealogist, uh, isn’t single minded? – we can proceed with our regularly scheduled column. Because what I’m going to opine …

I’ve opined – more than just once or twice – that the local expertise of genealogists can be worth more than many database searches. This is because the “granular knowledge” that such experts possess – about the history, geography and people of single townships or even part of a township – is an often-overlooked asset …