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Articles by Shelley K. Bishop
Ohio Genealogy Research Guide
What do the Wright Brothers, Doris Day, John Glenn, LeBron James, William McKinley, Neil Armstrong, Gloria Steinem, Thomas Edison, Jack Nicklaus, and Ulysses S. Grant have in common? All hail from Ohio, the seventh most-populous US state. From its beginnings as the first western frontier to a modern hub of commerce and education, Ohio has played a key role in American history. Today, millions of people throughout the world can find Buckeyes in their family trees.
I can change the world! How these changemakers found their superpower
Sara Shams had both legs amputated at age six — it became her superpower. 15-year-old Taylor Ladd-Hudson turned a shark experience into something bigger. Amy Parry got subversive after she was told women's stories on screen were too niche. Jody Rallah wanted to make sense of the world and art led the way. And Anisa Nandaula turns it all into performance poetry. Meet these changemakers joining Natasha Mitchell at the Women of the World (WOW) Festival in Brisbane in October 2024.
12 Records for Finding Elusive Maiden Names
Finding female ancestors is a notorious roadblock for researchers because of the simple fact that women’s names historically changed after marriage. In fact, a married woman’s identity became so affixed to her husband’s that even her own death record or obituary might make no mention of her maiden name. Other records may give only a first name or nickname: Polly, Fanny or Sally.
Genealogy Club Of Newtown To Host Virtual ‘Avoiding An Ancestor Identity Cr
com Cultural Events Genealogy Club Of Newtown To Host Virtual ‘Avoiding An Ancestor Identity Crisis’ Presentation Published: Feb 04, 2023 08:00 AM Print Email Text Size The February 8 meeting of The Genealogy Club of Newtown will feature a program on “Avoiding an Ancestor Identity Crisis” presented by Shelley Bishop.Programs of the Genealogy Club of Newtown are co-sponsored by C.Professional genealogical researcher, writer and speaker Shelley Bishop will be the guest this month of The...
The Genealogist’s Guide to Birth Records
The road to discovering your ancestor’s past is often gated by the need to answer essential questions about his or her beginnings: When was he born? Where was her birthplace? Who were his parents? The key to unlocking that gate often lies in birth records. This article will look at what you might find in a birth record, what types of records that exist for different places and time periods, and how to access the records.
How to Use Military Service Records for Genealogy
ADVERTISEMENT By Shelley K. Bishop Premium Have you heard stories about a Revolutionary War or Civil War soldier in your family, but lack documents about him? Or maybe you don’t have stories, but you wonder about your military heritage. Military service can be an important part of your family’s story. Yet how do you determine whether an ancestor served in an 18th -or 19th- century war, if any records of his service exist, and where to find them?
How to Use Military Draft Records for Genealogy
Follow these tips to make the most of your ancestor’s draft records. US military draft records are potentially untapped sources of information on male ancestors and sometimes their female family members. Even men who didn’t serve in the military may have had to register under one of the conscription acts for the Civil War, World War I, or World War II. Online resources make it easy for today’s savvy researcher to find and use draft records as a springboard for family history discoveries.
How (and Why) to Make a Genealogy Timeline
Do you ever wish you could walk in your ancestors’ shoes? Get a craving to know more about their lives than just names, dates and places? Thankfully, you don’t need a crystal ball to see into the past. All it takes is curiosity, creative investigation, and the right tool to construct an engaging profile of an ancestor’s life. Timelines offer a simple and effective way to create that profile.
How to Write a Genealogy Research Report
Inside every genealogist is a hidden (or a not-so-hidden) detective. We all love the thrill of the hunt and the challenge of a mysterious kinship. We hone our search skills, learn about records, and ponder the evidence. Yet there’s another aspect of detective work that we often brush aside—writing reports about our research. Research reports are powerful investigative tools. In criminal cases, detectives use them to summarize, analyze and communicate findings.
How to Write a Genealogy Research Report
Inside every genealogist is a hidden (or a not-so-hidden) detective. We all love the thrill of the hunt and the challenge of a mysterious kinship. We hone our search skills, learn about records, and ponder the evidence. Yet there’s another aspect of detective work that we often brush aside—writing reports about our research. Research reports are powerful investigative tools. In criminal cases, detectives use them to summarize, analyze and communicate findings.
Colonial Genealogy Resources
Whether your Colonial ancestors threw tea into the Boston Harbor or quietly contributed to America’s growth and independence, their story is woven into the fabric of the birth of our nation and needs to be shared. Discover some of the best Colonial genealogy resources available online so you can learn more about your early American ancestors.
Patriot Games: How to Find Revolutionary War Ancestors
The fife and drums echo through many American families. Whether to confirm a family story, join a patriotic lineage society or satisfy your own curiosity, you may long to know more about your Revolutionary War genealogy. And if your forebears lived in America between 1775 and 1783, there’s a good chance one of them aided in the struggle for independence: serving in the military, providing funds or supplies, or demonstrating patriotism in a number of other ways.
3 Family History Book Ideas and How to Create Them
ADVERTISEMENT By Shelley K. Bishop Are you the keeper of your family’s history? If so, you’ve likely amassed binders full of records and documents, and discovered fascinating family stories in the process. You’ve spent considerable time building a family tree that spans multiple generations. Perhaps you’ve inherited photos, scrapbooks or keepsakes that bring the past to life. If you’re lucky, you may even have an ancestor’s diary, family Bible or handwritten letters.
An Open Book: Creating Family History Books
ADVERTISEMENT By Shelley K. Bishop Premium Family history books make classic genealogy gifts, but they are also a great way to tell your family’s story in a visual way. Are you the keeper of your family’s history? If so, you’ve likely amassed binders full of records and documents, and discovered fascinating family stories in the process. You’ve spent considerable time building a family tree that spans multiple generations.
8 Tips for Finding Ancestors Prior to 1850
“Kansas pioneers.” (Library of Congress) If you’ve traced your family back to 1850 in the United States, congratulations! As you peer deeper into the past, you may find the trail is harder to follow: Where are all the names? Gone are federal census records that list everyone by name and age, replaced by enumerations naming only heads-of-household. Outside of New England, birth and death records become virtually non-existent. Grave markers may be lost or unreadable.
Premium: 31 Free Social History Websites
“Just the facts, ma’am.” That might’ve been enough for Detective Joe Friday in “Dragnet,” but it’s rarely satisfying for today’s family historians. With a world of information at your fingertips, there’s no need to stop with a dry list of names, dates and places. Many online social history resources can help you discover how your ancestors lived, worked and traveled.
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