ROOTS & BRANCHES

It’s just a little more than a month until one of the rites of passage into spring in the Pennsylvania genealogical world – the Lancaster Family History Conference. Stretching from March 28 to 30 when pre-conference trips and workshops are included, the main event on March 30 will be held at Farm and Home Center, …

For years the genealogy world suffered from a reputation as a kind of semi-scholarly weak sister to the study history at best—and mere ego filled with a lot of unverifiable family lore. There was time, not particularly long ago, when genealogists seeking to hone their craft—to become either a professional or an academic-level amateur—had really …

In case you wonder what type of communications that your “Roots & Branches” columnist likes to receive, let me share one with you that shows someone going about genealogy in a credible, methodological fashion as well as needing some guidance going on from there. The e-mail came from Tess Byers in Johnstown. She attached “three …

I’ve written quite a number of “Roots & Branches” columns telling people that one of the best ways to make sure your genealogy is as complete and credible as possible is to find the local experts—ones who sometimes only know one particular township or borough, but know their territory and the people who lived there. …