One of my favorite female ancestors, Henrietta Meares, left little behind to mark her time on this earth. She was the second of three wives of Mack Crisp in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, but only for a short time. Henrietta died of typhoid fever at the tender age of 24, along with a new infant child, only a few short years after her marriage. She left behind two children, born before vital records were enacted in North Carolina, along with several step-children from Mack's previous marriage. She wasn't really married long enough to end up mentioned in land and court records. Her tombstone only reads "Henrietta, wife of M. M. Crisp."

Despite few records, Henrietta was easy to identify as a second wife. I was lucky in that regard. I had her first name (although not her maiden name) from my great grandmother (her daughter). She married in 1897 and the county has a record of that marriage. She died in 1901 so she appears with her husband, daughter, and step-children in the 1900 U.S. federal census. She is buried in the Crisp family cemetery among other Crisp family members, although her husband is buried elsewhere - and her tombstone gives her dates of birth and death.

Whenever you uncover a wife's name in your research, it is prudent to question whether she was the only wife - not all are as easy to identify and document as Henrietta. The wife that you have discovered may or may not be the mother of any or all of your ancestor's children. This is especially true in the time before census records listed family members by name, or identified family relationships.

Census records, especially, are full of clues to a potential second (or third) marriage: Read more...

Is it a C or a G? An F or an S? What did they mean by calling my ancestor a pettifogger? What month is Fructidor?

Reading and understanding old documents often presents a challenge for genealogists of all skill levels. Like most things, it requires patience and a lot of practice. But with the right tools and a little practice, you'll soon be reading and understanding old documents like the pros!

When I learned that Ancestry.com had launched a Chinese site, Jiapu.cn, I was excited to try it out. That is until I visted and was faced with a page full of Chinese characters. I should have expected it; afterall, Ancestry.com's other international sites don't have English language versions. But the Chinese language, while beautiful, can just be so intimidating.

Wanting to give the site a try, however, I headed over to the trusty Google Translator. The graphics help a bit as well. The top section of the site, with the tree graphic, is where you enter your own family tree - not the search box as you might expect. For searching, scroll down to the second section with the magnifying glass and enter the last name (surname) in the first box. The third box is for location - the province in China. You can use the Google Web Page Translator for the Jiapu.cn home page to get a feel for the layout.

Although Web page translation can help you read the results, you will have to do your searching in Chinese. Read more...

The 2008 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree was the biggest and best ever according to attendees, and the 2009 Jamboree -- to be held June 12-14, 2009 -- is expected to draw nearly 1200 participants, speakers and exhibitors. If you're interested in presenting, the Call for Papers is out with a submission deadline of August 31.

A wide variety of presentations will be considered, including Interent information sources, migration paths, use of records and repositories, research methodology, skill building, cultural and ethnic research, writing, publishing, family history, computers and technology, society management, genetics and DNA research, etc. Topics are not limited to southwestern U.S. or California - this is shaping up to be run much like a national conference! The ethnic focus will be the British Isles.

For full details, visit the Jamboree blog to download the presentation proposals.