Just a theory
The dangers of uncritical acceptance There are some really cool tools to be used these days to help analyze our DNA results up against our genealogical tree research. But there's a reason why they have names like Theory of Family Relativity (at MyHeritage) or...
read moreOne giant leap
Into belief It was just a few moments before 11 p.m. Eastern time, 50 years ago today. The Legal Genealogist -- and anyone else alive at the time -- remembers it as if it were yesterday. Gathered around television sets, radios, anything that would carry a signal, we...
read moreInto the ring
The language of the law. Part Latin, part Anglo-Saxon, all confusing. It's mid-way through the GRIP week, and The Legal Genealogist is exhilarated... and tired. I'm a student this week, at least mostly, back in the classroom at the Genealogical Research Institute of...
read moreDavid Fred Cottrell, 1928-2019
Yet another sad farewell They were 12 in number, born between the First World War and and the early years of the Second World War. The children of Clay Rex and Opal (Robertson) Cottrell, The Legal Genealogist's maternal grandparents. Ruth Marie, the first-born. Born...
read more2019 alphabet soup: O is for…
The language of the law. Part Latin, part Greek, part law French, even part Anglo-Saxon. And all confusing. It's institute season. This week was the Midwest African-American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Next...
read moreWayback it!
Archive those pages A friend and genealogical colleague was lamenting this week that information he curated and contributed to one of the genealogical wikis had disappeared in the course of later edits. The problem now appears to be curable and folks are trying to...
read moreSLIG 2020 registration opens Saturday
Get ready for genealogy's winter camp If you're one of those whose schedules won't allow you to attend any of the “summer camps for genealogists” -- the week-long institutes in June and July offered by the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in...
read moreFinding Margaret’s mother, part 5
Why not use autosomal DNA Lots of The Legal Genealogist's readers are helping out with ideas for the Great 2019 Research Caper: putting paid to the genealogical question of “who was the mother of Margaret (Battles) Shew?” Margaret is my 3rd great grandmother. Her...
read moreOne of these years…
Celebrating the Fourth in memory It didn't happen again this year. And The Legal Genealogist doesn't know when it will. But it will. For sure. That's a promise I keep making to myself.[1. See Judy G. Russell, “The Louisa fair,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 6 July...
read moreOriginality counts
The limits on copyright Reader Dennis Yancey asks a great copyright question. “If a person transcribes the family record data in a Family Bible,” he asks, “can they claim copyright on this transcription?” And, he continues, “Is the answer to this pretty much the same...
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