Ancestral Discovery
Death records as genealogy tools
Mark FearerOct 29, 2020
My last column was probably the hardest one to write, talking about my nephew’s tragic death. But it morbidly inspired me to address a few death records: obituaries,...
The genealogy of heartbreak
Mark FearerSep 24, 2020
Genealogy is almost always a joy for me to talk and write about — today, not so much. I recently returned home from a tragedy that relates to family history that I...
What’s so Jewish about genealogy?
Mark FearerAug 27, 2020
For the last three columns, I’ve been writing mostly about basic genealogy concepts, but now it’s time to look at what’s unique about Jewish genealogy. As I said...
Watering your family tree with bureaucracy
Mark FearerJul 23, 2020
If you’ve been following this column for the last couple of months, you have hopefully started your tree by creating a pedigree, and started interviewing relatives (on...
Planting and growing your family tree
Mark FearerJun 25, 2020
In my last (and first) column, I focused on why to start your family history. Today we’ll look at how. Of course, any tree starts from a seed, and we’ll germinate...
Why you need your ancestors
Mark FearerMay 21, 2020
After an 11-year hiatus, I’m restarting this genealogy column in the IJN, because the interest in finding and acknowledging our ancestors has grown even more. I would...
Stealing our ancestors?
Mark FearerMar 05, 2009
Recently, I was told by my credit union that there had been a security breach for cardholders, and they were issuing new cards to prevent any further problems. This kind...
The bureaucracy of death, part 2
Mark FearerJan 29, 2009
Last column, I focused on death certificates, obituaries and Social Security application records. But death leaves many other records behind. And just to be clear, Im...
Death and bureaucracy, Part 1
Mark FearerJan 15, 2009
As we have been told all our lives, death and taxes are inevitable, and fortunately for family historians, both result in a number of records being generated. Documents...
Let technology help you with genealogy
Mark FearerDec 04, 2008
Since my last column focused on organizing your paper genealogy, well focus this time on using your computer to organize all those genealogy material. While many...
