Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
That ancestor you couldn’t find? Try again.
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Hi, Reader, Is there an ancestor you haven’t searched for in a while because you felt you’d already looked everywhere? It might be time for another look. Sometimes moving forward means trying a different type of record. The census might leave you with questions that a city directory, church record, or another community source can help answer. If you’re unsure where to look next, start here: When Census Records Fail: 5 Community Records That Solve Genealogy Mysteries Choose one record type from the article to investigate for your ancestor. Then check what’s become available since your last search. New collections appear, existing collections gain records, and images sometimes become accessible where you previously found only an index. Both Ancestry and MyHeritage recently announced additions worth checking. New and updated records at Ancestry Ancestry’s October roundup includes 19 new collections and 28 updated collections. Among them:
Explore Ancestry’s new and updated collections New and updated records at MyHeritage MyHeritage’s September roundup includes 28 new and updated collections. A few to consider:
Explore MyHeritage’s new and updated collections Your next step: revisit one ancestor Choose one person whose research has stalled. Check the collection lists for their location and time period, then search directly within a relevant collection. If you find a possible match, open the original image when available. Read beyond your ancestor’s name, and note relatives, addresses, occupations, and other details that could guide your next search. RootsTech 2027 registration is open! RootsTech takes place March 4–6, 2027, online and in Salt Lake City. Online attendance is free, and registration is now open for both options. I’ll be presenting three sessions covering AI as a genealogy research partner, reconstructing an ancestor’s world, and finding clues in old family photographs. I’m looking forward to sharing more as the conference approaches! Explore RootsTech and register here Happy researching, Lisa L |
Are You My Cousin? Newsletter
Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Hi, Reader, A census record looks like a fact. Name. Age. Birthplace. Written neatly in a column. But every one of those answers came from someone standing in a doorway, talking to a stranger with a pen. Maybe it was your ancestor. Maybe it was a twelve-year-old. Maybe it was the neighbor, because nobody was home and the census taker had forty more houses to get through before dark. I have to wonder about the story behind my grandmother being enumerated with the neighbor's name in the 1940...
Hi, Reader, With Labor Day coming up, I’ve been thinking about work, specifically, the work our ancestors did. When I look at my own family tree, I see a lot of farmers. Farmer. Farmer. Farmer. Not particularly exciting at first glance. 🙂 But an ancestor’s occupation can tell us much more than simply how they earned a living. Their work could influence where they lived, why they moved, who they interacted with and even the types of records they left behind. And sometimes, understanding why an...
Hi, Reader, Apparently August still triggers the part of my brain that thinks I need new school supplies. I haven’t actually gone back to school in quite a few years, but give me a good pen, a fresh legal pad and an excuse to wander through the office-supply aisle, and I’m happy. So after last week’s look at school records, I thought we’d continue the back-to-school theme with a different question: What are the “school supplies” I actually use as a genealogist? I’m fairly minimalist when it...