Table of Contents

Part I: Begin Your Family History Odyssey
Chapter 1. Why Explore Your Genealogy?
Chapter 2. Balance Traditional and Electronic Research
Chapter 3. Organize and Create Your Family Tree
Chapter 4. Place Your Ancestors into Context and Locate Vital Records
Chapter 5. Use Census Schedules and Records to Locate Your Ancestors
Chapter 6. Extend Your Research with Advanced Record Types
Chapter 7. Use the Many Types of Military Service Records
Chapter 8. Understand and Use Land and Property Records
Chapter 9. Locate and Use Immigration and Naturalization Records
Part II: Research Methods and Strategies
Chapter 10. Discover Where to Locate Documents About Your Family
Chapter 11. Learn How to Successfully Research Your Ancestors on the Internet
Chapter 12. Research and Verify Your Ancestors Using Genetic Genealogy (DNA)
Chapter 13. Follow Alternative Research Paths to Locate Difficult Records
Chapter 14. Plan a Very Successful Genealogical Research Trip
Chapter 15. Harness Technology for Your Genealogical Research
Index

About the Author

George G. Morgan is president of Aha! Seminars, Inc. In addition to his extensive responsibilities with Aha! Seminars, Inc., George is an avid genealogist. His interest began at age ten when he and his paternal grandmother and aunt divulged his paternal history extending back before the American Revolution. In the years since then, George’s genealogical research has expanded to include all the branches of his family tree and he has investigated leads in materials in all sorts of places. Libraries, archives, and courthouses are among his favorite haunts, but he will leave no stone unturned, even to the point of tracking down the original 1914 newspapers containing his great-grandparents’ obituaries in a records retention facility owned by a county board of education. He is a master in working with and understanding all types of genealogical record types in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. With the advent of electronic research materials, he has become an recognized expert in using software programs, databases, Internet resources, online databases, Internet genealogical mailing lists and message boards, search engines, directories, subscription databases, and all the major online services around the world.

George is the author of seven landmark genealogy books. These include: The Genealogy Forum on America Online: The Official User’s Guide; the award winning Your Family Reunion: How to Plan It, Organize It, and Enjoy It, both published by Ancestry Publishing. His award-wining book, How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy, published by McGraw Hill as part of the highly successful “How to Do Everything” series, is now available in its fourth edition. This book is one of the best-selling genealogy “how-to” genealogy books published in the last 20 years! George has also written the first and second editions of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com. His Genealogical Research in the Major Repositories of London, published through Lulu.com, has sold hundreds of copies.

George is a prolific writer in other areas as well. He began in 1996 by writing the award-winning weekly online genealogy column, “Along Those Lines…” that appeared first in the Genealogy Forum on America Online and then exclusively at the Ancestry.com web site from January 2000 to March 2006, and additional columns for Ancestry Daily News. He also appears weekly in the Plus Edition of Eastman’s Online Weekly Newsletter, at the bi-monthly electronic genealogy magazine Digital Genealogist, in the Ancestry Weekly Journal at Ancestry.com, and at other online venues. He has written literally hundreds of articles for genealogy print magazines: Ancestry Magazine, The Association of Genealogists Quarterly, Discovering Family History, Everton’s GenealogicalHelper, Family Chronicle Magazine, Family Tree Magazine, The Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM, Genealogical Computing (published by Ancestry Publishing), Heritage Quest Magazine, Internet Genealogy, The NGS News Magazine, and Southern Queries Magazine. His other online venues over the last decade have included Sony Communications’ Emazing.com “Genealogy Tip of the Day” and a stint with ChineseRoots.com.

George is a popular speaker at international genealogical conferences and has presented all across the United States in national, state, and local conference. He also has presented in Canada, in the U.K., and on several international genealogical cruises. His range of genealogical interests and speaking topics is among the most diverse among the genealogical speaking community.