Genealogists! Tons of sales this weekend.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

Instead of doing several separate posts on the Thanksgiving weekend sales, I’m doing a general reminder for readers. If you are on Facebook and some other social media sites, you have probably seen many of the ads. The major companies like Ancestry, MyHeritage, Newspapers.com, etc. have subscription offers. DNA companies are offering many discounts. Various newspaper sites have discounts as do genealogy software companies. Some are really BIG discounts for all things we use in our family history research. Check the websites of the companies and take advantages of the savings. Many expire on December 2d.

Image by LillyCantabile from Pixabay

 

Legacy Family Tree Webinars Half Price Sale for new members!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Webinars  , ,  Leave a comment

Where else are you able to find this extensive continuing education from top presenters around the genealogy world? I do mean world as Legacy Family Tree Webinars has live and saved presentations and handouts from many countries. Never joined? New members can save 50% right now.

Details:

  • 50% Off Annual Membership (New memberships only. Now $24.98)
  • Join now through Sunday, Nov 30, 2025 @ 11:59pm MT and then get access for a year!

Some quick stats: (these don’t include all that you will learn from now and well into 2026!)

Total classes: 2,500+

Handout pages: 10,000+

DNA Classes: 322

Historical Records classes: 414

Tech classes: 217

I’d appreciate it if you would take advantage of the sale and help support this blog at the same time. It doesn’t affect your savings on this sale!  https://legacyfamilytree.com/checkout/?add-to-cart=93260&ref=566036&utm_campaign=2025-holiday-campaign

 

U.S. State Archives onsite research hours per week. A wide difference!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Archives  , , , , ,  5 Comments

The chart below is a sampling of hours that U.S. state archives are open for research each week. Many require appointments and don’t forget to double check the hours before a visit. Thoroughly browse through the website of any you plan to visit or to contact otherwise to learn more about the gems each holds. A growing number have catalogs, inventories, indexes and digitized records on their website. Some post a variety of records on state memory or encyclopedia projects. Check the major genealogy websites for some indexes and records from state archives.

I compiled a shorter version of this chart for my state archives session as part of this past September-October’s IGHR (Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research) sold out course “Repository Research: From Website to Doorway. ” It is being offered again on six Thursdays in March-April, 2026. Registration for this and other IGHR courses in 2026 began yesterday, November 22. https://ighr.gagensociety.org/

 

 

 

Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) registration opens Nov 22

Paula Stuart-Warren  Genealogy, Institutes  , , ,  Leave a comment
IGHR 2026 registration starts this Saturday, November 22, at NOON ET!

Registration now starts at the same time for ALL COURSES, including the six “IGHR Week” courses and the six once-a-week courses. Registration for each course will close one month before the course starts.

Now you can take more than one IGHR course per year. Finish the 3-course methodology sequence in 1-1.5 years. Register on your schedule, not ours!

First up are Genetics for Genealogists: Fundamentals of DNA (March 14-May 2) and Repository Research: From Website to Doorway (March 12-April 16). [I am an instructor in the Repository Research course that is being offered for only the second time after it sold out the first time.]

Visit the IGHR 2026 web page for more information on all courses and to watch a short registration video.
Each course costs $545. Georgia Genealogical Society (GGS) members receive a $50 discount for IGHR 2026. Become a member before registration at the GGS website. Members can find the discount code in the Members Area of the website.
IGHR now has a gift certificate! Check it out here.

 

 

WWII missing Minnesota service member from New Ulm is identified

Paula Stuart-Warren  DNA, Military  , ,  1 Comment

UPDATE: I neglected to add an important item, the name of the soldier who gave his life for the country. He is U.S. Army Captain Willibald Charles Bianchi, a World War II veteran from New Ulm, Brown County, Minnesota,

Articles that share the story about the identification of missing U.S. service members make me happy for the families that are involved. They get closure. The stories also make me happy because the professional genealogist involved in analyzing records, identifying generations of the service member’s extended family, and determining possible family to provide the DNA connection, is likely a friend of mine. I don’t know who the genealogist was in a case I heard about recently.

A local TV station shared a story about a now identified Minnesota WWII soldier. “Remains of World War II soldier from Minnesota formally identified after 80 years.” https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/remains-of-world-war-ii-soldier-from-minnesota-formally-identified-after-80-years/

 

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Our-Stories/Article/4331184/dpaa-concludes-record-setting-2025-fiscal-year is another story that tells of the record number of such identifications in its 2025 fiscal year. It takes a variety of organizations and people to reach such a milestone.

 

 

Cass Gilbert and the Roselawn Cemetery Chapel, Roseville, Minnesota

Paula Stuart-Warren  Cemeteries, history  , , ,  Leave a comment

I love reading history. I love working for genealogy research clients when their ancestral needs fit right into my own area. I love it when area media has an article or news story about history in my own area and yesterday’s story is special because I drive by the place a couple times each week and wave to my family buried there. A recent news story on local TV station KSTP here in Minnesota covered this place 1.7 miles from my apartment and where some of my family are buried. Alexander Charles (A. C.) Stuart and Emma Louise (Slaker) Stuart are one set of my great grandparents. They and three of their daughters are buried in the same lot at Roselawn Cemetery. Their oldest son, my Grandpa Earl James Stuart and Grandma Olga Theodora Stuart are buried .8 miles away from them in Elmhurst Cemetery. The KSTP story on Cass Gilbert’s building at Roselawn Cemetery along with a photo is here https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/so-minnesota-twin-cities-cemetery-connected-to-legendary-architect/ “So Minnesota: Twin Cities cemetery connected to legendary architect” reminded me that the famed architect Cass Gilbert designed the chapel that is prominent at the main entrance to the beautiful cemetery.

 If that name is familiar to you, it might be because he designed the Minnesota state capitol building, the Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC, and other notable buildings. The Smithsonian states “His first major commission was the Minnesota State Capitol (1895), which he modeled after the National Capitol and the dome of St. Peter’s, Rome. Gilbert returned to New York in 1899 when he won the prized commission for the design of the U.S. Customs House. This was followed by many other major projects. The most famous of these was the Woolworth Building in New York (1913); with its fifty‑five stories and Gothic ornament it is considered Gilbert’s greatest achievement. Firmly supportive of the European tradition and eastern academic architecture, Gilbert continued his numerous and successful designs until his death in 1934. Among his many familiar public buildings are the Treasury Annex and the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, the state capitol buildings of West Virginia and Arkansas, and the public libraries of St. Louis and Detroit.  https://www.si.edu/object/archives/sova-nmah-ac-0214

 

 

Veterans Day brings back many memories, some sad, some of family veterans, and more

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

A cousin on my maternal side asked me a question this evening based on my post on Facebook today. It prompted me to revisit what I wrote back in 2017 about a new meaning for me about Veterans Day. Of course, I honor my Dad, William E. (Bill )Stuart. I add in my father-in-law, James H. Warren, numerous uncles, cousins, a great great grandfather, and this one from that blog post in 2017. https://genealogybypaula.com/2017/11/2017-veterans-day-has-new-meaning-as-a-pow-uncle-is-returned/

Native American Heritage Month Lives On Despite . . .

Paula Stuart-Warren  Native American, Uncategorized  , ,  Leave a comment

Native News Online https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/the-celebration-they-can-t-cancel-native-heritage-month-lives-on has an article about the acknowledgement of Native American Heritage Month each November.

“Each November, Native American Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States. The month provides time to celebrate and honor the histories, cultures, and contributions of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples. The origins of this national observance trace back more than a century. In 1916, New York became the first state to declare an “American Indian Day,” following years of advocacy by Red Fox James of the Blackfeet Nation, who rode horseback across the country seeking support from state governments.”

The article continues with noting some of the presidential proclamations over the years. It has much more including the current state of acknowledgement of the month. Truly worth reading and it really hit home with me because much of my research work is about Native Americans.

Another article really touched me because it references the Indian boarding schools years. The Opinion section is worth checking out.

 

 

 

 

New and more affordable imaging and recovery of old documents. Genealogy next?

Paula Stuart-Warren  Preservation  , ,  Leave a comment

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has developed an imaging system capable of assisting the imaging of old documents, books, and artifacts that have faded or damaged words and sections. It is more affordable for many institutions around the world. The words below are from https://www.rit.edu/news/misha. I suggest reading the full article and then watching the video at the end. AMAZING to see the students involved in this project.