Learning New Genealogical Skills, One Task at a Time

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Here in Texas, we’re finally getting a little relief from the heat. The days are growing shorter, and the changing season has me looking forward to afternoons spent indoors with my family records.

There is something inviting about settling in with an old document when we have time to give it our full attention. Those moments are perfect for practicing a genealogy skill we've been meaning to learn. It doesn't have to be a complicated project—one new skill applied to one familiar record is a great start. Instruction can open the door, but practice is what helps us walk through it. When we take a new skill and try it on our own research, the learning becomes real and lasting.

Start with Something You’ve Been Avoiding

Most of us have something in our genealogy work that makes us hesitate. Maybe it's deciphering handwriting in an old will, writing a source citation, understanding a land description, or figuring out how to organize the records we already have.

It's easy to put those things aside and return to searching. Finding another record feels productive; learning how to understand it can feel less exciting. But that unfamiliar skill may be exactly what helps us move forward.

Choose one thing you would like to become more comfortable doing—something manageable enough that you can begin without feeling overwhelmed.

Let Your Own Records Be the Classroom

One of the best things about genealogy is that our own records provide opportunities to learn. Every document contains questions to answer, relationships to evaluate, and details to interpret. The records we already have can become our most useful teachers. 

If you want to improve your ability to read old handwriting, choose a short paragraph from a record you already have. Compare unfamiliar letters with clearer examples elsewhere on the page. Transcribe what you can, and mark uncertain words with square brackets and a question mark. Leaving a word unresolved is far better than making a guess look certain. 

You don’t have to work through it alone. FamilySearch provides handwriting help, including examples and letter charts that can help you become familiar with older writing styles. Keep those examples beside your document as you practice.

If citations make you nervous, start with just one record. Identify the record, where you accessed it, and the details someone else would need to locate it. For help learning how to write genealogical citations, visit the Evidence Explained website. You'll find free articles, QuickLessons, and discussions about citing and evaluating historical records. 

Another excellent resource is Elizabeth Shown Mills's book, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. It explains citation principles and provides examples for many of the records genealogists encounter. Rather than simply copying a citation example, take time to understand why each piece of information is included. 

Start with one record, write your citation, and compare it with the guidance. Like any other genealogy skill, writing citations becomes easier with practice.

To strengthen your ability to compare evidence, gather three records for a single ancestor and place the dates, places, names, and relationships side by side. Note what matches, what conflicts, and what needs closer review. Classify each record as primary, secondary, or undetermined. When details disagree, decide which record is most trustworthy based on how close it is to the event and how reliable the informant likely was.

Get to Know the Places Your Ancestors Lived

Sometimes the next thing we need to learn is more about a place. We may know the county where an ancestor lived without knowing what records are available.

The FamilySearch Research Wiki is a useful starting point for learning about a county, state, or country. Its pages offer guidance on record types, local research resources, and background information. Country pages may also point you toward language and handwriting tools.

Choose one place from your family tree and spend a little time exploring its Wiki page. Make a note of a record collection you haven’t used or a repository you want to investigate.

That small bit of learning can give your next research session a clearer direction.

Learn a Little, Then Try a Little

A genealogy lecture, society program, book chapter, or tutorial can introduce us to a new way of working. We don’t have to absorb everything at once.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars offers free live webinars and a selection of free recordings. A paid membership provides access to its broader library of recorded webinars on many genealogy topics. Choose a subject that connects with a question or skill you are working on now.

YouTube is another place to learn. Genealogists and organizations share videos that walk viewers through research methods and website tools. The FamilySearch YouTube channel is one place to begin. You can also search for a specific task, such as "finding probate records" or "reading old handwriting."

Take a few notes. Choose one idea. Try it while the lesson is still fresh.

If you've been learning about research logs, record a search you conducted, including one that produced no relevant results. Negative searches can be just as valuable as successful ones because they help prevent repeated work and clarify what has already been investigated.

Build a brief timeline for an ancestor whose life story contains gaps, conflicts, or unanswered questions, or revisit a document you have been meaning to read more carefully and practice your transcription skills.

The goal is not to master every detail in a single lesson. Instead, look for one idea you can apply to a current research problem. Small steps taken consistently often lead to the greatest progress.

Give Yourself Permission to Be a Beginner

Being experienced in genealogy does not mean being experienced in every part of it.

We may feel comfortable with census records and completely lost in a probate file. We may have researched our family for years without ever needing to understand records from another country.

There is no shame in beginning again with a new skill.

Go slowly. Ask questions. Keep track of what you still don’t understand. Pause a video, replay an explanation, or return to a reference page as often as you need.

You may need to revisit the same lesson more than once, and that is all right.

Notice a Different Kind of Progress

Genealogy progress isn’t always adding another name to the tree. Sometimes it's reading a sentence that once looked impossible or recognizing that two records disagree. Those accomplishments may be quiet, but they strengthen the work we do.

When life gives us a little breathing room, we can use some of it to become more thoughtful, capable researchers. Our ancestors’ stories deserve that care, and we deserve the pleasure of learning something new.

What genealogy skill have you been meaning to learn? Perhaps this quieter season is a good time to begin—one task at a time.

Tech Tip Tuesday: Grammarly

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Have you ever spent so much time working on a family story that you could practically recite it? Then, after sharing it, you noticed a missing word or a sentence that didn't quite make sense? It happens. We know what we meant to say, and sometimes that is what our eyes see on the page.

Writing requires precision. The right words, phrases, and examples help us avoid miscommunication. A second look can make a difference.

That is where a tool like Grammarly can help.

What Is Grammarly?

Grammarly is a writing assistant that offers suggestions for spelling, grammar, clarity, conciseness, and tone. For genealogy writing, I often review my draft first and then consider its suggestions. Think of it as another set of eyes on your writing.

Grammarly helps refine the family stories, biographies, and messages, but it is not a genealogical research tool. It cannot confirm an ancestor's identity or evaluate evidence. That work still requires research, analysis, and careful attention to sources.

The browser extension brings writing suggestions into supported websites, including Google Docs and some social media text fields.

Where It Fits into Genealogy

Genealogy involves more writing than we sometimes realize—emails to archives, notes to DNA matches, research summaries, family histories, photo captions, and blog posts. Even short explanations attached to an ancestor's profile deserve a careful review.

Writing and Polishing Family Histories

Catching typos and missing words. When we're deep in an ancestor's story, it's easy to overlook small errors. Grammarly can help flag them.

Making the story easier to follow. Suggestions for clearer phrasing or shorter sentences can help your writing flow, especially for relatives and audiences unfamiliar with genealogical terms.

Choosing a tone that fits the audience. A casual Facebook genealogy group post and a chapter in a formal family history book serve different purposes. Grammarly’s tone feedback and suggestions can help us consider whether our wording fits the occasion. We should still choose language that is true to our own voice.

After weeks of research, connections may seem obvious to us, but not to others. A writing review can prompt us to explain those connections more clearly.

Example:
After finding the family in the census and looking at the names and ages of the children and comparing them with the earlier census I thought this might be the same family.

Clearer version:
I compared the children’s names and ages in the two census records. They were consistent, suggesting that both households might represent the same family.

The revised wording makes the comparison easier to follow.

Communicating and Sharing Research

Clear wording helps archives, courthouses, and relatives understand what we need. For formal requests, check that the name, place, date range, and record type are correct. For new cousins, a friendly introduction and a specific question make replies easier.

Reason statements on FamilySearch benefit from polished writing, but they still require supporting records and clear explanation.

Keep the Evidence in Charge

Grammarly is great at writing, but words such as possibly, probably, appears, and suggests may be essential to an explanation. They show how confident the evidence allows us to be. Removing them can turn a tentative interpretation into a statement of fact.

Do Not Use on Historical Transcriptions

An old letter, will, or marriage record may contain unusual spelling, inconsistent punctuation, or grammar. A faithful transcription preserves the wording, spelling, capitalization, and line breaks. If a word cannot be read, we mark the uncertainty rather than guessing.

How to Get Started

Try Grammarly on a short paragraph you have already written. Review suggestions one at a time. Consider the reason for each change. Verify names, dates, places, relationships, and statements of certainty against your sources.

Read the paragraph aloud. Does it sound natural? Does it still sound like you?

Before using any online writing tool with information about living relatives, private correspondence, or client research, review the service's privacy information. 

Grammarly can help us notice problems with the words on the page—you decide how much or how little to accept. 

Have you used Grammarly for your genealogy writing? What kinds of suggestions have you found helpful?

Grandma's Tech Tip Snapshot 

Today's Tool: Grammarly

How It Can Help:

• Catching typos and missing words
• Flagging unclear or tangled sentences
• Suggesting smoother phrasing
• Helping match tone to the audience
• Polishing reason statements and research summaries
• Improving readability for relatives unfamiliar with genealogy terms

Grandma's Tip: "Before you hit publish, let Grammarly take a quick peek. A tiny suggestion can make your family story shine without changing your voice."

Looking for more genealogy tech tips? Explore all the tools in my Research Toolbox.

Making Time For Those Who Matter

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This week, I said goodbye to a friend for the last time.

He was a loving husband and father who cared deeply about his family, but his kindness didn’t stop at his own front door. When my children were growing up, he included them in his family’s outings. He made room for them, made them feel welcome, and was there when they needed him. A mother doesn’t forget that.

As I’ve reflected on his life, I keep coming back to this: the mark we leave on others isn’t usually made by grand accomplishments. It’s made by simple kindnesses, the time we give, and the way we make people feel.

The Stories Behind the Names

As someone who researches family history, I spend a lot of time searching for the people who came before me. Records can tell me when someone was born, where they lived, and when they died. What I really want to know is what kind of person they were. Were they kind? Generous? Funny? Someone others could count on?

Records rarely answer those questions.

Someday, a researcher might find my friend’s name in a census or an obituary and learn where he lived, whom he married, and the names of his children. They won’t learn that he welcomed other people’s children into his family’s activities, or that mine could always rely on him. Yet those are the details that bring a person to life.

We Always Think There Will Be More Time

How often do we say, “We should get together soon,” or “I really need to call them”? Then life gets busy, and we don’t. But later isn’t promised.

Preserving memories matters, but this week reminded me that we also have to make the time to create them. So:

• Call the friend you’ve been meaning to call.
• Visit the relative you haven’t seen in a while.
• Take the photo, even if everyone complains about how they look.
• Share a meal, reminisce, and laugh together.

A Legacy of Kindness

When I think of my friend, I will always think of the man he was, the love he had for his family, and the kindness he showed mine. He may never have known how much those ordinary acts meant, or how long they would be remembered. But I remember, and so do my children.

This week, reach out to someone who matters to you. Don’t wait for a special occasion. Tell them what they mean to you.

Walking Among Stories Carved in Stone

For a genealogist, a walk through a cemetery often turns into a slow, thoughtful wander. We come looking for one ancestor, but before long we’re pausing at another headstone—and then another. A single visit can leave us with new names, new questions, and a research list longer than the one we arrived with.

Family plots often reveal surprises: a child we hadn’t yet found in the records, a spouse whose name never appeared in earlier documents, or a shared marker that hints at a relationship waiting to be explored. Even the graves nearby can matter. Relatives, neighbors, church friends—people whose lives touched our family in ways the records don’t always show.

And still, a date carved in stone isn’t always correct. So we photograph the marker, note its location, and compare what it tells us with other sources. A headstone is a clue, not a conclusion—another piece of a story that deserves checking.

But standing where an ancestor is buried offers something no database ever can. The searching slows. The noise of research fades. For a moment, we remember that behind every name and date was a person who lived, loved, worked, hoped, and was missed.

Sometimes, simply pausing to read their name feels like a small act of remembrance—one that connects us not just to their story, but to the reason we do this work at all.

Genealogical Proof Standard #4: Resolving Conflicting Evidence

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Throughout this series, we’ve been exploring the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) and how it helps us build a solid answer to a research question. Its five elements are:

• Reasonably exhaustive research
• Complete and accurate source citations
• Thorough analysis and correlation
• Resolution of conflicting evidence
• A soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion

Although we are examining each element separately, in reality, they are interlocking components of the evaluation process. Research brings us to the records; citations document where our information came from. Analysis helps us evaluate each source, while correlation lets us compare the evidence for agreements, differences, and connections. Often these steps send us back to one another—new conflicts require more research. All of this supports the final written conclusion.

In the last post, we looked at analysis and correlation. Sometimes the pieces fit neatly. Sometimes they don’t. Today’s example of conflicting evidence comes from my own family tree.

The Photo That Started It All

I recently shared a photograph of the Lukas family headstone found among my mother’s belongings. It lists the birth and death dates for my great‑grandparents, Johann "Hans" Lukas and Elisabeth Bräu, my grandmother Hedwig, and three of my mother’s siblings who died young.

A cousin in Straubing told me that Elisabeth’s maiden name was Straubinger, but the headstone said Bräu. I needed to know more, so I continued researching. I looked for:

• Civil records from Straubing
• Catholic church records on Matricula Online
• Newspaper searches 
• Cemetery information 

With these records gathered, it was time to analyze. I thought I was only seeking proof of a maiden name or possibly a second marriage, but what I found was much more.

 

Analyzing the records

I evaluated each record as original, derivative, or authored works, then considered whether the different pieces of information contained within was primary, secondary, or undetermined.

Headstone Photo

• Source type: It is an original. An image that is clear and easily viewed with no signs of cropping can be treated as a representation of the original.
• Information: The headstone photo lists Elisabeth’s death date as 4 June 1937 and identifies her as Eliese Bräu, married Lukas.¹
• Information quality: It is not known who supplied the names and dates or when the inscription was added. Therefore, the information is undetermined. 

Catholic funeral book

• Source type: Original
• Information: The parish listed her as Elisabeth Bräu and her death as 1 March 1939 and burial on 3 March 1939.² 
• Information quality: Burial date is primary, because a priest officiated the funeral and it was documented near the time of the funeral. However, the death date is undetermined because the informant is not identified. We should not assume that the clergy were present at the death. It is likely that a family member supplied the information.

Catholic marriage records

• Source type: Original
• Information: The parish lists a marriage date of 18 May 1897 for Johann “Hans” Lukas and Elisabeth Straubinger³ and another marriage date of 8 August 1922 for Georg Bräu and Elisabeth Lukas.⁴
• Information quality: Both records give primary information for the marriage dates and spouses, because a parish priest officiated the weddings and documented the evidence soon after the ceremonies.

Civil marriage records

• Source type: Original
• Information: Two certificates were received. One for the marriage of Elisabeth Straubinger to Johann Lukas⁵ (18 May 1897) and a second for Elisabeth Lukas to Georg Bräu⁶ (8 August 1922).
• Information quality: The marriage date is considered primary, recorded at or near the time of the event, with two witnesses testifying for each document.

Civil death record

• Source type: Original
• Information: Reports Elisabeth’s death on 1 March 1939 at 6:30 a.m. Identifies her son, Johann Lukas, as the informant with personal knowledge.⁷
• Information quality: Death information is primary.

Newspapers

• Information: Newspapers.com does not carry papers for the Straubing area, and OldNews.org does not carry digitized newspapers for Straubing from the years of 1900 to 1939 which would have included Elisabeth's married to Georg and her date of death. Negative evidence of a newspaper article for a wedding between Johann Lukas and Elisabeth Straubinger in 1897.⁸

Cemetery information

• Information: Negative evidence: Since many of my mother’s family members had been buried in Friedhof St. Michael, I contacted the cemetery to see what information could be found. In email correspondence, I was informed that due to cemetery rules regarding plot leasing, the headstone would have been removed many years ago. They could not confirm nor deny that the headstone had ever been in that cemetery, because older funeral records were not digitized when the system changed and were no longer accessible.⁹

With the analysis for each record complete, the next step was to compare the records information to one another.

Correlating the evidence
Placed side by side, it was clear that Elisabeth’s name on the headstone was a married name as corroborated by both civil and Catholic marriage records and her first marriage clearly identified her as Elisabeth Straubinger. The bigger issue was her date of death.

• Headstone: Eliese Bräu, died 4 June 1937
• Catholic funeral book: Elisabeth Bräu, died 1 March 1939; burial 3 March 1939
• Civil death record: Elisabeth Bräu, died 1 March 1939 at 6:30 a.m.

The church and civil records agree. The headstone stands alone with a date nearly two years earlier.

Resolving the conflict

When resolving conflicting evidence, we consider:

• Records created closest to the event
• Primary vs. secondary or undetermined information
• Original vs. derivative sources

The civil death record carries the strongest weight for her actual date of death: it was created at the time of the event, gives an exact date and time, and names an informant with firsthand knowledge.

The Catholic funeral book supports the same date and provides primary evidence of the burial.

The headstone offers a conflicting date with an unknown informant and unknown timing of inscription.  

After analyzing and correlating the records, the conflict could be resolved: the evidence supports 1 March 1939 as Elisabeth’s best-supported date of death.

With the conflict resolved, it was finally time to write a clear conclusion to support Elisabeth’s date of death—and that’s where we’ll pick up in GPS #5.

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¹ Lukas family headstone photograph was held in a private photo collection by Elisabeth "Kathy" Lukas Hall and passed down to her daughter Lisa Petersen upon her death in January 2021 [address for private use]. The far left-side of the headstone is inscribed with the name Eliese Bräu Lukas and the date of death as 4 June 1937, photographer unknown, likely Friedhof St. Michael. 

² St. Jakob parish, (Straubing, Bavaria), "Sterbe-Register [Death Register], 1910-1940," p. 461, entry 37, Elisabeth Bräu geb. Straubinger, died 1 March 1939, buried 3 March 1939; digital images, Matricula Online (https://data.matricula-online.eu/ : accessed 1 October 2025) > search terms: Straubing > St. Jakob > Beerdigungen, Register Beerdigungen, 1911-1939 > St. Jakob 047 > image 466; citing Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg. 

³ St. Peter parish, (Straubing, Bavaria), "Trauungen Bd. IX [Weddings, Vol. 9] 1888-1922," p. 70 entry 16, John. Bapt. Lukas and Elisabeth Straubinger, married 18 May 1897; digital images, Matricula Online (https://data.matricula-online.eu/ : accessed 17 March 2026) > search terms: Straubing > St. Peter > Trauungen, 1888-1922 > St. Peter 028 > image 73; citing Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg.

⁴ St. Jakob parish, (Straubing, Bavaria), “Trauungsmatrikel [Weddings], 1908-1928," p. 193 entry 79. Georg Bräu and Elisabeth Lukas (widow) married 8 August 1922; digital images, Matricula Online (https://data.matricula-online.eu/ : accessed 6 Oct 2025) > search terms: Straubing > St. Jakob > Trauungen, 1908-1922 > St.Jakob 041 > image 0196; citing Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg.

⁵ Germany, Standesamt Straubing, "Heiratsbuch [Marriage Register] 1897," no. 51, Johann Baptist Lukas and Elisabeth Straubinger, married 18 May1897; certified copy received 10 September 2025, held by Renita Collier [address for private use]; original records maintained at Stadtarchiv im Salzstadel, Rentamtsberg 1, Straubing.

⁶ Germany, Standesamt Straubing, "Heiratsbuch [Marriage Register] 1922," no. 118, Georg Bräu and Elisabeth Lukas, geb. Straubinger, married 8 August 1922; certified copy received 10 September 2025, held by Renita Collier [address for private use]; original records maintained at Stadtarchiv im Salzstadel, Rentamtsberg 1, Straubing.  

⁷ Germany, Standesamt Straubing, "Sterbebuch [Death Register] 1939," no. 114, Elisabeth Bräu, geb. Straubinger, died 1 March 1939; certified copy received 10 September 2025, held by Renita Collier [address for private use]; Stadtarchiv im Salzstadel, Rentamtsberg 1, Straubing.      

⁸ OldNews, database and digital images, (https://www.oldnews.com/en/newspapers/germany/bavaria/straubing : accessed 1 October 2026), search for "Straubing, Bavaria Newspapers"; the search returned a landing directory listing four digitized titles (Straubinger Tagblatt, Straubinger Zeitung, Straubinger Wochenblatt, and Niederbayerische Allgemeine Zeitung), with collective coverage ending no later than 1876; no holdings were available for the post-1876 years relevant to Elisabeth Straubinger’s life. Also. Newspapers.com, database and digital images, (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 1 October 2026), search for "Straubing, Bavaria" and "Straubing Bayern"; the search returned zero results for digitized historical newspapers published in this location.

⁹ Catholic Cemetery Administration St. Michael (Straubing, Bavaria, Germany), Manuela Fisch [clerical officer] to Renita Collier, email, 10 March 2022, “Lukas family Monument”; privately held by Renita Collier [address for private use]. Fisch explained that cemetery regulations require removal of headstones and remains after the lease period expires, and that computerized files included only plots that were active and current at the time of digitization; older records are no longer accessible.