The In-Depth Genealogist a digital community for all genealogists

It's nearly the end of December, and as we are heading into the New Year, we at IDG are sharing YOUR favorites! Read More »

So far at the In-Depth Genealogist, we’ve discussed federal land or public-domain states. Today it’s time for a basic introduce state-land states which are platted using an “indiscriminate” survey system, often called metes-and-bounds, rather than the rectangular system. Read More »

Is there a home you once lived in that you haven’t visited in years? Maybe you haven’t seen your grandparents’ house since they passed away. Call it nostalgia or whatever you want, it can be a fun and interesting experience to drive by a former home or an ancestral home. Here are three reasons from the family historian’s perspective to do just that. First, homes change over time. It might be as simple as a new paint color or a more involved addition to the house. If the home included acreage, it may have been subdivided. That’s what I discovered after an absence from an old neighborhood of only a couple of years! In other cases old homes are torn down and replaced altogether. Land uses can change too. What was once a pleasant residential neighborhood can turn into industrial use. I’ve run across all of these in investigating my family’s and ancestor’s homes. Read More »

Have you ever examined your ancestors’ census records and noticed the dollar amounts in columns relating to the value of real estate and value of personal property? Have you wondered what those values would be in today’s dollars? Get some perspective on the financial standing of your ancestor by using The Inflation Calculator. This site adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, from 1800 almost to the present day. Read More »

Have you ever wondered what documents you might receive if you were to order a land entry case file from the National Archives and Records Administration? Previously, I have examined examples of various types of case files over at The Turning of Generations. Hop on over and take a look at the following series... Read More »