Author Archives: Janette Silverman

It’s true that not only is the last place you look the place that will uncover the lost item or reveal the information, but it’s often really the last possible place to look.  It’s also a truism that the shoemaker’s … Continue reading →

Many, many thanks to Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee, for so articulately summarizing what is happening at Ellis Island.  She wrote: “…the new Ellis Island National Immigration Museum story goes to the present day whereas the … Continue reading →

As a genealogist I often work with transcriptions of documents not originally written in English.  Of course I also work with documents written in English.  A lot of the time, even if the document is one which a person filled … Continue reading →

Okay, what gives with this?  Why would there be duplicate marriage records a few days, weeks or months apart for the same bride and groom?  Really, they are the same couple – no mistaking this – their parents’ names are … Continue reading →

…it leads to more questions.  Some of those questions are waiting to be answered through discoveries of resources in archives, some will remain, regretfully, unanswered. At one time I had a stack of letters in many different languages – Polish, … Continue reading →

I have identified 5 unique family groups and 1 additional person all living in Tuckums, Courland with the same surname in 1871. I have no idea if these are related to each other.  I have tracked two of those families … Continue reading →

As a genealogist, I can’t answer that question definitively.  For some of us, the research never ends – it may come to a temporary halt when we are confronted by what appears to be an insurmountable brick wall, while we … Continue reading →