Genealogy Help

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Which sites do you recommend for absolute beginner.  

Google Photo Albums, no login.  Use the Family homepage (ie lepley.consultchris.us) for the list of names. Set a favorite on the family homepage or save the link in a tab somewhere to keep going back to it for the list of available albums.  Click the name of interest, then click on the first photo that comes up. I would start there.   (See my Youtube video which illustrates these steps on screen)

Next level browsing would be the MacFamily tree.  

How? Again, go to the family homepage for the list of names.Click the name of interest.  But then, don't click on the picture/album.  Scroll down a bit and click the link labeled Mactree or MacFamily tree.  Click continue if your browser pops a notice of a redirect to a website www.macfamilytree.com/regalranch/...  Everything from there is clickable, and lot of images and documents directly viewable if you scroll down past the dates and facts.  

Why? Context.  The Google Photo Albums are very convenient to access, however, there is minimal to no opportunity to provide information around why this photo/document is attached to this person.  MacFamily tree has all the events, dates, relationships, sources, etc, to detail each item.

Which links work without any login?

Many of the Genealogy Sites do require an account registered with them, even though they are free.  However, a few allow browse-only access without requiring a login:  

• Findagrave 

• Google Photo Album

• MacFamily Tree

• newspapers.com - though they are putting a limit to how many free page views. So maybe choose wisely before clicking.  And switch devices when you run out of free views.

• Newspaperarchive.com - No limit on article views (yet).   

Which sites are free? 

Some of these websites have different tiers of functionality depending on whether a subscription has been purchased.  (See Youtube Video for demo)

• Findagrave.  While to view graves and cemeteries is open to the public, even without an account, other functionality requires a free account.  All this functionality is still FREE.

  • Memorial management. Create a memorial in the case where one hasn't already been created.  Suggest edits to memorial data which is missing or incorrect. ie. birthplace

  • Photo management. Request a photo of a gravestone or  add your own photos relevant to the memorial. 

• FamilySearch.  Think of it as a wikipedia but instead of famous places or people, it's for all deceased people.  One page per deceased person and everyone contributes what they have to that page for that person.  Unlike other sites, it features a single "World Tree" where over a billion users collaborate on shared ancestral profiles rather than maintaining private, individual trees. Beyond records, it offers free tools for preserving family memories, including photo sharing, audio recordings, and private "Family Groups" for living relatives. 

• Google.  Google Photos App with your google account opens up interaction and organization options with these Google Albums.  You can comment on the pictures to add what you remember or provide corrections, which will be saved with the photo for reference later.  These collaborative albums allow multiple family members to contribute their own scanned images, making it easy to pool resources for specific surnames or research trips.

• MacFamily Tree.  If you have a macFamily tree account, I can grant your account access to update any of my MacFamily Tree files.

• Ancestry.com.  Ancestry technically has some functionality available for free accounts.  However, the frequent prompts to purchase subscription and other paywall blocks make it quite frustrating outside of viewing someone else's public already completed tree.  This is why I've been gradually moving away from storing my research primarily on Ancestry.  I use it for research, but then I move what i find over to FamilySearch.  

Navigating Our Family History: A User’s Guide

I use a variety of specialized tools to publish our family history. While this ensures the data is accurate, secure, and accessible, I understand that jumping between different websites can be confusing.

This guide explains how my files are structured, which tool to use for what purpose, and how to find your way back if you get lost.

1. The "Front Door": Your Starting Point

Where to go: [familyname].consultchris.us (e.g., lepley.consultchris.us)

Think of the ConsultChris Family Homepage as the directory or "front door" to all my research. I strongly advise you to start here and end here.

• What you will find:

  • Directories of names (Family Groups).

  • Links to maps, charts, and research reports.

  • Direct access to the Research Blog.

• Navigation Tip: If you ever feel lost deep in a photo album or external site, simply type the main address back into your browser to return to safety.

2. The News Center: Research Blog

Best for: Discovering "What's New" without digging through files.

Genealogy is a living, breathing project. The Research Blog is where I share the excitement of the hunt in real-time. This is the best place to visit if you want to know what I am working on right now.  

• What I post here:

  • Exciting Finds: A neat story, a rare news clipping, or a "breakthrough" discovery I just made.

  • Trip Reports: Photos and details from my recent "genealogy vacations" and archive visits.

  • Site Updates: Announcements when I refresh a report, add a new family line, or upload a new batch of documents.

• How to find and follow: Each family homepage has a link to their own Research Blog. To find it return to 1 above.  You can read the latest posts directly on the site, or subscribe to get these stories delivered to your email so you never miss a beat.

3. The "Couple Page": The Gateway

When you click on a name from the main directory, you are taken to a dedicated page for that specific couple. This page serves as a launchpad to all other platforms.

• The Main Photo: Clicking the main photo at the top of the page will take you directly into their Google Photo Album.

• The Direct Links: Below the photo, you will find customized links taking you directly to that person’s profile on external platforms (FamilySearch, Find A Grave, MacFamilyTree, etc.).

  • Note: Some sites (like Ancestry or Fold3) may require a login. If a link takes you to a login screen, sign in, and then come back and click the link again to go straight to the specific record.

4. The Visual Archive: Google Photo Albums

Best for: Browsing pictures easily on your phone or computer.

For each married couple, I have created a dedicated online album containing all relevant photos and documents.

• Pros: Very easy to swipe through. No login required.

• Cons: Photos lack context. You might see a court document next to a portrait with no explanation of what the document proves.

• Getting Back: Every album contains a text slide reminding you of the family homepage URL. Use this to return to the main directory to find other albums.

5. The Research Core: MacFamilyTree

Best for: Understanding the "Who, When, and Where" (Context).

This is a dedicated genealogy website where I publish my organized data. It is Browse Only—you cannot accidentally delete or change anything, and no login is required.

• Why use it? Unlike the photo albums, this site connects the dots. It links the photos to dates, events, and relationships, explaining why a document matters.

• Features: You can view interactive trees, download documents, and explore family facts without restriction.

6. The Cemetery: Find A Grave

Best for: Locating burial sites and viewing headstones.

This is a free, public website. I have organized our family graves into "Virtual Cemeteries" for each family group (e.g., Lepley, Borger).

• What you can do:

  • View photos and transcriptions of headstones.

  • See GPS coordinates of specific graves.

  • Sort the list by name or by cemetery location.

7. The Workshop: FamilySearch

Best for: Collaboration and adding your own knowledge.

Think of FamilySearch as the "Wikipedia" of genealogy. There is only one profile per deceased person in the world, and everyone contributes to it.

• My Workflow: I use FamilySearch as my "sandbox." When I find new information, I save it there first. Once verified, I move it to my permanent MacFamilyTree records.

• For You: If you want to contribute stories, correct errors, or add photos yourself, this is the place to do it.

8. Printable Reports & Charts

Best for: Taking information offline or visiting locations.

I have created custom reports for each family group, available via the [Family].consultchris.us Homepage or the "Home" tab in MacFamilyTree.

• Popular Reports:

  • Cemetery Report: Essential for visits. Organized by State -> Cemetery -> Family Name (including plot numbers).

  • Descendant Poster: A visual tree useful for orienting yourself within the larger family lines.

  • Vital Records: Reports on veterans, causes of death, schools, etc.

• How to Print: When viewing a report, look for the "Pop-Out" button (usually in the top right corner) to open the file in a new window, then select "Print."

 Digging Deeper - How do you go about research? What's your methodology?

The Anchor Island Methodology: Cultivating Precision in Genealogical Research

I always commence my genealogical inquiries anchored to absolute certainty. This foundational tier consists exclusively of individuals I have personally encountered, alongside locales, dates, and chronologies authenticated through tangible ephemera and concrete memories housed within family collections. These verifiable relationships and activities constitute my "anchor island".

For example: I do not initiate research by blindly searching for an elusive eighteenth-century patriarch. Instead, I start with a grandparent whose existence, residence, and familial ties are corroborated by a physical wedding photograph in my possession or a vividly recounted childhood memory.

Operating from this base of certainty, I meticulously architect bridges connecting to subsequent ancestral tiers. One cannot traverse the generational expanse using flimsy, speculative structures; such compromised foundations inevitably collapse. Consequently, I dedicate intensive effort to fortifying the structural integrity of a single connection, building relentlessly until the pathway to the subsequent generation becomes incontrovertibly solid.

Clients frequently exhibit a palpable urgency to bypass immediate predecessors, expressing frustration when I persist in an exhaustive analysis of the grandparents before venturing further into antiquity. While I strive to accommodate their enthusiasm, elucidating the necessity of this methodical pacing proves challenging within brief consultations, necessitating a comprehensive explanation of my methodology.

The Perils of Proliferation

The rationale driving this stringency stems primarily from the pervasive compilation negligence plaguing modern genealogy. The proliferation of digital repositories facilitates the effortless publication of unsubstantiated family lineages, engendering a catastrophic iteration of the telephone game where initial data suffers complete distortion.

For example: An individual could whimsically publish fabricated relationships—such as claiming a fictional character like Mickey Mouse as a patriarch. Subsequent users, lacking critical discretion, might blindly integrate this hallucination as factual evidence. As more individuals merge these unsourced trees, you eventually confront a convoluted, erroneous profile of a man boasting fifty wives and a hundred and fifty children entirely devoid of legitimate sourcing.

I maintain little patience for sifting through these convoluted, speculative quagmires. My preference is to originate from a blank slate, dissecting individual pieces of evidence with deliberate scrutiny, regardless of how tedious others may perceive this process.

The Primacy of Provenance

A widespread deficiency within amateur research remains the fundamental inability to distinguish primary from secondary sources, coupled with a failure to recognize the paramount importance of accurately reproducing original documents.

For example: An original, handwritten post-it note—when verified against known penmanship samples—possesses exponentially greater evidentiary value than transcribed text upon a digital webpage. If you attempt to verify a mother's maiden name, holding a scan of an original ledger entry is a foundational primary source. Conversely, relying on an Ancestry.com hint that merely points to another user's unverified tree is a perilous exercise in hearsay.

Frequently, the "evidence" touted by researchers to validate significant lineages is merely a regurgitation of secondary assertions, leading down a veritable rabbit hole that culminates in no original statement whatsoever. When evaluating a piece of evidence, I subject it to rigorous interrogation: identifying the informant, establishing the collection date, and calculating the temporal distance from the documented event. Secondary sources recorded concurrently with an event wield substantially more authority than those authored a century later, a distinction that becomes crucial prior to the nineteenth century when primary documentation grows increasingly scarce. Because secondary documentation exhibits varying degrees of reliability, meticulously establishing a source's credibility is absolutely vital before permitting it to arbitrate subsequent historical contradictions.

Cultivating Utter Uniqueness

My ultimate objective is the comprehensive development of an individual, their spouse, and their minor dependents, rendering the familial unit utterly idiosyncratic. To achieve this, I parse out infinitesimal details from every source, acknowledging that no granularity—whether a specific thoroughfare, proximity to a landmark, or a distinct municipal quadrant—is too trivial to document.

For example: Novices erroneously assume that a cluster of familiar surnames within a specific township automatically denotes their target lineage. However, if you extract every granular detail from a city directory, you might discover that your "John Smith" resided at 104 Elm Street and worked as a blacksmith, while a contemporaneous "John Smith" lived at 902 Oak Avenue and was a practicing attorney. This microscopic detailing serves as an indispensable safeguard against the repetitive nature of ancestral nomenclature.

Dedicating hours to extracting minute inferences from a single paragraph illuminates glaring chronological or geographical impossibilities that would otherwise remain undetected. Maintaining a hyper-detailed profile exposes absurdities such as instantaneous cross-county relocations, illogical occupational pivots, or the spontaneous reconfiguration of sequential birth orders. Achieving this requisite granularity demands bypassing the superficial transcriptions offered by genealogy databases, which routinely omit critical identifiers like house numbers or specific municipal sectors. One must actively seek the original visual scan or a physical library directory to extract these granular nuances, linking every occupation and spousal detail directly to the originating document.

Bridging the Generational Chasm

The necessity of constructing a uniquely detailed family profile becomes acutely apparent when confronting the challenges of generational transition. This hurdle is exacerbated by marital surname alterations, the utilization of honorifics superseding given names, and rigid, repetitive naming traditions that continually recycle a limited lexicon of monikers within isolated communities.

For example: In many rural nineteenth-century communities, strong naming traditions dictated that the firstborn son be named after the paternal grandfather. Consequently, you may encounter four distinct men named "Jacob Smith," all of whom have sons named "John," residing in the exact same county during the exact same decade.

Formulating an utterly unique familial identity is a laborious endeavor. However, without an incontrovertible comprehension of the current generation, asserting the legitimacy of the preceding generation remains an impossibility. I refuse to squander monumental effort researching prospective ancestors without firmly cementing the generational linkage through robust corroboration.

To definitively bridge the gap between a son and a father, I require a confluence of evidence: probates delineating progeny, obituaries enumerating siblings, localized land transactions illustrating geographical proximity, and newspaper chronicles of matrimonial events occurring on ancestral properties. Such exhaustive cross-referencing is essential to distinguish ancestors from contemporary cousins bearing identical names and inhabiting the precise same county. Consequently, I diligently chronicle all affiliations, religious observances, occupations, and even unsavory legal entanglements. Documenting these unpleasant realities is never a pursuit of sensationalism, but a vital tactic required to forge a distinctly unique, unassailable ancestral profile.

In Summary: Keep the faith!

I completely understand that agonizing over a single obituary for an hour feels incredibly frustrating when you are genuinely eager to chase the glamorous details of a long-lost earl. I truly get it. Although my recommended methodical pacing might occasionally feel at odds with your excitement, please know that I am your steadfast ally in this journey. My ultimate goal is to construct an unbreakable pathway to your genuine ancestors—individuals who, while perhaps absent from sensational society headlines, are profoundly vital to the fabric of who you are today. Without fail, this rigorous process always unearths a previously untold story that is infinitely more deserving of a bold headline. We simply need to discover that beautiful narrative and champion it ourselves. By adhering to these foundational steps together, we ensure that when we finally write their story, we do so with the absolute confidence that this remarkable individual is authentically and irrefutably connected to you.