Family Tree

Family Tree Magazine will help point the way toward the best research tools and practices to trace your family's history. Each issue includes tips on locating, collecting, and preserving photos, letters, diaries, church and government records, and other documentation, plus fun articles about creating scrapbooks, organizing family reunions, and vacation ideas that combine history with leisure!

Family Tree

out on a limb

Letters to the Editor

Web Highlight: Find a Grave Fact or Fiction

Behind the Scenes: A Final Look at 25 Years

WHAT’S NEW • DNA Tool Roundup

2026 Genealogy Conference Preview

NEW WEBSITE FOR FREEBMD

OUT SOON: THE 1926 CENSUS OF IRELAND

Capturing Family Stories

The More Glorious the Triumph • Pension documents uncover an untold story of strife in the life of a fabled Revolutionary War veteran.

AI’s IQ • Does AI’s might match its hype? Here’s how genealogists can (and can’t) use AI tools like ChatGPT.

Sample AI Prompt: What is Family Tree Magazine?

Genealogy Prompts for AI Chatbots

Star Search • Hit the big time with these blockbusting record search strategies.

BYTE BY BYTE • Take these five simple steps to digitize your genealogy.

SAMPLE: Digital Genealogy One-Sheet • Create your own version of this worksheet to summarize the location, scope and structure of your digital genealogy files. Include a version of the one-sheet in the highest level of your file folder structure and print off a copy to keep with your physical research files or even your will.

RESEARCH GUIDE KANSAS

RESEARCH GUIDE MISSISSIPPI

Find Your U.S. Ancestors

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND • Learn about your intrepid ancestors who received land from the federal government through homesteading, bounty-land warrants, and more.

CASE FILES • Find your immigrant ancestor’s hometown through three research success stories.

ASKING AROUND: How Interviewing Relatives Saved My Research

A Century of Immigration: U.S. Arrivals, 1820–1920

CHANGING NAMES: Mapping Out Places

BON VOYAGE: Researching History and the Point of Departure

Voter Records

A Colonial Keepsake • An unusual “frame” and throwback imagery suggest an origin for this hand-tinted photo.

DNA and Adoptees

Tracing Borders with the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries • The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries <publications.newberry.org/ahcb> is a priceless, comprehensive reference guide to that peskiest of geographical challenges: changing borders. The tool (which just got a facelift in 2025) logs how county borders changed over time and is just one of the many resources offered by Chicago’s Newberry Library <collections.newberry.org>. Here’s how to tap the powerful free website.

Antique Linens

NOW WHAT?

17 Genealogy Habits for the New Year

AFRICAN AMERICAN GENEALOGY • Tips for Studying Black Ancestors and History

GENETIC GENEALOGY Q&A

KEY RECORDS AT A GLANCE

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: TIMELINE

FINDING THE ENSLAVED IN US CENSUSES • Using the 1870 census and the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules can help you trace your ancestors into the slavery era. Follow these steps:

RESOURCES