Whether you spell it Van Fossen, VanFossen, van Fossen or Vanfossen, these are all part of my husband’s family name spellings. We recently discovered a site called “Ancient Faces” and they host an area with Van Fossen Family History: Photos, Forum, Stories, and Recipes. They also have many other surnames with information and resources on […]

Years ago, I ran into my first GEDCOM or GEN file, also known as a genealogy data file. Without the proper software, these files were a challenge to pour through, trying to find some shred of information about my family history and genealogy. With the growing use of open source software, we all benefit and […]

If you are doing any family history or genealogy research, you will run across the term GEDCOM. I finally found a good explanation on the term and history at Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter: GEDCOM Explained. This is how he explains it: Basically, GEDCOM is an abbreviation that stands for GEnealogy Data COMmunications. In short, GEDCOM […]

In researching our family history and genealogy, this thought never occurred to me. How many members of my family tree may have crossed the land bridge? I know that sounds like a strange question, but think about it. My family history research tracks my family back through several generations in Washington State, then back to […]

There are plenty of places to find information on researching your roots or family history, some paid and some free, but what about trying to find information about the jargon, terminology, researching in foreign languages, across borders, and just information on how to research? Enter the eogen – Encyclopedia of Genealogy, a free-content encyclopedia created […]