Denyse Allen

I create history+genealogy content so you can discover your Pennsylvania ancestors • On a mission to re-construct our ancestors lives and powerfully share them

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vital records research book

Vital Records Research: Unexpected and Unknown Parentage

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vital records research book

Vital Records Research: Substitutes for Vital Records

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Deep Dive on Coroner's Records

Resources

40 Questions to Preserve Your Family History

It’s the beginning of the holiday season and time to get together with family. Here are 40 questions you can ask parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to collect your family history.

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Ditch Your Car and Rediscover How Your Ancestors Traveled

Most genealogy research involves trying to find people as they moved from one place to another. Rarely are researchers lucky enough to have a family who lived on one property for several generations. Knowing how people traveled from one location to another is central to doing genealogy right.

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Deep Dive on Prothonotary's Records - Part 2

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Deep Dive on the Prothonotary's Office - Part 1

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Misinformation on FindaGrave Can Ruin Your Family History

Genealogy websites have been flooded with misinformation over the years. What started off as a small problem a decade ago is now a huge one. Anyone with an account can add any information they want to the profiles and family trees they create. This misinformation problem is most evident on FindaGra

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Three Tips for Preparing for a Cemetery Trip

I love visiting the cemeteries where my ancestors are buried. If you are planning a cemetery visit over the holidays, here are my three tips to get the most out of the visit:

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Why You Can’t Find Your Ancestors’ Obituaries

Newspaper obituaries are an essential part of all compiled family histories. Yet there are many researchers who can not find any mention of their ancestors’ deaths in newspapers. Why is that? It’s because they aren’t searching in all the available Pennsylvania newspapers.

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Odd Pennsylvania Events Your Ancestor Could Have Been In

Many people complain their family history is boring. One way to liven it up is including the odd events that happened in the location or occupations of your ancestors. There are hundreds of tales and here are two really odd ones.

Why Sharing Family History is Important Right Now

It's only when I share family history that I understand why I spend so much time doing family history.

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What is the Point of Collecting All This Family History Anyway?

The internet is a hall of mirrors for almost any topic. In genealogy, we all experience this with family trees on the big genealogy sites. Names and dates connected together with no evidence of how that connection was made.

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Unveiling Pennsylvania's 19th Century Vital Record Registrations

We are going back to 1800s and uncovering the vital record registrations, including birth registrations to marriage registrations to death registrations. We'll cover a history of vital record registrations, the types created, and where to find these records today.

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Pennsylvania's Ship Building History

Most people don't think of Pennsylvania as being a center of ship building. Philadelphia and Erie were known as ship building centers of the United States. The United States Navy built vessels in both Pennsylvania cities from the country's early days.

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The 3 "Must Do" Archives in Pennsylvania for Family Historians

October is Archives Month and to kick it off, I'm highlighting the three archives in Pennsylvania that every family historian should visit. Each one has records for genealogy research that you just won't find anywhere else.

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All About Pennsylvania German Fraktur

The word fraktur usually refers to a type of German script. In Pennsylvania, fraktur also refers to a type of folk art produced between 1740 and 1850 by German immigrants. It marked life events such as taufschein (birth and baptism), marriage, and graduation from school.

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October is American Archives Month

October is special to genealogists and family historians for one reason - a celebration of archives and their collections!

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Little Known Facts About Women's Surnames After Marriage

It's possible that the women in your family tree kept their maiden surname in some way after marriage. Traditions brought to America from home countries were not abandoned at the border. Some awareness of our ancestors' practices can help genealogists stay on track with research.

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Why I’m Doubling Down on PA Ancestors and What's Next

I believe PA Ancestors can help you make real progress in finishing your family history through regular posts, YouTube videos, and your continued feedback.

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Deep Dive on How to Search for Naturalization Records

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All About the Your Pennsylvania Ancestors Podcast

The Your Pennsylvania Ancestors podcast is for both beginning and experienced family historians looking to learn more about PA genealogy and history.

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What PA Ancestors is All About

There are thousands of people doing family history research in Pennsylvania every day. About 1 in 5 Americans can trace at least one ancestor to the state. DNA testing can identify 14 distinct Pennsylvanian genetic communities.

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Deep Dive on Philadelphia Photographs

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The Best Way to Get Started in Pennsylvania Genealogy Research

These three resources helped me the most when I started with genealogy research in Pennsylvania.