Basic Genealogy

SHSMO's Bill Eddleman presents a multi-part series on genealogy techniques and strategies. Now available free and on demand.

Videos

Watch as Bill Eddleman discusses the structure and function of DNA; different types of DNA—Y-DNA, mitochondrial, and autosomal—and when they are useful for different questions. Eddleman also provides information about testing and companies and the basics on how to use the data once you have results.
Watch as Bill Eddleman explores how to write and share your family history.

Bill Eddleman, coordinator of the State Historical Society of Missouri Cape Girardeau Research Center provides a thorough overview of researching Civil War ancestors. The program covers how to determine whether your ancestor served; key documents generated by enlistment and service; finding your ancestor and their regiment online; pension files and what can be located in them; and other documents generated by and for Civil War veterans. Examples are used to illustrate research methods throughout.

In this episode, Cape Girardeau Research Center Bill Eddleman focusses on using tax lists in genealogy research. Tax lists are used by few family historians but can provide far more information than most suspect. These lists traditionally have been more difficult to locate than other records, but this is changing as digitized versions appear.

Bill Eddleman, coordinator of the State Historical Society of Missouri Cape Girardeau Research Center, presents the next installment in his genealogy series, focused on getting the most from cemetery research. Family historians often want to locate the burial sites of their ancestors, but it is not as easy as it might seem.

Bill Eddleman, coordinator of the State Historical Society of Missouri Cape Girardeau Research Center presents the 16th installment in his basic genealogy series on the topic: “Salt, Schools, Swamps, Military Bounties, and Homesteads: Researching Non-standard Federal Lands.”