Ancestry Aimee

09/04/2026

Your family tree is full of more than names and dates. It’s full of stories waiting to be discovered.

Join my newsletter for genealogy tips, research inspiration, and helpful tools to uncover more of your family’s story.

Sign up today:https://ancestryaimee.com/get_emails

09/02/2026

So, you think there might be a criminal hiding in your family tree. Now what?

Criminal records can reveal some fascinating details about an ancestor’s life, but you need to know where to look.

Professional researcher Kim S. Harrison joins me to explore court records, prison registers, historic newspapers, and other sources that can help uncover the real story behind an ancestor’s run-in with the law.

Ready to investigate your family’s criminal past?

Watch now!

Think your ancestors were all law-abiding citizens? Think again! In...

08/31/2026

Have you ever discovered a criminal in your family tree?

Maybe you found an arrest in an old newspaper, a court case, a prison record, or finally uncovered the truth behind a story that had been passed down for generations.

What did your ancestor do, and how did you discover it?

Share your story in the comments. We want to hear it!

08/28/2026

Two family histories. One unexpected connection nearly 200 years ago.

An enslaved woman and her children were promised freedom and passage from Virginia to Pennsylvania, but the executors of the will did not follow through. The court intervened, and the man ultimately entrusted with taking the family to Pennsylvania has an unexpected connection to my own family tree.

And that is only part of this incredible story.

Watch the reel for a glimpse, then head to YouTube to watch the full video, Enslaved, Widowed, and Betrayed: Her Courtroom Battle for Freedom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8RyPgpXOY

08/26/2026

She was enslaved. She was a mother of four. And when the freedom promised to her family in a will was threatened, she took the fight to court.

In my newest video, Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy shares the remarkable story of an enslaved Virginia woman who fought to secure freedom for herself and her children.

But there’s another layer to this story. Our family histories unexpectedly intersect in a way neither of us could have anticipated.

Watch Enslaved, Widowed, and Betrayed: Her Courtroom Battle for Freedom and discover what the records reveal about one woman’s fight for her family’s future.

This unbelievable story is even better because of our connection! A...

08/24/2026

Full-Text Search is changing what we can find on FamilySearch. It can search 2.5 billion record images and every word contained in a record, including notes and details that may never appear in a traditional index.

That means less time searching and more opportunities to uncover records and information you might otherwise miss.

Want to see why I think this is a game changer for genealogy research? Watch a full video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52nizh8TyIE

08/19/2026

Are you getting everything you can out of FamilySearch Full-Text Search?

Sometimes changing how you search can make all the difference. Instead of entering an ancestor’s name and hoping for the best, try combining names, adding a specific year, or even searching by occupation.

Try these three strategies in your own research. You might be surprised by what turns up.

08/17/2026

What if the clue that could break through your genealogy brick wall is hiding in a record you might never think to search?

Full Text Search can uncover names, places, relationships, and other details buried within records and sometimes lead you to discoveries a traditional search might miss.

Want to see what Full Text Search can do for your family history research? Watch the full video now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX-d5Szg9XY

08/14/2026

All week, we’ve been talking about historical context and how understanding the world around our ancestors can change the way we see their lives.

Now I want to hear from you: Have you ever learned something about history that completely changed how you understood an ancestor’s story?

Tell me what you discovered and how it changed your perspective.

08/12/2026

Your ancestor didn’t live in a vacuum. They lived through economic changes, wars, migrations, new laws, shifting social expectations, and events that shaped the choices they made.

Understanding that historical context can do more than help you tell a better story. It can point you toward records you may not have thought to search.

In this video, I share why history, especially social history, is such an important part of genealogy and how it can help you better understand the lives your ancestors actually lived.

Watch Why History is Important in Genealogy and see what historical context might add to your own research.

Have you missed records in your family history? A knowledge of hist...