His journey took him through World War 1 and back to the Civil war. He found facts about his ancestors that no one in his family ever mentioned.

His story inspired me to share with you some of the best online resources for military records.

National Archives Research Catalog

This is the online catalog of the U.S. National Archives. There are thousands of resources available online, scanned documents, transcribed documents and where to find the originals. These records include birth, death, military, maps and more.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System

Find basic facts about United States servicemen who served in either Union or Confederate Armies during the Civil Wars. Search millions of soldiers by name, regiment, cemetery, battle, and even if they were a prisoner.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

This website is an amazing resource for anyone who had ancestors serve Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in World War I or World War II. You can search records, they call it the Debt of Honour Register, for casualty records and cemetery records. And all the information is free.

DAR National Society

Daughters of the American Revolution Society will do free look-ups for you! If you want to know if your ancestor is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary Patriot, complete the form online and their volunteers will look up that information plus, names, spouses, rank, service, state and pension information too.

Online Catalog of the Library of Virginia

This website contains the personal accounts of World War Veterans in Virginia. You can search the database for personal accounts and then contact the library for a copy of the completed questionnaire.

Australia’s World War Two Nominal Roll

You can view transcribed service records for Australia’s men and women who served in World War II. They will even reproduce a certificate for you that you can print, but it’s not the actual document.

Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial is an excellent place to locate information about the part Australia played in the world wars. This is the official website of the Australian War Memorial Museum, so you have access to documents and artifacts online. There is a description and a transcription of each document online but if you want to see the actual document up close, you have to pay for a reprint.

Library and Archives Canada

Collections Canada has assembled all Canadian archived databases and records for births, deaths, marriages, census, immigrations, land, military and other records. Enter the data you know into the search boxes and view actual records online.

Have you found any connections to any of the major world wars or American wars in your genealogy search?

Lisa Kudrow has never really been my favorite actor. Don’t get me wrong, I liked “Friends” and for a long time, I never missed an episode.

I don’t really know why I didn’t appreciate her acting, maybe it’s because people said I reminded them of Phoebe back then, the long hair, the long skirts and the forgetful, eccentric mannerisms, all I was missing was the guitar. I didn’t think I was anything like Phoebe so perhaps that’s why I didn’t like Lisa Kudrow’s acting!

But this episode made me appreciate Lisa Kudrow, the person, and I found her personality very endearing. In addition to all of this, I was entranced by the story, the tragedy, the unspeakable horrors of World War II, and the impact that those events still have on people today. I was moved by the connection of long lost family across the world. It was by far the best episode yet.

I hope these 7 websites help you research your Jewish Genealogy:

1. JewishGen

Often referred to as the official home of Jewish Genealogy, this is a free genealogy website with thousands of Jewish databases and Jewish resources. There are courses you can take to help you research your Jewish Heritage and discussion groups and resources and so much more.

2. JewishGen Family Finder

This is a free searchable database of ancestral towns and surnames currently being researched by Jewish Genealogists worldwide. The site is maintained by JewishGen which is a not for profit corporation that accepts donations to keep running. However, using the database is completely free once you create a profile and register.

3. Jewish Genealogy Links

Jewish Genealogy Links is exactly what the name suggests: a collection of helpful links for those people researching their Jewish Genealogy. The links on this website are only for Jewish resources so you won’t get bogged down trying to find Jewish genealogy information amongst other resources.

4. Holocaust Memorial Center

Search the online catalogues, contact a holocaust survivor, or visit one of the museums. The Holocaust Memorial Center has been around for 25 years and has received high acclaim for their exhibits.

5. The Holocaust Timeline

This website offers a list of important dates during the holocaust starting from 1933 – 1945. You’ll also find pictures, and articles relating to the timeline and important dates.

6. Jewish Encyclopedia

This Jewish Encyclopedia was published in the early 1900′s and contains over 15,000 articles and illustrations. It’s available online for free but it doesn’t contain information on the holocaust. It’s still a valuable resource for anyone researching Jewish Genealogy prior to 1905.

7. Sephardic Genealogy and Sephardim, Jewish Genealogy

Sephardim is the hebrew word for Spain so Sephardic Jews are Jewish people who came from the region around Spain and includes North Africa, Iraq, Syria, Greece and Turkey. This database won’t help you find your German or Eastern European or Russian Jewish Ancestors, but I include it here because of it’s wealth of information about Jewish Genealogy.

How is your genealogy research going? Have you found any useful sites that you’d like to share?

These are the top 6 African American Genealogy Resources Online:

1. National Archives

These are the best resources because they are government records and they can be viewed for free and the ALL the links work. It’s frustrating to research online and find that most of the links are either dead or you have to send them money to view it. If you are looking for your African American roots, this is the best place to start.

2. Amistad Research Center

If you are in New Orleans, you have to visit this research center. This might be the best free resource for filling in the blanks in a your family history. At their website you can find African American art, online catalogues of records and other helpful information.

3. Access Genealogy

Good online resources can be found here, but you have to do a little digging and know what states your family may have been from. The resources are categorized according to states and there are other resources that don’t have African American Genealogy information.

4. African American Genealogy Records on the Internet

This is a great website for locating pictures, personal accounts of Slaves and Slave Trade Databases. Unfortunately they have links to databases Ancestry.com that you have to pay for, so read this Ancestry.com review before you buy a membership.

5. Christine’s Genealogy Websites

Transcribed databases are available online here. Search online for Emancipation Records, Mortality Schedules, Court Records and more.

6. African Heritage Project

This is a free online database for African American Genealogy, but it’s very new and some of the resources are not available. Check back often to this website because they keep adding more information all the time. Great resources here.

I wish that there were more answers to the question Who do You Think You Are Emmitt Smith? But hopefully you’ll be able to find answers to your African American Genealogy questions in some of these resources. Please comment below to tell me what your favorite resources are.

I shared Sarah’s excitement when she sat down with her brother and talked about what she might find. Her journey started with a conversation with her mother, a good place to start for anyone looking for their ancestry. Her mom had a lot of pictures and names that gave Sarah a place to start, Cincinnati.

Make friends with the public library genealogist, she might be the link to your past. A visit to the library made it abundantly clear that you can’t take just one piece of information and declare it the truth. Sarah found a mystery in her ancestry. The obituary of her great great great grandfather stated that his father died in 1849 in California but when they searched further they found he showed up in the 1850 census. So it’s so important to research more than one source and cross reference so you can get down to the truth.

Searching her genealogy led to heartbreak when she found out that her great great great great grandfather John S, Hodge got sick and died in 1850 while mining for gold in California. When you start this incredible journey of research your hopes are high and the excitement overwhelms, but the lows can be incredibly low too. I felt for Sarah when she thought of her great great great grandfather not knowing his father, growing up without him.

For me that’s the part of genealogy research that makes it so intriguing. The lives of these ancestors are played out in your head like a movie, but unlike a movie, their pain was real, their joys were real and their lives were real.

The fascinating thing too was how far back Sarah was able to go with that one branch of her family tree. Her ancestor, Robert Elwell was the first Elwell in America and his children were involved with the salem witch trials.

History has come alive for Sarah Jessica Parker through her genealogy research. Watching her relate all the information to her mother about what she found out about this previously unknown branch of her family tree renewed my own desire to continue searching for my family history.

What a family history, Gold Rush, Salem Witch Trials, what amazing links to the past and the history of America. Sarah Jessica Parker said she never really felt that she was American… well Sarah, you can’t get more American than this… her family has real roots in America.

Sarah Jessica Parker is a delightful, gracious person and I enjoyed watching her story unfold.

Well, I have to do a little research now too, why not get started on your search as well. Check out these websites and start a search. Also, download a family tree template so you can keep track of the names you find. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding 24 more pages of family tree templates categorized and free for downloading! Another project I am very excited about.

So tell me, what did you think of the first show of Who Do You Think You Are?

The popular show, Who do you think you are? ran for 6 years in England and now is coming to America. It covers the genealogy of famous people, celebrities, and athletes as they journey back through their ancestry to answer the question, “Who do you think you are?”

The show, Who do you think you are? starts tomorrow and I am very excited about seeing the show and I’m even more excited about what this show will do for genealogy research.

If you’ve already started your own ancestry search, you know the rush of excitement when you find a previously unknown ancestor, or uncover some hidden truth about your family history.

But just imagine all those people who will be tuning in to the show, and imagine how intrigued they will be to get their own genealogy search started. More people interested in genealogy means all those obscure resources will become more and more available for all of us to use.

Ancestry.com is sponsoring the show and they’ve increased their resources in anticipation of all the new researchers. That means good things for all of us who are still looking for those missing pieces of information. There are lots of other websites getting their resources ready too. I can’t wait!

I’ll be writing about each show after I watch it and do a little research, it would be really exciting if you could watch it too and tell me what you think of the show and the resources it discusses. So download a family tree template and tune in to Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC.