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The first European settlers that called Arizona "home" included family surnames like Martinez, Otero and Soto. Their legacy is reflected in southwestern food, culture, architecture and language. Growing interest in Spanish heritage research appears to increase with the growing U.S. hispanic population. This article provides a brief historical summary of Spanish rule in Arizona, then concludes by sharing a few of the best free resources for anyone interested Spanish family history and genealogy research. Brief Historical Summary In 1539, Spanish explorer and Franciscan priest Marcos de Niza became the first European to set foot in Arizona as he searched for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola - Cities of Gold. Soon after, Jesuit priests erected missions throughout Arizona in an effort to convert Native American Indians to Christianity. By 1679, Father Eusebuio Francisco Kino and his companions had established five missions among the Yaqui, Opata and Papago tribes. Mission recor...

In Genealogy DNA, testing is done using DNA to determine genetic relationship between two individuals. Deoxyribonucleic acid, abbreviated as DNA, has a unique nature and is passed on from generation to generation. But, in the process of passing down, some features remain unchanged and other change dramatically. Due to this, you can easily identify whether two persons are related to each other or not. There are two types of DNA tests: Mitochondrial (mtDNA) and Y- chromosome. Mitochondrial DNA is present in the cytoplasm of the cell. This type of DNA is passed on from mother and no mixing is done from the side of father's body so it is same as your mother's mtDNA. It is passed down to both male and female children. If the two persons have the same mtDNA, this means that they share the same maternal ancestor. The Y-chromosomes are present in the nucleus of the cell. These chromosomes are passed on from father to son and are available only in males. The chemical markers in Y-chr...

In the earliest days of human history people rarely needed more than a few grunts or whistles to call each other in times of danger. But as populations grew, sounds were combined and as language evolved, words or complex combinations of sounds were assigned, or assumed, by individuals to be able to not only call each other, but to be able to tell each other apart. After all, every one in an animal skin with long hair probably looked somewhat alike. We needed to be able to lay claim to property and land, our spouses and children. Names were one of the ways we did this, and one of the ways we kept records that ultimately were supposed to help avoid disputes. How confusing it must have been in those very early days. The first Johan or John, thousands of years ago, may have fathered a male child whom he named John. This child may soon have become known as The son of John or John's son. Perhaps even little john. If your surname ends with 'son' as in Johnson, Jackson, Albertson,...

The next time you open your mouth to insert a glazed doughnut, consider swabbing the inside of your cheek first. It's zero calories and infinitely more rewarding. I'm referring to the process of scraping buccal cells (found on cheek tissue inside your mouth) to obtain a sample for genealogy genetics testing. Personal genetic testing is not just a trend -- it's science -- and it's available to you. And since the price of most of these personal DNA tests runs between $100 to $400, you'll be able to break through that proverbial "brick wall" in your research process, without breaking the bank. Genealogy and anthropology DNA testing is different from medical DNA testing, which is equated with detecting hereditary diseases and conditions. Genealogy genetics has proven to be an invaluable resource for family lineage research by helping testing participants solve genealogy puzzles. Y-DNA testing traces the direct paternal line; this is the best test to use when ...

Genealogy research is a bit like painting a picture. The more information obtained, the more hues and dimension the picture has. Census records are an outline; they are the beginning of your picture. Censuses place an individual or family in a given place at a specific time, but they have their limits. If a family moved two or three times in a ten-year period, those other residences may be unknown. Both Nebraska and South Dakota, the two states I know best, had some off-year censuses - South Dakota more than Nebraska - but censuses are still limited in their information. Land records broaden the picture of a family by adding strokes of color. I like land records. I like finding a specific piece of land on a map. I like visiting a place where an ancestor lived. It gives me a sense of who the person was and what he or she had to deal with. A lot of people seem to shy away from working with land records. I'm not sure why. It could be the process of finding a deed. It could be making ...

Welcome to the Olympic team of genealogists and family history researchers who want to make a great entry into the charted waters of modern molecular genetics. Are you ready to understand more about the study of heredity, genes, and how it relates to ancestry by DNA? Whether you start your experience by wading into the shallow waters of genetic genealogy testing by tracing your maternal or paternal lines, or you're ready to dive head first into autosomal testing -- there is a DNA genetic testing kit for you. If you are hoping to solve a complex genealogical problem or a family mystery, if you have questions about an adoption, or are just curious to know the ancestry and ethnicity of your family -- there is a good chance genetic genealogy testing will answer those questions for you. Genetics as a science has been around since the mid-1880s with the applied and theoretical work of Gregor Mendel. Up until recently, DNA testing has been used primarily for verifying paternity cases, as...

Picture a covered wagon with wheels lumbering across the prairie, grass bending in the gentle spring breeze, and the sun warming the earth. The passengers in these prairie schooners dreamed of making this untamed land their own, knowing that there would be hardships and hard times, but they held on to the belief that they would succeed. For the most part, that's the way we think of the homesteaders making their way out to a parcel of land they hope to call their own. Did it really happen that way? Not so much. Settling the west was a business - a very big business. Although pioneers crossed the Great Plains in the 1840s and 1850s heading to Oregon, Utah, and points west, a few did stay and begin setting up housekeeping in the 1850s and 1860s in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The big land rush began, however, in the late 1860s and early 1870s. The roots of the rush were the result of two major pieces of legislation passed during the Civil War. The first was the H...

These days, many people have become interested in genealogy-the study of their family history. Have you found interesting ancestors in your family tree? Perhaps you have a great-great-grandfather who prospected for gold in the California Gold Rush, or a grandfather who flew B-29s in World War II, or a great-aunt who was a vaudeville star in the 1920s, and you are thinking that one of them would make a great subject for a book. Your first step is to select the most interesting candidate and start amassing all the information you can find about him/her. Much information is now available on the internet with a little searching. Hopefully, you have a family tree software program installed on your computer. It is the easiest way to keep track of genealogy. Use the "notes" feature to summarize your findings. A couple of census records are not going to be enough for this project. If you have family records, you are in luck. Create a separate file on your computer where you can stor...

Since the BBC TV program Heir Hunters first aired in 2007, many Brits have dreamed of receiving that knock at the door. The program follows a firm of probate genealogists who search for the heirs of unclaimed estates. Imagine discovering that a distant relative has left you a small fortune. What would you spend the money on? Holidays, a new car, home improvements? There are around 20,000 unclaimed estates in the UK at present, and a further 2,000 are added each year. In 2010, around �21m was paid out by the treasury to long-lost beneficiaries. The Bona Vacantia (Vacant Goods list) gives details of deceased individuals who: Did not make a will and there have been no attempts to claim the estate Or, Have made a will but the beneficiaries cannot be traced This information is made publicly available by the Treasury solicitor; appointed by the Crown to handle the administration of unclaimed estates. Records can only be obtained from the 1 January 1997 onwards, when they were computerised. ...

So, you fancy yourself a super sleuth - can you solve this mystery? Two sisters are found dead in their home. They have an estate, but no Will and no known family. How do you find if there is next of kin? If you answered, "Call the Police Department," you may want to keep your day job. If you answered, "Ask a genealogist," you're definitely on the right track. Better yet, if genealogy is your hobby, you may very well think about turning it into your day job. Consider a story that received national attention earlier this year. Two elderly sisters were found dead in their shared home. Usually the names of dead people are withheld pending notification of next of kin; however, in this case, because of the sisters' secluded lives, detectives could not find any family members to contact -- so, they released the sisters' names to the public. The result was surprising. Hundreds of people, many of whom were amateur genealogists, contacted the county sheriff'...

I have been researching my family tree for many years now. I began when all enquiries had to be made via regular post. It was a long process, drawn out and for the most part, totally fruitless. I had heard tell of vague relations who were interested in their family tree but it seemed that they wanted to either keep their hard work to themselves (I can understand this in a way) or never bothered communicating with anyone else.. After all, if you've managed to find a birth/marriage or death certificate and paid the fee, then there is a reluctance to offer it or the valuable information it contains, away to anyone else for free. Either that or they feel that no one else would be interested. One elderly relative had researched her entire life and had a gold mine of information. She passed away suddenly and who knows what became of her research? My father came from a really large family and although they loved each other deeply, they just didn't keep in touch. I grew up not even kn...

Do you know the difference between genealogy and family history? When you are a beginning genealogist; taking those first tentative steps in researching your ancestry, it can be difficult to distinguish the difference between them. The terms genealogy and family history refer to two separate but equally significant approaches to exploring your roots. The fundamental difference between the two methods lies in the sources of information used to conduct the research. These sources consist of primary, secondary, and tertiary information. The study of Genealogy refers to the fact based inquiry into your ancestry. It is the concrete process of searching for your genetic origins by gathering and documenting the names, dates and locations of your predecessors. Genealogy requires adherence to the precise information presented within public record to provide irrefutable evidence of your lineage. A genealogist's tools are the source materials such as Statutory Index Records for marriages, bi...

How can you ensure that you will get the most out of hiring a professional genealogist to work on your family history? The first thing to do before you engage your genealogy researcher is to prepare! A well-prepared genealogy client will realize a far more productive research experience than client who is not prepared. The very first thing your genealogist wants and needs to understand is what your goal is. So, have a clear sense of what it is you would most like to accomplish with professional genealogical researcher. Remember this motto for genealogy - Specific Goals Are Gold! A broad goal such as "I want to get as much as possible on my family tree" is not as helpful to a genealogist. It is best to present a more specific goal, such as, "I would like to research my family tree, starting with my ancestor in 1875 and working back four generations." It is important for you to convey a clearly defined goal, so that a researcher can more easily quantify an approxima...

We are living in an era of trends and lists, especially when it comes to the Internet. No matter what your home page is, there's usually a couple of "Top 10 Lists" waiting for you - everything from "The 10 Top Foods That Give You Gas" to "The 10 Things You Should Not Talk About in a Job Interview," which probably includes a number of items from the first list. There are quite a few "Top 10 Genealogy Research Resources" lists out there, as well. Most of them include the customary: 1) census, 2) online records, 3) city directories, and so forth. However, the one genealogy research resource that trumps them all is a super powerful, knows-no-bounds search engine (no, it's not Mocavo.com) that each and every genealogist has in their possession - whether they know it or not. This remarkable resource is known as Random Acts of Genealogy Kindness (also referred to as Genealogy Karma) - be nice to others and it will come back to you. Whether line...

Do free genealogy sites and other free family history resources really exist? The short answer is yes. But it doesn't mean that it'll be easy for you to search your family tree. Let me explain... Genealogy research used to be a very time intensive and difficult task. When you began to research who your grandparents REALLY were - their full names, dates of birth, locations of origin, and their siblings, you'd have to begin with the first resource available - normally your parents. You would rely on your parents for stories about your grandparents, but you couldn't necessary rely on these stories as fact. The next step would be to search through old filing cabinets and boxes stored away in various locations for any possible genealogy records which normally included old newspaper clippings, old photos, and similar research. Pending how successful this initial search, the next step would be the time intensive and expensive investment to visit local libraries and review mic...