"Portable files" are copies of your original documents and your family group sheets, notes, pedigree charts, chronological profiles, etc.

Genealogy is the search for our ancestors. Family history is the study of the lives they led. Using the information from each area provides us with a true picture of our family.

When it comes to spelling variations, think out of the box. Often clerks and government officials were unable to correctly record the names given them by unschooled immigrants not familiar with the English, French, German, or Spanish languages used in the port of entry and part of the country where they settled. It was written down as they heard it and the immigrant accepted this as the official American rendering of his name.