Blog & Events
Welcome to SYFT!
Welcome to Shaping Your Family Tree, also known as SYFT, as in "sifting" through records for your family tree. Our primary purpose is to encourage you in your genealogical pursuits. While actively encouraging you, we can consult (check out our Services) and inform...
Evaluating AI for Genealogy Research
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Deep Blue Supercomputer Tower. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1005331 : accessed 20 January 2025.Are AI tools useful for genealogy research? The short answer is yes, but more consideration might...
Confederate Spies: Three women vital to the Confederacy, in Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Rose Greenhow. , None. [Between 1855 and 1865] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017895441/.Oak Hill Cemetery Recently during a trip to Washington, D.C., my son and I ventured through Oak Hill Cemetery, a...
Analyzing Causes of Death for Ancestors
Images: Portrait. Elmo Henry Brown, paternal grandfather. unknown date. San Antonio, Texas. Portrait studio (unknown). Phyllis Zumwalt's private collection.Searching for death records and other details about our ancestors' demise may seem morbid, but the analysis may...
Researching World War I (WWI) Veterans Using Memorials and Cemeteries
Images: Photograph. The War Memorial of Canterbury. Nov. 2018. Canterbury, England. Phyllis Zumwalt, photographer. Private collection. In the past week, many researchers and historians across the globe observed a day of remembrance for veterans who served in the...
Recent news for Shaping Your Family Tree (SYFT)
In Central Texas, Fall is here! The temperatures have finally dropped into the 80's - not exactly the Fall weather so many get to experience, but it is no longer "hot"! I've been fortunate to travel in the Fall season in the past, to places where a sweater is needed,...
Honoring R.B. Stricklin’s sacrifice on Memorial Day
Note: In reading this blog, click on blue highlighted phrases to open links to other information which might be helpful in understanding the content and historical context. A bit of the history below was found in Shadow: A Cottontail Bomber Crew in World War II, a...
Get in touch!
shapingyourfamilytree@gmail.com
Master of Science (Distinction), Genealogical, Paleographical and Heraldic Studies, University of Strathclyde
Accredited as Qualified Genealogist
Instructor for Genealogy Workshops
Photography Bibliography
Image 1: Images. Photograph. Pulteney Bridge. 17 November 2019. Bath, Somerset, England, United Kingdom. Phyllis Zumwalt, photographer. Private collection. For more information: https://bath.co.uk/attractions/pulteney-bridge.