West Florida Genealogical Society

03/19/2026

The latest edition of the West Florida Genealogical Society's annual journal "Footprints" is now available. If you are a member, you can log in to the WFGS website to read online. Contact editor Denise Mowery if you would like a printed copy. https://wfgs.org/index.php (click "Members" then "Members Only" then "Footprints")

03/16/2026

On this date in 1751, James Madison, “Father of the Constitution” and fourth president of the United States was born.... in 1802, Congress approved legislation establishing the United States Military Academy at West Point.... and in 1966, astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott successfully achieved the first-ever docking of two spacecraft in orbit.

03/13/2026

If you have access to MyHeritage, they now have a collection of birth, marriage, and death records from Sweden, all starting from 1850.

If you have Swedish heritage, some of the most important records for tracing your family are now fully available on MyHeritage. We’ve completed the

03/10/2026

If you research in Santa Rosa County, beginning April 4, 2026, the Family History and Research Center (FHRC), located at 6275 Dogwood Dr., Milton, will adjust its hours of operation. The FHRC will be closed on Saturdays and will be open Monday through Friday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. All other Santa Rosa County Library System locations will continue to operate under their regular hours as listed on the library system website.

03/10/2026

When the records disagree, how do you know you have the right people? Family Tree Magazine lays out four examples and how analyzing the records helps solve the problems.

See how analyzing your genealogical sources can help you conquer these genealogy conundrums using these case studies.

03/07/2026

Explore historical collections from libraries, museums, and archives across Massachusetts at the Digital Commonwealth website.
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/

03/04/2026

Freedom of Information laws ensure the public's access to official records. On March 11 (1 p.m. central), genealogist Alec Ferretti will give a presentation on leveraging those laws to find the records you need to research family history. Register at Legacy Family Tree Webinars: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/leveraging-freedom-of-information-laws-to-procure-novel-records/

03/01/2026

You've heard of Ötzi - the man beaten to death 5,000 years ago and found frozen in a glacier. Well, guess what? He has a cousin, alive and well today, identified through a mitochondrial DNA test at Family Tree DNA. Isn't that amazing?!

For years, experts believed Ötzi the Iceman’s mitochondrial DNA lineage had vanished. New genetic analysis reveals it still survives today.

02/26/2026

What do you do when you find someone in your tree you'd rather not have as a relative? Here's The Legal Genealogist's response. https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2026/01/19/an-apology-worth-repeating/ (image created using Microsoft Copilot)

02/23/2026

Land records, death indexes, photographs, and more can be found among the digital resources in Maryland's State Archives.

These resources include digital publications, special collections, and image collections from the holdings of the Maryland State Archives.

02/23/2026

Awards for the Escambia County History Fair were presented on February 10th. You can watch the whole presentation here. WFGS president Kelley Harris presented the prizes for genealogical presentation. (Her presentation begins 20 minutes into the program.) https://www.youtube.com/live/UQ-raIHNxX0

02/20/2026

How far we've come! Roberta Estes compares genetic genealogy, particularly Y-DNA testing, in 2006 to 2026.

Our goal as genealogists is always to learn what we don’t know and reveal anything we should know. I’m going to share the evolution of four tests, purchased exactly twenty years ago. I haven’t cher…