A Genealogists’ Insta-Guide: Dollarhide’s Rules & Daffern’s Laws

William Dollarhide is a well-know author, census-records expert, avid genealogist and co-creator of a new series of guides called Genealogists’ Insta-Guides. Dollarhide is also well know for his “Genealogy Rules.” These are rules he has created to assist genealogists in their research. In fact, Dollarhide has written many blogs on this website, expanding on many of these rules in great detail.

Now, for the first time ever, all 50 of Dollarhide’s rules can be found in one place. Just released is the latest addition for Dollarhide’s series, Genealogists’ Insta-Guide: Dollarhide’s Rules & Daffern’s Laws.

Some of Dollarhide’s rules are funny, but surprisingly useful. For example:

Death certificates are rarely filled in by the person who died.

It ain’t history until it’s written down.

Other rules are more pragmatic, for example:

Treat the brothers and sisters of your ancestor as equals – even if some of them were in jail.

A genealogist needs to be a detective. Just gimmie da facts Ma’am

Adding to this guide are 17 additional rules, known as The Inevitable Laws of Genealogy, by Neta Hanna Daffern. Here is an example from her laws:

Your grandmother’s maiden name for which you’ve searched for years was on an old letter in a box in the attic all the time.

Like other quick sheets, and “at a glance” guides, the new Genealogists’ Insta-Guide series features four-page, laminated, colored guides which fit nicely into three-ringed binders and portfolios. By this design, these guides are easy to take along for sharing or going to the library for research; not to mention, they are easy to store. The Insta-Guide comes pre-punched for three-ringed insertion.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the new Insta-Guides is you can order each as either a printed piece or in electronic format. Electronic formats come as a  downloadable .pdf file for your computer: providing access on both PC and Macs as well as tablets and smart phones — as long as your device supports .pdf [Acrobat] files.

Genealogists’ Insta-Guide: Dollarhide’s Rules & Daffern’s Laws is available from Family Roots Publishing; Printed Price: $7.95, or .PDF download for $3.99