Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual Genealogy Gifts for your Family’s Historian column! I know, Halloween is barely a memory and the turkey’s not even in the oven yet, but I want to give everyone plenty of time to place their gift order.

If you’re the genealogist in the family and you’re reading this, then now is the perfect time to clip this out of the newspaper or hit the print button on your browser so you can leave it in some inconspicuous place as a hint for your family members. (I recommend sticking it in their morning coffee cup or taping it to the showerhead.)

Full disclosure: I do not receive any products, money, or services for these suggestions.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Sometimes reading the fine print on certain documents can be a problem, even when your eyesight is 20/20. Amazon offers a pair of Ocim 10x magnifying glasses for just $6.49 (perfect for a stocking stuffer) to help you go through those documents with a fine-tooth comb. The rubber covering makes it easy to hold and protects the glass in case of accidental drops. And with two you can keep one in your desk and the other with your research bag when visiting repositories.

One of the most frustrating things in all of genealogy is the loss of the 1890 U.S. Census. It’s a black hole where family threads are lost. Even between regular census years it’s a 10-year gap, but due to the destruction of the 1890 census, that’s a 20-year gap that need to be overcome (thank God for state…