What we do when we assume
You know this joke right? Its a play on the word ‘assume’. You make an ___ out of "u" and "me".
Whether you conciously do it or not, you make assumptions every day of your life–about a variety of topics, people, situations, etc. But when it comes to your family history, assumptions can lead you to a dead end.
Michael John Neill has written a nice article on this subject over at Ancestry.
Which reminds me that my mom was relating that she’s found out new information on an ancestor of ours–he claimed to be born in one state, when in reality he was from another–it was an appearances thing. Just goes to show that unless you were there witnessing the event–you have to take everything with a grain of salt.
Popularity: 61% [?]
FamilySearch Indexing
For the past two weeks I have been working on the FamilySearch
Indexing project. This is something that I read about at church and felt that
it would be an important program to participate in.
The FamilySearch Indexing project is being run by the LDS
Church and is one of the ways that they will be indexing all of the content that
they have digitized out of their vault. I have blogged in
the past about how excited I am to have this information made readily available to
everyone. For this reason I have felt that it is important for me to help out as much
as I can.
When participating in the project you download a software application that allows
you to do the indexing. You are given a choice of different
areas to begin indexing. Many of the areas deal with census data, but there are
some birth and death indexes as well. I have mostly been working on West Virginia
Births as it is a smaller database and a good place to learn how to read different
handwriting. The software displays your batch which consists of a single page image.
From this image you begin typing data into the project form. The software is easy
to use and gives you many tools to assist in deciphering the handwriting.
I received a message from the project yesterday saying that in January of 2006 there
were around 150,000 names entered. In January of 2007 there were around 3 million.
This is a tremendous increase and shows how involvement in this project is taking
off.
I would encourage everyone to help with this project. The faster that this data gets
indexed the faster it will be made available for us to do our research from the comfort
of our home without having to pay subscription fees.
Popularity: 66% [?]
Family History Overhaul
The Deseret News wrote
a lengthy article on the changes that are going to be taking place with familysearch.org.
Here are some of the highlights:
- “New online tools will allow novices to log on and
Popularity: 91% [?]
Where to Write for Vital Records
The National Center for Health Statistics hosts a very
useful web page that provides the contact information for every state where you
can write to obtain vital records for births, deaths, marriages, and divorces that
have occurred in your family history. Application
Guidelines for obtaining vital records are also provided.
To obtain a certified copy of birth, death, and marriage certificates, write or go
to the vital statistics office in the State where the event occurred. Addresses and
fees are given for each event in the State concerned. Because all fees are subject
to change, a telephone number has been included in the information for each State
so you can verify the current fee. These pages also provide web page addresses of
each State’s vital records office(s).
Be sure to type or print all names and addresses in the letter.
Give the following facts when writing for birth or death records:
- Full name of person whose record is requested.
- Sex.
- Parents’ names, including maiden name of mother.
- Month, day, and year of birth or death.
- Place of birth or death (city or town, county, and State; and name of hospital, if
known). - Purpose for which copy is needed.
- Relationship to person whose record is requested.
- Day time telephone number with area code.
Give the following facts when writing for marriage records:
- Full names of bride and groom.
- Month, day, and year of marriage.
- Place of marriage (city or town, county, and State).
- Purpose for which copy is needed.
- Relationship to persons whose record is requested.
- Day time telephone number with area code.
Give the following facts when writing for divorce records:
- Full names of husband and wife.
- Date of divorce or annulment.
- Place of divorce or annulment.
- Type of final decree.
- Purpose for which copy is needed.
- Relationship to persons whose record is requested.
- Day time telephone number with area code.
Where to Write for Vital
Records
Click on State where birth, death, marriage,
or divorce occurred:A
C
D
G
K
(except New York City)
O
P
T
UUtah
Popularity: 53% [?]
Official State Archives for All 50 States of the U.S.
Here is a nice listing of the Official State Archives for all 50 states of the U.S. and 3 territories This listing includes the official department name, address, telephone numberr and web site address. One can research and find at these sites documents such as public records, registered maps, books, papers, directories, land records, and other writings and records which appertain to the political history and past administration of the state government. Typically, these are repositories for the state’s permanent governmental records as well as other materials documenting the state’s history. These types of items can help you find leads and provide more understanding when researching your ancestors and family history.
| Alabama Department of Archives and History 624 Washington Avenue P.O. Box 300100Montgomery, AL 36130-0100 Tel: 334-242-4435 www.archives.state.al.us/index.html |
Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums 141 Willoughby AvenueJuneau, AK 99801-1720 Tel: 907-465-2270 www.archives.state.ak.us |
Arizona Department of Library, Archives, and Public Records 1700 West WashingtonRoom 442, State Capitol Phoenix, AZ 85007 Tel: 602-542-4159 www.lib.az.us/archives |
Popularity: 68% [?]
31 Internet Genealogy Lessons
To complement Jeff’s post today on Beginners
Guide to Genealogy, here are a total of 31 genealogy lessons for both beginner
and intermediate genealogists These genealogy tutorial lessons will help you in your
important work of researching, finding, and documenting your family tree and family
history, and are provided by Genealogy.com. The beginning lessons show you
how to find information online and where to start looking, while the intermediate
lessons dive deeper into genealogy research and show you things such as conducting
online research, writing your family history, cemetery records, digital photographs,
genealogy CDs, and organizing your online research. Have fun with these and good luck
with your family history research!
Beginning
Internet Genealogy: Getting Started on the Net
- Lesson 1: Usenet Newsgroups
- Lesson 2:
Creating Effective Queries - Lesson 3:
Online Reference Sites - Lesson 4:
Genealogy Data Online - Lesson 5:
Using Newspapers for Research - Lesson 6:
Libraries in the Digital Age - Lesson 7: Genealogy
Files Online - Lesson 8: Conducting
an Oral History - Lesson 9: GEDCOM Mysteries
Revealed - Lesson 10: Geographic
Tools and Resources - Lesson 11: Finding
People Online - Lesson 12: Armchair
Travel for Genealogists - Lesson 13: Search
Engines — Sorting Through the Web - Lesson 14: Organization
is the Key! - Lesson 15: Internet
Genealogy Chat via IRC - Lesson 16: Historical
Timelines and Resources
Intermediate Internet
Genealogy: Powerful Tools for Internet Research
- Lesson 1: Help from
Societies - Lesson 2: Genograms
and Family Medical Histories - Lesson 3: Conducting
Online Research - Lesson 4: Genealogy
Files Online - Lesson 5: The Mechanics
of Writing Your Family History, Part 1 - Lesson 6: The Mechanics
of Writing Your Family History, Part 2 - Lesson 7: The Mechanics
of Writing Your Family History, Part 3 - Lesson 8: Create Your
Own Genealogy Mailing List - Lesson 9: Cemetery
Records: Online and Off-line Research Tips and Techniques - Lesson 10: Software?:
Tips for Finding the Right Genealogy Program - Lesson 11: Genealogy
CD-ROM Basics - Lesson 12: Does This
Look Infected: Keeping Your Genealogy (and Other) Data Safe - Lesson 13: Digital
Photographs: Enhancing Your Online and Off-line Research - Lesson 14: Genealogy
CDs: Compiled Genealogies on CD-ROM - Lesson 15: Internet:
Organizing Your Online Research
Popularity: 100% [?]
Beginners Guide to Genealogy
For those of you who are just now starting to work on your genealogy, spoken-for.org has
created a great beginners guide called: “Genealogy
101: Starting Out“. The article goes through the basics of how to start by talking
to your relatives, gathering what you have, and deciding what you need to get. It
also talks about how to keep track of your records and discussions on the different
software available. Definitely worth taking a look at if you are just starting or
need a refresher.
Popularity: 32% [?]
Search Genealogy - Personal History at National Archives
The National Archives hosts this excellent “Genealogy / Personal History” search
page in the Access to Archival Databases
(AAD) section of the their site. You can search each one of these 16 databases separately,
or you can search them all at once using their search form on this page. I found several
members of my family searching some of the databases here.
Search
Genealogy / Personal History at National Archives
16 series, listed chronologically
 |
|
|
| Series and Files | No. of Records | |
|---|---|---|
| Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, created, 1977 - 1989, documenting the period 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851 |
 |
607,822 |
| Index to the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Registers, created, 1979 - 1991, documenting the period 1906 - 1991 |
|
26,213 |
| World War II Army Enlistment Records, created, 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002, documenting the period ca. 1938 - 1946 |
|
9,200,232 |
| Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947, documenting the period 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 |
|
143,374 |
| Records About Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, created, 1988 - 1989, documenting the period 1942 - 1946 |
|
109,384 |
| Records of Duty Locations for Naval Intelligence Personnel, created, 1942 - 1945, documenting the period 1942 - 1945 |
|
33,208 |
| Records of Military Personnel Who Died as a Result of Hostilities During the Korean War, created, ca. 1977 - 11/1979, documenting the period 1/1/1950 - 2/7/1957 |
|
33,642 |
| Records on Korean War Dead and Wounded Army Casualties, created, 1950 - 1970, documenting the period 2/13/1950 - 12/31/1953 |
|
109,975 |
| Records of Repatriated Korean War Prisoners of War, created, 1978 - 1980, documenting the period 7/5/1950 - 10/6/1954 |
|
4,447 |
| Records of American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, created, 1950 - 1953, documenting the period 1950 - 1953 |
|
4,714 |
| Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam Conflict, created, 1/20/1967 - 12/1998, documenting the period 6/8/1956 - 1/21/1998 |
|
58,965 |
| Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam Conflict, created, ca. 1983 - 6/19/2002, documenting the period 10/21/1957 - 3/19/1991 |
|
58,179 |
| Records of Deceased, Wounded, Ill, or Injured Army Personnel, Including Dependents and Civilian Employees, created, 1/1/1961 - 12/1981, documenting the period 1/1/1961 - 12/1981 |
|
293,858 |
| Records of Awards and Decorations of Honor During the Vietnam Conflict, created, 5/1969 - 3/1973, documenting the period 12/1965 - 11/1972 472 |
|
80,701 |
| Records About the Proposed Sale of Unregistered Securities by Individuals, created, 1/4/1972 - 9/29/2000, documenting the period 1/4/1972 - 9/29/2000 |
|
809,220 |
| Records on Trading of Securities by Corporate Insiders, created, 7/11/1978 - 3/12/2001, documenting the period 7/11/1978 - 3/12/2001 |
|
5,502,888 |
Popularity: 48% [?]
Adding inurl to a Google Domain Search
As a follow-up to my blog post yesterday showing how to do a domain
search on Google, I would now like to demonstrate the use of the “inurl:”
search criteria, adding it to the domain search. I would like to do this so I can
search on a single state or county name, or other names, such as cemeteries,
census, directories, history, military, photos, or schools. When using “inurl:”, be
sure that it specifies a valid directory name on the web server, or a part of the
web page name. So, to change my search, ”site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ Yale”,
to only look for Yales in the state of Connecticut, I add the 2 character abbreviation
for Connecticut (ct) to ”inurl:”, giving ”inurl:ct”, because I know that
some Yales lived in this state, and now I’d like to find more of them, not just Elihu.
My Google search now becomes “site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ Yale
inurl:ct”, and it returns 17
results, which is a doable amount to drill-down on and research further.
Now I’d like to show you how to use the domain and inurl search criteria on another
site, namely FamilySearch.org. Because FamilySearch.org already
has an excellent search engine that we can use to research our ancestors, and its
relatively easy to use, we normally would not perform a Google domain search using
“site:www.familysearch.org”. However, when performing this domain search on Google,
and adding “inurl:search”, a total of 89,800
results are returned. When analyzing some of these results I saw that they could
be useful for my genealogy research if I add a surname, as I have done here:
“site:www.familysearch.org inurl:search Yale”, as it now returns 353
results. Then, adding a year, a first name, a state name, a county name, a city
name, or a cemetery name will further limit the search results and assist me in finding
what I’m looking for. In this case, I added the city name of “Hartford” and now have 12
results to look at. It is not possible to search on a city name or cemetery name using FamilySearch.org’s
regular and advanced search forms, so this Google search gives me results I could
not otherwise obtain.
I hope my explanations for using Google’s site and inurl search criteria will help
you do a better job at researching and finding your ancestors. In my next blog
post I will investigate and discuss using the “inurl:” criteria without the
“site:” criteria on Google. This can be useful when searching for more generic terms,
or specific city names, county names, or even surnames.
Popularity: 74% [?]
Using Google’s Domain Search
This is my first blog post on blog.genealogylocator.com,
our new blog here GenealogyLocator.com.
My name is Scott Turton and will go by the pen name of “familysearcher” on this blog.
I am one of the site editors responsible for locating the web-based family history
and genealogy content for GenealogyLocator’s search database.
In this post I will outline a worthwhile method to find genealogy and family history
data on the web by using Google’s vast search engine. I will show you how to use Google’s
domain search. Sometimes, genealogy related web sites and repositories are not well
integrated in terms of searching and finding what you are looking for. In these cases,
you can use google to help. Here is one of these types of web sites. It doesn’t seem
to be meant for user interaction at all, as its just a repository of genealogy-related
text files, categorized by state, county, and documentation type, such as cemeteries,
census, directories, history, military, photos, and schools. This is the URL, or web
address: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/
Now, if we know the exact county and state to look in, then there is not much of a
problem, but what do we do if we would like to search on all of the states…how would we
do that? Enter google, our friendy search engine. We can enter the following into
Google as search terms (without the double-quotes): “site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/”
and discover that google has indexed 2,810,000 results from this site alone! Here
is this
google search already linked for you. So, the next thing to do is to enter your
search term(s), putting a space between them and the “site” keyword there. One of
my ancestral lines is Yale, so I enter this name into the google seach box: “site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/
Yale” and click on the search button. Google returns 739 results that have the name
Yale in them, so that is a good start. Now I narrow down the search futher and enter
a first name: “site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ Yale Elihu”. This search returns
49 results and now I can start looking at each of them individually. As an aside,
Elihu Yale gave his name to Yale University by means of his large endowment, he was
the brother of a direct ancestor of mine.
This search will also work using years for census and birth/death dates, and other
names, for example, such as cemeteries, schools, or streets. You also may want to
use this search even though you know the county and state because you never know what
else you may discover.
Go ahead and try this google search method, it works very well on http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/,
and it should also work on other genealogy related sites. If you find a site this
method works well on, please post a comment here about it. Tomorrow, I will show you
how to use this google search method on a site that already has a search engine,
to find variations of results which you would not otherwise discover.
Popularity: 57% [?]