The Church has put out some great little video clips by FamilySearch.org to help and inspire us. Take a look. Each video is pretty short and to the point.
5 Minute Genealogy - Find a record in five minutes
5 Minute Genealogy - Recording what you know
5 Minute Genealogy - Write it down
5 Minute Genealogy - Learn from family
I am sure they will have some more classes for us so keep watching. These videos might be good ways for you to get your friends started. Check it out!
Showing posts with label Internet Research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet Research. Show all posts
Friday, June 3, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Words From the Grave
Recently my husband and I took a road trip across the United States. One thing we incorporated into the trip was cemetery searching. I thought it would be fun to check out cemeteries of where some of our ancestors were buried. We visited several cemeteries, in some we found our ancestors and in others, not so lucky. The whole experience was wonderful. Oh the excitement when we found those graves of our loved ones that we had only gotten to know through our researching endeavors. We did discover that we were quite unprepared for really using this search as a tool in helping us discover more information. We agreed that we want to go back to many of these cemeteries and do it right this time. Here are some problems we faced and what we decided we needed to do next time.
First, we did bring along a computer that assisted us in looking up what we had already found and helped us to decide where we wanted to go looking. In all circumstances on this trip, we knew the names of the cemeteries and the towns where they were located. We also brought along a GPS which made it possible for us to find some of these cemeteries by coordinates. I doubt that we would have been able to find them any other way. We also used the Internet each night to check out the locations of these cemeteries so that we could plug it into the GPS to find them.
The thing we were not prepare with is that almost all of our visits to cemeteries were on the weekend. Not a great plan. There was no one to go see if we had questions about locations and plot maps etc. The other thing, we had no rubbing materials or cleaning materials and many of these old stones were extremely difficult to read due to wear and mold and such.
Here is a list of things I think need to be done if you plan on searching out cemeteries. (From my other blog http://www.grandmaschitchat.blogspot.com/)
1. Get your facts - Try to know as much about your ancestor as you can. It helps to know the cemetery where he/she is buried (or at least the town). Check all of your lines to see if there are others that might be in the same cemetery (try to do as much as you can at one cemetery as possible). Check out Find A Grave on the Internet. It is free and will be a huge help.
2. Do ground work ahead of time - Write the county or town hall to see if they have any information about the cemetery that would be of help to you - like a plot map showing where graves are located (this will save huge amounts of time walking and searching).
3. Gather supplies - Do research on how to extract information from decaying gravestones (brushes, cleaners, rubbing materials, etc). There are right and wrong ways to clean gravestones - be sure to research this! Bring a computer or printed material of your genealogy. Bring a clipboard and plenty of paper.
4. Plan enough time - It is amazing how fast time flies when you are searching gravestones. If you have to factor in cleaning time, your time will go even faster. Don't rush! Don't over plan your day (don't try to do several cemeteries in a day) - be flexible.
5. Document what you find and where you found it - Take pictures but also map out those around your ancestor - they may be related in some way. It is amazing how quickly you will forget what picture goes where. Take notes of your pictures so when you are looking at them, you will know who it is you are viewing and who they a re related to....(many times you will find a stone that says the family name with no information but in front of the stone you see mother, father, child, etc. This can be very confusing if you are only looking at pictures.).
6. Week day working hours may be best - If you need to talk with someone at the cemetery or in a court house, funeral home, etc., they may only be available during work hours. If you plan your cemetery visit during the weekend, you may be out of luck if you need to speak to someone (believe me, you very well may need to do this).
7. Take the family - What a fantastic experience for your whole family. Get the kids involved. Everyone can search in a cemetery. How exciting it is to see your ancestor's grave. This would be a great time for you to tell your family about some memories or research experience you may have had with this ancestor. These were real people with real life struggles. Believe me, there will be some touching moments when you see your ancestor's grave.
Your family can tell you so much from the grave but be prepared before you go. Plan to enjoy the experience. Bring the generations together and share your experience with your family. Have fun, this will be a most rewarding time for you...you can count on it!
First, we did bring along a computer that assisted us in looking up what we had already found and helped us to decide where we wanted to go looking. In all circumstances on this trip, we knew the names of the cemeteries and the towns where they were located. We also brought along a GPS which made it possible for us to find some of these cemeteries by coordinates. I doubt that we would have been able to find them any other way. We also used the Internet each night to check out the locations of these cemeteries so that we could plug it into the GPS to find them.
The thing we were not prepare with is that almost all of our visits to cemeteries were on the weekend. Not a great plan. There was no one to go see if we had questions about locations and plot maps etc. The other thing, we had no rubbing materials or cleaning materials and many of these old stones were extremely difficult to read due to wear and mold and such.
Here is a list of things I think need to be done if you plan on searching out cemeteries. (From my other blog http://www.grandmaschitchat.blogspot.com/)
1. Get your facts - Try to know as much about your ancestor as you can. It helps to know the cemetery where he/she is buried (or at least the town). Check all of your lines to see if there are others that might be in the same cemetery (try to do as much as you can at one cemetery as possible). Check out Find A Grave on the Internet. It is free and will be a huge help.
2. Do ground work ahead of time - Write the county or town hall to see if they have any information about the cemetery that would be of help to you - like a plot map showing where graves are located (this will save huge amounts of time walking and searching).
3. Gather supplies - Do research on how to extract information from decaying gravestones (brushes, cleaners, rubbing materials, etc). There are right and wrong ways to clean gravestones - be sure to research this! Bring a computer or printed material of your genealogy. Bring a clipboard and plenty of paper.
4. Plan enough time - It is amazing how fast time flies when you are searching gravestones. If you have to factor in cleaning time, your time will go even faster. Don't rush! Don't over plan your day (don't try to do several cemeteries in a day) - be flexible.
5. Document what you find and where you found it - Take pictures but also map out those around your ancestor - they may be related in some way. It is amazing how quickly you will forget what picture goes where. Take notes of your pictures so when you are looking at them, you will know who it is you are viewing and who they a re related to....(many times you will find a stone that says the family name with no information but in front of the stone you see mother, father, child, etc. This can be very confusing if you are only looking at pictures.).
6. Week day working hours may be best - If you need to talk with someone at the cemetery or in a court house, funeral home, etc., they may only be available during work hours. If you plan your cemetery visit during the weekend, you may be out of luck if you need to speak to someone (believe me, you very well may need to do this).
7. Take the family - What a fantastic experience for your whole family. Get the kids involved. Everyone can search in a cemetery. How exciting it is to see your ancestor's grave. This would be a great time for you to tell your family about some memories or research experience you may have had with this ancestor. These were real people with real life struggles. Believe me, there will be some touching moments when you see your ancestor's grave.
Your family can tell you so much from the grave but be prepared before you go. Plan to enjoy the experience. Bring the generations together and share your experience with your family. Have fun, this will be a most rewarding time for you...you can count on it!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Websites for ALL Kinds of Research - A MUST SEE!!!
Here are some fantastic websites for all kinds of researching (from a Webinar by Paul Larson – Legacy Webinars):
Paul Larson wrote: CRASH COURSE IN FAMILY HISTORY – An easy step by step illustration guidebook and comprehensive resource directory.
Some of the sites are free and some cost money ($$). I am so excited about checking these out. I will keep a link to this group of sites under BASIC INTERNET RESEARCH (a tab at the top of this website).
AMERICAN ANCESTORS - www.americanancestors.org - $$
Contains important and valuable resources not found anywhere else. Over 2,400 databases containing over 135 million names, 28+million documents, artifacts, records, manuscripts, books, bibles, photos, etc. Specializing in American, Irish, English, Italian, Scottish, Atlantic and French Canadian, African American, Native American, and Jewish genealogy.
ANCESTORY.COM – www.ancestory.com - $$
A premium source of information – 4+ billion names, 27,000 databases, 26,000 historical records collections, the only completely indexed US Census records, US ship passenger lists, African-American historical documents, city directories, vital records, family trees, etc.
ANCESTRY PUBLIC MEMBERS – www.ancestry.com>search>publicmembertrees
ANCESTRY’S WIKI - http://wiki.ancestry.com/wiki
Contains: THE SOURCE – A guidebook to American genealogy
REDBOOK – American state, county, and town sources
And other content from Ancestry and people
DEATH INDEXES – www.deathindexes.com FREE
A free directory of online death indexes listed by state and county: Death records, death certificate indexes, death notices and registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery and burial records.
FAMILY GENEALOGY AND HISTORY INTERNET EDUCATION DIRECTORY – www.academic-genealogy.com
A mega portal of key worldwide genealogical databases and resources.
FAMILY HISTORY FAVORITES – www.fhlfavorites.info
The Family History Library’s best websites for each country + other links.
FAMILY SEARCH - FREE - www.familysearch.org - Free access to billions of records – Improving their infrastructure to make it easier for everyone, and eliminate duplications – digitizing and indexing their extensive records in the Granite Mt. Vault – Partnering with other libraries to digitize their records – Upgrading their catalog using new technology – Adding new searchable maps, a new wiki site, and a digital image viewer – Expanding published family histories – Over 200 digital cameras currently digitizing records in 47 countries.
PEDIGREE RESOURCE FILE
ANCESTRAL FILE
INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX (IGI)
COMMUNITY TREES (new) – http://hist.familysearch.org
SEARCHABLE MAPS – http://maps.familysearch.org
RESEARCH WIKI – https://wiki.familysearch.org - browse by country – they have the largest international data resource available. Links to archives, births, marriages, cemeteries, census, etc. Over 40,000 articles, tutorials, and videos. Search by Category – including ethnic groups and many different topics. Check out the Ancestry Map showing the largest population in US.
FAMILY TREE –FREE - http://new.familysearch.org – It will eventually include capabilities to link “public documents” with each record – It has the option to dispute and provide alternative lineages with notes and proof documents. It will soon be open to everyone (now currently open only to LDS) – This will revolutionize family history research collaboration, and be a boon to tracking and sharing your family roots. This will combine all info into one place so everyone can work on it together.
FAMILY TREE CONNECTION – www.familytreeconnection.com - $$
A growing collection of unique data indexed from a variety of secondary sources, such as: high school and college yearbooks, Masonic rosters, club and society member lists, insurance claims, church directories, orphanage and soldiers’ home residents, prisoner logs and much more…not available elsewhere.
FIND MY PAST – www.findmypast.com - $$
A UK site containing over 550 million family history records and key UK databases. Free to search pay to view.
FOOTNOTE – www.footnote.com $$
Collections include: Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, &II, Vietnam War, the Great Depression, interactive 1860 and 1930 census images, African American history, Native Americans, historical newspapers, naturalization documents, and city directories.
GEN CIRCLES – www.gencircles.com – FREE
Over 90 million names. You can pair names in your pedigree with those in their database.
GENEALOGY BANK – www.genealogybank.com $$
GENEALOGY WISE – www.genealogywise.com
A new web site that combines social networking with tools and resources to research and share family history, and collaborate with others.
They make it easy to discover exciting details about your ancestors: over 1 billion names, over 4,000 newspapers (1690-today), over 275,000 historical books, pamphlets and documents (pension records, land claims, military reports), and over 130 million obituaries and death records.
GENEA NET – http://www.geneanet.org/ – FREE but $ for advanced functions without commercials
Over 390 million names – French website, contents: UK, Germany, France, Holland, Spain, and Italy.
GEN SERV – www.genserv.com - $$
GODFREY MEMORIAL LIBRARY – www.godfrey.org $$
A private library that houses over 200k books and periodicals, much of which is not available elsewhere – including: state and local histories, international resources, family histories, biographies, records by religious organizations, church records, funeral records, cemetery records, military records, maps, and hand-written material.
HERITAGE QUEST ONLINE – www.heritagequestonline.com (or see your local library website – you will need your library card) – also available at LDS Family History Centers free.
US Census 1790-1930, over 24,000 family and local histories, the PERSI index to 2.1 million articles, Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrants, Freed-man’s Bank records, and US Congressional records.
HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS – http://lib.byu.edu/dlib/historic_photos
Over 30,000 historic photographic collections.
KINDRED KONNECTIONS – www.mytrees.com - $$
Over 370 million names; build your own family tree online with pictures.
LIBDEX – www.libdex.com - FREE
Links to 18,000 libraries worldwide
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS – AMERICA’S STORY – WWW.AMERICASLIBRARY.GOV
One of the world’s premier collections of genealogical and local historical publications.
LINKPENDIUM – www.linkpendium.com
A huge directory of over 9 million worldwide genealogy links categorized by locality.
MOUNTAIN WEST DIGITAL LIBRARY – http://155.97.12.155/mwdl
A central search portal for 300k digital resources (text, photos, video, audio) from universities, colleges, libraries, museums, and historical societies in the mountain west.
The nation’s record keeper. A treasure trove of records and documents to trace your family roots. Access to more than 85 million historical records, photos, and maps.
NATIONAL COLLECTION OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY – http://aerial.rcahms.gov.uk - FREE
More than 10 million European aerial reconnaissance images from WWII (overlaid with modern satellite images)
NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE – www.newspaperarchive.com - $$
A large historical newspaper database online. You can search every word in tens of millions of newspaper pages between 1753-present.
ONE GREAT FAMILY – www.onegreatfamily.com $$
Over 200 million names – allows everyone to one huge, shared database.
PRO GENEALOGIST – http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm (where the pro’s go)
UNITED STATES GENEALOGY SLEUTH = Links to US web sites that professional genealogists use daily when conducting US genealogy research (see also the International Genealogy Sleuth).
RANDOM ACTS OF GENEALOGICAL KINDNESS – www.raogk.org
A global volunteer organization that will look up courthouse records, take pictures of tombstones, etc. and email them to you at no cost.
ROOTS WEB – www.rootsweb.ancestry.com - FREE
A free genealogy community providing an environment for learning, collaborating and sharing – Contains: huge transcribed records, extensive interactive guides, numerous research tools for tracing family histories, over 31,000 mailing lists, more than 132,000 message boards, and a surname list of over 1.2 million names.
ANCESTRY’S FAMILY TREES – http://wcrootsweb.ancestry.com FREE public trees
VITAL RECORDS – www.vitalrec.com - Free to search $ to order
A comprehensive resource for locating vital records.
WEB TREE – www.webtree.com FREE
A free service for publishing family trees in GEDCOM format for sharing and easy access. (Also search hundreds of thousands of family trees.
WESTERN STATE MARRIAGE RECORDS INDEX – http://abish.byui.edu/specialcollections
WORLD HISTORY – www.worldhistory.com
Provides historical context around places, people, and events. Helps you better understand the historical context of your family history.
WORLD VITAL RECORDS – www.worldvitalrecords.com - $$
Provides access to thousands of genealogy databases: Everton publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia and Canada, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Ellis Island, Genealogical Publishing, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find a Grave and Family Search.
UNITED STATES VITAL RECORDS – http://genealogy.about.com
How and where to find birth, death, marriage, divorce, and adoption records.
US GEN WEB – www.USgenweb.org – FREE
This free sprawling, all-volunteer site is packed with how-to tips, queries, and records such as censuses, tombstones, family group sheets, cemetery surveys and marriage indexes for every US state and virtually every county.
He said that perhaps 90% + of all family history records are not yet available on the Internet. It is all a work in progress.
EVERYTHING LISTED HERE AND MUCH MORE IS AVAILABLE IN HIS BOOK OR IN HIS E-BOOK (WITH DIRECT LINKS TO THESE SITES). Check out the Legacy web site for details on how to purchase the book or download the e-file.
I have not checked these out so please let me know what you find, how they worked for you, which ones you like best and please let me know if there is a problem with any of the links.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Ports of Entry
I know that a lot of people have family that came to the US through a variety of Ports of Entry. Cyndi's List has a good connection for finding those ports. Check out her website under Ports of Entry to see if you can locate your ancestors.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
15 Minute Family History
Some members of the Family Search team have come up with this great grouping of places to help with getting you going on your family research. You can download this as a PDF file or just click on the links and get started. We will be discussing most of these links in future postings but here it is in one location for easy access. It is called 15 Minute Family History. You may get hooked and spend more than 15 minutes but it is a quick start way to begin researching. Have Fun!
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