Pr

ev
FR w I
Discovering

ie
EE ssu
e!
Online Preview Issue 2008

Want to Trace
Your Roots?
We’ll Show You How!

PLUS:
A Guide to Online Subscription Databases • Getting
Started: Computing Basics • Understanding Obituaries •
10 First Steps • Citing Sources AND MUCH MORE!
 Discovering

T
HE SEED OF the idea for readers. We sent out (via the you, the reader. We hope you
Discovering Family History Internet) questionnaires to one approve of the result. Please let me
was sown when Family thousand readers and were more have your comments — good and
Chronicle and Internet Genealogy than pleasantly surprised by the bad. I really do read everything
magazines exhibited at an event in response. A few people said they people send me.
Toronto last September, called thought the idea for a beginner’s
“The Word on the Street”. Some magazine was a bad one, but for
200,000 people attended this event, each one of these, 12 people were
put on for those interested in excited by the idea. We had not Halvor Moorshead
books and literacy. expected to find that many people, Publisher and Editor
We sold plenty of subscrip- who had been researching their [email protected]
tions to both magazines, but I genealogy for many years, still
found that I was continually considered themselves beginners.
explaining to new subscribers But then we realized that most of
some real genealogy basics — us are beginners when we tackle a
steering them to Cyndi’s List and new area for research. I am still
other places that listed beginner’s doing my own genealogy and not
courses. These people were smart long ago realized that I knew next
enough; they just needed some- to nothing about land records.
thing more basic than what we Most of us are beginners in some
were selling. It was sobering to area or another.
realize that there might be a big This is the 19th magazine that
market for a genealogy magazine I have brought to life in a publish-
that dealt with the basics. ing career that began in 1973, and I
This triggered us to conduct thoroughly enjoy the process. It
market research among Family was fun researching this magazine
Chronicle and Internet Genealogy and it was exciting preparing it for

Published by Moorshead Magazines Ltd. Subscription rate for US (US funds):

Discovering 505 Consumers Road, Suite 500, 1 year (6 issues) $28,
Toronto, ON, M2J 4V8 Canada
(416) 491-3699 Fax (416) 491-3996
2 years (12 issues) $45, 3 years (18 issues) $64.
Moorshead Magazines also publishes Subscription rate for Canada (Cdn
Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy funds):
ONLINE PREVIEW ISSUE 2008 and History Magazine. 1 year (6 issues) $28,
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR OFPREVIEW ISSUE: 2 years (12 issues) $45, 3 years (18 issues) $64.
Halvor Moorshead ADDRESS — CANADA Please add GST/HST (GST# 139340186 RT).
[email protected]
Discovering Family History, Quebec residents add 7.5% QST.
EDITORS: 505 Consumers Road, Suite 500,
Ed Zapletal We welcome the submission of articles for pub-
Toronto, Ontario, M2J 4V8 Canada. lication. Please address e-mail proposals to
[email protected]
E-mail: [email protected] [email protected].
Victoria King
[email protected] ADDRESS — UNITED STATES We will always contact people who submit arti-
cles but the review process may take several
Marc Skulnick Discovering Family History,
weeks. Authors’ notes are available at
[email protected] PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY 14304. www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com/author_notes.htm.
CIRCULATION MANAGER: E-mail: [email protected]
Rick Cree Toll-Free Subscription Line:
[email protected] © 2008 Moorshead Magazines Ltd. 1-888-326-2476
ADVERTISING SERVICES: SUBSCRIPTIONS Printed in Canada
Jeannette Cox Discovering Family History is published
[email protected] six times a year (May/Jun, Jul/Aug,
Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr). www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
DFH OP

2 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com

 Discovering

FIRST THINGS FIRST . . . 4 CASE STUDY: GETTING TO

Genealogy news you can use! KNOW PAP . . . . . . . . 28
Lisa A. Alzo describes her quest
A FEW FANTASTIC to learn about the grandfather
FREE FAMILY HISTORY she never knew.
WEBSITES . . . . . . . . . . 7
You’ll be surprised at how much COMPUTING BASICS . . . 33
is out there and you can’t beat the Bill Puller takes a grass-roots
price! approach to getting your computer

LET OBITUARIES SPEAK

13 in tip-top genealogical shape!

TO YOU! . . . . . . . . . . 11
10 FIRST STEPS . . . . . 36
Lisa A. Alzo describes the first
Obituaries can help you find clues
steps you should take when
to your family history. George G.
starting to research your
Morgan shows you what to look for.
genealogy.
WHAT’S COMING IN IT’S ALL ABOUT
DISCOVERING FAMILY PARENTS . . . . . . . . . 40
HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . 13 Janice Nickerson gives suggestions
A peek at what we are working on on how to answer the eternal
for future issues.
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
20 question of who were your
ancestor’s parents.
TO SUBSCRIPTION GENEALOGICAL
DATABASES . . . . . . . . 14 SOCIETIES . . . . . . . . . 42
Our guide to online subscriptions Donna J. Pointkouski explains what
will help you navigate the maze of genealogical societies have to offer
fee-based services and shows you family historians.
where you can access them.
WEB 2.0 . . . . . . . . . 47
WHO ELSE IS RESEARCHING Marian Press looks at how Web 2.0
YOUR NAME? . . . . . . 20 can help you with your research.
According to George G. Morgan,
MAKING SENSE OF THE
genealogical success is all about
teamwork.
28 US CENSUS . . . . . . . . 51
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, census
WHAT IS A VITAL records are a big part of tracing
RECORD? . . . . . . . . . 23 your family history. This article
Mary Clement Douglass, CG looks will help you understand one of
at the basics of understanding and genealogy’s most important
using vital records. resources.

CITING SOURCES . . . . . 26 IT’S ONLY WORDS . . . 54

Rachel Newcombe explains why it’s What’s in a word? Quite a lot, as
vitally important to properly record Donna Murray finds out.
your sources from the start.
40
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 3
First Things First...
Genealogy News You Can Use!
Irish Research Gets A Wee Bit African American/Slave Research
Easier! AFRICANDNA.COM, Institute for African (home to Pittsburgh)
Anyone who has done Irish www.africandna.com, and African Pennsylvania deed
research knows the challenges the first company American Research books. The office
due to the dearth of records dedicated to offering at Harvard University, transferred hand-
available. Well, Irish research both genetic testing in partnership with written documents
has now become just a bit and genealogical the Inkwell recording the legal
easier. There is an ongoing status of 56 African
digitization project for the American slaves to
1901 and the 1911 Irish the Senator John
censuses. Focusing on Dublin, Heinz History Center,
the National Archives of http://www.pgh
Ireland now has part of history.org. The
the 1911 census online, oldest papers date to
http://www.census.national 1792, the year Peter
archives.ie/search. For more tracing services for Foundation and Cosco purchased his
on the digitization project, see African Americans, Family Tree DNA. freedom from John
http://www.census.national has been launched McKee for £100.
archives.ie/about/index.html. by Henry Louis SLAVE RECORDS Read more about the
Gates, Jr., Alphonse A county recorder of discovery online,
Fletcher University deeds discovered his- http://www.post
Professor and torical slavery-era -gazette.com/pg
Director of the papers in old /07318/833611
W.E.B. Du Bois Allegheny County -85.stm.

Do You Know the Way to Oyster Bay?

thousand names of those interred in

W
HAT WELCOME resources for
those researching in this the cemeteries.
part of Long Island; two  Index to Register of Deaths —
excellent compendiums recently Town of Oyster Bay — 1881-1920:
produced by the Town Historian, Generally speaking, the death cer-
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES and Records John Hammond. tificates include the name of the
Administration (NARA) and the  Historic deceased, the
National Personnel Records Center Cemeteries of deceased’s date and
(NPRC) announced that they were Oyster Bay — A place of birth, the
making available for the first time Guide to Their cause of death, the
all the Official Military Personnel Locations and deceased’s place of
Files (OMPF) for those who served Sources of burial, the names
in any branch of the armed services Transcription and birth places of
prior to 1946; these represent Information: It both parents, and
about six million records! As includes a listing the name of the
explained in the press release, of 121 cemeter- doctor. This guide
contained in a typical OMPF are ies, some of provides an alpha-
assignments, evaluations, awards which no longer betical list of
and decorations, education and exist and where names, with the
training, demographic information, transcription date of death, of
some medical information and records can be 9,421 individuals.
documented disciplinary actions. found. The listing The URLs for
Some records contain photographs is done first by these two publica-
and correspondence. The full news present-day locali- tions are quite long,
release, at http://www.archives. ty and then alpha- so the easiest way
gov/press/press-releases/2008 betically by the Historic Cemeteries of Oyster Bay. to access them it
/nr08-14.html, provides details on most commonly to go to
viewing and obtaining copies of known name. The guide goes on to http://www.oysterbaytown.com
these invaluable records. list, in alphabetical order, several and use the search engine!

4 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com

 Compiled by Diane L. Richard

Database Updates!
 The National Burial Index (NBI) also released the largest collection
for England and Wales is an ongo- of WWII photos on the web. For
ing project of the Federation of news about this and other recent
Family History Societies (FFHS) updates, see http://www.footnote.
and is now available online at com/page/120/Footnote-Press
FindMyPast, http://www.findmy -Room.
past.com/national-burial-index  Two British newspapers, The
-search-start.action?redef=0. Guardian and The Observer have
 Periodical Source Index (PERSI) placed more than 212 years of their
updated — this resource is avail- back editions on the Internet. They
able via HeritageQuest Online, are available free at any library or
often available at a local library, educational institution that sub-
http://www.proquest.com/products scribes to the
_pq/descriptions ProQuest
/heritagequest. Historical
shtml. Newspapers
 Genealogy Service or you
Bank, can purchase
A new two-volume series, Census
http://www. personal access
Substitutes & State Census Records,
genealogy via their web-
by William Dollarhide identifies
bank.com/gbnk site, http://
census substitutes, as well as state
/newcontent. archive.
census records for the US. The sub-
html, continues guardian.
stitutes are those name lists derived
to grow its col- co.uk.
from tax lists, directories, military
lection, more  The Original
lists, land ownership lists, voter reg-
than 1.5 million Record, www.
istrations, and other compilations
documents were added in theoriginalrecord.com, is
of names of residents. Additionally,
November 2007 — these range constantly adding new material, —
37 states conducted colonial, terri-
from 1800 editions of the some recent noteworthy additions
torial or state censuses that survive.
Charleston Times to modern include: New Plymouth Colony
versions of the Grand Island Deeds 1620-1651, 1930 Crockford’s
Independent. Clerical Directory, 1934 The Half-
 Footnote.com has released orig- Yearly Army List, 1930 Liste du International Tracing Service
inal images from The Times of Rat for the parish of St Peter, (ITS) Archives Open to the
London, 1785 to 1820 and it has Jersey and much more. Public
After more than 60 years, the
archives of ITS have become
Worth A Second Look... accessible to the public online
 Tell Your of such books as can then print and at http://www.its-arolsen.
LifeStories — Save Reading Early American mail to the FBI org/index.php?id=2&L=1.
your memories and Handwriting and to learn more about Holocaust and Historical
anecdotes and those Abbreviations & your deceased ances- researchers and other interest-
of your family and Acronyms for the tors. If you prefer to ed people can now examine
enrich the lives of Family Historian has do it yourself, check archives and documents from
your children and compiled his list of out the FBI’s own WWII at the Tracing Service in
grandchildren, sib- recommended Family FOIA web page at Bad Arolsen, Germany.
lings, cousins, aunts, History Internet Sites, http://foia.fbi.gov
uncles, your friends see http://home.byu.  Pearl Street
and those in your net/ks4. It’s a veritable Software has merged FamilySearch and The
community online, who’s who of genealo- with MyHeritage, Generations Network
http://www.tellour gy websites, and http://www.my announced an agreement that
lifestories.com there’s sure to be heritage.com. This provides free access of
 PhotoWorks — Use something of interest means that Family Ancestry.com to patrons of the
this Internet-based to everyone! Tree Legends, Family History Library in Salt
digital photo-publish-  Get Grandpa’s FBI http://www.family Lake City, Utah and the 13
ing company, via its File — This website, treelegends.com, and largest regional family history
Photo Communities, http://www.getgrand GenCircles, http:// centers across America.
http://www.photo pasfbifile.com/, helps www.gencircles.com,
works.com, to share you craft Freedom of are now completely
photos online Information Act free!
 Kip Sperry, author (FOIA) letters that you DFH

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 5

ANNOUNCING
A Guide to Starting Your Genealogy
Discovering
Family History Magazine
Discovering Family History is the latest
magazine from the publishers of Family
Chronicle and Internet Genealogy. This
new magazine is for people who are starting
their family history, need a refresher or are
tackling a new aspect of genealogy.
Discovering Family History articles are
written by some of the most respected
authors in the genealogy field — and many
of them have extensive experience in teach-
ing genealogy courses, either face-to-face or
online. With articles of this caliber, you can
expect excellence — and we deliver!
Even if you have been conducting your
genealogy research for many years, you will $20
want to take a look at what Discovering
Family History has to offer: as you get
INTRODUCTORY
more and more into your family history, you will find you SPECIAL!
need to investigate resources that are completely new You Pay Only
to you. Discovering Family History can help! The first issue of $3.33 an Issue!
Discovering Family History (May/June 2008) will be on newsstands in
mid-April.

Visit www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
to download a FREE 56-page preview issue!
Discovering Yes! I want to subscribe to Discovering Family History Save 43% off
Family History ❑ One Year (6 issues) Introductory Rate of $20* the newsstand
Payment: ❑ Check (enclosed) Check No. ______ Make check payable to Discovering Family History price!
Charge my: ❑ Visa ❑ MasterCard (*Canadian orders add 5% GST or 13% HST as applicable. Quebec residents add 7.5% QST) *After 15 May 2008
Card Number_________________________________________Expiry Date____/_____ regular rate of $28 will
apply.
Signature: ____________________________________________
Your credit card statement will indicate IG/DFH 1-888-326-2476 To order with
USA purchasers note: Credit card transactions are processed through our office in Canada, but will appear on your statement in US funds.
your credit card,
Your Name __________________________________________________________________________________ call toll-free
1-888-326-2476
Address_____________________________________________________________________________________
City_____________________________________ State/Prov. __________ Zip/Postal Code _______________

Telephone Number_______________________________
Makes
Please send a ❑ One Year (6 issues) gift subscription for $20* to: a Great
Recipient Name _____________________________________________________ (please also complete section above)
Address_____________________________________________________________________________________
Gift
City_________________________________ State/Prov. ________________ Zip/Postal Code_______________ Idea!
Mail to: Discovering Family History, PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY 14304 (From USA)
Discovering Family History, 500-505 Consumers Rd., Toronto, ON M2J 4V8 (From Canada) DFH OP
David A. Norris

A Few Fantastic Free

Family History Websites
T You’ll Be
HE INTERNET HAS truly revo- your ancestor’s home county or
lutionized genealogy. A lot elsewhere. Remember that what-
Surprised at
of information that just a
few years ago would have
ever you write on a forum will be
made public, so don’t reveal any-
required trips to distant libraries How Much is thing personal that you don’t
and courthouses, or weeks wait- want on the Internet! The message
ing for replies through the mail, Out There — boards are moderated for inappro-
can be found online. While there
are useful online sites that require
And You Can't priate postings.

subscription fees (and I can’t get Beat the Price! CYNDI’S LIST
along without them!), dedicated http://www.cyndislist.com
volunteers and government agen- GENFORUM Online since 1996, Cyndi Howells’
cies also offer some indispensable http://genforum.genealogy.com compendium called Cyndi’s List is
free genealogical sites. Offered by Genealogy.com, a fee- “a categorized & cross-referenced
based online resource, GenForum index to genealogical resources on
THE US GENWEB PROJECT offers free online forums devoted the Internet”. In December 2007,
http://www.usgenweb.org to surnames; US states and coun- there were more than 263,150
Created by volunteer contributors, ties; more than 100 countries, from Internet links in more than 180
the US GenWeb project seeks to Albania to Wales; and “General categories. The categories include
“provide free genealogy websites Topics” including General states and countries; types of
for genealogical research in every Genealogy; Immigration, material, such as “Family Bibles”
county and every state of the Emigration, and Migration; or “Land Records, Deeds,
United States.” Religions; Wars; Miscellaneous; Homesteads, Etc.”; and tips for
Their home page contains a and Genealogy Software and the research methods in “How To”,
list of links to pages for the US Internet. Forums are easily search- “Handwriting & Script” and, yes,
states at the left. State pages vary able by keywords. even “Handy Online Starting
in format, but generally contain GenForum is a good way to Points”.
some statewide resources and a tap into the research of distant
list or map of the state’s counties, cousins, whether they’re living in FAMILYSEARCH
which lead to county pages. http://www.familysearch.org
Some counties have more This site, which is sponsored by
material than others, depend- the Church of Latter-day Saints
ing on how many volun- (Mormon Church), offers
teers adopted them and much to the genealogist.
what records are still The 1880 US census,
available. Typically, plus British and
listings for a coun- Canadian census-
ty might include es of 1881, can be
early deeds and searched online
land grants; at http://www.
census tran- familysearch.org
scriptions or /Eng/Search
indexes; court /frameset_search
records; mili- .asp?PAGE=
tary rosters; census/search_
older birth, mar- census.asp. You
riage and death can also search
records; cemetery the US Social
listings; vintage maps Security Death Index
and photos. Often there and the Vital Records
are lists of useful links to Index (for Scandinavia
other genealogical or local and Mexico only).
history sites. Be sure to check their Ancestral
Files. Based on “information taken
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 7
Free Family History Websites

from Pedigree Charts and Family Iraq and Afghanistan, and usually mation can be viewed as a text
Group Records submitted to the include name, rank, branch of version, or a scan of the original
Family History Department”, service, and dates of birth and ship passenger manifest (which
these records include dates of death. Earlier listings, such as may reveal more useful informa-
birth, marriage, and death, along from the Civil War era, may have tion). Often, the site even has a
with family trees, of vast numbers less information; sometimes, there photo of the ship an ancestor
of people. (I’ve found a lot arrived on. Fee-based servic-
of my own ancestors listed es offer attractive certifi-
here.) The site also includes cates, photos of immigrant
numerous links and tips on ships, or large copies of
compiling your family ships’ manifest.
history.
GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
FIND A GRAVE INFORMATION SYSTEM
http://www.findagrave.com http://geonames.usgs.
Their “Find Famous Graves” gov/domestic/index.html
section includes those of This site, from the US
movie stars, Civil War gen- Geological Survey, must be
erals, prominent politicians the most thorough US
and writers, and many, gazetteer available online.
many others. The ”Find You can find places your
Graves” tab contains links to ancestors lived in or visited
more than 19 million ceme- in its list of almost two mil-
tery records in the US, FindAGrave (above) and Interment.net. lion “populated places”,
Canada and other countries. streams, mountains, ridges,
Some records include a gaps, mesas, bridges, mills,
photo of the gravestone or fords and more. Better yet,
other information. links give you several
options for seeing each place
INTERMENT.NET on digital topographic maps
http://interment.net or aerial photos!
This site offers millions of
gravestone records. You can GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH
search by individual names, http://books.google.com
or browse by region to see Google Book Search has
lists of older cemetery made a virtual library full of
records in the US, Canada, public domain books avail-
Britain, Ireland, Australia able online. The collection
and other countries. contains lots of rare local
histories, family history
NATIONWIDE GRAVESITE books and other historical
LOCATOR works that may help with
http://gravelocator.cem.va. your research. Searching for
gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1 particular ancestors, their
This site, from the US Department is only the notation “US Army” hometowns or counties, or mili-
of Veterans’ Affairs, lists burials of instead of a particular unit. tary units, may well reward you.
military personnel and eligible Confederate soldiers are usually There are many old genealogical
family members in US military not found here, except in prison works, and local and county histo-
cemeteries. Listings date from the camp cemeteries. ries that reprint 18th- and 19th-
Revolutionary War to the wars in century marriage, death, court
ELLISISLAND.ORG and land records.
http://aolsvc.ellisisland.aol.com With books that are not under
This site, from the Statue of copyright, you can browse them
Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, online or download a PDF copy
Inc., offers free searches of the onto your computer. The brows-
records of 22 million immigrants ing capability is handy, even if
who arrived at Ellis Island, New you have a copy of the book; the
York between 1892 and 1924. You text is word-searchable online,
may find names, ages and places saving a lot of skimming in older
of birth of immigrants, and the books that lack good indexes.
name of their ship, and its depar- Besides older published
ture and arrival dates. The infor- books, many US and state govern-
8 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Free Family History Websites

ment books and reports, which counties where your family once
were not copyrighted, are found lived may be very rewarding.
here.
The site also offers sample CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
pages and “snippet views” of SYSTEM
copyrighted works (including http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss
ones currently in print), providing /soldiers.cfm
a useful way to see what books This National Park System data-
are available on a subject, and to base includes 6.3 million names of
give an idea of how helpful they Union and Confederate solders
may be to you. and sailors (this includes some
To narrow your searches, you duplication of names). Brief
can add more key words, or limit entries include a soldier’s name; tory. If you’re lucky, the county
the results to “full view” books, side; regiment; rank when enter- you’re researching might have
which are the ones that are avail- ing and leaving the service; and deeds online that go back for sev-
able for download. roll number of the National eral decades.
Archives microfilm with their County government sites
INTERNET ARCHIVE complete record. The site also might also offer some local history
http://www.archive.org/index.php includes 4,000 brief regimental and genealogy links.
This vast site has everything from histories, links to 364 online battle
digitized ancient texts to 1940s histories, some prisoner of war THE COUNCIL OF STATE ARCHIVISTS
radio shows, archived web http://www.statearchivists
pages and Grateful Dead .org/states.htm
recordings. Most useful to State archives are certainly
genealogists, perhaps, will among the most valuable
be the huge selection of digi- resources for your family
tized books, which include history research. Many
many rare local histories. states now have some his-
toric and genealogical
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: records online. This list from
AMERICAN MEMORY the Council of State
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem Archivists is filled with links
/browse/ListSome.php?category to state archives and related
=Maps institutions, state offices that
PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS maintain records, museums
ONLINE CATALOG (PPOC) and historic sites.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp Internet Archive. Be sure to check the
/pphome.html archives departments from
There’s far too much available records, and names of 1,200 Civil the states where your ancestors
online at the Library of Congress War winners of the Medal of lived. You may find useful online
to begin to describe here. It would Honor. records, state histories, useful
be hard to top the map collections links to state agencies and histori-
at American Memory and the pic- COUNTY COURTHOUSES cal associations, and genealogy
tures available at the PPOC, any- Most county governments have tips and suggestions. You might
where on the web. Lots of pictures websites these days. More and also see if the state offers historical
and maps can be downloaded more counties, particularly more and genealogical publications for
onto your computer. Most maps heavily populated ones, are sale.
need special viewing software, but adding databases that are of use Alas, most records are not
there are online instructions for to family historians. You might online. While a visit in person to
downloading free viewing pro- want to check “your” counties the archives building may net you
grams. (ones where your ancestors lived) the most information, they might
Don’t miss their huge to see what records they have offer copies of some early docu-
Revolutionary, Civil War and rail- online. ments by mail. If so, the website
road map collections. And, you The register of deeds or clerk will state what kind of documents
may even find an ancestor’s house of court’s office might have birth, they can look up and copy for
in their “Panoramic Maps”, which marriage or death records avail- you, and what the fees are for
are elaborately drawn bird’s-eye able. Real estate records may be such services.
DFH
views of hundreds of late 19th- online from a register of deeds, or
century US cities and towns. the tax department. There may be Freelance writer and artist David A.
Pictures are easily searchable a county map where you can find Norris lives with his wife Carol and
by keywords in the PPOC. current ownership of parcels of far too many books in Wilmington,
Checking for views of towns and land, sometimes with a sales his- North Carolina.

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 9

 CAN’T GET OVER YOUR
BRICKWALL? WE CAN HELP!

Every genealogist or family historian

encounters a brickwall or a seemingly
insurmountable obstacle in their
research, such as a missing
gravestone, inexplicable census
omission or unconfirmed marriage.

Family Chronicle now has two great books on the subject of genealogical brickwalls: 500 Brickwall
Solutions to Genealogy Problems and our newest book, More Brickwall Solutions to
Genealogy Problems.

500 Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems contains more than 500 stories submitted by
Family Chronicle readers in a beautiful softcover, 432-page edition. Now in its third printing.

More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems contains over 170 new brickwall solutions,
packed with even more informative thinking and unorthodox research techniques. This softcover, 192-page volume contains
over 100 black and white photographs and illustrations.

• Phone Toll-Free 1-888-326-2476 extension 111. Please have your VISA or MasterCard ready. • Mail this order form to the appropriate address located below.
• Fax this order form to 416-491-3996. Please ensure your credit card information is filled out. • Visit our website at www.familychronicle.com

❑ 500 Brickwall Solutions $25 Order Total: ______

❑ More Brickwall Solutions $15 Shipping: ______ ($4 per book or $6 per bundle)
❑ Two book bundle BEST DEAL! $32 Sub Total: ______
GST/HST: ______ (Canadian residents add 5% GST or 14% HST on sub total)
PST: ______ (Ontario residents add 8% on sub total)
Grand Total: ______

Payment by: ❑ Check (enclosed) Check No. ____________ Credit Card ❑ VISA ❑ MasterCard
Card Number: ____________________________________________________ Exp. Date: ___________
Please allow three to six weeks for delivery.

Signature: ____________________________________________________________________________
Your credit card charge will appear as FC/HM 1-888-326-2476. USA purchasers note: Credit card
Order BOTH
transactions are processed through our office in Canada, but will appear on your statement in US funds. Books For Just
First Name: ___________________________ Last Name: _____________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________________________
City: ______________________________ State/Province: _____ Zipcode/Postal Code: _____________
$32 !
Phone Number: _______________________ E-mail Address: __________________________________
USA orders send to: Family Chronicle, PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY 14304
Canadian orders send to: Family Chronicle, 505 Consumers Road, Suite 500, Toronto, ON M2J 4V8
GST #13934 0186RT DFH OP

www.familychronicle.com
George G. Morgan

Let Obituaries Speak

to You!
E
should scribed it, an editor’s attentiveness
VERY GENEALOGIST
know the importance of seek- Obituaries can to detail and a typesetter’s accura-
ing out obituaries for valuable
clues to other resources. An obitu-
help you find cy. Upon my father’s death in
1980, for example, a representative
ary is a notice of the death of a per- clues to your of the funeral home interviewed
son, often with a biographical my mother, brother and me for the
sketch, most often published in a family history. obituary. The representative took
newspaper, but these days more fre- down the information by hand. At
quently on the Internet.
George G. Morgan that time I was living in Chicago,
Obituaries have a lot to tell you
if you take the time to analyze
shows you what and he abbreviated Chicago as
Ch’go, a common abbreviation.
them. First of all, an obituary is to look for. Unfortunately, when the obituary
many things, and not just a notice was published, my place of resi-
of someone’s death. It is a public tional stress at the time, the infor- dence was listed as Fargo, Illinois.
record, although not necessarily an mation in an obituary may not be Someone had tried to interpret the
original record or a primary source. 100 percent correct. The facts abbreviation and failed. And while
An obituary or a funeral notice should, therefore, be verified for there is a Fargo, Illinois, some
may actually be an advertisement accuracy. future researcher seeking details
for a mortuary or funeral parlor, The accuracy of the informa- about my life will draw a complete
complete with a graphical border. It tion included is as reliable as the blank there. These are just a few
also is an announcement of funeral knowledge of and the information reasons why it is essential that you
or memorial services, and this can provided by the informant(s). personally corroborate the infor-
provide a geographical location There may have even been reasons mation in an obituary with other
where to seek other information. for information to have been with- original evidence.
There is usually a reason, such as held or falsified. As an example, a Perhaps you remember how
family connections or former resi- younger age may have been given you diagramed sentences when you
dence in the area, where services are for the deceased if the person was were in school. In effect, you were
held and interment is performed. sensitive about that subject. In dissecting sentences by drawing
Obituaries have been published addition, the nickname of the per- lines, writing in phrases and claus-
for centuries in various formats, son may have been used in an es, identifying parts of speech and
from handbills to newspapers, peri- obituary, rather than the given connecting the sentence pieces with
odicals to the Internet. Since it was name, because that was how the conjunctions and prepositions. You
created as a result of information person was commonly known. were placing all the pieces into a
provided by some informant who Accuracy also depends on the logical structure that could be visu-
may not have had all the facts or person who took down the infor- alized and thereby more easily
who may have been under emo- mation, the person who tran- understood. You can do the same

Obituaries make your ancestors more than

just names on gravestones.

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 11

Obituaries

21 Clues in an Obituary
You can dissect an obituary for anyone. The below and have added commentary, and pointed out the
example is for my great-grandmother who died on errors (her age, place of birth and a daughter’s name).
Tuesday, 13 January 1914, and whose obituary was There are a minimum of 21 clues and pointers in
published in the Rome Tribune-Herald in Rome, her obituary, plus the names of all 11 surviving chil-
Georgia, on Wednesday morning, 14 January 1914. dren. Interestingly, nowhere in the obituary was Mrs.
I have pointed out the important clues in the text Holder's name, which was Ansibelle Penelope Swords.

Her name is listed as Mrs. G.B. Holder since her husband Implies that her birth was c. 1843.
is living. Were he deceased, her name would be listed as
Mrs. [her forename] Holder. In this obituary, her given Cause of death.
and maiden names are
never provided. Seek information
about her birthplace,
Home address can indicate MRS. G.B. HOLDER which was actually
the correct person, could PASSES AWAY Rock Falls, Alabama.
point to property records.
Mrs. G.B. Holder, aged 71 years, an old and Seek marriage record
Inconsistent with the age honored resident of Rome, died Tuesday night in the county courthouse
implied by date above. This at 11:10 at the family residence, 808 South [Floyd County, Georgia].
needs to be resolved. Broad street, after a brief illness of pneumonia.
The deceased was born at Rock Creek, Seek other information
Seek other records for her Alabama, in 1848. She married in 1867, G.B. about G.B. Holder.
from 1867 to 1915, includ- Holder, of this city, and has since resided in
ing land and property Rome. Her husband is a prominent business Look for records of the
records, will and probate man of the county. Mrs. Holder was a member church, particularly mem-
records, and other documen- of the Primitive Baptist church and always took bership records that may
tary evidence. an active part in the church work. indicate the name and loca-
She is survived by 11 children, five sons tion of the church elsewhere
Mr. and Mrs. Holder had a and six daughters. The sons are Ed Holder, Will from which her membership
total of 12 children. The Holder, Scott Holder, Brisco Holder and Charlie may have been transferred.
obituary indicates that one Holder. The daughters are Misses Isa Holder,
has pre-deceased her and Anna Holder and Emma Holder, Mrs. A.D. This is an error; the name
that child should be identi- Starnes, Mrs. Walton Weatherly and Mrs. Wyatt should be Ida.
fied. Foster. She is also survived by three sisters,
Mrs. Cal Menton and Mrs. Davis of Alabama, Three surviving sisters’
This turned out to be a wid- and Mrs. George Black, of Cedartown. information might provide
owed sister, Mrs. Caroline The funeral services will be conducted from clues to parents’ names.
“Cal” Minton. Not only the residence at 3 o’clock this afternoon, the
was her nickname used, but Rev. J.W. Cooper officiating. Interment will fol- The chances of finding the
her surname was mis- low in Myrtle Hill cemetery. correct “Mrs. Davis” in
spelled. A fruitless search in The following pall-bearers will meet at 2:30 Alabama are miniscule, and
Georgia census records for a o’clock at Daniels Furniture Company: hon- so this clue was set aside.
Calvin, Calbert and Calvert orary, J.G. Pollock, B.F. Griffin, Capt. J.H. May,
Menton and Minton failed M.W. Formby, H.V. Rambo, Tom Sanford.
to turn up any matches. Active: J.M. Yarbrough, G.G. Burkhalter, No funeral home was
Sanford Moore, W.A. Long, Dr. R.M. Harbin, involved.
Mrs. George Black was C.B. Geotchius.
easily found in Cedartown, Seek out Myrtle Hill
Polk County, Georgia, and Cemetery records. In the
records for her and her cemetery administrator’s
husband provided links to Pallbearers met at the Capt. May was the father office were found a burial permit,
the women’s parents in the furniture company to of William Ira Holder’s the obituary, a letter authorizing
1860 census. take delivery of the coffin, wife, Emma May. the opening of the grave, and the
which was made by that cemetery’s interment ledger that
A check of the 1913 Rome City company. indicated the lot, plot, date of
Directory showed that Reverend interment, age as 71, and cause of
Cooper was the minister of the J.M. Yarbrough was a son-in-law of death as pneumonia.
Primitive Baptist Church. G.B. Holder’s older brother, Scott Thomas Holder.
12 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Obituaries

thing with any obituary. By dissect- • Place(s) where deceased was They can also challenge you to
ing an obituary, you can: locate educated recheck other materials that you
other evidence of the facts; help cor- • Date and location of marriage, have already found. When two
roborate facts you may already and name of spouse (sometimes evidentiary sources don’t agree, it
have identified; verify names, dates, maiden name) is important to examine them to
and locations; locate other family • Religious affiliation and name of establish if they are independent
members; and identify possible church or temple (not derived from one another)
alternate research paths for brick- • Military service information and to weigh the quality of that
walls you may have encountered. (branch, rank, dates served, evidence. An obituary is never a
Obituaries really do speak to medals and awards) primary source of information.
you. They can communicate a • Place(s) of employment There are opportunities for errors
wealth of clues for your research. • Public offices held or political to be introduced or for important
Some of these include: appointments information to be omitted.
• Name and age of the deceased • Organizations to which the per- You can dissect any obituary
• Date, location and sometimes son belonged just as we’ve done in Mrs. G.B.
cause of death • Awards received Holder’s example. Underline the
• Names of parents, siblings, • Events in which the person par- pointers or clues and make a list of
spouse(s) and sometimes maiden ticipated what resources could be used to
names • Name and address of funeral locate more definitive and reliable
• Names and/or numbers of chil- home or church where funeral information. Then figure out where
dren, grandchildren, nieces, was to occur you would look for the information.
nephews • Date and time of funeral This approach is sure to help you
• Places of residence of living rela- • Name(s) of officiating clergy attune yourself to those obituaries
tives • List of pallbearers and how they speak to you.
• Names of and notes about • Date, place and disposition of DFH
deceased relatives remains
• Where and when deceased was • Statement regarding any memo- George G. Morgan is president of
born rial services Aha! Seminars, Inc. He is an inter-
• When deceased left their native • Directions regarding donations national genealogical lecturer and a
land, perhaps even the port of or memorial gifts prolific author of books, magazine,
entry and date Obituaries can speak to you journal and Internet articles.
• Naturalization date and location and lead you to other evidence.

WHAT’S COMING IN
Discovering

Discovering Family History Centers • Cyndi’s List • The SSDI • Linkpendium • German Research •
Collateral Lines • Family Crests • Black Sheep Ancestors • Free Online Resources • Google Books •
Identifying Subjects in Old Photographs • Where did Your Ancestors Live? • Mailing Lists •
Old Newspapers • The IGI • Irish Research • English Research • Best Beginners Books • GEDCOMs •
Military Records • Web 2.0 • City Directories • Learning to Make the Most of Google •
Scottish Research • The Origins of Surnames • Using Your Local Library • Polish Research •
It’s All About Parents • Finding Lost Cousins • Finding Family Trees Online • Old Handwriting •
Choosing a Software Program • Finding Immigration Records • French Research
The features mentioned here are planned for future issues. Circumstances may affect the final content.

WWW.DISCOVERINGFAMILYHISTORY.COM
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 13
Rick Crume
The
Ultimate Guide
to Subscription
Databases
THE ‘NETIS FULL OF FREE FAMILY HISTORY INFORMATION, BUT SOMETIMES
IT’S WORTH PAYING FOR RECORDS. OUR GUIDE TO ONLINE SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL
HELP YOU NAVIGATE THE MAZE OF FEE-BASED SERVICES AND SHOWS YOU
WHERE YOU CAN ACCESS THEM.

F
REE GENEALOGY WEBSITES, such GENEALOGY MEGASITES subscription service, Ancestry has
as FamilySearch, www.family The old standbys, Ancestry and more than six billion names in 2.5
search.org, RootsWeb, www. HeritageQuest Online, deserve billion records, and adds millions
rootsweb.com and GenForum, your attention, but don’t overlook of names every week. Coverage is
www.genforum.com, are terrific the upstarts, Footnote.com, strongest for the United States and
resources. When you’ve found GenealogyBank.com and World Britain, but Ancestry is building
everything they have on your fam- Vital Records. You can use all collections for Canada and
ily, you could write to courthouses, three of them, plus HeritageQuest Western Europe, too.
order microfilmed records on Online and the Godfrey Memorial Key Resources: US federal
interlibrary loan and travel to your Library, for free at Family History census records from 1790 to 1930;
ancestral hometowns, but you’d Centers. Many of these databases birth, marriage and death records
probably save time and money by are also free at subscribing public from around the US from the 17th
taking advantage of subscription libraries. to the 20th centuries; 18th- and
websites first. To help you decide 19th-century passenger arrival
which ones best fit your needs, ANCESTRY lists for the ports of Boston, New
here’s our complete guide to com- www.ancestry.com York, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
mercial genealogy websites. By far the largest online genealogy New Orleans and San Francisco;
14 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Subscription Databases

military records, including better search capabilities. to be a great tool for finding ances-
Revolutionary War and Civil War Key Resources: US federal tors in the 18th and 19th centuries.
(Union Army) pension file indexes, census records for 1790 to 1820, Price: $19.95 a month or $69.95
WWI draft registration cards and 1860 to 1870 and 1900 to 1910; a year. Check to see if your library
WWII army enlistment records; 19th-century passenger lists. subscribes to America’s Genealogy
directories; newspapers; family Price: Subscriptions to individ- Bank, the library edition of this
and local histories; family trees. ual collections range from $9.99 to website.
Price: The US Deluxe $19.99 a month and from $49.99 to
Membership costs $19.95 a month $99.99 a year. HERITAGEQUEST ONLINE
or $155.40 a year. The World www.heritagequestonline.com
Deluxe Membership, $29.95 a GENEALOGYBANK.COM Available through subscribing
month or $299.40 a year, gives you www.genealogybank.com libraries, this site now consists of
access to everything, including NewsBank, a longtime supplier of six collections:
records from the US, the UK and information products to libraries, • Census records, including US
Canada. Check with your library gathered together its best federal census records from 1790
to see if it subscribes to Ancestry genealogical records to form to 1930. Head-of-household
Library Edition. GenealogyBank.com. The site has indexes cover the 1790 through
four main collections: 1820, and the 1860 through 1920
FOOTNOTE.COM • Historical Newspapers, 1690- censuses. The 1880 census, also
www.footnote.com 1977. You can view actual images available on FamilySearch,
Footnote.com has original histori- of more than 500,000 issues from www.familysearch.org, has an
cal documents relating to the more than 3,700 historical US every-name index and the 1930
Revolutionary War, the US Civil newspapers. This collection is census has a partial index.
War, WWI and WWII, US presi- also available through the New • Family and local histories,
dents, historical newspapers and including 22,000 books.
naturalization records. The compa- • PERSI, an index of more than
ny has reached agreements with two million articles in genealogy
the National Archives and the and local history periodicals.
Family History Library to digitize • Revolutionary War pension files.
more record collections. • The Freedman’s Bank, with
Integrating social networking fea- records of African Americans
tures, Footnote.com lets members after the Civil War.
share personal accounts and fami- • The US Serial Set, with citizens’
ly histories and post comments. petitions to the US Congress for
Key Resources: Civil War relief.
Union and Confederate pension England Historic Genealogical Key Resources: The census
file indexes; Confederate soldier Society (NEHGS), the New York records, though they have less
service records from Alabama, Genealogical and Biographical comprehensive indexes than
Texas and Virginia; an index to Society (NYGBS) and the Ancestry’s collection, and the fam-
selected New York naturalization Godfrey Memorial Library. ily and local histories probably
records; New England city directo- • America’s Obituaries, 1977 to appeal to the broadest range of
ries. present. These 26 million obituar- genealogists.
Price: Subscribe for $7.95 a ies, mostly dating from 1999 to Price: Only libraries, not indi-
month or $59.95 a year or buy indi- the present, come from more viduals, can subscribe. If your
vidual document images for $1.95. than 900 US newspapers. library subscribes, you may be
• Historical Books, 1801-1900. This able to access HeritageQuest
GENEALOGY.COM is a motley collection of books Online from home by logging in
www.genealogy.com and pamphlets, including funeral with your library card number.
One of the first large online geneal- sermons and a few genealogies
ogy subscription sites, Genealogy and biographies. WORLDVITALRECORDS.COM
.com has five collections: the US • Historical Documents, 1789-1980. http://www.familylink.com/
Census Collection, International & The main resources here — the Formed by one of Ancestry’s
Passenger Records, the World American State Papers (1789- founders, WorldVitalRecords.com
Family Tree, Genealogy Library 1838) and genealogical content is following Ancestry’s model by
and Family & Local Histories. The from the US Serial Set (1817- creating a collection of many
Generations Network, Ancestry’s 1980) — can also be searched as genealogy databases. WorldVital-
parent, bought Genealogy.com and part of the Library of Congress’ Records.com already has close to
has since focused its attention on American Memory Collection, 900 million names in more than
Ancestry. Most of Genealogy.com’s http://memory.loc.gov/ammem 5,000 databases. Several of them
resources are available on Ancestry, /hlawquery.html. were acquired through a partner-
which gives you more for your Key Resources: I found the ship with Everton Publishers:
money, including more records and Historical Newspapers, 1690-1977, • Everton’s Genealogical Helper.
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 15
Subscription Databases

Search more than 200 issues of NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC SPECIALTY SITES
this magazine and view the GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY Smaller sites give you access to
pages online. www.newenglandancestors.org resources, such as county histories,
• Everton pedigree and family Founded in Boston in 1845, the newspapers and maps, that you
group sheets. Search for a name New England Historic Genea- might not find on the big genealo-
in more than 150,000 records sub- logical Society is the US’s oldest gy sites.
mitted by genealogists. genealogical society. It helps both
• Books from the Everton Library beginning and advanced family ACCESSIBLE ARCHIVES
Collection. Titles in this collection historians improve their research www.accessible.com/accessible/
include family and local histories skills, and it preserves and inter- County histories usually include
and record compilations. prets genealogical data on New biographies of pioneers and local
Other resources include US England families. While the society residents, with details on their
and Canadian census records and focuses on New England genealo- education, religious affiliation, mil-
US and British vital records. The gy, its library and website also itary service and careers.
service recently acquired newspa- have important resources for the Accessible Archives’ collection
pers, family histories and local his- Mid-Atlantic States, the Maritime includes 92 rare county histories
tories through partnerships with provinces of Canada and the from Maryland, New Jersey, New
NewspaperArchive, Quintin British Isles. York and Pennsylvania. Other
Publications and Accessible Membership benefits include resources include 19th-century
Archives. New databases are subscriptions to New England Pennsylvania newspapers and
added every day, and they’re free Ancestors, a bimonthly magazine, African American newspapers,
for a few days. and The New England Historical and Civil War-era newspapers and
Key Resources: Everton pedi- Genealogical Register, published four Godey’s Lady’s Book.
gree and family group sheets, the times a year. The society’s website Key Resources: County histo-
Meitzler Ahnentafel Pedigree has quickly become one of the most ries from the Mid-Atlantic States.
Chart Collection. popular benefits of membership. Price: $14.95 for 30 days or
Price: $5.95 a month or $49.95 Key Resources: The Register $49.95 a year, $14.95 for a one-year
a year. back to 1847, Massachusetts vital subscription to only the county
records, cemetery records and histories.
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES newspaper advertisements placed
Genealogical societies are convert- by Irish immigrants from 1831 to AMERICAN CIVIL WAR RESEARCH
ing their library collections to 1920. DATABASE
online databases. See the Price: $75 a year. www.civilwardata.com
August/September 2006 issue of Drawing on state rosters, pension
Internet Genealogy for my article on NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND indexes, regimental histories, Rolls
genealogical society websites. BIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY of Honor, photographs and other
www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org sources, the American Civil War
NATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY The New York Genealogical and Research Database is an attempt to
www.ngsgenealogy.org Biographical Society aims to pre- create a comprehensive record of
As an organization focusing on serve and publish genealogical Civil War soldiers. It’s a great
education, scholarly research and data on New York State families. resource for identifying a soldier’s
record access, the National Membership entitles you to the unit and dates of service — the
Genealogical Society publishes the New York Genealogical and information you need to request
NGS NewsMagazine with news and Biographical Record (a quarterly copies of a soldier’s service and
how-to articles and the NGS journal) and The Researcher (a quar- pension files from the National
Quarterly with carefully researched terly newsletter). Another benefit Archives. Tools, such as the “casu-
family histories. But NGS member- of membership, the society’s alty analysis”, help you put each
ship now includes another benefit eLibrary, has a growing collection soldier’s service in a broader his-
— access to several online databas- of online databases. torical context.
es. Key Resources: New York Key Resources: Soldiers’
Key Resources: Family Bible State cemetery and church records, records, regimental rosters, regi-
records, names extracted from the Record from 1870 to 1960, Early mental chronicles, officer profiles,
members’ ancestor charts. American newspapers. soldier photographs and battle
Price: $60 a year. Price: $60 per year. synopses.
16 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Subscription Databases

Price: $25 a year for the HISTORIC MAPWORKS papers, ObitsArchive.com has obit-
Research Database and $10 for a www.historicmapworks.com uaries dating back to 1977. You can
visitor’s pass to just the soldiers’ Maps help you pinpoint your search on the name of the obitu-
military information. Ancestry’s ancestors’ places of residence, ary’s subject, as well as any other
version of this database, called the locate nearby churches and ceme- words in the text, such as a place
Civil War Research Database, is teries and trace changing county of residence, occupation and the
updated less often. boundaries. County atlases show names of family members.
individual property owners so you Key Resources: The New York
GENEALOGY TODAY can identify your ancestors’ neigh- Times from 1980, the Los Angeles
www.genealogytoday.com bors and potential relatives. Times from 1985 and the Chicago
Family Tree Connection, the Historic MapWorks’s extensive Tribune from 1985.
largest of several databases on the collection of online maps includes Price: $2.95 per article or
Genealogy Today site, aims to 64,933 US maps, 919 Canadian $19.95 a month for 100 articles.
make nontraditional resources maps and 259 world maps. They
available to genealogists. Its index include county atlases and hand- OBITUARYREGISTRY.COM
covers a wide range of records, colored maps. You can also order www.obituaryregistry.com
such as high school and college copies printed on heavyweight When it began collecting current
yearbooks, city directories, frater- paper. obituaries in March 2000,
nal organization memberships and Key Resources: County atlases. ObituaryRegistry.com covered
criminal records. Many more doc- Price: $29.99 a year. about 20 percent of all US deaths,
uments published between 1830 but expanded to 80 percent of all
and 1930 are in the pipeline. deaths in September 2002. Today, it
Key Resources: Funeral cards. acquires obituaries and death
Price: Free index, $29.95 annual notices for about 92 percent of all
subscription to get complete references. US deaths and adds records on
about 6,500 unique names every
GODFREY MEMORIAL LIBRARY day. Obituaries archived since 2000
www.godfrey.org now number 10 million.
A private library in Connecticut, Key Resources: The New York
the Godfrey Memorial Library Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer.
focuses on genealogy and history. Price: $24.95 for three months.
No matter where you live, you can OBITUARIES
register for a Godfrey Scholar Genealogists focus mostly on older CANADA
library card, which gives you records, but recent obituaries often Ancestry has sizable collections of
access to several major online provide family information going Canadian census records and vital
newspaper collections. back decades and help you locate records indexes, but these sites
Key Resources: living relatives. offer many other records and find-
• Accessible Archives. This ing aids.
includes the newspapers, but not LEGACY
the county histories. www.legacy.com EARLY CANADIANA ONLINE
• Early American Newspapers. One of the largest obituary sites, www.canadiana.org
This is the same great collection Legacy has more than 6.5 million This online library has more than
of newspapers dating back to obituaries dating back to February 2.6 million pages from nearly
1690 that you get on several 2001, including some from 30,000 books and documents,
other commercial sites. Canadian and British newspapers. including many local histories.
• The London Times Digital Archive Adding about 200,000 obituaries Key Resources: Local history
1785-1985. and death notices from 400 news- books and periodicals.
• NewspaperArchive.com. This papers every month, it has 55 per- Price: Some areas require a
collection includes 1,743 fully cent of US newspaper obituaries subscription (a whopping $530 a
searchable US and foreign papers published every day. year for individuals), but 592,500
dating back to 1759. Key Resources: Newspapers pages are free.
Another resource, Marquis Who’s covered include the New York
Who, contains more than 1.3 mil- Times, the Los Angeles Times and GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH LIBRARY
lion biographies. the Chicago Tribune. www.grl.com
Price: $35 for a basic yearly Price: Obituaries are free for 30 This database indexes the names
membership; $65 a year, adds days. Archived obituaries cost of 16 million Canadians mentioned
NewspaperArchive; $80 a year, $2.95, but you can view the first 24 in 1,500 sources, including farm
adds World Vital Records; $110 a words for free. property maps, directories, church
year includes both resources. records, land records, cemeteries,
OBITSARCHIVE.COM censuses, vital records and records
www.obitsarchive.com of Native Americans. More than
Affiliated with 985 US news- one million names are linked to
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 17
Subscription Databases

images of the original books and Ordering Service, www.gro.gov $7 to view a color image of a pas-
documents. .uk/gro/content/certificate/index.asp. senger list. Or buy a subscription.
The site is also adding histori- The fee is lower if you have the
cal and genealogical resources for index reference. BMDINDEX.CO.UK
Hungary and Poland and has Unlike most American geneal- www.bmdindex.co.uk
indexed documents with 4 million ogy services that sell subscriptions This service from The Genealogist
names from each country. that give you unlimited access for (see next page) has civil registra-
Key Resources: Indexes to a period of time, most British sites tion indexes from 1837 to 2005 and
property maps, census records and sell credits to view a certain num- is adding census records, marriage
vital records. ber of records or index entries. transcripts and indexes to wills.
Price: $10 a week or $75 a year. Keep in mind that Key Resources: This site’s
Ancestry.com has a large British searchable index of births, mar-
PRDH: PROGRAMME DE RECHERCHE collection, including England and riages and deaths from 1984 to
EN DÉMOGRAPHIE HISTORIQUE Welsh census records from 1841 to 2005 makes it easier to find a
www.genealogy.umontreal.ca/en 1901. Also, a free site, Free BMD, name, even if you don’t have a
This tremendous resource for any- http://freebmd.rootsweb.com, has 143 specific date or place.
one with French Canadian ancestry million index entries for births, Price: Rates start at about $50
has Quebec’s Catholic Church marriages and deaths transcribed for 175 credits which are good for
records before 1800, as well as some by volunteers. three months. The number of cred-
death records from 1800 to 1850. its required to do a search and
Key Resources: About 710,000 view a record varies.
baptismal, marriage and burial
records. BRITISH ORIGINS
Price: $21.95 to retrieve 150 www.britishorigins.com
records, but you can search the British Origin’s English and Welsh
index for free. collection covers records dating
back to the 13th century, including
INGENEAS DATABASE census, marriage, apprenticeship,
www.ingeneas.com probate, burial, militia and court
Compiled by professional genealo- records.
gists, this database covers Canadian Key Resources: The 1841 and
passenger, immigration, census, 1861 censuses, Boyds Marriage
vital, land and military records. The Index and the Marriage Licence
records name more than 854,000 Allegations Index.
immigrants to Canada. 1901CENSUSONLINE.COM Price: $13 for 72 hours or
Key Resources: Passenger lists www.1901censusonline.com $17.90 a month.
from 1748 to 1873 and other immi- The British National Archives’ site
gration records up to 1906. has census records from 1841 to FAMILY HISTORY ONLINE
Price: You can search the data- 1901 and page images of the birth, www.familyhistoryonline.net
base for free and order copies of marriage and death indexes from The Federation of Family History
records for about $7 to $10 each. 1837 to 2004. Societies created this site, but will
Key Resources: Census transfer the data to its new partner,
ENGLAND AND WALES records, civil registration indexes. FindMyPast.com. The 67 million
Civil registration — government Price: 500 credits cost about records making the move include
records of births, marriages and $10. You can search the census parish registers, gravestone tran-
deaths — began in 1837 in images for free, but it costs about scriptions, census records and poor
England and Wales. Genealogically $1.50 to view an image of a census law documents.
useful census records for England page and 20 cents to view a civil Key Resources: Census records
and Wales were taken every 10 registration index page. and the National Burial Index.
years beginning in 1841. Several Price: You can get a prepay-
online services have civil registra- ANCESTORSONBOARD.COM ment voucher for $10 and it costs
tion indexes and the actual census www.ancestorsonboard.com about 12 cents to view an index
records from 1841 to 1901, the FindMyPast.com, in association entry and about 14 cents to view a
most recent census records open to with the British National Archives, transcription.
the public. FamilySearch, is creating this list of passengers
www.familysearch.org, has a free leaving the UK from 1890 to 1960. FAMILYRELATIVES.COM
transcription of the 1881 census of Key Resources: Passenger lists www.familyrelatives.com
England and Wales. from 1890 to 1939 were covered first. This site’s 600 million records
You can order English and Price: Sixty units, good on include birth, marriage and death
Welsh birth, marriage and death either this site or FindMyPast.com, indexes, as well as military records
certificates online through the cost about $14. It costs about $1.17 and church records. Free social
General Register Office Certificate to view a transcription and about networking features let you con-
18 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Subscription Databases

nect with other researchers and mercial sites already described by genealogists.
comment on records. here. For instance, Ancestry has Key Resources: 15.5 million
Key Resources: Searchable transcriptions of the Scottish cen- records on Swedes before 1905.
birth, marriage and death indexes sus records from 1841 to 1901. Price: $15 a year.
(not just browsable images) from
1866 to 1920 and 1984 to 2005, IRISH ORIGINS GENLINE
Phillimore’s Marriage Registers. www.irishorigins.com www.genline.com
Price: Fifty units good for 90 Irish genealogy is a challenge, but A tremendous resource, this site
days cost $10. Two units are Irish Origins has gathered many of has more than 16 million images of
required to view a search results the most important resources, Swedish church records.
page and one unit to view an image. including census records, census Key Resources: Birth, baptism,
Unlimited use costs $75 a year. substitutes, passenger lists and confirmation, marriage, death and
militia records. burial records from the 16th to the
FINDMYPAST.COM Key Resources: Griffith’s 20th centuries.
www.findmypast.com Valuation and an index of Irish Price: Subscriptions start at
Formerly known as 1837.com, this wills from 1484 to 1858. $12 for 24 hours of access.
service features civil registration Price: Subscriptions start at
indexes, census records, passenger about $15 for 72 hours. INSTITUTE OF MIGRATION
lists and military records. www.migrationinstitute
You can also build an .fi/index_e.php
online family tree with Drawing on passport
photos for free. records, passenger lists
Key Resources: and information on Finns
Census records from 1841 who died abroad, the emi-
to 1891. grant register has 550,000
Price: About $30 for a names.
30-day subscription or Key Resources: 197,000
buy pay-per-view units. entries from passport
records from 1890 to 1950
THE GENEALOGIST and 318,000 records from
www.thegenealogist.co.uk passenger lists from 1892
More than 8,000 volun- to 1910.
teers are indexing census, Price: Free searching.
church and tax records for Full access costs between
this site. $22 and $44.
Key Resources:
Census records, SVAR
Phillimore parish register tran- SCOTLAND’S PEOPLE www.svar.ra.se
scripts, the 1873 tax survey. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk SVAR, the Swedish National
Price: About $138 a year. Scotland’s People is the country’s Archives site, has birth, marriage
official online source for census, and death records, as well as data-
GENES REUNITED church and probate records. bases of inventories, convicts, sea-
www.genesreunited.com Key Resources: Census men and farms.
In addition to census records and records from 1841 to 1901, church Key Resources: Censuses from
civil registration indexes, you can records from 1553 to 1854, civil 1860 to 1900.
build your family tree online and registration indexes starting in Price: Access starts at about $8
search through millions of names 1855 and wills from 1513 to 1901. for three hours.
in other researchers’ family trees. Price: Searching is free. 30
Key Resources: Census page credits cost $11. Explore these subscription sites
records from 1841 to 1901, civil and you just might find services
registration indexes. SCANDINAVIA that will make your research more
Price: Membership, about $20 Norway’s Digital Archives efficient and save you time and
for six months, lets you contact (Digitalarkivet, http://digitalarkivet money in the long run.
family tree submitters. Fifty credits .uib.no) provides many records for
cost about $10 and it takes five free, but you’ll have to pay to
credits to view a census transcript, access other Scandinavian data- DFH
a census image or a civil registra- bases.
tion index page. A regular contributor to Family
DIS — COMPUTER GENEALOGY Chronicle and Internet
IRELAND AND SCOTLAND SOCIETY OF SWEDEN Genealogy, Rick Crume special-
You’ll find some records for www.dis.se/denindex.htm izes in online research, genealogy
Ireland and Scotland on the com- The site has family trees submitted software and British genealogy.
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 19
George G. Morgan

Who Else is Researching

Your Name?

A
SK ANYONE WHO has been mailing list, consider the analogy
working on their family According to of a newsletter subscription. You
history for a while and George G. initiate the action to subscribe and
they’ll tell you that some of their to receive every issue. The differ-
greatest successes weren’t purely Morgan, ences are that: a) an e-mail mailing
their work alone. Perhaps they genealogical list is free; b) you can usually
made a connection with a cousin select the format in which you
or someone else who was success is all prefer to receive it; and c) you
researching the same surname line
that they were. As a result, ques-
about teamwork. usually also have free access to
browse the entire archive of past
tions are asked, information some tips and advice on using messages that have been posted.
begins to be exchanged, and, in them. You will receive a copy of every
many cases, a full-fledged collabo- message posted by other sub-
rative relationship is formed. E-MAIL MAILING LISTS AND E-MAIL scribers. You can read the mes-
Sometimes these are one-time The largest use of the Internet is sage, bypass and delete it, respond
exchanges but, in other cases, by far the sending and receiving of publicly with another e-mail post-
familial reconnections are formed e-mail. There are few of us who ing to the mailing list, or respond
and branches near and far are can do without it, even though in private (one-on-one) directly to
reunited and relationships form. unsolicited messages and junk e- the person who posted the mes-
Such chance encounters are mails are a ubiquitous nuisance. sage.
not as rare as you might think. (E-mail filtering programs can There are hundreds of
The many electronic facilities offer some relief, but that’s the thousands of people who have
offered by today’s technology can subject for another article.) subscribed to one or more mailing
provide accelerated communica- E-mail is a powerful tool; you lists. These people are posting
tions with other researchers can compile an e-mail distribution messages geared to elicit respons-
around the globe, potentially with- of many addresses, such as a list es from others. There are general
in minutes. Rather than post print- for all your immediate family mailing lists for the new
ed queries in newsletters and members, friends, and members of researcher, lists for surnames (and
magazines and enduring postal your own genealogical society or variant spellings of them), lists for
delays, we have a number of club. every US state, lists for almost
available electronic communica- But wait! There are literally every country and administrative
tions formats and choices. This thousands of e-mail mailing lists area within, lists for ethnic and
article will examine the most com- available to which you can sub- religious groups, evidentiary
monly used options and offer scribe. If you are unfamiliar with a record types, software program
20 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Who Else is Researching Your Name?

users, military eras and a wealth time period, and any research attract the attention of researchers.
of other subjects. RootsWeb.com results you’ve already attained You should also write a concise
hosts the vast majority of genealo- and where. message describing what you are
gy mailing lists and you can seeking, in what locations, and
search for lists of interest to you at
MESSAGE BOARDS when, as well as any research you
http://lists.rootsweb.com. The screenSimilar to mailing lists in purpose have already performed.
are message
boards. Rather FAMILY TREES AND GEDCOM FILES
than subscribing, Tens of thousands of researchers
individuals post are using genealogical database
messages to mes- programs, such as Family Tree
sage board web- Maker, RootsMagic, Legacy, The
sites using the Master Genealogist, Personal
same types of Ancestral File, Reunion, Heredis,
subject categories and a number of other programs
as mailing lists. to enter and organize their
You can then genealogical data and source cita-
bookmark and tions. Many of these people find
regularly visit the that, at some point, they are ready
message boards to place their information on the
that interest you, Internet to draw the attention of
read the message other interested researchers. All of
postings, and the PC and MAC programs can
either post a produce a common formatted
response or send extract file called a GEDCOM —
POLAND-ROOTS mailing list at RootsWeb.com a private e-mail short for Genealogy Electronic
to the person Data COMmunications. GEDCOM
shot above shows an example of a who posted the message. files can be exchanged between
RootsWeb entry for the POLAND- Hundreds of thousands of users of different software pro-
ROOTS mailing list, complete with people use message boards each grams and can be imported and
instructions for subscribing, year to post queries and thou- read by those programs. (I person-
unsubscribing and for searching sands make connections with ally discourage importing and
the archives. other researchers. There are a merging someone else’s GEDCOM
You will note that you have number of message board sites on file with your own work. You
two subscription options. You can the Internet, among them being don’t know how good a researcher
subscribe to POLAND-ROOTS-L, Ancestry.com’s message boards, at the person is and how accurate
the list mode in which you will http://boards.ancestry.com; their data might be. Each fact in
receive individual copies of RootsWeb.com, at http://boards someone else’s research should be
e-mails as they are posted. .rootsweb.com; and GenForum, at personally researched and verified
Alternately, you can subscribe http://genforum.
to POLAND-ROOTS-D, the digest genealogy.com.
mode in which one e-mail is sent Cyndi’s List has a
to your e-mail box periodically specific page for
that includes multiple message queries and message
postings. This can simplify your boards, at
work with a busy mailing list, http://www.cyndislist
such as the SMITH list. .com/queries.htm,
Another source for all the where you will find
RootsWeb mailing lists and more other links. The
is John Fuller’s website at screen shot at right
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/ shows an example
gen_mail.html at which he main- of the Holder mes-
tains all the genealogy mailing sage board screen at
lists in the world. Ancestry.com.
Use a mailing list effectively Like mailing
by using an informative subject lists, you will
line that will grab the attention of achieve a higher
a potential collaborative success rate if you
researcher. Then, in the body of use a meaningful
the message, describe exactly subject line for your
about whom you are seeking message board post-
information, where they were, the ing in order to Holder Message Board at Ancestry.com.
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 21
Who Else is Researching Your Name?

— and then you can enter the that site has been limited to mem- clusions.
information with its source cita- bers only. Bear in mind, though, Who are all these people
tion into your genealogical data- that there may be members who researching your name? They are
base program of choice.) are researching one or more of the a diverse lot of folks — men and
There are a number of Internet surnames in your family tree. women, young and old, from
sites where people also upload every nationality, socio-economic
their GEDCOM file data so that other WEBLOGS (BLOGS) group, ethnic and religious back-
people can see it, study it, and In addition to the personal web ground. They are people who
even download the data for fur- pages of computer-generated want to know more about their
ther investigation. Some of these indexes and navigatable pedigree family origins, traditions and cul-
sites include Ancestry.com, charts and family groups, there is ture. Some want to join hereditary,
http://www.ancestry.com; RootsWeb, an expanding group of researchers lineage and other types of soci-
http://www.rootsweb.com; who are creating blogs about their eties. Others are performing cul-
FamilySearch, http://www.family family research. One of the most tural, architectural, social, and/or
search.org; Geni, http://www.geni prodigious blog-
.com; Famillion, http://www. gers is Steve
famillion.com; and other genealogy Danko, whose
social networking sites. blog, at http://
Individuals are even creating www.stephen
their own personal genealogical danko.com, docu-
websites by generating or convert- ments in scholar-
ing web pages from some of the ly text and in
leading genealogy database soft- scanned images
ware packages. There are even and digital pho-
family associations that are host- tographs the
ing websites that focus on details of his
uploaded GEDCOM files for persons Polish ancestral
of a surname and/or variations. research.
The
FAMILY ASSOCIATIONS AND ONE- Genealogy Blog
NAME STUDIES Finder,
Family associations are organiza- http://blogfinder.
tions or informal groups of indi- genealogue.com, at
viduals who share a common sur- the Genealogue
name or even a specific ancestor. site, http://www.
They join together for any number genealogue.com, is
Steve Danko’s Blog.
of reasons, but the most common an excellent place
purpose includes exchanging to look for indi-
genealogical information, sharing viduals, groups and family associ- legal research. Some are authors or
current news about family mem- ations who publish their stories of historians, while others are on a
bers, holding reunions, and pro- research into families and personal journey of discovery and
moting family knowledge, tradi- locations. enlightenment. There are many,
tions, and self-esteem. Considering all these electron- many motivations for genealogical
A one-name study can be ic resources for rapid access to and research but the researchers are
defined as research into one sur- the exchange of information, is it joined by the common bond: a
name and its variants by one or any wonder that genealogy has commitment to learn more about
more people. Those persons con- become one of the most popular their family history.
centrate on the relationships pastimes in the world and one of
between people sharing the same the top uses of the Internet?
surname. They conduct a project That is not to say that tradi-
of researching all occurrences of a tional research for and into
surname, as opposed to a particu- documents and other evidentiary DFH
lar pedigree (ancestors of one per- resources should be abandoned.
son) or descendancy (descendants Far from it! It is essential to use all
of one person or couple). The of the tools above as clues and/or George G. Morgan is an
Guild of One-Name Studies, based pointers to original materials or internationally recognized writer
at the Society of Genealogists, is a exact facsimiles so that you can and speaker. He is the author of
membership organization that personally examine them. Your five books, including The Official
records project reports, among verification of the exact contents in Guide to Ancestry.com and How
to Do Everything with Your
other activities. They may be their proper context helps assure
Genealogy, and hundreds of online
found at http://www.one-name.org, that you develop accurate and magazine articles.
although access to the databases at hypotheses and reach correct con-
22 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
Mary Clement Douglass, CG

What is a Vital Record?

W
ITH ANY NEW endeavor, Mary Clement given a name at baptism. While a
you are exposed to christening date is not the exact
terms that are specific to Douglass, CG date of birth, it is usually within a
that project, hobby or occupation. year of the date of birth. Burials
This is also true of genealogy.
looks at the are not exact death dates, but are
This article addresses one of the basics of the date the body was interred,
most common terms used in fam- usually within the week follow-
ily history research: vital records. understanding ing death. Civil sources are the
and using vital most commonly consulted when
WHAT IS A VITAL RECORD? searching for vital records. New
Vital records are usually consid- records. England was a leader in the keep-
ered to be primarily those civil ing of vital records. The further
records of birth and death. They you go south, the more deficient
can be a very important source of the vital records are.
genealogical material. Other The largest source of vital
records of significant life events records is the Family History
— marriage and divorce records Library of The Church of Jesus
— are considered to be either Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt
contracts or civil cases and will Lake City, Utah. It has micro-
not be discussed here. filmed millions of vital records
The first known law in the from church registers and govern-
American colonies requiring the ment record offices all over the
registration of vital records was world. These records are as close
passed by the Grand Assembly of to you as your nearest Family
Virginia in 1632. It required min- History Center (FHC). The Family
isters or wardens from each History Library maintains a web-
parish to appear in court once a site, http://www.familysearch.org.
year, June 1, to present a record of Look under the “Library” tab on
christenings, marriages and buri- the website to find a FHC near
als for the preceding year. The you.
General Court of the It is wise to check for town,
Massachusetts Bay Colony and county registers of vital
required town clerks to make a records before state registration
record of the actual births and was required. Where cities main-
deaths, rather than christenings tain a public cemetery, they may
and burials. These laws were not also keep a burial register. The
very effective and were not con- cemetery sexton’s burial register
sistently obeyed. By 1833, only often shows date of death as well
five US cities had regular vital as date of burial. Tombstones
registration: Baltimore, Boston, Quebec birth certificate from 1868. often list birth dates or ages at
New Orleans, New York and death from which you can calcu-
Philadelphia. each of the provinces and territo- late an approximate birth date.
The main reason for requiring ries handle the registration. The most exhaustive attempt
vital records registration, espe- to compile a list of available vital
cially deaths, was disease control. WHERE DO I FIND VITAL records in the US was made by
Without reliable statistics, the RECORDS? the Historical Records Surveys in
medical profession had a hard There are three principal sources the late 1930s and early 1940s.
time battling contagious diseases for vital records — the home, the The states not inventoried include
and poor sanitary conditions. church and the state. Home Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Vital records registration did not sources include the family Bible, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
become common in North letters and newspaper clippings, South Carolina and Vermont.
America until the late 19th and such as obituaries, birth Participating states published an
early 20th centuries. In the US, announcements and other person- inventory or guide to the vital
vital registration is a function of al papers. Some churches main- statistics records available for var-
the states. In Britain and much of tain records of christenings and ious counties, cities and towns
Europe, it is a function of the burials. Christenings are within its boundaries and told
national government. In Canada, Christian religious rites in which where and how the records were
the Registrars of Vital Statistics in a person, usually an infant, is filed. A WPA List of Vital
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 23
What is a Vital Record?

Records, issued in 1943, shows age and occupation, mother’s deceased’s parents, birth dates,
the vital records inventories pub- maiden name, race, birthplace, and birthplaces should be double
lished for each of those 40 states. age, occupation, residence and checked, and verified, against
Consult the state historical society marital status. The US Standard other information.
for information on where you Certificate of Live Birth also asks
may use a copy. questions about educational level HOW DO I USE VITAL RECORDS?
Many local historical and attained by each parent, previous It is helpful to obtain the birth
genealogical societies have pub- deliveries born alive or dead, pre- and death certificates of siblings
lished early birth and death natal care, birth weight of child, to compare the information given
records in their periodicals, health questions relating to the about places and parents’ names.
newsletters and journals. The pregnancy and delivery including This is especially true of death
Periodical Source Index (PERSI), birth injuries and congenital mal- certificates that give the parents’
at http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealo- formations. birth dates and places. Gathering
gy/persi.html, lists what records When Social Security benefits death certificates for a family
have been published by societies. were instituted in 1937, individu- health history may show patterns,
Contact the Allen County Public als were required to document such as a tendency to heart dis-
Library Genealogy Center in Fort their births even if their states ease or particular types of cancer.
Wayne, Indiana for more informa- had not required birth registra- Vital records are useful for
tion. tion. This led to the creation of supporting or disproving existing
Thomas J. Kemp’s Inter- delayed birth certificates. evidence. Compare the vital
national Vital Records Handbook, Evidence had to be supplied to record to home records and the
now in its 4th edition contains the support the applicant’s sworn censuses for that individual. The
latest information for each of the statement. Often this evidence information contained in a civil
50 states and also furnishes came from home sources such as registry may help to clarify the
details about records that were the family Bible, a baptismal cer- direction of future research.
created prior to statewide vital tificate, school record or an affi- Check all the locations named.
records registration. It also covers davit from a person having defi- This may help you find earlier
all the other countries of the nite knowledge of the facts, such generations in the censuses. Vital
world, giving their current forms as a parent or older sibling. records are important to con-
and instructions. An inexpensive Death records are usually tribute to a more complete family
reference is the booklet published created by the attending physi- history.
by the US Department of Health cian or coroner for unattended
and Human Services, “Where to deaths. Early death records often FURTHER READING:
Write for Vital Records” contained little more than the  Editors Loretto Dennis Szucs
(Washington, DC: Superintendent name of the deceased, the death and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking
of Documents, US Government date, and the place of death. The Source: A Guidebook of
Printing Office or http://www.cdc Nineteenth-century death records American Genealogy. Salt Lake
.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm.). If became more detailed, including City: Ancestry Publishing
you have Internet access, either at cause of death, age at the time of Company, 2006.
home or at your local library, one death, place of birth, names of  Greenwood, Val D. The
of the simplest ways to find infor- parents, place of birth, occupa- Researcher’s Guide to American
mation on where to find civil tion, name of spouse, name of the Genealogy. Baltimore:
vital records offices is to search person giving the information Genealogical Publishing
the term “vital records” on your and the informant’s relationship Company, Inc. Third Edition,
favorite search engine. to the deceased. Modern death 2000. Chapter 12: “Vital Records.”
certificates also give information
WHAT CAN I EXPECT TO FIND IN A about the deceased’s cause of
VITAL RECORD? death, birth, marital status, Social
Modern birth records are usually Security number, residence and
created by the parents shortly place of burial. DFH
after the birth, while still in the Death records are only as
hospital, and filed by the hospital accurate as the knowledge of the Mary Clement Douglass, Certified
with the Office of Vital Statistics. informant. Consider that mem- Genealogist, is owner of Historical
Early birth records gave little bers of the immediate family, who Matters — Historical and
information beyond the name of would otherwise furnish reliable Genealogical Research in Kansas.
the child, date and place of birth data, do not think as clearly as She is a researcher, teacher, author,
and parents’ names, or only the they should when under the architectural historian and curator.
father’s name. Most 20th-century stress of bereavement. Mary lectures nationally on
birth records contain that infor- Consequently, the record suffers. genealogical methodology. Her
mation plus sex of child, county This is one reason why obituaries articles have appeared in Everton’s
of birth, location of birth, hospital are often inaccurate or incom- Genealogical Helper and Family
name, father’s race, birthplace, plete. The names of the Chronicle magazine.

24 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com

 www.internet-genealogy.com
What to Look Forward to in Upcoming Issues
A L S O:
DIGITAL  Finding Quaker
BOOKS Ancestors
Diane L. Richard
checks out one
 Library of Congress
of the newest  Baker Hoax
sources for fami-
ly history — the  Confederate Pensions
digital book Online
 UK Archives
TH E GREAT GENEALOGY  Tax Records
PAPER CHASE  US Passport
Applications Online
 Genealogy While You
Sleep
 Virtual Friends
Articles mentioned here are planned for the next issue. However, circumstances may affect the final content.

Don’t like forms? With your credit card ready, please call 1-888-326-2476
toll-free during office hours (EST) to immediately arrange your sub-
scription. You can also subscribe online at www.internet-genealogy.com.

•Subscribe online through our secure server: www.internet-genealogy.com

•Phone Toll-Free 1-888-326-2476. Please have your credit card ready.
•Mail to Internet Genealogy, PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY 14304 (from US) or
Internet Genealogy, 500-505 Consumers Rd, Toronto, ON, M2J 4V8 (from Canada) Guarantee
USA Orders Canadian Orders There is no risk. If Internet
 One year (6 issues) at $28 US  One year (6 issues) at $32 CDN + GST* Genealogy fails to meet
 Two years (12 issues) at $45 US  Two years (12 issues) at $52 CDN + GST* your needs, or live up to
 Three years (18 issues) at $64 US  Three years (18 issues) at $67 CDN + GST* the promises we have
Payment by:  Check (enclosed) Charge my Credit Card:  Visa  MasterCard made, you are entitled to a
*Residents of NB, NL & NS add HST instead of GST. Quebec residents add 7.5% QST.
PayPal is accepted on our website. refund on all unmailed
USA purchasers note: Credit card transactions are processed through our office in Canada, but will appear
on your statement in US funds. Your credit card statement will indicate INTERNET GENEALOGY.
copies for any reason or no
reason. Any refund will be
Card Number____________________________________________ Expiry Date _____ /_______
made promptly and
Signature_______________________________________________ cheerfully.
Last Name__________________________________________ First Name ____________________
Address___________________________________________________________________________ Halvor Moorshead
City________________________________ State/Prov. _________ Zip/Postal Code __________ Editor & Publisher
Phone Number_____________________________________ GST# 139340186 RT
DFH OP
Internet Genealogy does not rent or sell subscriber names.
Rachel Newcombe

Citing Sources
W
HEN YOU’RE in the early obtained each individual piece of
stages of tracing your
Rachel Newcombe information. Source summary
family history and only explains why it’s forms are filled in for each family
using limited resources, it’s rela- group and help you keep track of
tively easy to keep track of where vitally important where you found information. The
you obtain information. But as the
months and years go by and you
to properly record correspondence record is aimed at
helping you keep track of who
amass more research, remember- your sources from you’ve corresponded with, but is
ing where all the facts, anecdotes also handy for making a note of
and claims came from gets a lot the start. what information you’ve received
harder. That’s why it’s vitally and from whom.
important to properly record your riage/death certificate, a church You can create your own tai-
sources from the start. record, anecdotal, through swap- lored forms if you wish, but to
You can be forgiven for think- ping notes with another make life easier, template forms
ing you’d rather get on with the researcher, etc. are available to download from
exciting aspects of tracing your If there’s an official reference Ancestry: family group sheet —
family history rather than worry- number on the record you found, http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts
ing about organization but, trust such as on IGI or GRO indexes, /familysheet.aspx; source summary
me, you’ll be thankful further then record this number too, as form, http://www.ancestry.com/trees
down the line if you do get organ- you never know if you may need /charts/sourcesum.aspx; correspon-
ized now! to go back and look at it again. If dence record, http://www.ancestry
Genealogy is renowned for you’ve found the details in an old .com/trees/charts/correcord.aspx
involving tracking down informa- newspaper article, then don’t for-
tion from numerous sources and get to note the date, issue and DEVELOPING YOUR OWN
it’s easy to forget where you got page of the item in question. SOURCE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
information if you don’t record Don’t worry — recording As you become more advanced,
the details. your sources needn’t be an ardu- you may find you want to branch
Some of the sources you’re ous task. The key to getting it out and invent your own ways of
likely to use for obtaining infor- right is to develop your own recording sources. This is perfect-
mation during your genealogical habits and methods — and the ly fine too, as long as you develop
journey include: sooner you start, the easier it will a system you find easy to use and
• Birth certificates be to locate information as you go remember. One person who’s
• Marriage certificates along. How you choose to do it is developed his own system is Tim
• Death certificates up to you, but the following are Roberts. “I find it useful to give
• Church records some useful suggestions to get each source an ID. For example, I
• Censuses you started. use a simple system whereby I
• First person memories from assign each source a unique ID
relatives USING FAMILY RECORD SHEETS reference,” he explained.
• IGI (International Genealogical AND OTHER FORMS Roberts’ system uses letters to
Index) and GRO (General One easy way of keeping track of relate to the type of source used:
Register Office) indexes all your sources of information is An Anecdotal
• Newspaper articles to methodically keep family Bi Birth
• Old maps record sheets, source summary Ba Baptism
• Photograph archives forms, records of who you’ve cor- Bu Burial
• Other people you meet who are responded with and other similar C Census
researching the same lines forms as you go along. These Ch Church Record
There are various methods sheets can then be filed away in a D Death
you can use to record your ring binder — one for each family Di Directory
sources and what you choose to or line you’re researching — and M Marriage
do is up to you, but there are key you can easily refer back to them Mil Military
pieces of information that should when you need to check up on N Newspaper
be recorded in all source records. details. OR Other Researcher
For example, you need to make a Family record sheets are great W Will
specific note of exactly where you for recording details of all the fam- “Using the prefix letter as the
obtained the information — was it ily members and you can make a start of the reference, I then add
a census record, a birth/mar- note on the form of where you on the date. So for a marriage on 6
26 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Citing Sources

July 1848 it becomes — M/1848-6- Keeping electronic records on the ly relatives or other sources of
7. In case I come across any other computer has, in many ways, over- information. Often, you may find
marriages later on that may have taken the traditional forms of writ- that in the future you’ll remember
occurred on the same day (a small ten genealogy record keeping, but a particular trip you went on for
chance, but it does sometimes don’t overlook the good old pen your research, but can’t necessari-
happen), I add an a on the end, so and paper entirely. For a start, ly remember what you found out.
it becomes M/1848-6-7-a.” when you go into some libraries The research trip logs can act as
Once he’s got this unique ID, and record archives — especially an additional useful reference, so
Roberts adds the details, along when dealing with very old you can double-check where you
with other information, such as records — laptops aren’t always went and let it lead you to your
where the record was found, the allowed, so you have to rely on findings on that occasion.
names of the individuals con- paper and pen, or even pencil, as You can either use inexpen-
cerned, etc., into a database. pens aren’t permitted in some sive notebooks or create files on
“Often on records, you pick places. your computer. If you’re visiting a
up multiple details — such as the It’s very handy to be able to lot of different libraries or Family
names of the parents, the father’s keep your records of sources on the History Centers, then it may be a
occupation or where they were computer, but you must make reg- good idea to allocate one note-
from, as well as the information book per event. If they’re more
about the event in question. My infrequent occasions, then one per
referencing system means I can year may be sufficient. Files on
input all the details then cross- your computer can easily be
reference them back to see which labeled per trip.
original source they all came In your research trip log, it’s
from,” he says. useful to record key information,
Although Roberts has his such as:
own database record, he also • Where you went and when.
records the information in the • What your aim of the trip was
genealogy software program he — what were you searching for?
uses, using the same ID number • The name of specific archive col-
approach. lections you searched.
• The dates you examined.
RECORDING SOURCES IN • Whether or not you found the
GENEALOGY SOFTWARE answers you were looking for.
These days, there are various • If you uncovered any other
forms of genealogy software interesting facts, possible rela-
available that make record- tives or other details in the
ing sources all the more easi- course of your research.
er. Many programs have a Keep a note on the outside of
facility that allows you to the notebook, or just inside the
record notes and sources on all front cover, mentioning the year,
individuals entered into your or name and date of the trip. If
database file. This makes it really you’re recording details of numer-
easy to keep track of everyone ular back-ups and keep copies of ous trips, you could write the
and allows you to keep all man- everything. If your computer has a details of each one on the first
ner of notes and snippets of infor- sudden hard drive failure, it would page to form an index.
mation. be devastating to lose all your By developing systems such
There are lots of options for research. It’s a good idea to get into as these, you’ll be able to pinpoint
printing, including one which iso- the habit of saving everything reg- your sources whenever you need
lates and prints out just the notes ularly and doing regular back-ups. to and will no longer be in the
sections. As you will inevitably Memory sticks are useful for an ini- dark about where you obtained
gather lots of notes during the tial back-up (e.g., keep the original information. Good luck and
course of your research, it’s a on your hard drive and a copy on a happy organizing!
good idea to periodically print out memory stick), but then a weekly
this file — even though it may or monthly back-up onto another
well be long — so that you have a source, such as CD or portable
hard copy of everything. hard drive, is useful to do. DFH
Likewise, remember to back up Rachel Newcombe is a freelance
your master file as often as possi- CREATING A RESEARCH TRIP writer, editor and researcher. She’s an
ble, so that you won’t lose valu- LOG avid fan of genealogy and loves the
able information should a prob- Some people find it useful to keep challenge of piecing together the past.
lem occur. a record of research trips to She can be found on the web at
PAPER VERSUS COMPUTER archives, libraries, churches, fami- www.newcombe.co.uk/media
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 27
Lisa A. Alzo

Case
Study Getting to Kn
Lisa A. Alzo describes her quest to learn about
the grandfather she never knew.

I
F YOU DROWN, don’t come home.” LEARNING THE FACTS whiskey to drink at the local cor-
I can’t help but chuckle every One of the first steps in genealogy ner bar and ladled out the hot
time I remember this quote is to “start with what you know” water in the large pot on the stove
from a story that my father used and, since I knew very little, that my grandmother was using to
to tell me about my grandfather, researching my grandfather pre- wash clothes, thinking it was
John Alzo, Sr. sented a bit of a challenge. Talking soup.
As a boy, my father and his to relatives is another important I also learned that my grand-
friends liked to sneak away to take step. father was a very religious man.
a swim in the Monongahela River Unfortunately, I started too He was a dedicated member of
that flowed not far from his home late and there were few living rel- Holy Trinity Roman Catholic
in Duquesne, Pennsylvania. When atives who could answer my ques- Church in Duquesne, and an offi-
young Johnny arrived home, his tions. My paternal grandmother cer in one of their Slovak Catholic
father questioned him, “Were you passed away in 1966 and all my fraternal lodges (Osadny).
swimming in the river?” My grandfather was also a
“No, Pap,” would be his sort of jack-of-all-trades. He
response, while his usually worked as a millwright for the
wavy blond hair, damp and Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company
green from the various uniden- in Duquesne, was the neighbor-
tified substances floating in the hood handyman and unofficial
river, gave him away. barber (I have the scissors he
In reply, my grandfather’s used to use), and even built his
exhortation about not drowning own coal bin.
came without him cracking a Ironically, my grandfather
smile, and then he would return died while painting his back
to reading his newspaper. porch after coming home from
This story captures the his friend’s funeral. My grand-
essence of my paternal grand- mother was calling him for din-
father. I’ve been told he was a ner and, annoyed that he was
kind man, with an implacable not coming after several min-
personality, who could subtly utes of prompting, she went to
make a point with his unique fetch him and found him
sense of humor. From all that I slumped over the paint can, the
learned about my grandfather, I brush still in his hand.
regret that I never had the John Alzo Sr.
Sr. sitting on the porch
porch
chance to know him. of his home in Duquesne in 1936. GATHERING HOME AND
We’re all familiar with those FAMILY SOURCES
speculative types of question and aunts had died years before. When I didn’t let my father’s lack of
answer or “ice breaker” games in I began my quest, my father was detailed information stop my
which we are asked, “If you could still alive, and while he did not search. First, I checked at home for
have lunch with one person, living know exact dates, or could not any sources of information about
or dead, who would it be?” remember some names or other my grandfather that were readily
My answer to this particular details, he did provide some inter- available, and located his funeral
question is always the same, “My esting stories about my grand- card, obituary, miscellaneous
Grandpap Alzo”. father. papers, prayer book, Bible and
My grandfather died at the How he enjoyed a good con- some photographs. I was also for-
age of 67 in 1961, two years before versation — he spent hours sitting tunate to locate two key docu-
I was born. on the front porch talking to ments, a rudimentary family tree
However, thanks to my inter- neighbors, including my maternal handwritten by my mother, listing
est in genealogy, I have had the grandmother (my mother’s family the names of ancestors and rela-
opportunity to learn about many had moved next door to my tives she could remember, along
of the details of my grandfather’s father’s family in 1943); or the with those of their spouses and
life. time when he had a bit too much children, and a copy of a typed
28 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Case Study: Getting to Know “Pap”

now “Pap”
the basement of her home. Among
them was one of my grandfather
dressed in work shirt and pants
and sitting in a chair on his front
porch at home in Duquesne. The
photo was taken in 1936 while he
was recovering from an operation.
one-page narrative entitled “Our CERTIFICATE OF He was 42 years old in this photo.
Family Tree” that was prepared by NATURALIZATION The expression on his face is one
my aunt in the 1970s that told of John Alzo was naturalized on 7 of engagement — he is looking at
how my grandfather met my June 1928. The certificate lists his the camera as if to say, “Come, sit
grandmother while he was a address in Duquesne, the name of down and talk with me.”
boarder at her sister’s house. his wife (Elizabeth) and the names
Next, I contacted my first and ages of his minor children IF I HAD TO START FROM
cousins who inherited the contents (Anna 10, Elizabeth 7, Helen 5, SCRATCH
of their deceased parents’ homes. and John 3). His age (34) and I was very fortunate to have the
This was a smart move as one physical description are also pro- above documents and photo-
cousin had acquired my grand- vided. There was no declaration of graphs at my disposal. This
father’s desk that her mother (my proves that it pays to let everyone
aunt) had inherited. I obtained a in your family know that you are
number of important records. involved in genealogy (of course,
These hidden genealogical it doesn’t guarantee the family
gems contained many valuable members will oblige, but that is
details about my grandfather, another matter).
including: However, if the above items
had not been available to me via
BIRTH REGISTRATION family members, I could have
Jan Alzo was born on 1 January tracked most of them down on my
1894 in Kucsin, Slovakia to Jan own through various sources.
Alzo and Barbara Meriorska; his For example, I’d check with
religion was Roman Catholic. the churches for the marriage and
death records, and burial informa-
RECORD OF MARRIAGE tion. The funeral home had since
John Alzo and Elizabeth Fenchak gone out of business, but I’d con-
were married on 21 January 1915 tact other funeral homes in
in Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Catholic Duquesne, or the local historical
Church in Duquesne. society to see if they obtained any
John Alzo, Sr. (right) was a “jack-of- of the records. I’d search for his
DEATH RECORD all-trades”. He is seen here with his obituary in old newspapers. The
John Alzo, Sr.’s date of death is son, John, Jr. when they were building local paper for the Duquesne area
recorded on the Coroner’s a coal bin for their house. was the McKeesport Daily News. All
Certificate of Death as 10 June copies of this, from 1884 to pres-
1961 at 6:15 PM, E.S.T. The immedi- intent or copy of the actual peti- ent, are microfilmed and available
ate cause: “Coronary Occlusion”. tion attached; only the certificate, at the McKeesport Heritage Center
Other information on the certifi- so I knew I would want to get www.15122.com/mckheritage/info.htm.
cate included his occupation, mill- copies of these “first papers” Also, the Carnegie Library of
wright; his spouse’s name, because they will contain addi- Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania
Elizabeth (Fenchak); his parents’ tional details not found on the Department has obituaries from
names, John Alzo and Barbara certificate. 1786 to 1913 and 1963 to the pres-
Mariorska. The name and location ent indexed and searchable by
of the funeral director, “M.J. PROPERTY DEEDS name. Although from 1914 to
Shaughnessy, Duquesne, PA” and Property deeds list the dates and 1962, there is no index, if I had the
the name of the cemetery, Holy purchase details for the two specific death date, the staff of the
Trinity, as well as his address and homes he owned; one on Pennsylvania Department will
Social Security number are provid- Crawford Street and later the one conduct a search and copy one to
ed too. on Hill Street. There were also a five names or pages of its obituar-
number of Allegheny County ies for a non-refundable, prepaid
SOCIAL SECURITY CARD property tax receipts. fee of $10.
This provided his Social Security
number and date he applied. PHOTOGRAPHS DEATH RECORD
My cousin had several boxes of For his death record, I could use
old photographs stored away in information found on his funeral
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 29
Case Study: Getting to Know “Pap”

card and/or obituary to request a department, at www.allegheny on the vessel Kaiserin Auguste
death certificate. Joe Beine’s county.us/regwills/regrec.aspx. Victoria.
Online Searchable Death Indexes
and Records, at www.deathindexes NATURALIZATION RECORD PROPERTY RECORDS
.com, is a good place to start to There is a naturalization index for Information on property owner-
find out where to begin to look for Allegheny County, covering the ship could be obtained from the
death records. Any links to sites years 1790 to 1906. The index pro- Recorder of Deeds Office in the
for obituaries in papers in vides date of declaration of intent, Allegheny County Office Building,
Allegheny County are for more country of birth, date of natural- www.county.allegheny.pa.us/deeds.
recent obits, so I wouldn’t be able ization and sponsor. After 1906,
to find information for the year I the index files are maintained BIRTH/BAPTISMAL RECORDS
needed online. But there is a link downtown. Naturalization docu- The Family History Library,
to the Carnegie Library of ments are available under the US www.familysearch.org, has micro-
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Act filmed and catalogue early church
Department as described above. (FOIA). Because my grandfather records for just about all the coun-
After 1906, birth and death was naturalized after 1906, I ties in Slovakia (formerly part of
certificates are available from the would follow the guidelines on Austria-Hungary). The catalog is
their site to get to the cor- searchable by place or keyword. I
rect place to request his could also write to the Slovak
records: Federal Archives Archives, www.civil.gov.sk/snarchiv
& Records Center Archives /uk.htm, or hire a professional
Branch, Room 1350, researcher to obtain the certificate
Philadelphia, PA 19107; its on my behalf.
holdings include from
1906 through the present. INTERNET RESEARCH
Luckily for me, Footnote, Even with all the documentation
about particular events in my
grandfather’s life, there were still
some missing details. Because the
Internet has opened up a great
deal of information to genealo-
gists, I decided to use several dif-
Above: Passenger Record for “Jan ferent websites to try to track
Alzio” found on the Ellis Island down what I wanted to know.
Database.
Right: Civil birth registration for GOOGLE
John Alzo from Slovakia. Google, www.google.com, is a good
place to begin for a general search.
Pennsylvania Department of Given that Alzo is not that
Health, Division of Vital Records common of a surname, I thought I
in New Castle, PA, at might turn up some positive
www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health results by typing in my grand-
/cwp/view.asp?a=168&Q=229939. father’s name. There were several
The fee is $9 and they require that results — but they were linked to
a copy of your current valid dri- some of my own articles or data
ver’s license accompany the postings that mentioned my
request. grandfather’s name.

MARRIAGE RECORD SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX

In Pennsylvania, the Clerk of the I was curious to see if I could
Orphans’ Court Division of each www.footnote.com, has put some locate an entry for my grandfather
county is responsible for maintain- Pennsylvania naturalization docu- in the Social Security Death Index
ing the records of all marriages in ments online. So, taking advan- (SSDI). The SSDI is available for
the county where the marriage tage of a free trial, I was able to free and as part of several sub-
license was issued, so I could have locate both the petition and decla- scription databases. I tried many
obtained a “plain copy” (issued ration of intent for my grandfather but my grandfather did not turn
for genealogical purposes) for $4 on their site. Among the details up in any of the results. My guess
either by appearing in person at found in these documents is the is that a benefit was never filed for
the Marriage Records Department name of my grandfather’s ances- after he passed away. I did locate
located in the City-County build- tral village, Kucin, as well as my grandmother, however. I used
ing in downtown Pittsburgh, or by details about his arrival in the US: the link provided by the version of
mailing a letter of request to the 29 October 1910, Port of New York the SSDI found on RootsWeb,
30 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Case Study: Getting to Know “Pap”

www.rootsweb.com, and generated a names from which to choose. After Online Research” in Internet
letter to request the original SS-5 several attempts with different Genealogy’s February/March 2007
application (it costs $27 if you choices, I finally located the issue.) Since my grandfather
know the person’s social security record. He is listed as: arrived in the US just a few
number and $29 if you don’t, First Name: Janos months before his 17th birthday,
under FOIA). I plugged in my Last Name: Alzio the family lore about his reason for
grandfather’s name and social Ethnicity: Hungarian-Slowak leaving can be taken to be a possi-
security number, printed the letter Last Place of Residence: Also.- bility. He also arrived too late to be
and mailed my request to receive kocsen, Russia counted in the 1910 US census.
a copy of his original application Date of Arrival: Oct 29, 1910
in the mail. Age at Arrival: 17y US MILITARY RECORDS
Gender: M A search on Ancestry.com also
CENSUSES Marital Status: S turned up a record for my grand-
Searching online census records father in its collection of US World
was not an easy task. You would War II Draft Registration Cards.
think that a name like Alzo would This registration was conduct-
not require much searching, but I ed on 27 April 1942. All men who
was surprised to find that when I were born on or between 28 April
used my Ancestry.com subscrip- 1877 and 16 February 1897 (men
tion to search the “every name who were between 45 and 64
index” for the 1930 census, the years of age at the time) were
results turned up empty for John required to register, provided they
Alzo. Using some creative search- weren’t already in the military.
ing with spelling variations, I This registration was often called
finally located the family (my the “Old Man’s Draft”. The card
grandparents and their four chil- contained a number of pertinent
dren), living on Hill Street, but details for my grandfather, includ-
listed as Elza. ing a physical description and his
The 1930 census provided signature.
some clues I could use to search
other records, such as his year of
immigration to the United States
(1910) and “NA” in the naturaliza-
tion area of the citizenship col-
umn. (The handwriting is not the
best, so I can understand how the
name Alzo could have been tran-
scribed as Elza.) Above: John Alzo and
My grandfather is listed as Elizabeth Fenchak on their
John Olza in the 1920 census (with wedding day on 21 January
Elza in parentheses) on Ancestry. 1915. Right: Marriage
certificate for John Alzo and
IMMIGRATION RECORD Elizabeth Fenchak.
Family lore indicated that my
grandfather left his homeland for Ship of Travel: Kaiserin Auguste There are some words of cau-
America in order to avoid con- Victoria tion for searching this collection.
scription into the Austro- Port of Departure: Hamburg First, you won’t find all states cov-
Hungarian army. When males Manifest Line Number: 0023 ered. Check Ancestry.com for a list
turned 17, they would be required The last place of residence is of those states that have been
to enter, with a mandatory three- not exactly correct as it is listed, filmed or those that are partially
years service initially and another but upon review of the actual completed, as well as a list of
nine years in the reserves. From image, I was certain this was my those states where the cards were
his naturalization papers, I had grandfather. destroyed before they were copied
the date of his arrival and the port If the search had not been this and, therefore, will not be avail-
— New York. So the next step was easy, I could have used Steve able at all. Secondly, if you’re
to search the Ellis Island Database, Morse’s One-Step Web Pages, at searching in Pennsylvania,
(EIDB) www.ellisisland.org/. It’s free www.stevemorse.org. Morse’s “Gold Maryland, Vermont and Delaware,
to search but you must register Form” lets you use various param- note:
with a user name and password. eters to search the EIDB, including “These four states were
When I typed in John Alzo, I got “sounds like” for surname, first scanned at the National Archives
“No exact matches for this passen- name and town. (See my article facility in such a way that the back
ger”, and a list of suggested “Morse Code: Streamline Your of one person’s draft card appears
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 31
Case Study: Getting to Know “Pap”

on the same image as the front of ing this draft (which took place in he would have registered for the
the next individual. The result is three stages) since every male liv- one held for WWI back in 1917-18.
that when you click to view the ing within the US between the My guess is that it is an issue of
original image, you will see the ages of 18 and 45 was required to spelling, translation or location
do so. However, a searched (perhaps he registered elsewhere),
for Alzo and variations so I need to try more variations, or
turned up empty. Since I’ve possibly even manually search the
been burned before by cards for the draft board (this will
indexing issues in online be quite time-consuming though).
databases, I wasn’t about to But, it just goes to show that even
give up. The original records experienced researchers hit brick-
are kept at the National walls during the research process.
Archives-Southeast Region (After this article went to
in East Point, Georgia and press the author persisted in her
microfilm copies are at the research and eventually did locate
National Archives regional the elusive WWI draft card regis-
offices that serve their tration for her grandfather.)
respective states. NARA has
a new service to order repro- WHAT GENEALOGY TAUGHT ME
ductions online: It’s no secret that genealogy is one
https://eservices.archives of the hottest pastimes or hobbies
.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SW right now. The subject is now writ-
ECmd=Start&SWEHo= ten about in mainstream publica-
eservices.archives.gov. For $10tions and referenced in commer-
cials. For me, genealogy pro-
vided an opportunity to find
out more about the grandfa-
ther I never knew.
correct front side of the draft By reviewing my grand-
card, but the back of the previ- father’s personal documents,
ous soldier’s card. Ancestry is gathering family stories and
aware of this problem, and is some online sleuthing, I was
working to correct this issue.” able uncover the details I need-
These records were all ed to paint a picture in my
scanned in individually, so mind of what he was like. Still,
you can’t just use the forward I would give anything for an
arrow to get to the next page, opportunity to have lunch with
but there is a temporary solu- him. I’d ask him questions
tion, while a permanent solu- about his parents, his child-
tion is being worked out. Above: John Alzo, first from the left, served as hood, his journey to America
First, going to the web a pallbearer for his neighbor, Michael Sivak in and other experiences.
address at the top of my 1921. Forty years later, John Alzo died after
browser, I located the part of serving as a pallbearer at another friend’s I can imagine what it would
the URL that read “PA- funeral. Top: John Alzo poses with his wife, be like to have that meal with
2243595-2643”, which is the Elizabeth, and daughter, Anna in this photo- him. Then, we would go out
code for this particular record. graph found, with many others, in a box in the onto the porch and he would
To see the back of my grandfa- author’s cousin’s home. sit in his favorite chair and
ther’s record, I moved the cur- with that gentle, welcoming
sor to the end of the code and you can get a copy of the WWI look in his blue eyes, he’d say to
added one to the last digit, to read Draft Registration Card (you can me, “Lisa, come sit and talk with
“PA-2243595-2644” and hit the pay by credit card or check if you me.” I would gladly oblige.
enter key. Scrolling down, I could print and mail the request form). I DFH
see the back of my grandfather’s submitted my request online, and
card (the part which contained his in about two weeks, received this Lisa A. Alzo, M.F.A. is a freelance
physical description). It is not as reply: “Dear Researcher, We were writer, instructor, and lecturer.
easy as clicking “forward”, but it unable to locate the records that Lisa is the author of six books and
works. you requested WW1-23704191E.” numerous magazine articles, and
Ancestry.com also has a I am discouraged by this teaches for Genclass.com
searchable database of World War result, but I am still not about to www.genclass.com. Lisa can be
I Draft Registration Cards, 1917- give up. Given that my grand- reached at www.lisaalzo.com, but
18. By all accounts, my grand- father registered for the “Old regrets that she is unable to assist
father should have registered dur- Man’s Draft”, I am fairly certain with personal research.
32 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
Bill Puller

Computing Basics
I
N TODAY’S WORLD, one of the Data Storage
key tools for genealogical Bill Puller takes As you begin your research, you
researchers is the personal
computer. In the not so distant
a grass-roots will quickly realize how much
genealogical information is avail-
past, researchers relied on note- approach to able, and even more surprised at
books with lined paper, photo- how quickly you will develop the
copies of census records and getting your tendency to download census
manila folders to store their data. images, scan photos and docu-
Today, computers enable us not computer in ments and bookmark your
only to store our information, but
locate it, organize it and present it
tip-top favorite web pages. Add
to that your genealogi-
as well. genealogical cal database and you
Regardless of whether your will soon realize
computer is a desktop or laptop, shape! how much disk
whether it runs Microsoft space these items
Windows or Mac OS X, your com- video and audio clips as well. can take up.
puter is a powerful weapon in Each genealogical software Fortunately,
your research arsenal. Here are a program has its loyal followers there are several
few things to keep in mind as you and each has its own set of fea- options available
use a computer to assist you in tures and limitations. The prod- that will allow you
finding and recording your past. ucts range in price from free to to off-load some of
around $50 US. There are products this information
Software available for just about every from your main hard
The key piece of software every operating system you might be drive, onto other stor-
researcher should have is a using, and many offer free demo age media such as CDs,
genealogical database. versions for you to try them out, DVDs, USB drives
Genealogical databases allow you so finding one you like should be
to enter information about your easy. One of the best places to
relatives in an organized manner start looking for a genealogy soft-
that can be easily retrieved when ware package is Cyndi’s List,
you need it. Some products offer http://www.cyndislist.com/software
the bare essentials, allowing you .htm. Here you’ll find links to vari-
to enter names, dates and notes, ous programs that you can use to
while others allow you to print store and organize your research
detailed charts, or include photos, data.

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 33

Computer Basics

and even portable hard drives. You will often find yourself send- utility for creating and tracking
If you purchased your com- ing away for copies of birth/mar- your correspondence is Google
puter within the past two years it riage/death certificates, Social Docs, http://docs.google.com.
probably came with a CD drive Security card applications, pass- Google Docs allows you to create
that allows you to create (or burn) port applications, naturalization and store word processing docu-
your own CDs. A standard ments and spreadsheets online;
CD can hold approxi- this is a very handy way to access
mately 700 megabytes these types of documents when
(MB) of data; that’s you are working away from
the equivalent of home.
more than 485 flop- For your electronic correspon-
py disks! dence needs, you might want to
Similarly, a drive consider setting up a Web-based
that can burn e-mail account specifically for
DVDs can create your genealogical research. By
CDs that hold setting up a designated e-mail
anywhere from account, all your requests and
four gigabytes responses are in one place, and
(GB) to as not dispersed among all your
much as eight other non-genealogy related e-
GB depending records or other docu- mails. These accounts are free,
on the type of ments. More often than not easy to set-up and can be
drive. The CD/DVD these materials will probably accessed anywhere you can
media themselves are inexpensive not be where you live, and subse- connect to the Internet.
and are a great way to store quently, you may have to contact
scanned photos or documents. the repository in writing for assis- Scanners
Another alternative for your tance. While many repositories Although you may not think you
storage needs are USB drives. have an e-mail address you can need one at first, a scanner will
USB stands for Universal Serial send inquiries to, some may not, soon become one of those “must
Bus, and most computers have at so you will have to rely on good, have” items in your research
least one USB port on them. USB old fashioned snail mail to send toolkit. Scanners are very useful
drives are smaller than a cigarette in your requests. for not only scanning photo-
lighter in size and can hold any- One way you can streamline graphs, but to scan vital docu-
where from 64MB to eight GB of this process with your computer ments like birth/marriage/death
data. These drives are inexpen- is to create or download tem- certificates, small drawings and
sive, price varies on storage size, plates for letters you will send artwork, old love letters or any
and many come with pre-loaded out frequently. Creating a tem- other document that you want to
software to help protect your plate is easy; simply type the let- store digitally in your database.
data. USB drives are a nice place ter as you normally would, only Scanners are getting more
to store your notes and corre- leave the names and dates
spondence, or even a backup of out; then save it.
your genealogical database. The next
One other option you might time you
want to consider is an external need to
hard drive. These drives are more send a
expensive than CD or USB drives, request,
but they also hold a lot more open the file,
data. These drives are portable, fill in the appro-
usually connect via a USB cable, priate information
and can hold anywhere from 150 and print. You can save
GB to 1 terabyte of data (1TB is the file using a different file
equal to 1,064 GB). These drives name and your template will
are a great place to backup or remain intact for later use. affordable, smaller in size and
store all your genealogical data. You will also want to setup a easier to use. Scanners like the
correspondence log to keep track Canon CanoScan LiDE70 weigh
Correspondence of the requests you have sent and less than four pounds, making
While there is an abundance of received. This log can be in the them useful to take to family
genealogical data available on the form of a word processing docu- gatherings to scan keepsakes your
Internet, much of it still exists in ment or a spreadsheet, and there relatives may be holding onto.
microfiche, paper or book form are numerous free examples
and is sitting in boxes or on available on the Internet that you Internet
shelves, waiting to be discovered. can download and print. A great As a computer owner you proba-
34 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Computer Basics

bly surf the Internet on a daily to refer to later. This information based notebook; either way, save
basis; as a genealogist, you will may be in the form of census doc- yourself headaches down the
spend even more time seeking ument images, photos, maps or road and get in the habit of keep-
out your relatives in the long lost your research notes. One way you ing a record of all your research
corners of the World Wide Web. can keep all this information activities.
Indeed, the Internet is a tremen- organized is to create folders or Finally, get in the habit of
dous aid to family historians, but directories on your computer that backing up your data. Most of the
remember that not all information correspond to the person you are genealogy database software
about your relatives is online, and researching. applications have built-in back-up
not all of the information you utilities, use them. Make sure you
find is accurate. back the database up to a
There are numerous geneal- diskette, USB drive, CD or sec-
ogy related websites that ondary hard drive. Not to your
you can search for infor- primary hard drive! If you
mation; some are free encounter a (primary) hard
and some require a drive failure, you have a
subscription. One copy of your database
great online starting to restore from. The
point is Cyndi’s List, same goes for the
http://www.cyndislist. rest of your
com. Cyndi’s List is a genealogy data;
comprehensive website use the back-up
with links to numerous utilities included
free and subscription with your operat-
websites that will aid ing system and
you in your research. conduct back-ups on
If you have logged onto a regular basis.
the Internet the chances are pretty Suffering a hard drive
good that you have searched the failure is bad enough, don’t com-
Internet using Google, pound the issue by not having a
http://www.google.com, at least back-up of your research.
once. As you begin your online Make sure you
research, you will soon learn that Conducting genealogical
Google is both a blessing and a back up your research using your computer
curse. will enhance your ability to locate
Google does a fantastic job of database to information, record your findings
indexing the Internet. However, if
you are not specific enough in
a diskette, and even share and display the
results of your effort. Take advan-
your queries, you will have to USB drive, CD tage of the many resources that
sort through many unrelated sites are available to you as a
to get to the nugget of informa- or secondary researcher, and you will soon see
tion you are seeking. Spend some
time learning how to use Google
drive. why genealogical research is one
of the top uses of computers and
in conjunction with your research, the Internet. Happy hunting!
and don’t assume that Google is For example, create a top-
the only search engine available. level folder for your family sur- Bill Puller is a freelance writer
Additionally, don’t discount name, then create subfolders for and amateur genealogist and
paper-based publications that each person in that family. As you technology geek. He can be
might be able to assist you in find information you want to reached at [email protected].
your online research. save, save it in that person’s fold-
Publications, such as Internet er. If the information relates to
Genealogy and Family Chronicle, more than one person, you can
always contain a wealth of infor- save a copy in each person’s fold-
mation and reviews of various er or place a note in one folder
genealogy related websites and referring back to the other.
databases that are available for You will also want to create a
you to search. research log to keep track of the
information you have found,
Organization and Protection information you need and web-
As you conduct your research sites you have searched. This log
online, you are bound to come can take the form of a word pro-
DFH
across information that you want cessing document or a paper-
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 35
Lisa A. Alzo

10 First Steps
S
O YOU’VE DECIDED to research “Use Research Guidance to Find
your roots. Perhaps you were Lisa A. Alzo Catalog Records”, then click on
moved by a parent’s or other
relative’s passing. Maybe the big
describes the “Research Helps”. After clicking
on “Research Helps” you need to
box of old photographs and first steps you click on “Sorted by Document
papers uncovered in Aunt Betty’s Type”, then “Form” then
attic somehow ended up at your should take “Pedigree Chart Form”.
house. Perhaps you’re just curious When completing the chart by
about this hobby called “genealo- when starting to hand, use ID numbers to identify
gy” that everyone’s been talking
about.
research your the names. The first person on the
first chart should be assigned the
Whatever the reason, you’re genealogy. number “1”. The man always
now ready to plunge into the appears in the upper position. A
uncharted waters of your family referred to as an ancestral chart. man’s ID number is always dou-
history. Not sure where or how to You can find free, download- ble the ID number of his child. All
begin? Do you feel intimidated by able/printable charts online. One males have an even number,
the research process? This article source is Elaine Johnson’s Free while all females have an odd
offers 10 first steps to help you get HTML Pedigree Charts and number. A wife’s number is
started. Family Group Sheets, at www.ida. always one higher than that of her
net/users/elaine/pedigre2.HTM. You husband.

1
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU KNOW. The can also find them at ProQuest, at You can also purchase a com-
first step in genealogy is to http://il.proquest.com/products_hq puter software program to auto-
identify what you already /gen101/pedigree.pdf; Ancestry.com, matically generate the pages for
know. Start with yourself and www.ancestry.com/charts/ancchart you. (See step #5.)
work backwards in time by filling .aspx, or The Church of Jesus Whether you handwrite the
in as much information as you Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) data on a pre-printed form or use
can recall on a pedigree chart — a website, at www.familysearch.org. software, you will need some
chart that shows the ancestors At the LDS website, click on the basic information to complete
from whom you directly descend. Library tab, then click the Family your chart, such as the full name
This document is sometimes also History Library Catalog tab and (including women’s maiden
names); approximate dates for
vital events (birth, death, mar-
riage, residences, etc.); locations
for events.
See additional steps in
this article for obtaining
the above information.
When you’ve finished
an initial draft of your
chart, you’ll have a good
picture of your family tree,
including who’s missing.

2
OUTLINE YOUR RESEARCH
GOALS. One of the first
tasks you should do is to
develop a research strategy.
Define both short-term and long-
By cleaning out your closets or those
of your parents or relatives, you might
uncover certificates, property deeds or
other “hidden genealogical gems” which
may give you a clue to your ancestor’s
place of residence or ancestral village.
36 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 10 First Steps

4
term research goals. For example, help you stay on track. Use it to TALK TO YOUR RELATIVES.
your overall goal may be to find record who, what, when, where Broadcast that you are
and locate the ancestral village of and why. Research planners are researching the family’s his-
your grandfather. The long-term also important for recording what tory to all your aunts, uncles and
goal might be to determine when you don’t find. Keep a written cousins. Use oral history to
your grandfather left his ancestral record of all the sources you have uncover family lore, and even if
homeland and arrived in the US. consulted, noting both positive the stories contain errors, you
A short-term goal might be to and negative results. You can also may still spot vital clues for your
locate him in a US federal census, note specifics to be searched in research. Ask relatives if they
which may show or help you the future. have any photographs or docu-
determine his year of immigra- Many genealogy software ments, and be sure to ask where
tion. Be sure to set realistic, attain- programs come with built-in events happened. Record family
able goals, taking into considera- research logs/planners. You can stories in a notebook, and if possi-
tion accessibility and availability also find a link to a free research ble, try to audiotape or videotape
of documentation. log at www.genealogysearch.org/free the interview. (Remember to get
For example, consider the fol- /forms.html. permission first!)
lowing: Do records exist There are two meth-
in the location where ods of questioning typi-
your ancestors lived? For cally used to elicit differ-
what time period? Are ent responses from the
the records available as person being inter-
originals, or on microfilm viewed. Closed questions
or microfiche? Is there an are those questions that
index available in an are relatively easy to
online database or on a answer without much
compact disc, or in pub- thought on the part of
lished books and periodi- the interviewee. But
cals? What happens if the open-ended questions
records are not in call for a lengthy and
English? What transla- more thoughtful
tion resources or tools response. For example,
are available? Also, iden- don’t ask Aunt Mary,
tify any missing pieces or “Where were you born?”.
obvious holes (e.g. a Instead, ask her, “What
missing maiden name, do you remember about
adoption, etc.). However, Check family correspondence too. This envelope indicates the town where you were
resist the temptation to the hometown of several of the author's ancestors. born?”. Instead of asking
start from a family leg- Uncle John, “What
end or tradition. Try to build your branch of the military did you

3
research upon known facts. CLEAN OUT THE CLOSETS AND serve in?”, ask instead “Can you
Another useful tip: Use a DRAWERS. The first place to describe your experience on the
“5Ws” approach — who, what, begin your search is right at fuel tanker ship you served on in
when, where and why. For exam- home. Scour your attic, basement, WWII?”. Also, always remember
ple, if I want to research my pater- closets, boxes and desk drawers to ask where events occurred, so
nal grandfather, I would jot down for documents, letters and photo- you get a better sense of place.
the following: graphs. By collecting certificates, If you don’t have any living
• Who — John Alzo deeds, passports, funeral/memo- relatives to interview, try locating
• What — Track John Alzo rial cards and other items your others with the same surname in
through the census; search for parents or grandparents may have phone books or city directories
his immigration record and vital hidden away for safekeeping, you (which you can find in most
records could uncover basic information libraries) or check online tele-
• When — John Alzo was born in which can lead you to your next phone directories, such as
1894 and died in 1961 source, and help identify the www.anywho.com or www.switch
• Where — Duquesne, Allegheny appropriate archives or reposito- board.com. Once you have a list of
County, Pennsylvania, United ries names, you can create a letter to
States; or Kucsin, Zemplen Once you’ve looked through send to those individuals with the
County, Slovakia (Hungary) your own house, move on to the same surname. Provide informa-
• Why — Find out when and why homes of your parents and grand- tion about your ancestors and ask
John Alzo left his ancestral parents. If they are still alive, if they know of a common con-
homeland for the US. What led move next to step #4. nection.
him to settle in Duquesne? As you gather family details,
A research log/planner can complete a family group sheet to
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 37
10 First Steps

organize your ancestors according mation can be viewed online, tor. Download a free sample issue
to marriages. (See the websites eliminating the need to travel to at www.internet-genealogy.com.
noted in step #1 for where to far-away repositories and saving

7
download free blank forms.) valuable research time. VISIT A FAMILY HISTORY
Don’t forget to research collateral Given the large number of CENTER. The LDS Family
lines (brothers, sisters or other genealogy-related websites, there History Library has a vast
family members) to help with is a tendency to rely too heavily system of more than 4,000 branch
locating your direct line. on online sources and to give up libraries, known as Family
if information is not located History Centers (FHCs), located

5
DOCUMENT YOUR FINDINGS throughout the world to help peo-
online right away. Therefore, if for
AND SOURCES. It is essential to no other reason, completing the ple search for the records of their
use proper source citations to ancestors. These records include
earlier steps listed here before you
document where you’ve found turn on your computer can pro- vital, census, land, probate, immi-
information. Most genealogical vide you with a plan for your gration and church records, as
software programs have fields for Internet research. well as many other records of
this task or at the very least genealogical value available
a notes section. There are in various formats, includ-
many such programs avail- ing online data collections,
able. Before buying, read microfilm, microfiche, and
reviews, such as those books. The FHCs enable
found at patrons to access certain
http://genealogy.about records without the need to
.com/cs/genealogysoftware travel to the main library
/a/software.htm, and, where located in Salt Lake City. To
available, download a free find out what records are
trial version from the man- available, you will need to
ufacturer before making a search the Family History
purchase. Library Catalog, at
If you are not using a www.familysearch.org, then
software program, then follow up at your local
keep your own thorough FHC to read through exact
records. Be sure to docu- copies of old original
ment all sources, including records. There is no charge
those you find on the for use of the FHCs, but
Internet (see step #6). For you will have to pay a
guidance, see Elizabeth small fee to rent microfilm.
Shown Mills’ books, Volunteers may be on hand
Evidence! Citation & Analysis to lend assistance. To locate
for the Family Historian and Search for the Family History Center nearest you by your nearest FHC, simply
Evidence Explained: Citing clicking on the “Family History Centers” tab on the go to www.familysearch.org
History Sources from Family History Library website, at www.family and click on the “Library”
Artifacts to Cyberspace. search.org, by simply typing in your location in the tab at the top of the page.
search boxes. Then click on the “Family

6
GO ONLINE. While the History Centers” tab and
Internet has certainly revolu- For example, by talking to rel- use the search box provided to
tionized genealogy, and it is atives or finding family docu- find a FHC near you. Hours of
tempting to start your research ments you may uncover several operation will vary by location. It
online, you will have a greater alternate spellings for surnames, is best to call ahead before any
chance of success if you follow the variations of first names or nick- visit.
previous steps before typing your names to plug into the search

8
surname into an online database boxes if your ancestors do not IDENTIFY LOCAL RESOURCES.
or search engine. The Internet is turn up on the first try. Use the Contrary to popular belief,
home to millions of sites related Internet to help streamline your you will not find all informa-
to family history and genealogy. A research. The magazine Internet tion about your family on the
number of key genealogical Genealogy offers how-to articles by Internet. Once you’ve identified
records have been digitized, experts in the field, including where a particular ancestor
including censuses, immigration, reviews of the top subscription- resided — state/ province, county,
naturalization and military, based sites, new free sites and town — there are a number of
among others, and can be found search techniques and case stud- documents pertaining to that
on both free and pay-for-access ies from experienced researchers locality to search, such as newspa-
sites. In addition, historical news- explaining how they tackled pers, state censuses, state military
papers, indexes and other infor- investigating a hard-to-find ances- records, county histories, special
38 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 10 First Steps

genealogy collections, birth, death create a timeline for your ances- comfort of your home through
or marriage records, tax lists, tor(s) either using your genealogi- such organizations as the National
voter registrations, coroner’s cal software or a specialty pro- Genealogical Society at www.ngs
records, probate records (wills, gram, such as Genelines, genealogy.org, GenClass, at
estate papers, etc.), vital records, www.progenygenealogy.com/gene www.genclass.com, or the National
just to name a few. You’ll find lines-universal-details.html. This Institute for Genealogical Studies
these records in any number of helps to place your family in the at www.genealogicalstudies.com.
places (each state is different), appropriate historical context.
such as state archives, county As with any new activity or ven-

10
courthouse or department of SEEK OUT ADDITIONAL ture, there is that inevitable learn-
health, cemeteries, funeral homes, LEARNING ing curve, and it’s no different
land offices, libraries, museums OPPORTUNITIES. If you’re with genealogy. But if you follow
and genealogical societies. just starting out, it often helps to these 10 first steps, you’ll soon be
Websites, such as Cyndi’s List, interact with others who share on your way to charting the
www.cyndislist.com, Linkpendium, your interest and may have some course of your family tree!
www.linkpendium.com and experience under their belt and
USGenWeb, www.usgenweb.com, can offer you advice and tips. Join
DFH
allow you to browse for informa- a generic and/or ethnic-specific
tion by locality. You can also visit genealogical society — find those
your local library and ask to see that best suit your needs by Lisa A. Alzo, M.F.A. is a freelance
the Directory of Libraries (pub- perusing Cyndi’s List, at writer, instructor, and lecturer.
lished by R.R. Bowker). This www.cyndislist.com/society.htm. Lisa is the author of six books
directory lists addresses of local Many groups have regular meet- and numerous magazine articles,
libraries throughout the US. ings and some hold national con- and teaches for Genclass.com,
ferences which enable you to net- www.genclass.com. Lisa can be

9
CREATE A TIMELINE. You will work with researchers from all reached at www.lisaalzo.com, but
want to think beyond a over. You can also sign up for due to an overcommitted sched-
search for just vital records genealogy classes at your local ule, regrets that she is unable to
and study other sources, such as library or adult education pro- assist with personal research
photographic collections, oral and gram of a nearby college or uni- requests.
social history, folklore, etc. Then, versity, or work on one from the

Your ancestors are composed of William Dollarhide's Getting

more than vital records and family Started in Genealogy
group sheets. Their stories are what ONLINE is so basic that it
will make them real to your present- brings the world of Internet
day (and future) relatives, the ones genealogy into instant focus.
If you ever wanted to trace
who don’t care about city directories your family tree online, this
or census records. You don’t have to book will help you do it. The
be a writer to chronicle your ances- object of the book is to reduce
tors’ lives. In You Can Write Your the process of genealogical
Family History, popular author and research to its most basic ele-
speaker Sharon DeBartolo Carmack ments, enabling the raw
explains exactly what it takes to cre- beginner to be brought up to
ate a compelling, highly readable, and entirely true speed in no more time than it
story, whether you decide to write a biography, family takes him to read a handful of
history narrative, or memoir. There’s no better tribute pages. At the same time, it is a handy resource for the more
experienced genealogist, providing in one convenient place
to those who came before you than to share their sto- the names and web addresses of all essential record reposi-
ries with those who will come after. $23.95 ppd. from tories. 64 pp. Soft cover, $16.95 ppd. from Genealogical
Genealogical Publishing, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Publishing, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260,
Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211. Telephone: Baltimore, Maryland 21211. Telephone:
1-800-296-6687, web: www.genealogical.com. 1-800-296-6687, web: www.genealogical.com.

OKLAHOMA BASED RESEARCHER. Will research RESEARCHER IN EAST TENNESSEE, Family

at the Oklahoma Historical Society Library with History Research, US Southern States, all East
access to over 4,000 Newspaper titles and 30,000 reels Tennessee repositories, internet; web site develop-
of microfilm for the 77 counties some prior to state- ment. 25+ years experience. Member APG. Contact
hood. I can also visit area county court houses, Jimmy Rosamond, email: [email protected],
libraries and societies. See my rates at: (865) 938-9871 / (865) 387-6588 (cell), Web site:
http://www.frederick.dittmar.org/ddg.html. http://rosamondresearch.iwarp.com.

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 39

Janice Nickerson

It’s All About Parents

E
biological left wills or had newspaper obitu-
VERYONE HAS TWO
parents. From a genetic point Janice aries that named your ancestor.
of view, it is the combination
of your parents’ genes that makes
Nickerson gives BEING CAREFUL
you unique. And, since each of suggestions on It’s important to carefully consider
your parents also had two parents, the information you find in each
you can think of yourself as the how to answer document, comparing it with
result of the combination of your
four grandparents. Extended fur-
the eternal information you have found in
other documents, to reach a sound
ther in time, you are the end prod-
uct of eight great-grandparents, 16
question of conclusion about each child-parent
link in your ancestral chain.
great-great-grandparents and so on. who were your Be careful not to jump to con-
In most cases, this pattern is clusions based on similar names
not just a biological reality, but a ancestor’s and locations. You may know that
social one as well. Most of our
ancestors were raised by a father
parents John Smith’s father’s name was
Robert Smith, and that an older
and a mother. However, some- you correctly identify your ances- Robert Smith lived nearby, but
times circumstances intervene, tors’ parents. First, look for docu- you need more than this to deter-
and some of our ancestors were ments created by or about your mine that you’ve found the right
missing one or both parents, or known ancestor. This would Robert Smith!
had more than one social father or include his birth and baptism In fact, you might even have a
mother during their lives. So, from records, civil and church marriage document that clearly states that
a social point of view, we are also records, civil death registration, this Robert Smith is the father of
the product of the people who gravestone, newspaper obituary, your John Smith and still not have
raised us and who raised our par- biography in a local history book, enough evidence. Why? Because
ents, and our grand- both our ancestors and
parents, etc. the people who created
Thus, genealogy is the documents about
all about parents, them were fallible.
whether defined bio- You want to be sure
logically or socially. that you have the right
The crucial question is parents for each of
always, who were my your ancestors, each
ancestor’s parents? step of the way.
Because if you get even
FINDING EVIDENCE OF one wrong, the mistake
PARENTAGE will multiply with each
Fortunately, the legal, generation as you go
religious, and social back in time. Imagine
institutions that gov- if you misidentified
erned our ancestors’ your grandmother’s
lives also considered father. Then not only
their parentage impor- would one of your
tant. In the past, who a eight great-grandpar-
person’s parents were ents be wrong, but two
was even more impor- of your 16 great-great-
tant than it is now. So, grandparents and so
you will find informa- on!
tion about your forebears’ parent- etc. Do any of these records men- So the wisest approach is to
age in a wide variety of written tion or hint at his parents’ names? start with yourself and your own
records, including wills and testa- Once you have a possible can- parents, and work your way back,
ments, church registers, civil regis- didate for your ancestor’s parent, generation by generation, slowly
ters, censuses, military records you can then start researching that and carefully. For each generation,
and newspaper announcements person, to see if you can find evi- you need to do a thorough search
(to name just the most commonly dence from his/her point of view. for all possible evidence pertain-
used genealogical records). Perhaps none of your known ing to your ancestor, his parents,
Your job, as a genealogist, is to ancestor’s documents ever men- and even siblings, so that when
search for evidence that will help tion his parents, but his parents you put it all together, you will
40 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 It’s All About Parents

hopefully end up with a consistent nal? If not, how many times was upon marriage (sometimes being
pattern that all points to the same the record copied or transcribed? known only as Mrs. John Smith).
conclusion. By whom? The original record that But this does not mean that female
was handwritten at the time of the ancestors are impossible to identi-
WEIGHING THE EVIDENCE event is more likely to be accurate fy, only that certain information
What do you do if the evidence than a published transcript about them is a little more elusive,
conflicts? You carefully sift because someone had to copy the and requires more persistence to
through the evidence, considering information and could have intro- locate.
the reliability of each piece of duced errors. If you’re using a In many cases, you will find
information, based on what you copy or transcript, what do you that you need to use indirect evi-
know about who provided the know about the person who creat- dence to identify your ancestors’
information (were they in the best ed it? Do they have a lot of experi- mothers. A woman’s family often
position to know?), who recorded ence reading old documents? played a powerful role in her hus-
the information (could language When you’ve come to a well band’s and children’s lives. So you
differences have interfered with reasoned conclusion, you should may find that your ancestor inher-
their ability to hear the name write it out, explaining exactly ited property from his maternal
right?) and the history of the doc- why you decided what you did. grandfather, or his maternal
ument itself (is this the original, or That way, you won’t have to go uncles acted as witnesses on his
a second- or third-hand copy?). through the process over again legal documents. You may find an
For example, say you have when, at some time in the distant elderly mother-in-law living in the
three documents that each give a future, you forget how you came household of your ancestor, or a
different father’s name for your to your conclusion (or your cousin young maternal niece or nephew.
ancestor: his church baptism challenges your interpretation). This is why you need to pay atten-
record, his civil marriage record tion to all your ancestor’s “associ-
and a newspaper notice of his USING INDIRECT EVIDENCE ates”. If you ignore the lodgers,
death. Ask yourself, who provided What should you do if you can’t witnesses and neighbors, you will
the information in each case? If the find any document that directly miss many clues that could lead to
parents were present at the bap- states your ancestor’s parents’ identification of your female
tism, they were almost certainly names? You start looking for indi- ancestors.
the source of the information. The rect evidence. This could be as
information on the marriage simple as identifying your ances- MULTIPLYING ANCESTORS
record was probably supplied by tor’s brothers and sisters, and then One final note about the doubling
your ancestor himself. The news- finding their parents’ names. Or it ancestors effect discussed above.
paper notice was probably written could be as complex as studying While it’s true that everyone has
by your ancestor’s widow or all the neighbors and associates of two parents, and each of those
child. Clearly, the most knowl- your ancestor (Who were the wit- parents had two parents, it’s not
edgeable people in this case is nesses at his marriage? On his true that your total number of
your ancestor’s parents. So the will? At his children’s baptisms), ancestors continues to double
baptism record is the most likely to find a pattern that points to a every generation. This is because
to be accurate. There are many likely candidate, and then search- as you go back in time you will
reasons why your ancestor might ing for any evidence that might find some instances where cousins
not have known his own father’s contradict it. married cousins (of some degree
name. And your ancestors’ widow Again, when you’ve come to a or other). When this happens, it
or child is even less likely to have conclusion based on indirect evi- decreases the number of distinct
had accurate information about dence, be sure to write it out step ancestors you have in the next
his parents. by step, so you can follow your generation. Imagine if you mar-
However, you also need to train of thought again later! ried your first-cousin. You have
consider the person who recorded four grandparents. Your spouse
the information. Is there any rea- FINDING MOTHERS has four grandparents. But your
son to doubt the priest/minister’s So far, I’ve been using the male children would only have six
accuracy or truthfulness? Can you pronoun when I speak of your great-grandparents, not eight,
determine whether the parents ancestors, but, of course, half of because two of them are shared
were long-term members of the your ancestors were female. It can between you and your spouse.
church or new arrivals? If they often be more difficult to identify
were new, the clergyman might a female ancestor than a male one.
have made a mistake. Did the par- This is because of the male-orient- DFH
ents and the clergyman speak the ed nature of our society in the
same language? If not, there’s past. In most cases, heads of Janice Nickerson is a professional
room for doubt about their ability households were male, property genealogist based in Toronto, Canada
to communicate effectively. owners were male, a person inher- and a frequent contributor to Family
Also, what about the docu- ited from his/her father, and a Chronicle. She can be found online at
ment itself? Did you see the origi- woman took her husband’s name www.uppercanadagenealogy.com

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 41

Donna J. Pointkouski

Genealogical Societies
G
have The important thing to remem-
ENEALOGY SOCIETIES
been around for a long Donna J. ber is that all members of a society
time. In our grandparents’
day, belonging to such a society
Pointkouski share an interest. Therefore, when
you join a society, you quickly find
meant attending chaired meetings explains what out that you are not alone. There
or lectures, or having access to a are other genealogists that are
collection of records at the soci- genealogical researching ancestors from the
ety’s library. Today, you can find
all of those things at a genealogical
societies have same area, which means you have
an opportunity to share ideas or
society, plus much more!
Although the old adage says
to offer family research tips. In fact, you may
even find members that are
“the more things change, the more historians. researching the same families as
they stay the same”, this isn’t nec- you are.
essarily true about genealogical eties focus on a particular area or The common interest doesn’t
societies. Many of today’s societies locality. The locality can vary from necessarily have to be specific to a
are evolving and changing with a country to a more narrow focus locality, however. Many genealogi-
the times. Today’s societies may of a particular territory, state, cal societies focus on a particular
still hold monthly meetings with county, city or town. For example, ethnic group. For example, there
lectures, but they are also more for anyone interested in US geneal- are several Hispanic Genealogy
likely to offer online resources ogy, the National Genealogical Societies throughout the US,
including blogs, podcasts, mailing Society’s focus is the entire US. If including ones in Colorado, New
lists and message boards. But one your ancestors came from York and Texas, as well as area-
thing remains constant — Pennsylvania, the Genealogical specific groups, such as the Cuban
genealogical societies continue to Society of Pennsylvania can help Genealogical Society. Similarly,
be one of the best resources avail- you learn about the state’s history there is a Polish Genealogical
able to genealogists. Society of America,
but there are other
WHAT IS A Polish genealogy soci-
GENEALOGICAL eties specific to
SOCIETY? Michigan,
A genealogical society Connecticut, Texas
is an organization of and other states. For
genealogists or family researchers with
historians that can Jewish roots, there is a
include beginners, Jewish genealogical
experienced society in nearly every
researchers and even state in the US and
professionals. many large cities.
Together, the group There are also several
works to share, collect international Jewish
or publish informa- genealogical societies.
tion, educate others Genealogical soci-
and preserve local his- eties even exist for
tory. There are several people whose ances-
characteristics that tors shared a common
nearly all genealogical military unit or war.
societies share: a common interest, or genealogical resources. Focus in These groups focus on genealogical
membership, meetings, publica- even more on the ancestor’s locali- research related to the military
tions and records. ty with a county genealogical soci- event that their ancestors shared.
ety, such as the Western One of the more famous of these
COMMON INTEREST Pennsylvania Genealogical Society organizations is the Daughters of
Genealogical society members or the Beaver County Genealogical the American Revolution, whose
share a common interest besides a Society. Some cities and towns membership is only open to
hobby involving genealogy. The even have their own genealogical women who can prove descent
shared interest can have a broad societies. If not, the local historical from a Revolutionary War soldier.
range or it can be very specific. For society often explores genealogical Societies of this type are useful for
example, most genealogical soci- topics. finding out more information about
42 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Genealogical Societies

an ancestor’s military service. MEMBERSHIP interest, or they conduct hands-on

Societies such as these groups A second characteristic of a workshops to show valuable skills
are sometimes called lineage soci- genealogical society is that it to their members. This is especially
eties. Other lineage societies exist involves membership. While mem- valuable for beginners as most
if you are tracing ancestors that are bership isn’t always required to societies have “how to begin”
united to others by an event, time enjoy some of the society’s bene- workshops conducted by more
period or location. The James- fits, the society needs members to experienced members.
towne Society is for descendants of exist. In this electronic age, Meetings also allow members
the first English settlement in researchers have become accus- to connect with one another, make
Virginia. Another example is the tomed to getting access to informa- new friends and discuss their
Mayflower Society, which brings tion for free, so many question research. If you are obsessed with
together descendants of the why they should pay to join a soci- genealogy (and who isn’t once you
famous ship’s passengers to both ety. One of the most important rea- begin to research), then genealogi-
honor and research their ancestors. sons is that most genealogical soci- cal societies allow you to share
Other genealogical societies eties are non-profit organizations. your passion with others who feel
with a limited focus are groups The dues help to support the the same way.
dedicated to one particular sur- organization and fund various But you don’t need to live in
name. The Goddard Historical and projects, which can include extract- the area to belong to a genealogical
Genealogical Society has much in ing data to form a database, col- society. In fact, most societies have
common with all the other lecting books and records for an members from many states and
genealogical societies mentioned on-site library, maintaining a socie- provinces, as well as international
in this article with one exception ty web page, organizing a seminar, members. With the Internet, meet-
— they only research the Goddard workshop or conference. ings can sometimes be “virtual” by
surname and its variations. While Membership fees are not cost- using techniques such as blogs,
these surname genealogical soci- ly, usually ranging from as little as message boards or chat rooms.
eties are not as common as locality $10 to $60, with the average These features give members the
genealogical societies, if you have amount around $25 for a one-year opportunity to connect as much as
a common surname there just membership. For such a relatively meeting in person.
might be a society that researches small amount, membership has its Another way that a society’s
it. If so, these societies can be a privileges. First, it allows members members meet is through confer-
great resource. to receive any of the society’s ences. Many genealogical societies
A subset within some printed publications which can hold an annual conference, or they
genealogical societies are some- include valuable information to combine with other societies to
times called SIGs, or special interest assist in your research. Also, most hold one together. This can be
groups. The special interest of most genealogical societies have web especially useful for smaller soci-
society’s SIGs are computers and pages or libraries that are available eties. One example of this is the
how technology assists genealogy, to both members and non-mem- United Polish Genealogical
and many genealogical societies bers alike. But there are “members Societies, which is an association
have a computer-related SIG. But only” sections that have added of several Polish genealogical soci-
some SIGs take an ethnic or locality benefits such as access to particu- eties. In 2008, the individual
interest and narrow the scope of its lar records, databases or query genealogical societies are coming
research. One example of this is the boards. If the society has its own together for one conference in Salt
St. Louis Genealogical Society, library, members can usually have Lake City. By combining their
which has separate SIGs for mem- free or discounted access to it or efforts and sharing the costs, they
bers with a particular interest in have on-site members consult ref- are able to assemble a high quality
researching their African-American, erence books for you by mail. roster of speakers. By choosing
French, German, Irish, Jewish or Members also receive discounts for Salt Lake City as the conference
Scandinavian ancestors within the special events such as genealogical location, as many societies do, it
city. conferences. allows members to utilize the
Whatever your special area of Family History Library and con-
genealogical interest may be, MEETINGS sult with professionals.
chances are you will find a society Meetings are another feature of a Society conferences also pro-
or SIG with the same interest. genealogical society, whether the vide members with an opportunity
Genealogical societies are especial- meetings are held face-to-face or to take a research trip to an area
ly beneficial to those researching online. Most societies conduct that their ancestors once lived, or
smaller countries or ethnic groups. local meetings on a regular basis. to an area that has archives or
For example, there are genealogi- At a monthly meeting, the soci- libraries of interest. Conferences
cal societies dedicated to Serbia, ety’s board can discuss business also allow society members to
Slovenia and Estonia. Researchers relevant to the management of the meet others with their interests
with ancestors in those countries society or its funds. Most societies and share research ideas.
are unlikely to find as much infor- have speakers present lectures on
mation elsewhere. various genealogical topics of
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 43
Genealogical Societies

We can’t list every existing genealogical society, but we’ll leave you with a list that includes societies
mentioned in this article, as well as a small sampling for various countries and ethnic groups.
AFRICAN AMERICAN IRELAND INDIANA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
AFRICAN AMERICAN GENEALOGICAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND PO Box 10507
SOCIETY 13 Desmond Avenue Fort Wayne, IN 46852-0507
PO Box 201476 Dún Laoghaire http://www.indgensoc.org/
Cleveland, OH 44120 Co. Dublin
http://www.aagsclev.org/ http://www.familyhistory.ie/ IOWA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
628 East Grand Avenue
AMERICAN-CANADIAN IRISH GS INTERNATIONAL (IGSI) Des Moines, IA 50309-1924
AMERICAN-CANADIAN GENEALOGICAL 1185 Concord St. N. Suite 218 515-276-0287
SOCIETY South St. Paul, MN 55075 http://www.iowagenealogy.org
PO Box 6478 http://www.irishgenealogical.org/
Manchester, NH 03108-6478 THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW
http://www.acgs.org/ ITALY JERSEY
THE ITALIAN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY PO Box 1476
CANADA OF AMERICA Trenton, NJ 08607-1476
THE ONTARIO GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY PO Box 3572 http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/
40 Orchard View Blvd., Suite 102 Peabody, MA 01961-3572
Toronto, ON M4R 1B9 http://www.italianroots.org/ ST. LOUIS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
http://www.ogs.on.ca/ #4 Sunnen Drive, Suite 140
LITHUANIA St. Louis, MO 63143
CUBA LITHUANIAN GLOBAL GENEALOGICAL 314-647-8547
THE CUBAN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY SOCIETY http://www.stlgs.org/
PO Box 2650 222 Thunder Circle
Salt Lake City, UT 84110 Bensalem, PA 19020 THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF
http://www.rootsweb.com/~utcubangs/ http://www.lithuaniangenealogy.org/ PENNSYLVANIA
1300 Locust Street, 2nd Floor
CZECHOSLOVAKIA POLAND Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699
CZECHOSLOVAK GENEALOGICAL POLISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF 215 545-0391
SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL AMERICA http://www.genpa.org/
(Society uses 1918 boundaries, not 984 N. Milwaukee Ave.
current Czech Republic) Chicago, IL 60622 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
P O Box 16225 http://www.pgsa.org/ GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
St. Paul, MN 55116-0225 4400 Forbes Avenue
http://www.cgsi.org/ SERBIA Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080
SERBIAN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY 412-687-6811
ESTONIA (No address listed) http://www.wpgs.org/
ESTONIAN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY http://www.rodoslovlje.com/
Pk 4419 OTHER LINEAGE OR SURNAME
10511 Tallinn SCOTLAND SOCIETIES
http://www.genealoogia.ee/English THE SCOTTISH GENEALOGY SOCIETY THE GODDARD HISTORICAL AND
/english.html 15 Victoria Terrace GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Edinburgh EH1 2JL 172 Oldefield Farms
GERMANY http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/ Enfield, CT 06082
GERMANIC GENEALOGY SOCIETY http://www.goddardfamilies.org/join.html
PO Box 16312 SLOVENIA
Saint Paul, MN 55116-0312 SLOVENIAN GENEALOGY SOCIETY JAMESTOWNE SOCIETY
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnggs/GGS. INTERNATIONAL Post Office Box 17426
html 10829 Tibbetts Rd. Richmond, VA 23226
Kirtland, OH 44094 804-353-1226
HISPANIC http://sloveniangenealogy.org/html/join_ http://www.jamestowne.org/
HISPANIC GENEALOGICIAL SOCEITY sgsi.html
PO Box 231271 THE MAYFLOWER SOCIETY
Houston, TX 77223-1271 UNITED STATES PO Box 3297
http://www.hispanicgs.com/ NATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY Plymouth, MA 02361-3297
3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300 508-746-3188
HISPANIC GENEALOGY CENTER Arlington, VA 22204-4304 http://www.themayflowersociety.com/
THE HISPANIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY 703-525-0050
OF NEW YORK http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
Old Chelsea Station
PO Box 474 US — STATES, COUNTIES OR CITIES
New York, NY 10113 BEAVER COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com/ PO Box 640
Beaver Falls, PA 15010
http://www.rootsweb.com/~pabecgs/

44 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com

 Genealogical Societies

PUBLICATIONS and make it available to others. “Jewish”, “Chicago” or “Texas”.

Nearly all genealogical societies This can include extracting data For lists of various genealogi-
have publications — even the from records and making it avail- cal societies, try the following
smallest group will usually have a able in either a book format, an sites: Society Hall at Family-
newsletter. Publications can be online database or even a card cat- History.com, http://www.family
printed, electronic or both. Most alog. Society members gain access history.com/societyhall/, allows visi-
societies offer members a printed to research or records that are only tors to search for societies in a par-
newsletter as a benefit of paid available because of the society’s ticular area or that specialize in a
membership. Articles can include efforts. certain area of research. Searches
research tips, information about Many societies have either can be performed by society name,
records, personal stories, surname their own library or archives with keyword, city, state/province or
queries and specific information set hours, or a virtual lending zip code.
relative to the area or group that is library. If society members do not Don’t confuse Society Hall
the society’s focus. live in the area, other members with Society Hill, found at
Because a society’s focus is on will often perform remote searches http://www.daddezio.com/society/.
one locality, the publication is for specific information. This site features listings of soci-
often very detailed, which pro- Online databases are quickly eties in the US, Canada and
vides extremely helpful informa- becoming the standard format for Australia.
tion. data because of the ease in which The United States Internet
In addition to newsletters, others can access it. The genealogi- Genealogical Society, at
many societies also have a quarter- cal data you find on societies’ web- http://www.usigs.org/, has compiled
ly publication. The quarterlies sites cannot be found anywhere a list of state genealogical societies,
have more pages, more photos and else, including on some of the historical societies, libraries and
much more information. An exam- most well-known pay-for-service archives.
ple is the Germanic Genealogy genealogy sites. The amount of The Federation of East
Society’s Germanic Genealogy information that genealogical soci- European Family History Societies,
Journal. At 30-plus pages, it con- eties provide is staggering, and the http://feefhs.org/, maintains a
tains detailed articles on topics records are broad in scope. For national, religious and ethnic
such as immigrant stories, a example, the Lithuanian Global index of genealogical societies
research trip to Germany, using Genealogical Society has 75 data- from 14 different countries.
Google for genealogy and the early bases with more than 45,000 The member list of the
history of Germany. records available. Many genealogi- Federation of Family History
Some societies offer publica- cal societies are in the process of Societies, http://www.ffhs.org.uk, can
tions for sale, often books com- putting their collections online in a help you find genealogical soci-
piled from extracting genealogical database format, so the possibility eties in England, Wales, Ireland
data from vital records. The of finding information online and Australia.
American-Canadian Genealogical grows each day. A number of Canadian
Society has published more than Genealogical Societies are listed at
one hundred books of parish WHERE DO I SIGN? http://www.generations.on.ca
records, and they are available for So far you’ve learned that /genealogical-canadian.htm.
purchase in either book format or genealogical societies offer a com- Cyndi’s List, at http://www.
on CD. Many societies do the same mon interest, membership, meet- cyndislist.com/soc-gen.htm, has a
by taking their members’ hard ings, publications and records, and page with a general listing of vari-
work and research and making it you’ve seen some examples of ous national, ethnic, religious and
available to everyone. how each of these areas can be military societies, as well as other
Regardless of whether or not a useful to both beginning and expe- lineage societies.
society has any printed publica- rienced genealogists. There’s no
tions, today nearly all have an better way to share your love of Genealogy societies have a lot to
online newsletter. These online genealogy, exchange information, offer — why not join one to get the
newsletters are usually open to learn from others, get access to most out of your family history.
both members and non-members records, and keep up-to-date with
and offer an easy way to keep up- the latest news. Are you ready to
to-date with not only the society’s join a genealogical society?
latest news, but also any genealo- The best way to find a DFH
gy-related news. Genealogical soci- genealogical society that will be
ety web pages and blogs are other useful to your own particular Donna J. Pointkouski has been
ways for the group to communi- research is to do an Internet researching her Polish and
cate and publish information. search. Just typing “genealogical Bavarian roots for nearly 20 years.
society” into a typical search She’s been a member of the Polish
RECORDS engine finds more than 1.5 million Genealogical Society of America
One of the goals of genealogical results! To get better results, add a (PGSA) for just as long!
societies is to preserve information keyword into the search, such as
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 45
 Features We Are Working on for
Future Issues of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC: THE GREAT ILLUSIONISTS
Doug Elliott conjures up the history of a world
where anything was possible.

THE STORY OF RUBBER:

Few products have impacted the
TITANIC: modern world more than
David Norris takes us on a first-class tour of the rubber. Edward E. Deckert and
ill-fated ship, which now rests at the bottom of the Constance R. Cherba bounce
Atlantic. See who was on the ship’s first — and last around the history of this ancient
— voyage and what happened to its crew and space-age material.
passengers after it hit that infamous iceberg.
BRITAIN’S ROYAL CORPS OF
THE TEDDY BEAR:
ENGINEERS IN CANADA:
Hero of childhood adventures,
The Quebec Citadel, the Rideau
beloved bedtime companion and
Canal and the Cariboo Road have
one of the most popular toys in
all contributed significantly to the
history, the teddy bear is cher-
establishment of Canadian sover-
ished by millions, both young and
eignty. They were also all built by
old. Phill Jones looks at the inter-
Britain’s Royal Corps of Engi-
national history of the teddy bear.
neers. Art Montague investigates.
The features mentioned here are in preparation and are planned for future issues. However, circumstances may affect the final content.

SUBSCRIBE NOW! Don’t like forms? With your credit card ready, please call
1-877-731-4478 toll-free during office hours (EST) to
immediately arrange your subscription. You can also
subscribe online at www.history-magazine.com.
Guarantee
Mail to: History Magazine, PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY, 14304 (from the USA) or There is no risk. If
History Magazine, 500-505 Consumers Rd, Toronto, ON, M2J 4V8 (from Canada).
History Magazine fails
USA Orders Canadian Orders to meet your needs, or
 One year (6 issues) at $28 US  One year (6 issues) at $33 Cdn + GST* live up to the promises
 Two years (12 issues) at $48 US  Two years (12 issues) at $55 Cdn + GST*
* Add HST where applicable. Quebec residents add 7.5% QST. we have made, you are
Payment by: entitled to a refund on
 Check (enclosed) Charge my Credit Card:  Visa  MasterCard all unmailed copies for
Card Number______________________________ Expiry Date______ /_______ any reason or no
Signature____________________________________________________________ reason. Any refund
Your credit card charge will appear as FC/HM 1-888-326-2476. USA purchasers note: Credit card will be made promptly
transactions are processed through our office in Canada, but will appear on your statement in US funds.
and cheerfully.
Last Name____________________________ First Name____________________
Address_____________________________________________________________
Halvor Moorshead
City_______________ State/Prov. __________ Zip/Postal Code ____________
Publisher
Phone Number_______________________ E-mail _________________________
History Magazine does not rent or sell subscriber names. GST# 139340186 RT DFH OP
Marian Press

Web 2.0
I Marian Press
N THE 17 YEARS since the World ly publish the result of one’s own
Wide Web was released to the family history. A blog is much eas-
world in 1991, it has mostly
been used as a means of storing
looks at how ier to build than a traditional web
page and has the advantage of
and retrieving information from Web 2.0 can being in a journal-like format
web pages and databases created where you can post information as
by a very small minority of Inter- help you with you come across it, rather than
net users.
Web 2.0 has recently emerged
your research. having to wait until a substantial
amount of material has been accu-
as a term to describe the increas- very helpful if you use the Legacy mulated. The ability for visitors to
ing use of the web to showcase family tree program and the leave comments means that you
content generated by the many Footnote Blog, http://blog.foot may receive additions or correc-
millions of web users themselves. note.com/, allows you to keep tions from related family members
Web 2.0 includes blogs, wikis and abreast of new resources on this who find your blog.
podcasts, as well as sites known rapidly growing site of full-text There are free websites that
generically as social networking documents. My personal favorite provide simple software, allowing
sites. Genealogists have always of these types of blog is The anyone to build a blog without
been early adopters of any new Genealogue http://genealogue.com/. needing to possess any technical
technologies that might help them The subtitle of The Genealogue skills. One of the most popular
in their search for family and Web sums up its wonderful quirkiness: sites is Blogger, http://www.
2.0 is no exception. “Genealogy News You Can’t blogger.com/. Here, in a matter of
Blogs, or web logs, are the Possibly Use”. The author collects minutes, following the step-by-
most popular and widely used of zany genealogy stories and news step templates provided, you can
the Web 2.0 tools. A blog is simply reports from current and historical have the beginnings of a family
a website that is ordered chrono- sources. blog online. Some good examples
logically, with the latest entry at You can find blogs of interest of personal family history blogs
the top. Links can be made to by searching one of the blog are: The Ainscough Family
other websites and there is fre- search engines, such as Google History-Mawdesley Blog,
quently the ability to post com- Blog Search, http://blogsearch.google http://ainscough-familyhistory.blog
ments on what a blog has to say. .com/ or Technorati, http://www.tech spot.com/; Breese Genealogy,
The blog software takes care of all norati.com/. But the best method of http://breesegenealogy.blogspot.com/;
the web page building and the
archiving of the information post- Web 2.0 includes blogs, wikis and podcasts,
ed on the site.
If you want to learn about as well as social networking sites.
what is happening in the genealo-
gy world and to keep abreast of finding a genealogy blog is to visit and A Light That Shines Again,
the new online resources as they the Genealogy Blog Finder, http://www.tierneyhistory.blogspot.com/,
appear, reading some of the http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/, the history of the Tierney family
genealogy newsletter-type blogs is where 745 blogs in 28 categories of Tipperary, Ireland.
an excellent way to do it. Some of are listed. Wikis are another example of
the best of these types of blogs To read those that interest a Web 2.0 technology that is being
include Eastman’s Online you, it is not necessary to visit used by genealogists. A wiki is a
Genealogy Newsletter, http://blog every blog’s website on a regular website that allows individuals
.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/, basis to see what is new. You can connected to the Internet to col-
Ancestry’s Family History Circle, create an account on a blog reader laboratively build content. As a
http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/ and and sign up for all the blogs you result, the content may continue
Anglo-Celtic Connections want to read. New postings will to change and is always a work in
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blog automatically be sent to your blog progress.
spot.com/. There are more special- reader account. Two of the most The best known of the wikis
ized blogs that let you know popular of the readers are is Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/.
about developments in family tree Bloglines, http://www.bloglines Although it is designed to cover
database programs or additions to .com/, and Google Reader, all areas of knowledge, there are
subscription databases. For exam- http://www.google.com/reader/. many opportunities for family his-
ple, Legacy News, http://legacy Blogs are also playing an torians to both search Wikipedia
news.typepad.com/legacy_news/, is increasing role as a means to easi- for information on people and
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 47
Web 2.0

places of interest and to update or using wiki software, you can join casts as a category. Currently there
add content on their ancestors or and add in any way to the infor- are about 20 available.
the places where they lived. With mation provided. However, if you Alternatively, if you know of a
more than two million English- have a problem with others podcast, you can usually visit the
language articles, Wikipedia can changing or editing your informa- website and listen to it without
be expected to have an entry on tion, wiki building may not be for the need for additional software.
historical events that affected your you. Some of the more interesting fami-
family, the locations they came Podcasting, a method of dis- ly history podcasts are The
from, and perhaps some of the tributing audio files on the Inter- Genealogy Guys Podcast, with
members of your family them- net, is being used by genealogists George Morgan and Drew Smith,
selves. Remember, though, that as to broadcast their own radio http://genealogyguys.com/, Dick
a collaboratively written encyclo- shows on topics that interest Eastman’s podcast interviews
pedia, Wikipedia is the product of with genealogy experts,
individuals, rather than “experts”, http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online
so information found there should _genealogy/podcasts/, and the UK
be evaluated accordingly. National Archives Series,
Dick Eastman has a wiki http://www.nationalarchives
devoted entirely to infor- .gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml,
mation on the subject of which broadcasts valu-
genealogy. The able information on
Encyclopedia of the Archives’
Genealogy, resources and how
http://www.eogen to use them.

.com/,“provides refer- The social network-

ence information about ing part of Web 2.0 is
everything in genealogy exactly what it sounds like
except people”. As such, it is a — a web-based way for like-
useful place to visit if you have minded people to get together
questions about any aspect of and communicate their common
family history as you pursue your interests. This is a perfect medium
research. them. This means that podcasts for genealogists who have a
The WeRelate Wiki, http://www are a good way of learning more strong desire to find others search-
.werelate.org/, is a wiki for genealo- about various aspects of genealo- ing the same family names and
gy sponsored by the Foundation gy. The word podcast is a combi- places.
for On-Line Genealogy, Inc. in nation of the words “iPod” and Most of the genealogy social
partnership with the Allen County “broadcast”, and although this networking sites are based on the
Public Library. This is a collabora- suggests it is necessary to own an premise that people would like to
tive site that is trying to make use Apple iPod to listen to these build collaborative family trees
of the networking strengths of broadcasts, in fact, all that is nec- online. These sites are very new
Web 2.0 to bring genealogists essary is a computer with speak- and rely entirely on users to build
together. WeRelate contains ers attached. them, so it will be interesting to
research guides on a variety of The simplest way to find watch as they develop. One of the
topics, shared research pages for genealogy podcasts is to visit the first of these sites was Geni.com,
those working on the same sur- iTunes Store, http://www.apple http://www.geni.com/. This site
name in the same place, as well as .com/itunes/store/, — the iTunes works on the simple system of
information on place names and software and the podcasts are free having individuals build a family
place histories, surnames and to download — and search for the tree online and then invite rela-
genealogical sources. As the site is word genealogy limited by pod- tives to make their own contribu-
48 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Web 2.0

tions to the tree. When the trees FAMILLION, http://www. portion of familyrelatives.com,
being built begin to overlap with famillion.com/, is yet another exam- http://www.familyrelatives.com/, an
those being built by other mem- ple of a collaborative family tree addition to the UK-based database
bers of the site, Geni.com will building site that incorporates site.
offer the option to combine them. other social networking features. Web 2.0 looks like it’s going to
Visitors to the site can see only The creator of the site has play a significant part in the
their own family tree, but a search designed his own tree-merging future of genealogy on the
feature allows users to find others technology — as family trees start Internet and has already acquired
researching the same surnames. to overlap, FAMILLION “links enough critical mass to be referred
Contact can then be made by e- similar branches together allowing to as “Genealogy 2.0”. But its suc-
mail. Famiva, http://www. members to track their ancestry cess will depend on individual
famiva.com/, works in a similar and see their distant relations liv- family historians contributing
way to join families together. ing throughout the world.” their own information to make the
FamilyLink.com, There are new social network- collaboration work. Blogs and
http://www.familylink.com/, allows ing sites for genealogists spring- wikis are already very well estab-
you to upload your family tree ing up constantly it seems, some lished; we will have to wait and
and make links with others of which allow collaborative tree see what the future is for collabo-
searching the same surnames. In building and some of which are rative tree building and social net-
addition, you can build a personal more about making contacts with working.
profile on the site so that others others. Newer ones you might
will be able to search by place to want to visit are: TreeX,
see active genealogists who live http://www.treex.com/, which aims
there or who are doing research to have a more international fla-
related to that geographic area. vor; Genetree, http://www.genetree DFH
Your genealogical profile can also .com/, a DNA-enabled family his-
Marian Press is a librarian at the
include such information as the tory-sharing website designed to University of Toronto. She teaches
family tree programs you use, the help people understand where courses on the Internet and genealogy
societies you belong to, and a list their personal histories belong for the National Genealogical
of the surnames you are search- within the greater human genetic Institute and the Toronto Branch of
ing. story; and the social networking the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Do You Teach
Genealogy Courses?
Discovering Family History would like to offer you samples of our magazines to use as
course material or handouts when teaching genealogy. As we also publish Family Chronicle
and Internet Genealogy, we can offer valuable information that you can use to supplement
your own teaching materials to assist and encourage your students.
We will supply:
 Samples of our publications
 A special subscription offer

To request your “Teacher’s Kit”, please write to either Discovering Family History, PO Box
194, Niagara Falls, NY, 14304 (in the US), Discovering Family History, 505 Consumers Rd.,
Suite 500, Toronto, Ontario, M2J 4V8 (in Canada) or send an e-mail to
[email protected]. Please specify your name, shipping address, e-mail
address and the dates of your courses including the number of students anticipated.
This no-obligation offer is open to teachers of genealogy and family history. We reserve the
right to limit quantities.

www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 49

 Coming Soon in

F a m i l y C h ro n i c l e
Researching
Your Rural W olf and
Ancestors Pr edator
Jackie Feldman looks Bounties
at the best ways to
research the farmers in
your family
David A. Norris shows you another way of
hunting down your ancestors.

ALSO:
 Daughter s of the American
E NGLISH Revolution
PARISH  E n cycl o p e d i a s
 F u n e r a l H o m e Re c o r d s
B URIAL  A n c e s t o r s a r e Pe o p l e To o
R EGISTERS  L i n e a g e L i n go
 Fa m i l y Re c i p e s

Judith Batchelor looks at what information can  Ty p o s : A n A n c i e n t a n d

be found in these old records H o n o r e d Tr a d i t i o n
The features mentioned here are planned for future issues. Circumstances may affect the final content.

Family Chronicle Use any of these three

convenient ways to
subscribe:
The Magazine for Families Researching their Roots

You may photocopy this page for ordering.

Guarantee
•Phone Toll-Free 1-888-326-2476. Please have your credit card ready. There is no risk. If
•Subscribe online through our secure server: www.familychronicle.com Family Chronicle fails
•Mail to: Family Chronicle, PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY 14304 (from US) or to meet your needs,
Family Chronicle, 500-505 Consumers Rd, Toronto, ON, M2J 4V8 (from Canada)
or live up to the
US Orders Canadian Orders promises we have
 One year (6 issues) at $30 US  One year (6 issues) at $30 CDN + GST* made, you are
 Two years (12 issues) at $49 US  Two years (12 issues) at $49 CDN + GST* entitled to a refund
 Three years (18 issues) at $69 US  Three years (18 issues) at $69 CDN + GST* on all unmailed
Payment by:  Check (enclosed) Charge my Credit Card:  Visa  MasterCard copies for any reason
*Residents of NB, NL & NS add HST. Quebec residents add 7.5% QST. or no reason. Any
Card Number_____________________________________ Expiry Date_______ /_________ refund will be made
Signature_____________________________________ promptly and
cheerfully.
Last Name____________________________________ First Name______________________
Address_______________________________________________________________________ Halvor Moorshead
City___________________________ State/Prov. __________ Zip/Postal Code __________ Editor & Publisher
Phone Number______________________________ GST# 139340186 RT DFH OP
Family Chronicle does not rent or sell subscriber names.

For more information, visit www.familychronicle.com

Beverly Smith Vorpahl

Making Sense
of the US Census

S Love ‘em or hate

OME PEOPLE MOAN and groan and how often to do so.
about doing census work. It’s most fortunate that the
Not me! I always find some- ‘em, census National Archives and Record
thing — and, occasionally new records are a big Administration (NARA) decided
information on a second look. For to microfilm federal records in
the most part, it is easy work with part of tracing 1941 when the technology became
the promise of finding something. available. And then to make dupli-
The key to successful census
your family cate copies and eventually to digi-
work is to look, record and look history. This tize them — and mostly for the
again. Return on another day with benefit of researchers! Because of
fresh eyes, and you might find article will help technology, searching censuses
something you missed earlier. you understand (along with myriad other informa-
Every census will provide perti- tion) is now available online from
nent information, depending on one of genealogy’s the comfort of your own home.
what the government wanted to most important The basic parameters for each
know about its constituents that family were set with the first cen-
year. resources. sus in 1790: the name of the head
Nine years after America won of household and the number of
the Revolution, Congress needed determined from the first count. males and females, by age incre-
to know how many people were A new census would be taken ments, that lived there. With each
living in this new country. Fore- every decade (decennial) to allo- new census, new questions appear
most in their minds must have cate the number of representatives and others disappear — all on a
been how many men would be from each state and the amount of “need-to-know” basis. The latest
available to help defend its bor- taxes to be levied. census — conducted in 2000 — is
ders. And, secondly, what kind of Future genealogists looking the “mother” of all censuses, with
commerce would be able to sup- for family clues certainly were not pages and pages of questions
port the country. Seats to appor- a consideration in 1790 when the asked of some constituents and a
tion the House of Representatives country’s forefathers were deter- much briefer form for everyone
and assess federal taxes were also mining the questions to be asked else. Descendants of those who
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 51
Making Sense of the Census

filled out the long version will be and how many farmed or was in egory also increased in this cen-
treated to an insightful peek into commercial or manufacturing ven- sus: 0-5; 5-10; 10-15; 15-20; 20-30;
the lives of their ancestors. The tures. 30-40; 40-50; 50-60; 60-70; 70-80;
2000 census won’t be available Officials found that the num- 80-90; 90-100 and over 100. The
until 2072. All censuses remain bering system of 10-16, 16-18, etc., preface questions remain the
under wraps for 72 years to pro- made it confusing to determine same. The government also asked
tect the privacy of those whose the exact number of people living the ages of Revolutionary War
information was gathered. in each household — and for the pensioners and the number of
The first US census began people working in the mining,
on 2 August 1790, and on 1 agriculture, commerce, manu-
March 1792, the completed tally facturing and trade, and naviga-
was given: 3,929,214. tors of oceans, canals, lakes and
Census marshals were to rivers. It also asked who were
learn the name of every head of “learned professions and engi-
household in the 13 states, the neers”; the number in school
number of free white males and how many in the family
who were 16 years or older and who were 21 and older who
those 15 and under. Free white could not read or write — and
females, regardless of age, were the number of insane.
noted as were other free people The 1850 US federal census
living with the family, regard- holds a treasure-trove of infor-
less of gender or age. Also, how mation. At last, someone in
many slaves each citizen Washington DC, wanted to
owned. know the names of everyone in
Native Americans were not the household! They also want-
included in the count, unless ed the age, sex and color of
they lived in settled areas and everyone, the occupation of
paid taxes. those over 15, value of one’s
If a resident refused to real estate, where each person
answer the questions, he risked was born, if they were married
a fine of $20, which equated to within the past year, or attend-
$228 in 2006. ed school during that time.
The 1800 census had a Other questions were, whom
count of 5,308,483 people, all of over 20 could not read or write,
whom answered the same ques- and were deaf-mute, blind,
tions about the names of the insane or “idiotic”. It gave the
heads of household and the names of those who died before
number of free white males and 1 June 1850, and omitted chil-
females designated in age cate- A page from the 1880 US federal census. dren born after that date. It also
gories: 0-10; 10-16; 16-26, 26-45; asks if one is a fugitive from the
45 and older. It also asked the national total. For instance, it state. (How many do you suppose
number of other free persons, would have been correct to mark a responded honestly to that ques-
except non-taxed Indians, the person who was 16, in both the 10- tion?)
number of slaves, whose segment- 16 and 16-18 brackets, but they Separate slave schedules in
ed ages are given, and the town or kept up the practice until 1850. 1850 asked for the name of each
district and county of residence. The 1830 census recorded a slave-owner, how many slaves he
Also included for the next few total population of 12,860,702, or she had, and the number manu-
censuses are free men of color who answered additional ques- mitted (released). Unfortunately,
with the names as heads of house- tions posed by the census taker. there are not names for every
hold and answers to all the other There were extra age categories: 0- slave, but questions asked includ-
questions asked in the previous 5; 5-10; 10-15; 15-20; 20-30; 30-40; ed age, color, and sex, and
census. 40-50; 50-plus. And, in addition, if whether deaf-mute, blind, insane
In 1810, the official count of there were any “deaf, dumb and or idiotic, and if the slave was a
US residents was 7,239,881. Again, blind persons”, or aliens in the fugitive from the state. This is a
questions were for name of family household. great bonus resource for those
head, number of free white men In the 1840 census, there were researching slaves.
and women according to ages. 17,063,353 US residents (excluding The 1860 census counted
In 1820, the government want- Native Americans, of course). The 31,443,321 persons. In addition to
ed more information from its country was growing exponential- the same questions, it also wanted
9,638,453 constituents: The num- ly. In 50 years, it had increased by the value of real and personal
ber of males 16 to 18 years old; the 13,143,139 people from its initial estate; the name of the state, terri-
number of people not naturalized; 3,929,214 inhabitants. The age cat- tory or country where each was
52 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com
 Making Sense of the Census

born; and whether he/she was ment also wanted the number of Omitted from this record were
married during the year, or foreign-born and year of immigra- questions of unemployment, Civil
attended school during that time. tion, how long they had lived in War military service; the number
The US Civil War ended the US and the citizenship status of children or length of marriage.
before the 1870 census, which of those at least 21-years-old. They However, it does ask for the year
reported 38,558,371 residents. asked for the occupation of each of naturalization, the arrival and
Unfortunately, a large number person and if unemployed, how status of every foreign-born per-
of Southern residents were exclud- many months had it been since son. There is no Indian Schedule.
ed from the count. The census they worked. Another series of In 1930, new information the
taker was to indicate the number questions was whether a family’s government wanted to know
of dwelling houses and families in
the order he visited. He was to ask
the names of those who lived with
the family on 1 June 1870. A varia-
tion to censuses past was the ques-
tion of everyone's age on their last
birthday. If a baby was less than a
year old, its age was by the num-
ber of months months old (i.e., 1/12).
The questioner asked for the sex,
color (white, black, Chinese,
Indian or Mulatto), profession,
occupation or trade, place of birth
as before (except those born in
Germany were to report which Census records are crucial to
province). There was a spot to success in genealogy.
indicate whether one’s father and
mother were foreign born, and if
the right to vote by men 21 and home was rented, owned or had a included if a person owned a
older was denied or abridged, and mortgage, and if it was on a farm. radio, the language spoken in the
was it on grounds other than This census provides the month home, the industry of business,
rebellion or another crime? and year of each person’s birth, class of worker and whether the
Disaster struck in 1921, when and the number of years a couple person had worked the day
a fire at the Commerce were married. before. Also asked was if a man
Department destroyed most of the The 1910 census lists the rela- was a veteran and of which serv-
1890 census. Less than one percent tionship of everyone to the head ice and war.
of the schedules survived, with of the household, which is a boon So it is with census records.
only fragments of some states. to researchers. Other new items We appreciate all the incredible
Researchers with Civil War veter- include the language spoken by information we garnered — but
ans can use special 1890 schedules each resident and the occupation what would we have found in the
listing veterans and widows — and type of industry of each per- 1890 census? You know, the one
but only if he fought for the son, whether they are an employ- that burned in a fire in 1921, leav-
North. There is no similar census er, employee or self-employed. ing only fragments of what no
for Southern veterans. Governmental officials also want- doubt would have provided a
However, not all is lost. ed to know the number of weeks a bounty of information. Oh well.
Ancestry.com, NARA and the person might have been unem- The spilt milk turned into water
Allen County Public Library in ployed in 1909 and whether they under the bridge that is gone for-
Indiana joined forces to provide a were out of work on 15 April 1910. ever.
definitive online substitute for the They also wanted to know if one
missing census. The collection was a veteran of either the Union DFH
contains more than twenty-million or Confederate army or navy. An
identified records. As other Indian schedule recorded the tribe
records surface, they will be and/or band. Beverly Smith Vorpahl is a
included. The number of citizens topped retired journalist who now
The 1900 census lists the 100-million mark in the 1920 writes freelance articles,
76,212,169 persons who provided census: 106,021,537 people lived in mostly on genealogy topics.
the number of dwelling houses the US. This census asked a new She wrote Goody Wing, an
and family members in the order set of questions: if one were single, American Foremother, a
the census taker visited them. married, widowed or divorced. It historical novel about her
New questions asked women how also asks the place of the birth of eighth-grandmother, and
many children they bore and how the mother and father of each per- researches and writes “stories”
many were living. The govern- son and the native language. on her ancestors.
www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 53
Donna Murray

It’s Only Words

I
F THERE’S ONE constant when it Thus, John Smith, Sr. and John
comes to language, it’s that the What’s in a Smith, Jr. weren’t necessarily
meaning of words changes over
time. When Shakespeare wrote
word? Quite a father and son. They might not
even be related. Women occasion-
“get thee to a nunnery”, he didn’t
have a religious connotation in
lot, as Donna ally used these designations for
the same reason.
mind. After the Revolutionary Murray finds In Colonial times, “in-law”
War, pounds went on your hips, signified any relationship that
not in your pockets. And the out. occurred as a result of marriage.
phrase “broken record” holds no When a woman referred to her
meaning for today’s teens. “Trusty friend” is often found father-in-law, she might be talking
No one knows exactly when a in legal documents from the early about her spouse’s dad or her own
human uttered the first word. 1800s. Like many labels and stepfather. Likewise, her son-in-
Scientists and linguists suggest expressions used to describe rela- law could be either her stepson or
that language underwent a grad- tionships in earlier times, it means her daughter’s husband. In one
ual evolution that began with something entirely different today. probate record, heirs-in-law
body language, progressed to ges- “My now wife” is another referred to a married couple. The
tures and then sounds. That’s as term that causes confusion. deceased was the wife’s father.
good an explanation as any. Nieces, nephews, close friends
While the precise origin of lan- or relatives often came under the
guage may be murky, it’s perfectly cousin umbrella. And brothers and
clear that oral and written lan- sisters may be blood relatives,
guage change with the times. adopted siblings or other members
Advances in science, medicine and of a religious organization.
technology coupled with trends in Some words have simply fall-
culture, traditions and politics rou- en out of favor, like relict and con-
tinely generate new words and sort. Generally used in a female’s
make others obsolete. Each genera- epitaph, relict (also spelled relic)
tion creates its own lingo. refers to a widow who has not
Language, like people, continues remarried, while consort means
to evolve. her husband was still living when
Thus, every researcher eventu- she died.
ally encounters archaic legal terms Among other terms that root-
like “my trusty friend” or “my ers should become familiar with to
now wife”. Misinterpret them at Commonly used in the legal arena ensure they don’t misinterpret the
your peril. At best, you’ll charge to differentiate between the cur- intentions of those who penned
off on a wild goose chase. Or rent spouse and one that may the prose are dower, the right of a
worse, you’ll link people to the come along later, its purpose was wife to one-third of her husband’s
wrong families. to protect the estate from future real estate upon his death, and
“Trusty friend” is how John claims. Now was the operative marriage banns, a religious tradi-
Murray is described by six people word. It bore no relationship to the tion by which engaged couples
who signed separate powers-of- number of times the man had wed. announced their intent to get
attorney in the early 1800s making He could have had three previous married.
Murray his or her personal repre- wives or none at all. A visit to one of these websites
sentative in the sale of a parcel of The titles junior and senior that feature helpful glossaries —
inherited land. Since four had dif- once referenced age as much as www.genealogy-quest.com/index.html,
ferent surnames, and two lived in family ties. In modern times, jun- http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sam
other states, one might think that ior is tacked on to a male child’s /terms.html and www.genealogy
Murray’s connection to them was surname when he’s named after .com/Glossary/glossary.html — might
only in a legal capacity. One would his father. Dad doesn’t become give new meaning to some old
be wrong. senior until junior makes an words while preventing inadver-
Three of the heirs were appearance. tent research errors.
Murray’s siblings. The rest were Until about 1900, these tags
related as well, a fact proven by were often used to differentiate
documents pertaining to the sale between two people with the same
of the land, which showed that name — one older, one younger —
DFH
Murray was also an heir. who lived in the same community.

54 Discovering Family History • Online Preview Issue 2008 www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com

 NEED HELP DATING YOUR
OLD PHOTOGRAPHS?

Get Both
Books For
$22!

You’ve almost certainly faced the problem: You’ve got an

album or box of old photographs, but almost all of them
lack any identification. We have a solution: Here are two
excellent reference books on dating old photographs.
Order individually, or together for one special low price!

Dating Old Photographs contains more than 650 dated images, from the 1840s to the 1920s. By
comparing your unknown pictures to those in our book, you will be able to compare clothing and hair
fashions, the poses adopted by the subject and the background settings.
More Dating Old Photographs is an all-new 120-page softcover book that features 700 new examples of
dated photographs from 1840-1929, an illustrated introduction by renowned old-photograph expert and
best-selling author Maureen Taylor and additional sections on hand-tinted and unusual photographs.
• Phone Toll-Free 1-888-326-2476 extension 111. Please have your VISA or MasterCard ready. • Mail this order form to the appropriate address located below.
• Fax this order form to 416-491-3996. Please ensure your credit card information is filled out. • Visit our website at www.familychronicle.com

❑ Dating Old Photographs $12 Order Total: ______

❑ More Dating Old Photographs $16 Shipping: ______ ($3 per book or $5 per bundle)
❑ Two book bundle BEST DEAL! $22 Sub Total: ______
GST/HST: ______ (Canadian residents add 5% GST or 14% HST on sub total)
PST: ______ (Ontario residents add 8% on sub total)
Grand Total: ______

Payment by: ❑ Check (enclosed) Credit Card ❑ VISA ❑ MasterCard

Praise for
Card Number: ____________________________________________________ Exp. Date: ___________
Please allow three to six weeks for delivery.

Signature: ____________________________________________________________________________
Dating Old Photographs:
Your credit card charge will appear as FC/HM 1-888-326-2476. USA purchasers note: Credit card
transactions are processed through our office in Canada, but will appear on your statement in US funds.

First Name: ___________________________ Last Name: _____________________________________ “The best part of [Dating Old
Address: _____________________________________________________________________________ Photographs] is the examples.”
City: ______________________________ State/Province: _____ Zipcode/Postal Code: _____________
— Dick Eastman, Dick Eastman
Phone Number: _______________________ E-mail Address: __________________________________
USA orders send to: Family Chronicle, PO Box 194, Niagara Falls, NY 14304
Online
Canadian orders send to: Family Chronicle, 505 Consumers Road, Suite 500, Toronto, ON M2J 4V8
GST #13934 0186RT DFH OP

www.familychronicle.com
 COMING SOON IN... SUBS $20
A Guide to Starting Your Genealogy CRIP
SPEC TION
IAL!
Discovering See
for Websi
Deta te

Family History
ils!

Magazine

Getting Started on Your

The features mentioned here are planned for future issues. Circumstances may affect the final content.
Irish Line
If you’re just beginning your Irish
genealogy, Cindy Thomson looks
at what you can do on this side of
the pond.
Getting Acquainted With
the IGI
Leslie Albrecht Huber
documents one of genealogy’s
most informative resources.
Deciphering Old
Handwriting
Mary Penner looks at the ABCs
of understanding your ancestor’s
old handwriting.
Old Newspapers
According to David A. Norris,
old newspapers hold the key to
unlocking your family history.
PLUS:
Discovering Family History Centers • The SSDI • German Research • Black Sheep Ancestors •
Google Books • Identifying Subjects in Old Photographs • Where did Your Ancestors Live? •
English Research • Best Beginners Books • GEDCOMs • Military Records • City Directories •
Scottish Research • The Origins of Surnames • Using Your Local Library • Polish Research •
Finding Lost Cousins • Choosing a Software Program • Finding Immigration Records • French Research

If you’re ready to begin tracing your

family history, we’ll help you get started!