What do you do when you have a great family history story and have just learned how to use a new set of historical records? If you’re my friend, Karen, you share the story with your extended family then help your interested niece find some land patents. Today we have a guest post from Karen telling how she helped her teenage niece connect with her ancestors. By Karen Walters A few months ago, we were enjoying a barbeque with extended family. My mother came from out of state and brought an old, forgotten memory book. It had a story about our...
You’ve searched Find A Grave and Billion Graves. You’ve visited your local cemetery and taken photos of the headstones. What’s left for your cemetery research? Answer: the records kept by the cemetery office or sexton’s records. You may be surprised at the details in these records. I recently discovered a collection of cemetery records at the Utah Archives for my Kelsey family and today I’m sharing what I found. I’ll also give you three tips for locating cemetery records of your own. First of all, why go after the cemetery records? Isn’t all of the information for an individual on...
Did you know that FamilySearch has a new partner, Geneanet? Along with Ancestry, FindMyPast, American Ancestors, and My Heritage, you can now sign up for Geneanet and access their vast genealogical library. Why would you want to add another partner? Hidden in the thousands of books and newspapers digitized by Geneanet might be just the clue you need. I’ll show you how to get started and give you an example of what I found. Because of FamilySearch’s partnership with Ancestry, FindMyPast, American Ancestors, My Heritage, and now Geneanet, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have access to these websites...
This is part 3 of a 3 part series: Where Did My Ancestor Live? How Enumeration District Maps Can Fill in the Blanks. Part 1: Enumeration District Descriptions Part 2: Civil Districts and Other County Divisions Part 3: Maps of Enumeration Districts Maps of Enumeration Districts In this post, we will learn how the NARA Enumeration District Maps can help pinpoint the exact boundaries of county divisions with each state. Back to our example of James F. Maness on the 1900 Census: we finished up the last post failing to find any useful online maps of his location, “Civil District 4,”...
This is part 2 of a 3 part series: Where Did My Ancestor Live? How Enumeration District Maps Can Fill in the Blanks. Part 1: Enumeration District Descriptions Part 2: Civil Districts and Other County Divisions Part 3: Maps of Enumeration Districts Civil Districts and Other County Divisions In this post, we will learn about the county division field on the census and how it can help us map our ancestors’ census location. In part 1 of this series we found the ED description of James Maness’ 1900 census location: Hawkins County, Civil District 4, containing the unincorporated community of New Hope. Today we’ll find out: is...
Do you have anyone in your family who took advantage of the Homestead Law of 1862? It is estimated that 2 million individuals applied for up to 320 acres of free land and your ancestor might be among them. What kind of records did the Homestead Law generate? How can you find out if your ancestors filed claims? What does a case file look like? September is “back to school month,” so get ready to learn the answers to those questions and find the value in homestead records. Every class needs a good textbook and my personal favorite for land records is...
Where Did He Live? When researching in U.S. Census records, have you ever wanted to locate your ancestor on the map but the census place was unclear? This happened to me when I found my relative, James F. Maness, on the 1900 census. I checked the header info on the census form, but the ‘township or other division of county’ was listed as “4 district” and the field for ‘name of incorporated city, town, or village, within the above-named division’ was left blank. That dang census taker! Why did he leave it blank? I soon realized that the census taker did not make a mistake....
Have you ever wondered what is at your state archives? Tucked away in a corner, could you find a clue to your ancestor’s life? Every state has a physical location that hosts a treasure trove of artifacts, documents, books, and more. The National Archives provides a list of state archives and don’t despair if you don’t live near the one where you need to research. Many of them are digitizing their collections and making them available on their websites. Some of the state archives will respond to research questions and for others you might have to hire an onsite researcher. I needed experience...
How long has it been since you looked at some of your oldest research? A year or two? Several years? You might be surprised and in for a treat if you pick up one of your loose ends. With the number of new databases added daily to the internet, the answer to a nagging question might be waiting. Need more convincing? Keep reading for three reasons to revisit your research. I recently revisited a Confederate soldier in my family: C.B. (Charles Baldwin) Royston. He enlisted in the Confederacy but never came home from the Civil War. I researched the Royston...
Summer is coming to a close. Among the vacations, picnics, and other fun did you get a chance to do any family history? You may have done more than you thought. Did you reunite with extended family at a reunion? Maybe visit some ancestor graves or historic sites? How about attend a family history or genealogy conference? If you’re ready to get back on track with your research, then I have just the thing for you – and it’s free! The famed Family History Library will be holding two week-long events: the United States Research Seminar 2016, August 22nd to...
