Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed, is always to try just one more time. - Thomas Edison A handy genealogy research tip used to be [and still is if we're at the library] is to not pick up a book at the library and immediately go to the index in the back of the book to look up our ancestor's name without looking at anything else in the book. We need to understand why and how the book was created. In other words, we need to understand the context of the book and its information. And this is a great tip when using Google Books, too. Except the book isn't on a shelf. And we're searching it not by its index but by a search box [usually]. And sometimes we don't have access to the whole book, but we do have a book description. [So the same. But not. But similar. Sorta.] While researching for someone else, I came across a snippet from Google Books that indicated the persons of interest [of whom I had some interest ;) ] were married in Tennessee in 1829 which is before marriages were recorded in Franklin County; a county whose boundaries have changed no less than 13 times since 1807. [1] [Both of which make a researcher's head spin so fast it gives us whiplash, no?] Taking a quick look at the information about the book and its contents, gives me another clue. It tells me a lot of good stuff about the information found in the newspapers included in the book. In particular, these newspapers are on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. And, at times, the info found in the newspapers, not just what was published in the book, included the bride's and groom's fathers' names as well as their places of residence. [2] [Hot. Diggity.] Then a quick look at the Tennessee State Library and Archives website and their online Newspaper Index tells me they, indeed, have this newspaper and issue on microfilm. [Ohmigosh. The book's introduction did not lie.] However, they only loan these films out via Inter Library Loan to Tennessee libraries. [Bummer 'cause I'm in Texas.] But, alas! With some key information provided they do provide a search and copy service for a nominal fee which is even more nominal for those in Tennessee. [And by nominal, I mean just a couple of fancy schmancy coffees or if you're in Tennessee, maybe just one.] So, I ordered it. And, like magic, there was more information about Joseph H. Bradford and Maria Christina Spyker in the 1829 newspaper. It doesn't tell me who his father was [Perhaps, he had already passed? Maybe? Possibly?], but it does place Joseph's residence in Winchester and reveals Maria's father was Jonathan Spyker and she was Jonathan's "eldest daughter." 3 lines in the book expanded to 4 in the newspaper and brimming with more possibilities and clues to pursue. And an identification of a father to work with. [3] [Perhaps, a probate record exists for Jonathan and he listed Maria in his will? That would be nice for corroboration.] But the point is don't give up. Go further, go longer. Happy Researching! ~Caroline © Copyright 2013 4YourFamilyStory.com -- All Rights Reserved. Sources
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I had an awesome time last Saturday presenting "Digging Up Family Stories on Findagrave.com" to the Chaparral Genealogical Society and Library in Tomball, Texas. One of the things we concentrated on was the fact that people from all over the world use it for various reasons and that we have to consider why someone is putting the information on there in the first place. Knowing that helps to understand what we're looking at as family history researchers. For example, there are some people who only do Findagrave.com photo uploads, some who only post obituaries or transcriptions, and then there are those who are linking memorials to each other because, for them, that is their family tree {of sorts}. And many aren't even doing genealogy and this might be their form of "family history" or they might not be doing family history at all. Maybe they're just "gravers." Which reminds me of a roommate I had in college who liked to read obituaries in the Sunday newspaper and guess how the person died based on the clues revealed in the obituaries. She said her mom and her used to do it together and so my roommate got me addicted to doing it as well. {Genealogist-in-training and I didn't even realize it.} And I've always liked reading the wedding and engagements announcements and pondering if their lives were as perfect as they seemed in the announcements. {And now I have the skills and resources to follow up on those ponderings, but I digress.} At Saturday's presentation we also went over carefully analyzing uploaders' profiles to not only understand why they might be uploading and creating memorials but also see if we're related to them based on their statistics and other memorials listed on their profile. And we went over some examples with some live searching since we had WiFi at the meeting. {That was very nice because it can be really boring and tedious presenting a search-based website with screenshots. It's much, much better for the audience to see searching done live.} I also shared some personal researching and family stories that I have uncovered with the help from generous contributors on Findagrave.com including a sad family story that was uncovered due to me connecting with a 4th cousin via Findagrave.com and using its collaboration features. Who knew adding an image of my grandmother's brother to an existing memorial would lead to connecting with a cousin who had known him before and after the fire that killed my grandmother's brother and his 4 kids? He knew the town rumors and the family secrets surrounding their murders in that small, small town in Johnson County, Illinois. {And it turns out a member in the Chaparral Society has kinfolk from Johnson County, Illinois. So we'll be trading notes later.} This is why Findagrave.com is such a wonderful collaboration tool. It facilitates contacting a possible relation, and while there are some in the community who don't play well with others, that's true of any community, unfortunately. But in this case the many things a researcher can do and learn on a free resource like Findagrave.com far, far outweighs the bad, in my opinion. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It takes a village to make a family history. And Findagrave.com is an awesome tool that helps us do just that. So. For those who have been using Findagrave.com share some of your "finds" in comments below to help encourage people to use this resource to its fullest capacity. What have you found there? Have you connected and collaborated with a distant cousin? Have you broken through a research brick wall? What have you done or found on Findagrave.com that has profoundly affected your research and led to unearthing a family story? Let everyone know in comments below. And if you're not using Findagrave.com, why not? Happy Researching! ~Caroline Last month I had the privilege of speaking to the Walker County Genealogical Society. What a warm group they were! And inquisitive, too, which is a very good trait for us family history researchers, right? We talked about how to use online catalogs for libraries and archives. I didn't have to tell this research-savvy group that not everything is online. Nope. They already knew that. What I was able to share with them is how to use the Internet and its vast resources to narrow down where the information is if it's not online. I mean, how badly do you want to solve your genealogy research problem? And I like to ask that question a lot because it's a not-so-subtle reminder of why we spend countless amounts of money, time, and brain-power on researching our dead kinfolk. And if you haven't caught on yet, I like to solve research problems so I can gather family stories and secrets like a kid gathers candy on Halloween night. Hence, why I try to find more and more resources and tools to help me out. And apparently the members of the Walker County Genealogical Society like to solve their research problems too. {Thank goodness. It can be *clears throat* very challenging to listen to someone go on and on about their research brick wall like they're married to it and then they act like I'm trying to break up their marriage when I suggest online and offline resources they haven't checked yet -- some of them free, mind you. My brain just doesn't compute that attitude.} So I shared with this group tricks and tips {but no candy} on searching online catalogs and one of the tips was to suggest an efficient process for online researching by looking for repositories in the location your ancestor might have done anything in their lives. The easiest way to do this is to check out your pedigree chart or perhaps your family group sheet, or maybe your online tree and look at your target person {the one you're researching} and notate their last known and proved-to-you {or rumored} location. Then you take that location and look for the following types of places that house documents, records of any type, and/or books that just might contain some type of evidence of your ancestor's life:
We went over a bunch of other stuff, too, like where/how to look for these libraries and archives, what to look for, search examples, search strategies for Worldcat.org, and then we went over a search process {specific to them} on the library and archives websites that would help them get prepared to visit Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research because that's our local genealogy-specific library in Houston. {And by local I mean for them an hour and a half to two-hour drive and for me a 35-minute drive.} All-in-all, I had a blast there and I even got a personal tour from the the society's librarian of their beautiful new genealogy room within the Huntsville Public Library. Everything the society has in that genealogy room is cataloged online via the Huntsville Public Library's website except for their microfilm drawers. Most of their microfilm is for Texas and much of it was for Walker County, but there are other Texas counties represented {And some not very close by. We do have 254 counties here in Texas. We're a big state, y'all.}. And a lot of this isn't online either, but some of it is listed on their website. Good thing I looked and took pics. You just never know what you're gonna find and when or how you're gonna need what you have found. And libraries and archives just might have that clue or answer to help solve your research problem. You won't know until you look. I mean, how badly do you want to solve your genealogy research problem? Happy Researching! ~Caroline © Copyright 2013 4YourFamilyStory.com -- All Rights Reserved. The Lone Star State is a big state with 254 counties, and it has a ton of resources that are available to the family history researcher. However, there are some I come back to again and again while researching ancestors who lived in Texas. And while I love and use Ancestry.com all the time for Texas research, it just doesn't have everything I need. Also? Not everyone can afford to have an Ancestry.com subscription. So, I thought listing some free places to look online and offline for your Texas ancestors might be helpful to everyone. The following are 5 free-to-access Texas family history research resources with some comments and specific links to more information about each one:
Want more Texas research resources? Visit my Texas Genealogy Resources page. Happy Researching! ~Caroline © Copyright 2013 4YourFamilyStory.com -- All Rights Reserved. Other related articles that might interest you... For more research and technology tips subscribe to the {monthly} Genea-Tech Newsletter. I get asked by people all the time about how to fix the family tree they've started on Ancestry.com. And that's a very good question. I think creating your tree on Ancestry.com is a very good start for a lot of people. You are more likely to have some success at finding some records and information that pertains to your ancestors just because of the size of their databases. In fact, when people ask me which online database they should subscribe to I always reply, "The one that has your answers. And 9 times out of 10, Ancestry.com has the answers to help you solve some of your family history mysteries. Their databases are that big. Further, they have great weekly tutorials on how to search, make it very easy to add stuff you find there to your tree, and they have a great and responsive support system. They deliver value that when compared to traveling to places where documents are stored and preserved, make me ecstatic they exist. But as I mentioned in my post about how to get unstuck on Ancestry.com, you have to step away from your family tree that you have created on Ancestry.com and evaluate things. I see and evaluate a lot of Ancestry.com trees for my potential clients and those who become my clients. And 9 times out of 10, they've only performed research on Ancestry.com, and that is very easy to do. It can be addictive to get caught up in a digital chase for our ancestors. And it happens all the time. That's why one of my suggestions last week was to stop and take a breather and evaluate what you have before continuing your search on Ancestry.com as well as other online databases. And taking that breather and evaluating is even more important if you've never done it before. Here are 10 important steps you need to do before continuing your search and to fix that online family tree you started:
These steps are often skipped while working with an online tree, but they're important. I'm not saying you shouldn't start out online at all. It's fun and it can give you a good quick taste of success to keep you coming back for more. However, stopping, filling in some bare spots, finding proof in your house, getting info from your family members, and evaluating everything can lead you to even more success so you don't get frustrated and stop. After all, you might be the family member who has information I need to keep me working on my own family tree research, and I definitely don't want you to get frustrated and stop. Ever. For those who have been researching for a while, what would you add to this list? What do you wish you knew then that you know now? Please share positive hints and tips in comments below! Remember: It takes a village to make a family's history and to discover family stories. {And you know what that means, right? We're Village People, y'all. With a Village Goat.} Happy Researching! ~Caroline © Copyright 2013 4YourFamilyStory.com -- All Rights Reserved. You did it. And it was that commercial's fault. It teased you. "Your story is here," it suggested. "Find out who you are." "Sign up. Right now." So you did. And, sure, you found some stuff, but you still don't know who the hell you are. Or who your family is, what everyone's story is, and you've got leaves shaking at you all over the place. You're stuck out on your great grandmother's branch staring at those shaky leaves. How many Mary Smith's can there be in this freakin' world, right? With a sister named Martha? No worries. Here are 5 tips to get you un-stuck while working on your family history mysteries on Ancestry.com:
~Caroline
New & updated collections for week ending 26 Jul 2013.
Not a whole lot was added or updated to the following online databases this past week. However, the amount doesn't matter. What matters is if something you've needed for your research was added to or updated. You won't know, though, until look. So check out this past week's additions and updates. Ancestry.com {All updated collections. No new collections added.}
FamilySearch.org {New & updated collections.}
findmypast.com {US} findmypast.com has recently added quite a few Canadian collections to it database site. There is no easy way to see a listing of all the Canadian collections on the findmypast.com website as of yet, but upon discovering the addition, John D. Reid created a listing of all of the collections titles on his blog, Anglo-Celtic Connections. So, if you're interested, have a look-see. findmypast.com.au {Australia} ~Caroline © Copyright 2013 4YourFamilyStory.com Similar posts you might be interested in:
I get asked a lot what apps people should get for their iPad. You know, for genealogy and "stuff." It's a tough one to answer because it just depends. It depends on your interests, preferences, and, you know, stuff. But that usually doesn't help folks out. So I thought I'd list what apps I have on my iPad. Some I have used and some I'm either been playing with or have just started playing with. {And some of the apps I used on my iPhone back before I bought my Android Smartphone and before I had an iPad.} However, the list is long. So I broke it down into several blog posts. And I've started out with some pretty obvious ones, I think. Then, I'll branch out into some other obvious apps and not-so-obvious apps that I use for some aspect of genealogy research -- both personally and professionally. And if you like this series of blog posts for genealogy and family history apps that I use on my iPad, just wait until you see the series of blog posts listing the Android apps I use on my Samsung Note 2. 'Cuz that's next after this series. Bam.
Also remember to stay tuned for more iPad apps. I've got lot of them that I use for not only genealogy but other, um, "stuff." And then a series of blog posts of Android apps that I use will be after that. ~Caroline
© Copyright 2013 by 4YourFamilyStory.com
When searching a database collection online, don't just jump right in and start searching or browsing. You need to know exactly what you are looking at before searching a record collection. For example, is it complete? 'Cause, hello?!? If it's not complete and you start searching in it and you don't find what you are looking for even though you're pretty sure it should be there, then you might incorrectly conclude something you should not. Something erroneous. Like such-n-such database doesn't have it or maybe it doesn't even exist. A good example of this is when looking at a particular state's county marriages. If they aren't complete and don't include the county you need but others, that's not going to be real helpful to you and might even make you think, "Well, I've already looked for it in such-n-such database and I guess it doesn't exist." And that would not be true. It -- for whatever reason -- isn't in that database at the time you looked. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist and/or that it won't be there later. Online databases usually {Read: They should.} include information about a particular collection that they have. And? They also tend to give you tips about how to look at the particular collection. Remember: Stop and read about the collection before searching it for your genealogy. You need to know what you are looking at before you look. Click. Scroll. Read. The below screenshot thumbnails show you how to find information about a collection on Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, and findmypast.com. Just click on the thumbnails to view a larger image. {Like magic.} Ancestry.com ~Caroline
What's new on genealogy sites as of 20 Jul 2013.
New collections are being added to online databases and/or they're being updated all the time, and it's important to check back with these genealogy databases as you research. So here is a listing of what's been added from 13 Jul 2013 through 20 Jul 2013. And included are also links to any significant news updates that concerned collections on these online database sites. Has something been added to these online genealogy database collections that you have needed for your research? Find out. Ancestry.com {Both US and non-US but nothing is new for non-US collections this week.} New
Updated
News for Ancestry.com's Collections FamilySearch.org {Both US & non-US} Brazil, Mato Grosso, Civil Registration, 1848-2012 {added or updated 17 Jul 2013} Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Miscellaneous Records, 1748-1985 {added or updated 17 Jul 2013} China, Collection of Genealogies, 1239-2011 {added or updated 17 Jul 2013} Colombia, Valle del Cauca, Miscellaneous Records, 1549-1955 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} Italy, Ascoli Piceno, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1740-1880, 1915-1919 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} Italy, Messina, Mistretta, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1942 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} Ivory Coast, Civil Registration, 1920-2012 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} Spain, Province of Cádiz, Municipal Records, 1784-1942 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} Spain, Province of Sevilla, Municipal Records, 1293-1966 {added or updated 15 Jul 2013} Utah, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1847-1868 {added or updated 18 Jul 2013} findmypast.com {US version of their collections and includes US and World collections.} News for findmypast.com's Collections findmypast.co.uk {UK version of their collections and includes several types of subscriptions. Available collections can be different than the US World Collections on findmypast.com. Confusing, but important to note.} News for findmypast.co.uk's Collections ~Caroline Similar post you might be interested in:
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