Online Databases - Amazon Web Services

A Few Housekeeping Items…
§  To minimize background noise, all
participants are muted
§  You can type questions in the control
panel to the right of your screen
§  You’ll receive a PDF of this
presentation and access to a video
recording by e-mail in two business
days
About Your Presenter
§  President, Federation of
Genealogical Societies
§  Director of Family History,
Findmypast
§  Host, Genealogy Roadshow
(PBS)
In This Workshop…
§  Clustering for…
»  Records
»  Online databases
»  Places
»  Searching the internet
§  Case study
Using Clusters
§  Overly focused
»  Direct ancestor
»  Immediate family
§  What about…
»  People
»  Places
»  Occupations
»  etc…
Clusters
§  Records and People
§  Online Databases
§  Places
§  Searching the Internet
RECORDS
Five Steps
1.  Land records
(purchasing land)
2.  Land records
(public sale)
3.  Tax records
4.  Town records
5.  Additional
newspapers
Vital Records
Who is the Informant?
§  City Directories
§  County Histories
§  Vital Records
§  Census Records
§  Other Resources
The Informant
§  Knowledge
§  State of Mind
§  Family Legends and Myths
§  Records of Immigrants
1850 Census Translation
Polly Foster
60
OH
Mary Wallingford
Nancy Foster
40
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
John Foster
38
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
Abner Foster
36
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
Elizabeth Foster
35
OH
Wife of Reason Shoup
Mary Foster
28
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
Hester S. Foster
26
OH
Wife of John Foster
Absalom Foster
24
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
1850 Census cont.
Jane Foster
19
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
Eliza Foster
16
OH
Child of Abner and Mary
William Foster
13
OH
William Shoup
John Foster
11
OH
John Wesley Shoup
Mary Foster
9
OH
Mary Shoup
Nancy Foster
8
OH
Nancy Shoup
Theodore Foster
4
OH
Theodore B. Shoup
ONLINE DATABASES
Online Databases
§  What about…
»  Just searching by surname
»  Just searching by a middle name
»  Just searching by a place (town/city/
parish)
§  Don’t forget…
»  Browsing
»  Checking back
DAR Descendants Database
§  7m+ Names
§  Identify:
»  Relatives
»  Collateral lines
§  Cross-Reference Search
»  Similar Names
PLACES
Localities and Our Research
§  Record Keepers
»  County / Town / State
§  Family Characteristics
»  Occupations
»  Migrations
»  Religious Beliefs
Understand Your Locality
§  Formation/Founding
§  Motivations
§  Identifying Elements
»  Economics
»  Religious
»  Social
»  Political
Locality Profiles
§  Historical Materials
§  Timelines
§  Record Surveys
§  Maps
Expanded Locality Profiles
§  Boundary Changes
§  Legislative Changes
§  Epidemics
§  Military Events
§  Churches
§  Cemeteries
§  City Directories
Sample Profile
§  Maps
»  Modern
»  Contextual
§  Historical Sketch/Timeline
»  Major Events
»  Family/Individual Events
§  Record Survey
»  Year of Creation
»  Contents
»  Repository
Sample Profile
§  Other Information
»  Churches
»  Jurisdictions
» 
» 
» 
» 
» 
» 
» 
§  District Courts
§  Federal Districts
Cemeteries
Courthouses
Funeral Homes
Libraries (both historical and current)
Newspapers
Societies
Other Data
Keeping Profiles
§  “Living” and Interactive Documents
»  Constant Changes
»  Active URLs
§  Mobile Access:
»  Dropbox
»  Evernote
»  GoogleDrive
County Histories
§  Sections:
»  Local History
»  Regional History
»  Genealogical Sketches
§  Beyond the Index
§  Build Historical Context
§  Online (Google Books, Internet
Archive, etc.)
City Directories
§  Industries
§  Churches
§  Political Leanings
§  Advertisers:
»  Larger Cities
»  Local Goods
City Directories
§  Newspapers
§  Cemeteries
§  Fraternal Organizations
§  Demographics
Newspapers
§  Browse vs. Search
§  Legal Notices
§  Front Page
§  Advertisements
§  Other Sections
»  Local News
»  Former Residents
Scholarly Publications
§  Historical Studies
§  Bibliographic Information
§  Journals:
»  State Historical Societies
»  National
»  Topical
Scholarly Publications
§  Historical Timeline / Interpretation
§  Access:
»  JSTOR
»  America: History and Life
»  GoogleBooks
JSTOR and Google
§  Searchable
§  Limit URL to jstor.org
§  Limited View
§  Advanced Preparation
SEARCHING THE INTERNET
Searching the Web
§  Consider a record…
»  Locality
»  Record Type
»  Historical Significance
»  Repository
§  Consider a digitized record…
Examples
§  Gallia County. Ohio
§  Genealogical/Historical Information
§  Search Phrase:
»  (Gallia AND Oh*) AND (history OR family
OR genealogy OR “family history”)
Examples
§  Boston, Massachusetts
§  American Revolution
§  Search Phrase:
»  (Boston AND Mass*) AND revolution*
Examples
§  Washington County, New York
§  War of 1812
§  Search Phrase:
»  “War of 1812” AND Washington (“New
York” OR NY) NOT George Washington
Examples
§  Tompkins County, New York
§  Cemetery Records
§  Photographs OR Transcriptions
§  Search Phrase:
»  Cemeter* AND Tompkin* AND (“New
York OR NY) AND (transcript* OR photo*)
Clusters and a family legend…
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
Fortunes Await
“We are descendants of Anneke Jans
Bogardus through the Brown and Drake
families….and are therefore heirs to her
estate….”
Trace the Legend
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
Letters, Diaries, and Notes
Interviews, E-mails, and Social
Published Sources
The World Wide Web
Trace the Legend
“Today Anneke Jans Bogardus is one of early New
York State's (literally New Netherland's) most famous
citizens. But such was not the case during her own
lifetime. Years after her death, she gained fame and
fortune by having descendants who initiated one of
the country's most famous litigations. In this long
series of lawsuits, the claimants asked for ownership,
in whole or part, of real estate on Manhattan that had
belonged to Anneke. They claimed that Trinity
Church had illegally acquired title, and that the
property rightfully belonged to the descendants of
Anneke Jans Bogardus….”
Zabriskie, George O., FASG, “Anneke Jans in Fact and Fiction.” The New York
Genealogical and Biographical Record, April 1973
Trace the Legend
“…But the church had always held legal title, and the
courts, without exception, so ruled…”
“... Anneke Jans was born in Flekkeroy, a village on an
island of the same name in Vest Agder, Norway…”
“…Anneke Jans’ second husband, Everardus Bogardus,
was the second domine of the Dutch Reformed Church
of New Amsterdam, arriving in 1633…”
“…the wife of Roelof Janszen, van Maesterland,
employed in early 1630 in Amsterdam, to be a farmer at
Rensselaerswyck…”
Zabriskie, George O., FASG, “Anneke Jans in Fact and Fiction.”
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, April
1973
Trace the Legend
§  Oral Histories:
»  Grandmother
»  Great-Aunts/Uncles
§  Family Papers
»  Distant relatives
Building the Timeline
1999
Story passed to
Joshua Taylor
from
Grandmother
1980s
Story passed to
Martha Jane
(Allison) Taylor
by Great-Aunt
1970s
Story passed to
Great Aunt
from ???
Building the Timeline
1999
Story passed to
Joshua Taylor
from
Grandmother
1979
Story passed to
Martha Jane
(Allison) Taylor by
Great-Aunt, May
Hume
1967
May Brown Hume
receives lineage
from a researcher
at the Connecticut
Historical Society
Building the Timeline
1952
Kimball Brown
passes the story
to May Brown
Hume
1923
Newspaper
published an
article regarding
the descendants
of Anneke Jans
1907
Statement
passed by
Josiah Quimby
Brown to C.K.
Brown
Building the Timeline
1884
J.E. Brown
references the
“pedigree”
which proves
lineage
1876
Caroline Clark
Brown statement
of ancestry.
1869
Nathaniel Brown
statement of
ancestry
Finding Shared Stories
§  General Searches
» 
» 
» 
» 
Places
Dates
Events
Individuals
§  Message Boards & Discussion Lists
§  Online Family Trees
Develop the Context
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
Geographic
Economic
Political
Social
Newspapers
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
Early American Newspapers
19th Century United States Newspapers
NewspaperArchive.com
British Newspaper Archive
Anneke Jans in
Newspapers
§  1784
Article mentioning heirs are entitled to reimbursement from
Trinity Church.
§  mid 1830s-1896
»  Series of nationwide articles calling for the “heirs of
Anneke Jans” to come forward.
§  1874
»  Assassination Attempt on a researcher and heir of Anneke
Jans
Articles and More
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
JSTOR
America: History & Life
Dissertations and Thesis
PERiodical Source Index (PERSI)
Building the Context
§  Historians knew of the “Myth” in the 1950s
§  The American Genealogist, vols. 23 & 24 (1947-1948)
»  “Brouwer Beginnings - The First Three Generations of the
Adam Brouwer Berchoven Family”
»  Will of John Drake names wife “Martha” no “Magdalena”
§  National Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 66 (1978)
»  “Auguste Grasset of La Rochelle, London, and New York
City”
»  John Drake married Martha Oldfield
Q&A
§  Ask your questions about cluster
genealogy now!
Next Steps
§  Watch for an e-mail this week with a link to download
the recording of this workshop and the presentation
slides
§  Visit http://www.ShopFamilyTree.com for recordings
of earlier webinars
§  Tell us what you thought of this workshop: e-mail
[email protected]
Thanks for joining us!