Family Tree - September 2014

Transcription

9 Tips to Organize
Your Genealogy
Before Disaster Strikes:
11 Solutions to Save Your Stuff
How to Research Your
Scottish Ancestors
W W W. FA M I LY T R E E M AG A Z I N E .CO M
SEPTEMBER 2014
PLUS
BEST
+ 4 Easy Steps to Create
Ancestor Timelines
+ Complete Guide to Probate
Records
+ Why You’ll Love Evernote’s
Web Clipper
FOR TRACING YOUR ROOTS
Find Your
Swedish Roots!
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logical research because so many types of records have been
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household examination records (similar to yearly census records)
Much more than church books
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Try it out!
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contents
feature articles
28
9 Tips to Organize
Your Genealogy
54
42
Before Disaster Strikes:
11 Solutions to Save Your Stuff
How to Research Your
Scottish Ancestors
W W W. FA M I LY T R E E M AG A Z I N E .CO M
SEPTEMBER 2014
48
PLUS
BEST
18
+ 4 Easy Steps to Create
Ancestor Timelines
+ Complete Guide to Probate
Records
33
+ Why You’ll Love Evernote’s
Web Clipper
66
september 2014 • volume 15, issue 5
US $8.99
18
42
42
Seeking Scots
|
Let our 15th annual listing of the
101 Best Websites for family history
guide your research to new sites—
and give you new reasons to visit
old favorites.
Got a wee bit (or more) of Scottish
ancestry? You’re in luck: The best
records for researching ancestors in
Scotland are online, and we’ll show
you where.
David A. Fryxell
Dana McCullough
Fo l l ow t h e s e s t ra t e g i e s f ro m
researchers just like you to get your
family tree files in order.
0
Display until October 6, 2014
By Rick Crume
28 9 Habits of Highly 48
The Times of
Organized Genealogists
Their Lives
| By
71658 02003
54
18 Superb Sites
| By
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02
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Qy1BDDA3MTY1ODAyMDAzMAA=
JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo
SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL
04 0120
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| By
54
Your Genealogy
Disaster Plan
| By
Denise Levenick
Shelley K. Bishop
Peek into the past and solve research
problems by creating a timeline of
your ancestor’s life in four easy steps.
1
<familytreemagazine.com>
What would become of your genealogy research in a fire, flood or computer crash? Follow our two-part
plan to safeguard your family archive
should disaster strike.
Cover photo: Al Parrish
FOR TRACING YOUR ROOTS
contents
columns & departments
4 Out on a Limb
| By Diane Haddad
8
Genealogy Insider
| Edited by Diane Haddad
A letter from our editor.
6 Tree Talk
What’s new in discovering, preserving
and celebrating your family history:
Curing confusion caused by
genealogy website content
partnerships
Five questions with Quinton
Atkinson of Ancestry.com
The genealogy industry’s tangled
World Wide Web
Readers respond to
Family Tree Magazine.
»
»
»
12 History Matters
| By David A. Fryxell
Exposing the history of underwear.
15 Family Archivist
| By Denise Levenick
Saving your ancestors’ schoolwork.
WORKBOOK
33 Probate Records |
60 Now What?
| By David A. Fryxell
Answers to your questions on bounty
land warrants, midwives’ records and
British birth registers.
By Sunny Jane Morton
and Cheryl Felix McClellan
» Our Genealogy Workbooks series shows you what you need to know
to research your ancestors in essential family history sources.
63 Research Roadmap
How gold rushes dramatically
affected states’ populations.
64 Photo Detective
| B y M a u r e e n A . Ta y l o r
66
The Toolkit
|
Clues in a photo of the old family
homestead.
E d i t e d b y Ty l e r M o s s
Reviews and roundups of the latest
and greatest family history resources:
How to use Evernote’s web clipper
Photo colorizing software review
Quick Guide to online scheduling
assistants
Map your family tree with Place
My Past
72 Photo Finish
»
»
»
»
Readers’ photos of their ancestors
at work.
IN OUR NEXT ISSUE
Family Tree Magazine (ISSN 1529-0298) is published seven times per year: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/
August, September, October/November and December by F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company, 10151 Carver Road, Suite
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5, September 2014. Subscription rates: one year, $36. Canadian subscriptions add $8 per year, other foreign subscriptions add
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Tree Magazine, Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32141; return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Box 1632, Windsor, Ontario N9A
7C9. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio and additional mailing offices. Produced and printed in the USA.
2
Family Tree Magazine 3 S E P T E M B E R
2014
» Secrets to searching library catalogs
» 10 tech tools you need now
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Don’t let your family history be lost! Glean critical ancestral
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3
outonalimb
Web Wise
SEP TEMBER 2014 • VOLUME 15 , ISSU E 5
3 THE FIRST LIST of Family Tree
Publisher/Editorial Director » Allison Dolan
Editor » Diane Haddad
Senior Designer » Kelly Pace
Online Community Editor » Tyler Moss
Content Creator » Kelsea Daulton
Editorial Intern » Andrew Koch
Contributing Editors » Lisa A. Alzo, Sharon
DeBartolo Carmack, Rick Crume, David A. Fryxell,
Nancy Hendrickson, Sunny Jane Morton,
Maureen A. Taylor
Magazine’s 101 Best Websites for Genealogy was way back in our April 2000
issue, before I was even on the staff
here. That roundup is heavy on how-to
websites, sites with lists of links, and
message boards.
As you might imagine, a good number of those sites are gone, and the
remaining ones look a lot different
now. Genealogists’ online expectations have changed: Now we want
records and a sophisticated way to
search them. We want to click to see
the original record, and copy a formatted source citation. We want to interact with other genealogists.
Such sites are the bulk of this year’s
101 Best Websites, our 15th list (see
page 18). Even in that first 101 Best
Websites article, Cyndi’s List creator
Cyndi Ingle said that some genealogists “think the internet promotes junk
genealogy.” That debate is still going on
today—and it’s still a draw. Yes, you can
find family trees linking your ancestors
to people you’ve never heard of, and
trees set up by folks who don’t know
(or maybe don’t care) just how many
people of the same name might live in
•••
F+W, A CONTENT + ECOMMERCE COMPANY
Chairman & CEO » David Nussbaum
CFO » James Ogle
the same time and place as their ancestors. But you also can find fully indexed
images of census and probate records;
entire digitized books; detailed step-bystep demos; and help from third, fourth
and more-distant cousins—all whenever it’s convenient for you.
Genealogists clamor for online family
history information today just as much
as back when the internet-fueled “roots
mania” put Cyndi in Time magazine.
That’s why we take the good with the
bad on the internet, and help researchers figure out the difference—and why,
each year, we continue to share the best
digital destinations to discover, preserve and share your family history. President » David Blansfield
President » Sara Domville
Chief Digital Officer » Chad Phelps
VP, eCommerce » Lucas Hilbert
Senior VP, Operations » Phil Graham
VP, Communications » Stacie Berger
•••
VP, Advertising Sales » Dave Davel
Advertising Sales Representative » Jill Ruesch
Advertising Services Assistant » Connie Kostrzewa
Senior Online Marketing Manager » Austin Vosler
•••
Circulation Director » Paul Rolnick
Newsstand Sales » Scott Hill
•••
Family Tree Magazine, published in the United States,
is not affiliated with the British Family Tree Magazine,
or with Family Tree Maker software.
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(855) 278-0408, <shopfamilytree.com>
DIANE’S TOP 3 TIPS
from this issue
1 Use gaps in ancestral timelines, such as a missing marriage
date or a span without entries, to focus your research efforts.
2 Look for guardianship records for all minor heirs. They may
provide names, relationships and important dates and places.
3 Keep up-to-date on additions to your favorite genealogy
websites by subscribing to their email newsletters and
following them on social media.
4
2014
ADVERTISING: Contact Jill Ruesch,
(800) 726-9966 ext. 13223, [email protected].
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Copyright © 2014 F+W, A Content +eCommerce Company.
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Readers respond to Family Tree Magazine
they laugh and ask, “Where did you
think that voice was coming from …
Every Memorial Day weekend, down below?”
my family and I visit cemeteries where
Rosemary Monahan » Dover Plains, NY
our loved ones are buried to show our
respect and plant flowers. We’ve been
Facebook Finder
doing this for many years. At first, my
In the December 2013 issue
husband, brother and mother would of Family Tree Magazine, Sunny
go. Then after my mom passed away, it Jane Morton and Lisa Louise Cooke
was the three of us, and sometimes just included a tip on finding genealogical
two of us if my brother had to work.
groups on Facebook <www.facebook.
Two years ago, I had to go to the com> in their article “Teaming Up.”
cemetery by myself. It was a beautiSince last summer, I’ve been compilful weekend and both my brother and ing a list of genealogical and historical
my husband wanted to get some lawn links (almost 3,900 of them) found on
work done. I felt all right going alone. Facebook, including genealogical and
So off I went early in the morning. historical societies around the world,
I was visiting my father’s grave site, surname lists, Native American genedoing what I normally do: pulling the alogy links, African-American genealweeds, upturning the dirt and plant- ogy links, Jewish genealogy links, DNA
ing flowers. As I was getting finished, lists, cemetery lists, etc.
I went to throw my trash into my car
The list is frequently updated and
and I looked around, noticing I was available to download at no charge
there alone. It was a big cemetery with from my website <socialmediagenealogy.
sections all over. I walked back to say com/genealogy-on-facebook-list>. I hope
goodbye to my dad. I said “I love you, this is helpful for folks.
Dad, I’ll see you later.”
Katherine R. Willson » Ann Arbor, Mich.
All of a sudden, I heard “thank you,
Rosemary,” in a voice that seemed
far away and muffled. I felt my heart
PHOTO FUN
race. I thought, there’s no one here …
where could that be coming from? I
looked around and saw no one. Then
Family Tree Magazine Facebook fans
I happened to look up the hill in front
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captions for this odd old picture. Join
thanking me for planting the flowin the photo-captioning fun at <www.
ers. I’ve told this story to people, and
familytreemagazine.com/facebook>.
Voice-under
“
BEHIND THE SCENES
The Family Tree Magazine staff
happily welcomed three new team
members this summer: Meet Senior
Designer Kelly Pace (right), Content
Creator Kelsea Daulton (center) and
Editorial Intern Andrew Koch (left).
They join Publisher Allison Dolan,
Editor Diane Haddad and Online
Community Editor Tyler Moss.
Stop pandering to the kid,
just take his picture!
» Sir Terrence Hackett
No! No! I said photo shoot,
not bamboo shoot.
» Gayann Tricarico Barbella
Sit still and bear with me.
All of a sudden,
» Shirley-Anne Trudell-Harper
I heard “thank you” in
No color, only black
and white.
a voice that seemed far
away and muffled.
TALK TO US
» Lynette Kaufmann
”
We’d love to hear your research stories, family memories and thoughts about this issue. Email ftmedit@
fwmedia.com or leave us a note on Facebook <www.facebook.com/familytreemagazine>. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.
6
2014
FACEBOOK FAN MAIL
Seeking DC Directions
I’ve been a subscriber to Family
Tree Magazine for several years. On
page 18 of the December 2013 issue,
there’s an article titled “Great State
Sites.” All 50 states are represented
with at least one website. But how
about Washington, DC (or if you prefer, the District of Columbia)? Many
of my father’s side of the family lived
in DC at one time or another. Any suggestions for me?
WHAT’S THE MEANING BEHIND YOUR
OR YOUR ANCESTOR’S SURNAME?
In the western part of Poland it
means “curtains.” In the eastern
part of the country it means “executioner.” So I guess it’s curtains
either way!
» Mary Ann Kotara Schirmer
Steinkerchner (correctly spelled
Steinkirchner) is German for stone
church or someone who lived near
a stone church.
» Pat ‘Thomas’ Steinkerchner
Klepadlo: door knocker
» Terri Klepadlo-Berio
Apparently, “dark, unsolvable
mystery.”
» Susan Gilliamsen Sanders
Pat Kral » via email
Fair-skinned. Pasty white.
» Gretchen White
Schmidt: one who smites; Studebaker: a person who studied to be
a baker.
» Mark Alan Smith
Editor’s note: Our City Genealogy Guide
to Washington DC appeared in the March/
April 2012 Family Tree Magazine, available
from ShopFamilyTree <shopfamilytree.
Hennessey (O hAonghusa in Gaelic)
means son of Angus
» Mary Thieman Hennessey
com/city-guide-washington-dc-digitaldownload-w2270> . Our State Research
Guides series also includes a Washington,
DC, guide; go to <shopfamilytree.com/
Join our community at <www.facebook.com/familytreemagazine>.
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genealogyinsider
Behind the scenes of family history news and trends
{BY SUNNY JANE MORTON}
Find Your Partner
Have you ever felt like you’re on a reality show as the Genealogy Bachelor or Bachelorette? You’re searching
for The One: your perfect subscription website. But it’s not easy to choose Mr. or Ms. Right from the pack.
3 THE GAME SHOW would go some-
thing like this: You meet the handsome
contenders at a party. Ancestry.com
makes the first move. He greets you
with a brotherly hug. “Did you know I
have the entire US census?” He strikes
a pose. “Digitized!”
MyHeritage elbows forward and
caresses your hand. “So do I,” he whispers, arching an eyebrow. “And my
search engine is much more powerful.”
The competition begins in earnest.
But all the websites have smart, stylish interfaces. All are well-endowed
with millions of records and trees. How
will you know whether each is a happily-ever-after fit?
What ’s on the inside— digitized
and indexed historical records—often
counts most to genealogy website subscribers. My rule of thumb has been:
Use FamilySearch.org often because it’s
free. Then search Ancestry.com for US
genealogy, findmypast for the United
Kingdom and MyHeritage for the rest
of the world.
But the rule is changing. Findmypast
and MyHeritage have beefed up their
US content. Then last year, FamilySearch started shelling out millions
of its records to all these companies. FamilySearch.org links some of
its indexes, such as Civil War service
records and various censuses, to record
images on commercial sites (where you
need a subscription to view them). All
four sites host certain public datasets,
such as the National Archives’ military
enlistments at <aad.archives.gov>.
If these sites are all drinking from
the same record streams, do they have
exclusive content worth subscribing
for? Representatives from each company answered this question similarly:
Although some records duplicate
what’s available elsewhere, significant
resources are dedicated to acquiring
unique content.
ANCESTRY.COM: “We work directly
with archives across the globe to identify genealogically rich collections that
have not been published online. We
invest millions of dollars each year
to digitize these new record collections,” says Todd Godfrey, senior director of content acquisition. “As most of
our work is directly with … archives, a
majority of new content we add to the
Ancestry.com service is unique.”
FINDMYPAST.COM: “We’re acquiring new exclusive content in all of the
territories we operate in, signing new
partnerships with record offices and
archives,” says Josh Taylor, data strategy manager. “We coordinate with
several major data sites to avoid duplication, either by working jointly on
projects, or licensing records from or to
our partners.”
MYHERITAGE.COM: “Much of the
content on MyHeritage is exclusive and
… this will be our strategy on a going-
What's most important to you when subscribing to a genealogy website?
Cost isn’t as
important as the
content I need
to access. If it’s
really expensive,
I might keep the
subscription for
only a brief period.
» Diane MacLean Boumenot,
Warwick, RI, <www.onerhodeisland
I still can’t get
myself to pay for
any of them. Call
me cheap.
» Alana
Considine,
Mackville, Vt.,
<freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.
ancestry.com/~beeswing>
family.com>
8
2014
If it’s cheaper than
an in-person trip
to get the records,
I’m in.
» Kerry Scott,
Albuquerque, NM,
<www.cluewagon.
com>
forward basis. We are very effective at
partnering with the major … repositories around the world at digitizing
collections that are not currently available online. With the vast amount of
undigitized content in the world, it is to
everyone's advantage to focus on content that is unique,” says Russ Wilding,
chief content officer.
Increasingly, researchers want more
than old records from a genealogy
website. As Taylor says, “It’s about the
records, yes, but it’s also about what
you can do with them.” For example,
you may prefer a certain site's search
for its power and flexibility. Savvier
search engines automatically pull in
all parameters from a relative’s profile
in your family tree and rank results by
how well they match the most important fields and record types.
You may find a site easier on the eye,
better organized or better at social
networking than others. It may excel
at user tutorials and research how-tos.
Another may source its databases more
thoroughly. Family tree-building tools
on one site may be easier or more flexible. Automated alert or hint systems
may be awesome or annoying.
So here’s a proposal: Today’s genealogy website relationships don’t have to
run by Grandma's dating rules. Longterm commitment isn’t required and
multiple partners are fine. Have a hot
research session with a subscription
site at the library or with a free trial
before committing with your credit
card. Keep an eye on genealogy sites’
blogs and Facebook pages for new collections of interest. Don’t be afraid to
cancel a subscription and try another
site. Just download your family tree
data and record images, along with
source information, so you don’t lose
access to them.
So when one website suitor casually
mentions his enormous 1890 census
substitute database, you can roll your
eyes. And then check it out. Even say “I
do” if you like. At least for a while.
5 Questions With
QUINTON ATKINSON
As Ancestry.com's director of content acquisition, Quinton Atkinson has traveled the globe
in search of unique, valuable historical records
for family historians. A genealogist’s dream
job? You decide.
1
In a nutshell, what do you do?
I help obtain permission to publish genealogically valuable records on our website. It’s my opportunity to figure out what an
archive or repository wants out of records digitization, and to see if we can
make it happen. On the business side, we jump into contracts and legalese.
That’s where it can be really challenging. Each US state is different. And each
country has different ways of doing business and communicating.
2
What are the coolest old records you’ve seen?
The lineage books of the Ming and Qing royal dynasties of China, in
the First Historical Archives of China in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
They’re massive books, 4 or 5 feet tall, and kept in painted wooden cabinets. It
takes multiple people just to turn the pages.
3
4
The lilt in your voice is clearly not Utahn,
where you now live. Where are you from?
Cape Town, South Africa. I moved from the beach to the desert about 20
years ago.
How many languages do you have to communicate in?
How many do you actually speak?
I speak English and Afrikaans. I try to communicate in each new language I encounter, but most people don’t understand me. In Germany, Italy,
China and France, I never went without an interpreter. But after 10 to 20 meetings in a given language, it’s interesting how quickly you pick up the basics of
how someone might feel. You combine their body language and tone of voice
with key words you might understand.
5
When you get away from old records, what do you do?
My wife and I just had a baby, our first child together. I have four other
children and she has three. We are the Brady Bunch! It keeps us busy
coaching soccer and taking kids to appointments. But I also might be in the
garden, swimming, running, biking or training for a triathlon.
READ MORE
of our interview with Quinton Atkinson on the Genealogy
Insider blog <bit.ly/genealogy-bonus-questions>.
9
genealogyinsider
THE GENEALOGY WEB
What a tangled web genealogy organizations weave as they make acquisitions and form content partnerships.
Trace the major connections in the genealogy industry with our chart.
GenForum
Genealogy.com
201
4
14
20
20
02
Origins.net
3
200
20
12
2005
Heritage Makers
Federation of Family
History Societies
ANCESTRY.COM
2012
200
7
0
201
20
10
GeneTree
iArchives/Footnote
(now Fold3)
Relative Genetics
NEHGS
Society of
Genealogists
Genline
British Library
ProGenealogists
Mocavo
12
20
ReadyMicro
Kindo.com
Pearl Street
Software
FreeBMD
Geni.com
2007
ProQuest
FINDMYPAST
10
20
2012
British
National
Archives
20
14
Archives.com
Broderbund/
Family Tree
Maker
BigHugs.com
2000
Find A Grave
1000memories
JewishGen
RootsWeb
US National
Archives
08
20
2012
2010
Newpaper
ARCHIVE
Online Social Networking
group/Verwandt.de
MYHERITAGE
BackUpMyTree.com
2011
2010
ZOOOF.com
11
20
1
201
Family Link/World
Vital Records
FAMILYSEARCH
Bliscy.pl
BillionGraves
Tributes.com
EllisIsland.org
Family Tree
DNA
Allen County
Public Library
10
2014
= Partnership
= Acquisition
= Site/company discontinued
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historymatters
{ B Y D AV I D A . F R Y X E L L }
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-pga-0376 4
Innovations and trends that shaped your ancestors’ lives
A Briefing on Briefs
3 OUR MALE AND female readers will no doubt have dif- a challenge since the invention of clothes. The earliest
fering reasons for celebrating, but we all can join in marking underwear, the loincloth, was originally worn as outerwear
the official 100th anniversary of the brassiere, patented on in warm climates. Leather loincloths have been found datNov. 3, 1914. Mary Phelps Jacob, a New York socialite, had ing back 7,000 years, and Egypt’s King Tut (1341 BCE to 1323
actually invented the bra by accident the year before, when BCE) was buried with multiple linen loincloths.
Men continued to wear loincloths in ancient Greece,
her whalebone corset simply wouldn’t do under her sheer
though by Roman Empire times it had evolved to a shortsevening gown. Jacob employed a pair of silk handkerlike subligaculum. Female athletes wore a short
chiefs and some silk ribbon instead, and undergarsubligaculum plus an upper strophium, an outfit
ment history was made.
Catherine de
that would pass for a bikini on today’s beaches.
Although Jacob briefly manufactured her
Medici is sometimes
In the colder climes of northern Europe
“Backless Brassiere” under the business
credited with the invention
during the Middle Ages, people discovered
name of Caresse Crosby, the appeal of being
of women’s panties, enabling
the benefits of “layering” and underwear
an undergarment mogul soon paled. She
her to modestly ride a
became less interchangeable with outerwear.
sold her patent to the Warner Brothers Corhorse with one leg folded
Men adopted a loose sort of trousers called
set Co. in Connecticut for $1,500. Warner,
across its neck.
braies, which were laced and tied around the
which would develop the “alphabet” system
waist and at mid-calf. Originated by Celtic and
for bra cup sizes (A, B, C, D) in 1935, made some
Germanic tribes, braies got covered by other clothes
$15 million from Jacob’s invention over the next
and worn as underwear in the Middle Ages. They became
30 years.
Jacob was hardly the first underwear innovator motivated shorter as chausses—originally leg armor and later, woolen
more by comfort and style than profit. What to wear under leggings—became longer. Eventually, form-fitting hose took
our clothes (or sometimes instead of clothes) has presented braies’ place.
12
2014
Glastenbury Knitting Co. of Connecticut was the leading supplier of
undergarments for the Union Army during the Civil War. Later, it provided
400,000 pairs of Long Johns to WWI troops.
Given the complexity of getting into
The term
and lacing up a man’s braies, a buttoned
lingerie, from the
or tied front flap was essential for
French linge (linen),
answering the call of nature. This led
first appeared
to the codpiece, worn on the outside,
about 1922.
which Henry VIII of England famously
padded—leading to a 16th-century fad of
ever-larger codpieces. It wasn’t entirely vanity; codpieces also were handy as small pockets.
Medieval men and women covered their upper bodies with
a chemise (called a smock or shift in England), the forerunner of the modern shirt, which men tucked into their braies.
For women, the chemise became the innermost of an escalating layering of petticoats. The farthingale, introduced in
the 16th century, added hoops to shape the skirts on top. Over
that, a stiff linen underbodice called a cotte (later, a body),
which had a “push-up” effect, evolved into an early form of
the corset.
Simple cotton, flannel, linen or silk knee-length trousers
known as drawers (because you “draw” them up) replaced
men’s complicated braies and hose. The inventions of the
cotton gin and spinning jenny in the 18th century hastened
and democratized this underwear evolution. For the first
time, cotton underwear could be mass-produced in factories
and sold in stores.
For women in the 18th and 19th centuries, however, fashion trumped comfort. Stays, laced behind the back, forced
an erect posture. When “wasp” waists became fashionable
in the 1820s, stays turned into corsets—stiffened with steel
or whalebone—that narrowed the waist, sometimes at the
expense of internal organs. Atop the corset women wore a
horde of pettitcoats, crinolines and often a bustle, popular
in the 1880s as an enhancement to the shape of the buttocks.
Both women and men adopted the “emancipation union
under flannel” or union suit, invented in 1868 in reaction to
the constricting corsets of the day. The forerunner of long
johns (possibly named after boxer John L. Sullivan), the
union suit buttoned up the front and sported a convenient
buttoned rear flap for trips to the outhouse.
Most of the late-19th and early-20th-century underwear
innovations benefited men. In 1874, C.F. Bennett invented
the jockstrap to protect the nether regions of “bicycle jockeys” bouncing on cobblestone streets. Guelph Elastic Hosiery
of Ontario added the first hard cup in 1927. Happily, another
jockstrap innovation, marketed in 1900 as the Heidelberg
Electric Belt, failed to catch on; it administered a low voltage
puported to cure impotence, insomnia and other ailments.
13
IN TIME
1829 | A corset
a woman could
put on without
help debuts
1868 | Union
suit invented in
Utica, NY
1871 | Fruit of
the Loom brand is
trademarked
1928 |
Maidenform starts
making bras
1935 | Jockey
briefs introduced
at Marshall Field
in Chicago
1940 | DuPont’s
nylon stockings
cause near-riots
in stores
1946 | Frederick
Mellinger founds
Frederick’s of
Hollywood
1968 | Feminists
protest the Miss
America Pageant
by throwing bras
into a trash can
1971 | Coopers,
Inc. changes its
name to Jockey
Menswear
1977 | Hina
Miller, Lisa Lindahl
and Polly Smith
invent the sports
bra
history
r
The first
advertisements for
underwear, which emphasized
comfort and durability rather than
fashion, appeared in the 1910s.
In 1911, the Saturday Evening Post
printed an ad painted by J.C.
Leyendecker depicting the
“Kenosha Closed Krotch.”
Long drawers and union suits lost popularity after World War I, during which
soldiers got used to short underwear
with a button-front “yoke.” Jacob Golomb,
founder of the Everlast boxing-equipment
company, invented boxer shorts—named for
their origins in the trunks boxers wore—in 1925.
He replaced the trunks’ leather belts with more
flexible elastic waistbands.
But modern men’s underwear didn’t really take shape until
a postcard from the French Riviera arrived in the mailbox
of Arthur Kneibler, an executive at the Coopers underwear
company in Wisconsin. The postcard, depicting men wearing snug swimwear, inspired Kneibler to create men’s briefs.
First sold at Chicago’s Marshall Fields department store on
Jan. 19, 1935, and named the jockey (because they provided
support previously found only in jockstraps), the briefs were
a sensation. The company sold 30,000 in just three months
and eventually renamed itself Jockey.
In addition to ushering in more-comfortable men’s underwear, World War I helped free women from restrictive
corsets with metal stays: The government discouraged women from buying
them, which saved some 28,000 tons of
metal for the war effort. The new brassiere helped take up the slack. Other innovations soon followed: garter belts to hold
up flappers’ stockings when they danced;
girdles to replace the corset; latex panties, introduced in 1930; nylon stockings in 1940, when 64 million
pairs were sold and manufacturers couldn’t keep up with
demand (women had to resort to painted-on stockings or
going bare after World War II cut off supplies of silk and
nylon). Pantyhose were invented in 1959—not surprisingly,
many women would note, by a man, Allen Grant Sr.
A man also gets the credit (or blame) for popularizing
the thong. In 1935, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ordered strippers to replace G-strings with (slightly)
less revealing thongs. Years later, with Hank Panky’s 4811
Original Rise thong in 1986, the thong gained acceptance as
underwear—not so different from the loincloths our ancestors wore. ENVISION
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Tools for taking care of your family’s legacy
ASK ARCHIVIST
Buffered Zone
3 YOUR ANCESTOR MAY or may not have been an A+ stu-
Most paper produced after
the 19th century is made from
wood-based pulp, which contains a substance called lignin
that helps hold fibers together.
In time, lignin breaks down
and produces acid, causing the
paper to turn brown and deteriorate. Materials stored next
to this type of paper are prone to damage, too, from acid
migration.
Buffered paper contains a buffering agent, such as calcium
carbonate, to raise its pH level and neutralize the acids in
adjacent materials. Sheets of buffered paper interleaved in
old scrapbooks help protect acidic newspaper clippings from
harming other materials. Folders made of buffered paper
help protect old paper records. For tips on when to use buffered storage materials, see <www.universityproducts.com/
resources.php?m=how_to_detail&id=4>.
dent, but someone in your family tree deserves a gold star for
saving those old school papers. Employ these lessons from
archival experts to preserve the reports, papers and artwork
in your family collection.
Preserving Yearbooks
BACK TO SCHOOL
R e p o r t C a r d , G r a c e S u t h e r l a n d , 5 t h G r a d e , S e n t o u s S t r e e t S c h o o l , 1 8 9 6 - 1 8 9 7, L A U S D A r t & A r t i f a c t C o l l e c t i o n s & A r c h i v e s
{BY DENISE LEVENICK}
Q. I inherited my parents’ old school papers and
artwork from the 1930s and ’40s. Some are on
newsprint and turning brown. What’s the best
way to preserve these keepsakes?
A. Most 20th-century school work is on inexpensive paper
If your school yearbooks have
intact bindings, you can safely
store them upright on sturdy
shelving within the living area
of your home (not a basement
or attic, where fluctuations in
temperature and humidity are
common). Try to avoid areas
subject to dust and smoke.
Remove any bookmarks and
memorabilia from inside the
books. Preserve the context of
the item by replacing it with a
photocopy on acid-free paper.
Avoid removing books from
the shelf by pulling on the spine.
Instead, gently grasp the front
and back covers.
To remove dust, gently vacuum your books and bookshelves
using the hose attachment with a nylon stocking stretched
over the nozzle and secured with a rubber band.
Store rare or fragile books in archival drop-front boxes that
closely fit the size of the book. They’re available from suppliers such as <www.brodard.com> or <www.gaylord.com>.
not meant to be saved for generations. Lignin and acids in the
paper cause it to turn brown and brittle over time. Scanning
these papers preserves the content, even if the paper itself
deteriorates.
You can delay disintegration by keeping report cards and
other printed papers in buffered, acid-free archival file folders (see box, above right). Open each item flat. Artwork made
with charcoal, pastel, crayon or other “unstable” media, however, is better stored in unbuffered enclosures—the buffering
agent can cause changes in color. If such art is mounted on
acidic board, put it in an unbuffered enclosure with a sheet of
buffered paper against the back of the mounting board. Don’t
store artwork in plastic sleeves, because the static electricity
can lift the art media. Keep the folders in an archival box in
an area with relatively consistent temperature and humidity.
To display items such as diplomas or certificates, frame
them with an acid-free, archival mat and backing board
under UV-3 glass (which helps prevent fading due to light
exposure). Or, frame a digital copy and preserve the original
in archival storage.
15
Project Idea: Saving School Days
Preserve the next generation of school
keepsakes with new smartphone and
tablet apps that add a fun and creative
twist to simply snapping digital photos of
your child’s or grandchild’s schoolwork.
Use these apps to capture, organize, and
share artwork and school papers with
family and friends, and send digital files
to your favorite book making site to create archival-quality digital books:
KEEPY <www.keepy.me> for Android,
iOS and Kindle devices lets you showcase
art, photos, videos and recorded comments (shown). Sync Keepy with Dropbox and upload photos to your favorite
bookmaking service to create a custom
book of your child’s creations. It comes
in both free and enhanced paid versions.
ARTKIVE <www.artkiveapp.com>, a
free app for Android and iOS, helps you
digitally capture and organize artwork,
and offers one-touch sharing with social
networks. You also can create keepsake
custom photo products.
CANVSLY <www.canvsly.com> offers
an iPhone/iPad app (it’s working on an Android version) to capture, organize and share
children’s artwork, as well as create keepsakes with it.
Family Tree
Pinspiration
You can get creative ideas for saving,
sharing and displaying your children’s
or grandchildren’s artwork by visiting
our Family Tree Pinspiration board
on Pinterest <www.pinterest.com/
familytreemag /family-treepinspiration>. You don’t have to be a
member of Pinterest to view boards
or click on pins, but you’ll want to join
Pinterest so you can create your own
boards for project ideas and genealogy
research tips.
Courtesy of Crayola
Crayola crayons eight-pack
When cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith—owners of an industrial pigment supply company—produced the first box of eight wax school crayons in 1903, they created a
legacy that has endured into the 21st century. Binney’s wife, Alice, contributed the new
brand name: “Crayola” comes from the French term for “chalk,” craie, plus “ola” from the
word oleaginous (“oily”). Today, generations around the world have their own favorite
colors in the Crayola lineup.
The first boxes of Crayola crayons, sold door to door for five cents each, held red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown and black. By 1905, the product line expanded
to 18 different-size boxes, with packaging emphasizing the gold medal Binney & Smith
received at the 1904 World’s Fair for dustless chalk. The “Crayola 48” box, with “stadium seating” to display the rainbow of coloring sticks, debuted in 1949. In 1958, the
company introduced the 64-color box with a built-sharpener. The 70s saw eight new
fluorescent colors, bringing the number of colors to 72. Metallics, scented, changeable
and swirl colors came along in the 90s. If you’ve held onto Crayola crayons from your
childhood, you can learn more about them in A Century of Crayola Collectibles: A Price
Guide by Bonnie B. Rushlow (Hobby House Press). 16
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Let our 15th annual listing of the 101 best genealogy websites guide your
research to new sites—and give you new reasons to visit old favorites.
B Y D AV I D A . F R Y X E L L
3 TIME FLIES WHEN you’re having fun researching your
it easy for you to zoom in on the type of site you’re looking
to explore, from social media sites to maps to state or foreign databases.
As before, in the list that follows, we’ve indicated with a $
symbol sites that require a subscription or other payment to
access the core content; mostly free sites that also offer paid
premium services don’t carry the $ sign.
family history. It’s hard to believe, but this is our 15th annual
installment of the 101 Best Websites for genealogy research.
(If you do the math, that’s 1,515 total website write-ups,
though of course many honorees repeat from year to year.)
To celebrate the occasion, we’ve broken this year’s roster of
outstanding websites into 15 categories—which also makes
18
2014
FAMILY HISTORY
HEAVYWEIGHTS
building is free for pedigrees up to 250 names. A separate
data subscription costs $119.40 annually.
$ WORLD VITAL RECORDS <www.worldvitalrecords.com>
Being owned by MyHeritage, combined with a content partnership with findmypast, has enabled this site to expand far
beyond its “vital records” moniker. It covers more than 4 billion names from more than 40 countries. Subscribers ($89.99
a year) enjoy many of the best UK records from findmypast,
family trees from MyHeritage, a 2.1-billion-name Newspaper
Archive Collection and more.
$ ANCESTRY.COM <ancestry.com>
In addition to buying up a bevy of other sites and launching
Newspapers.com (see page 24), Ancestry.com has continued
to beef up its own content. The subscription site ($149 for
six months’ global access) now numbers more than 32,000
searchable databases, including complete US census coverage. Apps let you view your uploaded trees on the go, and the
AncestryDNA autosomal testing service ($99) makes an easy
introduction to genetic genealogy.
ALL-AMERICAN DATA
$ ARCHIVES.COM <www.archives.com>
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY GENEALOGY CENTER
<www.genealogycenter.org>
Touting itself as a research bargain at just $7.95 a month,
Archives.com (now owned by Ancestry.com) has been working hard to make that price tag seem even more like a steal,
now offering more than 2.6 billion digital records. New
reasons to give it a try include nearly 4.1 million Evangelical Lutheran Church in America birth, marriage and death
records plus US vital records from many states. In addition,
you still can search the 1940 US census images for free here.
Second only to the Family History Library, this Fort Wayne,
Ind., resource has a formidable online presence, too, with
databases including military records, family histories and
Bible data, plus gateways for African-American and Native
American research. Use the Genealogy Center Surname File
to identify others researching your same surname.
$ AMERICAN ANCESTORS <www.americanancestors.com>
Though focused on records of New England ancestors, this
subscription site ($79.95 a year) from the New England Historic Genealogical Society is also strong on New York and
Pennsylvania. You can tap some 3,000 databases as well as
back issues of publications such as New England Ancestors,
The American Genealogist and The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine.
FAMILYSEARCH.ORG <www.familysearch.org>
This free site from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has been in a genealogical arms race with Ancestry.
com, adding databases and online extensions at a feverish
pace. Just recently, FamilySearch added more than 10 million
indexed records and images from the US, England, Germany,
Hungary, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia and Ukraine. The
benefits of uploading your family tree to FamilySearch.org
keep growing, too, with new “hinting” for possible record
matches and photo uploading. (Be sure to check this 101 list
for sites that do tricks with your FamilySearch trees.)
$ CENSUSRECORDS.COM <www.censusrecords.com>
Don’t want to commit to one of our “heavyweight” subscription sites? Search more than 677 million US census records
(1790-1940), then pay only for the results you want to view,
starting at $7.95 for 1,000 credits. There’s also a subscription
plan, priced at $34.95 for six months.
$ FINDMYPAST.COM <www.findmypast.com>
Since expanding to this side of the Atlantic from its home
in Britain, findmypast.com has grown in value beyond its
comprehensive collections of UK censuses, vital and church
records, and UK and Irish newspapers. It now boasts all US
censuses as well, and recently added the Periodical Source
Index (PERSI) to genealogy publications, which it’s working
to link to the original journal articles. New mobile apps will
soon make this subscription site even more worthy of your
$16.66 a month.
HERITAGEQUEST ONLINE <www.heritagequestonline.com>
Contact your local or state library’s reference desk to ask
whether it subscribes to this institution-only site. If it
does, you’ll find images of US censuses to 1940 (not all are
fully indexed, however), the PERSI database, 28,000 family and local history books, Freedman’s Bank records, the
US Serial Set, and Revolutionary War pension and bounty
applications.
$ MYHERITAGE <www.myheritage.com>
Originally known for its family tree hosting and matching
technology, MyHeritage has expanded to become a major
player in research resources, too, with partnerships, acquisitions and its own databases. If you have Scandinavian
roots, take note of its recent addition of millions of records
from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Family tree-
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS <loc.gov>
Speaking of libraries, the nation’s book collection has a
pretty impressive site of its own, home to its online catalog, the American Memory collection <memory.loc.gov> ,
the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections <loc.
gov/coll/nucmc> and the ever-growing Chronicling America
19
incarnation as Footnote.com, before the focus shifted to
military research. Subscriptions cost $79.95 annually, but
members of Ancestry.com (which now owns Fold3) can join
for just $39.95 a year.
newspaper collection <chroniclingamerica.loc.gov>. About 7.6
million newspaper pages were accessible there for free.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
<archives.gov>
The Online Public Access system <archives.gov/research/
search> provides one-click searching of everything in the
NATIONWIDE GRAVESITE LOCATOR
<gravelocator.cem.va.gov>
“nation’s attic,” from the online catalog, to old photos and
maps, to WWII enlistment files and the Rough Riders’ service records. Use eServices to order reproductions of census
pages, court records, immigration and naturalization records
and land files.
What the American Battle Monuments Commission site is to
overseas military burials, this Veterans Administration (VA)
site is to domestic cemeteries. It searches burials of veterans
and their family members in VA national cemeteries, state
veterans cemeteries, other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and private cemeteries when the grave is
marked with a government marker.
USGENWEB <www.usgenweb.org>
Approaching two decades (as of 2016) of service to genealogists, this free volunteer site continues to serve as an essential jumping-off point for individual state and county pages.
Special projects also found here include maps, tombstone
transcriptions, military pensions, censuses and more.
SOCIAL MEDIA STARS
FACEBOOK <www.facebook.com>
Don’t think the king of all social media merits a place on
a genealogy website list? Download the 113-page “Genealogy on Facebook” PDF file from <socialmediagenealogy.com/
genealogy-on-facebook-list> containing 3,800 links. Everybody from the Association of Professional Genealogists to
the WorldCat library database to us here at your favorite
genealogy magazine has a Facebook page these days. We’re
beginning to think that Mark Zuckerberg fella might be
onto something.
MILITARY MATTERS
AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION
<www.abmc.gov>
This newly redesigned website is dedicated to American
war dead buried in overseas cemeteries. You still can search
records of nearly 125,000 US military buried in 25 cemeteries abroad, plus 94,000 more commemorated on Tablets of
the Missing.
FLICKR <www.flickr.com>
What Facebook is to friends, Flickr is to photos, as evidenced by the photo streams here from sources including
the National Archives, New York Public Library, Library
of Congress and Smithsonian. If you haven’t dived into
the “Genealogy Collection” pool <www.flickr.com/groups/
genealogy_collections>, wake up and start uploading—you’ve
got a free terabyte to fill.
CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS & SAILORS SYSTEM
<www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm>
This go-to site from the National Parks Service is adding to
its Civil War coverage, with a growing cemetery database,
info on POWs and guides to places and politicians. The core
of the site remains its database of 6.3 million soldiers from
both sides, linked to regimental histories and battle accounts.
PINTEREST <pinterest.com>
Sort of like the love child of Facebook and Flickr, this pictureposting site resembles a giant collective scrapbook. The
genealogy applications are obvious, with old family photos
just the beginning. Online images you pin—like that census
page you want to share—retain links to their original online
homes, so it’s easy for others to follow your lead.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION <dar.org>
Perhaps opening up its genealogical databases to the public
had something to do with the DAR recording its biggest-ever
gain in new members last year—totaling 13,906 newly documented female descendants of Revolutionary War patriots.
Those new enrollees no doubt took advantage of the three
interconnected databases (containing patriots, descendants of patriots and DAR members) of the DAR Genealogical Research System <services.dar.org/public/dar_research/
search>, as well as the online DAR library catalog.
TIP: Click through to all our 2014 101 Best
Websites at <familytreemagazine.com/
article/101-best-websites-2014>.
$ FOLD3 <www.fold3.com>
Now boasting more than 436 million records, this slick site
keeps adding military records, all searchable and linked to
images. You’ll also find five US censuses, several US city
directories and a smattering of other leftovers from its
20
2014
WERELATE <www.werelate.org>
The wiki-ization of genealogy research is led by this free
site, sponsored by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy
in partnership with the Allen County Public Library. Last
we looked, WeRelate had user-created pages for more than
2.5 million individuals—maybe some that you’re related to.
WIKITREE <www.wikitree.com>
A new automated “MatchBot” matches your kin with the 7
million-plus profiles from more than 167,000 “WikiTeers,”
and the DNA Ancestor Confirmation Aid helps you plan
genetic genealogy testing. When others post content related
to your surnames, the Surname Following feature alerts you.
YOUTUBE <www.youtube.com>
We hesitated before adding this video site to our best list,
thinking of it as that place where you watch funny cat and
baby videos. Then we tried a search for genealogy and got
almost 100,000 hits, from sources ranging from “Finding
Your Roots” host Henry Louis Gates to Ancestry.com to Family Tree Magazine contributor Lisa Louise Cooke.
PUTTING ANCESTORS
ON THE MAP
16 public-land states plus Texas on a single interactive map.
Your $59 annual subscription also includes the Antique Maps
Collection, with 100,000 landowners compiled from nearly
4,000 old maps.
ATLAS OF HISTORICAL COUNTY BOUNDARIES
<publications.newberry.org/ahcbp>
HISTORYPIN <www.historypin.com>
This site from Chicago’s Newberry Library is simply the best
way to understand how shifting county boundaries might
have affected the whereabouts of your ancestors’ records. It
lets you pan and zoom and overlay yesteryear’s borders onto
modern geography. You can even download state files and
import them into Google Earth.
The winner of a Webby award for best nonprofit website,
this free site (with accompanying smartphone apps) from
Britain-based We Are What We Do combines geography
and history with help from more than 55,000 users and the
collections of 1,692 institutions. Historical image uploads
get plotted on Google maps, which you can use to compare
old photos with street views showing how the same locations look today.
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT GENERAL LAND OFFICE
RECORDS <www.glorecords.blm.gov>
Find your ancestors in federal land records, including more
than 5 million images of land patents from 1820 on, plus digitized plats and field notes describing the surveying process.
Fill out search criteria or use the map interface, then plot
where each of your results is located.
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY <www.nypl.org>
New at this site already rich with e-books, images and old
maps is the Map Warper <maps.nypl.org/warper>, which lets
you overlay one of more than 15,000 digitized historical maps
onto modern maps and digitally rectify them. Register to add
your own “control points” to match an old map and the corresponding modern map.
$ HISTORIC MAP WORKS <www.historicmapworks.com>
Geocoded to modern maps, the nearly 1.6 million historical
maps here are searchable by today’s address, latitude and
longitude, keywords, town names, mapmakers’ names or
by year, or browse by state or country. Subscriptions cost
$124.99 a year, but you also can opt to pay per use if you have
only a few map mysteries to solve.
$ PLACEMYPAST <placemypast.com>
This Australia-based site combines family trees with maps
and geocoding technology, enabling you to place even the
most obscure family history events in geographic context.
Once you upload your family tree, your ancestors’ events are
literally put on the map. A basic account is free, but to upload
historical maps (which the site then matches to modern
locations), view family migrations and use other advanced
features, you’ll need to subscribe at $24 a year.
$ HISTORYGEO <www.historygeo.com>
Got homesteaders in your tree? The First Landowners
Project here combines more than 7 million landowners in
21
ROOTSMAPPER.COM <rootsmapper.com>
In addition to buying up a bevy
Here’s a new reason to upload your ancestors to FamilySearch: Once you do, this free site maps as many generations
as you specify, including the birthplaces of each individual,
and animates their migrations. It works only with trees in
FamilySearch, however.
of other sites and launching
Newspapers.com, Ancestry.com has
continued to beef up its own content.
US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY <www.usgs.gov/pubprod>
Where was that place your ancestors lived back when? The
National Atlas and Geographic Names Information System
will find “Deep River” or “Hoot’s Hollow” or any other place,
however obscure. Then you can plot it on the customizable
National Map or find it in the growing Historical Topographic Map Collection.
ROOTSWEB <rootsweb.ancestry.com>
Another site that combines uploaded images with Google
Maps, this would-be “photographic history of the world”
needs only location and year to put your old photo in fourdimensional context. It’s free to use (as is the iPhone app),
but you must register to upload.
Still free and host to a bevy of genealogy databases long after
its acquisition by for-profit giant Ancestry.com, this site now
makes the list for its wealth of how-to primers and expertise.
In addition to in-depth getting-started guidance, you’ll find
more than 32,000 genealogy mailing lists on topics from the
surname Aaland to research in Zimbabwe.
IN THE KNOW
COOL TOOLS
WHATWASTHERE <www.whatwasthere.com>
THE ANCESTRY INSIDER <ancestryinsider.blogspot.com>
BACKUPMYTREE.COM <www.backupmytree.com>
The anonymous Insider has been a muckety-muck at both
FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, and now delivers the scoop
on both (despite the site’s Ancestry-only name). For the latest
on these two genealogy giants, this is the place to point your
browser.
Compatible with most Windows genealogy programs, this
free service automatically backs up your files; you can then
access your data from anywhere via a web browser. It even
retains up to 25 previous versions in case you accidentally
delete Great-Aunt Mildred and her entire line.
DEAR MYRTLE <blog.dearmyrtle.com>
DIIGO <www.diigo.com>
Besides the blog by Myrtle—who’s been sharing genealogy
insights since 1995—links take you to lessons, webinars,
checklists for getting organized, Myrtle’s YouTube channel
and more.
Think of Diigo as sticky notes for the web. “Paste” a note on
that marriage record you wanted to follow up on, and the
next time you visit that web page your note will be waiting for you. You can keep your note private or share with a
group, and access notes from any device including tablets or
smartphones.
EASTMAN’S ONLINE GENEALOGY NEWSLETTER
<blog.eogn.com>
Dick Eastman has been covering genealogy technology
almost since there first was such a thing. His blog (also in
email form) covers tech topics such as “Using Ancestry.com
for Free in the Library” and “Why You Need a Second (and
Better) Email Address,” as well as non-plugged-in subjects
like “The Mysterious Genealogy of Russian President Putin.”
Get extra articles and no ads in his “Plus” version for $19.95
a year.
EVERNOTE <www.evernote.com>
GENEALOGY GEMS <www.genealogygems.tv>
$ FAMILYTREEDNA <www.familytreedna.com>
Podcast queen Lisa Louise Cooke walks you through topics
such as “How to Identify Old Photos’ Locations” and “Using
Marriage Records in Family History.” Her site serves up more
than 160 free shows plus videos, and members can access
even more for $29.95 a year.
Enter the brave new world of genetic genealogy here, with
the largest DNA database and a complete suite of testing
services ($99 to $199). Need a crash course first? Explore
the beginners forum, study the success stories and read the
tutorials and interviews.
Evernote is perfect for saving your genealogy finds for easy
retrieval. Click to clip a web page, image or text and save it
to Evernote, then access it from anywhere on any device.
The web clipper is now also available for Chrome, Safari
and Opera browsers (in addition to Firefox and Internet
Explorer), and if you have Penultimate for your iPad you can
hand-write notes.
22
2014
History Library. That’s in addition to the 2 billion books and
other items in 10,000 repositories you could already search
for here (using your web browser or a smartphone app), then
view the closest library holding your hits.
GOOGLE <www.google.com>
Well, duh, as they say. From web search to mapping, Google
Earth to Gmail, translations to Google Books, it’s hard to
imagine genealogy without Google as your all-purpose gofer.
$ MOCAVO <www.mocavo.com>
NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH
Conceived as “Google for genealogy,” Mocavo—now owned
by Britain’s findmypast—keeps going beyond that original
mission. You can even add your own data to its search engine,
uploading documents for automatic OCR-ing. And there’s no
need to keep checking the site, as Mocavo will email you as it
finds hits in its latest database additions (more than 300,000
of them in a recent update). Basic searching of one database
at a time is free, but to do a global search, access advanced
search features and download records you find, you’ll want
to spring for a Silver ($84 a year) or Gold ($108) upgrade.
$ CANADIANA <www.canadiana.ca/en/home>
Busily digitizing Canada’s past, this site includes rare books,
old magazines and newspapers, parish records, passenger
and shipping records, land books and more. Content in the
Canadiana Discovery Portal is free, but complete access to
the 12 Early Canadiana Online collections costs $100 a year.
A new Héritage project, including 60 million pages of microfilm images, is free, with a premium plan in the works.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA
<www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html>
PUZZILLA <puzzilla.org>
Another new site that works with your FamilySearch trees,
Puzzilla gives you a mile-high overview of your pedigree
so you can spot holes, dead ends worth revisiting and lines
left incomplete. Click on an ancestor symbol to reveal that
individual’s descendants; click on a descendant symbol to
automatically launch a search in FamilySearch.
Get your Canadian census records right here, with searchable
1871, 1881 and 1891 enumerations, plus others you can browse.
Military and border-entry records have been added to this
site’s collections, which also include land and vital records.
CYNDI’S LIST <cyndislist.com>
Searching more than a million Nova Scotia birth, marriage
and death records here is free, as is viewing digitized originals. You can then order electronic versions of your finds for
$10.84 each, or paper copies for $21.74.
NOVA SCOTIA HISTORICAL VITAL STATISTICS
<www.novascotiagenealogy.com>
This pioneering guide to genealogy websites—18 years and
counting—totals more than 330,000 links in 200-plus categories. A daily newsfeed now scrolls the latest genealogy news,
and Cyndi’s blog <cyndislist.blogspot.com> serves up tips not
only about her list but also about online genealogy.
$ PROGRAMME DE RECHERCHE EN DÉMOGRAPHIE HISTORIQUE
<www.genealogy.umontreal.ca/en>
Organized by couples and families, as well as vital events,
this trio of Quebec databases offers a unique window into
the province’s past, spanning primarily 1621 to 1799 but also
indexing baptisms and burials to 1849 and marriages to 1911.
Searching is free, but viewing your results starts at about $25
for 150 hits.
TRIBAL PAGES <www.tribalpages.com>
More than just a place to plant your family tree online, Tribal
Pages generates charts and reports just like the genealogy
software you pay for. There’s even a smartphone app (iOS,
Android). Hosting is free, or upgrade for more space and
advanced features.
WORLDCAT <worldcat.org>
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
This catalog of the world’s libraries now includes links
to more than a million listings for FamilySearch’s Family
COLORADO HISTORIC NEWSPAPER COLLECTION
<www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org>
Boasting more than 600,000 digitized pages from 160-plus
Colorado newspaper titles, mostly published from 1859 to
1923, this site makes it easy to scale the mountains of print
that might contain your ancestors’ secrets.
TIP: The genealogy websites and online tools you
use regularly make up your “genealogy toolbox.” You
could organize links to these sites using your browser’s
bookmarks menu, Pinterest <www.pinterest.com>, or
a note-taking site such as Diigo <www.diigo.com> or
Evernote <www.evernote.com>.
DIGITAL LIBRARY OF GEORGIA <dlg.galileo.usg.edu>
Notable for not just its newspapers, but especially for its
South Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive, this site’s
records span from 1845 to 1922. It’s also worth a visit for
colonial wills, Confederate records, historic books, photographs and the online New Georgia Encyclopedia.
23
$ COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, VITAL RECORDS
<www.cookcountygenealogy.com>
Searching this collection of more than 1.27 million birth, 1
million marriage and 2.7 million death records from the Chicago area is free. Downloading copies of the original records
costs just $15 for birth and marriage records or $17 for death
records—less than a Chicago-style stuffed pizza.
TIP: Keep up to date on the latest additions to your
favorite genealogy websites by subscribing to their email
newsletters and following them on social media websites
such as Facebook <www.facebook.com>, Twitter <www.
twitter.com> and Pinterest <www.pinterest.com>.
FIND A GRAVE <www.findagrave.com>
Now part of the Ancestry.com empire and sporting a new
iOS app, this still-free collection of 116 million grave records
is searchable by name or you can browse by cemetery. Many
entries have photos of the headstones.
$ GENEALOGYBANK <www.genealogybank.com>
Though its more than 1.5 billion records aren’t limited to
newspapers, that’s still the core strength of this subscription website ($69.95 annually). Search more than 6,500 titles
ranging from 1690 to today, from small-town papers to bigcity dailies, and narrow your search to a particular state, city,
date or publication.
UTAH STATE ARCHIVES <archives.utah.gov/research>
This searchable database of more than 250,000 Utah death
certificates (1904-1961) is linked to images of the original
records. You also can search for birth certificates (1905-1913),
then click over to the sister Utah State History site <heritage.
utah.gov/history/cemeteries> to search nearly 600,000 cemetery records.
$ NEWSPAPERS.COM <www.newspapers.com>
This Ancestry.com offshoot is rapidly adding content, most of
it not duplicating newspapers found at the parent site. At last
count, the site’s collection contains more than 3,000 newspapers totaling more than 68 million pages, and you can narrow
results by state, newspaper and date. The cost is $79.95 a year,
but Ancestry.com subscribers can get a price break.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN ROOTS
AFRIGENEAS <www.afrigeneas.com>
Search databases including a slave records collection, death
and marriage records, census schedules and a surnames
database. Or connect with fellow researchers with regular
chats, message boards and mailing lists.
UTAH DIGITAL NEWSPAPERS <www.digitalnewspapers.org>
The first statewide newspaper digitization program to pass
1 million pages in content, this site has papers ranging from
the 1850s to 2010. It’s busily adding titles such as the Pleasant
Grove Review, Davis County Clipper and Brigham City Bugler,
along with more major papers covering Salt Lake City.
AFRO-LOUISIANA HISTORY AND GENEALOGY 1719-1820
<www.ibiblio.org/laslave>
ARIZONA GENEALOGY BIRTH AND DEATH CERTIFICATES
<genealogy.az.gov>
Powerful search tools make it a snap to explore this database
of 100,000 Louisiana slaves, collected during 15 years of
research by Dr. Gwendolyn Hall, professor emerita of history
at Rutgers University. You also can view original slave inventory pages.
Putting the grand in Grand Canyon State, this site makes it a
snap to search for PDFs of a birth certificate (1855-1938) or
death certificate (1870-1963).
DIGITAL LIBRARY ON AMERICAN SLAVERY
<library.uncg.edu/slavery>
VYING FOR VITAL RECORDS
Extracted from county court and legislative petitions, wills,
inventories, deeds, bills of sale and other records, this site’s
data provides details on about 80,000 individual slaves and
8,000 free people of color, plus 62,000 whites. Coverage
spans 1775 to 1867 and all 15 slaveholding states plus the District of Columbia.
BILLIONGRAVES <billiongraves.com>
Not quite at its billion goal yet, this upstart cemetery website
is getting there fast. Cleanly designed and easy to use, you
can search it by individual or cemetery. Android and iOS apps
make it easy to contribute tombstone photos and transcriptions wherever you travel.
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN SOUTH <docsouth.unc.edu>
Now including its own line of digital books, this site doesn’t
focus exclusively on African-American heritage, but it’s
nonetheless a rich resource for genealogists tracing black
roots. Collections include “The Church in the Southern
Black Community,” “The Colonial and State Records of
North Carolina” and “North American Slave Narratives.”
BYU IDAHO <abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/famhist>
The standout at this site continues to be the Western States
Historical Marriage Index, now with more than 911,000
entries from a dozen states. You also can search the Idaho
State Death Index (1911-1951) and a separate Eastern Idaho
Death Records file.
24
2014
LOWCOUNTRY AFRICANA <lowcountryafricana.net>
Everybody from the Association of
This handsome site focuses on African-American history in
South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, ranging from records
of slaveholders to a “reading room” for Freedmen’s Bureau
microfilms. A new Beginning Genealogy page will help you
get started.
Professional Genealogists to the
WorldCat library database to your
favorite genealogy magazine has a
STELLAR STATE SITES
Facebook page these days.
CYBERDRIVE ILLINOIS
<www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives>
Packed with data, this Land of Lincoln website offers indexes
to marriages (1763-1900), deaths (pre-1916 and 1916-1950),
land sales and military records. If your global database
search nonetheless comes up empty, consult guides to the
Illinois Regional Archives Depositories to find out where to
write for records.
Archives, Missouri State Library and other institutions
across the state. You’ll find records of births (pre-1910) and
deaths (with images for 1910-1963), military records, naturalization documents, land patents, photographs, old newspapers and much more.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ALABAMA <encyclopediaofalabama.org>
Y’all need to take a look at this in-depth online encyclopedia.
Whether you’re after information on boll weevils, Lane cake
or the lyrics to “Railroad Bill,” the Alabama answers are here.
You’ll also find a new page on the Old Federal Road, highlighting sites on or near the path of this popular migration route.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES
<www.archives.ncdcr.gov>
A new North Carolina Civil War Soldiers Timeline uses letters from individual soldiers plotted on a Google Map and
tied to a timeline so you can follow a soldier’s path both geographically and through time. The Digital Collections link
reveals digitized newspapers, family Bibles, marriage and
death announcements and historic maps.
FLORIDA MEMORY PROJECT <www.floridamemory.com>
Now boasting more than 400,000 individual records including selected counties from the 1825 territorial census, this
Sunshine State site also has Spanish land grants, Confederate
pension applications, WWI service cards and WPA-compiled church records.
SEEKING MICHIGAN <seekingmichigan.org>
Recently added 1884 and 1894 state censuses make this
Michigan site even more useful. Click Advanced Search to
explore the censuses plus nearly 1 million death certificates
(1897-1920), naturalization records, WPA-compiled property
descriptions, oral histories, plat maps, Civil War service
records and more.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES
<www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcgen/genidx.htm>
Helpful how-tos augment the searchable databases <www.
sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcsrch/SearchWelcome.html> of birth,
marriage and death records from 1841 to 1910 and 24 volumes of the Massachusetts Archives, plus an in-progress
indexing project of the 1 million immigrants who arrived via
Boston from 1848 to 1891.
VIRGINIA MEMORY <www.virginiamemory.com/collections>
The new Lost Records Localities Digital Collection attempts
to replace the info lost to courthouse fires and other causes.
Already available for researching your kin in old Virginny
are Revolutionary War land bounties, court records, family
Bibles, Civil War pension rolls and disability applications,
former slaves’ “cohabitation registers,” WWI veterans questionnaires and more.
MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
<www.mnhs.org/genealogy>
Use the PeopleFinder to get started at this site, which has
almost as many genealogy databases as Minnesota has lakes.
They include death cards and certificates from 1904 to
2001, birth records from 1900 to 1934 (plus selected earlier
records), state census records (1865, 1875, 1885, 1895 and
1905), veterans buried in Minnesota and a guide to place
names and building and house histories.
WASHINGTON STATE DIGITAL ARCHIVES
<www.digitalarchives.wa.gov>
Now topping 143 million records digitally preserved, with
nearly 50 million of them searchable, this site includes
historical newspapers, cemetery indexes, censuses, vital
records, naturalization files and land records. Click News for
peeks at the collection on the site’s blog.
MISSOURI DIGITAL HERITAGE <www.sos.mo.gov/mdh>
One-click search makes it easy to explore the more than
9 million records collected here from the Missouri State
25
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
<www.wisconsinhistory.org>
COOK COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
<www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/NR>
With a recent site makeover now complete, it’s easier than
ever to milk this Dairy State treasure for pre-1907 vital
records, Civil War records, old photos, obituaries, and historical and biographical articles. The Wisconsin Genealogy
Index (under the Research Your Family History tab) makes
it simple to search.
Even if your ancestors didn’t live in Chicago, they may have
gone to the big city to file their naturalization paperwork.
This site serves up more than 500,000 naturalization petitions covering 1871 to 1929, primarily declarations of intention. Search by name or partial name, birth date, birthplace
and even occupation.
ELLIS ISLAND <www.ellisisland.org>
IMMIGRATION
INFORMATION
This landmark immigration website is expanding to add the
more than 40 million arrivals through the Port of New York/
Ellis Island from 1925 to 1957, after the Immigration Act of
1924 slowed US immigration. In the meantime, search 25
million earlier records, from the peak era of US immigration,
for free—and check out the Statue of Liberty Torch Cam.
AVOTAYNU <www.avotaynu.com>
The free Consolidated Jewish Surname Index here lets you
search information about 699,084 surnames in 42 different
online databases totaling more than 7.3 million records. You
also can read 2,900 articles online in the Anthology of Jewish
Genealogy ($35).
JEWISHGEN <www.jewishgen.org>
Founded in 1987, this site affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage includes the Yizkor Book Master Name Index,
Family Finder database of 500,000 surnames and towns,
KehilaLinks (formerly ShtetLinks) for 200-plus communities, the Family Tree of the Jewish People and the Online
Worldwide Burial Registry.
CASTLE GARDEN <castlegarden.org>
Can’t find your immigrant kin at Ellis Island? If they arrived
in New York City from 1820 through 1892, look here instead.
Now totaling 11 million records, this database indexing
arrivals through the predecessor to Ellis Island is at last
almost complete.
ONE-STEP WEB PAGES <stevemorse.org>
Though this clever collection of “one-step” search tools also
covers census and vital records databases, it really shines in
drilling down into the Ellis Island, Castle Garden and other
immigration databases.
MORE ONLINE
ULTIMATE UK & IRISH
RESOURCES
Free Web Content
Best genealogy websites for beginners <familytreemagazine.com/
article/25-best-genealogy-websites-for-beginners>
Best state research websites <familytreemagazine.com/article/
75-best-state-sites-2013>
Improving your Google search <familytreemagazine.com/article/
tech-tips-google-search>
ASK ABOUT IRELAND <www.askaboutireland.ie>
Irish researchers know the importance of Griffith’s Valuation, dating from 1847 to 1864, especially given the destruction of census records from that period. Well, here you can
search it for free, while also exploring e-books, biographies,
church histories and Irish architecture.
For Plus Members
Searching online books <familytreemagazine.com/article/
genealogy-guide-to-online-books>
Smart web searching <familytreemagazine.com/article/
web-ready-smart-searching>
$ FAMILYRELATIVES.COM <www.familyrelatives.com>
When you’ve hit dead ends in your British research (as well
as in other English-speaking countries worldwide), try this
lesser-known paid site ($40 a year or pay per view). Its
more than 850 million records include English and Welsh
censuses, plus parish, probate, military and civil registration
resources you likely haven’t seen elsewhere.
Online search tricks <familytreemagazine.com/article/
tailor-made-searches>
ShopFamilyTree.com
The Family Tree Sourcebook <shopfamilytree.com/family-tree-
sourcebook-book>
FREEBMD <freebmd.rootsweb.com>
State Research Guides e-book <shopfamilytree.com/state-
The volunteer transcribers here are serving up 237 million
searchable birth, marriage and death (“BMD,” spanning
1837-1983) transcriptions—and counting. Sibling sites offer
research-guides-ebook>
Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com <shopfamilytree.com/unofficialguide-to-ancestry>
26
2014
similarly impressive totals of transcribed UK censuses <www.
freecen.org.uk> and parish records <www.freereg.org.uk>.
TIP: You may be able to access subscription genealogy
websites for free: See if your library subscribes to an
institutional version of the site, and check with the nearest
FamilySearch Center <www.familysearch.org/locations/
centerlocator>. No luck? Look for a free trial offer, then
clear your calendar and start searching..
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF IRELAND
<www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie>
Irish eyes are smiling at this free collection of the 1901 and
1911 Irish censuses, Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837),
soldiers’ wills (1914-1917), the Calendars of Wills and Administrations (1858-1922) and 19th century census survivals
(1821-1851. In the works are Valuation Office House and Field
Books (1848-1860).
website from the National Archives of Norway is adding
parish records—the most important tool for tracing Scandinavian families.
$ ORIGINS NETWORK <www.origins.net>
The 1891 England and Wales census is new at this subscription site (about $90 a year for full access), which also
includes Griffith’s Valuation and the 1851 and 1901 Dublin
City Censuses for finding Irish families. Its real strength,
though, is more obscure records, such as directories, burials,
will indexes and probate documents.
FOUNDATION FOR EAST EUROPEAN FAMILY HISTORY STUDIES
<feefhs.org>
The website for this organization (formerly, the Federation
of East European Family History Societies) is great place to
begin researching ancestors ranging from Russia in the east
to Switzerland in the west. Start with the resources behind
the clickable map of the region, then check out the map
library, news feed and more.
$ SCOTLANDSPEOPLE <www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk>
Got your kilt in a bunch over Scottish genealogy brick
walls? This is the place to find answers, starting with free
indexes to wills and testaments (1513-1925) and coats of
arms (1672-1913). Pay-per-view record collections include
censuses from 1841 to 1911, valuation rolls (1885, 1895, 1905,
1915 and 1920), and vital records from parish, Catholic and
statutory registers.
GERMAN GENEALOGY RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
<www.germanroots.com/germanlinks.html>
This site, dedicated to researching Americans’ most common ancestry group, excels in how-tos but also serves as a
portal to passenger lists, German directories, vital records
and more.
UK NATIONAL ARCHIVES <www.nationalarchives.gov.uk>
Start with the how-to guides here, then delve into the Discovery online catalog. No luck? Try Access to Archives <www.
nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a>, where you can check more than
400 other record offices and repositories. A new online
collection of historical criminal records from England and
Wales is also worth a look for black-sheep kin.
$ INSTITUTE OF MIGRATION
<www.migrationinstitute.fi/index_e.php>
Find your Finnish emigrant ancestors in this collection of
318,000 passenger-list records, 261,000 passport records
and other resources—even 12,000 old photos. Searching
here is free, but you’ll need to pay about $27 a year to see
your full results.
EUROPEAN TOUR
$ ARKIVDIGITAL <ArkivDigital.net>
POLISHROOTS <www.polishroots.org>
Browse some 48 million Swedish historical documents,
including all-important church records plus court records
and estate inventories, in full color at this subscription site
(about $116 for six months).
With its getting-started guide, maps, helpful links and back
issues of the Gen Dobry! e-zine, this website will jumpstart your quest for relatives not only from present-day
Poland but all of what was historically part of the Polish
Commonwealth.
DANISH DEMOGRAPHIC DATABASE <ddd.dda.dk/ddd_en.htm>
Explore Danish censuses from 1787 on, emigration records
on nearly 400,000 Danes who departed from Copenhagen
or via Hamburg (1869 to 1908), and probate records from
selected counties—all without spending a krone.
WIE WAS WIE <www.wiewaswie.nl/en/home>
Now available in English, this successor to the Genlias collection of civil registration records is worth digging into for
its 86.5 million records—your key to tracing ancestors in
the Netherlands. DIGITALARKIVET <arkivverket.no/eng/content/view/full/629>
Contributing editor David A . Fryxell oversaw the original 101 Best Websites back in the Dark Ages.
Already bookmarked by Norwegian researchers for its
online censuses, probate records and tax lists, this free
27
9
HABITS
O F H I G H LY
ORGANIZED
GENEALOGISTS
Follow these strategies from
researchers just like you to get
your family tree files in order.
BY DANA MCCULLOUGH
Once you determine your structure
3 WHEN MY HUSBAND walks into my home office, he
sees tons of paper and chaotic piles covering most of my
desk. I see organized piles: one for things I need to read, one
for things I need to file, one for projects I’m working on, an
appointment book where I write my weekly to-do list, and a
three-ring binder for the family I’m currently researching. I
know exactly what’s in each pile, but other people—including my husband and fellow family history buffs—may not
understand the method behind my organizational madness.
Over time, every genealogist has to confront the issue of
organization, but the sheer number of ways to organize (and
the amount of material we collect) can make it intimidating
to start and maintain an organization method. So we asked
our Family Tree Magazine readers to share their best advice
for avoiding getting buried under mounds of family photos,
vital records certificates, census page printouts, family tree
charts and other records. We learned a few new tricks from
the nine strategies that emerged, and hope you will, too.
and file-naming scheme, write it
down and stick to it.
odd-shaped ephemera. Another option is to file genealogy
papers in a file cabinet using hanging file folders and manila
(or colored) file folders.
Some readers have a specific notebook for each family. You
can affix a family group sheet to the front of the notebook,
and jot down research notes inside. If the notebook has a
folder pocket, use it to store copies of documents.
Whether you use a binder, folders or a notebook, Beatrice
Hunter recommends alphabetizing the files by surname so
you can quickly find the family you want to research. Within
each surname folder or binder, Jan Rogge suggests filing
items in chronological order starting with a couple’s marriage and ending with their death. “As each of their children
marries, a page is inserted directing the reader to a new
binder starting with the marriage of that child,” Rogge says.
For old family photos, Pam Meyers recommends using a
photo book or scrapbook, particularly for photos of gravestones and the cemetery entrance.
1
Keep the big picture in mind.
Most readers’ organization systems start with two charts
that help you visualize how your relatives all fit together:
a family group sheet and a five-generation ancestor chart,
which you can download for free at <familytreeuniversity.com/
free-family-tree-templates> . Many researchers keep online
trees, but it’s also handy to have a large working family tree
chart on your wall, where you can see the whole thing at once
and not worry about sharing mistakes with the world.
For Sylvia Weishuhn, this meant purchasing blank posterboards from the local dollar store and propping them against
the wall on her office desk. Weishuhn uses the boards to help
clear up confusion about her father’s large family—he had 12
brothers and sisters. She draws boxes to chart her father’s
immediate family connections and uses this reference, along
with the listings of parents and siblings in her family tree
research binder, to keep everyone on her tree straight.
A large dry-erase board is an alternative to posterboard
that would let you easily make adjustments as you learn more
about your family, their relationships and major life events.
Prices for dry-erase boards vary from about $38 to $250,
depending on size of the board and whether it’s magnetic,
freestanding or wall-mounted.
3
Go digital.
To save space in paper files or create electronic backups, scan your documents and photos. You can choose
from lots of different scanners. For example, reader Julie
Haynie recommends the ScanSnap Evernote Edition scanner
($495). She says this scanner lets you categorize documents
as they’re scanned, scans both sides of double-sided documents and scans up to 50 documents at once. Mark Bray uses
a VuPoint portable scanner (prices vary by model).
To organize the digital files, consistency is key. “Consistency will make it easier to search and find the things you’re
looking for,” says Christine Emonds.
Start your digital organization with determining a structure for the digital folders—typically this may be a hierarchy
2
Take charge of paper files.
Photos. Birth, death and marriage certificates. Printouts of census records. Family tree charts. Newspaper
clippings. Paper documents can really pile up, but readers
have several ways to tame that plethora of paper.
One option is to use three-ring binders with plastic sheet
protectors (look for those made of archival-quality materials,
and avoid PVC) and divider tabs. Betty Moren says the plastic
sheet protectors can store not only family group sheets and
documents, but also cards, newsletters, CDs or DVDs and
other mementos. Folders with pockets are useful to hold
TIP: When you enter census or city directory information
into your family tree software, do as Pam Spittel does and
enter the entire address, instead of just the city, county and
state. “Most of my ancestors stayed in the same city, but
moved a lot,” she says. “This helps me with my timelines and
finding other relatives close by.”
29
Organizing Genealogy Files on Your Computer
If you organize your computer genealogy files by couple, create folders for
each couple (including the wife’s maiden name). A child’s files go in the
parents’ folder until that child marries.
To organize your files by record type, set up a folder for each surname
you’re researching. Within those, create folders for census, church,
immigration, land, newspaper, vital and other records.
of surname folders. Under the surname folder, you could
create a subfolder with an individual’s first name; under
that, you could use a naming convention that includes the
record type (or even another subfolder for record type, such
as Death Records, which may include an obituary, a death
certificate and info from the Social Security Death Index).
Remember to create a standard way to name your files, too.
Joy Blair puts her files in a surname folder, and then names
her files like this: FirstName_LastName_Year_Month_Date_
RecordType. Camille Mecham uses this naming convention:
Who_When_Where_What.
One you determine your structure and file-naming scheme,
write it down and stick to it. “I have written an SOP—standard operating procedure—for my digital files. This way, I am
saving photos and documents the same way and I will be able
to find them,” says Tina Telesca.
Use universal file formats such as PDF or JPG when you
save files, too. For files not in a universal format, copy them
and convert the copies so you can access the information no
matter how technology changes or which device you use.
To avoid keeping duplicate copies of your digital records,
consider setting up a Microsoft Access database. April Earle
uses one to link a single record to multiple individuals (such
as a birth record to the child and to each parent). “It used
to be I had a folder for every person in my family tree and
a copy of every document that pertained to them. Thus, a
birth certificate would be copied three times—one copy in
the mother’s file, one for the father’s and one for the child’s.
Now I just have one copy of that document and a database
that links that numbered document to those three numbered
individuals.” Access comes as part of the Office Professional
2013 software package (along with Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
OneNote, Outlook and Publisher) and you can purchase it as
an add-on with an annual subscription.
Got piles of magazines and other periodicals you want
to reference later? Create your own magazine index as you
receive and read issues, so you can return to articles on topics
of interest to you. At Family Tree Magazine, we do this for
you in each year’s December issue. Another option for easy
access to past Family Tree Magazine issues is our annual CD
of issues (see <shopfamilytree.com/family-tree-magazine-cd>).
“Although I subscribe to Family Tree Magazine, I also buy
the annual CDs of each year’s issues,” says Ken Bonvallet.
“This is because it’s easier to search for a topic on CD and
much more thorough than using the published end of year
index. Then I go to the paper copy to read the article.”
No matter what digital files you save and organization
method you use, have a backup plan in case of technology
failure or a natural disaster. This may include using an external hard drive, the free Dropbox <www.dropbox.com> app or a
service that automatically saves the documents to the Cloud,
such as Backblaze <www.backblaze.com>. (For more tips on
backing up documents, see our article on preparing your
genealogy research for a disaster on page 54.)
4
Color-code folders and files.
Color-coding is a popular organization method for
many Family Tree Magazine readers, and you can
take different approaches to this method. Many readers recommend using a different-colored folder for each
surname. Anita Boynton says she color-codes each of her
grandparents’ lines using red, yellow, blue and green. For
paper files, she uses colored folders, pens, highlighters and
stickers to sort and mark items. In Microsoft Outlook, she
color-codes tasks and contacts so she knows which family
line those items relate to. To learn how to set up color-coding
in Outlook, watch this YouTube video <www.youtube.com/
watch?v=4V2Vik7m9AY>.
Kim Simpson groups each family in a hanging file folder,
and then color-codes by family relationship: a blue folder for
the husband, a red folder for the wife and a manila folder for
each child.
To take the color-coding a step further, you could do what
April Barr does, and print your notes and records on colored
30
2014
for his great-grandfather, both sources may be listed under
number 22, but his grandfather may be listed as 22.i and his
great-grandfather as 22.ii. The source citation will appear for
each person.
If you regularly take a little
time to put papers in the
right place or scan papers, it
becomes second nature.
6
Take advantage of tech tools and apps.
Whether you need to track online searches and record
discoveries, store and access reference materials, share
files with family or track e-books you’ve downloaded, you
can choose from tons of tech tools and apps. Consider these:
EVERNOTE: Family Tree Magazine editors and our readers
love Evernote <www.evernote.com>. This free web browser
plug-in and mobile app helps you save and organize information you find online, as well as tag it so you can search for it
and find it later. For the power user, Evernote also offers a
paid premium version for $45 per year, which includes more
storage capacity and enhanced searching capabilities within
PDFs, photos and other documents. Another similar tool,
OneNote <www.onenote.com>, also is available—it’s part of
some Microsoft Office software packages.
CALIBRE: To keep track of the nearly 500 local history,
family genealogy and other e-books Carolyn Robinson has
downloaded, she uses Calibre <www.calibre-ebook.com>. “I
like to use Calibre to organize all of these downloads, add
tags for searching, etc.,” Robinson says. Calibre is free, opensource e-book management software. The program helps
you sort and track books in your e-book library and convert
e-book file formats. It also syncs to e-reader devices and supports most major e-book formats.
FLICKR: Finding a good method to organize and share
digital or scanned images can be tricky. Melissa Hull uses
Flickr <www.flickr.com> for her photos. “I’ve scanned in all my
parents’ and grandparents’ photos to Flickr.com. It only costs
me about $25 per year, and the photos are all safe if my house
gets blown away by a tornado,” she says. Hull has created sets
for each grandparent, aunt and uncle, and labels the photos
with the ancestors’ names and other pertinent information.
She also shares them with family members by sending them
a link to a group of photos the family member is interested in.
MICROSOFT EXCEL: Spreadsheets are every genealogist’s friend. You can use Microsoft Excel to create research
checklists, to-do lists (such as cemeteries to visit, microfilms
to order, books to request through interlibrary loan) and
contact lists for relatives and individuals you meet as you
research. Ruth Meyers suggests creating a spreadsheet or
table for each ancestor and input the information you’ve
paper. For example, Barr uses purple for her father’s side, so
all the papers she prints—such as family group sheets—are
printed on purple paper.
You can color-code digital files and folders to match your
paper files, too: On a Mac, click on a folder in the finder window and then click the down arrow next to the gear icon.
From the drop-down menu, select Label and the color you
want to use. Repeat these steps for individual files. Windows
PCs don’t have folder color-coding built-in, but you can
download a color-coding program such as Folder Colorizer
<softorino.com/products> or Folderico <www.folderico.com>.
5
Use a numbering system.
A numbering system for relatives also can help keep
you organized. Janice Kessler uses a combination of
numbers and letters. “I labeled the oldest child in each family
No. 1 with his or her spouse 1A. Children were listed in birth
order beginning with No. 1a, 1b, 1c and so on. The next eldest
sibling would be No. 2 and the spouse 2A, with children 2a,
2b and 2c,” Kessler says. Note that the spouses use uppercase
letters and the children use lowercase letters.
Ahnentafel (German for “ancestor table”) is a standard
genealogical numbering system you can use to keep track of
ancestors (those from whom you descend—parents, grandparents, etc.). For example, if you’re No. 1 on an Ahnentafel
chart, your father is No. 2 and your mother is No. 3. Your
father’s father is No. 4, and your father’s mother is No. 5. As
you might have figured out, fathers are even numbers; mothers odd. To find a father’s number, double the child’s number.
Add one to the father’s number to get the mother’s number.
Many genealogy software programs will automatically calculate the Ahnentafel numbers for you and create Ahnentafel
charts you can print.
To keep track of sources, Howland Davis numbers all of
his sources chronologically. Davis puts the source number
in the upper-right corner of each document he files. He
then compiles the list of sources in a single binder. If Davis
needs to confirm a source of a document he’s working with,
he can simply go to the source binder. For example, the 1910
US census may be source number 22. If Davis has a 1910
US census record for his grandfather and a separate record
TIP: Adhere a copy of a family group sheet or fivegeneration ancestor chart to the front of each notebook or
binder for easy reference.
31
learned about him or her. She recommends inputting a photo
of the person from different stages of their life as well as a
tombstone photo so you have a snapshot of each ancestor’s
life in a single place.
8
Establish a workflow routine.
Maintaining an organization system may seem daunting, but if you regularly take short chunks of time to
put papers in the right place or scan papers, it becomes
second nature. Once you return from a library research session, take a few minutes to file paper copies or scan them. If
needed, set up an inbox in your office for items you need to
take action on (scan, label, number, etc.) and a “to file” box
for papers and photos ready for you to put away. If filing
or scanning doesn’t fit in your schedule to do right away,
consider Mark Bray’s strategy: He scans new documents he
finds once each month.
If organizing tends to overwhelm you, Mary Ann Gauer
recommends setting a timer and working until it rings.
Another option, suggested by Janet Black, is to file one piece
of paper each day.
Do you have doubles of records? Shred or recycle the extra
copies. Keep a checklist of what you have and don’t have for
each ancestor to avoid duplicating your research efforts. You
can download our free Records Checklist (a PDF file) from
<familytreemagazine.com/info/recordreferences>.
7
Create files for research on the go.
Accordion files are great for corralling your research
papers when you’re researching at a repository or visiting a cemetery. You can put surnames on the file’s tabs to sort
information you collect.
Many readers also use index cards. “I found it best to
have a notecard for each person/couple. This way you can
include birth and death dates, marriage dates and the children they had and dates,” LeAnn Salwey says. “You can keep
track of everyone and add cards as necessary.” The back
of the card is great for jotting down other details, such as
source information.
Fillable forms are also great on-the-go resources. Having
a form with pre-determined categories to fill in as you find
family information helps keep you focused and ensures you
have all the information from the record you need—such as
dates, names and the source citation information. Check out
the Essential Family Tree Forms Library CD <shopfamilytree.
com/essential-family-tree-forms-library-cd-t4063> for 75 typeand-save research forms and tracking worksheets.
9
Designate a workspace.
Having an organized workspace can help keep your
genealogy files organized, too. Richard Stock types and
prints a table of contents and then attaches it to the front of
each of his file cabinets. If he adds something to the cabinet, he handwrites it on the list. A few times each year he’ll
update the list and print out a new copy.
If you’re like many of us, your genealogy workspace may
double as a guest bedroom, dining room or other room in
your home. Instead of relegating your files to a closet or storage room, you can find creative ways to incorporate your files
into your home’s décor. For example, you could use antique
tins, decorative hat boxes or pretty photo boxes to store letters, postcards and photos—just make sure they’re archivalquality containers. “Add a small, adhesive label to the bottom
of the box or tin with a brief description of its contents and
your guests will be none-the-wiser of its true purpose,” says
Autumn Callahan. A decorative, framed family tree chart
could hang on the wall as art.
In addition, be sure your desk works for your research
needs. Sara Sowa recently got a new research desk and it’s
made a world of difference. “I love my new desk. It has room
for my books and computers, lots of drawers and slots for
large and small items, plus a file folder drawer,” she says.
No matter what organization methods you choose, the
best thing you can do is find one that’ll work for you and
start using the method right away—then stick with it. Future
generations—and probably your spouse or housemate—will
thank you. MORE ONLINE
Free Web Content
Easy-to-use genealogy filing system <familytreemagazine.com/
article/now-what-file-organization>
Get your research organized <familytreemagazine.com/article/
win-the-paper-chase>
Organize your genealogy email <familytreemagazine.com/article/
organize-your-genealogy-email>
For Plus Members
Using a genealogy research log <familytreemagazine.com/article/
using-a-genealogy-research-log>
Organizing your photos <familytreemagazine.com/article/feb2012-photo-organization>
Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner review <familytreemagazine.com/article/
product-review-flip-pal-mobile-scanner>
ShopFamilyTree.com
Genealogy Research Log Templates <shopfamilytree.com/
genealogy-research-log-templates-t5480>
How to Archive Family Keepsakes e-book <shopfamilytree.com/
how-to-archive-family-keepsakes-ebook-v6487>
Dana McCullough is a freelance writer and editor based
in Milwaukee, Wis.
Organize Your Photos independent study course download
<shopfamilytree.com/organize-your-photos-w6458>
32
2014
WORKBOOK
Probate Records
BY SUNNY JANE MORTON AND CHERYL FELIX MCCLELLAN
3 WHEN PEOPLE DIE, families gather—for comfort, to say
goodbye, and to tie up loose ends. Loved ones of our deceased
ancestors would meet for the reading of the will and to divide
up the departed person’s belongings.
Today, genealogists can read all about that process in
probate paperwork. These records are often packed with
relatives’ names, relationships and residences. They offer
intimate glimpses into family love, loyalties and sometimes
feuds. You often can find dates of birth, marriage and death,
and clues to family migrations and household composition.
You may even learn the contents of the family home, barn,
closets and pantry.
Probate records can be daunting to find and use. Originals
may be buried in remote courthouses or unknown archives.
Different counties’ records are organized differently. Thick
files, packed with paperwork of all shapes and sizes, may not
have been microfilmed, indexed or digitized (though that’s
beginning to change). Documents key to understanding the
estate may be filed in several places. Unidentified documents,
unfamiliar terminology and apparent omissions of loved
ones or property may puzzle you.
This workbook introduces family historians to US probate
records. By the end, you’ll know what they are, who may be
named in them, why they’re worth finding and where to look
for them. Better yet, you’ll be ready to start interpreting what
these records really say about your family past.
The probate process
Two major categories of probate records are of interest to
genealogists: estates (with or without wills) and guardianships (for minors and “incompetents”). This guide focuses
mostly on estate records.
Not everyone left estate records. Some people avoided having their estates probated by distributing assets before they
died. Others didn’t own enough to make the estate worth
probating. And before the mid-1800s or so, married women
often didn’t have the right to dispose of family property by
will. (More on that below.)
Estate files were probated either when the deceased left
a valid will, or the estate for a person who didn’t leave a will
met a minimum value defined by local law. A person who
left a will was a testator. The executor named in the will
executed its terms in a testate proceeding. If the deceased
was intestate—he left no valid will—the court appointed an
administrator to divide the estate according to inheritance
laws in an intestate proceeding or administration.
A lot of people were involved in the probating of an estate.
First were the deceased and heirs. Then there were those
who did the settling: the executor or administrator, witnesses, surety (see No. 6 below), appraisers and court officials who oversaw that everything was done in order. Anyone
who brought claims against the estate could be listed. And in
slave-owning families, enslaved people were also named as
property to be distributed.
Here’s an outline of the probate process and the paperwork it generated.
1. A family member and/or the executor requested that the
court open probate proceedings, either by formal petition or
a verbal request noted in court minutes.
2. The will, if one existed, was brought to the courthouse
to be proved at a hearing (notice of this hearing may have
appeared in the newspaper). Witnesses testified that the
will was written as stated and that the deceased was of
sound mind and not under constraint. If the will wasn’t
witnessed, two people who knew the deceased’s handwriting authenticated it. Those wishing to contest the will presented their grounds.
3. After the will was proved, the court issued letters testamentary, authorizing an executor. The executor had to be
named in the will and approved by the court.
Everyone mentioned in probate
4. If the will didn’t name an executor or there was no will,
the court authorized an administrator by issuing letters of
administration. Surviving spouses may have had the first
right to administer the estate. Elderly spouses and women
often declined and requested that a younger male relative
handle it.
5. The court appointed guardians for heirs who were
minors or legally incompetent. A guardian could be
appointed as a steward of such a person’s property or over
the person, or both. Men were usually made guardians over
minors’ estates, even when a custodial mother was still
living. If the father was alive but the child received assets
independently (such as from the deceased mother’s family), a financial guardian might be appointed. Older children, usually at least age 14, often were allowed to choose a
guardian. Guardianship appointments, bonds and accounts
often identify relationships between parents, children and
other relatives.
6. In some cases, a relative or friend posted surety. This
was a bond comparable to the value of the estate as surety
against mishandling by an executor, administrator or guardian. A surety bond sometimes states the relationship of the
person who posted it to the testator.
7. Three reputable people not otherwise involved in the
estate inventoried and appraised all property that belonged
to the testator. Inventories were very specific, often down to
the number of pillowcases and spoons.
8. Public notice was posted and/or published in the newspaper that the estate was to be probated. This served as
notice to creditors, who could file claims against the estate.
9. The executor or administrator began settling accounts to
pay creditors. Anything owed to the deceased was collected.
All these generated receipts, which may be in the probate file.
records is important, but not
everyone important is mentioned.
10. Personal property (or “moveable estate”) and real
estate not being given to heirs was sold at public auction.
Court orders were sometimes also required for these auctions, and bills of sale resulted.
11. Settlement was often a lengthy process. Meanwhile,
monies were paid out to support widows and minors.
Expenses incurred by the executor or administrator were
reimbursed. The widow’s dower right was set aside so creditors couldn’t claim it.
12. During the probate process, the court documented
changes in family status, such as if heirs moved, died or
married. Courts also may have taken interim accountings of
the estate, especially in complicated, lengthy cases, or those
involving highly valued estates.
13. Before the case was closed, one last published notice
gave interested parties a chance to make a claim.
14. When all heirs were in agreement, and sometimes
once minor heirs reached 21, the estate was settled. The
final settlement may appear in a separate document or in
court notes.
15. The estate was distributed according to the will and the
law, including any laws specific to inheritance rights of widows and oldest sons (see “Understanding probate records”).
In intestate proceedings, certain “priority” relatives were
named heirs-at-law. All heirs signed receipts.
Finding probate records
FAST FACTS
EARLIEST PROBATE RECORDS: Probate records date to
colonial times and/or the date of a county’s formation
JURISDICTION WHERE KEPT: County court that handled
probate; may have been forwarded to state archives
ONLINE RESOURCES: County government and state archives
websites, FamilySearch.org
SEARCH TERMS: name of county and state plus the term
probate, estate or will
FIND IT IN THE FAMILYSEARCH CATALOG : From <www.
familysearch.org /catalog-search> , search by location on
the county level, then look at listings in the probate records
categories
ALTERNATE AND SUBSTITUTE RECORDS: deeds, tax lists,
obituaries, death records
You’ll look first for evidence of the above events in estate
packets—master files generated during the probate process. Original documents should be there: the will, letters
of administration or testamentary, bonds, claims, interim
accounts, receipts, a final settlement statement and more.
In addition, the court often kept separate transcripts of
records, though procedures changed frequently. The clerk
may have transcribed estate documents right into the daily
minutes of the court. Or transcripts of wills, inventories,
bonds, letters testamentary or letters of administration also
may be in separate books.
Don’t forget to track down other probate-related documents, too. For example, you might find guardianship
documents if someone was appointed to watch over an
heir’s assets. Deeds for property sold by the estate should be
recorded with other deeds. (Land transferred or “devised” in
a will wasn’t necessarily recorded. But look for the next sale
of that property with the heir as seller.)
Family Tree Magazine
AT A GLANCE:
WILL
1
For testate cases, the will is in
the estate packet. Also search for the
transcribed copy in court records and
compare the two.
2
In most states, a woman owning
and willing real estate during this time
period is a clue she was single when
she wrote the will.
3
The testator’s real estate is in
the same county where the will is
filed, meaning the deceased lived
and died there. Look for more family
records in this county.
4
Willing her real estate and
personal property to a sister, niece
and nephew indicates she probably
had no living children when she
died. Look for confirmation in other
sources.
5
Wills may name a relative and
specify the family relationship, such
as “my sister Dimmis Chamberlin” or
may simply say “my heirs.”
6
Narrow the range for the death
date: it’s between the date of the will
and the date of the initial request to
initiate probate proceedings.
CITATION FOR THIS RECORD: Geauga County, Ohio Estate Records, B-758, Lydia Bigelow
(1840), will of Lydia Bigelow, 31 August 1839, Microfilm Box 11-12, Anderson Allyn Genealogy
Room, Chardon Public Library, Chardon, Ohio.
TIP: Look for guardianship
records for all minor heirs.
These may state additional
family names, relationships or
important dates and places.
AT A GLANCE:
LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION
1
Note the reference to a will, which
has been proved.
2
Look for a petition in the estate
packet asking for the appointment of an
administrator. In this case, the petition
identified Chamberlain as Lydia’s nephew
and Dimmis’ son.
3
Lydia’s will doesn’t name an
executor; the clerk forgot to cross out
the word the. The court transcript of
the letter confirms this. This authority
to proceed with the estate is a letter of
administration and Benjamin Chamberlain
is an administrator, not an executor.
4
Here are details of the duties of the
administrator, which indicate paperwork to
be generated.
5
Benjamin Chamberlain filed the “just
account,” or final settlement, required of
him 30 years later—showing how long the
probate process can take.
CITATION FOR THIS RECORD: Geauga County, Ohio Estate Records, B-758, Lydia Bigelow (1840), Letters of administration for Lydia
Bigelow, 28 November 1839, Microfilm Box 11-12, Anderson Allyn Genealogy Room, Chardon Public Library, Chardon, Ohio.
Family Tree Magazine
TOOLKIT
Many probate records are still with the county courts that
originally created them. These courts may be called probate,
orphan’s, surrogate, chancery, district or circuit courts. Note
that jurisdictions can change over time, and the records may
have been moved to a court that currently handles probate.
Confirm the location of probate records from your ancestors’ era by calling county government offices or checking
online. Locate county government offices through <www.
statelocalgov.net> or using The Family Tree Sourcebook (see
the Toolkit).
In some states, county courts forward older records to the
state archives; the Toolkit box lists probate research guides
for several states. Find out if this is the case for your ancestral county from the county clerk, online searches or a local
genealogy guide.
Colonial-era estates fell under the jurisdiction of colonial governments and the oversight of the mother country. Look for these first in US state archives, which may
at least have copies (for example, New Mexico has probates from the Spanish colonial period on microfilm).
These may also be published or indexed, as are many
British Colonial wills. See <www.familysearch.org /learn/
wiki/en/American_Colonial_Probate_Records> and Wills and
Probate Records [UK]: A Guide for Family Historians by
Karen Grannum (The National Archives UK).
It’s most effective to research probate records at the
courthouse, if you can make the trip and the records are
still there. You may be able to search on-site indexes that
aren’t available online or on microfilm. Original estate files
are worth reading in person. Each folded, tattered scrap
of paper (handle them carefully) may hold new family
information. And when you’re at the courthouse, it’s much
easier to track down related documents scattered in other
court files.
Some probate records and wills are online. The free
FamilySearch.org website <www.familysearch.org> hosts collections of probate records from counties in more than 30
states. Many aren’t yet searchable by name, so you’ll need
to browse index volumes (if they’re available), then use the
information in the index to find the record you need. To
find these collections, go to <www.familysearch.org/search/
collection/list> and use the filters on the left to narrow the
list to probate and court collections from the state you need.
Ancestry.com has searchable probate-related collections
(such as published indexes and extracts) from all 50 states.
FamilySearch and Ancestry.com plan to digitally publish 140
million US wills and probate images from 1800 to 1930, so
you should see more online soon. Scattered collections are
at Mocavo <www.mocavo.com>, RootsWeb <rootsweb.ancestry.
com>, USGenWeb <www.usgenweb.org>, World Vital Records
<www.worldvitalrecords.com> and various state or county websites (see the links at <cyndislist.com/wills/us>). Or search on
the county and state name plus the word probate, estate or
wills in your web browser.
Websites
American Colonial Probate Records
<www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/
American_Colonial_Probate_Records>
Ancestors: Probate Records
<www.byub.org/ancestors/records/
probate/intro.html>
Black’s Law Dictionary <thelawdictionary.org>
Connecticut State Library: Probate Records
<www.ctstatelibrary.org/collections/
historians-genealogists/probate-records>
Cyndi’s List: US Wills & Probate
<cyndislist.com/wills/us>
FamilySearch.org: Probate and Court Records
<familysearch.org/search/collection/
list/?page=1&recordType=Legal>
Legal Genealogist blog (search for probate)
<legalgenealogist.com/blog>
Maryland State Archives: Probate Records
<guide.mdsa.net/viewer.cfm?page=probate>
Minnesota Historical Society: Using Minnesota
Probate Court Records <www.mnhs.org/genealogy/
family/genieguide/probate.php>
New York State Archives: Probate Record
Pathfinder <www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/
res_tools_nysa_path_probate.shtml>
Oregon Secretary of State: Probate Records
<sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/
aids-probate.aspx>
State & Local Government on the Net
<www.statelocalgov.net>
WorldCat <www.worldcat.org>
Publications and Resources
Courthouse
Research for Family Historians: Your Guide
to Genealogical Treasures by Christine Rose (CR
Publications)
The Family Tree Sourcebook by the editors of Family Tree
Magazine (Family Tree Books)
The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy by Val
Greenwood (Genealogical Publishing Co.)
The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy by
Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Leubking
(Ancestry Publishing)
Wills and Probate Records [UK]: A Guide for Family
Historians by Karen Grannum (The National Archives
UK)
Women and the Law of Property in Early America by
Marilynn Salmon (University of North Carolina Press)
Put It Into Practice
_____________________________________________________
Many wills and abstracts of estate records have been
published and/or microfilmed. Search by location (usually
county-level) in the FamilySearch online catalog of books
and microfilms <www.familysearch.org/catalog-search>, and
look for a Probate Records category. You can rent microfilmed records through your nearest FamilySearch Center.
Also search WorldCat.org <www.worldcat.org>, which shows
libraries that have copies you can request through interlibrary loan. Don’t rely on indexes or transcriptions except as
finding aids: Follow them to original sources.
b. What other records might exist for Lydia’s family, judging
Understanding probate records
by clues found in the will?
Finding estate records is exciting. There’s nothing like seeing an ancestor’s handwritten will, learning the contents of
her kitchen and finding a list of all her children and their
spouses’ names. Yet it’s easy to misinterpret what you see or
to miss important clues.
Understanding the laws of the day is essential. Certain
heirs took precedence or had automatic privileges. Distribution of assets to some heirs may not have been part of the
probate process. Terminology we think we know may have
had a different meaning. Remember these guiding principles:
SOME HEIRS COUNTED MORE THAN OTHERS. Women
had few financial rights until states began to pass women’s
property laws in the mid-1800s. Single women were often
the most independent, though they may have had guardians
appointed to manage their assets. A married woman’s husband legally controlled her, including her earnings (this was
called the law of coverture). A man often granted his widow
only a life interest in property that would revert to other
heirs upon her death.
A widow had automatic claim to a third to half of her
husband’s estate (known as dower right). If the will gave
her something different, she could choose which to accept.
Watch for language in the will that describes whether she
inherited property outright (free to dispose of her assets as
she wished) or only a life interest, or whether she would lose
her assets upon remarrying. These stipulations may explain
her choices when settling the estate.
Early inheritance laws favored oldest sons. Colonial laws
of primogeniture awarded them landed estates automatically and in full. Primogeniture wasn’t recognized in New
England, and Rhode Island had a variation on the law that
granted double portions to oldest sons. Fortunately for
1. Refer to the letters of administration for the estate of Lydia
Bigelow (on the fourth page of this workbook) to answer
these questions:
a. What does Lydia’s will reveal about her education and
financial status?
_____________________________________________________
c. Why does Lydia direct that her debts be paid from her
“moveable estate”?
_____________________________________________________
2. Sign in (or create a free login) at FamilySearch.org. Select
Search, then Records. Search for Elizabeth B. Selby of Prince
George’s County, MD. Restrict the search to probate records.
Select the matching result, which is a guardianship record.
a. What important information is listed in image No. 2?
_____________________________________________________
b. What are the differences in the names of the children
listed on image No. 2 compared to the list on image No. 4?
_____________________________________________________
c. Looking at image No. 7, who is the mother of the children?
_____________________________________________________
d. Looking at image No. 10, what do you learn about Elizabeth
Selby?
3. Choose one of your ancestors who died in the United States
after 1800. Obtain copies of his/her estate, including the will,
letters testamentary or of administration, estate inventory,
final settlement and other papers that name heirs.
a. Analyze all the documents to find names of spouses,
children and other relatives. Log findings in the Estate
Record Worksheet.
b. Analyze the estate inventory and accounts for clues to
financial, educational and occupational status.
TIP: After finding original documents (such as the will) in an
estate file, look for copies in court records, which may have
more details or clarify what you’ve discovered.
MORE
ONLINE
Free Web Content
For Plus Members
ShopFamilyTree.com
Genealogy Q&A: Estate Records
Courthouse research from home
Legal Words You Should Know by
<familytreemagazine.com/article/
estate-questions>
courthouse-detective>
Finding financial records
financial-aid>
Researching probate records
probing-into-probate>
Corey Sandler and Janice Keefe
<shopfamilytree.com/legal-wordsyou-should-know>
Mastering Genealogy Research
in Court Records online course
<familytreeuniversity.com/masteringgenealogy-research-in-court-records>
Using Guardianship Records in
Genealogical Research video class
<shopfamilytree.com/digw-usingguardianship-records-dld>
Reading your ancestor’s court
records <familytreemagazine.com/
article/getting-the-most-out-ofcourt-records>
Will & Probate Glossary
will-probate-glossary>
everyone but firstborn sons, the new US government quickly
outlawed primogeniture.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE ANSWERS
EVERYONE MENTIONED IS IMPORTANT, BUT NOT EVERYONE IMPORTANT IS MENTIONED. A will might not bother to
make generous bequests. b. Church records (for the church sponsoring
mention an oldest son when primogeniture was in effect,
since that process was automatic. Consider that possibility
for a will before the early 1800s.
Other kin may go unnamed, too. Wills didn’t have to name
every close relative, just those to whom a specific bequest
was made. Sometimes the heirs weren’t even named, just
described as “each of my living children.” Some relatives
received their share of the estate before the testator’s death.
Aging adults often signed over the bulk of their fortunes during their lifetime in exchange for elder care.
Look beyond the list of heirs for your relatives. Witnesses,
executors, administrators, guardians and others involved in
an estate were usually friends or close relatives, just as they
are today. Those who bought items from the estate also may
have a personal connection (especially loved ones trying to
reclaim a widow’s own belongings for her).
Some potential family connections may be harder to verify
and some may be red herrings. Enslaved individuals may be
undocumented biological relatives of the slave-owning family.
Also, major creditors often participated in the probate process
to protect their rights. Creditors often weren’t related. Try to
ascertain each person’s relationship to your family.
LANGUAGE CAN MISLEAD. Relationships described in
wills, a boon to genealogists, might have different meanings
today. A “cousin” might just mean “kin” (or even a really
close friend). “In-laws” may also refer to step- relationships
(a “brother-in-law” may actually mean a stepbrother).
Additionally, the term “orphan” could refer to a minor
child who lost even one parent (especially a father). Minors
are also called infants, but this just meant underage, not
necessarily newborn. Keep things clear by transcribing
documents exactly. That way, as you learn more, you’ll better
interpret the intended meaning.
LOOK FOR CLUES EVERYWHERE. You may be disappointed
to learn an ancestor died without a will. But intestate cases
can be telling. All qualifying heirs had to be identified. You
Chamberlin. c. Lydia did not want the real estate (farm) sold to pay debts.
1 a. Lydia is literate, owns a 50-acre farm and has enough means to
the Heathen Missionary fund) and a deed for land later sold by Dimmis
2a. Father’s name, children’s name, location, date of document which
is probably close to date of father’s death. b. Image No. 2 lists Elizabeth
B, Alfred R and James c. Image No. 4 lists Elizabeth Virginia, Robert
Albert and James Caleb. c. Susannah Selby. d. She married William
Roach. Look in Prince George’s County, Md., for their marriage record. .
d. “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953.” Index and images. FamilySearch. https://
familysearch.org : accessed 18 May 2013.
might find names and residences of a surviving spouse, sons,
daughters (with married names) and even grandchildren
who inherited in a deceased’s parent’s stead. In the absence
of a living spouse and children, the deceased’s siblings, parents or other relatives may be listed.
Probate records may contain clues about other records
you should check, too. A bequest to the local Congregational
church means you should look for the deceased’s membership and donation records. Mention in a household inventory of special tools or supplies may hint at an occupation,
which may lead you to search professional license applications, regional or trade histories, labor or trade newspapers,
city directories and more.
Finally, many of the above clues require a working knowledge of probate law, which varied by state and time period.
Start with detailed discussions of probate in genealogical
guides (see the Toolkit). Look for published histories of
state laws in WorldCat. (Search the category “Probate law
and practice” for the state in question.) State Statutes: A
Historical Archive is a database from Hein Online that you
can search at major research libraries. Refer to a resource
such as Black’s Law Dictionary (especially historical editions, available at law libraries). Or ask at a law library for
help identifying the most current probate statutes, which
cite previous laws. Trace them backward until you get to the
right time period. 39
ESTATE RECORDS WORKSHEET
Ancestor’s name
Date of death
County of death/burial
Estate record found? When
Type of estate proceedings
Date of will
Where
testate
intestate
Date of petition to initiate probate
Date of final settlement
Persons Named
In which document(s)?
What else do estate documents reveal about this ancestor?
Avenues for further research estate documents suggest (look for deeds, etc):
1.
2.
3.
Others’ estates that may mention this ancestor as an heir:
Notes (i.e., role in estate, relationship
to deceased, major bequests
received)
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Seeking
SCOTS
Got a wee bit (or more) of Scottish ancestry?
You’re in luck: The best records for
researching ancestors in Scotland are
online, and we’ll show you where.
BY RICK CRUME
3 I HIT THE genealogical jackpot early on in researching
my Scottish ancestors. One of my mom’s cousins arrived at a
family reunion with papers found at the bottom of a dresser
drawer. In 1880, a great-grand-uncle of mine transcribed
all of the Robertson family papers, beginning with the 1780
marriage of Edward Robertson and Mary McGrigor in Scotland. The transcribed papers include documents the family
brought from Scotland in 1804, among them, church elders’
affirmations that the Robertsons were of good moral character and should be accepted into any congregation they might
wish to join. All the names, dates and references to specific
places in Scotland made it easy for me to find out more about
my family in Scottish records.
Even if you don’t have that kind of a head start, you’ve got
a big break when researching Scottish roots: Scotland is one
of the few countries whose genealogically useful records are
almost entirely online and well-indexed. Vital, church, census
and probate records are all easily accessible with a few clicks.
They’re not free, but the reasonable fees are a small price to
pay for that kind of convenience. You wouldn’t expect those
thrifty Scots to give away their records for free, would you?
Once you’ve gathered all the clues you can find on your
immigrant ancestors, you’re ready to search Scottish
records. All of Scotland’s most important resources are on
the country’s official records site, ScotlandsPeople <www.
scotlandspeople.gov.uk>, and several other websites also have
important collections. Here’s a rundown of the key Scottish
genealogy records and where you’ll find them.
Discover vital details
Among the first Scottish genealogy records you’ll use are
records of births, marriages and deaths, kept most recently
by the government, and before that, by the church. You can
access both online:
BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH CERTIFICATES (1855-2012):
Government registration of vital events, called statutory
registers, began Jan. 1, 1855. At first, officials were supposed
to record very detailed information, a practice that proved
hard to maintain, so the requirements were scaled back.
Starting in 1856, birth records provide the child’s name, date
and place of birth, the father’s name and occupation and the
mother’s maiden name. The date and place of the parents’
marriage was added in 1861.
Marriage records from 1856 and later provide the date and
place of marriage; the names, ages, marital status, occupations and places of residence of the bride and groom, plus
the names of the couple’s parents (including the mothers’
maiden names).
Death records provide the deceased’s name, age and occupation, plus the date, place and cause of death. The burial
place was included up to 1860, and the spouse’s name was
required starting in 1861.
ScotlandsPeople has indexes to birth, marriage and death
records from 1855 to 2012. You can view digital images
Scotland is one of the few
countries whose genealogically
useful records are almost entirely
online and well-indexed.
of birth records from 1855 to 1913, marriage records from
1855 to 1938 and death records from 1855 to 1963. Access
to images of recent records is restricted: 100 years after the
date of the record for births, 75 years for marriages and 50
years for deaths. You can, however, order certified extracts of
restricted records from the ScotlandsPeople website.
FamilySearch.org, a free site, has a couple of collections
that index Scottish birth and marriage records. Scotland,
Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 <www.familysearch.org /
search/collection/1771030> indexes birth certificates from
1855 to 1875, and Scotland, Marriages, 1561-1910 <www.
familysearch.org/search/collection/1771074> indexes marriage
certificates for the same years. You also can access both of
these collections on subscription sites Ancestry.com and
World Vital Records <www.worldvitalrecords.com>.
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND RECORDS (1538-1854): Church
records are your primary source of birth and marriage information in Scotland before government registration began.
The Presbyterian Church, established as the national church
in 1690, is known as the Church of Scotland. Its historical
records are called the Old Parochial Registers, Old Parish
Registers or for short, OPR.
Each local parish kept records. A few church records
in cities survive from the 1500s, but in most places, they
don’t begin until the mid to late 1700s. Some records have
been lost and there are many gaps. Early parish registers
may be in Latin, and you might encounter unfamiliar terms
and spellings even in English records. You’ll find a Latin
genealogy word list at <www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/
Latin_Genealogical_Word_List>.
An OPR baptism record may include the child’s name,
whether the birth was legitimate, dates of birth and baptism,
TIP: Shires in Scotland are roughly equivalent to counties
in the United States. Scotland changed its county
boundaries significantly in 1975. You can trace the earlier
evolution of boundaries within Scotland using the maps at
<www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/sct_cmap.shtml>.
43
TOOLKIT
for each parish, check OPR Death Years <www.scotlands
people.gov.uk/content/images/opr_deaths_years.txt>.
Surviving OPR death and burial registers may include just
the deceased’s name and the date of death, burial or payment
for a mortcloth draped over the coffin during the funeral.
The sparse information can make it hard to determine whom
a record refers to, especially if it’s a common name.
ScotlandsPeople has indexes and images of all existing
OPRs from 1538 to 1854. Most Church of Scotland births,
christenings and marriages before 1855 are also indexed on
FamilySearch.org in Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 15641950 <www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1771030> and
Scotland, Marriages, 1561-1910 <www.familysearch.org/search/
collection/1771074>. The same databases are on Ancestry.com
and World Vital Records. Searching works differently on each
site, so if you don’t find your ancestor on one, try another.
Using the default settings, ScotlandsPeople and Ancestry.com
don’t find a match on Edward Robertson and Mary McGrigor,
married in 1780. FamilySearch.org turns up their marriage,
even though Edward’s last name is spelled Robison.
Once you find a promising christening or marriage in
an index, check the original record for additional details.
According to the index on FamilySearch.org, Edward Robison and Mary McGrigor, daughter of John McGrigor, married July 22, 1780, in Drymen, Stirling, Scotland. The entry
also gives the numbers of the microfilm with the record
image, so I searched for them in FamilySearch’s online catalog <www.familysearch.org/catalog-search> and rented the film
for viewing at my local FamilySearch Center. (Now that the
records are online, though, it’s easier to view them on ScotlandsPeople than on microfilm.) The church register states,
“July 22d Edward Robison in Ardihoil Killin parish and Mary
McGrigor Daughter of John McGrigor in Auchaillee. Listed
for Proclamation of Banns on the twenty-second of July
[1780].” So I learned the groom’s parish of residence (Killin)
and the hamlet (Ardihoil) within the parish, plus the bride’s
father’s parish (Auchaillee, aka Auchaltie).
Local parishes also kept kirk session records, which
include information not found in parish registers, such as
details about illegitimate births and alleged fathers, as well
as mortcloth fees (which might be the only evidence of a
death). Most of these records aren’t online or microfilmed.
Search the FamilySearch Wiki <wiki.familysearch.org> for a
parish name to find out whether kirk session records exist
and where they’re held. For details on the repository, search
for the parish name in the Scottish Archive Network Online
Catalogue <www.scan.org.uk/catalogue>. You’ll probably need
to visit the archive or hire a researcher to access the records.
NONCONFORMIST CHURCH RECORDS: People who didn’t
adhere to the teachings of the Church of Scotland, including Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians and Catholics,
were considered nonconformists. Check the parish page
in the FamilySearch Wiki for information on nonconformist church records. Nonconformists weren’t authorized to
Websites
Ancestry.com <ancestry.com> $: census transcriptions;
indexes to birth, baptism and marriage records; message
boards
Cyndi’s List: Scotland <cyndislist.com/uk/sct>: links to
more than 6,700 websites
FamilySearch.org <www.familysearch.org> : census
transcriptions; indexes to birth, baptism and marriage
records; how-to videos and articles
findmypast.com <www.findmypast.com> $ : census
transcriptions
Genes Reunited <www.genesreunited.com> $: census
transcriptions
GENUKI <www.genuki.org.uk> : national, county and
parish research information
Internet Archive: National Library of Scotland
<archive.org /details/nationallibraryofscotland> :
directories, military lists and compiled genealogies
National Library of Scotland <www.nls.uk> : guide to
family history research, gazetteers, maps and directories
RootsChat <www.rootschat.com>: message boards
ScotFamTree <scotfamtree.b1.jcink.com> : message
boards
ScotlandsPeople <www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk> $ :
church, vital, census, probate and tax records
ScotlandsPlaces <www.scotlandsplaces.org.uk> $ :
place-name resources, tax records
Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) Online Catalogue
<www.scan.org.uk/catalogue> : descriptions of the
holdings of 52 archives
Scottish Genealogy Club <scottishgenealogyclub.org.
Statistical Accounts of Scotland <edina.ac.uk/
stat-acc-scot> $: descriptions of Scottish life in the 18th
uk>: message boards
and 19th centuries
Talking Scot <www.talkingscot.com>: message boards
World Vital Records <www.worldvitalrecords.com> :
indexes to birth, baptism and marriage records; books on
Scottish immigrants
father’s name and occupation, mother’s maiden name, parents’ place of residence and witnesses’ names.
An OPR marriage record usually includes the names of the
bride and groom and their parish of residence. Sometimes
it also provides the groom’s occupation and the name of the
bride’s father. In addition, it might note the date of the proclamation of banns, or the notice of contract of marriage read
out in the church (kirk) before the marriage took place.
Scottish parishes rarely kept death or burial records. To
see if death or burial registers exist for a particular parish,
see Extant OPRs <www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/research/
list-of-oprs.html>. To see available death/burial event years
44
2014
Starting in 1868, Scots could
bequeath both real and personal
property in wills.
perform marriages before 1834, so you might find these marriages in Church of Scotland records.
ScotlandsPeople has records from the Scottish Catholic
Archives. Births and baptisms include all surviving records
from 1703 to 1855, and incomplete records from 1855 to 1908.
Most records begin in the 1790s and some are in Latin. The
earliest banns and marriage records date from 1736, but most
of them begin in the 1800s. Like those of the Church of Scotland, Catholic death and burial records are sparse.
Catholic baptismal registers may include the child’s name,
dates of birth and baptism, legitimacy, father’s name and
occupation, mother’s maiden name, their place of residence
and witnesses’ names. Most marriage registers record only
the bride’s and groom’s names and marriage date. Death and
burial registers give the deceased’s name and date of death
or burial, and sometimes age, address and a relative’s name.
Starting in 1851, censuses include more details. Household
numbers make it easier for you to separate families. You’ll
find a person’s relationship to the head of the family, actual
age, parish of birth and marital status. Keep in mind that
married women are usually recorded with their married
name in census records, but sometimes the maiden name is
used. A widow might also have reverted to her maiden name.
ScotlandsPeople is the only website with images of census
records from 1841 to 1911. All years are indexed. FamilySearch.org has transcriptions from 1841 to 1891 and fee-based
sites Ancestry.com, findmypast.com and Genes Reunited
have transcriptions from 1841 to 1901.
Count on censuses
Every 10 years since 1841 (except 1941), Scotland has taken
censuses recording everyone by name. These records are
closed to the public for 100 years, so the 1911 census is the
most recent one you can view.
The 1841 census shows just names, ages, occupations and
places of birth. The ages of people 15 years and over are
rounded down to the nearest five years, so a 63-year-old
would be recorded as 60. Details on place of birth are less
specific than in later years, indicating only whether the person was born in the county where the census took place, or
whether the person was English, Irish or foreign.
MORE
ONLINE
Ancient inhabitants of Scotland left behind many megalith structures,
including the Callanish Stones, probably constructed as an astronomical
observatory between 2,900 and 2,600 B.C.
Free Web Content
For Plus Members
Understanding Scottish clans
Start your Scottish research
<www.familytreemagazine.com/
article/scottish-clans>
Trace an early Scottish immigrant
article/now-what-early-scottishimmigrant>
Scottish tartans
mad-for-plaid>
scot-free>
Scotland history timeline
scotland-timeline>
Scots-Irish research guide
trace-your-scots-irish-roots>
45
ShopFamilyTree.com
Scottish Genealogy Crash Course
on-demand webinar <shopfamilytree.
com/scottish-genealogy-crashcourse-ondemand-webinar>
UK Genealogy Value Pack
<shopfamilytree.com/uk-genealogyvalue-pack>
A Genealogist’s Guide to Gaelic
Names ebook <shopfamilytree.
com/genealogists-guide-to-gaelicnames-u5644>
Scotland, U.K.
Shetland
Islands
Orkney
Islands
Council Area boundary
County boundary before 1974
National capital
Council Area capital
Kirkwall
Lerwick
N
Stornoway
Eilean
Siar
0
miles
50
0
kilometers
80
Highland
Elgin
Inverness
Moray
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeen City Aberdeen
Angus
Forfar
Perth and
Kinross
Argyll and Bute
Perth
Stirling
Kirkintilloch
Lochgilphead
Glasgow
Dumbarton 3
2
Greenock 4
5
Paisley 6
No
rt
h
C
ha
nn
el
Northern
Ireland, U.K.
Stirling
NO RT H
SE A
Dundee
Fife
Dundee City
Glenrothes
Livingston
8 Falkirk
Edinburgh
7
13 Haddington 1
9 10
2
12
North Ayshire 11
Hamilton Motherwell Dalkeith 3
Irvine
Giffnock
Kilmarnock
4
South
Scottish
East
5
Ayr Ayrshire Lanarkshire Borders Newtown
St. Boswells 6
South
7
Ayrshire
8
Dumfries
and
9
Dumfries
Galloway
10
11
England, U.K. 12
13
1 Alloa
Probe into probate records
Clackmannanshire
East Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
Inverclyde
Renfrewshire
Glasgow City
North Lanarkshire
Falkirk
West Lothian
City of Edinburgh
East Renfrewshire
Midlothian
East Lothian
TIP: You might scratch your head over
the pronunciations of Scottish place
names. The county Kirkcudbright, for
example, is pronounced “Kirk-coobree” and the village Dalziel is “deeyel.” Find help saying place names
at <www.rampantscotland.com/
features/pronounce.htm>.
of the records. The index covers only decedents, not executors, trustees or heirs. You can search it for free, but it costs
10 credits (about $2.90) to view a document. My ancestor
David Ferguson lived near the village of Thornhill in the
parish of Kilmadock, Perthshire, Scotland, so I suspected
he was the David Ferguson of Thornhill whose 1799 testament is indexed on ScotlandsPeople. I downloaded the twopage document, which provides few details. It indicates
that David Ferguson died before March 23, 1797 and that
Andrew Wright owed him money. It refers to his nephew,
John Ferguson, as his “nearest in kin,” which suggests that
this David left no surviving children and wasn’t my ancestor
of the same name.
Probate records concern the distribution of a deceased
person’s estate. Until 1868, Scottish law stipulated that real
estate should go to the eldest son or, if there was no son, to
any daughters equally, and then to the surviving spouse. A
property owner couldn’t write a will to bequeath land or
other goods, but could leave personal property to heirs by
means of a testament. Testaments may provide a date of
death, as well as names and residences of heirs, relationships
and estate inventories. Because strict rules governed the
distribution of personal property, however, there was often
no need to name a widow, widower or children. Nobility,
merchants, tradesman and other members of the middle and
upper classes made most testaments. I haven’t found testaments for any of my Scottish ancestors, but it’s worth seeking
them, regardless of your ancestors’ social standing.
Starting in 1868, Scots could bequeath both real and personal property in wills. ScotlandsPeople has an index to
611,000 wills and testaments from 1513 to 1925 and images
Picture the places
Because Scotland has nationwide indexes to all its major
records, you don’t usually need to know exactly where your
ancestors lived to research your family history. But once
you discover the names of their cities, villages, parishes and
46
2014
small settlements, you can learn a lot about those places
using online maps and gazetteers. Scotlands Family <www.
scotlandsfamily.com> has good maps of Scotland, including
county maps showing parish boundaries.
If you have just the name of a farm or small hamlet, try
to find the parish it’s in and locate the place on a map. Be
prepared for nonstandard spellings and poor handwriting to
confound your efforts. The 1880 transcription of the Robertson family papers begins with the marriage record of Edward
Robertson of Ardchoill in 1780. In the parish record of the
marriage, the place name looks like Ardihoil. Fortunately,
a researcher in Scotland who was familiar with that area
explained that the hamlet, also spelled Ardekyle, Ardchyle
and other ways, is located in the parish of Killin four miles
southwest of the village of Killin. She described the two
remaining houses, one built in 1900 and the other an older
cottage, and a few scattered ruins. Use the Scottish genealogy discussion forums listed in the sidebar for help finding a
person familiar with rural settlements and farmsteads where
your ancestors lived.
ScotlandsPlaces <www.scotlandsplaces.org.uk> is the best
site to locate small settlements. A search on Ardchoill turns
up nothing, but Ardchyle produces four matches. One is a
1900 black-and-white photo of thatched buildings. Another
match shows the place on a modern color map. Though the
site instructs you to “Click on map for a larger view,” you
need to click that phrase, not the map. You can view the same
color maps on StreetMap <streetmap.co.uk>, where they’re
easier to use and you can save larger maps.
Other matches for Ardchoill on ScotlandsPlaces include
links to old Ordnance Survey maps produced at 6 inches to
the mile and 25 inches to the mile. A link to “View and order
image in NLS” opens a larger map. You’ll have to browse
around to find the place; use the plus sign to zoom in. Click
on Print View to print the map. To save a section of a map,
you can do a screen capture or use the Windows Snipping
Tool. Click on Order This Map to order a printed copy of
the whole map. The A1 option (23.4x33.3 inches), the largest
size that can be delivered outside the United Kingdom, costs
about $30, including shipping.
The National Library of Scotland <www.nls.uk> has more
than 86,000 maps of Scotland dating between 1560 and 1961.
Its 20 volumes of gazetteers published between 1803 and
1901 are at <digital.nls.uk/gazetteers-of-scotland-1803-1901>.
A search on Edward Robertson’s home parish of Killin produces 273 matches, including a detailed description in the
volume from 1803: “KILLIN; a Highland parish of Perthshire… The situation of the village of Killin at the W.[est] end
of Loch Tay, is singularly picturesque and pleasant. Near it
the Dochart and Lochy [Rivers] unite, and fall into the loch;
and the romantic surrounding hills, skirted with wood, all
increase the beauty of the scene.”
For an insight into daily life in your ancestor’s hometown,
check the Statistical Accounts of Scotland <edina.ac.uk/
stat-acc-scot> , written between the 1790s and 1840s. The
1790s report on Killin says, “Gaelic is the language generally
spoken … but most of the younger people understand less or
more of the English language.” So now I know that Edward
Robertson probably spoke Gaelic.
A Google <google.com> search also can turn up a lot of fascinating material on your ancestral hometown in Scotland.
Search on the parish name Killin and you’ll find a Wikipedia article stating that, in the late 18th century (when my
ancestors lived there), “Flax was grown locally, spun in
small mills and woven into linen by home-based weavers.”
Image matches include picturesque scenes showing the
River Dochart. Click on the Maps tab in your Google search
results to view (in addition to a map) photos, photo tours
and Street View. Also be sure to search on your ancestor’s
parish name plus the word church. I found exterior and
interior photos of the Killin parish church, built in 1744. It’s
awe-inspiring to look on those images, as well as the bucolic
scenes of lush forests, stone bridges and magnificent waterfalls—the same landscapes my ancestors regarded more
than two centuries ago. Scotland’s government—headquartered at Edinburgh’s Calton
Hill (above)—began registering vital events in 1855. Parliament
established the Scottish Register of Tartans to record information
about tartans, such as the one these bagpipers wear (opposite).
Contributing editor Rick Crume was surprised to discover
a secret message when he read the first word in each line of a
poem transcribed in the Robertson family papers.
47
The
of
Peek into the past and solve research problems
by creating a timeline of your ancestor’s life.
We’ll show you how easy it is.
BY SHELLEY K. BISHOP
48
2014
3 DO YOU EVER wish you could walk in your ancestors’
shoes? Get a craving to know more about their lives than just
names, dates and places? Thankfully, you don’t need a crystal
ball to see into the past. All it takes is curiosity, creative investigation, and the right tool to construct an engaging profile of
an ancestor’s life.
Timelines offer a simple and effective way to create that
profile. A timeline gives substance to the events of a person’s
life by placing them into historical context, and points you to
new avenues of genealogy research. It can show an ancestor’s
move from one locality to another—or reveal conflicting data
you may need to resolve. By illustrating what your ancestor
did when and where, a timeline can also suggest how and
why your family history unfolded the way it did.
Best of all, timelines are easy and fun to create. You’ll need
only a word processing program or one of the timeline apps
we’ll suggest, and a little time of your own. When you finish,
you’ll have a versatile tool for looking at your ancestor’s life
in a whole new light.
Timelines as power tools
Timelines can aid your family history research in many ways.
By gathering all the stepping-stones you can find and arranging them in chronological order, you’ll create a personalized
path through the past. A well-constructed timeline:
ORGANIZES: A chart of ordered events gives a valuable
overview of your ancestor’s life. At a glance, you’ll see milestones such as marriages, changes in occupation or residence, the births of children, the death of a parent or spouse,
military service and other significant dates.
REVEALS: Your ancestor didn’t live in a vacuum. Adding
relevant historical events to your timeline reveals the impact
of social, political and economic circumstances. This helps
you understand how events affected him and his family.
ILLUMINATES: A timeline can expose gaps in your research,
as well as conflicting information you need to resolve. It can
also help you solve tricky identity puzzles by anchoring your
ancestor to a particular place at a certain time.
SUGGESTS: How did your ancestor get from Point A to
Point B? Why did he take a new job? What did she do after
her husband died? A timeline might suggest possible migration routes, or shed light on why things occurred.
A timeline also can serve as an outline for writing your
ancestor’s story, whether for your family or publication. It’s
perfect for sharing with relatives at a reunion. On a research
trip, it’s handy as a quick reference to the names, dates and
places you’re investigating, as well as the sources you’ve
already checked. With their myriad of uses, you’ll find yourself turning to your timelines again and again.
Making time
You don’t need expensive software or special skills to build
an effective timeline. This tutorial will show you how to
construct one using the Table function built into your word
processor, such as Microsoft Word. If you prefer, you can
use the same technique with a spreadsheet program, such as
Microsoft Excel.
1
MAKE A TEMPLATE. First, create a blank chart to use as
a template for multiple projects. In a new document,
write a title such as: Life Events Timeline for [Name]. Decide
whether you want to create your timeline in portrait or landscape orientation. Landscape gives you more space to write.
In Word, you can change these settings using File>Page
Setup. If you select portrait style, change the document margins to 1 inch on both sides, to make your chart wider.
Using the Table menu, select to insert a table seven columns wide by 20 rows deep (you can add more rows later).
If you’d like to adjust the font, select the whole table and go
to your font settings. Arial or Calibri fonts at 11 pt. size work
well. Label your columns with the following headings: Date,
Age, Event, Place, Source, No. and Notes.
Next, adjust the width of the columns. Hover over the column line after Age or grab the # sign at the top of the document workspace, and slide it to the left as far as possible, to
make a skinny column. Do the same with the No. column.
Expand the Notes column to the right to use the space you
just freed up. As you create ancestral timelines, you can
adjust the size of your columns as needed. Be sure to save
your document, using a name such as Timeline Template.
To use the timeline for a specific ancestor, you can either
copy and paste the entire table into a blank document, or use
the Save As command to rename it as a different file, such
as Timeline George Clark. Starting each one with the word
“timeline” followed by the ancestor’s name enables you to
find them quickly in your documents folder.
2
FILL IN YOUR ANCESTOR’S LIFE EVENTS. Now the fun
of developing your chart begins. For this step, you’ll
need your research notes or genealogy software to refer to.
Type the person’s name at the top of the document. Enter
your ancestor’s date of birth (actual or estimated) in the
second or third row of the chart. List events in chronological
order, skipping one or several lines to allow room for future
entries (you can always insert rows later, too).
Events to list include: birth, baptism, census enumerations, marriages, land purchases and sales, tax assessments,
voter or draft registrations, religious memberships, military
service, immigration, naturalization, city directory listings, employment, divorce, pension applications, death,
burial, and probate or estate settlements. Don’t worry if you
know only some of these things—after all, you’re creating
a research tool you’ll use to find out more. Column by column, your chart will look like this:
DATE: Use a short, standard format, such as 05 Apr 1837.
For an estimated date, use c. 1837 or abt. 1837, or a range of
years (1835-1839).
AGE: Put age or approximate age at time of the event.
49
CREATING A TIMELINE
DATE
14 Jun 1798
AGE
--
28 Nov 1806
0
5 4 Feb 1811
4
1
2
EVENT
Parents, George
Clark & Juda Divers, married
Birth
PLACE
Sussex Co., New
Jersey
Probably Licking
Co., Ohio
Zanesville, Ohio
Land Oĸce
11 Mar 1811
4
Between
1811-1814
1812-1815
4-7
Sister, Margaret
Clark, born
Father purchases
160 acres in Licking Co., Ohio
Mother dies
5-8
War of 1812
Pennsylvania
3
4
SOURCE
Sussex marriage
book A p.18,
Bible record
Bible record,
death record
Bible record
NO NOTES
1, 2 Marriage dates
agree
Land Oĸce
Register Report
March 1811
4
Probably Licking
Co., Ohio
2, 3 Birth dates agree
2
IdenƟĮes George
Clark Sr. as a Licking
Co. resident
Death implied by
father’s remarriage
6
Here’s part of a timeline I created for my ancestor George
Clark, covering his childhood and young adulthood in Ohio.
1Include a short synopsis of the event.
2The Place column help you track ancestral moves and
identify where to search for more information.
3
These numbers correspond to source citation numbers in
your genealogy database or source list.
4
Note inferences drawn from records to aid in your
analysis, or add details about others listed in a record.
5
6
Colors indicate your ancestor’s personal events, those
for his family members, and historical events.
You can list your numbered source citations below the
timeline chart or in a separate database.
EVENT: Briefly describe what happened, such as “Marriage to Mary Edwards,” “Head of household in census,”
“Witness to Robert Edwards’ will,” or “Sells 80 acres of land.”
PLACE: Indicate the town or township, county, and state
or country where the event took place. Use words like possibly or probably if you’re unsure.
SOURCE: A short description of the source, such as
“Blount Co. marriages, v. 3 p. 73” or “1850 census p. 122, fam.
380, James Clark,” gives you a quick way to identify where
you found the information.
NO.: This number corresponds to your full source citation. You can use the source number from your genealogy
database, prompting you to find the full citation there. Or
you can number the sources independently (beginning with
1), and provide citations at the bottom of your timeline. This
gives you a stand-alone research tool.
NOTES: Here you can record specific details and comments, such as a land description or the names and ages
of other people in a census record. You also could indicate
whether a record agrees or conflicts with information from
another source, to aid in your analysis.
To add even more usefulness to this framework of your
ancestor’s life, use color color-coding. Color can show which
events pertain directly to your ancestor, which correspond to
50
2014
By gathering life events and
other family members and which provide historical context.
Highlight a row where you’ve entered text. In the Word formatting palette or ribbon, select Shading. Under Fill Color,
choose a color, like pale green. Repeat this for all the rows.
This shows that all the rows in green refer to life events specifically for this person.
arranging them in chronological
order, you’ll create a personalized
3
path through the past.
EXPAND THE FAMILY CIRCLE. Many other people
played a role in your ancestor’s story. What about the
family she was born into? If you know her parents’ names,
you might begin your timeline with their marriage. It’s helpful to add information from the census record where they
lived before her birth. If desired, you could note the births
and marriages of her siblings. Because a parent’s death may
have generated valuable records, you’ll also want that on
your list.
Now enter details on the family she created. Fill in birth
information for her spouse and each of her children. Enter
the dates and places where children married or died. The
death of a spouse is a pivotal event; if you don’t know the
exact date, you can indicate a range of years (i.e., 1866-1870).
Depending how you plan to use the timeline, you may
want to include information about brothers- and sisters-inlaw, too. Extended family groups often migrated together,
and these relationships can be key in confirming an ancestor’s identity in a specific place and time. Similarly, the
death of a father-in-law serves as a cue to look for estate
records. For challenging research problems, you could add
entries for court documents, deeds or newspaper notices
with the names of neighbors or friends who were witnesses
or bondsmen.
Color-code your entries for this step with a different color,
such as light orange, to show they correspond to other family
members. As your chart fills up, you may run short of rows.
To add additional lines, copy one or more blank rows, position your cursor under the table, then paste. To insert rows
in the middle of the table, highlight a row and right-click on
Insert Row.
Surprised by how much you actually know about your
ancestor? Or wondering where she was for 20 years between
records? Maybe you’ll find clues hidden in history. The
MORE
ONLINE
next step is to discover how your ancestor fit into the world
around her, and how that world might have affected her.
4
ADD MOMENTS IN HISTORY. Like today, our ancestors
were impacted by events occurring at the global,
national, state and local levels. In understanding their times,
it’s helpful to think of these as a pyramid. Picture distant
world events, which generally had less influence on their
day-to-day lives, in the narrow peak. National events, such
as the start of the Civil War, completion of the Erie Canal,
and discovery of gold in California, affected them more and
help you envision their times. The construction of roads,
canals, and railroads through their state, new industries and
other developments at the state and regional level had a still
greater impact.
Yet to gain a real understanding of your ancestor, you need
to get down to the largest and most influential base of the
pyramid—the local level. When did the railroad line come to
town? Did outbreaks of disease ravage the community? Was
there a flood, blizzard, hurricane, or other natural disaster?
Did the town hall burn down?
Pick events that seem most relevant to your ancestor’s life,
as well as those that help define an era. The timeline for a
Midwestern pioneer might include the date of statehood,
the War of 1812, an outbreak of cholera, and construction of
the National Road. For a Southern woman during the Civil
War, you might list her state’s secession date, nearby battles,
a supply shortage and the war’s end. It’s also helpful to note
boundary changes that could affect where records are found.
Free Web Content
For Plus Members
Timeline of US military campaigns
Genelines software review
inside-sources-us-militarycampaigns>
Social history resources
Social-History-Resources>
Social history by decade
remember-that>
genelines-software>
Milestones in mail delivery
history-matters-postal-systems>
10 great social history sites
article/10-social-history-websites>
51
ShopFamilyTree.com
Quick Guide: Timeline Generators
<shopfamilytree.com/quick-guidetimeline-generators>
Cool Tools for Creating Timelines
video class <shopfamilytree.com/cooltools-for-creating-timelines-digitaldownload-t1054>
Remember That? A Year-by-Year
Chronicle of Fun Facts, Headlines, & Your
Memories <shopfamilytree.com/
remember-that-w3601>
An immigrant ancestor’s timeline will include events that
occurred both in his homeland and in his new residence in
America. Consider the factors that pushed an ancestor to
emigrate, such as a war, crop failures or religious persecution. Also consider things that pulled him to a new location,
such as the availability of land, or jobs with railroads or
textile mills.
Where do you find this kind of social or historical perspective? Check the websites of local and state historical
societies to see whether they’ve compiled timelines or summaries of important events. Try a Google search using the
name of the state or county and the words history timeline.
You can often find chronologies for special topics, such
as railroad history, the same way. Old county and town
histories are a good source of state and local detail. Many
of these can be read or downloaded free at Google Books
<books.google.com> , Hathi Trust <www.hathitrust.org> and
Internet Archive <archive.org/details/texts>. For more ideas,
see the box below.
Adding even a handful of relevant events to your timeline
will bring your ancestor’s world into sharper focus. Colorcode these entries using a third color, like violet, to indicate
they show historical context (see an example of a timeline
for my ancestor George Clark on page 50). Congratulations—
you’ve created a unique visual synopsis of your ancestor’s life
and times to reflect on, use, and share.
Time will tell
Step back and consider what your finished timeline tells you
about your ancestor’s life. What overall themes or patterns
emerge? What clues does it give you? Is there a gap where
he’s missing for a period of time? Can you see what may have
motivated, challenged, or attracted him? Think about the
picture it paints of him and his times.
Write down the questions that pop into your head as you
study the timeline. Use those questions to create a research
plan or list of resources you want to explore further. Is there
a particular aspect of your ancestor’s life you want to know
more about, such as immigration or military service? Set that
topic as your focus, and investigate where you might find
additional records. See our sample family history research
plan at <familytreemagazine.com/article/sample-research-plan>
for an example of a targeted research plan.
Similarly, if your timeline has exposed conflicting evidence, create a plan to research the matter and resolve the
conflict. If a boy was 8 years old in the census, and you have
a marriage record dated two years later, something is amiss.
Be suspicious of attributing births to women over 45 years
old, especially prior to the medical advances of the 20th
century. Take a good look at your locations. No matter how
talented your ancestor was, he couldn’t have been in two
places at the same time. Might you be looking at two people
with the same name?
Print your timeline or upload it to a cloud-based service,
such as Dropbox <www.dropbox.com> or Evernote <evernote.
com>. Take it along to libraries, courthouses, archives, cemeteries and places where your ancestor lived. It’s a handy,
portable guide to facts about your ancestor and his family, as
well as the resources you’ve consulted.
Give copies of your timeline to relatives when you visit
them, to spark a conversation or trigger memories. At a
reunion, other family members might add details or volunteer photographs. By sharing your information, you open the
door to an exchange of ideas and treasures.
FINDING TIME
Looking for historical events to help put your ancestor’s
life in perspective? These resources will give you a head
start. To find a chronology for a particular state or subject,
do a Google search for the name of he state plus the
words history timeline.
American Memory Timeline: Library of
Congress <loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/
presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline>
Cyndi’s List: Timelines <cyndislist.com/timelines>
Digital History: University of Houston
<www.digitalhistory.uh.edu>
eHistory Interactive Timelines: Ohio State University
<ehistory.osu.edu/osu/timeline/timeline.cfm>
FamilySearch: Books <books.familysearch.org/
primo_library/libweb>
The Genealogist’s U.S. History Pocket Reference by Nancy
Hendrickson (Family Tree Books)
Google Books <books.google.com>
Hathi Trust <www.hathitrust.org>
History for Genealogists by Judy Jacobson (Genealogical
Publishing)
The History Place <www.historyplace.com>
Internet Archive <archive.org/details/texts>
Timelines of History <timelines.ws>
Wikipedia <en.wikipedia.org>
World History Project <worldhistoryproject.org>
USGenWeb <www.usgenweb.org>
TIP: If you have a family tree on Ancestry.com, each
ancestor’s Overview page has a timeline of the life events
you’ve entered. Use this as a starting point for creating a
timeline enhanced with historical events.
52
2014
A timeline is a concise, easy way to electronically share
information with distant cousins researching the same family. You can attach your document to an email or share it via
Google Drive <drive.google.com>. Others can add data and
send it back to you.
If sharing and presenting are your primary objectives,
you’ll also want to look into timeline creation programs,
which can enhance your work with photos and graphics.
TIP: Look for gaps in your ancestors’ timelines, such as a
missing marriage date or a span of years without any entries.
These can help you focus your research efforts.
GENELINES <progenygenealogy.com/products/timelinecharts> is a Windows-compatible software program for
Getting with the program
creating timelines and charts. It accepts GEDCOM files and
uploads from several genealogy databases. Users can select
categories, fonts, colors and more. It’s available for purchase
as CD-ROM or download.
OUR TIMELINES <www.ourtimelines.com> generates printable timelines from 10 events you enter. It incorporates
world and national history within your span of years, and
it’s free.
PRECEDEN <www.preceden.com> lets you make colorful
timelines organized by topics and layers, with various privacy and publishing options. Free (student) and paid (unlimited) versions are available.
TIKI-TOKI <www.tiki-toki.com> offers tools for making webbased 3D timelines that you can enhance with images and
notes to share or embed on your blog or website. You can get
a free or an enhanced premium account.
TIMEGLIDER <timeglider.com> is a web-based program for
creating and publishing interactive timelines using differentsize fonts to signify importance. It offers free (student) and
subscription plans.
TIMETOAST <www.timetoast.com> allows users to create,
publish, and embed timelines on their own websites. You can
add short notes to each point in time. It’s available in free or
paid versions.
TREELINES <www.treelines.com> helps you compile short
stories and photographs in segments, so you can present your
ancestor’s history in an interesting, engaging way. GEDCOM
compatibility and flexible design options let you include
source information and links to your online family tree. You
can keep your presentation private or share it with relatives,
and all these features are free.
Now that you know how rewarding it can be to create and
use timelines, you’ll want to make them a regular part of
your research process. Constructing a timeline engages your
most valuable research asset—your mind—to see someone
in the larger context of his family and times. The picture
that emerges is sure to be a fascinating one, spurring new
questions and discoveries. By tracing your ancestor’s steps
through history, you might just get the sensation of walking
in his shoes. Technology offers many other tools for creating timelines.
Most popular genealogy software programs have a built-in
timeline report, allowing you to click and print your ancestor’s chronology. Computer-generated reports save time, but
lack your comments and historical interest, so consider using
the report as a basis for building a richer timeline.
Online and software-based timeline programs are fun to
explore, especially if you’re looking to share and publish
your creation. Many are designed with collaboration in mind.
Some of the more popular timeline creation programs and
websites include:
Using an online tool such as Treelines, you can create a genealogical
presentation in timeline form to share with your family.
Professional genealogist Shelley K. Bishop chronicles
the lives of her ancestors on her blog, A Sense of Family <www.
asenseoffamily.com>.
Not just for genealogists—but great for genealogical purposes—Tiki-Toki
creates interactive timelines you can enhance with images and notes.
53
YOUR
Disaster
PLAN
What would become of your genealogy research in a
fire, flood or computer crash? Follow our two-part plan
to safeguard your family archive should disaster strike.
B Y D E N I S E M AY L E V E N I C K
3 WE’VE EXPERIENCED ALMOST every kind of natural
insurance agent. A disaster may disrupt local landline phone
service, but long distance service or SMS text messaging
often remains active. Designate an out-of-town family member or friend as a disaster contact for each of your family
members to check in with in an emergency, and make sure
you know how to use text messaging. Add a genealogy contact who can keep a backup copy of your digital files or safeguard some heirlooms for you. Also include a contact labeled
ICE (“in case of emergency”) with someone emergency personnel can contact if you’re incapacitated.
Write down phone numbers, too, so you’ll have them
if your cell phone dies. The FEMA Family Emergency
Plan contact card <www.ready.gov/sites/default /files/
FamEmePlan_2013.pdf> is a handy reminder.
disaster in North America: blizzards, droughts, earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes, landslides, lightening, super storms, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, wildfires.
No matter what state or province you call home, these
catastrophes happen, endangering lives, ruining belongings
and kicking people out of their homes. For genealogists,
natural disasters can reach into the past and destroy a lifetime of family history research, along with precious photos,
documents and heirlooms.
Scanning plus a regular computer backup routine is a great
start to protect your research, but would your data, paper
materials and heirlooms survive a fire, flood or other disaster? Could you quickly grab your genealogy life and run if
you had to evacuate? Get ready for the next Big One with this
guide to creating your own Genealogy Disaster Plan.
PRACTICE PREVENTION. Get a good surge protector for
3
your computer and external hard drives to guard against
BEFORE DISASTER STRIKES
power fluctuations. Unplug the computer and hard drives
before storms. Store power chargers with your laptop and
other devices. Keep devices charged, and consider purchasing a solar or car charger you can use during power outages.
Learn where your home’s water shutoff valve is so you can
act quickly if pipes burst. Know how to handle small emergencies, such as cooking fires, before they turn into big ones.
1common hazards: house fire, water damage and power fail-
LEARN YOUR RISKS. Most of our homes are at risk of three
ure. Depending where your home is located, such as in a
flood plain or fault zone, you may also need to prepare for
unique perils—floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis or
even volcanic eruption.
If you’re new to an area, you may be blissfully unaware
of risks. Longtime residents may find that new development has modified drainage, changing your risk factors.
Locate your community on risk assessment maps to determine local hazards. Find weather perils on the Federal
Alliance for Safe Homes’ interactive Peril Map <www.
flash.org /perils.php> . Study flood maps and simulators
at <www.floodsmart.gov> , and check out wildfire danger
on the USDA Forest Service site <www.firelab.org /fmi/
data-products/229-wildland-fire-potential-wfp>.
4
PRIORITIZE KEEPSAKES. If you have boxes of family photos
and keepsakes, or file drawers filled with records, prioritize
what to save first. Use our Family History Disaster Inventory
Sheet <familytreemagazine.com/upload/images/pdf/artifact.
pdf> to list and prioritize your treasures. Start by listing irreplaceable family keepsakes. Remember to include heirloom
furniture, jewelry, quilts and large items that may be a part of
your home furnishings or decor.
Add your genealogical research materials to the Inventory
Sheet, noting which files or binders should be digitized first.
You may already have most records and notes scanned or in
digital format, but double-check to be sure you’re covered.
When every genealogical keepsake, document and
resource is inventoried, give each item a priority of 1, 2 or 3:
GATHER IMPORTAINT NUMBERS. Staying in contact with
2
family and news sources is critical in an emergency. Pro-
gram your cell phone with emergency phone numbers
and contacts, such as local utilities, repair people and your
55
<shopfamilytree.com/flippal-mobile-scanner>. A sheet-fed scanner lets you quickly digitize research papers and notes.
Save a high-resolution (at least 600 dpi) digital master
of heirloom images. Archivists recommend using the TIFF
format. Leave your masters alone and make a JPG copy if you
need to work with or share a file. Get in-depth information
on scanning family heirlooms and research in my book How
to Archive Family Keepsakes (Family Tree Books).
SALVAGE JOB
Don’t assume your photos and documents are goners if they
get waterlogged—but wet items can quickly sprout mold.
As soon as it’s safe to do so, follow these instructions:
6
Air-drying
GET AN INSURANCE CHECKUP. Contact your insurance
agent about extra coverage you might need for heirloom
items. Find out exactly what emergencies you’re covered for,
and whether archival restoration is included in your policy.
Upgrade if needed.
Take photos of valuable heirlooms, along with electronics
and jewelry, for insurance purposes. Store them in the cloud,
along with a copy of your insurance policy and a list of the
serial numbers on your electronics.
Paper is fragile when wet, so handle carefully. Don’t worry if
photos curl as they dry; you can have a conservator flatten
them later.
1. Rinse photos and documents with clean water if
needed.
2. Hang them or place them face up on a clean, flat
surface, on top of blotting material such as paper towels or
clean rags. Let dry at room temperature, avoiding heat and
sunlight. Use fans to circulate air and speed drying time, but
don’t aim airflow directly at the drying items.
3. Place paper towels or blotting paper inside the front
and back covers of books, and intermittently throughout the
text. Fan open the pages and stand books on edge to dry.
Replace blotting material as it gets wet.
BACK UP COMPUTER FILES. The files on your computer are
7working
files. You should store backups offsite so you can get
them back in case an emergency wipes out your hard drive.
Lots of copies gives your data more chances for survival.
I recommend keeping three backups, including a rotating
system of two external hard drives. Buy the largest capacity
you think you’ll need and keep one at your house and one in a
separate location, such as with your genealogy contact or in a
safe deposit box. After your monthly file back up to the drive
at your house, switch it with the one in the remote location
and then back up that one. Your third backup is a complete
set of files saved on an online storage site such as Backblaze
<www.backblaze.com> , Carbonite <www.carbonite.com> or
Mozy <mozy.com>.
Freezing
If you have access to a freezer or refrigerator, you can
reduce the temperature of wet photos and papers to stop
mold growth until you have time to continue salvage.
1. Stack photos or documents, separating them with wax
paper to keep them from sticking together.
2. Seal the stacks in resealable plastic freezer bags and
place in the freezer or refrigerator.
3. Later, defrost the photos at room temperature, separate
them, and air-dry.
8
SAVE PASSWORDS. Remember to save all the user names
and passwords you use to access genealogy websites, bank
accounts, Facebook and file backups. You’ll need to retrieve
them if your computer is destroyed or unavailable. One way
to do this is with an online password management app such
as LastPass <www.lastpass.com> or OnePassword <www.
agilebits.com/onepassword>. These encrypt your passwords
and let you use one master password to access them all from
No. 1: your most treasured keepsakes, such as your grandmother’s handmade quilt or a family scrapbook. These will
be tops on your Genealogy Grab and Go List (see No. 10), and
you’ll digitized them first.
No. 2: items you’ve already digitized, but you want to save
No. 3: items that have been digitized and can be replaced,
such as printouts of research notes or census records
DIGITIZE TO SAFEGUARD. Select the best way to digitize
5
your keepsakes and research, starting with the No. 1 items
TIP: Create an easy-to-grab emergency binder with
family birth certificates and Social Security cards,
insurance policies, serial numbers of home electronics,
instructions for accessing online file backups, and other
important information.
on your priority list. Use a flatbed scanner for heirloom
documents and photographs. You can photograph oversize
documents, scrapbooks and three-dimensional objects
with a digital camera (use a tripod for a crystal-clear shot),
or scan and “stitch” them with a Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner
56
2014
any internet-enabled device. Know how to retrieve your
cloud backup storage in case you need to restore everything
to a new computer.
backup, your laptop and power cord, and other heirloom
items. If possible, group items in storage together so it’ll be
easier to get them. Mark the location(s) of these items on
your list and post it in an easy-to-find spot on a bulletin board
or inside a cupboard.
9
PRACTICE SMART STORAGE. Digital copies preserve information, but what about the original 19th-century photographs and documents that you cherish? Use archival storage
containers made of archival-quality, acid-free materials to
protect photos, letters, old scrapbooks and other heirlooms.
Your choice of archival storage containers may depend on
funds, space and potential hazards. Plastic might seem like a
good choice, but lids can become dislodged, allowing water
inside that can’t evaporate. In addition, a plastic container
will melt in the high heat of a fire, destroying the contents.
Archival board boxes aren’t waterproof or fireproof, but the
material will breathe, allowing moisture to evaporate.
After Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012, one
family was relieved that a fire-proof safe box protected their
mother’s genealogy research even though a flood and fire
destroyed their home <www.sentrysafe.com/hurricane_sandy_
beginagain>. A fireproof and waterproof safe might be a good
option for storing small keepsakes and research notes.
Put your home archive in a spot free from dust, pests
and smoke, and where temperature and humidity are fairly
constant. An interior closet in the living area of your house
is a good choice. Avoid basements, garages and attics. Store
boxes at least a foot off the floor in case of flooding. Keep
them away from windows, vents, pipes and electric wires.
10
CREATE A GENEALOGY DISASTER KIT. You’ll be ready to
11
start damage control as soon as it’s safe to re-enter your
home if you assemble a simple genealogy disaster kit and
store it near heirloom items. Include these items:
disposable gloves, protective coverall and face mask
large plastic tubs. You can use them for general storage
now, and empty and repurpose them if necessary.
wax paper to interleave wet papers and photos so they
don’t stick together (see the box, opposite)
paper towels, clean rags or other blotting material
large plastic tarps or cotton sheets as a drying surface
circulating fan to facilitate drying
large garbage bags
resealable plastic freezer bags for refrigerating or freezing wet photos
bottled water to rinse soiled items
instructions for handling wet or damaged items, such as
the tips on the opposite page and on Archives.gov <archives.
gov/preservation/conservation/flood-damage.html>
contact information of a local conservator for professional assistance. You can find one through the American
Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
<www.conservation-us.org>
MAKE A GENEALOGY GRAB-AND-GO LIST. In the event
AFTER A DISASTER
of disaster, having a genealogy disaster plan will let you
focus on your family’s personal safety, not your family history research. In case you must evacuate, you’ll know what
to retrieve so you don’t spend precious minutes trying to
remember where you’ve stored your family keepsakes.
Make a short genealogy grab-and-go List that includes
specific items. You can download our free template from <bit.
ly/ftm-genealogy-grab-and-go>. Start with the inventory you
made in Step 4—the items you marked top priority will also
top your grab-and-go-list. Also consider listing your family’s important records (birth certificates, passports, insurance policies), a portable hard drive with your digital media
MORE
ONLINE
THE DAMAGE. Expect to deal with a range of emo1tionsASSESS
if your family treasures are lost or damaged. No matter
how carefully you prepared with digital backups and safe
storage, you may have lost your family archive.
When it’s safe re-enter your home, focus on salvaging irreplaceable items and those not preserved by digital backups.
Locate your genealogy disaster kit for supplies. Carefully
open storage containers and inspect contents. Remove wet
photos and documents, and freeze or air dry within 48 hours.
Look around your home and check heirloom objects. Wet
furniture, quilts and other objects will need to be air-dried.
Free Web Content
For Plus Members
Disaster-preparedness for your
When to call a genealogy pro
family archive <familytreemagazine.
com/article/disaster-preparednessfor-your-family-archives>
Un-stick a stuck photo
saving-stuck-photos>
calling-in-the-pros>
How to use an external hard drive
toolkit-external-hard-drives>
Saving wet photos
when-the-worst-happens>
Organize your computer files
clean-sweep>
57
ShopFamilyTree.com
How to Archive Family Keepsakes by
Denise May Levenick <shopfamilytree.
com/ht-archive-family-keepsakes>
Disaster Preparedness for
Genealogists video class <shopfamily
tree.com/disaster-preparednessgenealogists-webinar>
Resource Roundup: Online Backup
Services <shopfamilytree.com/onlinebackup-services-article>
2
In the event of disaster, a genealogy
COLLECT SCATTERED ITEMS. Sort and temporarily store
loose items in large plastic tubs or other containers. Use your
already-prepared inventory to help you locate items and
check them off as you find and assess them.
Don’t assume that damaged items are unsalvageable.
Place all the pieces you can find of a broken object into a
labeled container and consult a professional conservator. If
your home isn’t secure, is open to the elements or is structurally compromised, try to remove any items of value to a
safer location.
disaster plan will let you focus
on your family’s personal safety
instead of your heirlooms.
Remove photos from frames if possible, then rinse in clean
water and air dry.
Use a digital camera or smart phone camera to photograph
the damage and any items you may need to send to a professional conservator and/or your insurance agent.
Wet or sooty items can pose health hazards from mold,
chemicals and other irritants, so refer to emergency personnel for safety procedures and be prepared to wear safety gear
such as plastic gloves and face masks. Work in well-ventilated areas. Be aware of the potential for accidents caused by
slippery surfaces, debris, downed power lines, etc.
3
CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE AGENT. Your homeowner’s and
any specialty insurance policies may cover repair or replacement of some furniture, jewelry and other goods. Ask about
specifically named items in your policy.
Don’t wait until a disaster is on the way to decide how
you’ll handle your family archive. Be prepared with a genealogy disaster plan and know you’ve done your best to safeguard your family history. Denise May Levenick, author of How to Archive Family
Keepsakes (Family Tree Books), archives her family’s keepsakes in preparation for any Southern California disaster.
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Answers to your genealogy questions
{ B Y D AV I D A . F R Y X E L L }
My ancestor received land in Ohio for his
Revolutionary War service. Why can’t I find any
trace of it on the General Land Office Records site?
The Bureau of Land Management ’s General Land Office
(GLO) kept records for the “public land
states,” which you can search at <www.
glorecords.blm.gov>. In the early years
of the United States, Congress declared
it would sell or grant the unclaimed
lands in “the West” to benefit the Treasury. States gave up their claims to
land in what’s now Alabama, Michigan,
part of Minnesota, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. In
turn, the federal government gave up
claims to lands within the original 13
Klerks Genealogy
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Research in
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The Netherlands
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colonies. New states farther west also
became public land states. (See a list of
these states at <familytreemagazine.com/
article/inside-sources-state-land-vspublic-land-states>).
There’s an exception in Ohio, though:
Northeastern Ohio was part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, set aside to
satisfy military bounty warrants for
Revolutionary War veterans from Connecticut. The GLO wasn’t involved in
those transactions and has no records
of them. Instead, research these land
records at the Connecticut State
Huguenots in Virginia
prior to 1786
Ancestor Lists
Genealogy
History
Huguenot Art and Culture
on exhibit at our
Research Library
outside Richmond
Library: 804-794-5702
Meeting/Luncheon Schedule
History, Driving Directions
www.huguenot-manakin.org
Come visit!
Library <www.cslib.org/westernreserve.
htm> and the Western Reserve Historical Society <www.wrhs.org>.
I’m looking for an
ancestor born before his
hometown began keeping birth
records. Would his birth be in
the records of the midwife who
delivered him?
It’s a long shot, but worth investigating. Though midwives’ records
NOW
AVAILABLE!
websites as well as the volunteer FreeBMD site <www.freebmd.org.uk> (which
is still in progress). You can use an
index entry to order a copy of the complete birth, marriage or death certificate from the GRO. The certificates
themselves aren’t online. Genealogists
have found many errors and omissions
in the index, however, and entries—
especially for earlier years—can be
challenging to decipher.
The original copies of these birth,
marriage and death records are actually in local register offices, and some
offices have joined with genealogy
groups to create independent indexes.
These contain information missing or
incorrect in the GRO indexes. You can
order the actual certificate from the
local office if you can identify the right
one—which can be tricky because of
periodic reorganizations. The helpful
GENUKI website has an index to places
in England and Wales to get you started
<www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/places> . It
lists each county’s registration districts,
with historical changes, at <www.ukbmd.
org.uk/genuki/reg> . Districts are listed
alphabetically at <www.ukbmd.org.uk/
genuki/reg/districts> . GENUKI’s guide
to local register offices <www.ukbmd.
org.uk/genuki/reg/regoff.html> includes
each office’s postal address, telephone
and fax, email, payment information,
website and links to any online indexes
or ordering pages.
Lancashire is one of the counties
indexing its birth, marriage and death
records online <www.lancashirebmd.org.
uk>. The free index isn’t yet complete,
but the site does offer online ordering.
For other parts of the United Kingdom,
you can check the list of online certificate ordering sites at <www.ukbmd.org.
uk/copy_certificates>. varied, they often contained medical
notes on each birth and the names of
the parents responsible for paying for
the midwife’s services.
When midwives retired or died, their
records were often simply disposed of,
but they occasionally ended up in some
library or archive. Check local university and historical society libraries. Also
try searching the FamilySearch online
catalog <www.familysearch.org/catalogsearch> for the place where your ancestor was born, and then scrolling the
results under Vital Records. You can
add the keyword midwives or midwife
to your search. A similar search might
succeed at the WorldCat online catalog
of libraries worldwide <worldcat.org>,
which now includes FamilySearch’s
Family History Library (FHL). You’d
need to borrow the records through
interlibrary loan or (for FHL materials)
through a local FamilySearch Center.
Midwives’ records may have been
transcribed and published in a journal
indexed in the Periodical Source Index
(PERSI). You can search this index at
many libraries through HeritageQuest
Online, or on the subscription site findmypast.com <www.findmypast.com>.
I can’t find my ancestors
in Lancashire, England,
in the General Register Office
(GRO) indexes to birth,
marriage and death records.
Could the index contain errors?
Where else could I look?
The General Register Office
<www.gro.gov.uk> maintains vital
records for England and Wales beginning in 1837. Indexes to these records
are available at several subscription
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researchroadma
Maps to point your research in the right direction
EDITED BY TYLER MOSS
Sifting for Stories
GOLD
RUSH
AK
State with significant
population change
WA during gold rushes in
the second half of the
Nineteenth Century
Approximate number of people
brought to the area during rush
More than 100,000
10,000–100,000
Less than 10,000
N
CANADA
WA
PAC IF IC
O C EAN
MT
MN
ID
SD
WY
NV
CA
UNITED STATES
CO
NC
GA
miles 500
0
km 800
M EXICO
XNR MAPS
0
ATL A NTI C
O CEA N
3 THROUGHOUT THE 19TH cen-
tury, newly discovered gold deposits
sent droves of our ancestors rushing to
places from Georgia to Alaska. Although
mining rendered little profit for most
workers, the few lucky ones able to
make their fortunes represented the
potential to strike it big—luring a steady
stream of hopeful prospectors. The
biggest booms took place in California,
Washington and Colorado, but even
history’s lesser-reported rushes in
63
states such as North Carolina and Idaho
attracted more than 10,000 people to
the respective areas. Read the account
of an actual gold rush entrepreneur at
<familytreemagazine.com/article/timecapsule-gold-rush>. photodetective
Uncovering clues in historical photos
{ B Y M A U R E E N A . TAY L O R }
A Place in the Wilderness
5
4
6
1
3 FINDING A CAPTION on an old photo is sometimes
2
though, because research showed that she and her husband
didn’t have a son David.
A distant cousin of Abner’s, James Stubbs, married Sarah
Wheldon in 1789 in Orrington, Maine. Their son David was
born in 1794, making them good candidates for the people
mentioned in the caption. The Descendants of Richard Stubbs
1619-1677 of Hull, Massachusetts by Marjorie Anne Stubbs
Heaney, claims Abner and James descend from Richard
Stubbs (the son of the man in the book’s title).
The inheritance of this photograph didn’t follow a straight
line from one generation to the next. Before 1801, Abner and
Sarah’s daughter Amy Stubbs married John Ordway. Amy
and John were Edith Pearl Ordway Wyman’s great-grandparents. The identity of the caption writer is still unknown,
along with the intended reader (a descendant of David, who
was possibly the great-grandpa referenced in the caption),
and Stephen’s relationship to Abner and James. But it’s
apparent that family connections run deep in the Stubbs/
Ordway family.
more confusing than helpful. The one on the back of this
image, “David Stubbs mother Sarah Stubbs Residence, Stephen Stubbs and son in front of the house where your great
grandpa was born and lived,” generates a lot of questions:
We know who lived in the house (Sarah Stubbs) and her
son’s name (David), but who’s the great-grandpa mentioned?
What’s the name of Stephen’s son? How are father and son
related to Sarah and the great-grandpa? Who wrote the caption, and for whom?
This photo belongs to Carolyn Plante, who discovered it
in her father’s attic after he died. It was inside a suitcase that
belonged to her grandmother Edith Pearl Ordway Wyman
(1879-1954), who was born in Bangor, Maine, to Charles and
Alice Ordway.
Plante believes her Stubbs relatives built this house in
Maine. One of her ancestors is Sarah Oakdale, who was born
in 1756 and married Abner Stubbs in Cumberland County,
Maine, in 1775. This likely isn’t the Sarah in the caption,
64
2014
C O U R T E S Y O F C A R O LY N P L A N T E
3
1. It’s clear that this family homestead
was important to descendants. The
house doesn’t look lived in, but Stephen
and his son posed on the property
for a professional photographer. It’s
possible they had copies made for other
descendants.
2. Stephen and his son are dressed in
typical 19th-century men’s wear: suit,
vest, overcoat and hat. Stephen’s bowler
dates to the 1880s.
3. The date over the doorway suggests
that James and Sarah built their house in
1790, shortly after their marriage. Such
dates on homes aren’t always accurate,
so verify the detail with deed and
probate research.
4. This is a fairly large house with an
attached barn. Center-chimney houses
of this style generally had one or two
rooms downstairs with a loft above.
The attached barn was accessible
in winter weather. Virginia and Lee
McAlester’s A Field Guide to American
Houses (Knopf) is a good source for
house styles.
5. Landscape details can help determine
location and season. The bare trees,
along with the men’s attire, suggest cold
weather.
6. In the 1790 US census, James and
Sarah lived in Frankfurt, Maine, which
may be the location of this house. In
her book, Heaney says an 1859 map of
Winterport, Maine, shows the house of
a widowed Sarah near her son David’s
home. In 1860, a part of Frankfurt
was incorporated as the town of
Winterport. Have you found an old mystery
photo? Submit the image and your
story following the instructions
at <familytreemagazine.com/
submit-a-mystery-photo>. It may
appear on the Photo Detective Blog
<blog.familytreemagazine.com/
photodetectiveblog>.
NOW
AVAILABLE!
thetoolkit
Tech tutorials, reviews and roundups
{EDITED BY TYLER MOSS}
TUTORIAL
How to Web Clip with Evernote
3 THE WEB OFFERS tons of genealogical information. But capturing it by
printing pages can add up to a mountain
of paper. Nor is saving web addresses a
long-term solution, as web pages can be
changed and deleted. Family historians
need a reliable, paperless way to capture the information they need from a
website and organize that pile of notes.
That’s where Evernote <www.ever
note.com> comes in. This free, cloudbased note-taking service offers precise
screen clipping—whether it’s an entire
web page or just a paragraph—on a PC
or Mac. This ability to clip, store, organize, backup, share and retrieve notes
with lightning speed makes Evernote a
genealogist’s best friend.
Start by signing up for a free account
on the Evernote website. Next, download the desktop client to your computer. Evernote will detect if you’re on
a PC or Mac and offer the right software. Download the free app (available
for iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry
and WebOS) to your mobile devices,
and you can access your clippings and
notes on the go. Then follow these steps
for Evernote’s Desktop or Web Clipper.
Desktop clipper
Use the Desktop clipper to capture a
specific section of a webpage visible on
your computer screen:
Open the Evernote desktop client, (make sure you’re signed in
to your account) and minimize the
1
1
2
3
2
66
program. Next, display the content to
be clipped on your screen. Right-click
on the Evernote icon in your computer’s task bar, and select Clip Screenshot.
Your cursor becomes crosshairs.
Click and drag your mouse to
draw a box around the desired area, and
release the mouse button. The screen
flashes, indicating a successful clip.
The clipping will automatically
be saved as an image note in
2014
3
Evernote. Here you can add a note title
and keyword tags. Click the Info (I)
button to add source citation information, such as the original web address.
Web clipper
The Web Clipper is your tool of choice
to capture a confined article or an entire
web page. It also automatically includes
the URL of the page you’re clipping.
Go to <evernote.com/webclipper>,
where Evernote will detect the
browser you’re using and offer the right
clipper. (For these examples, we used
Chrome with Clipper 6.0.) Click the
green download button and follow the
instructions. Once installed, the small,
grey elephant icon appears in your
browser bar.
Navigate to a page or article you
want to clip and click the Evernote web clipper icon in your browser
bar. Select the desired type of clipping
from the clipper’s sidebar menu. For
example, select Article to highlight and
clip a single article from the page.
Select Simplified Article and
extraneous information on the
page disappears, leaving only the article
itself to be clipped. At this point you
can assign your note to a specific notebook and tag it with keywords to make
it easier to locate. You also can use
the “markup” tools to annotate your
clipping with highlighting, text comments, arrows and stamps, or blur out
unwanted areas.
When you’re finished, click Save
to save your note to your Evernote account. In the pop-up completion
window, click the Open in Evernote
button to view and work with your note
in Evernote on your computer.
Your clippings and notes are saved
to your computer and, with an internet
connection, to Evernote’s cloud storage. Evernote regularly synchronizes
your notes so you’re always working
on the most current version, no matter
which device you’re using. Now you
have the freedom to hit the road with
all your genealogy notes in hand.
1
1
2
2
3
4
3
4
» Lisa Louise Cooke
67
thetoolkit
SOFTWARE REVIEW
Photo Colorizing
Software
AKVIS Coloriage 9.5
PRICE: $75 (standalone or plug-in),
$90 (standalone and plug-in)
MANUFACTURER: AKVIS <akvis.
com/en/coloriage/>
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Windows XP or higher, Mac OS X
DEMO/TRIAL VERSION: Available
at <akvis.com/en/coloriage>
BIGGEST DRAWS: Easy to use, large
library of common colors
DRAWBACKS: Expensive
Recolored 1.1
PRICE: $29 (download)
MANUFACTURER: <www.recolored.
com>
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Windows XP or higher
DEMO/TRIAL VERSION: Available
at <www.recolored.com>
BIGGEST DRAWS: Easy to use,
inexpensive
DRAWBACKS: Occasional program
crashes
Looking at old family photos, it’s easy
to get the impression your ancestors
lived in a black-and-white or sepiatoned world. But now you can take your
images from Kansas to Oz, with photo
editing software that allows you to easily colorize black-and-white pictures
and see your ancestors’ faces, clothing
and surroundings in realistic pigments.
General photo-editing software
If you’re comfortable using advanced
photo-editing software, such as Photoshop, Photoshop Elements <www.
photoshop.com/products> and GIMP
<www.gimp.org> (a free program that
rivals Photoshop), you already have all
the tools you need. You’ll find many
tutorials on using those programs to
colorize black-and-white photos on
YouTube <www.youtube.com> and elsewhere online. The process involves
using layers, which is not terribly difficult, but still takes some practice. If
you want a simpler way to add color to
black-and-white pictures without having to master a complicated program,
simple software that focuses on that
one task might be just what you need.
Colorizing software
AKVIS Coloriage and Recolored are
two of the best programs for colorizing
photos. Here’s how they work: Open a
black-and-white image and decide how
you’d like to color it. Both programs have
a library of common colors grouped
into categories, such as eyes, hair, skin,
wood, fabrics, sky and grass. Select an
appropriate color and use the brush in
Recolored or the pencil in AKVIS Coloriage to draw a rough outline around
a section of the photo, such as a face, a
shirt or the sky. You don’t have to fill in
the areas exactly, as the programs detect
uncolored shapes for you. You can zoom
in to add color to small areas.
Once you’ve outlined each area of the
picture with a color, hit the button to
colorize the picture and in a moment
you’ll see the image in full color. If the
results don’t look good, you can always
68
2014
go back and refine your colors. You
may need to experiment with different
colors to achieve a realistic look. You
can change all strokes having the same
color in one step with the Magic Tube
tool in AKVIS Coloriage, or by pressing the CTRL-key while you click the
mouse in Recolored.
Both programs have tutorials showing how to apply color. The process goes
fast if the picture has just a few broad
areas of color, but it can take a long
time to color many small areas. You can
also use the programs to replace colors
in a picture, for example, allowing you
to change a car from blue to red, or a
flower from yellow to orange.
Software comparison
While these two programs work much
the same, AKVIS Coloriage is more
expensive and has a few more features.
Both programs support JPG, PNG and
BMP files, but AKVIS Coloriage also
works with TIFF files. AKVIS Coloriage has a much larger library of commonly used colors and you can easily
select from a range of tones of each
color. (Both programs let you select any
color from a color palette.)
Recolored is a standalone program,
but AKVIS Coloriage is available as
both a standalone program and as a
plug-in that works with a photo editor
like Photoshop, Photoshop Elements
and PaintShop Pro <www.paintshop
pro.com> . This allows you to bring up
colorizing features within your regular
photo-editing software.
The verdict
Both programs are fun to use and will
bring your old family photographs
to life. Recolored has all the features
most users will need. AKVIS Coloriage
offers extras that could be useful, but
it’s expensive for a single-function program. Download the trial versions of
both programs and see if the additional
features in AKVIS Coloriage are worth
the extra cost for your purposes.
» Rick Crume
QUICK GUIDE
Personal calendars have come a long way from the paper version hanging in
Grandma’s kitchen. Today’s online scheduling assistant sites and apps allow
you to share plans, schedule tasks, receive reminder emails and write extended
notes about calendar items. Schedules are saved in the cloud, so you can
access them from wherever you are. And these tools aren’t just for keeping
track of swim lessons and doctor appointments: Use them to create a plan for
your research, schedule society meetings and trips to the library, and collaborate with cousins on a common family history research project.
Online Scheduling
Assistants
» Gena Philibert-Ortega
Website
Google Calendar
<www.google.com/
calendar>
MyHomePoint
<www.myhomepoint.
com>
Zoho Calendar
<www.zoho.com/
calendar>
Live Calendar
<calendar.live.com>
Remember the Milk
<www.remember
themilk.com>
Description
Features
Tips
This Google-powered online
calendar is accessible with a
Google account. Use it on your
desktop or with a mobile app.
public
or private calendars
calendars in one place
calendars stored in the cloud
and accessible on any device
email reminders
Use the Search box at the top to
search for past tasks/events, and
share calendars with family or
other researchers.
Designed for organizing
families, this resource offers
a suite of tools to use with a
calendar.
email
reminders for special
events like birthdays
to-do lists
unlimited notes to accompany
tasks
manage contacts list
For your next reunion or research
trip, create a calendar and add
research notes, contacts and to-do
lists, then share with others.
This free calendar tool lets
you share activities and
events.
accessible
on mobile devices
event invites
import calendars from Google
and Microsoft Outlook
Lets you embed a calendar on your
website, great for a reunion site.
This is the web-based version
of the Microsoft Outlook
calendar.
simple
The ability to show weather on
calendar is a nice feature for
research trips and reunions.
Not exactly a calendar, this is a
list of tasks inspired by Gmail,
with the idea that you can
take your random to-do lists
off sticky notes and put them
online in one organized place.
integrates
multiple
email
interface allows color
coding and adding icons to
events
accessible from Microsoft
Hotmail/MSN accounts
Tag items with surname, place
with Google,
or repository for easy keyword
Twitter, Evernote and other
searching.
services
gathers everything needed for
a task, such as a map, notes and
deadline
search tasks by keyword,
location or deadline
includes app for Apple and
Android devices
69
thetoolkit
TUTORIAL
Map Your Family History With
Place My Past
If you’ve ever wanted to put your family
on the map, Place My Past <placemypast.
com> is for you. This Australia-based
site combines family trees with maps
and geocoding technology, enabling
you to place even the most obscure
family history events in geographic
context. Here’s how to get up and running on the site.
To get started, create a free basic
account. (To upload historic
maps, view family migrations and use
other advanced features, you’ll need to
subscribe at $48 a year.) The site walks
you through importing your family tree
in GEDCOM format, or you can click on
About Me and My Trees to upload new
trees. A simple “switch” lets you control whether a tree is public or private.
Once you’ve uploaded a tree, Place My
Past will process it and plot your ancestors’ life events on a contemporary map
of the world.
Now you have multiple choices
of ways to view your geographic
genealogy. The Map tab takes you to
any place you search for, with a white
talk-bubble icon denoting places where
your family tree has linked events.
Click the icon to learn more about the
place, and click the blue View Events
button to see what happened with your
ancestors here. Note that the box that
appears has other tabs, which also let
you read more about each place, “follow” the location, or add images related
to the place.
If you spot an error in mapping
your ancestral events, you can use the
Events Toolbox tab to fix where the
site has mapped your uploaded place;
this is also where you can deal with
“unconfirmed events” that the site
couldn’t place. Click “unconfirmed
only” to review these events. For each,
1
1
2
2
you can opt to view on the map, click
a check mark to confirm, edit with a
pencil icon or delete with a trash icon.
When you confirm a matched location
for an event, a dialog pops up asking if
you want to also confirm this location
for all other events it’s linked to. If you
click on the edit link instead, you can
70
2014
search for the correct location, selecting from a list of suggestions or dragging a marker to the right spot.
The My Family tab displays all
events for your ancestors (though
you can also choose which individuals to show or hide) on a map. Previous and Next links let you follow your
3
3
ancestor’s life journey across the map,
and a line of black triangles shows the
path of their life events.
The Search tab lets you find any
combination of people, places
and events. Note the slider that appears
on the resulting map—also a feature on
the Map tab—that lets you narrow or
expand the range of events shown.
Viewing your family on a modern
map is useful, but what really
brings your genealogical geography
to life is the ability to put ancestors in
historical context on old maps. Unless
your family happened to live in one
of the handful of places already represented by old maps on Place My
Past, you’ll have to jump through a few
hoops to add this dimension to your
experience.
First, you’ll have to find a digitized
historic map showing your ancestors’ location back when. Sources you
might try include the National Archives
<archives.gov> and state archives’ sites,
Wikipedia, and collections such as the
David Rumsey maps collection <www.
davidrumsey.com> , Perry-Castañeda
Library <www.lib.utexas.edu/maps>
or the Library of Congress’ American Memory <memory.loc.gov/ammem/
browse/ListSome.php?category=Maps> .
Once you have a map on your computer, go back to Place My Past and
4
5
4
click About Me, then My Maps and the
green Upload a New Map button. (You
can add “datasets,” such as locations of
cemeteries in an area, using the similar
My Datasets link.)
When you’ve uploaded a new map,
the site will walk you through the process of linking its locations to those on
a modern map, shown on the right side
of the screen (a). It’s a good idea to use
the search box on the modern map to
navigate to the place you’re trying to
match before clicking on the uploaded
historic map. Once you have a place
located on both the historic and modern maps, click on the historic map to
drop a little blue “control point.” Then
click to drop a matching control point
on today’s map. After you’ve matched
three points, the site will ask you to
name the map, attribute it to a source
and add a date or date range.
It takes awhile for Place My Past to
process maps you upload (check the
progress on your My Maps page), but
once it’s finished you can view your
maps as overlays on the modern map
(b). Use the panel revealed by clicking
the Layers icon (it looks like a little
stack of paper) to turn these overlays
on and off and control the transparency
of each. With a little trial and error, you
can view a map of your ancestral hometown as it was in Great-grandpa’s day—
71
5a
5b
while still seeing the modern interstate
that now runs through.
Place My Past encourages users to
share family tree data as well as maps,
so as the site becomes more popular,
your uploads will help others put their
families on the map. Plus, it will be ever
easier to trace your ancestors, not only
in time but also across the globe. » David A. Fryxell
photofinish
Reader pictures from the past
{EDITED BY TYLER MOSS}
Ancestors At Work
My
uncle, Robert C.
Erickson, is shown here
in 1938. He was a farmer
in northern Illinois, and was
national level-land plowing
champion twice.
» Susan Mosey
Our forebears were no strangers to hard labor: The United States
was built on a bedrock of sweat and solid work ethic. Pay homage
to their perspiration by checking out these reader-submitted
photos of ancestors on the job.
My
grandfather,
Herbert Cole (on the
left), worked in Gilead,
Maine, as a section hand for
the Grand Trunk Railroad.
» Mary Cole Tyler
This
is my mother,
Margaret Harrison
in 1961, in her nurse’s
uniform in Pakersburg, WV.
» Anita Sorensen 72
2014

Family Tree - September 2014

Transcription

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