Beginner's Class Notes from Mij

Overview
Course Outline
Class #1:Some Research Basics
Class #2:Gathering Previous Research
Class #3:Census Records
Class #4:Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Overview

Class 1: Some Research Basics & How To Organize One’s Papers
Class 2: Gathering Previous Research
Class 3: Census Records
Class 4: Birth, Marriage, & Death Records
Class 5: Church Records
Class 6: Probate Records
Class 7: Court Records
Class 8: Land Records
Class 9: Immigration and Naturalization Records
Class 10: Military Records
Class 11: Survey of Other Records
Class 12: National Archives Records, and possible tour of the Regional National Archives at Sandpoint
Class 13: Sharing what we have collected/produced & PARTY

You will be asked to pick one ancestor/family line and obtain records using techniques taught in class. There will be opportunities for one-on-one tutoring.

Course Outline

See Overview above.
Records to be searched are United States records. Participants of the class are asked to search records for an ancestor/family line with U.S. records, but some accomodation will be attempted for participants who out of necessity must search foreign records. The principle about starting with the most recent and working backward will be strictly followed. Unless an exhaustive search and collection of records in the United States has been accomplished, the class does not support jumping across to other places.
The class meets once a month, and the course outline takes us to sometime next year in 2006.
People can work at their own pace, and skip around with the course outline.
Donations are needed to keep up with the rental of the room and xeroxing for the class.
The one hour class session does not allow for a lot of questions and comments, but special arrangements will be made for a good question & answer session if needed.
One-on-one tutoring is available. Mij Woodward, Priscilla Greenlees, Claire Smith, and Jeannie McMacken are available. Mij will only tutor on subjects in the course outline--the current class subject, and any from previous classes. Priscilla does not want to tutor for internet stuff.

Class #1: Some Research Basics

START WITH WHAT YOU KNOW
- Start with yourself, and work backwards. Do not jump generations.
- The principle is that we start with the known to the unknown, from the present into the past. A person’s death occurred nearer to the present than their marriage, which is nearer to the present than their birth.
- This principle is especially important for people attempting overseas research. Always collect everything you can from this side first. Often you can get clues as to where to search across the sea.
PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES
- A primary source comes from witnesses contemporary with the person you are researching, usually eyewitnesses. Examples are birth, marriage, death certificates, baptismal records, land deeds.
- Primary sources are generally reliable, but they can have incorrect information. For example, a parent dies at age 80, and the child of that parent fills out a form for the death certificate. But that child was definitely not an eyewitness to the birth of the parent. Maybe the child heard things growing up and so just fills in the form the best he or she can. Sometimes the question “where was your mother born?” is confused with the question “where was your mother from?”.
- A secondary source comes from people who are not eyewitnesses, sometimes long after an event. Examples are published genealogies, county histories.
- Secondary sources can be correct, but they can include errors.
- An example can be found in Kitsap County History, published by the Kitsap County Historical Society in 1977. My mother wrote out something to be included in that book about her grandfather, William Ballard, and her father’s family, the Loggs. There are errors. William Ballard is not “William G. Ballard” but “William N. Ballard.” George Logg was not born in Galston, Scotland, but in a town close to Galston, and that later became part of Galston.
TRANSCRIPTIONS & ABSTRACTS
- Errors abound in something that is transcribed. Originals are always best. Abstracts sometimes exclude important details.
BE CAUTIOUS OF BELIEVING THAT IF SOMETHING IS IN PRINT IT MUST BE TRUE.
- Any kind of record or database, primary or secondary, can contain mistakes.
- An example is the will of Amos Woodward in 1765, Windham, CT. In one published genealogy, the will is presented as having referred to his wife, Hannah, and to all the children of his children. The actual will refers to his wife, Mehitable, and to two children of one of his children.
- Another example concerns the genealogy of the Billings family, found in a 1926 volume of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, a reputable genealogical periodical. Some of that genealogy was done by Horatio G. Somerby. A 1999 volume of the Register calls attention to two Somerby frauds, including what was produced for the Billings genealogy.
SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW
- Is the source close to the event?
- Is the source firsthand or has it gone through transcriptions or other re-tellings?
- Does the source you find in print or online provide specific original sources? If not, you cannot accept it as fact until you find a reliable original source.
DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES
- Write down precise citations for each record searched for each ancestor, even if that means copying the same source over and over again. Abbreviations are acceptable, if the list of abbreviations is included with your report.
- Be precise, not vague. List the exact page number, and the correct original publishing date. (Note: many genealogical books are republished, so be sure to check when a book was originally published, and include both dates on your report.) If you xerox a title page, be sure to go to the next page and xerox that for publishing information.
- Record citations as you go along. Do not wait for some later time to fill this information out. You will one day want to be able to find the exact information in the citation again, and you will also want to lay out credible sources when you share information with others.
- Filling out information onto a computer genealogy program, or sharing information with other people working on the same family, or sharing information with your family in the form of some kind of a report--all of these things will be easier if you already have the citation right at your fingertips.
- For examples on how to record citations for various records, see citation guide in class handouts, taken from First Steps in Genealogy, by Desmond Walls Allen, 1998, p. 134.
CAUTION: FAMILY GROUP SHEETS/FAMILY RECORDS/PATRON SHEETS AS SOURCES
- CAUTION: FAMILY GROUP SHEETS/FAMILY RECORDS/PATRON SHEETS AS SOURCES
- Use someone else’s family group record as clues only. Someone else’s listing of information on a patron sheet for Latter Day Saints, or family group sheets and family records for online trees and elsewhere, is just that--what they list as whom they believe to be someone’s parents, place of birth, etc.
- If your only source for an ancestor is someone else’s family record, this is not genealogy, and you have not established any ancestry or lineage. You must obtain original sources or other reliable sources.

Class #2: Gathering Previous Research

PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Has anyone researched your ancestor or family line?

What resources exist that can help you launch a search for your ancestor?
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY KNOWLEDGE
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH GUIDES
3. THE IMPORTANCE OF PLACE
4. HOW TO FIND SECONDARY SOURCES ABOUT YOUR FAMILY
5. ANCESTRY, HERITAGEQUEST, FAMILYSEARCH, & FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY KNOWLEDGE
1. Start with what you know, what is close at hand.
2. Interview family members.
  - parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sibling, cousins, yourself
  - interview long-time friends and neighbors
3. Go through family papers and photographs.
  - deeds, military papers, wills, birth & death certificates, marriage licenses
  - old photographs might have photographer’s address on back
  - family letters, diaries, scrapbooks, school yearbooks
  - family Bibles and prayer books--any registers of birth, marriage, death?
  - look for names, addresses, and dates written inside covers of family books
4. See chapters 5-9 of Emily Anne Croom’s Unpuzzling Your Past, 2001, for more ideas.
5. As you gather information, take notes and file them. Write down where you obtain a piece of information.
6. Contact distant cousins on the internet.
  - Try a google search using your ancestor’s names and places
  - Follow suggestions for google searchs on page 4 of John Lamont’s notes to his Seattle Public Library’s class, Genealogy: Databases and the Internet (handed out with his permission)
  - Examples of two google-search successes:
    - located a distant cousin in Port Angeles working on the Logg family
    - found an obituary of the wife of a distant Ballard cousin, and email addresses of those who attended the funeral-- received a huge packet of information about my Ballard ancestor, including photocopies of many original documents
  - Try surname and county web sites that allow you to post a message
    - www.genforum.com
    - www.rootsweb.com
      under “Mailing Lists” on left side of screen click on “Surname List Finder”
THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH GUIDES
1. Research guides for the area where your ancestor lived are essential.
  - cannot do intelligent searching without them
2. Good research guides will tell you how to obtain certain records for the area they cover.
  - Other items to look for--
    - references to specific microfilms to order
    - good town and county maps
    - names and addresses of historical and genealogical societies, libraries, and repositories of archival material
    - thorough bibliographies
  - A good research guide will go into some history about records for the area they cover, so that you will understand when it is impossible to obtain certain records for certain time-periods, such as due to a fire or other reasons.
    - Example: Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors, by Jonas and Milner, 2002--gives an in-depth history of church records and shows why my ancestor, William Logg, might not be found in the OPR (Old Parochial Records) and suggests alternate places to look.
3. Usually, no one research guide contains all the information you need, so it is a good idea to use more than one guide.
  - Example: difference between The Red Book, and The Handy Book for Genealogists
  - Example: my collection of several research guides for New Hampshire
4. Ways to obtain research guides--
  - purchase (many guides are paperback; around $20)
  - locate on reference shelves at Kitsap Regional Library or Seattle Public Library.
  - order through interlibrary loans, and copy/photocopy pertinent information
  - most importantly, print out the research outlines found at FamilySearch (web site for Church of the Latter-Day Saints) for the area of your ancestor.
    - go to FamilySearch www.familysearch.org
      - click on Search tab
      - click on Research Helps along top bar
      - click on letter for the place you are interested in
      - scroll down page and find Research Outline for that area
    - some Research Outlines have PDF files to print from; others must be printed piece by piece
THE IMPORTANCE OF PLACE
1. If you do not know the place of your ancestor you are researching for this class, apply what is learned today later on when you do learn the place.
  - two ways to discover places: through census records and through death certificates, topics for the next two classes
  - we work from the known to the unknown, from the most recent back into the past
  - if you have knowledge of the most recent place for your ancestor/family line, you could begin there
  - today’s discussion assumes you know about your ancestor’s location
2. Try Mapquest or other internet map search.
3. Boundaries change over time.
  - sometimes it looks like an ancestor moves, whereas what has changed is the name of the town--same address, different town
4. Town, county, territory, and state boundaries were in flux.
5. It’s important to know about boundary changes so as to know which place to research for a particular time period.
6. Sometimes you have to look for records in more than one town or county, or even states, just to make sure you have covered all places where the records might be located.
7. The county that exists today may not be the county that has records for your ancestor.
  - Find out if the parent county’s records are located with the current county’s records, or if they are housed elsewhere.
  - The Red Book and The Handy Book for Genealogists list the formation dates and the names of parent counties or territories.
  - Also try Dollarhide’s Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920.
8. Good research guides for the area of your ancestor give explanations of boundary changes, and where to look for certain records of certain time periods.
9. Ideas to consider from Emily Anne Croom’s The Sleuth Book for Genealogists, 2000, p. 15--
  - Couples often married in the bride’s county of residence; groom may be from a neighboring county.
  - Ancestors sometimes moved to neighboring counties, or across a neighboring state line.
10. Check atlases and gazeteers for the place of your ancestor.
11. Historical societies and local libraries of the area you are researching may have old maps.
12. Two local places to try--
  - Seattle Public Library has a collection of maps, as well as atlases and gazeteers
  - Try Metzgers on 1st Avenue by Pike Street Market
13. An internet site to try is Historical County Lines at jrshelby.com/hcl. Some terrific links to try from first page--
  - click on one of the state squares and check links for that state
  - scroll down page and click on Color Land Form Atlas of the United States
    - click on “Volumes Published” or on the name of a particular state to see what’s been published so far
    - some volumes cover more than one state
14. Cyndi's List www.cyndislist.com offers links to old maps and also links for information about the location of your ancestor.
  - search the alphabetical index, and click on “M” click on “Maps, Gazetteers, & Geographies” try--
    - Local Boundary Resources
    - Historical Maps, Atlases & Gazeteers
    - Fire Insurance Maps
  - use the alphabetical index, and click on the letter for the place of your ancestor
    - click on “Maps, Gazetteers & Geographies”
  - for states, when you get to the page for the state of your ancestor, scroll down the list on the left side to the bottom of that list, where a statement says, “Also, see this new page for (State)”
    - click on “Localities: Counties, Areas & Regions.”
15. Try USGenWeb www.usgenweb.org
  - each state and county maintained by volunteers
  - some are better than others
  - some offer transcriptions from records
  - many of these sites have maps
16. Consider obtaining a fire insurance map of the place of your ancestor. They provide incredible details. (See link under Cyndi’s List above.)
17. Fun place to search--the Library of Congress collection of old maps www.memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html (or just go to www.loc.gov and click on “memory” tab)
LOCAL HISTORICAL & GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
LOCAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

INTERLIBRARY LOANS

HERITAGEQUEST BOOKS

FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CATALOG
1. LOCAL HISTORICAL & GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
  - contact societies that might have indexes to check
  - most offer volunteer checks of indexes or for a small fee
  - consider becoming a member
  - EXAMPLE--I was able to find a memoir from the Vermont Historical Society by the brother of one of my ancestors in Royalton, Vermont. Since the memoir concerned his youth, it gave me details about what life was like in my ancestor’s family and in the town.
2. LOCAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
  - try to access online catalogs of local libraries for the area you are searching
  - sometimes obscure genealogies, biographies, and local histories can be found at local libraries
  - check catalogs of neighboring libraries, especially of larger cities close by-- a large library may have more resources
  - check state libraries--some have genealogy departments
    - their staff can help with questions about location of records
3. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS www.loc.gov
  - check their catalog for genealogies and histories, then use that information to order interlibraryloans
4. INTERLIBRARY LOANS
  - request a photocopy of the index in a county history or other work you find referenced
  - if you recognize a name, you can then request photocopies of those particular pages, or request the entire book
5. HERITAGEQUEST BOOKS
  - collection offers around 8,000 family histories, 12,000 local histories, and 258 primary sources. Most of the family and local histories were published in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s.
  - collection is especially helpful for New England and other colonial areas
  - see John Lamont’s notes in class handouts, Genealogy: Databases and the Internet, for ideas on how to navigate HeritageQuest
6. FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CATALOG
  - more details on this resource are covered in section “FamilySearch”
  - when you find an item in their catalog, you can order a film or fiche from the Family History Center in Poulsbo, or order an interlibrary loan from Kitsap Regional Library
KITSAP REGIONAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES
1. KITSAP REGIONAL LIBRARY, “KRL”
  - check their circulating catalog
  - survey their reference genealogy collection
  - list of some of KRL’s genealogy research guides is on next page
2. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES www.lib.washington.edu
  - check their state histories and other histories, including social and cultural histories
  - upstairs in Suzzalo Library, along the walls of a study room, are housed volumes of historical periodicals for many states
    - check to see if the state you are researching is covered
    - use LC Subject, and put in: name of state-history-periodicals, e.g. Vermont-history-periodicals
      - example--Vermont Historical Society, Vermont Quarterly
PERSI
1. PERSI is an acronym for Periodical Source Index, an index to genealogical periodicals.
2. PERSI is produced by Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which holds one of the largest genealogy and history collections in the world. It has more than 3000 subscriptions.
3. access PERSI with your Kitsap Regional Library card on HeritageQuest
  - on KRL’s home page, click on Search Electronic Resources
  - click on genealogy
  - click on HeritageQuest
  - click on PERSI
4. two ways to obtain copies of articles
  - you can order a copy of an item from Allen County Library for a fee (see instructions for how to do that at PERSI)
  - you can write down information and order a photocopy of the article through an interlibrary loan
5. drawbacks to PERSI
  - index is only for surnames or places that occur in the title of an article
  - there are no descriptions of what is included in an article, so there is no way of knowing if an article applies to your ancestor/family line
ANCESTRY, HERITAGEQUEST, FAMILYSEARCH & FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS
- Our own Claire Smith will be conducting follow-up sessions to her presentation Genealogy Research On The Internet for hands-on instruction
- See also the web site for Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society created by Claire www.rootsweb.com/~wabihs and click on links
- See John Lamont’s notes for his class at SPL Genealogy: Databases and the Internet covers Ancestry and HeritageQuest
- today’s class will focus on Family Search & Family History Centers with a few words on Ancestry & Heritage Quest
ANCESTRY & HERITAGE QUEST
1. ANCESTRY
  - consider purchasing a subscription to Ancestry.com a super subscription costs around $190/year
  - just some of its great resources are--
    - every-name indexes to census records
    - death indexes
    - WWI draft registration cards
    - civil war pension indexes
    - immigration and naturalization data
  - census records are easy to find on Ancestry.com
  - FREE access to Ancestry.com
    - the Family History Center in Poulsbo offers Ancestry.com to the public
    - consider taking advantage of Ancestry’s 2-week trial subscription
    - reciprocal agreements with King County libraries allow you to access Ancestry with your KRL card at a King County Library, e.g. in Edmonds
    - if you work in Seattle, you can obtain a Seattle Public Library card and use their Library Edition of Ancestry at their libraries
2. HERITAGEQUEST
  - access HeritageQuest from your home, using your KRL card
  - HeritageQuest does not have an every-person index for census records
    - you must know the head-of-household to find a census record
    - sometimes you do not know the names of an ancestor’s parents, so the only way to find that ancestor is through the every-person index at Ancestry.com
    - this applies for census records after 1850, when all family members are listed in a census
  - images of census records are far superior on HeritageQuest
  - when you find a record on Ancestry.com, go to HeritageQuest to bring up the same record, and print from there
  - it’s a good idea to try both Ancestry and HeritageQuest for census records, as sometimes the same person is indexed differently in the two locations
  - great tip re vital records and similar records from HeritageQuest--
    - click on “Books”
      click on “Publications”
      
      click on “Search Publications”
      
      in Subject box, type in a name of a town, state, and the word registers, e.g. Concord Massachusetts registers
    - this search can bring you vital records for a town, as well as other transcriptions of various records
FAMILY SEARCH www.familysearch.org
- focus for today is International Genealogical Index, “IGI” and Family History Library Catalog
- some brief comments on Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File
- ANCESTRAL FILE AND PEDIGREE RESOURCE FILE
  1. at FamilySearch, click on Search tab
    - at the search screen, notice on left-hand side a list of indexes that are searched--
      - Ancestral File
      - International Genealogical Index
      - Pedigree Resource File
      - Census (which includes the 1880 U.S. census, the 1881 Canadian census, and 1881 British census
      - U.S. Social Security Death Index
      - Vital Records Index (which so far only includes Scandinavian countries and Mexico)
      - Search Family History Web Sites
    - you can search all at once, or individually
    - when searching, use without exact spelling, and with exact spelling
  2. the Ancestral File, the Pedigree Resource File, and the International Genealogical Index (IGI) all have information about families that are submitted to the Church of Latter-Day Saints
    - for each of these submissions on these files, the information you find is only as good as the research of the person or persons who submitted them
    - the IGI also contains some official kinds of records from churches and other sources, which we discuss in a moment
  3. the Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File contain pedigree charts and family group sheets
    - the Pedigree Resource File may also contain source information for the names and dates recorded
    - with both of these files, you can try contacting the submitters
    - for the Ancestral File, scroll down the page of a record and find the section, “Submitters”
      click on “Details” button on right side of page
      - you might see a long list of submitters
      - there is no way to know when they made submissions; addresses may be obsolete
      - Example: I once mailed out about 30 letters to submitters from the Ancestral File. Many of the letters came back “addressee unknown.” For my efforts, I received two family group sheets with sources I had already found on my own.
    - the Pedigree Resource File is a more recent addition to FamilySearch
      - each file is separate from another, not merged, so there is only one contact per file
      - you can purchase a set of CD’s, usually for around $22
      - there may or may not be notes and resources listed
      - to order, scroll down the page and click on “Order Pedigree Resource File CD-ROMS”
  4. find examples of an Ancestral File and a Pedigree Resource File for one of my ancestors, Elizabeth Dana, following page 23
  5. both the Ancestral File, and the Pedigree Resource File, as well as the IGI are extremely helpful for providing clues to follow up on with original records
  6. if none of your ancestors show up on these files, do not get discouraged
    - many of the submissions are for people from the more distant past
    - FamilySearch is only one of many genealogical tools to aid your search
INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX, “IGI”
1. Two different types of records
  - through individual submissions
  - through the IGI Extraction Program
2. The IGI Extraction Program uses trained volunteers to enter names of persons from records such as church, census, probate, and other sources
3. submissions from individual researchers can be distinguished from extracted records by looking at the Batch numbers
  - if there is no letter in front of the number, the information was not extracted by the Church but was a submission
4. the letter in front of the batch number indicates what type of an event is included
  - B for birth
  - C for christening
  - M for marriage
5. to find these batch numbers, scroll down the page that provides information about a birth or marriage on your ancestor
  - at the bottom of th page, find the batch number and source number
  - if the batch number has a letter in front of it, click on the source number to see what record was extracted
  - see examples of an IGI item from an individual submitter, and an IGI item from an extracted record for my ancestor, Elizabeth Dana, following this section
6. How to find an extracted record--
  - the IGI does not separate the two different types of records it has, submissions from individuals, and extracted records
  - the only way to discover if there is an extracted record is to open up each page that shows your ancestor with a birth or marriage, etc.
  - when you see a vague date, or the words “of” before a town, chances are that is not an extracted record
  - plowing through each entry is frustrating and time-consuming, but sometimes worth the effort if there is not an easier way to find that record
  - when you search the IGI, you can narrow your search by filling in information for the region to search
    - however, hundreds of entries for the name of your ancestor can still be listed just for one area
7. Parent Searches
  - to obtain a list of children born to a couple, leave the first and last name slots blank on the search page, and enter only the names of the parents in the mother and father fields on the right-hand side of the search screen
    - try listing only the father’s name, or the father’s names with only the mother’s given (first) name
8. Using Batch Numbers
  - a batch number is assigned to one grouping of records, say, all the baptism records for one town
  - you can search for a particular surname in a town or birth and marriage records by using the batch umber
  - ways to obtain a batch number
    - (a) use an internet site that offers lists of batch numbers for the United States, Canada, and the British Isles--
      freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm#Page
      
      --if this address does not work, try a google search and put in “hugh wallis IGI Batch Numbers”
      
      --when you obtain a batch number from that site, do not click on it (which ends up with a confusing result)
      - copy the batch number(s) down
      - go to FamilySearch for an IGI search
      - fill in batch number box with the number
      - select the region, such as “North America”
      - fill in surname
      - click on search
      --results show records for anyone with that surname in the town on the batch number
    - (b) obtain an extracted record item on the IGI as described above, opening up each entry until you find a batch number with a letter in front of it
      - click on batch number
      - this brings up the IGI search page again
      - the batch number is listed and a region is highlighted
      - type in the surname
      - click on search
      --results show records for anyone with that surname in the town on the batch number
    - (c) obtain batch numbers at Family History Centers, using the IGI on the old DOS/CD-ROM version, which is discussed in the section on Family History Centers
    - Addendum--4th way to find batch numbers:
      - find “Batch Number Index” on Family History Library Catalog
      - I think the Family History Center in Poulsbo has a 3-ring binder with batch number indexes on fiche.)
FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CATALOG http://www.familysearch.org>
- at FamilySearch, click on the Library tab click on the Family History Library Catalog along top bar
- there are eight different searches to try the most commonly used ones are Place Search and Keyword Search
PLACE SEARCH
1. the Place search can help you obtain records on microfilm for which you would otherwise have to travel to get in person, or send away for in other ways
2. Place searches offer not only records, but also histories, genealogies, and other items for a particular area
  - some of the records I have obtained from ordering a film are--
    - vital records
    - town records
    - church records
    - church histories
    - court records
    - land deeds
    - court records
    - probate records
3. get ideas for histories and genealogy collections for an area and then request an interlibrary loan from KRL
4. the search page for a Place search provides two boxes, one for the name of a place, and another box which is optional as “part of”
  - do not put in the word “county” when searching for a county
  - there are instructions on the search page for filling in the boxes
    - see examples on the next pages for my search for Ayr, Scotland
5. be sure to try all places--town, county, state, country (and similar places for foreign countries)
  - there are often different versions of a record you are searching for found in each place (town, county, etc.)
  - also, each location has different ways of handling various records, e.g. in some states, probate might be held at the county level, in other states, at the state level
  - your research guide can inform you as to which repository handles the records you want
6. some locations have lots of records and items listed, and other places have only scant lists
  - do not get discouraged if the place of your ancestor does not offer many records through the Family History Library and their films
7. KEYWORD SEARCH
  1. the Keyword Search helps you find words that are found in the
    - title
    - author
    - subject
    - notes
    that are in the catalog descriptions of books and films
  2. the Keyword Search helps you to be more specific about a surname search
    - you can add a keyword to the surname, which helps narrow the results
  3. Example: if I put in “Woodward” in a Surname Search, hundreds of items are listed--283 items
    - if I put in “Woodward” and “Watertown Massachusetts” in a Keyword Search, this brings up 7 items
  4. sometimes it can work the other way around and bring up items that might not be found in a Surname Search
    - the Surname Search finds words in the title and subject fields
    - the Keyword Search finds words in other fields; your ancestor might be listed in the notes
    - the Subject Search uses subject headings based on the Library of Congress subject headings
      - sometimes you get better results using the keyword search
    - for vital records and other topics that might be listed under a town or county, try a Keyword Search
      - put in the name of the place and state or country along with the words of the topic you want, such as “vital records,”
        e.g. Watertown, Massachusetts vital records
a special resource for the British Isles--
SMITH’S INVENTORY OF GENEALOGICAL SOURCES
1. Smith’s Inventory of Genealogical Sources contains references to obscure genealogical information found in printed sources and films in the Family History Library that you cannot locate through the catalog
2. Smith’s Inventory is arranged by place, and then by subject
  - each subject is then divided by range of years, such as fifty year periods
3. These inventories are available on fiche grouped by location
4. when you find an item in the inventory, see if there is a film or fiche you can order
  - if not, try an interlibrary loan
5. to locate Smith’s Inventory fiche
  - search FHL catalog
  - use title search, type in “Smith’s Inventory”
FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS
The Family History Center in Poulsbo is located near the high school

for directions, see map
USING THE IGI DOS VERSION
1. there are differences between the IGI on FamilySearch on the Internet and the IGI on the old DOS version found at Family History Centers
2. at the Family History Center in Poulsbo, on one of their computers, open an old DOS version of Family Search, (ask for assistance on how to do this if necessary)
3. when you find a birth record with the DOS version, press the F8 button to search for other children of the parents
  - if this produces a list of names, two ways to use--
    - (a) press enter on each name to obtain more details
      OR
    - (b) press F2 and select “Create or add entries to the Holding File”
      - when the list of names appear on the screen, use the up and down arrows and press enter on each name you want to include
      - press F12 when finished, which takes you back to the “Print/Holding File,” from which you can print your list
4. from an individual’s birth record screen, press F7 to see if there is a marriage record for the parents
  - list is arranged by males
  - to narrow the search, enter a marriage year or an estimated year in the Event Year box
  - if the list is still too long, try entering more details by pressing F7 and selecting “Modify previous search,” then pressing F10-Filter
    - filter by entering the spouse’s name, or by location
    - after choosing your filter, press F12-Finalize
    - choose the appropriate place
    - press F12 to continue
    - press F12 to finalize
    - you can filter any search by spelling, location or a range of years
5. after searching the Main File, try searching the Addendum
6. I like using the DOS version because I like the way it displays names and dates--it’s easier to read than the internet version
7. with the DOS version, you can scroll up to the first possible spelling of a surname and then browse down the alphabetical list to catch all possible spellings of a surname
  - with the internet IGI, even with the exact spelling turned off, you cannot always pick up different spellings
VITAL RECORDS INDEX--BRITISH ISLES
1. most Family History Centers have The Vital Records Index--British Isles on compact disc
  - the Family History Center in Poulsbo has this index
  - many of the records indexed in this collection are not yet on the IGI
2. you can purchase your own copy at FamilySearch on the internet
3. one advantage of this index is that once you find an ancestor in a church record, the program can show you all other names that are indexed from that church
ANCESTRY.COM
- the Poulsbo Family History Center has Ancestry on at least one of its computers
- you might need help to log on properly
REQUEST FOR PHOTOCOPIES
1. you can fill out a request for photocopies form at a Family History Center, when you are unable to obtain an item from their library through film or fiche, and you cannot obtain it through an interlibrary loan
2. staff at the Family History Library in Utah will photocopy the pages you need
FICHE & FILMS
1. each Family History Center keeps fiche and films on many topics
2. a 3-ring binder at the Poulsbo Family History Center that lists what is available at their center

Class #3: Census Records

HISTORY

During the 19th century, people were on the move, moving west in search of better land and opportunities. The federal census did not catch every family.

Travel was difficult and sometimes very dangerous.

A census enumerator could make a long trip to a remote farm and find no one at home.

The government did not provide paper or printed forms until the 1830 census. Therefore, enumerators had to copy census returns on whatever paper they could find.

The 1910 census was the first census that required census takers to pass a written exam. Before then, they were usually political appointments.

Census workers were not highly paid workers.
In 1820, the assistant marshal for Hall County, Georgia, wrote:

The difficulties were very considerable that attended taking the census, in the first place, the inhabitants are very dispersed, in the second place the country being but lately settled, there are but few roads, in the third place great part of the Country are very Mountainous, and in the fourth place it was, except in the oldest settled parts, difficult to get nourishment for either myself or horse, and often when got, had to pay very high, in the 5th place had often to travel a considerable distance through fields to get to the dwelling cabins, often, and generally, drenchd in dew, particularly in August and September; and often had to walk many miles where it was so steep that I could not ride, or even set on my horse. (Dollarhide, p.5)
Original schedules were placed in public view at a county courthouse, or sometimes in other public locations.

Copies were made and sent to the state and federal authorities. The original was supposed to stay in that county, but very few original censuses have ever been found in county courthouses. One genealogist found old original census records being used as scrap paper. (Dollarhide, p. 11) For a thorough discussion about census originals and copies, see Dollarhide, pp. 9-13.

Discrepancies have been found between federal and state copies, and between them and the original county copies. Whole names have either been changed or omitted. The federal copies, the ones with the most errors, are the ones available from the National Archives microfilmed for the public. (Dollarhide, p. 11)

The 1790 schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia are missing. Most authorities claim they were burned in the War of 1812, but William Dollarhide suggests that the only schedules that could have been in Washington, D.C. at the time were the 1810 schedules for the District of Columbia. He believes instead that copies had simply not been preserved and sent to the federal government as required. (Dollarhide, pp. 7-9) For a listing of 1790 substitutes for the lost schedules, see Croom Genealogist's Companion, pp. 14-20.

Most 1890 census records were lost by fire in 1921 in the basement of the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. Some schedules still exist; check to see if they are areas of your ancestor. Portions of Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas survived. See Hinckley, pp. 50-59.

In 1850, two young men from Poughkeepsie, NY presented an idea to the director of the new Census Office about a counting machine they had invented. The Census Office ended up using the machine to count the 1850 census, and has used it ever since. The little two-man company is now known as the IBM Corporation.

The 1930 census asked whether a family owned a radio. The first radio began broadcasting in 1920.

PROBLEMS IN CENSUS RECORDS & INDEXES
- Sometimes there were overcounts, sometimes done deliberately with a political motive. In 1910, Tacoma census takers were convicted of fraudulently padding their schedules by 38 percent. (Meyerink, p. 329). In other censuses, people were mistakenly counted twice.
- Undercounts are more common. Some people are missed. Some people refused to cooperate; perhaps afraid of troubles with authorities. Some were not home. Some could not be reached. Bad weather. Inaccessibility of the residence, such as a house deep in the woods. A page may be lost or skipped in the copying or filming process.
- Misspellings. Language barriers caused names to be altered. "A census taker late for dinner on a long, hot, dusty, summer day might not have cared whether a name was spelled Stuart or Stewart." (Meyerink, p. 330)
- In an 1870 census record for Chautauqua County, NY, no names are given for eighteen people. Instead, the first entry reads, "Swedes Can't Talk." (Hinckley, p. 225)
- An Irish census taker in Cleveland recorded the Polish name Menkalski as McKalsky in the 1920 census. (Szucs, p. 105)
- An age recorded in a census record should not be considered accurate unless corroborated with another source.
- Sometimes questions were answered by anyone around at the time--a child, a servant, a neighbor, or other people other than the subjects of the inquiry. "Census schedules do not tell us who may have answered the enumerator's questions." (Szucs, p. 105)
- Errors abound in indexes. See comparison of two different indexes for 1850, and four different indexes for 1870 in class handouts. Indexes are just a beginning point.
CENSUS ANOMALIES
- One census taker in 1820 added information that described the unusual large size of a five-year-old boy.
- "Garrold, Phitts" for Moses Fitzgerald in the 1870 census.
- A census taker in 1830 explained why he was unable to get to the family of David Clark who lived on an Island.
- A census taker apologizes for wet pages and explained how his horse fell into the creek.
- A census taker in 1830 pleaded to the government on behalf of someone who had fought in the Revolutionary War and needed help from the government.
- A male was recorded as a female in 1920. One of my ancestors was similarly misrepresented in one census.
- In 1880, two occupations were listed as "chronic loafer" and "drinks bad whiskey."
- For more anomalies, see "Census Anomalies" in Hinckley, pp. 211-230.
RELATIONSHIPS--THINGS TO WATCH FOR

Stepchildren may be listed as children of a male head of household with the stepfather's surname.

A wife is listed after her husband. But a male head of household who is single could be listed with female relatives, such as an unmarried sister or daughter. So the female listed after the male may not be his wife.

Sometimes a second wife can have the same first name as the first wife.

Children could be nieces, nephews, stepchildren, cousins, siblings, adopted children, or perhaps not related at all.

The wife may not be the mother of the children.

People listed next to or close to an ancestor may be related--cousins, siblings, etc.

Boarders may be relatives of the head of household, such as cousins or niece or nephews.

Be cautious of making assumptions or conclusions about any relationship.

SOME CENSUS FACTS TO BE AWARE OF
- State Censuses (different from federal censuses) exist for many states. The best source is Ann Lainhart's State Census Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992). Seattle Public Library and Kitsap Regional Library has this book in their reference sections. KRL can send their copy from Bremerton for you to view in the Bainbridge branch. See also the list in The Source (Szucs), pp. 134-135, and Long Distance Genealogy (Crawford-Oppenheimer) pp. 76-77. (Bibliography has more citation details.)
- Soundex--See Bibliography for the following sources: Allen, pp. 93-97; Hinckley, pp. 138-150; Croom Unpuzzling, pp. 98-101, and Dollarhide, pp. 68-74, and National Archives website: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/census/soundex/html. Rootsweb has a soundex converter: http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter.
- Enumeration Districts--See Croom Genealogical Companion, pp. 51-63. Also, Family History Library has descriptions on film and fiche. See "Census" in the U.S. Research Outline.
- 1885 Census for Colorado, Dakota Territory, Florida, Nebraska, and New Mexico Territory. The federal government offered to help pay for a census for any state who wanted to take one between 1880 and 1890. The Family History Library has films for Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, and the South Dakota portion of the Dakota Territorial schedules. (I was able to find my ancestors in Colorado for 1885.) See Croom Genealogical Companion p 42, and Dollarhide, p 147.
- Non-population schedules, which tabulated information about agriculture, industry, and society. These were taken for the censuses between 1850 and 1880. Since the majority of the population lived in rural areas, agriculture schedules can provide valuable information, such as the name of the farm owner, the number of acres of land, the cash value of the farm and its implements, the value of livestock and amount and value of produce, crops, and homemade manufactures. The social statistics schedules can paint a picture of the town your ancestor lived in--how many schools there were, number of libraries, churches, number of paupers. Mortality schedules provide genealogical information on person who died during the year preceding the census year. These non-population schedules are sometimes listed as AIMS Schedules--Agricultural, Industry/Manufacturing, Mortality, and Social Statistics. See Croom Genealogical Companion, pp. 73-82, and Hinckley, pp. 66-107.
- The1890 Special Union Veterans and Widows supplemental schedules gave a veteran's rank, company, regiment, dates of enlistment and discharge, length of service, post office address, and nature of disability. Schedules survive for Washington, DC, about half of Kentucky, and all states alphabetically from Louisiana through Wyoming. See Hinckley, p 19.
- For ancestors from the south--
- Slave schedules were taken in 1850 & 1860 for Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey (1850 only), North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. White researchers can see whether their ancestors held slaves.
- The 1900 census listed the month and year a person was born.
- The 1910 census lists the native tongue of each person's mother and father. The forms had already been printed, so this information was usually squeezed into the columns for the parent's birthplace.
- The 1910 census asked specifically for the number of years in the present marriage. In the marital status column, those who had been married once were reported as "M1," those married twice or more were listed as "M2."
- The 1930 census asked for each person's age at the first marriage.
- Tax lists are often the best substitutes for missing census records.
TROUBLESHOOTING THE CENSUS
- CANNOT FIND YOUR ANCESTOR ON AN INDEX
- CANNOT DECIPHER HANDWRITING
SOME SUGGESTIONS
- Photocopy the page with your family, and the page before and after it. This will give you information about your family's neighbors, which may be useful in future searches.
- Look at neighbors on adjacent pages--you may find parents, in-laws, etc.
- When you find children born in different states, you can learn migration routes.
- Persons listed in a household with different surnames than the head-of-household may provide clues for the maiden name of the wife.
- Cluster genealogy with census records can sometimes help you find elderly parents or other relatives. Check census records of your ancestor's brothers and sisters. Check families living around your ancestor and look for clues of age, birthplace, parents' birthplace, naming patterns and occupations that can signal possible connections.
- Ages of young children were often written in the number of months or days of age, such as 5/12 for five months, 21/30 for twenty-one days.
- Use blank census forms to identify columns when reading a census online or from a film. There are blank forms available on Ancestry, or copy from Dollarhide's Census Book>.
SOME TIPS FOR USING ANCESTRY

From the home page of Ancestry.com, click on the year of the census that you want to search. This will bring up a search form.

Fill in as much information as possible and click on "Search".

The "wildcard" feature can help you if you do not locate an individual on the first try. For a name, enter at least the first three letters and then add an asterisk, such as Mar*.

Ancestry has every name indexes for 1850-1900, and the 1930 census. Their indexes for 1910 and 1920 are by Head-of-Household.

One common error is that the shown image does not match the index entry. You can report the error to Ancestry, and a message will be sent to you when the error is fixed. Look for a "Comments and Corrections" link.

Try using a first name search and limiting results by adding location information. Sometimes first names are less likely to be misspelled than a last name.

You can browse images page by page of a given census.

If you do not find a person listed in Ancestry, try HeritageQuest as that person may be indexed differently in the two databases.

SOME TIPS FOR USING HERITAGE QUEST

Indexes are by Head-of-Household.

If you cannot find your ancestor, try using just the first name.

You can select "expand by state" or "expand by county".

You can use the "sort by" option to sort results by surname, given name, etc.

Remember to try both subpages--Subpage A or Subpage B tabs.

You can browse images page by page of a given census.

Class #4: Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Poof genealogy versus records, not skipping generations

Online versus obtaining records from repositories

I have learned, put my energy into obtaining documents, and use internet as a backup support system.

If you send away for a record from a governmental repository, and they inform you that they cannot find the record, wait a few months, and try again. It's possible the record does not exist, OR the person searching did not find it. Perhaps a different person will find the record the second time around. Double-check the accuracy of the information you provide.
Do you need to check for records in a parent county? Neighboring county?
Expect a reply anywhere from one week to six months.
Compliance with registration laws may not have taken place for as long as twenty years after the law was passed.
Some states will send a photocopy of the original, and some make transcriptions of the basic information on a preprinted form, certifying it is a true copy. A photocopy is much preferable. Always request a photocopy.
Be aware of the variety of spellings found in early records, e.g. "Perks" vs. "Parks," or "Pain" vs. "Payne."
Be aware of index problems, when records are indexed many years after the records were made. The person doing the indexing has to interpret handwriting. The obvious errors in indexes are "T" read as an "F," a "P" read as an "R," and an "L" read as an "S."
Keep in mind error rates in indexes, which can exceed 25%. This means that more than twenty-five percent of the people in the indexed records are excluded from the index. You may have to do a page-by-page search if your ancestor is not found in the records.
Always check for duplicate copies at the county, city, town, and state levels. Many counties kept records before states did. After state registration began, many counties and cities continued to keep records. If one set of records is incomplete, you can check the other.

Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society

last updated Wednesday, 17-Aug-2005 23:01:46 PDT
Claire Smith.