March/April 2020
FREE! IRISH FAMILY HISTORY CHEAT SHEET $9.99 VALUE!
familytreemagazine.com MARCH/APRIL 2020 MAGAZINE Comparison Guide the fab fourWEBSITES Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage Roundup: Free Online Records Collections DNA: I’ve Taken My Test. Now What? . " ..t ' ' )!�tti.:i ' Presifvatio'nWorkshops D/2 ilogicalSolution Quality S�rayef& Brushes ArcheglogyT ools & Supplies MetalConservation, I // Waxes & Polishes Italian Tn>wels rnamental Tools Lifting8i Ri�· Equipment g Akemi,Ben· · zoni, Tenex, Pratley Graffiti�em val Products
P!" '
Before and after photographs of a historic marble ' monument cleaned with D/2 Biological Solution contents MARCH / APRIL 2020
56
Look for the green arrow throughout this issue branchingout 17 • for hints to expanded versions, free downloads The Fab Four Free Agents and related products at 18 41 It was a hard day’s night before rock- Save time and money with these 50 familytreemagazine.com! stars Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, free records collections living “under- Findmypast and MyHeritage stepped cover” on subscription websites. onto the stage. Here’s how the “Fab by Dana McCullough Four” genealogy websites compare. by Sunny Jane Morton 48 Going Dutch With millions of free online records, 28 Fan Favorites you won’t have to pay your way to Rock out by following these chart- Dutch ancestors. These five websites topping genealogy and history will get you started. accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pin- by John Boeren terest and YouTube. by Rachel Fountain 56 Counting Up Discover your ancestors in online ON THE COVER: 33 State Research Guides census collections with these 26 Comparison: The Fab Four Tips and resources for tracing your practical search tips. Websites 18 ancestors in US states. by Rick Crume Free Online Records 41 WASHINGTON, DC 33 DNA Test: Now What? 71 by Lauren Gamber WISCONSIN 37 COVER ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW HANCOCK ABOVE: ASBE/ISTOCK by Rick Crume
familytreemagazine.com 1 MARCH / APRIL 2020
everything’srelative 5 6 Lisa’s Picks Family history faves from the founder of Genealogy Gems, LLC. by Lisa Louise Cooke
8 Tech News New health offerings from DNA companies, key upgrades to 23andMe and Geni, and other updates from the world of genealogy tech. by Sunny Jane Morton
10 Timeline 6 Study up for your English final with this history of punctuation. by David A. Fryxell
12 Family History Home 10 Save your family’s slides with these expert tips. by Denise May Levenick
14 Stories to Tell A young genealogist reveals his family’s long-forgotten legal woes. by Sunny Jane Morton
15 Your Turn Avoid repeating searches with our Online Search Tracker.
treetips 63
64 Now What? Expert tips on WWI German “enemy aliens” and WWII US service records. 12 by David A. Fryxell 66 Document Detective Share in your ancestor’s “big day” using marriage bonds and licenses. by George G. Morgan
Tech Toolkit 68 IN EVERY ISSUE: How to View Ancestry ThruLines 68 Out on a Limb 3 Roundup: Health add-ons for Tree Talk 4 DNA tests 69 The Rest is History 72 Website: U.S. Newspaper Directory 70 DNA Q&A by Diahan Southard 71
Family Tree Magazine (ISSN 1529-0298) is published six times per year: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October and November/December by Yankee Publishing Inc., 4445 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 470, Blue Ash OH 45242. Copyright ©2020 Yankee Publishing Inc., Vol. 21, No. 2, March/April 2020. Subscription rates: one year, $36. Canadian subscriptions add $8 per year, other foreign subscriptions add $10 per year for surface mail or $35 per year for air mail and remit in US funds. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Family Tree Magazine, Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32141. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio and additional mailing offices. Produced and printed in the USA. MEMORABILIA: COURTESY LISA LOUISE COOKE; AMPERSAND: YURIZ/ISTOCK; SLIDES: BGWALKER/ISTOCK SLIDES: YURIZ/ISTOCK; AMPERSAND: COOKE; LOUISE LISA COURTESY MEMORABILIA:
2 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 MARCH/APRIL 2020 / VOLUME 21, ISSUE 2 out on a limb Editor Andrew Koch Art Director Lori Pedrick Photo Editor Heather Marcus Digital Editor Courtney Henderson Bright lights. Mobs of New Media Editor Rachel Fountain screaming fans. The hottest celebrities. Contributing Editors Lisa A. Alzo, Rick Crume, No, it’s not Woodstock or Lollapalooza— David A. Fryxell, Nancy Hendrickson, it’s RootsTech! Sunny Jane Morton, Maureen A. Taylor Alright, so genealogy conferences
VP Production and New Media Paul Belliveau, Jr. aren’t quite as rowdy as rock concerts. Production Director Dave Ziarnowski But family historians are no less pas- Production Manager Brian Johnson sionate than music fans. And genealogy’s Senior Production Artists Jenn Freeman, Susan Shute “headliners” are just as influential and Senior Ad Production Coordinator Janet Selle talented in their own world as rock stars New Media Designer Amy O’Brien are in theirs. Digital Marketing Specialist Holly Sanderson In the Beatles-themed “The Fab Four” eCommerce Manager Alan Henning (page 18), Sunny Morton compares the records, family trees, DNA tests and EDITORIAL OFFICES: other key features of the big four geneal- 4445 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 470, Blue Ash, OH 45242 [email protected] ogy websites: Ancestry.com, FamilySe- ADVERTISING: arch, Findmypast and MyHeritage. Their Tim Baldwin, (248) 837-9293, “setlists” might be different, but each [email protected] site hits its own high notes that make it SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: U.S.: (888) 403-9002; international: (386) 246-3364; worthy of an encore. [email protected] With Sunny’s comparison guide, Rick Crume’s tips on searching digitized cen- Visit FamilyTreeMagazine.com for more genealogy informa- tion and products. suses at each of the “Fab Four” websites (page 56), and our online search tracker Family Tree Magazine, published in the United States, is not affiliated with the British Family Tree Magazine, (page 15), you’ll be ready to hit the stage. with Family Tree Maker software or with Family Tree DNA. Subscriptions to genealogy websites— like ticket prices—can add up quickly. FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE IS A DIVISION OF If you’re looking for something a little YANKEE PUBLISHING, INC: President and CEO Jamie Trowbridge easier on your wallet, you’ll love Dana VP Finance Sandy Lepple McCullough’s list of 50 free records col- VP Human Resources Jody Bugbee lections at for-profit genealogy websites VP Production and New Media Paul Belliveau, Jr. (page 41). And on page 28, Rachel Foun- VP Consumer Marketing Brook Holmberg tain (our New Media Editor who man- VP Single Copy Sales Sherin Pierce ages the Family Tree Magazine Facebook, VP Sales JD Hale, Jr. Twitter and Pinterest pages) shares
familytreemagazine.com 3 TREE TALK We asked for your Have your closest friends best online research subscribe to different sites, tips. Here’s how you then get together and have responded. genealogy research parties.
Wendy Wanoyomus via Facebook
Keep track of where you’ve researched.
Carla Meier via Facebook If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. What you seek may not have been digitized yet.
Beth Hanson via Facebook
KEEP AN OPEN MIND to all the information you find on docu- ments, because you might find something that will change the validity of some of it. Mary Tyler via Facebook
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!
Our members-only online library
Section. The correct number is 855-322-1022. CJP/ISTOCK PHOTO; VINTAGE MOZZCAN/ISTOCK; PHONE: CELL
4 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 everything’srelative
“THE INTERNET HAS BEEN a wonderful boon to Irish genealogy, but it increases rather than decreases the need for skepticism…Saying ‘I found it on the internet’ is the equiva- lent of saying ‘I don’t know where I found it.’ And if you don’t know where you found information, you don’t know what it means.”
Genealogist John Grenham
CGLADE /ISTOCK CGLADE covering the major record groups useful to studying ancestors from the Emerald Isle.
familytreemagazine.com 5 everything’srelative LISA’S PICKS
Spring Fever
• Family History on Display Spring is in the air, and that means spring-cleaning time. Spruce up your walls with this clever picture frame, featuring clotheslines filled with family photos. A quick online search of clothesline photo display will bring up several affordable
Lisa Louise Cooke options. I hung mine in my laundry room, then topped it off with an upcycled old is the founder of the Genealogy shelf filled with vintage household memorabilia. I don’t know if I like ironing any Gems website and podcast more now than I did before, but the display does put a smile on my face every day!
6 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 • Sites to See A gateway to more than 1.4 billion records, the website of the New England Historic Genealogi- cal Society
• Preserving and Sharing Not all family photos will find a home in a photo album. Keep loose pics safe with 2-mil Polyethylene Short Side • Get a Gadget Opening Print Enve- When you’re on a research lopes by Gaylord Archival trip (whether treading
• On the Road From 1854 to 1929, the Orphan Train Move- PODCAST ment placed an estimated 250,000 orphaned and homeless children throughout the United States • Podcast and Canada. To commemorate the program Listen to more great and the children it helped, the restored 1917 family history finds from Union Pacific Depot building in Concordia, Kan., Lisa and other geneal- houses the National Orphan Train Complex ogy experts with our free
familytreemagazine.com 7 everything’srelative TECH NEWS
WHAT’S NEW DNA Health Tools Expand
A FLURRY OF NEW DNA health tools are now available from major genetic genealogy testing companies, including AncestryDNA (Ances- tryHealth
23andMe Launches Family Tree
GENETIC GENEALOGY TESTING company 23andMe has introduced a new family tree-building tool for customers. The tool automatically generates a visualization of your relationships to genetic matches who have opted in to the DNA Relatives feature. 23andMe’s tree reconstruction tool differs from those on Ancestry.com or MyHeritage because it’s based solely on genetic relationships and age rather than also incorporating tree data provided by testers. Users can add notes such as rela- tives’ names, dates and photos to the tree. In the future, users will be able to edit rela- tionships and share the tree with others. DNA: SCIENCE IN HD/UNSPLASH; NEWSPAPERS:FABIEN BARRAL/UNSPLASH NEWSPAPERS:FABIEN HD/UNSPLASH; IN SCIENCE DNA:
8 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 NEWSPAPERS.COM ADDS OBITUARIES
Subscription genealogy giant Ancestry.com
GENI.COM ROLLS OUT TREE-CHECKING TOOL MYHERITAGE ACQUIRES SNPEDIA AND PROMETHEASE MyHeritage has acquired the company that owns and operates SNPedia and Promethease. SNPedia
familytreemagazine.com 9 everything’srelative TIMELINE
Comma Drama
BEFORE THERE WAS PUNCTUATION, words didn’t even have spaces between them. Wordsallrantogetherlikethis, in what was called scriptura continua. Spaces and punctuation marks emerged as cues for those trying to read other early documents aloud. The Mesha Stele, created about 840 B.C., is the oldest known example of punctuation. It sings the praises of King Mesha of Moab (in today’s Jordan), using dots between words and slashes to separate sections. Though most modern punctuation was set by about 1650, punctuation has further evolved in the digital age. Formerly obscure marks such as the hashtag (#) and @ sign have taken on powerful new meanings. However, throughout the varied history of punctuation, one thing has remained true: as philosopher Theodor W. Adorno put it, “There is no element in which lan- guage resembles music more than in the punctuation marks.”
c. 200 B.C. Aristophanes of Byzantium intro- c. 800 duces dots to break up Greek texts. Alcuin of York adds the period to the end of As head of the Library of Alexandria, sentences. An author and advisor to Emperor Aristophanes knew the challenges of Charlemagne, Alcuin was tasked with navigating scrolls of unbroken text. He developing a writing system that all in Char- came up with the idea of dots aligned lemagne’s wide, diverse empire could under- with the middle, bottom or top of a line stand. Charlemagne’s court also invented to indicate pauses, similar to the later the interrogativus (“point of interrogation,” or comma, colon and period. question mark).
| 70 900 B.C. | 500 B.C. | 100 B.C. || 300 | | | | |
c. 150 B.C. Aristarchus of Samothrace begins using the 400 diple (>), forerunner of quotation marks. A Jerome translates the c. 1350
student of Aristophanes, Aristarchus suc- Bible into Latin. The early The hashtag is invented as an ceeded him as the librarian in Alexandria. He Christian scholar encour- abbreviation for “pound.” Today’s used the diple in margins to mark some- aged monks copying his Twitter symbol began as “lb,” thing of interest in the text. Later Christian “Vulgate” to adopt a practice short for the Latin libra pondo writers adopted it to indicate Biblical quota- used in teaching Roman (“pound weight”). Abbrevia- tions. After the introduction of the printing schoolboys—using colons tions of the time often added a press, typesetters replaced the difficult-to- and comma dots to separate horizontal bar, and hurried clerks cast diple with double, elevated commas. the text. When Jerome’s turned the barred “lb” into #. Bible reached Ireland When the symbol was added to
David A. Fryxell about 500, monks who still Touch-Tone phone keypads, cen- is the son of two English teachers. He struggled with long lines of turies later, engineers dubbed it collected his favorite glimpses into the Latin added a punctus (point) the “octothorpe.” past in a new book, MicroHistory
10 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 The ampersand (&), which dates to the first century, was taught to 19th-century school- children as the 27th letter of the alphabet.
1490s Aldus Manutius introduces the 1867 modern comma. A Renaissance Upon its invention, the typewriter man (literally) and printer in Venice, streamlines punctuation. Christopher Mantua dropped the virgula to the Latham Sholes’ original typewriter pro- bottom of a line of text and added totype included keys only for the dash, a curve to differentiate it from the period, comma, question mark, semico- period. He is also credited with lon and slash. His 1878 QWERTY model inventing the semicolon, and his added an apostrophe and colon. Typing grandson and namesake took over quotation marks involved striking two the business at age 14 and pub- apostrophe keys, while exclamation points lished a tract on punctuation. required an apostrophe plus a period.
| 70 | | || | 700 | 1100 | 1500 | 1900 |
1476 1982 The first printer of English books, Wil- c. 1530 Scott E. Fahlman invents the emoti- liam Caxton, sets up shop in Westminster, Geoffroy Tory of Paris popular- con (“emotive icon”). The precursor of England. Caxton adopted the colon, period izes the apostrophe. Appointed today’s emojis was born at Carnegie and stroke or “virgule” (/, functioned like France’s royal printer, Tory intro- Mellon University in an early online today’s comma). Though it didn’t catch on duced accents and apostrophes newsgroup. Concerned that humor- as a comma, the stroke survived and later to improve “corrupted” French ous remarks were being taken seri- became essential to website addresses. spellings. English printers soon ously by his colleagues and students, adopted his use of apostrophes Fahlman added a sideways smiley face to indicate missing letters, not :-) as well as a frowny face :-(. He failed only in contractions (“don’t”) but to patent his idea, however, and never also in words simplified from made a dime from it. :-( Anglo-Saxon origins (“bookes” became “book’s”). CAXTON: ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; TYPEWRITER: CLU/ISTOCK; PUNCTUATION; PUNCTUATION; TYPEWRITER: CLU/ISTOCK; PHOTO; STOCK ALAMY CAXTON: KJOHANSEN/ISTOCK; KJOHANSEN/ISTOCK; YURIZ/ISTOCK AMPERSAND:
familytreemagazine.com 11 everything’srelative FAMILY HISTORY HOME
Archiving Family Slides
12 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 tip Make slide preservation into an event! Host a retro family slide night to select the best and most meaningful images. Rent a slide projector or small viewer at a local camera shop, or ask friends who may still have older equipment. Set up a projector screen or hang a white sheet for your screen. And don’t forget the popcorn!
1 Determine which slides to save. If you have lots of slides, be selective about 3 Get organized. 4 Digitize like a pro. 5 Store the slides safely. what you digitize. Slides were Organize family slides like you Digitizing slides is a rela- You can safely preserve mount- relatively inexpensive to make, would printed photos: by date tively easy, inexpensive family ed slides with minimal expense and many family photographers and event. View the collection archiving project. You’ll just and fuss. Older plastic materials saved a lot of memories. Don’t (as a whole, and in original order need a flatbed scanner with don’t harm the slides, but they be surprised to find multiple whenever possible) to get an film option that will scan paper, can be bulky and hard to store. slides of the same scene. Choose overall sense of who is in the photographs and film. You can Save space by transferring slides the best one to digitize, and toss pictures and what events are place several mounted slides to archival-safe plastic polypro- slides that are unfocused or with included. Also number your in the scanner’s plastic carrier, pylene slide pages. Store those missing heads and arms. slide boxes and create a master which snaps on top of the glass pages inside an acid-free binder list with as much detail as pos- flatbed. Just close the lid and or box for easy viewing and 2 Record the date. Use an sible. Keep one copy with the start the scan. For best results, access. Gaylord Archival
Denise May Levenick aka The Family Curator
OVERHEAD: BGWALKER/ISTOCK; FAMILY: LISA-BLUE/ISTOCK; PROJECTOR: LUOMAN/ISTOCK; TRAY:RG-VC/ISTOCK LUOMAN/ISTOCK; PROJECTOR: LISA-BLUE/ISTOCK; FAMILY: BGWALKER/ISTOCK; OVERHEAD: (Family Tree Books).
familytreemagazine.com 13 everything’srelative STORIES TO TELL
Small Claims A young genealogist reveals his family’s long-forgotten legal woes.
few years ago, Eli Kirshner made a startling discov- ery. The then-teenaged genealogist already knew his A grandfather’s household operated a Jewish wedding chapel in the Bronx, N.Y. But when Kirshner Googled the chapel, he found a surprise tucked away in a Google Books result: The chapel’s Hebrew name was a the defendant in a court case, Scott v. Gan Eden. Someone was suing his family! According to the case files, an employee fell while setting up reception food for the groom’s family in 1935, allegedly slipping on meat grease. She required medical atten- tion, and the jury decided in her favor. Kirshner’s family appealed the decision to a higher court—which promptly also ruled in Ms. Scott’s favor. “The jury decided unanimously, in 40 minutes, to award Miss Scott $2,000, which was a lot of money during the Eli Kirshner’s great- Great Depression,” Kirshner says. grandfather faced a law- suit when an employee of his wedding chapel (now a church, pictured Trial records gave Kirshner above) was injured on (now a senior at Oberlin Col- the job. The flyer (left) lege in Ohio) a window into advertises his officiating services. his family’s daily lives, run- ning several weddings a day and apparently living upstairs from the business. He also noticed something peculiar: His great-grandfather, tech- nically a rabbi who officiated weddings, was nowhere to be found during court proceedings. “He had ‘fled to Florida,’” Kirshner says. “That left my great-grandmother to be implicated and cross-examined. She testified that ‘in no kitchen of mine could there be grease on the floor.’ “No one in my family had ever heard this story!” Kirsh- ner continues. “It was not passed down. I found no men- tion of it in Newspapers.com or Chronicling America or even the local Jewish newspapers printed in Yiddish. Just that mention in Google Books.” Kirshner organized an extended family reunion where he shared the story—then learned more about it. Cous- ins brought photos of the temple and even of his great- grandfather, performing services before that infamous escape to Florida. • Sunny Jane Morton COURTESY ELI KIRSHNER ELI COURTESY
14 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 everything'srelative
GET ORGANIZED
Online Search Tracker Avoid repeating searches by recording where you’ve searched for your ancestor, and what terms you used.
Collection Name: ______Website: ______
Name Keywords
First and Middle Names Last Name
Events Relationships Date Location Relationship First Name Last Name
Birth
Arrival
Lived In
Marriage
Death
In each issue, Your Turn offers a form that’ll help you preserve your family’s unique stories and organize your research. Tear out and use the form or make a photocopy.
familytreemagazine.com 15 gust 12-15; 2 ----��•
Register today at www.NwGC.org [email protected] 360-435-4838 PO Box 34, Arlington, WA 98223
G Made possible in part by assistance from The Snohomish County Hotel-Motel Tax Fund and the City of Arlington, WA
Fly direct to Paine Field in Everett from 6 California airports, as well as Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, and Spokane.
With 15 speakers and more than 40 sessions What others say about our event:
11 11 Stupendous as always." Excellent. Well-rounded conference." 11So well organized. Speakers A+." Extend Your Stay
Local Events and Attractions
Arlington Fly-In, Balloon and Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Airplane Festival Society Library www.arlingtonflyin.org www.stillygen.org
Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum Paine Field Aviation District: www.stillymuseum.org Boeing Future of Flight Museum Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum
For other events, visit: www.seattlenorthcountry.com/events
SEATTLE NOI\THCOUNTRY
TRUE:$- PNW branchingout
“WE UNDERSTAND that the great arc of human history bends towards people coming together in ever greater numbers—from tribes to cities to nations—to achieve things we could not on our own… Progress now requires coming together not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community.”
Mark Zuckerberg, cofounder and CEO of Facebook, shared thoughts on the importance of connection in his 2017 com- mencement address at Harvard University. New Media Editor Rachel Fountain shares her favorite genealogy accounts to
NICOELNINO/ISTOCK follow on social media (including Facebook) on page 28, helping you connect with researchers around the world.
familytreemagazine.com 17
fourthe fab It was a hard day’s night before rockstars Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage stepped onto the stage. Here’s how the “Fab Four” genealogy websites compare.
by SUNNY JANE MORTON
n the 60s, the Beatles burst into the world of rock ‘n roll and changed it forever. Their unique musical style raised the bar for pop music and catapulted John Len- non, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo IStarr to global fame. The lyrics and lifestyles of the “Fab Four” reached well beyond the airwaves to influence fash- ion, politics and the very culture of an entire generation. A quieter cultural shift has taken place in the past 20 years—this one in the world of family history. Online resorces have democratized genealogy, allowing anyone with an internet connection to participate. And thanks to DNA, many with unknown origins are finally finding answers. History’s previously invisible individuals—the poor, the powerless, the enslaved—are gradually being identified and celebrated by their descendants. You say you want a revolution? It’s happening. Headlining this change is a different Fab Four: the web- sites Ancestry.com
ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW HANCOCK MATTHEW BY ILLUSTRATION Fab Four are a head above the rest in supplying the billions
familytreemagazine.com 19 What matters most is that a site has records for the place and time period you’re researching.
of historical records, extensive family trees and celebrate the things that make Ancestry.com, genetic connections that power this new era of FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage discovery. special. The world of genealogy may not hav- So which one of the Fab Four genealogy web- ing screaming fans (except occasionally at sites is the best? That’s like asking which Beatle RootsTech), but the “greatest hits” album that is the greatest. Each brought unique talents and follows will show you how each site makes us style to the recording studio, but all were need- weak in the knees. ed to make the Beatles who they were. Similarly, each of the four genealogy super- PLATINUM RECORDS sites deserves its own fan club. Read on as we Historical documents reveal your ancestors’ identities and stories: They are the lyrics to your genealogical song. All four sites boast billions of historical records: between 5 and 12 billion each. If you’d like to learn more about searching Even the low end of this range is a lot of records. census records on the “Fab Four,” see page 56 Some of the sites report combined record totals for Rick Crume’s census search tips, organized • that make comparisons a little confusing. by major genealogy website. And on page 69, Sunny Jane Morton compares the DNA testing Here’s the skinny on how many records each health add-ons offered by Ancestry.com and site has: MyHeritage, two of the Fab Four. ș Ancestry.com counts more than 11 billion names extracted from old records. MARTIN WAHLBORG/ISTOCK MARTIN
20 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 Meet the Stars
TM ș FamilySearch reports 7.2 billion names, made searchable from old records. (The site holds another three billion digital images that haven’t Ancestry is a for-profit, US company with roots as a genealogi- yet been indexed, plus 453,000 digitized books cal book and magazine publisher. Its website, Ancestry.com, that may or may not be keyword-searchable.) launched in 1996. ș Findmypast boasts 9 billion historical records, including those that haven’t been indexed. ș MyHeritage’s Super Search catalog counts about 5 billion names indexed from old records. What matters most is that a site has records FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization with a global mission for the place and time period you’re research- to connect families across generations. FamilySearch.org went ing. And that it has the specific kinds of records online in 1999 and is the online presence of the Family History that may answer your question. Here’s a general Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. description of the records you can expect to find on the Fab Four.
Places and time periods All four sites have global reach, but each has identifiable geographic strengths. The for-profit Findmypast is a British-owned for-profit company that started sites—Ancestry.com, Findmypast and MyHer- as a team of heir-hunters and genealogists in 1965. The site itage—serve audiences (target markets) whose launched as 1837online.com (with civil registration records) in ancestors generally migrated from certain parts 2003. of the world: ș Ancestry.com has sufficient records to offer country-level subscriptions for the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Sweden and the United Kingdom. ș Findmypast’s core content is for England, MyHeritage is an Israeli company that began in 2003 as a web- Scotland, Ireland and Wales, with some cover- site for sharing family trees and photos in multiple languages. age of places settled by British Isles emigrants. ș MyHeritage is strongest in European records (particularly the Scandinavian coun- tries) and global Jewish content. As a nonprofit, FamilySearch curates records not for specific markets, but for everyone. They prioritize the most genealogically useful records and also try to digitize records that are at-risk for loss. In addition, FamilySearch is also digitizing a vast trove of microfilmed records from being published online. Some places cre- from the Family History Library in Salt Lake ated more records than other places during City, Utah. These curation efforts make Fami- particular timeframes, or have experienced lySearch’s online historical record collections more record loss. notable for their size and geographic diversity. That said, we can still make a few generaliza- The time periods for record collections at tions about record coverage in specific places. each website vary widely—mostly because of For example, Ancestry.com has greater numbers the availability of the records themselves. Pri- of more recent UK records (especially directo- vacy laws prevent some records from recent ries), while Findmypast’s strengths are in older decades, such as censuses and vital records, UK documents.
familytreemagazine.com 21 tip Whichever site you use, consider post- ing “working” trees online, and keeping a master family tree in the privacy and security of your own desktop soft- ware. Lisa Louise Cooke offers advice on this topic
Money (That’s What We Want) It can’t buy you love, but an annual subscription fee can buy you a year’s worth of access to these sites.
Basic per-year Complete per-year Additional options access site access
Ancestry $198, US $298, World $398, All-access (adds Fold3 and Newspapers.com)
FamilySearch Free Free Additional features for members of the Church of
Findmypast $129, $179, Ultimate British Pay-as-you-go credit system
MyHeritage $129, Premium $299, Special pricing during first year of membership: $99, Premium;
22 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 offer up slightly different lists of possible match- including 21 subcategories within the British Utah-based Ances- es, even for the same record collections. Isles alone—and provides basic information on try.com (corporate office pictured FamilySearch and Ancestry.com allow users maternal and (for men) paternal haplogroups. above) began as to submit edits to indexed record entries, further ș MyHeritage DNA reports on 42 global eth- a genealogy pub- increasing the possibility of successful searches. nic groups. lisher, but has since MyHeritage automatically translates the names expanded. you enter into other languages, extending your ability to identify them in records. Bottom line: If you can’t find an ancestor in a particular cen- sus (or other collection) at one site, try searching Card Catalogs: another. The Fab Four’s Setlists DNA TRIPPER See what each record company has to offer Three of the Fab Four sell autosomal DNA using their card catalogs: tests: Ancestry.com
JEREMY BITTERMANNJEREMY divides ancestral heritage into 80 categories—
familytreemagazine.com 23 You may find yourself visiting the Fab Four frequently—maybe even eight days a week.
All three tests provide lists of your DNA the longest shared segment, too. (Both these matches (unless you opt out of DNA matching), pieces of information offer clues about how you and all three report the total amount of DNA may be related.) you share with each match. You may communi- Ancestry.com and MyHeritage have robust cate with your matches through the sites. tools to help you sleuth out your relationships In addition to total shared DNA, Ancestry. to DNA matches and extend your family tree. com and MyHeritage also report how many On both sites, you may attach a family tree to individual DNA segments you share with each your DNA profile and compare it to the trees of match, and MyHeritage tells you the length of your matches. Use the sites’ tools to identify DNA matches you share with other matches (e.g., everyone related to your mom’s cousin who tested), and to find common ancestral names and places DNA expert Shannon Combs-Bennett com- pared the five major DNA testing companies in your matches’ trees. MyHeritage also tells • (including AncestryDNA, Living DNA and you the estimated relationship between your MyHeritage DNA) in a series of blog posts in matches (not just between yourself and each 2018
DNA Services Compared
AncestryDNA Findmypast DNA (Living DNA) MyHeritage DNA
Test format Saliva sample Cheek swab Cheek swab
Retail price $99 $89 $79
Ethnicity regions 1,000+ ancestral regions 80, including 21 British Isles 42 global regions and Genetic Communities sub-regions
No. customers tested 15 million Unknown 2.5 million
DNA match list/tools Match list, plus robust Match list only Match list, plus robust matching tools matching tools
Tree reconstruction tool ThruLines, showing No Theory of Family Relativity, possible descendants of showing possible tree relation- specific ancestors ship to individual matches
Upload raw DNA for free? No Yes; view ethnicity results and Yes; access to features varies match list
Health options AncestryHealth Core and No (but available through Living MyHeritage DNA Health + AncestryHealth Plus DNA website) Ancestry
24 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 places matches who appear to descend from the about for DNA testing. Both Findmypast/Liv- Findmypast is same ancestors onto a mocked-up tree where ing DNA and MyHeritage allow you to upload based in the United Ancestry.com thinks they fit, based on every- your raw DNA results (from an autosomal test) Kingdom and is perhaps strongest one’s trees. MyHeritage’s Theory of Family for free. At Findmypast/Living DNA, the free for UK and Irish Relativity provides possible relationship paths upload comes with access to DNA matches, but records. In addition, between you and specific matches. (See the July/ not the ethnicity report. The free upload fea- Findmypast has August 2019 issue’s Tech Toolkit for a tutorial.) tures at MyHeritage vary by when you uploaded partnered with Liv- In both cases, the tree reconstruction tools your DNA. There’s an option to purchase access ing DNA to provide testing services. may use data from your tree, your match’s tree to the DNA tools for a one-time fee of $29; see and other trees, as well as historical records.
THIAGO BORDIGNON THIAGO There is some fine print you should know additional cost.)
familytreemagazine.com 25 tip Remember that the quality of online family trees varies. Some may have lots of details with plenty of historical docu- At Ancestry.com, Findmypast and MyHer- mentation attached, but others won’t. itage, you build your own individual trees. Other Review everything carefully, and be users can’t change your trees unless you allow vigilant about unsupported claims. them to. At Ancestry.com and MyHeritage, you can choose for your trees to be publicly searchable and viewable by others, or private (seen only by you and those you specifically invite). You can search other people’s trees, too, which may lead to connections with fellow researchers and new The MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test information about your shared roots.
TICKET TO RIDE Now that you’ve glimpsed the breadth of what’s available at the Fab Four, you may be wondering
how you’re going to afford to use them all. MYHERITAGE OFFICE: PHOTO; STOCK ANDREW HASSON/ALAMY TICKETS:
26 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 Good news on one of the Four: FamilySearch The Ultimate British & Irish membership MyHeritage, is completely free, though you’ll need to sign up ($19.95/month or $179/year) adds access to news- based in Israel, for a free guest user login. Certain record col- papers; military, institutional and will/probate offers billions of online records, an lections are only accessible from a free Fam- records; and exclusive educational guides and international family ily History Center (find one near you at
familytreemagazine.com 27 Fan Favorites Rock out by following these chart-topping genealogy and history accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.
by RACHEL FOUNTAIN
Navigating social media can be like We’ve gathered our favorite Facebook, Twitter, Pinter- trying to find a specific book in a vast, disorganized est
28 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 familytreemagazine.com 29 tip going on in the forums, and is a great TWITTER You can like a Facebook page, place to dive into the nitty-gritty of Twitter is the 21st-century “little then choose if and how you record use and citation. birdy” who tells you the latest news want to see that page’s posts and gossip. But with access to such using the Follow feature. You Genealogy Center a wealth of information, this little can remove a page’s posts from
AccessGenealogy
30 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 @LegalGen tip but also give us creative ideas for how
familytreemagazine.com 31 Nicole Dyer—FamilyLocket tip UsefulCharts
32 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 STATE GUIDE WASHINGTON, DC
by LAUREN GAMBER
BETWEEN 1776 AND 1800, Congress met in temporary loca- In 1846, Alexandria County went back to Virginia. The tions in New York City and Philadelphia. When it came city of Alexandria resumed its independence (i.e., was not time to pick a permanent US capital, however, the North- tied to a county) in 1870, and the rest of Alexandria Coun- ern and Southern states couldn’t agree. So who ultimately ty became Arlington County in 1920. On a modern map, chose the location for our nation’s capital, Washington, the District of Columbia resembles a diamond with a bite DC? taken out of it. The “bite” is Arlington County and part of George Washington, of course. In 1791, Maryland Alexandria. and Virginia donated 100 square miles straddling the Records of early DC settlers might be in Maryland or Potomac. Nov. 21, 1800, almost a year after Washing- Virginia. Virginia kept custody for Alexandria’s records, ton’s death, Congress met in the new capital for the first and until the late 1800s, Georgetown’s deeds and wills time. Today, the Washington, DC, metro area extends were registered in Montgomery County, Md. In 1871, the far beyond the original territory, and the local economy city of Washington annexed Georgetown, and Washington revolves around the federal government and tourism. and the District of Columbia became coterminous. Today, Home to major record repositories such as the National residents generally say “Washington” when referring to Archives and Records Administration the metropolitan area, and call the (NARA)
familytreemagazine.com 33 WASHINGTON, DC
DC is a genealogist’s dream— and one of the nation’s roots research capitals.
timeline 1800 1814 1846 1864 1867 1899 Washington, DC, British troops burn The Smithson- Arlington National Congress estab- Jazz legend Duke becomes the offi- most of Washing- ian Institution is Cemetery is lishes Howard Ellington is born cial US capital ton’s public build- founded established University in DC ings and records
34 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 WASHINGTON, DC
Civil War, African-Americans made up a third of the city’s population. Use these records to track your Washington, DC, kin: ȡ CENSUS: Access micro- filmed federal censuses for the area starting in 1800 (1810 and most of 1890 have been lost) at large libraries, NARA and its regional facilities, and the Family History Library
1954 1961 1963 1970 1992 Washington DC DC residents gain Martin Luther King DC gains an elected The House of integrates its the right to vote for Jr. delivers his “I nonvoting delegate Representatives schools president Have a Dream” to the House of approves state- speech near the Representatives hood for Washing- Lincoln Memorial ton DC; the Senate does not
familytreemagazine.com 35 WASHINGTON, DC
TOOLKIT FHL also has copies of deeds for Alexandria County (1783 Websites to 1865; indexed 1793 to 1870), as well as Prince George’s Cyndi’s List: District of Columbia
Publications CAPITAL STOPS Washington, DC, is a must-visit for any roots researcher, The Guide to Black Washington, revised edition, by especially someone with ties to the capital city. Here’s a Sandra Fitzpatrick and Maria R. Goodwin (Hippocrene look at some of the major repositories (see the Toolkit for Books) more website addresses and contact details): The Jewish Community of Washington, D.C. by Martin ȡ DAR LIBRARY: Founded in 1896, the library
36 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 STATE GUIDE WISCONSIN
by RICK CRUME
WHERE CAN YOU get great cheese and beer, be a subject of a 1842, in 1846, in 1847, and every 10 years from 1855 to 1905. progressive state government and seriously up your chanc- Except for the 1905 count, all list only heads of household. es of meeting a German-American? Pre-1865 records are missing for many counties. State cen- Wisconsin, of course. The area’s first Europeans actu- sus records from 1855 to 1905 are searchable at the free ally were French fur traders who trapped in the Green Bay FamilySearch
familytreemagazine.com 37 WISCONSIN
LAKE SUPERIOR
13 Bayfield Superior Port Wing Washburn
Poplar Iron River Moquah Ashland 2 Hawthorne Lake Nebagamon Hurley Bayfield Mason Marengo Chaffey 53 169 13 Solon Springs Drummond 63 77 Douglas Mellen MICHIGAN 35 Ashland Iron Gordon 27 Dairyland Cable Morse Presque Isle Clam Lake Glidden Vilas Manitowish Minong 51 Boulder Junction 77 13 Phelps 77 17 Hayward Butternut 182 Danbury Lampson L. Chippewa Sayner Alvin 27 70 35 Chief Lake 47 Eagle River Florence Earl Woodruff 70 Loretta Fifield 70 70 55 St Croix R. Burnett Washburn Webster Stone Lake 70 Long Lake Florence Spooner Winter 17 Hertel 70 70 Price Hazelhurst Three Lakes 139 Grantsburg 13 Forest 70 Couderay 27 47 Kingsford 35 Shell Lake Sawyer McNaughton Newald Fence Trade Lake 63 Phillips Oneida Frederic Birchwood 48 Exeland 48 Barronett Rhinelander Dunbar Brill Wisconsin Woodboro 8 Luck Monico Crandon 48 Tripoli Heafford Junction Laona Cumberland 27 Kennan Polk 40 8 35 Rusk Prentice Amberg Rice Lake Glen Flora 17 Marinette Centuria Balsam Lake 86 Spirit 86 Ladysmith 55 Turtle Lake Barron 13 8 Weyerhaeuser 73 Summit Lake 52 Carter Westboro Lincoln Pearson Wausaukee Barron Amery Hillsdale Chetek 40 Sheldon Rib Lake Osceola 32 McAllister 25 51 52 55 Lakewood 42 35 Hannibal Deerbrook Langlade Hollister Crivitz 180 Prairie Farm 53 New Auburn Taylor Merrill 64 Mountain Sister Bay Ridgeland Cornell 64 Gilman 64 Porterfield Medford Goodrich 64 64 Antigo New Richmond 64 Connorsville 64 64 64 White Lake 141 Bloomer 64 64 73 97 Pound 64 57 Glenwood City Crescent Lublin 13 Menominee 55 Breed Marinette Boyceville Dunn 40 Chippewa Phlox Oconto Egg Harbor Athens 52 Baileys Harbor Saint Croix Colfax Tilden 27 Aniwa Suring Door Hudson Milan Marathon 47 Neopit 32 42 Woodville 12 25 Cadott Stanley Owen Wausau Lena Carlsville Chippewa Falls 29 29 29 Edgar
MINNESOTA 29 Longwood Hatley Keshena Gillett Oconto River Falls Menomonie Colby Weston 29 22 Spring Valley 73 Rothschild Shawano Sturgeon Bay 29 29 Eau Claire Wittenberg 27 153 Stratford Mosinee 29 Altoona 29 Shawano 32 Abrams 35 Eau Claire Greenwood Spencer 45 Ellsworth 94 Willard 97 153 Tigerton 42 Galloway 22 Pierce 25 Meridean Lunds Forestville Augusta Clark Marshfield 49 Marion 57 37 Diamond Bluff 93 Foster Pulaski Plum City Durand 12 Auburndale Rosholt Big Falls Clintonville 29 Fairchild 73 Granton Portage Kewaunee Algoma Mondovi Osseo Neillsville 10 66 Polonia Waupaca 110 Nichols 54 25 Arpin 49 Howard 35 Strum 13 Stevens Point 76 55 Iola 161 Pepin 73 Green Bay 37 Gilmanton 95 Manawa Black Creek Ashwaubenon Pepin Modena Northfield Merrillan Sherwood Wood Plover Kewaunee 93 13 54 Amherst 49 De Pere Allouez 29 New London Wabasha Whitehall Wisconsin Rapids Brown Independence 95 Hixton City Point 54 54 Waupaca Outagamie 41 57 Jackson Mackville Alma 54 Kellner Bancroft 47 Denmark 42 Buffalo 53 Babcock Nekoosa Fremont Appleton Kaukauna Arcadia 95 Black River Falls Buffalo 35 73 22 Mishicot 54 13 Menasha Trempealeau 27 Adams 73 110 95 Ettrick Wild Rose Saxeville Neenah Sherwood Petenwell L. 49 10 Two Rivers 93 Melrose Warrens 173 Hancock 55 94 80 Monroe Center Waushara Winneconne Winnebago 54 Calumet Potter Wautoma 110 Valders 71 21 Manitowoc Stevenstown Necedah 21 L. Winnebago Chilton 21 21 Manitowoc La Crosse 21 Tomah Richford Waukau Oshkosh 151 Holmen Juneau Friendship Neshkoro Berlin 44 57 Newton Sparta 51 22 West Salem 16 Monroe New Lisbon 13 Westfield Green Van Dyne Ada Onalaska Hustler 26 Norwalk Marquette Lake Ripon 41 80 White Creek 23 North Fond du Lac La Crosse 71 71 Mauston 82 67 43 33 Montello 27 82 82 Fond du Lac 23 23 Sheboygan Elroy 13 Fairwater Fond du Lac Plymouth 33 Ontario Coon Valley Lyndon Station Kingston 44 26 Sheboygan Falls 58 Eden 67 35 Green Lake Markesan Sheboygan Hillsboro Wonewoc 12 Briggsville 49 22 Waupun 45 Oostburg Vernon 33 Lake Delton 49 Lomira Genoa 82 La Farge 16 Friesland Viroqua 80 33 67 Reedsburg Portage 26 57 Ozaukee 14 33 Wyocena Mayville 82 Lime Ridge Baraboo Beaver Dam Dodge Fredonia Readstown 22 Loyd West Bend 33 90 16 Juneau 58 23 Sauk Merrimac Poynette Saukville Port Washington Richland 41 Washington Ferryville Richland Center Columbia Astico 60 Gays Mills Lodi Columbus 16 Clyman Hartford Grafton60 Prairie du Sac 60 60 Sextonville 83 Cedarburg De Forest 151 67 60 Germantown Mequon 61 60 Watertown Muscoda 14 Spring Green Waunakee 19 Menomonee Falls 133 Sun Prairie Jefferson 16 Brown Deer 35 Crawford Boscobel Sussex 27 23 Middleton 94 Oconomowoc Whitefish Bay IOWA 60 Waukesha 78 Madison West MICHIGAN LAKE Prairie du Chien Highland Iowa Lake Mills 133 Monona Waukesha Mount Horeb Verona Jefferson 18 Allis Milwaukee Wisconsin R. Fennimore Dane McFarland Greenfield Patch Grove 18 78 New Berlin Grant Dodgeville Fitchburg Oregon Stoughton Fort Atkinson South Milwaukee Livingston 191 Muskego Milwaukee 92 59 Lancaster 39 26 12 Mukwonago Franklin Oak Creek Glen Haven 39 Edgerton 80 92 36 45 133 151 Blanchardville 14Evansville 59 Whitewater 32 81 81 69 Milton 43 Waterford Platteville Monticello Racine Cassville Green Walworth Sturtevant Racine 133 Tennyson Darlington Janesville Burlington 81 81 59 11 Lafayette Brodhead Rock Delavan Elkhorn Bohners Lake 94 Cuba City Monroe Orfordville Shullsburg Kenosha Kenosha 11 Lake Geneva 11 81 Pleasant Prairie Beloit 32 Twin Lakes ILLINOIS Wisconsin State Capitals State Boundaries Toll Roads and Bridges Major Rivers County Seat County Boundaries Interstate Highways Intermediate Rivers timelineCities 500,000+ U.S. Highways Lakes Cities 100,000-499,999 State Roads Cities 50,000-99,999 1787 Cities 10,000-49,9991835 1836 1846 1856 1861 Cities 0-9,999 Modern Wisconsin John Phillips opens Black Hawk War The State Historical German-speaking Gov. Alexander is part of the North- the first brewery ends in a massacre Society0 10 Miles of Wiscon25 Miles - children50 Miles attend Randall calls for west Territory in Wisconsin, in of the Sac tribe at sin0 10is KM founded25 KM 50 KM the nation’s first Civil War volun- Mineral Point the Bad Axe River kindergarten at teers; more than Watertown 90,000 answer during the war
38 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 WISCONSIN
Wherever your Wisconsin ancestors started out, a plethora of resources will help you find them.
MAKSYMOWICZ /ISTOCK MAKSYMOWICZ site has WWI Military Portraits 1884 1932 1934 1980 2011 The town of Wisconsin is the Sons of Wisconsin Eric Heiden of Wisconsin lawmak- Baraboo hosts the first US state to politican Robert Madison wins five ers make national Ringling Brothers’ enact an unemploy- LaFollette form the Olympic gold med- news when they first circus ment compensa- influential Wis- als for speedskating flee their state to tion law consin Progressive protest anti-union Party legislation familytreemagazine.com 39 WISCONSIN TOOLKIT Ancestry.com have a variety of statewide indexes to Wis- Websites consin births, marriages and deaths between 1820 and 1997. The Wisconsin GenWeb Project Wisconsin Historical Society 816 State St., Madison, WI, 53706, (608) 264-6460, 40 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 FREE AGENTS Save time and money with these 50 free records collections living “undercover” on subscription websites. by DANA MCCULLOUGH Annual costs of membership to subscription genealogy sites can add up. But if you dig deep enough, you’ll sneak up on several free collections for nonsubscribing visitors. Some include indexed images, and others have indexes that link to images (sometimes free, sometimes fee- based) at other websites. We’ve gone undercover and scoured the web to find the paid sites’ most useful free collections. Some have a narrow focus—such as a single city—while others contain millions of records. Several are free to search on multiple sites. In making our selections, we prioritized collections that connect you to digital record images or record transcriptions, but several handy index-only collections are included as well. In most cases, you’ll need to register or log in with a free account on the subscription website to access the databases (and especially any associated images). See page 42 for passageways to access each site’s collections. ERHUI1979/ISTOCK familytreemagazine.com 41 I SPY US GENEALOGY head of household, marital status, than three years ago, he or she may be RECORDS occupation and more. Results link to included in this index. (Most entries record images. are for deaths after 1962.) Indexed 1880 US Census entries may include the person’s Ancestry.com U.S., Naturalization Records, name, birth date, death date, last resi- FindMyPast 1840–1957 dence, Social Security number and 42 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 tip Many subscription sites offer MA: Massachusetts Vital Records, MA: Massachusetts Society free access to additional collec- 1620–1850 of the Cincinnati tions during holiday weekends AmericanAncestors AmericanAncestors or special anniversaries of TETIANA LAZUNOVA /ISTOCK TETIANA LAZUNOVA and cemetery location. use the information—bride and groom tor of (or witnesses to) the will. familytreemagazine.com 43 OH and FL: Ohio and TX: Houston Chronicle Obituaries, memorials. Results take you to indi- Florida, City Directories, 1901–1905 vidual memorial pages. You can also 1902–1960 Ancestry.com search the original American Battle Ancestry.com 44 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 If your ancestor received this presti- rant application files for men who gious award, he may be in this data- fought in the Revolutionary War. The Learn more ways to save money base of more than 3,400 individuals. database covers 81,000-plus records in your research MITAY20/ISTOCK Search pension and bounty-land war- you can find the serviceman’s rank, the conflict. familytreemagazine.com 45 WWI Draft Registrations, 1917–1918 Ancestry.com HIDDEN IMMIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL RECORDS 1851 Scotland Census Extract MyHeritage 46 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 emigrant’s name, age, estimated birth Lithuania, Birth Records Index Poland. (According to MyHeritage, year, place of origin, destination and from Various Towns, 1837–1940 alternate names for this location are year of emigration. Ancestry.com Petrokov, Petrikau and Piotrkow.) ALEUTIE/ISTOCK familytreemagazine.com 47 GOING DUTCH With millions of free online records, you won’t have to pay your way to Dutch ancestors. These five websites will get you started. by JOHN BOEREN If your ancestors once lived in the Netherlands, you’re very lucky. Not only do you get to visit this beautiful country and enjoy its famous cheeses, windmills, tulips and wooden shoes—but you’re also able to do a lot of your research online. What could be better than sitting in your armchair and searching through millions and millions of index entries, plus original record images from archives all over the Netherlands? Every week, more and more records and images become available. The Dutch legal system is a true blessing for genealogists and other researchers. The law not only prescribes that archives should be accessible for everybody (with some exceptions for more recent records), but also that use of archival collections should be free. As a result, every govern- ment website in the Netherlands offers its records for free—and in many cases, copies of those records are free, too. Even better, many archives nowadays offer free scanning on demand. Sure, you can research your Dutch ancestors on the big genealogy websites. (See the sidebar on page 53.) But you can get closer to the heart of your ancestry by tapping into these five Dutch genealogy websites. JACOBH/ISTOCK familytreemagazine.com 49 Every government website in the Netherlands offers its records for free—and in many cases, copies of those records are free, too. The other is OpenArch ș Birth records contain the name of the child, date and place of the person is related to the record’s birth, and the names of the parents (if known). Informants were required event) and year. Click the highlighted to have personal knowledge of the birth. Witnesses were sometimes text to view details. Each record’s related, but later records didn’t require witnesses. Birth records might page is clean and easy to digest, with show extra remarks—for example, acknowledging an illegitimate child. a graphic indicating how people men- tioned in the record related to each ș Marriage records contain the names of both spouses, date of other. Here, you can also view an marriage, ages or dates of birth, places of birth, places of residence, image of the record if a scan is avail- occupations and names of the parent(s). Parents had to consent to mar- able. (If OpenArchives doesn’t have riages if their children were underage; if parents were deceased, grand- the record image, the record page parents could give consent. Therefore, some records include details will have links to relevant digital col- about a bridge/groom’s two parents and four grandparents. Earlier lections on FamilySearch.) records will have four witnesses, while later have just two. A record’s page will also automati- ș Divorce records are registered separately, but the original mar- cally pull links to other records relat- riage record shows a comment in the margin stating the marriage was ed to individuals mentioned in the dissolved by a decision of a court of law. record. Links include other records on OpenArchives, but also records ș Death records contain the name of the deceased and as much from external sources like the Dutch extra information as was known to the informant (who was required to Biographical Portal. have firsthand knowledge of the death). Records frequently mention Along the right side of a record age, place of birth, place of residence, address where death occurred, page, you may also see additional occupation, names of parents and name of spouse, but never cause of details that provide context for the death. Relatives, neighbors or (in later records) undertakers often served recorded event: historical weather on as informants. the event date, information from the census about the event place, and his- torical maps showing the event place. 50 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 tip Graves are cleared after a certain period DELPHER of time (namely, when the family stops paying to lease the space). So most older Several archives in the Netherlands 2 Dutch gravestones no longer exist. offer digitized newspapers from their town or region, such as the city archives of Nijmegen and Leiden or the provincial archives of Friesland. But, with more than 100 million digitized pages (dating from 1618 to the 1990s), several other organizations, Delpher also offers Delpher POP_JOP/ISTOCK al Library), university libraries, archives and have to use a tool such as Google Translate familytreemagazine.com 51 Records Highlight: Dutch Population Registers Unlike many other countries, the Netherlands did not take 20th century, when municipalities started to use one card a nationwide census every 10 years. Rather, from 1850 on, per family. Shortly before World War II, administrations every municipality was obliged to use population registers switched to cards per person (persoonskaarten, or “person (bevolkingsregisters): an ongoing registration of every person cards”). In 1994, these paper documents were digitized, and who lived in the municipality. most information was entered in one central database. These registers are an invaluable source when looking for Older censuses and population registers are public. your ancestors, providing: names, birth dates and places, Because of privacy regulations, many archives have taken the marital statuses, occupations, addresses, family relationships family record cards offline. Person record cards are not pub- and details about any emigration. lic, but information about deceased persons can be obtained Population registers existed until the beginning of the from the Netherlands Center for Family History in The Hague. RUSTAMANK/ISTOCK 52 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 Dutch Research on the Big Genealogy Websites Most genealogists not living in the Netherlands will start their search for AMSTERDAM Dutch ancestors by using some of the big genealogy websites discussed 3 CITY ARCHIVES on page 18: Amsterdam is the biggest city ș Ancestry.com familytreemagazine.com 53 Dutch Names According to Dutch law, each citizen has one or multiple first Prepositions and articles are written separately from the core names, as well as one family name. (Middle names, as such, of the family name, so don’t use them when searching databases. do not exist.) A birth record gives the official spelling of a For example, “Vanderbilt” would be written van der Bilt. In a data- person’s full name, and an official name can only be changed base, only “Bilt” would be used in the field for family name. through a strict court procedure. By the time civil registration became mandatory (1811), Most family names go back for centuries. They are derived many Dutch were already using consistent family names. from first names (patronymics, occasionally matronymics), Families still using patronymics—mainly Jewish families or occupations, toponyms or characteristics. Family names with those in the northern provinces—had to adopt a (new) fam- van refer to toponyms—for example, “Van Buren” (“of Buren,” ily name. Name adoptions were recorded in special registers. a town in the Gelderland province)—while names ending in If you can’t find a surname prior to 1811 or 1812, these regis- –sen, such as “Jansen” (“son of Jans”), are patronymics. ters might be helpful. You can also use the search box to look for specific places or states (though, of course, For another in-depth look at researching Dutch ancestors, check out Sunny Morton’s guide from not all records include this level of detail). For • the May 2010 issue ANDRIJTER/ISTOCK laws and regulations) familytreemagazine.com 55 C OUNTING UP Discover your ancestors in online census collections with these 26 practical search tips. by RICK CRUME By my reckoning, US federal census records are the best source of information on Ameri- can ancestors. Taken every 10 years since 1790, the census reveals names, relationships and occupa- tions—not to mention details on military service, immigration and marriage. Starting with the 1940 census, you can work your way back through each enumeration to put together a rough outline of your family tree to the early 20th century. The loss of nearly the entire 1890 census was a tremendous blow for genealogists. But get past that gap, and you can continue to mine every-name enumerations back to 1850. While the censuses from 1790 to 1840 list only heads of household, they still provide valuable clues that can lead you to discoveries in other records. Four huge genealogy websites—yes, the same four we compare beginning on page 18—have the entire collection of US federal census records from 1790 through 1940, complete with digital images of the original records and every-name indexes. (One of them, FamilySearch familytreemagazine.com 57 Taken every 10 years since 1790, the census reveals names, relationships and occupations— not to mention details on military service, immigration and marriage. GENERAL TIPS AND STRATEGIES names. For example: Chas for Charles, Jas for James, Jno for John, Robt for Robert, Thos for 1. Try different combinations of search terms. Thomas and Wm for William. If searching on first name, last name, birth year and birthplace doesn’t work, use different fields, 3. Follow up on clues. such as the first name and year of birth combined When you find dates and places of birth, mar- with place of residence. riage and death in census records, look for copies of the corresponding records from the 2. Search on abbreviations for given names. county or state for more details. Furthermore, Just in case the search engine doesn’t find an Na in the citizenship column of the census matches when a name is abbreviated in the indicates the person was naturalized, so take original census, try shortened forms of common that as a hint to look for naturalization records and citizenship papers. Likewise, if the census gives a year of immigration or indicates military service, check passenger lists and collections of service and pension files, respectively. Looking Ahead: ANCESTRY.COM The 1950 Census Ancestry.com 58 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 But my relative was usually known as William tip F. Morgan, so to limit matches to that version The National Archives—not the United States of his name, I can enter William F in the First Census Bureau—manages the 1790 to 1940 & Middle Name(s) box and check just the box US censuses. For more on how to access for Exact matches on that term. The top three these historical headcounts, visit ASBE/ISTOCK censuses of Worcester as John Robinson, the ta, USA, plus the keyword “New Brunswick” (in familytreemagazine.com 59 quotation marks to search on the exact phrase). Wales as the father’s birthplace and Pennsylva- This finds people who were born in New Bruns- nia as the mother’s to the 1930 census search wick or who had at least one parent born there. form, both requiring exact matches. Among the results is a widowed locomotive engineer living 8. Add a family member. in Los Angeles in 1930, which I believe to be a You can search the 1870 census with father, match. mother, spouse or child, and later census years with all those options plus sibling. A 1900 search 10. Browse the census. on John G. Robertson, born in about 1845 in New If searching the census doesn’t work (and you York, produces a match on my relative of that have a lead about where your ancestor lived), try name. From this, I learn he was a fruit-grower browsing. Begin by choosing a census year. Then with his wife Louisa in San Jose, Calif. Adding select a state, county and locality in the Browse Louisa’s name to the search (this time, of all cen- This Collection box, and click on the link for the suses) reveals the family in the 1885 state census images. Use the left and right arrows to move in Belle Plaine, Iowa. from image to image. 9. Add parents’ birthplaces. 11. Search the mortality schedules. A search of Ancestry.com’s US federal census These list everyone who died in the 12 months records for my relative William F. Morgan, who prior to the 1850 and 1880 federal censuses (i.e., was born in 1863 in Pennsylvania, finds him liv- between June 1 of the preceding year and May ing with his parents and siblings in the 1870 and 31 of the census year), plus a few states in 1885. 1880 censuses of New Brighton, Pa. But later The 1880 mortality schedule for Brooklyn, N.Y., census years show many William Morgans born shows that my relative John F. Robertson died of in about 1863 in Pennsylvania. To zero in, I add stomach cancer in February 1880 at age 60. SHELMA1/ISTOCK 60 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 12. Search the 1890 veterans schedules. David A. Fryxell’s article “Find Ancestors While only a small fraction of the regular 1890 Hiding in the Census” gives even more strat- census still exists, the special veterans census •egies for tracking down hard-to-find people taken that year familytreemagazine.com 61 Great! You’ve found a bunch of details about your ancestor. Now what? Learn how •to interpret information from the census 62 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 treetips GEDMATCH HAS A NEW OWNER. In December, forensic genomics firm Verogen, Inc. announced its acquisition of GEDmatch. A free genetic genealogy database, GEDmatch OLENA YEPIFANOVA/ISTOCK OLENA or not they want to opt in to allow law enforcement to access their uploaded files.• familytreemagazine.com 63 treetips NOW WHAT? I saw on “Find- In November 1917, seven months after the United a States entered World War I by declaring war on Q ing Your Roots” Germany, President Woodrow Wilson issued an execu- tive order requiring the registration of all German-born that German im- men ages 14 and older who were not naturalized Ameri- can citizens. A similar requirement was extended to migrants in the US German-born women in April 1918. Registration took place at the nearest US district court. during World War The resulting forms—“Registration Affidavit of Alien Enemy” for men and “Registration Affidavit of Alien I were required to Female” for women—include a wealth of information useful to genealogists: birth date, birthplace, employ- register as “enemy ment information, date of arrival, names and residences, names and birth dates of spouse and children, previous aliens.” Do those re- military service, physical description, a photo and even fingerprints. cords still exist? Unfortunately for researchers, today these records are scattered among regional branches of the National Archives, and some no longer survive. The FamilySe- arch Wiki has collected links to extant records My father-in-law served on a minesweeper Qin World War II. Where can I learn more about this type of service? He remembers photos being taken of the crew. You might start with some of the first-person A accounts of serving on minesweepers, or by read- ing about specific minesweepers such as the USS Inau- gural 64 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 Find your German ș date of enlistment ș name of ship, station or activity Ancestors! ș ship number or other numeric designation Professional German ș and date of muster roll Genealogist with many years If you know (or can use this col- of experience provides a lection to find) the name of your reliable and cost-e ective father-in-law’s ship, you can search service in the search of your the collection by ship name to find his crewmates. The muster rolls German Ancestry. for the USS Inaugural, for example, are at David A. Fryxell 38 years experience is the founding editor of Family Tree Magazine. His newest book is The Family Tree Scandinavian Genealogy Guide. familytreemagazine.com 65 treetips DOCUMENT DETECTIVE Marriage Bonds and Licenses Page 1: Marriage Bond/Allegation 1 2 3 4 1 Look here for the state and 2 You’ll find the names of the 3 This indicates the date of 4 Bond formats varied by county in which the bond was prospective groom and his the application (in this case, location. This North Carolina filed. Many locales discontinued bondsman (often a close friend 21 January 1867). Note that bond contains the signatures of marriage bonds in the 1800s, or relative) here. The groom’s some online records databases the court official before whom though similar documents were name appears a second time incorrectly index list this as the the document was sworn created after that date. later in the document, along- marriage date, even though as well as the applicant and side the name of his prospec- the wedding almost always his bondsman. Bonds might tive bride. occurred at a later date. include witness names and signatures from the bride, groom and officiating clergy/ tip government official. Or (as in The presence of a marriage beyond this case) they might have a merely indicates an intention to wed. It separate section or document does not guarantee that the couple went for that information. through with the marriage. COURTESY GEORGE G. MORGAN G. GEORGE COURTESY 66 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 DOCUMENT DETECTIVE treetips Page 2: Marriage License 5 6 7 5 Though bonds and licenses 6 Note the date of the ceremo- 7 The J.P. here indicates the vary in format, they all contain a ny (25 January 1867) is different justice of the peace. An alterna- version of this phrase: “I [name from the date of the bond. tive might be M.G., indicating of officiant] hereby certify that a “minister of the gospel.” I solemnized the rites of matri- This document also lists the mony between [name of groom] name of the clerk who recorded and [name of bride].” the wedding in the county marriage book. • Banns vs. Bonds A handful of documents could have recorded your ancestors’ marriage. Couples intending to marry in the church published marriage banns on three successive Sundays. But those who wanted to marry in a hurry and/or in private petitioned the church to wed using a marriage bond. Marriage bonds were written declarations of a man’s intention (or “alle- gation”) to marry a woman. A man who had proposed to a woman went to the courthouse with a bondsman and posted a financial bond indicat- ing his intent to marry. The bond set a financial penalty on the groom and his bondsman in the case that the allegation should not occur. George G. Morgan is a genealogy speaker and Bonds and allegations only exist for couples who applied by license, author. He also cohosts the and don’t exist for couples who married by banns. Genealogy Guys podcast with Drew Smith familytreemagazine.com 67 treetips TECH TOOLKIT HOW TO View Ancestry ThruLines 2 3 5 6 4 1 1 AncestryDNA 2 View the 3 Navigate to addi- 4 Based on tree 5 Click the arrow to 6 Verify these 68 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 TECH TOOLKIT treetips ROUNDUP Health Add-Ons for DNA Tests 1 23andMe Health + Ancestry 2 AncestryHealth Core and Plus 3 Living DNA Wellbeing + Ancestry 4 MyHeritage Health+Ancestry familytreemagazine.com 69 treetips TECH TOOLKIT WEBSITE U.S. Newspaper Directory The Library of Congress’ Chronicling America A c D B A Search a catalog B Hit the search C Use the D Under All Digi- of all known histori- button to generate Advanced Search tized Newspapers, cal US newspapers. a list of newspa- to keyword-search browse papers Select the state, pers with these among specific by state, ethnicity county and/or city parameters. Click digitized news- or language—or of publication, again on individual paper pages. click to download a range of years newspaper titles Limit searches by or view a list of and additional to see details such place, time period, all digitized titles, options such as the as the geographic language and even organized by state. language or ethnic coverage, dates of by specific pages group associated publication, and within an issue. with the paper. holdings informa- tion for libraries that have that For more on using free resources to find publication. historical newspapers, see 70 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 TECH TOOLKIT treetips DNA Q&A Next Steps with DNA Results I’ve tested with most of the companies, but I to fill generational blanks, which you’ll want to review and Qdon’t know where to start my research. confirm. Even so, this tool can help you confirm lines you already know, and sometimes even provide hints at con- As more of us are testing at multiple companies, nections you may not have. Reach out to these newly found A we’re naturally faced with the question of how to cousins to share family history resources, including docu- handle so much information. Thankfully, testing compa- ments and pictures. nies are making it easier to identify cousins and find ances- tors by making their websites more navigable and creating Family Tree DNA tools that streamline searches. When you upload a family tree into its system, Family Tree If you want to make some progress with your research, DNA activates your Ancestral Surnames column (viewable the first step is to find a subset of your matches that you from your matches page). When Family Tree DNA finds want to work with—instead of trying to work with the full surnames in your matches’ list that are the same or similar list at each company. 23andMe familytreemagazine.com 71 the rest is history It is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; and saying to him when of age, I did this for your good. President Thomas Jefferson defends the Louisiana Purchase in a letter to Senator John Breckenridge of Kentucky, dated August 12, 1803. Though US representatives signed the agreement with France to purchase the land on April 30, some lawmakers questioned its constitutionality. Ultimately, Jefferson prevailed when the Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase (which effectively doubled the United States’ size for just $15 million) on October 20. MAP AND GEOGRAPHY CONGRESS, OF LIBRARY MAP: TRAVERLER1116/ISTOCK DIVISION; JEFFERSON: 72 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 Take your research to the next level! • Unlimited Premium articles on FamilyTreeMagazine.com Get members-only access to thousands of how-to articles on FamilyTreeMagazine.com. • 20 years of genealogy advice Read the best tips and strategies from the 20-year history of Family Tree Magazine, including our annual list of the 101 Best Genealogy Websites. F T • Detailed research guides Jump-start your research with guides to tracing your roots in I every US state and many foreign countries. ONLY $37.97 BECOME A VIP TODAY! Visit for more great savings on magazines, webinars and research guides for genealogists! FTVIP_2019_FULLPAGE.indd 1 11/14/19 10:55 AM Family History and Genealogy Solutions Organize Photos Your History Your Genealogy Maureen Taylor is an expert regarding LifeBio captures life stories and ensures The Genealogy Guys are experts, authors, family photos, as seen on The Today Show YOUR story is told now and in the future. presenters and producers since 2005 of the and in the Wall Street Journal. world’s longest-running genealogy podcast. Today is the day to begin your life story This 7-Lesson Video Course provides or your family member’s story - without The LEARN program provides family techniques to scan, file, and store your difficulty or delay. Gain access to historians and researchers of all levels pictures (including digital) so that you LifeBio’s online biography template and text and video courses covering censuses, can save them for the next generation. begin answering life story questions. eff ecti ve evidence analysis, methodologies, maps, and more, with new content monthly. $49.99 $99.00 $99.00 Patented artificial intelligence software provides 1-click improvement to Documents, Prints, Slides and Digital Photos. $ .99 Fine-tune with easy controls. 49 Save $20 when you purchase bundles BUNDLE #1 BUNDLE #2 BUNDLE #3 PLUS PLUS PLUS $79.98 $128.99 $128.99 Give your pics (and documents) the Fix! Vivid-Pix.com/Soluti ons CHEAT IRISH GENEALOGY SHEET EDITORS OF FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE Geography of Ireland COUNTIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND County Province Carlow Leinster Cavan Ulster Clare Munster Cork Munster Donegal Ulster Dublin Leinster Galway Connacht Kerry Munster Kildare Leinster Kilkenny Leinster Laois Leinster Leitrim Connacht Limerick Munster Longford Leinster Louth Leinster Mayo Connacht Meath Leinster ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS Monaghan Ulster Division Notes Offaly Leinster province Ireland’s largest administrative division. Ireland has four Roscommon Connacht provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster (which encompasses Northern Ireland). Sligo Connacht county This subdivision of a province is the main unit of local Tipperary Munster government, in use since the 1100s. The Republic of Ireland has Waterford Munster 26 counties; Northern Ireland has six. Westmeath Leinster civil parish Subdivision of a county. Parishes referred to in government Wexford Leinster records are civil parishes; note that these aren’t the same as Roman Catholic church parishes (see below). Wicklow Leinster townland Subdivision of a civil parish or poor law union and the smallest administrative division in Ireland, averaging 200 to 400 acres. View lists of townlands by county and parish at barony A now-obsolete unit of a county used during the 1600s to COUNTIES OF 1800s. NORTHERN IRELAND poor law union Poor law unions originated in 1838 as a system for providing County Province for the poor. Each of the 163 poor law unions had a workhouse where paupers could receive relief. They became Ireland’s Antrim Ulster primary county subdivision in 1898. Armagh Ulster superintendent Another name for a poor law union. Down Ulster registrar’s district Fermanagh Ulster church parish A division of a Roman Catholic bishop’s diocese. Catholic records were kept by church parish, not civil parish. Londonderry Ulster Tyrone Ulster MLENNY/ISTOCK MAP OF IRELAND COURTESY DAVID RUMSEY MAP COLLECTION MAP RUMSEY DAVID COURTESY TIMELINE OF IRISH HISTORY 432 St. Patrick travels to Ireland, according to legend 1845 Potato blight leads to massive crop failure (the Great Potato Famine) and emigration 795 The first Viking raids on Ireland take place 1848 Patrick Kennedy, great-grandfather of President 841 The Norse set up permanent encampment at John F. Kennedy, leaves for America Dublin 1849 The Potato Famine draws to a close 1171 Irish kings submit to the British King Henry II 1859 The Irish Times newspaper is launched in Dublin 1315 Edward Bruce arrives in Ireland and rallies many Irish lords against Anglo-Norman rule 1887 The Gaelic Athletic Association holds first All- Ireland Hurling Championship 1607 The Flight of the Irish Earls sees the exile of Ulster’s Gaelic aristocracy 1914 The home rule bill becomes a law, but is delayed until the end of World War I 1609 The Plantation of Ulster colonizes land with people from England and Scottish lowlands 1916 Irish Republicans stage Easter Rising for indepen- dence from Britain 1649 Oliver Cromwell’s forces massacre Irish towns- people in Drogheda 1921 The Anglo-Irish Treaty establishes the Irish Free State from 26 counties; the six counties of North- 1652 Cromwellian Settlement results in confiscation of ern Ireland opt out Catholics’ land 1922 The Irish Civil War begins; the Four Courts Fire 1660 The English King William defeats the exiled Eng- in Dublin destroys many 19th-century historical lish King James II at the Battle of the Boyne records 1691 Penal law bans Catholics from membership in 1923 The Irish Civil War ends; poet William Butler Parliament Yeats wins the Nobel prize for literature 1737 Boston’s Charitable Irish Society holds the first 1937 The constitution abolishes the Irish Free State and St. Patrick’s Day parade in the Thirteen Colonies establishes Éire 1740 Weather-related famine results in 1949 Éire becomes the Republic of Ireland widespread deaths 1960s The Troubles begin in Northern Ireland 1759 Sir Arthur Guinness takes over a brewery at St. James’ Gate 1972 British troops fire on crowd of civil rights protest- ers on Bloody Sunday; protesters destroy the Brit- 1791 The Society of United Irishmen is formed to fight ish embassy three days later for political, economic and social rights for all Irish 1993 The Prime ministers of Great Britain and Ireland sign a declaration promising peace to Northern 1793 Catholics can vote Ireland 1801 Great Britain and Ireland unite 1997 Frank McCourt wins the Pulitzer Prize for Angela’s Ashes 1816 Potato crop failure contributes to famine and typhus epidemic in the Year Without a Summer 1999 Ireland adopts the euro 1832 Asiatic cholera in Belfast and Dublin spreads throughout Ireland until the following year RECORDS QUICK GUIDE CENSUS ș Dates: 1901 and 1911 (census were taken every 10 years starting in 1821, but earlier years were lost or destroyed) ș Privacy Restrictions: Records from 1921 and later are closed to the public. ș Research Tip: Access both available censuses for free online at CIVIL REGISTRATION (BIRTH, MARRIAGE, DEATH) ș Dates: 1864 to present (Protestant marriages date back to 1845) ș Privacy Restrictions: none 1911 census return, Dublin County ș Research Tip: The Republic of Ire- land and Northern Ireland began keeping separate civil registrations in 1921. Find civil registration index- es online at FamilySearch PARISH REGISTERS ș Dates: vary by denomination, but generally stretch back earlier through the 1800s than civil registrations ș Privacy Restrictions: none ș Research Tip: Check for online records through TAX RECORDS ș Dates: Tithe applotment books cover 1814–1855; Griffith’s Valuation of Ire- land covers 1847–1864 ș Privacy Restrictions: none ș Research Tip: These two key tax record groups serve as census sub- 1833 tithe applotment book, Cork County stitutes for tracing 19th-century Irish ancestors. See the Griffith’s Valuation page for more on this record type, and view tithe applot ment books at According to Know the place. Although Thoroughly research the company Britain’s online databases and digi- American sources. “Start DNA, 34.7 percent of the tized records have made with what you know and 1 2 Irish population carry genes Irish research faster and easier, move backward in time” is a for red hair. About 10 it’s helpful to know from where basic rule of genealogy. Be sure percent actually are in Ireland your ancestors came to research every possible record redheads. before you begin searching in the United States for your them. A county name is good, immigrant ancestor, as well as but if you can discover the name his family members and associ- of the townland—the smallest ates. Records of those relatives Tap living relatives. Fam- geographic locality in Ireland, and associates might give you ily members might have similar to an American neigh- that townland name. And when 3 clues to where your rela- borhood—that’s even better. For you search Irish records, those tives came from in Ireland, as more information on the admin- details from your ancestor’s well as other genealogical leads. istrative divisions of Ireland, go and other folks’ records can be Don’t overlook childless couples to Griffith’s Primary Valuation of Ire- FIND GRIFFITH’S VALUATION ONLINE land is perhaps one of the most valu- able complete sets of records for Irish Ancestry.com The Valuation distinguishes between renters (Townlands & Occupiers) and landowners (Immediate Lessers). The Valuation uses now-archaic land-measurement units: the acre (4,840 square yards), the rood (a quarter acre, or 1,210 square yards), and the pole (1/40 of a rood, or 30.25 square yards). Each entry includes Griffith’s provides rich details, includ- a reference to a map, ing a brief description of the land and which can help you a statement of taxes owed. This entry visualize the survey. was assessed as owing one pound and 15 shillings. TIPS FOR USING GRIFFITH’S VALUATION SEARCH FOR NAME VARIANTS. COMPARE MAPS. MAKE AN EXCEPTION Spelling hasn’t always been standard- Many websites that feature Griffith’s FOR URBAN-DWELLERS. ized, so search the Valuation for various Valuation will allow you to view the maps Griffith’s Valuation typically only forms of your ancestor’s names. Be Griffith created as he surveyed Ireland, named one head of household. As sure to run searches for names like and some even allow you to compare a result, your ancestor might not be Connell/O’Connell both with and with- these to modern maps. Doing so will listed in the Valuation if he lived in a out apostraphes, as this prefix (along let you see where your ancestor lived in tenement with many people, as the with Mc/Mac) were frequently added today’s context. Valuation would have only named one and dropped. person per property. COMMON IRISH SURNAMES In 1847, the first big year of Potato What were the most prominent surnames in Ireland when your ancestors immigrated? Famine emigration, In 1890, Irish Registrar-General Robert Matheson authored the Special Report on 37,000 Irish arrived in Surnames in Ireland detailing the most common names and their origins. It reflected Boston and 52,000 in demographics following the Famine era, when so many Irish emigrated. New York. Below are the top 20 most common Irish surnames. SURNAME COMMON VARIATIONS GAELIC MEANING COUNTIES WHERE RANK SPELLING MOST COMMON IN IN 1800S 1800S BYRNE O’Byrne ó Broin son of Bran, king of Carlow, Dublin, Wexford, 7 Leinster; raven Wicklow DOYLE Dougall, MacDougall ó Dubhghaill dark foreigner (likely Carlow, Dublin, Wexford, 12 referring to Vikings) Wicklow DOHERTY Daugherty, Docharty, ó Dochartaigh son of Dochartach; Derry, Donegal 15 Docherty, Dougherty unlucky GALLAGHER Galagher, Gallacher, Gallager, ó Gallchobhair lover of foreigners Donegal, Mayo 14 Gallaher, Gallaugher KELLY Kelley, Kellie, O’Kelly ó Ceallaigh bright or red-headed; Galway, Mayo, 2 strife, contention Roscommon KENNEDY Kannady, Kenardy, Kennaday, ó Cinnéide helmet head, ugly Tipperary 16 Kenneday, Kenneyday head LYNCH Linch, Lynch, Lynche, ó Loingsigh mariner Cavan, Clare, Cork, Kerry, 17 Linskey, Lynskey Limerick, Meath MCCARTHY Carthy, Carty, MacCarthy, Mac Carthaigh son of Carthaigh; Cork, Kerry 13 MacCarty, McCarty loving MOORE More ó Mórdha son of Mórdha; Antrim, Down, Tyrone 20 majestic, proud, stately MURPHY Murphie ó Murchadha, sea warrior Cork, Kilkenny, Wexford 1 MacMurchadha MURRAY MacMurray, McMurray, ó Muireadhaigh son of the follower of Cork, Down, Galway, 18 Moray, Murray, Murrey the Virgin Mary; sea Meath, Roscommon settlement O’BRIEN Brien ó Briain son of Brian Clare, Cork, Limerick, 6 (referring to Brian Tipperary Boru); exalted one, eminence O’CONNOR Conner, Conor, Connor, ó Conchobhair patron of warriors; Cork, Kerry, Galway, 9 Connors, O’Conner lover of hounds Wexford O’NEILL Neill, O’Neile, O’Neal ó Néill champion; from Niall Antrim, Cork, Kilkenny, 10 of the Nine Hostages Tyrone, Wicklow O’REILLY Reilly ó Raghailligh sociable tribe or Cavan, Meath 11 group O’SULLIVAN Sullivan ó Súilleabháin dark, hawk-eyed Cork, Kerry, Tipperary 3 QUINN O’Quinn, MacQuinn ó Cuinn wisdom, chief Galway, Tipperary, Tyrone 19 RYAN Rian ó Maoilriaghain little king Kilkenny, Limerick, 8 Tipperary SMITH Smithe, Smythe Mac Gabhann son of the smith Antrim, Cavan, Down, 5 Meath WALSH Brannagh, Walsh, Walshe, Breatnach from Wales Cork, Galway, Kerry, 4 Walch, Welch, Welche, Kilkenny, Mayo, Wexford Welsh, Wellish RESOURCES Websites Irish History Links Irish Church Records edited by James G. Ancestry.com: Irish Records Eneclann