History Historically Known As the Genealogical Society of Utah, Founded in 1894, Familysearch Is Dedicated to Preserving the Records of the Family

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF FAMILYSEARCH.ORG FOR JEWISH RESEARCH

W. Todd Knowles A.G.

Layton, Utah, United States

www.familysearch.org

History Historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, founded in 1894, FamilySearch is dedicated to preserving the records of the family. The purpose is simple—help people connect with their ancestors through easy access to historical records. For more than 100 years, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been gathering, preserving and sharing genealogical information worldwide. Through the website www.familysearch.org, researchers all over the world have free access to more than three billion records.

Today Familysearch has many different components that are very beneficial for those researching their Jewish families. In this presentation the following parts will be discussed.

Books Family History Books is a collection of more than 150,000 digitized genealogy and family history publications from the archives of many family history libraries around the world. The collection includes family histories, county and local histories, genealogy magazines and how-to books, gazetteers, and medieval histories and pedigrees. These books are now available for reading for free from your home computer.

Wiki When most people think of using the FamilySearch website, their first thoughts are to search for ancestors. In many cases, though, what people need most is additional information about the places where the people lived or the types of available records that may help locate those ancestors. The FamilySearch Wiki helps researchers find that information. More than 81,000 pages of information from 240-plus different countries help researchers learn more about how to find family members. Simply type in a few words or a short phrase in the search box, and information about thousands of records becomes available. In addition, each of the pages has links to other websites that house additional record collections. The FamilySearch Wiki often leads to other places where a database can be found. It becomes a link to all other sources. Thus, if a user types in the words “Jewish genealogy research,” a portal opens where, in addition to basic information, the researcher is shown a list of websites where more records may be found. Catalog

The Family History catalog lists and describes the resources held by FamilySearch.org, the Family History Library and other designated FamilySearch Centers or Libraries. The Catalog is a guide to all the holdings, including birth, marriage and death records; census records; family histories; books; and all other records. It includes all records, including books, microfilms, and microfiche, whether they be in the library or in digital format searchable online. The FamilySearch catalog may be searched by place, surname, title, author, subject and/or keyword. If the researcher knows a film number or call number from which some information came, that information may be entered, and the title of the source will be provided. If the researcher is not in Salt Lake City, where the collection is based, the majority of the records can be sent to the nearest Family History Center. FamilySearch has more than 4,700 local Family History Centers worldwide.

Records The final section of familysearch.org discussed here probably is the most useful of all, the records section. The records section is organized in two parts: The first part is the name search, by which billions of names across all collections may be searched. The second part provides the ability to search individual published collections. The search begins with a map of the world divided into regions. The world is divided into ten regions, each with its own record collections. Clicking on the link for Continental Europe takes the researcher to a complete list of the 482 collections available to date. Collections with a camera icon to the left of the entry also include the original images. Some of the collections have been completely indexed and are name searchable; some may only be browsed. As more and more records are indexed, eventually all will be name searchable. Not all of the Historical Record Collections will include documentation of Jews, however, since different countries at various times recorded the births of all people in the state church. It always is a good idea to search any and all records of the area where an ancestor lived. A prime example of this is the records included in the Barbados Church Records, 1637−1887 collection. Nothing indicated that any records of the Jewish community in Barbados would be found in this collection, but the records of birth and death were found inserted in the middle of the Church of England records—a great reminder to search all records of a community, even when you know that your ancestor will not be found in them. I like to divide into two groups the collections where Jews are known to be included. First are those records in which Jews are included but not identified as Jewish. This includes such records as those from the United States federal census or the birth, marriage and death records of a U.S. city or state. The collection of death certificates of Utah illustrates this quite well. At first glance, no information on the certificate identifies Simon Bamberger as Jewish. He was, however, a very prominent member of both the Utah Jewish community and the State of Utah, having served as governor of the state from 1917 to 1921. The only indication that he was Jewish is the name of the cemetery, B’nai Israel, one of the early Jewish cemeteries in Salt Lake City. In the second group are those records in which Jews are identified by religion. This is truly a hidden gem in the records of FamilySearch.org. A few examples of this type include the following:

 Austria, Vienna, Jewish Registers of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1784−1911

This collection provides records of 130 years of the Jewish community of Vienna—and all may be viewed from the researcher’s home.

 Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900−1965

These records of immigration into Brazil give not only the date of arrival, but also include date of birth, place of birth and who issued the passport and when. Many also include a picture of the immigrant. In total, the 12 different areas covered by the Historical Records Collections have more than 1950 distinct databases. Because additions are made constantly to existing databases and new record sources also are added, researchers should check back here often.

Review The statement that everyone wants to know who they are and where they came from is so true. As we research our families and find out more about our ancestors, we find out more about ourselves.

Take the opportunity to let FamilySearch.org help you with your research. Hopefully, with its great resources, the genealogical world will become a little smaller as you access those records from your home.

The statement that everyone wants to know who they are and where they came from is so true. As we research our families and find out more about our ancestors, we find out more about ourselves.