the best of yourdiscover roots contents

22 A Good Clip | ByFamily Tree Magazine Editors

Evernote has become genealogist’s go-to-note-taking tool. You’ll know why when you see how easily it lets you clip and save your online research finds.

24 Family Search Feast | ByRick Crume

You can consume a smorgsbord of free records on FamilySe- arch.org. We’ll show you how to find them... even the ones you can’t search by name.

2 Bible Study 13 Tree-mendous! | By Shelley Bishop | By Sunny Jane Morton

Discover the genealogical blessings of Our four steps will help you nurture family Bibles; just follow these eight a healthy online or in your steps. .

6 Made to Order 17 Warming Up A Cold | ByRick Crume Case | ByLisa Louise Cooke Access millions of microfilmed genea- logical records in eight simple steps. Build a case file on your hardest-to- find ancestors and crack those brick- wall mysteries. Our 14 strategies will 8 Ancestry.com Quick get you started. Guide | By Diane Haddad

Use these insider tricks to find your the best of ancestors on the top website for gene- alogy research. discover your roots

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 Bible Study Discover the genealogical blessings of family Bibles— just follow these eight steps.

By Shelley Bishop

3 Imagine a family treasure vault loaded with information about the births, deaths and marriages of your ancestors. What would it look like? If you pictured a hefty chest, try shifting your focus to something a bit smaller. That treasure might be no bigger than a book—one bearing the words Holy Bible. Our ancestors frequently inscribed notes about important life events in a Bible. These notes can give dates of events that took place long before vital records began in the area. Some Bibles “Copy” your had special pages designed to serve as a family Bible by register of births, deaths and marriages. photographing Because families often took their Bibles pages, rather than pressing it open with them as they moved, you might on a scanner. discover the names of a series of home- towns. And fortunately, families also tended to hand down their precious Bibles. with gloved hands.” So just wash your hands, be careful, and Perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to inherit or locate an you’re good to go. As you turn the pages, look for: old Bible. How do you find and record the family details it • A title page showing when the book was published. This holds? How can you use it to search for more information can be a clue for evaluating the family information found about your ancestors? And what’s the best way to preserve inside the Bible. it for years to come? Follow the eight steps below to see how • A bookplate, dedication, or signature identifying the easy it is to make the most of your treasure. Bible’s original owner, perhaps with a date. • Pages with handwritten notes. Are these clustered in a 1 Get the inside scoop. particular place? The saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover” certainly • A “Family Record” section, commonly located in the applies here, so open the Bible and examine it. Hold it natu- front matter, back matter, or between the Old and New testa- rally in one hand and turn the pages gently with the other, ments. Not all Bibles have these. without forcing the spine to spread apart. Despite what • Newspaper clippings and mementos tucked between the you may have seen on television, it’s not necessary to wear pages. You might find obituaries, funeral cards, photographs, white gloves. As Lisa Long, reference archivist for the Ohio pressed flowers and even locks of hair. Historical Society , explains, “Wearing gloves can actually make it harder to turn the pages, leading 2 Take photos. to accidental tearing. Your bare fingers can feel the paper and It’s best not to handle an old Bible often, so make a photo- gauge pressure better. The natural oils on your fingers cause graphic copy of any pages with notes on them using a digital minimal damage compared to the risk of tearing fragile pages camera. Lay the book on a clean, flat surface, supporting the

282 < familytreemagazine.com> Write your provenance statement on a piece of acid-free Bible records are highly prized archival paper (sold at scrapbooking and craft stores). Fold or cut it to size and keep it with the Bible as part of the book’s because they often identify events record for future generations. that occurred before an area started 4 Write what you see. Now it’s time to glean those tantalizing names and dates keeping vital records. from the Bible. Open a blank word-processing document and add the provenance statement at the top, as an introduc- tion. Then grab your magnifying glass and go through the pages that contain notes on the family, one by one, recording exactly what you see. The goal is to create something that can substitute faithfully for the original should it become lost or cover if necessary. Ask a helper to gently hold down the edge unreadable. Keep these tips in mind: of the page, or use a small, soft object such as a beanbag to • Resist the urge to correct spelling, punctuation and hold it in place. Photos taken directly from above in natural abbreviations. Even if you’re sure “Wm” stands for William, light (without flash) generally turn out best. record it as Wm just the same. Turn your word processor’s Avoid forcing the book open and pressing it face down on automatic formatting off, so it doesn’t try to fix things for you. a scanner, because of the damage this can do to the spine • If you do need to add punctuation or a note for clarity, use and binding. One exception: If you have loose Family Record square brackets to identify it as your addition [like so]. pages that may have been torn out of a Bible, it’s fine to put • If you can’t read something, put [illegible] or enter your them on a flatbed scanner. Never feed an heirloom document best guess with a question mark in square brackets. through a sheet-fed scanner, though, as it could get mangled. • Reading old handwriting can be challenging, especially Photograph the cover, title page and each page with writ- with obsolete letter styles. Most people are familiar with ye, a ten notes. When you’re done, upload the images into your forerunner to our the. But other styles, such as the long f-type computer. From there you can magnify the pages, making it character that was used in place of today’s ss, are less well- easier to read small or faded print. You also can print color known. For a list of resources to help you decipher handwrit- copies on letter-size paper to refer to or make notes on as ing, see our Writing Riddles Toolkit . Also photograph or scan loose papers and clippings tucked • Check what you’ve written against the original for errors. into the Bible, particularly obituaries, wedding announce- • Sign and date the transcription, so others will know who ments and the like. It’s fine to use a flatbed scanner. Don’t made it and when. leave newspaper clippings or pressed flowers in the book, as When you’re finished, print it and pat yourself on the back. they can damage the pages. Instead, tuck these into acid-free From now on, you’ll use your transcription, along with the envelopes and label them. pictures you took, to save wear and tear on the Bible itself.

3 Capture the book’s history. 5 Enter and evaluate your finds. Your Bible has a history, so write down what you know of it. By this time, you should have a pretty good idea of who these Whom did it belong to before you? What path do you think Bible-holding ancestors were. The next step is to figure out it took over the years? All of that is part of your Bible’s prov- how the evidence from the Bible fits in with what else you enance, or history of ownership. Also work in a description know about the family. You might even get to fill in some of of the book. How would you describe the Bible to someone the blanks on your pedigree chart. who’s never seen it? Write a few brief sentences summing Each name, date and place from the Bible record is a this up. Here’s an example: piece of information. Enter it into your family tree software or onto a family group sheet, along with a citation showing This Holy Bible was published by the American Bible where it came from (see step 6). Some entries may be about Society in New York in 1849. A label on the inside front collateral relatives (people not in your direct line) rather cover reads “The Young Men’s Bible Study of Cincin- than ancestors, and that’s OK. Collecting information about nati, Instituted 1834.” It measures 7 in. tall, 4½ in. wide, your ancestors’ sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and other and 2 in. thick. The Bible originally belonged to Jona- than Crites. It likely passed to Jonathan’s son, George FREE DOWNLOAD F. Crites, and then to his son, Harold R. Crites. After Log your keepsakes with our Heirloom Inventory Form Harold’s death in 1973, it came to his nephew, [name of . current owner].

293 Discover Your Roots relatives is valuable, too. Create a new family group sheet for them. Just because family information If the Bible record matches information you already have, or provides new information, excellent. You’ve confirmed was found in a Bible or increased what you know about the family. But what if it conflicts with other information, giving a different date than doesn’t make it gospel. one you already have for an event? Just because family information was found in a Bible doesn’t make it gospel. It still must be compared with other records. First, enter both dates and both sources in your genealogy software (if your program doesn’t allow for multi- ple dates, use the “notes” section). Then at some point, you’ll want to determine which one is more likely to be accurate. Here’s where the book’s publishing date comes in. For Getting the Good Book instance, the Crites family Bible was published in 1849. It Most families had just one Bible. If you’re the lucky notes an 1851 marriage and the births of children in the 1850s recipient, consider sharing digitized or transcribed records and 1860s, penned in various inks. Because these entries on your blog, on the county US GenWeb site , or with a local or state genealogical society. If seem trustworthy. A birth date found here, probably entered you didn’t inherit a family Bible, one may be lurking by the child’s parents, carries more weight than a birth date somewhere out there. Start your search with these tips: found on the person’s tombstone erected 70 years later. • Ask relatives whether they have a family Bible or have But if the Bible entries were a list of births and deaths heard of one’s existence. Ask if you can have copies of for earlier generations—events that occurred many decades pages with notes. Offer to visit the person to photograph before the book was published—it’s likely that someone cop- pages, and to share the digitized records with family. ied them from someplace else, or tried to recreate them from • Search for distant cousins using the techniques in the memory. That birth date might carry less weight than, say, a July 2010 Family Tree Magazine . If you can’t resolve the issue now, don’t worry. As long as • Someone may have digitized the Bible or listed it online you have both sources noted, you can come back to it later. as an “orphaned” heirloom. Check your ancestral county’s USGenWeb site, Bible Records Online and the Family Bible Website . you to find the material again at some later date, and helps • Search auction websites such as eBay for others trace your research path. A citation for a Bible record the surname and the keyword Bible or genealogy. Also try is relatively simple. Include some of the provenance as well the JustaJoy.com heirloom exchange . as the publishing details. For example, here’s the citation for Repositories with collections of family Bibles include the the Crites family Bible: Daughters of the American Revolution library in Washington, DC, the Library of Virginia in Richmond Jonathan Crites Family Bible Records, The Holy Bible and the (New York: American Bible Society, 1849), “Family New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston Record” pages; privately held by [name and location of . current owner] in 2013. This Bible was passed down from Harold R. Crites in 1973.

Free Web Content For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com • Finding family Bibles • How to find your family Bible • How to care for an old Bible digital now-what-finding-family-bibles> preserving-memories-family-bible> • Bible resources online • Deciphering old handwriting • Finding Living Relatives on-demand online getting-a-hand> living-relatives-ondemand-webinar> • Podcast: Finding Living Relatives • Locating living relatives • Preserving heirlooms digital undercover-genealogy> preserving-heirlooms>

4 Discover Your Roots A Bible’s publication date (above) can tell you if births and deaths (left) were noted from memory after the event occurred.

Associate this citation with each piece of information you and identify resources to look at. Find advice on writing enter into your family database. Congratulations! You’ve just a research plan in the Spring 2012 Discover Your Roots observed a basic tenet of genealogy: Cite your sources. .

7 Extend your search. 8 Preserve your treasure. One reason family historians prize family Bibles is that they Now that you’re finished working with the information for often identify events that occurred before an area started the time being, file a copy of your photographs and transcrip- keeping vital records. They also can fill in gaps left by records tion with the rest of your genealogy documents. Only one that were lost in a courthouse fire, or for the missing 1890 US question remains: What to do with the Bible itself? census. A Bible record may be the first—or only—indication “The best way to preserve an heirloom Bible is to store it in of a child who was born and died between census years. an archival box, in a place away from moisture and extreme It’s easy to use what you learn from a family Bible to launch temperatures,” Long says. Acid-free storage boxes are avail- a search for more information. If you have a name and year able from sources such as those listed at . She also advises leaving alone or BillionGraves . Use any torn pages, rather than trying to repair them with Scotch a year of birth to explore census records on FamilySearch­ tape, which causes irreparable damage over time. or Ancestry.com . See Label the the box and place the Bible inside. You can use page 40 for more genealogy websites to search. acid-free tissue paper to wrap a Bible that’s falling apart. Put Identifying where an event took place can be one of the the things you removed from the Bible in acid-free envelopes biggest challenges to finding more records. Many of our and add them to the box. Add a copy of your transcription, ancestors took care to write down when an event took place, printed on acid-free paper. Long recommends storing the but made no mention of where. Try to narrow your search to box in an interior closet, flat or upright like a regular book on a particular state or locality using whatever clues you have. a shelf. Avoid attics, garages and basements—if you wouldn’t For more complex puzzles, make a research plan. This be comfortable living there, your book won’t be, either. will help you figure out ways to approach a problem A family Bible record can be a unique and exciting asset for learning about your family history. You never know what treasures you might find inside. Take the steps to turn that closed book into an open resource about your ancestors, and you’ll be well on your way to making new discoveries. •

Tip: To get clear photographs of your family Bible pages, Ohio professional genealogist Shelley Bishop grew up mount your camera on a desktop tripod. fascinated by her grandmother’s stories. Learn more about her at .

315 Discover Your Roots Made to Order Access millions of microfilmed genealogical records in eight simple steps.

By Rick Crume

3 Instead of writing to court- houses and driving to libraries with 1 2 large genealogy collections, there’s an easier, cheaper way to access records and books on your ancestors. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (LDS) genealogy arm, Family­ Search, has microfilmed millions of records from all over the globe. You can view the microfilms at LDS’ Fam- ily History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, or rent them through 4,600 branch FamilySearch Centers around the Select the Catalog tab on the and local histories, or on a surname to world. Follow these steps place a micro- 2 FamilySearch.org home page. find family histories. The place can be film rental order from home. The catalog lists the FHL’s holdings, a town, township, county, state or coun- Click on Sign In in the top right which include county and church try, and you can enter one or more place 1 corner of the FamilySearch.org­ records, family history books, unpub- levels. Enter just a state name, and home page . If lished research and more. You can you’ll get a list of all the counties and you don’t already have a free Family­ request most microfilms, but unfilmed towns for which the FHL has items. Search account, you’ll need to create books don’t circulate—you have to go to Enter a county name, and a list of all one. When you register, you’ll select a Salt Lake City to view those. the places within the county pops up. default Family­Search Center near you Next, search the catalog. Search Select a place from the list and click the where you want films sent for viewing. 3 on a place name to find records Search button. 6 Discover Your Roots 3 4

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The next screen shows all the found a name in the indexes, go back FREE DOWNLOAD 4 subject terms for the place you to the catalog to order the film with the Plan your FamilySearch selected. For example, if you choose a records for the volume you need. Center visit with our guide county and the FHL has land records Make sure the website shows the . appear, along with the number of items want the film delivered. A short-term under that heading. Click on a subject microfilm loan costs $7.50 and gives term to view a list of available items. you at least 60 days to view the film at Click a title for more informa- the center. With the $18.75 extended A few weeks after placing your order, 5 tion. With county records, the loan option, the film stays at the center you’ll get an email when your film description usually tells you what indefinitely. A microfiche loan costs arrives at the FamilySearch Center. You records are on each roll of micro- $4.75, and the microfiche remains at the must use films on site—they can’t be film and the years they cover. Some FamilySearch Center. After selecting a removed from the center. When view- records are online and unavailable on loan option, click Add to Cart. ing your film, keep in mind that some microfilm—in that case, the catalog When you’ve selected all the contain multiple items. You might need description links to the free records on 8 films you want to request, click to scroll through the film to find the FamilySearch.org. Proceed to Checkout. Then verify your record collection you need. Choose the film number for the billing address, pay by either credit card You’ll receive a renewal notification 6 records and time period you’re or PayPal, and review your order. You’ll by e-mail a week before the film needs researching. With land and probate receive an e-mail confirmation. You have to be returned. You can either renew records, you’ll usually start by order- 24 hours to cancel the order if you made the film or have it returned.n ing the index films. Land records typi- a mistake or no longer need the film. You cally have separate grantor (seller) and can log in to your FamilySearch account Contributing editor Rick Crume grantee (buyer) indexes. After you’ve to check the status of your order. orders microfilms from Glyndon, Minn.

877 Discover Your Roots Quick Guide to Ancestry.com Use these insider tricks to find your ancestors on the top website for genealogy research.

by Diane Haddad

3 Founded in 1983 as a genealogical publishing company, Ancestry.com today has the largest online com- mercial collection of genealogy records. Its databases focus on the United States, but also come from Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and elsewhere (with more records from those countries on its international sister sites). Our cheat sheet guide will help you make the most of this huge genealogy resource.

Searching Ancestry.com When you search for records on Ancestry.com (or another genealogy website), you’re actually searching a textual Major Content Collections index—names, dates and other data transcribed by people n US censuses: 1790 through 1940 federal censuses; who looked at the original records. Indexes for some select nonpopulation censuses; various colonial, territorial records, such as city directories, newspapers and books, and state censuses; American Indian census rolls were created by optical character recognition (OCR) soft- n Cana dian censuses: 1861-1921; plus 1851, 1906 and ware that “read” the records. This means searching for 1916 provincial censuses records can be a guessing game of how information about n UK censuses: 1841-1911 your ancestor appears in the index. Several factors may com- n US vital records: birth, marriage and death indexes or plicate your search: record images for various years, cities and states; Social n The person who provided the information when the Security Death Index; newspaper birth, marriage and original record was created may have given a name, date or death announcements other detail that’s different from what you’re expecting to n Fa milySearch Records: birth, baptism, marriage, find. Our ancestors often were inconsistent about their dates death and burial information from 67 countries of birth, marriage and immigration, and about the spelling of n English birth and marriage indexes: 1916-2005 their names. Or someone not close to your ancestral family, n Ireland civil registration indexes such as a neighbor, may have answered a census taker’s ques- n Immigration: passenger lists for US ports, border- tions about your clan. crossing records with Canada and Mexico, Passenger & n The creator of the record, such as the census taker or a Immigration Lists Index, various naturalization record court clerk, may have made a mistake when recording the indexes and/or record images, US passport applications information. n Mili tary: Revolutionary War muster rolls; Revolutionary n The indexer who transcribed the record may have incor- War and War of 1812 bounty land warrants; Civil War, rectly interpreted it or made a typo when entering the infor- WWI and WWII draft registrations; Civil War pension mation into a searchable database. index; US Colored Troops records; US Army Register of n For records that are indexed by Optical Character Recog- Enlistments; Marine Corps muster rolls nition (OCR) software, such as newspapers and city directo- n Newspapers: various publications from the US and ries, ink spots and other printing problems may have caused abroad, obituaries the software to “misread” the text. n Family and local history books Ancestry.com attempts to compensate for these potential n City Directories: major US cities and some smaller complications with its search options and the algorithm cities used to find matching records. The search looks at all the n California Great Register of Voters search terms and filters you used, and ranks its records n High school and college yearbooks according to how well the indexed information matches n Swedish church records what you entered. n Fa mily Trees: more than 60 million members’ trees A basic search performed from Ancestry.com’s home with more than 6 billion profiles page may work if the person you’re researching had an n US Public Records Index: index to various public unusual name, but it’s more likely that this approach records spanning 1950 to 1993 will result in an overwhelming number of hits for other

8 Discover Your Roots Membership options Membership Level Cost Benefits

Ancestry Member free (registration required) n build a family tree n use message boards n search n access free records US Discovery n $19.99/month all of the above, plus access to premium US records on n $99/six months Ancestry.com World Explorer n $34.99/month all of the above, plus access to premium US and international n $149/six months records on Ancestry.com World Explorer Plus n $44.99/month all of the above, plus access to Fold3.com and Newspapers.com n $199/six months individuals with the same or a simi- lar name. You can best control your search matches and ranking by using the Advanced Search form (shown at right)—click Show Advanced on the home page, or go to . Here’s how the Advanced Search works (note that you can leave any of 1 the fields blank when you search): 2 Enter a first and middle name, if 3 1you know it. Click “Use default set- 4 5 tings” to see options for restricting your search to n the exact name you typed n the exact name plus phonetic 6 matches (names that sound similar) n the exact name plus names with similar meanings or spellings (such as 7 William and Will) n the exact name plus records with initials only n all of the above 8 The first name default setting finds records with all of the above, plus records for which the name is not a strong match, but other criteria are. 9 Click for options to restrict your 2surname search to n the exact last name you type n the exact last name plus Soundex matches n the exact last name plus phonetic matches n the exact last name plus names with similar spellings and meanings (such as Smith and Schmidt). n all of the above The default settings for the Last Name field find the exact name plus phonetic matches and those with

899 Discover Your Roots similar spellings and meanings. Note the default settings don’t include Soundex searches. Sister Sites n Ancestry.com (US; includes some collections from other Click to choose a life event for your search target—birth, countries): launched in 1996 3death, lived in, marriage, arrival, departure or military. n Ancestry.ca (Canada): launched in 2006 Choose at least a birth date or “lived in” date (a good option n Ancestry.co.uk (UK): launched in 2002 if you want to find records such as censuses, city directories n Ancestry.com.au (Australia): launched in 2006 or newspapers) to focus your search. For an immigration n Ancestry.de (Germany): launched in 2006 records search, choose arrival or departure. n Ancestry.it (Italy): launched in 2007 n Ancestry.fr (France): launched in 2007 Enter the year you think the specified event happened. n  Ancestry.se (Sweden): launched in 2007 4 Use the dropdown menu to choose a range of 0, 1, 2, 5 or 10 n 1000 memories: acquired in 2012 years before and after the year you typed. Click Exact to nar- n AncestryDNA: launched in 2007 row your search to exactly the year or year range you speci- n Archives.com: acquired in 2012 fied. Note that designating a birth date as exact will eliminate n  software: acquired in 2003 records that don’t contain a birth date or age (such as city n Find a grave: acquired in 2013 directories). Use “lived in” unless you’re looking for a record n Fol d3.com: acquired in 2010 (originally called Footnote) that contains an age or birth date. You can’t choose a date if n Genealo gy.com: acquired in 2003 “lived in” is the event. n Genline : acquired in 2010 n Newspapers.com: launched in 2012 Begin typing a location to see a “type ahead” dropdown n ProGenealogists research firm: acquired in 2010 5menu of places. Choose the place for the event you speci- n Roo tsWeb.com: acquired in 2000 fied. You can restrict your search to: n exactly this place n the county the place is in n the county and adjacent counties n the entire state Stats n the state and adjacent states n subscribers: 2.1 million on Ancestry.com branded sites; n the country 2.7 million across all websites The default setting applies no place filter. In that case, n Da tabases: more than 31,000 on Ancestry.com results matching or close to the place you specified rank n Family Trees: more than 60 million containing 6 billion higher in your search results, but you’ll still get results from profiles and more than 200 million attached images and other places. If you don’t choose a place from the dropdown stories menu, you won’t see the filter options described. n Da ta: 10 petabytes n records: 14 billion on Ancestry.com; an average of Click to add another life event to your search. You can add 2 million added per day 6as many events as you want. n searches: more than 75 million per day n Ancestry.com mobile App downloads: more than Use the Family Member dropdown menu to add a mother, 10 million since January 2011 7father, spouse, and/or children who should appear with n Ancestry Dna database: 400,000-plus samples your target in the record you want. You can designate each

Free Web Content For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com • Genealogy Insider blog: Ancestry.com • Find the right genealogy software • 10 Simple Strategies for Using Ancestry. news com/10-simple-strategies-for-using- more Ancestrycom.aspx> • Ancestry DNA’s autosomal test ancestry-com-webinar> • 10 easy Ancestry.com tips ancestry-dna-test> ca> Hendrickson

10 Discover Your Roots Quick Tips n Experiment with date—and most how the original actually relatives. to make sure it’s find free content search terms and of your ancestor’s records are correct. Ancestry. on Ancestry.com. filters for records records were organized). Then n Click the com subscribers If your library you want. Keep created while he “page” through “Customize your can contact tree subscribes to track of searches was alive. the records, home page” link owners with Ancestry Library you try so you similarly to how at the top right questions. Edition, you can don’t miss a n Search for a you’d scroll of your Ancestry. use its computers promising search woman with both microfilm. com home page n New search to access most of option or waste her maiden and for options to sliders let you the databases in time repeating married names. n Not sure if you’ve add a to-do list, broaden or narrow Ancestry.com for searches. found the right a list of quick search results free. n Can’t find record? On the links to pages on without going n Scroll down on someone? Look record summary Ancestry.com, back to the search n Click the the database instead for family page, click “Save links to popular screen, basically Customize Your search page to members who this record to my record collections allowing you to Home Page link find coverage might also be in Shoebox” for later and more. You’ll skip an extra step. at the top right details. You the record. evaluation. also be able to of your Ancestry. might learn the rearrange the n Subscriptions com home page collection doesn’t n If you can’t find n When you find an modules on auto-renew. If for options to cover the time a specific record, ancestor’s record, your home page you don’t want add a to-do list, and place your try browsing. Go look to the right by clicking and to renew yours, a list of quick ancestor lived. to the database of the record dragging them. cancel at least links to pages on search page and summary page two days before Ancestry.com, n Use Exact click Browse This for suggestions n Ancestry member the auto-renewal links to popular carefully. If the Collection on of other records trees aren’t date under the record collections death date is the right. Then that may name independently MyAccount link and more. You’ll marked as exact, choose the place, the same person. verified, so use or by calling also be able to for example, time frame, first Do check these information from 1-800-262-3787. rearrange the your results will letter of the suggestions trees as clues. modules on contain only surname or other carefully, as Don’t add it to n Search the Card your home page records that browsing option they may be for your tree until Catalog for the by clicking and have a death (this depends people who aren’t you’ve researched keyword free to dragging them. family member’s first and/or last name as exact—but beware in which the term doesn’t appear. This field doesn’t seem to this can eliminate records that have the names misspelled, work in some databases, such as the 1920 census, but you also mistranscribed or absent. can enter a nationality in the keyword field.

Adding a keyword related to your target can help the Choose a country or ethnicity so records from related 8right record rank higher in your search results. For exam- 11collections rank higher in your search results. If you ple, enter the name of a ship the person immigrated on or a prioritize Jewish records and choose the phonetic last name military regiment. Check Exact to find only records with that filter, Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex coding will be applied. keyword, but this can exclude potential matches. Check boxes for the types of results you want—historical Select a gender to help narrow your search results. 12records, stories and publications, family trees or photos 9Note that sometimes people were miscategorized when and maps. records were created, so you might get search results for the wrong gender if the record was a strong match on other Top search strategies search criteria. n Narrow your focus. Rather than search all Ancestry. com’s records at once, try searching a record category (such Narrow your search by entering a term such as Black as all census records) or a single database (such as the 1880 10or French in the Race/Nationality field. You can US Census). These search pages are customized to the designate this as exact, but you won’t get matches for records information in that record. For example, the 1880 US census

1191 Discover Your Roots search form lets you enter an occu- place of residence and immigration pation. To search a record category, year. Keep your search terms narrow by hover over the Search tab and choose using the Exact boxes, and search a spe- SHORTCUTS from the drop-down menu. For more cific database. You could, for example, n Ancestry DNA categories, pick Search All Records search for everyone in the 1920 census n Ancestry.com Blog from the Search dropdown menu (or who lived in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, go to ) and was born between 1884 and 1886, and n Ancestry.com on Facebook select from the special collections list immigrated in 1900. If you get too many on the right side of that page. hits, add a nationality or a first name. If n Ancestry.com Family History You also can keyword-search the you get too few hits, uncheck an Exact Wiki : Has the Card Catalog of databases (the last box or broaden the year ranges. content of the Red Book: American option in the Search dropdown menu) n take a hint. If you have an Ances- State, County and Town Sources and or browse collections by place to see try Member Tree, the site will auto- The Source: A Guidebook to American what records the site has for your matically search for records matching Genealogy ancestral locale. To browse by place, your relatives and, if it finds any, dis- n Ancestry.com how-to videos choose Search All Records from the play “shaky leaf” hints on their pro- on YouTube Explore by Location. Click a state name you’ll need a subscription to view most n Ancestry.com on Twitter or a state on the US map or choose one records associated with hints. of the tabs for other world regions. To explore your hints, go to your n Advanced Search You’ll see categories of data collections Ancestry member tree and hover over related to that place. You can search all an ancestor bearing a leaf icon. You’ll n Card Catalog the records associated with the place see a link showing how many hints more-specific collections. of potential matching records. You n Family Tree Maker software n Run “fuzzy” searches. Names, can click to view that record, or select dates and places in old records are Review Hint for a comparison between n Learning Center match what you’re expecting to find. tion in your family tree. If the record n Message Boards It’s common to find the same person isn’t your ancestor’s, select Ignore with slightly different names and ages Hint to dismiss it. Or you can check or n My Account search to find these “close” records. your tree. n New and updated databases Take advantage of Advanced Search fil- n Search the message boards. ters that let you search for sound-alike Located under the Collaborate drop- n Support more information). com>), Ancestry.com’s message boards n Use search wildcards. Wildcards have more than 25 million posts on can help you account for mistakes and more than 198,000 boards. (These mes- spelling variants that appear in old sage boards are identical to those on records. Use a ? to substitute for one let- the long-standing free RootsWeb site Contact: , which Ances- Affiliate/Knowledgebase/contact/ or more letters. For example, a search try.com—then called MyFamily.com— contact.html>; (800) 262-3787, for Johns?n returns records naming acquired in 2000.) 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Johnsen and Johnson. Smel*er finds The Message Boards home page Smeltzer, Smeller, Smeltsler and oth- has a search you can use to find posts ers. You can use a wildcard as the first mentioning the names and research you post, use a subject line such as or last letter of a name, but not both: topics you’re interested in. Browse “Harrison family in Ripley County, Han* and *son are okay, but not *anso*. the boards for all the surnames you’re Ind.” to quickly tell other researchers Names must contain at least three non- researching, as well as the places whether your post might pertain to wildcard characters. (typically by county, for US locales) their families. n n go nameless. Try leaving out the where your family has lived. You also target person’s name and entering can explore specialized boards for Diane Haddad is editor of Family other information, such as a birth year, historical events, wars and more. If Tree Magazine.

12 Discover Your Roots althy family tre a he e on ure line rt or nu in u y yo o p ur l g e e h n ll e i a w l s o p g e y t s s o r f u t w o f a r r e u .

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Tree-mendous! By Sunny Jane Morton

. Have you planted a family tree yet, online or in your genealogical arborist, but with a little expertise, you can raise home computer? Millions of people have. Electronic trees are healthy, vibrant saplings. These, over time, will grow into a convenient way to organize and share your family history. full-sized trees sturdy enough for your great-grandchildren The internet hosts vast forests of family trees—more than 90 to climb on. million at and alone. As you begin your family tree search, use these four signs Additionally, more than a billion people are documented at to nurture a healthy one from the get-go. And if your tree sites such as and , where already seems a little wilted, take heart. You can get out your members contribute to a single, unified family tree. gardening gloves and follow these tips to nourish it back Unfortunately, millions of these trees suffer blight. They to health. don’t branch out much, or they have few leaves and no fruit. Others are stunted from neglect. A few suffer from root rot: Start with a sturdy trunk. Somewhere near ground level, bad information sent the tree The trunk of your family tree is made up of what you growing in a crazy direction. know about yourself and your nearest family—parents, Most of us start cultivating our family trees with more siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, children enthusiasm than skill. You don’t have to be a certified 1and grandchildren. 9313 Discover Your Roots It may sound boring to add these seemingly non-historical names, relationships and places to your tree. But you know Grow a Healthy Family Tree more about this time period (or can learn it more easily) than Follow these tips to raise a vigorous family tree: future generations will. Family memories fade, and so does • Plant a seed. Enter your family history facts in the your grip on documents and memorabilia. More quickly than genealogy software of your choice (see our Software Guide we’re ready, we become the generation that other genealo- for reviews ) and/or in family tree websites. Recent lives hold clues to past generations, too. I couldn’t • Feed it. Nourish your tree by entering new research confirm the burial place of my husband’s great-grandfather finds. Attach documents, stories and photos. Follow up on until I learned that his children migrated to Harrisburg, Pa., online search hints and alerts. during World War II. I have an adopted friend who didn’t • Irrigate. Water it with information from outside know his birth parents’ names until he got his own baptis- sources such as USGenWeb Project mal certificate. Learn more about research in 20th-century state and county sites, RootsWeb , digital libraries, and local archives and libraries. Enter what you learn in your family history software and/ • Save seedlings. Back up your family tree files and a or an online family tree website (see the box on page 22 for GEDCOM (a universal genealogy file type you can generate some options). Both MyHeritage and Ancestry.com offer from your software) to the cloud, so you could get them back desktop software that easily syncs with online trees (Family should disaster strike your computer or your online tree site. Tree Builder and Family Tree Maker, respectively). • Prune as needed. Add relatives once you’re sure how Privacy is paramount when dealing with data about liv- they’re related. Confirm evidence to support matches in other ing relatives. Many online tree sites hide such information. online trees before adding them to your tree. “Any information about living members of your family tree is automatically hidden from public view,” says Lisa Elzey, a at Ancestry.com. “If you’d like to share the tree with other members of your family, you can invite them Hints from the records of collateral kin become even more to view the tree as a guest so they can discover the photos, important as you go back in time, revealing useful connec- documents, and stories you’ve preserved.” Each site’s pri- tions. “The further back you go, the more likely someone’s vacy policies may be a little different, so review them before spouse was also their cousin,” explains Dardashti. “The dat- uploading personal information. ing pool was so small, especially in small towns or rural areas. And when a woman died in childbirth, the man sometimes married her sister.” You also might find your elusive ancestor Documentation is the fertilizer named as a witness on a sibling’s or cousin’s record. Use the US censuses to look for your ancestors’ siblings you need to sustain your tree’s life and other relatives. Beginning in 1850, censuses list all household members. Starting in 1880, relationships to the and promote its growth. head of household are defined. The 1900 and 1910 censuses even say how many children a woman had and how many were still living, helping you see if you’re missing someone. The census doesn’t have everything, though. Look for fam- ily Bibles, obituaries, cemetery records, wills and any other Nurture wide-branching limbs. records in which you’ve already found relatives mentioned. Some family trees look more like telephone poles, Sweep online databases for unknown siblings by searching tracing only ancestors (those from whom a person on the parents’ names. Scan a cemetery for relatives buried directly descends) and not collateral relatives (an near your ancestor. ancestors’ siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins). You It can be difficult to trace female relatives as they married 2want limbs arcing out from the trunk, branches from those and changed their surnames. Look for their maiden names limbs, and plenty of little twigs. So pay attention to your in marriage records and indexes. Search censuses for aged ancestors’ siblings and spouses. parents living with married daughters. “I’ve seen too many trees that just include the direct ances- Some websites make it easy to populate your family tree tors,” says Schelly Talalay Dardashti, US genealogy advisor at with additional relatives. For example, at Ancestry.com, subscription site MyHeritage. Telephone-pole tree creators when you attach a census record to one person, you’re asked may be trying to identify an immigrant ancestor, an ancestral whether you want to add information to your tree about oth- homeland or the earliest possible forebear. Still, says Darda- ers listed as relatives in that record (subscription required). shti, they’d do better to branch out in each generation. MyHeritage offers a similar feature.

1494 Discover Your Roots As you invest effort in nurturing a healthy family tree, step back and marvel at its growth.

Nourish bright green leaves. Your family tree will burst into full foliage when it’s well nourished. Documentation is the fertilizer you need to sustain your tree’s life and promote its future growth. 3First, nourish your tree with records you already have. Digitize birth, marriage and death certificates, news clip- pings, funeral programs and obituaries, diaries, interviews, Tree Taxonomy and photos of loved ones, family gravesites and more. Any- Individual online family trees are built and maintained by the thing that reveals someone’s personality, unique experiences, creator and anyone the creator invites to participate. Only birth, marriage, divorce, migration, land ownership and fam- you and those you designate as editors can add or change ily relationships is important. ancestral information. Other researchers can usually view Next, search out more records. Sift through databases on your tree unless you set it as private (on sites that offer websites and text in digitized books. Order original records privacy settings), but your tree won’t be linked to others’ from government offices when you can’t find images of those trees. Examples of online tree sites with individual trees are: records online. Visit libraries and archives. • Ancestry.com : create a free Some genealogy websites help you with this process. registration to start building your tree Ancestry.com’s “shaky leaf” hints alert users to records that • FindMyPast : free to create a family tree Detective helps with historical records, and Smart Matches • Mocavo : free to create a family search trees. WeRelate.org, a wiki-style site, can notify you tree upon request as new information is posted to individual pro- • MyHeritage : files you’re interested in. Download the free Family Tree Builder software to start your These auto-suggestions and updates are helpful, but you tree, then upload it if you want a family website hosted on decide whether it’s really a match. MyHeritage (basic sites are free; there’s a fee for large sites “Look closely at all the details—the and enhanced features). geography, names and dates,” advises • Tribal Pages : basic sites are Dardashti. The more data points you free; there’s a fee for larger sites and enhanced features find in common, especially for very Tip: When you The unified tree sites listed below host collaborative specific or unusual facts, the more find potential efforts to build a single “world” tree, in which every deceased likely the match is right. But think ancestors in person has a crowd-sourced profile. You can add profiles to flexibly: A great-grandmother you’ve online trees, your tree, but any registered site user can add or change found as Elizabeth may also have been don’t graft them individual profiles. called Ellie, Eliza, Beth or an unknown willy-nilly to • Fa milySearch : free middle name. your tree. Add • Geni : free basic account; fee for Some sources are better than others people only larger trees and enhanced features for certain types of information. An after reviewing • WeRela te : free infant’s baptismal record will probably the evidence • WikiTree : free; you must pledge get his parents’ names and birthdate supporting to abide by the site’s honor code and request an invitation right. The birth had just happened and each ancestral Find out more about submitting your tree to a family tree the parents were likely present (unless addition. website on page 46. the postpartum mother was incapaci- tated). Birth data on a death record is

1595 Discover Your Roots • Genealogy software guide For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com research-101-digital-download-t0164> article/Give-Me-10> • Syncing online and offline trees • Digitize Your Family History course online • Software freebies digitize-your-family-history> article/family_tree_software> • Spotting mistakes in your tree • Using Evernote video class evernote-video-class>

less trustworthy, because the informant may not have had firsthand knowledge of that person’s birth. When you find possible matches in other people’s trees, consider the sources they mention. If they don’t include any, dig further. “Contact the manager or creator of other Tip: To help ensure your online family tree lives on, trees and ask questions,” says Dardashti. “Do they have make sure at least one interested family member documents? You don’t have to accept their word for it. has access. Grant that person full editorial privileges Don’t confirm a match until you’re satisfied it’s real.” Use or share your login. Also include information about the names and dates in these trees to form theories about your tree among your estate documents. your relatives, then research those theories in genealogical records. Keep track of each find—and details about the source where you found it—in your genealogy software or online Don’t overlook the “memories” you find embedded in tree. You also could use data organization software such as documents from the past. Maybe a county history counts Evernote or Microsoft Excel. For each your relative among its earliest settlers. Perhaps someone source, note the publication information, such as the website transcribed a series of family letters you can attach to their name, URL, database name and date you accessed it; the physi- profiles. Look for more stories in newspapers, court cases, cal location of original records; and microfilm or manuscript divorce papers, church histories, compiled and numbers. Genealogy websites often include all this informa- other meaty sources. tion with each search result. For a book, record the publisher, Add stories within relatives’ individual profiles online or in publication place, title, author and page number(s). your software. At Ancestry.com, click on Media Gallery, then Stories. In Family Tree Maker’s person box, upload story Cultivate irresistible fruit. documents, add stories as facts or person notes, or create Your tree will burst with ripe, flavorful fruit when Smart Stories under the media tab. FamilySearch.org users you hang great family stories from every limb. can go to an individual’s profile and click Memories, or go to Stories capture personalities and relationships. to quickly add several They give insight into what it was like to be our stories at once. Don’t forget to add the source of your story: 4relatives. And stories—easily tweeted, shared and pinned who shared it and when. from online trees—often awaken our loved ones’ interest in As you invest all this effort in nurturing a healthy family the past. tree, step back sometimes and marvel at its growth. Genea- Begin with your own memories: favorite family facts, logical gardeners can find deep satisfaction in seeing limbs events and anecdotes. Include specific details if you can, sprout and leaves bud. But be patient with your efforts. Trees but even a fleeting recollection can be valuable. Be sensitive don’t grow overnight. It takes time to reconstruct genera- to the feelings of the living about their dead. Ask yourself tions of lives. whether this is something a person’s grandchild would want Finally, consider that the richest part of your tree’s growth to read. may actually be unseen. As our branches grow, so also do the Next, gather and transcribe the memories of living rela- roots that spread invisibly beneath us. I think of these roots tives. Document the classic stories that get shared at every as our sense of identity or heritage, becoming stronger and family gathering. Try to capture the most accurate version deeper as our family trees grow healthier. • of embellished tales by including multiple perspectives. Find more tips on gathering your relatives’ memories on Contributing editor Sunny Jane Morton cultivates her page 14 of this issue. family tree from her home in Euclid, Ohio.

16 Discover Your Roots a Cold Case

Build a case file on your hardest-to-find ancestors and crack those brick-wall mysteries. Our 14 strategies will get you started.

By Lisa Louise Cooke

. Unsolved murder cases are never completely closed. Create tabs in your binder for the following categories: Police often will reopen a case to take a fresh look. For What I Already Know, Supporting Documents, Questions example, a TV news show recently featured a murder that to Answer, Steps Taken, Timelines and History, Interviews, occurred in 1996. The file was stamped “cold case” and Narratives and Summary. You can modify these or add more shelved in 2002, but thanks to new technology, investigators tabs as you see fit along the way. Having tabs like these makes reopened it and solved it in 2013. Technology is changing it easy to jump to the information you need and provides a rapidly, and when you apply it to a cold case, you can earn a place to make notes along the trail. big payoff. In this particular case, new scientific tests were In addition to your binder, you’ll need a mobile, digital available that didn’t exist in 1996. The same evidence that led format for taking notes, clipping web pages, recording police nowhere now broke the case wide open. interviews and snapping photos. The free Evernote program In genealogy, the value of revisiting cold cases of your and its mobile apps are an ideal solution. hardest-to-find ancestors—aka brick walls—is clear. Consider Evernote allows you to collect, sync and retrieve notes no the records and resources available today that weren’t around matter what internet-connected device you’re using: desktop last year, last month, or even yesterday. There’s always hope computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet. You’ll be poised to to solve, or at least make progress on, a frigid genealogical capture notes every step of the way. case. Use these 14 investigative strategies to build a case file on your research brick walls and generate hot new leads. Retrieve all pertinent case information. In genealogy, you start with what you know. Get organized. The same goes for cold cases. Start by generat- Keeping your information organized allows you to ing fresh versions of all the major reports and spend more time on research and less time looking charts from your genealogy software on the for things, figuring out where you left off and deter- people connected with your case, such as family mining what to do next. Before you dust off that old 2group sheets, individual summary reports, pedigree charts brick wall, create a genealogy cold case file using a and descendant charts. Printed reports and charts make it 1three-ring binder. Binders offer portability and stability, and easier for you to see where the blanks are. Also retrieve all make it easy to see the facts laid out before you. You can grab your pertinent files, books and any other documentation you one and go, easily flipping through your materials without have that’s associated with the genealogy mystery you want risking the items spilling. to solve.

17 Discover Your Roots Gr-gr-grandma Edna ? Edward Smith

Mother of Mary Jane Doe #1 Ann Carver

Jos. Jane Doe #2 Ladenkotter

There’s always hope for solving a cold genealogy case. A vital step is to open up your files and Mom’sre-examine all the evidence you’ve collected for any details you missed.4th-great- Having a fellow researcher Great-uncle review the case also might lead to new theories you cangrandfather investigate.

18 Discover Your Roots Re-examine the evidence. Study the physical evidence. Cold case investigators review every piece of evi- When cold case detectives reopen a file, they not dence and all interviews from the beginning to only revisit their paper file and call in their wit- the end of the file. They keep their eyes peeled for nesses for reinterviewing, but they also re-exam- anything that might’ve been overlooked the first ine the physical evidence. Your case may include time around and for opportunities to apply new physical evidence, too. Way back when, you may 3technology to the old case. 5have based some of your assumptions about your brick wall To begin reacquainting yourself with the case, re-examine on a photograph, family heirloom, artifact or gravestone. the evidence. Rather than jumping directly into the ancestor Reinspect all physical evidence with a magnifying glass. in question, start with her descendants. Comb through what But don’t stop there. Forensic scientists use microscopes you know about her children and grandchildren, retracing and alternative light sources to reveal details not obvious how you originally found the brick-wall ancestor. Meticu- to the naked eye. If you have photos where you can’t clearly lously read everything you have as if you were new to the make out all the details, digitize them at a high resolution case. Re-examine source documents, interviews and any- and apply an alternative light source with a photo-editing thing else remotely related. program. Use your computer’s photo-editing software or Keep notes in your binder on questions that come up as as check out free programs such as Gimp and Picasa you evaluate the materials and “facts” that need rechecking. that include tools for adjusting bright- You likely will generate new ideas for sources you’ll want to ness, contrast and sharpness. To learn more about applying investigate as you identify gaps in your research. photo-editing tools to your photos, check out the “Grave After a thorough review, write down your brick wall Transformations” video at . dilemma or questions in just a few short sentences. Break- ing down your brick wall into manageable questions will Create a timeline. help you focus and stay on track. In addition, you’ll enjoy the As you reacquaint yourself with the facts, it’s the smaller successes along the way as you fill in the blanks. ideal time to add them to a timeline. Your gene- Invest substantial time in this step. You may think you’re alogy software might offer a timeline feature, or very familiar with the case, but you may have forgotten cer- you can use a free timeline generator website. tain details over the years. In particular, re-examine your I like Our Timelines , which sources. You probably know more now about the case (and 6provides an easy, free way to generate timelines that also genealogy research in general) than you did when you first incorporate world history. For a more powerful timeline cre- reviewed these sources. Chances are good that you’ll spot ator, try TimeLine Maker or Smart Draw something that now has meaning, but didn’t resonate with . Both sites offer a free trial. you before. If you have Microsoft Excel, you can create some pretty During your review, take this opportunity to identify spiffy timelines for free. Check out the free tutorial com- which so-called “facts” have only one source and locate plete with screen shots and images showing you how at least one more, preferably a primary source. The more at . Double-check that you didn’t make an error in transcribing the information from the source documents into your gene- Map out the bigger picture. alogy database. This is your chance to clean up those errors. Criminal investigators rely on understanding human behavior. People typically travel the same Reinterview the witnesses. routes and rarely stray from their usual habits. Even if your witnesses are no longer living, Therefore, plotting out where crimes occur can review their journals, interview transcrip- be invaluable in determining where a criminal tions or recordings, and any other details or 7resides or will strike next. records they left behind. To make the most of This theory also applies to genealogical cases. By taking interviews with living relatives, see the “On the time to plot on a map known ancestor locations and 4Assignment” article in the January/February 2013 Family movements, you can see patterns emerge. Download the free Tree Magazine . mapping program Google Earth and learn

1999 Discover Your Roots how to get started by watching the free “Google Earth for Write a case report. Genealogy” video at . A powerful tool that professional genealogists This is also a great time to learn more about the time, place employ is writing a narrative. This step can and people surrounding the case. Study local, regional and sound like a time waster—you already have a lot social histories, newspapers and biographies. Learning about of information in your database and writing it the historical events, geographical boundaries and migra- out in paragraph form will take some time. But tion patterns of your ancestor’s time may lead you to look for 9experienced genealogists know that something important clues in places you hadn’t considered before. Google Books happens when you write a narrative of what you know about is a great place to start looking for local an ancestor and the events of his life. and regional histories and other historical books, as many old As you write down the story, you notice gaps that you volumes are digitized and available for free. didn’t spot when you were just looking at the data. It’s easy to simply list facts and not realize you’re missing a key piece of the puzzle. But when you attempt to tell the story, it becomes Round up the suspects and identify blatantly obvious when something is missing that interferes new witnesses. with your ability to tell the complete story. Writing a narra- At the end of the classic film “Casablanca,” Capt. tive on your cold case will generate good questions and ideas Louis Renault picks up the phone and declares, that you’ll want to jot down in your binder and pursue. “Major Strasser has been shot ... round up the usual suspects.” You know who the usual sus- Develop a theory. 8pects are in your research: the folks you suspect are relatives Once you’re intimately familiar with and all the others circling them and lurking in the shadows. the case, it’s time to propose a theory All good detectives start by looking at the family first and to help you overcome your brick wall. then broadening the search to include friends and acquain- Although you want to let the evidence tances. In your genealogy research, look carefully at siblings lead you, it can prove effective to think and neighbors, and then spread out even further by looking 10through what might’ve happened, then try to fill in the blanks. into others who share the surname in a given area. This strategy paid off as I approached a brick wall on my Once you locate a genealogical document with informa- third-great-grandfather’s parentage. I had a theory about tion on an ancestor, it’s easy to fixate on the page and stop who his father was, but the available records were inconclu- using the search index that brought you there. But the search sive. I developed a theory based on what I knew and then feature remains a valuable tool. When I found my great- I jumped over my second-great-grandfather and started grandfather in the small mining town of Gillespie, Ill., in the researching the man I suspected to be his father. A biography 1910 census, I went back to the search tool and did a search of this man in an old county history proved me right, nam- of all German-born residents living in his neighborhood. I ing my known ancestor as his son and verifying the names of knew he’d recently immigrated and probably knew very little siblings and cousins that lined up exactly. English. These were the people he was most likely associat- ing with. As it turned out, one of those Germans showed up Look for new evidence. as a witness on his naturalization papers. Another was a key Detectives know that as time passes foren- player in enticing him to go to settle in Gillespie upon arrival. sic technology and availability of digitized Just like a cold case investigator, continue the search for records improves. Even if no leads have sur- new witnesses. These are the witnesses to your ancestor’s faced in years, new tests likely can be used major life events, such as baptisms, marriages, naturaliza- on the old evidence. Think of how many tions, land purchases and so on. As you review all your source 11times you’ve heard on the news (or in the “Cold Case” TV documents, make a list of all witnesses and then search on show) that new DNA tests have solved a case. those witnesses’ backgrounds to see what other connections DNA can play a pivotal role in genealogy as well, help- they might have to your ancestor. ing researchers who possess matching genetic markers to Your ancestors are surrounded by a community, or cluster, connect and compare trees. If you’ve exhausted traditional of potential leads. Just take a walk in your local cemetery to methods or are curious about this new technology, con- see an example of this cluster genealogy. In row after row, sider using DNA for genealogy. See our DNA Crash Course you’ll find clusters of surnames and even clusters of people webinar for more genetic genealogy help. in clusters, you create a larger pool from which to draw. This Every day since you set aside your hard-to-find ances- can mean a greater chance of success. Think of each one of tor’s case, new digitized records, family trees and message those aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and siblings as board postings have come online. Records then under access a wave rippling out from the ancestor you’re trying to find. restrictions may now be available to view.

20 Discover Your Roots Be sure to create keyword-rich blog posts that are easy for Google to find. Add a few website links, photos and videos, and Google will bring your page even farther up the results list.

If you have blanks for records on the family group sheets terms, you’ll receive an email notification with a link to the or individual summary report printed in step 3, take another result. The popular auction website eBay stab at finding those records. Conduct new searches on all is another place to sniff out family history goodies. You can missing information. Google is a good place find a wide array of family history items for sale, including to start. Also take a second look at FamilySearch’s digitized records and see what new collec- Sign up for a free account and save searches in your My eBay tions have been added to other records websites you’ve used dashboard for instant access to new items as they’re listed. in the past, or on new sites you’ve never searched before. After exhausting online resources, it’s critical to move your Post wanted posters. research offline to libraries and archives. Now is a good time There are times when you need to to gather the evidence that so many people neglect to look proactively generate new leads, and for such as marriage license applications, voter records, and the internet makes it easier than ever a variety of non-population census schedules such as agricul- to get the word out on a brick wall you ture, industry/manufacturing and social statistics schedules. are trying to bust. Genealogy message 14boards are probably the oldest form of online bulletin boards Call in reinforcements. where you can post your family history queries. Try Ancestry. Once a case is reopened and reviewed, com’s Message Boards to look for clues a criminal cold case unit often involves and then post your own messages by surname or topic. the media for further exposure and to Posting your family tree online is another way to get wide garner additional leads from the pub- exposure in the online genealogy community. Turn to Ances- lic. Genealogists have their own media try.com, WikiTree , MyHeritage , myheritage.com> or other online family tree sites to post your Twitter , Pinterest and tree and search other trees. online family tree sites. Put out the word using social media If you really want to be found, you need Google to find you. and gain access to the genealogy community brain trust. The best way to take the reins is to start your own family his- Also consider holding a “team case review” session. Pull tory blog. Google’s free Blogger is a snap to use. together your genealogist friends for a Google Hangout Check out my free four-part series on how to create a geneal- or a sidebar at your next ogy blog at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel . Be sure to create keyword-rich blog dence. Or use the free program Skype to posts that are easy for Google to find. Add a few website links, video chat with a friend or expert and share your screen for photos and videos, and Google will bring your page even far- live collaboration. Additionally, call on the experts by email- ther up the results list when genealogists search for people ing reference librarians and archivists with specific requests. who also appear in your family tree. By following the lead of detectives and investigators, you Go on a stakeout. can heat up your cold case and discover clues to locate a Keep an eye open online by setting up hard-to-find ancestor—and perhaps even stamp one or two some virtual stakeouts. Set up Google of your genealogy cold cases “SOLVED.” • Alerts or Yahoo! Alerts for important Lisa Louise Cooke hosts and produces podcasts for Fam- searches and let search engines do the ily Tree Magazine and 13searching for you. These sites will automatically search 24/7 Genealogy Gems . for new websites or posts that match your search terms. If a new web page has information that fits your search

21 Discover Your Roots A Good Clip Evernote has become genealogists’ go-to note-taking tool. You’ll know why when you see how easily it lets you clip and save your online research finds.

. The web offers tons of genealogi- Desktop clipper Your cursor becomes crosshairs. cal information. But printing it all out Use the Desktop clipper to capture a 2Click and drag your mouse to can add up to a mountain of paper. specific section of a webpage visible on draw a box around the desired area, and Saving web addresses isn’t a long-term your computer screen: release the mouse button. The screen solution, as websites can be changed Open the Evernote desktop cli- flashes, indicating a successful clip. and deleted. You need a reliable, paper- 1 ent, (make sure you’re signed in The clipping will automatically less way to capture online information to your account) and minimize the 3be saved as an image note in and organize that pile of notes. program. Next, display the content to Evernote. Here you can add a note title That’s where Evernote comes in. This free, cloud- on the Evernote icon in your comput- button to add source citation informa- based note-taking service lets you clip er’s task bar, and select Clip Screenshot. tion, such as the original web address. an entire web page or just a paragraph on a PC or Mac. This ability to speedily clip, store, organize, back up, share and 1 2 retrieve notes makes Evernote a gene- alogist’s best friend. Start by signing up for a free account on the Evernote website, then down- load the desktop client to your com- puter. Next, download the free app (available for iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry and WebOS) to your mobile devices so you can access your clip- pings and notes on the go. Then follow these steps for Evernote’s Desktop or Web Clipper.

22 Discover Your Roots 3 Web clipper The Web Clipper is your tool of choice to capture a confined article or an entire web page. It also automatically includes the URL of the page you’re clipping. Go to , 1 where Evernote will detect the browser you’re using and offer the right clipper. (For these examples, we used Chrome with Clipper 6.0.) Click the green download button and follow the instructions. Once installed, the small, grey elephant icon appears in your browser bar. 1 Navigate to a page or article you 2want to clip and then click the Evernote web clipper icon in your browser bar. Select the desired type of clipping from the clipper’s sidebar menu. For example, select Article to highlight and clip a single article from the page. Select Simplified Article and 3extraneous information on the page disappears, leaving only the article 2 itself to be clipped. At this point you can assign your note to a specific note- book and tag it with keywords to make it easier to locate. You also can use the “markup” tools to annotate your clipping with highlighting, text com- ments, arrows and stamps, or blur out unwanted areas. When you’re finished, click Save 4to save your note to your Ever- note account. In the pop-up completion window, click the Open in Evernote button to view and work with your note in Evernote on your computer. Your clippings and notes are saved to your computer and, with an internet connection, to Evernote’s cloud stor- age. Evernote regularly synchronizes 3 4 your notes so you’re always working on the most current version, no matter which device you’re using. Now you have the freedom to hit the road with all your genealogy notes in hand. •

Online genealogy guru Lisa Louise Cooke has developed Evernote video classes and workshops for Family Tree University .

2361 Discover Your Roots FamilySearch FEAST

You can consume a smorgasbord of free genealogy records on FamilySearch.org. We’ll show you how to find them— even the ones you can’t search by name.

By Rick Crume

. a free website by a nonprofit arm of the Church of Membership options Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon church), FamilySearch.org serves up a large, Level Benefits Cost growing collection of records, books, photos and family trees. These include more than 1,500 historical record col- Public View records, including many free lections from around the world, more than 4 billion names Member restricted ones; create, view and edit in searchable databases and more than 177,000 digitized family trees books. You can search many of the site’s records by name and other details, thanks to FamilySearch’s volunteer indexing L D S The above, plus at-home access free program; but some are still awaiting indexing and must be Member to records otherwise restricted for browsed. Our guide will help you find your family records viewing in FamilySearch Centers through either method. filters to narrow your search by collection (which lets you Search strategies narrow results to a record category and then a database), a Use these strategies for success in finding your ancestors on birthplace in the record, a birth year in the record and more. FamilySearch.org. A camera icon in the far right column for a match indicates n Search for records. Under the Search tab at the top a digital image you can download to your computer and/or of FamilySearch.org, click Records for a form to search for add to your tree; no camera icon means it’s an index-only a person in indexed records. You can enter the first and last record. In a few collections, due to the wishes of record names; information about one or more life events (birth, custodians, record images are available only to those with an marriage, residence, death or “any,” which could be, for LDS account or to those using the website at a FamilySearch example, an immigration year); and names of the person’s Center (also called a Family History Center). Some collec- parents, spouse or another person who might appear with tions, such as the 1910 census, link to a record image on a him in records. You also can restrict your results to those subscription site. You can view these with a subscription or from a certain country or of a certain type (such as census or by visiting a FamilySearch Center. military records). n Find relatives in the family tree. The FamilySearch On the search results page, look to the left for fields where Family Tree has a lofty goal: to create a family tree of the you can adjust your search terms. Below that, you can use whole human race (at least since recordkeeping began).

24 Discover Your Roots Other websites have large collections of family trees that records to personal profiles. often duplicate each other, errors and all. In an effort to To search the Family Tree’s photos, stories and documents increase accuracy and decrease duplication, FamilySearch for any term (such as a name, place or other topic), look has designed its tree with one profile per ancestral person, under the Memories tab and select Find. Click the Memories which anyone can edit. Unlike the rest of FamilySearch.org, tab on the home page to see at a glance all the photos, stories, you must register to use the Family Tree, but it’s still free. documents, audio and albums you or someone else has sub- To search the tree, click Find under the Family Tree tab. mitted and linked to your relatives. You can enter a name; gender; dates of birth, christening n Search user-submitted genealogies. Under marriage, death and/or burial; and family members’ names. Search>Genealogies, you can search the old Ancestral Adding your relatives to the Family Tree can help you File and Pedigree Resource File, two collections of family find their records: FamilySearch automatically searches its trees that researchers submitted over many years. Pedigree record collections for matches to people in the tree. Click Resource File includes notes and sources, but Ancestral File the Family Tree tab to start your tree and either manually doesn’t. Neither collection shows the submitters’ names. It’s enter the information or use genealogy software that can worth mining these family trees for clues, but always try to reconcile data between the family file on your computer and verify the information with original sources. Family Tree. FamilySearch-approved Windows programs n Find microfilmed records. It’ll take years to digitize include , Legacy Fam- and index the massive holdings of microfilmed records at ily Tree and RootsMagic

Checking the box next to a search term looks for records with information exactly matching what you typed in that field.

Click a life event to get boxes to enter place and date details.

If you don’t want to search on a date range, just enter a year in either the From or To box.

Click a relationship to look for records containing that family member’s name. If you’re looking for all the children of a couple, try leaving the Deceased Ancestor’s Name fields blank and clicking Parents to enter a couple’s names.

Enter a country and optionally, a state or province, to limit your search to records from that place. Or click Type to select the types of records you want (birth and baptism, military, probate, etc.).

2551 Discover Your Roots power-user Tips n Search with wildcards. The FamilySearch.org records search lets you use the ? wildcard in a surname to represent one letter, and the * wildcard to represent family and county histories, transcribed multiple letters. records and more. Try searching on a name using the “Any is (exact)” option. n Use Exact carefully. If the death date is marked as exact, for example, To view a match, you must download your results will contain only records that have a death date—and most of your the entire book (a PDF file), then use ancestor’s records were created while he was alive. your PDF reader to search for the term. Some books can be viewed only in a n Look for indexes in imaged volumes. Browsing an unindexed collection? FamilySearch Center. Digitized volumes often contain handwritten or typed name indexes. Look for a volume with the word index in the title, and check the beginning and end of Browsing strategies individual volumes. If you only search the indexed col- lections on FamilySearch.org, you’ll n Start searching with a place. To focus your search on record collections miss out on valuable genealogy infor- related to a place, look under the Search tab, click Records and select a region mation. In order to make digitized on the world map. For example, click on the United States and select New York records available as soon as possible, from the popup menu. You’ll see stats on the site’s New York records and a link FamilySearch­ puts unindexed record to “Start researching in New York.” That link takes you to the New York research collections online for browsing. You page, where you can search indexed New York records. Scroll down to see record could wait until those collections are collections that haven’t been indexed yet; click a collection title to browse the indexed to find your ancestors’ records records it contains. in them—or follow these steps to find your ancestors’ records now: n Search from a Family Tree profile. FamilySearch.org can help you find First, find collections you want to records faster by filling in the search form with details on someone in the Family explore. Go to FamilySearch.org and Tree. In the person’s Personal Details view, look under the Research Help section of click on Search. That takes you to the the right column and click Search Records. The site searches on the name, birth year Records Search form, which covers plus or minus two years, birthplace, parents and spouse. You can attach a matching only collections indexed by name. To record to everyone it pertains to in the tree. see a list of all the collections, scroll down and click on Browse All Published n Get research advice. The FamilySearch Wiki, which you can access under the Collections A (or go to ). state or country or how to find military records. The record collections are listed alphabetically by location. Options on n See recently updated collections. Because of FamilySearch’s fast digitizing the left B let you filter collections by pace, it pays to regularly check for new records from the places your family lived. name, place, date, record type and more, Under the Search tab, click Records, then click Browse All Published Collections to find records covering places where to see a list of all records. Click the Last Updated column heading on the right to your ancestors lived (such as the state move recently updated collections to the top. of Maine). A camera icon c indicates a collection includes images of the origi-

Free Web Content For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com n Eight FamilySearch.org hints n Add-on apps for your FamilySearch n Unofficial Guide to FamilySearch.org and hacks familysearch> ons> n Search International Records n Q&A for researching n Search the FamilySearch catalog in on FamilySearch on-demand more at FamilySearch Centers WorldCat worldcat> familysearchorg-ondemand-webinar> n Podcast: FamilySearch power-user n How to order FamilySearch microfilms n How to Search the FamilySearch.org tips com/article/tutorial-ordering- com/how-to-search-the- familysearch-microfilms-online> familysearchdotorg-datalog- download>

26 Discover Your Roots Look for digitized index to the collection you want. Some unindexed collections are in alphabetical order.

A D B C

E H F

G nal records. The Records column D shows the number of names in indexed collections or if a collection is unin- dexed, the column says Browse Images. To learn about the place and time period the collection covers, select , for example, “Maine, Aroostook County, Probate Records, 1837-2007” E. The resulting page Fhas a description of I the collection and source information. Click on Learn More G for details about the collection in the Family­ Search Wiki , which states, “This collection is being J published as images become available.” L Thus more records will be added. K Look for a digitized index to the col- lection you want. Some unindexed col- lections are in alphabetical order. You’d number into the Image box M and hit records you need. For example, click on click a file range that includes your Enter to “jump” to an image. the link to browse “Maine, Aroostook ancestor’s name, then browse the digi- Other unindexed collections, such as County, Probate Records, 1837-2007,” tized images until you find a record for land and probate records, may include H and you’ll find that it consists of five that person. Arrows at the top of the digitized images of printed indexes. record types. Click on each one to find image viewer let you flip to the previ- Start with those indexes to determine out what’s included. The Index Books ous or next page, or you can type a the volume and page numbers for the I cover 1840 to 1925, the Probate Index

2753 Discover Your Roots J covers 1840 to 1950 and the Probate M Index Cards cover 1930 to 2006 K. Here, we’re looking for probate records for George L. Pennington, who O died in 1911. Click on Index Books I. From the available volumes, select “1910-1925, Vol. 6, N-S,” L for last N names beginning with letters from N to S. That index volume consists of 303 images. To find a name, enter a num- ber in the Image box M and hit Enter. Browse until you find the name you need. The files for George L. Penning- ton’s estate are listed on image 84, his wife Sarah’s are on image 85 and their daughter Annie’s are on image 83. The docket, the first item listed on George’s index page, cites volume 8, page 73 N. The Probate Index cites the same vol- ume and page number. Now we want to find the image of the record on volume 8, page 73, in the estate files. To return to the list of files in this collection, click on “Maine, Aroos- took County, ...robate Records, 1837- 2007” near the top of the screen O . P Select Estate Files. Then click the link for “1911, Vol. 8, no. 65, Getchell, Wallace I.-no. 79, Currie, Jonathan,” P which should include volume 8, number 73 (which is actually a file number, not a page number). Browsing the 478 images in that set of records, you’ll find George L. Penning- ton’s 49-page estate file on images 242 to 290 Q. It’s full of details, such as the estate’s value ($48,500), the names of Q S heirs, their places of residence and how R much each one inherited. Click and drag to move the record image. Use the slider on the side of the image viewer R to zoom in and out. Hover your mouse cursor over the viewer tools S to see pop-up descrip- tions of them. You can print one page at a time or save the record image as a JPG file on your computer. Click Show Cita- tion in the lower left corner T to see how to cite this source in your geneal- ogy software or research notes. n T Family Tree Magazine contributing edi- tor Rick Crume frequently covers genealogy-technology topics. 28 Discover Your Roots