Family

FREE! QUICK GUIDE TO MYHERITAGE.COM $. VALUE!
familytreemagazine.com
DECEMBER 2018 M A G A Z I N E
75 BEST FREE
WEBSITES
to Trace American Ancestors
12 Time-Saving
Research Tips
EASY PLANNING
WORKSHEET
Write Your
Family History!
Complete Guide
to Scottish Genealogy
7 Ways to Preserve
Holiday Heirlooms
FIND IT FAST!
The genealogy
facts you need—
at your fingertips
t handy, at-a-glance lists and

charts, including historical
timelines, census basics,
vital record dates and
definitions
t quick hints for finding

ancestors in records,
searching genealogy
websites like Ancestry.com,
DNA testing, and more
t travel-size for easy

reference and research
on the go
SAVE 10%!
<bit.ly/family-tree-factbook>
ENTER CODE FTFactbook
AT CHECKOUT. Expires March 31, 2019
+#7( .4-"ɥƭɥƐƐƓɥ/%#2ɥƭɥǬƐƓƥƙƙ
contents D E C E M B E R 2 018
27
branchingout 17
E 42 InAreGood
Look for the green arrow
throughout this issue 18 Cyber States
Discover your American ancestors
Time
you always running out of
for hints to expanded
versions, free downloads in cyberspace! Search these 75 best research minutes? Get more
and related products at websites—all of them free—for genealogy done in less time
familytreemagazine.com! genealogy in US states. with these 12 time-saving tips.
by Rick Crume by Lisa A. Alzo
27 Taking the High Road

Whether they came from the High-
48 Do the Write Thing
Let your research live beyond you.
lands or the bonnie banks of Loch Put it all together with these tips for
Lomond, your Scottish ancestors writing your family history, plus a
left behind a trail of civil registration project organizing worksheet you’ll
records in their home country. refer to again and again.
ON THE COVER by Amanda Epperson by Diane Haddad
75 Best state sites 18
12 Time-saving tips 42
Write your family history 48
33 State Research Guides
Tips and resources for tracing your
54 The Great Unknowns
Search beyond basic records with
Scottish genealogy 27 ancestors in US states. these six little-known sources to
Preserve holiday heirlooms 14 ALABAMA 33 discover your immigrant ancestors’
by David A. Fryxell hometowns and life details.
COVER PHOTO: AL PARRISH
DESIGN: JULIE BARNETT OREGON 37 by Rich Venezia
by Diane Haddad
family t re emagaz ine.com 1

D E C E M B E R 2 018
14 everything’srelative 6
8 Family
Lisa’s Picks
history faves from the founder of Genealogy Gems, LLC.
by Lisa Louise Cooke
10 Timeline
Serving up the history of cookbooks.
by David A. Fryxell
12 Stories to Tell
Genealogy volunteers discover their own family history while
helping other researchers.
by Sunny Jane Morton
48 13 Your Turn
Preserve childhood memories by answering our family history prompt.
14 Family History Home

Expert tips on preserving holiday heirlooms.
by Denise May Levenick
treetips 61
62 Now What?
Discovering parents’ names and locating obituaries.
by David A. Fryxell
64 Photo Detective
Identifying a family portrait, starting with a date.
by Maureen A. Taylor
66 Tech Toolkit
by Sunny Jane Morton
Ellis Island site adds records, RootsTech
goes to London, and more 66
How to photograph an heirloom 68 IN EVERY ISSUE
Out on a Limb 3
Roundup: international archives 69
Tree Talk 4
64 Website: New York passenger search 70

DNA Q&A: Y-DNA by Diahan Southard 71
The Rest is History 72
Family Tree Magazine (ISSN 1529-0298) is published seven times per year: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September, October/November and December by F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company,
10151 Carver Road, Suite 300, Cincinnati, OH 45242; telephone (513) 531-2690. Copyright ©2018 F+W Media, Inc., Vol. 19, No. 7, December 2018. Subscription rates: one year, $36. Canadian subscriptions add $8 per year,
other foreign subscriptions add $10 per year for surface mail or $35 per year for air mail and remit in US funds. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Family Tree Magazine, Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32141; return
undeliverable Canadian addresses to Box 1632, Windsor, Ontario N9A 7C9. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio and additional mailing offices. Produced and printed in the USA.
2 FA M I LY T R E E M AG A Z I N E D E CE M B E R 2 018
out on a limb
DECEMBER 2018 / VOLUME 19, ISSUE 7
Group Publisher Allison Dolan

Publisher Patty Craft
Editor Diane Haddad
Art Director Julie Barnett
Editor/Content Producer Andrew Koch In each December issue
Instructional Designer Vanessa Wieland of Family Tree Magazine, we recognize
Online Content Director Ashlee Peck state- and locally focused genealogy web-
Web Producer Rachel Fountain sites. They’re the sources—often, free—of
Contributing Editors Lisa A. Alzo, Rick Crume, goodies like digitized records, maps,
David A. Fryxell, Nancy Hendrickson,
Sunny Jane Morton, Maureen A. Taylor
photos of people and places, and tried-
and-true how-tos from folks researching
F+W, A CONTENT + ECOMMERCE COMPANY the same towns and families as you. It’s
CEO Gregory J. Osberg like getting an unexpected gift.
CFO Kenneth Kharbanda Among the treasures I’ve found on
SVP, General Manager F+W Fine Art, Writing, Outdoors such sites are:
and Small Business Group Ray Chelstowski the name of the village one of my
Managing Director, F+W International James Woollam
immigrant ancestors came from, in a list
VP, General Counsel Robert Sporn
of founders of a local German club
VP, Human Resources, Customer Service
an image of a 1910 Minor League
and Trade Gigi Healy
VP, Product Management Pat Fitzgerald baseball card for my third-great uncle,
Newsstand Sales Scott Hill, scott.hill@procirc.com a catcher for the Richmond Pioneers
VP, Advertising Sales Kevin D. Smith many newspaper articles about
Advertising Sales Representative Tim Baldwin my father-in-law’s family in upstate

Advertising Services Assistant Connie Kostrzewa New York
lots of city birth and death records,
Family Tree Magazine, published in the United States, kept before statewide records began
is not affiliated with the British Family Tree Magazine,
with Family Tree Maker software or with Family Tree DNA. the whereabouts of records includ-
EDITORIAL OFFICES: ing penitentiary registers naming my

10151 Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash, OH 45242,
ftmedit@fwmedia.com.
bootlegger ancestor, hospital registers for
ADVERTISING:
another ancestor, and a meaty court file
Tim Baldwin, (248) 837-9293, on my third-great-grandparents’ divorce
tim.baldwin@fwmedia.com.
A little of this stuf is now available on
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:
U.S.: (888) 403-9002; international: (386) 246-3364; big genealogy sites that cover all of the
familytree@emailcustomerservice.com, United States and beyond, but most of it
<www.familytreemagazine.com/contact>.
Single copies, back issues, books and supplies:
is still only where I first found it online.
<familytreemagazine.com/store>. I encourage you to start with our 75 Best
NEWSSTAND AND INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION:
State Sites listing (page 18) and explore
Curtis Circulation Co., (201) 634-7400. the websites of state archives, libraries
PRIVACY PROMISE: Occasionally we make portions of our and historical societies, as well as their
customer list available to other companies so they may
contact you about products and services that may be of county counterparts, covering the places
interest to you. If you prefer we withhold your name, simply
send a note with the magazine name to: List Manager, F+W,
where your ancestors lived. They’re gene-
A Content + eCommerce Company, 10151 Carver Road, Suite alogy gifts that keep giving.
300, Blue Ash, OH 45242.
Copyright © 2018 F+W Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Family
Tree Magazine is a registered trademark of F+W Media, Inc.

Visit the Genealogy Insider blog at <bit.ly/
2xVo0w2> to read how I found my third-great-
grandparents’ 1880s divorce records.

TREE TALK
Readers’ favorite family finds I donate my research
skills as an auction
I RESEARCHED A FRIEND’S French-Canadian
line, using the fantastic records available. I took item to my favorite
her back to the founding families of Quebec in local animal charity
the 1600s. Great fun. Now if I could find just one
of them in my own tree, I’d be thrilled! I learned each year. It’s been
a lot of history I didn’t know before, too. so rewarding to help
Peg Osborne Eddy
people learn about
their families.
We found the plat map that Kathleen Mcquillan-Hofmann
showed where an ancestor had

land near Holy Hill, Wis. My mom
and I have stood on that land. AS A GENEALOGIST AND A STORY TELLER, I’ve
been telling family stories to my daughter and
Kristine Henry
her son for years. Three years ago we moved
to a small town. My grandson, who is shy, used
those stories to help make new friends. Appar-
ently no one else had family stories to share, and
they thought he was a wizard for knowing so
[I did genealogy] for a friend’s
much family history. The entire high school now
cousin’s father-in-law, who was knows the “Wizard.”
turning 80. He didn’t know his Raelene Crotser
father’s family. I found royalty

I’ve helped a number of friends trace their
way back in the 1600s. They
ancestors, and had much better luck with theirs
gave the information to him as than mine. One had seven ancestors on the May-
a birthday present, with a crown. flower, one had an ancestor at the Alamo, and
LaVonne Fields Hallberg
one was descended from Daniel Boone.
Lindy Sheehan
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!
<www.facebook.com/
Our members-only online
familytreemagazine>
library of genealogy instruction
SHOP <familytreemagazine.com/
Genealogy books, how-to videos and online subscribe> @FamilyTreeMag
classes <familytreemagazine.com/store> PREMIUM
Family Tree Magazine
Genealogy advice from host The best of everything: a Family
Lisa Louise Cooke and VIP Tree Magazine print subscription, @familytreemag
expert guests iTunes / Premium membership and Family
<familytreemagazine. Tree Shop discount <family
PODCAST com/podcasts> treemagazine.com/subscribe>
$'9(57,6(0(17
Leading Acid Reflux

Pill Becomes an Anti-
Aging Phenomenon
Clinical studies show breakthrough acid reflux treatment also
helps maintain vital health and helps protect users from the
serious conditions that accompany aging such as fatigue and
poor cardiovascular health
E\ 'DYLG :D[PDQ GLVFRPIRUW DQG EHWWHU VOHHS 6RPH HYHQ $FFRUGLQJ WR 'U /HDO DQG VHYHUDO RI KHU
6HDWWOH :DVKLQJWRQ UHSRUWHG KHDOWKLHU ORRNLQJ VNLQ KDLU DQG FROOHDJXHV LPSURYLQJ WKH S+ EDODQFH RI \RXU
$ FOLQLFDO VWXG\ RQ D OHDGLQJ DFLG UHÀX[ QDLOV VWRPDFK DQG UHVWRULQJ JXW KHDOWK LV WKH NH\ WR
SLOO VKRZV WKDW LWV NH\ LQJUHGLHQW UHOLHYHV $ KHDOWK\ JXW LV WKH NH\ WR D UHGXFLQJ UHYLWDOL]LQJ \RXU HQWLUH ERG\
GLJHVWLYH V\PSWRPV ZKLOH VXSSUHVVLQJ WKH VZHOOLQJ DQG LQÀDPPDWLRQ WKDW FDQ ZUHDN :KHQ \RXU GLJHVWLYH V\VWHP LVQ¶W
LQÀDPPDWLRQ WKDW FRQWULEXWHV WR SUHPDWXUH KDYRF RQ WKH KXPDQ ERG\ 'RFWRUV VD\ WKLV KHDOWK\ LW FDXVHV XQZDQWHG VWUHVV RQ \RXU
DJLQJ LQ PHQ DQG ZRPHQ LV ZK\ $ORH&XUH ZRUNV RQ VR PDQ\ DVSHFWV LPPXQH V\VWHP ZKLFK UHVXOWV LQ LQÀDPPD
$QG LI FRQVXPHU VDOHV DUH DQ\ LQGLFD RI \RXU KHDOWK WLRQ LQ WKH UHVW RI WKH ERG\
WLRQ RI D SURGXFW¶V H൵HFWLYHQHVV WKLV µDFLG $ORH&XUH¶V DFWLYH LQJUHGLHQW LV PDGH 7KH UHFRPPHQGHG GDLO\ DOORZDQFH RI
UHÀX[ SLOO WXUQHG DQWLDJLQJ SKHQRPHQRQ¶ IURP WKH KHDOLQJ FRPSRXQG IRXQG LQ $ORH DFHPDQQDQ LQ $ORH&XUH KDV EHHQ SURYHQ WR
LV QRWKLQJ VKRUW RI D PLUDFOH YHUD ,W LV ERWK VDIH DQG KHDOWK\ 7KHUH DUH VXSSRUW GLJHVWLYH KHDOWK DQG FDOP SDLQIXO
6ROG XQGHU WKH EUDQG QDPH $ORH&XUH LW DOVR QR NQRZQ VLGH H൵HFWV LQÀDPPDWLRQ ZLWKRXW VLGH H൵HFWV RU GUXJV
ZDV DOUHDG\ EDFNHG E\ FOLQLFDO GDWD GRFX 6FLHQWLVWV EHOLHYH WKDW LW KHOSV LPSURYH 7KLV ZRXOG H[SODLQ ZK\ VR PDQ\ XV
PHQWLQJ LWV DELOLW\ WR SURYLGH DOO GD\ DQG GLJHVWLYH DQG LPPXQH KHDOWK E\ DFWLQJ DV HUV DUH H[SHULHQFLQJ LPSUHVVLYH UHVXOWV VR
QLJKW UHOLHI IURP KHDUWEXUQ DFLG UHÀX[ D QDWXUDO DFLGEX൵HU WKDW LPSURYHV WKH S+ TXLFNO\
FRQVWLSDWLRQ LUULWDEOH ERZHO JDV EORDWLQJ EDODQFH RI \RXU VWRPDFK
DQG PRUH 5HVHDUFK KDV VKRZQ WKDW WKLV DFLG LPEDO REVITALIZE YOUR ENTIRE BODY
%XW VRRQ GRFWRUV VWDUWHG UHSRUWLQJ VRPH DQFH FRQWULEXWHV WR SDLQIXO LQÀDPPDWLRQ :LWK GDLO\ XVH $ORH&XUH KHOSV XVHUV
LQFUHGLEOH UHVXOWV« WKURXJKRXW \RXU HQWLUH ERG\ DQG LV ZK\ $O ORRN DQG IHHO GHFDGHV \RXQJHU DQG GHIHQG
³:LWK $ORH&XUH P\ SDWLHQWV VWDUWHG UH RH&XUH VHHPV WR EH VR H൵HFWLYH DJDLQVW VRPH RI WKH SDLQIXO LQÀDPPDWLRQ
SRUWLQJ OHVV MRLQW SDLQ PRUH HQHUJ\ EHWWHU EXCITING RESULTS FROM WKDW DFFRPSDQLHV DJLQJ DQG FDQ PDNH OLIH
VOHHS VWURQJHU LPPXQH V\VWHPV« HYHQ OHVV KDUG
VWUHVV DQG EHWWHU VNLQ KDLU DQG QDLOV´ H[ PATIENTS %\ EX൵HULQJ VWRPDFK DFLG DQG UHVWRULQJ
SODLQV 'U /L]D /HDO D OHDGLQJ LQWHJUDWLYH 7R GDWH RYHU PLOOLRQ ERWWOHV RI $ORH JXW KHDOWK $ORH&XUH FDOPV SDLQIXO LQÀDP
KHDOWK VSHFLDOLVW DQG FRPSDQ\ VSRNHVSHU &XUH KDYH EHHQ VROG DQG WKH FRPPXQLW\ PDWLRQ DQG ZLOO KHOS LPSURYH GLJHVWLRQ«
VRQ VHHNLQJ QRQSKDUPD WKHUDS\ IRU WKHLU *, VRRWKH DFKLQJ MRLQWV« UHGXFH WKH DSSHDU
$ORH&XUH FRQWDLQV DQ DFWLYH LQJUHGLHQW KHDOWK FRQWLQXHV WR JURZ DQFH RI ZULQNOHV DQG KHOS UHVWRUH KDLU DQG
WKDW KHOSV LPSURYH GLJHVWLRQ E\ DFWLQJ DV $FFRUGLQJ WR 'U /HDO KHU SDWLHQWV DUH QDLOV « PDQDJH FKROHVWHURO DQG R[LGDWLYH
D QDWXUDO DFLGEX൵HU WKDW LPSURYHV WKH S+ DEVROXWHO\ WKULOOHG ZLWK WKHLU UHVXOWV DQG DUH VWUHVV« DQG LPSURYH VOHHS DQG EUDLQ IXQF
EDODQFH RI \RXU VWRPDFK RIWHQ VKRFNHG E\ KRZ IDVW LW ZRUNV WLRQ« ZLWKRXW VLGH H൵HFWV RU H[SHQVH
6FLHQWLVWV QRZ EHOLHYH WKDW WKLV DFLG LP ³)RU WKH ¿UVW WLPH LQ \HDUV WKH\ DUH IUHH 5HDGHUV FDQ QRZ UHFODLP WKHLU HQHUJ\
EDODQFH LV ZKDW FRQWULEXWHV WR SDLQIXO LQ IURP FRQFHUQV DERXW WKHLU GLJHVWLRQ DQG YLWDOLW\ DQG \RXWK UHJDUGOHVV RI DJH RU FXU
ÀDPPDWLRQ WKURXJKRXW WKH UHVW RI WKH ERG\ DOPRVW HYHU\ RWKHU DVSHFW RI WKHLU KHDOWK´
7KH GDLO\ DOORZDQFH RI $ORH&XUH KDV VD\V 'U /HDO ³DQG , UHFRPPHQG LW WR HY UHQW OHYHO RI KHDOWK
VKRZQ WR FDOP WKLV LQÀDPPDWLRQ ZKLFK LV HU\RQH ZKR ZDQWV WR LPSURYH *, KHDOWK 2QH$ORH&XUH&DSVXOH'DLO\
ZK\ $ORH&XUH LV VR H൵HFWLYH ZLWKRXW UHVRUWLQJ WR GUXJV VXUJHU\ RU 27& +HOSV(QG'LJHVWLRQ1LJKWPDUHV
5HOLHYLQJ RWKHU VWUHVVIXO V\PSWRPV UH PHGLFDWLRQV´ +HOSV&DOP3DLQIXO,QÀDPPDWLRQ
ODWHG WR *, KHDOWK OLNH SDLQ EORDWLQJ ID ³, ZDV DOZD\V LQ µLQGLJHVWLRQ KHOO¶ 'RF 6RRWKHV6WL൵ $FKLQJ-RLQWV
WLJXH FUDPSLQJ FRQVWLSDWLRQ GLDUUKHD WRUV SXW PH RQ DOO VRUWV RI DQWDFLG UHPHGLHV 5HGXFHVDSSHDUDQFHRI:ULQNOHV
KHDUWEXUQ DQG QDXVHD 1RWKLQJ ZRUNHG 'U /HDO UHFRPPHQGHG , ,QFUHDVHV(ODVWLFLW\
1RZ EDFNHG ZLWK QHZ FOLQLFDO VWXGLHV WU\ $ORH&XUH $QG VRPHWKLQJ UHPDUNDEOH 0DQDJHV&KROHVWHURO 2[LGDWLYH6WUHVV
$ORH&XUH LV EHLQJ UHFRPPHQGHG E\ GRF KDSSHQHG« 1RW RQO\ ZHUH DOO WKH LVVXHV 6XSSRUWV+HDOWK\,PPXQH6\VWHP
WRUV HYHU\ZKHUH WR KHOS LPSURYH GLJHVWLRQ , KDG ZLWK P\ VWRPDFK JRQH FRPSOHWHO\ ,PSURYHV6OHHS %UDLQ)XQFWLRQ
FDOP SDLQIXO LQÀDPPDWLRQ VRRWKH MRLQW JRQH ± EXW , IHOW OHVV MRLQW SDLQ DQG , ZDV
SDLQ DQG HYHQ UHGXFH WKH DSSHDUDQFH RI DEOH WR DFWXDOO\ VOHHS WKURXJK WKH QLJKW´ HOW TO GET ALOECURE
ZULQNOHV ± KHOSLQJ SDWLHQWV WR ORRN DQG IHHO :LWK VR PXFK SRVLWLYH IHHGEDFN LW¶V 7KLV LV WKH R൶FLDO QDWLRQZLGH UHOHDVH RI
GHFDGHV \RXQJHU HDV\ WR VHH ZK\ WKH FRPPXQLW\ RI EHOLHY WKH QHZ $ORH&XUH SLOO LQ WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV
FIX YOUR GUT & FIGHT HUV LV JURZLQJ DQG VDOHV IRU WKH QHZ SLOO DUH $QG VR WKH FRPSDQ\ LV R൵HULQJ RXU UHDGHUV
VRDULQJ XS WR )5(( ERWWOHV ZLWK WKHLU RUGHU
INFLAMMATION
7KLV VSHFLDO JLYHDZD\ LV DYDLODEOH IRU
6LQFH KLWWLQJ WKH PDUNHW VDOHV IRU $ORH THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALOECURE WKH QH[W KRXUV RQO\ $OO \RX KDYH WR GR
&XUH KDYH WDNHQ R൵ DQG WKHUH DUH VRPH YHU\ $ORH&XUH LV D SLOO WKDW¶V WDNHQ MXVW RQFH LV FDOO 72//)5(( DQG
JRRG UHDVRQV ZK\ GDLO\ 7KH SLOO LV VPDOO (DV\ WR VZDOORZ SURYLGH WKH RSHUDWRU ZLWK WKH )UHH %RWWOH
7R VWDUW WKH FOLQLFDO VWXGLHV KDYH EHHQ 7KHUH DUH QR KDUPIXO VLGH H൵HFWV DQG LW $SSURYDO &RGH $& 7KH FRPSDQ\ ZLOO
LPSUHVVLYH 3DUWLFLSDQWV WDNLQJ WKH DFWLYH GRHV QRW UHTXLUH D SUHVFULSWLRQ GR WKH UHVW
LQJUHGLHQW LQ $ORH&XUH VDZ D VWXQQLQJ 7KH DFWLYH LQJUHGLHQW LV D UDUH $ORH 9HUD ,PSRUWDQW 'XH WR $ORH&XUH¶V UHFHQW PH
LPSURYHPHQW LQ GLJHVWLYH V\PSWRPV FRPSRQHQW NQRZQ DV DFHPDQQDQ GLD H[SRVXUH SKRQH OLQHV DUH RIWHQ EXV\ ,I
ZKLFK LQFOXGHV IDVW DQG ODVWLQJ UHOLHI IURP 0DGH IURP RI RUJDQLF $ORH 9HUD \RX FDOO DQG GR QRW LPPHGLDWHO\ JHW WKURXJK
UHÀX[ $ORH&XUH XVHV D SURSULHWDU\ SURFHVV WKDW UH SOHDVH EH SDWLHQW DQG FDOO EDFN 7KRVH ZKR
8VHUV DOVR H[SHULHQFHG KLJKHU HQHUJ\ VXOWV LQ WKH KLJKHVW TXDOLW\ PRVW ELRDYDLO PLVV WKH KRXU GHDGOLQH PD\ ORVH RXW RQ
OHYHOV DQG HQGXUDQFH UHOLHI IURP FKURQLF DEOH OHYHOV RI DFHPDQQDQ NQRZQ WR H[LVW WKLV IUHH ERWWOH R൵HU
THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY
DISEASE. ALL DOCTORS MENTIONED ARE REMUNERATED FOR THEIR SERVICES. ALL CLINICAL STUDIES ON ALOECURE’S ACTIVE INGREDIENT WERE INDEPENDENTLY CONDUCTED AND
WERE NOT SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN GLOBAL HEALTH GROUP.
everything’srelative
walk in the posada in Mexico, re-enacting Mary and Joseph’s journey to

©FITOPARDO.COM/ MOMENT/GETTY IMAGES
DID YOUR ANCESTORS

Bethlehem? Light the Menorah to celebrate eight miraculous days of light in Jerusalem’s temple?
Your young German relatives may have toed the line to avoid the horned demon-goat Krampus, and
left shoes on the doorstep for St. Nicholas to fill. Southern Italian families may still sit down to Esta
dei Sette Pesci (the Feast of the Seven Fishes) on Christmas Eve.
No time of year in America features such a wealth of traditions and customs as the holiday sea-
son. Our ancestors brought those customs from all over the world, and they spread and changed and
blended to create the holidays we know today. Find out which traditions your forebears followed—and
incorporate a few into your celebrations—at <familytreemagazine.com/premium/holiday-heritage>.
NE
N OR TH A MER I CA WP
ROD
#
1Sellin
Featuring our New Exclusive Shower Package
UC
T
Now you can finally have all of the

soothing benefits of a relaxing warm
bath, or enjoy a convenient refreshing
shower while seated or standing.
Introducing Safe Step Walk-In Tub’s
exclusive NEW Shower Package!
First and only walk-in tub available with
a customizable shower
Fixed rainfall shower head is adjustable
for your height and pivots to offer a
seated shower option
Durable frameless tempered glass
enclosure available
High-quality tub complete with a
comprehensive lifetime warranty on the
entire tub
Top-of-the-line installation and service,
all included at one low, affordable price
Now you can have the best of
both worlds–there isn’t a better,
more affordable walk-in tub,
that is made in the USA!
Call today and receive a

FREE SHOWER
PACKAGE! For your FREE information kit and
FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY our Senior Discounts, Call Today Toll-Free
Call Toll-Free 1-888-658-7857
1-888-658-7857
www.BuySafeStep.com FINANCING EI
N THE U.S.A
D
.
MA
With purchase of a new Safe Step Walk-In Tub. AVAILABLE

Not applicable with any previous walk-in tub purchase. WITH APPROVED
Offer available while supplies last. No cash value. CREDIT W IT E
Must present offer at time of purchase. H P RID
CSLB 983603 F13000002885 13HV08744300

everything’srelative L I S A’ S P I C K S
Hark the Heritage

Take time this month to share your family’s holiday traditions.
E Christmas Seals
I’ve loved Christmas seals
since fourth grade, and
my collection now covers
nearly every year since
the program began in
1907. Inspired by a fund-
raising campaign in Den-
mark, Emily Perkins Bis-
sell designed holiday seals
to sell for one penny each
at post oices. The funds
would fight tuberculosis,
then America’s leading
cause of death. Today,
the American Lung
Association also funds
lung cancer and asthma
research, still largely
thanks to Christmas Seals.
PEARL HARBOR PHOTO: REED KAESTNER/CORBIS / GETTY IMAGES PLUS; FIGGY PUDDING PHOTO: SARAH CHRISMAN,
AUTHOR OF THIS VICTORIAN LIFE; ALL OTHER IMAGES: LISA LOUISE COOKE
Lisa Louise Cooke
is the founder of the
E A Little Christmas
Genealogy Gems One of my favorite descriptions of Santa Claus
website and podcast is in the iconic book Little House on the Prairie.
<lisalouisecooke.
After crossing a swollen creek to deliver gifts
com>, and host of the
Family Tree Podcast from Santa, the fictional Mr. Edwards tells Mary
<familytreemagazine. and Laura Ingalls: “He swung up on his fine bay
com/podcasts>.
horse. Santa Claus rode well, for a man of his
weight and build. And he tucked his long, white
whiskers under his bandana.” Laura Ingalls
Wilder began writing the Little House books on
her beloved Rocky Ridge Farm <lauraingalls
wilderhome.com> in Mansfield, Mo. My visit
there several years ago was a bucket-list item
for this lifelong fan.
N App Obsession
I’m always looking for ways to give the gift of family
history. The Inkwork app for iOS made it easy to create a
family coloring book for my grandkids. I saved old photos
to Dropbox (any cloud storage app is fine). Simple images
work better than detailed ones. On my phone, I opened
Inkwork and imported an image. You can select from a
variety of styles (I used Comic) to turn photos into line
drawings. I saved the drawings back to Dropbox, then
printed and bound them.
N Retro Recipe
There’s a reason our ancestors sang, about
figgy pudding, “We won’t go until we get some!”
Whip up a batch with help from the Plymouth
Union Cook Book of 1894: “One pound of figs cut
fine, imported ones are best but dried domes-
tic ones will answer, one and a half pounds of
bread crumbs, one-half pound chopped suet
[you could use shortening], twelve ounces moist
sugar [brown sugar], a little nutmeg [1 tsp.], two
eggs, one teacup of milk. Mix all together and
N Getting the Records steam four hours.” See pudding prep in action at
The Dec. 7, 1941, raid on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor <youtu.be/lCBjcGbi9w0>.
resulted in a staggering loss of nearly 3,000 American
lives. Thirty-two years later, the military service records
of many who served that day and throughout the war W Podcast
were lost in a fire at the National Personnel Records Cen- Revisit the top genealogy
ter (NPRC) in St. Louis. I learned from Theresa Fitzger- stories and sources of 2018
ald, the center’s chief of archival operations, of the hun- with podcast host, Lisa
dreds of auxiliary files that can help you fill in the blanks. PODCAST Louise Cooke. Subscribe via
See <archives.gov/personnel-records-center> for details. your favorite podcast app.
E
Listen to Lisa’s interview with NPRC archivist
Theresa Fitzgerald in our free podcast <familytree
magazine.com/articles/genealogy_research_
strategies/adoption/dna-adoption-episode-122>.

everything’srelative TIMELINE
Cooking the Books

PEOPLE BEGAN COOKING long before they had cookbooks, of course.
Archeologists have found 300,000-year-old evidence of food cooked
on fires. Yet, the desire to preserve and share recipes ran deep among
our ancestors. The oldest surviving recipes are etched on Mesopo-
tamian stone tablets, dating to 1700 BCE. Chefs for kings collected
cookbooks, both to show of their culinary prowess and to record the
splendor of royal feasts.
As with so much else, the printing press democratized recipes.
Only the gentry could aford printed cookbooks in 1615, when Gervase
Markham published The English Housewife for ladies with estates to
supervise. But by the late 19th century, even common cooks could
consult tomes such as England’s 1847 Plain Cookery for the Working 1786
Classes. A few more technological and marketing leaps later, you have Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery is the irst
the launch of Food Network in 1993. cookbook to use ingredients easily found in
America, like corn, cranberries and pump-
kin. A lengthy subtitle explained her intent:
“The art of dressing viands, ish, poultry, and
vegetables, and the best modes of making
1st century AD pastes, pufs, pies, tarts, puddings, custards,
Marcus Gavius Apicius collects De re coquinaria (“On the subject of cooking”). and preserves, and all kinds of cakes, from the
The James Beard of the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37), Apicius is imperial plum to plain cake: Adapted to this
generally credited with compiling the earliest extant European cookbook; country, and all grades of life.”
his surname became synonymous with “book of recipes.” The surviving text
was most likely transcribed in the fourth or ifth century, and a printed edition
appeared in 1483.
| 70 |
1700 | ||
1800 ||
CORN: NICOOLAY/E+/GETTY IMAGES; BETTY CROCKER: HILDA TAYLOR, COURTESY OF GENERAL MILLS;
1390 Cookbooks for “common” readers
DIGITALVISION VECTORS/GETTY IMAGES; BEETON’S BOOK: WELLCOME LIBRARY, LONDON [CC BY 4.0
JULIA CHILD: LYNN GILBERT [CC BY-SA 4.0 <CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-SA/4.0>], WIKI-
MEDIA COMMONS; RICHARD II: WESTMINSTER ABBEY, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; GAME: ILBUSCA/
Richard II’s royal chefs offered tricks for making meat from
compile The Forme of domestic animals resemble game
Cury, the irst known
English cookbook
cooked for landed gentry. Coal, for
<CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0>], VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
(“cury” was any cooked example, could be used to darken a
food). Its nearly 200 pig’s bristles like those of a wild boar.
recipes include exotic
fare, such as roasted
peacock and porpoise
porridge, as well as
humbler meals suit-
able for servants. Like
most early cookbooks,
the recipes lacked
ingredient quantities.
1896
Fannie Farmer edits The Boston Cooking
School Cookbook. The school pioneered the
“domestic science” movement, relected
in the cookbook’s precise measurements 1950
and instructions. Farmer, who enrolled at The Washburn-Crosby
age 30, went on to head the school and Co. (now General Mills)
collect some 1,800 recipes in what became publishes Betty Crocker’s
“the Bible of American cookery.” But Picture Cook Book. The
publisher Little, Brown had so little faith in ictional Betty Crocker
the project that it made Farmer pay for the was created in 1921 to
irst printing. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, answer customer ques-
to which Farmer wisely retained copyright, tions; she irst appeared
sold 4 million copies in her lifetime. on soup mix in 1941 and
cake mix in 1947. Her
recipe collection went
on to sell more than 65
1845 million copies—more
Eliza Acton publishes Modern than the Bible that irst
Cookery for Private Families. year—and become the
Called “the best writer of rec- bestselling cookbook 1961
ipes in the English language,” of all time. Julia Child writes Mastering the Art of French Cook-
Acton was irst to include ing. With her cookbook and PBS television show,
now-standard elements: an launched in 1963, she showed Americans that
ingredients list, quantities, they, too, could tackle the world’s most elevated
and suggested cooking cuisine. With her friend James Beard, Child laid the
times. Her book became a groundwork for today’s multimedia recipe mania
classic guide to Victorian and superstar chefs such as Emeril Lagasse, Rachel
domesticity and remained in Ray and Ina Garten.
print for almost 70 years.
|
1900 | |
2000 |
1931
Irma S. Rombauer publishes Joy of Cooking.
Rombauer had no professional culinary creden-
tials and began gathering recipes only in her 50s.
1857-1861 With help from her husband’s former secretary,
Isabella Beeton serializes Rombauer developed the “action method” of
Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household recipe writing, incorporating the ingredients into
Management. Though only 25 years the directions. In 1936, she sold Joy of Cooking to
old, Beeton set the standard for Bobbs-Merrill, which published new editions until
Victorian housekeeping, from her death in 1962. Rombauer’s grandson coau-
childcare to animal husbandry. thored a 75th anniversary edition in 2006.
Most of the recipes were illustrated
with colored engravings. Beeton
followed Acton’s innovations with
a standardized recipe format that
David A. Fryxell is the founding
would look familiar today.
editor of Family Tree Magazine. He
now researches his tree from Tucson,
and had 300 cookbooks at last count.

everything’srelative STORIES TO TELL
Chance Discoveries
While volunteering to
digitize records, friends
Raelynn Klafke (right) and
Joy Rife kept coming across
their relatives’ names.
While digitizing records of other people’s ancestors,

genealogy volunteers stumble across their own.
aelynn Klake of Murphy, Texas, is a genealogist Klake says. Her fourth great-grandmother’s brother,
R whose retirement provides her with extra time.

Several years ago, she and Joy Rife, her friend of 40
years, called FamilySearch <www.familysearch.org> to
J.W. Vining, was Norton’s sherif—and he’d worked in an
oice right across the street from where Klake was run-
ning the FamilySearch camera.
ask how they could volunteer to help other researchers. “When I got there, I picked up this book and opened it
“The person who answered the phone was over record right to something about J.W. Vining. I grabbed another
LISA HERMAN, NORTON TELEGRAM (KS). USED WITH PERMISSION.
preservation camera capture,” recalls Klake. “He told set of pages, and there was his name again. I was like,
us about serving as camera operators, [and] we were con- ‘Ok, he knows I’m here.’”
vinced it was for us.” The pair flew to Melbourne, Aus- The serendipitous discoveries continued. “As we’d
tralia, and spent six months digitizing historical records. digitize, I’d come across a name and say, ‘Hey, isn’t this
“I love old documents and books,” Klake says. “It’s your family name?’ Then we’d go home and look up
such a powerful feeling, touching something that has those people to see how they fit into the family.”
been kept over many generations. I’m pretty convinced The friends’ next record imaging stop is at the Plaza
that if anyone ever digitized records, they wouldn’t want del Patriarca in Valencia, Spain. Klake doesn’t expect to
to do anything else.” find her family history there, but no matter. “If I can help
After another volunteer stint in Salt Lake City, Klake someone else find and feel that connection to their own
and Rife headed to Norton, Kansas. “Joy was born and ancestors … what a privilege.”
raised in Kansas, and I knew I had ancestors there, too,” Sunny Jane Morton
YOUR TURN everything'srelative
WRITE THIS
Who was your best childhood friend?
How did you meet? Do you still know this person?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
In each issue, Your Turn ofers a memory prompt to help you preserve your family’s
unique stories. Tear out and save your responses in a notebook, or use our downloadable
type-and-save PDF <familytreemagazine.com/freebie/your-turn>. We’d love to hear your
responses, too! Send them to ftmedit@fwmedia.com with “Your Turn” as a subject, and we
might feature them in the magazine or on Facebook to inspire other genealogists.
f il t em g z
ema .co
co
om 13
everything’srelative FA M I LY H I S T O R Y H O M E
Preserving Holiday Heirlooms

1 Plan ahead. When you’re unpacking 2 Location matters. Although you might 3 Preserve memories. Bread-dough
holiday décor is the best time to think store lights and garlands in the garage or snowmen and pasta angels are doomed to
about storing your decorations post- basement, those aren’t the best spots for early demise as the food decays. Cross-stitch,
festivities. Note storage boxes needing treasured heirlooms. Summer heat, winter porcelain or vintage glass baubles are likelier
replacement so you can take advantage cold, moisture, pests and other hazards can to survive the ages. Any item will have bet-
of holiday sales on archival supplies, and turn paper and fabric decorations brittle and ter longevity if carefully wrapped in white,
plan to give away any extra or unsenti- cause glass to fade and oxidize. If storage acid-free tissue and stored in a clean, dry
mental decorations. space is limited, separate special items, container, such as a divided ornament stor-
like menorahs, crèches and handmade age box. Inexpensive plastic bins are a good
ornaments, to keep inside your home. choice as well. Store boxes of the ground,
away from sources of moisture.
Denise May
Levenick
aka The Family
Curator <www.the
familycurator.com>
is the author of
How to Archive
Family Keepsakes
(Family Tree Books).
AL PARRISH
4 Say no to newspaper. Don’t store 5 Secure Santa. Individually wrap holiday
treasures wrapped in newspaper. Not only igurines in white, acid-free tissue paper and
is the cheap newsprint paper highly acidic place inside a sturdy plastic or cardboard
and damaging to things it touches, but it also box. Cushion the space between items with
loses its cushioning properties as it degrades. polyester batting.
The ink rubs of, too. Instead, use acid-free
white tissue paper, such as Gaylord Archival 6 Salvage broken memories. Are you
Acid-free Tissue <www.gaylord.com>, or hanging onto beloved glass ornaments
polyester craft batting from a fabric store. that are chipped or broken? Arrange them in the shop
together in a bowl with the damaged parts Save the stories of
hidden. Add tinsel or silver garland for extra holiday heirlooms with
printable Ornament
sparkle, and display the bowl where it’ll Provenance Cards
catch the light. <familytreemag
azine.com/store/
ornament-provenance-
7 Look after linens. Store linens and
cards-download>.
Christmas stockings in a clean, dry location,
preferably inside your home. Wrap stockings
in white acid-free tissue paper, and place in
an acid-free box or tissue-lined drawer. Don’t
wrap in plastic. Moisture can get trapped
inside and cause mildew and mold.
TECHNOLOGY SIMPLIFIED – BIGGER AND BETTER
Wow! A Simple to Use Computer

Designed Especially for Seniors!
Easy to read. Easy to see. Easy to use. Just plug it in!
NEW
Now comes with...
Larger 22-inch hi-resolution
screen – easier to see
16% more viewing area
Simple navigation – so you
never get lost
Intel® processor – lightning fast
Computer is in the monitor –
No bulky tower
Text to Speech translation –
it can even read your
emails to you!
U.S. Based Customer Service
FREE
Automatic
Software Updates
“I love this computer! It is easy to your fingertips. From the moment you took part? Call now, and you’ll
read and to use! I get photo updates you open the box, you’ll realize how find out why tens of thousands of
from my children and grandchildren different the WOW Computer is. The satisfied seniors are now enjoying
all the time.” components are all connected; all you their WOW Computers, emailing
– Janet F. do is plug it into an outlet and your their grandchildren, and experiencing
high-speed Internet connection. Then everything the Internet has to offer.
Have you ever said to yourself “I’d you’ll see the screen – it’s now 22 Call today!
love to get a computer, if only I inches. This is a completely new touch
could figure out how to use it.” Well, screen system, without the cluttered • Send & Receive Emails
you’re not alone. Computers were look of the normal computer screen. • Have video chats with family and friends
• Surf the Internet:
supposed to make our lives simpler, The “buttons” on the screen are easy
Get current weather and news
but they’ve gotten so complicated to see and easy to understand. All you • Play games Online:
that they are not worth the trouble. do is touch one of them, from the Hundreds to choose from!
With all of the “pointing and clicking” Web, Email, Calendar to Games– you
and “dragging and dropping” you’re name it… and a new screen opens Call now toll free and find out
lucky if you can figure out where you up. It’s so easy to use you won’t have how you can get the new
are. Plus, you are constantly worrying to ask your children or grandchildren WOW! Computer.
about viruses and freeze-ups. If this for help. Until now, the very people Mention promotional code 109882
sounds familiar, we have great news who could benefit most from E-mail for special introductory pricing.
for you. There is finally a computer and the Internet are the ones that
that’s designed for simplicity and ease have had the hardest time accessing 1-888-581-3882
of use. It’s the WOW Computer, it. Now, thanks to the WOW
and it was designed with you in mind. Computer, countless older Americans
This computer is easy-to-use, worry- are discovering the wonderful world
84101
free and literally puts the world at of the Internet every day. Isn’t it time © 2017 firstSTREET for Boomers and Beyond, Inc.
“PR ACTICALLY NO LIMIT has been put upon the
materials held suitable for preservation. The
history of Alabama and of her people and insti-
tutions cannot be understood and interpreted
aright save through the annals of the older States
branchingout
of the Union, and through the histories of those
nations who at varous [sic] times held sway over
her territory. Her civilization, her institutions,
and her people spring from the former and,
through them, still further back, from the
mother nations beyond the sea.”
Thomas McAdory Owen , first director of the

Alabama state archives, in The Establishment, Or-
ganization, Activities, and Aspirations of the Depart-
ment of Archives and History of the State of Alabama
(Brown Print Co.,1904). Established Feb. 27, 1901, the
Alabama archives was America’s first publicly fund-
ed, independent state archives.
JOHN COLETTI/ THE IMAGE BANK/GETTY IMAGES

CYBER STATES
BEST STATE
WEBSITES
2018
Discover your American ancestors in cyberspace! Search these

75 best websites—all of them free—for genealogy in US states.
by RICK CRUME
Every year, our hunt for the best state-focused websites for
genealogy turns up new databases and indexes, plus more of what we crave
most—digitized records, photographs, newspapers and books. This year’s list of
the 75 Best State Websites for genealogy has both old favorites and sites not in
last year’s listing. Some of the new entries—marked with a on these pages—
opened up previously untapped resources for my own family history research.
Searching the Maine State Library’s new Digital Maine Repository site, I found
digitized local newspaper items regarding my ancestors. The Indiana State
Library’s new Indiana Legacy site revealed dozens of references to my relatives
in obituaries, biographies and vital records.
And many of our favorite state sites keep expanding; they’re designated here
with EE. Since last year, the terrific California Digital Newspaper Collection has
added 5 million articles. Washington State’s Digital Archives grew by 5 million
records. The ambitious guy behind Old Fulton NY Post Cards has boosted that
site with 4 million more newspaper pages from New York and other states. Min-
ing these sites alone for new discoveries should keep me busy for a good long
time—and there’s a lot more where those came from.
All these sites are free and fun to browse. No matter where your family lived
in the United States, your family history is just waiting to be discovered in some
of these stellar state sites.
ALABAMA ARIZONA
AlabamaMosaic Arizona Genealogy Birth and

<www.alabamamosaic.org> Death Certiicates
Among the digitized records you’ll <genealogy.az.gov>
find from archives and libraries across You can search for births from 1855
the state are family histories, natural- to 1942 and deaths from 1870 to 1967,
ization records, school yearbooks and and view the original records online.
Civil War diaries and letters.
ALASKA
Arizona Memory Project
<azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital>
Search Arizona newspapers from
Alaska State Library 1859 to 1922, oral histories and land-
<library.alaska.gov> ownership maps.
Under the For the Public tab, select
“Vital Records of Alaska & Yukon” to ARKANSAS
browse an index to birth, christening,
marriage, divorce, anniversary and EE Arkansas State Archives
death listings in newspapers from <archives.arkansas.gov>
1898 to 1936. To search indexes to Select Digital Collections from the
biographies, obituaries and funeral Research tab to search Civil War dia-
cards, look under For the Public and ries, records of Japanese-American
select Collection Guides, Indexes & internment camps during World War
Educational Resources. Then click II, and other digitized records. Select
on an item under Indexes & Guides Search Records from the Research
(these large PDF files may open slow- tab to search indexes to county, mili-
AL PARRISH
ly). Use Ctrl-F in Windows to search tary, land and church records, plus
for a name in a document. maps, newspapers and manuscripts.

Every year, our hunt for the best state-focused
genealogy websites turns up more of what we crave most—
digitized records, photographs, newspapers and books.
EE ArkansasGravestones.org county birth and death registers, a DELAWARE

<arkansasgravestones.org> statewide divorce index from 1880
Search for a name in more than 1.1 to 1939, and will and probate records. Delaware Public Archives
million gravestone photos from all You can order copies of the original <archives.delaware.gov>
over the state. Sam Walton’s mod- records for a fee. Click on the Digital Archives link to
est gravestone is there, along with a access Civil War records, natural-
biography. Denver Public Library ization records, historical maps and
Genealogy, Western History and more. Click on Research and then on
CALIFORNIA African-American Resources Collections Gateway to search index-
<digital.denverlibrary.org/ es to bastardy bonds, death registers
EE California Digital cdm/genealogy> and probate records. You can order
Newspaper Collection A search of the genealogy collection copies of the records for a fee.
<cdnc.ucr.edu> here covers many resources, includ-
This site puts more than 22 million ing indexes to marriages, newspaper FLORIDA
articles (5 million more than last year) notices, military records, biogra-
in California newspapers dating from phies, obituaries, the 1885 Colorado Florida Memory
1846 to the present at your fingertips. state census, cemetery records and <www.floridamemory.com>
Place quotation marks around a name naturalization records. Click on the Collections tab to access
to search on an exact phrase. free databases from the State Library
CONNECTICUT & Archives of Florida, including
EE Calisphere Confederate pension applications,
<calisphere.org>
The University of California libraries,
Connecticut Digital Archive
<collections.ctdigitalarchive.org>
WWI service cards and Spanish land
grants. Click on the Photographs tab
along with other libraries, archives A collaborative efort of the Uni- to search an online collection of more
and museums throughout the state, versity of Connecticut Library and than 200,000 photographs.
have digitized more than 925,000 the Connecticut State Library, this
photographs, documents, letters, dia- site has digitized photos, books and GEORGIA
ries, oral histories and other items for manuscripts from libraries, historical
this site. That’s 175,000 more than societies and museums. EE Digital Library of Georgia
last year. <dlg.usg.edu>
Online Archive of California

Connecticut Index
<dunhamwilcox.net/0_ct-index.htm>
If your ancestors hailed from the
Peach State, you can cover a lot of
<www.oac.cdlib.org> This extensive collection of indexed ground at this recently redesigned
This site describes collections of dia- records includes cemetery, church, site that connects users to a half-
ries, letters, photos and other items in marriage and town records from million digitized items from more
more than 200 libraries, museums, across Connecticut. than 130 institutions and 100 govern-
historical societies and university ment agencies. A single search covers
archives across the Golden State. You Connecticut State Library digitized books, manuscripts, photo-
can view more than 220,000 digital Digital Collections graphs, newspapers and more.
images and documents. <cslib.cdmhost.com/digital>
Search and view 27 collections of EE Georgia Archives
COLORADO digitized books, diaries, photo- <www.georgiaarchives.org>
graphs, court records, witchcraft tri- Click on Virtual Vault at the right to
Colorado State Archives al records, newspapers, vital records search colonial wills, Confederate
<www.colorado.gov/pacific/ indexes and more. For research pension applications, death certifi-
archives/archives-search> guidance, look under Departments> cates from 1914 to 1930 and the Gen-
Archives Search scours millions of Access Services and then click His- eral Name File. Use the search box
entries in original sources, such as tory & Genealogy. to search across multiple collections
or click on the Advanced Search tab. probate, veterans and vital records. KANSAS
You can view digitized images of the Don’t rely on just the Global Database
original records for free. Search; search the individual data- Kansas Historical Society
bases, too. <www.kshs.org/18943>
HAWAII Two large indexes on this site will
INDIANA help you find your ancestors in the
Hawaii State Archives Sunflower State. The Kansas Names
<ags.hawaii.gov/archives>
Under Research Our Records, click
Indiana Digital Archives
<www.indianadigitalarchives.org>
Index covers the 1895 state census,
biographies, marriages, death notices
on Genealogy for research informa- This new website indexes more than and more. The Kansas Military Index
tion and Genealogical Indexes to 1.2 million historical records, includ- has records from the Civil War to the
search marriage, divorce, citizen- ing court, military and naturalization present. Select Photo Orders from the
ship and death records. You can order records, with veterans’ burials com- Research tab for instructions on how
copies of the records for a fee. Click ing soon. Some entries are linked to to order copies.
on Digital Collections to search vital digital images.
records, land records, passenger lists Kansas Memory
and WWI service records. You can
view these records online for free.
Indiana Legacy
<digital.statelib.lib.in.us/legacy>
<www.kansasmemory.org>
Digitized materials from the Kansas
This new site combines state library Historical Society include photos,
IDAHO databases with a collaborative state- letters, diaries, books, church records
wide database of local history and and interviews with WWII veterans.
Idaho State Historical Society: vital records, letting you search more
Searchable Indexes than 4 million references at once. You KENTUCKY
<history.idaho.gov/ also can use the Advanced Search
searchable-indexes> link to check only the types of records EE Kentucky Digital Library
Search for your ancestor in the Potato you want to search. <kdl.kyvl.org>
State with these indexes to natural- Search digital images of more than
ization records, Civil War veterans, Indiana State Library: a million items from the Bluegrass
pension records and state penitentia- Genealogy Collection State, including books, manuscripts,
ry inmates. Use the Idaho Biographi- <www.in.gov/library/genealogy.htm> newspapers, maps, oral histories and
cal Index to find names from local Click Online Resources in the site pictures. This site is under construc-
histories, periodicals and select index at the left and scroll down to tion—look for a new, even better ver-
newspapers. When you find a prom- Resources Provided by the Indiana sion coming soon.
ising reference, contact the Archives State Library to search indexes to
for more details. marriages, deaths, biographies and LOUISIANA
newspapers. We especially like the
ILLINOIS Indiana Memory search for its digi- EE Louisiana State Archives
tized images of county histories, oral <www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources/
Illinois Digital Archives histories, plat books, city directories, ResearchHistoricalRecords>
<www.idaillinois.org> photographs, newspapers, yearbooks Click on Locate Historical Records
Digital collections on this site come and more. Back on the state library to search indexes to death records
from the Illinois State Library and home page, you’ll find plenty of links (mostly 1804 to 1967), birth records
other Prairie State libraries. The to help for genealogists. (mostly 1790 to 1917) and Orleans
materials include oral histories, com-
munity history books, manuscripts, IOWA
letters, photographs and newspapers,
and you can search it all at once from EE The Iowa Heritage
the home page. Digital Collections
<www.iowaheritage.org>
Illinois State Archives: Databases Civil War diaries, county atlases,
<www.cyberdriveillinois.com/ biographies and high school year-
departments/archives/databases> books are just some of the digitized
This straightforward collection list- items you can view from dozens of
ing lets you find your Illinois ances- Iowa libraries, museums and histor-
tors in indexes to court, criminal, ical societies.
dating back to 1856, click on Digital
Newspapers, then Minnesota Digital
Newspaper Hub.
MISSISSIPPI
parish marriages (1831 to 1967). Oth- MASSACHUSETTS EE Mississippi Digital Library

er online databases cover passenger <www.msdiglib.org/search>
lists from January to July 1851 and EE Digital Commonwealth Libraries, colleges and historical and
Confederate pension applications. <www.digitalcommonwealth.org> genealogical societies contributed
Explore digitized photographs, old scrapbooks, letters, photographs,
MAINE maps, postcards, manuscripts, books books, oral histories and the large col-
and artifacts from historical insti- lection of family histories digitized
Digital Maine Repository tutions across the Bay State. Start
searching with a name, and then
on this site. Click Start Researching
Now to get started.
<digitalmaine.com>
The result of a partnership between choose Place from the All Fields pull-
the Maine State Library and librar- down menu to find resources about MISSOURI
ies, historical societies and museums towns and cities.
across the state, this site has digitized EE Missouri Digital Heritage
books, newspapers, church records, MICHIGAN <sos.mo.gov/mdh>
maps and manuscripts. Access more than 9 million death,
Seeking Michigan military, naturalization and oth-
Maine Genealogy <seekingmichigan.org>
Click on Discover to access more than
er records from around the state
through the main search form on
<www.mainegenealogy.net>
Christopher Dunham’s site brings a million digitized records, including this “75 Best State Sites” favorite. To
together many resources for Maine death records from 1897 to 1952, state search individual databases, click on
genealogists, including historical census records from 1827 to 1894, Browse Collections by Topic and then
records, links to key collections on Civil War service records, letters, dia- on Genealogy.
other websites and discussion forums. ries, photographs and plat maps. Click
on Advanced Search to select one or EE The State Historical Society
EE Maine Memory Network more collections to search. of Missouri Digital Collections
<www.mainememory.net> <digital.shsmo.org>
Developed and managed by the EE Western Michigan This website features a large newspa-
Maine Historical Society, this site Genealogical Society per collection, plus diaries, plat maps,
lets libraries and historical societies <data.wmgs.org> photographs, oral histories and Civil
upload digital copies of items from Search indexes to more than 2.75 mil- War letters. You’ll also find newslet-
their collections into this site’s data- lion marriages, deaths, obituaries and ters published by local historical and
base. The site has more than 45,000 other records—including 150,000 new genealogical societies, which are
historical items, including letters, records since last year—all for free. often full of inside research info.
photographs, maps, clothing and You can click to order copies of most
audio and video files. Individuals can records for just $5. MONTANA
also contribute their recollections to
My Maine Stories. MINNESOTA EE Montana Memory Project
<montanamemory.org>
MARYLAND EE Minnesota Historical Society Use the home page search box to find
<www.mnhs.org/research> a name in digitized newspapers, year-
EE Digital Maryland Click on Minnesota People Records books, prison records, photographs
<www.digitalmaryland.org> Search to search indexes to birth and more from archives across the
Items digitized from libraries, histor- records from 1900 to 1934 and death state. A video tutorial on the right
ical societies and museums around records from 1904 to 2001, as well as ofers search tips. Underneath the
the state include African American state census records, veterans’ graves search box, you also can opt to search
funeral programs, Civil War records, and the Gold Star Roll of Minnesotans additional digital repositories such as
diaries, oral history videos and slave who died while in military service the Mountain West Digital Library
lists. Click Collections to see the full during WWI. To search hundreds <mwdl.org> and Chronicling Ameri-
list with descriptions. of thousands of pages of newspapers ca <chroniclingamerica.loc.gov>.
9 SEARCH TIPS
for Hard-to-Search Genealogy Websites
You might be used to the multi-faceted searches and fancy algorithms of websites such as Ancestry <ancestry.
com>, MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com> and FamilySearch <www.familysearch.org>. But sometimes the
best brick wall-busting treasures are on free, volunteer-run or library websites that don’t enjoy the same invest-
ment as those bigger genealogy databases. With a little time and these nine tricks, though, you can unearth
hard-to-ind, free genealogy gems.
4 Check the original. A web-

site might have an index,
but no record images. Look for
7 Take care when using
photos. Many state-focused
memory websites feature col-
instructions to request a copy of lections from multiple libraries.
the original or to borrow the item If you want to use a photograph
through interlibrary loan (usually on your website or in a book,
for a small fee). You also might look for the name of the library
search online for the book title, that owns the original item and a
collection title or type of record contact link to ask permission.
1 Go exploring. Websites of
nonproit and volunteer-run
organizations are often added to
online, to see if it’s digitized on
another website.
8 Don’t limit your visit to
searchable databases.
over time by a changing crew of
people who may not be website-
building experts. This means you
5 Search without names.
Many old newspapers and
printed books are indexed with
The strength of many library and
genealogical society websites
is their local expertise—the tips
might ind pertinent information optical character recognition and resource recommendations
in unexpected places on the site. software, which can “misread” from folks with lots of experience
Watch for sections with labels words on a page. Try name researching in that place.
like Genealogy, Local History, variants and other terms associ-
Databases and Indexes, but ated with your ancestor (such
peruse other pages as well. as a street address, employer or
spouse’s name), or browse.
2 Search for name variants.

Many smaller websites don’t
automatically search for similar
name spellings, so you need to
do this manually. Be methodi-
cal about it: Make a list of all the
spellings you can think of, and
9 Research places, not
just names. A collection
may not be indexed by name,
then check of each one as you so focusing on items related to
run the search. your ancestral places could lead
3 Try a stem search. You

can save time by searching
6 Target records you want.
Explore the site for a collec-
tion listing with descriptions,
you to the records you need. And
learning about the neighbor-
hoods your family called home
for just the beginning part of a then search collections that best can tell you about their churches,
name. Mort, for example, would it your ancestor’s life. Or narrow schools, social organizations,
catch Morten, Mortenson, Mor- your focus to the time of your employers and more. You’ll add
ton, etc. Do a few test searches ancestor’s birth or death, and to your ancestors’ timelines—and
to make sure the site allows stem browse records covering that ind out about more records that
searching. time and place. could hold genealogy answers.
E
Libraries, archives, repositories—oh, my! Discover what
kinds of resources each one has at <familytreemagazine. EE New York Heritage
com/premium/library-repository-archives>. Digital Collections
<www.nyheritage.org>
The Empire State Library Network
NEBRASKA NEW JERSEY brings you this collection of books,
newspapers, photographs, letters,
History Nebraska EE New Jersey State Archives diaries, directories and maps from
more than 250 historical institutions.
<history.nebraska.gov> <nj.gov/state/archives/search.html>
The Nebraska State Historical Soci- In the center of the home page, click You’ll find many family Bible records,
ety’s new website has many resources on Searchable Databases and Records diaries and cemetery records.
for genealogists. To start, select Col- Request Forms to access indexes to
lections, then Research & Reference, marriage records from 1666 to 1799 EE Old Fulton NY Post Cards
then Research Resources & Databas- and 1848 to 1878, and indexes to <fultonhistory.com>
es. This lets you search the Atlases/ death records from 1848 to 1897. The Despite the name, Thomas Tryniski’s
Plat Books Name Index, Civil War searches cover more than a million website has digitized newspapers
Veterans, Prison Records 1870-1990 references to documents and photos. from all over New York, plus some
and other collections. from other states and Canada. Search
NEW MEXICO for a word or phrase anywhere in
NEVADA more than 43 million pages (that’s an
New Mexico Digital Collections addition of 4 million pages since last
Nevada State Library, <econtent.unm.edu> year) from 1795 to 2007.
Archives and Public Records: This site, hosted by the University
Digital Collections of New Mexico Libraries, gives you NORTH CAROLINA
<www.nsladigitalcollections.org> access to digitized manuscripts,
The Nevada State Digital Archives including handwritten genealogies, EE DigitalNC
has more than a half-million online as well as photographs, oral histories <www.digitalnc.org>
records, including territorial census and maps from New Mexico librar- With contributions from cultural
records from 1861 to 1864, state land ies and museums. The Newspapers heritage institutions across the state,
patents from 1865 to 2013 and records Database tells where copies are avail- this site—not just a top state geneal-
of prisoners and orphans. able and includes links to digitized ogy site, but also one of our 101 Best
versions of some titles. Websites overall—has digitized news-
NEW HAMPSHIRE papers, yearbooks, photographs, city
NEW YORK directories, genealogies, yearbooks
EE New Hampshire and more.
Genealogy & History EE German Genealogy Group
<www.nh.searchroots.com> <www.germangenealogygroup.com> EE North Carolina
This encyclopedic guide to New and Italian Genealogical Group Digital Collections
Hampshire genealogy and history <www.italiangen.org> <digital.ncdcr.gov>
includes old maps, photographs and We put these two sites together A joint project of the Tar Heel State’s
local histories. The site map is a great because the coordinated eforts archives and its state library, this site
starting point to what’s here. of their volunteers let you search has digitized Confederate pension
indexes to births, marriages, deaths, applications, naturalization records,
University of
New Hampshire Library
naturalizations and church records
(including those for non-German and
Bible records and newspapers back
to 1752. The Family Records collec-
<archive.org/details/University_ non-Italian ancestors) in New York tion groups together the most useful
of_New_Hampshire_Library> City and Long Island. records for family history.
The University of New Hamp-
shire Library has posted many New
Hampshire town histories and fami- tip
ly Bibles at the Internet Archive web- State archives and libraries are full of genealogy
site, where you can read them all for resources, some not available anywhere else. Pay a
free. To search just this collection, visit to the archives and library websites for every
type your terms in the search box on state where your family lived—whether or not
the left. Select Text Contents to do a those sites are listed here.
full text search.
NORTH DAKOTA PENNSYLVANIA across the state includes handwritten
family histories, high-school year-
EE Digital Horizons State Library of Pennsylvania books, oral histories, photographs
<digitalhorizonsonline.org> <www.statelibrary.pa.gov/ and family Bible records.
Town and county histories, photos GeneralPublic/Collections>
of homesteaders and oral interviews Click on Digital Collections to search SOUTH DAKOTA
conducted with Germans from Russia the Pennsylvania Genealogy Col-
are just a few of this site’s treasures lection, historical newspapers and EE South Dakota State
depicting life on the Northern Plains. Civil War regimental histories. To Historical Society
search the genealogy, local newspa- <history.sd.gov/archives/
OHIO per, Pennsylvania history and year- genealogists.aspx>
book collections, click on POWER Find your ancestors in the Mount
EE Ohio Memory Library> PA Photos and Documents. Rushmore State with the help of these
<www.ohiomemory.org> indexes to naturalization papers,
A collaborative project of the Ohio RHODE ISLAND cemetery records and biographies;
History Connection (the Buckeye a transcription of the 1885 census of
State archives) and the State Library Rhode Island Historical Civil War veterans; and more. Click
of Ohio, this collection includes items Cemetery Commission on Digital Archives to search old pho-
from more than 360 cultural heritage <www.rihistoriccemeteries.org> tographs, manuscripts and land sur-
institutions. You’ll find yearbooks, More than just an index to grave- vey records.
county atlases, photos of Civil War stones, this site includes dates of birth
oicers, more than 415,000 newspa- and death, names of family members TENNESSEE
per pages (that’s 100,000 more than and maps. Many entries include
last year) and much more. detailed descriptions and photos of Tennessee Virtual Archive
the gravestones. <teva.contentdm.oclc.org>
OKLAHOMA The Tennessee State Library and
SOUTH CAROLINA Archives has digitized historical
The University of Oklahoma records, photographs, documents,
Western History Collections EE South Carolina Department maps and other items to create this
<digital.libraries.ou.edu/ of Archives and History online collection. You’ll find Civil
homehistory.php> <archives.sc.gov> War records and soldiers’ photo-
Key collections on this site include Choose Research and Genealogy, graphs, family histories, family Bibles
Civil War soldiers’ personal narra- then Online Records Index to search and diaries.
tives, oral interviews with Oklaho- more than 300,000 items (many with
mans from the 1930s, and more than images), including Confederate sol- Volunteer Voices
200 manuscript collections about diers’ home and pension applications <digital.lib.utk.edu/
American Indians. (1909 to 1973), criminal court records, collections/volvoices>
state land-grant plats, legislative This site, a statewide efort by Ten-
OREGON papers, will transcripts (1782 to 1855) nessee historical organizations, has
and even 2,662 school insurance pho- digitized photos, letters, diaries, oral
Archival Records: Guides, tos (1935 to 1952). New here are 11,170 histories and artifacts in archives,
Records and Indexes Revolutionary War claim documents. libraries and museums across the
<sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/ To search them, click on the box to
records.aspx> “Show advanced search functions.”
An area’s early arrivals can be hard Select “Combined Index to Records
to trace, but this site’s Early Orego- Series, 1675-1929” as the record group
nians Database helps you document and “S108092: Accounts Audited of
your pre-statehood Oregon pioneers. Claims Growing Out of the Revolu-
The Historical County Records Guide tion” as the Series, then enter one or
includes county maps, histories and two names in the Individual boxes.
record inventories. The Oregon His-
torical Records Index lists 600,000 South Carolina Digital Library
names from county records, includ- <scmemory.org>
ing birth, marriage, death, divorce, This collection of 200,000 items
naturalization and probate records. from 40 cultural heritage institutions
family t re e magaz ine.com 25

in the shop
state. You’ll find many Civil War- indexes and transcriptions of various
Find guides, books
related items, including letters from records, including baptisms, mar- and webinars to help
soldiers, photographs of veterans and riages, deaths, naturalizations and in your US research at
pictures of relics. town records. <familytreemagazine.
com/store/us-state-
genealogy-guides>.
TEXAS VIRGINIA
EE The Portal to Texas History EE Library of Virginia

<texashistory.unt.edu> <www.lva.virginia.gov> 1967. Scroll down to Explore Archives
Libraries, archives, historical societ- Among the many useful indexes and and History and click the West Vir-
ies and genealogical societies from digitized documents on this site, ginia Memory Project link for index-
across the state have contributed don’t overlook the index to wills and es to Civil War records.
digitized books, maps and photos administrations up to 1800 at <www.
for this site. You’ll find college year- lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/opac/ WISCONSIN
books, church records, county histo- willsabout.htm>. The library has a
ries and newspapers dating from 1813 separate site for its digitized materi- EE Recollection Wisconsin
to recent years. als at Virginia Memory <www.virginia <recollectionwisconsin.org>
memory.com>. Select Collections by Historical resources from librar-
UTAH Topic from the Digital Collections ies, archives and historical societies
tab. Under Military Service you’ll across the state include county his-
EE Utah State Archives find Revolutionary War records and tories, diaries, genealogies, letters,
Name Indexes Confederate pension rolls. Under local history, manuscripts, marriage
<archives.utah.gov/research/indexes> Land Oice Patents & Grants you’ll records, newspapers, oral histories,
The state archives created this con- find digitized records back to the photographs, plat maps and year-
venient list of online records search- 17th century. books. Select Genealogy Resources
able by name. In addition to images from the Explore menu for help
of death certificates from 1904 to WASHINGTON searching.
1967 and birth certificates from 1905
to 1909, you can browse birth cer- EE Washington Rural Heritage EE Wisconsin Historical Society
tificates from 1910 to 1915 and search <wrh.statelib.lib.wa.us/cdm> <www.wisconsinhistory.org/
birth registers and other records Drawing on the collections of Wash- genealogy>
from several counties. ington’s small, rural libraries and This search covers more than 3 mil-
historical societies, this site has lion records, including indexes to
EE Utah State Cemeteries scrapbooks, oral interviews, old pho- birth, marriage and death records,
and Burials Database tographs and more. plus obituaries, biographies and pho-
<heritage.utah.gov/ tos. Scroll down the page for links
history/cemeteries> EE Washington State Archives: to other resources, including Civil
This database contains cemetery Digital Archives War records and local history and
records for about 600,000 people <digitalarchives.wa.gov> biography articles. This site ranks
who are buried in Utah. More buri- This terrific site has more than 71 mil- among the very best state websites
als are always being added, with lion searchable records online (five for genealogy.
information coming from both sex- million more than last year), includ-
ton’s records and gravestones. To ing birth, marriage, death, census, WYOMING
do a search, look under Cemeteries cemetery and naturalization records.
& Burials and click on the link for Wyoming Newspapers
Search (don’t use the search box at WEST VIRGINIA <newspapers.wyo.gov>
the upper right of the screen). You can search and view more than
EE West Virginia 800,000 newspaper pages here,
VERMONT Archives and History including all papers published in
<www.wvculture.org/history/ Wyoming between 1849 and 1922.
Vermont Historical Society archivesindex.aspx> The site even has some newspaper
<vermonthistory.org> Vital records databases here include titles up to 1989.
Under the Research tab, select Gene- digitized birth records from 1790 to
alogy and then Genealogy Indexes 1942, marriage records from 1780 to Contributing editor Rick Crume has found
& Lists for links to PDF files with 1971, and death records from 1753 to ancestors living in 23 states.
TAKING
the HIGH
ROAD
Whether they came from the Highlands or the bonnie banks

© PETER LOURENCO/MOMENT/GETTY IMAGES
of Loch Lomond, your Scottish ancestors left behind a trail

of civil registration records in their home country.
by AMANDA EPPERSON

Have Scottish roots? You’ll first need to identify your immigrant
ancestor and his network in US records—and learn when he arrived and the
name of his hometown in Scotland. But once you have that information, you can
turn your search to records in the home country. This is where you’ll discover
the people, places and events that marked your ancestor’s life in Scotland.
If your ancestor was in Scotland after 1855, start your search with statutory (or
civil) birth, marriage and death records. In this excerpt from my new book The
Family Tree Scottish Genealogy Guide <familytreemagazine.com/store/family-
tree-scottish-genealogy-guide>, we’ll explore the information contained in
these records, plus how you can acquire them from places like the Scotlands-
People Centre. Let’s take the high road to your roots.
Once you’ve identiied your

immigrant ancestor using
US records, you can turn
your search to records in
the home country.
HITTING THE RECORDS ROAD Children with unmarried parents are marked Until 1919, statu-
In the 19th century, Scotland’s lack of consistent as illegitimate until 1919. These entries have tory records desig-
birth records became problematic. It was diicult only the mother’s name, though the father could nated the child of
for lawyers to prove inheritance cases and for be included if he and the mother appeared at the unmarried parents
factories to show they weren’t hiring underage same time to register the child. as “illegitimate.”
employees. To remedy this, Parliament passed Marriages: Historically, Scotland rec- Only the mother
the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages ognized two kinds of marriages—regular and was named unless
(Scotland) Act in 1854. The law, which took efect irregular. Regular marriages fulfilled the stan- both parents
Jan. 1, 1855, made registration of births, marriag- dard requirements for a wedding ceremony that appeared to
es and deaths free and compulsory, while leveling was performed by a minister in front of two wit- register the birth,
fines for registering these events late. nesses, after the marriage banns had been read as David Hood’s did
These civil records supplemented the records for three consecutive Sundays in the home par- in 1868 in Riccarton
that parishes already kept, and civil registra- ishes of the bride and groom. Parish, Ayrshire.
tion district boundaries usually followed parish Irregular marriages required no minister,
boundaries. The earliest registrars in each dis- witnesses or banns. A couple simply consented
trict were the session clerks who worked under and agreed to be married. The couple still had to
the town council. Each registration district was provide evidence of this agreement, with at least
assigned a number, which also was tied to the two witnesses if the evidence was only oral.
parent parish. Having the session clerk embed- After 1855, couples pursuing an irregular mar-
ded in the community helped the government riage had to present their evidence to the sher-
ensure all events were recorded. A registrar in a if within three months. Over time, this type
small community would’ve been aware of most of marriage became unpopular. It was banned
births, marriages and deaths, so his records in England in 1754, but remained legal in Scot-
were more likely to be complete. Here’s what land until 1939. You can find some surviving
you can expect to find in each kind of record. registers of irregular marriages at the National
Births: By law, parents were required to Records of Scotland <www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
register the births of their children within 21 files//research/irregular-border-and-scottish-
days in the district where the birth occurred. runaway-marriages.pdf>.
SWEN_STROOP/ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
The birth register contains a host of valuable

information: name of the child; place, date and tip
time of birth; names of the parents; father’s Besides statutory registration, the Scot-
occupation; mother’s maiden name; and the landsPeople website also has church
place, month and year of the parents’ marriage registers, census returns, valuation rolls
(pointing you to marriage records and regis- and more. Search all records at once
ters). The informant was required to sign the with a Basic Search, or use the Advanced
registration form, potentially adding a member search to scour one collection at a time.
of your ancestor’s network you can research.

The statutory marriage record is quite infor- fact is useful, as it helps you to gauge the accura-
mative (see an example, opposite). It lists the cy of the information in the register. For exam-
names, ages and occupations of the bride and ple, the deceased’s adult child is more likely to
groom; their marital statuses (spinster, wid- know about the deceased than a landlord.
owed, etc.); the date and location of the mar- You can find civil registration records at two
riage; and the religious rites under which the major free-to-search websites, FamilySearch
ceremony was performed. You’ll also find the <www.familysearch.org> and ScotlandsPeople
names of their parents with the fathers’ occu- <www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk>. Both require
pations and mothers’ maiden names, the minis- you to register with the site. For the former
ter’s name, and the identities of two witnesses. option, you’ll need to either visit a local Family-
Deaths: Like births, deaths were to be reg- Search Center (keep reading for details) or do
istered in the district where the event occurred, some legwork to find microfilmed records. At
preferably by an informant who was present. ScotlandsPeople, you can pay to view original
Registration had to happen within eight days, records. It’s the only resource that gives you
in the shop and burial couldn’t take place until a death access to the statutory death records.
Get The Family Tree certificate was given to the funeral home. The
Scottish Genealogy death record (see one on page 32) includes the FINDING RECORDS AT FAMILYSEARCH
Guide at <bit.ly/ deceased’s name, gender, age and occupation. To view this site’s digitized collection of Scot-
Scottish-book>.
Also recorded are the deceased’s marital sta- tish births, marriages and deaths <www.family
tus and parents’ names, with mother’s maiden search.org/search/catalog/79310>, you must
name and father’s occupation. The name of a use the computers at a FamilySearch Center
spouse may be included, along with a cause of (find one near you at <www.familysearch.org/
death, which is helpful if you’re compiling a locations>). The collection has record images for
medical family history. select years—1855 to 1875, 1881 and 1891—as well
Informants for death records had to sign and as indexes for 1855 to 1956. These indexes were
identify the relationship to the deceased. This handwritten from 1855 to 1865 and printed from
Scottish Online Civil Records at a Glance

FamilySearch ScotlandsPeople Ancestry Findmypast
<www.familysearch.org> <www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk> <ancestry.com> <www.indmypast.com>
Indexes access from home (IGI births, 1855-2016 births, 1564-1950 births, 1564-1950
data, no RD* info): marriages, 1855-2016 marriages, marriages, 1561-1910
births, 1564-1950 deaths, 1855-2016 1561-1910 (no RD info)
marriages, 1561-1910 (includes RD info) (no RD info)
access at FamilySearch
Center (no RD info):
births, 1855-1956
*RD: registration district
marriages, 1855-1956
Register access at FamilySearch births, 1855-1917 n/a n/a

images Center: marriages, 1855-1942
births, 1855-1875, deaths, 1855-1965
1881, 1891
marriages, 1855-1875,
1881, 1891
Register n/a births, after 1917 n/a n/a
extracts marriages, after 1942
deaths, after 1965
Cost none (free site registration register image: 6 credits, at $34.99/month or $14.95/month or $129/
required) $13.75 for 40 credits $149/six months World year Essential British &
certiicates: about $15.50 Explorer subscription Irish subscription
1866 onward. Recordkeepers indexed males it on microfilm at the Family History Library in The 1891 statutory
and females separately (even if bound in the Salt Lake City, look up your parish/registration marriage record for
same volume), so you’ll need to look in diferent district on the alphabetical list, then find the David Hood and
sections to find the same family, and cross- county and years you need. Identify the roll of Elizabeth Hodge
reference the bride and groom in marriage microfilm that covers that place and time peri- Angus gives the
records. Index data include: od, then search for this microfilm number in the marriage place,
Birth and baptism: child’s name, date and FamilySearch online catalog. name of oiciant,
place of birth, gender and names of parents Find a PDF guide to registration districts bride’s and groom’s
Marriage: names of the couple and the date from the National Records of Scotland at <www. places of residence
and place of marriage nrscotland.gov.uk /f iles//research/statutor y- and occupations,
If you’re searching the FamilySearch web- registers/registration-district-guide.pdf>. It has plus the names of
site from home (or you subscribe to Ancestry an alphabetical listing of parishes, the county, witnesses and the
<ancestry.com> or Findmypast <www.find years of coverage, and the “old” and current couple’s parents.
mypast.com>), you can access two index-only registration district numbers (you’ll likely need
collections of Scottish registrations: Scotland only the old one).
Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, and Scotland Once you know the registration district num-
Marriages, 1561-1910. These indexes include ber and year you need, visit the FamilySearch
information that other researchers have sub- catalog’s Scotland, Civil Registration page
mitted to the International Genealogical Index <www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/79310>
(IGI). FamilySearch cautions that the data may to identify the right microfilm amongst the more
not be complete, and you should verify any than 4,200 rolls. At the top of the page is an
claims by searching original records. alphabetical listing of the parishes or districts
Neither index—the digitized printed version and their corresponding numbers. Scroll down
or the IGI data you can search from home—gives to the listing of microfilm rolls by birth, then
the registration district number or the entry marriages, then deaths. If you’re in a Family-
number. These are crucial details for accessing Search Center, click the camera icon to access
the actual record. Many FamilySearch citations the records. (At home, write down the microfilm
refer to microfilm No. 6035516, the Register of number, so you can easily search the catalog for
Births, Marriages and Deaths of Scotland <www. it next time you’re at a FamilySearch Center.)
familysearch.org/search/catalog/593463>. This
publication can help you identify the registra-
E
What’s a clan—and do you have one? Get
tion district number for the event location and answers on this important aspect of Scottish
the years held by FamilySearch. This source identity at <familytreemagazine.com/premium/
isn’t yet available digitally. But if you can access scottish-clans>.

Martha Clark’s MEETING SCOTLANDSPEOPLE The marriage index shows the names of the
April 4, 1913, death ScotlandsPeople is a government website oper- couple, their year of marriage, the RD and the
record names her ated by National Records of Scotland. The site’s reference number. Your search results for death
neighbor as the Statutory Registration collection has indexes records show the name of the deceased, age at
informant. The and record images (or extracts, for more-recent death, year of death, registration district and
record also gives records) from 1855 through 2016. Viewing index reference number. A married woman should be
the names of her information is free, but you must purchase indexed under both her birth name and married
husband and par- credits to see record images. Credits cost £7.50 names. If she married more than once, however,
ents, as well as the (about $10.50) for 30, or £10 (about $13.75) for she may not be indexed under all her married
time, place, cause 40. Unused credits expire in two years unless names. This double (or even more) indexing
and date of death. you buy more (see <www.scotlandspeople.gov. should help you locate your female ancestors
uk/content/our-charges> for details). You’ll in either the ScotlandsPeople database or the
pay separately for birth, marriage, death and printed indexes at FamilySearch. Some entries
divorce certificates; see <www.scotlandspeople. include the maiden name of the deceased’s
gov.uk/certificate-search>. mother, which can help you verify you have the
Access statutory registers on Scotlands- right record.
People from the Advanced Search page <www. Once you’ve found the index entry you want,
scotlandspeople.gov.uk/advanced-search>. The look for a blue box with the number of credits
birth index includes the name of the child, gen- needed to view the original register (six credits,
der and birth year. Note that parents’ names about $3). Downloaded images of original regis-
aren’t indexed here, so if you can’t determine ters include citation information.
whether a birth record is your ancestor’s, run For records that fall under privacy restrictions
the same search at FamilySearch, where results of 100 years for births, 75 years for marriages, or
include the name of the child’s parents. 50 years for deaths, the download link directs
You’ll also get the registration district name you to order a certificate of extracted informa-
(RD), and a reference number. The reference tion from the register (also available via the Cer-
number is the district number, plus the entry tificate Search page <www.scotlandspeople.gov.
number. For example, John MacDonald died in uk/certificate-search>). These cost £12; about
1889 in Moy, and his record has the reference $15.50. You also can order certificates for ear-
number 105/4. You would then look for regis- lier records, but you’ll want to view the original
tration district 105 for the year 1889, and John register whenever possible. Now, with your rel-
MacDonald would be the fourth entry. A refer- atives’ statutory records in hand, you’re on the
ence with more numbers indicates that the reg- high road to your Scottish ancestry.
istration district has been split. For example, the
Riccarton registration district was No. 611. In Scottish genealogy expert Amanda Epperson is the
1887 it was divided into two: Riccarton, 611/1; author of The Family Tree Scottish Genealogy Guide, avail-
and Hurlford, 611/2. able from Family Tree Books at <bit.ly/Scottish-book>.
STATE GUIDE
ALABAMA
by DAVID A. FRYXELL
IT’S HARD TO imagine Alabama was ever the US frontier. and 1816. Look for an index to these territorial censuses
But as Colonial America itched to expand, this was the on subscription site Ancestry <ancestry.com>. Alabama’s
“Old Southwest”: a rough country of pioneers, Indians and rapid growth led to its territory status in 1817 and then to
cheap land for those willing to pull up stakes from more- statehood in 1819.
civilized places such as Virginia and the Carolinas. From Parts of the 1820 and all subsequent federal censuses
1810 to 1820, “Alabama fever” took the population from survive for Alabama; search these on Ancestry or Family-
9,000 to 144,000. “There is no question that this fever is Search. ADAH has originals of several state censuses. Find
contagious,” warned a North Carolina congressman in indexes to the 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866 state head counts
1817, “for as soon as one neighbor visits another who has at Ancestry, and 1855 and 1866 at FamilySearch. Voter reg-
just returned from Alabama he immediately discovers the istrations for 1867 (which include black Alabamians) are
same symptoms which are exhibited by the one who has indexed at <archives.state.al.us/voterreg/search.cfm>.
seen alluring Alabama.” As Alabama’s population grew, its native peoples got
Others had previously discovered “alluring Alabama,” pushed out. After a succession of treaties and land grabs,
of course. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek most Alabama Indians were forced in the 1830s to migrate
tribes were already there when the French established to land that’s now Oklahoma, along what’s called the Trail
the first permanent white settlement in 1702, near today’s of Tears. If you have American Indian ancestors, the FHL
Mobile. Over the next century, Alabama would be variously has microfilm of several censuses of these tribes, includ-
claimed by France, England, Spain and ing 1831 Choctaw, 1832 Creeks, and
neighboring Georgia. In 1798, Con- FAST FACTS 1835 and 1851 Cherokee. Digitization
gress created Mississippi Territory, is ongoing, so check the free Family-
which included what’s now Alabama Statehood: 1819 Search website to see whether the cen-
along with Mississippi and Tennessee. First federal census: sus you need is online. You’ll also want
1830 to check the National Archives Bureau
CENSUS RECORDS Statewide birth and death of Indian Afairs records for Okla-
Colonial censuses of French settle- records begin: 1908 homa <archives.gov/research/native-
ments taken in 1706, 1721 and 1725 americans/bia-guide/oklahoma.html>
were published in the Deep South
Statewide marriage records
and the Oklahoma Historical Society’s
begin: 1936
Genealogical Quarterly (volume 1, American Indian Archives <www.
issues 1, 2 and 3), available at the Fami- Public-land state okhistory.org/research/indianarchive>.
ly History Library <www.familysearch. Counties: 67
org> (FHL) and other large genealogi- COUNTY AND LAND RECORDS
cal libraries. Spain also took several
Contact for vital records:
What really triggered “Alabama fever”
Alabama Center for Health
censuses of Mobile, available through Statistics, Box 5625, was the establishment of the first of 13
the FHL. The library also has various Montgomery, AL 36103, federal land oices in 1804. You can
censuses from the Mississippi territo- (334) 206-5418, <alabama trace how your ancestors gobbled up
rial period: 1801 and 1808 (Washington publichealth.gov/vitalrecords> Alabama land through the Bureau of
County), 1809 (Madison County), 1810 Land Management’s General Land

ALABAMA
T EN N E SSEE
Pickwick
Lake Lauderdale Limestone
Wilson Lake
Florence Athens
Madison Jackson
Sheffield Wheeler
Muscle Shoals Lake
Madison Huntsville
Colbert Scottsboro
Decatur Ten Guntersville

nes Lake
see
Hartselle R Fort Payne
Franklin Lawrence
Morgan Marshall Dekalb
Albertville
Cullman
Marion Cullman
Winston Lewis Smith Lake
Etowah
Gadsden Cherokee
Blount
Jasper
Calhoun
Jacksonville
Lamar Fayette Walker Saint Clair Cleburne
Jefferson Anniston
Trussville
Pell City Oxford
Birmingham Leeds
Fairfield Mountain Brook Talladega
Hueytown Vestavia Hills
Tuscaloosa Bessemer
Hoover
Talladega
Pickens Pelham
Clay
Northport Alabaster Randolph
Tuscaloosa Sylacauga
Shelby
Bibb Tallapoosa
Alexander City
Greene Martin Lake Chambers
Coosa
Hale Chilton
Perry Opelika
Elmore Auburn
Autauga Lee
Sumter Millbrook
Prattville Tuskegee Phenix City
Selma
Dallas Alabama R.
Macon
Montgomery Russell
Marengo
Montgomery
Choctaw Lowndes Bullock
R.
igbee
Wilcox Eufaula
Barbour
Tomb
Pike
Troy Walter F. George Res.
Butler Crenshaw
Clarke G EO RG IA
M ISSISSIPPI
Monroe
ochee R.
Coffee Dale Henry

.
aR
Washington Ozark
Chattaho
bam
Conecuh
Ala
Enterprise
Dothan
Escambia Covington
Geneva Houston
Baldwin
Mobile
FLO R IDA
Saraland
Prichard
Mobile
Daphne
Fairhope
t i mel i ne
1721 1802 1813-1814 1835 1846 1861
The Africane Georgia abandons Andrew Jackson Treaty of New Montgomery Alabama
arrives in Mobile its claims to is a prominent Echota leads to becomes the secedes from
harbor with more Alabama. figure in the the removal of state capital. the United States.
than 100 slaves. Creek Indian War. most Indian tribes.
ALABAMA
Between 1828 and 1965, 52 ires damaged

courthouses in 32 Alabama counties.
Oice records search <glorecords.blm.gov>; records begin are less complete for those who served the Confederacy),
in 1820. The Alabama Department of Archives and History as well as those in later wars. Search for indexes and digi-
(ADAH) <archives.state.al.us> has 550 ledger books of fed- tized versions at FamilySearch and Ancestry, or request
eral land transactions, and the FHL has microfilmed tract photocopies following the instructions at <archives.gov/
books—many browseable on FamilySearch—from 1785 to veterans>. Search indexes to both Confederate and Union
1935. For more on Alabama land records, see <alabama service records at FamilySearch.
genealogy.org/land>. Ancestry and Fold3 have digitized Confederate pensions
Alabama’s first seven counties, all originally part and Civil War muster rolls, and the ADAH and FHL have
of Mississippi Territory, were Washington, Madi- microfilmed versions. ADAH also has incomplete statewide
son, Baldwin, Clarke, Mobile, Monroe and Montgom- censuses of Confederate veterans in 1907, 1921 and 1927;
ery. Another 17 counties were established in 1818, and 11
more came from Creek Indian land in 1832. This began
a long and confusing habit of redrawing the state’s STATE HISTORY HIGHLIGHT
boundary lines and renaming counties, which compli-
cates figuring out which county your ancestor’s records
were created in. To sort it all out, see the county forma-
tion information at <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/
Alabama_County_Creation_Dates_and_Parent_Counties>.
Another challenge of researching genealogy in Ala-
bama’s counties is the tendency for their courthouses to
catch fire. Between 1828 and 1965, 52 fires damaged court-
houses in 32 counties. To see whether your ancestor’s
records may have gone up in smoke and to look for addi-
tional sources of local records, visit <archives.state.al.us/
localrecords/search.cfm>.
In 1806, Congress appropriated $6,400 to build the
CIVIL WAR AND OTHER MILITARY RECORDS Federal Road through Creek territory in Alabama.
Many of Alabama’s early arrivals were Revolutionary The 4-foot-wide, 1,100-mile postal road was a major
MONIQUERODRIGUEZ/ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
War veterans. To learn whether your ancestor was among thoroughfare for the western migration of settlers
them, try ADAH’s free online soldier database <archives. and slaves into the Old Southwest.
state.al.us/al_sldrs/~start.html>.
The Civil War remained a vivid memory for Alabam- In 1811, as tensions with Great Britain escalated, the
United States widened the path to 16 feet across,
ians, many of whom referred to it as “the War Between
capable of carrying wagons and soldiers.
the States.” The war produced as many records as it did
memories. Search for Alabama Confederates in ADAH’s Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins reported that 3,726
database of service cards <archives.state.al.us/civilwar/ Federal Road travelers went West past his agency
index.cfm>. The National Archives has compiled military between October 1811 and March 1812. The traffic
service records of soldiers in the Civil War (though records contributed to the Creek War of 1813.
1868 1871 1881 1955 1961 1974

Alabama rejoins Birmingham is Booker T. Rosa Parks stays Monroeville’s “Sweet Home
the Union. founded at the Washington in her seat, Harper Lee wins Alabama” by
crossing of two is the first sparking the the Pulitzer Lynyrd Skynyrd
rail lines. superintendent Montgomery Prize for To Kill a reaches No. 8 on
of the new bus boycott. Mockingbird. Billboard charts.
Tuskegee Institute.

ALABAMA
TOOLKIT
the first two are indexed at Ancestry. Learn more about
Websites Alabama Civil War resources at <www.familysearch.org/
1835 Cherokee East of the Mississippi Census wiki/en/Alabama_in_the_Civil_War>.
<accessgenealogy.com/native/ The end of the Civil War represents a new beginning for
1835-henderson-roll.htm> researchers of African-American ancestors. Search Freed-
men’s Bureau records, which document labor contracts
Alabama Genealogy <alabamagenealogy.org> with freedmen, rations, eforts to reunite families, mar-
Alabama USGenWeb Project riages during slavery, and more, at FamilySearch. Alabama
<usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm> had two branches of the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Co.
(Huntsville and Mobile). Find records online at Family-
Alabama Pioneers <www.alabamapioneers.com> Search, HeritageQuest Online and Ancestry. ADAH has a
Black Families of Alabama’s Black Belt guide to African-American records at <archives.alabama.
<www.prairiebluff.com/blackbelt> gov/research/ADAH-researchroom-AFAmgenealogy.pdf>.
Encyclopedia of Alabama <encyclopediaofalabama.org>

VITAL RECORDS
Like many Southern states, Alabama adopted statewide
Publications registration of vital records relatively late. Counties were
Alabama: The History of a Deep South State required to record births and deaths beginning in 1881.
by William Warren Rogers Sr., Leah Rawls Atkins et al. State-level registration began in 1908, though full com-
(University of Alabama Press) pliance happened only about 1925 for deaths and 1927
for births. The Center for Health Statistics keeps these
Early Settlers of Alabama: With Notes & Genealogies,
records, but they’re subject to a privacy period of 125 years
Parts 1 & 2 by James Edmonds Saunders (BiblioLife)
for births and 25 years for deaths. Only immediate family
Researching African American Genealogy in Alabama can order restricted birth certificates; grandchildren can
by Frazine Taylor (NewSouth Books) also order death certificates. Death records and index-
es covering 1908 to 1972, and birth records and indexes
Tracing Your Alabama Past by Robert Scott Davis
covering 1881 to 1930, are available on FamilySearch.
(University Press of Mississippi)
Most counties began keeping marriage records within 10
years of their creation. Request pre-1936 records from county
Archives & Organizations probate oices and later ones from the Center for Health Sta-
Alabama Department of Archives and History tistics. These aren’t restricted. Marriage records from 1809
Box 300100, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL to 1930 are also available on FamilySearch and Ancestry.
36130, (334) 242-4435, <archives.state.al.us> Search for Alabama newspapers in the ADAH collec-
Alabama Genealogical Society tions at <archives.state.al.us/newsmicro/search.cfm> (on
Samford University Library, 800 Lakeshore Drive, microfilm) and <archives.state.al.us/newshard/search.cfm>
Birmingham, AL 35229, <algensoc.org> (in hard copy). Useful obituary directories are at <usgw
archives.net/obits/al/obitsal.htm> and <ancestorhunt.com/
Alabama Indian Affairs Commission alabama_newspaper_obituaries.htm>. Search online obit-
771 S. Lawrence St., Suite 106, Montgomery, AL 36130, uary indexes at Ancestry and <bpldb.bplonline.org/db/
(334) 240-0998, <aiac.state.al.us> obituaries> (for Birmingham papers).
Birmingham Public Library Many Alabama tombstones have been transcribed as
2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203, far back as the early 1800s. Find the transcriptions in a
(205) 226-3600, <www.bham.lib.al.us> 44-microfilm collection of Daughters of the American
Revolution <dar.org> records and in the book series Ala-
Mobile Public Library Local History and Genealogy
bama Records by Pauline Jones Gandrud, both at the FHL
753 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602, (251) 208-7093,
and other major libraries. Alabama Records also has vital,
<mplonline.org/lhg.htm>
probate, church, Bible, tax and other records. Find a cem-
National Archives at Atlanta eteries guide at <raogk.org/cemetery-records/alabama>.
5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260, Despite its burned courthouses and other genealogical
(770) 968-2100, <archives.gov/atlanta> glitches, Alabama rewards the persistent researcher with a
wealth of lively history. Before long, you may find yourself
catching “Alabama fever,” too.
STATE GUIDE
OREGON
by DIANE HADDAD
A LIT TLE MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO , America’s most couples. Then, under the federal government’s Donation
famous explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Land Claim Act of 1850, citizens received real estate if they
led their Corps of Discovery to the place we now call Ore- agreed to live on and farm it for four years. The Homestead
gon. The land was sparsely inhabited by American Indians Act of 1862 added a $34 filing fee and a five-year residency
and a handful of European fur traders. Then the floodgates requirement with an option to purchase the property after
opened. Starting in the 1840s, at least 80,000—and some six months’ residence.
historians say it’s more like 200,000—hardy souls trekked Land claim records may provide the filer’s birth, mar-
the Oregon Trail looking for land, gold and opportunity riage, citizenship and migration details. The Genealogical
in the Beaver State. Most of the migrants ended up in its Forum of Oregon has online indexes to donation and pro-
northwestern corner, where the Willamette (pronounced visional land claims, linked at <gfo.org/resources/indexes/
“Wuh-LAM-et”) Valley’s fertile soil and mild climate all-indexes.html>. Microfilmed donation land claims are
nourished crops and cattle. at the National Archives and Records Administration’s
Settlers’ 1843 meetings to deal with wolves resulted (NARA) Pacific Region facility <archives.gov/seattle> in
in their first provisional government, and they received Seattle and the Family History Library (FHL) <www.family
oicial-territory status five years later. In 1859, when Con- search.org> in Salt Lake City (check the FHL online cata-
gress made Oregon the 33rd state, fewer than 1,500 of the log for Oregon and Washington Donation Land Files, 1851-
53,000 white residents lived in the arid region east of the 1903). Find earlier provisional land claims at the FHL and
Cascade Mountains. the state archives.
Americans still beat a path to Ore- The General Land Oice distrib-
gon, but the state remains mostly FAST FACTS uted the remaining land, and has
rural, with Portland and Eugene/ Statehood: 1859 searchable patents at <glorecords.blm.
Springfield as its largest cities. Before gov>. You can order copies of applica-
you embark on your research, arm
First federal census:
tions for land, called land entry case
1850
yourself with Connie Lenzen’s Oregon files, from NARA; see <archives.gov/
Guide to Genealogical Sources (Genea- Statewide birth and death research/land>. Land sales between
records begin: 1903
logical Forum of Oregon). Then visit private citizens were documented at
the state archives’ Archival Records Statewide marriage records county courthouses; some records are
web page <sos.oregon.gov/archives/ begin: 1906 on FHL microfilm and FamilySearch.
Pages/records.aspx> to see available Public-land state
records and search the Oregon Histori- RECORDS OF EARLY PIONEERS
cal Records Index. This database lists Counties: 36
Your 19th-century Oregon ancestors
matching records such as vital records, Contact for vital records: may be on record in a pioneer file. The
county probates and censuses. Center for Health Statistics, Oregon Genealogical Society, Oregon
Box 14050, Portland, OR 97293, Historical Society (OHS) and Genea-
(971) 673-1190, <oregon.gov/
LAND RECORDS logical Forum of Oregon (GFO) keep
oha/ph/birthdeathcertificates>
In 1843, Oregon’s provisional govern- registers of pre-1900 settlers and their
ment began giving free land to married descendants; see the Toolkit box for

OREGON
Clatsop Columbia WA SHIN G TO N .

nde R
Hermiston de Ro
a R. Umatilla Gran
Washington
Hillsboro P rtland Troutdale
Hood River Pendleton
Wallowa
City of
Forest Grove
Beaver on Gresham Multnomah the Dalles
Tillamook Yamhill T r
Milwaukie Morrow
L k Oswego
Tualatin Oregon City Gilliam
Newberg La Grande
Canby
McMinnville Woodburn
Union
Wasco
Keizer Clackamas
Dallas
Pacif ic Ocean
Polk Salem R.
Marion John Day
Baker
Lincoln Linn Jefferson Wheeler Grant
IDAH O
Corvallis Albany
ebanon
John Day R.
Benton
Redmond Crook
ringfield
.
Bend
tes R
Ontario
Eugene
chu
Des
R.
Deschutes
ur
lhe
Lane
Ma
Umpqua R.
Oxbow Res.
Douglas Malheur
Coos Bay
Malheur L.
Coos Roseburg
Klamath Lake
R.
Harney
ue
Rog
Ow
yhe
e R.
ue R.
Rog
Agency L.
Jackson
Grants Pass
Josephine Sprague R.
Central Point Upper Klamath L.
Curry Medford
Klamath Falls
Ashland
Goose L.
C ALIFO R NIA NE VADA
t i mel i ne
1765 1805 1811 1837 1846 1853
British Maj. Robert Lewis and Clark John Jacob Astor’s Oregon settlers The United States Oregon and Wash-
Rogers uses the Expedition mem- Pacific Fur Co. sets form their first and Great Britain ington territories
term Ouragon in bers set up their up trading posts cooperative ven- divide Oregon are separated.
a proposal to winter camp at along the lower ture, the Willamette Country at the
explore west of the Fort Clatsop. Columbia River. Cattle Co. 49th parallel.
Mississippi River.
OREGON
Starting in the 1840s, at least 80,000 hardy souls

trekked the Oregon Trail to the Beaver State.
web addresses. The Early Oregonians database includes <www.findmypast.com>. State censuses, taken every 10
residents before 1860 (link to it from <sos.oregon.gov/ years from 1865 to 1905, only partially survived: Check
archives/Pages/db-early-oregonians.aspx>). Oregon Trail <sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/aids-census_osa.
history and wagon train lists, diaries and biographies are aspx> for enumerated counties (a few are indexed there).
accessible from the Oregon-California Trails Association
<octa-trails.org>. MILITARY RECORDS
Oregon’s legislature formed the state’s first organized
.
ke R
VITAL RECORDS militia in 1847 to defend against attacking Cayuse Indians.

Sna
Oregon began statewide recording of births and deaths Visit the state archives for early service records from the
in 1903, marriages in 1906 and divorces in 1925. The city Indian Wars with the Cayuse (1847 to 1850), Rogue River
of Portland, however, kept birth and death records as (1855 to 1856), Modoc (1872 to 1873), Bannock (1878) and
early as 1862, and various records are available for births Umatilla (1878) tribes.
throughout the state from 1842 to 1903. Birth records have
a 100-year access restriction; marriage and death records
are restricted for 50 years. Accessible records are on FHL STATE HISTORY HIGHLIGHT
microfilm and at the state archives, and most are included
in the Oregon Historical Records Index. Find a list of all
available vital records from the state archives at <sos.ore
gon.gov/archives/Pages/records/aids-vital_listings.aspx>.
You can browse various county-level vital and other
records at the free FamilySearch <www.familysearch.org>
website. The Western States Marriage Record Index <abish.
byui.edu/specialcollections/westernstates/search.cfm>
lists thousands of mostly late-1800s marriage records from
17 Oregon counties. If you’re in Portland, peruse OHS’
Biography Card File of birth, marriage and death informa-
Pendleton Woolen Mills opened as a wool scouring
plant, and in 1896, began making patterned blankets
tion from early resources, including newspapers. incorporating local Indian motifs.
ROBERT ALEXANDER/ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES
STATE AND FEDERAL CENSUSES Thanks to unrestricted grasslands and new rail lines,
Eastern Oregon sheep ranches grew from 1 million
Oregon held provisional censuses almost annually begin-
sheep in 1880 to just more than 3 million in 1900.
ning in 1842; generally, they list just heads of household.
The FHL has indexes to the surviving portions of these After the mill failed in 1907, the town persuaded the
censuses, as do OHS and the state archives. Some are on Bishop brothers, whose family ran a successful mill
in Salem, to revive it. The sixth generation of
subscription genealogy site Ancestry <ancestry.com>.
Bishops now owns the mill.
The US government first enumerated Oregon (along with
Washington) in 1850, when it was still a territory. Federal The Bishops introduced square-cornered blankets.
census records are searchable on Ancestry, FamilySearch, Collectors especially prize the earlier, rounded-
corner Pendleton blankets.
MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com> and Findmypast
1855 1873 1912 1973 1990 2008

Superintendent of A fire burns 22 city Led by Portland Gov. Tom McCall The spotted owl’s New Carissa, a
Indian Affairs Joel blocks in Portland. suffragist Abigail signs the country’s threatened species freighter that ran
Palmer establishes Scott Duniway, most progressive status pits environ- aground on Coos
the Grande Ronde women win the land-use law to mentalists against Bay beach in 1999,
reservation. right to vote slow urban sprawl. Oregon loggers. is finally removed.
in Oregon.

OREGON
TOOLKIT
Although Oregon banned free African Americans, it also
Websites banned slavery and joined the Union just in time for the Civil
Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive War. Look for relatives in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors
<library.vancouver.wsu.edu/archive/crbeha> Database <nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.
htm>, an online index of all soldiers and African-American
Historic Oregon Newspapers
sailors. Also consult Soldiers Who Served in the Oregon Vol-
<oregonnews.uoregon.edu>
unteers, Civil War Period, Infantry and Cavalry, compiled
Northwest Digital Archives by M.A. Pekar and Edna Mingus (GFO). Find index to ser-
<archiveswest.orbiscascade.org> vice records at FamilySearch; results link to record imag-
Oregon American History and Genealogy Project es at subscription site Fold3 <fold3.com>. Union pension
<oregongenealogy.com/ahgp> indexes are at FamilySearch, Fold3 and Ancestry; request
pension applications from NARA through the Order Online
Oregon Historical Records Index system <eservices.archives.gov/orderonline>.
<genealogy.state.or.us> To find your ancestors’ records from the Spanish Ameri-
Oregon Newspaper Index can War, Mexican War and the World Wars, consult
<library.uoregon.edu/govdocs/indexing> NARA’s website <archives.gov/research/military> and the
Southern Oregon Digital Archives <soda.sou.edu> Oregon state archives’ military records research guide <sos.
oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/aids-military.aspx>.
Also check the archives’ Oregon Historical Records
Archives & Organizations Index. It includes statewide enlistment and service
Bend Genealogical Society records (1848 to 1928), as well as Roseburg Soldier Home
Box 8254, Bend, OR 97708, (541) 317-9553, applications (1894 to 1933).
<orgenweb.org/deschutes/bend-gs>
AMERICAN INDIAN ANCESTRY
Bureau of Land Management Oregon-Washington
Oregon is rich with American Indian history. More than 40
1220 SW 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204, (503) 808-6001,
tribes lived there before white settlement. Access Geneal-
<blm.gov/oregon-washington>
ogy has excellent information about Oregon tribes and the
City of Portland Archives state’s five reservations at <www.accessgenealogy.com/
1800 SW 6th Ave, Suite 550, Portland, OR 97201, oregon-genealogy> (look under Oregon Native American
(503) 865-4100, <portlandoregon.gov/archives> Records). The Bureau of Indian Afairs (BIA) first set up
Genealogical Forum of Oregon shop in Oregon in 1848. OHS and the state archives keep
2505 SE 11th Ave., Ste B-18, Portland, OR 97202, some BIA records, but most are at NARA headquarters
(503) 963-1932, <gfo.org> in Washington, DC. The FHL also has vital records for
several Oregon tribes.
Oregon Genealogical Society Since 1880, Indian youth from all over the Pacific
955 Oak Alley, Eugene, OR 97401, Northwest have attended the Chemawa boarding school,
(541) 345-0399, <oregongs.org> founded in Forest Grove, Ore., as the Training School
Oregon State Archives for Indian Youth (it moved to Salem in 1885). NARA has
800 Summer St. NE, Salem, OR, 97310, microfilmed Chemawa records among its BIA holdings.
(503) 373-0701, <sos.oregon.gov/archives>
... AND MORE
Oregon State Library In the last few years, many Oregon resources have become
250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR, 97301, more accessible to faraway researchers via the internet. In
(503) 378-4243 ext. 221, <cms.oregon.gov/OSL> addition to all those resources on the state archives web-
Oregon State University Valley Library site, Oregon libraries have several digital archives, includ-
121 The Valley Library, Corvallis, OR, 97331, ing two for newspapers dating to the 1840s (see them listed
(541) 737-3331, <library.oregonstate.edu> in the Toolkit box, left). All these virtual archives aren’t
Southern Oregon Historical Society meant to dissuade you from a visit to this gorgeous state
106 N. Central Ave., Medford, OR, 97501, and its abundant archives, though. You’ll find the desti-
(541) 773-6536, <sohs.org> nation doubly tempting: Oregon is still as rich in natural
beauty as when your ancestors made it home, and it’s also
rich in information about them.
Discover Your
SCOTTISH
Roots
Take your research
overseas with:
t help starting family
history research, including
identifying your immigrant
ancestors
t step-by-step instructions
for finding records in the
United States and Scotland
t crash-course guides
to Scottish history,
geography, surnames and
given-name traditions
SAVE 10%!
<bit.ly/Scottish-book>
ENTER CODE ScottishFTM
AT CHECKOUT. Expires March 31, 2019
/#1 !*ɥƭɥƐƓƎɥ/%#2ɥƭɥǬƐƖƥƙƙ
IN GOOD TIME
CLOCK PHOTO: ALANDAN/ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS; ILLUSTRATIONS:MACROSTORE/STOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Are you always running out of research minutes?

Get more genealogy done in less time
with these 12 time-saving tips.
by LISA A. ALZO
So many ancestors, so little time. some of that genealogy clutter by digitizing
Maybe your busy schedule has stopped the clock documents and pictures. By developing a system
on your ancestor search. Or you’re making little for going paperless, you’ll not only preserve pre-
progress because you don’t know what to do cious family memories and important informa-
next, and even small research tasks seem over- tion, but you’ll also open up space in your home
whelming and laborious. and save yourself time searching through bind-
Time is on your side with these strategies for ers, boxes and stacks of paperwork. Instead,
accomplishing more research in less time. These when you need a file, you’ll be able to easily find
12 genealogy timesavers will show you how to it on your computer hard drive or in your cloud
take advantage of technological shortcuts, orga- storage space.
nize your space and focus your search on the The startup time for going paperless can be
most-efective ancestor-finding game plan. Fol- lengthy, depending on your collection, but it
low this advice and time will be on your side. pays of in the end. You’ll need to:
Scan documents and photos or collect digi-
1
SET SMART GOALS. tal copies.
You could be losing time right Establish an organization and storage sys-
from the start if you’re setting tem for your digital files that makes sense to you.
unrealistic genealogy research or This includes a way to tag files with related sur-
writing goals—or not setting goals at all. Borrow names and places for easy retrieval, as well as a
a concept from the business world and use the way to back up your files.
SMART system. SMART stands for: Incorporate your existing digital files into
Specific: Describe exactly what you want to the new system.
accomplish or what question you want to answer. Many genealogists I know like Evernote
Measurable: Break down your goal into <evernote.com>, Microsoft OneNote <www.
measureable steps or elements, with deadlines. onenote.com> or Apple Notes <www.icloud.
This might require consulting how-to guides on com/#notes> to help with making the transition
the problem you’re trying to solve, such as what from paper to digital. Or if you use Google tools,
records might reveal your ancestor’s village of you might like Google Keep <keep.google.com>.
origin, or name his parents before oicial birth These powerful tools let you capture and save
records began. genealogy information in one spot. In general,
Attainable: Keep your goal realistic. Make you set up an account, and your account acts like
sure you can invest the time and money needed a file box. You create notes (which function as
to achieve it. notecards in the file box), type into them, and
Relevant: Be certain that achieving this attach images, PDFs, clippings from websites,
goal is important to you and will advance your or other digitized material. You can tag notes
genealogy research. with names of ancestors, places, record types,
Time-bound: Give yourself a deadline for repositories, and other terms. This lets you click
achieving your goal. on a tag to pull all the notes with that tag out of
A SMART goal keeps you from getting over- your file box. If you put the app on your mobile
whelmed and helps you to break down your phone or tablet, you can access your notes on
projects into manageable pieces. We’ll walk you that device.
through setting a SMART family history goal on For help with Evernote, see the guidebook
page 44. How to Use Evernote for Genealogy by Kerry
2
GO PAPERLESS
WHEN POSSIBLE. tip
Are you drowning in a sea of When you’ve inished your research time
papers, old photographs and other for the day, jot the next genealogy thing
research materials? Do you sometimes feel like a you need to do on a sticky note and stick
family history hoarder? If your passion for fam- it to your computer. It’ll be easier to hit
ily history has taken over your desk and added the ground running next time.
disorganization to your life, it’s time to reduce

Scott (Family Tree Books). Find in-depth history papers, notes and books to hold onto.
guidance on going paperless in Organize Your Try to carve out a genealogy workspace, even
Genealogy by Drew Smith (Family Tree Books). just a corner of a room, so you’ll have a single,
dedicated place where you can find these things.
3
OPTIMIZE YOUR Keep an in-box for papers to file, and empty it
RESEARCH SPACE. once a week. You’ll also save yourself from hav-
Even when you go digital, you’ll ing to set up and clean up your stuf every time
probably still have some family you want to research.
Work SMARTer, Not Harder

Setting SMART genealogy goals help you focus your research and form plans to
make real progress. A SMART goal also makes you accountable for your results by
establishing a way to measure your progress and giving you a deadline. Here’s an
example of a goal for a family history writing project:
SPECIFIC Now it’s your turn. Think of a research problem you’ve been working
“I will write a profile for each of my four on or a genealogy question you’re dying to answer, and write out your
grandparents.” SMART goal for solving it:
MEASURABLE Specific: ___________________________________________________

“For each profile, I will write 250 words a day for ____________________________________________________________
five days, for a total of 1,250 words per profile.”
(You also could plan to write for a certain amount ____________________________________________________________
of time per day, rather than setting a word count.)
Measurable: _______________________________________________
ATTAINABLE ____________________________________________________________
“I’ll write on my laptop at night instead of watch- ____________________________________________________________
ing TV.”
Attainable: ________________________________________________
RELEVANT
“Writing these profiles will help me view my ____________________________________________________________
grandparents’ lives in historical context and make ____________________________________________________________
it easier to show my family what I’ve discovered
about them. This will be especially meaningful to Relevant: __________________________________________________
my dad, who was young when his dad died.” ____________________________________________________________
TIMEBOUND ____________________________________________________________
“I’ll complete my four ancestor profiles by Jan. 1.”
Time-bound: ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
4
LOG YOUR SEARCHES. For these situations—and even for simpler
As the saying goes, you can’t know sources—you need a file of source citation tem-
where you’re going until you know plates. That way, you’ll spend time finding the
where you’ve been. Many gene- correct citation format only once. Next time you
alogists have some sort of “memory jogger” for use that source, just search your file for the cita-
their research. This lets them easily see what tion you’ve already created, and use it as a model
they last worked on and pick up where they left for your new citation. The first time you create
of, or track their progress toward a research a citation for any source, copy and paste it into
goal. Or if they’re stopping by the library, they a note in OneNote or a document called Source
can pull up a list of lookups needed. Citation Templates. Tag notes with the website
A research log is a comprehensive list of name, title of the database or book, source type
sources you’ve searched or plan to search. Set- (such as census or newspaper), and “Source
ting one up is another task that involves a little Citation Template.” If you use a spreadsheet,
work on the front end but saves time in the long include columns for these details.
run. Information logged should include: Your genealogy software also may help you
the source name and URL or physical format citations. If you find the feature doesn’t
location quite suit your citation needs, you still may
the purpose of each search (what you want want your own file of templates for sources you
to find) frequently use. For formatting help, your best
the date you performed the search reference is Evidence Explained: Citing History
a summary of what you did or didn’t find Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Eliza-
the related person or family and place of beth Shown Mills (Genealogical Publishing Co.).
residence Follow the book’s companion Facebook page
notations and source citations for quick tips and common questions <www.
comments about your search strategies, facebook.com/evidenceexplained>.
suggestions, questions, analyses, discrepancies
6
and any other helpful details you want to add STORYBOARD YOUR
Your research log should be searchable and FAMILY HISTORY.
sortable by diferent columns so you could, The “How do I begin?” challenge
for example, retrieve all tasks involving your is a common barrier for genealo-
local library or searches associated with Great- gists who want to write their family history. But
grandma Rosie. Above all, it should be porta- what if you stop thinking like a genealogist and
ble, so you can consult it at the library or share start thinking like a writer? Creating a story-
recent discoveries while visiting with relatives board for your writing project not only gets you
at Cousin Louis’ wedding. An Excel or Google started, it also streamlines the entire process.
sheet often ofers the most flexibility, and tem- And it helps you think cinematically rather than
plates are available from the Family Tree Shop linearly about an ancestor’s life—that is, it helps
<shopfamilytree.com>. A table in a Word doc or you structure your story in a way that’s engag-
notes in Evernote also can do the trick. ing to readers.
A storyboard is basically a visual outline dis-
5
SIMPLIFY SOURCE CITATIONS. played on thumbnail images of book pages. It
It can be time-consuming to find puts the topics you’ll cover in order, estimates
the correct format for document- the number of pages each topic will cover, and
ing sources such as the Ances- shows where images and sidebars (such as boxes
try website’s index to various states’ marriage with timelines or family-tree charts) will go. It
records, which links to FamilySearch’s online gives you a framework for what to write about,
images digitized from Genealogical Society of an estimated length (which helps determine the
Utah microfilm. Or the obituaries Grandma budget), and the images that need to be prepared.
clipped and saved (but didn’t notate with news- You could list the topics you want to cover and
paper names or publication dates). Or the coun- images you want to use, then sketch out a story-
ty history with some wrong information about board or use the printable templates at <www.
your relative. printablepaper.net/category/storyboard>. I have

Set up watches and saved searches
at other sites you use. At Fold3 <fold3.com>,
you can “watch” a search to be notified of new
matches, or watch records to find out when
another researcher annotates them. If you
search the auction site eBay <www.ebay.com>
for heirlooms or family history books, you can
save those searches, too.
Set Google Alerts <google.com/alerts>
to cover most of the rest of the web. Sign up

for a free Google account or log into the one
you already have, run your genealogy search,
and then copy and paste the search query into
A storyboard is also used PowerPoint software, with each slide Google Alerts. Select your delivery preferences,
simply a sketch of representing one book page. Update your story- and Google will continually run the search and
your book pages board as needed throughout the project. email you relevant results.
and what topics If you’re really serious about your writing
8
and images you project, invest in my favorite writing software, TRACK ANCESTORS
want to put on Scrivener ($45 for Mac or $40 for Windows, WITH TIMELINES.
each page. This with a free 30-day trial). It ofers a “virtual When it comes to sorting out who,
example, created corkboard” feature that’s perfect for plotting a what, when, where and why about
in Scrivener, is story in scenes you can move around and stitch your ancestors, a timeline can save you lots of,
from a story about together. See <literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/ well, time. Listing all the major life events that
my grandfather. overview> for more information. I’ve created a occurred for your grandfather from his birth to
free Ancestor Profile template for use in Scriv- death highlights the gaps in your research. Now
ener, which you can download from <lisaalzo. you can easily see what information you can
com/seminars/resources/scrivener>. stop looking for because you already have it, and
focus your research on the places where details
7
AUTOMATE ONLINE are missing. If your grandpa was 21 when World
RESEARCH. War I started, but you don’t have any draft or
Websites are always growing and service records, there’s an opportunity to find
changing, and it can be time-con- out what he was doing.
suming to check and re-check the same sites This timesaver includes another timesaver:
for new information. You can save much of that Your genealogy software program or online tree
time by automating your searches. Here’s how: site likely has a built-in timeline feature on your
Post trees on all sites that give you hints ancestor’s profile page. It automatically updates
to genealogy records, especially the big ones— the timeline when you attach a record to that
Ancestry <ancestry.com>, FamilySearch <www. ancestor, or you can manually add an event. You
familysearch.org>, Findmypast <www.find also can create a visual timeline with a tool like
mypast.com> and MyHeritage <www.my Twile <twile.com>, now part of Findmypast. It
heritage.com>. Have one online tree where you lets you map out your family tree on a timeline
focus your research eforts, and export GED- with photos, notes and maps, and it automati-
COMs for upload elsewhere. (At FamilySearch, cally adds major historical events.
instead of uploading a GEDCOM, you’ll need to
9
start your tree by hand with yourself. Then add STREAMLINE
people one at a time until you get to a person YOUR SCANNING.
who’s already in the FamilySearch unified tree.) Digitizing a lifetime of memories
When the site finds records it thinks match an can be a daunting project, but it’s
ancestor, a hint icon appears on that person’s quicker and easier if you set up a routine. Sched-
profile in your tree. Hints aren’t always correct, ule an hour or two per week just for scanning
so thoroughly investigate them before adding photos (or snapping high-quality images of
records to your tree. them with your mobile device). Try to set aside a
When it seems like life is conspiring to keep
you from building your family tree, block out
15 minutes a day for uninterrupted genealogy.
well-lit space in your home until you’re finished. you might only half understand and don’t know
If you’re working through stacks of pictures or how to put together.
using a shot box as a photo backdrop, cover them Start with the tools your testing company
between sessions to prevent dust. ofers. “Every DNA testing company provides
Use technology to your advantage: Set up a notes field associated with each match, which
your mobile phone or computer hard drive to you can utilize as a mini-journal to record your
automatically back up images to Google Pho- progress and discoveries,” says Blaine Bettinger,
tos <photos.google.com>, where automated author of The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing
facial recognition will help you tag photos of the and Genetic Genealogy (Family Tree Books). He
same folks. Or use a mobile app such as Joyflips suggests using this field for notes about common
<www.joyflips.com>, which restores digitized surnames, which family you think you share
photos and lets you quickly tag them with your with this match, and any messages exchanged
voice. If you want to turn paper records or pages with the person.
of notes into PDFs, use an app such as Scanner Bettinger also recommends keeping the same
Pro (iOS) or Adobe Scan (iOS and Android) or to information in a second format so it’s all in one
take the photo, automatically correct distortion, place, it’s sortable and you’ll have a backup. You in the shop
convert to text and upload to the cloud. could keep a DNA-results log with columns Source citation
for the match’s name, testing service, amount templates and tips
10
are easy to ind in
QUICKLY TACKLE of shared DNA, common surnames, common
our cheat sheet
TRANSLATIONS. ancestral birthplaces, shared matches, messag- <familytree
If you work with records in your ing and hypotheses. magazine.com/
ancestors’ native language, or store/genealogy-
12
source-citation-
with church records in Latin, use a quick-ref- FIND YOUR 15. cheat-sheet>.
erence chart of common terms so you’re not Wouldn’t it be great to have
always going to an online dictionary. You can unlimited genealogy time? But
build one yourself anytime you look up a trans- work, family, chores and other
lation, search for one online (try a search like interests need your time, too. When it seems
Latin genealogy terms), or use the 22-language like life is conspiring to keep you from build-
Genealogist’s Instant Translation Guide from the ing your family tree, block out 15 minutes a day
Family Tree Shop <familytreemagazine.com/ for uninterrupted genealogy. In a quarter of an
store/genealogists-instant-translation-guide-at- hour, you can update your online tree, scan a few
a-glance-glossaries>. photos, search an online library catalog, check
for new DNA matches or record hints, or write
a paragraph for an ancestor’s profile. Of course,
11
USE DNA TESTING if you’ve followed the other tips we’ve talked
ORGANIZATION TOOLS. about—like optimizing your research space and
Looking through your DNA keeping a research log—you’ll be able to get right
matches can be a time-suck for to work and use all of those 15 minutes for find-
sure. It’s easy to get bogged down in information ing ancestors.
Author and instructor Lisa A. Alzo blogs about her
E
Don’t research without the 10 rules for
genealogy adventures at <theaccidentalgenealogist.
accepting (or rejecting) online family tree
hints at <familytreemagazine.com/articles/ com>. She enjoys helping family historians research more
news-blogs/genealogy_insider/online>. efficiently through her Family Tree University courses.

do t he
w r ite
t hing
Let your research live beyond
you! Put it all together with
these tips for writing your
family history, plus a project
organizing worksheet you’ll
refer to again and again.
by DIANE HADDAD
O
nce you’ve been doing gene-
alogy research for a while,
and you have a family tree or a
computer hard drive or a filing
cabinet with a bunch of notes
and old records, you might wonder what to do
with it all. Or perhaps you’ve always harbored
the dream of sharing your family history, and
you’re not sure how.
It’s a hard truth: Few people have much use
for an unstructured assortment of documents
and computer files. Even folks who are curious
about their family history—and that describes
most I’ve met—aren’t likely to sort through your
research and rebuild the store of knowledge
you’ve amassed over years.
If your family research is to live beyond you,
you’ll need to do the work of putting it into some
shareable, lasting form. That usually means
summarizing your finds in writing, maybe
enhanced with photos and images of interest-
ing documents. Whether you go all-out with a
self-published hardback or just pass out stapled
pages at the next family reunion, you’ll create a
legacy—a framework others can use to under-
stand your family’s story and the genealogical
evidence you’ve gathered. We can’t promise the
project will be a breeze, but we can promise it’ll
be easier when you follow these six tips and use
our handy organizing worksheet.
1
KNOW YOUR PURPOSE.
Before you begin, it’s important to
know what you hope to accomplish
with this writing project. Do you want to sum-
marize all your research, share your family leg-
acy, pass down the stories Grandpa told, tell how
your family fits into local history, share the story
of an ancestor or family you admire, celebrate
your ethnic heritage, or something else?
A strong focus makes the project more man-
ageable, says Sunny Jane Morton, author of Sto-
ry of My Life <familytreemagazine.com/store/
story-of-my-life>. “A small, finished project is
better than a three-volume tome that exists only
in your dreams.”
RICHVINTAGE/E+/GETTY IMAGES

Start writing now with the free e-book
download 30 Family History Writing
Prompts <familytreemagazine.com/
freebie/30-family-history-writing-prompts>.

If your family research is
to live beyond you, you’ll where these families settled in the United
States, their jobs and their children
need to put it into some Eduard Thoss tavern in Northern Kentucky
shareable, lasting form. info on Cincinnati Over-the-Rhine neigh-
borhood, where so many settled

Dierkes boys in family cemetery plot
Henry Seeger’s cigar store, with photos and
Need help narrowing the scope? Morton timeline, and two babies who died as infants
advises looking at your research for the most Thomas Frost/Mary Wolking divorce
compelling story or interesting person. Alter- Ade Thoss and the Covington Blue Sox
nately, you could choose a topic that commem- possible family connection to Windthorst,
orates an upcoming family milestone, such as Kan.

your parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. Or you death of Elizabeth Teipel Thoss and several
might start with whatever’s most doable. of her children

Your audience is an important aspect of your Benjamin Teipel trap-shooting invention
goal. For a project just family will see, you might and death
use a casual writing style, refer to relatives with Civil War service of Frank and Benjamin
familiar titles (“Great-grandpa Thornton”), and Thoss

use in-text source information. If other genealo- firefighter Raymond Norris and Newton
gists will read your work in a newsletter, journal Tea & Spice Co. Fire
or published book, you’ll want a more authori- how Grandma and Grandpa met
tative style with an emphasis on your research Your list might cause you to rethink your proj-
process, and formal source citations in foot- ect scope. For example, I’m seeing that I could
notes and source lists. divide up my project by family branches, break-
in the shop ing it down into smaller parts (and this is only
2
Preserve your MAKE A PLAN. part of my list).
personal history
An outline gives you a framework for When you know the topics you want to cov-
with this workbook
<familytree building your project, especially if it er, arrange them in an order that makes sense
magazine.com/ involves multiple people or a long time span. to you. You could do chronological order, geo-
store/story-of- Make a list of elements you want to include— graphical order (group all information related
my-life>.
you can use the worksheet on the opposite to Germany, all immigration information, all
page (or the downloadable version from <family second generation information), family branch-
treemagazine.com/freeforms/researchforms>). es one at a time, or some other arrangement.
Don’t worry about organizing the list yet. Here’s You could opt for a general overview then add
an example for my maternal family history opus: several shorter profiles of specific ancestors or
a family tree of Mom’s family families. Next, create an outline by organizing
information about the places the family topics into sections or chapters.
came from with a map, including why so many
3
immigrated from each place SAY IT WITH PICTURES.
names and immigration details of all the Pictures and graphs will engage your
immigrant ancestors: Henry Seeger, Eduard readers, help them follow complicated
Thoss, Mary Mairose, Thomas Frost, Edward lineages and show what you’re talking about.
Norris, Elizabeth Butler, Henry Hoernemann, “Plan as you go which pictures, documents,
Anna Maria Weyer, and so on. maps, charts and genealogical reports will best
illustrate your narrative,” Morton advises.
Depending how many photos and documents
tip you’ve found, you’ll want to winnow the options
Not sure what type of project to put to those from key moments in your family his-
together? Find inspiration on Pinterest tory, selecting those that will reproduce well
on our Family History Writing board in the finished product. Consider adding tran-
<www.pinterest.com/familytreemag>.
scriptions for hard-to-read or foreign-language
documents.
fi
WORKSHEET
Organize Your Family History Writing Project
PROJECT SUMMARY
What person, family or event is your focus for this project? What do you want the final results to look and feel like, for exam-
ple, do you want it to be short or long? Do you want a quick read with bulleted names and family charts, or more complex?
What about a story heavy with photos, record images and other visuals; more narrative focused; or somewhere in between?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
FORMAT STORIES TO INCLUDE

How will you share your final product? What stories and topics are important to cover in this project? Continue your
printed at home or at a copy shop list on another page, if needed. Depending on your time and other resourc-
self-published book es, you may want to break down a long list into multiple writing projects.
photo book ______________________________________________________________

PDF ______________________________________________________________
video ______________________________________________________________
slideshow of captioned images ______________________________________________________________
other format
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Notes: ____________________________
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________ VISUALS
List family trees, maps, photos, records and personal timelines you want to
include. Remember that images you plan to print must have a resolution
YOUR AUDIENCE of at least 300 dots per inch (dpi) when printed at the size you want them
Who do you hope will read this project? to appear in the book. If you have a small photo that you want to be larger
very close family in your book, it must have a resolution higher than 300 dpi. Also take into
current and future relatives account copyright considerations, and make sure you have permission to
use images you find online or in printed sources.
other genealogists
history scholars ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Notes: ____________________________ ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
fi
Family History Writing Project Logistics
BUDGET PHOTO BOOK/SELFPUBLISHING SERVICES

Your budget line items will vary depending on how you If you’re planning a printed photo book or a self-published
plan to share your work, so we’ve provided extra lines you book, you’ll need to consider the factors below. Your
can customize. options and fees will vary depending on the service you
choose. Thinking about self-publishing? See the guide in
paper $ __________________________________________
the September 2015 Family Tree Magazine for tips.
binding (binder, presentation folder, etc.) $ ____________
digital media (CD, flash drive, etc.) $ __________________ publishing service _________________________________
editing services $ __________________________________ book size ________________________________________
design services $ __________________________________ number of pages __________________________________
other services $ ___________________________________ binding __________________________________________
printing services $ _________________________________ cover type _______________________________________
postage $ ________________________________________ paper type _______________________________________
miscellaneous $ ___________________________________ color/black and white ______________________________
_________________________________________________ quantity _________________________________________
_________________________________________________ Notes: ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
Total $ ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________
PROJECT TIMELINE
Your timeline will vary with the size and scope of your project. If you plan to write several pages about your family, email
them to a few relatives, and call it done, then you might just need a goal for your “copies shared” date. Our timeline is
fleshed out with suggested project phases. You also could use a spreadsheet to customize a timeline to your project.
Completion date
Project phase
Goal Actual
Planning worksheet completed

First narrative draft
Photos and other visuals selected
Second narrative draft
Visuals created/digitized
Captions/labels written for visuals

Additional narrative draft, as desired
Design/layout created
Project proofread
Corrections made
Final copy(ies) created
Copies shared
Keep copyright in mind. If you plan to publish
your work (including on a website), get permis-
sion from the copyright holder or owner of any
images you didn’t create or that aren’t in your
personal collection.
4
GET ASSISTANCE.
Now you’re ready to write. As you
work, go over your records for fami-
lies and people you’re writing about. To help
you organize source references, add in-text The Write Time
references with the title, author and page or If you answer yes to any of the following questions, it may be time to
record number in parentheses when you use pause your genealogy research and start writing:
information from a record, article, book or Have you accumulated a lot of records and contextual information
website. Also create a bibliography of sources as you’ve found difficult to adequately record in a family tree?
you go. This should include everything needed
to find that source again: title, author, publish- Has the pace of your research slowed?
er or creator (such as the National Archives), Are you stuck in your research, unsure what to do next?
publication date and place, website, etc.
Are you worried what’ll happen to your research when you’re gone?
Later, when your project is mostly complete,
you can keep the in-text references, or num- Have you discovered a compelling or surprising story your relatives
ber the references and create footnotes (short- would want to hear?
form citations at the bottom of the page) or end Would family history knowledge add meaning to an upcoming birth-
notes (short-form citations at the end of a chap- day, anniversary or other big family event?
ter). Include the bibliography at the end of your
work. For help with source citations, use the
book Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown
Mills (Genealogical Publishing Co.).
5
You might have a writing head start if you can BEGIN IN THE MIDDLE.
pull together blog posts or short essays you’ve Don’t let the “how to start” roadblock
already written about your family history. Your stall your project right out of the gate.
genealogy software or online tree might ofer a If you don’t know how to begin, just start writ-
timeline you can follow, or even generate a nar- ing a story you like—maybe it’s about an ances-
rative report for you. For an ambitious project tor’s immigration, military service or venture to
or if you do a lot of writing, you might invest in the wrong side of the law. The words will flow
software such as Scrivener <www.literatureand from there. An interesting or dramatic event
latte.com/scrivener>. is often the best way to begin a story, anyway.
Remember, you’re not carving in stone: You can
always rearrange things later.
FILE BACKUP PLAN
6
This keeps you from losing files mid-project, TAKE YOUR TIME.
and makes it easier to archive your final files A deadline can motivate you, but give
later. For example, you might work in Google yourself plenty of time. You want
Drive, or write in a document on your com- this project to add fulfillment to your family
puter and upload it to Dropbox each time research, not cause stress. Start now and work
you change it. on your writing project a little at a time, once
a week or every evening if you can manage it.
Notes: ________________________________
Imagine where you’ll be a year from now.
______________________________________
Editor Diane Haddad blogs about her family history on
______________________________________
the Genealogy Insider blog <familytreemagazine.com/
articles/news-blogs/genealogy_insider>.

THE GREAT
UNKNOWNS
Search beyond basic records
with these six little-known
sources to discover your
immigrant ancestors’
hometowns and
life details.
by RICH VENEZIA
When tracing immigrant

ancestors, one of the most important pieces
of information you need is where they were
born. This is one of the keys to finding family
in the Old Country. Familiar genealogy sourc-
es like the census, obituaries, passenger lists
and even older naturalization records don’t
always have the answer.
As a specialist in immigration research,
I’ve found ancestors’ overseas hometowns
named in some unexpected, underused and
relatively unknown record sets. Today, I’ll
introduce you to my top six unusual immigra-
tion sources, where I found them, and what
gems they delivered about the families I was
researching.
1 PASSPOR T APPLIC AT IO NS
P
assports haven’t always been a necessity for travel
abroad. Until 1941, they were mandatory only for
brief periods during the Civil War and WWI. But
some of our ancestors, particularly naturalized immi-
grants, used them as proof of citizenship. If yours did,
it could be the key to learning your ancestors’ places
of origin.
Case history: Rose Abalin immigrated to the
United States from Le Havre, France, in 1898, with her

husband, Brahim (“Abraham”) Aftoura (also spelled
Aftoora and Afdany), and their first child. They settled
in Cleveland, where Abraham worked as a peddler. They
had three more children in Cleveland, then temporar-
ily returned to Syria in 1907. One more child was born
there. Abraham died between 1910 and 1912.
Censuses tell a lot about the family. They were store-
keepers at first, and later, fruit dealers. Between 1920
and 1930, Rose bought a home on West 14th Street in
Cleveland, where some of her children lived with her.
But censuses, Abraham’s naturalization paperwork
(filed before 1906, when these records became more
detailed), and other records give no birthplace more
specific than Syria
The big break: In 1912, Rose applied for a US pass-
port with the US consulate at Beirut (then in the Otto-

man Empire; now in Lebanon). She stated her place of
birth as “Zahleh” (actually spelled Zahlé), Lebanon.
Had she applied just a few years later, the application
would’ve had a photo of her and the children. Though
the document doesn’t provide Abraham’s birth loca-
tion, it does give us insight into the family and their trip
back to Syria. We can infer that since Rose and Abraham
immigrated together in 1898 that they were married in
the old country, so Zahlé would be a good place to look
for a marriage record
Finding the records: Passport applications from
1795 to March 1925 are available through the National

Archives and digitized at subscription site Ancestry
POJCHEEWIN YAPRASERT PHOTOGRAPHY/MOMENT/GETTY IMAGES
<ancestry.com>. They’re also on the free Family-Search

<www.familysearch.org>. For later applications, you
need to send a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request to the US Department of State <foia.state.gov>.
in the shop
This collection has all the guides and
video classes you need to ind your
family’s origins <familytreemagazine.
com/store/immigration-ancestry-
mega-collection>.

2 COUNT Y H ISTO R I ES
C
ounty histories, sometimes called “mug books,”
are full of information on places your ancestors
lived. They also might supply glorious maps and
illustrations, and have personal biographies with places
of birth.
Case history: William Purcell was about 10 years old
when he came to the United States from Ireland in 1853.

In the mid-1860s, his family moved from Huron County,
Ohio, to Quincy, Ill. He married Isabella “Belle” Brooks,
daughter of the local newspaper editor, on Sept. 3, 1873.
They had three children, Edith, Austin and William.
William, Sr. was somewhat active in local politics, serv-
ing as an assistant marshal for the Adams County Central
Democratic Committee’s grand mass meeting in 1876. He
started a livery business in Quincy in the 1870s, but died
in March 1879.
An obituary reports that William was a native of Ire-
land. Though burial records often are recommended as
sources of immigrant birthplaces, William’s weren’t help-
ful. He left a sizable estate for the time, worth roughly
$3,700. Estate files rarely mention the deceased’s birth-
place, and William’s is no exception.
The big break: Luckily for us, the United States’
1876 centennial spurred interest in local history and gene-

alogy. Counties across the country began to record their
histories. The History of Adams County, Illinois, published
just after William’s death, identifies William’s place of
birth as Kilcooley, County Tipperary, Ireland.
As for William’s widow and children, tragedy struck
again. Edith and little William both died in the early
1880s. Belle moved to Springfield, Ill., where she died in
1894. Her son Austin, the last of this Purcell family, died
there in 1919.
Finding the records: County histories are available
online and in print. Start with the genealogical or histori-

cal society, or the main branch of the local public library,
in the county where you’re researching. Free websites like
HathiTrust <hathitrust.com>, Internet Archive, Family-
Search and Google Books host numerous county histories.
You’ll also find collections on Ancestry and MyHeritage.
A Bibliography of American County Histories by P. William
Filby lists more than 5,000 published county histories.
Keep in mind that individuals may have paid to be
included in county histories, giving publishers incentive
to embellish the truth. Mistakes, faulty memories, and
lack of fact-checking also could lead to misinformation.
Research historical records to verify claims you find in
county histories. For example, locating baptismal and
other Purcell family records in Kilcooley would confirm
William’s place of birth.
If you’re researching immigrant ancestors,
one of the most important pieces of information
you need is their place of birth.
3 STATE M ILITARY R ECOR DS
C
ountless immigrants joined the
US Army. In fact, beginning in
the Civil War, alien soldiers with
honorable Army discharges could be fast-
tracked to naturalization. (Marine Corps
and Navy veterans were eligible for the
program beginning in 1894, and WWI sol-
diers could be exempted from residency
requirements, too.)
You might know about the pension
records and compiled military service
records (CMSRs) held at the National
Archives <archives.gov>. The Washing-
ton, D.C., location has records of service
in the Revolutionary War through the
Spanish-American War, and the National
Personnel Records Center in St. Louis has
them for WWI and later. But often forgot-
ten are state military records, which difer
from war to war and state to state. They
might be muster rolls, service question-
naires, adjutant general service records,
or another type of record.
Case history: Rudolf Wassmer was
the son of a Swiss shoemaker who immi-

grated to Bufalo, NY, in the early 1850s.
He followed in his father’s footsteps,
making lasts—models used in the manufacturing and The big break: New York has a set of military records
repair of shoes. After the Civil War began, Rudolph enlist- called Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, available from the
ed in the Army at Elmira, NY, in May 1861. A private in state archives <www.archives.nysed.gov> and on Ancestry.
Company K of the 21st New York Infantry Regiment, he Of all the records naming Rudolf, only this one specifies
saw action at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam and his birthplace: Suhr, Switzerland. It also describes him as
Fredericksburg. He mustered out of the Army May 18, having brown hair, blue eyes, and a “sandy” complexion.
1863, at Bufalo. Following Rudolph from Bufalo in the Finding the records: State archives are your prima-
1870 census, to Rochester in 1880, back to Bufalo by 1892, ry resource for state military records, and collections also
to a soldiers’ home in Bath, NY, in 1913, and finally back might be digitized on genealogy websites. North Carolina
to Bufalo, where he died in 1914, records consistently list WWI service cards and WWII discharge papers are avail-
his birthplace as Switzerland. That includes his obituary in able on FamilySearch. New Jersey has a database of WWI
the Buffalo Evening News. soldier deaths on the state archives’ website <wwwnet-
dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/WWICards.aspx>,
and Wisconsinites’ Civil War CMSRs are available via the
tip
Once you’ve identiied your European ancestor’s Wisconsin Historical Society <www.wisconsinhistory.org/
birthplace, locate it in old gazetteers and then look Records/Article/CS4267>. Not all of these records provide
to local church records for more family information. a specific place of origin, but all let you enrich your immi-
grant ancestors’ military stories.

4 ALI E N E N EMY R EG ISTR ATIO N
D
uring wartime, the United States considered as Female. These forms
“alien enemies” any immigrants with citizenship are a genealogical
in—and sometimes, merely heritage from—the goldmine: birth date,
country on the other side. During the War of 1812, that birthplace, employ-
meant British subjects. During World War I, German, Aus- ment, date of arrival,
trian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turkish nationals were parents’ names and
alien enemies. German-, Italian- and especially Japanese- residences, names and
Americans were considered enemy aliens in WWII. They birthdates of spouses
were subject to increased scrutiny, curfews, registration and children, for-
and even internment, generating records that can shed mer military service,
light on their struggles. whether any relatives
Case history: William Rohleder arrived from Ger- served in enemy forc-
many in 1909 and went straight to Atchison, Kan., where es, a physical descrip-
his aunt and uncle lived. He worked as a shipping clerk, tion, a full set of fingerprints, even a photo. William’s
secretary and bookkeeper, before becoming proprietor of aidavit states he was born Jan. 10, 1889, in Amorbach,
R.K. Creamery. William’s WWI draft registration card Bavaria, Germany.
described him as an “alien enemy,” but one who “has atti- Finding the records: Unfortunately, many of these
tude to be friendly to the United States.” He applied for US records no longer exist. Those that do are scattered among
citizenship in 1920, but was denied because he’d suppos- National Archives locations. Records for Kansas; North
edly used his alien-enemy status to claim exemption from Dakota; Minnesota; eastern North Carolina; Phoenix; San
the WWI draft. He married and became a stepfather about Francisco; Shreveport, La.; Allen County, Ind.; and Frank-
1925, and eventually had two more sons. He finally natu- fort, Ky., are known to exist. More may yet be found. Most
ralized in April 1937. Kansas alien-enemy registrations—including William’s—
The big break: During World War I, alien-enemy are available digitally in the National Archives’ catalog
men had to file a form called Registration Aidavit of Alien <catalog.archives.gov> (search for enemy alien with a
Enemy; women had to file a Registration Aidavit of Alien name) and on Ancestry.
5 E AR LY ALI E N R EG ISTR ATIO N
A
lien registration wasn’t just for wartime. The as a farmer, his arrival in Portsmouth in November 1810,
United States passed its first registration laws, the and his father’s name: George.
Alien and Sedition Acts, in 1798. They allowed for Finding the records: In 1828, Congress ended the
the imprisonment and deportation of alien enemies, and 1816 law. These unique copies of alien registration are
the registration of white aliens. Aliens had to provide their part of naturalization records only from March 22, 1816,
“place of birth, age, nation, place of allegiance or citizen- to May 24, 1828. For aliens arriving into or residing within
ship, condition or occupation, and place of actual or intend- the jurisdiction of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
ed residence.” The government lifted this requirement in (i.e., Philadelphia and the surrounding areas), the original
1828. Most of these early alien registrations didn’t survive. alien registration records are on National Archives micro-
But a federal law passed in 1816 led some of the records to film and digitized on FamilySearch. Registration records
be preserved, providing a little-known resource for some of British nationals during the War of 1812 are on National
ancestors who naturalized between 1816 and 1828. Archives microfilm and at Ancestry.
Case history: George Forrester was a Scot-
tish-born schoolmaster and mathematics teach-

er. He married a woman named Agnes before
1811 and immigrated to Portsmouth, NH. There,
he filed papers declaring his intent to become a
citizen. By 1817, he’d moved to Pittsburgh. He
naturalized Nov. 23, 1818 at the Common Pleas
Court of Allegheny County.
According to the 1820 census, he lived in east
Pittsburgh with two males under age 10, pre-
sumably sons (remember that pre-1850 censuses
name only heads of households and don’t state
relationships); a female of age 16 to 25, likely his
wife; and two male slaves under age 14. While
several records specified George’s birthplace as
Scotland, none named the town.
The big break: A March 1816 federal law
required an alien’s registry information to be

included in his naturalization paperwork. As a
result, some naturalization records—includin
George Forrester’s—became richer with detail.
George’s 1813 alien registration from Ports-
mouth gives us his birthplace: Ayton, Berwick-
shire, Scotland. It further noted his occupation
E
Discover another little-known immigration resource,
naturalization correspondence files, at <familytreemagazine.com/
premium/bureau-naturalization-correspondence-files>.

6 CIT Y MAR R IAG E R E TUR NS
G
overnment clerks sometimes
created multiple copies of
a record, or filed multiple
records for the same event. These
records sometimes include additional
or diferent information.
Case history: Vincent Kuralsky
and Franzisca (aka Frances) Jahudka

married Aug. 10, 1903, at St. Elisabeth
Roman Catholic Church in Pitts-
burgh. Both had recently arrived in
the United States. Vincent worked as
a laborer with Jones & Laughlin Steel
Co., and the couple bought a house at
5015 Ladora Street in the Hazelwood
neighborhood in 1909. They had a
daughter, Agnes.
Vincent’s naturalization papers
said he was born in Rayec, Hungary
(now Rajec, Slovakia). But where did
Franzisca come from? Their mar-
riage record and other documents
said only Hungary, which at the time,
probably meant the Austro-Hungari-
an Empire. The 1910 census reported
Austria; the 1920 census, Bohemia.
The big break: Allegheny
County has a county marriage license
and marriage license docket for the
Kuralsky-Jahudka marriage, but
from 1875 to 1909, the city of Pitts-
burgh also recorded nuptials among
city marriage returns. In this case,
I was in luck. The city record gave
Franzisca’s birthplace as Zerav-
ice, Moravia (now Žeravice, Czech
Republic). Now I have enough infor-
mation to begin looking for Vincent’s
and Franzisca’s records overseas.
Finding the records: In addi-
tion to dual recording of an event

at diferent levels of government, you may also discover archives and libraries, town records (especially in New
duplicate records created by the same oice. For example, a England), county courts and state health department
town may have kept one copy of a record and made another records. The Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh <www.
to forward to the state. Whatever the reason for multiple heinzhistorycenter.org> had Vincent and Francizka’s city
records, it’s worth examining all existing versions. marriage record.
The locations of diferent versions of marriage records
depend on the place and record types. Local genealogi- Rich Venezia is a Pittsburgh-based professional genealogist whose
cal societies may be able to point you in the right direc- research firm, Rich Roots <www.richroots.net>, specializes in immi-
tion. Look among city health department records in city grant ancestry.
treetips
IF YOUR ANCESTRYDNA RESULTS LOOK DIFFERENT, it’s not that they were wrong before. In Sep-
tember, the company updated customers’ ethnicity results using a new algorithm that analyzes
longer segments of genetic information, as well as an expanded reference panel (the set of DNA
profiles from places around the world, against which your sample is compared). The changes
led to more precise results for Asia and Europe: For example, Scandinavian roots got more nar-
rowly defined as Norwegian or Swedish, Western Europe was split into France and Germany, and
“Asia East” was broken into six regions. See details at <blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2018/09/12/
ancestry-unveils-more-detailed-precise-ethnicity-estimates>.
EMILIJA MANEVSKA/ MOMENT/GETTY IMAGES

tips N O W W H AT ?
Q My immigrant A If you’re not sure of an exact location, start with a large online
database. The best free source is the Library of Congress’
ancestor, who Chronicling America <chroniclingamerica.loc.gov>, which has close
to 14 million digitized pages from newspapers nationwide. You can
arrived at New York, search by state or specific newspapers, and limit the date range to
the year your ancestor traveled through. You could also try Elephind
died en route to <www.elephind.com>, whose search includes Chronicling America
as well as other free collections.
Iowa, where the rest Among the largest online newspaper collections with an emphasis
on obituaries, is subscription site GenealogyBank <www.genealogy
of her Kuen family bank.com>. You can do some searching for free to see if it’s worth-
while. A quick search on Kuen, for example, turns up 317 obituaries.
settled. Where Another paid option is Newspapers.com <www.newspapers.com>,
owned by Ancestry, with more than 8,000 titles. And Ancestry
should I look for <ancestry.com> also has a pretty good collection of newspapers.
If you know some towns your family went through, try searching
an obituary? online for the town name and obituaries to turn up online obituary
indexes at public libraries and local newspapers. You also can contact
libraries, which might have offline indexes.
Beyond obituaries, also consult church records, cemeteries and
funeral homes in places where your ancestor might’ve died.
Find your Get genealogy

German advice from the
experts in the
Ancestors! free Family Tree
Professional German Podcast, hosted by
Genealogist with many years Lisa Louise Cooke
of experience provides a
reliable and cost-efective
service in the search of your
German Ancestry.
To request additional
information please contact
Dr. Volker Jarren PODCAST
D 79106 Freiburg,
Ferdinand-Weiss-Strasse 59
or Get live customer support in
Listen in iTunes or at
mail@volkerjarren.de seconds, your price in minutes and <familytreemagazine.com/
your books printed in 48 hours.
www.volkerjarren.de Go to 48hourbooks.com ...
podcasts>
we print books unnaturally fast.
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIR-
CULATION (required by Act of August 12, 1970: Section
3685, Title 39, United States Code). 1. Family Tree Maga-
zine. 2. (ISSN: 1529-0298). 3. Filing date: 10/1/18. 4. Issue
frequency: 7 times annually. 5. Number of issues published
annually: 7. 6. The annual subscription price is $36. 7.
Complete mailing address of known office of publication:
F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash,
OH 45242. Contact person: Kolin Rankin. 8. Complete mail-
Q I’ve hit a brick wall with my North Carolina ancestors in

the early 1800s. How can I find clues to their parentage?
ing address of headquarters or general business office of
publisher: F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite 300,
Blue Ash, OH 45242. 9. Full names and complete mailing
addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor. Pub-
lisher, Patty Craft, 10151 Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash,
A Identifying relationships can be tricky before modern vital OH 45242; Editor, Diane Haddad, 10151 Carver Road, Suite
300, Blue Ash, OH 45242; Managing Editor, N/A. 10. Owner:
records and censuses that named everyone in the household. F+W Media, Inc.; Gregory J. Osberg, CEO, 1140 Broadway,
14th floor, New York, NY 10001. 11. Known bondholders,
Ideally, you’d be able to find a will or other estate document listing mortgages and other security holders owning or holding
1 percent of more of total amount of bonds, mortgages
your known ancestor as the child of the testator, or deceased. Ancestry or other securities: None. 12. Tax status: Has Not Changed
During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publisher title: Family
<ancestry.com> has North Carolina wills and probate records, 1665- Tree Magazine. 14. Issue date for circulation data below:
September 2018. 15. The extent and nature of circulation:
1998. The Family History Library (FHL) has microfilmed abstracts A. Total number of copies printed (Net press run). Average
of many North Carolina wills, and FamilySearch <www.familysearch. number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months:
60,886. Actual number of copies of single issue published
org> has digitized estate files, 1663-1979. nearest to filing date: 62,192. B. Paid circulation. 1. Mailed
outside-county paid subscriptions. Average number of
You also can find clues to familial relationships in land records. copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 42,170.
Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest
These records are less likely to explicitly state two individuals’ par- to filing date: 41,766. 2. Mailed in-county paid subscrip-
tions. Average number of copies each issue during preced-
ent/child relationship, but they can suggest candidates to investigate. ing 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue
published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Sales through deal-
The FHL has microfilmed North Carolina land records, and Ancestry ers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales. Average
has land grant files, 1693 to 1960. The latter site’s civil action court number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months:
papers, 1712 to 1970 might ofer clues in a similar fashion. nearest to filing date: 4,161. 4. Paid distribution through
other classes mailed through the USPS. Average number
Don’t overlook North Carolina marriage records, which date to of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 395.
Actual number of copies of single issue published near-
colonial days. FamilySearch has two large collections of county mar- est to filing date: 367. C. Total paid distribution. Average
number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months:
riages, covering 1762 to 1979, and 1759 to 1979, as well as a smaller 47,116. Actual number of copies of single issue published
nearest to filing date: 46,294. D. Free or nominal rate dis-
database of civil marriages from 1763 to 1868. Ancestry has a mar- tribution (by mail and outside mail). 1. Free or nominal
outside-county. Average number of copies each issue dur-
riage database, 1741 to 2011. Even if the marriage record doesn’t list ing preceding 12 months: 205. Actual number of copies of
the couple’s parents, it might contain clues such as the names of single issue published nearest to filing date: 515. 2. Free or
nominal rate in-county copies. Average number of copies
bondsmen, who were often siblings or in-laws. You might get truly each issue during preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number
of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date:
lucky and find a bondsman with the same last name as the groom, 0. 3. Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other Classes
through the USPS. Average number of copies each issue
and listed as a “Jr.” If you can prove the groom and the bondsman are during preceding 12 months: 305. Actual number of cop-
ies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 346. 4.
brothers, you then also have the groom’s father. Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail. Average
number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months:
0. Actual number of copies of single issue published near-
Q A 1799 birth record for my Danish ancestor gives the est to filing date: 0. E. Total free or nominal rate distribution.
Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12
father’s name as Jens Hansen Bødker, but I can’t find months: 510. Actual number of copies of single issue pub-
lished nearest to filing date: 861. F. Total free distribution
this person anywhere else. What am I doing wrong? (sum of 15c and 15e). Average number of copies each is-
sue during preceding 12 months: 47,626. Actual number
of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date:
47,155. G. Copies not Distributed. Average number of cop-
A It’s possible that whoever transcribed that church record mis-

takenly added the occupation to the name. Much as in Eng-
lish, some Scandinavians took occupational terms as surnames. But
ies each issue during preceding 12 months: 13,260. Actual
number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing
date: 15,037. H. Total (sum of 15f and 15g). Average number
of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 60,886.
in the period you’re researching, patronymic surnames (the father’s to filing date: 62,192. I. Percent paid. Average percent of
copies paid for preceding 12 months: 98.9% Actual percent
first name plus -sen or -datter) were much more common. Bødker is of copies paid for preceding 12 months: 98.2% 16. Elec-
tronic Copy Circulation: A. Paid Electronic Copies. Average
Danish for a cooper, or barrel maker, and the original church record number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months:
could certainly have noted this occupation. Try searching with just nearest to filing date: 1,463. B. Total Paid Print Copies (Line
15c) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a). Average number
Jens Hansen and see if you have better luck. To diferentiate among of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 49,130.
the zillions of Danes with that name (even today, Hansen is the third to filing date: 47,757. C. Total Print Distribution (Line 15f ) +
most common Danish surname) try to include a place, such as the Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a). Average number of cop-
ies each issue during preceding 12 months: 49,640. Actual
parish from the birth record, and Jens’ child or wife, if known. Find a number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing
date: 48,618. D. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Cop-
handy list translating occupations and other words commonly found ies) (16b divided by 16c x 100). Average number of cop-
ies each issue during preceding 12 months: 99.0%. Actual
in Danish records at <www.folketimidten.dk/gb.htm>. number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing
date: 98.2%. I certify that 50% of all distributed copies (elec-
tronic and print) are paid above nominal price: Yes. Report
circulation on PS Form 3526-X worksheet. 17. Publication
of statement of ownership will be printed in the DECEM-
BER 2018 issue of the publication. 18. Signature and title of
David A. Fryxell editor, publisher, business manager, or owner: Patty Craft,
is the founding editor of Publisher. I certify that all information furnished on this
Family Tree Magazine. He form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who
furnishes false or misleading information on this form or
now writes and researches who omits material or information requested on the form
his family tree in Tucson. may be subject to criminal sanction and civil actions.

treetips PHOTO DETECTIVE
Date with Destiny

The key to this family’s identity starts with estimating when the photo was taken.
3
5
4
2
1 The photographer 2 This woman’s fashion- 3 Often, the youngest 4 If the parents are in 5 The photo’s owner,
posed this family so that able shoulder puff dates child is in the center of a their 60s and the old- Barbara Rivers, believes
the parents (seated) the picture to about portrait, but this image est son in his late 30s, this might be her Findlay
flank their children. 1897. The full upper may be different. Study- the parents would’ve family of Iowa. Examin-
sleeves on the other ing the faces, I’d say one been married in their ing censuses close to the
women also are of the women is the early 20s. This makes the date of the image—the
characteristic of the youngest, and the oldest 1850s a good time 1895 Iowa state census
mid- to late-1890s. child is this son. frame to look for a and 1900 US census—
marriage record. could lead her to a
matching family.
Maureen A. Taylor is Family Tree Magazine’s Photo

Detective blogger <familytreemagazine.com/articles/
news-blogs/photo_detective> and author of Family Photo
Detective (Family Tree Books) <familytreemagazine.com/
store/family-photo-detective-u9824>.
Find Your Roots
Reconnect to
your birth family
with this guide,
featuring:
t strategies for adoptees,
donor-conceived
people, and anyone with
unknown parentage to
find biological relatives
using DNA testing
t help understanding the

major DNA tests and
testing companies
t tips for identifying

and contacting DNA
matches
SAVE 10%!
<bit.ly/adoptee-guide-DNA>
ENTER CODE AdoptionFTM
AT CHECKOUT. Expires Dec. 31, 2018
/#1 !*ɥƭɥƐƓƎɥ/%#2ɥƭɥǬƐƙƥƙƙ
treetips TECH TOOLKIT
WHAT ’S NEW
Ellis Island Adds Free Records

THE FREE ELLIS ISLAND ONLINE PAS
SENGER SEARCH <www.libertyellis
foundation.org/passenger> now pro-
vides full arrival record coverage
from 1820 to 1957. That reflects the
Port of New York’s immigration hey-
day, which began long before Ellis
Island opened in 1892 and lasted until
1924, when federal laws restricted
the flow of arrivals.
The passenger records were post-
ed online through a partnership
between the Statue of Liberty-Ellis
Island Foundation and FamilySearch.
You also can search indexes to these
passenger records at the free Family-
Search website <www.familysearch.
org>, where your search results link Jackie Schalk, director of the American Family Immigration History Center at Ellis Island, helps a
to record images on the Ellis Island visitor search online immigration passenger lists.
site. On either website, you’ll need a
free registration to view matches to tax purposes. Fortunately, the lists (such as a region instead of a village)
your search results. named passengers, because a fire on and missing occupations in customs
New York passenger records from Ellis Island in 1897 burned the origi- lists, so knowing as much as possible
the 1800s aren’t actually original nal New York arrival records stored about your ancestor’s immigration
passenger lists, but rather customs there. You may notice abbreviated will help you identify the right person
lists that ship’s pursers recorded for first names, generalized place names in the records.
ROOTSTECH GOES TO LONDON ELLIS ISLAND: MEREDITH HEUER; TOWER OF LONDON: JORDAN HOLIDAY AT PIXABAY
FamilySearch’s popular RootsTech conference, hosted annually in Salt Lake City since
2012, is adding an overseas event in 2019. RootsTech London <www.rootstech.org/
london> will take place October 24–26 at the ExCeL London Convention Centre,
stepping into the gap left when Who Do You Think You Are? Live! ended its 10-year
run in 2017 due to financial problems (see <www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.
com/news/wdytya-live-close-its-doors> for details).
The three-day RootsTech London promises 150 hands-on lectures on topics such
as DNA, historical records and preserving memories. An exhibit hall will feature
genealogy technology vendors. Expect the same type of well-known, world-class
featured speakers as the US event; Nick Barratt from the BBC’s “Who Do You Think
You Are?” television series is already on board.
RootsTech London Registration will open in late February 2019 (coinciding with
the US RootsTech conference, Feb. 27- March 2).
SEE MOM’S YEARBOOK PHOTO ON ANCESTRY
Ancestry <ancestry.com> has doubled the size of digitized US yearbook collections, adding
about 150,000 high school and college annuals. The collection now comprises 324,000 year-
books—more than 52 million pages—representing all 50 states.
Genealogical clues in yearbooks include the year and place of residence, as well as the
presence of siblings, cousins or future spouses. You may find fun glimpses into relatives’
younger years: nicknames, interests and accomplishments, and awkwardly endearing photos.
The collection includes teachers and staff, but there’s a catch to searching for them: Results
give estimated birth years, based on the assumption that everyone in the book was age 14 to
17 at the time. So check search results that match on the name, even if the birth year is off.
RootsWeb Returns (Slowly)

FREE GENEALOGY WEBSITE ROOTSWEB <www.rootsweb. in December 2017 after the website’s owner, Ancestry,
com> is gradually returning after a security-related shut- learned RootsWeb usernames and passwords had been
down several months ago. The shutdown was initiated compromised.
According to updates on the RootsWeb site, mailing lists
are working again and message archives are gradually
being reinstated. The Obituary Daily Times index is back
and being updated. You now can search the user-uploaded
trees in World Connect, but new uploads aren’t yet enabled.
Hosted websites are coming back in phases, starting with
about 600 USGenWeb project sites. Owners of other sites
hosted on RootsWeb can request their site be reinstated or
simply download their site contents, via the request forms
linked at <home.rootsweb.com/sites/siteDirectory>.
The comeback includes a new, more-modern look for the
RootsWeb home page, plus a blog (which you can check for
site restoration updates) and a wiki. The new RootsWeb
Wiki has content from the now-defunct Ancestry Wiki,
including Ancestry’s Red Book and The Source.
FINDMYPAST ADDS ELECTORAL REGISTERS

Subscription genealogy website Findmypast <www. “Searches will now also cover all of England and
findmypast.com> has released more than 53 million elec- Wales,” according to the company’s announcement, “and
toral registers for England and Wales. The new database, matching records from the registers will feed into hints
England & Wales Electoral Registers 1920-1932, improves for all customers with a Findmypast Family tree.”
upon Findmypast’s previous electoral register collec- These records cover a critical time in British history: the
tion by reprocessing the original documents to improve period between the 1911 census and the 1939 Register.
image quality. This enabled optical character recognition The 1921 census won’t be published until 2021, the 1931
software to index the rolls, so you now can search them census was destroyed in a fire, and World War II kept the
by name. 1941 census from happening.

HOW TO Photograph an Heirloom

1 Handle fragile and one-of-
a-kind objects carefully. Wash
your hands before touching and
support a heavy item’s weight
with both hands when carrying 4
and repositioning.
2 Set up your backdrop with

white fabric (a bedsheet
works well) or butcher paper,
or plain black fabric. Here,
fabric is secured to the wall with 2
painter’s tape and draped
over a table. You also can
experiment with other non-
distracting backgrounds.
3 Place the object alone or,

for artistic or historical appeal,
group it with two to four related
objects. An odd number of
objects with varied sizes often 5
looks best. 1
4 Choose an area with good
overall lighting. Use additional
light sources as needed to illu- 3
minate the artifact evenly from
all sides. Cover direct or harsh
light sources with a translucent
shade or curtain.
Here’s the resulting image!

5 Document identifying
information in the filename and
metadata of the resulting digital
image. You also could place a
printed label in the photo or
add one digitally, with photo-
editing software.
PHOTOS: DIANE HADDAD
TECH TOOLKIT tips
ROUNDUP International Archives

1 Library and Archives Canada
<www.bac-lac.gc.ca>
From the home page, choose Online Research> Genealogy and
Family History. Read the How to Begin and Access the Records
descriptions. Under Database, click Ancestors Search to search
individual databases of censuses as well as vital, immigration,
naturalization, land or military records and more.
2 The National Archives of Ireland

<www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie>
Search indexed census records (1901, 1911 and surviving fragments
1821-1851), census search forms (1841-1851), tithe applotment books,
various collections of wills, marriage licenses, Catholic convert rolls,
tax valuations and more, and view record images for free.
3 Arkivverket (Norway)
<www.arkivverket.no/en>
Click English on the home page to translate the site. Scroll down
to Genealogical Research to find getting-started resources and to
access digitized censuses, parish registers and emigrant records in
the Digital Archives. You even can download records for free.
4 ScotlandsPeople
<www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk>
Use this Scottish government website to search government records
and archives, and order copies of official certificates. You’ll find
name-searchable censuses, civil and church registers, valuation rolls
and legal records, all free to search (you’ll pay for copies). Image and
map libraries can also prove valuable.
5 The National Archives (United Kingdom)

<www.nationalarchives.gov.uk>
Start by clicking Help with Your Research> Family History for handy
guides to genealogical record types. Click the box to limit guides to
those with online records: you’ll see a handy list that points to online
collections on and off the site: censuses, the 1939 Register, wills,
passenger lists, alien and military records and more.
6 National Archives and Records

Administration (United States)
<archives.gov>
Choose Information for Genealogists to read descriptions and
research information about immigration, military and other feder-
ally held records. Relatively few searchable-by-name records are
online; click Online Research Tools from the genealogy page to
reach them via Access to Archival Databases.

WEBSITE New York Passenger Search

Between 1820 and 1920, nearly 80 percent of US immigrant arrivals landed at New York ports. Now the full
run of New York passenger and customs lists, 1820 to 1957, is free to search on the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island
Foundation website <www.libertyellisfoundation.org>.
Sunny Jane Morton
c
A
B e
A Search nearly B Click an icon to C Passenger names D Choose Ellis E Trouble finding
65 million names, add the param- in search results Island History from family? Try search-
including immi- eter to your search link to record this drop-down ing New York
grants, ships’ crew, before you run it— images (you’ll need menu for a timeline passengers at your
and other travel- or wait until you a free site login to synopsis of the favorite genealogy
ers who passed see results to apply view them). You immigrant experi- website or via One-
through New York these parameters. can’t download the ence at Ellis Island. Step Webpages by
harbor. images, but you Choose Ship Search Stephen P. Morse
can click to order to see ship images, <stevemorse.org>.
high-quality prints. information and These searches
passenger mani- may pick up results
fests for specific missed by the Ellis
in the shop arrival dates. Island site.
Find your ancestor’s citizen-
ship records with tips from
this video class <family
treemagazine.com/store/
naturalization-records>.
TECH TOOLKIT treetips
DNA Q&A
Why Go Y?
Men inherit
Y-DNA relatively
unchanged from
GREATGRANDPARENTS GREATGRANDPARENTS their fathers; it
follows the dark
blue squares. We all
inherit autosomal
PATERNAL PATERNAL MATERNAL MATERNAL DNA from all our
GRANDFATHER GRANDMOTHER GRANDFATHER GRANDMOTHER ancestors, but
the pieces get
smaller and less
FATHER MOTHER informative over
generations.
YOU MALE
Q I’m trying to decide between autoso-

mal DNA and Y-DNA for my paternal
uncle. The line has been traced back to
legwork, you won’t even know if the match is on
your paternal or maternal side.
Y-DNA, on the other hand, has both vision
Nova Scotia for a number of generations, and relative clarity. Your uncle’s Y-DNA has
and I’m trying to go further back to find been passed down basically unchanged through
the original immigrant. Which test generations of fathers, and therefore represents
should I use? a near-perfect record of his eighth-great-grand-
father on his direct paternal line. (Women don’t
A While autosomal DNA testing is valuable

and has helped countless genealogists
find their families, it has two glaring flaws: It’s
inherit Y-DNA.) Furthermore, when you find
a match in a Y-DNA database, there’s no doubt
that you share a direct paternal line with that
shortsighted and it’s blurry. match. You might not know in which generation
To the first point, your autosomal DNA can you connect, but you’ll have a range of a few gen-
help with only about five or six generations of erations to start your search.
your family tree. You do have autosomal DNA Since you’ve already traced your ancestry back
from your eighth-great-grandfather, but it’s in several generations, you’ll probably want to have
tiny pieces. Current tests can’t use such small your uncle take the Y-DNA test—so long as he’s
pieces to tell if you match someone else because descended through male lines from the immi-
you share an eighth-great-grandfather, or you grant you’re interested in. The best-case scenario
both just came from the same population group. is that your uncle’s Y-DNA will match someone
Autosomal DNA testing is blurry because it who knows more than you do about the family’s
doesn’t give you a clear picture of how you’re origins. Y-DNA testing is more expensive than
related to someone. Based on how much DNA autosomal, but it’s also worth it. You can start
you share, you might be estimated as third cous- with the Y-DNA 37-marker test at Family Tree
ins. But you also could be fourth cousins, third DNA <www.familytreedna.com> for $169, and if
cousins once removed, second cousins twice you want, upgrade to a higher level of testing
removed, or another relationship that shares later without having to submit a new sample.
about the same amount of DNA. Without some Diahan Southard

the rest is history
I’m 73 percent
European,
23 percent
African and only
4 percent Indian.
When I got the results,
I was thinking it was going
to say American Indian and
maybe some black, because my
mom is a little dark skinned and
my brother is kind of dark skinned,
too, as was my grandfather, who was
a merchant from La Capital.
Actress Michelle Rodriquez, whose mother

is from the Dominican Republic and father is
Puerto Rican, expressing surprise at the
results of a DNA test she took for her
appearance on PBS’ “Finding Your
DANIELE VENTURELLI / GETTY IMAGES ENTERTAINMENT
Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”
n e a l o gi s t ’s
G e
I D AY
HOL IST
WI S H L
Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com
How to Find Your Family History
on the #1 Genealogy Website
e
Check th
U
books YO
a nt & g ive
w
is to S anta!
th
The Family Tree Guide to DNA
Testing and Genetic Genealogy
Organize Your Genealogy

Strategies and Solutions
for Every Researcher
SAVE 15%
ON YOUR
NEXT ORDER!
ENTER CODE
FTMDEC18
FREE SHIPPING ON
US ORDERS OVER $25 Story of My Life
A Workbook for
Preserving Your Legacy
Family Tree Factbook

Key Genealogy Tips and Stats
<familytreemagazine.com/store> for the Busy Researcher
Coupon code FTMDEC18 valid at FamilyTreeMagazine.com through March 31, 2019. Some exclusions apply.

Family

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Family

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Family

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What tips are provided for researching ancestors in different US states?

What tips are provided for researching ancestors in different US states?

What information is given about researching Scottish ancestry?

What information is given about researching Scottish ancestry?

FREE! QUICK GUIDE TO MYHERITAGE.COM $. VALUE!

t handy, at-a-glance lists and

t quick hints for ﬁnding

t travel-size for easy

27 Taking the High Road

family t re emagaz ine.com 1

14 Family History Home

64 Website: New York passenger search 70

Group Publisher Allison Dolan

Advertising Sales Representative Tim Baldwin my father-in-law’s family in upstate

EDITORIAL OFFICES: ing penitentiary registers naming my

family t re emagaz ine.com 3

showed where an ancestor had

father’s family. I found royalty

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Leading Acid Reflux

walk in the posada in Mexico, re-enacting Mary and Joseph’s journey to

DID YOUR ANCESTORS

Now you can ﬁnally have all of the

Call today and receive a

With purchase of a new Safe Step Walk-In Tub. AVAILABLE

CSLB 983603 F13000002885 13HV08744300

Hark the Heritage

family t re emagaz ine.com 9

Cooking the Books

family t re emagaz ine.com 11

While digitizing records of other people’s ancestors,

R whose retirement provides her with extra time.

Preserving Holiday Heirlooms

Wow! A Simple to Use Computer

Thomas McAdory Owen , first director of the

family t re emagaz ine.com 17

Discover your American ancestors in cyberspace! Search these

AlabamaMosaic Arizona Genealogy Birth and

family t re emagaz ine.com 19

EE ArkansasGravestones.org county birth and death registers, a DELAWARE

Online Archive of California

parish marriages (1831 to 1967). Oth- MASSACHUSETTS EE Mississippi Digital Library

4 Check the original. A web-

2 Search for name variants.

3 Try a stem search. You

family t re e magaz ine.com 25

EE The Portal to Texas History EE Library of Virginia

Whether they came from the Highlands or the bonnie banks

of Loch Lomond, your Scottish ancestors left behind a trail

family t re emagaz ine.com 27

Once you’ve identiied your

The birth register contains a host of valuable

family t re emagaz ine.com 29

Scottish Online Civil Records at a Glance

Register access at FamilySearch births, 1855-1917 n/a n/a

family t re emagaz ine.com 31

family t re emagaz ine.com 33

Decatur Ten Guntersville

Coffee Dale Henry

Between 1828 and 1965, 52 ires damaged