Hidden Research Treasures at Ancestry.com
The editor of "The Ancestry Insider.com" has generously shared the following valuable information concerning the use of Ancestry.com. from a class at the 2015 RootsTech.
"At RootsTech last month, I was able to attend most of Michelle Ercanbrack's FGS session, Hidden Treasures at Ancestry.com. Following is some of the information that was shared with us."
This is excellent information and worth your time . You will find a link to view the original presentation at the bottom of the next page. Click on "Read More" below.
"At RootsTech last month, I was able to attend most of Michelle Ercanbrack's FGS session, Hidden Treasures at Ancestry.com. Following is some of the information that was shared with us."
This is excellent information and worth your time . You will find a link to view the original presentation at the bottom of the next page. Click on "Read More" below.
Ancestry.com has many databases that are hidden treasures.
Non-population schedules
New York, Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830-1920
U.S., Tennessee Valley, Family Removal and Population Readjustment Case Files, 1934-1953. Dams to control flooding forced some families to move. More than Tennessee families were affected. An example is Jim Henry Davis. The form shows the miles from school and store. It asks for information about employment, religion, expenses of running farm, wages, names and ages of children, and how they feel about moving.
A closely related collection is the Tennessee Valley Cemetery Relocation Files, 1933-1990. Don’t forget to check the back, as some have additional notes.
Some passenger lists are overlooked. Ancestry.com has 133 collections, including border crossings. They have databases for all major U.S. ports.
Naturalization records
Naturalization Indexes. Michelle showed an example from Lou Szuc’s family. They found a William Huggins naturalization record. They are pretty sure it is for their ancestor because the witness, Michael Meehan, was also sponsor for several of his children’s baptisms. The witnesses knew the people well.
U.S Passport Applications, 1795-1925
Military Records
1890 Veterans Schedules – This is an incomplete collection. It contains only parts from Kentucky through Wyoming, and select U.S. vessels. If there is something circled, it means there is additional information elsewhere. (I didn’t catch where.) In some cases, confederates were included, but some will be found crossed out. Widows sometimes reported her husband’s service, even though soldier had died.
U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Contains only those applications that were accepted. Basically, an application contains their genealogies. Consider it the equivalent to an online tree. Some included sources, but there could be errors. They didn’t have the wealth of sources we have today.
Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865. Michelle showed an example with a note that had interesting details.
U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938
U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. Often took the land and turned it. There are 80,000 application files for pensions for service, disabilities, or widows.
US Records
US City Directories, 1821-1989. Make sure to check city’s year ranges. These have OCR indexes, so sometimes you can get some “funky stuff” (indexing errors). They are basically a phone book, so Michelle accesses them like that. She doesn’t rely on search. Some pages are out of order. Some also have local histories, business directories, church lists, and fraternal society lists.
U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 is another fun collection. Look for your grandparents. Michelle loves those pictures because it is not how she knew them. There are almost 300 million records in this collection.
Quaker collection – This is the largest online collection of Quaker records. There are multiple databases. Seehttp://ancestry.com/cs/us/quakers
U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 – 6.4 million records in this one collection.
On the search page, scroll to the bottom right corner for links to ethnic pages such as African-American Collections. The Jewish Family History Collection is a result of a half-dozen different organizations coming together with lots of volunteers indexing.
International Records
Some people have not noticed the tabs above the map on the search page. These allowing browsing to country pages.
Know the Records: Search for any name, look at a record, and see what is included and what is indexed. Form a search strategy based on that. How are the records organized? Watch for notices, such as the one reminding you that Swedish birth records are in Swedish.
London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 – there are some very old, awesome stuff in this database. Spend some time within these databases to see what is available.
Educational Treasures
The Ancestry.com Learning Center – There is a link to it on the top menu bar. Among other resources are research guides for many of the states and 30 guides on reference topics.
Five Minute Finds – These are short, instructional videos. There are links to them on the learning center page. Or you can go directly to YouTube and find them there. There are also hour long videos.
Access Ancestry.com resources on social networks.
The session was recorded and is available for viewing on the RootsTech website at -
http://rootstech.org/video/4055721878001.
It is also available free for viewing at the St.George FamilySearch Library.
Non-population schedules
- U.S. Federal Census - 1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes
- U.S. Special Census on Deaf Family Marriages and Hearing Relatives, 1888-1895 – how long deaf, who were other family members, schooling, occupation, details relating to the couple’s family
New York, Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1830-1920
U.S., Tennessee Valley, Family Removal and Population Readjustment Case Files, 1934-1953. Dams to control flooding forced some families to move. More than Tennessee families were affected. An example is Jim Henry Davis. The form shows the miles from school and store. It asks for information about employment, religion, expenses of running farm, wages, names and ages of children, and how they feel about moving.
A closely related collection is the Tennessee Valley Cemetery Relocation Files, 1933-1990. Don’t forget to check the back, as some have additional notes.
Some passenger lists are overlooked. Ancestry.com has 133 collections, including border crossings. They have databases for all major U.S. ports.
Naturalization records
Naturalization Indexes. Michelle showed an example from Lou Szuc’s family. They found a William Huggins naturalization record. They are pretty sure it is for their ancestor because the witness, Michael Meehan, was also sponsor for several of his children’s baptisms. The witnesses knew the people well.
U.S Passport Applications, 1795-1925
Military Records
1890 Veterans Schedules – This is an incomplete collection. It contains only parts from Kentucky through Wyoming, and select U.S. vessels. If there is something circled, it means there is additional information elsewhere. (I didn’t catch where.) In some cases, confederates were included, but some will be found crossed out. Widows sometimes reported her husband’s service, even though soldier had died.
U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Contains only those applications that were accepted. Basically, an application contains their genealogies. Consider it the equivalent to an online tree. Some included sources, but there could be errors. They didn’t have the wealth of sources we have today.
Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865. Michelle showed an example with a note that had interesting details.
U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938
U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. Often took the land and turned it. There are 80,000 application files for pensions for service, disabilities, or widows.
US Records
US City Directories, 1821-1989. Make sure to check city’s year ranges. These have OCR indexes, so sometimes you can get some “funky stuff” (indexing errors). They are basically a phone book, so Michelle accesses them like that. She doesn’t rely on search. Some pages are out of order. Some also have local histories, business directories, church lists, and fraternal society lists.
U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 is another fun collection. Look for your grandparents. Michelle loves those pictures because it is not how she knew them. There are almost 300 million records in this collection.
Quaker collection – This is the largest online collection of Quaker records. There are multiple databases. Seehttp://ancestry.com/cs/us/quakers
U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 – 6.4 million records in this one collection.
On the search page, scroll to the bottom right corner for links to ethnic pages such as African-American Collections. The Jewish Family History Collection is a result of a half-dozen different organizations coming together with lots of volunteers indexing.
International Records
Some people have not noticed the tabs above the map on the search page. These allowing browsing to country pages.
Know the Records: Search for any name, look at a record, and see what is included and what is indexed. Form a search strategy based on that. How are the records organized? Watch for notices, such as the one reminding you that Swedish birth records are in Swedish.
London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 – there are some very old, awesome stuff in this database. Spend some time within these databases to see what is available.
Educational Treasures
The Ancestry.com Learning Center – There is a link to it on the top menu bar. Among other resources are research guides for many of the states and 30 guides on reference topics.
Five Minute Finds – These are short, instructional videos. There are links to them on the learning center page. Or you can go directly to YouTube and find them there. There are also hour long videos.
Access Ancestry.com resources on social networks.
- Facebook is a great place to ask questions.
- Follow on Twitter for content alerts and education opportunities.
- Follow the Ancestry Blog for the latest updates.
- Crista Cowan does bi-weekly half-hour videos that can be viewed on Livestream or later on YouTube.
The session was recorded and is available for viewing on the RootsTech website at -
http://rootstech.org/video/4055721878001.
It is also available free for viewing at the St.George FamilySearch Library.