19th century

  • Sanborn Maps – Library of Congress

    Aug 27

    What a great aid the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps can be in doing your family history research. The U. S. Library of Congress has these maps in digital format and are searchable. Currently there are over 25,000 sheets from over 3000 city sets online in the following states: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, ...

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  • Immigrants to American Shores

    Aug 25

    We all have some immigrants who came from a family homeland in another country to resettle in America. The online database with FamilySearch.org has even more records added to the collection of passengers arriving in New York between 1820 and 1950s. Keep in mind there would also be travelers, born American citizens who would have traveled by ships ...

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  • Baltimore City Directories

    Aug 9

    Any time, any place you locate a city directory for where an ancestor lived, you have a gold mine. True, each type of city directory can vary but most have the person's name, home address, occupation, spouse, and work location. ConnerGenealogy.com has a full listing for city directories that are scanned and view-able for the city of Baltimore, Mar...

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  • Homestead Act

    Jul 17

    Did the Homestead Act of 1862 and the movement of families to the American Western frontier after 1865 change your family tree? Those two events had a sizable effect on families who had lived for decades along the eastern coast to the Appalachian Mountains and now whole families or individuals left their hometowns to head west for a new life. The ...

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  • Finding Vintage Photos and Ephemera

    May 29

    One is always on the lookout for family vintage photos, and you should be because you never know where one can turn up. Of course, you check with all living relatives, some who do not even realize they have tucked away old photos. Offer to assist them to sort the photos. An online site named 'Ancestorville' loves looking in all types of places (ya...

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  • Native Indian Photos

    May 5

    Being treated as non-humans, no citizenship and placed on restricted reservations was the life of the 19th into early 20th century American Indians. However, thanks to the American Antiquarian Society in Massachusetts, there is a large collection of photos of various Indian individuals, families and groups from across America.  The photo collec...

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  • Photo Collections at Brigham Young University

    Apr 29

    In BYU photo collection which has been made digital are nine major collections by different photographers and collectors. Images from World War II, to 19th century American West landscape photos to 293 photographs of California, especially of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake images are just three examples. Once you select a collection you can bro...

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  • County Histories

    Apr 19

    An often overlook resource are the county history books and pamphlets done in the late 19th century and early 20th century. There was a big push for counties to record their history and include the local residents who helped establish the county. The former Confederate states of the south were the only ones to have the fewest county's devote their ...

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  • Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library with Digital Archives

    Mar 31

    For those doing research for the state of Ohio, the Columbus Metropolitan Library has a massive digital archives online. It includes photos, maps, documents and artifacts. Categories include: Collections, Topics, Neighbors and by Decades. So if you knew the neighborhood of a town your ancestor came from, you might locate a map or photos. You can t...

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  • Head West Young Man

    Feb 25

    That is exactly what many of our ancestors did during the 19th century, left their traditional hometowns along the east coast or the Great Lakes area to travel to a new, mostly uncharted part of the country - the far west. It was a way to start fresh for many individuals and families. The covered wagons were the main source of transportation in the...

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