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Panoramic Photographs
Jan 21
There is nothing like soaring over an area to get that 'bird's eye view'. That experience is very possible in an airplane, hot air balloon or glider. However, to have that aerial view of a hometown, city or area say in 1920 or 1900 or 1890 is impossible. The Library of Congress Panoramic Photographic Collection does offer that experience in imag...
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Newspapers of Farm, Field and Fireside
Jan 19
Living out on the Great Plains of America or any rural region was an isolated and many times a lonesome lifestyle. Yet, this was the type of everyday existence that many of our ancestors experienced for decades. With the advancement of the railway system, telegraphs, roads, mail delivery, telephones, and then vehicles such as autos, the rural fami...
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York Co. PA and Neighboring Cemeteries
Jan 17
The areas of York County, Adams County and Cumberland County in Pennsylvania along with Carroll County in Maryland are all neighboring counties and have an long history of settlement. Many residents over the decades moved back and forth from one county to another. They also had their children and grandchildren resettle from York County to Carroll...
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Nebraska Newspapers
Jan 15
Having the local newspapers from your ancestor's hometown is a great method to learn about the town, occupations, news events, social events and maybe a mention of your actual relative. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln has placed online in digital format a massive collection of the state's newspapers. With material also from the Nebraska State...
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Ideas for Searching the Census
Jan 13
With the 1940 US Federal Census it has been fun trying to locate our family members and even family friends on that census from over 72 years ago. However, have you also been a bit frustrated when you can not locate a person? It has happened to all of us and not just on the 1940 census, but any from 1790 to 1930, there is bound to be one or more in...
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Washington State Databases
Jan 11
The State of Washington has a very complete series of databases for researchers to use. Viewing the homepage note all the listings on the left side. There are records referring to military, census, land, court, licenses, cemeteries, institutions and so many more. Some of the most popular are the birth, marriage, death, nationalizations and photogra...
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US Federal Mortality Census 1850
Jan 9
Do you think you had an ancestor who died between June 1849 and May 1850 and don't have much in any details? Well, using the FamilySearch.org site, it has the U. S. Federal Mortality Census (Schedule) for 1850. This year of 1850 was the first time such an special census was conducted. It was done with the regular Federal Census for population in 1...
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Lorain County, Ohio Births and Deaths
Jan 7
Your luck day if your have ancestors from Lorain County in the state of Ohio. This location at the northern end of the state borders Lake Erie and is very close to the city of Cleveland. So you may have ancestors who were born or died in Lorain County and you always thought it was strictly in Cleveland. Lorain's population in the 1870s was about 30...
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Photos of Pioneer North Dakota
Jan 5
Pioneer life out on the open plains was never easy. Many of our ancestors may have been those early homesteaders to the territory and then state of North Dakota. The North Dakota State University Library in Fargo has a great photographic collection of those pioneer days. Using these images you see better what pioneer life was like, their sod hou...
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1918-1919 Influenza and Your Ancestors
Jan 3
There it was all around, no escaping the newspaper headlines, the talk on the neighborhood corner or family dinners at the table. It was the early fall season of 1918 and not a tremendous amount to be very cheerful about by citizens across America. The nation had been “over there”, in Europe fighting the Germans since the United States declar...
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UK Records-BMD
Jan 1
For those researchers with ancestors in the United Kingdom (England-Wales-Scotland and Northern Ireland) remember to check the databases of the FreeBMD online. It contains some 221 million records and it is free access. The records are of the civil registration index for births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales and new ones are continuing ...
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Menus and Photos 1851 to 1930
Dec 30
In a past FamilyTree.com Genealogical Blog, I had written about cruise lines, railroad and airlines menus and locating them online in a digital format. The New York Public Library has an even greater collection of menus from restaurants, hotels, banquet rooms all over New York and other locations – also in digital format. It is the Miss F...
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Civil War Widows’ Pensions
Dec 28
Those researchers with ancestral veterans who served during the American Civil War will want to find as many additional sources of primary information as possible. One good location is the pension applications and case files completed by the widows and dependent children of veterans. The United States government granted pensions to widows of men...
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Photos & Documents from Kansas
Dec 26
The 'Sunflower' state of Kansas is in the heart of the United States. Its name comes from the 'Kansa' Native Indians. However many different Indian tribes lived on these great plains. The hunting of the plain's bison was the core of their existence. In 1854 the US government opened up the Kansas land for settlers. It became a state of the Union i...
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Family Photo Albums & Hometowns
Dec 24
A perfect opportunity to identify photos in family albums is during the holiday week when you can visit with relatives. Never attempt to label all the photos, but even a handful will help you later in some additional research. If you are going to a relative's house and they don't have any family photos and you do, bring them along. Share them with ...
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