by Lisa Cooke | Nov 5, 2014 | 01 What's New, Beginner, Census, Records & databases
New York Genealogy
Good news for those who had relatives in New York in the 1860s: the 1865 New York State Census is now searchable online at FamilySearch.org.
Just five years earlier, the 1860 U.S. federal census counted nearly four million people in this its largest state. New York claimed two of the three biggest U.S. cities: New York City and Brooklyn, with a combined population of over a million.
According to FamilySearch, “This collection contains most of the 1865 New York state census records still in existence. Ten schedules were filed for each locality, including population, marriages, and deaths schedules. The population schedule included the name, age, birthplace, and occupation of each household member. Most counties are covered, but some records were destroyed. The record is a printed form that was filled in by hand by the enumerator. The records are usually buy bipolar medication online arranged by county and town.”
Several counties are missing from this dataset. But it’s got a hefty 2.5 million records, over 60% of the population as counted in 1860. So check it out if you have Empire State ancestors!
Didn’t know New York conducted state censuses? Check out these additional resources:
- Ancestry.com has a database of New York State censuses for 1880, 1892 and 1905. The 1892 census is especially critical because of the 1890 U.S. federal census is almost entirely lost.
- Learn more about U.S. state censuses and other special censuses in Episode 10 of our Family History Made Easy podcast. (This episode is the second of a three-part series on using census records: click here for the full list of episodes of this step-by-step free genealogy podcast.)
by Lisa Cooke | Dec 10, 2014 | 01 What's New, Evernote
Recently Richard wrote in with great questions on using Evernote for family history. “Thank you for ‘reinvigorating’ my interest in my family history,” he says. “I watched [your Legacy Family Tree webinar] on Evernote twice and I am now a Premium user thanks to the video. I’m following many of your suggestions, but have a few questions.”
Here’s our Q & A on using Evernote for family history:
Q: “Creating a set of useful tags assumes that in the future you will want to extract data based upon those tags. Since in many cases you don’t have the data yet, and can’t know what you want to retrieve (kind of a “Back to the Future” scenario), do you have any suggestions on specific tags? Here are a couple I’m thinking of using and I’d appreciate your opinion: Census year — Birth year – Death year – Civil Records – Church Records.”
A: Yes, I provide a list on my Evernote for Genealogists quick reference guide (out of print) that follows along the lines you are already going (focusing on record types). I recommend keeping tag names simple so there is less clutter in the left hand column of Evernote. i.e. Birth, Census, Death, Immigration, etc. I also tend to have location tags such as states and/or counties in anticipation of opportunities to do research in those areas. If I’m going to make a trip to Randolph County, it would be convenient to access all related notes regardless of family or time frame with one click of a tag.
Originally I created notebooks for each major surname in my tree, but I recommend tags now. I reserve notebooks for high level topics and projects—particularly projects I anticipate wanting to work with others on. It’s very convenient to simply share a notebook. There are five Evernote videos that are part of Premium membership that go in to all the details. You’ll find the list here.
Q: “Do you tag individual surnames in your notes? What about generations, i.e., Grandparents — Great-Grandparents — Great-Great-Grandparents, etc.”
A: I have laid out my organizational strategy in the Genealogy Gems Premium Membership videos “Hard Drive Organization” and have since elaborated on how I apply that method to Evernote in several Premium podcast episodes.
Q: “I noted in your video you do not clip most of your family photos. Do you clip full census sheets?
A: Yes. Anything to do with my research!
Q: I use Family Tree Maker, and subscribe to Ancestry.com. Once you have compiled all these notes, what and how do you include them into your tree?”
A: I cover this in Premium episode 96.
As you can see, though I cover a lot of Evernote questions on my free Genealogy Gems website, a lot of his more detailed questions are addressed in members-only Premium content. Learn more about Genealogy Gems Premium membership here: all the great online videos and Premium podcast episodes you’ll be able to access for a full YEAR for less than the price of attending a single day at a genealogy conference!
Just interested in Evernote right now? Check out this post:
How to Get Started in Evernote, and the Ultimate Evernote Education
by Lisa Cooke | Apr 8, 2015 | 01 What's New, Norwegian, Video
MyHeritage is a leading resource for Scandinavian genealogy research. Now they are offering a free webinar for those researching Danish, 
Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic ancestry.
On Wednesday, April 15, Mike Mansfield, MyHeritage Director of Content and Jason Oler, MyHeritage Senior Program Manager, will host a program packed with research tips and strategies for navigating the millions of Scandinavian genealogy records now on MyHeritage. Click here to register.
Ready to learn about Scandinavian genealogy NOW? Genealogy Gems Premium members can access Premium Podcast Episode #15, in which Lisa interviews Scandinavian research expert Ruth Mannis at the Family History Library. Ruth simplifies and clarifies the process and reassures us that everyone can have success finding their Scandinavian roots. If you’re not a Premium member yet, you’re missing out on gems like Ruth Mannis’ interview–and more than 100 more premium podcasts like these and dozens of genealogy video tutorials. Get a year’s access
to all of this for one low price. Click here to learn more.
by Lisa Cooke | Oct 14, 2013 | 01 What's New, Evernote
Evernote is certainly the fastest-growing (and FREE) note-taking technology out there, so it’s no wonder that it is incredibly popular with genealogists. But there’s a lot packed into it and I’ve noticed that many genealogists aren’t taking full advantage. Here’s are two of my favorite tips that I use all the time from my brand new Evernote for Windows for Genealogists cheat sheet:
1) Create a New Note: When you’re working on your computer and you want to make a quick note of something in Evernote, you can get there with lightening speed by pressing these quick keys simultaneously: Ctrl+Alt+n.
2) Instant Note Search: What if you are knee deep in your research and you have a note that you need to quickly reference? Simply press Win+Shift+f from anywhere on your computer and Evernote will instantly open with your cursor in the search box ready to type a keyword and search!
Try these Evernote tips now! And then get LOADs more helpful tips in this 4 page laminated Quick Reference Guide, like:
