Start Digging! New Worldwide Records Added to FamilySearch

Millions of new images and indexed records are added to FamilySearch.org every week. But here’s one that particularly caught my eye: 5.6 million records from Massachusetts Land Records dating  from 1620 to the 1980s.

Massachusetts Land Records, Hampshire County, sample deed from browsable record set at FamilySearch.org.

It’s a browsable collection of “land and property records from the Massachusetts Land Office and county courthouses. Records include land grants, patents, deeds, and mortgages. This collection includes all counties in Massachusetts.” Though these images aren’t indexed in FamilySearch per se, I noticed that when I clicked on a sample county (Hampshire), there were alphabetical deed indexes dating back as far as the records themselves. So it looks like in at least some cases, you’ll be able to browse those indexes and then find the deeds you want.

Looking for other new records just added to FamilySearch.org? Check out the table below.

Collection Indexed Records Digital Images Comments
Austria, Seigniorial Records, 1537–1888 0 237,988 Added images to an existing collection.
Brazil, Piauí, Civil Registration, 1875-2012 0 116,423 Added images to an existing collection.
China, Cemetery Records, 1820-1983 0 72,747 New browsable image collection.
China, Collection of Genealogies, 1239-2011 0 204,422 Added images to an existing collection.
Honduras, Civil Registration, 1841-1968 0 337,367 New browsable image collection.
Luxembourg, Civil Registration, 1793-1923 0 84,251 Added images to an existing collection.
Peru, Amazonas, Civil Registration, 1939-1995 0 5,417 Added images to an existing collection.
Portugal, Beja, Catholic Church Records, 1550-1911 0 94,902 Added images to an existing collection.
Portugal, Braga, Priest Application Files (Genere et Moribus), 1596-1911 0 69,030 New browsable image collection.
Portugal, Évora, Civil Registration and Miscellaneous Records, 1554-1938 0 5,708 New browsable image collection.
Portugal, Viana do Castelo, Catholic Church Records, 1537-1909 0 83,446 Added images to an existing collection.
Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1811 0 2,387 New browsable image collection.
Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1818 0 2,369 New browsable image collection.
Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1834 0 2,436 New browsable image collection.
U.S., Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900-1953 0 191,701 New browsable image collection.
U.S., Idaho, Gooding County Records, 1879-1962 0 52,108 New browsable image collection.
U.S., Maine, Piscataquis County, Deed Books, 1838-1902 0 56,970 New browsable image collection.
U.S., Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986 0 5,766,135 New browsable image collection.

 

We Dig These Gems! New Genealogy Records Online

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting and new genealogy records online for Brazil, Denmark, England, Ireland and the U.S.

BRAZIL CIVIL REGISTRATIONS. Over 200,000 indexed records have been added to a free collection of Pernambuco, Brazil civil registrations (1804-2014) at FamilySearch.org.

DENMARK DEEDS AND MORTGAGES. FamilySearch.org has added nearly 3 million digitized images to its collection of browsable deeds and mortgages for South Jutland, Denmark (1572-1928).

ENGLAND COURT. Ancestry subscribers now have access to a new collection of Yorkshire, England, Quarter Session Records, 1637-1914(1637-1914). According to the database description, these courts “had both a civil and a criminal jurisdiction, and before 1888 they also had an administrative function. Civil cases usually appear in the court’s order books and criminal cases in the indictment books.”

ENGLAND PROBATE. New Yorkshire, England, Probate Records, 1521-1858 are now available to Ancestry subscribers. These include wills, letters of administration and inventories.

ENGLAND TAX. About a quarter million land records are now included in FindMyPast’s database of Devon, Plymouth & West Devon Land Tax and Valuation Records 1897-1949. Use these to learn about an ancestor’s residence, property ownership and wealth.

IRELAND PARISH RECORDS. Ancestry has posted an Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915 from the National Library of Ireland. Access to this index is already free on Findmypast.

U.S. – AFRICAN-AMERICAN. About 35,000 indexed records and associated images have been added to a free collection of Freedmen’s Bureau marriages (1861-1872) at FamilySearch.org.

U.S. – ILLINOIS MARRIAGE. Nearly 200,00 total indexed marriage records for Illinois have been added to FamilySearch.org across three collections: church marriages, 1805-1985; civil marriages, 1833-1889 and county marriages, 1810-1934.

U.S. – MARYLAND CHURCH. A new collection of nearly 140,000 free, indexed records from a variety of Maryland churches (1668-1995) has been added to FamilySearch.org.

U.S. WAR OF 1812. 1.3 million indexed records have been added to a free United States War of 1812 Index to Service Records at FamilySearch.org.

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Ancestry Top Tips and Hot Keys

Episode 17 Video and Show Notes

Live show air date: July 23, 2020
Join me for Elevenses with Lisa, the online video series where we take a break, visit and learn about genealogy and family history.

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The Elevenses with Lisa Archive

Get all the past episodes of Elevenses with Lisa and show notes here.

Top Tips for Searching at Ancestry®

Here’s an outline of everything we covered in this episode about Ancestry Hot Keys and Top Tips.  If you’re thinking of getting a subscription to Ancestry® learn more here. Thank you for using our links. We are financially compensated at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting this free show and show notes. 

Our Usual Starting Place

If you keep looking in the same places you’ll keep finding the same things.

Our usual starting places include:

  • Search > All Collections
  • The Hints on Our Family Tree (But Only 10% of Ancestry® Records Appear as Hints)

Add the Card Catalog to your list of usual starting places. You’ll find it in the menu under Search > Card Catalog.

Navigating to Ancestry's Card Catalog

Navigating to Ancestry’s Card Catalog

The Ancestry®  Card Catalog Includes Unique Treasures

You will find unique items such as old maps, county and regional histories, postcards, film reels and more.

In the card catalog you can filter in the left-hand column.

Card Catalog Filters

Ancestry® Card Catalog Filters

Historic Maps at Ancestry®

An example of one of these wonderful map collection is the U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918

  • Nearly 7 million records
  • Extracted from about 1,200 maps
  • Indexed by property owners’ names
  • Indicate township and county boundaries
  • Can include photos of county officers, landholders, and some buildings and homes.
  • You can filter this collection by state. Each collection will have different options for filtering and browsing.
Historic Maps at Ancestry.com

Look for Historic Maps at Ancestry.com

Top Tip: Use Multiple Approaches

Searching by title, keyword, singular and plural all bring up different results. Unless you are looking for something very specific, it’s usually most effective to try multiple approached. Doing so ensures you don’t miss anything. You can also search strictly by filtering. Example: Maps + USA + Virginia.

Search for genealogy records with filter on Ancestry

Searching by filters only.

Regional and County Histories at Ancestry®

You can find county and regional histories by filtering to Stories, Memories and Histories.

Example: U.S., County and Regional Histories and Atlases, 1804-1984

Regional and county histories at Ancestry.com

Regional and county histories at Ancestry.com

This is a browse-only collection of “more than 2,200 volumes of county and regional histories from California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Historic Postcards at Ancestry®

Narrow your search by first filtering down to Pictures.

Ancestry Top Tip: When search on a computer, user Control + F (Win) or Command + F (Mac) to access the Find on Page search box. Enter the word you are looking for to jump straight to it when reviewing a long list.

Control + F finds words on the ancestry page faster

Press Control + F (Win) on your keyboard to search for words on the page.

WWII Newsreels at Ancestry®

This collection contains all 267 issues of the ‘United News’ newsreels. The films average about 10 minutes each. Go to the Card Catalog and search for “United News” in the title field. 

Top Tip: Ancestry® Hot Keys / Shortcuts

Use these hot keys at Ancestry to navigate and search quickly. 
Genealogy Gems Premium Members: Click here to download the Hot Keys cheat sheet image as a PDF for printing. 

Ancestry hot keys and short cuts infographic

Ancestry hot keys and short cuts

Ancestry® Hot Keys / Shortcuts for Search:
r = Refine your search
n = New Search (cleared search fields)

Ancestry® Hot Keys / Shortcuts for Records with Filmstrip Navigation:
p = previous image
n = next image
f = toggles filmstrip off and on

Ancestry® Hot Keys / Shortcuts for Accessing the Record Side Panel:
d = Details of the record
r = Related Records
s = Source for that record
(These don’t toggle the side panel)
i = Reveals the Index for the record (toggles)

Ancestry® Hot Keys / Shortcuts for Navigating Search Results Lists:
Some results lists can be navigated with hot keys.
j = move forward through the list
k = moves backward through the list
Enter = opens the selected record in the list

Another Unique Collection at Ancestry®:

Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1896-1993

Ancestry Top Tip - enter page number to navigate quickly.

Enter a page number to jump quickly to another area of a large collection such as the Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalog.

Ancestry Top Tips Recap:

  • Use the Card Catalog
  • Understand Search  and account for variations
  • Explore Unique Collections
  • Use Hot Keys to search faster.
Ancestry Top Tips

Ancestry Top Tips Recap

Adobe Spark Video Follow-up

Watch episode 16 on how to create a family history video with Adobe Spark Video.

Gwynn asked about the app on Android. Adobe has said that the Android version is coming soon. So for now, the website version of Adobe Spark Video is the way to go. Start at my Bargains page here and click the Adobe Spark image. In the upper right corner of the landing page you can get a free trial and set up your account, or you can click the 20% off special which will prompt you to create your account and then will give you 20% off the subscription (limited time offer – see website for details.)

Prize Winners:

I received many creative and entertaining video entries and selected two to win a 1 year Genealogy Gems Premium membership. The membership includes over 5 videos classes with handouts, the exclusive Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast (180+ episodes to date) and ad-free downloadable show notes handouts for Elevenses with Lisa.

Winner #1: Suzan Siegel – The first video was a scrapbook of her granddaughter’s Coronavirus memories. The other was dedicated to her ancestor, Hazel Linnie Budd Siegel, called “The Early Years.”
Winner #2: Vicky Fravel – “An Ancestor A Day Keeps Boredom Away” 

Resources

Live Chat PDF– Click here to download the live Chat from episode 17 which includes my answers to your questions. 
Show Notes PDF – Genealogy Gems Premium Members click here to download the show notes PDF for this episode. (Log in required.) Become a Premium Member here
Ancestry Hot Keys Printable Cheat Card – Genealogy Gems Premium Members click here to download the PDF. (Log in required.)

The Next Episode of Elevenses with Lisa

Set your reminder here for episode 18.

In this episode you will sit in on my consultation with genealogy expert Kate Eakman as she helps me try and bust a brick wall. Will we do it? Tune in to find out and pick up on some great strategies for any genealogy research dilemma. A must watch also if you have Irish ancestry. Plus you’ll learn what you can do to get the most from a professional researcher.

Thank you for Sharing and Supporting this Free Show

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Premium Episode 73 – Focus on Photographs and iWeb2shot

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Genealogy Gems Episode 202 – Free Episode

The Genealogy Gems Podcast
Episode 202
Lisa Louise Cooke

Highlights of this episode include:

  • AncestryDNA’s new Genetic Communities: An Interview with Catherine Ball, Ancestry’s Chief Scientific Officer;
  • Meet contestant Joe Greer from Relative Race, the genealogy reality show;
  • The new Genealogy Gems Book Club featured title: a novel from an internationally best-selling author
  • A botched reference to the 1950 census in a Stephen King novel?and 5 tips for counting down to the 1950 census release in exactly 5 years
  • Naming traditions tip from a listener
  • Lisa’s Google search strategies: search operators, YouTube and more

 

NEWS: ANCESTRYDNA GENETIC COMMUNITIES

Ancestry.com rolls out AncestryDNA Genetic Communities

FREE VIDEO: Introducing AncestryDNA Genetic Communities

Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 201 about new AncestryDNA study

 

NEWS: MYHERITAGE CONSISTENCY CHECKER

Access by logging in to your MyHeritage account and find this tool under the Family Tree dropdown menu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This podcast is sponsored by:

MyHeritage.com is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. Visit www.MyHeritage.com

 

 

A Similar Tool: RootsMagic Problem Search

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In RootsMagic, find it under the Tools menu. Select Problem Search, then Problem List to select the different kinds of problems you can have RootsMagic identify for you and to choose what age ranges you decide are out of bounds for a new father or mother.

Thank you to our podcast sponsors:

Backblaze lisa louise cooke

animoto how a genealogy society can grow membership

MAILBOX: NAMING TRADITIONS

download backblaze

Norwegian naming traditions tip from a listener

Irish naming conventions mentioned in this Q&A with Irish expert Kate Eakman

Mexican Genealogy Guide by David A. Fryxell

2 more places to find naming traditions:

Google search: for the name of the country or ethnic group, plus naming traditions

FamilySearch Wiki


MAILBOX: GOOGLE SEARCH OPERATOR TIP: “Oppenheim the butcher, NOT the bomb!”

FREE VIDEO TUTORIAL:
Speak Google’s Language: Google Search Operator Basics

The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 2nd edition by Lisa Louise Cooke

Google Drive and other tips

 

 

 

 

MAILBOX: STEPHEN KING AND THE 1950 CENSUS

To search inside books in Amazon:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTERVIEW: JOE GREER ON RELATIVE RACE

Meet Team Black: Joe and Madison Greer of Portland, OR

Joe Greer Relative Race

 

 

 

 

Relative Race BYUTV

Relative Race: “What happens when genealogy meets reality TV? Using their DNA as a guide, contestants embark on the ultimate road trip across America, completing challenges and meeting unknown relatives along the way.”

Click here to watch past episodes online for free.  The last two episodes of season two, 9 & 10, will air back to back respectively at 7pm MT/9pm ET and 8pm MT/10PM ET on Sunday, April 30.

Click here to learn more about the show

 

BONUS CONTENT FOR GENEALOGY GEMS APP USERS
Free PDF summary of 8 top genealogy TV shows from the past several years and where you can watch them online?a few of them for free, including Relative Race.

The Genealogy Gems app is FREE in Google Play and $2.99 for Windows, iPhone and iPad users.

 

INTERVIEW: Catherine Ball, Chief Scientific Officer, Ancestry.com

About Catherine Ball: Chief Scientific Officer at Ancestry

Catherine Ball Ancestry

FREE VIDEO DEMO: Introducing AncestryDNA Genetic Communities

Study using AncestryDNA data identifies group migration patterns

Thanks to Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard for joining us to talk about this new development in genetic genealogy. Click here to learn more about Diahan’s how-to DNA video tutorials and personal consultation services for solving your family history mysteries with DNA.

 

GENEALOGY GEMS BOOK CLUB

New featured title: The Whole Town’s Talking by Fannie Flagg

 

A multi-generational novel about a Swedish immigrant and the town he builds in the American Midwest by luring other Swedish settlers and a mail-order bride. As characters die, they take up residency in the local cemetery and continue to comment on the activities and people of the town.

Also recommended by Fannie Flagg: The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion

New from past Book Club authors:

The Missing Man by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, a novella in his popular Forensic Genealogist series

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave is now available in paperback

Everyone Brave is Forgiven Chris Cleave

PROFILE AMERICA:
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

 

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer

Sunny Morton, Editor

Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide, Content Contributor

Lacey Cooke, Service Manager

Vienna Thomas, Associate Producer

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