by Lisa Cooke | Jun 1, 2020 | Research Skills
with Lisa Louise Cooke
Recorded May 2020
Please enjoy free access to this Premium podcast episode. Learn more about becoming a Genealogy Gems Premium member by clicking here.
This episode is really about getting a fresh new view of our research and our ancestors’ world. To expand our view we’re going to dig into that word “view” in one of my favorite free tools, Google books which contains some wonderful gems, and I’ll tell you how to find them. But first I chat with a Genealogy Gems Premium Member about how her eyes were opened to a new view of her research, and 3 very important things she learned from it.
GEM: Interview with Pat Dalpiaz
In Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #238 I shared two tales of mystery. The first was a Valentine’s theme centered around a mysterious love letter. Professional genealogist Kathleen Ackerman shared how a love letter that was missing its last page took her on a genealogical journey full of surprises. And the second story was the mystery of a lost family scrapbook that was chock full of twists, turns and even murder! At the end of that episode I invited you to share your stories of discovery and the lessons you learned along the way. Long time listener and Genealogy Gems premium member Pat Dalpiaz did just that, and she joins me on this episode to tell us about it.
How did you first learn of the story of John Handran?
“John Handran of Newfoundland and Essex County Massachusetts was lost at sea in December of 1885 while aboard the Schooner Cleopatra. The story of that sea disaster is pretty amazing in itself. A brief version is told in the blog post I will reference and share. He left behind a wife and 3 young children.
He also left behind the story of his sea rescue of a fellow Navy shipmate who was swept overboard in Lisbon Portugal from the US Steamer Franklin in 1876, for which he was awarded a Medal of Honor by President U. S. Grant.
This story of his Medal of Honor had been a family story, accepted in full as given by another cousin researcher (expert level). So, I shared it on my blog Gathering the Cousins.”
What stirred the story back up?
“One day about 4 years ago, I was contacted by members of the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States as well as by a Canadian who specializes in honoring Canadians who have been awarded the US Medal of Honor. This came about directly as a result of publishing his story on my blog, a point made by others that I can help verify.
I was asked to determine if the John Handran in my family tree was THE John Handran who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1876. Dope slap. I had never made that direct connection using documents and proof. I just accepted the story. So, the work began to collect the “smoking gun” documentation to prove “my” John Handran and the Medal of Honor John Handran.”
What approach did you take to try and verify this story?
“In 2017, I was finally able to locate a newspaper article regarding John’s death that stated he had been in the US Navy connecting him as needed. I found a copy of the 1885 local paper and shared it with the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States.”
What are you doing to restore this historical story to your community?
“As a result, they have been able to coordinate the placement of a “In Memory Of” marker at his widow’s grave in Gloucester Massachusetts. It took almost 3 years to accomplish that feat and then the virus interrupted plans to hold a service to mark John’s bravery and service to country.
In addition, I used some of your recommended Google techniques to locate a granddaughter nearby so she can be part of the service when it is held and visit the memorial when she’s ready.”
Where can listeners read more about this and your family history adventures?
“I also contribute to a blog called Good Morning Gloucester and have shared some of this information in that manner as well. Here’s a link to one of those posts.”
3 Lessons Learned:
- You don’t know what you don’t know.
Pat did not know there was a group out there specializing in something as specific as Canadians awarded the US Medal of Honor. Writing about the story on her family history blog brought them to her!
- The importance of validating those family stories.
The extra work you do to confirm your family stories might require close-reading very old newspapers or other similar documents. Pat says, “It might take a long time but stick with it.”
- Finding family members CAN be accomplished with Google!
Pat said she used the techniques that I talk about in the podcast and my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox on a regular basis, with ongoing success. She wrote: “Thank you as always for your efforts to share your expertise with us. I just renewed my Premium membership. It’s the most worthwhile genealogy money I spend each year!”
John Handran In Memory Of plaque at Calvary Cemetery in Gloucester MA. An official ceremony will be planned as the pandemic allows.
The “smoking gun” part of the newspaper article Jan 1, 1886 in the Cape Ann Advertiser which accompanied a longer article about the Schooner Cleopatra sinking.
GEM: Expanding Your View with Google Books
Google Books URL: http://books.google.com
Google Books is a goldmine of genealogical resources including over 25 million books. Many of the books are fully digitized and available for free. In this episode we are focusing on getting a view of our ancestors’ world. Simply focusing on the word view can help us find old book that include photographs, illustrations, maps and more.
Try searches such as:
A view of Australia
An illustrated view of California
Once you identify a book of interest, use the thumbnail view button in the toolbar at the top of the screen (it looks like a checkerboard) to view many pages at one time. This will help make maps, photos, and other images easy to spot.
Thumbnail view of King’s View of New York City, 1903
Search Operators are symbols or words that narrow or broaden a search. Quotation Marks can be used when you want to search for an exact word or phrase.
Example: “illustrated view”
How to narrow your search results only to fully digitized books:
- Go to http://books.google.com
- Enter your search query and click the Search
- The results page will include all types of books – from fully digitized to no preview. Click the Search Tools button just below the search field.
- In the drop-down menu click the down arrow (under Any Books) and select Free Google eBooks.
- Your search results will now only include books that are fully digitized and freely available to use.
Here are just a few examples of books found using these strategies:
King’s Views of New York City,A.D.1903: 400 Views
The Ohio Railroad Guide, Illustrated: Cincinnati to Erie Via Columbus and Cleveland
Australia from a Woman’s Point of View By Jessie Ackermann, 1913 – Australia – 317 pages
View of Canada search results
An illustrated view of Canada search results
Illustrated view of California search results
Profile America: Scotch Tape History
Wednesday, May 27th. The difficulty of neatly painting cars two different colors led to the patenting of a universally practical product on this date in 1930. Five years earlier, Richard Drew, while working for the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, had developed an easy-to-peel, glue-backed masking tape. It considerably eased the task of separating two-tone paint jobs on new cars, which until then involved moistened plaster tape. Then, he expanded its use by introducing a clear backing. The result, an immediate hit, became known as Scotch Tape.
Now, 90 years on, 3M is joined by about 560 manufacturers of various adhesive products nationwide. This specialty generates sales of more than $13 billion a year and provides jobs for about 24,000 people.
Sources:
As you’ll remember I launched this show after the first week of the stay at home recommendation in March, and back then my first recommendation was that you resist the temptation to cut your own bangs. Well it turns out that Scotch tape has had a wide variety of uses throughout the last 90 years.
Nostalgia – cutting your bangs with scotch tape
Scotch Tape in Old Newspapers:
by Lisa Cooke | Sep 25, 2019 | 01 What's New, FamilySearch |
When new genealogy records come online, they can be in different forms. Sometimes they are indexed records and sometime they are browse-only digital images.
Either way, new genealogy content online is always welcome. And this week this new content is free thanks to FamilySearch.
Don’t let the fact that some of these genealogy records are currently browse-only images. in our article Browse Only Databases at FamilySearch are Easy to Use, we’ll help you navigate these types of records. It’s not difficult to do, and the rewards can be big.
Example of accessing browse-only digital images at FamilySearch
If you haven’t used FamilySearch before, all it requires is that you sign up for a free account which you can do here at their website.
Here’s the latest press release from FamilySearch detailing the newest content.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT—FamilySearch.org added over 13 million new, free, unindexed digital images of historical Italian records this week from Avellino, Belluno, Caserta, Matera, Verona, and Vicenza, Italy. Other indexed records include areas from Brazil, Germany, Peru, South Africa and the United States, including Alabama and Kansas.
Click here to search over 8 billion free names and record images catalogued on FamilySearch.
(Find and share this announcement online from the FamilySearch Newsroom.)
Brazil
Brazil, Pernambuco, Civil Registration, 1804-2016
Indexed records: 162,706
Added indexed records to an existing collection
Brazil, São Paulo, Civil Registration, 1925-1995
Indexed Records: 199
Added indexed records to an existing collection
Germany
Germany, Baden, Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, Catholic Church Records, 1678-1930
Indexed records: 1,045,113
Added indexed records to an existing collection
Germany, Bavaria, Diocese of Augsburg, Catholic Church Records, 1615-1939
Indexed Records: 383,480
Added indexed records to an existing collection
Italy
Italy, Avellino, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1947
Digital Images: 3,099,458
Added images to an existing collection
Italy, Belluno, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1806-1815
Digital Images: 43,298 New browsable image collection.
Italy, Caserta, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1866
Digital Images: 4,543,698
Added images to an existing collection
Italy, Matera, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1925
Digital Images: 1,323,614
New browsable image collection.
Italy, Verona, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1630-1942
Digital Images: 2,796,910
New browsable image collection.
Italy, Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1871-1942
Digital Images: 1,637,660
Added images to an existing collection
Peru
Peru, Lima, Civil Registration, 1874-1996
Digital Images: 175,257
Added images to an existing collection
The records newly added to this collection have not yet been digitized. Click the clink at the bottom of the search page to browse.
Click to browse genealogy records from Peru
Here’s an example of what these Civil Registration record from Peru look like:
Example of Civil Registration records from Peru
South Africa
South Africa, Natal, Passenger Lists, 1860-1911
Indexed Records: 154,091
Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States
Alabama, Jefferson County Circuit Court Papers, 1870-1916
Indexed Records: 30,070
Added indexed records to an existing collection
Kansas, Grant County, Census Records, 1895-1982
Indexed Records: 87,928 0
New indexed records collection
An example of a record from the Kansas Grant County Census Record Collection
United States Census, 1880
Digital Images: 13
Added images to an existing collection
United States, Cemetery Abstracts
Indexed Records: 179,757
Added indexed records to an existing collection
Share Your Findings
Did you find a genealogy gems in one of these new records at FamilySearch? Please leave a comment below.
by Lisa Cooke | Feb 24, 2017 | 01 What's New, Records & databases |
Find your Abuela (the Spanish word for Grandma) in a wide variety of Catholic Church records for Mexican genealogy at FamilySearch. Also in new and updated genealogical records, collections from Norfolk, England; Victoria, Australia; and Quebec, Canada.
Mexico – Church Records
Abuela Francisca Ramos. Photo used with permission from the family.
FamilySearch has updated and added thousands of new Catholic church records in their Mexican genealogy databases. These church records cover many areas of Mexico, but in particular, the Hidalgo, Puebla, Jalisco, and Guanajuato databases have all reached over 1 million records. The years covered will vary, but the earliest records are from the 1500s and as recent as the 1970s.
These Catholic church records include baptismal records, marriage records, deaths, and other miscellaneous records that may contain valuable genealogical data for your ancestors. Check out the following databases for Mexican genealogy below:
England – Norfolk – Church Records
Several collections for Norfolk, England have been updated at Findmypast this week. Among them are first,
Norfolk Bishop’s Transcripts Baptisms 1685-1941. Norfolk Bishop’s transcripts for baptisms contain over 647,000 records. Each entry includes an image of the original document and a transcript of the vital details. The amount of information found in the transcript will depend on the age and condition of the original document. Most will include a name, baptism year, baptism place, and the names of parent’s. Images may reveal additional information such as your ancestor’s birth date, father’s occupation, and the name of the officiating minister.
The second database is titled, Norfolk Bishop’s Transcripts Marriages 1685-1941 and contains over 157,000 records. Each record includes a transcript and may include the birth year, date of marriage, place of marriage, and the name of their spouse as well as an image of the original document.
Thirdly, the Norfolk Bishop’s Transcripts Burials 1685-1941 collection will allow you to search over 434,000 Bishop’s transcripts of Norfolk burials to discover your ancestor’s final resting place. Transcripts will also reveal when they died and their age at death. Images of original documents may reveal additional information such as the name of the minister who performed the ceremony, your ancestor’s date of death and, occasionally, their cause of death.
Finally, the Norfolk Electoral Registers 1832-1915 containing over 4.5 million records may be just want you are looking for. Electoral registers were first created in 1832. Every year, a new electoral register was created to list the name of every individual eligible to vote. Voting was closely linked to the possession of property; therefore, the registers described the type of property owned or rented by the individual.
Electoral registers are an invaluable resource to trace your ancestors between the census years. Each entry in the Norfolk Electoral Registers 1832-1915 will include an image of the original register and a transcript of the facts listed. Transcripts will list your ancestor’s name, the place they registered, the district and the year they were registered. Images will provide additional information such as you’re their address and the type of property they owned or rented.
Australia – Victoria – Birth Records
Also at Findmypast, over 104,000 records have been added to the Victoria Births collection. These civil registration records may reveal your ancestors birth place, birth year, parent’s names and registration number. The entire collection now contains over 1.9 million records spanning the years 1837 t0 1917.
England & Scotland – Newspapers
Over 1.6 million articles and 13 brand new titles have been added to Findmypast’s collection of historic British Newspapers. The new additions cover the North West and South East of England, a number of Scottish counties, Nottinghamshire, and Bournemouth. The new Scottish titles include the Haddingtonshire Courier, Linlithgowshire Gazette, Ross-shire Journal, Rothesay Chronicle, Kinross-shire Advertiser, Peeblesshire Advertiser, and the Scottish Referee.
Canada – Quebec – Various Record Collections
The Drouin Institute has been in the genealogy business for over a hundred years. The Drouin Collection, which is available on Ancestry as well as on
GenealogyQuebec.com, was microfilmed in the 1940s and digitized in the 2000s by the Institute. The Drouin Collection contains the civil copy of all
parish registers (baptism, marriage, and burial records) from Quebec from 1621 to the 1940s. It is just one of many of the collections you will find from the Drouin Institute.
In total,
GenealogyQuebec.com offers many databases to research and reaches near 43 million images and files.
To access the Drouin Institute record collections, you will need to visit GenealogyQuebec.com. It is subscription based website. Subscription information can be viewed here.
LAFRANCE
The LAFRANCE is the most popular and comprehensive tool available at GenealogyQuebec.com. It is a very detailed, high quality index of the Drouin Collection, and also provides the original document. Here is an example of what the LAFRANCE looks like from our users’ perspective:
Currently, the LAFRANCE covers the entirety of the 1621 – 1849 period for Catholic baptisms and burials, as well as, the 1621-1916 period for Catholic marriages. In addition, the LAFRANCE covers the 1760 – 1849 period for Protestant marriages.
The LAFRANCE’s index is particularly valuable and appreciated by English speakers, as it negates the need to read and understand French in order to obtain all the relevant information from a record.
WWI Holdings
The Library of Congress has launched a comprehensive portal to its extensive WWI holdings. This one-stop portal is designed to help you search WWI subject material with ease. Search things like propaganda posters, letters, diaries, newspapers, and more. It is a wonderful site for not only the genealogist, but the avid historian as well.
More on Mexican Genealogy
The Mexican Genealogy Guide by David A. Fryxell from Family Tree Magazine will help you discover the bounty of records in Mexico. This digital download will help you understand naming practices, pinpoint ancestral whereabouts, and how to best navigate church records there.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!
