10 Questions to Rate Your Readiness for Genealogy Research Success
You will find the complete show notes for the topic discussed in this episode at the Elevenses with Lisa show notes page here.
Are you ready for a year of successful genealogy research? I’ve got 10 important questions you need to ask yourself to rate your readiness for genealogy success this year.
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Native American genealogy research follows the same path that all good genealogy research does, but it also includes some unique records along the way. It’s a fascinating journey, and in Elevenses with Lisa episode 76 professional genealogist Judy Nimer Muhn (Lineage Journeys) joins Lisa Louise Cooke to pave the way. Judy will discuss:
Tribal and personal naming conventions
Tribal-specific resources
How geography impacts research
Native American genealogical records
and more…
Episode 76 Show Notes
Native American genealogy research follows the same path that all good genealogy research does, but it also includes some unique records along the way. It’s a fascinating journey, and in Elevenses with Lisa episode 76 professional genealogist Judy Nimer Muhn (Lineage Journeys) joins Lisa Louise Cooke to pave the way. Judy will discuss:
From the Article: “Native people were largely excluded from the federal census until at least 1860.”
Native American Research at FamilySearch Wiki
National Archives
Article by James P. Collins called Native Americans in the Census, 1860-1890 which will help you understand what you may be able to find during that time period.
Here you’ll find many resources including newspapers, photos and reports to congress and oral histories.
Judy found materials deep within the Library of Congress website using Googling strategies from my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox available exclusively at the Genealogy Gems Store.
Three ways to watch: 1. Video Player (Live) – Watch live at the appointed time in the video player on the show notes page. 2. On YouTube (Live) – Click the Watch on YouTube button to watch live at the appointed time at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. Log into YouTube with your free Google account to participate in the live chat. 3. Video Player above (Replay) – Available immediately after the live premiere and chat.
The family Bible is an important resource for genealogy. Here’s how to find family Bibles and use them for family history.
Watch episode 29 of Elevenses with Lisa to learn how to find and analyze your family Bible for genealogy
Start by watching this video to learn how to find and use family Bibles. Then keep reading below for all of the website links and resources to help you be successful in your research of the family Bible.
Elevenses with Lisa, the online video series where we take a break, visit and learn about genealogy and family history.
Places to Look for the Family Bible
The best place to start looking is around your own house!
Where you Can Find Family Bibles Offline:
Reach out to close family and distant cousins, particularly female lines
Archives
Historical societies
I reached out to my cousin Carolyn. She relayed a strange story to me about the family bible that was in my Great Grandmother Lenora Herring’s home:
The Strange Story
“Many years ago, probably when I was in my 20’s or 30’s I was visiting at the Herring home in Oklahoma. Lenora had already passed but Jewel (her daughter) still lived in the house.
I was asking her some questions about the family history. She got out the Bible and said it contained the only information she knew about. It was a large Bible – I don’t remember much about its condition – and getting pictures of things certainly wasn’t the trend. But she opened it up to the pages where the family history was written and she proceeded to tear out those pages and give them to me!
A page torn from the family Bible.
Looking back on that, I kinda wish I would have stopped her! So, she kept the Bible and gave me the family info pages! The Bible itself didn’t seem to impress me much. But I was very interested in what was written on those pages!
So after Jewel could no longer live in the Herring house and my mother placed Jewel in a nursing home, my mother disposed of all the things in the house and the house was sold to help pay for Jewel’s care. I was not there in Oklahoma when this occurred, but I guess Janette must have picked up the family Bible.
Eventually, Janette and I got our heads together and realized who had what. I’ve attached images of the family history pages. Some of it is hard to read – I think most of it was written in pencil. And for some reason, I didn’t make sense of some of the info till recent years.
I think there were multiple people that wrote on the pages – including my mother.
There was a Herring / Jump family reunion several years ago at the home of one of the Jump cousins. I went and so did Janette. She brought the family Bible to show. It was in very, very poor condition and if I remember right, stored in an old cardboard box……….”
Where You Can Find Family Bibles Online
Here’s a list of free websites where you can find digitized family Bibles.
Click here to see Genealogical records taken from the family Bible of James Monroe Palmer : born 1822, died 1897 and Caroline Frances Bacon, his wife, born 1830, died 1899 of Boston, Massachusetts. A good example of a transcription of the records from a family Bible.
Ebay
Search for “family bible”. Try adding a surname.
Premium Members: Listen to my Premium Podcast episode 76 that includes strategies for using ebay for genealogy.
Google Search for the surname along with the phrase family Bible using the quotation marks search operator. Example: “Cooke” “family Bible” Resource for Google search strategies:The Genealogists’s Google Toolboxby Lisa Louise Cooke
FamilySearch
Search both the Card Catalog and the Digital Books collection for “family bible” and a surname.
In the Notes section of an item, you may find a link to click to view the digital version if one is available.
World Cat Catalogs approximately 2 billion items from 10,000 libraries around the world.
Archive Grid
Includes “over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more.” Includes materials from over 1,000 different archival institutions.
Examining the Family Bible
Check the title page
Is there a date that it was printed / published?
This may help you determine when it made its way into the family
Look through every page as things may be tucked in there.
Look through the pages – look for markings. You may find passages that were particularly meaningful to them.
Was the publish date after many of the dates entered into the Bible? There’s a chance the info may have been copied.
Use a photo editor to preserve and even improve Bible pages. I use Snagit to invert the image. Get Snagit with our affiliate link and get a discount for a limited time. (thanks for supporting our free content!)
In the menu: Image > Effects > Filters > Invert. (Learn more about using Snagit for genealogy with my video and article How to Use Snagit for Genealogy.)
Interpreting the Family Bible
Here are questions to ask and things to consider as you interpret the contents of your family Bible for genealogy.
Was the information copied? If so, who then has the original? Keep in mind that mistakes could have been made during the copying or entered by memory.
Could the information have been recorded by people over time?
Is the handwriting all the same? If so, it’s more likely some copying.
Different handwriting in the family Bible may indicate more first-hand knowledge, or it may be someone filling in years later.
Analyze all of the entries. Like a scrapbook, there is significance to the order and each entry has significance. Is anyone missing?
Was there an incentive for inaccuracies? Was a marriage date fudged to hide a pregnancy before marriage?
Cross reference with other genealogical documents.
Did a wedding occur around the time of the Bible’s publication? The Bible may have been a gift.
Restoring the Family Bible
My cousin Carolyn had a large family Bible from her father’s side of the family restored.
The family Bible in need of restoration
“The woman who restored this Bible did an awesome job. She had available the correct restoration materials. It’s not perfect, like-new. But still very good.”
“She also did something to the leather to renew it in some way. When I first acquired the Bible, the brass latch would not close, but now it does! The Bible can now be viewed and handled (carefully, of course!) without it falling apart. She also constructed a special storage box for it, using archival quality materials.”
Since there wasn’t a restoration expert available in her area, she reached out to a book restoration expert in Indiana:
“Website was helpful and they were pleasant to work with…They put a new cover on my own personal Bible, and I was very pleased with their work. A few years ago, I also had them re-do a small hardback Bible that my mother used. ”
Resources
Listen to the Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Episode 68on the Family Bible, Google Search
Rodney McCulloh shares his inspirational story of the path that he followed that lead him to the old family Bible.
One of the advantages of tuning into the live broadcast of each Elevenses with Lisa show is participating in the Live Chat and asking your questions.
From Sian: Is Archivgrid US-based only or worldwide? From Lisa: It’s worldwide. In the “Search for a Location” list you can scroll down to see all the countries. You can also hover you mouse over the map and zoom out to see the full coverage.
From Kimberly: Hi from East Aurora NY. I can’t wait to take take another look at my grandmother’s Bible! Is it ok to add my information to her Bible? From Lisa: While in the end, it’s a personal decision, I think it’s a wonderful idea to add information to the family bible. They are meant to be added to over generations.
