How to Use Church Records for Genealogy

by | Jan 31, 2021 | 01 What's New, Church, Elevenses with Lisa | 3 comments

PREMIUM: Elevenses with Lisa Episode 41 Show Notes

Welcome to Elevenses with Lisa, our weekly  little slice of heaven where friends get together for tea and talk about the thing that never fails to put a smile on our face: Genealogy!

As you know, birth, marriage and death records are essential to genealogy. We call them vital records, and there are two types: civil and church. Each records unique information. To get the full picture, you need both when available.

In this week’s Elevenses with Lisa show, my special guest wrote the book on finding U.S. Church Records. Sunny Morton is the author of How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records.  She’s going to help us discover the important and very unique role  that church records play in genealogy.

Even though Sunny’s book is focused on how to find records in the U.S., everyone can benefit from seeing how church records can be effectively used to solve genealogical challenges.

GET THE BOOK:

Sunny Morton’s book is available at Amazon  (Affiliate link – we will be compensated when you use our link which helps support this show. Thank you!)

Church Records in Genealogy

In this episode Sunny provided three case studies testifying to the value of using church records on common genealogy brick-wall topics:

  1. finding an overseas birthplace,
  2. finding unknown parents’ names,
  3. and finding unique insights that turn boring names and dates into compelling stories and ancestral identities.

Using Church Records to Find an Immigrant Ancestor’s Birthplace

She was looking for an overseas birthplace for Carolina O’Hotnicky, an immigrant who lived much of her life in Olyphant, PA, and died there in 1937. Sunny searched for and found many common genealogical records: census records, Carolina’s husband’s naturalization records, and her death certificate. None of these records revealed her birthplace. Church records offered new hope.

Carolina gave birth to several children whose baptisms were recorded at Holy Ghost Catholic parish. Sunny contacted the church, and they sent her transcribed certificates that listed an overseas birthplace for the children in what is now Slovakia. This didn’t quite make sense since the children were baptized just a day or two after the date of their birth in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.!

Sunny inquired about the discrepancy and the original confidential church register was rechecked. As can often happen, a slight error was made. The country listed (Slovakia) was actually the birthplace of both of the parents. Subsequent research into these overseas locations confirmed that to be the case.

As in this case, Catholic baptismal records can be an especially wonderful resource for finding an ancestor’s parents’ overseas birthplace. Access to original registers can vary by church, so it’s possible you may not be allowed to see them in person.

This is not an isolated case of church records providing important information about ancestral hometowns. In fact, a study from 2013 showed that the US source most likely to reveal an immigrant’s ancestral hometown was church records!

U.S. Records most likely to reveal the hometown of a German immigrants:

  • Local church vital records  65-76%
  • Military muster and pension records 20-30%
  • County genealogies  20-25%
  • State death certificates  20-25%
  • Passenger arrivals, obituaries, county histories, state censuses 15-25%

“Tracing German American Immigrants,” Nathan Murphy,  FamilySearch blog, May 9 2013, https://familysearch.org/blog/en/tracing-german-american-immigrants/.

Church Records Search Strategies Recap:

  • Church records are often a source of ancestral hometown information
  • When you find a record transcription, go the extra mile and try to obtain a copy of the original for review and comparison.
  • When in doubt or when information doesn’t quite add up, go back and carefully revisit the source.

Using Church Records to Find an Ancestor’s Parents’ Names

Sunny shared the case of Henry Fox who was born in Colorado in 1890. He died in Colorado in 1961. Sunny found the Henry’s civil marriage record at the Colorado State Archives. Unfortunately, it didn’t mention the couple’s parents’ names. As was the case with Carolina O’Hotnicky, other typical genealogical records did not provide the answer.

A close inspection of the civil marriage record did provide a very valuable clue. The document was signed at the bottom by the officiant “G. Raeber, Pastor”, indicating that a church marriage record would also have been created. But which church? The first line of the document provides the extra nugget of required information: “a Catholic priest.”

Sunny used the strategies from my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox and located a Catholic Directory from 1889 in Google Books. This is a great example of church related records and sources that fall outside of birth, marriage, and death records. (Learn More: Discover more surprising genealogical sources that can be found in Google Books in Elevenses with Lisa episode 30.)

Using strategies laid out in her book, Sunny tracked down Father Raeber’s assigned parish for that year, St. Ann’s. She learned that the parish is closed, but she was able to find the records at the Archdiocese of Denver archives.

As is often the case, the archives would only send her excerpts – a copy of the single line from the marriage register book –  but it was enough. These snippets told her the ages and birthplaces of Henry Fox’s parents. And it provided THEIR parents’ names! “Hallelujah!”

Church Records Search Strategies Recap:

  • Carefully inspect civil records for clues such as the officiant.
  • Use Google search, and specifically Google Books to search for supporting historical information.
  • Take the time to track down where records are archived today and make inquiries.

Unique Insights Provided by Church Records

While reviewing the obituary for Oglesby Johnson found in an old newspaper, Sunny discovered a bit of information that could provide leads to tracking down the church he may have attended. Listed in the obituary was the name of the church where the funeral was held (New Hope Church) and the names of several Reverends.

Sunny set out to try to find the church on a map from the time period. She found success at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. There among the many unique historical maps in their collection, Sunny found a hand-drawn map of the Hartwell, Georgia area. On it was drawn the church and several residences.

Next, she turned to Google Earth to try and find the location today. Google Earth provided a wonderful aerial view as well as an up-close view of the church and cemetery today thanks to Street View. (Learn More: Watch episode 12 of Elevenses with Lisa to learn more using Google Earth for Genealogy. You can also find step-by-step instructions for many genealogical projects in Google Earth in the book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox.)

Armed with information about the cemetery associated with the church she turned to the Find a Grave website. There she found a plethora of Johnson burials. Continued research dug up the book History of Reed Creek by Hugh Gray Jr. (Hartwell, GA: Gray’s Printing, 2002) which provided an insider’s view of community life in the church.

As is sometimes the case, Sunny was unable to locate records from church. However, she did discover there was a predecessor church. The New Hope Church was created when some existing members withdrew from the Reed Creek Baptist Church. She turned to PERSI, the PERiodical Source Index to look for old church records that may have been transcribed in an item like a journal or newsletter. In this case the records were transcribed and published in the Savannah River Valley Genealogical Society Newsletter! She found it on the shelf at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. (Learn more about the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Elevenses with Lisa episode 31 with Librarian Allison Singleton.)

She found that the Reed Creek Baptist Minute Book transcription showed Oglesby’s parents and the enslaving family. Sunny turned to a local area research who was able to track down the original records. These records had even more information than was provided in the transcription.

Church Records Search Strategies Recap:

  • Clue to church records can be found in historical newspaper articles such as obituaries.
  • The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has a vast collection of unique historical maps and gazetteers.
  • Google Earth is an excellent free software program for finding geographic locations.
  • Search for cemeteries and ancestors for free at the Find A Grave website.
  • Search PERSI to find old journals and newsletters for organizations such as genealogy societies. Read my article PERSI for Genealogy: the Periodical Source Index to learn how to search the index and how to gain access to the records.
  • Turn to local area researchers as needed to gain access to hard to access records.

Recap: Genealogy Found in Church Records

  • Names, vital events, relationships
  • Overseas birthplaces and other places
  • Info on hard-to-find ancestors
  • Contemporary accounts
  • Unique stories

Sunny Says: “In many places, churches kept records of members’ names, locations, vital events, and family members’ names long before comparable government or other community records did the same. Better yet, church records weren’t generally kept at a courthouse, so if some of those important government records were destroyed by fire or other disasters, local church records from the same time period may not have been affected. Church records were often created at the time of an event, making them a relatively reliable source of information.”

Get Sunny Morton’s Book

Records created by U.S. churches are an often-overlooked resource for genealogists. But they can be a fantastic brick-wall buster, helping you find your immigrant ancestors’ overseas birthplaces, learn more about elusive ancestors (especially women and children and ethnic minorities), and flesh out their life stories. In How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records by Sunny Morton and Harold Henderson, you’ll learn to identify where a family may have worshipped, find any surviving records and put them to use for your family history.

Get 20% off your purchase of How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records with coupon code LLC20 when you shop at Genealogical.com. (Expires 2/5/21)

church records book cover

Sunny Morton’s book is also available at Amazon.

Answers to Live Chat Questions 

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 Bill: Loved your church records w/ Sunny.  I found Roman Catholic sacramental records for all US military in NY. Here is the link: Catholic sacramental records of US Military members are all kept at the Archdiocese for Military Services USA, Office of Sacramental Records and can be obtained for a fee.  See: https://www.milarch.org/sacramental-records

From Diane L.: ​I can’t wait for this! was going to order death cert for Gr Gpts, Is there certain guidelines to ordering death cert. to get them? Can I get one for GGP or a great aunt?

Linda J​ @Diane L. depends on the State as each is different. Go on State website, click until you find how to order Death Records. Some states are pretty easy, others not.

Sunny: Thanks for all the great questions! Remember, you can get 20% off How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records with promocode LLC20 at Genealogical.com. The promocode is good through February 5, 2021.

From GeneBuds: What was your initial cold call question?
Sunny: When I cold-called the relatives back in the hometown, I just asked something like, “If you’re related to the O’Hotnicky family that worked at the fire station in Olyphant, I’d love to hear from you.” I think I mentioned I learned some tips from Lisa Louise Cooke’s free Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Podcast, episodes 14 and 15.

​Related Questions on Pennsylvania church records:
Question: My brick wall ends (starts?) in SW Pennsylvania. Her 1st child is born in SW Pennsylvania. How do I find church records for this area between 1790 to 1820?
From Robin J.: How to find birth or marriage records for eastern PA for Lutherans in 1750’s+ – my brick wall I’ve tried all the major site a and even on a research trip to the area.
Robin J.: Is there a Lutheran/German resource for church records in eastern PA for late 1700’s
Sunny: Finding church records in general can get harder the further back in time you go, and this time period begins to be more challenging. That said, the process of tracking down church records depends entirely on the denomination and sometimes on the individual church. Pennsylvania especially had a lot of religious diversity, and the various churches can be hard to tease apart. That said, there are some fantastic repositories in Pennsylvania that may hold the records you want. Learn more in my book!

From Carolyn S.: ​Lutherans and Catholics have good records for the most part. What about Baptist, Methodist or ??
Sunny: Methodist records tend to be pretty genealogically good, almost as good as Catholic or Lutheran. Unfortunately, Baptist records tend not to be as easy to come by, and when you can, they’re often not as genealogically helpful. Of course, there are exceptions to every generalization!

From Barbara D.: In the USA are there central places for specific religion records of certain States – ie – in Ontario we have Presbyterian Archives, Wesleyan Methodist Archive etc.
Sunny: Yes, each denomination has its own way of archiving records, whether to regional archives (Catholic diocesan or Methodist conference) or central archives (Latter-day Saints), or to specific archives such as the Presbyterian Historical Society or Congregational Library. That said, sometimes records were archived before a denominational library/archive was established, or there may not be one, in which case you’d have to look to regional archives, including Special Collections at universities that themselves are/were affiliated with a faith tradition. One of the reasons I wrote separate chapters for each of the major historical denominations was to be able to identify the various archives.

From K M: Catholic nuns change name. Is there a paper trail to find her family?
Sunny: Great question! Yes. Each order of nuns has its own motherhouse, which would have an archive. The archive should have files on each woman who was part of that order, which included her original name and her next-of-kin. Once, I was looking for a nun and all I had was the name she later assumed (Sister Mary Bertilla) and a time/place where she was serving. The diocesan archivist for that area put me in touch with motherhouse archivists for all the orders that existed in that time/place. They were very kind/prompt about checking their files for her name.

From Linda J.​: Sunny, would Evangelical Lutheran be included with “Lutheran”?
Sunny: Yes!

From KT: Would the church hold records on deconesses, Sunday schools, organizations of the church the women participated in? want to find out gals .
Sunny: Great goal, KT! Yes, churches that had auxiliaries generally created records of their activities. I have especially seen these for Methodist churches. They would often have been archived wherever the church membership records ended up. A tip: sometimes the membership records end up online, or transcribed in a book, etc., but the auxiliary records don’t. Follow the source citation for the membership records back to the original archive and see whether their collection for that church has additional records.

Barbara C.: How to find Universalist records from 1800s Vermont?
Sunny: I do not specifically cover Universalist/Unitarian records in my book, so I’ll point you toward their official repository for any further questions.

From Sheryl T.: If your relative IS the minister, what kind of records in the church should I ask for?
Sunny: Great question. Some denominational archives have created ministerial files with biographical and career information in them; I would definitely check the denominational chapter in my book to see if such is the case for them. Many faiths kept ministerial directories and/or had annual meetings of ministers where their names/congregational assignments might be listed (the latter might also have information about their ordinations, salaries, disciplinary action, or committee work). The actual church records may have been personally maintained by your relative or at least will likely mention him in the course of performing weddings, baptisms, etc. He may also have maintained personal ministerial logs or journals, which may or may not have ended up with a church archive.

From Gayle P.: ​What are suggestions for searching Quaker Records in Pennsylvania?
Sunny: My book has an entire chapter on Quaker records. I’ll just say two things here: first, Quaker records are often incredibly rich in genealogical detail. Second, I’d start first with an enormous collection of Quaker records on Ancestry.com, if you’re a subscriber. It does include several record sets from Pennsylvania.

From Mary D.: ​How can you access PERSI without getting a subscription?
Sunny: PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, is exclusively searchable on Findmypast. You don’t need a subscription to search PERSI. Your searches will bring up a list of results with “teaser” information in them, which at times itself may be sufficient to lead you to an article of interest. Otherwise, if you’re not ready to subscribe, consider purchasing PayAsYouGo credits to get a la carte access to just the search results you’re interested in. Learn more about PERSI from Lisa Louise Cooke.

Linda B.: I have United Brethren minister who rode the circuit from KY to Canada, any ideas of where to start? He lived in Auglaize Co, Ohio
Sunny: My book has a section on the United Brethren church in the “German Churches: Reformed and Sectarian” chapter. You’ll want to determine when he was a minister. There was a big split in the church in 1889, which means the record trail splits, too. My relative who was United Brethren stayed in the group that eventually joined with what is now the United Methodist church, and I found records about him in a United Methodist conference archive in Pennsylvania. Consult the chapter in my book about the various archives, depending on which church your minister was part of. It’s complicated—it took me a while to tease it apart myself (but this eventually helped me write this section of the book, so it won’t be as complicated for others!).

Sunny: Don’t forget your promocode: 20% off How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records using LLC20 at Genealogical.com through February 5, 2021.

From Lynnette B.: ​Can I transfer old home movies directly from a DVD to YouTube or do I need to have the information in mp4 form before transferring to YouTube?
From Lisa: YouTube accepts the following file formats:

  • .MOV
  • .MPEG4
  • .MP4
  • .AVI
  • .WMV
  • .MPEGPS

From Debbi W.; Searching for criminal records in California between 1906 – 1914, not prison but likely county jail and county court systems. any suggestions on where to start?
From Lisa: Check out the California Correctional Institutions page.

Resources

1865 New York State Census Now on FamilySearch

by | Nov 5, 2014 | 01 What's New, Beginner, Census, Records & databases

New York State Census 1865

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.)

French Genealogy: Filae.com launches English language site

by | Sep 22, 2019 | 01 What's New | 1 comment

Filae’s French collection opens the door for non-French-speaking people to discover their family stories online.

40 million people in the world (excluding France) claim French descent. Here’s the latest press release from Filae:

French Genealogy opening the door

Paris, France – September, 18, 2019 – Filae.com, the world’s largest online resource for accessing French official records, today announced the launch of its first foreign language international sister-site: https://en.filae.com

With more than 40 million people in the world claiming French heritage, the launch of an English language version of Filae.com gives all of them an unprecedented and exclusive access to more than 150 million images of French Census and Vital records (birth, marriage, death) which have been indexed by Filae.com.

As Elvis Presley, Alec Baldwin, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, Kurt Cobain, Warren Buffett, and many other celebrities, 4% of the US population, 17% of Argentinians and 14% of Canadians have French roots!

“The launch of Filae.com is just the beginning of a more global strategy whose aim is to facilitate access to the largest resource of French records and to help people with French descent tracing back their ancestry whatever their language is and wherever they live! We are thrilled to share information we digitized and indexed with family history fans all over the world.” said Toussaint Roze, CEO and founder of Filae.com.

Starting as early as 1500, Filae’s French historical collection features records such as:

  • Parish registers,
  • Civil records,
  • Census and vital records,
  • Passenger lists,
  • Military records (Napoleonic wars, WWI, WWII),
  • Indexes provided by French societies,
  • Directories
  • and many other historical records (French revolution, etc.)

Filae.com also provides its users with easy-to-use tools to build their own trees or import their gedcom files, upload photos and documents and share them with other members.

Here’s a look at the Filae website:

French Genealogy website Filae

About Filae.com
Launched in December 2016, Filae.com is the first and largest resource for French digitized and indexed records online.

The service was created by Toussaint Roze, a French serial- entrepreneur dedicated to genealogy who previously created successful online services like notrefamille.com, genealogie.com and gedlink.

Filae.com hosts and indexes more than 150 million digitisations of French original records for the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries.

Which are the Best Genealogy Websites for YOU??

by | Jan 15, 2015 | 01 What's New, Ancestry, Beginner, FamilySearch, Findmypast, MyHeritage, Records & databases

Bill Johnson in Manassas, Virginia, USA, wrote to me with this question–and I know he’s not the only one asking it!

“It’s difficult to know what genealogical resources to spend your money on. I have been a subscriber to Ancestry.com (world package) for years. But, there is FindMyPast, MyHeritage, etc. Your books identify dozens of other resources that all sound good — and cost money. Then there are some of the free resources like the National Archives and the LDS resources [FamilySearch].  Where should you spend your time and money?  While money is always a factor, I find that my time is a more precious resource.  If I have Ancestry.com, would I gain anything by subscribing to FindMyPast? MyHeritage? FamilySearch? The National Archives or the BLM sites?  I am concerned about wasting money on redundancy.  Why visit a site that only offers a select subset of the data that I access through Ancestry?

Which paid sites do you regularly use?  Which free sites do you use?  Your books have a plethora of suggestions but the pool of resources is increasing by the day.  It is really getting rather confusing.”

What a great question!!! Here’s my answer:

“I agree, it’s gotten more complicated selecting the best genealogy websites for your own needs. I will take a look at covering this more in depth in a future podcast episode. I do have a few ideas for you right now.

It’s really about accessing the right website (or tool) for the task.

  • For general depth of records I turn first to Ancestry.com (you only need the world edition if you need records outside of the U.S.), and then FamilySearch.org. With Ancestry.com, I make sure I use the card catalog and search by location tool (scroll down to the map) so I’m not missing all the record sets that don’t automatically jump to the top of the general search results. FamilySearch is free, so I check its online resources EVERY TIME I have a question. I check both browsable and indexed content (from the main screen, click Search, then Records, then scroll down and click Browse all Published Collections (or click to that screen here). You’ll be able to choose a location and see all content they have and whether it’s been indexed or you just have to browse through it (like reading microfilm, only online).
  • For me personally, I was slow to warm up to MyHeritage because I just wasn’t sure how it would best help me. Once I embraced it and posted my tree, its strength in my research became clear: for the first time ever I connected with a distant cousin in the “old country” (Germany)! The international user base of MyHeritage stands above other sites. And the fact that you can create your own family site on MyHeritage makes it a great ongoing resource for staying connected. (Disclosure: MyHeritage is a sponsor of the Genealogy Gems podcast. However, that is because of the value I came to experience in my own research as I just mentioned.)
  • When I am focused on my husband’s British roots I head to FindMyPast and pay as I go as needed.

download backblazeOur mission here at Genealogy Gems is to reveal innovative ways of using the myriad of tech tools so you’ll know you can turn to them only when you need them. Think of it as a toolbelt. The right tool for the right job! But I also only bring tech tools and websites to the podcast and my website that I believe are worthwhile. Believe it or not, I weed a lot of them out!

I hope that helps, and I wish you great genealogical success!”  Lisa

Get a New View of Your Genealogy Featuring an Interview with Pat Dalpiaz

by | 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:

  1. 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!

  1. 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.”

  1. 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 plaque

John Handran In Memory Of plaque at Calvary Cemetery in Gloucester MA. An official ceremony will be planned as the pandemic allows.

 

john-handran-death-cape-ann-advertiser-jan-1-1886

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 new york book

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:

  1. Go to http://books.google.com
  2. Enter your search query and click the Search
  3. 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.
  4. In the drop-down menu click the down arrow (under Any Books) and select Free Google eBooks.
  5. 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.

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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

Nostalgia – cutting your bangs with scotch tape

Scotch Tape in Old Newspapers:

 

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