It hasn’t been long since FamilySearch introduced the new hinting and descendancy view features fueled by indexed records. Already, many people have shared wonderful experiences about how these new capabilities have energized their family history research efforts. Here are just a few examples of the power of indexed records when combined with these great new tools.
"A friend of mine recognized the handwriting on a census she'd found as a result of a record hint on FamilySearch.org. She figured out that she had actually indexed that very census and now had the information she needed to find her ancestors from a family line where she'd been stuck. This was the first family name she was able to take to the temple as a result of her own efforts.” Kristina M.
“I love family history, but what moved me to begin indexing was the joy of seeing the ‘Suggested Records’ icon in my family tree. The name of a son of my maternal second great-grandparents was discovered and added to my Family Tree. He was born in a nearby town that I was searching for a long time. Now I can see more of my ancestors, thanks to FamilySearch indexing.” Analgisa A.
“I think the ‘hinting’ is awesome. I have reviewed the record hints for several of my ancestors and found information that I did not have before. You guys are terrific. Keep up the good work. You are updating and developing new features almost faster than we can learn them.” – G. Flanagan
“Hinting proved invaluable to me in the first few minutes. I’ve been looking in the Massachusetts birth records for my dad’s birth record and haven’t been able to find it for years. It showed up in the hints, and I could see that his last name was spelled Ostman instead of Eastman. Evidently my grandparents hadn’t yet changed the spelling of their name from the Swedish spelling, and I didn’t think to look for that version. Thanks very much for this wonderful tool!” E. Eastman
“The hinting and descendancy features are so unbelievably wonderful. I can’t quit working with them. Amazing—so easy!” Terry C.
Users are currently attaching hundreds of thousands of new record sources to Family Tree ancestors each day. These record hints have resulted in the Family Tree becoming one of the largest and most accurate genealogical trees anywhere.
What many may not realize is that these advancements would not be possible without the thousands of volunteers who are indexing new records every day. We invite everyone to visit FamilySearch and take advantage of these new features and then help increase the amount of available records and hints by spending some time indexing.
For more specifics on how to use the hinting feature, specifically within descendancy view, read this article.
