Ogden Family History Conference/2018/syllabus

Ackerson, Ginny - Back Door and Rear Window Research Strategies
Ginny Ackerson groovifamily@msn.com 801-489-4994

Trace siblings or other relatives to track down your own family.

* Probate records of relatives often mentioned people and their relationship to the decedent. (Check all probate records in the docket, not just the will. Even when there is no will there may be documents that frequently mention heirs, their relationship and their addresses.)

Example: A friend needed to prove that her grandfather was the son of a particular man so she could get her DAR application approved. Unfortunately, he didn’t appear in any records with his father; however his father did appear in a census with a daughter. Probate records of the daughter mentioned her brother by name and relationship and so the link was proven.

* There may be a birth, death, marriage or christening record available for a sibling that will give parent’s names including the maiden name of the mother.

Example: On the 1900 census Jessie Stewart appears with her family, but her mother’s maiden name was unknown. No birth record for her existed in that county or any of the counties nearby. However a birth record was found for her younger brother who also appeared on the 1900 census which listed the mother’s maiden name.

* Local histories, especially those written in earlier years, and old obituaries may contain mention of family members.

Example: Martin came over from Germany at a young age with his parents, but we could not find reference to where in Germany he was born or what his mother’s maiden name was. Excerpts from a lengthy and detailed obituary for Martin’s brother, William, filled many voids in his history. … “William Frederick Sette, son of Martin Federick Sette and his wife Carolyn, nee Meyer, was born at Zorndorf, Province of Brandenburg, Germany, March 17, 1852, and at the age of three years came to America with his parents when they settled on what is known as the Sette homestead in the

Town of Clyman in the year 1855…. Following their marriage in 1876, Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Sette lived for many years on the Clyman homestead, where Mr. Sette's father Martin, died in April 1894, and his mother, Carolyn, followed in death in May 1911…. Mr. Sette also took over the interests of his brother Martin in the Juneau Telephone Company and was an officer of that corporation until the rural communications line was later sold to the Wisconsin Telephone Company.”

* People tended to immigrate and migrate with family and friends. If you lose a relative or cannot find their place of origin try checking in areas where other relatives or former neighbors have moved to or from. Some good articles and websites on American migration patterns: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gentutor/migration.html http://www.cyndislist.com/migration.htm  http://books.google.com/books?id=rtRFyFO4hpEC&pg=PA246&lpg=PA246&dq=pioneer+settle

ment+patterns+in+the+united+states&source=web&ots=IhxUwiAEYt&sig=-HSrPe- jKMNLfcmvrMqenzB4pXk&hl=en#PPP1,M1

* Searching for children in a family can often locate the family in the census or other records when searching for the parents failed.

'''Use alternate spellings for names and places. Be aware of the frequent use of nicknames.'''

* Soundex Converter websites can help to give many possibilities of alternate spellings for names. The first one in the list below is especially helpful. Be careful as some similar sounding names that are used interchangeably such as Rogers, Roggers and Rodgers and Jerrold and Gerald have different Soundex codes.

Example: George W. Gerald’s surname was listed as Jerrold in the 1860 census, Gerald in the 1870 census, Gerold in the 1880 census, and Girald in the 1900 census.

Example: For many years Betty searched for her great grandfather, Noah Rogers but was unable to find him in the census, even when using the Soundex option in the search field. Once the spelling was changed to Rodgers, she found him and she was able to go back ten generations with the information that she found.

Some online Soundex converters are: http://resources.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter http://searches.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/Genea/soundex.sh  http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/3916/soundex.html

* Less is more… use the first three letters in a name for online index searches. You will get all the Embrey, Embry, Embree, Embrie, Embriegh, Embury, Embery entries by typing in “Emb” then using a wild card symbol such as *. If you are looking for a name such as Johnson but don’t know whether it is spelled with an o or an e you could type in Johns*n and get all of them. Not all search engines use the * as a wild card so check to see which wild card symbol they use.

* First name searches can be really effective if you are unable to locate the person by their surname.

Example: We searched in the 1860 census for Tabitha Haines, born about 1825 in MS, who was living with her daughter, Barbara, born about 1850 in MS in the Lincoln, LA 1880 census. We used Tab*, born 1825 +/- 5 years in MS and got 9 hits, none of them with the surname Haines. The 5th hit was the right one with Tabitha Cathe, born 1825 in MS, and her daughter, Barbara Cathe, born about 1850 in MS currently living in Yazoo, MS.

* Finding people listed only by their initials can be challenging. If you have checked the index and not found them listed, try doing just a surname search in the specific area you are searching, then checking every entry.

* Get familiar with nicknames associated with more formal names. https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Traditional_Nicknames_in_Old_Documents_-_A_Wiki_List

* If you find in a record that a person was born in a particular place but you

can’t find it, the place name may have been misspelled. You can Google the name and very often Google will say “Did you mean….” And the correct spelling will appear. You could also go to the Family History Library Catalog, enter the larger jurisdiction you are looking for, click on “View Related Places” and scroll down until you find the sought after place.

Example: A record said that John died in Stillacum, Pierce County, Washington but no such place is found on a map of Pierce County. Googling it produced “Did you mean Steilacoom, WA?” and in the Library Catalog, scrolling down the towns in Pierce County also produces “Steilacoom”.

* Be aware of local pronunciation of place names.

Example: My Nana always said her mother was born in Windham, Norfolk, England. Look, though I might, there was no such place. One day, whilst talking to a cousin she said her great aunt was also born in Windham. I told her I couldn’t find the place and asked her to show me on a map. The parish was spelled “Wymondham” but was pronounced “Windham”.

Disprove possible candidates.

If you have more than one person with the same name in the same time period and the same place and you can’t determine from the information you have who is the correct one, use as many sources as you can to eliminate one or more of the candidates.

Example: I have 5 William Brooks’ in one generation on my pedigree. During this time period there are 4 William Brooks’ in the census records, multiple land transactions involving William Brooks (grantor, grantee and witness), 7 marriages of William Brooks, and numerous probate records mentioning William Brooks either as a witness, devisor or devisee. There are also several William Brooks’ mentioned in the tax records. So how do you tell them apart?

* Land records were painstakingly checked and platted.

* Tax records were scrutinized carefully and assigned to different men on the basis of the district they lived in.

* Those who appeared on the 1850 census and later had their ages and approximate years of birth as references for earlier censuses which were analyzed thoroughly.

* Probate records were pored over and every detail meticulously noted.

* Signatures and hand writing were compared and matched when possible.

* Marriage bonds and death records of every member of each family were noted and compared.

Use alternate records such as land, tax, military, court, directories and newspapers.

Example: We searched for years for a marriage of Independence Houck and his wife, Matilda to no avail. We could not determine her maiden name, even though we got the

marriage and death records of all of her children. When searching in the Chancery Court records for the state of Maryland we came across this document several pages long of which we show only excerpts:

“Filed on the 17th of November 1829 against Temperance Lee, Joshua Lee, John Lee, William Lee, Caleb Lee, Jesse Lee, William Byrum and Clarissa his wife, Independence Houck and Matilda his wife, John Wilson and Penelope his wife, Jacob Faner and Mary his wife, Eleanor Lee and Ushley Lee…..

Robert Lee was indebted to Thomas Worthington (deceased) for some land. Marcella Worthington, his widow, applied to Robert for payment in the September term 1822 with a result of $64 being applied to what was owed. Since that time Robert Lee has died and Marcella Worthington is now suing his heirs for the balance owing. The defendant (Robert Lee) leaves Temperance, his widow, Thomas, Joshua, John, William, Caleb, Jesse, Clarissa, Matilda, Penelope, and Mary, his children and Eleanor and Ushley the children of his son, Robert Lee, Jr (deceased).” From these excerpts we find out:

* Robert Sr. died between Sept. 1822 and Nov. 1829.

* His wife was named Temperance.

* He had 11 children and we found the names of his daughters’ husbands

* His son, Robert, died before Nov 1829 and had 2 children, Eleanor and Ushley.

* Matilda’s maiden name is Lee.

Example: We searched for the name of Abraham Ackerson’s father for many years. We knew his mother’s name was Elizabeth and he had a brother, Thomas, as they all lived at the same address in Manhattan (37 Watts) per several years of city directories in the 1830’s. His father’s name did not appear on any of Abraham’s records nor Thomas’s. Going further back in the directories we found in 1829 that Elizabeth at 37 Watts was listed as the widow of John T. Ackerson.

Example: Sarah Elizabeth Ackerson was born in New York City and died in New Jersey. Her husband, Robert Cleary Hanks, was also born in New York and died in New Jersey. All of their children were born in either New York or New Jersey. They both appear in all of the censuses in either New York or New Jersey, yet we could not find their marriage in any county or city of New York or New Jersey.

While going through some old Utah newspapers looking for Sarah’s brother, Alfred, we came across the following in the gossip column: “A. H. Ackerson was a visitor to Salt Lake City last week. He went to meet his sister and aunt who arrived from New York. Mr. Ackerson was present at the marriage of his sister to R.C. Hanks. He arrived home on Friday.” Sure enough, we found the marriage record in Salt Lake County!

Go around indexes

* Use the first 3 letters of names and a wildcard function to find either given or family names. Using Sus* will find Susan, Susie, Susanne, Susette, Susy, Susmann, Sussman, etc:…Joh* will find John, Johnny, Johnnie, Johannes, Johanna, Johnson, Johnston, Johnsen, Johnsten, Johnathan, etc.

* Use the wildcard function to hunt for names which can be spelled many ways. Ste*ns will find Stephens, Stephans, Stevens, Stevans, Stefans, Stefens

* Find women’s surnames by using their given name and their birth date in the SSDI and the SS applications databases. Remember to use middle names and nicknames if you don’t find it under their given names. This sometimes works for

death certificate indexes, too.

* Do a surname search in a defined area to find people who are listed by their initials. Leave the given name search box blank, add the surname and the county and all people living in that place will show up. If the surname produces a long list, you can add approximate birth year and birth place of the person you are looking for to narrow your search.

* Old handwriting poses some challenges. Remember, indexes are only as good as the original handwriting and the transcriptionist who interprets that handwriting…L is frequently transcribed as S and vice versa…The same with T and F, W and M, A and H, K and H, O and Q, S and T. If you are looking for the name Sette, make sure you check for Tette and Lette, too.

Ackerson, Ginny - A Survey of Midwest Records
Ginny Ackerson groovifamily@msn.com 801-489-4994

Illinois Records:

Family Research Files. These family research files (referred to as the Local and Family History Vertical Files) have been donated to the Newberry Library by genealogists or their families. They include an eclectic mix of materials such as copies of original records, research notes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, personal diaries, and bibliographies. The surname indexes are online at: http://www.newberry.org/genealogy/verticalfiles.html

Illinois Genealogical Databases online: a) IRAD: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/IRAD/home.html

b) Elgin/Kane County newspaper index: http://innovative.gailborden.info:82/

c) Pape Funeral Home records in Danville; this database has over 275,000 records. The employees at Pape's are constantly adding new records to the database as well as updating existing records. http://www.papemortuary.com/

d) Death records from all over Illinois: http://www.deathindexes.com/illinois/

e) Illinois Newspaper Project http://www.library.uiuc.edu/inp/database.php All microfilm produced for INP is made available through interlibrary loan. ) f) Gravestone pictures in Illinois: http://illinoisgravestones.org/ g) Federal Township Plats of Il 1804-1891: http://landplats.ilsos.net/ h) Many websites for Illinois: https://www.genealoger.com/

Indiana Records

Indiana State Library has many online indexes including the state’s largest newspaper collection. They have many newspapers on microfilm and an index of names and obituaries in Indianapolis newspapers since 1898. Their newspaper microfilms are available through interlibrary loan. http://www.in.gov/library/2306.htm

Some Indiana deaths and obituaries: http://www.deathindexes.com/indiana/

Indiana Naturalization records from before 1951 are indexed at: https://www.in.gov/serv/iara_naturalization

The Allen County Public Library has a collection second only to the Family History Library with many databases online: http://www.genealogycenter.org/ Many records online: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Indiana_Online_Genealogy_Records

Iowa Records

Iowa Biographies Project-- This is a single-entry point to Iowa biographies. There are currently over 16,900 biographies available at this site and links to over 12,000 biographies located at other Iowa project sites. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iabiog/

Iowa Gravestone Photo Project: Browse over 362,000 gravestone photo records from across the state of Iowa. http://iowagravestones.org/search.php?search=index

Iowa Genealogical Society database: http://www.iowagenealogy.org/research_resources/index.htm

IaGenWeb Genealogy Message Boards: http://iagenweb.org/state/countygrid.htm

WPA grave registration: 654,155 records within 82 Iowa counties http://iowawpagraves.org/

Kansas Records

Kansas State Historical Society (great databases: http://www.kshs.org/ ) has an almost complete set of newspapers available through interlibrary loan: http://www.kshs.org/library/news.htm

Kansas Biographies: https://kansasgenealogy.com/

Kansas deaths and obituaries: http://www.deathindexes.com/kansas/index.html Kansas GenWeb… excellent databases and some online books http://www.ksgenweb.org/

In 2014 the excellent Kansas website, Blue Skyways, shut down. Many of their collections are still available at http://mhgswichita.org/skyways.html

Kansas Cemeteries: http://www.interment.net/us/ks/index.htm

Michigan Records

1894 Michigan State Census; This document lists the names by ward, township, and county of United States Soldiers of the Civil War Residing in Michigan, June 1, 1894. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/michigan/1894_state_census.htm

The Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library began life as the private library of Clarence Monroe Burton. Realizing that Detroit’s history was inextricably connected to that of Michigan and the Old Northwest and those histories to that of Canada and New France, he assembled a collection that was one of the most important private historical collections in the country. https://detroitpubliclibrary.org/research/burton-historical-collection Michigan Biographical Index: https://michlist.com/

Michigan Cemeteries: http://www.interment.net/us/mi/index.htm

Michigan Naturalization Index: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Michigan_Naturalization_and_Citizenship

Michigan births 1867-1902, marriages 1868-1925, deaths 1867-1897 indexed and digitized: https://www.familysearch.org/

Michigan Death Indexes: http://www.deathindexes.com/michigan/

Western Michigan Genealogical Databases: http://data.wmgs.org/ GENDIS has over 460,000 deaths from 1867-1897: http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/osr/gendisx/index.asp

Minnesota Records

Minnesota Historical Society: http://www.mnhs.org/search/about.

Naturalization records from district courts in all of Minnesota’s remaining counties have been transferred to the Minnesota Historical Society Library. As records are microfilmed there, the films become available from the Minnesota Historical Society through interlibrary loan to public libraries.

Minnesota Biographies Project: http://www.usbiographies.org/index.php/21-minnesota

A list of Minnesota newspapers available online and through interlibrary loan is at: http://www.mnhs.org/newspapers

Minnesota Tombstone Transcription Project: http://www.usgwtombstones.org/minnesota/

Dalby Database: Lots of information on Southern Minnesota families: http://www.dalbydata.com/user.php?action=history Minnesota Obituaries Project: http://www.usgwarchives.net/obits/mn/obitsmn.htm

Missouri Records

Dictionary of Missouri Biography: http://books.google.com/books?id=6gyxWHRLAWgC&dq=missouri+biography&pg=PP1&ots=D8Oorvm7bY&source=citation&sig=BVvKN2QsqQPYpdLRH6_wtSEykM4&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dmissouri%2Bbiography&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=1&cad=bottom-3results#PPP1,M1

Missouri Naturalization Records: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/naturalization/

Missouri Death and Obituary Indexes: http://www.deathindexes.com/missouri/

Missouri Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/

Missouri Newspapers: http://shs.umsystem.edu/newspaper/index.shtml

Missouri Probate Records: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/stlprobate/

Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1957: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/ Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, Mo. https://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy

Nebraska Records

Some online Nebraska records are at: http://www.deathindexes.com/nebraska/index.html

Some online cemetery records and gravestone pictures: http://nebraskagravestones.org/

Some Nebraska marriages arranged by county online at: http://www.idreamof.com/marriage/ne.html

The Nebraska State Historical Society has more than 35,000 rolls of Nebraska newspapers on microfilm dating from the territorial period to the present. https://history.nebraska.gov/collections/nebraska-newspaper-inventory

Some of the early and Territorial censuses for Nebraska are online at: http://www.censusfinder.com/nebraska.htm

Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/Comp_NE/index.htm#Table%20of%20Contents

North Dakota Records

The North Dakota Naturalization Records index database is complete for all North Dakota Counties and contains over 212,000 entries. It includes information regarding name; country of emigration; dates of "first papers" (declaration of intent) and "second papers" (naturalization) and the county district court where the proceedings occurred. https://library.ndsu.edu/db/naturalization/

The State Historical Society of N.D. has an extensive newspaper collection which is available through interlibrary loan or ChroniclingAmerica http://history.nd.gov/archives/whatnewspapers.html.

They also have many genealogical records including pre-1925 marriages: http://history.nd.gov/archives/marriage.html North Dakota Biographies database: https://library.ndsu.edu/db/biography/

The North Dakota Public Death Index 1881-present. You must search in 10-year increments or less; 1881-c.1924 is incomplete.

https://secure.apps.state.nd.us/doh/certificates/deathCertSearch.htm

Ohio Records

Digitized and indexed Ohio records at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/location/43?region=Ohio

Ohio Newspaper Index…The OHS contains the largest collection of Ohio's newspapers in existence-- 4,500 titles, 20,000 volumes, and almost 48,000 rolls of microfilm of Ohio titles. They are available for use at the Reading Room or through interlibrary loan. A complete list, including both filmed and un-filmed (original paper) titles available for use at the Ohio Historical Society's Archives/Library can be accessed at: http://catalog.ohiohistory.org/Presto/home/home.aspx?ssid=Newspapers

The Ohio State Library recently transferred their genealogical collection to the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Many wonderful resources are now available through them. https://www.columbuslibrary.org/research/local-history-genealogy

The Cleveland Public Library has several databases including a necrology file and obituary file that cover 1833 to the present. https://cpl.org/research-learning/genealogy/

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. An index to over 3,500,000 obituaries, death & marriage notices & other sources from Ohio from the 1810s to the present day. Actual obits may be ordered from over 60 partner libraries. https://www.rbhayes.org/main/ohio-obituary-index/

South Dakota Records

South Dakota Birth Records Search Site for dates over 100 years ago: https://apps.sd.gov/PH14Over100BirthRec/index.aspx

The SD Tombstone transcription and gravestones projects : http://www.usgwtombstones.org/southdakota/sdakota.html and https://southdakotagravestones.org/ The South Dakota State Historical Society collections: https://history.sd.gov/archives/collectionindexes.aspx

Wisconsin Records

The Wisconsin Historical Society has a fabulous website with several online databases that are searchable including births, marriages, deaths and obituaries. They have the second-largest collection of newspapers in the United States. Many, including all Wisconsin newspapers, are on microfilm and can be loaned to public libraries through interlibrary loan. Newspapers produced by German and other ethnic groups are especially valuable for research on residents of the state.

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/genealogy/

Wisconsin Pioneer and Century Certificate Project. The Wisconsin State Genealogical Society issues pioneer certificates to anyone whose ancestors settled in Wisconsin by 1850 and century certificates to those who can document pre-1876 Wisconsin ancestry. The applications contain detailed family history information. https://archive.org/details/SomePioneerFamiliesOfWisconsin

Browse the 1855, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905 Wisconsin State censuses digitized and indexed: https://www.familysearch.org/ Many websites for Wisconsin: https://www.genealoger.com/

Some general websites and collections that may be helpful in Midwest research:

The premier website for research advice: https://wiki.familysearch.org

Always check the County and State USGENWEB sites as the most amazing collections can be found there.

Example: http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/

Check the State Archives, State Libraries and State Historical and Genealogical Societies https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/state-archives.html https://www.statearchivists.org/connect/resources-state/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_libraries_and_archives  https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Societies

www.footnote.com $ https://www.ancestry.com/ $ https://www.familysearch.org/ https://www.cyndislist.com/  https://www.findagrave.com/  https://billiongraves.com/ https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx

https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy  http://usgenweb.org/  https://stevemorse.org/  https://www.myheritage.com/  http://interment.net. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ https://www.deathindexes.com/