Category Archives: Tip of the Week

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

TIP OF THE WEEK – DEMYSTIFYING THE CENSUSES
1790 TO 2000

In 2002, Jason Gauthier of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Economics and Statistics Administration produced a 148-page document called Measuring America: The Decennial Census from 1790 to 2000. It explains, in detail, exactly what the census takers were told to do for each and every U.S. Census from the first census in 1790 through the twenty-second census of 2000.

This document will prove invaluable.   Besides a good, clear image of each census form itself, you’ll find an expanded definition for every column on the form.   No more straining your eyes or guessing.

Reading the instructions to the enumerators tells you what terms such a “housekeeper” vs “keeping house”, “farmer” vs “planter”, or “inmate” meant in the context of the census. And why “indians not taxed” weren’t included in the enumerations.   Were you even aware there was a separate questionnaire for “Indian Population” in many of the censuses?

There is just a wealth of information in this document.  Check it out.  It’s available to read on-line, or to download, absolutely free, at: https://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/pol02-ma.pdf

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

THOUGHT FOR THE SEASON – EMBRACING YOUR ETHNIC HERITAGE

Our immigrant ancestors had a tendency to cling to cultural traditions and religious faith.  But gradually, assimilation came after a few generations. Unfortunately, with assimilation comes a blurring and even loss of the rich traditions that are a part of us.

“What the immigrant generation knows and cherishes,
The second generation chooses to discard and forget;
It is the third generation who strives to piece it all together and to remember…”
Hansen’s Law –from Marcus Lee Hansen

Most of us are that third generation and we have an important job to do. During the holidays – interview your family members – Don’t miss this opportunity.

TIP OF THE WEEK – THE CLEVELAND NECROLOGY FILE

Here’s a find if you had ancestors in NE Ohio; about 800,000 paid death notices and local cemetery records, literally at your fingertips, dating back to as early as 1833.

Prior to 1976, the Cleveland Public Library staff clipped death notices from the local newspapers and maintained a file of these notices known as the Cleveland Necrology File. The Library has converted this file into an on-line database that is a breeze to search, readily accessible, and free to everyone.

It contains the complete full text of paid death notices as published in the following newspapers during the time periods listed:  •The Cleveland Plain Dealer – 1850-1975
•The Cleveland Herald – 1833, 1847-1848, 1876, 1878-1879
•The Cleveland Press – 1941-1975
Just go to :  http://newsindex.cpl.org  and enter your search criteria.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 

TIP OF THE WEEK – THE LEGAL GENEALOGIST’s BLOG

The Legal Genealogist is Judy Russell, a well-known genealogical speaker, educator, writer and lawyer.  She was the featured speaker for our Spring Seminar in 2013.

Ms. Russell writes a daily column, The Legal Genealogist, that is almost always informative and educational, and is usually amusing or interesting, on some topic or event of genealogical interest. These columns are brief and entertaining, and they are free.  While the common theme for most of her columns is some legal issue, there’s much more to them – they illustrate how to research problems, how to source or document your research, and reveal new approaches to problem solving.

To receive these articles by email, just sign up at http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/ by clicking on Subscribe By Email on the right margin of this web page.

If you’re unsure, and would like to sample several of her recent columns first, go to her home page at http://www.legalgenealogist.com/.

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Making Grave Markers & Memorials

by Charles Hansen

(To get the whole story, you really must read clear to the end.)

A GENEALOGIST IN A CEMETERY  By Lora Rose, member of the Northeast Washington Genealogcial Society, Colville, WA.

So what’s the difference between a genealogist in a cemetery and a cemetery caretaker?  This doesn’t come with a punchline.  The answer is Family History Stories and Pedigrees.

My husband was introduced to his Rose family second cousins in 2007 as a result of my research. Turns out the Rose family had come to western Oregon in 1856 with a small group of family members. It was a merging of two individuals whose spouses died and a new marriage created – his, hers and soon to be ours.  The Rose family farm near Lebanon, Oregon sets on the Santiam River and was honored as a 100 year farm in August 1976.  A surviving member still lives there.

Continue reading →

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

TIP OF THE WEEK – WORLDCAT

Suppose you just learned about a book on a subject or a family that you were researching, a book that you had not heard of before?  Wouldn’t it be great if there was a quick & easy way to find the library closest to you that had that book?!

Well, there is.  It’s called WorldCat and it’s the world’s largest library catalog, literally a global catalog of library collections.

On this website, https://www.worldcat.org/, you can enter the title or the author of the book to find a list of libraries that hold that book.  By entering your zip code, you can quickly determine whether a nearby library has that book.  Seattle Public Library, the King County Library System, the University of Washington libraries and the Fiske Genealogical Library are all participants in WorldCat.  (The SGS Library is not at this time because the costs have been deemed too great.)

If no nearby library has the book, you can still obtain information from a library that does have it, via interlibrary loan, or by requesting photocopies of relevant pages. WorldCat can also be used to search for all books on a given topic or subject, thereby discovering books that you didn’t know about before

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

TIP OF THE WEEK – Puget Sound Genealogical Society’s Obituary Records Project

Check out Puget Sound Genealogical Society’s Obituary Collection Index file on-line.  PSGS entered into a partnership with the Kitsap Regional Library and has indexed over 40,000 obituaries dated from 1891 through August 31, 2012.

You can request a search and mailing of obituaries that they may have on file. Response is fast.  It’s free; however, they are always happy to receive a donation for this valuable service.

You can access their Obituary Index File & the Obituary Research Request Form at : http://www.pusogensoc.org/obituaryprojectcommittee.html

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

TIP OF THE WEEK  –  Bring Back the Interactive Map
Have you ever used the Newberry Library website “Atlas of Historical County Boundaries” page?

Renowned as the easiest, most complete site to track county boundaries, it has maps, text and tools to view historical county configurations against the modern county network.

The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, has an informative article about this interactive map at :
http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2015/07/21/dear-newberry/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+T

Unfortunately at this moment, as you read, the interactive map portion of this site is “temporarily unavailable”. Please take the time to add your email address to the list of those that need to be notified “when this functionality has been restored”.  Let the Newberry Library folks know this interactive map is useful and important to you.

TIP OF THE WEEK  –  Update

Remember “U.S., Index to Alien Case Files, 1940-2003” from last issue’s “Tip of the Week”?  It is not only available at Ancestry.com as reported, but it is also available via FamilySearch.org.  Check out:  https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2540918