Process of Elimination

I’d really like this blog to be more interactive. So, for next week’s post, I will be answering any questions you have. Here’s your opportunity to get help. This week make a comment on the blog (not facebook). I’d like to see any questions you have or what piece of your puzzle that you are working on. What surname, location, and time period are you working on? It’s not hard to make a comment. Just click on the bottom of any post where it says “comment”, if no one has commented yet it will say “no comment”. Click there, and then scroll down to the bottom of the screen. There will be a white box and right above it says “Post a comment”.  Below the white box, after you type in your comment, it will say “select a profile” click on the down arrow and highlight “Anonymous”. You can sign your name in your comment. Please share with your friends and family. I’d like to help as many people as possible.

Now for this week’s post. This past weekend, the National Swedish Archives were available to browse online for free. Here’s a key word, “Browse”. I think we’re so spoiled with all the indexes that have been made available and search functions, that we have become lazy and seldom “browse” records. I’ll admit, “browsing” is always my last resort. I search all the indexes available and then if I can’t find my information, I start browsing. “Browsing” is the old school of genealogy. It’s the tedious, time consuming work of genealogy.  Is it necessary? Absolutely! There are millions of records that have not been indexed and unless you are willing to roll up your sleeves and work for those hard to find records, you will never find all your puzzle pieces.

Yesterday, I spent about 5 hours, “browsing” the National Swedish Archives, only to find “nothing”! I probably scanned through 400 pages of records looking for one family. One may say, “what a waste of time” and that I didn’t make progress.

Have you ever done a Sudoku puzzle? Sometimes, you have to solve the puzzle, by process of elimination.  It can’t be this number or that number, so that only leaves two other numbers. So it is with genealogy. Sometimes, the only way to find information is to eliminate possibilities. This is especially true in your hard to find “brick wall” lines. There are three “John Taylor’s” living in one county/area. One is my relative (chances are they all are relatives, but only one is my direct descendant). I start looking at one of the “John Taylor’s” until I determine he is mine or not. If he isn’t, I haven’t failed, because now I know that one of the two remaining “John Taylor’s” is probably mine. (But, remember always double check your source)

Yesterday, I eliminated 400 possibilities. This makes me closer to finding my ancestors. Now for another very important part of eliminating possibilities: Keep a record of all your search efforts. Next time the National Swedish Archives are free online again, will I remember what I searched or will I spend another 5 hours searching the same 400 records? Now that would be a waste of time!!! It’s simple to track your searches. I simply use a word document. I have a search log for each of my surnames. Yesterday, I was searching “Lundell”, so I will save in my Lundell word document, what records I searched yesterday. How do you track your searches?

Family Search Wiki

Lots of people have asked for help finding puzzle pieces in foreign countries. Countries, that I have absolutely NO experience. Fortunately, someone out there does have experience. Family Wiki is an online guide where those that have experience with specific countries, share their knowledge and resources.

Here are step by step instructions:

·         Go to http://www.familysearch.org

·         Then click on “Search” (Located at top middle of page)

·         Then click on “Wiki” (Located at top middle of page)

·         Then search a place, for example: Malmohus, Sweden

·         There will be a number of search results. For Malmohus, Sweden, I clicked on the 3^rd result down, which is the County page for Malmohus, Sweden.

·         From there it gives me a history of the county and individual parishes/towns within the county and the parish/town page.

·         After clicking on one of the parish pages, it didn’t give me a lot of information. So, I’m going to search just “Sweden”

·         After clicking on search result “Sweden”, I found lots of information and resources. For example: getting started with Sweden research, research tools, maps of jurisdictions, where to find vital records, and lots more.

I have mentioned this in another post, but also try “browsing” family search records to see what is available online for the specific country that you are looking for. Some records might not be indexed yet and won’t show up when you do a search. For example: Family search has Husförhörslängder records (Kind of like census records) under the browse section, but these have not been indexed. I can browse these records for free online; I just have to do the dirty work of searching each individual record. For instructions on "browsing" read this post: http://pieceyourfamilytogether.blogspot.com/2013/07/family-search.html

What places are you currently searching? Where have you found resources and search help?

Cemetery Records

Today we are going to talk about cemeteries. Cemetery records can be hard to locate if you don’t live nearby. If you live close to where your ancestor died, I’d encourage you to go visit the local cemeteries and find your ancestors’ graves. Most cemeteries have an office or an indexed registry. Sometimes the office may be the mortuary as well. They may be able to give you an obituary or copy of death certificate. It’s worth it to at least ask. Once you locate your ancestor’s grave, walk around in a circle, check the other graves. You may find an ancestor that you didn’t know about.

If you don’t live nearby, here are two of my favorite free online resources. http://www.findagrave.com and http://www.billiongraves.com Both of these websites function off of volunteers.

On Findagrave, you can make photo requests of your ancestor’s grave. Volunteers fulfill those requests. I have also found obituaries and death certificates on some of the “memorials”. One downfall of Findagrave is the search function. It’ll conduct an exact name search, unless you click the box that says “Do partial name search on surname”. So again be creative on your search. Try different spellings. Here are step by step instructions on searching Findagrave.

·         Go to http://www.findagrave.com
·         Notice the left side is for famous graves and the right side for any other grave.
·         Click on the right side “Search 103 million grave records” (This number could change if viewing later)
·         Type in search information

Billiongraves is kind of new (to me). It is very similar to Findagrave. The difference is Billiongraves, the volunteer takes a picture with a GPS App. The advantage of this is you can see (long distance) which graves are close to each. The disadvantage, you have to be a special member to use this benefit. But, anyone can search for free. Here are step by step instructions on searching Billiongraves.

·         Go to http://www.billiongraves.com
·         At the top of the website, click “Search”
·         Type in search information

Cemetery records can help you find birth and death dates. On both websites you may find some names that don’t have the birth date listed, but when you look at the picture, it may say “Aged” and you can figure an estimated birth. Remember always double check your source.

Google - My favorite side piece

To simplify a puzzle, I think most people find the side pieces and put those together first.  I think the reason for this is because it’s the easiest part of the puzzle.

So, what is the easiest part of genealogy or family history?  I’m sure this is different for everyone, but the easiest part of genealogy for me is what is most easily accessible. Basically, what I can do from home and for free.

Google is one of my favorite side pieces. Here are a couple of ways I search Google. You will find that there are many ways to search and the more creative you get, the more you will find. If you have an ancestor with a unique name (like James Marberger), you’ll want to widen your search. If you have an ancestor with a common name (like, John Taylor) then you want to narrow your search.

Here is a step by step:

1. Go to http://www.google.com or any search engine that you prefer.
2. Put your ancestor’s name in quotation marks. For example: “James Marberger” Any time you put something in quotation marks, the search engine will conduct an exact name search.
3. If you have an uncommon name, then you may end up getting “no results”. You’ll need to widen your search. Try searching your name without quotations. For example: James Marberger
4. If you have a common name, then you may end up getting several results. You’ll need to narrow your search. Try searching your name in quotations and adding the city, county, or state where your ancestor lived. For example: “John Taylor” and Kentucky.  Or “John Taylor” and Warren, Kentucky. Or “John Taylor” and Bowling Green Kentucky.
5. If you still need to narrow your search more, try using one of your ancestor’s sibling’s names. One less common.  For example: “Pleasant Taylor”
6. If you still need to widen your search, try using just a surname and location. For example: Marberger and Schuylkill Pennsylvania.

I have found several resources from searching the search engines. I have found histories that people have written, wills, other people searching for the same ancestor, and even pictures. Have fun with it, but remember last week’s post: Check your source. Just because you find it on the internet doesn’t make it true. You’ll want to double check it with your other sources and use it as a guide to help you find more pieces of your puzzle.