How to Do Everything Genealogy

468 Pages·2012·45.93 MB·English

by  George G. Morgan

Genealogy
Third Edition
George G. Morgan
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How to Do Everything™: Genealogy, Third Edition
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ISBN 978-0-07-178084-1
MHID 0-07-178084-X
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To the memory of my favorite aunt, Mary Allen Morgan, who taught me my love of family,
despite the hardships she endured. She changed and enriched my life beyond measure.
And to the memories of my Revolutionary War ancestors, John McKnitt Alexander and
Major John Davidson of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and John Swords of Upstate
South Carolina; and to the memory of my favorite ancestor, Green Berry Holder, born in
Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia, on 23 December 1843 and died in Rome, Floyd
County, Georgia, on 18 June 1914. Each of these people, their spouses, children, descendants,
and collateral families has brought history, geography, and genealogical research to life for
me. Each and all of them changed my life, and this book will always be a product of the
research for them.
About the Author
George G. Morgan is an internationally recognized genealogical expert, lecturer, and consultant.
He is president of Aha! Seminars, Inc., a Florida-based company providing continuing education
to librarians in the United States and genealogical presentations to societies in the United States,
Canada, and elsewhere. He also has led genealogy tours to the United Kingdom and has spoken
on several genealogy cruises. He presents face-to-face at conferences and seminars and delivers
live webinars via GoToMeeting® and Skype®.
He is the author of ten books, including the first and second editions of The Official Guide
to Ancestry.com (Ancestry Publishing), and the first, second, and third editions of this book.
He has written literally hundreds of magazine, journal, and online articles on the subject of
genealogy. His articles have appeared in every major genealogical magazine in North America,
including Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, Ancestry Magazine, the Association of Professional
Genealogists Quarterly, the Federation of Genealogy Societies’ FORUM, and others. His online
articles available on the Internet number in the thousands. His published interviews have
appeared on the Internet, in Reader’s Digest and Woman’s Day magazines, and in other media.
George is the co-host, with his partner Drew Smith, of The Genealogy Guys Podcast, the
longest-running genealogy podcast in the world, published at http://genealogyguys.com. The
two also have appeared in genealogical videos and in numerous online podcast interviews.
He is currently the vice president of Membership for the Federation of Genealogical
Societies. He is the past president of the International Society of Family History Writers
and Editors (ISFHWE), a former director of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, is past public
relations/publicity director of the Florida State Genealogical Society, and past director of the
Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa). He belongs to a number of other genealogical societies
in the United States and the United Kingdom.
George has won a number of awards, including the Genealogy Outstanding Achievement
Award and the President’s Citation from the Florida State Genealogical Society, the Award of
Merit and the Certificate of Merit from the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Excellence
in Writing Award from ISFHWE, and a certificate of appreciation from the Society of Mayflower
Descendants in the State of Florida, among others.
Morgan’s How to Do Everything™: Genealogy is a best seller in the McGraw-Hill catalog and
has consistently won critical acclaim from reviewers and readers alike as the best genealogy
“how-to” book published in the past 25 years.
George lives in Citrus Park, Florida, a suburb of Tampa.
About the Technical Editor
Drew Smith, MLS, is an academic librarian with the University of South Florida in Tampa, and
a nationally known genealogy writer and speaker. He is the author of the landmark book, Social
Networking for Genealogists (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009). Since it began in September
2005, he has co-hosted The Genealogy Guys Podcast with George G. Morgan. He is a Director of the
Federation of Genealogical Societies, the President of the Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa,
Secretary for the Association of Professional Genealogists, and Parliamentarian for the Florida
State Genealogical Society. He is the founder and long-time administrator of the GENEALIB
mailing list, a preeminent communication tool among genealogical librarians and archivists in the
United States and abroad since 1996. He has written numerous articles for popular genealogical
magazines, including NGS Magazine, Digital Genealogist, and Genealogical Computing, and is the
editor of the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ Voice newsletter and a contributor to its blog.
Contents at a Glance
Part I Begin Your Family History Odyssey
1 Why Explore Your Genealogy? ................................ 3
2 Analyze and Organize Your Family Information .................. 3 1
3 Balance Traditional and Electronic Research ..................... 5 9
4 Place Your Ancestors into Context and Locate Vital Records ......... 7 5
5 Use Census Schedules and Records to Locate Your Ancestors ........ 111
Part II Expand Your research
6 Extend Your Research with Advanced Record Types ............... 155
7 Use the Many Types of Military Service Records .................. 199
8 Understand and Use Land and Property Records .................. 247
9 Locate and Use Immigration and Naturalization Records ........... 273
10 Discover Where to Locate Evidence About Your Family ............ 311
Part III Learn research Methods and Strategies
11 Learn How to Successfully Research
Your Ancestors on the Internet .............................. 341
12 Research and Verify Your Ancestors
Using Genetic Genealogy (DNA) ............................. 375
13 Use Alternative Research Strategies to Locate Difficult Records ...... 385
14 Use the Latest Online Resources and
Social Networking in Your Genealogy Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Index .................................................... 431
Look for the purple-edged pages to read the Case Study and get the details about how
the author broke through an important brick wall and found previously hidden details.
v
Contents
Acknowledgments .......................................... xv
Introduction ............................................... xvii
Part I Begin Your Family History Odyssey
CHaPtEr 1 Why Explore Your Genealogy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Start at the Beginning: Yourself and Your Family ......................... 4
Discover Sources of Information in Your Own Home ..................... 7
Vital and Civil Records ......................................... 7
Religious Records ............................................. 10
Personal or Family Bible ....................................... 10
Photograph Albums ........................................... 10
Scrapbooks .................................................. 10
Letters ..................................................... 11
Diaries and Journals .......................................... 13
Family Histories .............................................. 14
Local Histories ............................................... 14
Baby Books .................................................. 15
Marriage Books .............................................. 15
Funeral Books and Memorial Cards ............................... 16
Identification Documents ...................................... 18
Immigration Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Naturalization Papers .......................................... 19
Land Records ................................................ 20
Military Records .............................................. 20
Directories .................................................. 20
Religious Publications ......................................... 20
School Records ............................................... 20
Employment Records .......................................... 22
Search for the Less-Than-Obvious Items ........................... 22
Interview All Your Relatives ......................................... 22
Consider Several Types of Interview .............................. 24
Schedule Interviews for Best Results .............................. 25
vii
viii Contents
Ask the Right Questions ........................................ 26
Use the Right Equipment for Your Interviews ....................... 26
Set the Tone of the Interview .................................... 28
Don’t Forget the “Thank You” ................................... 29
Begin to Organize What You Find ..................................... 29
Get Started ...................................................... 29
CHaPtEr 2 analyze and Organize Your Family Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Evaluate Primary vs. Secondary Information ............................ 32
Birth Certificates ............................................. 32
Marriage Certificates .......................................... 33
Death Certificates ............................................ 33
Obituaries ................................................... 35
Cemetery Markers ............................................ 36
Bible Entries ................................................. 39
Recognize and Evaluate Original vs. Derivative Sources ................... 40
Understand Types of Derivative Sources ........................... 40
Avoid Errors in Derivative Sources ............................... 42
Apply Critical Thinking Skills to Your Genealogical Research ............... 42
Place Your Ancestors into Context .................................... 44
Format Names, Dates, and Locations Correctly .......................... 44
Record Names ............................................... 45
Record Dates ................................................ 46
Record Locations ............................................. 46
Work with Pedigree Charts .......................................... 47
Work with Family Group Sheets ...................................... 49
Record Multiple Family Units with a Common Spouse ................ 51
How to Handle Nontraditional Family Units ........................ 51
How to Handle Adopted Children ................................ 5 1
Create Source Citations for Your Data ................................. 52
Select a Family Tree Format ......................................... 54
CHaPtEr 3 Balance traditional and Electronic research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Be a Modern Genealogical Researcher ................................. 60
Understand Traditional Research ..................................... 63
Discover Documentary Evidence and Where It Is Found .................. 63
Books and Periodicals ......................................... 64
Manuscripts ................................................. 65
Maps ....................................................... 65
Indexes ..................................................... 66
Histories .................................................... 66
Biographies .................................................. 66
Newspapers ................................................. 67
Documents from Many Traditional Locations and Sources ............. 68
Understand Electronic Research Materials .............................. 69
Email and Mailing Lists ........................................ 69
Contents ix
Message Boards .............................................. 69
Web Pages ................................................... 69
Compilations and Indexes ...................................... 70
Search Engines ............................................... 71
Subscription Internet Sites for Genealogy .......................... 71
Blogs ....................................................... 72
Podcasts and Videocasts ........................................ 72
Webinars .................................................... 73
Live Online Radio ............................................ 74
Integrate Traditional and Electronic Research Findings ................... 74
CHaPtEr 4 Place Your ancestors into Context and Locate Vital records . . . 75
Place Your Ancestors into Context .................................... 76
Become a Student of History ........................................ 77
Family Histories .............................................. 78
County and Local Histories ..................................... 78
State and Provincial Histories ................................... 80
National and World History ..................................... 81
Use Maps to Locate the Right Place to Research .......................... 84
Avoid Wasted Time and Energy .................................. 85
Use Maps for Multiple Purposes ................................. 85
Use a Methodology That Works .................................. 87
Maps Can Equal Success ....................................... 93
Locate Birth, Marriage, and Death Records ............................. 93
Locate Birth Certificates ....................................... 95
Find Marriage Licenses and Certificates ........................... 100
Research Divorce Records ...................................... 105
Locate Death Certificates ....................................... 106
CHaPtEr 5 Use Census Schedules and records
to Locate Your ancestors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Understand and Work with United States Census Records ................. 113
Understand Originals vs. Copies of Census Documents ............... 116
Use Strategies to Work with Population Schedules ................... 119
Don’t Overlook the 1885 Census ................................. 120
Use Substitutes for the 1890 Census .............................. 121
Use the 1940 Census .......................................... 121
Use More than Just Population Schedules .......................... 122
Use Census Finding Aids to Locate Your Ancestors .................. 126
Use Soundex and Miracode Index Resources ........................ 127
Use Excellent U.S. Census Reference Books ........................ 131
Access the Census Images on Microfilm and in Online Databases ....... 132
Don’t Forget to Search State Censuses ............................. 132
Understand and Work with British and Irish Census Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Work with England’s and Wales’ Census Records .................... 137
Learn the Status of Irish Census Records .......................... 137
x Contents
Use Quality Reference Materials When Working
with British Census Records ................................... 138
Access the Census Records for the British Isles ...................... 139
Understand and Work with Canadian Census Records .................... 140
Explore the Depth of the 1871 Census for Canada ................... 140
Locate Additional Information on the Censuses ......................... 143
Part II Expand Your research
CHaPtEr 6 Extend Your research with advanced record types . . . . . . . . . . 155
Use Religious Records .............................................. 156
Locate the Right Institution ..................................... 156
Determine What Records the Institution Might Have Created .......... 158
Locate the Records Today ...................................... 158
Gain Access to the Records ..................................... 160
Interpret, Evaluate, and Place the Records into Perspective ............ 161
Consider a Variety of Religious Records ........................... 162
Obtain and Analyze Mortuary and Funeral Home Records ................. 164
Read Between the Lines in Obituaries ................................. 166
Locate and Delve into Cemetery Records .............................. 167
Search for Other Death-Related Documents ............................ 173
Get Inside Your Ancestor’s Mind Using Wills and Probate Records ........... 177
Understand the Meaning of a Will and Testament ................... 178
Understand the Probate Process ................................. 179
Learn What a Will Can Tell You—Literally and by Implication .......... 183
Examine the Contents of a Probate Packet ......................... 184
Watch for Clues and Pointers in the Probate Packet .................. 188
Learn Why You Really Want to Examine Documents Yourself .......... 190
Locate and Obtain Copies of Wills and Probate Documents ............ 191
Obtain Information from the Social Security
Administration and Railroad Retirement Board ........................ 192
Use Historical Newspapers to Learn About Your Ancestor’s Life Events ....... 195
Consider Other Institutional Record Types ............................. 197
CHaPtEr 7 Use the Many types of Military Service records . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Expand Your Knowledge of the Military Services ............................ 201
Investigate Military History for the Appropriate Time Period ............... 202
Identify Possible Sources for Military Records ........................... 205
Locate Military Records in the United States ........................ 206
Locate Canadian Military Records ................................ 213
Locate Military Records in the United Kingdom ..................... 216
Locate Australian Military Records ............................... 222
Examine Samples of Military Records ................................. 223
Locate Enlistment and Draft Registration Records ................... 224
Military Muster Rolls and Pay Records ............................ 227
Seek Out Educational and Training Records ........................ 227