Blog - The Ancestor Hunt

FamilySearch New and Updated Collections - June 1-30, 2019

6/28/2019

Source: familysearch.org

FamilySearch continues to add or update their records collections at a fast pace for us to search.

For the period of June 1-30, 2019, the added/updated collections are:

For a complete list of all added/updated collections, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list

I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for!

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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450 Free Mid-Atlantic States Online Historical Newspaper Titles Added

6/28/2019

450 new and updated Free Historical Newspaper Links have been added to the Mid-Atlantic States' free "newspaper link lists": These were all updated in June, 2019, and represent additions from the past 4 months. For all 8 states, the total number of links is 5,277. Just click on your chosen state below and the links to newspaper titles from that state will appear.

I hope these new links help you find more newspaper articles about your ancestors!

If you are interested in link lists to other state's free online newspapers, click on Newspaper Links and select your state.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Crafting an Irresistible Research Question

6/28/2019

If you are like me, you belong to several Facebook groups, and/or you use Reddit or Genealogy Stack Exchange or others to ask questions intended to help you research an ancestor. What do they have in common? About half of the questions are inadequate at best, and frankly maddening. I get questions like "Could you help me find my great grandfather Joe Schmoe"? What am I supposed to do with that? Some are better in that they include a location and dates, but many are woefully incomplete.

Jan Murphy, who is a Moderator Pro Tempore for the Genealogy and Family History community on Stack Exchange deals with these questions all the time. I have asked her to offer us some tips on how to write a great research question for any platform, so that possible respondents have the detail to actually help. She is also going to enlighten all of us about the Genealogy Stack Exchange community and how to make best use of it:

If you’ve been on genealogy forums, message boards, or in Facebook groups, you’ve probably seen them — posts where people have asked a question, and the answer was — crickets. Here are some tips on how to make your question one that people will want to answer.

Follow the community guidelines. People don’t write them to make you do homework or to be mean to newcomers — they want your question to be successful.
Consider the scope of your question and the size of your audience. "I want to know everything about my family!" is a goal that many of us share -- but it's too broad to be a good question. Specific questions attract better answers, and asking one question at a time makes it easier for people to answer. Asking "Does anyone know this family?" limits your audience to those who have already done research on that line, and excludes researchers familiar with the locality, who might be able to help you even if they don't know your family.
Start a conversation. Asking “What helped you in your own research?” invites people to answer -- to share sources you might not know about, research guides or finding aids you haven’t seen, or methodologies and search strategies you might not have tried.
Include time and place. Give your best information about where your research subjects were and when they were there as you frame a research question. It’s okay to guess if you have to — but let your audience know how you know.
Show your research effort. A brief summary of what you’ve already done will help the community get a head start on answering your question instead of re-doing searches you’ve already made. Show how you know the information in your question. If you list your sources, the community can point out clues that you might have missed.
Focus on the problem, not the individual person. Many genealogists are puzzle-lovers and problem-solvers. Put yourself in the audience’s place and ask yourself -- what questions make YOU eager to answer them? What questions make you say “YES! I can answer that!” Unless the site guidelines specifically tell you otherwise, state the problem first, along with the geographic location and time frame, and your question will be more attractive than a simple ‘cousin-bait’ post which starts with your research subject’s name. Using all of these tips will help you write a tight, sharp, question that a puzzler won’t be able to resist answering.

About Genealogy and Family History Stack Exchange

Stack Exchange sites are designed around a question-and-answer format. At Genealogy & Family History SE, our goal is to create a repository of questions and answers which can help more than just the original person who asked the question. We expect our audience to read them as case studies and apply the information and techniques in the answers to solve their own problems, just as we would read a case study in a genealogical periodical to see how a professional researches and solves a problem. Thinking about the problem first, and how the questions and answers might benefit more than just the single person asking the question, gives us a fresh perspective on doing research. Some community members find that reviewing their prior work, and writing up a question for the site, leads them to say “wait, I know how I can answer this question!” Stack Exchange encourages us to write self-answered questions in cases like this so the entire community can benefit from what we’ve learned. The quick tour shows how the site works. Join us, and see how specific, answerable questions can help you become a better researcher.

Links

For one of G&FH.SE’s best self-answered questions, see "What “hidden” clues" are there in the GRO Indexes of births and deaths? https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/q/10355
G&FH.SE Tour: https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/tour
G&FH.SE Help Center: https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/help
G&FH.SE Meta (a separate area for questions about the site itself): https://genealogy.meta.stackexchange.com/

Thanks, Jan for taking the time to help all of us be better questioners. Follow Jan on Twitter or visit Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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245 Free New England States Online Historical Newspaper Titles Added

6/27/2019

245 new and updated Free Historical Newspaper Links have been added to the New England States' free "newspaper link lists": These were all updated in June, 2019, and represent additions from the past 4 months. The new total is 1,622 titles for all 6 states. Just click on your chosen state below and the links to newspaper titles from that state will appear.

I hope these new links help you find more newspaper articles about your ancestors!

If you are interested in link lists to other state's free online newspapers, click on Newspaper Links and select your state.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Quick Photo Tips - 7 Considerations When Scanning Old Photographs

6/27/2019

My friend Lukas Stockburger from Instarestoration.com in Schweinfurt, Germany is providing us with some outstanding advice regarding scanning, handling, improving, and fixing photos that we wish to save in electronic form for our relatives and ancestors.

Here is just one of his very useful tips:

What to consider while scanning your old photographs

Whether you are scanning to archive your photos or for possible restoration, there are certain adjustments you can easily apply to your scan which help you create the best possible outcome.

In this tutorial, we show you how to set up your scanner on both MacOS and Windows 10. This works with all manufacturers. For example, Epson, Brother, Kodak, Canon and so on

7 things to remember for scanning damaged photographs

1. Make sure your scanner is clean from dust and grease

2. Make sure your photograph is clean from dust

3. Make sure your photograph is being fully scanned

4. Try to avoid reflections while scanning

5. Always scan with at least 300 dpi, but preferably higher

6. Always scan in 8 bit color mode (photo mode)

7. Name your files according to what is on the photograph so you can easily find them in the future

Make sure your scanner is clean from dust and grease

In the very beginning check the glass surface of your scanner. Particles and fingerprints can create optical aberration or even hide details. So if it is dusty or greasy clean it. Use a microfibre cloth and glass cleaning detergent. Always let it dry before you put on your photograph.

Make sure your photograph is clean from dust

The same goes for the photograph you like to scan. Dust or particles can hide important information while scanning the photograph. Only use a soft brush to clean it. Never use any force or detergent as this may result in damages in the emulsion of the photograph.

Make sure your photograph is being fully scanned

If you are scanning multiple photographs or pieces of one damaged photograph make sure they are not overlapping or being partially scanned. You can easily see how your scan will turn out be taking a look at the preview section.

Try to avoid reflection while scanning

Wrapped, torn or damaged photographs often cause reflections during the scan process. These reflections can hide details of important parts of the photograph. There are two ways to approach that problem. The first option is to flatten the old photograph. You can try to do that with weights and books. Simply put your damaged photograph in between two heavy books and wait for a day or two. The second option is to put weight on the top of your scanner. This way the vintage photograph gets pressed on the scanner surface. Both options help to minimize the reflections while scanning.

Always scan with at least 300 dpi or higher if possible

We as a professional photo restoration service need data that is at least scanned with 300 dpi. This way we can guarantee you that you can print your reproduced and restored photograph with the same size as the original one. If you wish to enlarge the photograph please scan with 600 dpi.

Always scan in 8-bit color mode (photo mode)

Always scan your vintage photograph in 8-bit color mode, even if it is a black and white photograph. This setting creates the best quality images and enables us as a professional photo restoration service to deliver the best results. Check the video below to see how it's done.

Name your files according to what is on the photograph so you can find them easily in the future

This is a very simple but important bit of advice. This ensures that you will find your photographs in the future.

Thanks, Lukas. Lukas has a series of photo tips that I will be posting over the next couple of months, so stay tuned.

And if you are looking for free Photo Archives to search online, check out the Photos page on this website!

Disclaimer: I have no financial or other relationship with Instarestoration.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Quick Photo Tips - 6 Things Hurting Your Old Photographs

6/21/2019

Source: Instarestoration.com

My friend Lukas Stockburger from Instarestoration.com in Schweinfurt, Germany is providing us with some outstanding advice regarding scanning, handling, improving, and fixing photos that we wish to save in electronic form for our relatives and ancestors.

Here is just one of his very useful tips:

The Value of Old Photographs and How to Store Them

There is nothing more valuable than an old photograph of a deceased family member. To keep that memento in perfect condition it is important to store it properly. For now, it may seem like the photograph lasts forever but all photographic prints are fading over time until they eventually vanish forever. But don't worry even if the diseases of fading colors, watermarks, and ripped edges have already spread there is a cure.

The Bad Guys

Ultraviolet Light: Ever had a photograph hanging in direct sunlight for weeks? Well, then you know what we are talking about. UV is pretty much the worst thing that could happen to the colors of your photographs, or should we rather say anything colorful? Sunlight is highly aggressive that's why you put on sunscreen. The best way to preserve your photographs is to hide them somewhere the sun rays can't reach them. If you want to display your pictures in direct sunlight make sure to use special filter glass that blocks the UV rays. What's even better is to create a copy of that photograph and store the original in your archive. Therefore it's best to always have your images as digital copies stored on your hard disk.
High temperatures and relative humidity: The emulsion is the heart of the photograph. Here is where the magic happens. This emulsion is made out of organic materials like gelatin. One major problem in archiving is the fact that these materials are very vulnerable. Room temperature and high humidity easily cause mold and fungus, which then slowly spread all over your photograph. To avoid that keep your images stored at a cool and dry place. Preferably under 70° Fahrenheit (20° C) and 50% relative humidity.
Paper and Wood Products: Appearances are deceptive: Yes products made from a tree seem to be pretty natural but when you take a closer look at the way they are being produced you immediately realize that there are lots of chemicals involved, such harmful ones as acids or bleaches. These can slowly destroy your photograph over time. So be careful when shopping for archival products. Make sure you get acid and bleach-free papers and storage material. Unfortunately, there is no standard for archival material so always ask first before buying.
Metallic and Sharp Objects: Well what is more endurable than metal? Yeah, you're right on a practical level that's true but keep in mind that these materials are extremely sharp and hard. This can easily cause scratches and other damages to your photographs or negatives. Don't use metal clips and for god's sake just because your grandpas' tools are as vintage as his photograph doesn't mean they have to go into the same box.
Air Pollutants: It might sound ridiculous but even your basic house cleaning products and fresh paint can damage your precious photograph. What makes you dizzy in the head smelling it causes chemical reactions in the photograph. So as much as you shouldn't sniff on daddy's nitro solution as much you shouldn't put it right next to your archive box of photographs.
Adhesives & Rubber: Last but not least the handy stuff... Yep, we all used it or at least have seen these sticky strips for photo albums. As easy-to-use they may be the chemicals included in those strip will eventually destroy our photograph. You won't see it right away but time will tell my friend, time will tell.

Summary

Let's face it, photographs are not made to stay forever and as much as this sounds like an uphill battle it is worth fighting it. With some simple and smart decisions on storing and displaying your photographs, you can win a tremendous amount of time-saving precious moments for future generations. If you have already recognized some fungus, fading in color or any other damages it's now the time to create a digital copy of your images. Remember things will only get worse over time.

We as a professional photo restoration service can restore the original beauty of your old images. But before we actually have to use our magical powers keep these simple tips in mind and you will slow down the process of erosion dramatically.

Thanks, Lukas. Lukas has a series of photo tips that I will be posting over the next couple of months, so stay tuned.

And if you are looking for free Photo Archives to search online, check out the Photos page on this website!

Disclaimer: I have no financial or other relationship with Instarestoration.

______________________________________________________

Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Recording Your Families History - A Great Alternative to Writing

6/18/2019

I have been having discussions for the last few months with my friend Alan Martin about recording one's family history as an alternative or adjunct to writing it. I have been writing my ancestor's family history through blog posts on my two family history websites for years. I fully intend to write a book about one branch of my tree, hopefully soon.

In any case, I was intrigued by his idea and asked him to write this article below about using audio in documenting one's family history. Obviously it won't work too well for our dearly departed relatives and ancestors unless we record that, but I digress.

I need to let you know that I never promote products. I have invited just a few product/service providers to write posts over the years. Also as a full disclosure I have no financial or other interest in Alan's product Audiobiography. My only goal is to educate.

The Case for Adding Audio to Your Family History Collection

Have you ever kept a voicemail after someone had passed? Or refused to remove their phone number from your contacts? Hearing their voice makes it seem as if they are right there with you, even when they’re gone. Even the idea of hearing their voice is hard to let go. The human voice is the most intimate form of communication. It’s timeless, and cannot be faked or reproduced. Without question, hearing a story from my father in his own voice will forever mean more than hearing a story about my father after he’s gone. Audio can become the most personal and authentic part of a family history collection, and here are three reasons why it should.

1. Audio keeps a uniquely personal connection alive for generations

Our voice is the purest window into our mind and personality. It’s how we speak, formulate, pause, backtrack, storytell, laugh, sometimes cry, and sound that reveals the most about who we are. Our voice is a direct reflection of our mind and personality at work, in flashes of time that soon pass, never to return.

I came to a powerful realization as my wife and I watched videos of our family. I didn’t care how they looked, where they were, or what they were doing. Those things faded into the background, and I found myself fixated on their voice because that’s what felt like them. The real them. I became convinced that the truest picture of a person emerges through audio, and I began capturing my family’s voice, in audio. I knew that in 40 years, my kids would cherish hearing the most authentic version of themselves. And I believed that when I was gone, they would also find meaning in hearing some of my experiences and beliefs, in my own voice.

2. Audio is easier and more accessible at any age than writing or video

Writing is hard. Most of us aren’t great at it to begin with, and it becomes more difficult with age. Owing to grammatical weaknesses and physical effort, writing often starves of nuance, and captures only a fraction of what would otherwise be captured if the barrier were entirely lifted.
Videos have been made easier thanks to mobile devices, but they create an “on-stage” moment that is mildly uncomfortable at best, and impossible to overcome at worst. The camera’s watchful eye makes us less likely to engage completely or authentically.
Then there’s audio. It quietly captures the most authentic version of ourselves with a single touch of a button and nothing more. It doesn’t care what we wear or how we look. It has the magical ability to disappear in the background while the conversation continues. Neither pen nor camera can claim this powerful and natural ability.

3. Audio is a lightweight and preservable technology

Since we capture history to pass it down from one generation to the next, thinking long term about the format of the content we collect is critical. Audio can be fifty times smaller than video, making it less expensive to store, transport, playback, and back up, forever. When you consider this benefit, which doesn’t require a trade-off in outcomes or quality, audio scores high and deserves to be a leading component of our personal and family records.

Tools are available to capture family history in audio if we make it a point to use them. Smartphones put an audio recorder in nearly everyone’s hands. We’ve created a tool called Audiobiography which makes recording and sharing life history in audio even easier. But wherever you begin, just begin. Once a voice is gone, it can’t be replaced. Capturing it now will allow a purer form of history and remembrance to live on for generations.

Alan Martin is one of the creators of Audiobiography, an audio-enabled physical workbook that is available at https://audiobiography.com

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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FamilySearch New and Updated Collections - June 1-15, 2019

6/15/2019

Source: familysearch.org

FamilySearch continues to add or update their records collections at a fast pace for us to search.

For the period of June 1-15, 2019, the added/updated collections are:

For a complete list of all added/updated collections, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list

I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for!

______________________________________________________

Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

______________________________________________________

Elephind Update - June, 2019

6/11/2019

The "Search Multiple Historic Newspaper Collections All At Once" website, elephind.com has just published an update that includes many more items and issues from 2 updated collections:

(from the June, 2019 Elephind Newsletter):

Updated Newspaper Collections

Catholic News Archive: 430,631 Catholic newspaper pages. A project of the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA) in support of the mission to provide enduring global access to Catholic research resources.

Digital Michigan Newspapers: The Clarke Historical Library preserves Michigan’s historic newspapers through microfilm and into digital formats. This archive contains 360,950 pages.

For the complete newsletter article, click HERE

If you have never used (or heard of) elephind, here are a couple of articles that I have written about this wonderful site that may be interesting:

If you have never tried elephind, check it out! The url is elephind.com.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Advantage Archives Adds 700K Historical Newspaper Pages - May 2019

6/6/2019

In February, 2017, I started publishing a list of the catalog of online historical newspapers from over 400 different collections put together by the Advantage Archives Company, developed in conjunction with the libraries, historical societies and museums across the U.S. who preserve the historical newspapers for their communities. The list has grown a lot since then. Now there are over 600 collections - a 50% per cent growth in a little over two years.

To see the latest complete list, click on 60 Million Historic U.S. Newspaper Pages Now Available from Advantage Archives.

Here are the new County and Library collections that were added after the previous monthly Advantage Archives update, followed by the collections that have had newspapers added to their existing collections in the last month.

New County and Library Collections (listed by county; includes name and link to collection, and number of issues or pages):

Iowa

Buchanan - Lamont (40,478 pages)
Cedar - Clarence Newspaper (61,913 pages)
Harrison - Dunlap (55,309 pages)
Sioux - Northwestern College (9,427 pages)

Massachusetts

Essex - Manchester by the Sea (64,685 pages)
Essex - Marblehead Public Library (173,829 pages)

New York

Chenango - Sherburne NY (46,133 pages)

Ohio

Champaign - St. Paris Public Library (24,327 pages)

Texas

Comal - New Braunfels Public Library (62,415 pages)

Updated Collections
Here is a list by state and county of the existing online collections that had pages added in the last month that are available to search for free:

Iowa

Buena Vista - Storm Lake Public Library
Clayton - Elkader Public Library
Howard - Howard Winnishiek-Cresco
Jones - Ross & Elizabeth Baty Public Library, Monticello
Tama - Tama County

Kansas

Geary - Dorothy Bramlage Public Library

Maine

Cumberland - Bridgton Public Library

Maryland

Queen Anne's - Queen Anne's County Library

Massachusetts

Franklin - Wheeler Memorial Library

Montana

Yellowstone - Billings Public Library

New York

Cayuga - The Seymour Public Library

Ohio

Brown - Union Township Public Library
Gallia - Bossard Memorial Library

Rhode island

Providence - Pawtucket Public Library

Texas

Crane - Crane County Public Library

West Virginia

Mineral - Potomac State College Mary Shipper Library

Wisconsin

Columbia - Kilbourn Public Library

If you wish to see a complete list of links to historical newspapers that are searchable for free from companies like Advantage Archives and many others, check out Newspaper Research Links.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Georgia Adds 7 New Titles from the Atlanta University Center Colleges

6/5/2019

The Digital Library of Georgia just announced the addition of 7 titles from the Atlanta University Center's Robert W. Woodruff Library. The student newspapers are from Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and Morris Brown College and have been added to the Georgia Historic Newspapers website.

The complete announcement can be found HERE.

Here is a list of the titles and links:

The Spelman Spotlight (Spelman)
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn81304549/

The New Spelman Spotlight (Spelman)
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn81304580/

The Spotlight (Spelman)
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn81306945/

The BluePrint (Spelman)
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn81308021/

The Campus Mirror (Spelman)
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn38019897/

Clark Atlanta University Panther
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn39724533/

The Wolverine Observer (Morris Brown)
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn54110460/

For all of the Georgia Historic Newspapers website titles as well as links to other free Georgia historical newspaper websites, please visit Georgia Online Historical Newspapers Summary

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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Arkansas Soon to Have 40 Titles in Chronicling America

6/4/2019

Source: Arkansas State Archives

The Arkansas State Archives just announced that they are nearing having 40 titles scanned (over 100,000 pages) and presenting them to the Library of Congress for the Chronicling America online historical newspaper site. Currently there are 18 titles active on the site.

From the state's announcement:

"In the next few weeks, the Arkansas State Archives will have scanned 40 newspaper titles, or about 103,000 pages, and sent them to the Library of Congress. People will have a whole new way to access these historical records online, said Wendy Richter, state historian and director of the Arkansas State Archives.

“One of my biggest goals for the Arkansas State Archives has been to make records more accessible to the public,” Richter said. “This project puts tens of thousands of documents at the fingertips of more people in Arkansas and nationwide.”

The Archives was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant of $208,128 in 2017 to be part of a National Digital Newspapers Program that created the website Chronicling America, which is an open-source website. "

The complete announcement can be found HERE.

In my opinion, the state is delivering at a great pace. 40 titles in a year and a half or so is wonderful progress and provides some much needed online historical newspaper resources for Arkansas researchers.

For all the free online historical newspapers available online, please visit Arkansas Online Historical Newspapers Summary

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