Blog Archives

NY State Historical Newspapers Adds/Updates 12 Titles - December, 2018

12/31/2018

If you follow this website at all, you know that I from time to time update the free online historical newspapers that are available for you to search. I originally posted the New York Online Historical Newspapers Summary in February, 2014, and have added many updates, the latest in November, 2018. The largest collection for the state is Old Fulton New York Postcards which has significant updates once or twice a year. I usually write an article alerting you to those updates as they are published.

The NY State Historic Newspapers site is not as well known as Old Fulton Postcards, but is adding and updating titles at a very rapid rate and has just hit 8.2 million pages available.

All of the counties in the state are represented. It is brought to you by the Northern New York Library Network in partnership with the Empire State Library Network. You should take advantage of this resource and check back often.

Here are the latest added and updated newspapers included in their December, 2018 update. You can search them at NY State Historic Newspapers.

New Titles

The eagle-bulletin. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1933-1958
Eagle-bulletin. - [Fayetteville, N.Y.], 1979-current
The Eagle-bulletin, DeWitt news-times. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1961-1979
The Eagle-bulletin and DeWitt times. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1959-1961
Fayetteville bulletin. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1895-1933
Fayetteville luminary, and Reformed Methodist intelligencer. - Fayetteville, Onondaga Co., N.Y., 1839-1841
The Fayetteville recorder. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1892-1???
Onondaga independent. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1899-19??
The weekly recorder. - Fayetteville, N.Y., 1866-1892

Updated Titles

The journal-register. - Medina, N.Y., 1970-????
The Medina daily journal and Medina register. - Medina, N.Y., 1932-1970
Westfield Republican. - Westfield, N.Y., 1855-current

For a complete list of all this collection's titles as well as all New York titles available online, go to New York Online Historical Newspapers Summary.

Good luck with your research!

For other states and additional Newspaper research resources, check out the Newspapers page.

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1,795 Free Online Historical Photo Archives from the U.S.

12/20/2018

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An old proverb states that "the eyes are the windows into the soul." A genealogy corollary is that "a photo is a window into the lives of your ancestors."

Old photos are important to a complete research, whether they are portraits of your ancestors or historical photos for the period when they lived. And it is important that one attempts to understand the environment that surrounds our ancestors' lives if one wants to truly appreciate what they went through.

So where can they be found? Obviously the best resource is our own photo albums and those that our relatives possess. But what about other resources? Many archives, historical societies, libraries and genealogical societies have collections of old photos. And in the past few years there has been a massive movement towards making these historical photo collections available online. Some have search capabilities where you can actually put in a surname or a location, name of a building or historical event and find what is available.

During November and December, 2018 I have been adding and updating the links to online photo collections that are available to search for free. There are a total of 1,795 online photo collection links that I have found for the U.S., with 870 of those links added since the previous update. I will update these lists in approximately six months.

Here is the list of links to these free online collections for each state:

For articles about historic photos and photo research, please visit the Photos page.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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390 Western States Online Photo Archives Updated

12/19/2018

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An old proverb states that "the eyes are the windows into the soul." A genealogy corollary is that "a photo is a window into the lives of your ancestors."

I love old photos, whether they are portraits of my ancestors or historical photos for the period when they lived. And it is important to a complete research that one attempts to understand the environment that surrounds our ancestors' lives if one wants to truly appreciate what they went through.

So where can they be found? Obviously the best resource is our own photo albums and those that our relatives possess. But what about other resources? Many archives, historical societies, libraries and genealogical societies have collections of old photos. And in the past few years there has been a massive movement towards making these historical photo collections available online. Some have search capabilities where you can actually put in a surname or a location, name of a building or historical event and find what is available.

Please be aware that there may be very strict rules regarding downloading or other use of the images that you may find. Copyright and other legal protections may be in force. Make sure that you read the limitations of use for any image that you find in these collections and wish to download and/or copy. It is your responsibility to adhere to the rules for all of these collections.

Please note that links to these sites may change in the future. The author (me) will not be constantly checking and updating these links, so if you find a broken link, please use your favorite search engine to locate the new link.

For historic photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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What Did Your Ancestor Look Like? 7 Ways to Find Physical Characteristics

12/19/2018

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As we all know, there are no photos available for all of our ancestors, especially many of those who lived primarily in the 1800's or earlier. On the other hand, we may have photos in our collection in what I call my "Unknowns," where they have not been identified, and may never be identified.

So how do we know what our ancestors looked like if there are no identified photos? Well, there are several artifacts that are available to family historians and genealogists that at least describe their physical characteristics.

Below is a list of 7 different examples. I am sure that there are many more.

World War I or II Draft Cards - on the second page of the card, questions were asked about the applicant's physical characteristics: height, build, eye color, hair color, possible disability, and in one version whether he was bald.

Naturalization Records - there have been a few variations of naturalization forms, but several of them asked for skin color, height, weight, eye and hair color, as well as distinctive marks.

Passport Applications - although some applications indeed have photos (although less than high quality), a number of physical characteristics were requested by the applicant, such as stature, forehead, eye color, nose, mouth, chin, hair color, complexion, face characteristics, and distinguishing marks.

Military Records - there are an abundance of forms in the military, and many of them record physical characteristics. In this example from my father's discharge from the Marine Corps, height, eye color, hair color, and complexion were noted.

Voter Registration - in some voter registration logs, physical characteristic information was requested. In this example from 1882, applicants recorded their age, height, complexion, eye color, hair color as well as marks or scars.

Pension Applications - In pension applications, there often is a place to enter physical characteristics. In this example for a Civil War pension, there is a place to enter age, height, weight, complexion, and eye and hair color. In this example of a Surgeons Certificate, there is an abundance of health information as well.

Immigration Records - In immigration records for specific years, some physical description info was required. In this example, health condition, deformities, height, complexion, eye and hair color, and identifying marks were required.

These are 7 examples that at least give us some clues as to what our ancestors may have looked like. Maybe that red hair that you have came from your great grandfather, which was noted in his naturalization papers or voter registration from the late 1800's or early 1900's. These artifacts provide us with some distinguishing information - at least or until those unknown photos get identified, or a supportive cousin appears with the photos that we seek.

What other examples of artifacts and documents have you used to determine physical characteristics? Please specify in the comments!

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8 Things You Can Find Out About Your Ancestors in the Local Newspaper's Society Pages

12/19/2018

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Even though you might not think of your ancestors as "society page" types, the newspaper society pages didn't just cover the "muckety mucks."

Parties, engagements, trips to resorts in the summer - all were covered in the Society pages. Who was a guest at whose home, and who traveled to see whom. And many more interesting stories.

How about who won the latest bridge tournament, or who won the blue ribbon at the county fair?

You would be amazed at all the things that were covered and what these articles can do for filling in your family tree and learning about your ancestors life stories. Let's take a look at some of them:

Did your ancestors get married? Then maybe, just maybe there was an article in the paper. Maybe a photo of the bride and groom, or just the bride? And there were the names of the best man and the maid of honor and all the attendants, and the names of the brides parents, as well as the grooms. Lots of names and maybe a mention of a brother or sister that you didn't know about!

Did your ancestors get engaged? Well, an article in the paper might include a party in their honor at the home of the bride's parents. Now you know their address, or even the parents names if you didn't know them before. Maybe the name of the groom's parents that you didn't know before either.

How about games? I have an ancestor that was written up in the paper so much about his bridge playing results that it appeared that he didn't have a job!

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, it was commonplace in some locations to list all the resorts that folks traveled to - in order to beat the heat since there was no air conditioning. And my ancestors weren't rich but some of them got out of town for a bit in the summertime. And their names were in the listing of all the people who attended the cooler resort areas. And who they traveled with - a previously unknown ancestor's relative perhaps?

Did your ancestors attend parties? Sure they did. And there are tons of articles about many different kinds of parties and luncheons; and celebrations of all types of special occasions, including 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries. A clue to their wedding date?

Did your ancestors visit relatives and friends? Yep - they did. And the papers wrote about it - in the Society section. And guess what - sometimes the relationships between the guest and the host and hostess were mentioned. Another way to determine who was related to who. And very often, out-of-town visitors were mentioned (and maybe noting the town that they came from)!

What about church (or synagogue)? Did they attend? Churches were huge gathering places for your ancestors and there were all kinds of community activities and "do good" committees that were associated with the church. And your ancestors were part of them. You can look it up - in the Society page.

How about the county or state fair? Did your ancestor enter their prize winning blueberry pie? Or how about one of my ancestors submissions - what he called his "tropical sauce"? Wonder what was in that?

Yes - there is a massive amount of information to be reaped from the Society page. Sometimes they were called the Women's page as well - but they all include a ton of information about our ancestors' exploits - all which help us fill in the life stories of our ancestors - and maybe even give us a date or a name that we are looking for.

Yes - you can look it up.......... in the Society page. They are in old newspapers everywhere!

What interesting tidbit have you found about your ancestors in the Society page? Please let us know in the comments below.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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8 Reasons You Can't Find Squat About Your Ancestors Online

12/19/2018

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Whether you search online, or offline at libraries, courthouses, or archives, many times our ancestors can be elusive.

Sometimes they just cannot be found. Whether it be a birth date, census entry, or death date - or anything else of interest to us - we just can't seem to "score."

There are lots of reasons why we aren't successful, but many are because of our own limitations - and especially because we are just too limited in our thinking, and sometimes either inexperienced, or unwilling to try new things.

Below are just a few reasons why we can't find our ancestors online:

They aren't there! Yes this is a possibility. I have a great great aunt, Carrie Marks, who shows up only in one record - the 1880 U.S. Census. She is documented as the daughter of Louis and Caroline Marks, aged 11, born in California. One would think that at age 11, she would have showed up in the 1870 census at age 1, right? Nope - she is not there with the family. Had she not been born yet and the age 11 reference in 1880 was wrong? Was she in a hospital at the time of the census? Unfortunately, there is no 1890 census to help and by that time she could have married and changed her name. Even more worrisome is that since her mother's name was also Carrie - maybe it was a census taker error. Maybe she didn't exist at all. Then again, maybe I just haven't found her yet.
Have you expanded your search? Just searching one or two online sources, such as Ancestry.com or FamilySearch just isn't enough. Yes these are huge resources, but just as everything isn't online, all the online stuff isn't in their collections either. There are tons of other resources. Thousands of online collections not named Ancestry or FamilySearch.
Do you do only exact searches? People who write down others names often write them wrong. And then if there is an index created, they can be mis-transcribed or mis-typed. There are very few if any documents available online that were written by the ancestor themselves. They are generally recorded by someone else from first or second hand (or worse) information. So you need to be creative with your name searching by deliberately searching for names misspelled or using wildcard searches. Yes I said deliberately misspell search terms. You will be surprised at what you will find.
Do you combine searches and omit surnames? For example - if you can't find the surname in a collection - do you search for the husband's first name and the wife's first name also, in a specific geographic area? As an example, since their surname was often mangled, I often searched for husband "Ben" and wife "Jennie" (with a blank surname) in California because that is where they lived. This may have given me quite a few folks who didn't have the correct surname - but all I needed was one! The right one!
Have you looked beyond document collections? Sure census records are popular, and draft cards and naturalization, land and immigration records too. But how about newspapers? I have found new names of extended family members stated in newspaper obituaries and other articles just as much as finding a family together in a census. Check out the Newspapers page on this site for much more information regarding searching newspapers. They are a very underrated resource for you to find stuff. Besides you might find out that your great great uncle was an ax murderer! Exciting!
Are you aggressive? Or do you just give up too easy? Sitting around waiting for shaky leaves or smart matches? Have you uploaded your tree to FamilySearch, WikiTree, Ancestry, My Heritage,etc.? Then are you just waiting around for "cousins" to contact you - or the services themselves to shake a leaf on your screen? Ain't gonna cut it. You have to be an aggressive as well as creative researcher. And get out of the house if you can. Get to libraries, archives, courthouses and genealogical societies. There is a ton of material that can be accessed that is not digitized or is only available at the institution in a binder somewhere.
Do you have a research plan? Or do you just search ad hoc, searching broadly for the same thing again and again? What's the old quote? "The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." That applies here. Yes collections change and are updated. But gee - get yourself a plan. Here's an Example of a Template that Caroline Pointer created for Evernote that you can adopt (with or without Evernote) regarding planning for research. Yes it seems like a lot of work when you'd rather be surfing for ancestors. But it is time well spent and I assure you that a research plan will make the difference between finding or not finding some ancestors. Guaranteed!
They aren't there - Part 2 Really. They aren't there. Nobody wrote stuff down back then. Records weren't kept of births in many countries or local villages and towns. There were no marriage certificates. Gravestones have been buried due to wars and such over time. Babies weren't born in hospitals and there were no mortuaries. Not every family had a Bible that they recorded information in. Men didn't carry around a draft card and there was no Social Security.

So that's it for now. A few reasons why you haven't found some folks. But you can't give up - with a few exceptions - ancestors who have lived any time in the last 200 years or so should be able to be found somewhere - and you are just the person to find them. Right?

All you need to do is PLAN, BE AGGRESSIVE, THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, and BE PERSISTENT.

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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490 MidWest States Online Photo Archives Updated

12/19/2018

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For historic photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

______________________________________________________

Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

______________________________________________________

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32 Reasons Why Searching for Obituaries is Like Finding Gold

12/19/2018

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OK - you won't get rich when you find an obituary, but your genealogy research will benefit, and your family history research will get richer.

We have a tendency as researchers to under appreciate the value of the documents or articles that we already have acquired, and spend our time looking for new "stuff." There are so many "facts" and clues that can be retrieved from these artifacts, if we just pay attention. And they are just sitting there staring at us.

This article discusses 32 different pieces of information you can find in an obituary. Start by poring over the ones that you already have. I'll bet you can find some info in them that you didn't know that you had!

So without further adieu - here are an abundance of reasons why we should spend tons of time finding obituaries and discerning the clues buried (no pun intended) in them.

First let's look at one example of a very simple obituary from my own family:

What information is included in this 1889 obituary?

Death date - this is the obvious one. But based on the publication date of the newspaper, sometimes the exact date is listed or the day of the week so you can calculate the date of death.
Death location - this is not always entered in an obit, but in this case, it was.
Names of siblings - this is in a word - HUGE! Up until I got the copy of this obituary, the sister, Mrs. S. Lust was not identified anywhere as a sister (even though other documents surmised that she was his sister), but now I knew that she was. And a new sister - Mrs. I Schudmack was identified in this obituary - more research - goody!
Maiden name - We can assume (but need more evidence) that the maiden names of Mrs. Lust and Mrs. Schudmack was "Marks" since they are referenced as sisters of the deceased.
Nativity - maybe this does not identify the exact place of birth - but at least where he immigrated from.
Age - this is usually a part of an obit - even though it should never be construed as an exact age, even in years.
Religion - because the funeral was being held at the B'nai B'rith Hall, one could assume (until further evidence is acquired) that the deceased was Jewish.
Death information of others - did you notice that it says, "...brother of the "late" Louis Marks?" If we did not know that Louis was dead or when he died, we now know that he died before March 31, 1889 (which is Emil's death date based on this article.)

Let's look at another example obituary - this one is pert of a transcription of a newspaper obituary that was on Find a Grave:

What additional information is included in this 2002 obituary?

Cause of death
Birth location - be careful with these; although this one states the actual location, "native of " should not be construed as the actual birth location.
Birth date
Residences - this one states her most recent city as well as a few others. Helpful for finding someone in a prior census or city directory. Although this obit does not have it - on older obits you may find the language: "Philadelphia and Baltimore papers, please copy." This provides clues as to the deceased's prior residential cities.
Names and residences of children and grandchildren - this is especially helpful when census records are not available. Where else are you going to find children's names?
Marriage "history" hints - Notice the reference to "step- daughters? That may imply that her husband had been married before. Helps to clarify whose children were whose.
Names of children and grandchildren spouses - this is a fairly recent phenomenon in obituaries, where the name of the spouse of the children/grandchildren is entered. This can help for further cousin finding.
Name of spouse
Occupation
Membership in lodges, associations and clubs
Hobbies
Burial information - in this case she was cremated. Notice the Neptune Society reference which implies that her ashes may have been "buried" at sea.

Let's look at another one; this one from 1975:

Interment Information - name of cemetery. Please note that the name of the cemetery in the obit may be different from where the deceased is actually buried. The burial location could have been changed at the last minute. Or the remains may have been moved to another cemetery at a later date - to be buried with a loved one, or if the cemetery was closed down and all remains transferred.
Mortuary - this is useful because mortuary records often have much more information than what is written in the obit. So a researcher can contact the mortuary for additional records.
Military service - notice that the deceased served in World War 1. Also notice the flag on the obit that denotes a veteran. Not in this obit, but I have seen enlistment dates and locations mentioned in obituaries as well.
Church membership - terrific information if one wants to contact the church for additional information

And here's another one. This obit falls into the biography category, where the author pretty thoroughly discusses many life experiences of this deceased relative:

What additional information does this one from 2009 provide?

Parents and grandparents names
Schools attended
College degrees and professional certifications
Government service - a specialized piece of occupational information that may provide clues for additional research
Sports - what the deceased participated in and who they rooted for
Picture of the deceased

OK - let's try one more!

Unions - did they belong to a union? If so, maybe union records can become an additional set of records to search for additional info.
Awards - whether occupational or otherwise, adds depth to the deceased's' life story.

I am sure that one can find other obituaries that have additional information, but these are the more common ones.

You can search for obituaries in newspapers of course. A list of over 20,000 links to free online collections can be found at Newspaper Links

There also is an abundance of Obituary Indexes that have been created. Links to over 1,000 of these indexes (some including actual newspaper images), can be found on the Obituaries page.

What interesting (and helpful) things have you found in an obituary?

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North Carolina Has Selected 6 Microfilmed Newspaper Titles for Digitization in 2019

12/19/2018

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Source: DigitalNC

Digital NC, the North Carolina website that not only has a great digitized online newspaper collection for the state, but also other types of digital collections, has just announced their selections for digitization in 2019. The complete article and other details can be read at Microfilmed Newspaper Nominations Selected for Digitization, 2019.

Here are the selected titles and years of publication for the "winners!"

I am sure that newspaper researchers from the communities that these titles serve and researchers of history and genealogists looking for articles about their ancestors are thrilled to see these selections.

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Free e-Book to Help You Become a Master Newspaper Researcher

12/14/2018

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To become a successful historic newspaper researcher, you need to make a small investment in time to learn the "tricks of the trade."

Here is a free 20 page downloadable eBook that will help you!

e-Book - Tips for Researching Online Historical Newspapers

This e-Book (in PDF format), is chock full of tips and tricks that if followed, will help you understand why online newspaper research may not provide the results that you expect, but gives you a ton of advice to follow in order for you to optimize your results.

Click below to download the pdf file

Tips for Researching Online Historical Newspapers - 2018.pdf
File Size:	394 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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Thank you for visiting The Ancestor Hunt!

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<<Previous

NY State Historical Newspapers Adds/Updates 12 Titles - December, 2018

1,795 Free Online Historical Photo Archives from the U.S.

390 Western States Online Photo Archives Updated

What Did Your Ancestor Look Like? 7 Ways to Find Physical Characteristics

8 Things You Can Find Out About Your Ancestors in the Local Newspaper's Society Pages

8 Reasons You Can't Find Squat About Your Ancestors Online

490 MidWest States Online Photo Archives Updated

32 Reasons Why Searching for Obituaries is Like Finding Gold

North Carolina Has Selected 6 Microfilmed Newspaper Titles for Digitization in 2019

Free e-Book to Help You Become a Master Newspaper Researcher

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