The Internet can be overwhelming and genealogy research on the internet is no exception. It is growing all the time and you need to filter out the good from the bad and that is not always easy.
Documenting your research and where you have visited is a priority.
If you dont write down the places you have visited or record you have already checked you will find yourself going over the same thing again.
Keep some kind of log of your place, date, time, database and page numbers and what and where you researched. If it was on the internet keep track of the address of the site.
Dont use only one spelling in the names in your family. You can always put the other surname in parentheses. First names May be spelled different:
Zachariah, Zaheriah, Zach, Benj., Benjy, Benjamin, Jas, James, Wm, William, Willie, Bart, Bert, Bartley, Bartlett.
Census takers often wrote names down wrong or misspelled them. They often used nicknames. If the website search has a soundex search use that. If not, try different variations of the first name and the last name.
One of your ancestors may have been known by several names at different times in their life. Rebecca, could be Rebecky, Becca, Rebecka, Becky, Sarah was often known as Sally. Margaret was Peggy or Maggie.,
Middle names were not used often but they were used. Sometimes only an intitial.
Never take anything you find at face value especially on the internet. Books written years ago are often wrong on at least half of their genealogy lines. Documents weren’t readily available.
You often need to back it up with more than one source if you can.
Saving your Information on your computer instead of a paper trail is dangerous to do. You may lose it if your computer crashes or you have to clean it off.
If you wish to save your research this way then I suggest you buy a small external hard drive that you have connected to the external of your computer. If you lose what you have on your computer this wont be affected. There are several different types. An actual 100 gigabyte drive or larger. External drive.
Or a small USB type. They are making these now that have quite a bit of memory.
If you chose to do this, You can always make copies of your information later.
Having one of these is a great idea anyway, to save your research you find on the internet for later use and then fill your forms out from it at your own leisure.
Saving census images and land records anything you find,
even photos are easier if you have a usb drive or external harddrive.
Gaylw
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Genealogy On The Internet (Census Records)
Census records are a good place to start researching your ancestors:
Census Records vary in information from year to year.
If you find a James born 1810, it doesn’t mean he is yours, even if he was in the same county, same age, and state. Find another record to back up that this is the right one.
If the name, age, parents or brothers and sisters and birthplace match up, with documents, then you’ve probably found the right person,
Dont just use half of the record you find. Always try to get who listed the record, and created it. Where it was found and the date.
If you can copy the page, then do so.
If its on the internet then you can copy it to your computer and print it out.
or save it on your computer, external harddrive, usb, cd, or floppy disc.
Census records online are often the image of the census itself and are large and saving to a disc is the best way to keep them.
If you are in a library or county records photocopy the document you find.
Census takers often wrote names down wrong or misspelled them. They often used nicknames. If the website search has a soundex search use that. If not, try different variations of the first name and the last name.
Census takers would go to a home and if the person wasnt home they would ask the neighbors or a relative that lived near. By doing this, they often put down nicknames and got ages wrong, or spelled the names wrong. Often spelling them as they sounded.
Most Census Records up to 1850 only have head of household listed. Women and Children were only counted unless the woman was the head of household, then her name would be listed.
After 1850, census vary, some have month and date of birth, some only date of birth. Some show how many years married some don’t. Some show parents state of birth.
Most have name (sometimes nickname) age, where born, years married, occupation and if can read or write. Many have other people living in their home, either laborers or relatives, Keep a record of all in the home. One might turn out to be the wifes cousin or brother or sister.
Where to Find Census Records:
rootsweb.com has many pages of research that is free along with a lot of census records.
Remember that many people upload their family information on this site and if its not an actual public record be careful of using the information you might find until you can prove it to be true.
Use it as a guide to help you in your research. Rootsweb also has a free website that they will let you make your own webpage for free. Any information you put on this website they have the freedom to use it so if you make a website with them don’t put anything on there you don’t want them to use in their own files.
They also have census records at ancestry.com but you have to pay a fee for it. It is well worth the money if you want to do some serious research.
You can search for census records at google.com as well as other genealogy.
http://www.census-online.com/links/index.html (Census Online)
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists (Virginia Tax lists 1790-1800)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~vataxlists/Amelia/index.htm (Colonial Tithes of Virginia, Amelia Co.)
You can also find census records at your local county records office.
Census Records are up to 1930 at present. In 2010 the 1940 census should be ready to be made public.
Remember when using census records the ages may be off a few years often at least 1 maybe 2 but sometimes several.
nicknames were often used.
gaylw
Census Records vary in information from year to year.
If you find a James born 1810, it doesn’t mean he is yours, even if he was in the same county, same age, and state. Find another record to back up that this is the right one.
If the name, age, parents or brothers and sisters and birthplace match up, with documents, then you’ve probably found the right person,
Dont just use half of the record you find. Always try to get who listed the record, and created it. Where it was found and the date.
If you can copy the page, then do so.
If its on the internet then you can copy it to your computer and print it out.
or save it on your computer, external harddrive, usb, cd, or floppy disc.
Census records online are often the image of the census itself and are large and saving to a disc is the best way to keep them.
If you are in a library or county records photocopy the document you find.
Census takers often wrote names down wrong or misspelled them. They often used nicknames. If the website search has a soundex search use that. If not, try different variations of the first name and the last name.
Census takers would go to a home and if the person wasnt home they would ask the neighbors or a relative that lived near. By doing this, they often put down nicknames and got ages wrong, or spelled the names wrong. Often spelling them as they sounded.
Most Census Records up to 1850 only have head of household listed. Women and Children were only counted unless the woman was the head of household, then her name would be listed.
After 1850, census vary, some have month and date of birth, some only date of birth. Some show how many years married some don’t. Some show parents state of birth.
Most have name (sometimes nickname) age, where born, years married, occupation and if can read or write. Many have other people living in their home, either laborers or relatives, Keep a record of all in the home. One might turn out to be the wifes cousin or brother or sister.
Where to Find Census Records:
rootsweb.com has many pages of research that is free along with a lot of census records.
Remember that many people upload their family information on this site and if its not an actual public record be careful of using the information you might find until you can prove it to be true.
Use it as a guide to help you in your research. Rootsweb also has a free website that they will let you make your own webpage for free. Any information you put on this website they have the freedom to use it so if you make a website with them don’t put anything on there you don’t want them to use in their own files.
They also have census records at ancestry.com but you have to pay a fee for it. It is well worth the money if you want to do some serious research.
You can search for census records at google.com as well as other genealogy.
http://www.census-online.com/links/index.html (Census Online)
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists (Virginia Tax lists 1790-1800)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~vataxlists/Amelia/index.htm (Colonial Tithes of Virginia, Amelia Co.)
You can also find census records at your local county records office.
Census Records are up to 1930 at present. In 2010 the 1940 census should be ready to be made public.
Remember when using census records the ages may be off a few years often at least 1 maybe 2 but sometimes several.
nicknames were often used.
gaylw
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