Registration is Now Open for the NGS 2025 Family History Conference

Save $50 on the Conference through 31 January

Exciting news! Registration is open for the National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2025 Family History Conference, Tales & Trails, in Louisville, Kentucky, 23-26 May, at the Galt House Hotel.

 

More than one thousand genealogists and related organizations are expected to participate in the conference. It’s the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow family history researchers and enthusiasts as you enhance your knowledge and skills.

 

Check out our conference website to learn more about our in-depth program covering a wide range of interests, exceptional speakers, featured events, pre-conference workshops, and fascinating tours.

 

Register now to take advantage of our early bird $50 discount!

 

Visit the Conference Website and Register Now

Give a Gift and Become Eligible to Win a Thank-You Gift

NGS members, share your passion for family history this holiday season and purchase a new individual gift membership* in the National Genealogical Society (NGS). As a thank-you, we will automatically enter your name in an online drawing for one of five valuable prizes on 3 February 2025. Prizes include:

1. Free enrollment in the Foundations in Family History course bundle, worth $335, or a $335 credit to apply to our Advanced Skills in Genealogy course;
2. Free registration to the NGS 2025 Family History Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, 23-26 May, worth more than $300;
3. Free PDFs of the NGS Research in the States guidebooks for all thirty-three states available, the District of Columbia, and the tribal records of Oklahoma's American Indians, worth more than $225;
4. Free print versions of your choice of five available NGS Research in the States guidebooks, worth more than $100; or
5. Free one-year digital individual membership renewal for you, worth $85.

Purchase a new gift membership* between 1 December 2024 and 31 January 2025 to be eligible for the drawing.

 

Your gift of membership* to a family member, friend, or colleague opens doors to meaningful discoveries and connections through resources and benefits, including:

• Easy-to-access online courses with a member discount
• NGS Magazine and NGS Quarterly, packed with how-tos and case studies
• Discount on valuable NGS books
• Free access to NewspaperArchive and the NGS Family Papers Collection
• Invitations to virtual events such as MemberConnects! and Culture Conversations
• Discount on NGS Family History Conference registration
• Member pricing to attend the GRIP Genealogy Institute
• Access to FORUM, the NGS online member community for discussions and questions, connecting with fellow members, and more.

Share the joy of family history and be entered in our winter drawing with a chance you could get a gift for yourself.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season!

 

*Important Note: To purchase a gift membership for someone who is not a member of NGS, go to our online store and select "Gift Membership" under the Memberships menu. Shop early! Gift memberships ordered after Friday, 20 December 2024, will be processed after the New Year. NGS is closed from 24 December 2024 to 2 January 2025.

Finding Hidden Ancestors in Online Collections

by Juliana Szucs

You know they should be there in that online collection you’re looking into, but they’re not. Dang it.

Bull Family. Bergen Public Library. Flickr the Commons. https://flic.kr/p/86qTuj

  

Unfortunately, this isn’t an uncommon scenario. But, with a little finesse and creative searching, the records you seek will sometimes come out of hiding for you. Try these tips. 

Don’t Give TMI (Too Much Information) 

Sometimes it’s tempting to add as much information as possible to zero in on the record you need quickly. More information also might mean more details that don’t match or aren’t even found on the record. And every piece that doesn’t match what’s in the index you are utilizing can nudge relevant results lower or rule them out. 

Try a new search and start small with only basic information—a name, a birth year (provided an age has been indexed in that record set), and a place where the record was created. Use the search form creatively. Maybe only one piece of information that doesn’t match is throwing you off; try leaving off a critical detail like a first or last name, and zero in using other fields, such as gender, race, literacy, or whatever else the index offers to compensate for the lack of information. This can help you locate records where a name may have been massacred in the indexing process.   

“That’s Not How My Last Name is Spelled” 

Never overlook the possibility that your name hasn’t always been spelled the way you think it was. Name variants, language and pronunciation, and poor handwriting can compound difficulties. And remember that some of our ancestors may have not even known how to spell their name. These tips can help with misspellings or name variants. 

• Look for letters that are often mistaken for another letter. S vs. L, H vs. K, etc. Vowels should be thought of as interchangeable. Is it an a or an o? Pronunciation is sometimes so similar among vowels, the record keeper may have written what he or she heard.  

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• For non-English ethnic surnames, this is especially common. Jan Mekalski, often spelled his name Menkalski. It isn’t until we take into account Polish pronunciation that this makes sense. In the Polish alphabet, the “e with a little tail” – ę – is pronounced “in.” So Jan was spelling his name phonetically.  

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• Never assume your ancestor always used the same surname. Jan Mekalski also spelled his name John Wagner. In the area where they lived, Polish laborers were having a hard time getting work. Since he also spoke German, he started using the German surname Wagner to get a job. That lasted nearly two decades until World War I broke out, and he readopted his Polish surname.  

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• Look for reference materials that deal with surnames from your ancestors’ home country. There are many excellent books that have been written specifically for surnames of a particular ethnicity, as well as many online resources. Do a quick search for [your ancestor’s ethnicity] +surnames for more information.  

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Given, Middle, or Nickname? 

This little quandary is all too common. You may find the same individual using various given names at various times. Official documents may give one name, while others may be more casual, using a middle name, confirmation name, nickname, or some other variant. Try them all, and if you’re not successful, try to search for the surname alone.  

Were They Really There?  

Here’s where a good timeline can save the day. Create entries by date including locations where the family has been found in other records. Be sure you’re not looking for them in record sets from before they were born, or after they died. And of course, were they actually in that place? Knowing dates and places of birth of all family members, can help pinpoint where records were created in cases where a family was on the move.  

Was the Location There? 

Consider the possibility that the town, township, or district where your ancestors lived, either didn’t exist as a municipality at that time, or perhaps it had a different name. Also, boundaries change throughout the years. Counties often divided as they grew and formed new counties, so the current county borders may not be what they were when your ancestors lived there. Even the state or province lines may have changed. Look for regional maps from that period so you know you’re looking in the right place.   

Sidestep 

For census records, if you’re not having luck with your direct ancestor’s name, try the name of someone else you think would have been in the household at that time. Missing the family in 1870, even though you have them in that place in 1860 or 1880, look for neighbors who were also there in the census before and after; see if you can find them in 1870, then browse the area to find your ancestor’s enumeration (if it exists; sometimes people did get missed).  

Browse, Browse, Browse… 

With any record set, browse and familiarize yourself with the records. Where volumes have been digitized and indexed, look to the front of the record set to see if an original index is within the digitized images.  That index may differ from one created through the digitization process. And, as an added bonus, you may run across unexpected family members in the collection that you hadn’t thought to look for.  

Sure, searching for records can present challenges in any venue, but when we find them, it makes that find even more sweet!  

It’s All About Location

by Juliana Szucs 

Family history allows us to travel back in time to where our families lived. A good working knowledge of our ancestors’ communities can enrich our understanding of their lives. Not only that, but it can also lead us to research breakthroughs with crucial information about what records are available, and how, when, and where records were kept. Fortunately, there is a lot of guidance available at our fingertips to help us navigate, including the following sources.  

City Directories 

Generally, city directories were published from the 1700s until about the 1960s when telephone books became more useful. Most often they are used to track family members from year to year, particularly between census years. But the information included in them can go far beyond just names, occupations, and addresses. Street guides included in directories can help you track down cross streets, which is particularly useful in cities where streets were renamed and/or renumbered over the years.

“Cleveland City Directory for the year ending June, 1880,” online image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/3803021?usePUB=true&_phsrc=rjV1834:

accessed 4 Nov 2024), image 22. Published by the Cleveland Directory Company, 1879.

Some may even show maps, like this 1880 directory of Cleveland, Ohio, found on Ancestry, which includes Ward numbers. These can be useful in locating census records, where indexes are failing to locate a family. 

Beyond street and ward information, you can learn what religious institutions and cemeteries were nearby and operating at that time.  

Historical Maps 

Historical maps also abound online elsewhere, if your particular directory doesn’t include one. Sanborn maps were created for fire insurance purposes and include detailed maps of an area including individual dwellings, as well as construction information. The Library of Congress has a large collection of these maps and a resource guide is available with search tips.  

The Davd Rumsey Collection is another fantastic free resource for locating historical maps. The Maps & Geography section of Cyndi’s List can guide you to additional collections and an internet search for a location and the terms “historical maps” will likely yield additional leads. 

Newspapers 

Historical newspapers provide another window into your ancestors' world, including details on local events that may not show up in more generic history books. The Chronicling America project of the Library of Congress allows you free access newspapers from various locations across the country, covering (non-inclusively) 1756-1963. 

You can find newspapers available on a number of subscription sites, including NewspaperArchive.com, which is available as a free benefit to members of the National Genealogical Society.  

Record Availability 

When it comes to determining record availability, the FamilySearch Research Wiki offers a comprehensive guide to what records were created by US states, county, and districts. Search or browse the list of localities, checking records kept on the various levels of government. It will provide you with detailed information on how to locate records specific to your ancestors’ locations.  

Print publications like the NGS Research In the States guides offer a state by state look at early history and settlement; repositories of note; record availability; ethnic research; relevant military collections; and religious and institutional records.  

Religious Communities 

Don’t overlook your ancestors’ religious communities. As mentioned above, city directories can alert you to churches, mosques, synagogues, or temples in the area where your ancestors may have worshipped. The records may also be held on a regional or national level, or they may be in the archives of the religious institution. Also check state and local archives, universities, and genealogical and historical societies for collections as well. FamilySearch has also digitized collections from many locations.     

In short, digitization and finding aids available at our fingertips online can give us a walking tour of what we need to know to make that next great find. So if you’re in a bit of a rut, why not take some time and see what options are available when you take a tour of your ancestors’ neighborhoods.