Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Online records are great. Until you can’t find the one you’re looking for and the repository lies, as the crow flies, a day’s journey away.
Keep the faith and don’t lose heart. Documents are being digitized and added to online databases at a record clip these days. It is important to periodically return to the info dumps to see if anything you need has surfaced.
When you utilize a large number of said info dumps, it becomes hard to remember what you need to go back to. After all, websites don’t publish a list of what records they are adding to which databases and when they’ll be available. At least not the ones I access.
One option is to go forward in your calendar and schedule your return to the web page.
That doesn’t work for me.
Another option is to sign up for alerts.
In most cases, you can sign up to receive content updates from websites you like to use under the notifications/preferences/settings tab on your account page.
Keep the faith and don’t lose heart. Documents are being digitized and added to online databases at a record clip these days. It is important to periodically return to the info dumps to see if anything you need has surfaced.
When you utilize a large number of said info dumps, it becomes hard to remember what you need to go back to. After all, websites don’t publish a list of what records they are adding to which databases and when they’ll be available. At least not the ones I access.
One option is to go forward in your calendar and schedule your return to the web page.
That doesn’t work for me.
Another option is to sign up for alerts.
In most cases, you can sign up to receive content updates from websites you like to use under the notifications/preferences/settings tab on your account page.
About two weeks ago, I received an email alert from Ancestry.com advising the addition of new records to the site.
Thirteen new collections have been added and new records have been added to 15 existing collections! It was GEEK-OUT time for me as my eyes tore through the list.
While I saw nothing to help me in my research this time, below are a few I thought would be interesting and could be helpful for other people.
NEW:
American Protective League Correspondence, 1917 – 1919
The APL was comprised of citizen volunteers operating as “support” for the FBI. The volunteers monitored the actions of fellow citizens and reported people suspected to be enemies of the state and “suspicious behavior” that might be construed as anti-American. Think “See Something, Say Something” one hundred years ago. There are two different series with ten and 25 browse-able offerings, respectively. The “Correspondence with Field Office 1917 – 1919” series contains letters regarding investigations in Arkansas, California, Kansas and New York. The “Correspondence on Investigations 1918-1919” series contains letters about reports of whom today we would call “persons of interest.” You can check to see if your ancestor may have been a post-WWI “person of interest!”
Pennsylvania, County Slave Records 1780 - 1834
This collection contains records for Adams, Bedford, Bucks, Centre, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Lancaster, and Washington counties and Lancaster City. The records include petitions, records of children, birth and residence registers, apprenticeship records, bills of sale and manumissions. You can find names, sex, owner, birth date and, infrequently, mother’s names. This collection could be a veritable treasure trove for those researching African-American roots!
New York and Vicinity, United Methodist Church Records, 1775 – 1949
The records in this collection pertain to Hartford and Wethersfield, Connecticut, Newark, New Jersey, and eight New York cities or boroughs. There is a “Miscellaneous Records” tab which contains over two dozen assorted volumes of stories, baptismal and marriage records, lists of pastors and sermons.
UPDATED:
Tennessee, State Marriages 1780 – 2002
Kentucky, Death Records 1852 – 1964
US Passport Applications 1795 – 1925
If you’ve struck out with those three in past, go back. The record you seek may be there now.
Don’t forget to go and set up your email alerts!
Thirteen new collections have been added and new records have been added to 15 existing collections! It was GEEK-OUT time for me as my eyes tore through the list.
While I saw nothing to help me in my research this time, below are a few I thought would be interesting and could be helpful for other people.
NEW:
American Protective League Correspondence, 1917 – 1919
The APL was comprised of citizen volunteers operating as “support” for the FBI. The volunteers monitored the actions of fellow citizens and reported people suspected to be enemies of the state and “suspicious behavior” that might be construed as anti-American. Think “See Something, Say Something” one hundred years ago. There are two different series with ten and 25 browse-able offerings, respectively. The “Correspondence with Field Office 1917 – 1919” series contains letters regarding investigations in Arkansas, California, Kansas and New York. The “Correspondence on Investigations 1918-1919” series contains letters about reports of whom today we would call “persons of interest.” You can check to see if your ancestor may have been a post-WWI “person of interest!”
Pennsylvania, County Slave Records 1780 - 1834
This collection contains records for Adams, Bedford, Bucks, Centre, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Lancaster, and Washington counties and Lancaster City. The records include petitions, records of children, birth and residence registers, apprenticeship records, bills of sale and manumissions. You can find names, sex, owner, birth date and, infrequently, mother’s names. This collection could be a veritable treasure trove for those researching African-American roots!
New York and Vicinity, United Methodist Church Records, 1775 – 1949
The records in this collection pertain to Hartford and Wethersfield, Connecticut, Newark, New Jersey, and eight New York cities or boroughs. There is a “Miscellaneous Records” tab which contains over two dozen assorted volumes of stories, baptismal and marriage records, lists of pastors and sermons.
UPDATED:
Tennessee, State Marriages 1780 – 2002
Kentucky, Death Records 1852 – 1964
US Passport Applications 1795 – 1925
If you’ve struck out with those three in past, go back. The record you seek may be there now.
Don’t forget to go and set up your email alerts!
RSS Feed
