Family Search Archives - Kindred Grove

Is Your Ancestor Hiding in a Census for the Deceased?

by Melissa Knapp | Ancestry, Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search, Favorite Genealogy Resources, Understanding Records

Did you know that there are census records that list individuals who died in the United States during certain years? I am excited to help you learn about this fantastic source of death records while also explaining its limitations. So, what is it and how do you find it? I am referring to:

UNITED STATES MORTALITY SCHEDULES

Have you ever discovered an ancestor who died just before a census and wished so badly that they could have hung on a little longer so you could have accessed more about them? That predicament is incredibly frustrating if you don’t know who their parents were, and the person died prior to the 1880 census, which asked for their parents’ place of birth.

Or was there a family member in one census that doesn’t appear on the next? If so, mortality schedules may help!

The U.S. Federal Government took mortality schedules in conjunction with the following censuses:

1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880.

The 1890 Veteran Mortality Schedule is also available for many states.

If you are lucky enough to be researching an ancestor from Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, or South Dakota, then you also have access to a bonus mortality schedule from 1885.

(These states participated in an interdecennial census to provide the federal government with specific information for administrative decisions on industry and agriculture, etc.)

Some states also performed mortality schedules with their state censuses in the years 1855, 1865, 1875.

The history behind these rare death records:

While collecting population data, census enumerators asked if anyone in the home had passed away during the previous year. More specifically, they recorded deaths that occurred in the twelve months before the census between June 1 (of the prior year) to May 31 (of census year). It is important to understand that not all deaths from 1849, 1859, 1869, and 1879 are available.

Deceased person’s information, including the cause of death, was collected into a separate entry than the population census. One of the reasons this resource is so invaluable is that most states did not record vital death records at that time. In fact, some states didn’t collect death records until 60 years or more after these mortality schedules. You can see how this resource is a rare treasure for a family historian. Here is a summary of all of the information you can gather from a mortality schedule:

Mortality Schedules

Name
Sex
Age
Race
Marital status
Place of birth
If widowed
Occupation
Month of death
Cause of death
Duration of illness (in days)
Parents’ birthplace (1870 & 1880)
How disease was contracted (1880)
How Long the Deceased had been a resident of the county of death (1880)
Physician (1880)

Where are these records held?

Many mortality schedules are online; however, they may not come up in record “hints” on your family tree and typically require a specific search because they may not be indexed. Don’t let this deter you! This tutorial will show you how easy it is to find them!

Many counties or state archives have indexed lists of these rolls. If your ancestor’s name is on one of those lists, you can then do an additional search to access the actual record. The number of deceased persons per county typically wasn’t extensive, so finding your ancestor in the image collection is not a difficult process. There may only be a few pages to look through, depending on the location.

How to access these invaluable records:

Ancestry.com

U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 [Click here]

Instructions: The link above will take you to the collection. Use the search fields to input ancestors’ names, ages, and locations. Sometimes, less information is more, so it may be more effective to search by only the surname and place. That way, if the record has first name initials or misspellings, it won’t restrict the search. Using various spellings of a name is always a good idea!

Limitations: The collection does not include every state or year. Use the toggle on the right-hand side of the page to see what states/years are available. If you don’t locate the recordset you need, try one of the next two options.

New Horizon Genealogy

Mortality schedule lists by state [Click here]

Instructions: Click on the link and select the state you want from the menu. Then select the county and year. Those links will then redirect you to county pages and websites where mortality indexes are listed online. This is a very helpful resource!

Limitations: There are some notes which say there are no available online records for specific locations. However, with millions of records added all the time, this may not be accurate. I have found several mortality schedules for those “missing” states on FamilySearch through image-only collections (not indexed) or digitized books (indexed). If you run into one of those messages, try using the next step to look for the records.

FamilySearch

Instructions: Use the following steps to find the records within the catalog: FamilySearch>>Catalog>>State Search>>Census Collections>>Mortality Schedules>>Images>>Records. I’ve included images of each step below to help you navigate to these records.

Limitations: The only limitation to this process is that it takes a little more time, although it is actually a simple and easy search.

Select CATALOG from the FamilySearch HOME page:

From the CATALOG page, type in the state you want.

A drop down menu will appear and make location suggestions. Select your preferred location from the drop down menu. This ensures that the system recognizes the correct place and returns all the records from that locality. Once you have the correct location in the search field, click SEARCH :

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_state

Find the CENSUS YEAR from the menu:

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_censuslist

Click on the census collection by year.

Find the MORTALITY CENSUS SCHEDULES from the drop down menu.

Click on that link (in blue):

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_censuslists2

The record link will redirect you to the next page which will show you what records are available.

The records will be listed through additional links. Try the different links on the page to see where they direct.

Here are some options you may come across:

A message that says, “To view this collection online: click here“, indicates that the collection has been indexed and is searchable. Yay! Click on the link to search for the record/image by person’s name and location.

Sometimes there are links to an online book on FamilySearch where the mortality schedule is listed.

Specifically, look for record collections at the bottom of the page. A camera icon next the record set indicates it can be viewed online. A camera with a key over it indicates it can only be viewed at a family history library. A film icon means it is available at the family history library in Salt Lake City, Utah. If this is the case, save the link to that page (create a document for those quick links to come back to) and check back soon. New records are added daily.

Here is a picture of what to look for in this step:

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_censuslists3

The Image Collection

When I clicked on the camera icon above, it opened the image collection. This one (for Louisiana) includes all of the mortality schedules into one record set and a typed index of names at the beginning. You can thumb through those indexes to look for the county, years, and the names of people. Even if your state doesn’t have an index, the records are often alphabetized by county. Scroll through:

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_censuslists5

Here is an example of the index list from the above collection. It includes the year, name, and page number for the record (which may be different from the image number. If so, look for a page number that is printed on the image.):

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_censuslists6

1850 Mortality Schedule, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Downloaded of FamilySearch.org.

Here is an example of an actual record. It looks just like a census record, right? Because that is, basically, exactly what it is!

FSsearch_KindredGrove_MortalitySchedule_censuslists7

1850 Mortality Schedule, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Image courtesy of FamilySearch.org.

If none of these resources have the mortality schedule you need, do a simple GOOGLE search for the specific location and year. ( Ex: “Maine mortality schedule 1870”). Every state is different and a quick internet search may offer other online resources.

Additional Ways to Use Mortality Schedules in your Family History Research:

To find children or babies who may have been born and died in-between census years. Parents’ names aren’t listed, but through surname, parents’ birthplaces, and other clues, you may be able to find that child in a cemetery and determine if they were a child of an ancestor.
To learn family medical history.
To gain detailed information about African-Americans. This is especially helpful for researching enslaved individuals as it offers vital details about their life/death, place of birth, and where their parents were born. You may find more information on a mortality schedule than any other record.
To learn more about all minority groups, where they were from, and what industry they worked.
To learn about migration patterns in a family by discovering where an ancestor or their parents were born. If a person is listed on the 1850 mortality schedule, it may have been the first record where their birthplace was recorded.
To learn more about women and children not recorded on previous records. Maybe there is someone that should be in your tree but has never been discovered. Peruse the 1850 mortality schedule and look for family surnames. Only head of households were listed on the 1840 census, so most women, children, and even young adults did not appear in those records. The 1850 mortality schedule offers pertinent information for those whose names may or may not have appeared on any other document.
To learn more of the difficulties that your ancestors endured in their life. These records can paint a broader picture and help you learn more about your ancestor’s story. Did they die from an accident, a plague, a fire, tornado, etc.? You may be able to use the information you discover and learn more through a historical search or newspapers at the time. What was life like for a county that was plagued by cholera? What were the details of the tornado that hit their town? How did the people move forward after such events? You can learn a lot about the significant events of your ancestors’ lives through the accounts of others and in newspapers. These details can also help you to understand what family members of the deceased might have experienced.

Worth the Effort?

It may seem like the odds of finding a family member in one of these records are small, but you may be surprised. Do a quick scan of your family tree and look for individuals who may have died in the year before a census.

I found many candidates as I did so. I was so amazed and excited by the information I discovered. I knew right away I wanted to do this tutorial.

Have you ever found any gems through mortality schedules? I would to hear if this process helps you to find something new.

Finding_our_dead_in_Mortality_Schedules_KindredGrove

How to Add an Unattached Person to the FamilySearch Family Tree

by Melissa Knapp | Family History Tutorials, Family Search

Have you ever wondered how to add a new person to the family tree in FamilySearch if you don’t know where they should be attached? Is it okay to add a dangling person to the family tree? The answer to the latter is a resounding YES! Not only is it okay, sometimes it is necessary–at least temporarily! Here are the reasons why:

If you are researching an elusive ancestor, doing cluster research (exploring family members, neighbors, friends, business partners etc. of your ancestor) is a helpful way to find more information about them because relationships are one of the most important aspects of a person’s life. Of course, cluster research isn’t only beneficial for the difficult to find. It is an excellent practice in all of your family history research because of the discoveries it can facilitate.

Opportunities arise to investigate an unknown person when you come across a random name in a book, on the back of a photo, on a census record (perhaps a border living with the family), in a will, or other documents. Or you may want to look for connections between people with the same surname as your ancestors within a close geographical region. In the world of genealogy, you know that most things are not actually random. Clues can be found anywhere, and it is often that one little piece of information can open up a plethora of discoveries.

So, How Do You Research an Unknown Person?

FamilySearch is a great place to investigate possible relationships because it is a collaborative tree, and some of the work may already be complete.

However, what do you do if you look up a person in the family tree and can’t find them?

You create them! And I will show you how.

Another benefit to using FamilySearch for this purpose is that even if you don’t find a significant connection, your work isn’t “wasted.” Eventually, a family member of the person will benefit from your contributions. However, if you research the person through a private family tree and determine no relation or connection, then no one benefits from your hard work.

It’s a fairly simple process- if you know where to go in FamilySearch to add an unattached or unconnected person. This tutorial will show you exactly how to add them to the family tree so you can begin researching.

STEP ONE

Go to the FAMILY TREE in FamilySearch.

STEP TWO

From the family tree, click on RECENTS in the menu bar. Scroll to the very bottom of the drop down menu and select ADD UNCONNECTED PERSON.

How to add someone to family tree Kindred Grove

STEP THREE

A new screen will pop up where you will add the new person.

STEP FOUR

STEP FIVE

After you input the information, one of two options will occur. Either FamilySearch will alert you that there wasn’t a match in the system and let CREATE PERSON or it will suggest a possible match in the system that you can investigate.

Now you can research the person through their person page in FamilySearch.

The goal, of course, is to find not only information for the person, but to also connect them to their family members so they aren’t dangling in the tree indefinitely.

If after you find correct documentation, you discover that the person is a duplicate, you can merge the two profiles within the tree. You have to start with what you know and sometimes that’s not a lot. But now you know how to get started by adding unattached individuals so you can take your family history research to the next step.

How to Correct Indexing Errors In FamilySearch

by Melissa Knapp | Family History Tutorials, Family Search

A Quick Research Trick for Finding More Family History Records

by Melissa Knapp | Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search

If you have two minutes for this quick video tutorial, I’m willing to bet that it can save you hours of research time once implemented. It is one of my go-to research tricks that helps me have so much more success finding family history records for my ancestors. It is super easy yet can yield great returns! Let me know in the comments please if this step has helped you!

Also, if you haven’t subscribed yet to my YouTube channel, please do so! I have lots of exciting new content to share very soon and I’d love your input! Thank you!

(Click the link in red to go to my channel. See you soon!) 🙂

How To Easily Transfer Records Using Record Seek

by Melissa Knapp | Ancestry, Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search

We all know how important it is to document our genealogy research. Not only does it help to verify the correctness and location of the information, but it is extremely helpful when you need to find it again. I have come across some exciting information in Family Search and Ancestry for an ancestor, only to discover that the person who added the data gave no indication of where they found it. I think that happens a lot because many people just don’t know how to create a source for their discoveries. But, one of the greatest blessings of having online trees is the opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other! And I always want to give thanks and credit where it is due!

So if you have ever found a record, document, book, or any other source for an ancestor and wanted to save it to your tree but didn’t know how, then this tutorial is for YOU! I hope you will love learning how quick, easy, and convenient it is to create these sources in Family Search or Ancestry using Record Seek. Feel free to leave any other questions below.

You can find the Record Seek extension HERE.

How to Set Up a Free Family Tree In FamilySearch

by Melissa Knapp | Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search, Favorite Genealogy Resources, Start Here

Getting Started

Do you want to learn about your family history but don’t know where to start? If so, this post is for you. There are probably a million and one ways to begin your family history and they are all great. There’s no one right or wrong way. Doing family history is a wonderful and rewarding journey and any method you choose to start will reap benefits.

However, so many options can make it overwhelming for many people to know which is best.

That is why this tutorial is going to guide you through setting up a tree in FamilySearch.org.

Here are a few reasons that FamilySearch is the perfect format for beginners (but not only beginners!).

It’s FREE
It is a collaborate tree; therefore, multiple people share the research, photos, and stories etc. for common ancestors.
It’s user-friendly and has a lot of great features on the site for all ages to enjoy.

Make sure you have created your free account In FamilySearch and are on the home page. Select start (Circled in the photo below).

This will take you to a new screen. There is a short video tutorial on the middle left that can help, but I will also show you step by step so click on the blue START NOW button.

ADDING YOUR PARENTS

The next screen will ask you about your father. Include as much information as you can but don’t stress too much if you don’t know all of his vital information. You will be able to add in or correct information later if you need. The more you know, the better, but don’t feel like you have to call all of your older aunts, uncles, cousins and the courthouse to get every record. You will probably be surprised what will be at your fingertips in Family Search once you get connected.

If don’t know your father, just click SKIP, and it will take you to next screen where you can start working on your MOTHER’S LINE.

One of the most important selections are the LIVING or DECEASED buttons.

Make sure you select the correct option. Family Search is ONE GIANT COLLABORATIVE TREE.

If your parent has passed away, their information may already be in Family Search. You will want to see if there is a match available. I’ll show you that process in one of the next steps, but keep that in mind.

Information on living people are kept private in Family Search.

Filling in the parent information:

Once you have entered in your information, it will list it back to you. If this looks correct, click NEXT.

This will take you to the screen for adding information on your mother.

ADDING YOUR GRANDPARENTS

After your parents have been added to the tree, it will ask you about your grandparents.

Follow the same steps as listed above for your parents.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHICH SIDE OF THE FAMILY YOU ARE FILLING IN!

Add as much information as you can, but don’t worry if you have to make some guesstimates. Even guessing a little on the date or location can help narrow down search results. If you aren’t sure of the town, but you are pretty confident on the state, then JUST ADD THE STATE. Sometimes less information is more when you are making a guess.

Standardized Information

There is another thing that is important but a lot of people skip over.

When you begin to type in vital information such a date or location, there will be a drop down menu to offer you some suggestions. If a suggested date or location pulls up that correlates with the correct information, SELECT IT- EVEN IF YOU’VE ALREADY TYPED IT IN!

This is why this is so important.

FamilySearch, like any website, has a preferred method for data entry. In FamilySearch it is called STANDARDIZED FORMAT. Not only does standardizing information keep the pages looking nice and tidy, but when the vital information is standardized, the system is able to scan its database for correlating records and information more effectively. Basically, this means the system can do a much better job of finding record hints for your ancestors. You want those! 🙂

So, ALWAYS CHOOSE FROM THE DROP DOWN MENU if you can.

If the system doesn’t give you a correct suggestion, put the information in as you know it and move on.

AN EXAMPLE OF SELECTING A STANDARDIZED LOCATION:

Here is an example of adding my grandmother-

After typing in her information, a window popped up with the following information:

Because my grandmother is deceased, Family Search scanned the site to see if she was already in the tree and they offered some matches.

Make sure to look through the suggested matches and CLICK SELECT if you see the right person in the list.

This is going to jump start your tree and save you a lot of work. By only having each person in the tree once, it keeps things organized and helps to make connections, research and use records more efficiently.

If you do not see the correct person in the match list provided, select NO MATCH and move on.

There is a way to merge two people also if you later find that you have made a mistake. Don’t be afraid to use the system because its new to you. You will learn as you go and you aren’t going to break anything.

Any mistakes can be corrected (and don’t we learn by trial and error?) but it will save you time and headache if you can choose the correct entries from the start.

GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

The next steps are the same for adding your GREAT-GRANDPARENTS.

Since I found matches in the system for my grandparents, there was a good probability that they were already connected to their parents in the tree. So, I chose not to manually input my great- grandparents at that point, but selected SKIP to go on to the tree instead.

If you do the same and find that your grandparents are not connected to their parents, don’t fret. They can still be easily added.

Being able to put in a generation or two and have the rest of your tree generate for you is one of the benefits of a collaborative tree. And of course, this won’t be the case for everyone. FamilySearch tree is worldwide, but if your family is from countries where family records and documentation are sparse, there may not be much in the system on your ancestors. This is why it is important that we all collaborate and add what we know or have.

At this point, your family tree will generate and be ready to view.

If you’d like to learn how to navigate through the different views and options in the tree, Click on the fan chart photo below to take you to another tutorial.

DIVING IN

Once you are on the family tree view, it is helpful to know that each person’s name is also a LINK. When you click on a name, it will take you to their PERSON PAGE where you can see the vital information, sources, and memories are attached to them. If there isn’t much information yet, don’t despair. There is the potential for all of those resources to be added over time. w

EXPLORING THE PERSON PAGE

From the person page, click on and explore through the menu options/ tool bar- specifically the memories tab. This is where photos and stories are located for each person. Hopefully you will find some of these already added for some of your ancestors.

The sources tab is where documents and records are kept.

These are both great options for beginners to learn about their ancestors from the information and memories that have been added by others. You are on your way to discovering your family history!

There you go! You now have a family tree!

I hope this post has helped you to start your family history journey and answered some questions. Make sure to check through the other tutorials on the home page to help you learn more of the basics.

How To Navigate the Family Tree In FamilySearch

by Melissa Knapp | Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search, Start Here

I am so excited to share some of the amazing features you can use with the family tree on FamilySearch! There are so many ways that these advancements can be utilized. If you haven’t explored them before, I hope that you will do so and make some new discoveries! (To get to the family tree, just click on Family Tree from the homepage or on the menu bar from any page on FamilySearch, as highlighted below. And if you need help getting started setting up your family tree in FamilySearch, start with this post HERE.)

Note- This tutorial shows the web browser view. Various viewing options are also available on the family tree app but are not shown here.

In these first three photos, you will see the default view of the tree. This view of the tree is called LANDSCAPE. As you will see below on the top left, there is a drop down menu with other options. Landscape view is great for seeing the people’s names, dates and relationships as well. Look for the drop down menu below each couple, which will give you a list of their children. You can use to arrows to the right to branch out on each family line.

This next view is called PORTRAIT. Use the drop down menu to select portrait. If you have a lot of photos in your tree, this is a great way to visually see your family members in the tree. Use the arrows above a line to branch out. This is also the view which is used on the app.

The next view is the fan chart. The fan chart was recently updated and I LOVE IT!!! This is super fun and worth sitting at the computer for. Once you get to the fan chart from the drop down menu, there will be another drop down menu with 6 options! Family lines just gives you the basic fan chart.

When you click on birth countries, it gets more exciting and you will see the country of origin of each person. There is a key on the right to tell you what country each color stands for. Below are two examples. This is a great way to get a birds-eye view of your tree and some of your heritage! Also, make sure your “generations” tab is selected as 7– to give you a greater view of the tree. That selection is just next to the fan chart menu on top left.

If your tree doesn’t go back that far, that’s ok! I love that the fan chart can help you see what IS missing in your tree- and an idea of where it could use your help! Many people don’t know where to start in their family history research, and I believe this fan chart will help many people to find the answer to that question! The holes in your tree can be a great jumping off point!

This next setting is for SOURCES. Sources are typically records, cemetery/ headstone information, books, links or anything helpful that gives proof or indicators about that person’s life. The more sources you can find on a person, the more you can get an overview and understanding about what their life may have been like. Sources can help you know who they married, how many children they had, if they served in the military, jobs they worked, etc. Sources are an invaluable resource!

In this view of the tree, it is so helpful in that you can see how many sources are attached to each person. White means no sources and dark orange means ten or more (with indicators in between as well). So, if I see someone in the tree here who is white or pale orange, that might be a good place for me to start. Not only do sources help to paint a life story, but when I see a person with zero sources, I know that it’s not just records that are missing- but often times family members too. By finding some family records, I will frequently find missing children who have not been added to the tree. There are many discoveries left to be made and its really exciting!

The next tab is for STORIES. I love that this is included because I love reading stories of other people’s lives–especially within my own family. But in all fairness, this doesn’t necessarily mean it is always a story that has been attached to that person. It could be a note, a memory, a life sketch or even a theory that has been attached by a contributor. Or, it could be an actual story or even a journal entry! Those are like gold!!!

I love this feature for a few reasons-

1) You may find stories and information that has been added by others that you have never seen.

2) It shows who has little to no stories attached. This is a wonderful invitation to find and add some.

3) This tool can help bridge the gap between us and those who came before us.

4) It can help young people to quickly and easily find a story of an ancestor to read about, share in a lesson, or use in a school assignment. There are so many possibilities of how this feature could be used!

The next option is PHOTOS. Again- I absolutely love this feature! I have always loved photos and I love finding them for my family members. I am so appreciative when someone shares photos I have never seen. In this day and age of technology, I love that we can share photos so easily and that so many people can enjoy the blessings of getting to see an old photo of their ancestor. Photos are treasures and I love getting to see what is available in the tree.

Since FamilySearch has a collaborative tree, this is one of the benefits of that group effort! As with the sources and stories, a white section of the fan chart is an invitation to find and add photos of your ancestors.

There are many who will be grateful for your willingness to add these precious memories to FamilySearch. There is also peace of mind that comes with having a backup to family photographs.

The next feature is for RESEARCH HELPS. These are little messages letting us know there is a suggestion (in purple) , an error or question (in red) with the information already in there (for example-a child that was born after the mother was deceased), or actual record hints (in blue). Those blue tabs/ RECORD HINTS are MANNA FROM HEAVEN! They aren’t always for the right person, so please do review the information carefully to see if it is a match, but the back end of FamilySearch does a great job of suggesting records for the right person! Take advantage of the computer doing the work for you!

Below is another feature if you’d like to view the tree in a different color. Under the OPTIONS tab on the upper right corner, use the drop down menu to select INVERT COLORS. This will change the background colors to grey and some people prefer this style better.

Under that INVERT COLORS selection, you can also select Print.

You can print a PDF of the tree in the portrait view. This will show you four generations beyond the selected person and also their children and spouses. You can print the tree with anyone as the main person. So, for instance, if I want to print my great grandmother’s tree, I would go to her person page and then click VIEW TREE on HER PAGE. This will then show me JUST her line (not her spouse’s, for instance).

These printed trees are great in an album, framed and even as gifts.

There is one more view of the tree- which is DESCENDANCY, but I am going to devote a separate post to that since it has a lot of features of its own. Basically, instead of the typical ascending family tree, it will descend from an ancestor back towards you. It shows their children and grandchildren- their descendants!

I hope that this tutorial has shown you a few features that can help you explore your family history in a new way. Feel free to leave any questions you may have about this post!

Also, I’d love to know – What is your favorite view of the tree and how has it helped or enlightened you? Please comment below!

Quick Trick for Hard to Find Records- Video Tutorial

by Melissa Knapp | Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search

This two-minute video is part of a series of quick Tuesday Tutorials, shared on our social media pages, to give bite-size research tips. This video shares how to expand your search options to see if new records pop up, when they have been otherwise difficult to find. This process especially works well if the family or the person moved around from place to place. I hope this little tip will be helpful!

How To Find Your Ancestor’s Photos on Family Search

by Melissa Knapp | Beginner, Family History Tutorials, Family Search, Finding Photos of Ancestors, Start Here

Seeing an ancestor’s photo for the first time is a magical thing- especially if you have searched and hoped to find one. I have personally been on a mission the last few years to find as many photos as possible of my progenitors and it has been a wonderful labor of love. It has taken some time since I started out with NONE but I have definitely found success! My hope is that I can share some tips to help you do the same and also save some time in the process.

This post is #1 in a 10 part series I am working on to show you the best resources for finding family photos with ease- and certainly with reward!

Since Family Search is free and is built as a collaborative SHARED FAMILY TREE, it is a great place to start your search. In this tutorial, I will show you two ways to quickly navigate the site and find photos of your ancestors.

NOTE– Make sure you have already created a free family search account and connected to the tree. I have another tutorial on that HERE if you need help getting started. Once you have set up your tree, come back to this post and follow the steps below.

Method One:

From the home page on Family Search, click on Family Tree.

(see photo below for example)

This will take you to the tree. In the TOP LEFT corner, make sure to SELECT:
FAN CHART
7 GENERATIONS
PHOTOS (in drop down menu)

Those with photos attached will appear light to dark orange. The more photos attached to a person, the darker they will show up in the fan chart.

FOR A FULL TUTORIAL ON NAVIGATING THE Family Tree & FAN CHART, GO HERE.

To see what photos are attached to that person, click on their name right there in the fan chart. It will bring up a description tab (see photo below).

I like to RIGHT CLICK on their NAME or where it says PERSON- and then click OPEN IN NEW TAB. This isn’t necessary but does keep your fan chart open and takes you to a new page to view the person page. I just find this easier. But either way, go to the PERSON PAGE.

Once you are on the PERSON PAGE, look for the MEMORIES tab. Click on that.

Now you can peruse through the photos (and stories too). Don’t forget to click on MORE if it is displayed in the bottom left corner (see arrow in photo below) to open up ALL of the pictures in their memories.

And that’s it for the first method. Just repeat as desired with others in your tree!

METHOD TWO: From the HOME PAGE, Click on MEMORIES and select OVERVIEW from Drop Down Menu.

This will take you to the MEMORIES page where you will have several options for adding photos yourself etc., but for this tutorial, we are going to scroll down the page to the section where you can find photos others have uploaded.

Go to the panel- Discover the memories others have shared about your family. Click on SEE MORE PEOPLE.

Also, note that any time you want to WATCH a person, you can click on the star and you will be notified via email anytime someone adds or makes changes to that profile.

Just look at this beautiful album of memories to explore! These are your “close family members” which may include parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. These are only deceased individuals as Family Search keeps living people private and confidential.

To look at the photos, just click on the tab you want. Again, I prefer to RIGHT CLICK and select OPEN IN NEW TAB so that I don’t lose my place on the memories page. This will take me to the individual person’s memories for viewing.

Another option is to search within this menu by name. Just type in the name in the top right-hand corner. This will show you what is available for that family.

And that’s it for method two. It’s pretty easy and fun to reap the fruits of other people’s generous acts of sharing! I would also like to add that if you do have family photos in your posession, please upload them and do the same for others. There will be many grateful for your willingness to share the wonderful treasures of family photos!

Please let me know if you have any questions! Happy hunting!

How to Unlock Your Family History in Free Online Books

by Melissa Knapp | Family History Tutorials, Family Search, Finding Photos of Ancestors

(SCROLL TO END OF POST FOR TWO QUICK VIDEO TUTORIALS ON FINDING FAMILY HISTORY BOOKS.)

Family history books are one of my favorite resources for searching for family! However, it was not long ago that I didn’t even know there were any that existed for my family lines. I am excited to share how you can find some of these great treasure troves and put them to use in building your tree and knowledge of your ancestors and heritage!

There are many times when looking for records to verify an ancestor’s life, location, surname, spouse, parents, etc. just doesn’t exist or is sparse. I have run into this challenge many times when researching before the 1850’s. One of my favorite tools to combat this issue lies in BOOKS! Before there were many official records, many families kept books and family bibles to keep up with their lineage and history. While this isn’t a guarantee, finding family books can often help break through those brick walls and help you learn many details about your family history. Family Search has been collecting and gathering FAMILY HISTORY BOOKS from all over the world and indexes about 200 per day!!! That’s pretty incredible! This collection of more than 440,000 digitized genealogy and family history books includes county and local histories, genealogy magazines, family trees, gazetteers, folklore, stories, and even medieval histories! Family Search has also recently updated their search page and has made it easier than ever to view many of these books online.

Below is a step by step tutorial for using this valuable research tool. It’s very user-friendly so don’t get intimidated! First you will need an account on FamilySearch.org. (It’s free.)

From the home page on Family Search, hover over Search and then go down the menu and click on BOOKS.

This will take you to the library search page where you will type in your search keywords. I will often try a combination of-

*Person’s full name

*Surname alone

*Other connected surnames (like spouse or mother’s maiden)

*Town, County or State (narrow down as much as possible and then expand as needed.)

*Church name (if known)

The trick is to BE CREATIVE with your search. You may hit the jackpot with only a name, but often times I will find more success if I combine search keywords such as EDMONDSON (surname) NORTH CAROLINA (state).

OR (see how I added the state):

After you click SEARCH, you can view the results.

Once I find a book that might have information that I am looking for, then click on FULL TEXT RESULTS. The best finds are the ones that have PUBLIC ACCESS (below). This is great news because this means you will be allowed to view the book’s entirety online- hence the fireworks I added.

Go ahead and click Full TEXT RESULTS. If the book is thoroughly indexed, it will bring up pages where your keyword is mentioned. You can click VIEW and go straight to that page.

Once you click on VIEW, it will open your book! Yay!

Another cool feature to remember is that once you are inside the book, you can search within it. Just change the keyword in the top left corner and see if it is mentioned in the book.

For example, I had family who lived along the Pee Dee River in North and South Carolina so I searched that to see if there was any mention of that. And there was! My search words are even highlighted in the book. I will often search other first names in my family this way.

If access to a book is marked as PROTECTED (below), don’t immediately disregard it. There are ways to see if it has information you need and if so, then you can work on obtaining a copy.

To do so, click on FULL TEXT RESULTS. Even if it is protected, it will still display sections of the book that contain your keyword. Read through the information given and see if it is worth pursuing further.

If you feel that the book has useful information for your research but is copyrighted or says it can only be viewed from the family history library, I would suggest calling and talking to someone at the Salt Lake City Family History Library directly. This could also apply if the book is only partially indexed and stored in the vault. By talking to someone there, they can tell you exactly the process that is needed to obtain access to the book (since many situations are different). Just make sure you write down the title, author and the identification number before you call to speed up the process. You may be able to request a loan of the book through another library, hire someone to do the research and scans for you, or see if you can request to view the book online through a family history center near you. The workers there are very helpful and there are ways to get the information if you’re willing to go the extra mile.

Another option is to take the title of the book and search for the book on Amazon, Google and Bookfinder4U. You may be able to buy outright a copy for a great price.

And of course, if your search result didn’t produce anything helpful, go back, change your keyword and start over again. This process can take some time but there is a wealth of information to be found and worth the search! If you’ve had experience with the book search, I’d love to hear about it! Comment below.