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.

The Secret to Strong & Happy Families

by Melissa Knapp | Beginner, Connection, Inspiration, Stories

The Challenge of Our Day

One of the biggest struggles families face today is learning how to navigate through the challenges and unknowns of smartphones and social media. The research is starting to roll in about the toll it can take on mental and emotional health.

As a parent myself, I worry about the obstacles my children face in a world that is different than the one I grew up in. We have not been trained by our own parents on how to raise a family in this environment. We are the first generation to tread this path and we are learning as we go. However, the thought of our children being guinea pigs isn’t very comforting. I do not believe that technology is bad. There are many wonderful benefits to having these tools and resources! But, I believe most parents want to know how to keep their families balanced and strong.

A HOPEFUL STUDY

I was intrigued when I came across an article in The New York Times Magazine entitled “The Stories that Bind Us”, that offered some amazing insight on helping families in today’s world. It has become one of my favorites. The author asked the questions, “What is the secret sauce that holds a family together? What are the ingredients that make some families effective, resilient, happy?” (Bruce Feiler, 2013)

Fortunately for us, Feiler spent a few YEARS researching this question! I am only highlighting the conclusion of his studies, so I highly recommend you use the link below to read the entire article. It is very insightful!

Feiler says, “The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative.”

A strong family narrative…What does that mean exactly?

Feiler goes on to explain how one psychologist observed that students who knew a lot about their family faced challenges better. Curious if this was true, psychologists Dr. Marshall Duke and Dr. Robyn Fivush set out to test this hypothesis. They developed a survey that asked children 20 questions about their families. The questions simply gave the researchers an idea if they knew anything about their parents’ and grandparents’ background- such as where they grew up and if there had been an illness in the family, etc.

The results were astonishing! After the children were surveyed and given a series of psychological tests, the conclusion was very clear.

Feiler reports, “The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”

This testing scale turned out to be the best predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness.

But it didn’t stop there. Shortly after they concluded the test, the attacks on September 11, 2001, took place. The psychologists decided to act on the rare opportunity to reassess the children while in a time of actual trauma. Again, the children who knew more of their family’s history were more resilient to the stress.

CONNECTION

When children are raised learning about family members and stories, then they know they aren’t alone and they are part of something that is bigger than themselves. This is family history!

And you know what? It doesn’t only work with children because it also worked for me a few years ago. I began learning about my own family history during a very difficult trial of caring for a child with a long and serious illness. I was worried and exhausted. My cup was empty. I began to learn about my great grandfather who had been attacked with mustard gas during WWI. That left him with a lifetime of pain and difficulty. He and his family dealt with many challenges because of his illness but still built a beautiful life! Learning about my great grandparents and the trials they faced during the great depression while raising 9 children taught me I could get through my trials too. The more I learned, the more I felt like I wasn’t alone.

I have been impressed the last few years at the power that connection to others has on our lives. Our happiness depends on it. One of the reasons social media can have a negative emotional impact is because it often does not offer the true human connection that we need. However, even if a story is from a long time past, it has the ability to connect and resonate with us, children included, in a very powerful way. I think it’s beautiful how much our spirits are connected to our family members- even if we have never known them in this life. I love that family history is written in our hearts even before we recognize it. The more I explore this topic, the more I believe in the ability for stories to heal and bind us.

where to start

How do we create an environment of sharing stories and history in our families? Where do we start? I think it is important to remember it can be as simple as sharing stories with our families in the car, at the dinner table, or at a bedtime. It doesn’t have to be a formal affair to have profound results. Opening up about overcoming a difficult trial in your life, how you got through it and what you learned can be extremely beneficial for others to hear. Even seemingly insignificant details about your life and childhood can be fun for younger generations to hear. Remember that young people today are having completely different experiences in their youth than you did. Stories of swimming in a creek, watching Saturday morning cartoons, catching fireflies in a jar, looking in the card catalog (ha!) etc. may be quite eye opening to a kid who has never had those opportunities. It may even encourage them to get outside and have some similar adventures- with the exception of using the card catalog, of course!

If you have similar concerns with the negative effects of technology on your children, below are some ideas to instill a curiosity of the positive tools that are available and getting kids involved in family history and memory keeping.

1. Download Family Search Memories App and use the audio recording feature to interview each other and older family members. Interview grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Ask about favorite family memories. Praise your kids for the memories they collect!

2. Download Google Docs on your family’s devices and share a document where everyone can contribute! Go around in a circle and write a story. Let each person write one line of the story and see where it goes! It’s fun to see watch the letters and words appear as someone else is typing!

4. Also, on Google Docs– Share and have everyone fill out a questionnaire. Then read them together and you can even add photos and printed out into a family book. The topic could be memories of a grandparent, holiday, vacation or even every day life and interests.

5. Use Ancestry Family Trees or the Family Search Fan Chart Tree (tutorial HERE) to find stories and photos of ancestors. Have everyone find something to share!

6. Read a biography or life sketch online of someone influential (family or otherwise) and talk about how we can benefit from learning about other people’s stories.

The important thing to remember is to make family history and story telling a natural part of your lives. Don’t wait for only special occasions to incorporate them. Start the conversations and see where they lead. Also, don’t let all the stories you gather be of a serious nature. Share the funny ones too! We all have embarrassments. Laughing about others’ mishaps can teach kids not to take them too seriously when it happens to them!

If any of you have had a personal experience of how family stories have blessed you or your family and would like to share, I’d love to hear about it! Please leave a message or comment.

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