AF-003: Marriage Research Advice for Beginners
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January 10, 2015
Latest Podcast from Ancestral Findings
January 9, 2015
Social Security Death Benefit Records
If you are looking for more information on ancestors who lived in the 20th century and beyond, you should not overlook the Social Security Death Benefit Index. Anyone who had Social Security benefits paid out after they died will be included in this index. It was started in the 1930’s, when then – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt instituted the Social Security program. Men and women alike signed up for Social Security numbers, so they could get retirement income out of the Social Security fund when they reached a certain age. Many women signed up at first so they could get their husbands’ Social Security benefits if they survived their spouses. As time went on and more women went to work, they became eligible for Social Security on their own...
January 8, 2015
A Review of Old Fulton Postcards
Old Fulton Postcards is a wonderful and little known site for genealogical research for people with New York connections. The site is totally free, which makes it even better. It contains over 23 million scanned pages from old newspapers, most of them from New York, though a few are from other states, and even Canada. The newspapers go all the way back to the early 1800’s and all the way up to the 1980’s. The site is searchable in a number of different ways, and learning to search in the best way will ensure you get the results you need without having to scroll through thousands of results. Best of all, by discovering mentions of your ancestors in old New York newspapers (which include newspapers from across the entire state), you may solve long-standing family mysteries and discover information you would never have found anywhere else...
January 7, 2015
This Week’s Free Genealogy Lookups
- Massachusetts, 1870 Census IndexThis database contains approximately 1,380,000 Massachusetts residents who were counted in the 1870 United States census. This index is quite comprehensive, covering every county in the state of Massachusetts and listing every name, as well, not just heads of household.
- West Pennsylvania, 1870 Census Index
This database contains indexes to approximately 312,000 census records from 26 counties in Western Pennsylvania.
- East Pennsylvania, 1870 Census IndexThis database contains more than 219,000 entries listing heads of household as well as every male over age 50, every female over age 70, and other surnames within the household.
- New York City, New York & Long Island, 1870 Census Index
This database contains indexes to approximately 500,000 census records from five counties that comprised New York City in 1870. These counties are Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk.
January 5, 2015
African American Genealogy Research for Beginners
Are you interested in researching your African-American family tree, but don’t know where to start? It’s a common concern among those who are beginners in this area of genealogy. People wonder how far back they will actually be able to get, due to lack of records in the era of slavery. However, there are a few important things to remember. One, not every African-American in the 1800’s was a slave; some of them were free people of color, and plenty of records exist about them. Two, records of slaves were often meticulously kept by southern slave owners; this was not always the case, but it did happen in many cases, especially with people who owned large numbers of slaves. Three, there is always DNA to help you trace your roots back farther than you ever imagined, and usually with a few real surprises along the way...
January 3, 2015
The War of 1812 and the Indian Wars: A Double Conflict
Some military service records from the War of 1812 are for soldiers who did not actually fight the British at all. They were mainly southern soldiers who were fighting wars with the local Indians at the time. Yet, they received War of 1812 credit and pensions. Why was this the case?
January 2, 2015
Techniques for Finding Your Ancestor’s Home or Land
Locating the home of an ancestor, or the land on which they lived is an exciting part of genealogy. Being able to locate these places and visit the in person gives you a much closer connection to your ancestors and a deeper understanding of what their lives were like. There is nothing quite like standing on the steps of your ancestor’s old home, or on the land where their home once stood, to give you the impression of traveling back in time to when your ancestor lived there.
Even though the landscape may have changed, you know you are standing where they once stood, and seeing at least some of the things they saw when they lived there. Those things alone can help you imagine your ancestors’ lives in much more vivid detail. This is especially true in historic areas that haven’t changed much over the centuries, though it is true to some degree anywhere. Here’s how to find the location of your ancestor’s home or land...
January 1, 2015
Civil War Medical Cards: Using Them to Research Your Union Ancestors
Are you searching for more information on your Union soldier ancestor? There is plenty available online, from service records to pension requests, widow’s pensions and veterans census records. However, unless you are lucky enough to find a pension request with personal letters from your ancestor detailing his service (which do exist, but are the exception rather than the rule… most pension requests just include a questionnaire filled out by the applicant), you probably won’t get any additional detail on what his war experience was like. Understanding a soldier’s war experience makes it much more personal to you as a genealogist, brings your ancestor and his times back to life in a virtual way, and puts his service in the historical context of the entire Civil War...
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