One of the things I have made, for all of my family trees, is an Excel spreadsheet where I document what information I have on key individuals. This includes birth information (date, place, certificate), death information (date, place, certificate), marriage information (date, place, certificate), spouse, cemetery, SSN, cause of death, and obit. I am trying to focus on one task at a time -- although this is very hard. For example, I am looking for census records for 1940 for several of my families. When I find someone, I check it off on the spreadsheet. What I have found is that when I go to document it in Family Tree Maker, I already have the information and just did not record it on my Excel spreadsheet.
So what I have been doing is reading everything I have documented on that key individual and then double checking to ensure I have it marked off on the Excel spreadsheet. I find that I have more information than I thought I did.
Now, if I can just stick to that task and not jump to looking for obits or marriage records when I am supposed to be looking for census records. What a vicious cycle!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Newspaper Articles
I found some new sources to gather newspaper articles. Becuase i do not have access to a genealogy library or to the state archives (where the articles might be stored), I have had to give in and purchase subscriptions to some websites.
Genealogybank has a lot of news articles - as far back as 1690. Granted, not all newspapers, nor every state is included in the collection. However, I have found some obituaries and other news articles about people in my family. There are obituaries, birth announcements, marriage and engagement notices, and other news articles. In addition, this site has historical documetns from 1789-1994 (military records and land grants to name a couple). There are historical books from 1749-1900 that might have a funeral sermon, a city directory, or local history. The cost for this site is $19.95 per month or $69.95 a year. If I remember correctly, I got it half price because I went to a genealogy conference and bought it there.
Newspapers.com is another site I just recently subscribed to. As of this document, the site has newspapers from the 1700s-2000s. It has over 800 newspapers. I have a free trial right now, but as an Ancestry.com subscriber, I can get the access for half price, at a cost of $39.95. While searching yesterday, I found a lot of Elzy articles. Several on William Joseph Elzy, an article on an infant burial, my GG uncle Eddie getting arrested for drunk driving, a couple engagement announcements, and two announcing participation in class activities (dad and Eugene). I found several for Rory's family too.
So all you have to do is suck it up, pay for the subscription, and start searching. You will be amazed by the articles you find. You might even feel like you are living at the same time of the article, if you let yourself!
Genealogybank has a lot of news articles - as far back as 1690. Granted, not all newspapers, nor every state is included in the collection. However, I have found some obituaries and other news articles about people in my family. There are obituaries, birth announcements, marriage and engagement notices, and other news articles. In addition, this site has historical documetns from 1789-1994 (military records and land grants to name a couple). There are historical books from 1749-1900 that might have a funeral sermon, a city directory, or local history. The cost for this site is $19.95 per month or $69.95 a year. If I remember correctly, I got it half price because I went to a genealogy conference and bought it there.
Newspapers.com is another site I just recently subscribed to. As of this document, the site has newspapers from the 1700s-2000s. It has over 800 newspapers. I have a free trial right now, but as an Ancestry.com subscriber, I can get the access for half price, at a cost of $39.95. While searching yesterday, I found a lot of Elzy articles. Several on William Joseph Elzy, an article on an infant burial, my GG uncle Eddie getting arrested for drunk driving, a couple engagement announcements, and two announcing participation in class activities (dad and Eugene). I found several for Rory's family too.
So all you have to do is suck it up, pay for the subscription, and start searching. You will be amazed by the articles you find. You might even feel like you are living at the same time of the article, if you let yourself!
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