My goal was to preserve her records, nothing more. It did not include adding to her records. Gulp. So much for that one.
Because I spent many years watching my mother acquire all her records the old fashioned way, via snail mail or visiting local repositories, I was aware that both methods were valid ways to obtain family data.
I'll admit, when I first started digitizing my mother's records I was amazed at all the records that are now available online. Every US Federal Census from 1790-1940 that has survived is available online. That's pretty amazing.
Each day more and more states are adding vital records to online data bases. Some states have digitized personal and property tax documents. Some old newspapers are available online.
The list is endless to what is available online.
The stagering fact is that out of all the millions, even billions, of records available online, about 90% of records are still not online. While 100% of the US Federal Census from 1790-1940 are online, the vital records from the states that are available online are no more than 10%. Ditto personal and property tax records. I'm not sure if I've ever found any school records online. So that resource is pretty close to 0% being online.
In Jewell County, where my ancestors settled, none of the tax records or vital records are online. None of the school records are online. I discovered yesterday that some of the newspapers are online, but it's just a drop in the bucket at this stage. Just one teeny tiny drop in a very large bucket.
One of the most overlooked resources are the county courthouses, genealogical societies and historical societies. Even with all the modern gadgets we have there is still one way to reach out to these places, snail mail or the phone. Call the county courthouse in the area where you are having problems. Ask who has the old death and birth records. Ask them the best way to initiate a request for a search. Sometimes while you are talking to a human being who actually lives in the area where your ancestors lived, you can learn little things about the area. Why did your ancestor leave the area? In my case, I learned that the soil could no longer support the requirements of the growing population so many moved on to more fertile areas. I've even asked some of the local courthouses where my ancestors lived if they know if there is anyone by the surname still in the area.
The people working or volunteering in the local repositories (and that's what a courthouse, genealogical society and historical society is to the genealogist...a repository) are usually proud of their area. They love the area where they live and they love sharing some of that information with those of us who can't visit there in person.
Once you get past the county level, there is usually a state level genealogical society and historical society. Plus most of the more current vital records are kept on the state level.
However, the most commonly overlooked resource is ourselves. It's our ability to use our reasoning to evaluate if the information we've acquired makes sense.
There are many more overlooked resources. I'll share them as I think of them. In the meantime, happy ancestor hunting.
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