August 2012
8 posts
2 tags
A Father Finds His Long Lost Daughter
For the past decade I have been researching my father’s side of the family, and knew particularly little about my 4th great-grandfather, Timothy Stokin, and his family.
The first break-through in our research came with finding Timothy and his family in Greenfield, Pennsylvania, in 1850. By 1860, they had moved to Merton, Wisconsin. Through those censuses we learned about Timothy and...
1 tag
Your Story: 50 Year Old Mystery Solved
In 1962 when I was twelve years old I found an old photo album in an antique shop while traveling with my mother and father from Ohio to New Hampshire during a summer vacation. As my parents had always instilled the love of photography and history, I was drawn to and fell in love with this leather-bound treasure. I am grateful that my parents admired my interest and allowed me to purchase this...
9 tags
Ask Ancestry Anne: Three Andrew Blankinships. How...
Hi Anne, I’ve run into a brick wall on researching my great grandfather, Andrew Blankinship. We have very little information about him…parents and siblings are unknown. Here is the information we do have:
1) Born in Ohio, believed to be around Cleveland. I had entered parents I found on my tree, but later deleted them as I found 3 sets of parents who had a child named Andrew around...
2 tags
1940 Census Update—All States and Territories Now...
That does it. As we told you this morning, you can now search for your relatives from any state in the just-completed index to the 1940 census on Ancestry.com. We took the latest state indexes for a test drive and here’s who we found.
Christopher Lloyd In the hit movie Back to the Future, we see “Doc Brown” as he was in 1955. Now we can travel back in time and catch a glimpse of actor...
8 tags
1940 U.S. Census: 50 States, 134 Million Names, 1...
Today is all about numbers. The first is 100, as in 100 percent of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census is now indexed. That means all 50 states are available to search to your heart’s content. Our indexing came up with 134,395,545 people counted. Most reports on the 1940 census give the U.S. population as 132 million and change, so you may be wondering where the extra 2 million people came from.
Two...
Citing Your Sources -- PDF's of the presentations
You can find the links to the pdfs for the sourcing presentation on my blog Finding Forgotten Stories.
Happy Searching!
July 2012
6 posts
3 tags
1940 Census Indexing at Ancestry.com Now 70%...
Last night Ancestry.com posted images from twelve more states, bringing the total to 37 states and the District of Columbia. With 70% of the images now indexed, you’re chances are better than ever for finding family. Newly added is Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah. (Search all 37 states here.)
...
6 tags
Templates from the Citing Your Sources...
You can find the presentation at: http://livestre.am/4256y
1850 US Census
1850 U.S. Census, COUNTY_NAME County, STATE_NAME, population schedule, CITY_OR_DISTRICT, p. XXX (stamped/penned), dwelling DDD, family FFF, person or people; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com accessed : DATE); digital images, citing NARA microfilm publication, M432, roll RRR.
1860 US Census
1860 U.S. Census,...
2 tags
Ancestry.com Adds 1940 Census Indexes for 15...
Last night Ancestry.com released its largest batch of indexes to the 1940 census yet. The addition of fifteen new states puts the Ancestry.com index at 55% complete. Indexes are now available for these twenty-six states:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New...
6 tags
Ask Ancestry Anne: Finding Easton Page
Question: My father died when I was 9 years old and I never knew my father’s father. My father’s birth name was EASTON ROLLY PAGE. I have no idea what my grandfather’s name is. I have two different dates my father was born and he died on February 10, 1948 in San Francisco, CA and is buried in a military cemetery, I believe, in San Bruno, CA. I was told he was born on August 30, 1901 or 1904. So...
3 tags
Your Story: Mystery, Intrigue and Our 2 Millionth...
First thing Yvonne Ochletree did with her subscription to Ancestry.com was search for her father. Then she turned to the real family mystery – and discovered a record of her grandmother’s never-discussed childhood.
“I was lying awake one night and put on a show called Coast to Coast and they had a commercial on for Ancestry.com. I heard I could go on for two weeks to try it,” says Yvonne. “There...
2 tags
Andy Griffith's Legacy
My heart fell this morning when I heard the news that the beloved actor, Andy Griffith, had passed. Through the cold Chicago winters, and hot summers as well, my sisters and I would park in front of the TV when the The Andy Griffith Show would come on. Decades later, I remember telling my daughter to turn off the TV to get to sleep for school as she begged for one more half hour because Andy was...
June 2012
21 posts
2 tags
1940 Census Indexes for Six More States—CO, OH,...
This week Ancestry.com launched 1940 census indexes for six more states—Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Who are you looking for and what stories will you discover? Here are some well-known names that we’ve run across.
Tina Turner While the unincorporated town of Nutbush doesn’t really have “city limits” as the name of the famous Tina Turner song might imply, it’s...
10 tags
Kris Williams: Three Days by Horse
In the last five years I have seen more than half the states in our nation, plus 22 countries and counting. In that time, I have bounced from one hotel to the next with everything I own packed tightly inside two 25” pieces of luggage.
My downtime has been spent with family in New England, visiting good friends all over the United States and visiting my boyfriend in Australia. Even when I am not...
5 tags
Ask Ancestry Anne: Did Amund Have Two Wives?
Question: Could you clarify what I am seeing below on the census from 1920 Federal Census? Under the Amund’s name there is another name bracketed: [ Armand Amundson]
First question - what do bracketted information refer to normally? Under Spouses’ name there are 2 names: Amelia Amundson and in brackets [Francis Vail]
Second question - Does the bracketted reference to Francis Vail...
2 tags
Thank you Ancestry.com!
Thank you Ancestry! After 50+ years of knowing my siblings names, but not knowing where they lived or how to get in touch with them we finally connected. Someone was getting info from my tree. It happened several times so I looked at their tree and there I found my sister that I had never seen. After many conversations by e-mail and phone, we finally met for the first time on June 12, 2012....
5 tags
Ask Ancestry Anne: How to Customize Your Google...
As you know, the 1940 US Census is free to anyone that registers to Ancestry.com and this has allowed us to make this information more available through channels such as Google. Everyone who appears in the 1940 census, all 132 million plus will have their own page that you can find through a Google search.
With a few tricks you can find these pages and other information that people have posted...
8 tags
Kris Williams: Alcatraz - The Great Escape
This month marks the 50thanniversary of one of the most mysterious prison breaks in history. On June 11, 1962, four men - Frank Morris, brothers John and Clarence Anglin and Allen West - took part in what became known as The Great Escape from Alcatraz. Having had the chance to work at “The Rock,” I can’t help but remember my amazement at the lengths they went to escape, as well as remember the...
6 tags
Ask Ancestry Anne: Search Tip #20: Look for Family...
Can’t find George Smith but his brother is Hezekiah Smith? Well go look for Hezekiah. Looking for the uncommon names in a family can be more fruitful than those pesky common names.
Who were your ancestor’s siblings and parents?
Maybe there are living with Grandparents, Cousins, or Aunts and Uncles.
And if that doesn’t work, try searching for Neighbors in the previous or successive census. ...
6 tags
Ask Ancestry Anne: Search Tip #19: First or Last...
This particular technique is most useful on a single data collection, and if it is a large one you might want to limit it to a specific place.
Let’s say you’ve looked for your ancestor Joshua Chamberlain and you just cannot find him. Enter all of your data and then omit the first name and search. This will help you find candidates that might be him but have really poorly transcribed first...
