Genealogy, Family History & Temple Work

Family History Centers are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Founded in 1894, the Family History Library at present contains over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records. You can read more about the Family History Library's beginning's here.

Of the 2.4 million rolls of microfilm mentioned above, about 100,000 rolls of microfilm are circulated to Family History Centers each month. There are over 1,800 Family History Centers in the United States alone and over 3,400 centers worldwide. These Family History Centers attempt to bring a vast majority of content from the Family History Library to you by providing a lending service for microfilm and microfiche from the Family History Library collection.

Family History Centers are volunteer staffed, so you know those who man the centers are there because they love Family History and they want to help you understand the resources the Family History Center has to offer. Note that staff will not do research for you but they will help you best utilize the resources offered, towards you doing your own family research. Some centers even hold classes for the public on various genealogical topics.

Most Family History Centers are located in meetinghouses of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and everyone is welcome to use them, always free of charge.

Many Family History Centers have published resources (books, histories, etc.) which of course vary from center to center. But all Family History Centers offer the following:

* The Family History Library Catalog on Microfiche

* Computers equipped with Personal Ancestral File.

* Computers equipped with Temple Ready (for Mormons.)

* Some microfilm and microfiche collections from the Family History Library. Those microfilms and microfiche that your library does not have on hand can be requested for loan to your local Family History Center for a small fee. Wait time is usually 2 to 3 weeks and the microfilm or microfiche you have ordered will be kept at your Family History Center for up to 1 month after it arrives, allowing you to come in and view it several times at your leisure.

Hours and days of operation vary from center to center, but you can easily find information about your nearest Family History Center here.

In addition some Family History Center's offer internet access and/or subscriptions to various genealogical databases online such as Ancestry.com.

Don't hesitate to call your local Family History Center to find out what resources they offer. Upon visiting you'll find a wealth of information awaits you.

There are many great ideas for getting our children interested in doing Genealogy. Mormon's have been counseled to set aside one evening a week for family time. Called Family Home Evening, this is a prime time to teach different gospel principles, serve others or have fun together doing any number of wholesome activities. If you're interested in teaching your children about Genealogy, consider setting aside your own weekly time slot for some of the following activities that might spark their interest.

1) Have a "Tastes of our Family Tree" meal. Prepare samplings of recipes that have been passed down through the generations or dishes that represent your cultural heritage.

2) Learn about the places your ancestors lived. Using a large map, help the children place stickers over each town/state that various ancestors lived in and read a little bit about the history of that area.

3) Help your children create their own Family Tree. Copy family photos and help the kids cut them out. They can then paste the pictures onto a family tree they have made out of construction paper. If you want specific instructions for making simple family trees, different ideas can be found here, here and here.

4) Teach your children games that their ancestors played. Hopscotch, Horseshoes, Marbles and Jacks are just a few games their great grandparents might have played as children.

5) Have each child illustrate their favorite part of a family story after you've told it. Write the family story down and using the children's illustrations compile a family story binder.

6) Teach your children at a young age the importance of preserving information for future generations. Encourage them to write in their journal or if they're too young to write they can draw a picture about their day and paste it into their journal.

7) Play the "Guess that Ancestor" game. Have photos of the children's ancestors at the ready along with the names of those ancestors on individual slips of paper. Have the children guess which name belongs with which photo. At the end of the game, bring out your children's photos and your own and compare them to your ancestor's photos. Asked the kids if they think they resemble any of their ancestors.

8) Do you have any Family Heirlooms? Show them to the children and tell the story behind them. Questions you might address: What is it? How does it work? Who first owned it? How did they acquire it? What does it mean to you?

There are many great ways to involve our young children in Family History. The sooner we start, the more ingrained the importance of family will be in their every day life.

LostCousins is a relatively new resource on the web. In the website's own words:

"LostCousins is the only family history site able to match you with cousins researching the same ancestors automatically, accurately & confidentially. Simply enter the relatives on your family tree who were recorded on the US, Canadian, or British Census - then click the Search button!"

Lost Cousins currently allows you to enter ancestors on the 1841 England & Wales Census, the 1880 US Census, the 1881 Canadian Census, the 1881 Census of Scotland, and the 1881 Census of England & Wales. After you have entered any ancestors whom you know are located on any of those censuses, LostCousins will perform a search to see if any other registered users have entered any of those same ancestors on their account. You can then choose to contact the person researching those same ancestors. And hopefully they'll accept your invitation to make contact with you.

Registration is easy and free. The web site is very easy to navigate and if you run into any problems or have any questions LostCousins has a very thorough Frequently Asked Questions page to help you out. I haven't found any lost cousins yet through this site, but hopefully in time I will. I have been pleased with the sites easy navigation and clear instruction on how to enter census information.

You may be wondering what the benefits are of getting in touch with a distant relative in the first place. I've listed some of the reasons for this in a previous post, Collateral Lines in Family History, which may answer that question.

Even if distant relatives aren't able to provide you with much help genealogically it certainly doesn't hurt to try to get to know your lesser known or previously unknown living relations as well as you might know your deceased ones.

President Spencer W. Kimball, 12th Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said: "It is important for us...to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally...We ought to encourage our children to know their relatives. We need to talk of them, make effort to correspond with them, visit them, join family organizations, etc."

It has been a blessing in my genealogical research to have found several "lost cousins" (through other means thus far) who have added to my genealogical research and enriched my life in general. LostCousins is an another great resource that might help you reap the blessings of new found family relationships.

With the invention of the internet and online library websites and catalogs, people everywhere have realized that the local library they use to look to as the ultimate resource, may actually not carry everything they need in doing research. But even with this realization, traveling to a library far away, then applying for a card there and checking the item of interest out just isn't practical or feasible. Enter the beginning of a wonderful library service called Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Interlibrary Loan brings material of interest to you by following two simple operations: borrowing and lending. If your library is a borrowing library, you can request a certain book or photocopy of information and this request will be sent to a lending library. If the item you want is in circulation at the lending library, it will be shipped to your local library and you will be notified when it arrives and allowed to borrow it. All you have to do after that is return it to your local library and they will ship it back to the library that lent it out. You can make a request in person, or, if your library has a website you may be able to make your borrowing request online. Interlibrary Loan is usually, though not always, free.

Unfortunately the wait time on an item can take a few weeks. Items that are in high demand may not be available to lend. And of course, items that are very rare or very old may not be in circulation due to fear of further damage or destruction.

Also, not all libraries participate in Interlibrary Loan. And not all of those that do, participate with all other libraries that do. Meaning the library that holds the book you want may participate in Interlibrary Loan, but they don't lend to your local library.

It is important to remember that Interlibrary Loan policy varies from library to library. So always check with your local library staff for details on how Interlibrary Loan works there. In many cases, if you know what book it is you want you can just ask the library staff to find out what other libraries carry that book and if they will lend to your library, instead of having to do the research yourself. So ask the library staff before you go searching.

In the event that your library staff does not provide that service, one good resource for finding books in other lending libraries is the WorldCat Database.

In the year 1864, the United States imposed a tax on the sale of luxury items to raise wartime revenue for the Union. One item that fell within this act were photographs. The act stated that sellers of photographs including daguerrotypes, ambrotypes, tin types and carte de visite, affix a stamp to the back of the photographs that were sold.

The tax stamp period began August 1, 1864 and ended August 1, 1866. The act required that in addition to affixing a stamp on back of each photograph, that the seller was to cancel the stamp by initializing and dating it. As you can imagine, knowing this information is quite valuable for the genealogist who may have a photograph like this. Especially if the genealogist does not know the ancestor in the photograph or the time frame in which it was taken.

Now, not every photographer actually initialed or dated the stamp. Many of them simply crossed over the stamp in ink. Or perhaps they initialed it but didn't date it. Even in that case, you still have a two year time frame in which the picture was taken. That in conjunction with a photographers stamp and city directories within those years might be enough to help you figure out who the ancestor in the photo is. You can also know about how much a particular photograph cost when your ancestor purchase it, based on the color of stamp thereon.

An orange or blue 2 cent stamp indicates that the photograph cost less than 25 cents.

A green 3 cent stamp indicates that the photograph cost 25 to 50 cents.

A red 5 cent stamp (I don't have a picture for you) indicates that the photo cost 50 cents to $1.00. One 5 cent stamp was added for each additional 50 cents to $1.00 thereafter.

Now above I mentioned using the luxury stamp combined with a photographers stamp and city directory to try to identify the ancestor of interest. A photographer stamp is some sort of identifying mark used by the photographer so that the work could be properly attributed. Here is an example of a photographer's stamp from one of the back of my photos:

This one gives you the name of the photographer (S.J.Fowler), the address of his studio which might have even been where he lived at that time (77 Genesee Street) and then the city and state (Auburn, N.Y.)

Most photographers stamps give the same information. Sometimes less, sometimes a little more but they nearly always mention a city. And the ancestor in the photograph most likely lived within or near the photographer's city of practice. Hopefully the cities in that area will have a directory of residents for your years of interest which you can then check in trying to determine who the ancestor in the photograph is.

The photographers stamp and luxury tax stamp may be overlooked genealogically at first, but once utilized can lead to big genealogical discoveries.

A few years back, my grandmother discovered that we are direct descendants of three of the passengers who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620 - Edward Fuller, Stephen Hopkins and Constance Hopkins.

I must admit that prior to learning this, my only thoughts about the pilgrims came seasonally. But when I realized the blood of some of those passengers coursed through my veins, I decided I wanted to learn more. To understand their motivations, way of life, and sacrifices. I wanted to remember them year round and remember to thank Heavenly Father that they listened to the Holy Ghost which inspired them to seek out a land of freedom where, eventually,the Church of Jesus Christ could be restored.

The restoration of the gospel (yes, there was need for a restoration), began with the Holy Ghost inspiring one man.

In the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi, Chapter 13, Verse 12 we read:"And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land."

The man who Nephi saw in this vision was Christopher Columbus. In The Great Prologue, Elder Mark E. Petersen said:

"Columbus's own son, Fernando, in a biography of his father, quotes the discoverer as saying on one occasion, "God gave me the faith and afterward the courage so that I was quite willing to undertake the journey." And the last will and testament of Christopher Columbus includes this expression: "In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, who inspired me with the idea and afterward made perfectly clear to me that I could navigate and go to the Indies from Spain by traversing the ocean westward" (Wasserman, Columbus, pp. 46, 61). Columbus was inspired, and Nephi looked upon him and beheld him coming to the Western Hemisphere."

In the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi, Chapter 13, Verse 13 we read: "And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters."

Elder Mark E. Petersen offers his insight about the above verse in The Great Prologue again saying:

"Under the direction of the Almighty, colonization began. What kind of people did the Holy Spirit influence? Why, the Pilgrims and the Puritans and others like them! Weren't they worthy of the direction of the Spirit of God? They and many others came to America under divine guidance."

Nephi also prophesied about the Revolutionary War and the outcome for all those who had gone "forth out of captivity", which was of course freedom.

Again, Elder Petersen says it best:

"Do you understand the steps that were taken? There was the great apostasy, then the preservation of the Western Hemisphere, next Columbus and the colonization movement, the Revolutionary War to set the colonists free, and then a constitutional form of government which guaranteed free speech and free religion, free assembly and free press.

All of these events were acts of God leading up to one thing--the restoration of the gospel. It was only half a dozen years or so after America was established as a free constitutional nation that one of the great spirits in the preexistence was sent to earth to be born on December 23, 1805, in a little farmhouse; and he was named Joseph Smith. "

Whether we directly descend from the pilgrims or not, we are kindred to them in our belief in God and I cannot think of them without immense gratitude for listening to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to cross the sea, pioneering the way for millions to come. We would do well to remember their example of faith and perseverance all year round.

As you read the following quote, consider yourself the Mayflower descendant referred to therein and I hope that this Thanksgiving will find you more thoughtful and thankful for what Heavenly Father inspired the pilgrims to do.

The following is an excerpt from, The Duty of Today by Thomas Snell Hopkins, Esq., given at the 18th Annual Dinner, Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants Held at Boston, 20 November 1913:

"And this leads to the question, What is the duty of the Mayflower Descendant today?

It can be answered in a few words. Every Mayflower Descendant should renew his allegiance to the faith of his forefathers. He should hew to the line and should refuse to be turned about by every wind that blows. The world will never be won to righteousness or to good government by great organizations, highly commendable and useful as they are; nor by a great assault upon the powers of darkness, nor by a great assault upon the powers of darkness, nor by any spectacular effort. It will be won when every man, high or low, rich or poor, tries each day to live a clean, honest, God-fearing life, as did they who founded Plymouth colony. Relaxation into individual apathy spells the doom of religion and of good government.

This is no time for idle dreaming. There is a man's work to do. The example of our ancestor's, who sacrificed everything that was dear to them, for their God and for us, urges us to action; posterity waits for us;

"Humanity, with all it's fears,
And all it's hopes of future years,"

and the still small voices from above, bid us fall into line, and, by precept and example, consistently and insistently seek to perpetuate the faith of our fathers and the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ and of good government in all the land. And then, not until then, shall we become worthy descendants of that heroic company which braved the angry seas and the terrors of a great and hideous wilderness that they might lay the foundation of civil and religious liberty in America."

So far we have discussed the United States Census 1790-1840, United States Census 1850-1930, Slave Schedules,State Censuses and Where to find Census Records in your Area. Now we're going to talk about where to find the census information online.

Finding Census Records Online

There are many sources you can turn to on the internet when searching for census records. I won't be able to list all of them here but I will list the main, more complete ones.

1) Ancestry.com - On June 22, 2006 Ancestry.com announced that it had completed digitizing and indexing the entire United States Federal Census 1790 to 1930. Imagine being able to find your ancestor in the census by typing their name into a search bar. That is what Ancestry.com has made possible. You can also see the original census images. Ancestry.com also provides millions of other genealogical records. Ancestry.com is not a free service however. But they do offer a 14 day free trial so you can see how you like it. I can't imagine anyone not wanting a subscription once they've tried it.

2) Census Online - Census Online claims to be the Web's largest directory of links to online census transcriptions, including federal, state and territorial censuses and tax, voter and military pensioner lists. Links are organized by Country (Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, U.S.A.) and then state, province, territory or county within that country. This service is free.

3) Census Finder - Census Finder is another directory of links to online census transcriptions that is indexed along the same lines as Census Online. This service is free

4) Family Search.com offers a census search for the 1880 United States Federal Census, 1881 British Isles Census and the 1881 Canadian Census. This service is free.

5) FreeCen - In it's own words, "This project aims to provide a "free-to-view" online searchable database of the 19th century UK census returns". Go to the bottom of the web page and click on, Search the Database.

Important Points to Remember

When searching online records through the use of a search bar or other search options, remember that the information is only as good as the person who transcribed it. The person who transcribed the information may have had a difficult time reading the handwriting. Certain letters in old handwriting may have been mistaken for others.

Play around with your search. If you're having a hard time finding your ancestor, try changing the spelling. Ask yourself if the capital K at the beginning of their name may have been read as an R in cursive handwriting, by the transcriber. Or perhaps your Wagner ancestors might be listed as Vagner, since they were originally German and pronounced the W as a V.

Remember too, that census information given by your ancestors may have been slightly off if they were trying to avoid taxation, military duties or for whatever other reason. I found one ancestor in the census who was listed as being 20 years old in both 1850 and 1860. Also, sometimes if a family wasn’t home when the census taker arrived, neighbors might have supplied the information for that family, making it a bit off. No matter what the reason for incorrect information, keep these things in mind when search any online genealogical index.

So far we have discussed the United States Census 1790-1840, United States Census 1850-1930, Slave Schedules and State Censuses. Now we're going to talk about where to find the census of interest to you.

Finding Census Information Locally

1) Your local historical society or genealogical society may have census collections pertaining to your state. They may even offer a wider collection pertaining to neighboring states or more. You won't know until you check their collections catalog.

A wonderful resource for finding a historical or genealogical society near you is the D'addezio Society Hill Directory. The page has links listed as: United States Historical and Genealogical Societies, Canadian Historical and Genealogical Societies and Australian Historical and Genealogical Societies.

Clicking on the U.S. link will take you to a page where you can browse listings by state. Canada's listings are by provinces and territories and Australia's listings are by states and territories. Once you've clicked on a state, province or territory you can either search by typing a society name into the search bar provided or you can click on a link that will take you to an alphabetical listing.

Results will provide the name and address of a society if you typed in a name or the name and address of multiple societies if you searched alphabetically. Names highlighted and underlined in blue will take you to that societies web page when clicked on.

This is a free service and is regularly updated. Remember that the listings do not include phone numbers and just because a listing is not clickable doesn't mean that the society of interest doesn't have a web page. The web page just may not have been submitted yet. If the society does not have it's web page listed on Society Hill, you may want to search for the society on Google.com or another search engine to see if you can find a phone number listing or other contact information to see what census collections they may have.

2) Your local library is another place to check. Libraries, if they do have genealogical records, don’t usually have much but it’s worth a try. Our local library holds census records for a few counties in our state for a few different Federal Census years.

3) One other place that my have some sort of collection of census records are Archives.

Remember to bring along a pencil and notepad or laptop on trips to any of these places for genealogical information as you will not be able to check the books or microfilms out. Even in your local library, genealogical information is usually listed as REFERENCE only, meaning that you can not check out the book.

When it comes to censuses, somewhat lesser known is the fact that many states within the U.S. have taken their own censuses, in differing years from that of the Federal census. These state censuses can be just as valuable as the federal census. They often ask different questions and in the case of the 1890 census which was destroyed in a fire, they can be invaluable in finding out where your ancestors were between 1880 and 1900 as some states took their own censuses in that time span.

The questions asked on a state census will of course vary from state to state so I won't try to list all of the questions asked for each state census within each state here, but I will list each State that took their own census and for what years

Arizona - Census information is available for the years 1866, 1867, 1869, 1872, 1874, 1876, 1880 and 1882.

Arkansas - Census information is available for the years 1823, 1829, 1865 and 1911

California - Census information is available for the years 1788, 1790, 1796, 1797-98, 1816, 1836 and 1844. Complete census information is available for the year 1852.

Colorado - Census information is available for the years 1861, 1866 and 1885.

Delaware - Census information is available for the year 1782.

District of Columbia - Census information is available for the years 1803, 1867and 1878.

Florida - Census information is available for the years 1825, 1855, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1935 and 1945.

Georgia - Census information is available for the years 1798, 1800, 1810, 1827, 1834, 1838, 1845, 1852, 1853, 1859, 1865 and 1879.

Hawaii - Census information is available for the years 1878, 1890, and 1896.

Illinois - Census information is available for the years 1810, 1818, 1820, 1825, 1830, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1855 and 1865.

Indiana - Census information is available for the years 1807, 1853, 1857, 1871, 1877, 1883, 1889, 1901, 1913, 1919 and 1931.

Iowa - Census information is available for the years 1836, 1838, 1844, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1851, 1852 and 1854, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915 and 1925.

Kansas - Census information is available for the years 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915 and 1925.

Louisiana - Census information is available for the years 1853 and 1858.

Maine - Census information is available for the year 1837.

Maryland - Census information is available for the years 1776 and 1778.

Massachusetts - Census information is available for the years 1855 and 1865

Michigan - Census information is available for the years 1837, 1845 1854, 1864, 1874, 1884, 1888, 1894 and 1904.

Minnesota - Census information is available for the years 1849, 1853, 1855, 1857 and 1865, plus 1875, 1885, 1895 and 1905.

Mississippi - Census information is available for the years 1801, 1805, 1808, 1810, 1816, 1818, 1820, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1830, 1833, 1837, 1840, 1841, 1845, 1850, 1853, 1860 and 1866.

Missouri - Census information is available for the years 1797, 1803, 1817, 1819, 1840, 1844, 1852, 1856, 1860, 1864, 1876 and 1880.

Nebraska - Census information is available for the years 1854, 1855, 1856, 1865, 1869 and 1885.

Nevada - Census information is available for the years 1862, 1863 and 1875.

New Jersey - Census information is available for the years 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905 and 1915.

New Mexico - Census information is available for the years 1790, 1823, 1845 and 1885.

New York - Census information is available for the years 1790, 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915 and 1925.

North Carolina - Census information is available for the year 1786.

North Dakota - Census information is available for the years 1885, 1915 and 1925.

Oklahoma - State census information is available for the years 1890 and 1907.

Oregon - Census information is available for the years 1842, 1843, 1845, 1849, 1850, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, 1865, 1870, 1875 and 1885, 1895 and 1905.

Rhode Island - Census information is available for the years1774, 1777 and 1782, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1905, 1915, 1925 and 1935.

South Carolina - Census information is available for the years 1825, 1839, 1869 and 1875.

South Dakota - Census information is available for the years1885 and 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935 and 1945.

Tennessee - Census information is available for the year 1891.

Texas - Census information is available for the years 1829-1836.

Utah - Census information is available for the year 1856.

Virginia - Census information is available for the years 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785 and 1786.

Washington - Census information is available for the years 1856, 1857, 1858, 1860, 1871, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1891, 1892 and 1898.

Wisconsin - Census information is available for the years 1836, 1838, 1842, 1846, 1847, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895 and 1905.

Wyoming - Census information is available for the years 1875 and 1878.

Remember that many of the censuses listed above only provide partial information. So even if you know your ancestor lived in a certain state within one of those state census years, you may not be able to find them. But certainly make the effort to look. If you do find them the information included may prove very useful indeed.

States for which there is no known state census information include Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia.

A slave schedule refers to a census taken of slaves that lived in the United States. There were only two slave schedules taken, one in the year 1850 and one in 1860.

The 1850 slave schedule asked the following questions:

* Name of slave owners
* Number of slaves
* Age of slave
* Sex of slave
* Color of slave (B for Black, M for Mulatto)
* Whether a fugitive from the State (meaning that the slave listed had fled and not returned
* Number of slaves manumitted (Freed)
* Whether Deaf & Dumb, blind, insane or idiotic

The image to the left is an example of what you might see when looking at the 1850 slave schedule. Notice that only the names of the slave owners are given. In some instances a schedule taker did write down the names of the slaves, but that did not happen very often.

The 1850 slave schedules were taken in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, District of Columbia, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, Georgia, New Jersey and Virginia.

The 1860 slave schedule asked the following questions:

* Name of slave owners
* Number of slaves
* Age of slave
* Sex of slave
* Color of slave (B for Black, M for Mulatto)
* Whether a fugitive from the State (meaning that the slave listed had fled and not returned
* Number of slaves manumitted (Freed)
* Whether Deaf & Dumb, blind, insane or idiotic
* Number of slave Houses

The questions are the same but for the last one which was not included on the 1850 schedule.

The 1860 slave schedules were taken in Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Delaware, Maryland, Texas, District of Columbia, Mississippi, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina.

You may be wondering what value these slave schedules can hold for the genealogical researcher. On occasion the listings will appear to take the form of family groupings, though not always. Many households or plantations of slaves are simply listed in order of age. This combined with the lack of names can make it very difficult for the descendants of those slaves to locate them using these schedules. But don't count them out. Juliet Culliver Crutchfield, Ed.D offers some wonderful insight into better understanding the slave schedules and using them in genealogical research in her article, Gleaning Information from Slave Schedules.

Slave schedules may also provide information for descendants of slave owners. The number of slaves enumerated under an owner might indicate if the holder had a plantation or not. Perhaps your ancestor was a slave holder and you didn't even know it because you have not checked the slave schedules yet.

It is also possible to find names of slaves listed in the wills of these slave holders. In a previous post I put up a picture of my 10th Great grandmother's will. Within that will she has listed the names of her slaves and who they are to pass to upon her death. If you suspect your ancestor was the slave of a certain slave holder you may want to try finding a will or other probate document for that slave holder to see if the names of any slaves are mentioned.

On today's date, November 12 in the year 1954 Ellis Island closed it's doors after 62 years of operation. In that period of time, over 12 million immigrants had been processed. Today, it is estimated that 40% of all Americans can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island. It is no wonder then, that genealogists we're thrilled when the Ellis Island Records became available to search online, for free.

It is important to note that not all immigrants who sailed into New York went through Ellis Island. Wealthy immigrants that traveled first and second class disembarked elsewhere around New York or New Jersey and went through customs. But third class passengers were always transported to Ellis Island for the purpose of close medical examination and legal inspection. Those with disease or other health problems were either sent home or detained at the island's hospitals. Only 2% of these immigrants were denied entrance into the United States.

Thirty years after the last immigrant was processed at Ellis Island, renovation began, and in September of 1990 the Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened.

The aforementioned Ellis Island Records website provides information about the history of Ellis Island, Genealogy helps and various Passenger searches. It is free to search the database but you must be registered first.

To register, click on the SIGN IN button on the top right of the main page. You will see a box asking if you are ALREADY REGISTERED and below that is a smaller box which says, ARE YOU NEW TO THIS SITE? Click on the YES, I AM NEW TO THIS SITE, button below that.

Fill in all of the forms on the page you are taken to and click on SUBMIT. Once you do, you will automatically be signed in and ready to start your search. Your user name and password will be sent to your email account in case you forget it.

To start your search run your mouse over the PASSENGER SEARCH tab in the upper left of the page. A drop down menu will appear, click on New Search or Advanced Search. Fill in whichever fields you desire (though a surname is required) and click on the START SEARCH button. The next page will be a list of matching Passenger Records.

Clicking on the name of a Passenger or the Passenger Record link will take you to a record for that passenger with personal information about them including first name, last name, ethnicity, last place of residence, date of arrival, age at arrival, ship of travel and more. You can even purchase the certificate if you'd like.

By clicking VIEW under the Ship Manifest category you can view the original ships manifest with your ancestors name on it. By clicking VIEW under Ship Image you can see some sort of sketch, or photograph of the ship on which your ancestor sailed. You can also order copies of these for your own records.

This website is a wonderful resource, so if you think any of your ancestors may have arrived through Ellis Island, go register and search now.

In a previous post we discussed the United States Census 1790-1840. Today we'll be taking a look at the 1850-1930 censuses and what they can tell you.

1) 1850 Census - The 1850 Census was the first census on which information was gathered on all members of the household. This means the name and age of every person living therein is listed. Though remember this doesn't necessarily mean they were all related. But from 1850 onward, it becomes much easier to identify a family of your ancestry based on census information. It may also help you to identify the same ancestors in earlier censuses when not as much information was given. The 1850 Census asked each household the following:

* Name, age, sex and color of every person in the household.
* Occupation of each Male person over age 15.
* Value of real estate owned.
* Place of birth of each person.
* Asks if the person was married within the year.
* Did the person attend school within the year.
* Can each person over the age of 20 read and write.
* Is the person deaf, dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, a pauper or convict

Married "within the year" means during the year before the official census day. That would fall between June 1, 1849 and May 31, 1850, for the 1850 census.

1850 Census information is available for Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota Territory, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico Territory, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon Territory, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Territory, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin.

2) 1860 Census - The 1860 Census asked each household the following:

* Name, age, sex and color of every person in the household.
* Occupation of each Male person over age 15.
* Value of real estate owned.
* Value of personal property owned
* Place of birth of each person.
* Asks if the person was married within the year.
* Did the person attend school within the year.
* Can each person over the age of 20 read and write.
* Is the person deaf, dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, a pauper or convict

Married "within the year" falls between June 1, 1859 and May 31, 1860, for the 1860 census

1860 Census information is available for Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

3) 1870 Census - The 1870 Census asked each household the following:

* Name, age, sex and color of every person in the household.
* Occupation of each male.
* Occupation of each female.
* Value of real estate owned.
* Value of personal property owned.
* Place of birth of each person.
* Asks if the person married within the year.
* Asks if the parents of a person are of foreign birth.
* If a person was born within the year, the month of birth was given.
* If a person was married within the year, the month of marriage was given.
* Did the person attend school within the year.
* Can the person read and write.
* Is the person deaf, dumb, blind, insane, or idiotic.
* Is the person a male citizen over 21.
* Is the person a male citizen over 21 who cannot vote.

Married "within the year" falls between June 1, 1869 and May 31, 1870, for the 1870 census.

1870 Census Information is available for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

1880 Census - The 1880 Census asked each household the following:

* House number and street name.
* Name, age, sex and color of every person in the household.
* If a person was born within the year, the month of birth was given.
* Relationship of each person to the Head of Household.
* Is the person single, married, widowed or divorced.
* Asks if a person was married within the year.
* The occupation of each male.
* The occupation of each female.
* Asks how many months was the person unemployed during the census year.
* Asks if a person was sick or temporarily disabled, and if so, the nature of the illness.
* Asks if a person was blind, deaf, dumb, idiotic, insane, maimed, crippled, bedridden or permanently disabled.
* Did the person attend school within the year.
* Can the person read and write.
* Place of birth of each person.
* Place of birth of each person's father and mother.

The 1880 census is more valuable than any previous census asking the standard questions in addition to providing a street and house number of residence, birth place of a person's parents and the relationship between each person in the household, if any. Married "within the year" falls between June 1, 1879 and May 31, 1880, for the 1880 census

1880 Census information is available for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

1890 Census - The 1890 Census asked each household the following questions:

* House number and street name.
* Name, age, sex and ethnicity of every person in the household.
* If a person was born within the year, the month of birth was given.
* Relationship of each person to the Head of Household.
* Asks if the person is single, married, widowed or divorced.
* Asks if the person was married within the year.
* Occupation of each male.
* Occupation of each female.
* Asks how many months the person was unemployed during the census year.
* Asks if a person was sick or temporarily disabled, and if so, the nature of the illness.
* Asks if a person was blind, deaf, dumb, idiotic, insane, maimed, crippled, bedridden or permanently disabled.
* Asks if a person attended school within the year.
* Asks if a person read and write.
* Place of birth of each person.
* Place of birth of each person's father and mother.

To the devastation of many doing genealogical research, most of the 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire in 1921. Small fragments of the 1890 census survived but even those that did are usually incomplete. Fragments of surviving schedules exist for Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Indian Territories, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Washington DC and United States Vessels and Navy Yards.

1900 Census - The 1900 Census asked each household the following:

* House number and street name.
* Name and sex of every person in the household.
* Relationship of each person to the head of household.
* Color/ethnicity of each person.
* Month and year of birth of each person and their age on their last birthday.
* Asks if the person is single, married, widowed or divorced.
* Asks how long has a person has been married.
* Asks how many children have been born to females and how many of those children are still living.
* Place of birth of each person.
* Father's and Mother's place of birth.
* Asks if an immigrant, the year of immigration to the United States.
* Asks how long an immigrant has been in the United States.
* Asks if the person is naturalized?
* Asks the profession, occupation or trade of each person over age 10.
* Asks the number of months a person was unemployed in the year.
* Asks if a person attended school within the year.
* Can the person read and write.
* Can the person speak English.
* Does the family own or rent the home, is it mortgaged and is it a farm or a house.

The 1900 census is particularly helpful in that it asked the month and year of birth for every person in the house. Sadly, this is the only census that asked for that information. Another fantastic question asked here, Mother of how many children and number of these children living, can help you know if you're missing record of a child. The 1900 Census is available for all of the United States and it's territories.

1910 Census - The 1910 Census asked each household the following:

* Name of street, road, avenue etc and house number.
* Name of each person.
* Relationship of each person to the head of household.
* Sex and color/race of each person.
* Age of person at last birthday.
* Is person single, married, widowed or divorced.
* How many years has the person been married in their present marriage.
* Mother of how many children and how many still living.
* Place of birth of each person.
* Place of birth of the father and mother of each person.
* Year of immigration to the US.
* Is theperson an alien or naturalized.
* Can the person speak English. If not, what is language spoken.
* Occupation, trade or profession of person.
* General nature of industry, business or where this person works.
* Is the person an employer, employee or working on own account.
* If an employee, was the person working on April 15,1910.
* How many weeks during the year 1909 was the person unemployed.
* Is person able to read and write.
* Did the person attend school since Sept. 1, 1909.
* Does this family own or rent home.
* Is home owned outright or mortgaged.
* Is the dwelling a farm or house and if a farm, what is the number on the farm schedule.
* Is the person a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy.
* Is the person blind, deaf or dumb.

As the census goes on, more and more extensive questions are asked. The 1910 Census is available for all of the United States and Puerto Rico

1920 Census - The 1920 Census asked each household the following:

* Name of street, road, avenue etc and house number or farm.
* Number of dwelling in order of visitation.
* Name of each person.
* Relationship of each person to the head of household.
* Is home owned or rented, and if home is owned it is free or mortgaged.
* Sex and color/race of person
* Age of person at last birthday.
* Is this person single, married, widowed or divorced.
* What is the year of immigration to the United States.
* Is this person naturalized or alien.
* If naturalized, what is year of naturalization.
* Did this person attend school at any time since Sept. 1, 1919.
* Is this person able to read and write.
* Place of birth of this person.
* Place of birth of father and mother.
* If foreign born, give mother tongue.
* Is person able to speak English.
* Occupation, trade or profession.
* Industry, business or place of work.
* Is this person an employer, salary or wage worker, or worker working on own account.
* Number on farm schedule.

The 1920 census is available for all of the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

1930 Census - The 1930 Census asked each household the following:

* Name of street, road, avenue etc. and/or house number
* Name of each person.
* Relationship of each person to the head of household.
* Is the home owned or rented.
* Value of home if owned or monthly rental amount.
* Does the family own a radio set.
* Does the family live on a farm.
* Sex and color/race of each person
* Age of person at last birthday.
* Is this person single, married, widowed or divorced.
* Age when this person first married.
* Has this person attend school since Sept. 1, 1929.
* Is this person able to read and write.
* Place of birth of this person.
* Place of birth of the father and mother of this person.
* If person is foreign born, what is the native language.
* What year did this person immigrate to the US.
* Naturalized or alien.
* Is this person able to speak English.
* Occupation, trade of profession of person.
* Industry, or business name.
* Class of worker.
* Was person at work yesterday or the last regular working day.
* If not, list the line number of the Unemployment Schedule.
* Is this person a veteran of the U.S. Military or Naval forces and if so what war or expedition
* Number of farm schedule.

The 1930 census is the latest available census to the public at this time and is available for all of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, Panama Canal, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Digital picture of my 10th Great Grandmother's Will, housed at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis

An Archive refers to a collection of public records and/or historical documents. It may also refer to the location in which these records are kept.

Also known as Archival Repositories or Archives, these places often hold items of great interest to historians, demographers, lawyers of course Genealogists.

Now, an archive is not the same thing as a library, though many archives may house decent book collections. The main purpose of an archive is to collect unpublished material of historical import, mainly from local surroundings. This of course means that the information you can find varies greatly from one archive to the next. In general though, all archives will contain Primary source records that have been preserved because of their great research value. This may include but is certainly not limited too:

* Diaries
* Ledgers
* Autograph Books
* Tax Books
* Charters
* Biographies
* Land Deeds
* Plat Maps
* Letters
* Church Registers
* Probate Documents
* Registers of Birth, Death or Marriage
* Photographs
* Area Histories
* Yearbooks

What an archive may house greatly depends on how long the archive has been around, where the archive is located and what type of archive it is.

There are Government archives, business archives, academic archives, church archives, and more. State/Province archives (which fall under the government archives category) usually house any number of the above mentioned documents gathered from all over the state/province, while other archives may carry items much more specific and of a narrower range.

State and Province archives are usually open for anyone to use and are of particular interest to genealogists as they carry the most information in general on their particular state/region. National Archives are also a wonderful Genealogical Resource and exist in many countries.

The National Archives (NARA) is the U.S. Government’s collection of documents of important events in American history and is located in the District of Columbia.

A listing of web links to State archives can be found here on the Council of State Archivists(COSA) website.

Keep in mind that even though State archives are open to anyone's use, they are usually not free. A small fee is required for entrance to do research. Each State archives website will give you more details on that particular archives' policies. But as a general rule you'll want to bring cash for copies of items and for a locker (certain items are not allowed), a laptop or notebook and pencil (no pens) and a digital camera with the flash set to OFF. Even then some archives do not allow picture taking of any kind. Another good idea is to browse the archives catalog before you go, if it is online. That way you won't spend your valuable time there deciding what to look for.

If you've never been to an Archives before it may seem a bit daunting upon first arriving. But the archivists are generally friendly and should be happy to help you get acquainted with the archives set up and collections. Prepare to spend your whole day there. It's addicting!

The first official census (after the revolution) conducted in the United States of America was the census of 1790. A national census has been conducted every 10 years since that time. The last one was taken in the year 2000 and the next one is planned for 2010. As stated in an earlier post, the United States of America has enacted a 72 year privacy law, meaning that census information will only be released to the general public 72 years after it was first taken. This means that the 1790 through 1930 censuses are available to the public.

Now the first six censuses (1790-1840) are sadly void of much helpful information, genealogically speaking. Only the name of the Head of the household is listed. If you have an ancestor that may have been listed anytime before 1840, you won't be able to determine exactly where your ancestor was living just based on census information, unless they had a very unique name. Often, the census information you find prior to 1850 can only be claimed as circumstantial "proof" based on family records, land records or more recent census information. Now, let's take a look at the first 6 censuses and what they can tell your

1) 1790 Census - The first enumeration began on August 2, 1790 and a total of 6 questions was asked of each household:

* Name of the head of the Family
* Number of free white males 16 years and up
* Number of free white males under 16 years
* Number of free white females
* Number of all other free persons
* Number of slaves

Surviving 1790 Census information is available for Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachussetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

2) 1800 Census - The 1800 census asked each household the following:

* Name of the head of the family
* Number of free white males under age 10
* Number of free white males over 10 and under 15
* Number of free white males over 16 and under 25
* Number of free white males over 26 and under 44
* Number of free white males age 45 and over
* Number of free white females under age 10
* Number of free white females over 10 and under 15
* Number of free white females over 16 and under 25
* Number of free white females over 26 and under 44
* Number of free white females age 45 and over
* Number of all other free persons
* Number of slaves
* Town/city and county of residence

Surviving 1800 Census information is available for Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont.

3) 1810 Census - The 1810 Census asked each household the following:

* Name of the head of the family
* Number of free white males under age 10
* Number of free white males over 10 and under 15
* Number of free white males over 16 and under 25
* Number of free white males over 26 and under 44
* Number of free white males age 45 and over
* Number of free white females under age 10
* Number of free white females over 10 and under 15
* Number of free white females over 16 under 25
* Number of free white females over 26 and under 44
* Number of free white females age 45 and over
* Number of all other free persons
* Number of slaves
* Town/city and county of residence

Surviving 1810 Census information is available for Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.

4) 1820 Census - The 1820 Census asked each household the following:

* Name of the head of each household
* Number of free white males under age 10
* Number of free white males over 10 and under 16
* Number of free white males between age 16 and 18
* Number of free white males over 16 and under 26
* Number of free white males over 26 and under 45
* Number of free white males over age 45
* Number of free white females under age 10
* Number of free white females over 10 and under 16
* Number of free white females over 16 and under 26
* Number of free white females over 26 and under 45
* Number of free white females over age 45
* Number of all other free persons except Indians
* Number of Slaves
* Number of how many persons not naturalized
* Number of persons engaged in agriculture, commercial or manufacture
* Number of colored persons
* Town/city of residence

Census information for 1820 is available for Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.

We see that in the 1820 census the government has added the age 16 to 18 male question for military purposes and also a naturalization question which can be useful for determining how long an ancestor has lived within the U.S., helpful in securing naturalization papers for that ancestor.

1830 Census - The 1830 Census asked each household the following: * Name of the head of each household
* Number of free white males and free white females age 0-5
* Number of free white males and free white females age 5-10
* Number of free white males and free white females age 10-15
* Number of free white males and free white females age 15-20
* Number of free white males and free white females age 20-30
* Number of free white males and free white females age 30-40
* Number of free white males and free white females age 40-50
* Number of free white males and free white females age 50-60
* Number of free white males and free white females age 60-70
* Number of free white males and free white females age 70-80
* Number of free white males and free white females age 80-90
* Number of free white males and free white females age 90-100
* Number of free white males and free white females over 100.
* Number of males slaves under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100.
* Number of female slaves under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100.
* Number of free black males under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100.
* Number of free black females under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100.
* Number of deaf and dumb whites under age 14, over 14 and under 25, over 25 years of age.
* Number of blind whites.
* Number of deaf and dumb slaves and free blacks under age 14, over 14 and under 25, over 25 years of age.
* Number of blind slaves and free blacks.
* Number of white foreigners not naturalized.

Census information for 1830 is available for Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. As you can see, there are new categories for deaf, dumb and blind persons. This can lead to research in institutions, schools and hospitals for records.

1840 Census - The 1840 Census asked each household the following:

* Name of the head of each household.
* Number of free white males and free white females age 0-5
* Number of free white males and free white females age 5-10
* Number offree white males and free white females age 10-15
* Number offree white males and free white females age 15-20
* Number of free white males and free white females age 20-30
* Number of free white males and free white females age 30-40
* Number of free white males and free white females age 40-50
* Number of free white males and free white females age 50-60
* Number of free white males and free white females age 60-70
* Number of free white males and free white females age 70-80
* Number of free white males and free white females age 80-90
* Number of free white males and free white females age 90-100
* Number of free white males and free white females over 100.
* Number of males slaves under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100
* Number of female slaves under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100
* Number of free black males under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100.
* Number of free black females under age 10, over 10 and under 24, over 24 and under 36, over 36 and under 55, over 55 and under 100, over age 100.
* Number of individuals engaged in mining, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing and trades, navigation of the oceans, navigation of the lakes, canals, and rivers, learned professions and engineering.
* Number of deaf and dumb whites under age 14, over 14 and under 25, * Number of blind whites.
* Number of idiotic or insane whites.
* Number of white males over 21 who cannot read and write.
* Number of deaf and dumb slaves and free blacks under 14, over 14 and under 25, over age 25.
* Number of blind slaves and free blacks.
* Number of idiotic or insane slaves and free blacks.
* Number of white foreigners not naturalized.
* Names and ages of all Revolutionary War pensioners

Census information for 1840 is available for Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. This census includes the wonderful list of 1840 Revolutionary War Pensioners.

In the next post we'll be looking at the united States Census 1850-1930.