Beyond the history books and newspapers you may find a lot of interesting items in the records you've already collected. You just need to look at them through "new eyes." In other words, don't look at just the names and dates--look beyond that to what those names and dates mean. How old was a couple when they got married? When they had their first child? Their last child? Did a parent die while the children were still young? How old were the children when they first show up in a city directory or census with an occupation listed?

Post-1850 censuses are wonderful tools for adding detail. Look at all those "other columns" and think about what they meant to the family. For example, censuses taken between 1880 and 1910 in the U.S. include questions regarding employment status, asking for the number of weeks or months unemployed. The 1930 census includes a question about whether they were actually working at the time of the census.

In 1880, my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Howley, was a gas-pipe maker and the census lists him as having been out of work for three months that year. My great-grandmother, age seventeen, and her younger sister, age fifteen, are enumerated with the occupation of "coffee packer," presumably helping the family through some lean times.

Other things to look at:

• Schooling, literacy, and language skills. What impact would these have had on the family? Which generation was the first to receive a formal education? Or even to learn to read and write?


• Community. Was the community predominantly from one ethnic group? Were your ancestors' neighbors laborers, artisans, or professionals? In what range did personal property and real estate average in the neighborhood? Did most rent or own their homes? Were most farmers? Look to local histories for more information on your ancestors' community.


• Finances. What was that $100 of personal property worth in today's terms? Check out EH.net to learn more about the historical value of your ancestors' estate values. Also, does their estate value in the census increase over time or decrease?


• Housing. Did they rent or own their homes? In New York, if they rented, there's a good chance they may have taken part in the customary "moving day" on the first of May. An 1869 newspaper clipping from the New York Herald reports that,
  

  "By law all tenancies the term of which is not fixed by a written lease expire on the first day of May. It is on this day, or to begin with it, that the scale of rents is fixed for the year ending with the next 1st of May. Every year for the last twenty, we may say, landlords have insisted upon an increased rental for their houses from the tenants, and give them the option to remain and pay the increased rent or move on the first of May. . . ."

• Health. Was anyone in the house disabled or bedridden? In addition to the tidbits found in censuses, also look at death certificates. What causes of death are listed? Were there prolonged illnesses and how would this have affected the family? Was the main breadwinner ill for an extended period?


• Births. The 1900 and 1910 censuses ask "mother of how many children" and "how many living?" Look at birth dates in relationship to other events. Was a mother pregnant during tough times (e.g., during a family death or illness, a spouse's unemployment spell, a severe storm or difficult winter/summer)?


• The Commute. City directories will often list both business and home addresses. Plot these on a map and see how far your ancestor had to commute to work each day. Were there any hazards along the way? I have several ancestors in Brooklyn who were in the milk business and I found the following excerpt from Henry R. Stiles' A History of the City of Brooklyn regarding their profession:

  "On the west, or river side of the road [later became Furman street], we notice next beyond Jonathan Thompson's stores, at about the foot of the present Orange street, a dock (Map B, 29) known as the Milkmen's dock. Here, every morning, 'rain or shine,' came the vendors of 'lacteal fluid,' stabled their horses in a row of sheds erected for the purpose, under the shelter of the Heights; and, clubbing together in the hire of boats, were rowed with their milk- cans over to New York, encountering, not infrequently, during the severe winter months, much suffering and even serious danger from fierce winds, and floating ice. Their cans were suspended from yokes across their shoulders, and thus accoutered they peddled off their milk in the city and returned in the afternoon, wind and weather permitting, to the Brooklyn side where they 'hitched up' their teams and started for their homes."

Look at the Big Picture
The above tidbits are just the tip of the iceberg. As you examine your family records, you will likely find even more. As you uncover these interesting new items, add them to your timeline. Read historical newspapers and find out what was happening on a larger scale.

As my great-great-grandparents, William Dennis and Catherine Huggins, were getting married on 11 April 1865, the headlines of the New York Times told of "The Rejoicing," and "New York City Preparing to Welcome Peace" after the long and bloody Civil War. The Times article further reveals that, "The rain fell heavily during the day." I can imagine William and Catherine running into St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn surrounded by happy family and friends. As you add more notes to your outline, you'll find overlapping items that will make your story all the more compelling.

The Writing Part
Once you have filled in an extensive outline, arrange the items in a way that makes your story flow. When this is done, I think you'll find the words come much easier than you thought. Your passion and interest in the subjects will shine through and I think you'll find that you know more about these people than you realized.

Juliana Smith has been an editor of Ancestry.com newsletters for more than eight years and is author of The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She has written for Ancestry Magazine and wrote the "Computers and Technology" chapter in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, rev. 3rd edition. Juliana can be reached by e- mail at Juliana@Ancestry.com, but she regrets that her schedule does not allow her to assist with personal research.

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by George G. Morgan

Every beginning genealogist quickly learns that some informational sources are better than others. Granny's recollection and oral description of a family wedding that occurred forty to fifty years ago may be slightly incorrect because of the passage of time, or even because she only heard about it from another family member.

Therefore, an exact image of the marriage license, the marriage return entered in the courthouse, a newspaper wedding announcement, or a descriptive letter written by a relative who attended the wedding (written immediately after the event) will all be more reliable resources. That is the case because they were created at or very near the time of the event. And even though there may be factual flaws, transcription errors, and other "problems," these sources are essentially more reliable than Granny's story--even though Granny's account is most certainly a pointer toward the original sources.

I recently had one of those revelations with one of my own ancestor's American Revolutionary War stories. Let me explain.

John Swords
My fourth great-grandfather was John Swords, born 19 March 1755 in York, South Carolina, and died 28 September 1834 in Anderson, South Carolina. He married Eleanor Swancey (Swancy) on 24 April 1782 in York, South Carolina, and they proceeded to have eleven children whom I have been able to reliably document.

John was a participant in the American Revolutionary War. According to one printed source, John Swords enlisted while residing in York District and was in the Snow Campaign. During the spring of 1777, he served under Captain George Warley and Colonel Sumter. He was on the Florida Expedition and in the battles at Beaufort and Stono. He was in the siege of Savannah under Captain Boyce. After being taken prisoner at the Siege of Savannah, he was held two weeks before he escaped. Next, he was under Colonel Bratton and was in the battles at Rocky Mount, Hanging Rock, and Eutaw Springs.

Revolutionary War Pensions
Well, that was all very interesting. However, a number of years ago I had ordered his Revolutionary War Pension File from NARA (#W8773), which dated from 1818. The pension file was rich in information. John Swords signed his ‘X' on his affidavit sworn before the court. The affidavit attested to his having been taken prisoner at the Battle of Savannah. It was a fierce battle that commenced on 9 October 1789. Among the participants were Samuel Davis, father of future Confederate President Jefferson Davis; Polish Count Casimir Pulaski; and Major Pierce Charles L'Enfant, future architect of Washington. By the end of the day, 800 of the initial force of 5,000 American and French soldiers fighting the English lay dead. And, according to John Swords' affidavit, he had been taken prisoner.

Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-83
During this Memorial Day weekend, I spent some time exploring the vast collection of military records databases at Ancestry. One database that particularly caught my attention was the U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 that includes the Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls), and the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records (Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington, D.C.).

You must realize two facts about this database before you begin.

1. The records were indexed by Direct Data Capture, which probably generated their index by copying the index card file that exists to reference these files. These card files do contain transcription errors of names, and so you should try alternative spellings, initials, nicknames, and reversed given name/surname combinations.

2. A click on the View Record link will present you with the first scanned image of the roll of microfilm on which your ancestor's record is located. You'll therefore have to browse through each record until you find your subject.

My ancestor's name is John SWORDS. However, my previous experience working with the index card file succeeded only when I "learned to misspell my ancestor's name" as SOARDS. When my first search for the surname "Swords" in the index failed, I remembered this alternate spelling. Sure enough, when I entered "Soards" in the surname box, the first entry in the list was John Soards, a private who served from South Carolina and whose record would be found in roll box 89. A click on View Record or the View Images icon took me to a record from which I clicked and went to the digitized image of the title page of Roll 89.

There were 389 images on the roll, and I settled in with determination that I would find John Swords' record. These records are essentially muster roll and payroll records. The first image is the outside of the document, containing identifying information about the unit and a statement by the paymaster; the second image is typically an abstract of the payroll--number of individuals by rank and the amount paid. The third page is a list, in rank order (and often in alphabetical sequence), of every soldier, including details about his service and pay rate.

Image 298 (see the blog version of this article to view the image) is the "Pay Roll of Captain George Warleys company in the 6th Regimt of South Carolina continental Troops commanded by Colo Wm Henderson from the 1st of August to the 1st December 1779." Near the bottom of the page, I found John Swords, a private. His pay period commenced on 1 August 1779, with a subsidy on 13 August, and the pay was until 9 October 1779. His rate of pay and subsidy are listed, and a total amount of pay and subsidies in dollars is listed--what appears to be $32 and 30¢. Finally, however, is the corroborating evidence that so excited me. In the column labeled "Casualties" is the notation "Missing 9 Octo Savannah."

This certainly is a lot closer to the actual time of the event of John Swords' capture than is the affidavit sworn in 1818. I have no doubt that his being taken prisoner at the Battle of Savannah remained vivid in John's mind, but the date may not have been exactly recalled. In addition, I believe that the records maintained by the paymaster were quite meticulous. While this pay report was prepared almost two months after the Battle of Savannah, by its very nature I would place substantial weight on its accuracy. I now have another excellent piece of source evidence about my fourth great-grandfather. It took some perseverance and patience, but this is exactly the type of research I enjoy.

Check the massive collection of military database records at Ancestry and you will not be disappointed. And, by the way, I especially recommend viewing the WWII newsreels. They are addictive too!

Happy Hunting!
George

Listen to The Genealogy Guys Podcast each week for fun, entertaining, and informative genealogy discussions. George's brand new book, The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, is now available from his company's website, Aha! Seminars, Inc. at and personally autographed by the author.

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The following items were posted to the 24/7 Family History Circle blog over the past week:

• Mecklenburg-Schwerin Census, 1819 Online at Ancestry (in German)
• Ancestry Posts California Marriage and Divorce Indexes
• Photo Corner: Looking for Antique Car Experts…
• Hey CNN, Where's Family History?
• Where Am I? Church in Poland–possibly Grajewo or Wierzbowo?

Whether you are coming to Ancestry for the first time or have used it for years, you need The Official Guide to Ancestry.com. Written by noted genealogist and lecturer George G. Morgan, this official guide takes you inside the #1 website for family history research. Become more proficient with searching the site. Explore obscure databases you didn't know existed. Create and develop your own family tree. Learn to do all of these things and more. You've always known Ancestry was a valuable resource. Now you can learn to use the site like never before.

To purchase your copy, visit the Ancestry Store.

Today's image (in the upper, right-hand corner of this newsletter) is from the Library of Congress Photochrom Print Collection: Germany, Austria, & Switzerland, 1890-1910 at Ancestry.

Langkofelgruppe, Pragerhuette, Tirol, Austria-Hungary

from George G. Morgan

Sometimes when doing your research, it is difficult to locate specific places. There are villages, place names, crossroads, cemeteries and other features for which you know the names but which you cannot locate on a standard map.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a website for its Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) which can provide precise latitude and longitude information for you. The site allows you to enter the name of a feature, specify the type of feature it is, the state in which it is located, and even the county. Press enter and the server locates and displays matches for you.

I entered Cooper Cemetery, specified feature type "cemetery," and county of Caswell in North Carolina, and was presented with the cemetery's latitude and longitude. I then entered no feature name, but specified a feature type of "cemetery" in the county of Talladega in Alabama, clicked Send Query and was presented with fifty-two cemeteries. If they know the cemetery and it's in their database, your search will locate the cemetery.

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"Widowed" Doesn't Always Mean the Spouse is Dead
Widowed does not always mean that the spouse is dead. When researching my ancestors and relatives from the 1870s through the 1920s, I have found on several occasions that my aunt, cousin, or great-grandmother was "widowed." In trying to find when the spouse died, I found out--to my surprise--that the spouse was not always dead, but living with other relatives or married again.

One example is: my great-aunt Josie was listed as widowed and living with her grown children in North Dakota in 1900. Well, I thought poor Karl had died just as the children were grown and he could enjoy his later years.

Then I accidentally saw his name in a Minnesota census. Yes, it was the right age. Yes, he was born in Germany. "What's going on here?" I wondered. Karl was living with a daughter of a previous marriage and he listed himself as "D" (divorced) while Aunt Josie had listed herself as "Wd" (widowed).

Josie's first husband did die young back in Kentucky, but she remarried. Should she have listed herself as widowed? I found several instances where the woman listed widowed, but the man listed divorced. This seemed to be a trend as divorce was frowned upon.

Keep looking until you are sure "Wd" means widowed.

Tom Humphrey
Jacksonville, Alabama

Print Landscape Rather Than Portrait
I keep folders for births, marriages, etc., in folders for each major surname of interest to me. I put the information on pages set up as "Landscape" rather than "Portrait," because it is quicker and easier to see the information than if the sheets were going in different directions. If a sheet happens to be Portrait and is not a full page, I cut the bottom off making it 8 1/2" square so it has the top of the page up as do the others.

This has not made a significant positive change in my research; however, it does save me a minor annoyance.

Loretta O. Davis

Family Surnames as Middle Names
Reading Paula Stuart-Warren's A Variety of Resources for Finding Maiden Names made me remember the oddity my husband's great-aunt Rebecca Allen (nee Henderson) Crawford. Having a male name as the middle name seemed odd to me until we found her maternal grandmother's burial location. Rebecca had been named for her mother's younger sister Rebecca who had married Alfred Allen. She was given her aunt's married name. What is even stranger is that the younger Rebecca resembled her Aunt Rebecca in appearance (stature and facial looks) more so than either of her own parents. Since then I have found numerous females with a family married name or a family maiden name as their middle name regardless of society's class.

Debbi Geer

If you have a suggestion you would like to share with other researchers, send it to: Juliana@Ancestry.com. Thanks to all of this week's contributors!

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Weekly Journal please state so clearly in your message.

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The year was 1869 and in the town of Taylorville, Illinois, it is remembered as the year that it rained--not cats and dogs--but amphibians. Following days of heavy rain, local residents found strange serpent-like creatures in "every ditch, brook, puddle, and pool." Scientists believe that it was the "Lesser Siren" that rained down on the town, and that the creatures had been sucked into the atmosphere via a waterspout and carried on the jetstream for an hour or two before landing in Taylorville.

Later that year a more traditional, but deadlier storm struck the areas surrounding the Bay of Fundy, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and parts of Maine. Known as the "Saxby Gale," a combination of weather factors and a lunar high tide conspired to create a devastating storm surge that caused extensive flooding that drowned both people and farm animals, and winds that grounded boats around the Fundy Basin.

In the U.S., east and west were finally connected by rail. On 10 May 1869 the last spike was driven in the transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah. (Click through to the blog to see a photograph of the event.) With the joining of the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad the trip from the Missouri River west to the Pacific was reduced from four to six months to six days.

Another transportation route was opened in 1869 with the opening of the Suez Canal. The canal created an all-water route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, allowing easier access from Great Britain and Europe to India and east Africa.

A New Jersey physician and dentist, Dr. Thomas Branwell Welch launched the fruit juice industry with the pasteurization of Concord grapes into "unfermented sacramental wine." The beverage that would eventually be known as Welch's Grape Juice earned nationwide popularity at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

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If you'd like to see your ancestor's photograph in the Ancestry Weekly Journal, send it to Juliana@Ancestry.com.

Contributed by Kathy Young This is a photo of Juanita Blanche, born 10 December 1907 in the Arizona territory, taken at the time of her May 1928 wedding to my grandfather, Glenn Bailey. Happy 100th Birthday, Juanita!	Contributed by Bill Rodman, Suffern, New York This is a photo of my wife's great-grandmother, Margaret Fitzgerald, and her twin sister, Frances Fitzgerald, in New Haven, Connecticut.

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Producing a Quality Family History
by Patricia Law Hatcher

The goal of every family historian is to discover the history of his or her family. An equally important goal should be to preserve that history in a permanent, accurate record--a family history. This book is a guide to creating and publishing a family history that will be appreciated and enjoyed by your own family, and by other researchers.

Producing a Quality Family History will teach you how to document facts and relationships and express information accurately, indicating the likelihood of the conclusions you reach. It also describes how to include illustrations, such as maps, charts, and photographs in your family history manuscript.

"If your goal is to publish your family history, this is the book that will answer your questions and teach you how to do it right."
-- Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG

Normally this book retails for $17.95, but for one week you can buy it in the Ancestry Store for $14.95.

1776
by David McCullough

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Truman and John Adams, McCullough returns with the story of the Revolutionary War -- a book certain to be another landmark in the literature of American history. In this stirring book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence -- when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.

Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no- accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King's men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.

Normally this book retails for $32.00, but for one week you can buy it in the Ancestry Store for $27.95.

For more selections like this one, visit the History section of the Ancestry Store.

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