by Juliana Smith
For the past several weeks, we've been covering various ways to
search the data at Ancestry (see the links following this article if
you missed these articles). This week we're going to stray a little
and we'll begin this installment with some hand-slapping. Not high-
fives mind you, this will be hand-slapping of the reprimand variety.
The target of this reprimand? Yours truly.
Tobins Revisited
In last week's column, I used an example of how I had found a
possible passenger arrival for my Tobin ancestors by searching by
surname, ship name, and date.
In the article, I said, "Images are not available for this database.
. ." but as my co-worker Chad Milliner told me in an e-mail, these
records are also available as part of a larger database--New York
Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 and in this database
there are images available. Clearly I hadn't investigated all the
possibilities when this new database was posted. Slap! I was still
basing research on my original search from several years ago and
hadn't taken the time to follow up with the original record. Slap!
Slap!
Well, at least now I could remedy the problem. I was off to search
New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. A search using the same criteria
in this database gave me some new results. Searching for Tobin on the
Robert Isaac in 1841, I found:
Jno Tobin
Mary Tobin
W. Tobin
What? Where were "Geo??" and Peter Tobin from the other index? And
who the heck was John? I don't know a John!
Mary's birth date of 1798 also gave me pause. She had dropped a
couple decades on me. Now, I am used to ancestors playing it loose
with their age, but twenty years?
Fortunately after viewing the image, I determined that Peter is
indeed traveling with them. And it's tough to make out the first
number in Mary's age. Could be forty-three; could be sixty-three. I
tried comparing the number to other numbers on the page, but it
doesn't look like legible fours or sixes on that page. What do you
think? (Click on the image on the blog to enlarge it.)
The bottom line--I still have a bit to go before I can determine for
certain whether or not this is my Tobin family. While John could be
another sibling I'm not aware of, it serves as an important reminder
that viewing the original can change the whole picture and my
research isn't complete without it.
So, from here I was off in search of more information, and as I
searched I remembered a few more search tips we should keep in mind
when searching Ancestry collections (or any collection for that
matter).
Try Initials
If you're having a tough time finding an ancestor in a particular
record group, try a search using on the first initial of the given
name. In looking at other passenger arrival records for my Tobins, I
found an entire passenger list where only the first initial was
recorded.
This is not only true of passenger arrivals, but also some censuses.
In the 1860 Census for Brooklyn, New York's Sixth Ward, Second
District, the vast majority of given names are represented by
initials. For example on image seventy-five of that district, only
seven of the forty names on the page include a given name or
abbreviation for the given name. The remaining thirty-three names are
represented by initials.
This isn't an isolated incident either. For that same year, in New
York City, Ninth Ward, Second District, I may have found my elusive
James Kelly listed as J Kelly. On that page only one of forty people
are enumerated with a first name given and one woman didn't even get
an initial. She is enumerated as Mrs. McIntire. Who knows how many more lazy enumerators and record keepers there
were! Give it a try.
Middle Initials
If you know your ancestor's middle initial, try using that in the
field for given names in place of the first name. Where available,
middle initials are typically indexed in that field and using only
that middle initial, you could pick up on a badly mangled given name.
When in Doubt, Leave it Out
Going back to passenger arrivals, in the New York Passenger Lists,
1820-1957, there is a
search field on this database for "Ethnicity/Race/Nationality." I
typically leave this blank. The problem with this field is that many
of the records don't include that information, so by adding it you
could be ruling out the person you're seeking.
For example, try a search for James Kelly. A straight out search for
this very common Irish name turns up 6,042 hits. Now add Irish. The
number of hits is reduced to 1,952. More than two out of three of the
James Kellys are gone, even though many of them are listed as
departing from an Irish port and were very likely Irish. If you need
to narrow your search, try rotating it in and out and trying port of
departure as an alternative. Even here care needs to be used though.
Using just the country of departure will often be picked up in that
field, but there are a number of entries where only a county is
listed in that field and no country. Try a search using Wexford or
Sligo to see some examples. Also, the country is sometimes
abbreviated in a way you might not think to search. (Ex: Irl for
Ireland)
It's a good idea to become familiar with database structure and
abbreviations. Try searches for common names or even just a year or
location to get a feel for the various ways search fields are listed.
This will allow you to better tailor your searches to the content
within.
Search for All Members of the Family
As we mentioned last week, searching for other members of the family
can often be helpful. As I pointed out earlier in this column, Peter
Tobin was missing from the index for the images of the New York
Passenger Lists. After finding the rest of the family, I searched by
ship name and date and browsing through all the passengers found him
indexed as Sobin.
Next Time...
We've dealt largely with historical records over the past few
articles. Next time we'll talk about searching what's often referred
to as "rich content"--photos, yearbooks, maps, etc.
Past articles in this series:
Juliana Smith has been an editor of Ancestry.com newsletters for more than nine 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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