by Juliana Smith
For the past few weeks we've been reviewing search techniques at
Ancestry (see the links at the bottom of this article if you missed
past columns). This week we're going to focus on "rich content"--that
is, images, video, maps, and other content that adds depth to our
family history.
A while back Ancestry split some of the searches off into different
tabs, or "buckets" as they like to call them at the home office. If
you look at the search on the homepage, you'll notice that there are
four tabs: Historical Records, Family Trees, Stories & Publications, and Photos & Maps. Since you probably wouldn't search for photos or
maps in the same way as you would a family tree or a historical
record, this allowed them to create a search portal geared toward
each record type. Much of the rich content we'll be exploring today
resides in the Stories & Publications tab and the Photos & Maps tab.
Searching for People
A few years ago, when I would talk about searching photograph
collections at Ancestry, I would probably have mentioned that chances
may be slim for finding actual photographs of your ancestors, but the
odds are steadily improving. There are currently 2,711,737
photographs available on member trees that are searchable. In addition, the
U.S. School Yearbook Collection; African American
Photo Collection, 1850-2000; Library of Congress
Photo Collection, 1840-2000; U.S. Family Photo
Collection, c. 1850-2000; and U.S. Civil War
Photos, 1860-1865 could contain a photograph of one of your family members. So my
advice today is by all means, search these image collections using an
ancestor's name. High profile figures (e.g., military officers,
politicians, etc.) may have a slight edge, but with more and more
people adding photos to trees, you never know when a cousin may load
that elusive photo of great-grandpa. All of these databases and
several others can be searched through the Photos & Maps tab, and if
you don't find an ancestor in there this week, check back later.
Searching for Historical Context
If you're still unable to locate a photograph of an ancestor, don't
worry, there's a ton of historical background material available that
can really help you flesh out your family tree. For example, try a
search for a military unit in which a family member served. I did a
sample search for the "Irish Brigade," a military unit, which during
the Civil War was comprised largely of Irish-Americans from New York.
In this search, I used the term "Irish Brigade" in quotes in the
keyword field. The quotes tells the search that those terms have to be
found exactly like I typed them.
This search turned up six hits in
the Library of Congress Photo Collection, three in the U.S. Civil War
Photos, 1860-65, and one on a Member Tree. The image on the tree is
on a private website, so if I wanted to view the photo, I would have
to contact that person and ask them to grant me permission to view
their tree.
The first hit in the Civil War photo collection is of Lt. Col. James
J. Smith and officers of 69th New York Infantry (Irish Brigade).
It's a neat group shot with what appears to be their camp in the
background.
When you select that hit, the image you see is
a larger version of the thumbnail on the database results page, but
if you click through to View Original (link on the top, left corner
above the image), you will be able to view the image in the Advanced
Image Viewer and have a lot more flexibility.
By clicking through I now have the option to zoom in on the
photograph and view it at 200 percent. Click on the drop-down box
where it says Fit Width and choose how much you'd like to zoom in,
or click on the magnifying glass with the plus in the middle until
you get the desired size. Even when it is maxed out at 200 percent,
you can get a little closer by clicking the icon that says Magnify.
With magnify selected, you can click and hold on an area of the
photograph and a box will magnify that small portion. If you try it
on this photograph, you'll see you can get a much better look at the
faces this way. In looking at this photograph of the Irish Brigade,
the magnify tool makes it evident that facial hair was in at the
time! Check out the third guy from the end in the back row. Quite the
set of whiskers he has there!
Another image, this time from the Library of Congress Photo
Collection, is a sketch from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
titled, Grand requiem mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York,
Friday, January 16, for the repose of the souls of the officers and
men of the Irish brigade killed in the war. Neat sketch, but perhaps I could find more.
A Bridge to Newspapers
By clicking on the Stories & Newspapers tab, I see that my search
terms have carried over to the next tab and I have a whole new set of
results. There are 182 hits in the "New York Times" database, but I
have a date from the image of 16 January 1863 for that requiem mass,
so I scroll down to refine my search and put in a date range of "1863
to 1863." Now I have eleven hits and one of those is from 17 January
1863--an article describing the mass "held for the repose of the
souls of all the dead of the Irish Brigade since the beginning of the
war." It tells that funds were collected for the families of Irish
Brigade members killed in battle and even describes the music that
was played. I couldn't help but think that it would be neat for
anyone who had an ancestor who fought and died in the Irish Brigade
to have that music playing in a multimedia presentation of that
ancestor. The following page lists excerpts from some of the speeches
made.
Another article from January 13th New York Times,
was also interesting
and poignant. It was a resolution from the Board of Councilmen
stating that:
Whereas, Francis Kavanagh, of the Sixty-third Regiment, Irish
Brigade, while nobly fighting for his adopted country, was mortally
wounded at the battle of Antietam, and from the effects of which he
died on the eighth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, leaving his wife and family in destitute circumstances;
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Comptroller be and he is hereby authorized and
directed to draw his warrant in favor of the wife of deceased, Mrs.
Mary Kavanagh, in the sum of ninety-six dollars, for the purpose of
defraying the expenses of the burial.
There are tons of newspaper articles like these, that can give us a
real feel for the effects war and other events had on our ancestors.
You might not find them by searching by name, but by broadening your
horizon to include military service, communities, churches, and other
affiliations, you'll be surprised at what you can find.
Searching for Maps
Maps can also provide great insights in military and other matters.
We just read about Francis Kavanagh who died of wounds suffered in
the battle at Antietam. Entering Antietam in the keyword search of
Photos & Maps, I found a couple maps, including one with detailed
information on the battles that took place there on 16-17 September
1862. (A portion of this map is available on the blog.)
Maps showing the area in which your ancestor lived can also be
enlightening. Water and other natural barriers may have forced your
ancestor to go to a neighboring town, courthouse, or church to
conduct business or worship, simply because it was easier to get to.
Look for county, railroad, and other local maps from the time period
to get a better feel for where the records your ancestor created may
be located.
Browsing Through History
Some of the rich collections at Ancestry, like the WWII United News
Newsreels, 1942-1946,
are fun to just browse through. While you can search for terms, the
descriptive text is brief so it may be more difficult to find exactly
what you're seeking. By spending time browsing through them though,
you will find some unexpected gems.
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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