Spacebar Scrolling
Most of us are happy to use the up and down arrows that allow us to scroll through a webpage, as the up and down arrows on a keyboard are not that conveniently located. One alternative method is so easy I am amazed it took me so long to use it. To scroll down a page you simply hold the Spacebar down .To scroll up, press Sift and tap the Spacebar. This saves lots of time, as you don’t have to take your hand off the keyboard. Give it a try!

Control Key Zooming
How often do you find yourself squinting at a map, image document, or historical photograph that you come across online? Believe it or not there is a simple shortcut solution that can help you to quickly zoom in and out of an image so that it is the optimal size for your viewing.

You simple hold the Control (Ctrl) key while tapping the Plus (+) or Minus (-) key. You can do this for an entire webpage to make the fonts bigger or smaller as well. If you are using a Mac, the Command (Cmd) key combined with the Plus and Minus keys does the same

If you want to return the page to its original size, simply substitute the Zero (0) key for the Plus or Minus on both PC and Mac.

Tip: On a laptop keyboard, you most likely don’t need to hold the Shift key to access the Minus and Plus keys when performing this shortcut.

Ctrl F for Find
If you are searching for a particular word on a website that contains lots of text, it can be time consuming reading or scanning through it all to find the word or name you’re looking for. Many use the find feature located in the toolbar of most browsers, however a simple keyboard shortcut is to press the Ctrl (Ctrl) key on a PC or the Command (Cmd) on a Mac and hold down the F key. This will bring up the Search Bar, and you can simply type in the word you are looking for.

Alt V for Full Screen Viewing
This feature can vary between browsers, but it is possible to sometimes temporarily eliminate the Search Bar or Menu in order to view a large image that doesn’t completely fit on the screen. You can suppress the Alt tab on a PC while pressing the V or F key (depending on the browser) or Control and Command and T on a Mac.

Tip: On a PC you can sometimes use the F11 key, depending on whether the browser you’re using supports that option. To get out of Full Screen mode simply press the Escape (Esc) key.

To Reopen a Webpage
When a webpage closes accidently when you are in the middle of your research, it can be quite irritating. Most of all, having to then go into your history to search for it and reopen it from there can be time consuming. Depending on the browser you’re using, you may be able to quickly reopen the page by using Ctrl and Shift and T on a PC, and Command and Shift and T on a Mac.

There are literally hundreds of keyboard shortcuts that you can use to speed up your online experience. The above are simple ones that you may find quite useful on a daily basis. If you’d like to learn more about keyboard shortcuts that you can utilize, the links below will take you to a comprehensive listing for each of the corresponding browsers.

• Apple Safari
• Internet Explorer
• Google Chrome
• Firefox

How to Organize Your Research Journal
You’ll get the best results from using a research journal if you keep it organized in a simple, straight-forward manner. A good layout that generally works well is to use columns with the headings)

• Date Searched
• Records Sought
• Name Variations Searched
• Repository Searched
• Description and Source Citation
• Results

Let’s go over each heading briefly to better understand the benefits of recording such data, and the best way to enter it into your journal.

Date Searched

The immediate benefit of imputing the date is obvious, but an additional benefit is that if the records get updated, you will know if you have searched the most recent, or if you can look for new results in an updated database.

Records Sought
Again it’s obvious why you would record the types of ancestry record you searched in. This helps to avoid wasting time with duplicate searches in databases you have already consulted, but also narrows the field of possible records still to be searched.

Name Variations
Many researchers overlook this very important entry. There are so many spelling variations of both forenames and surnames, especially in older records, that it is critical you record each variation you use. Also record the various methods you used during your searches. For example, did you search for first name or last name only, or for results in a particular city, county, state, or overseas locations? This listing can also serve as a name variation database and search strategy for when you search other records in the future.

Repository Searched
Indicating where the records were found whether it is at a brick-and-mortar archive or library, or an online database, allows you to quickly visit that source if you seek similar r records in the future. Make sure you indicate whether the resource was online, on microfilm, in a book, or other resource. Be as specific as you can to make it as easy as possible to revisit that repository and the records you found there.

Source Citation
This should list a description of the records you found in the Records Sought column and all of the information you found in them, as well as the sources of that information, be they primary or secondary. You can simply list citations such as the microfilm number or book title and author, or you could write about it, describing everything in a description field.

Results
Remember, record both positive and negative results for every search you conduct. This helps you to quickly sort out which records are useful for your family and which are not. Having this information readily available allows you to efficiently plan research strategies, speeding up results and helping you to avoid genealogical roadblocks.

A genealogy research journal allows you to quickly see where you are in your research, allowing you to pick up exactly where you left off if you need to stop for awhile. They are a great tool which you can refine to suit your own particular research model over time, and you can even compile one journal per ancestor. A final bonus is that these journals can also serve as a guide to any family members who may continue your research in the future.

Samantha Hall was investigating her family lineage when her grandmother revealed during an interview that she believed that her uncle was the murder victim who had been beaten to death and burned in a car. The uncle, William Thomas Briggs, left his London home for an appointment with his doctor in November 1930, but was never heard from or seen again. Thirty years later, after her chat with her grandmother, Samantha Hall and her family asked the Northamptonshire police to re-open the case.

The family believed that their uncle could have crossed paths with the convicted murderer, Alfred Rouse; a traveler who it was rumored wanted to fake his own death. It is known that Rouse suffered from a personality disorder caused by a head wound during the First World War. He was described by those who knew him as “a promiscuous rake with an enormous sexual appetite.” Rouse had fathered at least two illegitimate children, and child support was causing him serious financial difficulty.

Police believed at the time that Rouse had overpowered some homeless tramp who would not be missed if he disappeared. It was clear that Rouse’s intent was for himself to be identified as the victim, as he used his own car to burn the victim (the license plate was found intact), and he left some of his possessions in the car.

He staged the scene so that it would look as if he died in a crash, and counted on the body being completely burned so that it could not be positively identified. Rouse started the fire in the early hours of the morning so that no one would notice it, but two boys saw the flames and called the police. Rouse then fled to Cardiff, but he was eventually arrested, found guilty, and hanged for the murder.

Ms. Hall became intrigued with the case and contacted Northamptonshire Police in 2012, hoping that DNA analysis could prove the murder victim was her uncle. Because the case had been closed, as there was a conviction, it could not be re-opened, and ms. Hall and her family were put in touch with the University of Leicester, which had successfully identified the bones of King Richard III when they were discovered under a Leicester car park in 2012.

For months, the University of Leicester team worked with Northumbria University, The Royal London Hospital Museum, and Northamptonshire Police in solving the riddle. The key to finding an answer would be to get enough mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the sample to form a profile to compare with the Hall family’s mtDNA. “Fortunately, the scientists obtained a full single male mtDNA profile from the slide to compare to the family,” a spokeswoman for the team said.

A result has been reached, but the answer will only be revealed to Ms. Hall and her family on the BBC’s television program The One Show on a date yet to be announced. We are keen to find out the answer, but I think it is quite the clue that they have produced a television show around revealing it!

Placing an ancestor in a particular time or place is invaluable to a genealogist, and city directories can accomplish that. There is much more information they can provide however, and they shouldn’t be overlooked as a go-to genealogical resource. They can inform us of where our ancestor worked, where they worked, and sometimes even identify vital events like death or marriage, as well as migrations. City directories also give valuable insight into a community, sometimes providing information about the schools, hospitals, churches, cemeteries, associations, clubs, societies, and organizations in particular neighbourhoods.

Those of us conducting research in urban areas are fortunate to have such a valuable, extra resource, especially one that can be so forthcoming with genealogical data. Some of the particular information you can find in them are;

• Name and occupation of head of household
• Name of spouse (usually listed in parentheses after the name of husband)
• Names of children, usually only those working outside the home
• Street name and house number of residence
• Occupation of head of household
• Work address

Where to Locate City Directories

Most state archives and libraries have original directories as well as city directories on microfilm. State and local historical and genealogical societies are also an excellent place to look, especially those that have libraries and cover a particular location. National and major regional libraries such as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. also have large collections of city directories. The American Antiquarian Society also maintains vast collections of microfilmed city directories, for many locations across the United States.

More and more city directories are being digitized and made available online every day; the Library of Congress collection for instance now contains over 12,000 directories from across America. Two other website that are useful are Online Historical Directories which contains a listing of every available online historical directory in the United States as well as some international listings, and US City Directories which identifies printed, microfilmed, and online United States city directories and their repositories.

For city directories in the United Kingdom, the University of Leicester in England, offers an excellent collection of digitized local and trade directories for England and Wales for the period 1750–1919 on their website, the Historical Directories Searchable Library.

The National Personnel Records Center is the repository for millions of health, medical, and personnel, records of deceased and discharged veterans of all service branches during the 20th century. The Center also houses and manages the records of dependents and others who have been treated at medical facilities operated by the US military.

It was discovered last year that two employees, Stanley Engram, 21, and Lonnie Halkmon, 28, were responsible for deliberately misfiling or destroying more than 1,800 records. The situation was discovered after an audit was conducted on the records filed by employees at the Center during 2011 and 2012. Most employees had an error rate of approximately 3%, however a half dozen had disproportionately high error levels, Engram and Halkmon the worst. An investigation by the state revealed that employees were destroying the records, or stashing them in order to increase their productivity levels in order to receive bonuses.

The audit and investigation began after 241 records were found in the woods near the Center. The Social Security numbers on the documents traced the records back to Engram who admitted he had disposed of the records in the forest, and had destroyed some at his home as well. In total he told investigators that he had destroyed or misfiling more than 1,000 of the valuable military documents himself. Both individuals pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government records and on Thursday, January 30, 2014, Lonnie Halkmon was given a sentence of two years of probation and 40 hours of community service. Engram had pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

Many feel the sentence handed down to Halkmon was too light, especially by those who are researching their ancestry. One reader on the website of Jonathan Hurley, a nationally recognized legal scholar, commented, “To read that someone would destroy and stash records that some families have been searching for is disturbing. I do think these defendants were undercharged. They may have wittingly or unwittingly robbed many families of a history of their loved ones that they may not be able to recover.”

It really is incredibly that someone could willfully destroy government properly and get a slap on the wrist. What do you think? Was the sentence handed down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Nanette Baker too lenient? Feel free to leave a comment below, and if you would like to see what others are saying, you can visit the Jonathan Hurley Blog.

Your Publishing Options
The choice of how to publish your family history online really rests between two options; creating your own website, or submitting your pedigree to an online database. Each has its own benefits, and if you have the technical skills, creating your own website can be fun and fulfilling. But not everyone has the technical knowledge necessary or the aptitude to create their own website, for them submitting their pedigree to a database might be a better choice. Let’s have a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of both options.

Submitting to an Online Pedigree Database
This is a very fast way of getting your pedigree published online, and will also gain your pedigree exposure to a wide audience. There is a constant flow of visitors to these websites and it is a great way to make genealogical contacts as well. On the other hand, because your data will be held in a database that is only searchable through the particular website hosting it, your information will not be available to anyone making a general search of the internet. Your data can only be searched on the website hosting it, and with their search facilities. Also, your ability to add any new material that you may obtain from sources outside your existing database will be limited or in some cases impossible.

There is also the possibility that you may need to give up some of the rights of ownership of your material, so make sure if submitting to a pedigree database that you thoroughly read their terms and conditions. For no reason should you allow the disadvantages of submitting to a pedigree database to dissuade you from using that method. As long as you are clear on the terms and conditions it is an effective way to publish your family tree. But, you may want to consider building your own website as well.

Your Own Website
This option may be a bit intimidating if you don’t have the technical knowledge or time to invest in it, but there are certain advantages to going this route. They are:

• Submitting your data to your own site is almost as easy as submitting it to an online database
• You are able to material from outside sources
• You can add your own images and scanned documents
• Your pedigree can be found by anybody searching the internet for information on your pedigree
• You maintain complete ownership rights to your material

Building your own website is very muck akin to creating a picture of your life online. You can do it at as leisurely or as fast a pace as you want, and also make it as detailed as you desire. There are a few issues to be aware of however, when building and publishing your own site. The first is; if you build your website of free web space by one provider and later switch to another, you’ll have to inform all of the search engines and anyone who has linked to your site. This could get a bit messy and complicated, so consider your options carefully. You’ll also need to learn how to create web pages if you want to add additional information rather than just displaying your family tree. It’s worth the effort however, and once you’ve learned you can create a website that is both informative and attractive.

Building your own website is the way to go if you want to share your information with other genealogists. After all, that is how most of the information is displayed on the internet. Whichever option you decide to go with, one thing to be careful of is posting information about living people. Even though they are your relatives, privacy issues are involved and you’ll want to have permission in writing form any living relatives you share info on.

How to Spot Genealogy Clues
The name of the deceased and their survivors, as well as name places and dates are the obvious genealogical data that you can get from an obituary. Within the accompanying data however, there are genealogical clues that can lead you further in tracing your family tree. Let’s take an example of an obituary for a woman who died in El Paso, Texas. In addition to her personal data, the obituary also contains information such as; she was single, her parents founded and operated a small city hotel, she was a school counsellor, she was stationed at El Paso High School, the names of five surviving relatives, the name of a special friend, and where the funeral will take place.

Can you spot any of the clues that might lead you to other ancestors? One would be the hotel founded by her parents. You could check business and employment records to check for other family members that may have been involved in what was most likely a family business. You would also want to check census records and city directories for the names of those surviving relatives mentioned; most likely some will have a spouse, children, or even grandchildren that aren’t mentioned. You might also want to look into the name of the special friend. Who were they, and why were they special to the deceased?

Obituaries – Much More Than Just Death Notices
The first thing we associate with an obituary is the death of someone. Many people even call them death notices. They are much more than that however, as many provide a mini-biographical sketch of the individual. Some obituaries can even be as long as an entire newspaper page, revealing almost a complete life’s history. Most newspaper obituaries are not that long, in fact, sometimes there is no obituary for a person. In such a case, you can check other sections in the newspaper that may document the death.

You might find information on your ancestor in an article; especially if they’re death was accidental, a funeral notice, a thank you note from the family, or even in the legal section. Notices of claims against a deceased person’s estate are printed in local newspapers so that creditors may claim against the estate if they were owed money at the time of death. In the case of accidental death, or if a person died in suspicious circumstances, a coroner’s report or court records may exist.

Expand Your Search
If you know the death date of the ancestor you are researching, that is a good place to begin. Don’t limit yourself to that date though, as obituaries are normally printed at least a day or two after the event. Even after finding the obituary, expand your research to a week or two on either side of the death date. In old newspapers, especially in small communities, they would sometimes print the names of those who were sick, and occasionally print the street addresses as well.

Obituaries are a good genealogical resource with which to “get your feet wet.” Don’t let their simplicity fool you though, look for those hidden clues that may take you further in your quest for other ancestors. As always, keep in mind that obituaries are secondary sources of genealogical data, and you will have to find primary source data to confirm any information you glean from them.

OliveTreeGenealogy.com
Founded in 1996 by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, OliveTreeGenealogy.com was one of the first websites to make primary sources available on the Web with its Ship Passengers lists. Lorine was encouraged by her father to research her family genealogy at an early age, and accelerated her efforts after he passed away. Genealogy has become a life long love of hers, which is reflected in the impressive collection of databases she now hosts on her website.

The Native American indexes are only a fraction of what OliveTreeGenealogy.com has to offer, other indexes include:

• Huguenot Resources
• Mennonite resources
• Quaker resources
• Immigration and Ship’s Passenger lists
• Almshouse records
• Orphan records
• Canadian Naturalization records and Census reports
• Military records

FamilySearch.org

The website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints (Mormon Church) houses the largest database of genealogical records in the world, the collection containing over one billion records. The database is known as the International Genealogical Index (IGI), and it has been compiled by dedicate volunteers consisting of genealogists and church members who over the years continue to add vital records of people from around the world. There are too many indexes held in the IGI mention them all here, but following is a summary of the records you can access online according to geographical location.

Canada
1. Birth, Death, Burial and Marriage registrations from 1661-1910
2. Baptismal records from 1661-1900
3. Census reports – 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891
4. Parish records form 1621-1905

Mexico
1. Civil Registration from 1860-1950
2. Marriages from 1570-1950
3. Deaths from 1680-1940
4. Baptisms from 1560-1940
5. Census 1930
6. Church records from 1886-1933

United States
1. Alabama – Births, Deaths, Burials, Baptisms and Marriages 1816-1974
2. Arizona – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1870-1994
3. Arkansas – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1837-1963
4. Connecticut – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1649-1934
5. Delaware – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1710-1955
6. District of Columbia – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1830-1964
7. Florida – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1837-1974, Census reports 1885, 1935,1945
8. Georgia – Deaths and Marriages from 1808-1967
9. Hawaii – Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Christenings 1826-1933
10. Idaho – Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Christenings from 1826-1965
11. Louisiana – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1804-1954
12. Maine – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings from 1739-1907
13. Massachusetts – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1639-1915, Census reports 1855, 1865
14. Michigan – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings from 1775-1995
15. Minnesota – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1840-1990, Census reports 1885, 1895
16. New Hampshire – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings pre-1654 – 1920
17. New Mexico – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1726-1955
18. New York – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings from 1640-1962, Ellis Island Passenger Lists 1892-1924, Census reports 1865, 1892, 1905
19. North Carolina – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1759-1994
20. Texas – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1796-1973
21. Utah – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings from 1887-1956
22. Vermont – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings from 1769-1965, Enrolled Militia records 1861-1867
23. West Virginia – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings 1853-1970
24. Wisconsin – Births, Deaths, Marriages, Burials and Christenings from 1826-1930, Census reports 1855, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905
25. United States Census reports – 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 11920

The above are merely the top twenty five databases for United States vital records contained on the FamilySearch.org website. There are also worldwide databases, and other state databases, including the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files and Civil War Pension Index cards, and the Freedmans Bank records 1865-1874,. The international databases are as extensive and detailed as those of the united States, and one has to appreciate the work done by the Latter Day Saints and the thousands of non-member volunteers who have worked tirelessly to create this genealogical goldmine.

For example, let’s say your great-grandfather was a cattle rancher in the early days of Wyoming. Rather than simply write that down as “occupation” beside his name in your family group sheet, why not dig a little deeper and research what was involved in cattle ranching in Wyoming in the 19th century. Were there licenses to be applied for, brand registration of some sort? Maybe your great-grandfather took out a loan to finance his business. In that case, there may be bank records that exist.

Such documents can not only help you to find other documents that may lead to other ancestors, but help to paint a picture of the type of man your relative was, and some of the challenges he or she may have faced in their lifetime. Thus, when you are telling someone about your ancestor, or writing about them, you can do so in much more detail, bringing them alive with that extra information.

• Build a Timeline. A really effective method of putting your ancestor’s life into context is to create a timeline for their life alongside a parallel timeline for local, national, and world history. Understanding that your ancestor survived the Great Famine of Ireland, or struggled through the Great Depression, not only provides you with a deeper knowledge of them, but of the time period as well.
• Make Use of Maps. Maps can be both useful and fun to incorporate into a genealogy project. Not only can they provide you with an appreciation of the area in which your ancestor lived, but you can also map out their travels if they were immigrants. Pay attention to where they may have stopped during their journey, as they may have stayed with other relatives. One way to find out for sure is to check census records in the area for the time period that your ancestors were there.
• Use Historical Photographs. Whenever you are researching an ancestor in a particular area it is a good idea to at least have a look at a few historical photographs of the area, and the era. Sometimes the only clue you might have will be a photograph. In such a case, look closely at the clothes they wear, as fashion can indicate what era the photograph was taken in, and can give you a date range in which to search for records.

Finding genealogical facts is fun, but expanding on those facts to explore your ancestor’s personality and life circumstances is what genealogy is really all about. After all, we set out to find where and who we came from in order to better understand who we are. A book full of data won’t do much to answer that, but sifting through that data to uncover the person behind it most certainly will. Happy ancestor hunting!

The students and Professor Francis have spent many months digitizing the 6,000 plus pages so that the records survive beyond the life of the paper they are currently printed on. The documents have a historical value as well as a genealogical one. “The documents shed light on aspects of Florida history that are very difficult to reconstruct,” Francis said. Florida was discovered in 1523 by Juan Ponce de Leon after Spanish monarchy sent him on a mission to find another island off Cuba rumored to have vast riches.

It is moist likely that De Leon wasn’t the first European to land in Florida, and it is uncertain whether or not he visited St. Augustine or cities more to the north and south. St. Augustine is however America’s oldest European settlement, settled nearly a century before Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. Because America is an English speaking country, historians believe that emphasis is placed on the accomplishments of English speakers rather than those of foreign nations.

The documents discovered in St. Augustine however hold the key to the forgotten history of 16^th century Florida. They are written in a beautiful, flowing script, and for genealogists and historians researching early Florida inhabitants, they are a treasure trove of information. They have even revealed that early Florida life was quite comfortable, and not the terrible struggle that it was in the colonies further north. “People’s daily lives here weren’t the difficult struggle that was often represented,” said Professor Francis, “most homes had gardens and fruit trees.”

Although the documents are worn and yellowed as expected, they are not as well preserved as they could have been, as someone in the past had attempted to preserve them by enclosing them in shrink wrap. The acids in the plastic have damaged the paper, though it is generally around the outer edges of the pages, so most of the text is intact.

The parish where the documents were found was established inn 1565, but parish records from the first 25 years are missing. They are however continuous from 1594 through 1763 (the year the British took control of the city), giving researchers nearly 200 years of historical records that were previously unavailable. Initially the records were sent to Cuba, but were returned to St. Augustine in 1906.

The documents reveal that 16^th century St. Augustine was a very diverse place, as the records contain accounts by and references to Spanish missionaries, Irish priests, Native Americans, and freed slaves. Francis was particularly amazed at the accounts of slaves who had escaped plantations from other southern states and as far north as New York.

“Many accounts are of slaves who escaped plantations in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, slaves in fact who had come all the way from New York City, to come to St. Augustine,” he said. “And when you read those, one immediately begins to imagine a situation in which they’re in these plantations, and they decide, one day, to try to escape and make their way to St. Augustine.”

The documents will eventually be made available online for anyone to view; they are currently hosted by the Archives of the Diocese of St. Augustine.