This is the first article in the Genealogy Proof Series.
Most genealogists, even if they don’t realize they are genealogists yet, begin by creating a small tree of their known ancestors. Most people know who their grandparents are, and by asking a few questions, can probably complete another generation or two.
If your parents were born in 1950, your grandparents would have been born about 1920, and your great-grandparents may have been born around 1890. You probably have concrete facts about your parents. Their birthdates, birth location, marriage location, and so forth. They probably have the same information about their parents. However, with each generation reaching back in time, the information becomes less precise and less reliable. Memories fail people, and the information they were provided may not have been accurate in the first place.
For example, my mother told me what she knew about her maternal grandfather, which wasn’t much. He died when my grandmother was 20, several years before my mother was born.
As the information becomes thinner, the need for additional information and confirmation of facts becomes crucial. Furthermore, when utilizing new resources, you may discover information not previously known about close generations. One of the best resources for that is old newspapers.
Our ancestors are more than birth and death dates. I like to piece their life together, complete with historical events, both national and local, and how they influenced and affected their lives.
This first article explains how I gather and utilize location resources for each ancestor.
Before we start, let’s talk for a minute about where we are going and how this series will be organized.
The Genealogy Proof Series Roadmap
It’s difficult to put the steps in a specific order because often, I get very distracted and go right down a rabbit hole.
In other words, I’ll be working on gathering resources for a specific county, but then I find a listing for what I think is my ancestor, and before you know it, I’m off on the chase. I really, really try NOT to do that because it’s actually very distracting to the process as a whole.
It’s also difficult for me to select an order to write these articles. For example, do I write about Leveling Up, determining what you need for each ancestor, first or last?
I’ve chosen to write about that topic last because I want to step through how to gather and use the resources before we get distracted by what you need to do with individuals in your tree. It’s way too easy to go after that bright, shiny object:)
Gathering and Organizing Location Resources: This article is about how to find location resources for the area where your ancestor(s) lived. I suggest starting at the beginning, meaning your closest ancestors. You know where your parents and grandparents lived, so start there.
If you think there’s nothing there that matters because you know everything about your family – I guarantee you surprises are waiting. They may surprise you, touch your heart, or even shock you, and they are just waiting to be discovered. But before you can logically extract everything to do with your family and surname, you need a comprehensive list of what is available for your county and region.
You’ll also need to keep a record of what you looked for in that county, and when, because you may very well need to go back and access those records again in the future.
Recording Your Data: After you have a list of what’s available for your specific counties, in the next article, we’re going to talk about extracting information and recording it in a spreadsheet. If you don’t like spreadsheets, you can do the same thing in a table. But it’s critical that you record it someplace.
You’ll also index and transcribe it as you go so you can reasonably retrieve it. This is why I utilize spreadsheets – they are made for filtering and sorting.
Surname Searching: You’ve found location resources, but where do you find surname resources? For example, what about books written about the Estes surname, or internet resources? Some will be in books or webpages about the location, but certainly not everything.
How do you find additional resources?
Proof Table: Now that you HAVE data about all the people in a region or regions where your ancestors lived, how do you prove that the Moses Estes or George Estes in Halifax County, Virginia is YOUR Moses or George Estes? What about men with the same name? What if there is no definitive proof in ONE document?
We will discuss the Genealogy Proof Standard and create a proof table for every single generation because you need proof for every single generation.
Including DNA.
(If you’re beginning to think you might dislike me by the time this series is finished – I fully understand. If it helps any, some days I’m tired and mad at myself.)
DNA: How and when can you use DNA as part of your proof argument? What about the different types of DNA? When are they useful? Are they conclusive? How do they bolster or refute other evidence?
Can you resolve conflicts between DNA and a paper trail, and if so, how?
Leveling Up: Leveling up is a methodology of determining where you are in the process of evaluating EVERY PIECE OF EVIDENCE available about each ancestor.
You don’t know what you don’t know.
For those of us who have been working on genealogy for a long time, it’s easy not to think about using new resources when they become available. For example, the 1940 and 1950 census, new full-text AI from FamilySearch, and new newspaper resources like OldNews.
What do you need to do yet for each ancestor to bring them to current?
Writing It Up: Now that you HAVE this information assembled, what will you do with it? I fervently hope you’re going to write or record it for posterity. I’ve chosen the 52 Ancestors series that I’ve been writing weekly for several years, but there are other ways, too. Genealogy is about resurrecting and honoring the lives of our ancestors. The more factual information you can saturate the airwaves and internet with, the less “bad information” can take hold. Genealogy is a team sport.
Gathering and Organizing Location Resources
This article is focused on gathering and organizing resources for where your ancestor lived, NOT on retrieving the records in those resources for your ancestor and their surname. The next article will cover retrieving and recording the data using a consistent methodology.
If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you’ll know that I’m a spreadsheet person, but I also use MSWord documents to organize and utilize resources from time to time, especially if the text is long. I have one Word document for every ancestor.
I’m going to use a chart as an example, understanding that you will create your own resource-tracking tool that you’re most comfortable with.
The first consideration is that you probably have at least three ancestors in any specific location. By that, I mean at least two parents and one child. You may have significantly more ancestors and family members from that location.
Conversely, those same ancestors may have moved from location to location – even state to state or cross-country, so you may have multiple locations for the same ancestor(s).
In my family, I have clusters of ancestors in the same county. For example, my early Estes line, along with their wives’ lines including Combs, Younger and Moore, resided in Halifax County, Virginia for about 4 generations or more than 50 years. The first generation, Moses Estes (1711-1787) who moved to Halifax County by 1771 came from someplace else, and the last generation, John R. Estes (1787-1885), moved to Claiborne County, TN about 1820, not long after his marriage.
I searched Halifax County records for at least four surnames and multiple generations.
This means I needed to compile the various resources for Halifax County across a significant amount of time.
Resources for Resources
There are multiple places to find available resources for a specific county and state.
We will use these to complete our own research list by county. In the next article, we’ll be checking each one of these resources for surnames.
FamilySearch Wiki
The first thing I do when beginning to compile resources is check the FamilySearch wiki.
Googling “Halifax County, Virginia FamilySearch wiki” brings up a lovely compilation of resources.
You’ll find general information by category, followed by very specific information and multiple resources for each category.
Click on any image to enlarge
Also note that the county website link is given, along with the county formation history further down the page. Don’t neglect to check each county’s individual resources and parent county, if relevant.
If you’ve checked the wiki, or any resource list before, check back often because things change.
I enter each of the resources into a spreadsheet for that county. This is NOT the same thing as making a list of information discovered for an individual ancestor or surname. We’ll get to that later.
Don’t limit yourself to just the years that you know your ancestor was living in that county because records pertaining to that family may exist before your ancestor arrived and long after they left. Other family members may have preceded them, while lawsuits, deeds, and other records may refer to them decades after they left or died.
Here’s the beginning of a list for Halifax County,
| Resource |
State |
County |
Link |
Year Range |
Surnames |
Findings |
| Virginia Bible Records |
Virginia |
Halifax |
http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm |
|
Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore |
One was donated by the Tune family. |
| Halifax Biographies |
Virginia |
Halifax |
http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm |
|
Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore |
|
| 1782 tax list |
Virginia |
Halifax |
http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm, http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/halifax/census/1782/1782tax.txt |
1782 |
Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore |
5 Estes, 1 Combs, 2 Younger 6 Moore |
| Slave Draft for Defense of Richmond |
Virginia |
Halifax |
http://usgwarchives.net/va/halifax.htm
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/halifax/court/1862slavedraft.txt |
1862 |
Estes, Younger, Combs, Moore |
2 Younger, 2 Moore |
I enter the county and state in two fields, so it’s sortable. If I’m checking multiple counties using the same resource, I enter the resource twice, one for each county and the surnames in that county that I searched for.
For example, this link for Virginia Bible records takes you to a link for Halifax County Bible records on the USGenWeb site. I listed the surnames I checked for. I also noted the Tune donation because I know from prior research that the Tune home is on the old Marcus Younger land and the families intermarried. When you search any county for another surname, be sure to add it to the list so you don’t have to wonder later if you checked for that surname.
For county histories and biographies, check to see if they are available digitally. In the next article, you’ll want to search for and record all instances of your surname, even if it’s NOT your ancestor, because of the FAN club, Friends and Neighbors (thank you ,Elizabeth Shown Mills). Those people may or will help you identify which ancestors are yours. Not to mention fleshing out their lives.
Tax lists are often used to replace or supplement the census. You should be able to determine if the lists are recorded in procession order or alphabetical order. Clearly, procession order is much more relevant because it shows who lives nearby or are neighbors. This may help you identify specific individuals, especially when there are multiple people with the same name. In the case of John Estes in Halifax County, Virginia, the tax list placed “my” John by his father, George, which was a huge clue. Eventually, on a tax list that was stuffed in the back of a deed book in the Clerk’s Office, I found another tax list with the note, “S. G.” by my John’s name, and another note on the “other” John that lived in the north end of the county. “S.G.” meant son of George, as that designation had been used and spelled out for other people elsewhere in the same tax list. I’ve never been so grateful to the taxman in my life!
The Slave Draft for the Defense of Richmond is a fascinating document transcribed by a volunteer from the court minute book.
From Minute Book 20 page 169 Halifax County, Va
At a Court Held for Halifax County on Monday the 4th day of April 1862. Present Beverly Sydnor, Howell Chastain, John M. Craddock, William Moorewell, James Kent, Henry C. Logan, James Richardson, E. A. Coleman, Archer A. Farmer
The court in consideration of the Draft from the Governor of the Commonwealth for laborers on the Public Defense near Richmond do order and direct that the Sheriff of this County do proceed for ___ to require the following named persons to deliver to him the said Sheriff at News Ferry Depot, Boston Depot, Clover Depot and as may be convenient to the parties on ___ the day of ___ at such see hours as he may designate the Slaves between the ages of eighteen and fifty five years directed to be furnished by each person in the said following list and proceed with them to the City of Richmond and deliver them to the Agent of the Confederate Government and take receipt for the Slaves furnished by each person.
Then, by district, the name of the owner, and the number of enslaved persons sent.
This information may provide insight into who enslaved others at that time, which may provide insight into families that were slaveholders historically. Additionally, it may provide important hints and clues for African American researchers who seek their family and may have adopted the surname of their former enslaver after the war.
Also, please note that these records may not be entirely accurate. For example, there’s a list of ministers who performed marriages, and my Rev. William Moore is not listed, but I actually have the list of his marriages, returns made in his own handwriting obtained in the courthouse in Halifax County.
If you remember, I found my way to GenWeb through the FamilySearch Wiki. When I finish listing the GenWeb resources, I need to return to the FamilySearch wiki to list any further resources.
You may find lists of out-of-print books for land and property records and other record types. I sometimes find out-of-print books for sale at www.bookfinder.com.
If you own the book, note that it’s in your own library.
To locate books, check the WorldCat entry, but also check both the FamilySearch Catalog by county, the Fort Wayne Public Library and other book resources as well.
Surnames
While the goal of this exercise is to document and record location resources, if you stumble across surname resources, certainly don’t ignore them and think you’ll find them later – you might not.
I suggest starting either a second spreadsheet, or new tab on this spreadsheet for each surname.
I maintain a separate spreadsheet for each location and one for each surname or group of surnames on the same migration path. For example, my Combs, Estes, Moore, and Younger families are migrating from the Virginia Colony into the new frontiers, so I track them together from Amelia and Prince Edward Counties, where they are first found through Halifax County.
Ok, back to searching for our county resources.
FamilySearch Catalog
To search the FamilySearch Catalog by county, sign in and then click on Search, Catalog, and Place.
I was given the choice of British Colonial America or the United States. I’ll check both to be sure I have all available resources.
Selecting “Land and Property,” one of the items displayed is the Antrim Parish Vestry book. By clicking on that entry, you can see that it’s available in the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Maybe it’s available elsewhere too. I’ll check in a bit.
I build research lists from these resources routinely.
The entry for deed books shows that some are available online only at either the FamilySearch Library or a Family History Center (camera with key), which may be located near you. Other images are available online with no location requirement, indicated by the camera without a key, just by clicking.
These may or may not be indexed, and an index may be available elsewhere or by using the new FamilySearch Labs AI full text transcription tool. AI is not available for all records yet.
FamilySearch Labs
Next, try FamilySearch labs for additional assistance. I wrote about this new AI full text transcription tool, here.
You’ll see two features which may help you.
Using the “Find Help with AI Search” feature, type in what you’re searching for. I find the Full Text Search” to be much more helpful.
Click on “Go to Experiment.”
Typing “Halifax County, VA” into the search box returns resources from unexpected places. For example, county histories from elsewhere that reference Halifax County, or a Divorce degree, or a deed book from another county.
These are unexpected gold mines that you’d never find otherwise.
Note that this search is literally an exact match, so Halifax County, VA, is NOT the same as Halifax County, Virginia.
However, adding a surname to the location narrows the results substantially.
While normal deed and other books are indexed by the grantor and grantee, the FamilySearch full text search reveals EVERY instance of that name, including when referenced in another document. This feature is an absolute game-changer!
I can hardly wait to revisit my earlier work to see what’s new, but that’s part of the Level Up process.
It’s important to note that FamilySearch is adding new types of records to the AI collection almost daily, so check back often. Not everything uses the full-text transcription feature today, and while it’s quite accurate, it’s not 100%, so read carefully for yourself.
FamilySearch Book Search
You can also search for books by location or surname.
Allen County Public Library
The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of the largest genealogy libraries in the US. You can search their site for locations, keywords, or surnames, here.
While these resources are generally not available online at this library, they alert you that they exist, and you may be able to find them elsewhere.
The one HUGE exception is the one-of-a-kind PERSI index.
PERSI
The PERSI, or Periodical Source Index is maintained by the Allen County Public Library as well, here.
You can search by location.
Click on a category that displays the results.
At the bottom of each page, you can open a form to request a copy of the article.
Ancestry.com Card Catalog
At Ancestry.com, you can search their Card Catalog by title or location.
Be sure to try different spellings and abbreviations, like VA for Virginia, or remove the word county, etc.
The results display a list of records for Halifax County in their collection.
You can click on the link to this book to search by surname or keyword.
These local histories are wonderful tools for fleshing out your ancestor’s stories because they tell us what was happening in their community during different time periods that would have affected and influenced their lives.
For example, in one of these histories, I discovered that one of the Revolutionary War generals and his troops marched right down the road in front of my ancestor’s home. It’s no wonder that he “contributed” brandy, food, and fodder for their horses.
Newspaper Sites
At Newspapers.com, you can see which papers were available and when.
You can also add a surname or first and last name.
Unless there’s a story about someone’s ancestors, there’s no point in looking for people who lived there in the 1700s and early 1800s. These are the publication dates, so an earlier ancestor could have been included in a 25 or 50-year history column in the local paper.
This same technique works with other genealogy Newspaper sites, too, including MyHeritage with a subscription and separately, their new OldNews site which contains newspapers not included in the MyHeritage subscription.
Also check out the Library of Congress digitized newspaper collection, here.
Newspaper Archive is available with an NGS membership, here.
Fulton County (not limited to Fulton County) and GenealogyBank are two additional newspaper resources.
MyHeritage
At MyHeritage, you can search by location or Newspapers as well.
MyHeritage has one book about Halifax County.
By clicking on the book, you can add additional search criteria.
Estes is mentioned 16 times in this book.
Library of Congress
Don’t forget about the Library of Congress, which has its own Historical Newspapers section, here.
You can also search by county or surname in the search box at the top. The images are all copyright-free.
State Archives
Don’t forget about your state archives.
Most have wonderful search capabilities and specific collections.
For example, the Library of Virginia has been indexing individual county chancery records dating back to the county’s formation. Chancery suits are where you find all the juicy stuff because people are asking for remediation and explaining why.
The index is here, and you can search by a combination of county and surname.
There are 59 records in Halifax County fitting this description, mentioning Estes in any capacity, reaching back as far as 1795.
Don’t neglect later cases because many times later cases tend to be lawsuits filed about much earlier estates and property divisions. They also tend to provide relationships in their narrative.
You’ll also notice that often, the plaintiff and defendant aren’t Estes, but they are clearly mentioned somewhere in that case, perhaps in a deposition.
Clicking on “View Details” displays the entire case file.
The resources at each state library are different and vast, so take a look and check back for new offerings and features.
Google is Your Friend
Google can turn up amazing resources, but it can also lead to some unsafe sites, so be careful and don’t just click without thinking.
Google “Halifax County Virginia genealogy society.” You’ll receive eight results that may have databases, members, or donated materials, but these resources may not be complete. For example, I wrote and donated a Moore genealogy to the local museum, which doubled as a genealogy society, and that “book” isn’t listed anywhere in any resource list.
You’ll often find multiple groups focused on the county of interest. These groups will likely have dedicated and interested volunteers and other researchers.
RootsWeb
Ancestry shut down the RootsWeb mailing lists, but they are still out there even though you can no longer add information.
If you Google “Halifax County, Virginia Rootsweb,” you’ll be shown several pages and entries, some of which may or may not be useful to you.
One link provides a list of the 1860 slaveholders compared to the 1870 African Americans on the census. This could be extremely useful!
Google Books
Another underutilized tool is Google books, found here.
Some of these resources you’ll not find elsewhere.
Also, check out the other Google features, such as Images, Maps, and more, which may lead you to other resources.
I love old maps where sometimes you’ll find old stream names, landmarks, or even settlers’ homes with their name.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an initiative found at the Internet Archive to digitize out-of-copyright books for public consumption.
You can read more here.
Genealogical.com and American Ancestors
Don’t forget about book publishers that specialize in genealogy books like Genealogical.com and American Ancestors. Both are searchable, offer both hardcopy and e-books, and American Ancestors sells used books too.
Facebook
Last but not least, Facebook has many groups, including county-focused genealogy groups.
Sign in to Facebook and then use the Facebook search for the county you want.
Some groups maintain a list of resources.
Be sure to check both “Files” and “Features,” then use the Facebook search function to search for your surname(s) or other relevant locations or keywords in the Discussions.
In Summary
As you step through this process, it’s easiest if you include links to the various sites so that you can extract names in the next step. Links make it easy to return in the future and quickly review to see if anything has been added.
Even if you don’t find anything relevant at the site, be sure to NOTE THAT. That way, you never have to wonder and replow that same infertile ground. For example, if you determine that none of your four surnames are in a book written in 1937, they will never be in that book. If you don’t record that you looked, you’ll be left to wonder a few years from now and you’ll find yourself looking again.
However, a new book about that county might be written in the future, so it’s important to continue to look for new resources.
It’s also important to know that you searched for Estes, Moore, Younger, and Combs in Halifax County because you might, someday in the future, need to search for a new surname, like Hart. This way, you know what you did and did not search for in the past.
Why might you need to search for a new surname? Brick walls fall. Sometimes, the FAN Club turns out to be an important key to unlocking relationships that may extend back in time to earlier locations. People did not live or move in a vacuum.
I’ve made every one of these mistakes and nothing makes me unhappier than having to look something up, AGAIN, because I failed to record what I did.
The same advice holds for hard-copy books in research libraries. If nothing else, I take a picture of the front or inside cover and the index so I know what to record and that nothing was found. I wish I had done that from the beginning. Live and learn.
The biggest lie I’ve ever told myself is, “Of course I’ll remember that!”
Your Turn
It’s your turn now. Happy hunting!
Our next articles in this series will discuss how to record data from these resources so that it is both useful and findable again.
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