Did you know that any United States citizen living in the US on or after 1936 is required by law to have obtained a Social Security Card.
A Social Security Card is obtained by filing a Social Security Application. Social Security Applications are a part of the public record.
The Social Security Application requires the applicant to state their mother’s and father’s full name. Very helpful to someone researching their family tree.
I receive great feedback every day by email.
I wish more people would use the comments form below to share their experience. Please don’t hesitate to do so yourself.
Regardless, keep the questions coming.
I wanted to write right away and respond to everyone with the answer to a great question I received.
One beginner genealogist wrote, “All this about government resources and talking to your family is great but it’s still not clear what I’m looking for.”
I thought it would be helpful to review the public resources available to you when trying to figure out how to do a family tree. We cover each of these in detail in The Genealogy Guide so I won’t go overboard here.
Sometimes knowing the list of resources available is half the battle.
This is just the basics. What do you think? Am I missing a fundamental public resource? Use the comments area below to add your favorite basic public source for genealogy record hunting.
ProGenealogists recently announced their “25 Most Popular Genealogy Blogs for 2009″ awards. We are very honored to be part of this group. A glance through the other blogs on the list is truly humbling. It’s even more humbling to read ProGenealogists announcement, noting that “a Google search for genealogy blogs currently results in nearly half a million options, with over seven times that number for ‘family history’ blogs.”
I’m not certain how to do a Google search that returns the number of blogs, but to search blog posts, try http://blogsearch.google.com . At the time I wrote this article a search for the word genealogy returned 857,000+ blog posts containing the word genealogy. A search for “family history” (including the quotes), returns 674,000+ posts.
The search results page contains one of my secrets for uncovering news stories that you won’t see on the other genealogy news sites. You can subscribe to the results of your blog search by clicking one of the options in the left margin under the heading, “Subscribe.” This will give you an email or news feed of all the new results for your search. That’s only 6,600+ articles you’ll have to read each day to cover all blog posts with either the phrase “family history” or the word “genealogy.”
Better yet, let your favorite genealogy news blogs shift through all those posts while you use the email option, called a Google Alert, to set up a Internet-wide sweep for new information on those ancestors you’re trying to find!
And thank goodness the President’s choice for new First Pet is done. Several months ago Google changed their search algorithm. My Google alert for FamilySearch started returning results containing “…First Family searches for dog…” To prevent this behavior, include quotes around words you don’t want Google to break into separate words.
But I digress…
Choosing the 25 most popular genealogy blogs had special challenges not encountered when measuring the 50 most popular genealogy websites.
“Many people read blog entries through RSS feeds and other means and seldom actually visit the blog’s website,” according to Kory Meyerink, noted genealogist and vice president at ProGenealogist. Instead of website traffic, ProGenealogist turned to Technorati rankings. Even this alternative proved problematic, as Technorati doesn’t include Dick Eastman’s popular online blog/newsletters. This led ProGenealogist to include other factors:
Hundreds of genealogy blogs were evaluated based on their overall content, Technorati rating, and industry experience. Due to the ever-changing nature of the blogosphere and the authority basis of Technorati rankings, it is anticipated that this list will change frequently.
When I first started blogging years ago (has it really been that long?) I found my Technorati authority rating changed so erratically, I couldn’t stand to follow it. Since I seem to be in widget-mode of late, here’s a widget that displays my authority rating in real time:
View Ancestry Insider authority
Like other widgets I’ve posted lately, it is likely you won’t be able to see it (adjacent to “View Ancestry Insider authority”) if you read this article in your email or news reader. View this article online (click here) to see the widget.
The Technorati Authority of a blog is a count of the number of other blogs that have posted links to it during the previous six months. Since other winners of the most popular blogs award have increased my authority by posting the list of winners, I’m honored to return the favor. They are:
(This posting is from The Ancestry Insider. Click the link to view the full article from its original source.)
For those of you looking for your Scottish forebears down south, the 1911 census, available from FindmyPast.com at www.1911census.co.uk, has finally uploaded the complete collection for England in the latest stage of its phased release programme. Next up will be the releases for all Welsh counties, followed by the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Royal Naval ships at sea and overseas military establishments.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, the 1911 census release has once again fallen behind schedule, with no sign as yet of records for counties Donegal, Cork, Wexford and Galway, which were supposed to have gone online in March. There is no word on the site at www.census.nationalarchives.ie to explain the delay, but as soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland’s Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
(This posting is from Scottish Genealogy News and Events. Click the link to view the full article from its original source.)
The following came from a current subscriber to Genealogy Beginner. Great advice:
First I would like to let you know I enjoy your tips.
As a beginner they have been very helpful. I know different states have laws in reference to military records. In the state of South Carolina military records are not public. The information can only be given to the individual, their Power of Attorney, or spouse.
The SC state statute is very clear and states that the military records can only be used for genealogical research 50 years after the death of the person whose military records are referenced. I know this to be a fact because I work in the office where the military records are recorded in Aiken County, South Carolina.
We have to be very cautious as to who has access to these documents.
Where to Next?
No other publication gives such comprehensive and up-to-date guidance on tracing British ancestry and researching family history.
And the thing is huge – 674 pages! You can read more about this resource at the link below.
http://tinyurl.com/AncestralTrails
…
Where to Next?
Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions
…
Below is a great article about how to make a family tree through the eyes of a first time visitor to the NARA. In it the author discusses the value of the color guides used to assist researchers with the NARA’s most common records. Make sure you visit the link below to visit the source of the guides online. These resources will surely help you figure out how to make a family tree.
Chris over at Scottish Genealogy News and Events provided an update on the 1875 Norway Census that might be of interest for, “all you Shetland and Orkney folk!” as he puts it. He sites the source of this information as from Family Search (see links below for reference links and the original post): Read the rest of this entry »
Washington, DC. . . At its November meeting, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) recommended $2.15 million for 23 projects in 13 states and the District of Columbia for preserving and publishing historical records.
Grant recommendations include $1.266 million to the projects annotating and publishing the papers of Read the rest of this entry »
Genealogy Beginner is a resource for aspiring genealogists who want to create and research a family tree.
|
|
You are currently browsing the archives for the Public Records category.