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.

To get access to these public records, you need to visit the Social Security Administration or a site that allows you to search their records.

You can search the records of the US Social Security Office from a number of sources. One popular source is at RootsWeb (which you can visit at the link below).

http://tinyurl.com/2m88q9

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.”

Has this same question crossed your mind?

Here’s the bottom line.  You want to trace your ancestors back as far as you can.  By that I mean identifying your direct ancestors (your parents, your grandparents, your great-great grandparents, etc.).

Brothers and sisters, Aunts and Uncles, they are all great people to keep notes on but your core family tree is just the parents of the parents of the parents of you (and beyond).

When you find a direct mother or father in your lineage, you need to have documentation that proves that they are a part of your lineage.

You do this with formal documentation.  Namely, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates.

You’re ultimately searching for these three documents for every person on your family tree.  This is how you do a family tree.

These documents will provide you with the critical information you need to go back to the previous generation.  For example, a birth certificate will tell you who the parents were.

Does that help?  Stick with it… you’re doing great.  Just take it one generation at a time.

Sometimes knowing the list of resources available is half the battle.

How To Do A Family Tree – Four Must Know Resources

• First of all, you need to know that much of the Social Security database can be accessed as a part of public record in the United States. This is a great place to start

• Other Government resources include the Office for Vital Records and the Department of Veteran Affairs

• Don’t overlook your local courthouse or other public records like those kept by the Knights of Columbus

• Finally, local records from the main ports of call in the US are a great source for immigration records

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.

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.

Subscribe to new Google Search results

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…

Measurement Challenges

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:

1. About.com Genealogy (Kimberly Powell)
2. Eastman Online Newsletter* (Dick Eastman)
3. Genea-Musings (Randy Seaver)
4. Creative Gene (Jasia)
5. DearMYRTLE (Pat Richely)
6. AnceStories (Miriam Midkiff)
7. Genealogue (Chris Dunham)
8. footnoteMaven (Anonymous)
9. Genetic Genealogist (Blaine Bettinger)
10. Tracing The Tribe: Jewish Genealogy Blog (Schelly Talalay Dardashti)
11. GenaBlogie (Craig Manson)
12. Olive Tree Genealogy Blog (Lorine McGinnis Schulze)
13. Steve’s Genealogy Blog (Stephen J. Danko)
14. Ancestry.com (Juliana Smith)
15. TransylvanianDutch (John Newmark)
16. GenDisasters (Stu Beitler)
17. Genealogy Insider @ FamilyTree (Diane Haddad)
18. Think Genealogy (Mark Tucker)
19. California Genealogical Society and Library Blog (California Genealogical Society)
20. The Genealogy Guys (George G. Morgan and Drew Smith)
21. CanadaGenealogy, or, ‘Jane’s Your Aunt’ (Diane Rogers)
22. Ancestry Insider (Anonymous)
23. GenealogyBlog (Leland Meitzler)
24. Ancestor Search Blog (Kathi)
25. Genealoge (Hugh Watkins)                         /its a tie!/
    Legacy News (Legacy Tree Software)         /its a tie!/

Notice: The Ancestry Insider is independent of Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. “The Ancestry Insider” does not mean “Ancestry.com Insider.” The opinions expressed herein are his own.

(This posting is from The Ancestry Insider. Click the link to view the full article from its original source.)

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.)

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?

Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions

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

…

I recently made my first visit to the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA). This is one in a series of articles inspired by that visit to help you make your first visit to the National Archives.

Colored sheet finding aids

National Archives staff have prepared over 160 pages of finding guides to assist researchers with their most common records. These guides are printed on various hues of colored paper. They can be found on a rack in the lobby once you arrive at the Archives.

Not 100% sure the purpose behind the color.  These might have been a way to help them stand out or perhaps a coding system.  If I learn more I’ll update this post.

While the National Archives has decided not to put these guides online, fortunately, the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society has decided to fill this void. The Mount Vernon Genealogical Society is located in the Washington, DC suburbs where society members are lucky enough to make frequent visits to the National Archives. Some members work there.

Harold McClendon, publicity chair for the society, says,

To make these sheets available to everyone, the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society is placing all of the guides on its web site in PDF format.  The guides are organized into the following categories:  African Americans, Asian Americans, Census, Citizenship, Civilian Federal Employees, District of Columbia, Early Congressional Private Claims, Immigration, lands, Military, Native American and 1885 State and Territorial Censuses.  As new sheets are issued by the National Archives, copies are being added to the web site.

To access these finding aids, go to http://mvgenealogy.org/NARA_Guides.html. McClendon recommends printing the guides related to your research.

As you review the guide, you will then be better able to determine the specific publication to review in search of  the desired records.  You might even find that the National Archives has publications that you never knew existed.

Thank you, Harold McClendon and the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society for extending this service to the genealogical community.

(This posting is from The Ancestry Insider.)

Great information thanks to the folks at The Ancestry Insider.  Use the link above to visit the original post directly and browse their site overall.  When trying to figure out how to make a family tree every little bit of information helps.

…

Where to Next?

Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions

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]]> http://www.genealogybeginner.com/public-records/how-to-make-a-family-tree-2.html/feed 0 http://www.genealogybeginner.com/public-records/norway-1875-census.html http://www.genealogybeginner.com/public-records/norway-1875-census.html#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:13:00 +0000 Chris http://www.genealogybeginner.com/?p=631 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):

1875 Norway Census

In the first week of December, we will start indexing the 1875 Norway Census. This will be a large segment of the census for rural areas of Norway, but not the entire census. FamilySearch’s Historical Family Reconstitution unit has joined forces with the University of Tromsø in Norway to complete this project. The university is indexing the census records for the urban areas of Norway.

Pass the word along that anyone interested in Norwegian genealogical research is encouraged to help by volunteering as a FamilySearch indexer.

Completed Projects
The following projects have been completed in the past two weeks. Patrons should be able to search them shortly online at FamilySearch Record Search:

Missouri – 1870 US Census
Tennessee – 1870 US Census
Morelos – 1930 Mexico Census
Alabama – 1920 US Federal Census
Arkansas Marriages II
Alabama – 1850 US Federal Census – General

(This posting is from Scottish Genealogy News and Events.)

…

Where Will You Find Your Ancestors?

Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions

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]]> http://www.genealogybeginner.com/public-records/norway-1875-census.html/feed 0 http://www.genealogybeginner.com/public-records/commission-recommends-215-million-in-grants-for-document-editing-and-archival-projects.html http://www.genealogybeginner.com/public-records/commission-recommends-215-million-in-grants-for-document-editing-and-archival-projects.html#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:38:44 +0000 Chris http://www.genealogybeginner.com/national-archives-and-records-administration-nara/commission-recommends-215-million-in-grants-for-document-editing-and-archival-projects.html 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 Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and documentary histories of the First Federal Congress and the Ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Five subventions were awarded to university presses to defray the cost of publishing new volumes of the papers of Washington, Madison, John Jay, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.  The University of Wisconsin will receive funding to continue its work at the Institute for Editing Historical Documents, and the Papers of Andrew Jackson project at the University of Tennessee will be able to hire a new Editing Fellow.

A new pilot project to transcribe unpublished papers from the Founding Era of the nation was awarded to the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities on behalf of Documents Compass.  This new effort will prepare verified and XML-encoded versions of unpublished documents and develop a workflow that can help the Founders editorial projects in their publishing process.  The pilot project is the result of the Report to Congress by the Archivist of the United States on how to provide online access to the papers of the Founding Era.

Strategies and Tools grants went to the Massachusetts Historical Society to enable the Adams papers project to digitize its paper-based control files and to the University of Michigan to develop standardized survey tools for government archives in collaboration with the University of North Carolina and the University of Toronto.

Six projects were recommended for Digitization grants. The University of Florida will digitize material from six collections relating to the exploration, development and conservation of the Everglades from 1878-1929.  The Railroad Commission of Texas is digitizing about 120,000 pages, including oversized maps and plans, of documents dealing with the Texas Oil Boom of the 1930s.  A microfilm collection of the papers of Henry A. Wallace, FDR’s vice president and the Progressive Party candidate for President in 1948, will be digitized at the University of Iowa.  A digital collection of the records of the American Social Health Association, held by the University of Minnesota, will give researchers access to documents from World I and World War II when the Association was active in advising and treating military personnel on health issues.  The American Institute of Physics will digitize the papers of Samuel A. Goudsmit (1921-1979), the renowned physicist who headed the team investigating Germany’s progress in developing the atomic bomb during World War II. Duke University is digitizing 24,000 photographs and slides that portray outdoor advertising and linking these images to an existing online database.

The Commission also approved grant announcements for new projects, and it welcomed Dr. Lucy Barber as the new Deputy Executive Director.  Dr. Barber was formerly the Director of Technology Initiatives at the NHPRC.  After receiving a Ph.D. in History from Brown University, Dr. Barber was an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, and later an archivist with the California State Archives.  She is the author of Marching on Washington: The Creation of a National Political Tradition.

The Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein, is the chairman of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and Kathleen Williams is its Executive Director.  Members of the Commission include two Presidential appointees and representatives from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Library of Congress, and from the following professional associations: the Association for Documentary Editing, the American Association for State and Local History, the American Historical Association, the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, the Organization of American Historians, and the Society of American Archivists.

The next meeting at which the Commission will consider grant applications is scheduled for May, 2009.

…
A complete list of all grants is below.

Grants-November 2008

Pilot Project-Founding Era

Virginia Foundation for
the Humanities                                        $250,000
Charlottesville, VA
This pilot project will transcribe and encode for online and print
publication documents on behalf of documentary editing projects from the
Founding Era of the nation.

Publishing Historical Records (Founding Era)
These long-term projects document major historical figures or groups
from the Founding Era of the nation.

The Documentary History of                      $210,508
the First Federal Congress
George Washington University

The Adams Papers                                        $162,550
Massachusetts Historical Society

The Papers of James Madison             $146,154
University of Virginia

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson                  $166,987
Princeton University

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin                 $198,900
Yale University

The Documentary History of                      $208,000
the Ratification of the Constitution
University of Wisconsin

The Papers of George Washington                 $173,090
University of Virginia

Publication Subventions
Grants to publishers to help defray the printing costs of individual
volumes of documentary editions.

University of Virginia Press                    $10,000
Charlottesville, VA
The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 19

University of Virginia Press                    $10,000
Charlottesville, VA
The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, Vol. 15

University of Virginia Press                    $10,000
Charlottesville, VA
The Papers of James Madison, Retirement Series, Vol. 1

University of Virginia Press                    $10,000
Charlottesville, VA
Selected Papers of John Jay, Vol. 1

Rutgers, State University of
New Jersey                                   $10,000
Rutgers, NJ
The Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony, Vol. 5

Editing Fellowships
Grants to support a fellowship at a historical documentary editing
project.

Papers of Andrew Jackson                        $55,000

University of Tennessee

Professional Development
Grants to support projects for the professional development of
archivists and/or documentary editors.

Institute for the Editing of                    $41,791
Historical Documents
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

Strategies and Tools
Grants to for new strategies or tools for archives and historical
publishing.

Massachusetts Historical Society                $150,000
Boston, MA
The Adams Papers Control File Digitization Project
Regents of the University
of Michigan                                   $149,969
Ann Arbor, MI
Archival Metrics and User Evaluation for Government Archives.

Digitizing Historical Records
Grants to organizations digitizing entire collections of historical
importance.

Duke University                         $60,000
Durham, NC
ROAD 2.0: Digitizing Outdoor Advertising

University of Florida                           $72,650
Gainesville, FL
America’s Swam: The Historical Everglades Project

Railroad Commission of Texas            $146,861
Austin, TX
Digitizing Historical Oil & Gas Hearing Files

University of Iowa                              $32,700
Iowa City, IA
Henry A. Wallace Digital Collection Project

University of Minnesota                 $66,605
Minneapolis, MN
Digitizing the Historical Records of the American Social Health
Association

American Institute of Physics                   $39,063
College Park, MD
Digitizing the Samuel A. Goudsmit Papers

genealogy grants

…

Where to Next?

Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions

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