Searching by Batch Numbers

Familysearch.org has restored the search by batch number function on their website. However some users are experiencing difficulties with searching batch numbers with fewer than five numbers following the prefix or if they have a prefix starting with j or k.

To bypass the first problem, simply add two zeros after the prefix (ex. C 167-7 will become C001677). And to bypass the second problem change the prefix from J or K to the letter C.

American Loyalists

Are you missing a relative that you KNOW should be in the United States around the time of the Revolutionary War? There were many people who although they were not technically "Loyalists" because they did not serve in a Loyalist militia, still remained loyal to the King of England. Towards the end of the war or even later, many of these people left and went to England, Jamaica, and Canada. It may be difficult to find a long lost member of the family if you have no idea to where they disappeared.

Sea Ports

If you had an ancestor who worked on a cargo ship, there are some truly amazing places he could have visited. It's even possible that this is how somebody for New York found and married a girl from Virginia. Some of the major ports around the United States were Charleston, South Carolina, New York City, San Francisco, Duluth, Minnesota, Green Bay, Wisconsin, St. Louis, Missouri, and New Orleans, Louisiana. These ports made it possible to transfer goods across the United States much more efficiently than covered wagon. Many people were needed to work the docks and the boats, and it gave men the chance to work their way to a new city.

Gazeteers

I can honestly say that I have never used a gazeteer during any genealogy research, but it seems like it would be a absolutely wonderful source of information. I know that it could be handy, but since it only lists town and jurisdictions and other geographic names and features that existed when the gazeteer was created, it makes it a little more difficult to use. The name of the town could have changed, or a church burned down after it was published. I would give the same advice as always, "Don't always trust what you read, dig deeper and get a second or third piece of documentation."

Gayla Mendenhall

Organizing Your Files

I've talked before about organization and keeping track of information. Whether it is physical documents in manilla folders, 3 ring binders with dividers, or filing in a computer's hard drive, you still need to organize your information. Here are a few helpful hints on how to organize best:

1) Organize as you go. Don't throw everything in a bureau drawer thinking that you'll get around to filing someday. It never happens.
2) Know your organization system. Whether it is one family per folder or by date, know how you are keeping everything divided.
3) Make copies of documents that fit into more than one group (think cluster research) or color code the folder with stickers so you can remember with which towns/families the document refers.
4) Research the easiest information first.
5) Over filing isn't necessarily bad. Consider having the same document photocopied and filed by family group, date, type of document (eg. birth/death/marriage certificates, deeds, etc)

Being organized will save you from searching for the same document more than once.

Politics and Genealogy

Many of us think of ourselves and our families as being very 'ho-hum' normal every day people, never realizing just how amazing our ancestors were as they went about their normal 'ho-hum' lives.

Just think about the 1800s, prime old west material for many stories and movies, when our country went from 'what's out there in the west' to 'how do I get me and mine a chunk of it?"

In 1830 the first railroad was born, were your relatives there?
In 1880 John St. John (the governor of Kansas) forced prohibition in Dodge City, the first state to make liquor illegal. Did your ancestor fight for or against Prohibition?
In 1882 Congress passed the Edmund's Law, making polygamy a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

What I'm getting at is this, when you write your family's history don't forget to include the happenings during your Grandpa's life in his area of the world. Check the newspaper archives of that township, you might find they were written about for their political views or simply because of a land dispute or Lady's Board Meeting! CB