Question of the Week: What's in your genealogy toolbox?

Question

What genealogy tools do you use regularly?

Please tell us about them with an answer below. You could also answer on Facebook or share the question image with friends on any social media.

Answer 1

Ok so I haven't answered one of these with a video in a while so her is my Video Answer to The Question of the Week.

https://youtu.be/hhShEmCi0z0

And here are many of the but not all of the Resources I use For Canadian Research

Canadian Resources

Library and Archives Canada
World War 1 Personnel Records
Census tool
Immigration Records
Citizenship and naturalization records
Employment Records

Canadian Archival Network - Collection of local Archives from across Canada

Canadian War Museum: Military History Research Centre
Glenbow Library and Archives
Hudson's Bay Company Archives
Maritime History Archive

New Brunswick

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Genealogical Societies:
New Brunswick Genealogical Society

Newfoundland

Provincial Archives:
The Rooms

Genealogical Societies:
Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador

Nova Scotia

Provincial Archives:
Nova Scotia Archives

Genealogical Societies:
Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia

Local Histories
Beaton Institute - Digital Archives for Cape Breton Research
History of Inverness County, Nova Scotia -By J. L. MacDougall (1922) Great source for early settlers
Pictonians at Home and Abroad - By Rev. J. P. MacPhie M.A. (1914)
Prospect Region 

Other Resources

Highland Emigration to Nova Scotia
Our Children in Old Scotland and Nova Scotia By E. M. Stirling the Founder of the Edinburgh and Leith Children’s Aid and Refuge Society
List of Nova Scotia Casualties WWII

Prince Edward Island

Provincial Archives:
Memory PEI

Provincial Libraries:
PEI Provincial Library System 

Genealogical Societies:
Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society

IOther Resources
Robertson Digital Collection
Island Archives - the main jumping off point for most of the Library's digital collections
Bowing Down Home - an innovative ethnography of Prince Edward Island fiddling.
BookLives - tracing the people who once owned the books found within UPEI’s Provenance Collection.
Island Lives - a collection of local histories for PEI, as well as some key publications about Island history.
Island Magazine - full text access to the Island Magazine (published by the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation).
Island Voices - a collection of folklore and oral history field recordings produced by Reg "Dutch" Thompson, providing a rich history of the Island.
Island Narratives - stories of thirteen Island communities that have been collected and digitized by a team of youth researchers, and including oral history interviews, photographs and documents donated by community members.
Island Newspapers - a collection of PEI's historic newspapers, starting with The Guardian and Haszard's Gazette, with new titles being added regularly.
PEI Documents Online - the full text of the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of PEI starting from the 32nd General Assembly (March 1894) to the present day plus biographies of former Members of the Legislative Assembly and a selection of audio recordings.
Prince of Wales Digital Archive - a collection of images, documents and media reflecting the history of Prince of Wales College, a predecessor institution to UPEI.
The Red & White - full text access to the campus magazine of St. Dunstan's University (SDU) from 1909 - 1969.
Saint Dunstan's University - A Decade of Growth: 1954-1964 - a site commemorating the heritage of Saint Dunstan’s and celebrating the ongoing contribution of the SDU community to our University
Telling Island Stories - a collaborative community digitization project that facilitates the contribution and curation of historic materials by community members and accessible both from this site and the Telling Island Stories iPad application.
UPEI Magazine - full text access to the official University magazine, published from 1983-2004.

Answer 2

Mine is pretty run-of-the-mill really.  Ancestry.com/Family search of course, newspapers.com.  I find amazing leads through Google Books searches, but by far the most helpful resources have always been Historical Society Groups and small libraries local to the particular ancestor I am researching.  I was able to find a photograph of a great uncle who had died at age 17 in a high school football game, he had died so young, even his siblings hardly remembered his face, and had no photos of him as they had been extremely poor and could not afford them.  I was able to find an old year book, from 1933, with a picture of him with his team in his football uniform the season he died, in a local library near the high school.

Answer 3

Greetings all, I agree with A. Ruff.  I found a small historical society in Kinmundy, Illinois and the director actually not only knew my relatives but went to school with some of my aunts/uncles.  These small societies are instrumental in the preservation of family history and they have done a wonderful job.  Meeting cousins who can fill in the blanks of some of the missing history.  Finally, never giving up.  I found my half sister's other siblings after searching for 2 years (they are all in their 70s now), so staying motivated by forums such as WikiTree has been a blessing.

Answer 4

Rigorous genetic evaluation. Does that count?

There is a massive amount of DNA misinformation circulated on the internet by "influencers" who have no degree--even undergraduate--in biology or any related curriculum. Or that have any actual laboratory experience.

Yet they tell us we can use autosomal segments as small as 7cM to identify ancestors as far back as 10 generations.

I guess my genealogy toolbox would importantly include the scientific method: i.e., work rigorously to disprove your hypothesis.

Avoid, at all costs, confirmation bias.

Comments

Edison, you have brought up a good point. Thank you for this.

Always look for all the scientific evidence you can find. Be open to consider alternate hypotheses when the data don't fit your original assumption. If we don't fix our incorrect assumptions, we can end up trying to fit square pegs into round holes, and creating false merges that have to be backed out when proven wrong.

Lastly, indicate uncertainty when you are not sure.

Answer 5

Cousins, no matter how distant. I have made some invaluable cousin connections through Facebook genealogy chat groups focused on counties where ancestors lived. Other connections were made through DNA cousins who shared information, photos and stories. Some found by reaching out thru Ancestry or FTDNA (especially the Y-DNA researchers linked to my cousin’s test that I manage) and other researchers that I connected with here at WikiTree. My connections with cousins have helped me put “flesh on the bones.” Some knew my great grandparents, or were the flower girl at my parents wedding, or had other connections to the older generations and helped answer questions for me. And more distant connections researching the family lines have shared research they have done and shared their personal knowledge to help advance my research. Don’t underestimate the power of cousins and don’t get discouraged if you reach out and don’t hear back right away. The response might be delayed but if it comes it might just come with that information you have been seeking.

Answer 6

Since I volunteer researching for the Kentucky United States Colored Troops project, I do quite a bit of military research so I use Fold3, FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindaGrave, newspapers.com, Chronicling America, Genealogybank, and Wikitree. I also use both the Allen County Public Library and the Preble County Ohio Library quite a bit because I do a lot of research in both areas. I also use google books and Wayback machine at times but not regularly. I also read a lot of blogs and listen to a lot of youtube videos or podcasts. Also I have found the webinars through Legacy Family Tree. I also use Family Tree Maker and Legacy Family Tree as my main offline genealogy database management software.

Answer 7

National Archives NextGen Catalog account, NARA Resources for Genealogists, and History Hub, an online research community sponsored by NARA! I love these tools, and they have led me directly to several unique sources valuable to my Native American research. Same with several state historical societies and their ever-expanding digital collections. 

Answer 8

My genealogy toolbox includes anything and everything. The great thing about wikitree as I can source anything and everything as well.

We all know the online resources available, though ever changing adding new surprises. I am lucky enough to have started genealogy well before the internet so I am very familiar with local societies and court houses as we all should be for non digitized records.

Don't be afraid to reach out to relatives you don't know. I find that if I share a picture with a bit of information and ask a question at the same time, I generally get an answer. I then immediately respond with who has the old family pictures on your side of the family? Hopefully this also leads to an interview with an older relative.

Artifacts are wonderful! The oak leaf candy dish I have from my great-great grandfather is nice, but when I research and realize he ran a general store it becomes more and with other items from his household we can get a picture of what his store might have sold, or at the very least, how successful it might have been.

Farmers! All of my ancestors were farmers. Using the agricultural census (in the US 1850-1880) gives a detailed account of what was raised on the farm. If you don't have personal farming knowledge, a little cultural research will tell you a good deal about daily life for ancestors listed in this record. I highly suggest using multiple years of this record to see how the farm expanded or declined with the addition or moving away of children.

Long story short, think outside the box is the motto of my toolbox.

Answer 9

My toolbox is pretty simple actually. Primarily it consists of Familysearch which I use for the record catalogue. In it there's then the graves: living in a small town in Italy and having almost all my relatives buried within the same cemetery has been of extreme help. Last but not least I use my family members' witnesses. In fact I'm lucky enough to have my dad, my aunt and my dad's cousins who helped me reconstruct my family tree through their memories almost back to 1830s

Answer 10

I like to use private records from family members, including photographs, as well as Family Search for birth, death, marriage, land, and census records. I always look at the image on each source because not all information from the image is transcribed into a citation. This is especially true for hand-written records. Find-a-Grave and Ancestry.com also have lots of useful sources.

DNA also can provide useful information about a person, but usually it does not help to create profiles. DNA can enhance profiles once they are created. An exception can be when a family member is identified through DNA but the genealogical information is missing. We still have not discovered how to connect Emma Ceruti Manuel to the family tree.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ceruti-101

When I create profiles from family trees and other sources, such as photographs, handed down from generation to generation, I follow up with primary sources to corroborate the family records.

Answer 11

An underappreciated resource for U.S. records is LDS Genealogy:  https://ldsgenealogy.com/dir/  I typically browse down to the county level then pick the type of record I'm looking for (i.e. Land, Probate, Tax).  It will show you where the records can be located.  FamilySearch and Ancestry are the obvious ones but I'm often surprised by some valuable sites that I've never heard of before.  It's especially useful for finding what newspapers were around for each year and whether they're online or offline.

Answer 12

My genealogy tool kit is bursting at the seams with fabulous utensils, hardware, software, and materials.  I use Ancestry and fold3, newspapers.com, findagrave, and genealogybank.com daily. I still like the USGenWeB Project pages, which aren't updated very often, but have some valuable information. I use various State Library and Archive sites and online sources from various libraries around the Country. For example, I use the chancery records from the Library of Virginia, and the World War I (The Great War) records from The Tennessee State Library and Archives. The Craighead County, Arkansas Library has a valuable obituary index from 1885 to current, I check regularly, then request the obits I need, which they promptly email.  Their service is the best, so it pays to check the local libraries as we never know what they offer to the public. 

Chancery records are my favorite documents, so I find myself at the county archives checking for land and probate disputes.  Familysearch.org has my county deeds and I generally check their wiki if I am working a county I don't have much experience. 

I subscribe to Legacy Family Tree Webinars and appreciate their educational resources. I participate in two State Genealogy Societies, which often have great educational opportunities and resources online.

Who doesn't use Google on an hourly basis? Google helps me locate funeral homes, maps, rare books, images, subject matter experts, geographical and political information about people and places, and much more including videos related to work I may be doing.

Other tools I use are my cemetery kit when visiting cemeteries, Legacy Family Tree Software for my primary desktop program, Clooz by Ancestral Systems, My Heritage, and a program that works with familysearch called Goldiemay How could I forget Flickr.com and FastStone Capture, which is my favorite snipping tool.  Of course, WikiTree has thousands of Help pages and resources I use daily including the awesome Youtube videos provided by WikiTree. I must mention the Library of Congress in my long list of tools.  Our ancestors couldn't have dreamed of the resources we would have available for genealogy research.  

How many bookshelves do you have? I have five in my bedroom and most of the material is in some form or fashion related to my family history or genealogy.  

Answer 13

Seek and you shall find like it says in the Bible.

Often what I am looking for appears. It must be from some

spirit guides.

Newspapers.com has been very helpful.

I found myself in a newspaper when I was in 2nd grade class. I was interviewed and asked a question about Spring and I said we had flowers in our backyard and I liked to pick them. I found my older brother too when he was in elementary school and my younger brother when he was born.

You should also check for unclaimed money in your state. I learned my dad bought a life insurance policy when I was born. The company went out of business. The state had​​​ $12.00 for me.

Answer 14

I am a true beginner with Geneaology. This month marks my first anniversary of non stop research. This included going from one family tree site to another, interviewing my poor relatives to agitation, and  digging thru boxes filled with photographs and documentation. Thank goodness my oldest child is also sharing in the passion. I  discuss my thoughts and theories with him too. Honestly, it helps to collaborate so now I am an amateur wikitree genealogist. Here are a few of the research tools I use.

The Library of Congress is an excellent source for information. I have only used the digital collections.

The state archives and history sites for the state's your relatives lived. Also try the local library systems, most if not all, are tied into the  state systems and offer additional links as you navigate thru each site.

I actually have learned more from the local libraries. For instance, I have found a collection of boxes filled with notebooks, photos, etc. at the Pender County Library in Burgaw, NC. My maternal line is from NC. It includes information on the Bordeaux's. I am researching my brick wall ancestor Ida Tabitha Bordeaux. For this situation I have to contact the library and talk with a researcher. The same library had local history books available for me to read online.

Many counties have their own museums. Something that seems small can lead to a big find. Take the time for a further look.

Learning the local histories like old landmarks and areas where your relatives may have lived have helped. One relative lived in an area referred to as Costin's Corner. I have not seen reference again on a source. But the information hepled lead me to that area for further information.

I have also viewed digital collections on college and university sites. Be sure to look at the links these sites may offer.

Lastly, I have found myself reading all the help available on Wikitree. I want my portion of the family tree to be correct, to present as professional as possible and to assist in the collaboration of the tree.