What Do You Know About US Newspapers?

  by Shannon Combs-Bennett, student Who loves history?  I do! I know you probably do too. Which is why Module 1 of the US: Newspaper Records course was absolutely amazing to read. Most of the module covered the history of newspapers in the US as well as an overview of the information you can discover. There was so much excellent information in those pages. Many people don’t know that there were regular newspapers in the Americas dating all the way back to the 1600s. As the colonies grew, so did the number of newspapers. Not all of them were successful, but the ones that we are lucky enough to still have today are a great insight into life during that time.  Which is one of the things that excites me most about old newspapers. A window into the past, that is what I like to think of newspapers. You can see exactly what was happening in a community during a specific day, week, or even month. It is one of the purest ways to study the social history of our ancestors. The course author includes a section about advertising in the newspapers. Advertisements are great, not only for the social history aspect, but also to give you clues about your ancestors if they were in business.  For instance, one of the best advertisements I found in a newspaper was for my 3rd great grandmother’s hotel in my hometown. Because of that advertisement,  I learned the cost of a nightly rate plus the price of dinner in the dining room. This is the same woman who just a few years later was in the newspaper  as a person who was being reimbursed by the county for aiding the court. She housed  jurors in that hotel while they were in town for a trial.  Without a newspaper listing I may have never known that about her. We learned in this course that by 1860 there were about 3,000 newspapers across the US.  While that may not seem like a lot today, it was actually pretty impressive for that time frame. Especially since by 1914 there were more than 15,000 being published in the US.  With those numbers every one of us should find something of interest to our family history! To make sure we all understand what the newspapers are telling us our instructor provided a glossary at the end of Module…

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New Course: Forensic Genealogy

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is proud to announce our newest course, written by professional genealogist Cari Taplin CG, Forensic Genealogy. The field of forensic genealogy is a fast-growing field dealing with genealogical research that might have legal implications, such as heir searching or determining mineral rights. Families drift apart for many reasons: divorce, disagreement, migrations, remarriage, or others. Today’s genealogists and family historians have many reasons for reestablishing connections with lost relatives. We designed this course to help forensic researchers identify and contact living people. It will also take students through genealogical sources and documents, but with a focus on identifying living people, as well as some practical examples. Students will also learn about specific career subsets in forensic work. Forensic genealogy and the work necessary to identify and contact living people can be a rewarding field. This course will teach students some of the basic skills necessary to get started. This course begins on Monday, February 6 and is available every two months after that. Learn more on our website.

Starting the US Newspaper Records Course

  by Shannon Combs-Bennett, student   I think one of the most overlooked sources for genealogy research are newspapers.  Where else can you find information on current and historical events, your ancestors, and history all in one place?  Even before I started researching my family history I admit that newspapers were a bit of a fascination for me.  Old newspapers are intriguing, and hold so many stories just waiting to be uncovered. When I learned that one of the required classes for an American Records certificate from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies  was a course on  newspaper research I was very excited.  I really, really hoped when I saw that I would learn some cool new tips about newspapers.  From my experience, and you probably have read this before in my past blog posts, I just knew that there was more to learn. By looking at the syllabus for the US: Newspaper Records course you can see that a lot of different aspects of newspaper research are covered.  Particular importance is paid to learning how to dissect information out of stories as well as module after module on what information can be ferreted out of said articles. I am looking forward to learning more about the information I will find in newspapers.  However, I know that I can always brush up on my search technique which means Module 6 will most likely end up being the one I find the most helpful. On that note, off I go to learn about newspaper research.  See you online!  

Learning More About US Court Records

  by Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Who doesn’t love a good court record?  If you haven’t researched this type of record set, by the end of this blog post I hope you will investigate it more. While the amount of genealogical information can be overwhelming, the rewards are numerous. Due to the amount of information I have found over the years in court records I was very excited to take the course, U.S. Court Records authored by Ann Staley, CG.  I am always on the lookout for new information that I may have overlooked in the past, or something I simply didn’t know about. Some of my favorite records to search are Chancery records, a type of court record relevant in states with a colonial past. These are the courts where you would go to have something divided, such as in the case of  a divorce, business dissolvent, or arguments over an estate.  Let’s face it, when our ancestors argued they left great records!  While these types of records were covered briefly I did learn a lot more about the types of records available across multiple jurisdictions. By the end of the course I realized you could easily spend years studying court records looking for all aspects of your ancestor’s life!  Remember, they didn’t have to be a criminal to be mentioned in these records. Naturalizations were done on the local level for many years before becoming a federal process as were vital record registrations in many places. Thinking you will only find the bad deeds of your ancestors will only  limit the research you do for your ancestry. The further I was in the course the more I realized there is a lot to remember and take in when you research court records.  Not only is there the history of the laws, but there are jurisdictions, and types of courts.  I am not sure how people can remember it all!  Which means I was counting on this course to be a reference guide for me in the future.  The instructor for this course, Ann Staley, did an excellent job laying it all out, keeping it organized, and giving the student the resources they needed to understand the material. If you look over the syllabus for the course you will notice it is quite extensive.  The course has 6 modules and includes a couple of case studies with an appendix which includes…

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Planning a Research Trip: Salt Lake City

By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student The Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah is one of those dream research locations for genealogists. Many people plan for years to take just one trip to this world famous library. Others are lucky enough to go on a regular pilgrimage to this repository. I thought having a section on researching in Salt Lake City was a wonderful addition to the Planning A Research Trip Including Preparing for Salt Lake City course. Once again, there are tips and tricks in there that I wish I had known about before I made my first, or even, last trip! I have gone to the Family History Library (FHL)  twice, and I am getting ready to go for my third trip in February 2017.  In my past trips  I had only 1 day at the FHL, but this time I am excited to put what I learned in this course to good use and spend multiple days there. When I  go also corresponds with the  RootsTech conference, so it is a crazy time in the area. Other times of the year are less packed, but at other times of the year you cannot run into so many people from the genealogy  community all doing what we love…research.  While my experiences may not match yours (from the past or in the future) I hope you can see why I think the last two modules of this  course are so valuable. Not only do the course instructors walk the students through how to navigate the Library but also Salt Lake City and other facilities that are of importance to researchers.  Until this course I knew little about the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB).  The JSMB holds some records that are only found on microfilm at the FHL as well as having computers for research and places to eat.  The one thing I can vouch for is the JSMB café.  I ate there once and it was very, very good food for a reasonable price. After these two blog posts I hope you will consider taking this course if you are preparing for a research trip.  The information contained was extremely informative, and no matter your level, very useful. Interested in hearing more about this course? I’ll be talking about this course and my Salt Lake City tips in a Virtual Meeting on Monday, January 9th at 12:00pm EST. On that…

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