Hyperfocus on Genealogy Resources

Without a car, I get stuff done

Since I last posted, Hurricane Milton made his landfall and did an outstanding job packing a second punch to Floridians after Helene. Fortunately, we didn't see much of Milton where I live. I did, however, line up a contractor to inspect my roof after Helene. My roof is shot, but it's not from the hurricane. It's from hail a tornado produced in our area on 24 September this year.

That's a deductible cost that's going to pinch a bit, because the head gasket blew on my Chevy last week. I've already sold the car, and I've made peace with losing her. She's only 10-years-old, but she took care of me. I relied on her to take me back and forth between Kentucky and Virginia at least four times per year to offer caregiving to my parents for six of those ten years. I took good care of her, too.

But something went awry at the car shop over the past month re: coolant hoses, coolant reservoir, and other issues, and she finally tripped over the cliff. I've decided, and my daughter and close friends are in agreement, that I need a new roof, and I'm not going to get one for the price of a deductible. So I'll wait on obtaining a vehicle, as I really don't need one at the moment. I'll be able to focus on my writing and other tasks here at home.

Besides, I have a few domains to sell in December.

I learned that one doesn't just buy-and-flip domain names. There's a 60-day cooling-off period after a domain purchase or if any major information changes in the WHOIS, such as an email. That's ok, because I'm still working on setting those domains up at Sedo. BTW, their payment for the domain that sold two weeks ago was fast and didn't contain any hidden fees.

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My relationship at OpenSRS has changed, too. One dude, Hamilton, decided he would just change the CNAME records for me. That worked. Now I'm able to make all the websites I want to develop go live at any time. They're just biting at the bit waiting for content. Another reason to remain home.

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I’m currently working on the Beckner/Littrell side of my family tree at WikiTree. You all know my penchant for not paying for anything that consumes an inordinate amount of my time, so here are a few websites I use for genealogy that are absolutely free (I'm not receiving a kickback or whatevers for sending you their way):

• WikiTree: Sign up for free. Start building your tree. Be aware that, unless you're accustomed to writing collegiate papers, you might have a learning curve when it comes to citations. They're unavoidable at WikiTree. Their absolute insistence on citations is what makes this site invaluable.

• FamilySearch.org (U.S. Version): Do not use them for a family tree, as anyone can come along and destroy everything you've built. This site is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch offers access to billions of records, including census data, vital records (birth, marriage, death), military records, and more (almost as much as Ancestry without the price tag). This organization also has classes, helpful tutorials, and a "reunion" of sorts every year in March for people to learn more about how to use their site.

• Worldcat (Genealogy Section): Your local library should be able to obtain books from this system. This catalog of local and regional libraries offers an ocean of genealogical and historical books and documents you can use in your research. I just obtained the book, Beckners in America: The First 250 Years, through my local library from a library located 240 miles away. Convenient.

• Local Historical Societies: I'm a Filson Fellow from 2005, so I'll offer that resource to show you an example of how local historical societies can help with research. The Filson in Louisville, Kentucky, has a library, microfiche machines, and other features that anyone can use for research. Most of the pieces need to stay in place, so make time to sit with materials to make notes. Laptops are very useful in this situation.

• War Histories: Institutions such as the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), SAR (Sons of...etc.) and other groups have a wealth of information about the military history hidden within your family. I'm unsure at this point if anything is online, as something in me avoids the military aspect of my tree. I'll have to face it eventually.

• Freedmen's Bureau (National Archives): This is a post-Civil War agency that kept records on formerly enslaved people. Invaluable. Also, check census records at FamilySearch. That's where I discovered that a great-grand-uncle sired children with a slave and actually informed the county about their births, making them my cousins legally in the process. That's an amazing piece of information, even with DNA resources.

• AfriGeneas: Focused on African-American genealogy, AfriGeneas offers free access to records, resources, and forums for researching African ancestry, including slave trade records, military records, and more.

• U.S. National Archives: Offers access to U.S. federal census records, military records, immigration records, and more, especially for historical research. You can also access free guides on how to use these records.

• U.S. GenWeb Project: A volunteer-run project that provides free genealogy resources organized by state and county. It includes historical records, cemetery listings, and family history information contributed by other genealogists. Some of the sites are pretty tired, but you can still find useful cited information. Use a search engine to find surnames at GenWeb.

• WorldGenWeb Project: Similar to the US GenWeb project but on a global scale, offering free genealogy resources categorized by country.

• Find A Grave: A large database of cemetery records with user-uploaded information about gravesites, headstone photos, and sometimes even obituaries. It’s VERY useful for tracking ancestors through burial records. User-friendly, too, with a lot of interaction among users. They also have a Facebook group or two.

• Cyndi's List (genealogy section): An enormous directory of genealogy resources. While not a direct repository of records, it links to many free resources on the web, covering everything from state archives to international records. Useful x 10.

• Library of Congress – Chronicling America: Access free digitized historic newspapers from across the U.S. This can help trace family members through old news articles, obituaries, and local events.

• Digital Public Library of America (DPLA): An expansive digital library that offers free access to millions of books, photographs, and government records. Some genealogical records can be found here, such as historical maps and documents.

• Ellis Island Immigration Records (Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation): For those with ancestors who immigrated through Ellis Island, the Ellis Island Foundation offers a searchable database of passenger lists with details about arrivals from 1892 to 1924.

You can also gain access to local history societies in other towns, to organizations such as the Huguenot Society of America, to organizations and groups at Facebook based upon surnames as well as counties and regions, and cemeteries other than those at WikiTree or Find A Grave. For instance, Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia has an online database. Also, you can call these cemeteries to learn about individuals who were buried at their cemetery without a stone. For instance, if you find an obituary that states so-and-so was buried at Boot Hill, but no one has logged that information into an online database, then call Boot Hill to ask them to look up the individual. Be prepared with a date of death and full name, if nothing else.

Don’t pay for anything until after you’ve depleted all the above sites. A side note: I do pay for Ancestral Quest, a sturdy software database that lives on your computer. I never used anything else for developing my tree for about 20 years until I latched on to WikiTree last year. Ancestral Quest is 25-years-old, it’s reliable and comes with great tutorials. The basic edition is free. If you like it and want to expand, the cost of the paid edition is under $50. To upgrade (which I’ve had to do four times in 20 years, I think) costs about $16.

Let me know if you have any other resources you use for genealogy. I’d love to hear about them! In the meantime, this is the week for new Botox injections around my left eye to treat my hemifacial spasms. Don’t knock it. It works.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood at Pexels.com.