The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy, 2nd Edition,9781592574308

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy, 2nd Edition

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Edition: 2nd
ISBN13: 9781592574308
ISBN10: 1592574300
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2006-01-03
Publisher(s): DK Publishing, Inc.
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Summary

it s often easier to know where you re going in life when you ve figured out where you ve come from. The Complete idiot s Guide to Genealogy, Second Edition offers readers an opportunity to understand the craft of genealogy, explore their roots, construct family trees, and begin to discover their true identity - all in one user-friendly volume. Originally published prior to the boom in online genealogy, this new edition is the most complete guide for beginners, advising readers on the craft of genealogical research - both its skills and its traps - and moving online after that. Once they know how and where to start digging, they can perform online research with confidence, choosing the best the internet has to offer and avoiding the dross that can be hawked there as "family trees."

Author Biography

Christine Rose is a full-time professional genealogist. She was elected a fellow of the American society of Genealogists in 1988, an honor bestowed on only 50 living genealogists at any time.
Kay Germain Ingalls is a certified genealogist and is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and a trustee for the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Who Are You?
1(54)
Why Genealogy?
3(10)
What's the Fuss About?
3(3)
Why the Effort?
5(1)
Will It Really Grab Your Attention?
6(1)
Starting down the Road
6(3)
The Path to Addiction
6(1)
Who Is an Ancestor?
7(1)
What Family to Trace?
7(2)
What Will You Get from This?
9(1)
Embarking on the Adventure
9(2)
You Won't Find Perfect People
11(1)
Genealogy with Success
11(2)
No Two the Same
12(1)
The Past Has a Personality
12(1)
Start with Mom and Dad
13(14)
Getting It Down on Paper
13(2)
Don't Be Too Pushy
15(1)
Don't Believe Every Story You Hear
15(1)
Questions to Ask Your Family
16(1)
Roamin' the Attics and the Basements
17(9)
The Objects with Tales to Tell
18(1)
Picturing the Past
19(1)
The Old Family Bible
20(1)
``This Deed Dated the ...''
21(1)
Letters: Speaking from the Grave
21(1)
``Ancient and Honorable ...'': Lineage Societies
22(1)
Account Books: Not a Penny More
23(1)
``Dear Diary''
23(1)
Baby Books: A Mom and Pop's Joy
24(1)
Address Lists, Samplers, and Other Treasures
24(2)
No Longer Junk
26(1)
Or Did You Start with the Internet?
26(1)
You're Hooked--Now What?
27(16)
What Are You Looking For?
27(2)
What Should You Use to Take Your Notes?
29(1)
Writing It Right
30(1)
What's in a Person's Name?
30(3)
Women and Their Changing Surnames
31(1)
Place Names Can Be Tricky, Too
32(1)
Dating Problems
33(1)
Did You Miss Something?
33(1)
Beyond Notes: The Other Papers You Need
33(2)
The Research Calendar
33(1)
Correspondence Log
34(1)
Word by Word: Transcribing and Summarizing Documents
35(4)
Learning by Transcribing
35(1)
Abstracts: Summarizing the Document
36(3)
It Says What?
39(4)
You Can Read It, But What Does It Mean?
39(1)
``Strange'' Old Words
40(1)
Latin for Genealogists
40(1)
Abbreviations
41(1)
Making Sense of Chicken Scratches
41(2)
Keeping Track of What You Find
43(12)
Pedigree or Family Tree Charts
44(2)
Large or Small, They Chart Your Family
45(1)
Filling in the Pedigree Chart
46(1)
Family Group Sheets
46(2)
They Keep You Organized
46(2)
Family Group Sheets and Sources
48(1)
Descendant Charts
48(3)
Drop Chart
50(1)
Using Computer Programs for Genealogy Record Keeping
51(4)
Computer-Generated Reports
51(1)
Computer Searching: What Do You Want to Know?
52(1)
Multimedia
52(1)
Continuing Development
53(1)
Finding a Computer Program
53(2)
Part 2: Finding the Trail
55(58)
The Internet: Online Any Time
57(10)
So Everything Is Now Online?
58(1)
Traditional Methodology Still Applies
58(1)
Okay, How Do You Find All That Good Stuff Out There?
58(2)
Searching by Topic
59(1)
Searching by Keyword
59(1)
A Simple Practice Exercise
60(1)
Crafting a Search
61(1)
Lost in Space
61(1)
GPS Won't Tell You Where You've Been
61(1)
Bookmarks or Favorites
62(1)
Setting Your Sights on These Sites
63(1)
Using USGenWeb and RootsWeb
63(1)
FamilySearch
64(1)
Subscription Services
64(1)
Dipping Into the Layers
65(1)
Your Family Tree Is Online---You're Done!
65(1)
What Else Is Online?
66(1)
Kissin' Kin: How to Find Them
67(12)
Ma Bell Comes to the Rescue
68(1)
Consulting Your Local Library
69(2)
City Directories
69(1)
Posting It
70(1)
Sign In, Please
70(1)
The Hometown News
71(1)
After School: Alumni Records
72(1)
The Genealogical Societies
72(1)
Periodicals Galore
73(1)
Families That Stay Together
74(2)
Locating a Family Association
74(1)
A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose
75(1)
We'll Meet on the Fourth Sunday ...
76(1)
Using Social Security to Find Your Kin
76(1)
The Death Index
76(1)
The Internet: Finding Cousion John
77(1)
Not the End of the Tale
78(1)
A Rose by Any Other Name ...
79(10)
Variations Aplenty
80(1)
Handwriting Further Obscures the Names
80(1)
Immigrating Changed Lives and Sometimes Names
81(3)
The Wish to ``Sound American''
81(3)
Talking to Yourself
84(1)
Different Record, Different Spelling
84(1)
Naming Patterns
85(1)
Religious Naming Customs
85(1)
Individual Naming Patterns
86(1)
Mother's Name Preserved
86(1)
Given Names Giving Us Trouble
86(1)
Five Children, Same First Name!
86(1)
He Was Called Billy; She Was Called Abby
87(1)
Double Trouble
87(1)
Which Do You Pick?
88(1)
Getting the Most from Libraries
89(12)
The Bigger the Better
90(1)
Making Your Way Around
90(1)
Winding Your Way with Books
90(1)
Your Family on Its Pages
91(1)
Catalogs to Help
91(1)
Magazines and Journals: Not at the Corner Newsstand
91(2)
Crammed with Articles
92(1)
Not Always Bound
93(1)
The Wonderful World of Reference
93(1)
Webster Was Never Like This
94(1)
A Library Is a Library Is a Library
95(6)
Public and Private Libraries
95(1)
Genealogical and Historical Society Libraries
95(1)
Lending Libraries
96(1)
University and College Libraries
96(1)
Family History Library
97(1)
Other Magnificent Collections
98(1)
Religious and Ethnic Libraries
98(1)
Lineage Society Libraries
99(1)
The Library of Congress
100(1)
Your Family's Hometown
101(12)
Getting Started in the Public Library
102(1)
Shelves of Possibilities
103(4)
Old Settlers Remembered
104(1)
Death Records
104(1)
Vertical Files: Just Waiting to ``Talk''!
104(1)
County Histories: The ``Mug'' Books
104(2)
Vital Records: The Facts of Life
106(1)
The Web Shines Here
106(1)
Local Records
106(1)
Local Scrapbooks
107(1)
Gazetteers and Atlases
107(4)
He Voted with Pride
108(1)
City Directories: Home Sweet Home
109(1)
Learning with School Records
110(1)
She Grew Roses; He Went to Lodge
110(1)
Artifacts and Memorabilia
111(2)
Photographs: A Peek into the Past
111(2)
Part 3: Following the Trail
113(44)
Census Research: Have You Done Your Homework?
115(12)
Census Importance
115(1)
Preparation Saves Frustration
116(3)
Where Did They Live?
117(1)
Which Census to Search First?
118(1)
Last Touches for Your List
118(1)
Cracking the Code
119(4)
Those 1880 Children Retiring
119(1)
Learning the Soundex System
120(2)
Soundex Puzzlers
122(1)
Shortcut Coding
122(1)
Soundex Codes and Online Indexes
123(1)
Indexes Before the Soundex
123(1)
Locating a Copy of the Census
124(1)
Is It True?
125(2)
Making Sense of the Census
127(18)
Counting All Those People
128(3)
Index Information
128(1)
Search Path 1880-Through-1930 Census
129(1)
Search Path 1790-Through-1870 Census
130(1)
Soundex (Index) Microfilm 1880 Through 1930
131(1)
Let's Practice
131(4)
What Will It Show?
132(1)
Using the Microfilm Catalog
133(1)
There They Are!
134(1)
Using the Pre-1880 Schedules
135(1)
The First in 1790
136(1)
Creatively Using Sparse Information
136(1)
1800 and 1810 Census
137(1)
1820 Census Adds Males 16 to 18
137(1)
1830 and 1840 Censuses Narrow Age
137(1)
Everyone Has a Name in 1850
138(1)
Those Others Living with the Family
138(1)
Slaveholders and Slaves
139(1)
Leads and More Leads
139(2)
The 1860 and 1870 Censuses
141(1)
1880, 1885, and 1890 Censuses
141(1)
Special 1885 Federal Census
141(1)
Special 1890 Civil War Census
142(1)
Changes in the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Censuses
142(1)
Mortality Schedules
143(1)
Can You Trust These Old Records?
143(1)
Now You've Got Something to Work With
144(1)
Corresponding Effectively
145(12)
The Mechanics of Correspondence
146(2)
Making It Look Neat
146(1)
Including Your Contact Information
147(1)
Spelling It Correctly, and Getting the Right Zip Code
147(1)
An SASE for Reply
148(1)
What Should You Say?
148(1)
``Dear Courthouse''
149(2)
Alternate Spellings
149(1)
Writing to the Right Place
150(1)
State Registration of Vital Statistics
151(1)
What's on the Shelves?
151(1)
What's It Going to Cost?
151(1)
Offering to Pay Promptly
152(1)
Sample Letters
152(4)
Trying to Find a Will
153(1)
The Obiturary
154(1)
Ordering a Vital Record
154(1)
Dear Cousion
155(1)
A Penny Saved
156(1)
Part 4: In Your Ancestors' Footsteps
157(74)
A Little Traveling Music, Please
159(12)
Counties Have Ancestors, Too
160(1)
Do Not Pack Lightly
161(1)
Packing Those Technology Marvels
161(1)
Preparing a Packet and Checklists
162(1)
Mapping Your Strategy
162(4)
The Lay of the Land
163(1)
Contingency Plans
164(1)
Calling Ahead
165(1)
Packing for Research
166(1)
Now You've Arrived
166(5)
Engaging People
166(1)
Old-Timers Can Tell It All
166(1)
While You're in Town
167(1)
Getting Religion
167(1)
Being a Tourist
168(3)
Courthouses: Gateway to the Past
171(18)
What to Expect
172(1)
The History of the Farm
173(5)
The Approach to the Clerk
174(1)
Indexes Tripping You Up!
174(1)
Making Sense of the Index
175(1)
What Should You Note?
176(1)
Search Strategies in Deeds
177(1)
Is He Augustus W. Redman, A. W. Redman, or Gus?
177(1)
It's There Somewhere
177(1)
Finally . . . It Is in Hand
178(1)
Success at Last!
178(3)
I Saw It Myself
179(1)
Moving On
180(1)
Those Departed Relatives
181(3)
More of Those Indexes
181(1)
Died With or Without
181(1)
Taking Charge
182(1)
The Probate Process
182(1)
But He Didn't Leave a Will
183(1)
Checking the Estate Records
183(1)
Letting the Published Indexes Assist
183(1)
I Do Take Thee As My Lawful
184(1)
The Tip of the Iceberg
185(1)
Are Courthouse Records on the Internet?
185(4)
A Picnic in the Cemetery
189(12)
The Chicken or the Egg?
190(1)
The Usual Preparation
190(1)
Cemeteries Alive on the Web
190(2)
Kinds of Cemeteries
192(1)
When the Cemetery Moves
193(1)
Sexton's Records
193(1)
Burial Registers
194(1)
Plats
194(1)
Plot Records
194(1)
Do You Need to Visit?
195(1)
Locating the Cemetery
195(1)
Follow the Money
195(1)
Procession to the Cemetery
196(2)
No Fashion Statements
197(1)
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
198(1)
Mark Your Maps
198(1)
Engraved in Stone
198(2)
Reading the Markers Can Be Difficult
199(1)
Sometimes You Are Disappointed
200(1)
Don't Leave Yet
200(1)
More Than News in the Newspaper
201(14)
Dailies, Weeklies, and More
202(1)
Newspapers in the Area
202(1)
Checking for an Index
202(1)
Reading Every Word?
203(1)
Topics to Target
203(1)
He Died on the Fifteenth of June
204(3)
Checking Several Papers
204(1)
Other Unexpected Rewards in Obituaries
205(1)
Urban Versus Small-Town Newspapers
206(1)
The Family Thanks You
206(1)
A Baby Was Born!
207(1)
Wedding Vows
208(1)
Christenings and More
208(1)
Love Gone Awry
208(1)
Sale of Property
209(1)
Legal Notices: The Fine Print
210(1)
You Are Hereby Summoned ...
211(1)
Other Miscellaneous Notices
211(1)
Those Charming Advertisements
211(1)
A Letter Is Waiting For ...
211(1)
Ethnic and Religious Newspapers
212(1)
Can the Internet Help?
212(1)
Flavor the Times
213(2)
Did Great-Grandpa Carry a Rifle?
215(16)
Didn't Know He Served?
216(1)
The Treasure of the National Archives (NARA)
216(1)
The Revolutionary War
217(5)
The Compiled Military Service Record
217(1)
Let's Try It Hands-On
218(2)
Now His Pension File
220(1)
Now in Print
221(1)
Why Check Further?
221(1)
The Inducement of Bounty Land
222(2)
The War Between the States
224(2)
He Wore Gray
224(1)
The Confederate Pension Records
225(1)
He Wore Blue
225(1)
If He Got a Pension
226(1)
The Twentieth-Century Conflicts
227(2)
WWI Draft Registration
227(1)
Personnel Records
228(1)
Searching for Details
228(1)
Other Ways to Locate Evidence of Military Service
229(1)
There's More?
229(2)
Part 5: Making Sense of It All
231(50)
Order Out of Chaos
233(12)
Filing the Charts and Sheets
234(1)
Filing Systems
234(5)
They Called Tennessee Home ... and North Carolina ... and ...
236(1)
County Files
236(1)
Document Files
237(1)
Correspondence Files
237(1)
Correspondence Cards
238(1)
Using Computers to Cut Down on Paper
239(4)
The Computer Becomes the Filing Cabinet
239(1)
Naming the Computer Files
240(1)
Correspondence Computerized
241(2)
Mail Files
243(1)
The Commercial Products
243(2)
Doing It Right
245(10)
Getting Help with Citing
246(1)
Family Group Sheets Are Convenient, But
247(1)
Putting It at the Bottom or at the End?
248(1)
Keeping Track by Numbers
248(4)
Descending Genealogies
249(1)
NGSQ System
250(1)
Before They Came
251(1)
Approximating Dates
252(2)
By Date of Will
252(1)
Rule of Thumb
252(1)
Choosing Their Own Guardian
253(1)
Of Age to Marry?
253(1)
Why Bother with Approximate Dates?
254(1)
The Little Children
254(1)
Gaining Historical Perspective
255(14)
Taking a Fresh Look at What You've Found
256(1)
Expanding Your Research
257(1)
Court Records Tell Many Secrets
258(1)
Treasuring Your Ancestors' Enemies!
258(1)
Unexpected Finds
258(1)
Looking Beyond the Records
259(1)
Tornado Watch
260(1)
Being a Student of Local and Family History
261(2)
Illustrating Your Story
261(2)
Closer to Home
263(1)
The Art of the Interview
264(1)
Putting It into Practice
265(1)
Contacting and Interviewing Living Relatives
266(1)
Checking Records for More Details
266(1)
Beginning to Know and Understand
267(1)
Writing the Story
267(2)
Resolving Discrepancies
269(12)
When the Information Doesn't Agree
269(2)
Don't Get Counted Out
271(1)
Maybe They Were Missed
272(1)
Maybe They Were Listed Twice
272(1)
The Data Doesn't Conflict; There Isn't any Data!
273(1)
Everything Is Relative
273(1)
Happy New Year---25 March
274(2)
Rushing to Conclusions
276(1)
Theories of Relativity
277(1)
Based on the Evidence
278(1)
Reaching a Sound Conclusion
279(2)
Part 6: Expanding Your Horizon
281(62)
Spending Your Money Wisely
283(8)
Readin', Writin', and 'Rithmetic
284(2)
Networking
285(1)
Exhibits
285(1)
Hands-On
285(1)
Institutes
286(1)
Staying Independent
286(1)
Being a Joiner
286(1)
Are You Being Served?
287(1)
Developing Your Home Support System
288(2)
Adding to Your Library
288(1)
Bookstores
289(1)
Feeding Your Computer More Software
289(1)
Using Your Computer to the Utmost
289(1)
Budgeting for Genealogical Luxuries
290(1)
DNA--Why the Hype?
291(12)
G&G---Genetics and Genealogy
291(1)
The Popular Y-DNA Testing
292(2)
You Gotta Be a Male
292(1)
Are They Discriminating Against Females?
293(1)
Chipping in to Help
294(1)
What Started All This Fuss?
294(1)
Taking the Plunge
295(2)
Be Sure You Understand!
296(1)
What's in the Kit?
296(1)
On Pins and Needles
297(1)
Looking Into a Crystal Ball
297(1)
Okay, Let's Get Serious---What Is DNA?
297(1)
Different Types of DNA
298(2)
Autosomal DNA---A Hope for the Future
299(1)
Mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA
299(1)
Medical Concerns
300(1)
Privacy Issues
300(1)
Want To Start a Project?
300(3)
Discovering Lesser-Used Sources
303(40)
County Records
304(3)
Guardianships
304(1)
Orphans, Apprentices, and the Poor
305(1)
Acting on Behalf
305(1)
Taxing Matters
306(1)
Waving the Flag---Vote!
306(1)
Swearing Allegiance
307(1)
The Settling of America
308(3)
Passport Records
309(1)
The Mail Is Here
309(1)
Defending the Country
309(1)
On the High Seas
310(1)
More Taxes
311(1)
Still More Federal Records
311(2)
Ethnic Records
313(1)
Potpourri of Other Records and Sources
313(1)
Being Alert for New Sources
314(1)
``I Know a Shortcut ...''
314(1)
Wrapping It All Up
314(1)
Appendixes
Relative Resources
315(6)
Worksheets
321(8)
Census Forms
329(14)
Index 343

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