Genealogists wear many hats, detective, historian, archivist, sociologist, interviewer - even translator. Solving some family history mysteries may hinge on your ability to decipher old documents or modern web pages written in a foreign language, or to communicate with someone who doesn't speak English.
Google Ease - use the Translate this Page option for foreign language sites. To access all the Google foreign-language resources, go to the home page and click on Language tools. Here you can search websites written in a specific language or located in another country and you can translate text or a web page.
To translate foreign languages - just type the text in Google's Translate text box. Other options:
Greene, David. Needful Things: Genealogy - & the Future, Part I, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2001.
As genealogists, what do we want most? And where is the field that so fascinates all of us going anyway? What frightening and exhilarating changes can we expect? And how many of them will impinge on our own "needful things."
In all my early experiences with genealogy, I learned, most of all, that we must seek truth in everything - not only in our own research - even though we realize that ultimately it may be elusive, and sometimes deeply painful.
And I also realized that genealogy, like everything else human beings put their minds to, can be misused. J. Horace Round, wrote that the true genealogist was not interested only in his or her own family but in ancestry in general. We can add that, at its highest, genealogy goes a long way toward telling us what it means to be who we are and what we are, that is, to be human. But only if our concern is for the closest approximation to the truth that we can achieve - and only if we are ready to accept anything that is revealed by the search.
Another major development is the increasing focus on ethnic genealogy, that is on ancestral lines that are not ultimately Western European or are not ultimately Christian.
Greene, David. What is Genealogical Scholarship? New England Ancestors, Holiday 2000
What do we mean when we say "scholarship?" Generally, we mean two things that work together: 1) the process of reaching reliable conclusions based on contemporary evidence and critical analysis, and 2) the technique of providing readers with the sources of our information. The first is the very basis for careful research. . . . Sometimes ignorance of the customs of several centuries ago is at the root of the problem, confusing the term cousin or the use of Jr. and Sr. . . Experience with early customs should instead have told the researcher that three centuries ago "cousin" most often mean "niece" or "nephew" that "Sr." and "Jr." (as well as 3rd, 4th, and so on) distinguished individuals of the same name by their ages and said nothing necessary about a relationship between them, and that a marriage to a sibling of one's deceased spouse was morally and legally incestuous and on those very rare occasions when it did occur would result in legal action. All these errors are found in genealogies that are heavily - though not well - researched.
"Documentation" is what we most shudder at when we recall our term-paper days. It means at least two different things. First, we mean supporting our conclusions with contemporary evidence: the actual records - not limited to pieces of paper - created by and for our ancestors. Second, we mean the form of citation: how do we reveal to our readers the sources of our information? What is important here is not whether we use the Chicago Manual of Style form, or APA form, or MLA form, or "in-text" citations, or footnotes, or endnotes, but that we tell our readers what our source for each piece of information is. Ultimately, we must make it possible for other genealogists to retrace the process by which we reached our conclusions.
Greene, David. Whole Family Genealogy, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2001.
In our modern age, we may find that we cannot identify the parents of a great grandfather. Let's say that he died young, before death certificates (which usually name the parents - if the informant was aware of their identity) were kept in that particular state. But even though he died at thirty-three, you may find on investigating his siblings that he had a sister who managed to carry on to ninety-one, well into the period when death records were kept. Her death certificate might well reveal the information you have been searching for.
And families usually migrated in groups, often with close relatives moving at about the same time and settling near each other. This pattern held in the Great Migration to New England (1620-1640).
Hatcher, Patricia. Writing as You Research: A Problem-Solving Tool Your Family Will Appreciate, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2002.
As the holiday season approaches, our thoughts turn to giving and sharing. I have a suggestion for a gift that also will benefit your research. Too many of us see publishing our family history as a "someday" project, to be undertaken when our research is "done." Consider, instead, publishing your family history in pieces - with each piece a gift to your family. When you are ready to undertake a full-fledged family history, these pieces become the building blocks for your final book.
Keep the gift book relatively small. Focus on a single surname or geographical family cluster. You could begin this series with a compilation on the most recent generations of your family.
One benefit of sharing your research in small pieces is that your family is more likely to read it. Because the gift book is focused and small, the information isn't too overwhelming for family members to absorb.
The process of expressing our findings in writing, including proper use of terms such as probably, possibly, likely, and maybe, is the most valuable tool we have in our research kits. Don't omit the documentation. As you prepare the genealogical section, you will probably find inadequate citations, inconsistencies, and omitted information. Furthermore, because you are focusing your concentration on such a small portion of your findings - and because you are approaching it with a fresh eye - you will likely identify new paths to research.
Don't postpone the gift for your family because of a few minor problems or unexplored research opportunities - remember, this effort is a dress rehearsal. Keep a "to do" list for further research. On the other hand, if you realize that there is a big hole in the information or you find a line is incorrect, then stop.
Keep things simple, use 8 1/2 x 11 format which lets you choose a generous-sized print that will be easier for elderly eyes to read. If there are only 30 or 40 pages, print the pages single-sided, but if the number of pages is large, you can print them double-sided.
Use of a gray or beige paper will give the book a "noncomputer" look. Use 24# paper for the gift books. Copy centers offer a variety of binding styles. Color reproductions of photographs can be prohibitively expensive in a published book. On the other hand, the inclusion of a few color laser photocopies in each of the family gifts can be well worth the additional cost. Also consider photocopying other small items, such as graduation announcements, funeral cards, newspaper clippings, etc.
Customize the contents. You can include information in gift books for your immediate family that you would not wish to share with the broader genealogical world, such as vital data about living persons. Stories that are fond memories for the family aren't nearly as interesting to readers who don't know the parties involved.
If you are dealing with an ancestral family very far back in time, you can help your family understand how the people in the book relate to them by including charts. For a single surname, include a drop-line chart down to a family member they would know.
Family members may volunteer information or photographs to fill in gaps.
Family Gift-Book Plan - Recipients - I will give this book to [list]; I will give this book on [date].
Content:
- title of book
- book will include - family groups
- illustrations - list all, identify those to be in color
- charts - list
- will there be personalized pages? - describe
Production:
- number of pages - number, single or double sided
- type of paper - weight, color
- binding - describe binding, include color
- copy center to use - name
- total books to print - keep a copy for yourself
- cost estimate - total and per book
Hoff, Henry. How to Analyze Your Research Problems, New England Ancestors, Spring 2002.
- Is there a hot new source to recommend?
- Are there sources unique to the place of consultation to recommend? - use unique items in every place you visit
- Can I answer questions or fill in blanks, even if they are not the member's principal interest? solve a secondary issue
- Are there standard sources that should be consulted again in light of new discoveries or new editions of standard works?
- Can I recommend certain sources in response to certain aspects of this problem?
- Does some aspect of this problem remind me of a published article?
Solving one research problem will usually lead to . . . a new and earlier research problem!
McClure, Rhonda. Genealogical Analysis: Your Computer as Your Research Assistant, New England Ancestors, Summer 2007.
Genealogists need to stop limiting themselves to only genealogy programs. While these programs have greatly improved from their original versions - which allowed only the entry of the most basic details on anyone - the very nature of these programs encourages users to force people into families. Researchers need to step back from this format and view a wider picture.
For each person on our pedigree chart, we find ourselves asking one basic question: "Who are his or her parents?" Perhaps we should approach research differently. To find someone's parents, we may need to ask such questions as:
- What vital events (birth, marriage, or death) am I missing?
- What records may exist to complete this information?
- Have I accounted for my ancestor's whereabouts from birth to death?
- What records have I not yet searched?
- How is my ancestor related to other people in the records (e.g., witnesses to documents or those appointed to inventory an estate)?
I believe the true power of today's genealogical programs is their ability to search for people, sources, tasks, and more. To benefit fully from these programs, we must first take time to enter information beyond family data.
ByGones - freeware program designed to keep track of a genealogist's research notes
Clooz - electronic file cabinet that links people through documents, rather than as families
GenSmarts - program that analyzes genealogical data to suggest records of which you may have been unaware
GeneWeaver - tool for maintaining family health information
TreePad - personal information manager that allows you to keep track of notes, projects, clients, research, collections, websites and more
Programs in your computer:
If you are adept with word processing, spreadsheet, or database programs, you can create additional forms and templates. For example, tracking land purchased (or inherited) and sold (or bequeathed) can be simplified using the mathematical formulas of a spreadsheet program to add and compare total acreage acquired and dispersed. If these two totals are not equal, there may be records yet to be discovered.
Research logs can be created on your computer by using a simple table in a word processing program. Not only can you type whatever you want in columns you create; you can also then use the Find feature to locate a surname or place name in the log. Similarly, spreadsheet and database programs can be used to record and track your research results in record, book and on Internet searches. By creating your own log, thereby becoming more familiar with these programs, you can also design it however your choose, deciding what data you find important, rather than conforming to a pre-printed form.
Mishkin, David. The Enhancement & Restoration of Photographs, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2001.
When black and white photographs are properly processed and stored they are both stable and permanent. If either of those steps are omitted, then some form of deterioration is very likely to occur. There are four forms of photographic deterioration: physical, biological, environmental and chemical.
Physical deterioration is what many of the photographs encountered during their trip to the U.S. or across the U.S. with our ancestors. scratches, scuff marks, stains, holes, rips
When photos are stored in uninsulated basements you will usually find some form of biological deterioration. Photographs are made from gelatin on the surface and cellulose in the paper. Both materials are delicious treats for insects and especially rodents. Because basements are usually damp, it encourages mold growth, another form of biological deterioration.
By far, the most serious cause of deterioration are excessive humidity and extremes in temperatures, which are both forms of environmental deterioration. One of the worst places to store your photographs (or documents) is in an uninsulated attic. Air contamination is yet another way the environment can cause the deterioration of photographs.
The final cause of photographic deterioration, chemical, is a little more technical. The two most visible forms are prints that turn dark and those that are fading away. Prints darken from diluted or weak chemicals while they fade from an inadequate final wash.
The best climate for storage is a temperature of 68 degrees, plus or minus five. Ideal humidity for photographic storage is fifty percent relative humidity, plus or minus five percent. One of the best places to store your photographs is a bank safe deposit box. Always use the proper storage materials, which can be found in most archival supply catalogs. It is important to make sure only safe products come in contact with the items you are storing. Acids that are in regular paper, as well as the acid in your skin, accelerate the deterioration.
Neuman, Chad. Family Photos, Family Tree Magazine, June 2003.
Most people think of programs such as Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, both created by Adobe, as tools for working with color images. But these powerful programs can come to the rescue of your old black-and-white photos, too.
Getting Rid of Dust - Method 1 - Dust & Scratches tool, found in the Noise group under Filter. This actually blurs the image a little, getting rid of scratches and dust. After the Dust & Scratches tool, try using the Unsharp Mask tool. It sharpens the image so it's not as blurry.
Method 2 - use Clone tool - rubber stamp icon - hold down the ALT key and click in area that's similar to what you'd want to see in place of dust / scratch. Then click in the damaged area.
Method 3 - Eye Dropper tool - to copy the shade of an area and then use the Paint Brush tool to paint over the dust / scratch.
Method 4 - Dust & Scratches tool, move the tool slider to the left, then move Radius and Threshold to the right until the dust / scratches are removed. Then choose History window and click on Take New Snapshot. This will save the cleaned up photo as snapshot 1. Choose edit and undo Dust & Scratches - that put the photo back to where you started. Select History Brush tool and click on the little box left of Snapshot 1 in the History window. Then select the blending mode on the toolbar.
Colorizing black & white photos - convert grayscale image to RGB by choosing Image, Mode, RGB.
Now select an area you want to change to a specific color using the lasso tool, then choose Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation. When you click the Colorize box, the selected area gets automatically colored - no painting required.
Scanning secrets - scan at high resolution - capture as many details as possible.
Rogers, Robert. Seventeenth-Century Probates & Administrations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2001.
The NEHGS Middlesex probate project produced the first printed volume in 1999. Middlesex was one of the four "sheires" established by the General Court in 1642, but for six years it seems not to have functioned as an entity independent of Suffolk, its neighbor across the Charles River. With a county court held at Cambridge in October 1649, Middlesex began its own record-keeping. There was no probate court as such. New Englanders deliberately chose not to reproduce the church courts which had monopolized testamentary matters in the old country. Probate (for wills) and administration (for intestates) were routinely handled in the same county court that heard most civil and criminal cases.
Estate records of some nine hundred Middlesex persons are preserved from the period between 1649 and 1692, when a separate probate court was created under the new colony charter. Roughly one-third of this total is now conveniently accessible in the new NEHGS series, the first volume covering the 1650s and the second the 1660s. The single decade of the 1670s will embrace another third; not only were early settlers dying off, but dozens of young families felt the sad effects of King Philip's War. In the 1680s we find unevenness in numbers - probate matters at the county level came to a virtual standstill during the regime of Sir Edmund Andros.
Ladies' wear:
- cambrick gorgets and whisks
- birds eye blacke hoods
- Alla mode scarfe
- boddyes and lact stomachers
- french falls
Men's wear:
- mens silke stockings
- mens hatts
- sad Culler Camlett sute
- large Sage Culler Sute
- mans red wastcote
Children's wear:
- childrens capps
- childrens Bibbs
- childrens hose, eight payre of boyes, three payre of Girles
Shoes:
- shooes
- slippers
- goloshooes
- slopps
Fabric:
- druggett co. tammett
- hollandh
- silver and gould lace
- one Clarrett co. tammett
- pinke co. ferrett
Notions:
- hayre buttons
- white thredd, brown thred
- silke brest buttons
- thimbells
A small but interesting facet of legal history is New England practice in the distribution of intestate property. The widow of Joseph Champney, we saw, the entire estate of her intestate and childless husband. When Thomas Hubbard of Billerica died intestate in November 1662, administration was granted to his widow Elizabeth. In June 1663 the court ordered a division: "two third parts . . . to His relict widow . . . and James Hubbard and the wife of Samuel Champny, being the one his Brother and the other his sister, to have the other third part equally divided between them." Widow Hubbard appealed this decision, and in October the General Court ordered that she should have "the whole estate of hir late husbands, the order of the County Court . . . notwithstanding."
Taylor, Maureen. Photographs in Your Family History, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2001.
Tips for illustrating your family genealogy:
- Identify the images in your collection
- Locate relatives & friends to add to your collection
- Re-examine your genealogical research for illustrations / photographs
- Research related family collections in archives or publications to uncover images
- Take new images of cemetery monuments, houses or people
- Illustrate topics rather than individuals when their portraits are not available
- Write informative and interesting captions
- Be sure to ask permission to use any images covered by copyright or of living persons.
Ullmann, Helen. Writing a Family Sketch in Register Style, New England Ancestors, Summer 2007.
What is a family sketch? It's just a story with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is the first paragraph that contains the vital information about the parents - all of it. So, if the reader later wants to check back to see just when your great-grandmother married her second husband, it's easy to find.
The middle is whatever you want, usually a biography in chronological order. It could include funny stories or a serious analysis distinguishing between your grandfather and another fellow who bore the same name.
At the end is a list of children with their vital data. You may have mentioned each child as he or she joined the family, married, or died, in the biography above, but it's still important to have a straightforward list of children at the end. Children for whom there is a lot of information may be continued in their own sketches.
You can begin with just shreds of information. I started one sketch with my mother's memories, her grandparents' names and the recollection that she would sit on her grandfather's lap and braid his side whiskers - plus the fact that he was a Congregational minister. Then I listed her mother, her aunt, and her uncles, using "Conversation with . . . " and her name and relationship in footnotes.
On the other hand, I have many folders of notes gleaned in the '70s and '80s, b.c. (before computers). It's fun to open one, outline the family structure, and start adding information almost at random as I go through the file. As I work, I can see where I need to bolster a statement with pertinent analysis or where I could undertake more research.
Before starting to write, you might read some sections in Genealogical Writing in the 21st Century, especially the pages that diagram the different elements of the parents' and childrens' paragraphs. Many other matters, such as whether to use abbreviations, are really your own personal preference. Generally, the fewer the abbreviations, the smoother the reading. Complete sentences, rather than lots of semicolons, also make reading easier.
Now you can just start writing. But here's a suggestion: if you are going to start from scratch (as opposed to creating a "report" from your genealogy database), go to AmericanAncestors.org. Click on the Learn tab, then Templates & Charts, then on the Register Style Template and download it now. If you have Microsoft Word on your computer, a document that can function as a template will open.
We encourage you to cite your sources for everything. Footnotes are much handier if your readers will really use them, but endnotes may seem less intimidating. The basics of citation format are not difficult. Look at issues of the Register for examples. A current guide is Evidence!, good to have at hand, but the Register often uses simpler formats. The Chicago Manual of Style is also helpful. It saves time to enter the notes correctly the first time. A further hint about writing style: try reading your work out loud. Are you using empty phrases you would never use when talking? Can you say something more concisely? Are your sentences really sentences? Passive voice - "The ball was hit by the boy," rather than "The boy hit the ball" - deadens the tone. And proofread, proofread, proofread. You'll improve your sketch every time! Finally, for the "icing on the cake,' dress up your sketch with illustrations! Insert photos, autographs, pictures of houses and gravestones, the ship on which your ancestors crossed the ocean, maps - whatever you can find. Your final product should be elegant and attractive, not just to your children but to their grandchildren and beyond.
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