We are thrilled to announce that the King County Library System is collaborating with the South King County Genealogical Society to present professional genealogist Winona Laird for a series of programs to help you along on your genealogical journey.  The series begins this Wednesday evening at 7 Pacific. Register on the KCLS website ; space is limited. You will be emailed a link no later than 24 hours before the program start time. If you do not see an email, check your Junk or Spam folder. July 12:  Starting your Genealogy Journey August 16: Vital Records, Birth, Marriage, Death and Adoption September 13: Searching the U.S. Population Census Records October 18: Supplemental Census Records November 15: Using Timelines in your Genealogy December 20: Research Techniques   Register in advance; space is limited

As  we know, early pioneers come west in covered wagons, or even on foot! But did you know that because the intercontinental railroad was a reality soon after the end of the Civil War, [1 ] many also came to the Washington Territory on trains or ships. Fortunately there are records for these pioneers, and although many were single, families also came here and are named in both the 1880 US Census and the many Territorial Census. If you want to submit some pioneers, be sure to start by bookmarking the  Hints and Help page on the Pioneer Pursuit contest section of the Washington State Genealogical Society website. vecteezy.com/free-vector/sailing-ship">Sailing Ship Vectors by Vecteezy You may have some pioneers in your tree   already e ven if they are not ancestors; so you may have most of the research you need to submit one or more pioneers. We would like to document every person  who was here on or before November 11, 1889, whether they were born here or arrived just in time

A timeline gets you where you want to go! We've discussed timelines many times here on the blog. Here is one 2-year-old example: The Timeline: Your Guide Through the Twists and Turns of Research . In the latest SKCGS Study Group, working our way through "Research Like A Pro," by Diana Elder, AG with Nicole Dyer. The second chapter is all about how to use a timeline to analyze sources and likely evidence found in those sources.   But how exactly do you create one? And is one way better than another? Elder advocates for a spreadsheet or relational database. While most of us have not yet tried Airtable , the relational database she uses now, I tried creating the spreadsheet from the information I had been collecting in a timeline using Google Sheets. While it was useful as a place to collect the direct links to record images and a good prompt to create source citations, I didn't find it useful to reason out what was happening behind the records.  Here is a snippet of tha

"The past is a foreign country" -- opening phrase of The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley, 1953. I have long avoided researching my ancestors pre-1850 because I didn't want to battle with the records in this foreign land. My excuse was the *lack* of records, but really there are lots of records, but they are *different* records; not what I'm used to searching, and not with which I'm comfortable. Now that I'm digging into the family of my third great-grandfather, born about 1799, there is no avoiding this foreign country, beginning with tick marks and tax lists.  Clinch-Powell rivers basin, Tennessee portion : Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, and Union counties, Tennessee [1] Putting Names to the Tick Marks In my work on my third-great-grandparents George Henry McBee and Martha Willis McBee, it is necessary to find each member of the family in every census to explore the history of this family. Anything less is not complete basic research

Dogwood tree in bloom in the rain Mother's Day The first week of May is always lovely, and a fitting time to honor mothers. Especially we genealogists and family historians appreciate the place of mothers in our lineage, and in the traditions and stories we so eagerly seek. What Was Her Maiden Name? In patriarchal societies where most women in the past gave up their birth surnames when marrying, sometime we cuss a bit when trying to find them. It is said that it takes a village to raise a child, and that means that it takes a village -- or a FAN club -- to support a mother. Often we find older women, especially widows, living with their children or perhaps siblings. or lodging with neighbors. So it is always useful to check out the FAN club. Investigate the FAN Club If we're fortunate enough to find a marriage record for our woman of interest, sometimes there are others mentioned in the record who might be friends, family, associates, or neighbors. Sometimes we resist researchi

Stories Behind the Records Editor's note:  this week's blog contains stories of searches in the 1950 census.  What is your story?  Submit to m.strickland@skcgs.org Finding my parents in the 1950 Census I thought I was ready for release day. I had my parent’s address from 1949 in the Billings, MT, City Directory – 301 S. 32nd St. But when I searched that Enumeration District, the name didn’t show up. So I widened the area to Billings and put in his name again (Naylor). Now something came up – Maylor Thomas K. So clicking on that name took me to the Census page in a different ED and on that name I found my parents, Thomas K. Naylor and Merle R. Naylor. I was there too, but again a mistake. This mistake was in the first letter of my name. The census taker spelled it Sheri instead of Cheri. I was 2 years old. The address was 132-l/2 Terry Avenue. I remember the place through photographs but didn’t know the exact address. It was the back half of an older house. A good friend of the

Auburn, Washington  February 2019 Not that anyone wants to be reminded of what is outside your window this weekend, but disasters of one kind or another have impact on our family life.  Thomas MacEntee has graciously shared his   10 Ways to Document Disasters in Genealogy Research How did our ancestors persevere and survive in the face of disaster - natural, manmade and financial - so that we could be here today to tell their stories? Learn how to not only locate your ancestors amidst the rubble but give voice to their stories. 1.  Research historical newspapers. Not every disaster was headline news; read small town “gossip” or “goings on” columns to find more information. And certain misfortunes might not be mentioned so as to not embarrass a family or other reasons. Read between the lines and connect the dots. 2.  Conduct cluster and collateral searches. Using census and other records, look for a spike in deaths in certain locations or on certain dates. Don’t limit yourself to just

Oh boy, there was William Williams, right age, immigrant from England, working in a mine in southwest Idaho on the 1900 census.  But having chased Bill from England to Michigan then to South Dakota and eventually to Wardner, Idaho, how could I be sure this was the right one? The picture below was among family photos passed down to Ken Williams, a great grandson of Bill.  In fact there were two copies of the photo, a pretty good indication that there was a family member in it. Will the real Bill Williams please stand up?  That is, if the real Bill Williams is in this picture.  We'll probably never know which man is Bill but there is enough circumstantial evidence to place him in Owyhee County in 1900.  The clue--the photographer.  C. E. Joy had a photograph studio in Salt Lake City around 1900 and probably made trips to neighboring communities. Looking for the clues There are many clues for dating and identifying photos.  Prominent among those is researching the  photographer. The t

Recently, I've been doing some work in Lost Cousins, a site and idea that is unique. I get their newsletter and prompted by the "Free on Easter" section, started buffing up my listed relatives. It is unusual in that it promises  100% accurate automatic matching between researchers who share the same ancestors - and it does without anyone else seeing your data! -  https://www.lostcousins.com/pages/info/how_to.mhtml It is free to create a profile, and if you have ancestry in England, Scotland, Wales, Canada,  Australia, Ireland or New Zealand  this site can help you strike gold (cousins). As the home page explains,  ... the best people to help you knock down your 'brick walls' are your cousins - indeed, one of your cousins may already have solved the problem that you're finding so challenging. The more relatives from the census you can enter on your My Ancestors page, the more cousins you'll find. How to find more lost cousins In the past rese