Lesson 2: Genealogy Resources
In the past I have tried to research my family tree using some on line sources and mostly hit dead-ends. I have found that most of my ancestors came in through Ellis Island in the second part of the 18th Century but I have never had success in going back further than my grandfather. I did find a Great-Aunt and Uncle in my search on Heritage Quest OnLine. My relatives changed the spelling of their name from KOHN or COHN to Cowan/Kowan so it would not be so "Jewish". I found my great- uncle, here but I could not find any of my other relatives. I learned his wife was Lilli and he was a merchant. I learned I spent quite a bit of time because it was so interesting. I am waiting on some requested information on my great-grandparents and will go back and check further later.
This is my Great-Uncle:
COWAN MAURICE 28 M W RUSS OH CUYAHOGA 20-WD CLEVELAND 1910
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In the Browse the Census option. I looked for the first year Alaska became part of the federal census, but it was much easier to Google it and I found Alaska included from 1890 on. I found it easier to save things on text edit on my computer rather than an alternative way.
I read the two readings for this week and really appreciated the Alaskana references as my husband has grandchildren that are 4th generation Alaskans. They do have the Mormon church system for use and have published a book on the family. The Family name Is Beistline and Herning both long time Alaskans.
Reflections:
This was fun and very captivating although I didn't find as much information as I had previously on sites you pay for on Goggle. I found some of the options difficult to us like notebook and reading some of the Census information. I think since the big fire where records were lost that some of the safer ways of guarding information have been with digital records and files. One can save pictures with CD's and also with on-line sites for small charges. I plan to return to this exercise again after I find more family information.
Reflections:
This was fun and very captivating although I didn't find as much information as I had previously on sites you pay for on Goggle. I found some of the options difficult to us like notebook and reading some of the Census information. I think since the big fire where records were lost that some of the safer ways of guarding information have been with digital records and files. One can save pictures with CD's and also with on-line sites for small charges. I plan to return to this exercise again after I find more family information.
Please don't save pictures on CD? Unless you're planning to totally recopy the cds every 3-5 years and not use them at all in the interim. Servers and hard drives, even thumb drives, are all far more stable than cds or dvds. That's the archivist talking here... :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the fellow student, I really enjoyed reading your notes about using the census. Thanks for sharing!
Arlene,
DeleteThank you for the good advice and I will take it and keep copies on an external hard drive and the thumb drives that I have but really don't use! I appreciate your comment!