Historical Records

This genealogical video presents a methodology for using current and historical maps, gazetteers, and other tools to help you always find the evidence you seek.

Si les pierres tombales pouvaient parler, elles auraient beaucoup d’histoires à raconter. Mais elles ne le peuvent pas, c’est pourquoi BillionGraves est la meilleure alternative. BillionGraves est la plus grande base de données au monde sur les cimetières, reliée à un système GPS. Lorsque vous prenez des photos avec l’application BillionGraves sur votre téléphone, chaque pierre tombale est automatiquement marquée d’une position GPS. Les données sont ensuite transcrites par des bénévoles, reportées sur des plans de cimetières et conservées sur les sites web BillionGraves, FamilySearch et MyHeritage pour des millions de familles à travers le monde et pour les générations futures. Les sous-titres et la voix de cette vidéo ont été doublés en français à l’aide de l’IA.

Si las lápidas pudieran hablar, tendrían muchas historias que contar. Pero no pueden, por eso BillionGraves es la mejor alternativa. BillionGraves es la mayor base de datos del mundo sobre cementerios, conectada a un sistema GPS. Cuando se toman fotos con la aplicación BillionGraves en el teléfono, cada lápida se marca automáticamente con una posición GPS. A continuación, los datos son transcritos por voluntarios, transferidos a planos de cementerios y almacenados en los sitios web BillionGraves, FamilySearch y MyHeritage para millones de familias de todo el mundo y para las generaciones futuras. Los subtítulos y la voz de este vídeo se han doblado al español utilizando IA.

Catholic nuns and sisters ran some of the U.S.’s earliest schools, orphanages, and hospitals; nursed on Civil War battlefields and during disease outbreaks; and served millions of Catholic immigrants and their families. Today, those nuns and sisters are mostly forgotten. Many changed their names and moved far from home, making it difficult for genealogists to recognize them in records. But those who can trace a woman into religious life may discover a rich trove of records about the sister and perhaps about her family. Sometimes records even survive for a religious order’s academy, hospital, or other ministry. Come see what you may be able to learn from the many archives of Catholic nuns and sisters from the author of the newly-published Searching for Sisters: Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States.

The U.S. federal census wasn’t designed with genealogists in mind; it was created to meet the changing needs of a growing nation. This session takes you beyond the names and numbers, exploring the historical context behind each census from 1790 to 1950. We’ll examine how shifting questions, enumeration methods, and national priorities have shaped the records we rely on today. By understanding the “why” behind the census, you’ll gain tools to interpret your ancestors’ entries with greater accuracy and uncover richer stories hidden in the data.

Census records often contradict one another. Ages change, names vary, and places of birth are inconsistent. This session demonstrates how to analyze and reconcile those conflicts through timelines, correlation with other records, and case studies that show how to draw conclusions from imperfect evidence.

Most researchers stop at the population schedule, but census records also include valuable schedules that document farms, businesses, deaths, and community life. This session explores agricultural, mortality, and industry schedules, showing how they can be used to add depth to family history.

The census is one of our basic research tools, but basic doesn’t equal simple. Often a census record can raise as many questions as it answers, and some of those questions may seem unanswerable. Learn how an understanding of who the enumerators were, what their instructions prescribed, and some of the many ways they deviated from the instructions can answer many of the questions raised by census research.

Often family researchers know only the country from which their ancestor emigrated. This presentation offers examples of American records that can answer the question, “But, exactly where were they from?” Finding an ancestor’s specific place of origin in the old country can open doors to foreign records that can add generations to your family tree, and bring greater appreciation of your heritage. You may even be able to stand where they once stood.