by Beth G.
Member since:
May 24, 2007

New genealogy tips

July 22, 2009 07:18 PM UTC (Updated: July 22, 2009 07:29 PM UTC)
views: 0 | comments: 35

Hi all! I found a couple of useful genealogy tips, one from a cousin of mine, and another one is from a message boards. I've put both tips to good use and been able to come up with more information this way.

 

My cousin sent me a link to software that easily copies newspaper articles you are looking at online, where you can crop whatever it is you are looking for, save it, and then add it to your family tree. Here is the link to it. The 5.3 version is free! Apprently you can put boarders on items too, which I haven't tried to yet, but this is incredibly useful to me in pulling old newspaper articles (or current) to attach to my famiily tree.

 

I was looking on a message board on my mother's hometown newspaper website, and a lot of people were complaining about having to pay to look at obituaries. One person made a great suggestion of just going to the local funeral homes websites instead, where they often post this information for free! Now, the ones I've found on those sites only go back about 4-5 years or so, but I have found several extended family members obituaries on there this way and it was free to look at!

Those are a couple of genealogy tricks I've picked up recently, what are yours?

 

 

Comments: 35

Michelle C. Jul 22, 2009, 7:25pm UTC
those are great tips. i really need to get back into it. my research has been on a back burner for a couple years now. got burned out, but i think it's time to restart. thanks for giving me some ideas!! :)
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 7:30pm UTC
I know what you mean Michelle. I've had to put some lines aside for a while, but then got some new info on it thanks to another relative. Glad I was able to help!
phil w. Jul 22, 2009, 7:36pm UTC
Thanks for this tip ,Beth . I can't wait to try it !
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 8:03pm UTC
I've been pretty pleased with what I've found so far, it's been very useful to me in my research!
Elizabeth S. Jul 22, 2009, 7:55pm UTC
That's something I hadn't done. However, this tip helped me anyway. I was trying to find a newspaper account of a policeman's suicide since Sunday and couldn't find anything. I'll try the funeral home.
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 8:02pm UTC
oh im so sorry to hear about the officer's suicide, that is very sad. I am glad
I was able to help you with this!
Renee (Pres of Baby James Foundation) ~. Jul 22, 2009, 8:02pm UTC
Thanks for the tips, Vivian sent me information to start mine last night. I just got into it this morning to be exact. I want to find information on my ancestors on my dads side.
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 8:03pm UTC
Genealogy is so much fun, and there is so much information out there. I hope you will have a lot of fun with this!
Bob B. Jul 22, 2009, 8:25pm UTC
These are excellent tips. Thanks, Beth.
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 9:48pm UTC
Thanks Bob, I appreciate your commenting on this!
Bob B. Jul 22, 2009, 9:50pm UTC
I've bookmarked this page so I can refer to it when I start my genealogy this fall.
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 9:55pm UTC
that is very cool of you to do so bob! i love genealogy and im glad to be able to pass on to someone else who can use what ive learned.
Rebecca P. Jul 22, 2009, 8:29pm UTC
Great tips. Someday I'll start my genology project...
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 9:05pm UTC
oh its going to be worthwhile, believe me. But you need to finish college first. There are going to wind up being more family members than you know what to do with, and it will undoubtably take years, if its not a lifetime hobby as people are born, get married and die.
Thanks for these tips! I am going to check out that first one you mentioned~
Beth G. Jul 22, 2009, 9:48pm UTC
Yeah Ive found that to be very useful in my research!
Sue M. Jul 22, 2009, 11:28pm UTC
Great tips, Beth! It's been awhile since I worked on my husband's and my genealogy lines.
Beth G. Jul 23, 2009, 12:50am UTC
It is so much fun to work on genealogy! But sometimes a breather is necesseary. Thanks for commenting Sue!
Linda T. Jul 23, 2009, 12:46am UTC
I will have to pass these tips on to my husband. He was actively working on his family tree using Ancestry.com but the membership was too expensive to keep up.
Beth G. Jul 23, 2009, 12:52am UTC
You can still use the family tree in a couple of different ways on ancestry.com. The first way is that you can still build your family tree for free on there. That is what I am doing (although borrowing a family members paid subscription is helpful.) The second way is to go to your local library, as many libraries have their own ancestry library edition that their patrons can use for free.
Linda T. Jul 23, 2009, 1:11am UTC
Thanks Beth. He actually was pretty deep into his research. He has worked on it for a number of years. He does go to the library when he really needs the site. If he used it all the time I would not mind the expense but it is a hobby that he does for a while then stops and goes back when he feels the urge. I told him I am not paying for his occasional urge.
Another way he has gotten a good deal of free information is through church records.
Beth G. Jul 23, 2009, 1:17pm UTC
I know what you mean Linda! I can only afford using the free site, but I also google a lot of my relatives to see who is else is researching the same people
Connie L. Aug 1, 2009, 12:55am UTC
this is good to know, I been wanting to trace back in my family
Beth G. Aug 1, 2009, 11:37am UTC
It is so much fun! It is definitely worthwhile!
Joy H. Aug 2, 2009, 9:27pm UTC
I had never heard of this. Thanks for sharing it.
I was just reading an old article.
Hi,
I'm so stuck, it's not even funny - but, a small tip that might help for some, as the older towns, Town Halls Obits, Marriages, etc's are not online (like our little town), they're hand-written in books STILL, at the Town Hall. If you live near yours, check that out too. That's the only place I've found anything.

Marilyn
Beth G. Aug 9, 2009, 5:24pm UTC
That is a great tip Marilyn! And don't get discouraged, you never know who has information you might need!
Bob D. Aug 19, 2009, 10:01pm UTC
That looks like a very useful tool. I am going to check it out for my family history research.
Beth G. Nov 22, 2009, 4:21pm UTC
It has been a pretty good tool in my research, thanks for commenting Bob, I appreciate it!
Lloyd Dalton Sep 1, 2009, 7:23am UTC
I just signed up to Gather. Doing genealogy research in Maine, USA and New Brunswick and PEI, Canada. Families: Nadeau, Dalton, Woods. Too many to list.
Beth G. Sep 1, 2009, 4:44pm UTC
I know what you mean Lloyd, the further you go back the more family names you need to research! Welcome to gather, have fun on here!
Donna Willis Oct 21, 2009, 11:45pm UTC
Beth, you can also call the funeral homes, if you have dates,etc. they will give you info.At least they do in Kansas City,Kansas. At no cost. It's worth a try.
Beth G. Oct 22, 2009, 8:15pm UTC
That is a very good suggestion Donna! I will definitely look into that.
Valerie Savoie Apr 22, 2011, 12:42pm UTC
Great tips, thanks!

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