Genealogy Resources Collection Guide Selected Resources for Genealogy & Family History Research Visit the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville or search the online catalog at: www.cldandj.org 1/2019 KC 5110 Jamesville Road DeWitt, NY 13078 315-446-3578 www.cldandj.org
Table of Contents Genealogy Related Books & Materials Introduction This collection guide was developed to support individuals who are interested in genealogy and family history research. It contains a list of both online and written genealogy resources available to library patrons at the Community Library of DeWitt and Jamesville. Please note that certain resources (Ancestry.com; NewspaperArchive.com, & NewsBank) are available to use in the library only, while others are accessible at home. Additional titles may be found at other Onondaga County public libraries, and OCPL cardholders in good standing may borrow available materials from any library in the system. You can locate additional titles in the library system through the online catalog (www.cldandj.org) or by asking one of our staff for assistance. The genealogist s guide to discovering your Italian ancestors: how to find out and record your unique heritage Nelson, Lynn (1997). Call number: 929.107 NEL History The genealogist s guide to discovering your Scottish ancestors: how to find out and record your unique heritage Jonas, Linda (2002) Call number: 929.108 JON History Table of Contents: Ancestry.com 3 Newspaper Archive.com 4 Newsbank Historical Newspaper 4 FamilySearch 5 Find my Past 6 Fulton History 6 New York Heritage Digital Collections 7 NYS Historical Newspapers 7 Reclaim the Records 8 They came in ships: a guide to finding your immigrant ancestor s arrival record Colletta, John Phillip (2002). Call number: 929.107 PHI History Additional titles may be found at other Onondaga County public libraries, and OCPL cardholders in good standing may borrow available materials from any library in the system. You can locate additional titles in the library system through the online catalog (www.cldandj.org) or by asking one of our staff for assistance. Genealogy Related Books & Materials 9-11 Genealogy resources available in the library only can be used on any of the following devices: Library public computer Library laptop (available to check out at information desk) Personal laptop, tablet, or phone on library WiFi 2 11
Genealogy Related Books & Materials Books for more advanced researchers: Finding a place called home: a guide to African American genealogy and historical identity Woodtor, Dee (1999). Call number: 929.108 WOO History From generation to generation: how to trace your Jewish genealogy and family history Kurzweil, Arthur (2004). Call number: 929.108 KUR History Mastering census & military records Quillen, Daniel (2013). Call number: 929.107 QUI History New York genealogical research Schweitzer, George (1995). Call number: 974.7 SCH Local Interest New Englanders in the 1600s a guide to genealogical research published between 1980 and 2005 Hollick, Martin (2005). Call number: 929 HOL History The genealogist s guide to discovering your Germanic ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage. Anderson, Chris (2000). Call number: 929.108 AND History The genealogist s guide to discovering your Irish ancestors: how to find out and record your unique heritage Radford, Dwight (2001). Call number: 929.108 RAD History Ancestry.com Library **In library use only. You can access this database on a library computer or your own personal laptop, tablet, or phone on the library s WiFi network.** 1. Visit www.onlib.org 2. Click Research 3. Click Databases 4. On A-Z list of databases, scroll down & click Ancestry Library Edition. 5. Once you reach the Ancestry.com page, click the green Begin Searching box to start. 6. Search by name or record collection. Only search by location if you know the name of a specific town where your relatives came from. Federal & state census records Birth, death, & marriage records US border crossing & trans-ocean ship records Military records Wills, probates, land, tax, & criminal records Ancestry Library edition does NOT have access to family trees or photo books. Luckily, you can save records by sending the document to your email address. If you have a family member with a generic first and last name, like Michael Smith, click show more options to narrow your search. If you don t know how to spell a family member s name, you can put a? or * where you expect variations. Ex: Write Michael Sm*th if you are not sure if it is spelled Smith or Smyte. 10 3
NewspaperArchive.com 1. Visit www.onlib.org 2. Click Research 3. Click Databases 4. On A-Z list of databases, scroll down & click Newspaper Archive. Historical newspapers Syracuse newspapers from 1857-forward Full text & images available Highly recommend using Advanced Search on this database to narrow down location, dates, and names. Provide as much information as you can. To download the newspaper page you are viewing to your computer, click the Save Button save button on the Adobe PDF Viewer. NewsBank Newspapers 1. Visit www.onlib.org 2. Click Research 3. Click Databases 4. On A-Z list of databases, scroll down & click Newsbank. Syracuse newspapers (12/2/1986-current) Utica Observer Dispatch Albany Times Union Central New York Business Journal Genealogy Related Books & Materials Books & materials for beginner researchers: Easy family history: the stress-free guide to starting your research Annual, David (2005). Call number: 929.107 ANN History Family history 101: a beginner s guide to finding your ancestors Melnyk, Marcia Yannizzee (2005). Call number: 929.107 MEL History Find your roots now!: A step by step guide for beginning genealogists Long, Joe (2017). Call number: NEW 929.107 LON History The family tree toolkit: a comprehensive guide to uncovering your ancestry and researching genealogy Berry, Kenyatta (2018). Call number: NEW 929.1 BER History Tracing your family history: the complete guide to locating your ancestors and finding out where you came from Hull, Lise (2006). Call number: 929.107 HUL History Discovering your roots; an introduction to genealogy Great Courses (2014). Call number: DVD NF Great Courses 4 Full text & images available Highly recommend pressing More Search Options located under the database s search bar to narrow down location, dates, and names. 9
Reclaim the Records 1. Visit: https://reclaimtherecords.org NYS Birth Index 1881-1942 NYS Marriage Index 1881-1952 NYC Marriage Index 1908-2018 NYC Domestic Partnership Index 1993-2017 NYS Death Index 1880-1956 Scroll halfway down the homepage to reach records. Records show relationships between family members. Website is free, but it typically costs $22 to get a physical copy of the vital record. The following resources can be accessed at home, not just in the library. Family Search 1. Visit: www.familysearch.org 2. Click Search on the top of the homepage 3. Search by name or by geographic location Many NYS Church Records (esp. Roman Catholic and Lutheran church records) NYS naturalization records NYS wills/probate records Some NYS vital records Freedman s Bank Records and Freedman s Bureau (labor contracts) for formerly enslaved persons International records You will need to make a free account to access records. Search by geographic location (by country of origin) or name. Highly recommend searching by geographic location the website contains international records from a large # of countries. Website owned by LDS church. Goal is to provide free digitized records for all, not just LDS church members 8 5
Find My Past New York Heritage Digital Collections 1. Visit: www.findmypast.com 2. Click on Free Records on the top bar of the homepage 3. Search by name or advanced search US Census Records from 1790-1940 Irish Catholic Parish Records (7+ million baptism records) 1881 UK Census US Marriages Collection Canada Census Records There are a significant number of records on this website that are free. That being said, there is also a subscription plan for access to a larger # of records if you are interested. Website is more effective if you have Canadian, British, Irish or otherwise European ancestry. 1. Visit: www.nyheritage.org City directories Historical photographs, maps, letters, diaries, and more NY Heritage is a research portal that contains a broad range of collections from various New York state libraries and cultural institutions. Explore by contributing organizations or digital collections. If you search by contributing organizations, you can filter by county on the right hand side of the search page. That may help narrow your results and/or find interesting collections that may be relevant to your search. Fulton History 1. Visit: http://www.fultonhistory.com A searchable repository of historic newspapers published in New York State between 1795 and 2007, frequently updated NYS Historic Newspapers 1. Visit: www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org Searchable full text and page images of over 400+ historic newspapers from New York State, ranging from 1795 to 2014 6 This homepage can be a bit confusing. To search by name or location, press #1: Go and Search my Archives. Under the search page, you will see an option to rank the fuzziness of your search on a scale from 1-3. Fuzzy searching will find a word even if it is misspelled & can be useful when you are searching text that may contain typographical errors. We recommend choosing a fuzziness of 1 if you want to broaden your search. Search by county or name To select multiple items, hold down Ctrl (on Windows) or Command (on Mac) and click the desired items. 7