Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com, page 17
My last search—for Williamsburg, Virginia—was one I knew would come up roses. I had family living there as early as the late 1600s, and many of Williamsburg’s historic buildings are still standing, including Bruton Parish Church where my ancestor Thomas Ballard is buried. A simple search for the city Williamsburg returned thousands of hits—far too many to browse through. But among the search results were a lot of historic buildings in the lot, such as:
George Wythe’s house
Governor’s Palace
Wren Building
Magazine and Guard House
College of William and Mary
Bruton Parish Church
Because my family lived in Williamsburg at the time the buildings above would have been in use, I wanted to save them all. I knew they would have been places my ancestors knew well. Seeing a picture is almost as good as visiting there myself, but not quite.
I found so many postcards for Bruton Parish Church in this search that I used the Postcard Era section of the search form to find the earliest postcard possible. I selected the Divided Back Era, 1907–1915. Using the Postcard Era option, I also found postcards of the church in the Linen Era, c. 1930–1945 (my favorite) and Photochrome Era, c. 1939–present. However, as much as I wanted a postcard of the church interior or the cemetery, I couldn’t find one in this collection. At that point, I went ahead and saved postcards of the other historic buildings, all of which I’ll add to my Ballard family tree.
I still wanted those interior shots of the church and the cemetery, so I went back to the Card Catalog, chose the Pictures category, and did a category-wide search. I didn’t type in any names in the search box, only Bruton Parish Church Cemetery in the Keyword box. I was thrilled to find many photos of the cemetery in the “Public Member Photos” collection, including one we history-junkies would appreciate: the tombstone for Daniel Parke Custis, Martha Washington’s first husband. As for interior shots: Another member posted a plaque inside the church that named Thomas Ballard (image P). Score!
But that’s not all: In doing the global search for Bruton Parish Church Cemetery, I also had several hits in the “Library of Congress Photo Collection, 1840–2000.” One search result was an engraving of the church as it looked during the time period of Lord Dunmore (1770s). My family was still in Williamsburg during this time, and this was the church they would have known, so I saved this image, too. Of all of the found images, I think my favorite was image Q, of the pew in which Thomas Ballard sat (#4). (By the way, George Washington had pew #16, Thomas Jefferson #17, and Patrick Henry #18.)
Another Ancestry.com user uploaded this plaque inside Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The Bruton Parish Church features this plaque, which marks the pew where Thomas Ballard regularly sat.
A Note About Copyright Laws
According to US copyright law, works published before January 1, 1923, are in the public domain, meaning anyone can use, adapt, or copy them freely. However, be aware of some odd twists and turns. Before you assume an image you find is copyright-free, read Sharon DeBartolo Carmack’s excellent guide to “Copyright for Genealogists”
Images taken by the federal government don’t fall under copyright law; in essence, they are the property of “we the people.” However, you may find images on a government site that are owned by a library or archive, and you’ll need to get permission or pay a licensing fee for use. Copyright statements are usually obvious on a site.
If you’re on a government site (which will have .gov in the domain name), you’ll almost always find a link to copyright information indicating how to credit an image. For example, the image of a 1902 Nebraska farmer requests this credit line: Nebraska State Historical Society, [Digital ID, nbhips 12448]
Some images on Ancestry.com may fall into the public domain, while others may be copyrighted. When in doubt about copyright status, ask the original poster of the image (whether it’s Ancestry.com or an Ancestry.com user), and be sure to consult Ancestry.com’s Terms and Conditions to learn how you’re permitted to use content from the site.
10
MAKING THE MOST OF SCHOOLS, DIRECTORIES, AND CHURCH HISTORIES
While genealogists tend to focus on researching census returns and vital records, the truth is, our ancestors’ lives encompassed so much more. Like us, they joined organizations, were listed in directories, went to school, and probably attended church.
It’s hard to conceive of the many publications or directories you might find an ancestor in until you begin thinking about your life. For example, I know for certain that you can find me listed in the following places, and who knows where else:
Internet searches on search engines and on Amazon.com
Western Writers of America membership list
Association of Ghostwriters membership list
high school yearbook (San Diego High, if you’re interested!)
list of college alumni
Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association membership list
San Diego Genealogical Society membership list
North Dakota State Historical Society membership list
Friends of the Little Bighorn membership list
Before reading further, take a minute and jot down all the places your name can be found, both online and off. Does looking at your list give you an idea of the types of records, publications, or other documents where you might find your ancestors on Ancestry.com?
We may assume that our ancestors didn’t have the opportunity to join as many organizations as we do today, but is that really true? Who knows what organizations existed 150 years ago but are now defunct. A quick search of the Internet turned up the Lincoln Suffrage Association, the Radical Reform Christian Association, the Prohibition Club, and the Farmer’s Alliance—all organizations that at one time thrived in Lincoln County, Kansas. I’m betting none exist today. Even in more-recent years, we can find evidence of fraternities and sororities that no longer exist. Don’t discount finding your ancestor in at least one directory, no matter how unlikely it may seem.
Ancestry.com currently has more than 4,500 collections in its School, Directories & Church Histories category, with millions of records. In this chapter, I’ll show you the five main record groups, what they contain, how best to search them, and what you can expect to find. Then, I’ll do a few sample searches so you can follow along.
To begin, go to Ancestry.com’s Card Catalog and from the left column select the collection of Schools, Directories & Church Histories. Filter to this category to see the five subcategories:
City & Area Directories
Professional & Organizational Directories
Church Histories & Records
School Lists & Yearbooks
Telephone Directories
Let’s start by going through each of the subcategories.
CITY & AREA DIRECTORIES
This group comprises more than one thousand collections that primarily cover North America and Europe, with the remainder from Oceania, Australia, Mexico, Africa, and Asia. When filtering, you’ll find that Oceania and Australia share some of the same collections. The largest collections in this group is the “U.S. City Directories, 1821–1995,” weighing in at more than a whopping 1.5 billion records. You’ll also find directories for every state.
In case you’ve never worked with city directories, here’s a summary: A city directory is an alphabetical listing of all of the people who lived in the town, listed by head-of-household, address, and occupation. Some directories can include the name of a spouse (read: wife), names of businessmen, and even a death date for someone who had been previously listed in the directory.
Beyond the names of people, city directories also provide insight into the community because the directories often include information on churches, hospitals, clergy, clubs, businesses, and local organizations. It’s likely you’ll also find ads (that’s a sure bet), a map of the area, and a history of the town or community. When searching a city directory, be alert to people with the same surname, as they could easily be a family member or an in-law.
If you’re not sure where your family lived—and you’re not searching for an ultra-common surname—use Ancestry.com’s search form to search the entire “U.S. City Directories” collection. If you know the state in which your family lived, after you search, use the Browse This Collection function (right column) to pre-select the state, city, year, and/or title of the directory.
In my experience, you’ll usually get the most relevant results when changing the Use Default Settings option to Restrict To This Place Exactly in the Location box. But, as always, experiment.
Information will vary by year. For example, when using the Browse This Collection function, I searched for Albert Einstein in Princeton, New Jersey, and found the scientist in the 1942 directory listed under a category of Professors, Preceptors, and Teachers. In 1934, however, he’s listed as a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, while in 1954 he’s a professor emeritus (image A). If someone in your family lived in the same town for a number of years, you can see how easy it might be to trace his career path (or change in occupation).
A search of the 1860 Nashville, Tennessee, directory (which I located using the Browse This Collection function, then by selecting the state, city, and year) is interesting in that it shows the person’s occupation as well as his address, including whether he’s a boarder at a hotel (see L.T. Hardy in image B) or lives in the country (P.F. Hardcastle).
Something I didn’t expect to find was that the listing in the 1951 St. Joseph, Missouri, directory for my grandmother stated she was a saleswoman and the widow of Hershel. This little gem sent me calling my mom, who told me Grandma worked for a while selling cleaning products. I think the real surprise was that, although my grandfather died in 1948, Grandma is still listed as his widow in 1951. That same directory listed, not only my mom along with my dad, but also my dad’s place of work and home address.
Are you beginning to see how valuable a city directory can be?
A second valuable collection to investigate is the “U.S. Public Records Index” (look for volumes 1 and 2). With more than one billion records, the volumes are a compilation of public records in all fifty states dating from 1950 to 1993. Here, you’ll find an interesting blend of records taken from:
white pages
directory assistance records
marketing lists
postal change-of-address forms
public record filings
historical residential records
Because this collection only begins in 1950, you won’t find individuals who lived several generations ago. But the collection can still help you track down a family member you may have lost. In searching for my own family members, I found some addresses were fairly current, and some were from several residences ago. However, if you want to contact someone this will give you a starting place.
Another large collection in this group is the “U.K., City and County Directories, 1766–1946,” which is truly a boon to those of you doing UK research. With more than forty-two million records, the data is taken from street, commercial, trade, court, and post office directories. Information varies by directory type, but may include listings of residents, businesses, or tradesmen by street address; alphabetical listings of tradesmen or businesses; business owners’ private residences; lists of wealthy residents or government officials; or lists of homeowners’ names and addresses.
According to Ancestry.com, “The original purpose of directories was to provide information about towns and localities for travellers and other visitors. A directory would include a general description of the town or area and then include details on local transportation, churches, schools, government offices, shops, and businesses … Later directories began to include sections on private residents.”
In this collection, use the Browse This Collection function to select the country and county of interest in the dropdown lists.
This 1929 directory of Manchester, England, lists residents by street, including their names and occupations (image C). What I thought was interesting was the number of occupations that I didn’t recognize. If your family lived in the area during this time period, think of all that could be added to your software or a family history book—and think of how daily conversation might have gone between a pavior (someone who paves) and his neighbor, the marble polisher!
As you skim down the list of the many directories included in the City & Area Directories subcategory, you’ll see many specific to a location or to a location and date. For example, the “Brooklyn, New York, Directories, 1888–1890,” or “San Francisco, California Directories, 1889–1891” collections cover those specific areas during those specific time periods. Because of this, you may want to employ a few filters such as state and date to be sure you’ve covered all of your search possibilities. If you want to find directories that also include maps, be sure to use the term map in the Keyword search box.
After you find a directory, keep in mind that city directories often used abbreviations in the listings (image D). You can usually find a guide near the front of the directory. Common abbreviations include:
r for resides
slswn for saleswoman
n for near
w for widow
wldr for welder
You can use multiple city directories to track someone’s growth over the years. For example, Albert Einstein was listed as a professor in 1934 but had retired and become a professor emeritus by 1954.
City directories can provide great details about people in a town, such as occupation, address, and even if he or she was a boarder.
This 1929 directory from Manchester, England, lists residents by street.
Look for a list of abbreviations used in city directories, as that shorthand can help you decipher valuable details about your ancestors and their communities.
PROFESSIONAL & ORGANIZATIONAL DIRECTORIES
This subcategory is so eclectic that your best strategy is to search globally across all collections or make judicious use of location filters and keywords. It’s also a subcategory that researchers with German ancestry will love, because many of the collections pertain to Germany.
This subcategory also has more than 750 US collections, with the highest concentration from Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. I suggest filtering first by location and date; if you get too many results, add a keyword. For example, if you had an ancestor who worked on the railroad, you can search all of the railroad directories, but, because railroad companies merged over time, you may not be looking in the right directory. You could put railroad in the Keyword box, then search all of the collections that include that keyword.
As always, you can never be certain of what you’ll find in the search results. For example, when I typed in railroad to the Keyword box, one of the collections was the “Acton Directory” (image E). If I had just been skimming through the collection names, this one would never have caught my eye because it doesn’t include railroad anywhere in the title. When I opened the collection, I found it was a scanned book about the town of Acton. Why did it appear in railroad search results? Because included in the book was a railroad timetable.
Almost all of the results for keyword railroad were collections of businesses along specific railroad routes—a great find if your ancestor happened to live along the route of a railroad.
Curious as to what else this group of records held, I removed the railroad keyword and changed the location filter to USA, then District of Columbia. The collections for this search are another blend so varied you’d really have to skim through all of the titles to see if any of them would be worth searching (or, return to no filters and search the entire subcategory). Here’s a small sampling of D.C.-related collections:
“Motion Picture Studio Directories, 1919 and 1921”
“Register of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the District of Columbia, 1970”
“Presbyterian Ministerial Directory 1898”
“Handy Book of American Authors, 1907”
“The New-York Annual Register for the Year of Our Lord 1834”
If you have Canadian ancestors, an interesting find is the collection “The Canada Directory.” This collection contains the names of professionals and businessmen in the principal locations of Canada, along with information on population, trade, and a variety of statistics (image F). What a find if your ancestor is listed in this directory!
The Professional & Organizational Directories subcategory has an eclectic mix of records, including a railroad timetable in a directory about the town of Acton.
Ancestry.com holds some collections of foreign directories, including this one from Boucherville, Quebec, Canada.
