Why?
Because one website is simply not enough. Even for something that should be easy, such as searching for a particular ancestor in a specific year of the U.S. Census.
It takes a village of genealogy websites to dig deep, find ancestors, and learn more about their lives.
For me, the most effective village consists of both free and paid websites (accessed individually from home or, at times, accessed for free from a Family History Center or local library).
Focus on Rinehart Family
Here's a mini-case history of how I found two of hubby's ancestors in the 1870 Census, part of my ongoing Genealogy Go-Over to fill in holes and verify information. This should have been straightforward and easy, but it wasn't.
Joseph W. Rinehart (1806-1888) was my husband's 2d great-grandpa, married to 2d great-grandma Margaret Shank (1807-1873).
In constructing the family timeline, I noticed that in 1850 and 1860, the Rinehart family was intact, farming in Tod township, Crawford county, Ohio. In 1880, Joseph was a widower, living with a married daughter in Tod township, Crawford county, Ohio.
What about 1870? That was missing from my timeline for husband and wife and some children. Clicking to search the indexed Census in Ancestry, HeritageQuest Online (yes, I know, same database as Ancestry), and FamilySearch didn't reveal their whereabouts. Nor did it find their youngest child, Nancy.
I then browsed every page of the US Census for Tod township, and for Nevada township in neighboring Wyandot county, where a few children and extended family were living at the time. No sign of Joseph, Margaret, or Nancy. Not as straightforward as I'd hoped.
They Went Where?
Next, I clicked to search the Census on MyHeritage, where I have been building a tree to support my DNA outreach. Up popped a Joseph Rinehart and wife Margaret living with Hugh Rinehart and family in 1870 in . . . Angola, Steuben county, Indiana. (Snippet from the Census is shown here.)
All the details fit, right down to Joseph and Margaret's youngest daughter, Nancy (age 19 in 1870) living there. The head of household was her brother Hugh. Joseph isn't listed as "Joseph W." but it is a clear match. Interestingly, Joseph--the former farmer--is shown in 1870 as a tailor, with real estate worth $3600 and personal estate worth $200.
A big clue is Margaret's birth state of Delaware, which she listed in 1850 and 1860 also. Another clue is the final name, Catherine Ransburg, whose daughter married a Shank (Margaret's maiden name)...they lived in Steuben county, IN, also. Catherine's personal estate was valued at $1500 on the Census.
It's a bit amazing to think of Joseph Rinehart and his wife Margaret making a home with a son 140 miles away from where they used to farm. Especially since I see by the 1880 Census that Joseph was back in Tod, Ohio after his wife died.
I'm currently using my village of websites to look for any news items, obits, social items, etc. hoping to find clues to when/why these ancestors went to Indiana. Again, not an easy search because of the many ways to spell "Rinehart" but I'm still trying. If there's a clue out there, my village of genealogy websites is likely to find it.
Many thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for the "easy" prompt this week in her #52Ancestors series.
Marian, very interesting question! Do you have Luck searching newspapers on my heritage? The results seem to come back in a random order and I don't see a way to sort them
ReplyDeleteUsing multiple resources is usually the key to success. I've heard so many people saying they can't find whatever, but they only try one search or website. I love your concept of "village of websites."
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