Full Text Searching Helps You Find Hidden Records (It's a Game Changer)

[@1975DLR]

I have found that after you use the date filter which narrows it down by a decade, you can put a more exact number in the keywords like 1783

[@AncestryAimee]

Yes! I mentioned that in the handout. Thank you for adding it!

[@JillMRodriguez]

Thank you so much, my gosh this helped knock down a brick wall I have had for years with my mom's side of the family based out of Baltimore Maryland. If I could give you a big hug I would lol. 🤗

[@AncestryAimee]

Awww. Thanks for telling me. I’m so glad to hear that! I’ll take the virtual hug. 🤗

[@garyhab2339]

Great video. Will try this out. Thanks Aimee!

[@AncestryAimee]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@GenealogyGrandmother]

Love the hack! Thanks for breaking it down. This tool has so much more to give and I really appreciate your insight and guidance. 🥰

[@AncestryAimee]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nanfrostsfashionfocusstyle6250]

Good tip about using the * and the ? in the same search. Would not have thought of that.

[@AncestryAimee]

Glad it's helped!

[@peterCalabria3]

You gave me hope by being inspirational ❤

[@AncestryAimee]

Oh! That makes my day! Thanks.

[@deannacorbeil5571]

Thank you so much for this! I already found a few records I've never seen before in just a few minutes of looking. I can see this will be my new obsession. lol.

[@AncestryAimee]

Love it!

[@cathyc6725]

Thank you for the hack!

[@AncestryAimee]

You bet!

[@markstambaugh3273]

I found all kinds of information about a the biological mother of an adopted child using this tool. The mother was Choctaw living in Oklahoma. The land sales were over a 30 year period. I would sure like to find a photo of her next. There is if fact, is so much information via this AI tool you can begin to understand much of the life history of these family members.

[@AncestryAimee]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences!

[@oddishpie]

I am excited for this! I played around with full text search when it was announced, but I've not had the time to deep dive. Thanks for the video!

[@AncestryAimee]

You bet!

[@kathleenkelley1299]

Great explanation and example. Appreciate the citation hack. My citations were really long and now I can clean them up

[@AncestryAimee]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pauldumont5625]

There are a few dumont lines which came from different areas of france. The gueret dit dumonts came to quebec in around 1690

[@donnaroberts8791]

Thanks for the comprehensive explanation. I'm excited to explore the Australian land record options.

[@AncestryAimee]

Have fun! Let us know how it goes!

[@eujackmac]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@AncestryAimee]

You are so welcome!

[@JillMRodriguez]

What is a guardian bond? I have come across two in the probate records for my ancestors. My second great-grandmother had taken one out on her son my great-grandfather. Then another one was my second great grandmother when she died her husband took one out on his three young children. Thanks!

[@AncestryAimee]

Great question. Guardianship bonds were taken out when children under the age of majority (usually 21 but that can vary by time and place) lost their parent. Usually when a father died, even with the mother alive, the kids needed a male guardian. Women didn’t have many rights then. But it can go both ways as you discovered.

[@pauldumont5625]

i did not realize you were related to dumonts. is that the gueret dit dumont line?

[@AncestryAimee]

Fun! My Dumont's go back to Etienne born in 1762. My Dumont's were all in Limoges. I haven't traced further than that yet.

[@janeimparl2733]

Hi Aimee ! I’m from Central Florida !

[@sl5311]

I always felt like it would great to hear from the software developers themselves. Like what were they thinking? And Why are the search results often out of order or don't make any sense as to why they are there.

[@AncestryAimee]

Great idea! Maybe I can do that sometime.

[@denisepayne7283]

Hi from DC

[@mclyman-onkka3579]

If you go to the download on the transcription side of the page it will give the citation.

[@AncestryAimee]

I’m just not a fan of their citation format. But it is there. Thanks!!

[@d.t.r.8036]

Aimee -- your maiden name is one of the names in my direct line, a few generations back. Were your kin from the finger lakes region of NY, by any chance? Oh, and since I don't think you included this particular spelling variation in the examples you gave, I find that the n in the middle of the name gets dropped more than one might think.

[@AncestryAimee]

Good point. Actually I don’t know. That line is my mystery. My great grandfather, in some records said that he was born in New York and in others, Australia. DNA hasn’t solved the mystery yet either. Maybe we are related!

[@d.t.r.8036]

@@AncestryAimee I, as of now, have no indications where that line of mine was before NY, but perhaps we are. One thing I have learned when it comes to places in NY -- always be prepared to expect that a birth place listed as that of another country (Russia or Poland, for example) may actually be a reference to a city of that name in NY. In the early days of FS, I was quite baffled to see a birth place indexed as "USSR" until I learned what was really meant was "Russia, Herkimer County, NY" 😁 About citations from the full text feature: if you opt to use the download option from the side panel (the one that shows the transcription text), you get multiple options for what to include in the download and one of the options is to include the citation in the download.

[@AncestryAimee]

@d.t.r.8036 true about NY. And about the citation feature. I mention that in the handout. Please always include that. But I’m not a fan of their citation format so I rewrite it and include things they don’t.

[@patranye]

Aimee, this was an excellent introduction to the new Full Text Search option on Family Search! I've found unknown facts and confirmation of suppositions by using it. Wonderful tool and love your citation hack! Thanks

[@AncestryAimee]

Awesome! Thank you!