What Records Exist and Where Do I Find Them? | Barefoot Genealogist | Ancestry

Do you know how to find out if the records you need to answer your genealogy question even exist? Join Crista Cowan for a look at some basic research processes that will help you find answers to your family history questions. She will share the two major resources (the Ancestry Card Catalog and the Family History Wiki) that you need to know about and how best to use them to determine if the record you want exists and if it is online.
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What Records Exist and Where Do I Find Them? | Barefoot Genealogist | Ancestry
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[@stampdealer]

This was realy helpful, Crista, thank you.

[@robincooper9415]

I always learn several new things from watching your videos. Thank you

[@GORGINIOUScrniExploring]

Interesting. Thank you.

[@robinmcunknown1025]

Bullet journal for family history sounds like a great keepsake

[@MaxCarroll]

Cool video loved it

[@rosannelytle6428]

Crista, another wonderful and informative presentation. While I am still having issue on some of my ancestors., I watch your programs to get help on places to search for information. Thank you so much.

[@connkar123]

Hi Crista, thank you so much for another informative video, you’ve taught me so much! I have a question, Ancestry doesn’t seem to update the “member connect “ feature any longer, do you know the status of this? It was a great feature when it worked. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge! (P.s. I use Firefox or Chrome )

[@mariaruizcuevas8756]

Very cool

[@OldLady-um9kt]

Crista, Thank you for this interesting info. I find it so interesting how women have been treated in genealogy in different cultures. Either women are dismissed or they are put on the pedestal. You explain things so well on how to find those elusive women and tell it so calm. I enjoy listening to you. I hope you have a very enjoyable Christmas and may your 2019 New Year bring you interesting adventures and happiness. Please take care and Thank you again for all your videos you do. Hugs!

[@aprilsadventures8749]

Hi Christa I there a newer video than the 2011 on Native American Research? I am watching it as we speak and just curious. Thanks for the videos, they are real helpful.

[@AncestryUS]

There is not. The information in the old video is still applicable.

[@Michael_Greenwood]

Hi Crista... Michael again, I have recently come across some information about my family tree that I'm intetested in. According to my maternal Uncle and my mother we had a 3x great Aunt that was a passenger on the RMS Titanic. Is their any information on Ancestry that would help me with this particulat research as I'd really like to know. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year.

[@AncestryUS]

The Titanic passenger list can be found on Ancestry and several places on the internet.

[@nancydavis9301]

I DO NOT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MY HISTORY I AM COUNTING ON YOU, YOU ARE MY ONLY HOPE.

[@richardtruitt4646]

Nancy, start your tree by filling in all of the information you know about you. Then move up to your mother and father. Enter your mother's name via her maiden name. Adding your siblings will also help Ancestry offer 'green leaf' hints for your parents and their parents, etc.

[@gma8328]

Thanks so much for another informative video. The records that I have the most trouble locating are church records. While I have found some in various places I am wondering if you have any suggestions about how to go about finding church records.

[@gma8328]

Also I have searched for video tutorials and such and the most I have found is where church records are included as a category to look for, but I havn't found a video anywhere that addresses the subject directly. Thanks

[@AncestryUS]

Hi G Ma! If you search the Ancestry Card Catalog for various religious denominations (i.e. Lutheran, Catholic, Quaker, etc.) you will see what records Ancestry has for those larger, more cohesive churches that have collected comprehensive records over time and archived them well. For smaller, more independent churches you will need to contact the church to see if they have records and where they have been archived. I do have a video called, Civil Registration versus Church Records that has some additional information in it. You can find that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5yYl4mKnd2Dg5I I will also add Church Records to my list of potential future topics. Thanks! (~Crista)

[@chaostheoryrulz6080]

Question? Do ancestry DNA research managers normally come about working with"reference populations" in their day to day job activities?

[@peggyedson6875]

Where can you get the 2 books mentioned This has been interesting Thanks

[@AncestryUS]

Do you mean The Source and The Red Book? You can find them in wiki form here: wiki.rootsweb.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

[@nikkinone-ya]

Can you do a similar video for the free data bases and how they work? Im not sure if im doing something wrong but even the "free" data base records still direct me to needing a membership. Very few result in getting a record, such as 1880 census will usually show, but some other 1880 countys do not show records. Sorry, I paid for several years and got no where, now I know some what how to use the site I cant afford to keep paying for it. Any help is greatly appreciated, you have helped in so many ways already. Thank you 😊

[@AncestryUS]

You can find the complete list of free databases here: www.ancestry.com/search/categories/freeindexacom/ You can search them all directly from this link. Or, you can scroll down past the search box and click on a specific database to search.

[@amanthony415]

Hey Crista, great information. I sent you an email through Ancestry. Hope you hear back from you.

[@AncestryUS]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll respond there later today. (~Crista)

[@c.mariadi7469]

Why don’t you recommend the LDS prolific genealogy database?

[@NOYB700]

Thanks! Great info! No one told me how exhausting and obsessive searching family history would be lol. Unfortunately, I’m stuck. I’m African American and from the south. I have ancestors who were born in Ga and S Carolina in 1845 and earlier. I can find them on census of course for older years when slavery was abolished but nothing before then. Any tips on how to overcome this road block?

[@AncestryUS]

Hello Nyoka, It sounds like you have already had some great success in your research. There are some very helpful resources for people researching former enslaved families in the South. If I was to only recommend one, I would suggest Black ProGen. Listen to their podcast and read their blogs and you will find some really great research strategies to busting down this brick wall in your own family tree. You can find more about them here: www.whoisnickasmith.com/blackprogen/ Hope that helps! (~Crista)

[@NOYB700]

Ancestry Ancestry Hi Crista, thanks so much for your response! I’m going to check out Black ProGen ASAP, I’m so excited. Thanks again!!

[@bigdee8497]

Crista !!! U have got to be kidding !!!! I tracked my direct paternal line to a baffling point ... It's now a question for you the professional... Here is where it gets weird .. My last known descendent is John Patrick Coneway (Conneway) b. 1810 d.1883 .... He is the son of a man named DAVID COWAN 1777- 1868 ... What r the odds ???? I hope we are new found cousins ... Dennis Conneway (notice the spelling change ) my peeps r from PA ,, MD ,, WV ... I'm from NJ /NY originally

[@southernreign1]

I love ALL your very informative videos... you do need to buy a new microphone, sound quality is subpar compared to video. Get yourself a yeti microphone... please

[@AncestryUS]

Thanks for the suggestion, NC. I will look into it.

[@sdinthevalley]

I was researching a family church and I had to go to the church to look through their books. I need more info from them but it's much too difficult for me to do it anymore. How does Ancestry go about copying these records so it would be on line? The church is in a Chicago suburb.

[@AncestryUS]

Ancestry has a Content Acquisition team that works with record repositories to negotiate access to digitize their records and place them online.

[@sdinthevalley]

@@AncestryUS The name of the church is Sts.Peter & Paul Lutheran Church in Riverside, Illinois

[@Ratchet4647]

Hi Crista! I came to the most recent barefoot genealogist video to ask you this as I thought it'd be more likely to be seen, funnily enough the topic of this video relates to my question. I'm currently building an offline tree going off what I know and what my parents know. I decided to get that tree as cleanly and clearly laid out and built upon before going online. (This also means I'm not yet on Ancestry or other sites to see what is available) Here's the problem: I fear that as soon as I go online I will be facing a MASSIVE brick wall! My worry is that I highly doubt that ANY American geneology institution will have records for my family tree. You see my family escaped from the tyranny of communism in Cuba and I don't think that any records from that country would be available here. Please let me know what you know about cases like mine and if there are currently any resources available to me, even if you don't know, and can contact someone who does, any info would be of great help! Thanks in Advance! Best Regards!

[@AncestryUS]

You are correct. Records from Cuba have not, generally, been made available outside of Cuba. However, there are many with Cuban roots who are engaged in family history research and have some great tips. I would recommend that you start with CubaGenWeb.org. (~Crista)

[@Ratchet4647]

Ancestry Thank you Crista! I'll see what they have. I found an interesting directory for may parents hometown from before the Cuban War of Independence, unfortunately that is before my paternal branch arrived in Cuba and I don't have info for my maternal branch that far back. Still an interesting read. Hopefully that site can help me climb a little further. A funny thought crossed my head: Can you imagine what the Cuban Government would think of an American Company like Ancestry contacting them looking to help Cuban-Americans connect with their roots? I sure don't know! Anyways. If I manage to find my ancestors who immigrated to Cuba from parts of Spain, I'm sure Ancestry has resources that can help me go from there yes? Well, best wishes for the New Year!

[@metalyn]

Crista, Just recently I started having problems with my Safari browser not loading ancestry. I've used Safari for years on my Mac. When I try and use Ancestry in Google, pop up videos advertising Kaiser Permanent Insurance pop up which is really annoying. I don't have malware problems on Google and really want to just use my Safari. I called in twice to Ancestry and they are letting there IT people know, but I feel this is just Google strong-arming me to use their browser which I don't like. Any suggestions or fixes in the near future for this problem?

[@AncestryUS]

If you are getting unwanted pop up ads on Google Chrome, it sounds like you need to run a malware program and/or disable popups. As for Safari, have you tried clearing cache and cookies? Typically if Ancestry is having problems loading certain pages, it is because one of the cookies has become corrupted. Clearing them allows fresh ones to be generated. Hope that helps! (~Crista)

[@metalyn]

Currently Safari is working. I only use google for google earth, but I cleaned / erased the cookies and reopened google, then ancestry and the same window ad (Kaiser Permante) opened, then it closed immediately after opening. I closed google opened again and it worked without the pop up ad, but gave me a message about a window trying to open that may be a phishing site or something like that. Again, I don't want google, so as long as my Safari is working, I'm good. Thanks for the quick response. I feel this has more with google being a bully and trying to take out Safari/competition than anything else which is sad because I pay for a subscription to ancestry and I expect it to work. This reminds me all too much of AmiPro and Lotus being bullied while on a PC along with Excel and Microsoft Word and we know who won that battle. Bill Gates.

[@musicalneptunian]

Some good ad ons to block pop ups/ads: - uBlock - noscript [this could block everything so can be overkill] You could also try Firefox browser

[@metalyn]

I haven't had pop up ads in so long that really was an unwanted surprise as was my Safari freezing up when using Ancestry. Thanks though. Hopefully Safari will go back to working.@@musicalneptunian

[@abbietrengove1410]

There is DEFINITELY a problem using Ancestry with Safari. Every time I want to use it I have to clear the history and delete all cookies. Ancestry has done something to cause this - there is nothing wrong with our Macs or Safari. I have had to start using Chrome which is not my default browser and it's very annoying. It's got nothing to do with Google. Ancestry should let us know what's going on.

[@LiverpoolHarmonica]

When I find my relative files on Ancestry e.g. BMD files photos census and so on is it possible for me to download them all to my Computer without downloading just 1 at a time Any help would be of great use. Kind Regards.Tom

[@CristaCowan]

Hi Tom, If you have a desktop software program, like Family Tree Maker, you can download any record images directly to your computer each time you sync your online and offline family trees.

[@LiverpoolHarmonica]

@@CristaCowan Thanks for all your help Kind Regards, Tom

[@mistyalgier2839]

I love doing on-site research. I'm planning a trip to Lee's Creek, Arkansas to search for my great grandmother's parents. I have their names from her social security application but haven't made a connection yet on ancestry.com so I'm hitting the road this spring to go look. I usually start at local public libraries and court houses. However she was born in either 1889 or 1890 and I don't believe there are vital records for this time. Where are some other places I can look? Facts: according to her social security application, first marriage record, and death record she was born in Lee's Creek, Arkansas. Her first marriage record has her marrying in 1907 in Van Buren, Arkansas A 1900 census shows her and two brothers living with grand parents in Crawford County, Arkansas.

[@AncestryUS]

That missing 1890 census has sure caused a lot of roadblocks for many of us. Have you tried searching newspapers in the Crawford County area to see if you can find death notices for her parents? It is possible that one or both of her parents were deceased by 1900 since she is being raised by her grandparents.

[@carlallen8624]

how do you find the exact property given to my cherokee ancessters useing gps coordinate

[@AncestryUS]

If you have GPS coordinates, you can plug them into any search engine (like Google) and it will show you the location on a current day map.

[@nancydavis9301]

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MY FAMILY HISTORY, CAN YOU HELP ME OUT, THIS IS MEANS THE WORLD TO ME,

[@BarbaraBoronda]

crista how do i find german records

[@AncestryUS]

Did you watch the video, Barbara? I walk through a step by step explanation of how to use the Card Catalog to find what records Ancestry has for different countries, including Germany. And, Ancestry has hundreds of millions of records for Germany.

[@susangutrugianios2241]

Hi I am searching for 17th century records for Australia The year 1641 It is the only information found on Family Search and Ancestry The Australian Genealogy group on line have no records Do you have any ideas

[@AncestryUS]

Hi, Susan. We will be happy to help share some good resources for researching. We have a great article that has some great tips on ways to get past that brick wall in your research. You can access that here: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Overcoming-Roadblocks-in-Your-Research?language=en_US

[@susangutrugianios2241]

Hi How to find Australia records of birth in 1641

[@AncestryUS]

Hi, Susan. We will be happy to help share some good resources for researching. We have a great article that has some great tips on ways to get past that brick wall in your research. You can access that here: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Overcoming-Roadblocks-in-Your-Research?language=en_US

[@mariaruizcuevas8756]

When is the Ancestry DNA update?😀😀😀😀😀

[@AncestryUS]

The most recent AncestryDNA ethnicity update was made available to all users about four months ago.

[@mariaruizcuevas8756]

@@AncestryUS I know lol but will the results change by any further updates this year

[@AncestryUS]

@@mariaruizcuevas8756 - The science is always improving. As new updates are available our users will be notified.

[@latoshiaclemons7264]

Can i track thru social security number

[@AncestryUS]

If some died three or more years ago, they would likely be included in the Social Security Death Index. And, yes, that can be searched by Social Security Number.

[@CandaceJacallen]

What if there are no Records?

[@AncestryUS]

When you say, "...there are no records" do you mean that there is no direct evidence for your genealogy research question? That happens often. That means you need to start compiling INDIRECT evidence. I recently read an article by Elizabeth Shown Mills on her website, EvidenceExplained that is a great introduction to this concept if it is new to you. Once you've read that, let me know what questions you've got about your specific research question and I'd love to help out. (~Crista)

[@wexqlp3863]

I’ve sent in a Test. It’s in the processing phase. A cousin of mine did his. We are ethnically Kurdish. I can trace back 8-9 generation. However as you know, Kurds live in west Asia ( today’s Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria). As Kurds identity is oppressed in their own homeland by the surrounding states, how do you guarantee that you have gone and tested other Kurds in the region. As my cousin showed only Armenian and Persian 98% combined. It’s quite interesting that ancestry DNA has not fully done tests to all communities in the region. I’m just wondering how will ancestry DNA go about solving such issues in the future with communities like the Kurds who have been denied their own identity in their own homeland the first place?

[@esterherschkovich5002]

I sent you a question on another video..no answer?It would have.

[@AncestryUS]

I haven't seen another question from you. Maybe post it again? (~Crista)

[@salc9593]

I've tried to find information on my mother prior to 1949 ie. her birth cert. her parents names using your Ancestry site with no information found. I PAID your sites additional fees with hope of helping my search for my mother again with nothing being found. I have sent a number of E-mails with the hope to receive an answer to questions as to where to find help in my search with NO Response from Ancestry. Your ad promote finding your heritage, ancestry... I've found nothing.!!!

[@AncestryUS]

Was your mother born in the United States or elsewhere? Each state in the U.S. has its own privacy laws that govern whether or not birth records are public or private. It is very likely that your mother's birth record is not available online. In the U.S. federal government records have a 72 year privacy law. So, the most recent federal census available is 1940. Have you searched that census specifically for your grandparents?