My Toolbox

Welcome to my genealogy toolbox where I store resources I've discovered during my hunt for ancestors and the stories of their lives.  Feel free to use these tools for your research.  Suggested additions always welcome!

ANCESTRY.COM

• Ancestry's New Image Viewer - Hidden Features

ASYLUM, INSANITY, LUNACY 

• Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg
• A P.S. to Asylums and Mental Hospitals
• Asylum on the Hill, History of a Healing Landscape by Katherine Ziff
• Hospital Commitment and Related Records (+see P.S. article above)
• Insanity, Rhetoric and Women, 19th Century Women's Asylum Narratives
• JSTOR: academic articles on asylums and women's experience
• Lunacy in the 19th Century: Women's Admission to Asylums in USA
• Researching Ancestors who were Committed to Asylums Using Newspapers
  

BACKUP
   GEDCOM - What is it, why do I need it?

BLOGGING AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA

• 101 Ways to Promote Your Next Blog Post
• 300+ Free Internet Resources You Should Know About
• Apps to Make Your Blog Writing Suck Less
• Can You Use That Copyrighted Picture?
• Checklist to Optimize your Blog Content Creation
• Facebook Image Sizes - Jan 2018
• Hidden Features for your Favorite Social Networks
• How to Create Engaging Images for Social Media
• How to Participate in a Twitter Chat
• Optimizing Blog Images
• Pairing FamilySearch and Pinterest for Family History
• Prevent Blogger from Redirecting your BlogSpot
• Top 10 Sources for Free Images
• Twitter: What is a Hashtag/How to Use it for Genealogy
• Using TinyPNG to Reduce Blog Image Size

BOOKS - DIGITAL AND PRINT RESOURCES

• FamilySearch Books
• Genealogy Gophers
• Google Books
• Google Scholar
• Gutenberg
• HathiTrust Digital Library
• Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) and NGS info article
• Making of America
• MyHeritage Compilation of Published Sources (Free)
• Online Books Page Archives and Indexes
• Open Library
• Redbook - American State, County and Town Sources
• Smithsonian Library
• USGenWeb Project
• WorldCat

BUYING GUIDES

• USB Flash Drive Guide - 5 Things to Know

CENSUS

• 1940 U.S. Federal Census Form Fillable 
• Agricultural Schedules 1850-1900
• Analyzing Census Records - Context Matters
• Analyzing Census Records - Math Matters
• Census Forms, U.S. (headers & worksheets)
• Census Templates in Excel 
• Census Tick Marks and Codes Revisited 
• Deciphering Census Columns with Tick Marks 
• Industry Schedules - hidden source for farming ancestors
• Missing Census or Missing Family: Legacy Tree Genealogists Answer
• Thematic Census Data Maps

CHURCH RESEARCH

• Baptist: American Baptist Historical Society
• Discovering Church Records at FHL and BYU FHL, Part 1
• Discovering Church Records at FHL and BYU FHL, Part 2
• Discovering Church Records at FHL and BYU FHL, Part 3
• Friends Historical Society
• Lutheran: Missouri Lutheran Church Records and Histories
• Methodist: Historical Society of the United Methodist Church
• Quaker Information Center

CITING SOURCES

• Citing FamilySearch Collections
• Citing Images How-to
• Citing Records in the National Archives--U.S.

CITY DIRECTORIES

• Midwestern City Directories in Valparaiso Public Library
• Illinois Online Historical Directories 
• Online Directory Site 
• Street Guides in City Directories 
• U.S. City Directories 

CIVIL WAR

• Civil War Medical Cards - Union

COMPUTER TIPS

• 10 Hidden Microsoft WORD Features
• Best Windows Cleaning Tool
• Taking Screen Shots on any Windows Version

DNA

• GEDmatch tools 2016
• How I Keep Track of DNA Correspondence
• How to Transfer Your AncestryDNA to Other Databases
• Kitty Cooper's Blog - Tools for Genetic Genealogists

EDUCATION ONLINE

• FamilySearch Learning Center
• Illinois State Genealogical Society
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars
• Ohio State Genealogical Society Webinars
• Southern California Genealogical Society Webinars

FEDERAL LAWS AND RECORDS

• 19th & Early 20th Century Federal Employees 
• LOC American Memory, public, private laws 1789-1875
• Law Library of Congress, public laws 1789-1950
• U.S. Govt Printing Ofc, public, private laws 1951-2011
• U.S. Congress, public, private laws 1973-2016
• The Vault FBI Research

GENERAL RESEARCH

• 47 Alternatives to Wikipedia
• About.com - Genealogy 
• Ancestry.com
• ArchiveGrid (website) and NGS info article
• Archives.com
• Cyndi's List
• FamilySearch.org
• Fold3.com
• Genealogy Trails
• Linkpendium
• Olive Tree Genealogy
• Rootsweb
• USGenWeb Archives

GERMAN RESEARCH

• German Genealogy - Q and A Hour, YouTube
• German-language Newspapers
• German Research Tips by Family Tree Tours
• German Roots
• http://grabsteine.genealogy.net/
• Living in the Past - see German research tips
• Der Genealogue
• East and West Prussia Gazateer

HANDWRITING

• German Script Translator  - from Discovering Latvian Roots

INTERVIEWING

• Interview Questions, Family Tree Mag

IMMIGRATION

• Ship Transcribers Guild

LAND

• California Land Research Aid
• Registry of Historic Places 
• Tract Records, North Dakota, State Historical Society
•  Laws that Shaped L.A. - Rancho Owners

LAW

• Finding THAT Law by The Legal Genealogist
• The Laws of Time and Place
• U.S. Code  - tools for finding laws

LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES, HISTORICAL SOCIETIES

• Allen County Indiana Genealogy Center
• BYU Family History Library
• BYU Hawaii Library
• Digital Public Library of America
• FamilySearch Books
• Genealogy Gophers
• Google Books and About.com article
• HathiTrust Digital Library also
• Houston Public Library - Clayton Lib Ctr Gene Res
• How to Best Research in Libraries
• Internet Archives
• Library of Congress
• Mid-Continent Pub Lib - Midwest Genealogy Ctr, Missouri
• Newberry Library
• Registry of Historic Places 
• Repositories of Primary Sources
• Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
• State Library of Ohio
• Wisconsin Historical Society - Draper Manuscripts
• WorldCat

LOCATIONS OF MY ANCESTORS

   Arizona

• Sharlot Hall Museum Archives in Prescott

    California

• Ancestry.com-California Historical Records 
• California Historical Society
• California Sites for Historical Photos
• California State Archives
• California State Library Picture Collection
• CAGenWeb
• Covina Argus Newspaper
• Historical Society of Southern California
• Los Angeles City Archives
• Los Angeles Conservancy -Sanborn Map Info 
• Los Angeles County Recorder/County Clerk [Death Records]
• Los Angeles Public Library Research Guide: House History
• Los Nietos Rootsweb post
• Sanborn Map Reels Los Angeles County 
• San Francisco Genealogy
• Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society
• Sacramento German Genealogical Society
• Southern California Genealogical Society
• Whittier Public Library - digital collections

Germany. Prussia, Poland

• Genealogy in Germany - Church Records 
• Germany - Birth - 1500-1874 - Search Strategy
• Geogen - Geographical Genealogy
• Geogen - Looking for German Surnames
• Polish Images
• Schlesien/Silesia

Illinois

• Chicago Resources
• See City Directories above

 Iowa

• Iowa Genealogical Society
• Iowa Online Historical Photos

Kansas

• Online Historical Photo Research

Kentucky

1. Kentucky County Court Records Online
2. Kentucky Digital Library
3. Kentucky Online Historical Photo Research

Maryland

1. Archives of Maryland Online

Maine

• The Laws Down East
• Maine Online Historical Photo Research

Minnesota

• Minnesota Historical Society Research Page
• Minnesota Online Historical Photos Research
• Placeography Wiki by the MHS

Missouri

• Gone to Missouri - reference guide
• Missouri Digital History

Nebraska

• Million Pieces of History
• National Monument of America-Homestead Land Entry Case Files 
• Nebraska State Research Guide 
• Online Historical Photo Research

New England

• 17th Century New England Research
  

North Dakota

• North Dakota State University Archives
• North Dakota State University Archives Genealogy/Biography 
• State Historical Society of North Dakota

Ohio

• Adams County GenWeb
• Clinton County Historical/Genealogical Society
• Columbus Metropolitan Library-Genealogy Collection 
• Highland County Genealogical Society
• Ohio Memory
• Ohio Obituary Index
• Ohio State Genealogical Society
• Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
• Research Guide - Ohio
• Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
• State Library of Ohio
• Warren County Genealogical Society
• Western Reserve Historical Society 

Scotland

• Scottish Genealogy Tips and Tidbits
• They Came from Scotland
• Understanding the Scottish Naming Pattern

Tennessee

• Tennessee State Library and Archives

Virginia

• Library of Virginia

Wisconsin

• Small City Directories and Indexes
• Online Historical Photo Research
• Wisconsin German

MAPS

• 5 Types of Maps Every Genealogist Should Know
• DIY Historical Map Overlays in Google Earth 
• Atlas of Historical County Boundaries - also The Legal Genealogist
• Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States
• Geogen - German Surname Mapping
• Historical Atlases and Maps of U.S. and States
• Maps on Ancestry.com
• The National Map - USGS Topographical Map
• NYPL Digital Collection
• NYPL Digital Collection - how to use
• Parcel Maps, an introduction
• Sanborn Map Collection at Library of Congress
• Transportation Maps
• Western Railroad Map
• United States Digital Map Library

MEMBERSHIP ACCESS

• World Vital Records (remote) and Webinar Library via SCGS
• Webinar Library via ISGS
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars

MILITARY

• 5 More Military Records You May Not Know About
• 6 Military Records You May Not Know About
• American Revolution: Founders Online - search for Cresap
• Civil War Medical Cards--Union
• How to Decode a WWII US Army Serial Number
• Military Records at Ancestry.com 
• War Labor Policies Board, 1918-1919

NEWSPAPERS

• 7 Ways to Get Latest abt Genea & Newspapers
• 10 Best Free Online Historical Newspapers
• 10 Clever Ways to Find More Ancestor Articles While Searching Old Newspapers
• 100 New Free Online Historical Newspapers
• The Ancestor Hunt 
• Colorado Historic Newspapers
• Enhanced Google News Archives 
• Google Newspaper Archives
• Historical Newspapers Online 
• Historical U.S. Newspapers Online 
• ICON Newspaper Digitization Projects
• National Digital Newspaper Program
• National Digital Newspaper Program - EOGN 
• NewspaperCat 
• Newspapers.com
• Wikipedia List of Online Newspaper Archives

ORGANIZATIONS

• "Grand Lodge" +Freemasonry [seach Internet Archives]
• "Grand Lodge" +Masons [search Internet Archives]
• Masonic Library and Museum Association
• Mason Post

ORGANIZING

• Article from FamilySearch Wiki

PHOTOGRAPHS

• Articles about Photos by the Ancestor Hunter 
• 10 Ways to Compare Ancestor Photos with Software
• How to Extract Images from PDF Files and Save for Other Uses
• How to Use Metadata
• Putting Names to Faces 
• Top 10 Sources for Free Images
• Use TinyPNG to Reduce Blog Image Size

POST OFFICE RECORDS

• Post Office Department Records, More Descriptions Added
• Records of the Post Office Department RG 28, 1773-1971
• Recording the Post by The Legal Genealogist

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

• 7 Research Tips for Tracking Elusive Ancestors
• 8 Quick Genealogy Website Search Strategies
• Brickwall articles
• Calculating Birthdate Using Death Date
• Turning an Outline into a Mind Map
• Record Finder Table, U.S. 
• Research Popourri
• Reverse Genealogy - Expanding Family Lines

RESEARCH - LOCAL AND DISTANCE

• Before Your Trip--Doing Your Homework
• Guide to Visiting Archives
• How to Best Research in Libraries
• Records to Request before You Go
• Ten Tips for Researching at a Library or Archive
• Tips for Visiting NARA DC, a personal view

SEARCH ENGINES

• 10 Unexpected Places to Find Family History Online
• 100 Search Engines For Academic Research
• Best Tools for Finding Information When Google Isn't Enough
• DuckDuckGo - Search Tricks That Don't Work on Google

SCANNING

• Book Photography Stand 
• How to Scan an Elephant 

SCHOOL RESEARCH

• 10 Ways to Find School Records for Genealogy
• 11 Places to Find Your Ancestors in School Records
• School Census Records for Genealogy
• School Records for the Unschooled

SOCIAL HISTORY

• Searching the Historic American Buildings Survey

TAX RECORDS

• Find Ancestors in Tax Records

TRAVEL

• 9 Planning Tips for Visiting the Family History Library  
• Tips - Research Trip to the Family History Library
• Dear Myrtle YouTube Tips Research at the Family History Library
• Tips for Visiting NARA DC, a personal view
• Evernote and the Family History Traveler
• Travel and Research Resources, Cyndi's List

TIMELINES

• Our Timelines

WIKIs

• Ancestry.com
• FamilySearch.org

WRITING

• Adding Historical Context 
• Scrivener Videos by The Armchair Genealogist
• Scrivener: Organize a Writing Project
• Scrivener Guide by Make Use Of
• Scrivener/Evernote Collaboration 
• Writing With Style
• 
  

Z OTHER STUFF

• Convert Gift Cards to Amazon Credit - YouTube
• Tiny Url - convert long url to short url
• Wordle -- create word clouds