Family History Tidbits By Wally Gray

Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

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FAMILY HISTORY TIDBITS
By Wally Gray

Using the Online Research Guidance Tool in the FamilySearch Website

One of the very helpful tools in the FamilySearch website is the Research Guidance feature which concentrates on places such as countries, states and provinces.

To use this tool, go to www.familysearch.org and under the “Search for Ancestors” section click on “Get step-by-step research guidance on searching for your ancestors.”

You will see a list of places. At this point you can click on one of those places and proceed at your own pace.

If you wish to you can follow me as I search for information on an ancestor from Nova Scotia, Canada.

First I click on “Canada.” Then I click on “Nova Scotia.” My ancestor was born in 1758, so under “Birth” I click on “1605-1759.” I am given several choices here such as how to research, township records, some census records, vital statistics, genealogy records, history, biography, magazines, land records, etc.

I select “Church baptisms, marriages, burials.” In the panel to the left I look under “What to do next,” and click on the “Family History Library Catalog.” This takes me directly, in the catalog, to Lunenburg County's Record of Baptisms (#6.). I am given a film number that I can order to consult the primary source.

You get the idea. If I selected wills (my ancestor died in 1833) I click on “Death, burials and probates of Nova Scotians for 1830-1850.” At the top of that entry I can click on “Family History Library Catalog” and I will be given call numbers of some books. There are no films on these records.

If you work this exercise using a place of your choice you will be given a great deal of research help, both general and specific. Don't miss the “Research Assistant's” suggestions in the left-hand panel!