How to Find New Records Easily in FamilySearch

I love when we can make family history research easier for everyone!  FamilySearch has done a great job of this along with the help of indexers.  Welcome to day 14 of the Connections Experiment. Today's activity is from the "My tree is done" plan.

Here's the steps for today:

  1. Sign in to FamilySearch and go to your tree in fan chart view.
  2. Choose the research helps fan chart view.
  3. Choose an ancestor that is blue.
  4. See if any of the record hints are about them!
You can see on this view of the fan chart, the colors correspond to different things.  The red is a data problem, or something that doesn't really make sense.  The purple is a research suggestion, saying there may be something missing (vital event, child, etc).  The blue is what we are looking for: these are people that have a record that FamilySearch is pretty sure should actually be attached to that person.
When I clicked on one of my ancestors whose tile was blue, you can see what record hints there are.  For Frederick there was only one.  Now we need to see if it actually is about him.  Click on the hint, the review and attach.

This is what it looks like when you are going to attach a source.  Click on details on the right to see if the data matches up.  This is a source that I am sure is correct.  It has his wife and first child listed on this census and it is an area that is close to where both of them lived during their lives.  I can then compare and attach.  It turns green, and then it is attached and you have helped to build your ancestor's story!

You can also use this list on your homepage to find other record hints.  There is also a similar task list on the app.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Correctly Attach a Marriage Record in FamilySearch

Image
 One of the biggest things I have noticed on FamilySearch that holds back connecting the family tree is not connecting all the people listed on a marriage record.  These records often are a great way to connect two families and sometimes even find elusive maiden names.  Today I will give you a walkthrough of how to connect the marriage records correctly. 1. Connect all the people on the page FamilySearch automatically brings up.  This is usually one spouse and the parents of the first spouse.  Sometimes at this stage, you need to add in the other spouse. In the image below, I have connected the record to the bride, her parents, and added in the husband.  Then click the change button (highlighted in yellow) and select the other spouse, in this case, John. 2. Once you change the focus person, they will be in the selected person spot. This will allow the parents of the second spouse to be linked or added. 3. If there are others that are part of the family that...
Read more

How to Find Where Your Ancestor Lived

Image
As I get further along in my research and in learning how to research properly, I find that I have a deeper desire to find out more about my ancestors' lives.  Sometimes they live very short lives and don't leave a lot of records.  Other times you have a strong connection to a relative and want to find out more about where and how they lived and possibly visit that place. My paternal side of the family has lived in Western New York since the early to mid-1800s, most of them farmers that moved west from Connecticut or Massachusetts.  One such family I was researching, the Kilbys, did just that about 1856.  I have figured this date from one of the sons being married in early 1856 but having a child in New York in 1857.  The entire family shows up together in the 1860 census in Mansfield, New York. I started to look for land records or maps for this town and found a great land map from 1856 right before they would have arrived.  Here is a snapshot of it: ¹ Thi...
Read more

Ancestor Quiz

Image
Day 13!  Let's do a fun activity from FamilySearch.   This is called Ancestor Quiz and is you can get to it from the activities tab on Family Search.  Click here to see it with your family!   Here is what it looks like for my family. See if you can recognize your ancestors!   This is a great one for kids.
Read more