The holidays are a great time to gather family records and interview family members about their lives, as we discussed in an earlier blog post.
You can use that information to improve your search results in the library’s genealogy tools. These online resources can help you go back through the generations so that the next time you get together with relatives, you can unwrap the gift of your shared history.
Learn more about two of our genealogy databases, Fold3 Library Edition and Ancestry Library Edition, below.
Explore Fold3 Library Edition
Search Military Records
Learn more about the veterans in your family with Fold3 Library Edition. Fold3 Library Edition provides access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
Try searching for grandparents, great-grandparents, or older relatives. All you need to search is their name, but narrowing your search with their military branch, unit, or the conflict in which they served will improve your results.
Create a Memorial
Once you know something about your veteran ancestors, you can create online memorials for them in Fold3. Add details about their service, and upload photos and other family documents to make your memorial complete.
Search Native American Records
Fold3 also has records that can help you find Indigenous family members. Click the link to the Native American collection on the home page to search publications such as the Dawes Enrollment Cards, Eastern Cherokee Applications, the Guion Miller Roll, and others.
Get Started with Fold3
To search Fold3 Library Edition from home, log in with your library card number and PIN.
Watch the Fold3 Library Edition tutorial on Niche Academy.
Explore Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition is a large genealogy database that includes:
- Census lists
- Birth, marriage, and death information
- Military records
- And more.
Family Trees
You may find family trees in your search results. These trees are created by other users like yourself, so they aren’t always accurate.
If you’re lucky, the user attached their sources to the tree so you can verify the information. If there aren’t sources attached, try searching for the people listed in the tree. You may be able to link them to your ancestors with the census or other documents.
Search Tips
All you need to search your ancestors is their name and a place they may have lived. But adding information like birth or death dates will help you narrow your results, especially if they have a common last name.
If you’re searching for a woman who changed her name when she married, you’ll need to search for both her married and maiden names. If you know your relative had a nickname or went by their middle name, try searching for those in addition to their legal name.
And don’t be put off if a name isn’t spelled the way your family spells it. Census takers sometimes spelled names incorrectly, or there could be transcription errors in the document.
If the location, dates, or names of other family members match the information you have, it’s likely still a match.
Get Started with Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition is only available to patrons inside the library building.
Watch the Ancestry Library Edition tutorial on Niche Academy.