Finishing Up: The US Census Course

By Shannon Bennett, Student What a wonderful course!  Really, once again I am surprised by exactly how much I didn’t know about a simple, basic topic. The U.S. Federal Census is a staple for researchers in the states, but it is also complicated and at times detailed. Unless the family history researcher takes the time to dig deeper it will never give up all of its secrets to them. I would almost say it could be a trial in patience and perseverance. Some people might not understand why this course could be of use to anyone who is already an intermediate or more advanced genealogist. Simply put, I would say anyone with that outlook is wrong.  (Well, unless they are a true expert in the U.S. Census.) So, unless you have written a book on the subject, or this is your niche, I bet you can take away quite a bit from the course. I thought I knew quite a lot about this basic subject but I was very appreciative of how in-depth the course is. There were obvious holes in my knowledge, and I enjoyed learning about aspects of the census that I didn’t know as much about. I really liked that there were a large number of charts and tips to aid the student in their classwork. Which, I will admit, I have already tabbed so that I can use them again for future reference. Speaking of classwork, I was excited to have a few case studies to…

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Instructor is Honored

Melanie Holtz, CG, an Institute instructor, has been awarded  a Certificate of Appreciation from the Association of Professional Genealogists at the recent FGS conference. Melanie is an instructor with The National Institute for Genealogical Studies and has most recently authored a course for our Professional Development Certificate. Congratulations Melanie! Below is the  official press release. APG Honors Six Members for Achievements and Service to the Field of Genealogy

Introduction to German Research for North Americans

By Michele Simmons Lewis, Student So why would a native German take the German Records courses offered at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies? Most of the research I have done in the past 23 years has been in American records not German. I mistakenly thought that German family history research was pretty much impossible for those living in the United States. Although I was born in Germany, I came to the US when I was only six years old so I don’t have a good working knowledge of German geography or history. I do not know the laws that govern civil vital records, the traditions that govern the church records nor do I have knowledge about what records are actually available. These are the things I need to know, and the things I am counting on The National Institute for Genealogical Studies to teach me. Introduction to German Research for North Americans is my first course. In the first module, we learn the four essential things you need to know about an immigrant before you can do more in-depth research. I had the funniest problem with this week’s assignment! I needed to make a table of my German immigrant ancestors to include these four essential pieces of information. As far as I know I don’t have any German immigrant ancestors because my mother and I are the first immigrants. My family, both past and present, are in Germany so I contacted a genealogist friend of mine and borrowed a…

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Maps and the US Census

By Shannon Bennett, Student I love maps. Really, maps are a fantastic research tool, and even more important when you are using census records. Think about it, why do you think that would be the case?  I can think of several reasons; hopefully mine and yours match. Boundaries in the U.S. shifted, changed, and morphed over the years into what we know today. During western expansion, borders could be re-written almost overnight. Think about how many times over the course of the 10 years between enumerations this may have happened. In fact, your family may never have  actually picked up and moved but that doesn’t mean that they are listed as living in thave actually when the next census came along. Frustrating isn’t it? That’s why I was excited to see a section about maps included in the US Census Records  course . You should have access to the maps for the all of the places you are researching. It can really help you put the information you learn into perspective. Particularly, like I already said, if you know your family never moved but the census states differently. Locating those shifting boundaries is like turning on a light bulb on in a dark room sometimes. Maps can also help you determine how the territorial and state boundaries shifted over various years.  Even better, sometimes territories had their own censuses. This makes knowing when states formed from them even more critical. These territorial census records are interesting but they don’t always contain…

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Blogging about German Courses: Meet Michele Simmons Lewis

We are happy to announce that Michele Simmons Lewis is joining The National Institute as a blogger. She’ll be blogging her thoughts as she proceeds through the German Records Certificate program. Before you read her posts, we thought we’d sit down and ask her a few questions. The National Institute: How long have you been doing genealogy? What got you started? Michele: I have been doing research for 23 years. My dad accidentally let a family skeleton slip and I was determined to either prove or disprove what he said. I ended up disproving it and I haven’t stopped researching since. What amazes me is how much things have changed in those 23 years. When I first started everything was done on paper and the only way you found information was by doing onsite research. The National Institute: Do you have a favorite research project ? Michele: One of the biggest projects I am working on is determining the parents of James Simmons of South Carolina. He migrated with his family to the Mississippi Territory in about 1798. Right now I am plotting out all of the original land owners in Perry County, Mississippi. I am tackling it one township at a time using the records at the Bureau of Land Management. James had three parcels of land and I want to analyze all of his neighbors to see if I can find any sort of familial links. Perry County is a burned county as was its parent county, Greene County. It goes downhill from…

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