Genealogy and Local History Blog

Tagged: grapevinelibrary

Genealogy

Start Your Own Genealogical FAN Club!

The FAN club is a term coined by renowned genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills. “FAN” stands for “Friends, Associates, Neighbors”, and refers to researching the cluster of people who interacted with your ancestors. This principle is also called cluster or collateral genealogy. Researching people within this cluster can provide insights into your ancestors’ lives, as well as help answer thorny questions your direct research hasn’t been able to resolve (“I can’t find this guy ANYWHERE! Where the heck was he?” or “Which of the six John Smiths in this county is mine?” or “Who was Nathan Pyeatt’s (1787-1812) mother?”). The FAN club is a great tool for proving relationships, establishing identities, and busting through brick walls. Many printed and on-line resources contain case studies demonstrating how you can use records of friends, associates, and neighbors to obtain the answers you’re looking for. Some of the best case studies using the FAN...

Genealogy

Colonial and State Census Records

Censuses are not conducted in a vacuum. They occur amidst internal and external crisis, shifts in cultural interests, and events that become ‘defining moments’. They also reflect growth of the population as well as changing values and interests of Americans. Therefore, they can add valuable information that can enhance your family’s history and should be sought out. Content ranges from statistical tables only, to significant genealogical information, and will vary widely in content depending on the time and place they were taken. Thirty-seven states took censuses separately and apart from federal censuses. The number taken ranges from one census year, such as California in 1852, to 24 years, such as Mississippi between 1792 and 1866. Budget constraints during the Great Depression prevented further state enumerations, although Florida’s last state census was taken in 1945. Non-federal censuses generally have content similar to that of the federal records of the same time period...