We all love maps!
Maps of all kinds are used in genealogical research and I want to bring to your attention some on-line services that are now available that will help you locate various locations in the US. Some of these are international in scope but this discussion will be on the domestic versions.
I have written before about the (USGS/GNIS) and still use it often because it is just about the easiest way to locate a specific locality or item by name. The acronym is handy because the official governmental title of this agency is The United States Board on Geographic Names / United States Geological Survey / Geographic Names Information System. Their website homepage is: http://geonames.usgs.gov/. If you forget to bookmark this link you can always go to our website at www.unyg.com and look for it under our “Favorite Links.”
Now to do a search you want to go to: http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=130:1:16175207408697228220::NO
You can enter a single word and state and a list of available candidates will pop up to choose from. You then may select items like; a “populated place, civil, locale, county, city, town, summit, island, stream, lake, river, cemetery, school, dam,” and probably dozens of other categories. This will be a way for you to find the cemeteries that were closest to your ancestors, just as a for instance.
Now that you have the name and location of a specific place name, and have an idea where and which county it is located in, you will need to go to a modern mapping website or piece of software to look at it.
I use some of the CD-ROM based mapping programs like Microsoft Streets and Trips, and DeLorme’s mapping programs. I also have written before on my website and blog about terraserver, (do a search of my blogs,) and I still use that quite a bit, but I want to call your attention to a really good on-line system called USAPhotoMaps. You will have to go to: http://jdmcox.com to get instructions on how to use it and to download the program on to your computer to be able to use these maps and aerial/satellite photos. I suggest you read and understand as much information as you can without overloading on jdmcox’s website, because there are tons of other features and utilities described.
USAPhotoMaps uses the maps and information from terraserver and tiger/streets to download a specific map location right onto your own computer to be able to take with you on disk or in your laptop, or handheld computer, while doing research in a library or on location. You will not need an Internet connection once you have the maps and photos on your own machine. Incidentally, this is all free of course. Jdmcox does ask for a donation if you feel that it is truly worthwhile. It is, believe me.
Now, that being said, it is a little hard to get used to and figure out how to use it to it’s full advantage. First you have to download the program and install it, just once. Then you have to select a location. What you will see is a screen full of squares with a little dot in the center. Huhh? What do I do now?
It will ask you for a title of this search/map/photo. I usually use the title that I just searched on. The reason for this is that after you have performed the following procedures you will have created a nice set of maps to keep on your machine by title.
Well now you have to learn some very simple keyboard routines. Use the letter “F” and the squares will ‘fill’ with an image. Zoom out and you will see the image shrink and another set of squares will surround it. Use “F” again and all of the squares will fill with more images. Eventually you will have an image that makes sense to you in the size of area that will be convenient to work with. Once you have filled the image areas they will remain and you can zoom in or out without having to fill them again.
As I recall the first set of images that are created will be the aerial view of the locality. Once you have identified that it is what you want then you can use the letter “T” and it will toggle to a ‘topographical’ map screen. Lo and behold it is again just a set of squares with a dot in it. Well you do the exact same thing that you did before. Use the letter “F’ and the map squares will all fill in. Once you have created both sets and saved them you can always toggle back and forth between the photo and the map. Use the letter “P” to toggle to ‘photo.’
On some of the counties that I do a lot of research in, I fill the images in for the whole county at all of the zoom levels, so that any time in the future that I want to recall that set of maps I can use them at any zoom level while I toggle back and forth to look at specific details.
This description just covers the rudimentary usage of this excellent program. You’re on your own to try some of the enhancements and other utilities. The whole process is quite time consuming but well worth the effort. My hat is off to jdmcox for dreaming this program up!
Dick Hillenbrand
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Newspaperarchive.com
If any of you have been following my ramblings for any length of time now, you might have noticed that I have an affinity for old newspapers. Let's face it, in New York State these fragile old pieces of paper might be the only place that one can obtain a snippet of data on an ancestor that will state their name and put them at a particular place on a given date. This state was not blessed with the wonderful old Town Vital Records program that the New England states and colonies had. Our vital record program did not start, (with a minor few exceptions,) until the 1880's.
You might find births, deaths or marriages listed, or you might find news articles, tax lists, court records, land records, probate announcements, black sheep or angels. So, that being said, even with all the warts, newspapers contain some of the most exciting finds that a researcher can make. "Holy Cow. that's MY ancestor !"
In the early days of my research I used to spend hours and hours, days and days, hunched over with my head in an old metal READEX microfilm reader, with the clank, clank, rattle rattle, and arm and wrist getting as sore as a dart thrower's. However every now and then EUREKA! a fabulous find! In those days you had to know a date or at least an approximate date range in which to pursue your search. Well not so in today's marvelous computer and Internet age.
These old newspapers have been scanned into a digital image format and then software called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) looked at each page and was able to convert the image pixels into text format that now could be read, and more importantly, INDEXED! All words, phrases, topics, locations, subjects, names, etc., etc. are able to be used in your search efforts. That is not to say that the machines don't burp from time to time, or that the OCR might have missed just what you might need, but it is a whole lot better than anything we ever had before and the system as it is seems to find more items than you would ever have a lifetime long enough to locate on your own, the old fashioned way.
You no doubt will chuckle if you have ever searched newspapers manually when you think about the number of times you were side tracked and thrown totally off your subject search by reading the news items of the day. It was a great step back in time, but hard to keep on course.
I have written about several different newspaper resources on my website and blogs, (you can do a search if interested,) but today I want to call your attention to the ever expanding, fabulous and excellent site at www.newspaperarchive.com. This is a fee based site. However, what ever the fee might be if you are a serious researcher you MUST have a subscription. If you consider the alternatives, such as going to a library that might have some few of the films you might need and figure the time and money for travel, parking, meals, photocopies, and myriad other expenses, then the cost of a subscription is indeed a bargain.
You can obtain a free seven day pass to try the service before you buy, after that it will cost you $95.40 per year which amounts to $7.95 a month, or around here about the cost of one day's parking at a library.
Some of the quick and easy things you can do from their website are; obtain a birthday newspaper for yourself or a gift, view special collections, order a professional print of a specific date, (you may print to your own printer as well from the on-line image of course,) see a list of all current newspapers available, see what's new, for instance the following is from today's announcement:
"The Largest Newspaper Archive On-Line. Search 55.5 Million Pages • 647 Cities • 238 Years • 2,419 Titles." (Wow!)
"NewspaperARCHIVE.com is now adding content at a rate of more than 80,000 pages per day - that's roughly one page every second! Below is a list of the latest publications added to the archive and the titles you can expect to find available soon.
Begin your Full Access 7-Day Free Trial and receive content updates in your inbox.
Available 1/14/2007
Title: New York Times, The
Country: United States Of America
State: New York
City: New York
Page Count: 18828
Date(s): 1909
Title: Newport Daily News, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Rhode Island
City: Newport
Page Count: 6473
Date(s): 1846 - 1862
Title: Oakland Tribune
Country: United States Of America
State: California
City: Oakland
Page Count: 14744
Date(s): 1916 - 1928
Title: Northwest Arkansas Times
Country: United States Of America
State: Arkansas
City: Fayetteville
Page Count: 37719
Date(s): 1937 - 1974
Available 1/13/2007
Title: La Crosse Tribune And Leader-Press, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: La Crosse
Page Count: 49798
Date(s): 1926 - 1939
Title: La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: La Crosse
Page Count: 3618
Date(s): 1938
Title: La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: La Crosse
Page Count: 376
Date(s): 1936
Available 1/12/2007
Title: Independent Record, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Helena
Page Count: 67075
Date(s): 1958 - 1971
Title: Havre Daily News, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Havre
Page Count: 19555
Date(s): 1971 - 1977
Title: Janesville Daily Gazette
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: Janesville
Page Count: 7374
Date(s): 1860 - 1861
Title: Idaho State Journal
Country: United States Of America
State: Idaho
City: Pocatello
Page Count: 5444
Date(s): 1955
Title: Idaho Journal
Country: United States Of America
State: Idaho
City: Pocatello
Page Count: 3158
Date(s): 1956
Available 1/11/2007
Title: Dubuque Daily Herald
Country: United States Of America
State: Iowa
City: Dubuque
Page Count: 6814
Date(s): 1897 - 1898
Title: Dubuque Herald
Country: United States Of America
State: Iowa
City: Dubuque
Page Count: 1411
Date(s): 1895 - 1899
Title: Estherville Enterprise, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Iowa
City: Estherville
Page Count: 237
Date(s): 1927 - 1934
Title: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Country: United States Of America
State: Alaska
City: Fairbanks
Page Count: 9898
Date(s): 1953 - 1958
Title: Denton Record-Chronicle
Country: United States Of America
State: Texas
City: Denton
Page Count: 3325
Date(s): 1970
Title: Express and News
Country: United States Of America
State: Texas
City: San Antonio
Page Count: 374
Date(s): 1956
Available 1/10/2007
Title: Albuquerque Tribune, The
Country: United States Of America
State: New Mexico
City: Albuquerque
Page Count: 12160
Date(s): 1960 - 1964
Title: Anderson Herald, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Indiana
City: Anderson
Page Count: 28562
Date(s): 1952 - 1955
Title: Billings Gazette
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Billings
Page Count: 294
Date(s): 1971
Title: Billings Daily Gazette, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Billings
Page Count: 2908
Date(s): 1908 - 1912
Try a Full Access Membership Free for 7 Days
Newspaper Image - Oakland Tribune - Friday, April 5, 1968
Oakland Tribune
Friday, April 5, 1968
"President Johnson today proclaimed Sunday a national day of mourning for Dr. Martin Luther King..."
Try a Full Access Membership Free for 7 Days
Try a Full Access Membership Free for 7 Days
1 Page Added Every Second, That’s Over 80,000 Pages Per Day!"
The following is a list of New York State newspapers that they currently have:
List of New York Locations with Newspapers Available On-line
at www.newspaperarchive.com - by Dick Hillenbrand -
Upstate New York Genealogy - www.unyg.com.
(city or other location) (county)
Auburn Cayuga
Brooklyn Kings
Canandaigua Ontario
Dundee Yates
Dunkirk Chautauqua
Hornell Steuben
Hornellsville Steuben
Kingston Ulster
Lexington Greene
Lodi Seneca
Middletown Orange
New York City New York
Norwich Chenango
Olean Cattaraugus
Oneonta Otsego
Oswego Oswego
Penn Yan Yates
Port Jervis Orange
Salamanca Cattaraugus
Syracuse Onondaga
If you do decide to subscribe, please tell them that some crazy guy at www.unyg.com sent you. I won't get anything for it, but it will boost my ego. \grin/
You might find births, deaths or marriages listed, or you might find news articles, tax lists, court records, land records, probate announcements, black sheep or angels. So, that being said, even with all the warts, newspapers contain some of the most exciting finds that a researcher can make. "Holy Cow. that's MY ancestor !"
In the early days of my research I used to spend hours and hours, days and days, hunched over with my head in an old metal READEX microfilm reader, with the clank, clank, rattle rattle, and arm and wrist getting as sore as a dart thrower's. However every now and then EUREKA! a fabulous find! In those days you had to know a date or at least an approximate date range in which to pursue your search. Well not so in today's marvelous computer and Internet age.
These old newspapers have been scanned into a digital image format and then software called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) looked at each page and was able to convert the image pixels into text format that now could be read, and more importantly, INDEXED! All words, phrases, topics, locations, subjects, names, etc., etc. are able to be used in your search efforts. That is not to say that the machines don't burp from time to time, or that the OCR might have missed just what you might need, but it is a whole lot better than anything we ever had before and the system as it is seems to find more items than you would ever have a lifetime long enough to locate on your own, the old fashioned way.
You no doubt will chuckle if you have ever searched newspapers manually when you think about the number of times you were side tracked and thrown totally off your subject search by reading the news items of the day. It was a great step back in time, but hard to keep on course.
I have written about several different newspaper resources on my website and blogs, (you can do a search if interested,) but today I want to call your attention to the ever expanding, fabulous and excellent site at www.newspaperarchive.com. This is a fee based site. However, what ever the fee might be if you are a serious researcher you MUST have a subscription. If you consider the alternatives, such as going to a library that might have some few of the films you might need and figure the time and money for travel, parking, meals, photocopies, and myriad other expenses, then the cost of a subscription is indeed a bargain.
You can obtain a free seven day pass to try the service before you buy, after that it will cost you $95.40 per year which amounts to $7.95 a month, or around here about the cost of one day's parking at a library.
Some of the quick and easy things you can do from their website are; obtain a birthday newspaper for yourself or a gift, view special collections, order a professional print of a specific date, (you may print to your own printer as well from the on-line image of course,) see a list of all current newspapers available, see what's new, for instance the following is from today's announcement:
"The Largest Newspaper Archive On-Line. Search 55.5 Million Pages • 647 Cities • 238 Years • 2,419 Titles." (Wow!)
"NewspaperARCHIVE.com is now adding content at a rate of more than 80,000 pages per day - that's roughly one page every second! Below is a list of the latest publications added to the archive and the titles you can expect to find available soon.
Begin your Full Access 7-Day Free Trial and receive content updates in your inbox.
Available 1/14/2007
Title: New York Times, The
Country: United States Of America
State: New York
City: New York
Page Count: 18828
Date(s): 1909
Title: Newport Daily News, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Rhode Island
City: Newport
Page Count: 6473
Date(s): 1846 - 1862
Title: Oakland Tribune
Country: United States Of America
State: California
City: Oakland
Page Count: 14744
Date(s): 1916 - 1928
Title: Northwest Arkansas Times
Country: United States Of America
State: Arkansas
City: Fayetteville
Page Count: 37719
Date(s): 1937 - 1974
Available 1/13/2007
Title: La Crosse Tribune And Leader-Press, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: La Crosse
Page Count: 49798
Date(s): 1926 - 1939
Title: La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: La Crosse
Page Count: 3618
Date(s): 1938
Title: La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: La Crosse
Page Count: 376
Date(s): 1936
Available 1/12/2007
Title: Independent Record, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Helena
Page Count: 67075
Date(s): 1958 - 1971
Title: Havre Daily News, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Havre
Page Count: 19555
Date(s): 1971 - 1977
Title: Janesville Daily Gazette
Country: United States Of America
State: Wisconsin
City: Janesville
Page Count: 7374
Date(s): 1860 - 1861
Title: Idaho State Journal
Country: United States Of America
State: Idaho
City: Pocatello
Page Count: 5444
Date(s): 1955
Title: Idaho Journal
Country: United States Of America
State: Idaho
City: Pocatello
Page Count: 3158
Date(s): 1956
Available 1/11/2007
Title: Dubuque Daily Herald
Country: United States Of America
State: Iowa
City: Dubuque
Page Count: 6814
Date(s): 1897 - 1898
Title: Dubuque Herald
Country: United States Of America
State: Iowa
City: Dubuque
Page Count: 1411
Date(s): 1895 - 1899
Title: Estherville Enterprise, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Iowa
City: Estherville
Page Count: 237
Date(s): 1927 - 1934
Title: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Country: United States Of America
State: Alaska
City: Fairbanks
Page Count: 9898
Date(s): 1953 - 1958
Title: Denton Record-Chronicle
Country: United States Of America
State: Texas
City: Denton
Page Count: 3325
Date(s): 1970
Title: Express and News
Country: United States Of America
State: Texas
City: San Antonio
Page Count: 374
Date(s): 1956
Available 1/10/2007
Title: Albuquerque Tribune, The
Country: United States Of America
State: New Mexico
City: Albuquerque
Page Count: 12160
Date(s): 1960 - 1964
Title: Anderson Herald, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Indiana
City: Anderson
Page Count: 28562
Date(s): 1952 - 1955
Title: Billings Gazette
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Billings
Page Count: 294
Date(s): 1971
Title: Billings Daily Gazette, The
Country: United States Of America
State: Montana
City: Billings
Page Count: 2908
Date(s): 1908 - 1912
Try a Full Access Membership Free for 7 Days
Newspaper Image - Oakland Tribune - Friday, April 5, 1968
Oakland Tribune
Friday, April 5, 1968
"President Johnson today proclaimed Sunday a national day of mourning for Dr. Martin Luther King..."
Try a Full Access Membership Free for 7 Days
Try a Full Access Membership Free for 7 Days
1 Page Added Every Second, That’s Over 80,000 Pages Per Day!"
The following is a list of New York State newspapers that they currently have:
List of New York Locations with Newspapers Available On-line
at www.newspaperarchive.com - by Dick Hillenbrand -
Upstate New York Genealogy - www.unyg.com.
(city or other location) (county)
Auburn Cayuga
Brooklyn Kings
Canandaigua Ontario
Dundee Yates
Dunkirk Chautauqua
Hornell Steuben
Hornellsville Steuben
Kingston Ulster
Lexington Greene
Lodi Seneca
Middletown Orange
New York City New York
Norwich Chenango
Olean Cattaraugus
Oneonta Otsego
Oswego Oswego
Penn Yan Yates
Port Jervis Orange
Salamanca Cattaraugus
Syracuse Onondaga
If you do decide to subscribe, please tell them that some crazy guy at www.unyg.com sent you. I won't get anything for it, but it will boost my ego. \grin/
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