Readers of this Upstate New York Genealogy Blog will remember that we have written several times about one of our favorite people, Mr. Tom Tryniski, who publishes the fabulous collection of newspapers on-line for free at www.fultonhistory.com.
Now the Fulton History website has just received mass media recognition in today's Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper. The article will give you some idea of the enormity of this growing collection that has always been available on the Internet for free!
Tom now covers newspapers from Albany to Buffalo and he is branching out North and South. One of the latest additions is the collection of 72 rolls of newspapers on microfilm from Amenia in Dutchess county, New York.
Congratulations Tom on some well deserved attention!
Read the Post-Standard article here: http://tinyurl.com/3zho7r
Dick Hillenbrand
Read our two previous Blogs about fultonhistory at:
http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2006/03/oswego-county-newspapers-and-more-on.html and here:
http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2006/11/wwwfultonhistorycom-damaged-upstate-new.html
Read some of our previous most popular Blogs on other subjects below:
New York State Vital Records -
Revolutionary War Patriot or Loyalist -
Palatine DNA Project -
Visit our main website at www.unyg.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
92 comments:
Yes - it is about time that Tom and the Fulton History Newspaper Database received some attention.
This site has been a lifesaver for me during my research.
Thomas, you've sure got that right!
What a fabulous resource.
unyg
He is really an incredible person, isn't he? So many of us started out like him, volunteering time - he is just over the top and amazing!!
Jo Dee
I agree. This web site is the best. I have found so much on here its unreal.
Thanks to Tom for all the hard work he puts into this.
Jim
And well deserving. I found 1030 GARBINSKI/Y hits, including deaths,
marriages, births, lawsuits, etc.
Wonderful site.
Shirley
Hi Shirley,
Yeah, it's interesting to find the dirt on family and I've done it
through this site. :)))))
Jim
This looks like a post card site, very hard to find where the newspaper link is located. Is this a for for pay post card site?
Pat
Pat,
The whole site is free! To search the newspaper
collection, type in your "search words" in the orange
box at the top left hand part of the webpage. Be sure
to put the words in quotation marks. I have printed
off pages of information that I wouldn't have found
otherwise.
Judy
Pat,
It is a totally free newspaper site where you can presently search more than six million New York State newspapers, and growing every day. He started out several years ago with post cards, and you can still see them as well.
As soon as you click on "enter" it takes you right to the free newspaper search box. If you read the article on my Blog and also on the Syracuse Post-Standard website it is explained very well. I have written about him many times on my Blog and if you care to look at my previous posts, just go to http://ny-genes.blogspot.com and use the search box at the top left.
Tom is a REAL good guy and deserves much credit. He does this absolutely all at his own expense.
unyg
I had a lot of success searching my wife's family in Cohoes.
MIKE
Fulton History Newspaper Database is excellent. Easy to search, easy to read the images. I was fortunate to track down obituaries of family members who had moved from the Albany area prior to 1900 that I had lost track of.
Just a note, however, to those going to the site for the first time that the link in the post is missing the letter n. The correct link is www.fultonhistory.com.
Donna,
The link is fixed now, thanks.
unyg
What a wealth of information, many thanks to the person that sent this in, I
have found many articles on my Berrigan family in Poughkeepsie.
Mary Anne
You are most welcome Mary Anne.
Pass the word about Tom's website. He is awesome!
unyg
I'm delighted to see this newspaper write-up. Tom is clearly a man with vision and passion! His time & energy has given all of us not only this NY newspaper database, but what I'd call an addition to a list we could call "heritage treasures online".
I've pointed many people to Tom's site - knowing how much gold is in them thar hills. :)
Thanks for the heads up about the article, Dick. Think I'll repeat your sentiments too and say "thank you, Tom". I appreciate you! :)
Deb
Deb,
Bravo!
unyg
Let me add my personal kudos to the Fulton History site. I stumbled across it quite a long time ago and it was "ok".
They went through a bad patch and re-assembled (if I have my facts correct). When I re-encountered it a few weeks ago -- long time since their crisis -- I found an awesome search tool and amazingly accurate way to zero in on facts. It's far and away the most effective ocr search tool I have found.
If you have relatives from this era and geography, it's worth some time investigating.
Alexander (Swerdfeger) Inglis
In Toronto
Thanks Alexander.
You are right about the ocr tool. When you think about all of the problems that might occur when indexing various type styles and poor quality films, the number of correct hits are truly remarkable!
unyg
I just want to second Dick's comments on the www.fultonhistory.com website.
If anyone hasn't yet tried it - DO SO! And keep trying it as more and more
papers are added. I've found things there I never thought I'd find. And do
keep in mind that it covers the area from Troy to Buffalo, as well as down
into the Finger Lakes and up to parts of the North County. Also down the
Hudson - they've recently added Poughkeepsie papers, for example, in which I
found previously unknown info on a Fulton Co. ancestor! It's a winner.
Joanne
Joanne,
Very nice comments.
Thanks
unyg
Thank you for telling us about this site - it is fabulous! I found numerous
articles on relatives. Made my day. :)
Thanks again!
Merritt
Merritt,
It is my pleasure. That's what we do at Upstate New York Genealogy.
Appreciate the feedback.
unyg
Oh my...thank you. What a wonderful start to my day.
Georgia
You are welcome. I find great things there every time I search.
unyg
I would have to agree 100%!! Someone located a single obit on this site for
me and since then I have found at least 5 others and several other articles
of interest. If only other areas of the country were as fortunate. Great
resource!!.
Glen
Glen,
Oh we wish it could be.
I know that some area newspapers are available here and there. The trick is to be able to find which ones exist.
There are also paid newspaper databases through NewsBank, NewspaperArchives.com, Ancestry, and many others, but this fultonhistory site is unique as far as I can determine in the quantity and coverage of souch a large area.
Thanks for the feedback.
unyg
Great site! Thanks for the tip!
Raymond
Thanks so much for passing along this site. Achieved success last night and look forward to further serching today.
Dianne
Thanks for the feedback.
We appreciate comments from readers more than I can possibly say. Please keep them coming.
unyg
I just looked at it and could not understand the format, too glitzy for me, sorry, Duane
Duane,
I know what you mean and wish that it was not set up with all of the flash animation and very distracting audio. However, it is Mr. Tryniski's website and he can do as he wishes with it.
I find if you get past the first bit of distraction and get to the search box for the newspapers then it becomes much easier and less confusing.
It is such an absolutely valuable tool that I guess I would put up with a lot more. My suggestion is to give it another try some time. It is well worth the cost.
unyg
Thanks for telling us about this.? It is the most fun I have had in my research!? As a night hawk, I have had no trouble getting on the site late at night.
Esther
Esther,
You've found the secret out! \grin/
The site is almost always available during the late night hours. As per the news story, Tom stated that at some times he has had as many as 70,000 hits per day. Amazing.
Thanks for the feedback.
unyg
Thank you for introducing us to this marvelous site. After figuring out how to get in, I went back to another world and relived my memories of my grandmother. I put in her name, Ivy Fish, and up came about 40 articles from the 30s discussing her activities. The Grange, Christian Endeavor, Netherwood Baptish Church, and WCTU, and DAR were just some of her numerous activities. I remember going to meetings of these organizations with her when I was a child in the 50s,and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you for telling us about this site which took me down nostalgia lane and provided a wonderful evening of good memories.
Hello, Dick (or whoever gets this)
I am confused by the word "Free" in "Free Newspaper Database www.fultonhistory.com". found in the NYErie messages.
I tried to follow the clues, but - as is generally the case - landed at what looked like a pay subscription screen. It seems that more and more entrepeneurs are finding ways to charge for information, and considering all the sites we must check for one bit of data, this puts the limited-income researcher at a decided disadvantage.
Can you expain to me what makes the above-mentioned site "free"? How can I access various pools of information without selling the family home?
Thanks.
M.
M. Stacey,
www.fultonhistory.com is absolutely 100% totally FREE!
I don't have any idea where you see anything at all related to a price connected with Mr. Tryniski's website?
Confused.
Did you read the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper article?
It is FREE.
Don't know what more to say.
By the way, everything on my website at www.unyg.com and my Blog at http://ny-genes.blogspot.com is also totally FREE! I do have some advertisements for other companies and products that pay a very small commission to help support my website costs.
I personally have nothing at all against pay sites. I absolutely encourage them and I encourage people to subscribe to the pay sites, because without them we would not have any where near the amount of wondrous data on the Internet.
Thanks for your reply, Dick.
I will check the site more carefully, especially the article. I was so excited and eager to find something that I just jumped in. Surely you know the type?
I would be in favor or pay sites, too, if:
1) I had steady income
2) They would lead me to a variety of data
3) If I could count on them.
I subscribed a couple of times to either gen.com or anc. com and was greatly disappointed. The information I found for some of my hard-to-locate ancestors was verbatim what I had put in my files, even to typos. How it ended up on gen.com is anyone's guess, but it looks like "cookie cutters" at work. Not much to learn there.
Some of the other information was simply wrong.
4) To get to another level, I would have to subscribe to more sites, so I gave up on them. My daughter still uses them, but I couldn't deepen my understanding by reading my own data, so I gave up.
6) I started researching when people were anxious to help each other, and enjoyed researching. I would like it lots better now, if information were passed along more freely. (Apparently, my passing information is what caused my words to get into gen.com?)
Anyway, I will go back and read the article. Perhaps I will find answers to my doubts there.
Thanks,
M.
Let me add my personal kudos to the Fulton History site. I stumbled across it quite a long time ago and it was "ok".
They went through a bad patch and re-assembled (if I have my facts correct). When I re-encountered it a few weeks ago -- long time since their crisis -- I found an awesome search tool and amazingly accurate way to zero in on facts. It's far and away the most effective ocr search tool I have found.
If you have relatives from this era and geography, it's worth some time investigating.
Alexander (Swerdfeger) Inglis
In Toronto
Thanks for your input Alexander.
Glad to see it is of some help to you.
unyg
This looks like a post card site, very hard to find where the newspaper link
is located. Is this a for for pay post card site?
- Show quoted text -
The excellent free newspaper database website that is on-line
--
Pat
Pat,
The whole site is free! To search the newspaper
collection, type in your "search words" in the orange
box at the top left hand part of the webpage. Be sure
to put the words in quotation marks. I have printed
off pages of information that I wouldn't have found
otherwise.
Judy
Pat,
It is a totally free newspaper site where you can presently search more than six million New York State newspapers, and growing every day. He started out several years ago with post cards, and you can still see them as well.
As soon as you click on "enter" it takes you right to the free newspaper search box. If you read the article on my Blog and also on the Syracuse Post-Standard website it is explained very well. I have written about him many times on my Blog and if you care to look at my previous posts, just go to http://ny-genes.blogspot.com and use the search box at the top left.
Tom is a REAL good guy and deserves much credit. He does this absolutely all at his own expense. I mailed him a $100 donation one time and he gave it away to the Fulton City Public Library.
I had a lot of success searching my wife's family in Cohoes.
MIKE
Okay, I found the search box but find the site terribly distracting plus it
has a radio/sound that I can't find the button to turn it off. Too bad, for
all the good stuff it has to offer by way of the newspapers that they aren't
the central theme of the website.
Thanks to all for filling me in.
--
Pat
I went into the site a few days ago, and there was no sound. Today, as Pat
noted, there was sound -very disjointed, and I agree, very distracting and
annoying!!
Ann
And well deserving. I found 1030 GARBINSKI/Y hits, including deaths,
marriages, births, lawsuits, etc.
Wonderful site.
Shirley
After some effort - and a lot of waiting - I finally made contact with the
newspaper database, but responses are painfully slow. Currently I am
downloading a page at 66 bytes/second - on a road runner high speed
connection. Is there a problem, or is the site just super busy since the
announcement was made?
It is VERY busy! You might want to try during some late hours for a few days.
The Free newspaper database website at www.fultonhistory.com is growing
leaps and bounds! There are over six million scanned, digitized and search
able newspaper pages from all over New York State, ranging in years from
about 1820 to modern times.
Are they still adding to it from the early years or are they adding more
recent newspapers?
I found 1030 hits for Thomas Garbinski and family in Auburn. My cup runneth
over.
Shirley
All years are added as he is able. Now that more archives and libraries find out about his website they are climbing on board and sending him their films to scan and add to the site.
Dick Hillenbrand
Put a saucer under the cup, because there is more to come. Read the Post-Standard news article about his site.
Put a saucer under the cup, because there is more to come. Read the Post-Standard news article about his site.
LOL. I may have to use a bowl to hold the cup overflow. That is a great site and I'm looking forward to using it again when I get back to the Garbinski research. You know, from census reports alone, there would have been no indication that Tom Garbinski owned a tavern. It took the newspaper stories about him and Prohibition and raids by the government that was listed in the newspapers to round out his life.
He is almost fully "fleshed" now.
Shirley
Dick: with respect, I found that site to be distracting...and any newspapers I inquired of ? well, they did not go any further back then 1893.
Thanks so much for passing along this site. Achieved success last night and look forward to further serching today.
Dianne
WOW Dick!!! I found 2 articles on my great aunt Nellie Phoenix winning a prize for naming a new drink and most of all--and article on my great grandfatherr Walter Phoenix , that confirms the story that he always wore a goatee due to a terrible accident in Canestota NY the silver factory that made a mess of his chin and looked so bad that he wore a goatee to cover til the day he died!!! He has that goatee in dozens of old photos that I have. I know it must be my ggf because it mentions his being a gifted flutist.
Now--HOW do I print them? I am sure I have done this before but I can't find the tools to do it after I blow it up enough to read it!!! I copied the directions off the site but can't find the necessary tools or a print bar. I have Acrobat 7. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
Barb in CT
To Duane,
Oh, such a shame. I've had thousands of hits since fultonhistory went line. I learned more about my family and ancesters through this newspaper site, then I knew in real life!
Dee
Hi, :) Where Do I click, please use words I would understand! (smile) Thank you, Duane
To duane,
Click "Enter" and that takes you to a search box for the newspapers. After you get into the newspapers, the glitzy stuff goes away.
It took me awhile, but I finally found the newspapers, and what a find it was! I felt like I was reliving my grandmother's life! She was a joiner, so in the paper a lot for various different organizations.
Barbara
This site has been a life saver for me. I use it
almost everyday. The site helped me to find my an
obituary for a relative I have been looking for for
years. I found it in an Albany newspaper even though
the death occurred in Fulton County.
Don't give up on learning how to use the site. If you
put the name you are looking for in quotes it helps.
Try different combinations.
I know what you mean but there is so much info out there, it's worth it.
Periodically, I go back and look some more. Just last week I found ads for
the minstrel show that my grandfather was a headliner for (the show was in
Poughkeepsie although he was from Cooperstown), as well as to a reference to
his entrepreneurial and artistic nature - he was selling sketches of the
accused murderer in a trial in Cooperstown for a quarter apiece, outside the
courthouse.
You never know what you're going to get.
Max
Hi Dick,
I have to give you and Mr. Tryniski a very big THANK YOU! I went to the website, paid no attention to the glitzy side of the webpage and entered only my search information on the left hand side. With the exception of a few obits, various census and other impersonal records obtained via the Internet over the years I knew very little about my mother's side of the family (long story). Through
the www.fultonhistory.com website I found so many snippets of information in one afternoon...even a couple of full length articles regarding now deceased family members. It did take a while to look through everything - but well worth it!
For example, prior to my mother's birth her own mother and older sister (who was an infant at the time) were rescued early one morning by fireman via a ladder up to the 2nd or 3rd floor when their building had a big fire. I never heard my mother mention this story so perhaps she was never told about it...
Two of my great aunts had a double wedding in 1919...
In 1914 or so, my great grandfather went to the police station and had a warrant put out on a young (gentle)man for abduction. Apparently, one of his daughters (another great aunt of mine) went off with this young man. She was 15 and he was perhaps 10 years or so older than she. The two ended up marrying each other at some point in time so I guess the issue was moot...or is that why they married? LOL!
Multiple references to my aunt for singing at various community/church/social events when she was a teenager. One included my mother singing with her...I know they both had beautiful voices - my aunt was a mezzo soprano (I think), and my mother had the most fabulous tone to her very low alto voice...which I sort of inherited ;-)
My grandfather won some sort of "speed walking" race. He clocked in a few miles under 200 in 36 hours. Another time, he and a bunch of his friends were arrested and charged with gambling...in his apartment (the same one where the fire took place later on).
Other snippets include vacation returns, school awards, community involvement activities and multiple obits for people who may or may not have been related to my family but who had either the same surnames or if not, who came from the same remote comune in otherwise little heard of Basilicata region of Italy.
Sorry this was so long. Just want folks to know they should check out the link...Granted, by entering only a surname - hundreds (even thousands) of articles can come up which will take forever to look through. Use your head, if you enter only a surname then narrow down the results by clicking on only those articles that fit a more specific criteria such as by date or location or whatever...kind of hard to explain.
But do check it out. Thanks again Dick. By the way, do you have any relatives in western MA? My paternal aunt is married to a Dick Hillenbrand.
Sincerely,
Michelle
Michelle,
Thanks so much for such an excellent report!
As to my HILLENBRAND ancestors, I would not be closely related to any modern day HILLENBRANDs in america, because my grandfather was the only son of an only son. Use the search box on this Blog and enter the word Markelsheim to read about it.
unyg
Dick, thank you so much for the lead on the newspaper database. I've been
glued to it for two days, finding numerous valuable articles on both my
husband's and my own lines. Thank you again, Virginia
Virginia,
I am amazed everry time I use the site! I keep finding things I would have never known about.
Thanks for the feedback.
unyg
I found the database very interesting and found articles about my
ancestor. Unfortunately the page of the newspaper had only the month
and day at the top of it, the year must have been on the next page. I
was totally unable to figure out how to view the next page. Do you know
how to do that? Thanks for your help.
Carol
Each scanned image has a file number at the end of it. Just go back to the search box and enter that exact long number with just one number more or less at the end and it will take you to the page before, or the page after. So you will be entering just an image number in the search box instead of the normal name.
That should do it. That comes about not from the scanning process, but from poor quality control of the original microfilming company.
unyg
thanks, I must have been tired last night. Usually I can figure these things out. I agree, the papers are hard to read.
Well, I seem to be having problems. If you go to the website and type in the name "Redfield Clarke" you will get four hits. The first one from the New York NY Clipper 1885-1887 has the number 333716 at the end. I typed in the search box just the number 333717 and it came back with No hits. What am I doing wrong? I'm trying to find out the year that particular article was printed which must be on the next page.
thanks for your help.
Carol,
Better you should ask Tom from his website. He is real good about answering questions and I would only be guessing.
If someone died about 1820 probably Greene Co NY or maybe Albany Co NY where or what newspaper should I look for? I'd like to find an obit for a Phillip Terry. Thanks. M.E.
This is where I would go to start looking.
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/nysnp/
UNYG
When you are viewing an image at fultonhistory.com, if you then hover the cursor over the various icons that display along the top, the leftmost cursor will say 'print'. Click that and it will ask you which printer you want to print to. Most people will have just one printer attached.
Hope this helps -
Russ
I have been using the Fulton History site for a couple of years now and
usually find what I'm looking for...and more! I love it and have spent
hours doing searches. Thank you Tom for your hard work!
Paulette
I also have looked up some great articles on my 2nd and 3rd great
grandfathers on the Case side, however I haven't figured out how to print the
information. Can anyone give me some hints, please. thanks, Carole
I highlight the text I want, and copy it into an email, then send it to myself..........works great
I use the clip board- minimize & put it on Word ...then go back and get the date & publication for my source...etc ..put that on Word and then either save or print
Marilynn
I live in the UK and was recently helped in searching your census and was
given this Fulton History site. On searching have found quite a few members
of my HEDLEY family, one being a famous Opera Singer and teacher of music,
also marriage announcements and deaths.
Truly great site
Regards
Patricia Hedley
Patricia,
Very nice to hear from you and to have the feedback. It really helps to put meat on the bones with the newspaper articles.
There is also a lot of free help on our main website as well as older messages on the Blog site. Glad to have you as a reader.
All the best to you.
The FultonHistory.com url is not working
So try again later.
unyg
The drop-down date selections seem to be limited to recent years only
(since 1990). Am I missing something?
Robin
I have found family listed from 1875
Don't rely on that drop down date thingy. direct your questions to Mr. Tryniski please.
unyg
Hi all,
I got in early this morning and was reading Orange Co. NY newspapers from
1903.David
Robin
I had the same question. I tried just putting in a year "1833" into the
search field and newspapers hat referenced those dates were viewable.
Bert
Found a couple of my ancestors listed!! Thanks so much :^)
Christina, with Kansas ancestors
Christina,
That is excellent to hear. So many of these Yorkers went on out to the Upper Mid-West that you are almost sure to find "something" of interest back East.
Thanks for letting us know.
unyg
Thank you so much for posting this site!?? I found lots and lots of information, including marriage information and a breakdown of a will.? Sure do appreciate you sharing.
Peggy
I tried to send my thanks to you on list but it just kept coming up blank so I'll send it direct.. Your link to the NY papers was a true blessing to me. My brick wall has been the family rumor that my ggrandmother was half Indian. Thanks to the link I found out that it was my gggrandmother who was half and her mother was full blood. I was so excited when I read the article that I could hardly sleep last night. I thought James Littleworth was the key so I searched him and struck pay dirt. Thank you so very much for sharing. This is what I found. (I wish I could have met him, he sounds like quite a character)
My deepest thanks, Debbie
Albany NY Evening Journal 1866
—James Littleworth, of Plympton, Pa., now
87 years old, Is the father of 31 children, the
oldest of whom is 50 years and the youngest
four months. He is living with his fourth
Wife whom he married at the age of 59, she
Being a little Indian squaw of 14. By her he
Has had 13 children. Littleworth is a
Native of England and has been an English
soldier in Denmark, Portugal, Spain and
Canada. For 40 years he used liquor to excess,
but has since been a-teetotaler.
Debbie,
You've made my day! I don't think I have ever received a more heart felt thanks and I REALLY appreciate it!
There are a couple of unique situations here. First, it comes from a non-NYS message board. Almost always when I send out notices to rootsweb, say once every month or two, it is about a news item that I have written about on my Blog, and believe has major interest to others. Normally these announcements only get sent to the NYS counties message boards, and then there is a flurry of activity on the Blog and main website for a few days, and life goes on.
Rarely do I send announcements to other states' boards, but on occasion, when I believe that others in the main migration pattern might benefit I do so. Some of the non-NYS boards chastise me but I let it slide because quite often there will be a response somewhat similar to yours that makes the whole process justifiable.
I do not SPAM anyone, ever! I post things that I think will be helpful to researchers. Always have, always will. If a non-NYS board does not want to accept it, then it is their loss. In the case of the fultonhistory.com Blog, it was about a company that gives totally FREE access to a database that would cost millions of dollars to build and maintain, and it was from a Blogger (me) that gives absolutely FREE help all the time!
Now, secondly the other thing that is unique in your response is that out of 40 or so years of research, yours is the very first case where I have ever seen anyone ever document the Native American Indian connection in their family lore that was handed down.
I am so happy for you I could just shout! Yeah!
Just think, that news column had lain in obscurity oh so many years, and along comes some new technology that allows it to be indexed and searched. Life is GREAT!
Thank you so much for sharing.
I would like to have your permission to post your message on my Blog and share the excitement with others.
All the best to you, and wishing you great success with putting your family history together.
Dick Hillenbrand
www.unyg.com
Please feel free to share the joy with anyone you may want to. One thing I found interesting is that I show him living in Plympton Ont. Canada so I'll see if I find him in PA or Tenessee as another article stated. I guess we'll never know how it ended up in a NY paper! But I am oh so glad it did.
By the way, is the fultonhistory.com your website? If not please send the link to your blog. If there is any way I can do a look up for you or anyone you blog in MI I will be more than happy to.
Thanks again Debbie
Debbie,
Actually newspapers are not considered "documentary evidence" as per most genealogists. However they are excellent tools for steering you in the right direction in order to obtain true vital records documents. That being said, sometime the newspapers will be the only evidence ever found.
Your is still one of my favorite stories of all time!
unyg
Post a Comment