We started by answering a few questions today.
On FamilySearch, you can send a message to another contributor by clicking on their name on the person page of the individual you are working on. You can send a direct email, if their address shows up, or you can send a message through FS. FS will then message that person to let them know that they have a message on FS. To see if you have received any messages, check the message menu item at the top right of the page. Sometimes people just don't answer, but most of the time they do respond.
FamilySearch is meant to be a tree used for research and sharing, so it is not necessary to have all information fully documented when adding to it. In fact, in many cases, the person may already be in the tree and just needs to be linked to your portion of the tree. When posting information that you are unsure of, there are some ways to indicate that. At the bottom of the Person page, there is a section to add notes. There is also an section to start a discussion. Both can be used to highlight undocumented information.
When merging or changing links, be specific in your message. This is especially important when two people have previously been incorrectly merged. Explain clearly why they are not the same person, so the next user will not repeat the error.
The Other Information section of the Person page is also a place to add extra details about the person. Click on the Add button to see a suggested list of types of items to add. You can also create your own by choosing Custom Event or Custom Fact. Having extra facts can help to clarify when two people have similar names or dates and yet are not the same person.
We spent our last few minutes talking about newspapers. There are several sites that have large collections of newspaper. Many of those sites are pay sites. But, even the big sites do not have every paper that is available online. We looked at two sites that can help us find smaller papers.
The first, smalltownpapers.com, was an example of how some sites have very small collections. But, if the paper you want is among them, it can be a goldmine.
TheAncestorHunt.com is a site that links to dozens of newspapers sites. It is an excellent source to find small town papers by category (Jewish, African American, etc.) and also by location. Make a choice (we used Iowa for our example) and you get a long list of papers and the links so they can be viewed online. We searched for the newspaper from the small town where I grew up, West Union, Fayette County: "rosemary nelson" (in quotes so both names would appear in the results) and chose the year 1957 to start. There were 66 results. The local paper included school news from every grade, scouts of all kinds, local sports, and every small piece of gossip (oops, wrong word- Ha) activities of interest (is that better?). We found my 10th birthday party listed, as an example.
These kinds of bits and pieces of information can really help fill in the story of our ancestors, as we learn some of the things they were doing. Have fun looking for some of your family stories!
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