UNDERUSED WEBSITES: Family search Wiki

Underused Website Series: Family Search Wiki

The Family Search Wiki (FS Wiki)is a goldmine of information.  It has a page for just about every city, county, state, country, across the globe.

Like wikipedia, we can all sign up to add info to the wiki pages, but where the FS wiki is different is that the info we (GQ Public) submit is monitored and vetted for accuracy by LDS missionaries and LDS members like Peggy Clemens Lauritzen aka Miss Peggy. So, it's way better than Wikipedia, and the FS Wiki is all about genealogy research and history of the areas.

State Page: KANSAS

If you start at the state page, you get info on the state, when it became a state, how to find records for that state, even a big button that says online records (for that state). How about STEP by STEP instructions on how to search that state?  It's in the wiki!!!

Kansas county map

There is a map of the state, with LINKED counties, so you can then go to the county page and find detailed info on that particular county. Now if you're not sure where the county is on the county map, don't fret, under the county map is a list (Alphabetically no less) of not only EVERY CURRENT COUNTY, but a list of the extinct, renamed, or ceded counties for each state. 

Each state page could have hundreds of links to other pages...talk about a rabbit hole!

County Page: BARTON

 Each county page has some history about the county, how it was named, when it was formed, even the address and phone number of the county court house.  We all know what we can do when we find an address or phone number right?  Road trip, or at least call to see what they have available for public searches.

County record Dates

The best kept secret on the county page is the "Known beginning dates for major records"  This helps anyone researching an area to know when ht records were available.  For example If I'm looking for a birth record from 1884, in Barton County, Kansas--I can go to the wiki, and see when the records for births were available, and there were no birth records prior to 1892, and the state didn't require birth records until 1911, and it wasn't mandated until 1917.  With a quick trip to the Wiki, I have just saved myself HOURS and HOURS of searching for birth records in Barton County Kansas, for 1884, and I don't need to bother any face book groups either, because I now know, they don't exist.  I can focus my research on church records for birth and baptisms, or maybe  a bible record, but there are no birth records.

The county page will also tell you when the county was formed, and what county it was formed from, so if I'm looking for a record in Barton County before 1867, I would have to look in Marion County, as Barton was created in Feb 1867 from Marion county.

There are cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, most with links to that location's wiki page.

There's a resources section that gives you links to websites online, (more underused websites) to find specific records.

City Page: Great Bend

Each city page, gives demographics about the city, history,  GPS coordinates, as well as notable people from there.


I'll close for now, as this has gotten quite long, and I've only reviewed one state, one county and one city page, from the USA, and I haven't even started talking about other country's wiki pages, or the other 1000's of categories in the FS Wiki.


So go check it out, its FREE, and you may find info about a location you didn't know, or better yet, you'll break down that brick wall, because you'll find the correct county to search, because that county didn't even exist during the time frame you're searching...

Happy Hunting

(images were used with permission from Family Search - Danielle Batson)

UNDERUSED WEBSITES: BLM LAND RECORDS

 Underused Website Series: BLM Land Records

BLM (bureau of land management) website, also known as GLO (general land office) has all the original land records.  When we say original, what do we mean?  It means the very FIRST time land was ever bought or conveyed to an individual from the Federal government.

These are called Land Patents (not to be confused with patents people received for their inventions)

The Land patents are full of details about the property.  Here is a screen shot of the form, which you can start by selecting a state and adding a last name.  Make sure both boxes under the name are checked.

BLM records search window

 Here is a sample of the results (using Iowa and Culver) notice there are 6 pages of results. Gabriel has 5 different land patents, all in Cedar Iowa. 

Land Patent results

The Tract books have additional details and even the original with a signature! Most tract books can also be found on Family search.  BLM has a few states, Iowa being one. In order to get info on the tract books, you do need to get land description information from the land patent page.

Tract search screen

Inside the Surveys you can find the original plat of land with the names of other property owners and a pretty mapped image of the land.

Survey of Land Patent

The website is so packed with information, there is really no way to cover it in one blog post!  Even in an hour long webinar the details of the website, are jam packed into that hour.

My suggestion:

Go to the website and PLAY!!!  Pick an ancestor who could have owned land or if you know of one for sure,  use them, and go to the website, and see what you can find!!!

Happy Hunting!