Somewhere new to research…

A tutorial /case study

Often, when I read/ hear of people being stuck in their research, it seems rather than being ‘stuck’ they are actually experiencing a lack of resources to further their research. To help researchers find new “fields” to hunt, I thought a small example/ discussion/ verily a “case study” might prove useful and instructive. Obviously, this “tutorial”, only provides a limited ‘focus’. Hopefully, the clues here will provide readers a better sense of the types of resources available for research. Hopefully this will empower you and increase your probability of success.

This brief “case study” assumes the following:

A need for expanded research information in the US/ Canada/ North America.
Time period under examination from 1940 to 1620
Research conducted on a tight budget
Most earlier research has been conducted using Ancestry.com ,MyHeritage , and FamilySearch

This case study/ tutorial is actually more a roadmap than it is a description of tasks to undertake. Readers are encouraged to follow the links (below), explore the sites, and see what “pops-up”. As you explore these locations consider expanding to other searches; search for items you are interested in finding. After you get a feeling for the linked site, consider using Internet search tools to identify similar sites. Test the sites; explore what each has to offer. Because your ‘real life’ needs certainly “go beyond” the examples here, you will need to use sites and resources such as these which are more relevant to your search(es).

Please feel free to examine our links pages as well as other self-help guides for additional clues and ideas. I have placed a number here; they are labeled. Perhaps, the tools and website suggestions involved in this little exercise will open up some new venues, ideas, and places for you to research.

Immediately below is a laundry list of places to visit. These sites offer direct no cost access. If I did this right, you will not incur any charges.

Caveat: because things change all the time I think, hope, all pointers here are free; if not, then certainly most of the sites are free.

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Personal use of these materials is encouraged and allowed without fee(s).

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Primary Source Documentation

Primary source materials can be found in many locations. Not all are obvious. What follows is a small collection of primary source sites. These will often require a fair amount of reading time because they are not all digitally searchable.

Slave Registers
Genealogy of Canada
- Information on this site is almost always vetted and quite accurate.
15th (1930) US Census (Enumeration Documentation- Free)
- All US Census Documents are freely available on this site but need to be ‘searched for’ specifically.
Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, New York, 1683–1809
- Old churches sometimes have their records online and not necessarily as part of one of the large genealogy data sites.
Anabaptist Historians
Canadian Genealogy Online
Ship Passenger Lists – 1870s through the 1950s – Genealogy Records
Battles of New York 1609-1814
French America- Acadian (Links)
Popular Genealogy Research Sites (Links)
Immigration- Migration (Links)

US Government Supported/ Provided Resources

The US Government provides a wealth of online genealogical, military, and vital statistics data, almost all of which you have already paid for. Use these resources to your advantage.

State & City Archives

Below is a very brief sample of State & City Archive Sites. Test these out to see what might be available on this nature of site. Perform Internet searches to discover other sites.

Historical Societies

Historical & Genealogical Groups/ Societies often provide wonderful materials including regular publications, local source materials and more. Here are a few eample sites. Obviously there are thousands more; they are just an Internet search away.

Genealogy & History Textbook Resources

The following lists are but a tiny sample of the type of information available in numerous online libraries. Most of the items here are shown as they are provided on the Internet Archive. Other online libraries are listed on ManyRoads (this list of links is also incomplete.).

Maps/ Atlases

Historical Atlases of States (Generalized Search)
David Rumsey’s Historical Maps – The David Rumsey Map Collection Database has over 100,000 maps and related images online. The collection includes rare 16th through 21st century maps of America, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Pacific, Arctic, Antarctic, and the World. The physical map collection is housed in the David Rumsey Map Center at the Stanford University Library.
U.S. Geological Survey’s – The U.S. Geological Survey website is a comprehensive website that can help genealogists locate historical topography maps for their genealogy searches.
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) – The U.S. Geological Survey website features the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which contains information about physical and cultural geographic features throughout the United States. Individuals using the GNIS can search for both current and historical information.
Maps for Genealogical Research (Dartmouth College)
Library of Congress – An excellent collection of maps from around the world.
Osher Map Library (University of Southern Maine) – Large collection of historical maps.
Old Maps Online– Indexes over 400,000 old maps in libraries and archives.
The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at The University of Texas at Austin – Indexes historical maps from libraries and archives.
Alabama Maps (The University of Alabama) – Large collection of maps both for the US and the World. Check out this map collection even if you do not have Alabama ancestors.
Sanborn Maps – This Online Checklist provides a searchable database of the fire insurance maps published by the Sanborn Map Company. They were designed to help fire insurance agents determine the degree of damage to a property and show accurate information to help them determine risks and establish premiums. The maps included street names, property boundaries and lot lines, and house and block numbers.
ManyRoads provided cartographic resources
Map- Cartographic (Links)

Should you encounter any problems or frustrations, please use our contact page to let me know. If you have links you believe I need to present here, please use the ManyRoads contact page for that as well.