I love to watch my daughter at this time of year. It’s the start of a new school year and she’s excited about returning to new classes and challenges, planning what extracurricular activities she wants to take part in, and selecting books to read during the silent reading period. Just because we’re out of school doesn’t mean we can’t catch that “back-to-school fever” too! Plan to master a new skill–whether it is a new technology or utilizing a new record group or tool. Help files, reference guides, books, and even online tutorials can be your guides to new skills that will help you locate even the most elusive ancestor.

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My oldest granddaughter and I recently drove past the house I moved out of three years ago. She said it didn’t look right with a different paint color, missing trees, missing lilac bushes, the enclosed porch now open, and no deck in back. She visited that house often during a period of ten years and remembers it well.

A few weeks ago I was invited to tour the remodeled house. They wanted to know about the house’s history, the past residents, and about what changes had been made. It was a nice tour. Some aspects were quite different, while some have stayed the same.

The new owner wants to compile a history of the house. I knew about a few of the families that have lived there since it was built in 1907. I am surprising him with the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census printouts from Ancestry for this address. I told him that his wife might request something the house had in 1910–a maid!

1234 Elm Street
In your own research on past family homes you may have encountered some roadblocks. Let’s pretend that last year Aunt Susie sent you some older pictures of the family home back in the town where she once lived. This summer you visited the town in the pictures. The reverse side of two of the pictures said “1234 Elm Street.” Once there you cannot find Elm Street. One of the local residents shares the news that in the early 1940s the street names in part of town were changed. Elm Street is now 7th Avenue. Perhaps there is still a 1234 Elm Street but the house doesn’t resemble what you see in the picture that was taken about 1921. Continue reading →

Those with ancestors in the Windy City may wish to take a look at ChicagoAncestors.org, a website recently put online by the Chicago’s Newberry Library. The site (still in development) allows users to enter in a street address in order to generate a list of resources near that location. Currently the site pulls up Catholic and Lutheran churches, yearbooks (in the library’s collection) and nearby homicides. For churches that are located, links to websites and Family History Library microfilm numbers are also provided.

For those needing assistance with the early 1900s street re-numbering and renaming, a guide to those conversions is on the site as well. Researchers with pre-fire ancestors also have access to a guide for working in that time period. Additional features to the site (such as the ability to add user comments) and churches from additional denominations are in the works.

This is a great resource for those with ancestors in the Chicagoland area. 

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Search With and Without the Space
I had been looking for a McKee in the census and I found him when I entered Mc Kee (as in Mc[SPACE]Kee). I had tried many variations of the name, McGee, McKay, but it wasn’t until I added the space that I found them.
 
Patricia Boen

WorldCat Helps with Missing Source Information…
In addition to Irma Holtkamp’s good suggestions for using WorldCat, I have used it to get the publication information that I failed to write down when I was researching.
 
Cherie Brumfield

…And Interlibrary Loan
That was a nice article about this wonderful library look-up option. However, no mention was made of the possibility of interlibrary loan within and among various states. This will have the needed book sent to your close library. It is much cheaper than driving to the library that has the book you want. Some books have more than one owner so most likely the closest library may be the cheapest. Your individual local library can give you the specific details you need.
 
Thanks,
Jane Vaughan
Tampa, Florida

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If you have a suggestion you would like to share with other researchers, send it to: [email protected]. Thanks to all of this week’s contributors!

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the “Ancestry Weekly Journal,” please state so clearly in your message.

The year was 1823 and following the recent recognition of the independent republics of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, United States President James Monroe, under the advisement of Secretary John Quincy Adams, went a step further with a policy that we now know as the Monroe Doctrine. This policy asserted that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to colonization and interference by European nations. The U.S. would now “consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.” Nor would the U.S. interfere in European affairs. The legacy of the Monroe Doctrine can be seen in a number of events throughout U.S. history. 

The world was still searching for a northwest passage to the East and in 1823, an expedition by Sir John Franklin, an experienced explorer who had begun mapping the North American Polar regions in 1818, ran into trouble on a return overland trip. Out of food, ten men succumbed to starvation and cold temperatures, and Sir Franklin narrowly escaped death himself on that trip. He would not be so lucky on a future expedition—his ship set out in 1845 and was never seen again. It is thought that poor food planning and canned meats contaminated with lead contributed to the demise of the crews on that expedition. 

Hunger was an ongoing problem in Ireland in 1823 as it suffered through several years of food shortages.

The completion of the Champlain Canal in 1823 ultimately joined the Hudson River with Lake Champlain, opening the region to development and commerce. Agricultural surpluses could now easily be sent to market from the Champlain Valley and timber and mining industries took advantage of the new route as well.

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Contributed by Carmen Major, Sioux City, Iowa
This is a photograph of my grandfather, Daniel Fischer, Jr. I never knew him, but I wish I had. I was told he had a great sense of humor and this picture shows that.