Genealogy once was dusty tomes, courthouse records, overgrown cemeteries. Today the Internet carries more information faster about ancestors. The Internet can't eliminate all details of time-consuming, expensive ventures but makes it more accessible. Genealogy groups like the Pinellas Genealogy Society give beginners' advice. Due partly to accessibility, online genealogy is one of the hottest Internet interest groups. One of genealogy's main periodicals, Everton's Genealogical Helper, lists hundreds of websites. Virtual universities offer classes on Internet genealogy. An AT&T WorldNet subscriber survey showed 1/3 of those polled use the Internet to investigate their roots. With ever-increasing amounts of genealogy data - centuries of maps, records and birth, death and baptism dates - the Internet is one of the most comprehensive nonlibrary genealogy reference sources, with individual and commercial genealogy sites competing for traffic. Even longtime Pinellas Genealogy Society hobbyists caution that the glut of information can, especially for the inexperienced, be equally frustrating as rewarding.
Matthew and April Helm, co-writing Genealogy Online For Dummies, first used the Internet for genealogy in 1994. Dismayed by the number of Internet genealogy sites and lack of organization, Matthew Helm built a comprehensive Internet genealogy site, Helm's Genealogy Toolbox, now one of online genealogy's busiest sites. Starting with links to 134 genealogy sites, now he has over 42,000. One problem today is the sheer number of Internet genealogy sites. People lacking genealogy research background get swamped clicking a link, then another, and they're lost.
As genealogy interest grows so does the amount of Internet genealogy information. Records offices saving time and money post frequently requested documents. Genealogy texts with expired copyrights are digitized. Whether the federal government's Social Security Death Index, lists of cemetery occupants posted by funeral homes, these Internet sources are genealogists' gold mines. Start at a comprehensive site that links to other sites, or other types of resources such as geographical. If you know where someone lives or something about him it's easier to track him down. Largo Library's Special Collections dept contains the area's largest genealogy collection. Besides Internet access and volunteers Largo has genealogy documents not readily found on the Internet, such as local history, passenger ship lists, microfiche, and large regional and racial databases.
There are several reasons to explore genealogy. Historians can find personal ways to get into history. Although their relatives weren't kings, queens or presidents they were participants. Others trace genetic problems back through generations. Genealogy traditionally takes time, but with the Internet younger people get involved. The Internet is more convenient. Some Internet drawbacks are obvious, especially if your name is, say, Smith. Privacy is also a concern. Don't post detailed information on living relatives. Most genealogists keep a 3-generation freeze on family information to protect against fraud. Legitimate genealogists must look elsewhere for most current data. People using the Internet should verify sources. Even though the person posting the information verifies it as correct, you should also. Most likely you'll pass information to others. One piece of incorrect information on the Internet can cause problems down the line.
The Internet is a critical tool especially to network with other genealogists worldwide. Surname mailing lists connect thousands of potential relatives. Pinellas treasurer Howard Jensen compiles names of over 6,000 people related to him - a 15-year task. The Internet helps him fill in dead ends. People can e-mail each other for genealogy information. Sometimes Jensen gets 50 e-mails a day and sends copies of his tree. Recently Jensen contacted European relatives descended from a remote branch of his family tree. Other Pinellas members use the Internet to translate foreign documents. Genealogy discoveries spark the imagination: an ancestor who died in the French Revolution, a great-great-great-grandfather who helped tame the Old West, or a distant cousin living next door.
Our first document, a deed, says "Whereas Charlotte Adams, John and wife Amanda Adams, Robert and wife Betsy Adams, Edward and wife Susan Taylor, George Adams, Francis and wife Eliza Adams, do by these presents hereby grant, convey and sell to Samuel Johnson all their right and interest to said land parcel as heirs-at-law of DeWitt Adams, deceased." That document, dated Nov 1855, looks straightforward. Another document dated Sep 1855 (DeWitt Adams died intestate) says "County Commissioners laid off the widow's dower of said Widow Adams, such layoff receiving no objection from the other heirs, the 3 sons and 2 daughters of said DeWitt Adams, deceased." These documents don't agree on the children of DeWitt Adams. One indicates he had 4 sons, the other clearly says 3. Which document do we believe? How do we determine which is correct? This is an exercise in deductive pathways, looking at every other document we can find. Where would you go first, based only on the above documents, to determine which is accurate? Is one type of document prone to be more accurate than another? Were they doing something in the deed to rectify some earlier error in distributing the estate? Is Samuel Johnson worth investigating? We'll give ourselves a break on this one and say all records are extant in this county, none burned or missing.
STATE AND COUNTY - Wheat is $1.10. Good cooking apples are 75 cents a bushel. A bear was seen in a briar patch near Ebensburg last week. A Johnstown man sent his 1783 stove to the Centennial Exposition. Smicksburg Lutheran minister G A Lee stopped by on his way to Synod. Our town is Western Pennsylvania's handsomest. Our citizens are determined to keep it so. The bridge near the paper mill badly needs a gas light, say borough dads. George Snyder gave this office 14 tomatoes of a very prolific variety. North Mahoning township: Henry Dilts' son, 4, fell off a cherry tree. Boys gathering under the windows of this office to discuss baseball are very profane in their arguments. Would you like your mothers to hear you talk that way? In Westmoreland County Steinmetz stole $800 from his father and left his invalid wife, taking with him her cousin, who nursed his wife during her illness. An employee of this office took gold fever, starting Saturday night for the black Hills without giving good bye to his intimate friends. If Sioux Indians don't lift his hair he'll return rich.