dons-usgenweb.html

THE USGENWEB WEBSITE

©2020 by Donald R. Snow

This page last updated 2020-07-28 
Return to the  Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page  or  Don Snow's Class Listings Page .
ABSTRACT:  USGenWeb is a website with genealogy data about the United States. It has pages for each state and each of the more than 3000 counties in the U.S. Volunteers maintain and update it so sit is free. It is a major source of help, even if you don't know the state or county, since you can search the entire website and then narrow down your search. If you know the state and county, start there to find the resources and links. Then expand your searches to the larger jurisdictions, the state and then the entire United States. This class will discuss the content and searches of the USGenWeb website. The notes for this class and related articles, all with active internet links, are posted on  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .

    WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

  1. Instructor is Donald R. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu ) of Provo and St. George, Utah. 
  2. The notes for this class and related articles, all with active internet links, are posted on my website http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .
  3. Tips:  (1)  To put an icon on your desktop for the URL for these notes, or any webpage, just drag the icon in front of the address in your browser to your desktop.  (2)  To open a link while keeping your place in the original page, hold down the Control key while clicking the link, so it opens in a new tab. 
  4. The problem for today:  What is the USGenWeb website, what does it contain, and how do use it?
  5. THE USGENWEB WEBSITE

  6. The USBGenWeb -- http://usgenweb.org/ -- It is free since it is done entirely b voluneers.
  7. Article from the FamilySearch Wiki -- https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/USGenWeb -- includes a good history and what's on it
  8. Has won numerous awards and is usually listed among the 100 best genealogy websites -- see list of awards on the website
  9. On their home page is their motto:  "Land of the Free...Genealogy."
  10. For their information about the website ande its history click on the 3-bar "hamburger" icon near the center of the page -- you see About Us, Research, Volunteer Support, Website Support, and Search & Site Map
  11. In the ABOUT section is information on volunteers, what's on the website, and some Quick Links
  12. STATE AND COUNTY PAGES

  13. The map on the home page is clickable for each state and will take you to each state's resources  
  14. The state pages frequently have names such as CAGenWeb or UTGenWeb; each is different and in various statges of completeness and consistency; some are easy to use than others, but since all are done by volunteers, you can't complain; the Utah page is an example of one that is eay to read and use
  15. On most pages you'll find lists and linksfor
    1. Genealogical and historical societies
    2. Newspapers
    3. Schools
    4. Counties
    5. Databases related tothat state or county
    6. Links to the county  offices
    7. Digital map collections
    8. Histories ofes
  16. Most states have a map showing the counties so you can see what counties surround the one you are interested in -- Maybe your ancestor went to a neighboring county to get married.
  17. In the United States there are more than 3000 counties, so this is a major collection of family history resources
  18. Most pages contain information on where to write for vital records and further information and even for genealogical help
  19. Many contain research aids for helping you sovle you family history problems, including links to article, pamphlets, and databases.
  20. Some database links need to be updated, e.g. the California Death Indix which is now available at  https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5180/, not on the link the CAGenWeb gives.
  21. SPECIAL PROJECTS

  22. The Special Projects are listed by state and by topic at the bottom of http://usgwarchives.net/ -- there is also a QuickLink to them on the home page at the bottom left
  23. These are projects that have been completed or are being worked on and they are always looking for volunteers. 
  24. Special Projects include indexing vital records from various sources, obituary and tombstone projects, newspapers, local research helps, etc.
  25. Most of the indexing project use special software programs that are available to download and they give alphabetical indexes with helpful search tools
  26. Below are example of a few Special Projects

    DIGITAL MAPS PROJECT

  27. URL is   http://usgwarchives.net/maps/  and  http://usgwarchives.net/maps/maps.html
  28. Goal is to have high-quality digital maps available to everyone for free
  29. These include historical and physical maps of states, counties, boundaries, cities, and towns.
  30. This is a good collection and is a very helpful part of the website.
  31. MISCELLANEOUS SPECIAL PROJECTS

  32. TOOMBSTONE PROJECT -- http://www.usgwtombstones.org/index.html and the list by state is at   http://www.usgwtombstones.org/index.html -- These ssem to be transcriptions of mostly smaller cemeteries and they are not complete and has probably been superceded by websites like  https://billiongraves.com/  and   https://www.findagrave.com/ 
  33. MARRIAGE PROJECT -- http://usgwarchives.net/marriages/ -- lists some marriages, butnot at all complete
  34. GENEALOGICAL EVENTS PROJECT -- http://usgenwebsites.org/genevents/ -- only seems to list the major events such as RootsTech
  35. OBITUARY PROJECT -- http://usgwarchives.net/obits/ -- very few obituaries, mostly from small newsppapers
  36. PENSIONS PROJECT -- http://usgwarchives.net/pensions/ -- military pensions from U.S. wars up through about 1900 
  37. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS -- http://usgwarchives.net/special/ -- These include family publications, journals and letters, photo collections, yearbooks, and a few milirary records 
  38. USGENWEB ARCHIVES SEARCH ENGINE

  39. This is a new USGenWeb search engine that is updated every night-- http://usgwarchives.net/search/searcharchives.html 
  40. This searches all the USGenWeb Archives which includes all the Special Projects; can search for any name so you don't have to search each project separately
  41. I don't see any way to search for an exact expression, so to search for my Dad, Eldon Snow, I found the following work-around: search for both words and then use the (Chrome) browser extension Multi-Highlighting to highlight both terms and look for the two words together.  It also helps to set the list of hits to show 50 on a page, instead of only 10, so there are more on each page.
  42. U.S. CENSUSES PROJECT

  43. In spite of its title, this is not really a part of USGenWeb, but is linked to it.
  44. The URL is  http://www.usgwcensus.org/
    -- and the Census Inventory List and information is at -- http://www.usgwcensus.org/help/what.htm -- and by states is  http://www.usgwcensus.org/states.htm
  45. Most of the transcriptions seem to be of older censuses, so FamilySearch or another website would be more helpful for the later indexes.
  46. The links are by states so you can see what exists for where you are interested.  
  47. For each federal census the census column titles are shown in easy-to-read format and that is helpful
  48. There don't seem to be any state censuses listed, so it lseems to just be U.S. Federal Censuses
  49. There is a Google search box that you might find helpful at -- https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=003941341478341113731:_-q2fgkjevy 
  50. CONCLUSIONS

  51. The USGenWeb website is a major source of data and helps for U.Sf. states and counties and should be kept in mind.
  52. It also has reserach helps and links ot many other databases and is constantly being updated.
  53. They are always looking for volunteers to help, so it can be kept available for free. 

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