Ancestry Magazine

While tourism and government sites may not be your first choice when researching your family on the Web, the details they provide often help color the data you have already accumulated.

As genealogists, we tend to focus on the vital facts about our ancestors–birth, marriage, and death dates, and where our ancestors lived. In some ways, we become mechanical in filling in the blanks of our genealogical databases. Although collecting these facts is necessary to substantiate our ancestor’s existence, they don’t paint a full picture of our ancestor’s life. Knowing what was going on in the world around the ancestor is just as important as the vital facts for that ancestor. That’s where local histories come in.

Many times local histories can provide information that adds color to our family history. For example, in addition to asking what a particular ancestor’s date of enlistment in the military was, we should ask about the conditions in the area in which the ancestor lived, and why he enlisted. And instead of merely looking for and copying a census record in a new location for our ancestor, we should ask why the ancestor moved from the previous location and what was attractive about the new locale.

Looking for local histories traditionally meant going through the pains of finding books in distant libraries and having them sent through interlibrary loan, or traveling to the library to use its resources. But now the Internet is a key tool in locating histories of specific geographic areas. Although there is local history information on genealogical sites with a geographic twist, I will cover some of the Internet sites you might wish to view that are not specifically designed for genealogists.

Local Government Pages
Many local government Web sites are often overlooked as sources of information for genealogists. While these sites primarily focus on the services performed by the government, many pages contain historical information as a selling point for the community, or simply for a sense of pride in the community’s accomplishments and place in history.

Let’s walk through an example. One of my ancestors, George Helm, Jr., came from Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. I know from an account in his pension record that he fought in the American Revolution as a private in Captain Abraham Shepherd’s Company, Colonel Rawling’s Rifle Regiment. What I don’t know is why George joined the army; he does not state his reasons in his pension testimony. Here is where a local history might shed some light.

I began my search for the Frederick County government page at the Yahoo! Get Local site. However, I had little luck with those results, so I tried a search using the AltaVista search engine (http://www.altavista.com) and found that the official government page was actually at another URL http://www.globalcom.net/wfcedc/.

The official Frederick County government page contains some basic facts about the county including its geography, economy, population, history, recreation, and events. I selected the history link which took me to a page entitled "The History of Frederick County, Virginia&quot.

Once I began reading the history of Frederick County, the reasons George may have been persuaded to join the war started becoming clear. Probably one of the most important reasons was the county’s long-time association with George Washington and other prominent figures. Washington played an important role in the community from 1748 to 1765. Early on, he maintained a surveying office in Winchester, and during the French and Indian War he was appointed commander in chief of the colonial forces headquartered in Winchester. Washington also held his first office in the House of Burgesses, representing Frederick County in 1758. Another influence on the community was General Daniel Morgan, who lived in eastern Frederick County. He became famous for fighting in the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. And lastly, there was a large prison for captured British soldiers housed in Frederick County.

While the history does not specifically address why George Helm enlisted, it does provide clues to the community’s mood at the time. Obviously it was very pro-revolution through association with Washington and Morgan and as evidenced by the location of a sizeable prisoner-of-war camp. It would not be unusual for men to be eager and willing to fight the British.

Tourism Sites
When you log online and begin looking around, you’re bound to find tourism sites for many communities around the world. While regular tourism Web pages are informative, pages for historic landmarks are especially helpful to those who find that a location where your ancestor(s) lived is now considered a landmark.

An example of one such landmark site is the Historic St. Mary’s City site at http://www.smcm.edu/hsmc. I am fortunate that one of my primary family lines (the Abell family) had prominent members of the St. Mary’s City and County communities. The Abells held positions such as sheriff and inspector of tobacco, as well as positions in the militia. But what was life like for my ancestors in St. Mary’s City? St. Mary’s City was the first capital of Maryland and is now a living history center, so collecting information about the community at the time of my ancestors has been relatively easy and very interesting.

The St. Mary’s City site contains information on the reenactments and living history interpreters that are on-site. At the Web site, there are also pictures of restored homes and buildings in the community, and a list of "firsts" for the community (such as Maryland’s first public inn, first mill, and being the first official city). Additionally, the site provides information about the Maryland Dove, a full-scale reproduction of an early seventeenth century merchant ship that serves as a floating museum. Tourism sites are often linked from government Web pages, or you can use a search engine to find pages for specific areas.

National Parks
Much like tourism sites for historic landmarks, sites dealing with the National Parks can also provide information about the history of an area, which can enhance your genealogy. This is especially true if you have an ancestor who participated in a major event in United States history. For example, if you have an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution with George Rogers Clark, the site on the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, http://www.nps.gov/in Vincennes, Indiana, might provide some useful details. The page chronicles the events that led to the capture of Fort Sackville in February 1779. The page also links to other sites containing information on George Rogers Clark and his campaign.

It is important to keep in mind that National Parks encompass more than battlefield sites. They include significant places for those interested in African-American, Alaska native, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander heritage. They also include maritime, presidential, social and humanitarian movement, and women’s history sites.

Historical Societies
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention that many historical societies provide colorful information on their Web sites about the locations in which they are focused. Although I don’t believe I have any ancestors who were from Monterey County, California, the Monterey County Historical Society page, http://www.dedot.com/mchs/, is a good example of local history information produced by a historical society. The society’s site contains a section of local history pages with hundreds of links to pages detailing the history of the area.

If your ancestor settled near Salinas in early 1873, why did he or she arrive at that particular time? Perhaps because the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Salinas in November 1872. The arrival of the railroad allowed the town to support larger and more permanent development and it provided transportation needed to increase agriculture in the area. This information and a lot more is included within the Salinas History Web page. As with tourism sites, you can generally find links to historical societies on government pages, and through your favorite search engine.

Libraries
In addition to using historical society sites to gain depth to your genealogy, look at public and private library sites. They can also be sources for finding local histories both online and offline. For example, the Fort Collins Public Library features its Local History Archive at:http://library. ci.fort-collins.co.us/default.htm. Here you’ll find the Fort Collins Online History and Architecture Database, which is a collection of biographical sketches, maps, and photographs related to the local history of the area. There is also a searchable timeline of events important in the history of Fort Collins, as well as virtual tours of Fort Collins’ past through a slideshow of photographs, descriptions of the paper-based collections of the library, and a brief history of Larimer County.

One nice feature of this site is the cross-linking of building photographs with the people associated with them. When you request a file on an individual, the resulting Web page will also contain links to any photographs of houses, factories, or other buildings that played a part in the life of the ancestor.

You can find library pages on the Web by using a search engine or a categorized listing of libraries such as Libweb at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu /Libweb/.

Commercial Sites
Commercial Web pages are often overlooked when conducting genealogical research. They are dismissed simply as pages that market products to users who stop by. However, there are commercial sites that contain local history information. One such site is the Gold Crest Realty which provides a brief local history of Titusville, Florida. Although it does not go into detail, the site does contain some basic information on when the town was settled and some of its early development, which might provide leads about other places and timeframes.

Personal Pages
Another source of local history information is the personal Web page. By personal Web page, I mean a site that is posted by anyone with access to the World Wide Web. The amount and quality of information found on these pages varies widely. Some sites may just have a paragraph or two, and some contain extensive articles on areas of interest to the site’s maintainer.

For example, you can find "A History of New Orleans" on a personal Web page maintained by a lawyer from New Orleans at http://www.madere.com/history.html. The history includes three chapters that take the reader from the founding of the city to 1850, and covers topics including the founding, the French, Spanish, and Americans, society and economy, physical environment, American trade policies, King Cotton, and Ante-bellum New Orleans.

Personal Web pages with local histories may be more difficult to locate than other resources listed in this article. Probably the best way to find them is to conduct a search using your favorite search engine.

Although I said at the beginning that I would be focusing on sites other than those aimed specifically at genealogists, it is worth mentioning that links to local history resources can be found on many genealogical sites. Many USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb sites contain links to historical societies, local government pages, tourism sites, and personal pages. You can also find links to historical information contained on personal genealogical pages at these sites.

Finding sites with local history information can give insight into the events that influenced our ancestors’ lives. These sites will provide details, and may even lead you to other resources such as books or articles that the local history was excerpted from. As you find and add historic details to your genealogical work, you’ll find your ancestors will come to life for you.

Matthew L. Helm is the co-author of the popular genealogy beginner’s reference book, Genealogy Online for Dummies.