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Question:What search phrases would yield the most results when researching specific ancestors on-line? I've used the phrase "John Smith genealogy" and had a good bit of luck, but I'm wanting to search property, wills, obits, newspaper articles and those sort of things. I have a subscription to ancestry.com, but am finding more on some ancestors using google.

Any suggustions would be much appreciated!


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: What search phrases would yield the most results when researching specific ancestors on-line? I've used the phrase "John Smith genealogy" and had a good bit of luck, but I'm wanting to search property, wills, obits, newspaper articles and those sort of things. I have a subscription to ancestry.com, but am finding more on some ancestors using google.

Any suggustions would be much appreciated!

I will sometimes use what Google calls an exact phrase search, with means you put the phrase in quotation marks. In this case the phrase is a name, and you have to try four forms:

"Theodore Pack"
"Pack, Theodore"
"Ted Pack"
"Pack, Ted"

The commas don't matter. You have to use the double quotes ("), not apostrophes ('). If the person had a middle name, repeat with the middle name and the middle initial.

If I was out there as "Theodore Quentin Pack" or "Theodore Q. Pack", you'd have to try those. The "Pack, Theodore" search would find "Pack, Theodore Q.", so you wouldn't have to repeat that one.

If you know something else about the person, you can add that to the search:

"George Washington" Revolutionary war
"George Washington" Martha Danridge Custis
"Smith, John" Pocatello

There is no magic way to find things online. Some things just aren't online.

you might try bureau of land management for old property. Wills you usually have to search the courthouse, obits and newspaper articles are usually on microfilm at the library in the city they were written. Sometimes you can find obits online. I haven't had much luck with that.

Just remember you have to document your work in order to prove you on the right person. You can contact the cemeteries where ancestors are buried. They usually will send you what they have for free. I have found loads of clues this way.

Good luck in your search

Many of the usgenweb pages now have search boxes, that will search their entire site (focusing on one county). That picks up what is posted, and for best results, use the surname. Of course, if the item is transcribed and name misspelled, it won't hit.
You have to play with how the phrase is. Using quotes is good to filter many things.. on the other hand, it will only find "John Smith" exactly and would miss Mr Smith of Dallas passed away yesterday. Many times, I'll use the surname and town or county, or surname and wife's surname.. or..
Search engines can be a gold mine, but anytime the name is spelled wrong in the original, it messes up. Another option is finding a page of wills for Dallas county (index for instance), then actually scanning line by line. A wrong spelling is likely to jump out at you.
Personally, I expect that if I am working a person/ family, that I have a list of maybe 5-10 sites that I will survey, including using google. Very seldom it is going to pick up everything online.. and that does not even cover what might be at the courthouse on the shelf.
Compare that to those who hope to find their entire family history all on ONE PAGE, AND all online. You are already ahead of that fantasy .