The
Bare Basics
1.
Research requires a high-speed computer connection:
cable or high-speed modem. If
not available, research can be done at the library.
2.
If working from home, it is helpful to first set up two folders.
The first is a “Favorites” folder titled Family Research (or any
other name that you and others will remember and will be obvious later
on). Set up a photo folder
for records that can be copied from the web.
These two folders are important because people often find
information accidentally or after hours of looking.
It helps to either copy that found page as a photo if possible or
save the link in your favorites.
3.
You need both the King County Library card (which is
Kirkland
) and the Seattle Library card. You
can apply for both on line providing you live in the Seattle area.
Seattle
Library Card Application
King
County Library card application
Resea
rch sites
Heritage
Quest
is on both King County Library and the Seattle Public Library sites.
Heritage Quest has the Federal Census records, complete books,
digitized newspapers, nineteenth century newspapers, obituaries, and
more.
http://www.kcls.org
and http://www.spl.org or
Google:
“King County Library” or “
Kirkland
Library”.
Sanborn
fire maps which are historic maps are available at the Seattle Public
Library Site:
www.spl.org
or Google “Seattle Public Library”.
The
Family History and Genealogy Site:
http://www.familysearch.org.
This is the site run by the Mormons.
Land
Records are available at: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch
or Google “BLM land records”.
Ellis
Island at http://www.EllisIsland.org
or
Google “
Ellis Island
”. If your family entered
the
US
through
New York
in 1892 or after, their records are available.
Washington
State
database
at: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives
or Google “Washington State Archives”.
Library
of Congress at: http://www.loc.gov/index.html
or Google “Library of Congress archives”.
University
of
Washington Digital
database at: http://content.lib.washington.edu
or Google “
University
of
Washington
digital photo collection” and start from Home Page.
East
Side Journal index,
King
County
directory including Houghton, Redmond, Juanita,
Kirkland
phone directories, and more are available at:
http://kirklandheritage.org
or Google “ Kirkland Heritage Society
False
tales about research.
1.
That
everyone had wonderful handwriting in the old days.
Simply not true. Some
did and some did not. But if
you read through a hard to read page of handwritten text, you can often
get the gist of the writing and go back and be able to read it more
easily. Especially true of
census records.
2.
If you were not in the house, you were not counted on the
census. Not true.
If a person was gone for the day or working, they were counted.
If they were away on a month long visit, they were not counted at
home. But they were counted
as a “guest” or “visitor” at the home they were visiting.
Same is true if a person was working on a mining claim or in a
lumber camp. People were
sometimes missed if they were out and alone.
But the census was taken at lumber camps, mines, hospitals,
sanitariums, prisons.
3.
Census takes were careless.
Not true. They were
community people and took the task seriously.
It was a paid position. They
missed few homes. They did
misspell names: Carl and
Karl, Johnson/Johnsen, John and Jack.
Thick accents led to honest errors.
Keep this in mind as you search.
4.
Indians were not counted.
Again, not true. The
census taker had several census books as he made the rounds.
In the early
Washington
Territory
census he had one each for Indians, Chinese and half-breeds, free
inhabitants. The slave states also had slave census records.
(Some slave states listed the sex and age, some a first name, sex
and age, others kept slave families together and listed them as a family
with all the details). All
of this is an uncomfortable time of our history, but it is important to
understand.
5.
The Mormons have all the information and it is correct.
The online site is filled with historic records and family
records. It has errors that
cannot be corrected. Anyone
can add a record and if there is an error or typo, it cannot be
corrected but another record can be added.
There can be many records for one person with mostly the same
information. Be sure to
check them all. One might
add a middle initial or middle name, a complete birth date, a spouse,
children etc. Some might
contradict one another. If
it has: Children: none -
ignore the “none”. The
site does not allow “unknown” and users must say “none” if they
do not know or if they are living and do not want to be added.
That said, this site is full of useful information and data.
That it is open to all is both its strength and its weakness.
6.
Message boards are worthless.
Not true. If you are
researching, past messages can be useful reading.
The Gilbert/Northup families have a great message board which
helps with
Kirkland
history. If you put out a
query, be patient and keep your email account.
My first good reply to a message we posted was three years later.
We would have missed out on several family connections and one
1869
Kirkland
connection had we changed our email account.
7.
My kids don’t care.
Maybe not now and maybe not ever but most people do not find time
and the interest until retirement. Don’t
write them off regarding history. If
you do the research for yourself, it will most likely be treasured down
the road. Interest often
skips a generation.
8.
A computer virus or computer crash might destroy my research
and records someday. Not
“might”. It “will
happen” given time. Save
your research to a CD. Better
yet, save it to several CDs and share them with family.
9.
Family research is nerdy.
Well….that probably is true.
But is also a great way to reconnect with long lost family
members.
10.
Adopted people will not care about the research of their
adopted family. Ask them
and act accordingly.
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