I discovered Ancestry.com during a project for my Online Searching class at San Jose State University in December of 2021. Did you know that Norwood patrons have access to Ancestry.com, for free? Ancestry is one of the most prevalent online genealogical resources available to us today, providing access to millions of historical photos and billions of historical documents from all over the world. AncestryLibrary, available at the Morrill Memorial Library, provides tools and resources that enable searchers to trace their family trees, find relatives, and even locate ships on which their ancestors have traveled. All you need is a Minuteman Library Card!

There are several different ways to search for antecedents using AncestryLibrary:

The Basic Search is a great tool if you have several pieces of accurate information, such as an exact name, birthdate, and/or place of birth.  If you have even more details, such as military service, death and marriage dates, or the names of other family members, you can click on the “show more options” facet and plug those in to narrow your search.

The Census search is very similar to the Basic search.  Here, after you fill in the form, it will bring you to your results page on which the filter “Census and Voter Lists” has been preselected. Beneath are the filters “record location” and “record date” to help you narrow down your search.  

The Vitals search is very similar to the Census search; here they have set up the filters “birth, marriage, & death”; you also have the “record location” and the “record date” to further narrow your search.

The Military Search provides several different filters you can choose to help make your match. Here, the “Anything” field is helpful in narrowing a search, if one knows the branch of the military or  that their relative served in.  One can also enter the name of a naval or air force base, or ship’s name to help in the search.

The Immigration and Travel Search is chock-full of information, not only about our ancestors, but it also has lists and photos of ships.  I decided to perform a search on passenger ships, specifically looking for a photo of the Titanic.  For the first search, I scrolled to the right and clicked on “Ship Pictures and Descriptions”.  On the next screen, I chose “Passenger Ships and Images”.  Finally, on the last screen, I chose a letter (“T”) and a drop-down menu of ships appeared, on which was Titanic.  Clicking on the year it was constructed (1911) brought me to five photos attached to the record. This is a pretty neat feature!

Another feature of AncestryLibrary is the Message Boards.  These Message Boards enable the searcher to look for any messages that might be related to their search, as well as any relatives who  might be posting. You can search by name/keyword, subject, author (of the message), surnames, and there is a drop-down list of several classifications. You can even search by country or topic, such as “Bailey Family Reunion.”

Probably the most helpful feature of AncestryLibrary is the Learning Center, which provides all kinds of research aids and useful tips on how to use this resource. These include a how-to on creating timelines and a basic guide to DNA.  There is also a Map feature that enables the searcher to click on a state and then choose from several options, including state history, probate records, vital statistics, and Census records.

I was thrilled to find my grandfather’s draft card from WWII, with both his and my grandmother’s signatures on it.  I also found my parents’ marriage certificate, something that I had never seen as the original had been destroyed in a house fire in the 1980’s. There were also several mentions of my grandfather’s, dad’s and uncles’ Naval service.  I found out that my dad’s ship, the aircraft carrier USS Essex, had been at the Bay of Pigs during JFK’s presidency.

So, get yourself a library card and start researching your family history!  With AncestryLibrary, it will be a snap. You never know what you might find.  Happy searching!

Carla Howard is the Senior Circulation/Media & Marketing Assistant at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the January 6, 2021 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.