Internet Genealogy II: Subscription Websites
Becky Hill, Head Librarian
Hayes Presidential Library
2010 Classes Sponsored by RootsMagicTM
HeritageQuest Online – HPC has a paid subscription.
I.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Census record images from 1790 to 1930 for the entire country
Census indexes to 1790 to 1820, 1860-1870, 1890, 1900-1920, 1930 (partial)
Images of over 26,000 family and local histories.
PERSI – The Periodical Source Index – an index to 6500 genealogical journals, including 1.6
million citations. Index only.
E. Revolutionary War Soldiers’ pension papers – digitized and indexed; images from the National
Archives
F. Freedman’s Bank – 1865-1874, founded to serve African-Americans after the Civil War.
G. U.S. Serial Set - Search for information about people and places in the Memorials, Petitions and
Private Relief Actions of the U.S. Congress.
H. Benefits: Clean and straightforward interface, easy searching, original images for most collections;
REMOTE ACCESS; less expensive for researchers when a HPC member.
I. Drawbacks- not every census indexed, collections not growing like Ancestry, no “fuzzy” search
J. Different index and image of census from Ancestry or FamilySearch in case you can’t read it in
those websites.
K. Browse Feature – to access all the censuses, even those not indexed, use the Browse feature at the
top of the census page.
Join the Hayes Presidential Center and have access to Heritage Quest Online at home. HPC
members at individual plus ($45) level can log on to the Heritage Quest web site by going to the HPC
web site, and then typing in their member number and password. You can join online at the
http://www.rbhayes.org/membership.htm . If you subscribed to Ancestry, a similar program at
home, it would cost $200- $400 annually.
II. Ancestry - Hayes Presidential Library has a paid subscription to AncestryInstitution.com (similar to
Ancestry.com, the personal website). You can search ancestry.com at home and come here to do lookups.
Includes 4 billion records, 32,000 database titles
A. Thousands of databases containing billions of names including:

Census & Voter Lists – images and indexes from 1790 to 1930; all years, all states

Birth, Marriage & Death

Military

Immigration & Emigration

Family Trees
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Newspapers & Periodicals

Directories & Member Lists

Stories, Memories & Histories

Court, Land, Wills & Financial
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Reference Materials & Finding Aids
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Pictures
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Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers
C. Library’s Ancestry website has different interface from the public ancestry.com one.
D. Different types of searches and results:
1. Historical Records -census, birth, marriage, death records and more
2. Family Trees -Find people in our community and personal family trees.
3. Stories and Publications - Find newspaper, historical stories and more.
4. Photos and Maps - Find photos, historical maps, and other media.
E. Benefits: Largest collection of data on web, always adding to it, most complete collection of
census indexes.
F. Drawbacks: Searching can be frustrating, expensive for individuals ($150-300 annually)
G. Free blank charts and information on how-to do genealogy.
H. Use “Search Card Catalog” to find a specific resource
I. Learning Center section – interesting and free
III. Newspaper Archive - The Newspaper Archive is especially interesting to genealogists providing ten’s
of millions of fully searchable newspaper pages from almost 700 cities and towns in the US, Canada and
Great Britain. Computers in the Library have a link for this paid subscription. (Temporarily not subscribed
– 3/2011)
IV. NewEnglandAncestors.org – This is a web site sponsored by the New England Historic Genealogical
Society which concentrates on research for New England ancestors. Computers in the Library have a link
for this paid subscription.
V. Footnote.com – This collection features documents, most never before available on the Internet,
relating to the Revolutionary War, WW I, WW II, US Presidents, historical newspapers, naturalization
documents, and many more. Computers in the Library have a link for this paid subscription. See librarian
for access. Especially good for digital images of complete Revolutionary War pension files.
Personal Genealogical Programs
A. My favorite: Roots Magic. Easy to use, inexpensive, flexible, good support. Purchase from the Hayes
Museum Store for $29.95. Used for Hayes family genealogy. Also can be ordered online at
http://www.rootsmagic.com or by phone 1--876-766-8762
B. Family Tree Maker: Popular program widely available, linked to ancestry.com. $40.00 1-800-2623787 http://www.familytreemaker.com
Becky Hill, Head Librarian
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Spiegel Grove
Fremont, OH 43420-2796
419-332-2081 ext.31
bhill@rbhayes.org
3/2010
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