Never search a “new to you” database without first determining what it covers. Some databases are “works in progress.” Others may be complete, but the original records from which they were compiled may have gaps. Blindly searching without knowing what you are searching can create brick walls where none exist.
I was tempted to search the 1865 New York State Census at FamilySearch (New York State Census, 1865) until I realized that the census was not extant for the Clinton County–which was the county I need. The original records are missing. FamilySearch has digitized what is available in this case.
Always look first to see what the database includes.
4 Responses
Thank u 4 the information. I was actually going to try it out. I think I may have a different lead I’m going to check out instead.
And thanks for including the missing counties in your update notice. Much time saved and much appreciated.
You are welcome. I do it when it’s not too time intensive to include it. It was on the Wiki, but people don’t always read that. I keep hoping that one day they will discover the ones for Clinton County 😉
I think another thought of reasoning, that goes hand in hand with knowing what you are searching for on a database (especially if it is a Census Database) is to note the year you are searching for your Ancestor to be living or working in that area. One has to double check the location they lived on for Changes such as Name of the County, the addition of New Counties in the State and in addition one needs to check for name changes in the Towns, Villages and Hamlets in New York State. Many changes of this type happened after the formation of settlements by the pioneers. This is where it is very important to use Maps from various years in doing your research (especially in locating the location of your Ancestor) For example if one is searching the NYS Census for the years 1825 thru 1892 for an Ancestor living several things could of changed and perhaps he never moved. An example would be: What was the Date the County was formed that he lived in? Perhaps the name of the County has changed even if he is still living in the same location. Many Counties were not even formed in those years such as the County of Bronx, did not exist until 1914 so you need to search records for NY County, The County of Nassau NY did not exist until 1899 so you will not find that County from 1825 until after 1892, Fulton County NY did not exist until 1838 and Schuyler County NY was not formed until 1854. Just within last week 5-6 people who couldn’t find their Ancestors or any information on them were looking in the wrong place because they did not refer to a Map. I use one of my many Ancestors as an example to these people: My 3 G Grandfather purchased property that was on the border of Lewis County NY and Jefferson County NY in the late 1790’s . Information from a family bible showed him to be in Town of Pinckney Lewis County NY and he was located next to a farm purchased by his Uncle. I was not able to locate this property many years ago next to his uncle, until I did some further research, referred to some old Maps and found that this property was called Harrison and located in Township #9 Pinckney and he was in Lewis County until 2/2/1808 when the Town was renamed Rodman and the border changed from Lewis County #9 into Jefferson County and was located in the Township #8 renamed Rodman.