Category: Libraries

Maximizing Your Genealogy Research with Google: Proven Strategies for Effective Online Searches

Google is a valuable tool for genealogy research, providing access to various resources and information. Here are some tips for using Google for genealogy:

Specify Your Search

Identify what you want to find. Formulate your question to Google just as you would to a research librarian or archivist.

Use Search Operators

  • Use quotation marks to find exact matches. (You don’t need to put around the whole sentence. For instance, Where is the “National Dairy” in “Butte”)
  • The word “AND” includes multiple words or phrases.  How do you tell the search engine that you want to find Web sites that contain references to Keyword A and Keyword B? (Coal and Mines)
  • The word “OR” combines searches. It is beneficial for finding synonyms or related concepts. Using “OR” allows you to conduct multiple similar searches simultaneously, saving time.
  • Placing a tilde character (~) immediately in front of the keyword. asks Google to find pages with the word or words similar to it. The resulting pages for ~genealogy may include genealogy, family tree, roots, ancestry, heritage, vital records, or other words.
  • Use the minus sign (-) to eliminate keywords. The minus sign is just a hyphen in front of a term you want to have excluded from the search results. For example, if you were looking for a salsa recipe, you might search for salsa and discover multiple definitions. There’s the dance. There’s the music. Don’t forget the food. By using -dancing or -music, we can focus solely on salsa recipes: salsa -dance -music. Or, if you do not want onions, add -onions.
  • Don’t use “stop words.” Google often ignores small, commonly occurring words, such as ‘the,’ ‘at,’ and ‘of,’ and refers to them as stop words. When we search The Great Wall of China, we get about 471,000,000 results. By searching Great Wall China, we get about 815,000,000 results. And if we use the parenthesis around “The Great Wall of China,” we only get about 5,570,000 results.  
  • Use 3-5 keywords for the most relevant results in a search query. Using too many keywords will limit your results.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts enables you to set up multiple keyword searches to track specific information for free. It allows you to monitor any keyword or phrase you like without manually entering it.

Use Google Maps

Select a location and then use the “find businesses” tab to identify points of interest like churches, cemeteries, and historical societies. You can also see the surrounding areas.

Use Google Earth

Discover your ancestors’ hometowns, see how they look today, and locate nearby buildings, schools, and churches. You can also utilize Google Earth Pro to generate personalized maps of your ancestors’ surroundings. Click and drag the image to take a virtual walk down the street where your ancestors once lived.

Use Google Images

Google Image Search will display photos with a brief title and website address when searching for ancestors’ names, surnames, or places they lived, including nicknames or abbreviations. It provides exact matches and visually similar images based on your uploads and critical phrases. Clicking on a result will bring up a pop-up with more details about the image, potential copyright status, and a gallery of related photos.

You may also want to try Google’s Reverse Image search. This technique uses a photo rather than text to search Google.  

To perform a reverse image search on Google, follow these steps:

1. Go to Google.com and click the “Images” link in the upper right corner.

2. Click on the camera icon in the search box.

3. You can drag and drop a photo from your computer onto the Google Search page or click “Upload” to select an image from your computer or mobile device.

4. Review the search results page for the related images and information.

Use Google Photos

You can create, edit, and add maps and text to your photo albums, containing up to 20,000 photos or videos. You can organize your albums by family, surname, individual, or event and label them with relevant information.

Google Books (One of my favorites!)

You may already know that Google Books will keyword search within billions of pages of text in published books worldwide. Some of these books are even available to read on the site. Searching Google Books can lead you to facts, stories, new sources for your research, and even images. I’ve found many ancestors this way.

Google News Archive

Google News Archive is no longer actively digitizing and indexing newspapers. However, it can still help you find online content for specific newspapers. You can access an alphabetical listing of newspapers and enter keyword searches in the search box on the webpage for all the newspapers listed there.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is the go-to resource for accessing scholarly articles, theses, dissertations, and other academic sources. It specializes in searching for high-level academic content. You can find specialized content on Google Scholar, such as biographies of little-known ministers or histories of small towns.

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Image created with Microsoft Designer AI

Checking In

Photo by SzaboViktor on Unsplah

Hello Followers. I wanted to check in with you since I have not written a blog in quite some time. The last real blog was March 19, so almost a month now. Like you, my family has been self-isolating. Not only from the virus but the crazier people who do not think it is a serious threat.


My son and I are both essential works so we have been working except for my Easter vacation. I am working four hours in the office and four hours at home. My son works all day in the warehouse. Neither of our companies allows outside visitors. We are both very careful as my mother, who is in her late 70s, lives with us.


Since I am working from home I have not had a lot of the extra family history time I see a lot of people talking about. But, I have tried to take advantage of the free sites and free records that have become available. It’s funny, some of the records I have run across have names that I could have used a couple of years ago. But, now I at least know I am on the right track.

I did have success with my 80 year old uncle’s tree. Back on Thanksgiving he was telling me about his brick wall with his grandparents on his mother’s side. Her father seems to have disappeared after deserting her and her brothers. The name he always went by with this family seems to actually be a nickname. In tracing the date of birth and his birthplace, we tracked down what we think is his real name.

With the help of the West Virginia Archives and History Library, we followed these coincidences and found all kinds of information on his family. But, until we find a document where he uses his nickname along with his real name, we cannot be 100% sure it is him. Or, until we can find some DNA matches. Once we entered his real name into our database, a whole slew of information and family members popped up. Including others on their public trees who seemed to have come to the same conclusion. And, here’s the kicker, it seems there is another family who this man deserted…under his real name. We hope to connect to this family to find some answers.

West Virginia Archives and History Photo Gallery


I’ve also been doing a lot of gardening, my other great passion. We had some umbrella palms start to take over so we had them pulled out, by the root balls. Little did I know a few years after I planted them, they would become evasive! They loved the wet clay soil, too much! I’ve since been filling the spaces in with some organic matter from my compost pile. I’ve also added a few pieces of cardboard and will mulch and soil over that. It’s like having a blank canvas to start planting in.

And, my flowers are blooming. Always a welcome sight and lifts the spirits. My garden is defintely a great boost for my mental health.


I cannot seem to concentrate enough to pull an ancestor story together for a blog, but I did want to check-in. I hope that you and your family are safe and well. As our ancestors did from their pandemics, this too shall pass.

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Mary Yeula Wescott

In this 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, Close to Home, I wrote about Mary Yeula Wescott, my great-grandaunt. She was born on 27 December 1889 at Poyner’s Hill in Currituck, North Carolina, where her father, John Thomas Wescott, was the keeper of the Poyner’s Hill Life-Saving station. She was the third of six children born to John and a year younger than my great-grandfather, Albert.  

Laura Wescott, Martha Ann Chadwick Wescott, Mary Yeula Wescott

At a very young age, Mary loved to read and write. She was first published at the age of 12 when she decided to enter a writing contest for the St. Nicholas Magazine: An Illustrated Book For Young Folks by Mary Mapes Dodge. The following was published in January 1903:  

Poplar Branch, N.C.

    Dear St. Nicholas: I am a little girl twelve years old, and I live on one of the sand-bars of North Carolina, five miles from the mainland. The nearest store and post-office is five miles away. My papa is the captain of the Poyners Hill Life-saving Station. We are bounded on the north and south by sand-hills, on the east by the ocean, and on the west by the Currituck Sound. The land near and on which the station is situated belongs to the Currituck Shooting Club, the club-house is the nearest one to us except the station. The club does not allow any of the station men except papa to build on the beach. We live only a few steps from the station and a little further from the sea, while the club-house is on the other side of the beach. So you see, we have it lonely here sometimes. Inclosed [sic] find my contribution which I hope is worthy of a prize.

Yours truly,

    Mary Yeula Wescott

               (age 12)

The poem she enclosed won her a silver badge.

FORGIVING

BY MARY YEULA WESCOTT  

(Silver Badge)

My little friend Annie 

Came over to play. 

We stayed in the house, 

As ‘t was stormy that day. 

She had her doll, Susan, 

And mine was named Jane ; 

We dressed and undressed them 

Again and again. 

We made them fine bonnets 

For each little head. 

They wore them to parties, 

Then came home to bed. 

Ann stepped on my finger, 

And said she was glad. 

I got up and slapped her, 

She ‘d made me so mad. 

Then I knocked Susan’s head off, 

And Annie broke Jane. 

We cried, and we quarreled 

Again and again. 

Then I said I was sorry, 

As much as could be; 

So I forgave Annie, 

And she forgave me. 

Mary continued to send in poems and articles, as did her brother, Albert, and her sister, Laura. However, Mary continued to write to them until at least the age of 17.  

My Dear St. Nicholas League: I am sending to you today my verses for the September competition, and I am so sorry to remember that I have but three more. Does everyone get old so dreadfully fast? 

Your subject appealed to me this month, for I have several relatives including my father, who are members of the Life Saving Service to which I have a reference in the poem. This small band extends along the coast of the United States and guards its coast from the ravages of the storm. They maintain a constant watch along the shore and at the appearance of a distressed vessel launch their frail boats and, pitting their strength against the force of the waves, give aid to the distressed seamen. When the sea is so high that launching a boat from the shore is impossible, the beach apparatus is used and the sailors are brought from the vessel by means of a ” breeches-buoy,” which is drawn shoreward over a cable that has been shot across the vessel from the shore and fastened to the mast of the distressed vessel. 

On our part of the coast, storms are numerous, and a rescue of this kind is a frequent occurrence. 

I thank you so much for the encouragement you have given me in my endeavors to win that coveted cash prize. 

But whether I succeed or not, I shall ever remember with gratitude the pleasure and benefit I have derived from your interesting work. Long life to you, my dear St. Nicholas League, and best wishes from your devoted League member, Mary Yeula Wescott (age 17).

It must have been this magazine that sparked her love of books.  

Mary went to school in Durham and graduated from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1914 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Magna cum laude. She taught Latin in local schools and went back to Trinity. In 1920, she took a leave of absence to attend and then graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Simmons College of Library Science in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1924, where she also worked in a government position while attending school. Mary returned to Trinity College, her alma mater, to work at Trinity College Library (now Duke University Library).  

About 1932, Professor William K. Boyd organized the work of the Newspaper Department and placed Miss Allene Ramage in charge of it. Miss Ramage, aided by Miss Mary Wescott and Miss Eva E. Malone, prepared a checklist of these papers under the title Bibliographical Contributions of the Duke University Libraries: a Checklist of United States Newspapers. This publication has been of value to many librarians and scholars throughout the United States.  

Part I: Alabama––Georgia

Part II: Idaho––Massachusetts

Part III: Michigan––New York

Part IV: North Carolina

Part V: North Dakota––Vermont

Part VI: Virginia––Wyoming

~LIBRARY NOTES -A BULLETIN ISSUED FOR 

The Friends of Duke University Library April 1953; Number 27 

She worked there until she retired in December 1954 as Head of the Catalogue Department. A dinner was given in her honor on 14 December 1954. Among the special guests was Lawrence Quincy Mumford, Librarian of Congress. Mr. Mumford, who had known Miss Wescott since his student days, summarized well her contribution to college and university when he spoke of her retirement as the termination of “a valuable career in librarianship.” 

~LIBRARY NOTES -A BULLETIN ISSUED FOR 

The Friends of Duke University Library April 1953; Number 27 

“Pride in her profession, friendliness, compassion, and a delightful sense of humor — these were the characteristics that made Mary Wescott deeply loved as well as highly respected. Exactly what her personal philosophy was, one would not presume to say. One feels though that possibly she expressed it in the last stanza of a poem she wrote long ago — “The Dream of the Sea.” 

O my Heart keep young, we would cross that main 

With its raging tide; 

We would enter those fields of glad abode 

On the other side — 

And we, how we long for the mighty strife 

And the waves’ wild sweep — 

To battle our way to the rich reward 

And then to sleep! “

Seven months after Mary retired, she died in her sleep. She never married.

By the way, I have never been able to determine where the name Yeula came from. The closest I found was that it could be an Indian word meaning Upward slope. Fitting for a woman who never stopped climbing.

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Do You Know the AGBI?

It is the American Genealogical Biographical Index and one of the most essential printed genealogical sources in the United States. But I did not always know that. It was a hint, a source in Ancestry.com that would come up periodically on my New England ancestors. I never really understood it except for it to confirm a birth or some other fact. Ah, the ignorance of the early days!  

Recently, I looked back at some older entries in my family tree to see if I could find new leads on some of my more elusive ancestors. One was Margaret Car(r), my 6th great-grandmother. She married John Logan, the ancestor who came to Connecticut through Massachusetts. Although I know John came from Ireland, I do not know anything about Margaret before she came to Connecticut. Although I know they married in Massachusetts.  

One of the first clues I looked at again was the AGBI. In researching it, I came across a blog by Diane B. of OneRhodeIslandFamily.com. In it, she wrote, “The Boston Transcript was a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper that regularly carried a page of genealogical questions and answers. That feature ran for several decades in the late 1800s/early 1900s.” And, it is indexed in the AGBI!  

Even more exciting was learning that I can order them and over 800 printed genealogies and other compiled sources from the Godfrey Memorial Library. From their website, “Godfrey Memorial Library is the owner and publisher of the American Genealogical Biographical Index (AGBI), which contains more than four million names, statistics, and sources for research, including local histories, church and vital records, military lists, and more. It also includes over two million records from the Boston Transcript. AGBI is the largest and most important genealogical reference set ever published, and clearly the best starting point to find any early New England settlers. This is an index to the books and periodicals on our shelves.”

This is what it looks like in Ancestry.com.

Did I just stumble upon a gold mine? We’ll soon find out, as I mailed out my request a couple of days ago. I printed out their order form, and for $10 each entry, I can soon find out what they know about my ancestor.  

You, too, can access this gold mine at https://www.godfrey.org/agbi.html. Print and fill out the order form, then use the information from the AGBI index for each ancestor requested. I limited myself to three ancestors, including Margaret.  

Another source attached to Margaret is regarding her marriage in Marshfield, Massachusetts, to John, titled “Mayflower Source Records.” Upon closer inspection, it was from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register called the “Mayflower Source Records: Primary Data Concerning Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard” by Gary Boyd Rogers. It’s a source of material where the majority of the descendants of the Mayflower Pilgrims settled by the end of the 18th century. Am I, or is Margaret, descended from a Mayflower passenger?  

Exciting stuff! New revelations to dig up for sure.  

Thanks for reading!

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