We want to link our ancestors to their families, to learn interesting things about them, and to ultimately write their stories. In order to do that, we must use a variety of reliable sources. Reliable sources are typically defined as sources that are named as chapter headings in Part 2, “ Records and Their Use” in Val Greenwood's The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. These are: compiled sources and newspapers, vital records, census returns, probate records, government land, and local land records (every type). There are other sources that genealogists use, but these are the big six.

Greenwood divides compiled sources into seven categories: family histories and genealogies, local histories, compiled lists, biographical works, genealogical and historical periodicals, compendium genealogies, and special manuscript collections.

The Internet has become the genealogists’ friend. We conduct Google searches for our ancestors, we look at subscription websites, we communicate with relatives. We would be lost if we didn’t have the Internet.  Individuals, local genealogical societies, libraries, and large commercial organizations are digitizing compiled sources and placing them on the Internet. Some are accessed by subscription only, but there are numerous free sites. For all of the frugal genealogists (this author included), the sites mentioned in this article will be the free ones. These are GoogleBooks, Google, the BYU Archive, The Making of America website, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, and library websites.

Prosper Gillett, one of my husband’s ancestors, is used to illustrate what can or cannot be found on these sites.  Prosper was born in 1817 in New York, and he died in 1902 in Hannibal, Missouri. 

GoogleBooks is an easy-to-use online book source. There are two types of books in the collection: books in the public domain and ones that are still in copyright. The ones in public domain are fully viewable. Some are even downloadable. The books that are still in copyright  have only a limited view of the contents. Links are provided to sites where you can purchase the books and to WorldCat, an index to library catalogs. (More about WorldCat later.) To search GoogleBooks, either click on the link above, or select the “Books” option on the main Google page. (You find “Books” under “More.”)  Place quote marks around the name of your ancestor and click “search.” If your ancestor’s name is a common one like “John Miller,” you will need to add more search terms to narrow down the result list.

GoogleBooks search example. I found five results for “Prosper Gillett” when I did a search. Three are for a patent application, one is for a genealogy in the Nebraska Ancestree periodical, and one is for an entry in Cook’s Crier, another periodical. The patent application is listed in the 1865 United States Congressional Serial Set as a report from the Commissioner of Patents and in the 1866 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents. The books are in the public domain and are fully viewable. The entry for Prosper says,

“No. 41,696.–Prosper Gillett, Hannibal, Mo.–Railroad Track Raiser.–February 23, 1864.–This invention consists in a combination of levers with a toothed rack provided with a suitable toe to be applied to the track, the said levers being so arranged in relation to each other and to the toothed rack that by the action of one lever the toothed rack can be released and dropped to its original position.

“Claim.–The lever G and pawl F, in combination with the plates i and pin a and with the rack c. and lever E, all constructed and operating in the manner and for the purpose substantially as shown and described.”

All published records are derivative sources; they are not the original source, and any number of errors can slip in during compilation. Bottom line: always look for the original. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has digital copies of the original patent applications on their website, http://www.uspto.gov, and a copy of the patent drawing was found and downloaded.

Google

Google, the website, provides a way to find compiled records that people may have posted to the Internet.

Google search example. There were thirty-one results to a Google search for “Prosper Gillett.” The Commissioner of the Patent publication was listed as well as three others that held promise.

The first item was the Nebraska Ancestree article. This is not the same item that the GoogleBooks found. Rather, it is a transcription of the Ancestree periodical article, and it was placed on a GenWeb page. Mrs. Louisa O. Haywood, daughter of Prosper Gillett married Henry W. Elliott on 14 April 1870. While there is always the possibility of error with this twice-removed document, the original Lincoln County, Nebraska, marriage records can be located to verify the facts and to see if there is additional information. Since the family Bible gives Louisa’s name as Lois, it is important to locate the original document.

The second item was a Paden genealogy website. It was attractive and included a number of sources, but no sources were given for Prosper Gillett’s family or ancestry. With an absence of sources, there is no way to tell if the information is accurate. However, the author’s contact information was given, and he may have material that he didn’t include in the Internet version.

The final hit was a pdf copy of the Genealogical Council of Oregon’s Fall 2005 newsletter. Gerry Lenzen, who was then president of the organization, told about writing fully documented reports for the Herrick and Sellick family associations. Prosper Gillett, as the husband of Delia Ann Sellick, was included in the compilations. 

Brigham Young University (BYU) Family History Archives, at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library has a collection of thousands of published family history materials. There are several ways to search the Family History Archive, but the "Advanced Search" option allows exact phrase searches.

BYU Family History Archive example. The Advanced Search option with “Prosper Gillett” as an  “exact phrase” was used. The one result was for the 2008 edition of the Herrick Genealogical Register. Sources were cited for the information in the book, but the citations were abbreviated. This may have been done to save space, but it makes it difficult for the researcher who wants to fact-check.

The Making of America at the University of Michigan is a digital library of more than 12,000 nineteenth-century historical books. It is easily searched for names and places. Unfortunately there were no results for the “Prosper Gillett” search.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. The project goal is to digitize newspapers and place them on the Library of Congress website.

Almost a million newspaper pages from 1880 to 1922 from twelve states have been scanned and placed online. Eventually all U.S. states and territories will be digitized and placed online. Searches are easy. You select a state or a specific newspaper and enter search terms. If an obituary was published, you can find it. The Hannibal newspaper hasn’t been scanned yet, and I’ll go back to look for Prosper.

Library websites. Public libraries are creating digital collections that include published sources. Some are available only to library patrons while others are available to the public.

Hannibal Free Public Library example. The Hannibal library has digitized a number of Hannibal city directories. There were 13 hits for “Gillett.” The 1871-72 directory listed three people with that surname: Gillett Mrs. M., 206 North Fifth; Gillett, J. S., book binder at Courier office, and Gillett P., railroader, Grace. When Prosper Gillett applied for his 1864 patent, he was living in Hannibal. There’s no 1864 or 1865 online Hannibal directory, but there is one for 1866. The surname Gillett was not indexed. The pages containing surnames beginning with “G” was made, and a P. Gillott was found. He was a news and stationery dealer in the Post Office at the corner of 3^rd and Broadway.

Library Catalogs. Sometimes we find a reference to a particular book that is not online or in our local libraries. Most public libraries participate in the Inter Library Loan program (ILL). There is usually a modest sum attached to loan requests, but the fee is less expensive than a plane ticket. WorldCat is a collection of catalogs for tens of thousands of libraries that belong to the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).

The Cook’s Crier periodical that was noted in the GoogleBooks search still looks promising, and it would be nice to see it. A search for the publication was made on WorldCat, but there are no Oregon OCLC libraries with the periodical.

NGS Library. The NGS Book Loan Collection is in the St. Louis County Library in Missouri. All NGS books and non-reserve books in the library’s collection are available through ILL channels. The quickest way to get to the catalog is to typehttp://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/library_book_loan_collection in your browser. A search was made for Cook’s Crier in the library catalog. The library has the periodical, but it’s a reference item and does not circulate.

We don’t know everything about Prosper Gillett, but we know more than we did. He took out a patent on a railroad tool, he had a stationery shop in the Hannibal Post Office, and he lived on Grace Street in Hannibal. In addition, Gerry is contacting the person who put the Paden genealogy on the website. He may be a cousin, and he may have additional information.

These Internet searches in compiled sources took a day. It took that long because source citations had to be created. I know that if they aren’t done on the spot, it will take five times as long to go back and do them later. Online sources are difficult to cite because we often have to search websites for all of the elements. As an example, two citations are given here.

Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year Ending 1864; Arts and Manufactures. Volume 1 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866); digital image, GoogleBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 28 June 2009), citing p. 303.

“USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database,” United States Patent and Trademark Office, database (http://www.uspto.gov : accessed 28 June 2009), “P. Gillett, Lifting Jack, patent file no. 41,696 (1864), original file location not cited.

If you are interested in other helpful articles, go to my Columns page.

© 2000–2010

Connie Lenzen, CG^SM

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.