Historical Documents Collection

No man is an island—and neither were your ancestors. Their lives were shaped by the people and places around them: homes, businesses, geographical features, friends, neighbors, governments and infrastructure.

With the tips in the Historical Documents Bundle, you’ll learn how to research not just your ancestors, but also the places and communities they lived in. This digital collection shares expert advice on using three types of publications created at the local level—maps, newspapers and directories—to learn about your ancestors.

Historical Maps Cheat Sheet (8 pages) will show you how to find and use these beautiful pieces of artwork from centuries past in your research, with:

• Seven of the most useful kinds of historical maps, plus annotations that highlight their research value
• Resources for finding maps online
• Tips for using web tools like Google Earth to compare historical maps with modern ones

Historical Newspapers Cheat Sheet (8 pages) helps you learn how and where to search for historical newspapers (the “social media” of their day) online, sharing:

• What you can expect to find in newspapers, including the kinds of records that appear in them
• Guides to searching for historical newspapers on popular sites Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank
• Tips for researching historical records across the internet

Source Spotlight: Directories (4 pages) details the different kinds of publications that cataloged an area’s homes and businesses. You’ll learn:

• What details are in directories
• Where to find them online
• How they can serve as valuable research leads

Note: No physical product will ship to you. This product is delivered as 3 PDF and 1 ZIP FOLDER file downloads for your computer that are available immediately upon purchase. The compressed ZIP FOLDER holds 115 more PDFs. You will need a free PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat, to view this collection's files.

Your purchase confirmation web page will have a "Go to Downloads" link. Also, you can always see your downloads by logging in and going to past orders in your account area.

Portions of this collection were originally published in Family Tree Magazine.