I have been researching online historical newspaper sites for several years, both the free ones as well as the subscription-based sites. Their software capabilities, independent of the size and quality of their scanned collections, break down into two parts: 1. How do you search the site and find “stuff” 2. How do you download and save the […]
Author: Kenneth R Marks
Kenneth R Marks was born and educated in the San Francisco Bay Area, receiving a BS in Mathematics in 1968. His career was in Information Technology; with the last 20 Years as a software executive with Boeing, Pearson, and NASA. His genealogy career began in 2004. He is an expert in newspaper research for genealogy, as well as additional genealogy topics. He regularly conducts webinars on the subject and has authored three genealogy books. See the About page for more details.
The Ancestor Hunt, founded in 2008, is focused on helping genealogy and family history researchers of all skill levels to achieve their goals, by providing links to free online genealogy collections, and search tips and techniques, largely via easy-to-understand Quick Reference Guides.
Google Books remains one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — genealogy tools available online. It contains tens of millions of digitized books, including local histories, county biographies, city directories, church publications, military histories, government reports, school catalogs, and family genealogies. However, the Google Books interface has changed significantly over the years. Despite […]
The Hamburg Passenger Lists are one of the most important — and most underused — immigration resources in genealogy. Covering departures from the port of Hamburg primarily between 1850 and 1934, these lists document millions of emigrants leaving Europe for destinations around the world. Because these are departure records, they can reveal information that never […]
The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is one of the most important — and most misunderstood — genealogy tools available online. It doesn’t contain names, records, or images of ancestors. Instead, it solves a problem that derails countless research efforts: Knowing exactly where records were created and kept at a specific moment in time. Counties […]
MyHeritage continues to add or update its record collections at a fast pace for us to search. For December 1-15, 2025, there are 2 new and 25 updated collections. The new and updated collections are: I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for! Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Introduction: Ever wondered when your immigrant ancestors officially became citizens? Long before modern indexes and digitized court files, local newspapers regularly published lists of immigrants taking the final steps toward U.S. citizenship. Naturalization Court Announcements documented “first papers,” “final papers,” and declarations of intent—often by name, country of origin, and place of residence. These brief […]
Ancestry.com continues to add or update its record collections at a fast pace for us to search. For the period of December 1-15, 2025, the new and updated collections are: I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for! Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
If you are trying to add to your ancestor’s life stories, what better way than interesting newspaper articles about their lives? Absent direct accounts from your living relatives, seeking these hidden gems in old newspapers will tell you things about your ancestors that there is no other way, absent a biography or autobiographical book, that […]
There are several ways to enhance your ability to find what you are looking for in an online newspaper collection. Then again, there are also several ways to mess it up. In the Quicksheet is a list of 21 Do’s and Don’ts that, if followed, will improve your success rate dramatically. Download the Quicksheet PDF […]
Historic Map Works is one of the most genealogy-friendly historical map sites available online. Unlike general map collections that focus on cartographic history, Historic Map Works is built around place-based discovery—making it especially valuable for genealogists who want to locate where an ancestor lived, owned land, worked, or interacted with their community. While some high-resolution […]