What Information Is Presented By HeritageQuest Online?

• HeritageQuest (http://www.heritagequestonline.com) presents a varied and in-depth set of data for genealogists and historians. HeritageQuest is designed to help amateur and professional geneaologists, local historians, and public library patrons to search and use data from all of the U.S. Censuses until 1930, an index of 6,500 local history and genealogy periodicals (PERSI), bank records of African Americans from 1865-1874, a database of Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrant, plus the full text of 25,000 local histories and family histories.

How Can I Search U.S. Census Data On HeritageQuest Online?

Basic Search

1. Click on Search Census.
2. Enter one or more of the following in the appropriate space: Surname, Given name, Census year, State.
3. Click on Search
4. Click on the name of the person whose record you would like to view.

Advanced Search

1. Click on Search Census.
2. Click on Advanced Search.
3. Enter one or more of the following in the appropriate space: Surname, Given name, Census year, State, County (Click on Browse for a list of counties), Location (Click on Browse for a list of locations -- cities, towns, etc.), Age, Sex, Race, Birthplace (Click on Browse for a list of choices).
4. Click on Search
5. Click on the name of the person whose record you would like to view.
6. You can also search census data by page number by clicking on Page Number.

Search Tips

• When searching you can enter an * symbol as part of a keyword in order to find any related spellings of that word. For example, searching for “photo*” would retrieve references to photos, photographs, or photography. You can also use “and” or “or” within a search in order to limit or expand your search.
• Because of the limitations of census data, some names may have been misspelled during the census or transcribed incorrectly during indexing. If your searches are not returning the results you would like, try entering alternate spellings of names.
• The census search pages include a link About the (date) Census which will show you information about each decade’s census. This information might be helpful to your search.
• Information found in HeritageQuest’s books or periodical index might help you to direct a search of census data.

How Does HeritageQuest Display Census Data?

• HeritageQuest displays each page of census data as a digitized image. The top of the page shows the series, roll, and page numbers of each entry. You can enlarge the image by using the Zoom feature, or change the image from positive to negative. Click on the arrows next to Page to see the page of census data before or after the page you are viewing. If your search returned multiple names you can click on the arrows next to Name to see the page displaying each name you retrieved. You can Print a census record or Download it to a disc by clicking on the appropriate commands.

Example of Browsing the Census Data

You would like to know if a relative lived in the 1st Ward of Mobile County, Alabama during the 1860 Census.

Instructions:

1. From the main page, click on "Search Census".
2. Click "Browse", located in the top left corner.
3. Select year "1860" from the "Select Census Year" drop down menu.
4. Select "Alabama" from the "Select State" drop down menu.
5. Select "Mobile" from the "Select County" drop down menu.
6. Select "WD-1" (which means 1st Ward) from the "Select Location" drop down menu.

7. To reduce the size of the image, select 100% from the "Zoom" drop down menu.
8. By clicking on the arrows next to "Page" and "Image", you can scan through the different pages of images for that Census Ward.

Local History And Genealogy Books

• HeritageQuest offers full-text searching of over 25,000 local and family history books and primary historical source materials. The search options for books are comparable to those offered for census data, with basic and advanced options. Results will display digital images of relevant book pages, allowing you to search for specific information or to browse within a book.

PERSI™:

• The PERiodical Source Index provides access to over 1.6 million citations from over 6,500 English language and French Canadian genealogy and local history journals written since 1800. Researchers can browse journals or perform basic and advanced searches based on keywords, people, places, and research methodologies.

Freedman's Bank

• Freedman's Bank was founded to serve newly freed slaves. Records from here cover the time period of about 1864 to 1871 and contains approximately 480,000 names. Researchers can search by last name (exact or phonetic), first name, application year, and bank location

Revolutionary War Collection

• HeritageQuest offers pension and bounty-land warrant applications for over 80,000 veterans of the Revolutionary War. These records can be searched or browsed for genealogical and historical research.

Strengths Of HeritageQuest

• HeritageQuest is a uniquely valuable source of genealogical data due to the breadth and depth of its content. Researchers can use HeritageQuest to search within the complete body of U.S. census data, and can then use the indexed books and periodicals (PERSI™) to interpret that data. The design of HeritageQuest’s web site is easy to use for basic and advanced searching.

Weaknesses Of HeritageQuest

• HeritageQuest uses copies of census data rather than the original census records. Because these copies only list the surname of each head of household, no other family members are indexed by HeritageQuest. Therefore, only heads of households will be retrieved by a search. You will not be able to find documentation of other family members through a search, but will have to view individual records in order to look for them.
• The PERSI™ index retrieves article citations, but does not display the text of the articles. You will need to find the articles in your library or can order them from HeritageQuest for a fee.

Special Features Of HeritageQuest

• A Notes feature allows you to take your own notes on census records, books, or citations. Though this could be a useful feature, you will be unable to save these notes between uses of HeritageQuest, so be sure to print them out if you wish to use them later.

Where Can I Get Help Using HeritageQuest?

• HeritageQuest has a thorough and well-designed Help feature which can be accessed from almost any screen within the site. Clicking on Help will open a window that offers help using the screen which is currently displayed. A table of contents within the Help window can be used to access other topics.