BIG news from FamilySearch at RootsTech
FamilySearch today opened public access to an experimental search function that can search every word of text — including every name — even in handwritten documents that haven’t been indexed by the hordes of volunteers who generally go through records to make them searchable by name.
It’s using artificial intelligence to read the handwriting and return results in thousands upon thousands of record sets that aren’t yet every-name-indexed on FamilySearch — and would never otherwise be every-word-searchable.
No, it’s not every record FamilySearch holds. Right now, it’s limited to US Land and Probate Records and Mexico Notary Records.
No, it’s not perfect. FamilySearch says so repeatedly.
No, it’s not a finished product — it’s a work-in-progress. It’s called an experiment for a reason.
But yes, oh yes, you can trust The Legal Genealogist on this one: BOY is it ever a gamechanger.
Accessible through the link at https://FamilySearch.org/Labs, users first need to sign in to FamilySearch, then choose Expand your search with Full Text, and turn on the Experiment.
You can enter a search term — a town, for example, or part of a land description, or any word you think a document might hold — in the keyword field. But you can also click on the More Options link and have the option to add an ancestor’s name. (Tip: put it in quotes. A search for “Gustavus Robertson” returns only records with that full name found. The same search without the quotes returns every record with any Gustavus and any Robertson.)
Once you do the basic search and get a list of hits, at the top are filters to narrow down the results: by Record Year, Record Type, Record Place and Collection. You can narrow a search location right down to the county level.
Now FamilySearch warns in big bold letters that “This is an experimental Labs product and is not guaranteed to always be available. When using it, you may encounter some errors and limited data. FamilySearch support is not currently available for this product.”
That being said, there are such goodies to be found.
I did a search for my second great grandfather, Gustavus Robertson, under the name he usually went by: “G B Robertson.” It turned up deeds in two Mississippi counties where I know the family lived. One set of county records suggests that he might have been an acting justice of the peace for a time — something I didn’t know and I’ll have to follow up on — and the other turned up a deed for land I didn’t know he had any interest in.
And that was just one quick search.
Folks, this is a gamechanger.
This is what we’ve all been hoping artificial intelligence could do for us.
This is what’s going to make all those billions of records images that FamilySearch holds truly accessible.
This is so much fun.
To FamilySearch, kudos. And more, please!!!
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “GAMECHANGER!!!,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 29 fEB 2024).
You are so right – this IS a gamechanger! I’m already finding deeds for some of my elusive ancestors. Thanks so much for publicizing this new experimental feature.
I found a deed for someone in like three minutes even though I’d already searched those indexes. Gamechanger, indeed! Thank you for this!
THIS IS WOW!!!!!! I was actually just sitting down to do research on my wife’s ancestors deeds from Preble County, Ohio. And, not looking forward to tracking down all those hand-written indexes and trying to find the actual deed. THIS WORKS!!!!! Not perfect, but good golly! I just got two hours of my life back. Thank you for posting it.
THANKS!!! Can’t wait to get into this-may be up LATE!!!…. reading probates and wills could become even more fascinating then they already are…. Deeds, land grants…. SO SO much to learn…. thank you for this heads up!!!
Thanks for the article. This is incredible. I have just found 181 new land Deeds and/or Wills for just one family of mine in Ohio. None were previously Indexed!
How exciting for all of us! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and keeping us posted.
Search a couple surnames in Ohio pulled up a trove of records. Up at 5am today and making time for this!
This is huge. Last night I found a 1700 Delaware deed listing children of Edward Killingsworth that I didn’t know about, and a quick check this morning suggests that this resource will save me a physical trip to Philadelphia for records I thought were only available at the city records office. And I’ve only scratched the surface. (It helps that I’m currently researching a relatively uncommon surname, but even for common names this will be helpful!)
I immediately found documents for an ancestor whose name is unusual and it gave me a big clue to his timeline! Thanks!
Will records that require a visit to an FHC still show up as hits?
I am informed that you will only see hits that you can access from where you are. So when you are at home you will only see hits to records accessible from home. When you’re at a FS Center you will see more.
The date ranges for the documents being tackled would be useful. Especially anything before 1700.
Make sure you submit that as feedback!
Just tried it. My jaw is on the floor. What a groundbreaking tool!
Oh my. I’ve seen a lot of online trees that claimed my 4xggm was the daughter of a particular man (and the niece of another 4xggm), but I’d never found any documentation supporting it.
I did a search on the surname, and I just found the deed that’s supporting documentation — yes, this is the name of her father, and yes, her father is the brother of my other 4xggm, and yes, her husband’s name is on the deed so I know it’s the right person.
I’m not saying I would *never* have found this deed, but it might have taken years. And now, I have documentation.
This is a game changer. Not only did I find records for my ancestors, but they were transcribed. Wow!
This will make a reasonably exhaustive search a little less exhausting!
I don’t know if this just changed or I finally figured out how to do it. On the upper left, there are boxes available to search by date and location. If you double click on the date ranges, you can drilled down by decade. If you double click on United States of America, the states come up and then you can look by county.
Yep, those limiters have been there from the start and are mentioned in the post.
This does indeed work! I read you blog and quickly gave it a go. Within minutes, I had discovered an indenture for an apprenticeship. The record, dated April 1800, was new to me, and the oldest record for this ancestor … by a decade! The record also placed him in a Virginia County where another family line lived – providing further evidence that the two lines were closely intertwined, which the Y-DNA has long indicated. So, definitely, more of this!
This is seriously a game changer! Thank you for posting this. I’m using it already!
This is amazing! I love how Genealogy work just keeps getting easier and easier. Thank you for sharing!
Wow! Just learned a Delaware ancestor indentured a 3 y.o. girl in 1852 to learn housewifery. ALSO that he was named as a child of James Messick in his father’s will. I will be short of sleep for a while! Thank you VERY much.