question on indexes on FHL film

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tmajor
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question on indexes on FHL film

Post by tmajor »

Hi there! I just got back from vacation and had a chance to go to the FHL in SLC and look through some of the films. I only looked at a couple. I believe they were the civil records films, trying to locate birth information and then find siblings, etc. Well, I found a couple names on the films' index, but then couldn't find the people on the film where indicated. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this experience? I'm sure I'll have to order the films now that i'm home and go through them more carefully as I didn't have a lot of time there. But do you have any suggestions to help me through this process? I also purchased an Italian Wordlist while there.

Thanks,
Trisha
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DonnaPellegrin
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Re: question on indexes on FHL film

Post by DonnaPellegrin »

Well, I'm no expert but I can tell you what I have found in the comune that I am researching in Calabria. The records themselves are ordered and numbered by date. The indexes for each year, however, are ordered and numbered alphabetically. Confusing? Oh yes!
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Re: question on indexes on FHL film

Post by brujaojos »

tmajor wrote:Hi there! I just got back from vacation and had a chance to go to the FHL in SLC and look through some of the films. I only looked at a couple. I believe they were the civil records films, trying to locate birth information and then find siblings, etc. Well, I found a couple names on the films' index, but then couldn't find the people on the film where indicated. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this experience? I'm sure I'll have to order the films now that i'm home and go through them more carefully as I didn't have a lot of time there. But do you have any suggestions to help me through this process? I also purchased an Italian Wordlist while there.

Thanks,
Trisha
Dear Trisha,

First I must say I like your name. :) Only because I'm a Trish. :)

Now about your question, not only am I genealogist, I also volunteer at my Local Family History Center. We get this question all the time.

If your film is 16mm, that's the small narrow film, then there is a chance the Indexes are at the end of the year.

Example: Birth Records, Index at end of Birth records; Marriage records, Index at the end of Marraige records; etc.

Usually with the 35mm film, that wide film, the Indexes are usually before the actual records.

HOWEVER, there are many towns were there aren't any Indexes at all and you have to just to go through each record.

Also, some Indexes are by First (Given) Name; some are by Surname; and some are indexed by month. Each Index could be different.

You have to read each Index carefully. Always look at the date that is written next to the name. That's the best way to find the actual document.

Also a good book to get is "A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Italian Ancestors", by Lynn Nelson

I hope this helps.

If you have any more questions, just ask.

Trish
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Re: question on indexes on FHL film

Post by VaDeb »

Hi Trisha,

My experiences with indexes have been as described by Trish. I have also found years divided into Volume 1 and Volume 2. Sometimes the index for both is at the end after Vol 2 and sometimes it is in the middle after Vol 1, but will include the names in Vol 2.

Also, each act has a number. In some years the pages are also numbered. Usually the number in an index will refer to the act number, not page number.

Indexes can get tricky. They can be consistantly at the end of the year and then you hit a year that has no index. Sometimes it will turn out to be at the beginning of the year.

Also I have found the older records 1820's use "strange" abbreviations.
Example 8bre = October
9 bre = NOvermber
10 = December

I forget the rational for this without looking it up.

Good luck
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Re: question on indexes on FHL film

Post by mfjp »

"Xbre" is also December

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Re: question on indexes on FHL film

Post by tmajor »

Thank you for the help. I think when I was looking at the indexes, there was a number by the names, and then I tried to locate that number but it wasn't the right person. I'm going to have to order a couple of the films and look through them more thoroughly. But I like the idea from another thread on here about printing the indexes out to look through at home.
Trisha
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Re: question on indexes on FHL film

Post by vineviz »

tmajor wrote:Thank you for the help. I think when I was looking at the indexes, there was a number by the names, and then I tried to locate that number but it wasn't the right person. I'm going to have to order a couple of the films and look through them more thoroughly. But I like the idea from another thread on here about printing the indexes out to look through at home.
Trisha
In the towns I have researched, the actual records are nearly always in perfect chronological order with a few caveats.

1) The books are ordered by year of record. I found a birth record for an ancestor who was born 31 December 1842 in the 1843 birth acts.

2) Sometimes there are addenda. So, the acts will run chronologically, but there will be a seperate group (with its own numbering scheme) towards the end of the book.

3) Sometimes the records for a frazione are recorded seperately at the end of a book.

For instance, the 1810 birth records for San Germano had three groups: the main entries, then the addendum, then the births for Casale di Cairo (the frazione where my family lived). These are usually indexed seperately, but not always.

Also, the numbers in the index sometimes correspond to the chronological order and sometimes to alphabetical order.

For instance, the following is possible.

1. Abate, Giuseppe 11 Agosto 1850
2. Meta, Maria 13 Marzo 1850
3. Nardone, Leonardo 2 Febb. 1850
4. Vizzaccaro, Lucia 31 Xbre 1849

In this case, the index is numbered alphabetically whereas the acts would be listed chronologically.
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