The following announcement was made during RootsTech, and there’s been so much going on that I am just now getting around to posting it. Daniel Horowitz actually sent the info to us from the air while flying enroute from Israel. So when I saw him at RootsTech, the first thing I asked was whether this data was essentially the same US Public Records data that I would find already posted at other websites. He confirmed that much of it would duplicate what’s found elsewhere, while also stating that they were able to obtain public records that were previously not on the web. That’s good news for those of us that are searching for folks who may be living or recently deceased. Following is the News Release.
We did it again! We’ve just added 815 million US Public Records of people living in the USA to MyHeritage SuperSearch. This massive compilation of records was assembled from telephone directories, property tax assessments, credit applications, voter registration lists and other records available to the public. It includes information about hundreds of millions of people from the USA spanning the last five decades, making it one of the most powerful collections on SuperSearch for finding information about living relatives.
These records are excellent for connecting with relatives you find through MyHeritage Smart Matches and Record Matches.
Wherever the records include a full address, we’ve been able to deduce other possible relatives who were living at the same address. This can help you reconstruct entire households, determine if the records are relevant for the family you are seeking, and discover additional relatives you didn’t previously know about. Other important information in these records includes birth dates, aliases, possible relatives (and their birth dates), as well as business associations and, where publicly available, contact information such as phone numbers.
The new collection can be searched by name, address, birth date, phone number and relatives. Do you know where a relative lived? Search using that address and find other family members who lived there at different times. Searching by phone number can sometimes be useful too.
Search the US Public Records Index now
Our Record Matching technology has been unleashed on these new records, so you’ll automatically receive notifications about US public records that match individuals in your family tree.
US Public Records are vital for family history research and for reuniting and reconnecting with lost relatives. Most importantly, they continue where the last published US Census Records ends in 1940. Currently, US census records are made available to the public for the years 1790-1940, as they are released only 72 years after enumeration. This US Public Records collection dates back to 1970 and includes information on the generations born after the 1940 census, filling a significant gap and providing important coverage of the USA for genealogists.
Below is a sample record from the new collection. This record for John F. Fletcher includes his date of birth, alias, multiple residences, phone numbers and possible relatives.
Below each record find the option to save the record and import new information directly to family tree profiles using our Extract Information feature.
Click on links for any of the relatives included in the record to view their information; you can save and extract these details to your tree. Another great feature is that you can locate and connect with neighbors who live (or once lived) nearby. For any address found, click on the “Show neighbors” link to the right, to get an instant list of the neighbors who were living within the same zip code, during the same time period.
How can I access these records?
The new collection is located in SuperSearch under the Public Records category. MyHeritage data subscriptions provide unlimited access to all historical records (including this new collection), and all Record Matches. Read more about our annual data subscription.
This new collection is one of the most valuable compilations for genealogists trying to locate and contact family members in the USA. Start searching in the US Public Records Index collection today. Perhaps you’ll soon reunite with a long-lost relative and learn more about your family’s past. We wish you many exciting discoveries.
The MyHeritage team.
