Accessing the Knowles Collection (7 Mar 2022)

 As the Knowles Collection continues to grow, it becomes necessary to change the way it can be accessed at FamilySearch. It is true that change is not always good, but I feel this change is great for the Knowles Collection. Previously, the 6 databases of the Knowles Collection had to be searched all at the same time, and it was a sometimes confusing search. Below is a step by step process for accessing those databases.

•  Visit the FamilySearch main page (familysearch.org).  Under the search tab, click on the Genealogies link  
  
  
  
• Once on the Genealogies page, in the box labeled as "Search for a specific tree", type in Knowles Collection. This will allow any of the six databases to be selected.  
  
  
  
• After the database is selected a search box will appear that will allow a search by surname.  

• Having selected the surname GLUCKSTEIN in the search box, I am now given a list of all those in the British Isles Collection.  
  
  
  
• Having selected ISIDORE GLUCKSTEIN from the list,  his pedigree will now be presented, including a list of sources on the side.  
  
  
  

The databases can also be accessed by going to the following links:

Jews of North America 

Jews of British Isles

Jews of Europe

Jews of South America and Caribbean

Jews of South Pacific

Jews of Africa, Orient and the Middles East

Accessing the Knowles Collection

Over time as the Knowles Collection has continue to grow, it's location at FamilySearch has also changed. This leads to a need to update the steps that need to be taken to access the collection. It only takes a few steps to view the 6 databases. From the main page at FamilySearch.org, select Genealogies.

 

Once on the Genealogies page, fill in the name you are looking for, just as I have done with the Gluckstein family below. Also, change the collection box to Community Trees, the original location of the Knowles Collection.

At this point select the search button. This will lead you to a results page. By selecting the name you are looking for, you are able to view the pedigree of the individual.

The pedigree view allows you to arrow around the tree. Also, at the right side of the pedigree the sources can be viewed. By clicking the name at the top, all sources can be viewed.

Knowles Collection Updated.

The Knowles Collection is a collection of 6 databases that contain genealogical records of the Jewish people. The collection has continued to experience tremendous growth, both from new record sources being added as well as the donation of private family records. Because of the growth, the databases have been updated on the FamilySearch website. The collection now contains the records of over 1.3 million people.

The databases and the total number of people included is listed below.

Jews of the British Isles     224,008

Jews of North America     573,891

Jews of Europe     441.007

Jews of Africa, Orient and Middle East    40,457

Jews of South America and Caribbean     21,829

Jews of South Pacific     21,528

The Knowles Collection is available to search for free at Familysearch.org. About a year ago I posted in this blog the easiest way to access the collection. That post can be found by following this link.

 I am very greatful to all those who have played a part in the continued growth of the collection.

The Knowles Collection has moved

In the summer of 2007, a new group of records appeared on the FamilySearch Community Trees Website. This database, The Knowles Collection, contained the records of a small section of  the Jewish people of the British Isles. That original set included less than 10,000 people.
Over the last eight or so years, I have been so lucky to have witnessed the incredible growth of the Knowles Collection. What was once a single database, has now grown to be six individual databases that now contain the genealogical records of almost 1.2 million Jewish people. Those databases and the number of people contained  in them;

                          The Jews of the British Isles  208,349   

                          The Jews of North America  489,400

                          The Jews of Europe  380,637

                          The Jews of South America and the Caribbean  21,351

                          The Jews of Africa, The Orient and the Middle East   37,618   

                          The Jews of the South Pacific    21,518     

While I have received many notes from those who have been able to find family names and in some cases link together with distant cousins, I have also heard from some who have had a hard time finding the collection. Well, hopefully that will no longer be an issue. This past week the Knowles Collection has moved to new location which should make finding it and searching the collection much easier. It is now located under the Genealogies tab on the front page of FamilySearch.org. The following steps should help in your search.

1. From the main page of FamilySearch.org, Click on the search tab which will give you a drop down box containing five areas. Select Genealogies. (BELOW)

                         

2. This will take you to the main search page. Once on this page you can search by entering the name you are looking for and at the bottom of the page selecting Community Trees (Below). 

3. The results that are returned include Hugh Charles Knowles, the son of Charles Julius Kino and his wife Louise Essinger (Below) . The family changed their name to Knowles before the birth of Hugh Charles.

4. By clicking on the name in blue, the complete record is given of Hugh Charles Knowles (Below). The area on the left of the page provides the basic information as well as a list of sources and notes for the record.  The center of the page is the individuals pedigree, which can be extended for more generations, or made to show the children. The top Yellow band gives the name of the collection the record came from, in this case it is the Knowles Collection, Jews of the British Isles.

I do believe that by moving the collection, far more people will be able to find their families. I am most grateful to all who have donated their own records to the collection.This databases will be updated as often as needed. I hope this continues to be a valuable resource for all those looking for their Jewish families.

Knowles Collection Updated

The 6 databases that comprise the Knowles Collection have now been updated on the FamilySearch Community Trees site. The collection now contains genealogical records for over 1.15 million people.

The databases and the number of people contained in each are;

1. Jews of Africa, Orient and the Middle East         37,618
2. Jews of the British Isles                                        206,330
3. Jews of Europe                                                      380,629
4. Jews of North America                                         489,400
5. Jews of South America and the Caribbean          21,351
6. Jews of South Pacific                                              21,518

The entire collection can be viewed for free by visiting the FamilySearch Community Trees site.

Once at the site (shown above), click on Advanced Search and it will lead you to the following screen.

The top box says all trees. By clicking on the arrow located at the far right of that it will give you a drop down menu of all the trees. In that list the 6 Knowles Collection databases can all be found (see below). 

The increase in records comes from many sources, most notably burial records, civil registration records and an amazing number of family trees that have been submitted by families. My deepest thanks to all those who have helped this project.

Knowles Collection updated

The six databases that comprise the Knowles Collection continue to grow. Because of this, all of them were updated and the new records made available for people to search for free. The growth in the collection is coming from various sources, most notably cemetery records and family histories that are being donated. The Knowles Collection now has genealogical records for over 800,000 people. The databases and the number of people included is listed below.

   The Jews of North America                                            300,192

   The Jews of Europe                                                         268,279

    The Jews of The British Isles                                          167,930

    The Jews of Africa and The Orient                                 26,428

    The Jews of South America and The Caribbean          19,724

      The Jews of The South Pacific                                         20, 897

The easiest way to search the collection is to visit the Community Trees section of FamilySearch.org. A link is provided at the top of the main page of this blog. That link will take you to the general search page for the databases posted there. That page is below.

Searching this page will search everything posted, however if you simply want to search an individual collection, click on "Advanced Search".

 The drop down box will then allow you to select an individual database.

 In the example below,  I have selected the British Isles tree and asked for all entries that have the surname Gluckstein.

 The results show 144 people with the surname Gluckstein in the British Isles.

 The record below is the results for Samuel Henry Gluckstein. The record also includes his parents, wife and children.

Thank you to all you have donated their own records or helped in anyway.

Knowles Collection - Jews of Africa and Orient updated

The Knowles Collection continues to grow. Today, the Jews of Africa and the Orient databases has been updated to now include the records of almost 23,000 Jewish people. This is an increase of almost 50% since this database was last updated in February of 2013.  While the increase came from multiple sources the greater part of the growth came from burial records from Turkey.
The remaining databases will all be updated over the next month. The entire collection now contains the records of almost 800,000 people.

Jews of Europe database updated

The Knowles Collection: Jews of Europe database has been updated again. The continued growth has brought the database to now include the records of over 250,000 Jews. The latest additions  include the birth, marriage and death records of the Jews of Bratislava, as well as records from Denmark and the Netherlands.

Knowles Collection update

The growth of the Knowles Collection continues. Today, three of the individual databases were updated with new records. The increase in numbers comes from many sources, including a large number of cemetery records and the addition of the remainder of the records of the 1869 Hungarian Census. 
 The databases and the new number of people included in the records are:

• Jews of the Caribbean and South America   18,939
• Jews of the South Pacific                                 18,572
• Jews of Africa and the Orient                         15,934

In addition, over the next week the databases for the other three databases will also be updated. Those databases and the number of people included are:

• Jews of the British Isles       157,249
• Jews of North America        246,000
• Jews of Europe                    158,000

 My thanks to everyone who has submitted their records to the Knowles Collection.

Knowles Collection updated

The growth of the various databases that together comprise The Knowles Collection continues. Today, the collection has been updated to include the records of almost 450,000 Jewish people, which is an increase of almost 50% since the last update.
In addition, a new database has been added, The Jews of the Southern Pacific. This new database reflects the amazing amount of records and donations coming from Australia and New Zealand. The six databases and the number of records they include are ;

• The Jews of North America         173,300
• The Jews of The British Isles       145,000
• The Jews of South America and the Caribbean     11,900
• The Jews of Africa and the Orient       11,500
• The Jews of The Southern Pacific       15,750
• The Jews of Europe          82,800

Over the last few months many people from all over the world have been donating their records to be added to the collection. I am very humbled by the incredible work many researchers have done to preserve their families. Hopefully the work of finding our families will continue to grow.
In the upper right hand corner of this blog is the link to the historical Families Collections of www.familysearch.org. Those collections is where the databases are located and where they can be searched.

Growth Brings Change

Thanks to the incredible support from people throughout the world, The Knowles Collection has grown too large for it's current format. Last updated in May of this year to include the records of about 240,000 Jewish people, the collection will be updated sometime in the next month. The new update will bring the collection to almost 320,000 names, or a 33% growth in 4 months.
The growth, has come from many sources, most notably cemetery records and donations of family records. While these have been from all parts of the world, the database most effected is the Jews of the Americas, which has grown very quickly. The growth of the Jews of The Americas database will continue to experience a lot of growth, as we have received a large number of records from places such as Brazil.
In order to handle all this growth, some of the Knowles Collection databases are being changed. With this update, we are splitting the Jews of the Americas database. The databases will now be;

1. 
   
   
   Jews of North America


2. 
   
   
   Jews of South America and the Caribbean


3. 
   
   
   Jews of Europe


4. 
   
   
   Jews of British Isles


5. 
   
   
   Jews of Africa and the Orient

It is only because of the help of so many that this is possible. I am very grateful to all for this support.

Knowles Collection Update

In February of 2011, the Knowles Collection was updated to include the genealogical records of over 195,000 Jewish people. Today, less than 3 months later the Knowles Collection is again being updated. The five databases that make up the collection now include the records of almost 240,000 people. The individual databases are:

Jews of the British Isles - 112,800 people

Jews of the Americas - 73,400 people

Jews of Europe - 40,600 people

Jews of Africa and the Orient - 7200 people

Jews of the Caribbean - 5700 people

The continued growth comes from many areas, however the most rewarding part is the many family trees that have been donated to the various collection. I am very grateful for all those who have donated their own records so that others may benefit from the research that has already been completed. As of this update, there are now records from over 70 different countries, from hundreds of different sources. The Knowles Collection is constantly updated and has been averaging about 15,000 new records a month. The collection, which is freely accessible can be accessed as either a GEDCOM or can be individually searched. The Knowles Collection wiki page at FamilySearch Wiki, can help anyone access these links. It can be found at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/The_Knowles_Collection

Knowles Collection Update

The Knowles Collection continues to have incredible growth. In September of 2010 the collection was updated to include the records of 140,000 people. Today, the collection has again been updated to now include the genealogical records for more than 195,000 people.

The collection which is comprised of 5 individual databases has seen growth in all areas of the world. When it was first introduced on Familysearch.org in August of 2007 it held the records of less than 7000 Jews, almost all from the British Isles. Today over 60 different countries are represented and over 10,000 records are added monthly. The growth and support from the genealogical community has been wonderful. The individual databases are:

• Jews of the British Isles 104,100 people
• Jews of the Americas 53,000 people
• Jews of Europe 33,200 people
• Jews of the Caribbean 4,500 people
• Jews of Africa and the Orient 800 people

The collection, which is freely accessible, can either be downloaded as a Gedcom or can be individually search. To find the links for doing this visit The Knowles Collection wiki page at Family Search Wiki, which is located at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/The_Knowles_Collection.

Changes to FamilySearch - Accessing the Knowles Collection

"Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change"

Stephen Hawking

As many of you have noticed, this past week the familysearch.org website has gone through some major changes. As part of this, the Knowles Collection is not as noticeable as it once was. This situation has caused many people to inquire about how best to access the collection. With that in mind, I would suggest those interested in downloading the collection visit The Knowles Collection page at wiki.familysearch.org. At the bottom of the page there are links that will direct visitors to the appropriate sites. If there becomes available a better way to access the records, I will update that information as well.

Thank you all for your continued support of the Knowles Collection.

Knowles Collection Update

On this the last day of September of 2010, the Knowles Collection databases were gathered for the next update, which will take place within the next week. Since the last update in July, the collection has grown almost 25% to include the records of over 140,000 Jewish people. Many new records have been added, but none more important than the many family trees donated by people around the world. It is an honor to have so many show their support for the collection. The new totals for the individual databases are;

Jews of Europe 20,775 individuals

Jews of the Americas 30500 individuals

Jews of British Isles 86000 individuals

Jews of the Caribbean 2400 individuals

Jews of the Orient and Africa 700 individuals

Knowles Collection Grows to 115,000 and becomes 5 databases.

Accessing the Knowles Collection through Family Search Community Trees

As the collection continues to grow, the challenge becomes how to make the collection more easily accessible to researchers. The database can be downloaded by GEDCOM into any genealogical program. However, it is a large file that can be a challenge to some computers. Hopefully, that problem can be addressed through FamilySearch Community Trees.

Community Trees is a fully searchable database that gives researchers views of individuals, families, ancestors and descendants. It also allows reserachers to print records, view sources and even download some records. Additionally, researchers can search a particular tree or search across multiple trees. The records below shows, Catherine Gluckstein as the daughter in a family grouping with her parents, Samuel Henry and Hannah (Joseph) Gluckstein, her husband,and children. The record even provides a list of sources that were used to create this family record.

Another advantage of Community Trees is the ability to Print the records, such as the Pedigree Chart here for Catherine. The program can be set to print as many generations as are wanted, or can be saved, by downloaded to any medium, for printing later. Hopefully, Community Trees will allow researchers throughout the world easier access to The Knowles Collection.

To access Community Trees visit
http://histfam.familysearch.org/.

The time for change

The last few months have been a very busy time. I had the great opportunity to make a very enjoyable visit to Australia for the Second Conference on Jewish Genealogy. The people I met were great, the country was beautiful and the memories will never be forgotten. I was even able to meet new relatives, a totally unexpected benefit.
In addition to travel, I have been kept very busy with the addition of new records into the Knowles Collection. In January the collection was increased to 75,000 records and now a few short months later the next update will take the total to well over 100,000 individuals. What once began as a way to document some family who were buried at Willesden (photo above) has now streched over the borders of many countries. It is this growth that is forcing changes to be made.
As people have found their families they have also been sending additional records to me for inclusion in the collection. For example, a few hundred individuals, list their birth place as being Frankfort on Main, Germany. Now those records are being transcribed and added. Also some of the early settlers of Charleston, South Carolina were Jewish merchants from London. The burial records of these people have now also been added.
While this has been great for the growth of the collection, it has forced some changes in the collection. The Jews of the British Isles have been and always will be the foundation of the collection, yet as the collection goes worldwide the time has come for The Knowles Collection to reflect that growth. From this day forward the Knowles Collection will now be made up of 5 different databases; The Jews of the British Isles; The Jews of the Americas; The Jews of Europe, The Jews of the Caribbean and The Jews of Africa and the Orient.

Update to The Knowles Collection - 75000 and counting

Because of the support of many, The Knowles Collection- The Jews of the British Isles continues to grow. Today the collection was updated and now holds the records of over 75000 people, an increase of almost 25% since November. The additional names come from different sources, but also include a number a family trees submit by people worldwide. The number of sources has also increased to 149 independant sources.
The collection can be accessed at http://www.familysearch.org/ at the Jewish records page. It can also be searched by going to the familysearch community trees page at histfam.familysearch.org/index.php. Individual family trees and any corrections can be sent to W. Todd Knowles at knowleswt@ldschurch.org.

Accessing the "Knowles Collection"

For any database to be a helpfull tool for a genealogist, it must be easy to find. The "Knowles Collection" now has a couple of ways in which it can be accessed. The original location for the collection is on the Jewish Resources page at familysearch.org. At that site the collection can be downloaded as either a PAF file or as a Gedcom file.
The newest way to access the collection is by visiting the Historical Families website at histfam.familysearch.org/index.php. On this site the collection can be searched individually or together with the other pedigrees located there. As with familysearch.org, this a freely searchable website.
No matter how hard we try to avoid it, as the database continues to grow there will no doubt be errors or some duplication. While it is continually checked for errors, some are missed. That is why the input of the users is so vital. If errors are found, please contact me at this blog and we can make those changes. The email address is availble in the top part of the right hand column.