Do you have old photocopies tucked away in your files—documents someone shared years ago—that you later discover are now available online? Today’s Friday Find comes from my WELLS folder and is one of those rediscoveries. It’s a birth record for Florence Wells, daughter of William O. Wells, born in Calhoun County, Michigan, in 1883.
Although Florence’s profile on the FamilySearch Family Tree already had several sources attached, none of them pointed to this specific record. Thankfully, the researcher who originally shared the photocopy with me had written the film number on the page. That little detail made all the difference. Using the film number, I was able to track down the exact same record on FamilySearch and view it directly online.
Finding the original image allowed me to create a more complete and accurate citation—one that points to the actual record rather than just a photocopy. It’s a great reminder to revisit those older documents in our files; with today’s digitized collections, many of them are now easier than ever to verify and source properly.