How to Use FamilySearch Full-Text Search

The artificial intelligence tool that can help you discover hidden family records

One of the biggest advances in genealogy research began rolling out in 2024, when FamilySearch announced its innovative full-text search, powered by artificial intelligence, at RootsTech 2024.

This new feature is different than the standard search already available, which searches indexed record collections.

The magic of the full-text search is that it searches images, recognizing handwriting from the entire page.

Note: It searches a limited number of collections and does not include the entire catalog. Check back often as more records are added!

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How the FamilySearch Full-Text Search Has Cracked My Brick Wall

Since its launch in March 2024, I’ve played with the new tool regularly and found some exciting discoveries. Most recently, I found my ancestor’s name written in the margin of a land survey,¹ 9 years after the survey was originally recorded.

Transferred into Samuel Delaney’s name 1780

Surveyors Record 2, 1754-1795, Bedford County, Virginia; Page 413

The original land survey was recorded on 04 November 1771, but a note was made in the margin about it being transferred to Samuel Delaney in 1780.

This simple annotation helped close a gap in my ancestor’s timeline. I had no records of Delaney between 1776-1782, so this note places him in Bedford County, Virginia in 1780 and can potentially help me find even more records.

Samuel Delany appears on the Bedford County personal property tax lists in 1782 and 1783.²

In 1784, Samuel Delany received a grant for this parcel of land, paying one pound ten shillings sterling to the treasury.³ The associated plats and certificates from the Virginia Land Office⁴ indicate that the Auditor’s Office received the Treasurer’s receipt for the survey on 24 May 1783 and the grant was issued 07 April 1784.

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Where to find FamilySearch Full-Text Search

• Go to FamilySearch.org

• Sign into your account (it’s free to sign up!)

• Go to the FamilySearch Labs page

• Under Expand your search with Full Text, select Try It

  Once you’ve activated the feature, when you return to the Labs page in the future, you’ll select Go To Experiment

UPDATE: You can now access the feature directly using this link: FamilySearch Full-Text Search

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Tips for using FamilySearch Full-Text Search

1. Use quotation marks to find an exact word or phrase
   Example: “John Smith”

2. In addition to your ancestor’s name, search for keywords related to your ancestor, such as a place of interest or occupation.
   Examples: “Buckeye Mountain” or “carpenter”

3. Search different combinations of your keywords

   Try searching “John Smith” as well as “Smith John”
   Use the + symbol to include a specific word or phrase. Example: +Mary
   Use the - symbol to exclude a specific word or phrase. Example: -Polly

4. Search different spellings
   Use the ? symbol to search various spellings. Example: D?lan?y will return Dulaney, Delaney, Dulancy, Delancy
   Use the * symbol to find different forms of a root word. Example: Del* will return Delany, Delong, etc.

5. Search by Image Group Number (DGS)
   If you want to search within a specific record collection, you’ll need to find its Image Group Number (DGS). Use the FamilySearch catalog to find the record collection.

6. Use filters
   To narrow your search results, use the filters available at the top of the list of results. You can filter by collection, year, place, and record type.

You can learn more about this powerful tool by watching the video below:

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1. "Bedford, Virginia, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-M9H8-T?view=fullText : Jan 4, 2025), image 244 of 359; .

2. Personal property tax lists, 1782-1875; Virginia. Commissioner of the Revenue (Bedford County). https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/406609

3. Delany, S., Virginia. Land Office. Register., Library of Virginia. Archives., Virginia. Land Office. Register., & Library of Virginia. Archives. (1784). Land grant 7 April 1784.

4. Virginia. Secretary of the Commonwealth, Library of Virginia. Office of the State Librarian, Virginia. Secretary of the Commonwealth, & Library of Virginia. Office of the State Librarian. (1779). Plats and certificates from the Virginia Land Office records, 1779-1982.