Google, friend to Genealogists

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Google provides some wondrous instantaneous fabulous easy searches.

Want to see a word in several dictionary formats and REAL FAST?
Type in: [define (word)]. That’s it!

To Google any holiday. Type in: [date (holiday) 2008 (or any year)], and there will be many websites with various methods to search and display dates. Remember when you used to have to go speak in to Granny's hearing aid to find out what date Easter was going to be this year?

One calendar website that seems quite handy is www.calendardate.com .
A direct link to that website’s listings of all of the holidays for the U.S in 2008 is at:
http://www.calendardate.com/year2008_holidays.php

Google also is heavily promoting the use of their own online personal Calendar. It is pretty cool for keeping your schedules, appointments, family & friends birth dates, etc. I have been experimenting with it some for scheduling meetings. I consider it still in my personal Beta testing category.

I am not a big fan of sharing personal information like that with the world. So it is still experimental for me. When I can figure out how to make sure private information is TRULY private, then I might trust it more.

Tell us what you think about Google Calendar.
Let us know what some of your favorite Google search uses are. Sharing is good.

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Upcoming Genealogy Events

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Happenings...
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Quincy, Massachusetts - March 17, 2008 - Genealogy Class: "Finding Your Roots: Irish-American Genealogy."
Held at The Thomas Crane Public Library.
Details at: http://thomascranelibrary.org./

Spartanburg, South Carolina - Saturday February 16, 2008 (tomorrow!) - Workshop designed to help black residents with genealogy - Information: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20080215/NEWS/802150315/1051/NEWS01

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts - The Shrewsbury Genealogy Club meets the fourth Monday of each month, from September to June.
Info at: http://www.wickedlocal.com/shrewsbury/news/x1819378626

Note to event planners:
Genealogy Miscellanea Blog will help to promote your event if the notices are sent with enough advance notice. The above few were just selected at random from various news sources located on the Internet, for an example.

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Find Your Southern Civil War Ancestor in Original Confederate Documents

If your male ancestor of the 1850's to 1860's lived in any of the following Southern States; South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, then the chances are that they proudly served as Confederate Soldiers in the American Civil War.

There are now many original documents becoming available online from footnote, that will allow you to view, print, download and save, images of the actual manuscript documents that tell the history of your ancestors.

Footnote has partnered with the National Archives (NARA) and many other organizations, libraries, archives and resource centers that have holdings of these important historical resources. Never before has it been so easy to locate and study these rare and little known treasures.

Here are just a few of the categories of collections that you will be able to view at footnote; Confederate Soldiers Service Records from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Confederate Amnesty Papers from all of the States of the South.

Footnote is a subscription based service company that digitizes microfilms of collections and that has scanned original documents into this more that 25 Million Documents Collection to date, and growing all the time. There are several totally FREE categories and collections that may be viewed by anyone, even without subscribing.

Some of the totally FREE items available on footnote are; Brady Civil War Photos, Custer's Court Martial, Lincoln Assassination Papers, Southern Claims Commission, and many more. View actual images of the John Wilkes Booth Diary.

Take a FREE look at footnote, and if you do decide to subscribe, (they have several different subscription levels and prices,) then you will be eligible for a 100% FREE Trial Subscription as a "Genealogy Miscellanea Blog" reader. Use any of the links provided here to take you to the FREE Trial.

ps: Tell us of the excellent finds you have made on footnote, or ask any questions, by clicking on the "comments" tab right under this message.


(genemisc)

Mother Earth News Gives Good Advice on Tracing Genealogy

There is an electronic version of an article titled “How to Trace Your Family Genealogy” posted on the “Mother Earth News” website.

If you want to see what we had for resources in 1977, then this will be an interesting read for you. There is no doubt that the Internet and digitization have skyrocketed this whole field, however the basic information provided in this magazine article would still be good to adhere to.

What else would you expect from Mother Earth News? One line from the article says it best for genealogists. "You don't know where you're goin' if you don't know where you've been."

Link to the article

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1977-07-01/How-to-Trace-Your-Family-Genealogy.aspx

For Genealogy Miscellanea readers, tell us what you think. Give us your comments on how things have changed. This website is an excellent free forum for you to post your thoughts and share them with others. You are store houses of information and we want to hear some of your stories.

Just click on the little “comments” button just below this Blog message.

Free Maps Online, National Atlas

The National Atlas has prepared reference and outline maps of the United States that you can print or use online.

This information is from a partial description on the website.

The reference maps display general reference features such as boundaries, cities, capitals, major highways, rivers and lakes, and terrain. Outline maps showing county boundaries, State boundaries, capitals, or other basic features are also available. Maps without labels are included for students and teachers of American geography.

The maps are in color, but will also print or copy well in black and white.

Use the link above or this url: http://nationalatlas.gov/

Please use "comments" button below to ask questions or post comments.



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New web magazine for Black Genealogy, "The Root."

The Washington Post will launch a Web magazine today called "The Root," that aims to be a "Slate for black readers," according to one of its founders, Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Gates has written extensively on black history and genealogy. On Feb. 6, Gates's "African American Lives 2," a documentary series using DNA analysis to help trace the ancestry of prominent black Americans such as Chris Rock, will begin on PBS.

The Root will be a 21st-century version of a national black newspaper.

www.thewashingtonpost.com - You will have to register, it's free, and then use the search box near the top of the page for "genealogy".

Thanks to Judy Newman, one of the APG members, for alerting me to this story.




We would love to hear from any readers that have news tips in genealogy. Please leave comments just below this Blog posting.

(genemisc)

Wired Genealogy - Ontario Genealogical Society Conference - 2008

Use Technology and the Internet to Research Family History.

The 2008 Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Conference Theme is "Wired Genealogy".

The OGS Conference will be held May 30 through June 1st, 2008 at London, Ontario, Canada.

Speakers scheduled are: Join Dick Eastman, Steve Morse, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Geoff Rasmussen, David Lifferth, Fawne Stratford–Devai, Louise St. Denis, Valerie Adams, Paul McGrath, Dick Doherty, Halvor Moorshead, Rick Roberts, Lesley Anderson, Ruth Burkholder, Alan Campbell, Bob Dawes, Fraser Dunford, Brian Elliott, Karen Marshall, Alastair Neely, Kathie Orr, David Elliott, John Sing, and Stephen Young.

See the website for details:
http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/






As always, post your comments or questions at the bottom of this Blog message by clicking on the word "comments".

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Marshfield, Wood County, Wisconsin - Public Library Genealogy Index On-line

If your ancestors ever lived in Wood County, Wisconsin, then you are in luck.

The Marshfield Public Library in the City of Marshfield, has been working on an indexing project for 20 years and has recently brought the index on-line.

Marshfield is sort of mid-way between Green Bay and Milwaukee. Many people from New England,New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio settled in this area of Wisconsion. This area also had a heavy population of German settlers.

To help family researchers, volunteers have culled through microfilm newspapers for over 20 years indexing over 200,000 events (births, deaths, and marriages) reported in the following Marshfield, Wisconsin newspapers:

Marshfield Times February 1882 – October 1919
Marshfield News September 1889 – August 1920
Marshfield Herald May 1911 – August 1927
Marshfield News Herald January 1980- August 2007

Make sure you read the introduction which explains the Index Key. When you locate something of interest then you will have to look at the actual microfilm for a copy of the article.

Check out the website and index at: http://www.marshfieldlibrary.org/

Thanks to the Wausau News website for this story lead. Read the article here:
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/14441482.html

As always, if you have questions or comments, please post them right under this Blog message.



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"Genealogy is a global phenomenon..." So says wife of co-founder of Google.

The wife of one of the founders of Google wants to test DNA of 98 per cent of the world! Her company, 23andme, has great aspirations.

Read about it on the Upstate New York Genealogy Blog by going to www.unyg.com and clicking on "UNYG Blog".



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U.S Library of Congress and Flickr make a deal.

The United States Library of Congress (LOC) and Flickr.com have made arrangements to start putting millions of images from the LOC collection on-line.

Read all about it on the Upstate New York Genealogy Blog at: http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2008/01/gorgeous-photographs-on-line.html



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James L. Sorenson, has died, age 86, Pioneer in DNA Studies.

Tom Kemp of GenealogyBank has just posted a notice on his Blog, that one of the founding pioneers of DNA research studies has died.

James L. Sorenson, 86, of Salt Lake City, self made billionaire, inventor, philanthropist. He used his wealth to better many causes.

Read Tom's report here.

News Edition Added to Genealogy Miscellanea Blog

Another new feature has been added to this Genealogy Miscellanea Blog.

Down on the lower right hand side of this page is a News Feed that concentrates on genealogy articles found in recent newspapers all around the country. We do not have control over what the feed articles are about, so consider this a beta feature.

This is one of the features that Google provides and we are pleased to share these announcements with you.

Hey, you never know!

(genemisc)

Now Subscribe to Genealogy Miscellanea Blog by Email

We have added an email subscription box on the right.

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Native wiki formed, could be very helpful to genealogists.

A new WIKI for Native American and other indigenous people needs your input.

Wikis can be formed by individuals or a group of persons interested in any given subject. This particular one could be of great benefit to anyone seeking information on any of their Native ancestors. This wiki is not just for genealogy. It is sort of a launch pad to many levels of interest in all things Native, current or past.

The Native wiki has many categories, some of which might help in family history research. Those are Anthropology and Archeology, Art & Artisans, Conferences and Events, Crafts & Skills, Genealogy, History, Languages, Law, Libraries & Collections, Museums, News Media, Obituaries, Photography, Reference Materials, Religion and Spirituality, and a great many more. Many (most) of the above mentioned categories that might be of interest to genealogists are still empty. The category is listed, but no one has put any information in the wiki yet.

That’s where you can help. If you know of some good resources, websites, collections, databases, etc., then YOU can help your fellow researchers. Write up a little bit of what you know and enter it into the wiki yourself. You will be helping all future researchers.

Wikipedia.org is well known to many researchers and there is a constant debate on the newsgroups between people that extol the virtues of wikipedia, and of those that say do not use wiki because the data is so easily corrupted.

I will not debate either side of that story with any one. What I would like to say is, that no matter where you find information that might be helpful in your research, that you should never take anything as gospel, (especially if it is in digital media,) and that you as a researcher should take that clue and dig into multiple levels of source documents and resources in order to prove or disprove EVERYTHING!

Give it a try and add some info yourself. It is all free of course.

The Native wiki may be found at http://www.nativewiki.org/Main_Page

Native American Genetic Testing




(genemisc)

Review of William Dollarhide's "Census Substitute & State Census Records."

William Dollarhide, “Census Substitute & State Census Records, An Annotated Bibliography of Published Name Lists for all 50 U.S. States and State Censuses for 37 States,” Volume 1 – Eastern States and Volume 2 – Western States, 2008, Published by Family Roots Publishing Company of Bountiful, Utah, with Foreword by Leland K. Meitzler. www.familyrootspublishing.com

Read the full review at Upstate New York Genealogy, www.unyg.com, click on "UNYG Blog" tab.


(genemisc)

Y-DNA and mtDNA Studies Being Used to Track Palatine German Descendants

Modern technology is being used by Family Tree DNA to track the various groups of descendants of the 1709-1710 Palatine German Emigrants.

Wars and weather were unkind to this large section of the southern part of what is now Germany, and a mass migration occurred. These poverty stricken and hungry families numbered in the thousands and they went first to Holland and then were invited by the young Queen Anne of England to come to London.

Well that was a mistake. London already was overflowing with poor and hungry citizens. The basic story is that these so-called Palatines were split into groups and sent to various colonies of England. One large group went to Ireland to farm the lands of the wealthy Scottish landlords, and another group of over 800 families were sent to the Province of New York in 1710.

The New York group settled along the Hudson River just a little north of New York City. The premise was that they were to work off their passage by gathering "spars and pitch" for the Queen's Navy. Well that did not work out too well and they were abandoned by the British Government.

The winter hardships and starvation took their toll, but the Native Americans took pity on these newcomers to the land, and many of the Palatines did survive and eventually prospered. Many of the people throughout this country can trace their lineage back to these hearty souls that survived.

Now there is a program to gather DNA samples from male and female descendants to show connections back into Europe and even back as far as the beginnings of time.

Read the full story and then check the program out if you are interested, by going to Upstate New York Genealogy at: www.unyg.com and clicking on the "UNYG Blog" tab.


(genemisc)

No more Chalk, no more Shaving Cream, no more Dirty Looks!

Computers in the Graveyard.

Stones that have been worn to oblivion are being digitally scanned and deciphered.

Scientist uses high tech to recover low-tech data.

From a newspaper article in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08011/848345-115.stm

To see samples of the results, visit the church's website at: http://www.oldsaintlukes.org/stones.htm

Yoo Hoo Lulu...!

Recently the subject of listening to audio recordings of previous genealogy conference programs was being discussed. These lectures are chock full of excellent ideas to help you with your ancestral quest.

Someone said that they thought that they were available through the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the location where the 2007 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) held their annual conference. So after checking the on-line catalog at ACPL and not finding much, I made a telephone call and a very nice man explained that they do not sell, rent or loan any conference tapes and suggested I contact FGS directly.

So after checking the FGS website I was directed to www.lulu.com to download these audio files, (we used to call them audio tapes.) Evidently the company or people that formerly used to tape record these conference lectures and then sell the tapes, is not pursuing this program for what ever reason.

Well on lulu you may purchase the audio programs that they do have for $1.99 each, or in some cases batches of say 15 lectures may be downloaded together at the discount price of $25.00. I did purchase and download two batches from the 2006 FGS conference that was held in Boston, and I must say, they are extremely helpful in getting the juices flowing. For 50 bucks I have many hours of learning ahead of me. You sure can not afford to get this much information for such a low cost anywhere. I can guarantee you that it is a LOT cheaper that spending a week in Boston!

Lulu is a specialty publishing house that works with people exactly like you and me. The frustrated author, or author wannabe, that has a great idea to publish a family history in small quantities but will never do it due to the expense of working with a regular publishing house because of the expense. Well lulu will hold you by the hand and do all of the work of publishing the file you send them and create a very professional looking book, for next to nothing, and then you can purchase one or as many of them as you might want. You set the price, you retain the copyright, and the book becomes part of their catalog. When someone else purchases a copy of your baby, then you even get paid a ROYALTY!

Sounds like a pretty great idea to me. I have seen some of the work that they have published, as a friend of mine has been having annual calendars made there. All he does is send lulu the photos and he receives back as many calendars as he wants to order. The printing and quality of the final item was superb, in my opinion.

I do not have a nickel involved in this, and I am not receiving any type of benefit from this posting. I just thought you might want to know about www.lulu.com


(genemisc)

Your feedback and comments spur us on!

Indiana Historical Society Workshops Coming Soon!

The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) is offering some upcoming genealogy and conservation workshops, starting the first two months of the year. These workshops take place at the Indiana History Center, located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

"Using Maps to Discover Your Family History" will be held on Saturday, Jan. 19, from 10 a.m. Registrants will learn how to utilize maps, including examples of Sanborn maps, survey sketches, plat books and topographical maps.

To register for a workshop, or for more information on other upcoming workshops or IHS programs and events, call (317) 232-1882 or (800) 447-1830. Information is also available at www.indianahistory.org.

A nonprofit membership organization since 1830, the IHS also publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; provides youth, adult, and family programming; provides support and assistance to local museums and historical groups; and maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest.

Your feedback and comments spur us on!


(genemisc)

WorldVitalRecords Free Trial. Wonderbase of the Week:

This week's Wonderbase of the Week at WorldVitalRecords comes from the Simmons Historical Publications collection. The databases include a series of records from Graves County, Kentucky. Located in Western Kentucky, Graves County was formed in 1824 from Hickman County. Early settlers came primarily from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The Simmons collection for Graves County is quite substantial. It includes indexes to the federal census for several years, county deed books, funeral home records from the 1920s, county cemetery extracts, various church records, tax lists from 1824, newspaper abstracts beginning in 1876 and a variety of other valuable records.

All of these records are transcribed from the originals and contain excellent genealogical data. Anyone who has researched families from the American South knows how difficult it can be to find records for that region of the country. Fortunately these Graves County records are abundant and are now available on World Vital Records.

They will be free for 10 days (until January 10, 2008).

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