Newspaper Forum Offers to Share Genealogy Data

The Daily Advertiser newspaper in LaFayette, Louisiana now has a Genealogy Forum and they are inviting all comers to post and share genealogy data.

Genealogy Miscellanea thought you all might want to know about this, but we especially think it would be a great place for those of you with Acadian connections.

The Daily Advertiser Genealogy Forum.


(genemisc)

Tri-Centennial Celebration of Seventh Day Baptist Church

300 Year Anniversary of The First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Hopkinton, Rhode Island will be celebrated Saturday June 28th.


The First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Hopkinton is noting its 300th Anniversary this year.

A Homecoming celebration will be noted on Saturday, June 28th at the the Seventh Day Baptist Church, 8 Church Street, Ashaway, R.I.,. Sabbath School - 9:45 A.M., followed by worship at 11:00 P.M., and a Lunch at the Parish House will follow the worship.

The afternoon will have historical moments,memories and music. Dress in period costume and use your imagination. Questions can be referred to Rev. C. Justin Camenga at camengacjustin at verizon dot net.

That is a remarkable tri-centennial ! Congratulations to all.

Note: for those of you who have both New England and New York State ancestors, you will want to read all about the new website for New York Ancestors now being published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS.) Read the story at: Upstate New York Genealogy Blog.

http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2008/06/nehgs-now-also-publishing-at.html


(genemisc)

Tracing American Indian Ancestors

Researching Our American Indian Ancestors,
is a program to be presented by Sharron Standifer Ashton at the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center workshop titled from 9 a.m. to noon June 28 in the Oklahoma History Center classroom

Read the full story on the newsOK.com website at: http://tinyurl.com/6p69zk


(genemisc)

Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri

One of the Nine Libraries to visit before you die.

So says Family Tree Magazine, about the opening of the all new Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, near Kansas City, Missouri.

Built at a cost exceeding $8 million in public funds, the Midwest Genealogy Center at 3440 S. Lee’s Summit Road is part of the Mid-Continent Public Library system. The spacious, 50,000-foot center is meant to serve an audience well beyond serious researchers.

Once its shelves are filled, the facility will feature tens of thousands of family history books, local history items, rolls of microfiche and maps, along with computers and printers.

A few of the features are:
Oversized parking spaces for recreational vehicles.
Padded seats and lots of desks.
Classrooms where genealogical issues can be discussed.
A small dining area.

Link to the full story in the Kansas City Star:

Here is A map to the area:

While in Independence you would should also visit the Harry S. Truman Library Museum.

Readers of this Genealogy Miscellanea Blog are encouraged to report in, if you have additional knowledge of this fine facility. do so by leaving comments under this posting.



Genealogy Miscellanea

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies to Hold Annual Conference

International Jewish Genealogical Society News:

TERRE HAUTE — The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies will stage its 28th Annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Chicago on Aug. 17-22.

The conference will be presented in the Chicago Downtown Marriott Magnificent Mile Hotel. Co-hosting the occasion will be the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois and the Illiana Jewish Genealogical Society.

Read More: http://tinyurl.com/3lbl75



(genemisc)

National Archives and Ancestry Sign Contract to Digitize More Records

The National Archives (NARA) has signed a contract with Ancestry to digitize many more records.

The following article is from the online newspaper examiner.com.

You will soon be able to find more information on your immigrant ancestors. Thanks to a new
partnership between Ancestry and the National Archives.

NARA based in Washington, DC and the Ancestry Web site signed an agreement that would allow Ancestry to digitize many of its records and make them available online for family tree
enthusiasts.

With this agreement, Ancestry will make passenger arrival and departure lists between 1897 and 1958 available. Researchers will also be able to find death notices for U.S. citizens abroad between 1835-1974.

Ancestry has around three million users.

www.examiner.com

Read the full article on the examiner website: http://tinyurl.com/3jv4n8

Readers of Genealogy Miscellanea Blog may take advantage of the:
Ancestry.com Free Trial




(genemisc)

Genealogy Miscellanea Has New Sponsor - NewspaperArchive

NewspaperArchive is our newest sponsoring advertiser.

This is the world's largest database of digitized historical newspapers that you will find online.

This is where you will find those obscure life stories about your ancestors, as well as obituaries, births, marriage announcements, history and genealogy.

By subscribing through the Genealogy Miscellanea website you will be helping us to help you. Thank you for your support and please visit us often.

Laptop Thief Caught by the Laptop

Friend attends house party, steals laptop.

The owner was very computer savvy and had remote control software that she could use to watch the online activity of the thief and she even took his photograph for the police.

Read the whole story on Dick Eastman's Genealogy Blog at:
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/05/stolen-laptop-c.html



(genemisc)

Interactive Census, Totally Unique!

The 1860 Federal Census is now "interactive"!

You will be able to add your own personal information to the listing.

Footnote has been a pioneer in this interactive feature and it will be just like the inter-active Vietnam Wall that is available for free on Footnote, which was written about in a previous Blog HERE:

If you do not yet have a subscription you should check it out and take advantage of the Footnote FREE TRIAL!


Here is the actual press release from Footnote:

Footnote 1860 census interactive news release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 7, 2008

FOOTNOTE ADDS TO ITS LEADING CIVIL WAR COLLECTION BY LAUNCHING THE FIRST-EVER INTERACTIVE 1860 US CENSUS

Footnote’s innovative tools enable members to enrich the census records by adding photos, comments, and related documents to names featured on the records.

Lindon, UT – Today, Footnote announced the addition of the 1860 US Census to their Civil War Collection. As the largest online collection of original Civil War documents, this new addition to Footnote provides a snapshot of America before the bloodiest war in its history.

The 1860 US Census reveals many details about individuals at that time. What was their occupation? Where were they born? What was their marital status? Did they attend school? Could they read or write? Was your ancestor insane, idiotic, or a convict? The 1860 US Census will let you know.

“Is the 1860 US Census already on the internet? Yes,” says Russ Wilding, CEO of Footnote. “But what makes the census different on Footnote is that these documents become interactive.”

Footnote has developed tools that enable visitors not only to find someone in the census, but also to enrich the records by adding photos, linking related documents, and contributing insights to any name on the record. “Now they’re not merely names on a document,” explains Russ Wilding. “They become people as the contributions start to tell a story about that person.”

This past March, Footnote released a similar project using the same technology with an interactive version of the Vietnam War Memorial. For each name on the Wall, a visitor can view military service information, attached photos and comments. The success of the project is overwhelming as priceless contributions are added to the Wall. Footnote expects similar results with the launch of the 1860 US Census.

At Footnote, it’s more than just looking at a historical document. History becomes a living subject on Footnote as documents from archives come together for the first time on the Internet. Visitors to Footnote can add their own contributions and upload their own shoeboxes of information. Letters, documents, and photos from the past create a view of history that few have seen before.

Every month, two million new documents are added to the site and over a million people visit the site. Footnote promises to continue to deliver new discoveries for those whose interests range from the serious historian to the casual visitor looking for something entertaining.

To view the Civil War Collection including the 1860 US Census, visit Footnote today.

About Footnote, Inc.

Footnote is a subscription website that features searchable original documents, providing users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote, all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit Footnote.

DNA Doubles. Have you found your look-a-like?

Twenty two years on a genealogy research trip to Salt Lake City, I came across information on a group of relatives that left the east and went out to the upper mid-west by way of Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The descendants of my great grandmother’s brother were now living in and around Pierre, South Dakota.

We had made many trips to the Family History Library, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) (The Mormon Church,) usually flying commercially from Upstate New York. This time we had driven and on the return trip one morning we were filling up in Nebraska and upon looking at the road map it was just too tempting. Pierre was only about a 600 mile side trip, minor detail.

A telephone call to a man whose name and address had been located in the LDS records found him home, and he was happy to hear from a relative from back east, but I should call his cousin, who was REALLY into genealogy.

Another call found a nice lady that was thrilled to hear from a distant cousin and, “Do, please come and visit!” Didn’t have to ask twice. After a ride through the Bad Lands we arrived at her door, and were welcomed graciously.

The lady was my mom’s direct third cousin, so she was my third cousin once removed. Neither of us knew anything at all about each other before this meeting. She was intense and stared deeply at me throughout the short meeting. Her kids were all coming home for the weekend and they lived all over the country, so we could not stay long. She shared some family heirlooms, old letters, a civil war diary and we talked about our common ancestor, which she knew of, but had no information on any of his descendants, other than her own line.

After trading addresses and phone numbers, we were about to leave, when she proclaimed, “Ever since you arrived at the door, I was shocked by how you look EXACTLY like my brother when he was your age!”

Well we have all heard that before right? About two weeks after returning home there was a nice package of family records to add to my data base, and I had sent her a package as well. She sent a large family gathering photograph, you know the type, a family reunion where everyone lines up, short ones in front, and we all say cheese.

This photo had been taken probably in the 1920’s or 1930’s. Standing in the back row center was “ME!” Now I don’t mean looks a little like. It was ME! Unbelievable!

My mom was still alive and she knew that I had the genealogy bug and she loved it. She also knew that I had met people out west that were related.

So I showed her the group photo of the South Dakota people and asked her if she knew anyone. After a couple of minutes, she proclaimed, “Well I see YOU, but who the heck are the rest of these people?”

This story is extremely similar to one that was just recently published in the “Seattle Times” Newspaper, about a man by the name of Ron Schwert who had traveled to Konstanz, Germany to visit his ancestral roots hometown. Ron was on the trail of his German ancestors. Ron found out where the Schwerts were buried in Binningen, only 20 miles from Konstanz

After finding some of the graves he and his wife stopped at a local gasthaus. Ron explained that he was looking for information about the Schwert family.

The pub owner made a phone call, and soon Franz Schwert came in the door.

They were all speechless. Franz and Ron were doubles, separated by five generations!

Read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/3fw86g


Do you have a similar story? If so, just add it to the "comments" box of this Blog message and we can all share the fun.







(genemisc)

Recluse dies in motel leaving $263,000 in cash in room

Police are asking for help to locate a possible brother and daughter of
John Richard Grant, who was discovered deceased in his motel room at the Sheldon Motel, in Sheldon, Sioux County, Iowa.

Sheriffs discovered some papers, the back of a gold watch and other belongings, and in two vinyl cassette tape cases was $263,000, most of it in $50 and $100 bills.

They immediately began searching for relatives. There was no reason to believe Grant got the money illegally, so the money should go to his next-of-kin, they said.

A possible brother is said to be working as a harbor master for the U.S. Navy in Japan. The late John R. Grant, a WWII U.S. Navy veteran, also might have a daughter. Again, nobody seems certain -- at least not yet.

Grant had documents showing he served in the Navy during World War II. He was buried April 17 at the Keokuk National Cemetery. His obituary noted he was born on Nov. 7, 1925, in Rochester, N.Y. His parents were Harold and Cora Grant.

Grant paid $500 per month to stay at the motel. Officials say he had also stayed in Kansas, Minnesota and near Chicago.

Read the full story in the “Telegraph Herald” newspaper at: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=200007




(genemisc)

Native American Genealogy Lecture

The Stevens County Historical Society and Museum in Morris, Minnesota will host a special program on researching Native American Ancestry on Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Certified Genealogist Paula Stuart-Warren will present a workshop on Native American genealogy titled “Researching American Indian Ancestors.”

Read the whole story on the website of The Morris Sun Tribune newspaper at http://tinyurl.com/6gtkub



(genemisc)

Latest Update on the Living With Wolves Holocaust Hoax

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Email contact: Caroline Best
distribution.media@gmail.com

April 9, 2008


Publisher seeks to overturn $33 million judgment


The third act of a decade-long legal drama began on April 8 when publisher Jane Daniel filed a complaint to overturn the judgment against herself and her company, Mt Ivy Press, brought by Misha Defonseca and her ghost writer Vera Lee, over their book, MISHA A Memoire of the Holocaust Years. The trial ended in 2001 with an award to the plaintiffs of $11 million, which was trebled by the court to $33 million, then the second largest award in Massachusetts history.

"This case has been an unbelievable ordeal. My hope now is that I will be able to restore my good name," says Daniel. The new lawsuit follows the stunning confession by Defonseca on February 28, 2008 that her autobiographical account of walking 3,000 miles across the European theater of war, at the age of seven, searching for her deported Jewish parents, at times living with wolves, was completely fabricated. Her book, an international bestseller, has been translated into 18 languages and made into a French feature film, "Survival with Wolves," that premiered in Paris in January.

Although there were historians who questioned the authenticity of the story, the hoax went unchallenged for twenty years until an American genealogist, Sharon Sergeant, unearthed documents that proved Defonseca's real identity and showed that she had spent the war years in the home of her Catholic family.

Daniel's attorney, Joseph Orlando of Gloucester, MA says his client's case is unprecedented in his experience. "In my 30 years of practicing law, in the Federal and State Courts of Massachusetts, I have never seen a party commit a fraud on the Court of this magnitude, nor a greater wrong inflicted on a litigant. Defonseca perpetrated a fraud based upon one of the greatest historical tragedies known to mankind, the Holocaust. Her reprehensible conduct mocks the unimaginable suffering of millions of Jews at the hands of the Nazis."

In July of 2007, Daniel began writing a book based on her decade-long legal battles and posting chapters as a blog, BESTSELLERthebook.blogspot.com, with the request that anyone having information on the case contact her. Five months later, forensic genealogist Sharon Sergeant emailed her expressing her belief that she could solve the mystery. The clues were limited. In Defonseca's account she says she never knew her Jewish surname, her date and place of birth or any family names. The name she used, Monique DeWael, was a "false identity," she said, given to her by the Belgian "foster family" that hid her from the Nazis. In addition to the lack of personal information on Defonseca, Sergeant's efforts were hampered by Belgium's privacy laws that seal all vital records for 100 years.

Sergeant assembled a team that included real Jewish hidden children in the U.S. and Belgium who were the key to bringing the truth to light. "This work was very 'close to the bone' for them. It brought back excruciating memories of their own lost families," says Sergeant. "They obtained Defonseca's baptismal record and her first grade school registration that provided the central evidence needed to uncover the fraud."

When the documents appeared on Daniel's blog, they set off a firestorm across the Belgian and French media, with hour-by-hour new revelations of mounting proof that Defonseca's "memoire" was based on lies, including an interview with her 88-year-old cousin who recalled her as a child. After ten days of intense pressure, Defonseca released a statement in the leading daily newspaper, Le Soir, saying, "It is not the truth but it is my truth. I always felt Jewish."

The text of the entire complaint is online at: Complaint Against Misha Defonseca, et. al.

# # #

Revolutionary War Patriot Soldiers

----------------------------------------------

Revolutionary War Patriot Soldiers

If you have an ancestor that was a Revolutionary War Patriot there is a good chance that you will now be able to find out information on him from original source documents.

For many years if you thought your ancestor might have been a Revolutionary War Patriot then you used to have to first find out from an index if his Revolutionary War Military Service Record or his Revolutionary War Pension File might exist at the National Archives. Then you had to fill out a form and send in a $40 fee for each file and pray that you would get lucky and be able to obtain a photocopy of some of the important papers from either file.

Now with the modern age of computers and the Internet, you can find that information out almost immediately, and you can even see extremely high quality digital scans of the original source documents. Thanks to a company named Footnote you may do a free search to see if records exist, and then for a small annual fee you may even download each and every piece of paper from the Revolutionary War Pension File, or of various types of Revolutionary War Service Records.

Footnote has a contract with the National Archives (NARA) to provide these digitized records online, and you can instantly see if the files are the ones you want rather than sending in the $40 fee and perhaps obtaining photocopies of the wrong file.

Genealogy Miscellanea has made arrangements with Footnote to provide our readers with an absolutely Free Trial of 100% use of almost 30 million original documents and they have hundreds of thousands more being added every month.

You will have to register for your 100% Free Trial, but if you are not satisfied in any way, you may cancel at any time during the trial period.

We Love Footnote and they are our favorite resource on the web. We think you will agree.

Give them a try. Check out what is online now.

Follow this link: Download Original Historical Documents or any of the Footnote Banner Ads on this website to obtain the totally Free Trial.

Federation of Genealogical Societies Convention in Philadelphia 2008

The website and program is now up describing the Convention in Philadelphia September 3-6, 2008. The FGS Conference this year is titled "Footprints of Family History."

The programs are filled with delicious subjects and will be presented by an enormously capable list of specialists.
Make your reservations early and I hope to see you there.

Read all about it at: http://www.fgsconference.org/index.php

The National Archives and The Generations Network to Enter into a Contract to Digitize Documents

The National Archives (NARA) is asking for your input regarding the letting of a contract between NARA and The Generations Network (TGN) the parent company of Ancestry.

NARA wants to make a non-exclusive agreement that would allow TGN to digitize certain parts of the holdings at NARA.

There is an existing similar contract with the footnote company that is already in place and footnote has been doing a fabulous job of bringing digitized microfilm online. It has been a real pleasure to read all of the actual pieces of paper that are in an ancestor's "complete" Revolutionary War Pension file.

Another great collection that is already available is the digitized index file cards of the Civil War Pensioners and their widows.

The National Archives is asking for feedback on this proposed arrangement.

Thanks to Dick Eastman for letting us know about this.

You may have a free trial at both of these fine companies by visiting the links provided here.

Google, friend to Genealogists

********
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.

genemisc

Upcoming Genealogy Events

*****************
Happenings...
*****************

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.

(genemisc)

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.