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Was it Genealogy or Family History?

December 28th, 2007
Posted in General | No Comments

ge·ne·al·o·gy  (jclip_image001clip_image002nclip_image001[1]-clip_image003lclip_image004clip_image005-jclip_image001[2], -clip_image006lclip_image004[1]-, jclip_image007nclip_image002[1]clip_image001[3]-)

n. pl. ge·ne·al·o·gies

1. A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors; a family tree.

2. Direct descent from an ancestor; lineage or pedigree.

3. The study or investigation of ancestry and family histories.

[Middle English genealogie, from Old French, from Late Latin geneclip_image008logia, from Greek geneclip_image008[1]logiclip_image008[2] : geneclip_image008[3], family; see genclip_image005[1]- in Indo-European roots + -logiclip_image008[4], -logy.]

geclip_image002[2]ne·a·logclip_image004[2]i·cal (-clip_image005[2]-lclip_image003[1]jclip_image004[3]clip_image009-kclip_image005[3]l) adj.

geclip_image002[3]ne·a·logclip_image004[4]i·cal·ly adv.

geclip_image002[4]ne·alclip_image004[5]o·gist n.

Hmm…that’s a big word. As a kid I always had a hard time saying it. I still have a hard time spelling it! If you feel uncomfortable with that big word but you still want to do the work—try this pronunciation:

fam·i·ly his·to·ry

Yup, they’re the same thing! But seriously, if you want to start working on your personal family history, now is a great time to start! It has never been easier to find information on ancestors. {you know, those people who originally bought that interesting plate that has been handed down for generations} Thanks to the Internet (lets all sing Hallelujah!) you have so much information at your fingertips! Can you feel the power yet?

Still stumped as how to start? Well, lets start with numero uno (as my dad would say). Meaning you!

1. What is your name?

2. What is your birthday

3. Where were you born?

4. Who are your parents?

For some individuals, #’s 3 and 4 could pose problems. That’s when you start exploring your options:

1. Get a copy of your birth certificate

Or

2. Start bribing your parents friend and/or siblings with obscene amounts of money, chocolate, your firstborn—whatever it takes—for information.

*personally I would recommend option #1, although #2 could be much more interesting.

If you’ve flown thru the first 4 steps easy peasy, then find out all that same information for each of your parents and keep going back until you can go no farther—and you’ve run out of people who are alive to get information out of. This process is also called: Compiling a Pedigree Chart—yup, just like if you were a prized racehorse! And of course being the modern internet savvy people that we are—you can easily do a Google search for specific people. Say you found that you have a Gr-Gr-Grandmother named Bridie O’Malley who was born around 1857—just type in that name and the year in and you’d be surprised at how much information you come across. Of course there are lots genealogy/family history companies out there just waiting to help you—so if you have some time, take a tour through a handful of sites—see what you find.

www.genealogylocator.com

www.genealogy.com

www.ancestry.com

www.genealogy.org

www.familysearch.org

www.genealogy.about.com

Popularity: 54% [?]

Family History Overhaul

October 1st, 2006
Posted in Ancestry.com, Directories, Genealogy Research, General, Search | No Comments

The Deseret News wrote
a lengthy article on the changes that are going to be taking place with familysearch.org.
Here are some of the highlights:

  • “New online tools will allow novices to log on and

Popularity: 99% [?]

Preserving old formats

September 26th, 2006
Posted in General | No Comments

I have been reading some different articles the past few weeks that deal with preserving old formats of data. The old formats might be audio tape, VHS, old floppy disks, etc… With the change in technology it becomes more difficult to find ways to access the data (most computers don’t have floppy drives anymore), and the data becomes deteriorated. After reading these articles I realized that I have some old audio tapes of interviews that I conducted back in college of my grandmother and grandfather. I have already transcribed them and have the documents saved on my computer along with printed copies, but I haven’t listened to the tapes in over 10 years, so I don’t know what the quality is. These articles have been a wakeup call to me that it is time to get the tapes onto a cd and also have a digital version on my computer. I am usually pretty good about updating files on my computer to the latest formats which should help them stay current for awhile.

Here are some links to the various articles discussing old formats.

Preserving Audio

Going
Digital Doesn’t Mean Forever

Popularity: 54% [?]

Relay for Life

August 5th, 2006
Posted in General | No Comments

Last night I had the opportunity to participate in the American
Cancer Societies “Relay for Life“. For those
who have never seen one of these events, it consists of a tribute to cancer survivors
and also remembers those who have lost their lives to cancer. I spent the night (10
hours worth) walking around a high school track. During the early hours of the morning
I had the opportunity to ponder things. As I was walking I saw many similar family
names. This got me to thinking about genealogy and how important it is to trace your
genealogy and now your families medical history so you can work on prevention rather
than treatment.

If you even have the chance to participate in one of these events I highly recommend
it. It is a very solemn experience and was well worth the time that I gave to it.

Popularity: 54% [?]

Where to Write for Vital Records

July 27th, 2006
Posted in Directories, Genealogy Archives, Genealogy Research, General | No Comments

The National Center for Health Statistics hosts a very
useful web page that provides the contact information for every state where you
can write to obtain vital records for births, deaths, marriages, and divorces that
have occurred in your family history. Application
Guidelines for obtaining vital records are also provided.

To obtain a certified copy of birth, death, and marriage certificates, write or go
to the vital statistics office in the State where the event occurred. Addresses and
fees are given for each event in the State concerned. Because all fees are subject
to change, a telephone number has been included in the information for each State
so you can verify the current fee. These pages also provide web page addresses of
each State’s vital records office(s).

Be sure to type or print all names and addresses in the letter.

Give the following facts when writing for birth or death records:

  1. Full name of person whose record is requested.
  2. Sex.
  3. Parents’ names, including maiden name of mother.
  4. Month, day, and year of birth or death.
  5. Place of birth or death (city or town, county, and State; and name of hospital, if
    known).
  6. Purpose for which copy is needed.
  7. Relationship to person whose record is requested.
  8. Day time telephone number with area code.

Give the following facts when writing for marriage records:

  1. Full names of bride and groom.
  2. Month, day, and year of marriage.
  3. Place of marriage (city or town, county, and State).
  4. Purpose for which copy is needed.
  5. Relationship to persons whose record is requested.
  6. Day time telephone number with area code.

Give the following facts when writing for divorce records:

  1. Full names of husband and wife.
  2. Date of divorce or annulment.
  3. Place of divorce or annulment.
  4. Type of final decree.
  5. Purpose for which copy is needed.
  6. Relationship to persons whose record is requested.
  7. Day time telephone number with area code.

Where to Write for Vital
Records

Click on State where birth, death, marriage,
or divorce occurred:A

AlabamaAlaska

American Samoa

Arizona

Arkansas

C

California
Canal Zone

Colorado

Connecticut

D

DelawareDistrict of Columbia

FFlorida

Foreign or high-seas
events

G

GeorgiaGuam

HHawaii

IIdaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

K

Kansas
Kentucky

LLouisiana

MMaine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

NNebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

(except New York City)

New York City
North Carolina

North Dakota

Northern Mariana Islands

O

Ohio
Oklahoma

Oregon

P

Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico

RRhode Island

SSouth Carolina

South Dakota

T

TennesseeTexas

UUtah

VVermont

Virginia

Virgin Islands

WWashington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Popularity: 56% [?]

Official State Archives for All 50 States of the U.S.

July 20th, 2006
Posted in Blogs, Directories, Genealogy Archives, Genealogy Research, General, Search | No Comments

Here is a nice listing of the Official State Archives for all 50 states of the U.S. and 3 territories This listing includes the official department name, address, telephone numberr and web site address. One can research and find at these sites documents such as public records, registered maps, books, papers, directories, land records, and other writings and records which appertain to the political history and past administration of the state government. Typically, these are repositories for the state’s permanent governmental records as well as other materials documenting the state’s history. These types of items can help you find leads and provide more understanding when researching your ancestors and family history.

Alabama Department of Archives and History
624 Washington Avenue
P.O. Box 300100Montgomery, AL 36130-0100
Tel: 334-242-4435
www.archives.state.al.us/index.html		 Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums
141 Willoughby AvenueJuneau, AK 99801-1720
Tel: 907-465-2270
www.archives.state.ak.us		 Arizona Department of Library, Archives, and Public Records
1700 West WashingtonRoom 442, State Capitol
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Tel: 602-542-4159
www.lib.az.us/archives

Popularity: 72% [?]

31 Internet Genealogy Lessons

July 19th, 2006
Posted in Blogs, Directories, Genealogy Research, Genealogy Tutorials, General, Search | No Comments

To complement Jeff’s post today on Beginners
Guide to Genealogy, here are a total of 31 genealogy lessons for both beginner
and intermediate genealogists These genealogy tutorial lessons will help you in your
important work of researching, finding, and documenting your family tree and family
history, and are provided by Genealogy.com. The beginning lessons show you
how to find information online and where to start looking, while the intermediate
lessons dive deeper into genealogy research and show you things such as conducting
online research, writing your family history, cemetery records, digital photographs,
genealogy CDs, and organizing your online research. Have fun with these and good luck
with your family history research!

Beginning
Internet Genealogy: Getting Started on the Net


Intermediate Internet
Genealogy: Powerful Tools for Internet Research

Popularity: 100% [?]

Search Genealogy - Personal History at National Archives

July 17th, 2006
Posted in Directories, Genealogy Research, General, Search | No Comments

The National Archives hosts this excellent “Genealogy / Personal History” search
page in the Access to Archival Databases
(AAD) section of the their site. You can search each one of these 16 databases separately,
or you can search them all at once using their search form on this page. I found several
members of my family searching some of the databases here.

Search
Genealogy / Personal History at National Archives

16 series, listed chronologically

Series and Files No. of Records
Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine,
created, 1977 - 1989, documenting the period 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851		 Search 607,822
 
Index to the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Registers, created, 1979 - 1991, documenting
the period 1906 - 1991		 Search 26,213
 
World War II Army Enlistment Records, created, 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002, documenting the
period ca. 1938 - 1946		 Search 9,200,232
 
Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947, documenting the period
12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946		 Search 143,374
 
Records About Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, created, 1988 - 1989,
documenting the period 1942 - 1946		 Search 109,384
 
Records of Duty Locations for Naval Intelligence Personnel, created, 1942 - 1945,
documenting the period 1942 - 1945		 Search 33,208
 
Records of Military Personnel Who Died as a Result of Hostilities During the Korean
War, created, ca. 1977 - 11/1979, documenting the period 1/1/1950 - 2/7/1957		 Search 33,642
 
Records on Korean War Dead and Wounded Army Casualties, created, 1950 - 1970, documenting
the period 2/13/1950 - 12/31/1953		 Search 109,975
 
Records of Repatriated Korean War Prisoners of War, created, 1978 - 1980, documenting
the period 7/5/1950 - 10/6/1954		 Search 4,447
 
Records of American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, created, 1950 - 1953,
documenting the period 1950 - 1953		 Search 4,714
 
Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War
as a Result of the Vietnam Conflict, created, 1/20/1967 - 12/1998, documenting the
period 6/8/1956 - 1/21/1998		 Search 58,965
 
Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam Conflict,
created, ca. 1983 - 6/19/2002, documenting the period 10/21/1957 - 3/19/1991		 Search 58,179
 
Records of Deceased, Wounded, Ill, or Injured Army Personnel, Including Dependents
and Civilian Employees, created, 1/1/1961 - 12/1981, documenting the period 1/1/1961
- 12/1981		 Search 293,858
 
Records of Awards and Decorations of Honor During the Vietnam Conflict, created, 5/1969
- 3/1973, documenting the period 12/1965 - 11/1972 472		 Search 80,701
 
Records About the Proposed Sale of Unregistered Securities by Individuals, created,
1/4/1972 - 9/29/2000, documenting the period 1/4/1972 - 9/29/2000		 Search 809,220
 
Records on Trading of Securities by Corporate Insiders, created, 7/11/1978 - 3/12/2001,
documenting the period 7/11/1978 - 3/12/2001		 Search 5,502,888
 

Popularity: 52% [?]

Adding inurl to a Google Domain Search

July 13th, 2006
Posted in Cemeteries, Genealogy Research, General, Search | No Comments

As a follow-up to my blog post yesterday showing how to do a domain
search on Google, I would now like to demonstrate the use of the “inurl:”
search criteria, adding it to the domain search. I would like to do this so I can
search on a single state or county name, or other names, such as cemeteries,
census, directories, history, military, photos, or schools. When using “inurl:”, be
sure that it specifies a valid directory name on the web server, or a part of the
web page name. So, to change my search, ”site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ Yale”,
to only look for Yales in the state of Connecticut, I add the 2 character abbreviation
for Connecticut (ct) to ”inurl:”, giving ”inurl:ct”, because I know that
some Yales lived in this state, and now I’d like to find more of them, not just Elihu.
My Google search now becomes “site:ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ Yale
inurl:ct”, and it returns 17
results, which is a doable amount to drill-down on and research further.

Now I’d like to show you how to use the domain and inurl search criteria on another
site, namely FamilySearch.org. Because FamilySearch.org already
has an excellent search engine that we can use to research our ancestors, and its
relatively easy to use, we normally would not perform a Google domain search using
“site:www.familysearch.org”. However, when performing this domain search on Google,
and adding “inurl:search”, a total of 89,800
results are returned. When analyzing some of these results I saw that they could
be useful for my genealogy research if I add a surname, as I have done here:
“site:www.familysearch.org inurl:search Yale”, as it now returns 353
results. Then, adding a year, a first name, a state name, a county name, a city
name, or a cemetery name will further limit the search results and assist me in finding
what I’m looking for. In this case, I added the city name of “Hartford” and now have 12
results to look at. It is not possible to search on a city name or cemetery name using FamilySearch.org’s
regular and advanced search forms, so this Google search gives me results I could
not otherwise obtain.

I hope my explanations for using Google’s site and inurl search criteria will help
you do a better job at researching and finding your ancestors. In my next blog
post I will investigate and discuss using the “inurl:” criteria without the
“site:” criteria on Google. This can be useful when searching for more generic terms,
or specific city names, county names, or even surnames.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Monroe County Library System

July 13th, 2006
Posted in Directories, General, Libraries, Search | No Comments

The Monroe
County Library System has their history department online with various resources
for those looking for information in Monroe county. Here is some of the information
that they have:

  • Digitized versions of the Rochester
    City Directories     from the 1820s to the 1890s, with more on the way.
  • A Life
    Records     database that includes indexes from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and Times
    Union     of paid death notices from 1960-2006, birth notices from 1978-2003, and
    marriage notices from 1965-2003. Also included in this database are records from the Brockport
    Republic     newspaper covering the years 1856-1923. Copies of the
    original notices may be ordered from the Rochester Public Library.
  • An indexed collection of the publication Rochester
    History    , a journal published from 1939 to the present that contains articles on
    the history of Rochester, Monroe County and western New York.
  • The Rochester
    Images     database, which houses thousands of images including historical and
    contemporary photographs, maps, and manuscripts from Rochester and Monroe County.
  • Indexes to
    valuable primary source materials such as federal and state censuses, Civil War records,
    and cemetery records from Rochester and surrounding towns.
  • Information on how to contact local
    municipal historians     for further information.



Popularity: 56% [?]