57th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 57th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read the edition here. The topic for the next edition will be:

" Halloween Hauntings... Fact or Fiction? We're going to have some fun with the Carnival of Genealogy this time around. Halloween is coming up in a few weeks. In keeping with the spirit of the season, write a story about or including one of your ancestors. It can be fact or fiction. Don't tell which it is (until after October 15 when the COG is published), let your readers guess. We should all get some great comments as readers try to determine if our Halloween genea-story is fact or fiction! Was your ggg grandmother a witch? Did you live in a haunted house when you were growing up? Were there bats in Aunt Betty's belfry? Did you ever meet up with a ghost when you were looking for an ancestor's grave? See if you can stump us! The deadline for submissions is October 15th.

To All COG Participants: Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!"

Enjoy!

Another New Poll!

I've just created a new poll to determine which eras in Michigan's history interest my readers. I probably will not be posting any articles on Michigan's history until next year, but I want to find out what my readers would be interested in reading, so that I can start to do research on topics from a time period.

Here are the choices for time periods:

• Pre-1763
• 1763-1796
• 1796-1837
• 1837-1865
• 1865-1900
• 1900-Present

As to how I chose the time periods, I just focused on different time periods that I thought would work well for this poll. I don't know if historians would divide Michigan's history in the way I did, but the first three time periods were chosen based upon when Michigan was a colony of the French and the British, when the United States gained control of Michigan, and when Michigan became a state. You can choose more than one time period for this poll. Enjoy!

Military History Reading Challenge: A List of the Books I Read

I have finally completed the Military History reading challenge! For those who might be interested, here is a list of the books I read with links to the reviews of each book I read

• Silent Night: The Story Of The World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub
• Because Each Life Is Precious: Why an Iraqi Man Risked Everything for Private Jessica Lynch by Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief and Jeff Coplon
• Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution by Laurent Dubois

Well, those are the three books I read for this challenge. I enjoyed reading each of the books, and I would recommend them to others as well.

Military History Reading Challenge: Book Review 3

I have just finished reading my last book for the Military History reading challenge, and as a side note, I will be posting the list of the books I read with links to the reviews. The book I chose for my last choice was Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution by Laurent Dubois (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004).

Why did I choose this book? Well, this one of the books I am supposed to read for one of the two history classes I'm taking this semester. I could have chosen to read another book for this challenge, but since I enjoyed reading this book, I thought I would write a brief review about it. In addition, I do not believe many Americans know much about the Haitian Revolution, so I thought this would be excellent book for those who do not much about the revolution in Haiti. (Before I read this, book I hardly knew anything about the Haitian Revolution outside of the fact that the slaves in Haiti revolted against their masters around the same time as the French Revolution.)

Laurent Dubois' book gives background into what society on the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) was like prior to the revolution, and he especially highlights the racial character of the society's hierarchy. In addition he explains that the white landowners' push for autonomy from France and denial of political rights to the free, colored landowners was the foundation for the Haitian Revolution. (The fight for legal rights created tensions between both sides.) In addition, the French Revolution's ideals would also began to feed into the problems in Saint-Domingue, but as the revolution in Haiti continued, it would also influence the path of the French Revolution.

In short, I thought it was an excellent book, and I liked how the author put the revolution in context with what was going on outside of Haiti at that time. Additionally, I felt the author's explanation of the social conditions in Haiti was excellent, and I felt that his description of Saint-Domingue's society gave me a better understanding of why events in Saint-Domingue and France occurred as they did. If a person wants to read about the Haitian Revolution, this is one book that should be read.

No Shades Of The Departed Guest Column This Week!

Yes, there isn't a Shades of the Departed guest column this week; however, footnoteMaven has posted an article on a photographer and one of his photos. You can read the article here. Enjoy!

Google Analytics Statistics For September 2008

It's the beginning of a new month, so it is time for the results of the previous month. (Yes, I'm a day late this time, but I have been really busy in the last few days. Anyhow, I can't believe it is October already.) So, here are the results for September 2008:

The top ten countries, in number of visits, are:

1. United States - 590 visits
2. Canada and United Kingdom - both tied at 25 visits
3. (Not set, unlisted) - 6 visits
4. New Zealand - 5 visits
5. Australia - 4 visits
6. Sweden and Philippines - both tied at 3 visits
7. Ireland - 2 visits
8. Serbia - 2 visits
9. Luxembourg - 2 visits
10. Argentina - 2 visits

The top ten states in the United States, in number of visits, are:

1. Michigan - 139 visits
2. California - 76 visits
3. Illinois - 72 visits
4. Texas - 50 visits
5. Pennsylvania - 36 visits
6. (not set) - 26 visits
7. New York - 19 visits
8. Ohio - 18 visits
9. Washington - 13 visits
10. Virginia - 12 visits

The top ten places in Michigan, in number of visits, are:

1. Kent County - 104 visits
2. Oak Park - 9 visits
3. St. Joseph - 6 visits
4. Redford - 6 visits
5. Grand Rapids - 5 visits
6. Berkley - 2 visits
7. Livonia - 2 visits
8. Birmingham - 1 visit
9. Franklin - 1 visit
10. Lansing - 1 visit

The top ten posts read this month are:

1. Such Lovely Hairstyles, But Who Are They? - 35 views
2. I Love Your Blog Award ... - 31 views
3. Tombstone Maker Website - 24 views
4. I've Been Tagged Again! Well, Not Exactly ... - 20 views
5. My German Ancestors: Naming Patterns and Odd Names ... - 16 views
6. And Another Mystery Photograph ... - 15 views
7. 22nd Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted! - 14 views
8. 10th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 13 views
9. Getting To Know Me, Getting To Know Jessica's Genejournal - 12 views
10. 10 Essential Genealogy Books That I Have Or Wish I Had - 12 views

Well, that is it for September's results. To those who read this blog, thank you for reading! Enjoy!

A New Challenge: The Polish History and Culture Challenge!

I just happened to learn about a new challenge, the Polish History and Culture Challenge, when I visited Donna's blog today. Articles in the categories of genealogy, history and culture will be accepted, and even if you do not have Polish ancestry, you can still participate.

As far as I know, I do not have any Polish ancestry although that could change as I do more research on my German ancestors from the Russian Empire. I do know that they spoke Polish in addition to German, so anything is possible. I do hope to participate in this challenge, so stay tuned for future posts on Polish culture and history. Enjoy!

Getting To Know You Roundup Posted!

The getting to know you roundup has been posted! The roundup is in three parts, and you can read all three parts here: Part One, blogs 1-15, Part Two, blogs 16-30, and Part Three, blogs 31-42. (If the links do not work, the roundup is on Terry's blog, Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi.) Enjoy!

New Databases Added to FamilySearch Lab's Record Search

I forgot to post on the FamilySearch Lab's Record Search databases update when they were updated a few days ago. The databases added or updated are:

• Vermont Probate Records - Only 14% has been added so far.
• Catholic Church records of Avila Diocese, Spain
• 1850 and 1870 censuses

I'm glad that FamilySearch is updating the records, but I would like to see the Michigan Vital Records updated, since some records that I have found in clerk's books in that period are not in the database. Also, I would like to see Michigan added to the World War Two draft cards. Oh, well. I'll just wait.