New Ancestry Database

I just found out about a new Ancestry database by looking on Ancestry's blog. I just thought that I would mention that Ancestry has posted a new immigration database. The immigration manifests for the Mexico-U.S. border crossings have now been posted. You can find out more here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1344

New Proquest Database

I just learned about a new Proquest database from an e-mail today. I think some libraries, mainly university libraries would have it. The new Proquest database is on the U.S. Civil War. The article about the database is below:

http://il.proquest.com/pressroom/pressrelease/07/20070501

I just wanted to let everyone know.

A Genealogy Novel Blog

I just learned about this work-in-progress novel blog from an e-mail, and I thought I would mention it. It is a mystery novel with a genealogical twist, and is very well written. I have enjoyed all of the chapters that the author has posted so far, and I cannot wait for the next post.

Here is where you can find the novel: http://harrymcfryinvestigates.blogspot.com/

Yet Another Rootsweb Website

I've just learned about another website from an e-mail. This Rootsweb site has many links to British Isles genealgoy and research. I haven't fully checked out this website yet because I haven't had time.

Here is the link to the site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lancsopc/RUS/Guide.htm

Another Genealogy Website and Resource

I learned about this website earlier today from an e-mail. It is a Rootsweb website, and it is a website where one can post their family group sheets. The site is divided into the fifty states of the United States and international. I've taken a brief look at the website, and I think it is a good resource even though I haven't found any connections yet.

Here is the URL address for the website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usfgs

A Genealogy Website

I just thought I would mention this website. I've known about it for a little while, but I haven't done much exploring on the site because I haven't had much time. From what I have seen, the website looks to be a how-to-do genealogy and more. Also the website has videos on different genealogy topics.

Here's a link to the website: http://www.rootstelevision

Another Interesting Maritime History Book

As I promised yesterday, I will write about another maritime history book that I found interesting. The book I'm talking about is Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, The U.S. Exploration Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking: New York, NY, 2003).

As the title of the book states, the book is on the U.S. Exploration Expedition and the voyage's accomplishments. Before I read this book, I did not know anything about this voyage. This book is very interesting, and I highly recommend it to anyone, not just adults, to read.

Free Access to Immigration Records

In case you haven't heard, yet Ancestry is offering free access to its immigration records. You can find more information about this offer on Ancestry's blog: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1264

Another Martime History Book

I have just recently finished reading two other interesting maritime history books, one which I will write about in another post.

The latest maritime history book that I have read is Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen (Perennial: New York, NY, 2004). As you can see from the title of the book, this book is about Ferdinand Magellan and the expedition he led, but the book is not completely focused on Magellan. Rather, the book is focused on the voyage as a whole and the history behind the voyage. Also the author includes world history and events that is relevant to the time period of the voyage.

The book is quite fascinating, and I learned more about the voyage from this book than I learned from a textbook.

I must give one note of caution, though: I would not recommend this book to anyone younger than 17 because there is some information in the book that could be considered a little graphic. Other than that, it is an excellant book.

News on Ancestry.com

I just recently read an interesting article on Ancestry.com's blog about their offer of free genealogy help in the future at Jamestown. From what I have gathered from the post, this offer is to people find out whether or not their ancestry traces back to Jamestown. It seems to be a generous offer, but I don't know if they are going to offer free access to databases on their website to everyone else. Not everyone will be able to go to Jamestown to take advantage of the offer. (It would be nice if that did happen.)

You can read more about this offer here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1261#more-1261

I wonder what Ancestry.com's customers think about this offer. I realize that it costs money to put records online, but I have to agree with others that Ancestry's subscription prices are a little too exorbitant. From what I have read of other people's comments (I realize that this is not the most a reliable source), Ancestry.com apparently has had recently a poor track record when it comes to customer service. From what I have read of some of the comments on Ancestry's blog, Ancestry removed some records late last year without notifying its customers, which of course, angered many customers, and that Ancestry has been slow in responding to customer complaints.

To those who are Ancestry.com customers, what do you think about this offer?

Two More Censuses for Scotland Added on Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com has just added the 1881 and 1901 Censuses for Scotland online as of yesterday. At least it was yesterday for Ancestry Library, if the cenuses were added earlier to Ancestry.com. (I do not have a subscription to Ancestry.com; I can get Ancestry Library from a local library.)

You can read more about it, on Ancestry's blog:
http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1236

A Little About Me

In case you were wondering, here is a little about myself: I have been doing genealogy for about three-and-a-half years. I realize this not a long time, but I don't consider myself an expert in genealogy. (I'm not.)

Changes - Editing

I just wanted to note that I did edit a few of my previous posts. Most of the editing was for grammatical and spelling errors, but I did add the rest of the title and publishing information of the history books that I have recently posted. I added that information to make it easier for other people to find those books and to let other people know which edition of the book that I was describing.

Another Interesting History Book

This past fall, I finished reading another history book, To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World by Arthur Herman (Harper Collins: New York, NY, 2004). The book is a history of the British navy from its beginning under the Tudors to the Falklands War. I found the book to be very interesting and fascinating.

I realize that this book has nothing to do with genealogy, but I have an interest in nautical history. Again, I recommend this book to anyone. My hope is that others who read this book will enjoy it as much as I have.

Background Change

I changed the background to this blog because I believed this background - I don't remember who created it, but it wasn't me - fits better with the subject of genealogy and history. The background colors remind me of historical documents.

An interesting history book

Over a year ago I read the book, Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the American Dream by H. W. Brands (Double Day: New York, NY, 2004), and I found it to be very interesting. The book is on the history of the California Gold Rush of 1848. I did not know a whole about the gold rush, and I learned a lot about the history of that time period.

If you have ancestors who moved to California during the Gold Rush or if you have an interest in the history of this time period, I highly recommend reading this book.

Hello

This is the first time that I have ever posted on a blog, so please bear with me. I do my family's genealogy on the side when I have time. Since I don't have a lot of time, I won't be posting on a daily basis but only when I have time.

Either way, I hope to post on some of the research techniques that I am using or have used in the past in doing my genealogy on this blog. In addition I hope to post some historical facts or books that I think others may find interesting.