I thought that these articles might help someone. I don't know how many people know of these two articles that were posted on the 1st and 9th.
Posts
Indiana Genealogical Society blog
19 years ago
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Two Interesting Blog Articles
I forgot to mention these two blog articles on Olive Tree's blog when they were posted several days ago. I think these two articles are interesting and very helpful:
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Another Genealogy Book
A few days ago I went to my local library, and it was still holding a book sale. At that book sale I found another genealogy book. I haven't read the book yet, but I think it would still be very useful. The book is Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives by the National Archives Trust Fund Board (National Archives And Records Service: Washington D.C., 1982). There maybe a more recent version, but I'm not completely sure. This book has several pictures in it. Given its date, other libraries probably have copies of this book.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Four More Genealogy Blogs Added to List
I realize I haven't posted anything in the past several days; however, I have just recently added a few more genealogy blogs. These blogs are:
- Larry Lehmer's Passing It On
- Tim Agazio's Genealogy Reviews Online
- SJ's My Genealogy
- Indiana Genealogical Society
If anyone has anymore suggestions for history or genealogy blogs, feel free to leave a comment with the address to the blog.
Friday, July 6, 2007
More Genealogy blogs posted
I've added several more genealogy blogs to my genealogy list on the left side. The ones that I just added are:
- footnoteMaven
- Cow Hampshire
- Dana Huff's Our Family History
- Lori's Smoky Mountain Family Historian blog
- Moultrie Creek
- OakvilleBlackWalnut
I know that this isn't a comprehensive list of all the genealogy blogs out there, but if some has a suggestion for genealogy or history, he or she is more than welcome to post a suggestion.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Two Other History Books
I realize that Independence Day was yesterday, but I thought I would just mention these two books, in keeping with the spirit of this season.
The first history book that I want to mention is A Nation on Trial: America and the War of 1812 by Patrick C. T. White (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. : New York, 1967). I just bought this book today at my local library, so I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Apparently the book is on the history of the War of 1812 and the U.S.'s diplomacy surrounding the war.
The next history book is also about the War of 1812; however this book deals with the naval battles of the war. (Yes, I know; another maritime history book.) The Age of Fighting Sail by C. S. Forester (Chapman Billies, Inc.: Sandwich, MA, 1956). As I said, the book deals with the naval battles of the War of 1812. (I had to read the book for a history class.)
Anyway, I thought these books were fitting for this time of the year because our national anthem was written during the War of 1812 just shortly after Francis Scott Key witnessed the British ships bombard Fort McHenry.
The first history book that I want to mention is A Nation on Trial: America and the War of 1812 by Patrick C. T. White (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. : New York, 1967). I just bought this book today at my local library, so I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Apparently the book is on the history of the War of 1812 and the U.S.'s diplomacy surrounding the war.
The next history book is also about the War of 1812; however this book deals with the naval battles of the war. (Yes, I know; another maritime history book.) The Age of Fighting Sail by C. S. Forester (Chapman Billies, Inc.: Sandwich, MA, 1956). As I said, the book deals with the naval battles of the War of 1812. (I had to read the book for a history class.)
Anyway, I thought these books were fitting for this time of the year because our national anthem was written during the War of 1812 just shortly after Francis Scott Key witnessed the British ships bombard Fort McHenry.
More Genealgoy blogs posted
I have posted several some more links to other genealogy blogs. The blogs I have added are:
- Begat Chat
- Craig Manson's GeneaBlogie
- Christina's Shaking the Tree
- All My Ancestors
- Two Sides of the Ocean
If anyone has any suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs, please leave a comment. All suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
America, the Fourth of July, and my family
So, what does America and Independence Day mean to my family and I? Well, aside from the obvious - I wouldn't be here if my ancestors didn't come here - I realize that I am very blessed to be a citizen of the United States. Even though I was born a U. S. citizen, most of my ancestors were not citizens of the U. S. when they were born.
Although I don't know the all of the reasons why my ancestors chose to come to America - even though I plan to find out one day - I do know that a couple of my ancestors came to America with the hope that they would have more and better economic opportunities. I would not be surprised, though, if an ancestor's economic situation played a major factor in his or her decision to move to America. At the same time, I cannot imagine what my ancestors might have felt at the thought of moving to a foreign country, especially my German ancestors who would have been moving to a country where a different language was spoken and where there was a different culture. Despite whatever they may have felt, they came. So, America, to my family, has always been a place of opportunity.
As for Independence Day, my family has always associated the day with fireworks, barbecues, and remembering the efforts of our veterans in serving our country (yes, even more so than Memorial Day or Veteran's Day). While growing up, I remember watching the Detroit fireworks on TV - and once in down in Detroit - and the fireworks from the Spree, that always took place around the Fourth, from the front porch of the house I used to live in. As I grew older, my family would go on vacation around the Fourth. Last year, my family and I went out west, and a few days before the Fourth, we went to the evening lighting program at Mount. Rushmore. During the ceremony, the MC had all the veterans in the audience to come up to the stage and after the whole stage was filled up with veterans, people yelled out, "Thank you!"
So, what is my point? Independence Day in my family has always been associated with honoring our veterans and remembering how lucky we are to be free and live in the U. S. Without the immigration of all of our ancestors to the U. S. and the efforts of our veterans, the United States would not exist as it does today.
Although I don't know the all of the reasons why my ancestors chose to come to America - even though I plan to find out one day - I do know that a couple of my ancestors came to America with the hope that they would have more and better economic opportunities. I would not be surprised, though, if an ancestor's economic situation played a major factor in his or her decision to move to America. At the same time, I cannot imagine what my ancestors might have felt at the thought of moving to a foreign country, especially my German ancestors who would have been moving to a country where a different language was spoken and where there was a different culture. Despite whatever they may have felt, they came. So, America, to my family, has always been a place of opportunity.
As for Independence Day, my family has always associated the day with fireworks, barbecues, and remembering the efforts of our veterans in serving our country (yes, even more so than Memorial Day or Veteran's Day). While growing up, I remember watching the Detroit fireworks on TV - and once in down in Detroit - and the fireworks from the Spree, that always took place around the Fourth, from the front porch of the house I used to live in. As I grew older, my family would go on vacation around the Fourth. Last year, my family and I went out west, and a few days before the Fourth, we went to the evening lighting program at Mount. Rushmore. During the ceremony, the MC had all the veterans in the audience to come up to the stage and after the whole stage was filled up with veterans, people yelled out, "Thank you!"
So, what is my point? Independence Day in my family has always been associated with honoring our veterans and remembering how lucky we are to be free and live in the U. S. Without the immigration of all of our ancestors to the U. S. and the efforts of our veterans, the United States would not exist as it does today.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Michigan Genealogy - links
Even though I haven't posted on the Library of Michigan, I thought would post some links. One link that you could use in your research, if you had ancestors that died in Michigan between 1867 and 1897, is GENDIS. GENDIS is a database of early Michigan deaths that spans the years between 1867 and 1897. Although there have not been any names added to the database in the past few years, there are still transcriptions of the early death returns sent to the state. The majority of deaths for the years 1867 to 1884 are complete while after 1884, there aren't as many death returns in the database. (At least, I think that was I read in the introduction to the database.)
Another helpful link would be the University of Michigan's Online Michigan County Histories Collection. This website has many Michigan county histories online, and you can view them for free! The best way to view a page would be to chose from the menu option, next to the page number, the pdf format.
Another helpful link is the genealogy section of the Library of Michigan's website. Here you can view Michigan's 1870 Census online images for free and can print them. You can also find information on the Library of Michigan's collection of genealogy material and primary sources.
Another helpful link would be the University of Michigan's Online Michigan County Histories Collection. This website has many Michigan county histories online, and you can view them for free! The best way to view a page would be to chose from the menu option, next to the page number, the pdf format.
Another helpful link is the genealogy section of the Library of Michigan's website. Here you can view Michigan's 1870 Census online images for free and can print them. You can also find information on the Library of Michigan's collection of genealogy material and primary sources.
More Genealogy blogs and some History blogs added
As the title of this posts states, I've added more blogs to the left side of the page and I've divided the blogs into genealogy and history categories.
The genealogy blogs added are:
The genealogy blogs added are:
- Jasia's Creative Genealogy blog
- John D. Reid's Anglo-Celtic Connections blog
- The Genetic Genealogist
- Unofficial Footnote blog
The history blogs category is a new a category that I added today. You can find the history blogs right below the genealogy blogs.
The history blogs added are:
- Maggie's Civil War Women
- Old Picture of the Day blog
- Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt's History On Trial
If anyone has any other suggestions for history or genealogy blogs, please leave me a comment with the address, and I'll post them. All suggestions are appreciated.
Ancestry creates Ancestry websites for France and Italy
I've just noticed that Ancestry added an article to their blog about Ancestry's addition of two websites for France and Italy. You can read the article here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1572 . Of course, I'm wondering what type of records they added to those websites, and I'm also wondering if members will be able to access those records. I guess it will be interesting to see what develops.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Native American Records added to Ancestry
I just noticed this post on Ancestry's blog just a few minutes ago, and I thought I would post on it. Ancestry has added records pertaining to Native America genealogy. From what I read, the databases added appear to census records of reservations. You can read the rest of the article here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1573.
I don't have any experience in researching Native American genealogy, but I hope that the addition of these records makes doing genealogy reasearch easier for those doing research in Native American genealogy.
Update: 27 June 2007: I had to change the link to the article on Ancestry's blog, as Ancestry redid their posts from the past two days. I'm sorry if anyone tried the link, and couldn't find the article.
I don't have any experience in researching Native American genealogy, but I hope that the addition of these records makes doing genealogy reasearch easier for those doing research in Native American genealogy.
Update: 27 June 2007: I had to change the link to the article on Ancestry's blog, as Ancestry redid their posts from the past two days. I'm sorry if anyone tried the link, and couldn't find the article.
Michigan Genealogy 101 - Part One - Vital Records
As I promised a few weeks ago, here is the first post on Michigan genealogy! By now everyone has probably figured out that I am from Michigan, and since most of my ancestors settled in Michigan during the Mid-1800s, most of my genealogical research has been done in Michigan.
The state of Michigan began officially recording births, marriages and deaths in 1867, although some of the counties did not begin recording until 1868. You can easily find out when a county started recording vital records through the Library of Michigan's county clerk directory. (To those who already know this and are reading this post, I am sorry for repeating information.) When I read Carol McGinnus' book, I remember (I think) that she mentioned that the law called for recording vital records starting March of 1867. So, if you had an ancestor who was born or died before March 1867, the chances are that you will probably not find a civil record.
Marriages before 1867, on the other hand, may have been record by a county clerk. From what I remember, I think Carol stated in her book that county clerks were required by law, since 1805, to record marriages. Of course, that depends on when the county was formed. I know St. Joseph County has recorded marriages since 1832 primarily because I've done research in that county. Again, the link up above would probably be the best way to find out when a county started recording vital records.
If you go to the Library of Michigan to research, be aware that the Library only has vital records dating from 1867.
In my next post, I'll talk about doing research in the Library of Michigan.
The state of Michigan began officially recording births, marriages and deaths in 1867, although some of the counties did not begin recording until 1868. You can easily find out when a county started recording vital records through the Library of Michigan's county clerk directory. (To those who already know this and are reading this post, I am sorry for repeating information.) When I read Carol McGinnus' book, I remember (I think) that she mentioned that the law called for recording vital records starting March of 1867. So, if you had an ancestor who was born or died before March 1867, the chances are that you will probably not find a civil record.
Marriages before 1867, on the other hand, may have been record by a county clerk. From what I remember, I think Carol stated in her book that county clerks were required by law, since 1805, to record marriages. Of course, that depends on when the county was formed. I know St. Joseph County has recorded marriages since 1832 primarily because I've done research in that county. Again, the link up above would probably be the best way to find out when a county started recording vital records.
If you go to the Library of Michigan to research, be aware that the Library only has vital records dating from 1867.
In my next post, I'll talk about doing research in the Library of Michigan.
Friday, June 22, 2007
More Genealogy blogs posted
Over the past several weeks, I have posted links to several different genealogy blogs. Since I added links several blogs in the past several weeks, I don't remember when I posted all of the new ones, so if I miss mentioning the name of a blog, it is not intentional and you have my apologies.
Some of the blogs I have posted links to recently are:
Some of the blogs I have posted links to recently are:
- FamilySearch's FamilySearch Labs
- Jasia's Creative Gene
- Becky Wiseman's Kinexxions blog
- Miram's 'AnceStories: The Stories of my ancestors'
- Nancy Robertson's 'News from Nancy, State Librarian of Michigan'
If anyone has any other genealogy blogs that they want listed or should be listed, just post the name and a link in the comments. I welcome all suggestions.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Two More History Books
I just thought that I would mention two history books that might be useful in doing genealogy. What I mean is that these two books maybe beneficial for background information or for research. Currently, I am still reading both books at the moment.
The first book is Small Town America: A Narrative History, 1620-the present by Richard Lingeman (Houghton Mifflin Co.: Boston, 1980). As the title suggests, the book is about the history of small towns in America, and how the towns developed.
The second book is The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventh-Century New England by Edmund S. Morgan (Harper Torchbooks: New York, 1966). As this title suggests, the book is on the Puritan family.
I realize these may be old or out of print, but they may be in libraries. I just thought I would mention these two books as possible background sources.
The first book is Small Town America: A Narrative History, 1620-the present by Richard Lingeman (Houghton Mifflin Co.: Boston, 1980). As the title suggests, the book is about the history of small towns in America, and how the towns developed.
The second book is The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventh-Century New England by Edmund S. Morgan (Harper Torchbooks: New York, 1966). As this title suggests, the book is on the Puritan family.
I realize these may be old or out of print, but they may be in libraries. I just thought I would mention these two books as possible background sources.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
My Personality Type and Other Quizes
I just learned about this personality test How Rare is Your Personality? from reading Randy Seaver's post on this quiz.
Here are my results:
Well, according to this quiz, my personality is only slightly rare. Oh, well, there still isn't anyone else like me out there.
After I took that quiz, I took another personality type quiz: What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?
Here's what this quiz said:
Well, it seems to be somewhat accurate. Either way, I think these quizes are fun and really don't mean that much. There are many other types of personality quizes on the site. Some I think are really funny, and others that I don't think are appropriate.
Here are my results:
| Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP) |
 Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all menYou are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving. |
http://www.blogthings.com/howrareisyourpersonalityquiz/">How Rare Is Your Personality?
Well, according to this quiz, my personality is only slightly rare. Oh, well, there still isn't anyone else like me out there.
After I took that quiz, I took another personality type quiz: What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?
Here's what this quiz said:
| Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence |
 You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator. |
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofintelligencedoyouhavequiz/">What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?
Well, it seems to be somewhat accurate. Either way, I think these quizes are fun and really don't mean that much. There are many other types of personality quizes on the site. Some I think are really funny, and others that I don't think are appropriate.
Ancestry has teamed up with a Genetics company
I realize that I am little behind on writting about Ancestry's new partnership with a genetics company. Ancestry's blog posted this article on their blog within the past few days: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1542.
I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. I haven't given much thought about genetic genealogy primarily because I have only been doing genealogy for the past four years. Personally, I think genealogy is much more interesting and fun when one is digging through old documents. My concern is that if Ancestry is going to have DNA data put into an electronic system, they will charge an extreme amount for other people to access. Also, if DNA data is going to be digitized and available on the internet, wouldn't that information be easily stolen by hackers? I know that this concerns may seem to be trivial, but has anyone taken any consideration of the consequences of what Ancestry and Sorenson Genetics are doing?
It would be nice if the price of DNA testing kits dropped; then it would be much easier for those who are interested in genetic genealogy to take time to have their DNA tested. Since I really do not know much about genetic genealogy, I don't believe I have the qualifications to write very much on genetic genealogy.
I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. I haven't given much thought about genetic genealogy primarily because I have only been doing genealogy for the past four years. Personally, I think genealogy is much more interesting and fun when one is digging through old documents. My concern is that if Ancestry is going to have DNA data put into an electronic system, they will charge an extreme amount for other people to access. Also, if DNA data is going to be digitized and available on the internet, wouldn't that information be easily stolen by hackers? I know that this concerns may seem to be trivial, but has anyone taken any consideration of the consequences of what Ancestry and Sorenson Genetics are doing?
It would be nice if the price of DNA testing kits dropped; then it would be much easier for those who are interested in genetic genealogy to take time to have their DNA tested. Since I really do not know much about genetic genealogy, I don't believe I have the qualifications to write very much on genetic genealogy.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
"MyHeritage Site"
I just learned about the "MyHeritage" genealgoy site a few days ago from reading an article on Randy Seaver's blog. You can read his article here: http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/2007/06/visiting-myheritage-data-portal.html#links .
I don't know how many people already knew about this site, but this was the first time I heard about. I didn't post anything on this website earlier because I was testing out the site. This site has a search engine that will search for a surname and up to ten variations of that surname that are listed on genealogy sites. The engine simplifies searching for genealogy information by only looking at genealogy websites. In order to use that search you have to register and download a program that will enable you to carry out the search. The search may take a while to complete as it is searching a very large number of genealogy websites, and it may take longer to finish if your computer runs slow. Unfortunately, my computer runs slow and everytime I tried to do a search my computer froze. So, I really have not been able to truly test this site out, which is frustrating to me. So, you may want to keep in mind if you do decied to use this search engine, your computer may run slow.
Of course there is more to this site than the search engine; I just haven't had chance to check out the rest of the site as a result of the problems I have had with my computer. If you are interested, here is the link to the site: http://www.myheritage.com/
I don't know how many people already knew about this site, but this was the first time I heard about. I didn't post anything on this website earlier because I was testing out the site. This site has a search engine that will search for a surname and up to ten variations of that surname that are listed on genealogy sites. The engine simplifies searching for genealogy information by only looking at genealogy websites. In order to use that search you have to register and download a program that will enable you to carry out the search. The search may take a while to complete as it is searching a very large number of genealogy websites, and it may take longer to finish if your computer runs slow. Unfortunately, my computer runs slow and everytime I tried to do a search my computer froze. So, I really have not been able to truly test this site out, which is frustrating to me. So, you may want to keep in mind if you do decied to use this search engine, your computer may run slow.
Of course there is more to this site than the search engine; I just haven't had chance to check out the rest of the site as a result of the problems I have had with my computer. If you are interested, here is the link to the site: http://www.myheritage.com/
A Useful Article of Tips from Ancestry's Blog
I forgot to mention this article earlier in the week when it was posted on Ancestry's blog. The article is on how to determine the religious affliation of your ancestors. I read this article with a great interest because I am having difficulty determining the religious affliation of some of my ancestors. Without knowing my ancestors' religious beliefs, I will defenitely have difficulty tracing my ancestors. I hope to use some of the tips in this article.
You can read this article by clicking on this link: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1501
You can read this article by clicking on this link: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1501
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Ancestry.com is working on Canadian passenger lists
I forgot to mention this; it was posted a couple of days ago. Ancesty.com is working with a Canadian group to index Canadian passenger lists. You can find out more information on ancestry's blog: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1488
Of course, you know what that means: another Ancestry database.
Of course, you know what that means: another Ancestry database.
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