Federal Census Fun

If you want a fun, informative and interactive adventure exploring 220 years of the US Federal Census, go to the following link:

1940 U.S. Census Release | Federal Census Data

Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch

Having trouble finding the SSDI at FamilySearch? Put this link in your favorites:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1202535

“Sketchy” Sources Have Their Use Too

Harold Henderson, Writing in Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, gives us an insight to the value of those less-than-credible sources we often run across…you know the type…online family trees, for example.

His point is that they can provide leads, if not proof. Harold ends his piece with a comment that is now on my list of favorite quotes: “Leads document our chase, and later on higher-quality sources document our case…”

Read the full article at:

Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog: Cite Your Low-Rent Sources!

More Than Just The Obituary

Here is a great tip from Michael John Neill, especially for those of you who like to peruse old newspapers. It has to do with what can appear in print some time after the obituary.

You can find the tip at:

Genealogy Tip of the Day: Not Just an Obituary

Free Search of UK Burial and Cremation Records

The website Deceased Online is a fee site, but allows a free search. After the search you can decide if you wish to buy credits to get more information.

Deceased Online is the first central database of statutory burial and cremation registers for the UK and Republic of Ireland -- a unique resource for family history researchers and professional genealogists.

Until now, to search these records you had to approach about 3,000 burial authorities and nearly 250 crematoria in the UK alone, each independently holding their own registers, mostly as old fragile books. No official central repository exists.

Deceased Online is changing this.  They are making it possible for burial and cremation authorities around the country to convert their register records, maps and photographs into digital form and bring them together into a central searchable collection.

The growing database, holding records mainly from the 1850s onwards, can provide invaluable information for researching family trees, and can reveal previously unknown family links from other interments recorded in the same grave.

You can access the site at:

Burial records, cremation records, grave maps, genealogy and ancestry at Deceased Online

Schedule of Events for the 2013 PGS Seminar

Here is the schedule of events for the PGS seminar to be held all day on 9 February 2013:

Speaker: Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

8:00 AM	Registration; continental breakfast
8:40 AM	Opening
9:00 AM	Cryptic Clues in the Bone Yard
10:00 AM	Break
10:15 AM	Love Letters, Diaries, and Autobiographies: Lets Leave’em Something to talk About
11:30 AM	Lunch
12:30 PM	Break Out Speakers   Peter Summers: Topic "The OTHER Census Documents -- Explore census records created beyond the population listing we normally use." Debbie Hagner: Topic TBD   Debra Fleming: Topic TBD
1:30 PM	Break
1:45 PM	The Silent Woman: Bringing a Name to Life
2:45 PM	Break
3:00 PM	Flesh on the Bones: Putting Your Ancestors into Historical Perspective
4:00 PM	Closing

For a bio of Sharon DeBartolo, the featured speaker, see the post for 30 Oct 2012.

You can find pricing and additional informaton at the PGS website. There you will also find a registration form. The website address is http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flpgs/

National Archives Raises Prices

The National Archives recently raised it prices. Probably the increase that affects us the most that concerning the ordering of records.

Use the following link to get to the page that shows the increase for ordering various military records: http://goo.gl/4mDJo

Once you are on that page, click on the link for "Military Service and Pension Records."

If the above link does not function, use this longer one:

https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SWECmd=GotoView&SWEScreen=GPEA+Catalog+Screen+FFO&SWEView=GPEA+Made-To-Order+Reproduction+Landing+Page+View+FFO

Check Out the ProGenealogists Website

The ProGenealogists website offers many articles and tools to promote your genealogy research. There is a lot of free stuff if you explore the “Research Tools” tab at the top of the page. Check it out at:

Professional Genealogists in Utah - Worldwide Research | ProGenealogists

(Thanks to Randy Seaver and Genea-Musings for this tip.)

Topographical Maps Can Pay Off

William Dollarhide, writing in the Genealogy Blog of Leland Meitzler, gives us a detailed explanation of the use one can make of a topographical map, specifically the 7.5 map series of the US Geological Survey.

His article explains the maps well, and gives many examples of how they can be used to further genealogical research.

The Pinellas Genealogy Society has two classes that explain the uses of several different types of maps, as well as give suggestions about where to find them. “Topo” maps are one of those included in the discussion.

If Dollarhide’s article sparks your interest at all, check out the PGS class list (on the society website http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flpgs/index.htm) to be sure you don’t miss the next time one of those classes is scheduled.

You can find the article at the following address:

http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=22008

Question Everything…Even Birth Certificates

Sharon Tate Moody gives us some things to consider in our research, even when that research involves birth certificates—records we tend to take at face value.

Sharon, writing in Tampa Bay Online (TBO.com), gives us several examples of where the information on birth certificates can be misleading, or flat wrong. She points out that the only primary evidence on a birth certificate is that concerning the live birth of the child…nothing else.

Check out the article at:

Take time to check out birth records | TBO.com

PGS Annual Seminar To Be Held 9 February 2013

The Largo Public Library cosponsors the Pinellas Genealogy Society annual seminar. In addition to the featured speaker, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack (see 30 Oct post for her bio), there will be other activities for attendees:

The annual book sale will be in the rear of the conference room.  The tables will be open before the seminar and during break periods.

A representative of the society and membership information will be available at a table in the lobby.

Lunch will be provided as part of your advance registration.

Great door prizes and raffles will be offered throughout the day.

If you are in need of a place to stay overnight during the seminar, the Hampton Inn offers a discount.  For details, see page www.flpgs.org/moteloffer.aspx or our special events page.

   For pricing, registration form, and additional information, see the PGS webpage at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flpgs/ . You can also drop by the Genealogy Center at the Largo Public Library and pick up a seminar brochure.

Congratulations to Sharon Tate Moody

Eight years ago this month, Sharon's column, "Heritage Hunting" appeared for the first time in The Tampa Tribune. I have enjoyed her articles immensely, and have often referred to  them in this blog for your enjoyment and education as well.

Keep up the good work, Sharon.

FamilySearch Add Texas Death Records

The FamilySearch website has recently added new images of Texas death records for the period 1890-1976. The records are also indexed.

These are state-wide records and include delayed certificates, foreign deaths, and probate obituaries. There are almost nine million images in the collection. You can search the collection by using the following link:

Search Results—FamilySearch.org — Free Family History and Genealogy Records

A Way to Uncover Family Stories

Sharon Tate Moody in one of her articles for Tampa Bay Online gives us a personal experience where she used a family portrait to spark memories of long-ago events in her aunt.

Knowing how to ask relatives questions to help them reveal those long-buried memories is a skill a family historian needs. This article gives some ideas about that and does it in a compelling way.

Read Sharon’s article at   Use props to pry out family stories | TBO.com

Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes - Updated

Joe Beine has a number of great indexes of websites dealing with specific topics that he keeps updated. One of those is an index of online Birth and marriage records.

He has recently updated those indexes and posted the changes on his Genealogy Roots Blog. The blog post will give you a link to the indexes themselves.

Genealogy Roots Blog: Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes - Latest Additions and Updates