Largo Area Historical Society Meeting - 13 January

Catch the monthly meeting of the Largo Area Historical Society on 13 January, 2014. The meeting starts with a covered dish supper at 6:30 pm followed by a business meeting and speaker.

This month the speaker will be Jim Kramer who will present his latest video showcasing Largo's historic landmarks.

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine | Forum

Check out this forum of the WDYTYA Magazine. You will find requests for research assistance as will as chats about genealogy topics in general and episodes of WDYTYA specifically.

You can, of course, post questions and contributions of your own.

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine | Forum

Use Google Books to Get Free Copies of Pages of Family History Library Books

Here is an excerpt from the FamilySearch Blog:

Earlier this year, FamilySearch announced a free lookup service for genealogy books and microfilm available at the renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The response was overwhelming, 1000s of people contacted us to take advantage of this free service. Another way to utilize this service is to start with limited preview Google Books and get us to scan the entire page and email it to you for free.

The link below takes you the the Blog for an in-depth explanation of how to use the service and how to use Google Books in conjunction with it.

Use Google Books to Get Free Copies of Pages of Family History Library Books

Happy Holidays

Happy holidays to all from Pinellas Genealogy Society!

Largo Area Historical Society Open House

The Largo Area Historical Society will hold an open house at the Historic Feed Store in Largo Central Park from 10 am to 2 pm on January 4, 2014. Drop by and see the exhibits of artifacts from Largo’s past. Society members will be on hand to give explanations and answer questions.

Welcome Largo Area Historical Society As a PGS Organizational Member

PGS seeks to demonstrate its support of other organizations which share our objectives in promoting the research and preservation of ancestral families and their histories.

We are pleased to announce the Largo Area Historical Society as an organizational member.

In the early 1970's, an idea for a historical society evolved from the Area Development Committee of the Greater Largo Chamber of Commerce. Largo Area Historical Society, Inc. was granted a charter on October 17, 1973. Early preservation projects of the Society included saving approximately 28 of the City's original 1915 brick streets, the Lowe Barn, and the historic Feed Store which was moved to Largo Central Park in 1992, to name just a few.

The mission of the Society is to provide historical education, promote Largo’s rich heritage, and strive for preservation of historical documents and places of interest.

·         The Society meets the 2nd Monday of the month (except March, July, and August) at the historic Feed Store (295 Central Park Dr., Largo). Meetings start at 6:30 pm with potluck followed by a business meeting and a speaker.

·         The historic Feed Store is open to public tours from 10-2pm every 1st Saturday (except July and August).

American Battle Monuments Commission

Established by Congress in 1923, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) commemorates the service, achievements, and sacrifice of U.S. armed forces. ABMC manages 24 overseas military cemeteries, and 26 memorials, monuments, and markers. Nearly all the cemeteries and memorials specifically honor those who served in World War I or World War II.

However, interments from other wars are also included in the databases. For instance, the Mexican War, Spanish American War, and the Korean War are also included.

Check out the website at:  American Battle Monuments Commission

Family Dynamics: An Important Consideration During Any Event

In his Genealogy Tip of the Day,  Michael John Neill points out that what is going on in the family during any genealogical event (death, move, etc.) in important to explore. It may lead to additional important information, and surely will give a greater appreciation of our ancestors’ lives.

Check out his tip at:  Genealogy Tip of the Day: The Microdynamics of Death

Shelby County Register of Deeds Provides Online Data

Check out the Shelby County, Tennessee Register of Deeds website for links to many data files including Marriage indexes and images from 1920-1989, and death records from 1848-1962.

There are also links to marriage, divorce, and death records indexes at the Tennessee vital records website.

Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register of Deeds

Cook County, Illinois Records Online

If you have ancestors from the Cook County area of Illinois, you may find the Cook County website Genealogy Online helpful.

There you will fine birth certificates 75 years or older, marriage licenses 50 years or older, and death certificates 20 years or older.

You need to establish an account to use the site, but it is free to register.

Check it out at:  Cook County Clerk's Office - Genealogy Online

Madison County, Alabama Records

If you have research interests in Madison County, Alabama, check out this link to the Madison County Records Center.

You will find links to indexes for Marriage records, Probate records, confederate pensions, naturalization records, and more.

I searched for a grooms name in the marriage record collection and came up with an index entry showing the names of the groom, bride, the volume and page number of the entry, and the date of the license.

Check it out at:  Madison County Records Center

List of Occupation Abbreviations

Old documents often mention occupations our ancestors are involved in, but to save space those occupations are often abbreviated.

GenealogyInTime Magazine recently made a compiled list of occupational abbreviations available to us. It may be a useful reference as you do your research.

Find the list at:  List of Occupation Abbreviations

Most Popular Names for Girls

OK, so this on is not the most genealogically relevant site I’ve ever referred you to…but it is fun.

An animated map shows you the most popular girls names for babies state by state. The time period covered is form 1960 to 2012. The whole affair is color coded to help you see the changes from map to map.

If you scroll down the page, a static version of each maps is displayed for more careful examination.

Have fun: Map: Six Decades of the Most Popular Names for Girls, State-by-State

Guidelines to Preserving Family Archives

Here is an article that appeared in thejournal.ie a short while ago. It gives us guidelines for preserving our paper documents.

The guidance includes how to handle paper, what plastic sleeves to use, what boxes to use, warnings about using glue and tape, and where to store it.

Check it out at:  Hidden History: The guide to preserving your family archive

Family History Respository Service In Action

PGS member Karen Fortin is shown working at the book scanner at the Largo Public Library. She is digitizing donated family history research papers for entry into the Family History Repository.

The FHR Service opened its doors just last month. It has been established to give researchers a place to harbor their work when they decide that they want to retire their research collection or there is no family member who is able to continue the effort. In these cases, the FHR stands ready to accept the material.

To be accepted, the material must be an original work product (family group sheets, pedigree charts, narratives, notes, etc.), it must be unpublished, and the author or other authorized person must be willing to pass control of the material to PGS.

Online Data for Michigan: Chippewa, Luce, and Mackinac Counties

The Bayiss Public Library is located on the Canadian border at the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula. It makes available to us some genealogical information for Chippewa, Luce, and Mackinac counties. Of the three, most of the information deals with Chippewa County.

You can find cemetery transcriptions, biographies, and hotlinks to some local records resources as well as the local genealogy societies.

Check it out at:  http://www.baylisslib.org/