Learn How To Avoid Scams and Frauds

Join the PGS for its monthly meeting on 19 July at 11 am in the Jenkins Room of the Largo Public Library and hear Officer Poinsette of the Largo Police Department speak on "Scams and Frauds for Seniors."

Before the meeting and starting at 10 am, is a Q&A session on all things related to genealogy and computers. Plan to join us for both events, free and open to the public.

Historical Newspapers by State

The University of Pennsylvania Library offers a list of online historical newspapers, organized by state.

The list of papers is not exhaustive, of course, but all states in the Union are represented (I didn’t do a state-by-state check, but it’s a long list. Some states have just a few papers linked, while others have upwards of a dozen, and Pennsylvania has a bunch, as you would imagine.

Each listed newspaper is a hotlink to the sponsoring site, and next to each listed newspaper you will find the range of publication years covered.

Newspapers by State - Historical Newspapers Online - Guides at Penn Libraries

British Pathé Now on YouTube

Over 80,000 historical videos from British Pathe’ have recently been uploaded to YouTube. These may not directly relate to one of your ancestors (but who knows!), however they are great for getting historical context for when your ancestors lived and what they did.

Warning—once you start viewing these videos, you may not be seen again for days. They are highly addictive.

British Pathé - YouTube

Irish Grave Stone Photos, Transcriptions, and Records

The site From-Ireland.net features photos, transcriptions, and records of Irish grave stones. The records boast over 70,000 records referencing hundreds of Irish graveyards, and spanning all 32 counties.

The site offers more than grave records, and is worth your while to explore.

You can find the site at:  From Ireland: Free Irish Genealogy

Free Australian Newspapers Online

For those with Australian ancestors, this site featuring free digitized newspapers may be just the things you need. Newspaper articles can do much to understand the daily lives led by our ancestors.

Check it out at:  Newspaper Home

Greater Largo Library Foundation Honored

Kudos to one of our PGS Organizational Members--the Greater Largo Library Foundation.

The GLLF brought home the Outstanding Program Award from the annual conference of the Florida Library Association Friends, Foundations and Boards held at Lake Buena Vista on May 8.

Here is the press release:
    The Largo foundation was awarded for its annual Art Hop and Taste Fest, in its seventh year.
    "It is an honor to receive this recognition from the Florida Library Association and know that the hard work of many in our Largo community who use their time, talents, and treasures to make this event happen every year are being honored," stated foundation president Lynn Pippenger.
    The Art Hop and Taste Fest features displays by more than 30 artists and artisans and samplings from over a dozen fine restaurants and bakeries. Most of the event takes place in the library, but it also incorporates a bus ride to participating local businesses throughout the evening.
    "The business owners love to be included, and have found that the traffic generated by the event has a lasting positive effect on their traffic," narrative submitted for the award stated.
    The foundation has one paid employee who provides direction, but the event has always been community and volunteer driven. This year, more that 250 tickets were sold for the event, with about 300 people in attendance, raising $18,000.
    The foundation also has taken responsibility for programming the artwork for the library gallery, dubbed the Gallery 120 @ Largo Public Library. Previously overlooked by patrons, this large space now boasts some of the best local artistic talent available.

The PGS, a member of the GLLF Board, and GLLF have long been partners in promoting the services of the Largo Public Library. Again, our most enthusiastic congratulations.

Fold3 Databases Now Available through the Largo Public Library and the Genealogy Center

Pardon the repetition, but this news is so big that I am making several repeat posts to be sure readers get the word.

Great news! The Fold3 databases are now available through the Largo Public Library and the Genealogy Center.

For those of you not familiar with Fold3, it consists of over 60 million pages of historical documents, most of which have been digitized in partnership with the National Archives.

It offers collections of city directories, historical newspapers, naturalization documents, and more. But its specialty is really military records...from the Revolutionary War to the present day. It includes such records as rolls, rosters, compiled service records, and pension applications.

With Fold3 you can search, view, print, and save any of the images in the collections.

The subscription invested in by the library includes some special archive collections in addition to what has been described. Those collections are most notably the  Native American , African American, and American Revolution Archives.

Fold3 offers an enhanced search interface with filters, as well as two levels of viewers to make searching for documents and managing search results easy.

Fold3 is accessible from any computer in the library as well as from home if you access it through the Largo Public Library website and log on with your library card number.

If you use the computers in the library Genealogy Center, there are volunteer consultants who will help get you started and demonstrate use of the site. Printed instructions are also located next to each of the workstations in the Genealogy Center.

This is a great resource, and our thanks goes to the library for making it available.

 

PGS Educational Events for the Week of 15-21 June 2014

On Wednesday, 18-Jun-14 at 10:00 AM there will be a class on using Familysearch.org.
The class will demonstrate how to search the vast databases available on this rapidly expanding site made available from the LDS (Mormon) genealogy collection. Bryan will be the instructor, and the event is in the Local History Room of the Largo Public Library.

Also, the PGS monthly meeting will be replaced this month with a guided tour of the Largo Area Historical Society museum collection at the Historic Feed Store. The tour will begin at 10 am on Saturday, 21 June. The Feed Store is located in Largo Central Park (across Central Park Drive from the Library and just south of the Largo Cultural Center).

Antiques Appraisals at Heritage Village - 21 June 2014

There will be an Antique Appraisal Fair at Heritage Village on Saturday, June 21  from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.  It is sponsored by the Pinellas County Historical Society.

Local experts can give you an idea how much your treasures are worth at this fund raiser supporting Heritage Village. 

Appraisal costs are $5 per item or $12 for 3 items.

For more information see:  http://www.pinellascounty.org/Heritage/

Online Louisiana Vital Records Index

If you have ancestors from Louisiana, you will probably be interested in the vital records index offered by the Louisiana Secretary of State.

You will not see images of the documents, but you will be able to search by name and other criteria for death, birth, and marriage records. There are privacy restrictions that must be honored: 50 years for death and marriage records, and 100 years for birth records. That creates some limitations that are explained on the website.

Check it out at:  Online Public Vital Records Index

Nebraska, State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch.org has started a new collection of searchable Nebraska state census records for 1885. This census is important to genealogists because it was taken in close proximity to the lost 1890 federal census, and it listed every member of the household.

Many people ended up in Nebraska after the Civil War following the lure of homestead land, so the collection is well worth checking out, especially if you have “lost” someone during this period.

Nebraska, State Census, 1885 — FamilySearch.org

PGS Educational Event for the Week of 8-14 June 2014

Wednesday, 11-Jun-14 at 10:00 AM--National Archives--Finding Data. This is a detailed explanation of how to get the most out of the NARA website (other than ordering records—we have another class for that). Topics will focus on finding data online, using the catalog system, preparing for a visit, and finding genealogy assistance. The class is in the Local History Room of the Largo Public Library.

Indiana Digital Historic Newspaper Program

The Indiana Digital Historic Newspaper Program is operated by the Indiana State Library and seeks to provide free, online access to quality digital images of Indiana’s historic newspapers.

The collection currently contains over 14 thousand issues comprising about 95.5 pages. Most of the collection dates from 1855 to 1900, but some issues are event earlier, and some are later.

The collection is searchable by name or key word, and the images appear with your search terms highlighted. When you follow the link below, click on one of the tabs in the upper left of the screen (search, titles, dates, tags, help) to get started.

Search the collection at:  Indiana Digital Historic Newspaper Program

Genealogy Latin Dictionary

In your research have you ever run across any of those pesky Latin phrases that leave you puzzled and frustrated…and furiously searching online for a translation?

GenealogyInTime Magazine recently published a handy online Latin dictionary aimed at genealogists. You may want to browse it ad initio and you may discover one of your ancestors was filius nullius or was caught flagrante delicto one day. Ceteris paribus, this is a  site you will want to bookmark and keep handy.

Check it out at: Genealogy Latin Dictionary (Page A)