Cemetery Records for Dickinson County, Iowa

If you have ancestors who hung out in Dickinson County, Iowa, this collection of county cemetery records may be what you are looking for. The collection covers sixteen cemeteries and provides a map and searchable records for each.

Scroll down to the end of the list of cemeteries, and you will find a merged listing where you can look at all of the cemetery indexes at one time. Each of the record sets, including the merged set, is an alphabetized list that gives you deceased name, cemetery name, lot, date and year of birth/death, and some brief comments.

Check it out at:  Cemetery Records - Spirit Lake Public Library:

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The British Colonist Digitized and Online for Free

The British Colonist was published in Victoria and served the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, sometimes being the only paper available.

This online collection by the Universityof Victoria offers editions running from 1858 to 1951, You can browse by date or fill in the blanks for an advanced search.

Check it out at:  The British Colonist 1858-1951:

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PGS Events for the week of 28 August to 3 September

Tuesday, 30-Aug-2016 at 6:00 PM--AmericanAncestors.org: Searching the Online Databases--American Ancestors, the website for the New England Historic Genealogical Society, provides more than 1 billion records in over 450 databases online. Although much of the collection focuses on New England, records from around the U.S. and even some from other countries are available. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the website, and will go through the basics of searching these extensive databases, available free at Largo Library. Fortin, Local History Room, Largo Library.

Saturday, 3-Sep-2016 at 10:00 AM--Family Tree Maker User Group--Questions & Answers and Demonstration of how to use the Family Tree Maker genealogical database software. Hosmer/Bryan, Local History Room, Largo Library. This is the first meeting of the Fall season after 3 months off for the summer.

Irish Historic Directories Database

Given the research value of directories -- city, school, etc. -- this database of over 1,000 links to historic Irish directories is a treasure. Each directory listed is a hotlink to the text itself. Those that require subscriptions are so listed. Typically, if a directory has free access, it is downloadable.

You can search the database by text, location (county) or date.

Check it out at:
Directory Database:

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New York City Marriage Index Free online

According to the "Reclaim the Records" website: "This collection contains images of the index to New York City marriage records. These records were originally kept by the New York City Clerk's Office, and were later moved to the New York City Municipal Archives. For many decades the data was only available to the public in microfilm format, and only able to be viewed onsite at the Municipal Archives building in lower Manhattan." Reclaim The Records digitized the microfilm and made the images available in 2016.

The rolls of microfilm can be sorted by title and date published. A top level name search is not available, but once you click on a title, you can browse through the roll. Once you select a roll to browse, click on the magnifier icon near the top right of your screen. That will reveal the browse controls in the bottom right of the screen. There is a "Search inside" box in the upper right of the screen, that did not appear to be working when I tried it.

Check it out at:  
NYC Marriage Index : Free Texts : Download & Streaming : Internet Archive:

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Pennsylvania Civil War Soldiers Death Records Free Online

If you have Civil War ancestors from Pennsylvania who perished during the war, this site will be of interest to you.

Deaths are listed by battle (Antietam, Cold Harbor, Gettysburg), and POW camp (Andersonville, Florence, Richmond). There are also a few other lists available such as Pennsylvania deaths reported in newspapers, and Pennsylvania Civil War soldier executions.

The information given in some of the entries is surprisingly detailed.

Check it out at:
PA Civil War Soldiers - Pennsylvania Civil War Soldiers Death Records - Free Pennsylvania Genealogy:

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FGS and NPS Join to Tell the Stories of Over 130,000 U.S.- Mexican War Soldiers

August 8, 2016 – Austin, TX. and Brownsville, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the National Park Service’s Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park announce a partnership to develop a searchable database of more than 130,000 soldiers of the U.S.-Mexican War.

The database will allow descendants of U.S. soldiers to connect to their personal history and help Palo Alto commemorate and tell the stories of these soldiers. After the database is developed, unit histories, digitized documents, and information on U.S.-Mexican War soldiers will be added. Efforts will also be made to include names and information about Mexican soldiers in this war.

"FGS is thrilled to partner with the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park for this important preservation project,” said FGS President D. Joshua Taylor. “We look forward to working with our member societies and volunteers to provide new access to records for those researching the Mexican War."

Palo Alto Battlefield is also pleased with the partnership. “National Parks tell the stories of America,” said Superintendent Mark Spier. “Palo Alto Battlefield is excited to have the opportunity to work with the Federation of Genealogical Societies to tell the stories of the thousands of soldiers who served in the U.S.-Mexican War.”

To help bring these soldiers’ stories to life and to be a part of this momentous preservation project, indexing volunteers should contact Project Coordinator Patricia Rand, The Villages, FL, at projects@fgs.org.

Explore The Library and Archives Canada

If you have ancestors from Canada, I'm sure you know how valuable the Library and Archives Canada can be. But as with all large collections of research materials, it can sometimes be intimidating to try and sift through all they have for the specific things you want.

The Library and Archives has tried to simplify that process, however, with a few top-level pages that you can browse to try and drill down to what interests you. By clicking on the link below, you will end up at a page listing major collections by type, and on the left you can easily change that to browse by topic or browse alphabetically.

At the top of the page is a tab titled "Online Research," and when you mouse over it, you will be presented with a list of topics. The ones that may be most profitable are "Ancestors Search," "Military Heritage," and "Censuses."

It will pay to take your time and explore the various labels, tabs, and topics so you can better use this amazing resource.


Browse by Type - Library and Archives Canada:

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Florida State Genealogical Society Fall Seminar to Be Held 1 October 2016 in Tampa.

Here is information we received from the Florida Genealogical Society about their upcoming seminar:

"Tampa's annual Fall Seminar is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday October 1, 2016, at Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Public Library.

 "We are extremely pleased to announce that Judy G. Russell, "The Legal Genealogist", will be our speaker for this year's seminar titled “Ladies, Losers & The Law”.  Judy’s reputation as a superb speaker is sure to entice you to attend this great day of informative lectures. 
  
"Lunch will be provided by Alessi Bakeries & Deli for only $10.00, morning and afternoon refreshments will be available, and once again there will be lots of door prizes!
  
"Additionally, out of town attendees may wish to stay at the Hilton Inn Tampa Ybor Historic District Friday night @ the Seminar Rate of $119.95 per night."

Judy's topics will be:
  >"Don't Forget the Ladies" -- a Genealogist's Guide to Women and the Law
  >"How Old Did He Have To Be?" -- Using the Law to Determine an Ancestor's Age
  >"Rogues, Rascals, and Rapscallions: The Family Black Sheep" -- Using Court Records to Unmask the Family Black Sheep
  >"Facts, Photos, Fair Use: Copyright Laws for Genealogists" -- Learn What Copyright Is and What It Isn't

You can register for the Seminar on-line at:  https://squareup.com/store/FGStampa
OR
You can fill out the form  found at the website (http://fgstampa.org) and mail in your registration form and fee. 

PGS Events for the week of 14-20 August 2016

No weekday classes this week but don't miss the monthly program meeting on

 Saturday:

Saturday, 20 Aug 2016 at  10:00 AM--Computers in Genealogy--Question and answer session on the use of computers in genealogy research and record keeping. Bryan, Jenkins B, Largo Library.

Saturday, 20 Aug 2016 at 11:00 AM—Preserving Our Personal Archives (and An Update on Heritage Village) program meeting. James Schnur, USFSP & Patricia Landon, Museum Specialist, Heritage Village.
Jenkins B, Largo Library.

Virginia Military Dead Database Online

A database sponsored by the Library of Virginia, dealing with Virginia Military Dead, is now online and searchable. It uses information garnered for many sources, and covers wars from the French and Indian War through the War in Iraq.

All of the wars are listed chronologically on the landing page. If you click on any of the wars, you will be shown the sources of information used to construct that particular list.

At the end of the second paragraph on the landing page is a hotlink, "database search page." Click it to be taken to the search form. You can search by many fields to include name, conflict, county/city, date and place of death, and more.

The hit list will be one line of information, but click on the "details" link at the end of the line for additional information.

Virginia Military Dead:

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Labeling Family Photos -- Originals and Digital Copies

Denise May Levenick, writing for Ancestry.com, gives us several ways to label family photos. We all intuitively know the value of doing so, but often need a bit of help in getting motivated to do it, and in knowing how to do it.

Denise's article focuses on labeling original photos, but about four paragraphs into her article there is a hot link named "How to Add Photo Metadata Without Special Software" that takes you to another Blog, The Family Curator, that talks about labeling digital photos.

Check it out at:  4 Easy Ways to Label Family Photos:

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PGS Events for the week of 8-13 August 2016

Monday, 8-Aug-2016 at 10:00 AM--INTERNET GENEALOGY – Introduces a strategy for using the Internet in genealogy research. It presents examples of the different types of websites that can aid in research and highlights the top 3 or 4 that are “musts” on everyone’s favorites list. Bryan, Local History Room, Largo Library.

Tuesday, 9-Aug-2016 at 6:00 PM--Census tracking--Probably the fundamental way of using the US Federal Census is to track ancestors from one census year to the next. In that process we seek to uncover relationships and lost or heretofore unknown ancestors. This class shows a strategy on how to do that, using an actual family as an example. In addition it also shows how to uncover hints on using resources outside of the census itself. Summers, Local History Room, Largo Library

WII Draft Cards Slowly Coming Online

You all probably know that the cards of the 4th draft for WWII (called the old man's draft because it dealt with men from 45 to 64 years old) have been digitized and available on line for some time. But did you know that cards from the other drafts (covering men from 18 to 44 years old) are increasingly becoming available as well.

Fold3.com has recently added to its collection of WWII draft cards and the states now covered are Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Mexico, Washington DC, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Fold3.com is a subscription site, but you can access it for free from the Largo Public Library. You have to be using one of the library computers, or be connection to the library's WIFI network.

Crew Lists of the British Merchant Navy Digitized Online

This website is sponsored by the British National Maritime Museum and features 39,000 crew lists containing over 750,000 names dating from 1915. The database is searchable by sailor's name, rank, birth place, and vessel name. There is a separate search form for vessels only.

The home page offers a search form asking for surname only, but scroll down a bit and you will see the more detailed form.

The hit list will be cards giving sailor and vessel information. Click on the card to see the digitized crew list. The crew lists can extend for multiple pages.

http://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk/