The Genealogy & Family History Social Network

December 2009 Blog Posts (89)

Privacy, Identity Theft and Genealogy -- First in a series

Almost every time I teach a class, especially of older people, and mention purchasing something online or downloading a file from the Internet, I get several individuals who say that they will never buy anything from the Internet because of possible identity theft and privacy concerns. From my perspective as both an attorney and a heavy user of online services, I have come to the conclusion that although there are some real concerns, most of the fear is irrational and based on ignorance. Now,… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 22, 2009 at 9:28am — No Comments

Looking for John William Harden

John William Harden born in Oklahoma April 28, 1883. Last record 1920 census township 16 Jackson Louisiana. Married Aug 28, 1918 to Jessie Emma Stewart. Two children Anna Beth and Billie Maurice. John left the family by train heading north from LA. He referred to his mother on marriage document as Mrs. Henry Brooks. She… Continue

Added by BillieBee on December 22, 2009 at 12:19am — 3 Comments

Biographical Outline of Ahnentafel # 20 and 21: John C. <b>AKERS</b> and Lucinda "Louise" <b>DAVIS</b>

First Biographical Outline of the information I have on this family:

Ahnentafel # 20 and 21: John C. AKERS and Lucinda "Louise" DAVIS

First Biographical Outline of the information I have on this family:

Ahnentafel # 20 and 21: John C. AKERS and Lucinda "Louise" DAVIS

Picture taken after 24 October 1898 as that was the birth date of Charley in the picture. Noted also is the absence… Continue

Added by Elyandra Waverider on December 21, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Parade of States -- online digital genealogy resources -- Virginia

Time to get back to the Parade of States, this post is on Virginia's online resources. It is interesting to see the variety of resources that some states have already put online and the paucity of resources from other states. The differences in availability do not seem to be governed by economics or the size of the population, but generally, larger states have more resources, with some notable exceptions.

Virginia has some collections of online records, and what is available is… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 21, 2009 at 8:54am — No Comments

Family Tree Connection - Update (20/Dec/2009)

Family Tree Connection has added the following genealogy items to its database:

Hazelton City Roster 1908-1909 - City of Hazleton [PA.], Roster, City Officials and Joint Standing Committees of City Councils, 1908-1909. Compiled by Stephen J. Hughes, City Clerk. Incorporated 1892.

Hazelton City Roster 1907-1908 - City…

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Added by Illya Daddezio on December 21, 2009 at 1:15am — No Comments

Cousins, cousins, cousins...

Have you ever had the experience of being contacted through some genealogy website by a cousin you've never met or even knew you had? It happens to me all the time and it's really a great experience to connect with someone with the same family roots that grew into you!

While some of these encounters develop into lifelong communication, others come and go; but cousins can be a wonderful source of genealogical data, stories, and most importantly photographs that you didn't even knew… Continue

Added by William S Dean on December 21, 2009 at 12:14am — 2 Comments

The sign "Arbeit macht frei" found!

The sign "Arbeit macht frei" found!

The Polish police have arrested five men for the 18 Dec. 2009 heist and desecration of the sign "Arbeit macht frei" (Work Will Set You Free). It was made in 1940 by prisoners in the camp locksmith's shop. The main gate to the Auschwitz I-Main Camp was the only one in the whole Auschwitz complex to be built by Polish political prisoners under German orders. These were prisoners deported from Wiśnicz in one of the early transports, in late 1940 or… Continue

Added by Ceil Wendt Jensen on December 20, 2009 at 10:59pm — No Comments

Genealogy Joy!

Yesterday I received an email from a Kiwi who was helping her Dad locate a childhood friend from Poland. They were both displaced from their village of Chotyn during WWII. After a Google or two, a couple ancestry.com searchers, and referencing now declassified records, I was able to find and arrange an online reunion for Kazimierz, residing in Wisconsin, and Mieczyslaw of Wellington N.Z. - their first since 1946!

Added by Ceil Wendt Jensen on December 20, 2009 at 10:58pm — 1 Comment

On getting my non-identifying information

Well the big day finally came, the packet from the denver court, denver county cort versus the city court, to be more precise.Even though,or at least I thought my records were open to me to me I didn't get any additional names, ie my birth grandparents,, They should be long dead, after all I'm in my late 50's. But I did find out my ethnicity, at least on my birth-mothers side....found out she was Dutch, Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh. Basically the same as my adoptive parents, except the… Continue

Added by carol bartholomew on December 20, 2009 at 5:41pm — No Comments

un dicho de jerez zacatecas

Me encontre esto en un libro sobre Lopez Velarde
“Estas gentes de Jerez, Miel y Veneno a la Vez, Todas son nobles sin Titulo, Todos Ricos sin haber, tordititos son Parientes y nadie se puede ver”
Dicho de la Pirucha LLamas
Tomado:
Ramón López Velarde
Sus Rostros Desconocidos
De Guadalupe Appendini
Fondo de cultura Económico 1998

Added by Salvador Cabral Valdes on December 20, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Networking

When we ask to be added to other peoples sites as friends we are opening ourselves to others and that can be scary, it also can be fun and very educational as we may find others looking for the same thing.

As Genealogist's we all are looking to the past for loved ones, ours or someone else's it does not matter. If I can be of assistance to anyone please feel free to contact me. You never know we might just be kin.
Ray

Added by Raymond Fuller on December 20, 2009 at 8:25am — No Comments

Current Ahnentafel From Generation 3 to Generation 7 (To Protect Living individuals, Gen 1 and 2 are omitted) - December 20, 2009

Thought this was a good way to start my genealogy blog with a current list of all relatives from my grandparents back to Generation 7 that I have found in my search. This gives the reader a good look at who I am researching and will hopefully lay the groundwork for me to blog about what I know about each individual. If needed or the interest arrises that I want to look at someone after Generation 7 this list will be updated and the corresponding Generation will be added so look for further… Continue

Added by Elyandra Waverider on December 20, 2009 at 4:30am — No Comments

Furthering the discussion on certification

Craig Manson has written a very entertaining and provocative post entitled "The Discussion about Standards, Certification, Maturity, etc.: Useful or Divisive? Elitist Envy or Intellectual Inevitability?" I really enjoyed to the mock court room examination of the proposed expert witness on the subject of genealogy. The hypothetical testimony points out several serious questions; Can a genealogist (or anyone) become an "expert" merely by doing what many genealogists do all the time? Is there a… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 19, 2009 at 6:36pm — No Comments

www.howwilliknow.com

Please share your success stories on my website, www.howwilliknow.com. I will be adding stories, search material,
interesting documents, etc. Hope to hear from you soon.
Liz

Added by ELIZABETH RUDERMAN MILLER on December 19, 2009 at 2:25pm — No Comments

FamilySearch Community Trees -- a truly amazing innovation

Very recently FamilySearch on its FamilySearch Labs Website introduced an new concept to genealogical research and online databases, truly amazing Community Trees. This collection contains more than mere lists of individuals, it is the genealogy of entire communities. It is also far more than a lineage linked database. It is also free and available to anyone, whether or not they are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As explained on the Community Trees… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 18, 2009 at 7:44pm — No Comments

Jacksons from Ireland. also Bowley's from Tipperary.

Hello,are there any Jacksons with connections to Ireland??out there. is anyone connected to Denis Bowley from Tipperary, Ireland he went to America .

Added by Geraldine Jackson on December 18, 2009 at 5:01pm — 3 Comments

What's another billion records or so?

There seems to be no end to the Websites claiming to have millions, if not billions of records online. In case you were wondering, here is another site with a huge collection of online records. The site is called Genealogyarchives.com . It is a company whose only location is shown in Nebraska. They have a newer Website with a significant number of records, as of 18 November 2009, they claim 1,035,043,627 records with the number changing as you watch. At the time of this writing they have 75… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 18, 2009 at 12:16pm — No Comments

Annie Londonderry and her “Extraordinary Ride”

Last year Peter Zheutlin, the author of the nonfiction book “Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry’s Extraordinary Ride,” came to the Leach Library, here in Londonderry, New Hampshire,

to give an interesting lecture about his ancestor. Annie Kopchovsky, was “Annie Londonderry,” the first woman to go around the world on a bicycle. She was actually paid $100 by Londonderry Lithia Water, a very popular drink of the era, to carry their logo on… Continue

Added by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on December 18, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

How to create a "Google Alert" for your ancestor

We spend a lot of time looking for our ancestors. Wouldn't it be nice if they just showed up in our email's inbox? With the free tool, Google Alerts, this is possible.

Continue reading.

Added by Geoff Rasmussen on December 17, 2009 at 11:46am — No Comments

Even more on standardization of place names

The starting point for the use of place names in a family history or genealogical context is the rule that the place is the location at the time the event happened, especially if the place name was different at the time of the event. If there is a need for further explanation, the modern or current place name should be in a note. The reason for this rule is simple, any other notation obscures the historical reality and makes further investigation more difficult.

From the perspective… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 17, 2009 at 8:58am — 1 Comment