Showing posts with label NoteWorthy Reads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NoteWorthy Reads. Show all posts

Saturday, March 5, 2016

NoteWorthy Reads #26

Image from Pixabay.com




For me, Noteworthy Reads are articles, websites, or blog posts I found recently which are fascinating, interesting and/or helpful. When I have the time I review the posts to determine which entries should be put in my Resource pages; the rest will remain available through the blog's search function.

[Note: Just because I list an article does not mean I endorse its contents. It just means I want to be able to find it easily in the future when I may want to consider the issue in more depth.]



CANADA

Update on the Alberta Homestead Collection from Olive Tree Genealogy blog – perhaps the index of the Alberta Genealogical Society is a better choice to research then Ancestry’s new Alberta Homestead index


The Scots as a Military Strategy from The In-Depth Genealogist – great short-version explanation of the intentional migration of the Scots to the lower boundary areas of the North American British colonies.  For the long version read “Scottish Pioneers of Upper Canada,” by Lucille Campey (which is fascinating if you think your ancestors were part of that)- I have it as a Nook book so I suppose there's a Kindle version as well as regular hard copy books..


DNA
(I'm a beginner with genetic genealogy, so I collect explanations. It helps on these posts to read the comments as well.)

Finding Your Irish Family Homeland from The In-Depth Genealogist discusses a DNA test which helps pinpoint the specific area of origin in Ireland your family comes from.
But see also, Dubious Commercial Claims, an article from the  University College London website. The article casts doubt on the methodology used in the Irish Origenes, Scottish Origenes, and English Origenes websites. 



Concepts – How Your Autosomal DNA Identifies Your Ancestors  by the DNAeXplained blog – explained in layman’s language; very helpful. The most understandable explanation I've run across so far.



ENGLAND

Bibliography of British and Irish History  – including not only books but also articles in journals and articles within collective volumes. It now includes over 570,000 records. Searches can be conducted through the Subject Tree on ‘advanced search’.



GERMANY

NEHGS Searchable German Duplicate Records  from the Many Roads blog - church records for the territories of Baden, Brandenburg and Posen, Germany


GREAT STORIES

More Brick Wall Busting Going on Here from Ellie’s Ancestors blog – time for genealogy happy dance!

Birth & Death of John Stufflebean  from the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog – captured by Indians during the Revolutionary war and sold to the British for a barrel of rum.…

Fugitive Slave: Freedom, Capture, Redemption (Part 1)  and Fugitive Slave: Eyewitness of the Trial (Part 2) from the Tangled Roots and Trees blog  - I had to know what came next, and figured you would too!


HISTORY




Lakshmibai, the Warrior Queen Who Fought the British Rule in India  from AtlasObscura.com - I recently watched a British documentary on the colonialization of India which touched on some of the same events. It is interesting to read the other perspective.



INTERESTING ARTICLE

1878: Four Days in May from the Borders Ancestry blog – a fascinating article showing how a diary extract from 1878 can provide a rich source of historical and genealogical information.

The Olive Tree Genealogy blog  ran an interesting four-part series, titled “Solving a Challenging Genealogy Puzzle: Finding Rachel” in which she explains how she determined who were the parents of Rachel Van Slyke. Read them in order:






Ancestral Stories – You Can’t Make This Stuff Up from the Lineagekeeper’s Genealogy Blog – a long time brick wall comes tumbling down with the aid of perseverance, cousins, and serendipity!



           
IRELAND

Finding Irish Marriage Records from GenealogyBank.com – I did not know that it was common for Irish-American newspapers to publish accounts of marriages solemnized in Ireland.


No Luck of the Irish  from the Genealogy: Beyond the BMD blog  – Dianne has collected over 60 links to genealogical resources for Ireland

and 

No Luck of the Irish 2 from the Genealogy: Beyond the BMD blog - discusses a new resource for Irish genealogy searches, enhanced Parliamentary Papers on Ireland 1801 -1922.



Bibliography of British and Irish History  – including not only books but also articles in journals and articles within collective volumes. It now includes over 570,000 records. Searches can be conducted through the Subject Tree on ‘advanced search’. (Yep, the same one as above under "England". Cross-referencing made easy.) 


TIPS



Know Your Suffixes from the Vita Brevis blog, a blog of the New England Historic Genealogical Society – I did not know that a century or so ago a denotation of so-and-so, 2nd or 3rd did not necessarily mean that the persons of the same same were related, but rather that there were multiple people with the same name in the same County! Maybe I can stop trying to shoehorn some people into my family, hmmm.... (P.S. Always read the comments, more to learn!)

My Search Was Unsuccessful, Now What? from ModRoots blog – don’t give up, what to try next.







TOOLS


What Was It Worth? Calculating the Historic Value of Money from the LegacyTree blog – explains the various calculators at MeasuringWorth and their relative usefulness in learning more about our ancestors. 


New Research Tool – Town Land Explorer – Launched  from Irish Genealogy News– allows researchers to search a Superintendent Regular District to reveal a list of all the civil parishes and towns included within the registrar’s district. (Ireland)

Don’t Leave the Courthouse Just Yet! from the LegacyTree blog – treasures can be found in the Index to the Court of Common Pleas

Top 3 Reasons Why FamilySearch Historical Records Articles Should Be Your Favorite Research Resource  from the FamilySearch blog -  I don’t know about “favorite” but it’s up there in the top 10 or so.


USA

OHIO

Ohio’s Digitized Newspapers  – this page includes a full (linked) listing of Ohio’s digitized newspapers on Chronicling America and Ohio Memory.


RHODE ISLAND

My Favorite 100 Rhode Island Roots Articles  from the One Rhode Island Family blog – a compilation of links to wonderful Rhode Island resources. Most of these I have not seen before. I can’t wait to try them! My Mom assures me we’re related to Roger Williams; I haven’t made it far enough back on her lines to confirm that yet. Perhaps these will help?
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Monday, January 25, 2016

NoteWorthy Reads #25

Image from Pixabay.com


For me, Noteworthy Reads are articles, websites, or blog posts I found recently which are fascinating, interesting and/or helpful, and occasionally “wacky” or “wonderful” will likely sneak in as well. When I have the time I review the posts to determine which entries should be put in my Resource pages; the rest will remain available through the blog's search function.

Note: Just because I list an article does not mean I endorse its contents. It just means I want to be able to find it easily in the future when I may want to consider the issue in more depth.

I realized in preparing this that it’s been about two months since my last one and that I have been saving articles all along, which made it quite difficult to pare down. I am ignoring the FTM/Ancestry kerfluffle because it has been discussed to death in blog posts and Facebook groups and Google Hangouts and YouTube videos.


A GOOD THING

Papers of the War Department 1784-1800 from The In-Depth Genealogist - the project is trying to reconstruct files and papers which were lost when the War Office burned on 8 November 1800. Copies of these documents were filed elsewhere and are now being brought together me in this open online digital archive. You can help! They are looking for people to help transcribe these documents.


CANADA



Canada Patents from Genealogy: Beyond the BMD - She found out that her ancestor invented something in Canada. I wonder if any of mine did. 




– I have a good number of ancestors who lived in Canada West (which became Ontario)


Don’t Miss the Rural Diary Archive from Olive Tree Genealogy– this talks about a new resource which sounds very cool for those of us who want to know how our people lived! I can’t wait to look at it in more detail.



COPYRIGHT

Where Is the Public Domain? from The Legal Genealogist – can you use that photo without getting sued? (Be sure to read the comments too!)



DNA 
(I'm a beginner with genetic genealogy, so I collect explanations. It helps on thise posts to read the comments as well.)


Saying Hello in the DNA World from the DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy blog  - How to introduce yourself to that new DNA match in a way that will encourage a response that might be useful and will not make the recipient uncomfortable? 




DNA Tools from the Study by Night blog - Explains three tools that help her with her genetic genealogy research


The Ancestry 200 from the DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy blog - She has 200 shaky leaf DNA matches at Ancestry - what that means, and the ramifications, with illustrations


DNA Resolutions for 2016 from The Legal Genealogist – resolutions for all of us attempting genetic genealogy research (and, thankfully, ones that I can understand)








(Personal recommendation: add the DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy blog to your blog reader, or subscribe to it. The author is extremely knowledgeable; researches extensively, utilizing both DNA and paper trail genealogy; and explains both very well, with illustrations.)


EDUCATION



Tune in During 2016! How to Listen to the Free Genealogy Gems Podcast  from Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems - believe it or not, I have never listened to a podcast. I appreciate the explanation. Maybe I'll try it.



GERMANY/German Immigrants


Was Johan Adam Hacker a Redemptioner? from A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy blog – I’d never heard of a redemptioner, and now I will consider that in relation to my German ancestors - interesting post.


German Immigrants in American Church Records from the Legacy Tree blog  – possible way to find ones ancestors' town of origin in Germany



GREAT STORIES (albeit not all happy ones)




    and

Lulu Was a Badass from It’s a Beautiful Tree - unrelated stories, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut either one: Julie writes so well!


To Save Lucille from A Southern Sleuth blog – the tragedy of tuberculosis







HISTORY


A Look inside America Secret Atomic City from History Daily – I suppose I’m fascinated by the secret history of nuclear facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee because my grandfather had the opportunity to work there during World War II, but ended up at the Plum Brook Ordinance Works munitions factory in Ohio instead because grandma didn’t like the potential living quarters – not to mention the fact that it was part of the Manhattan project, building a nuclear bomb. 


120-year-old Astronomy Photo Plates Found in Neils Bohr Institute Basement from The History Blog – nothing to do with genealogy but fascinating nonetheless 


Trunk of Undelivered 17th Century Letters Rediscovered from The History Blog – wouldn’t you love to read the letters? Wouldn’t it be cool if one of them referenced one of your ancestors?









IMAGES – FOR BLOGGING

NYPL Images Free to Use from The Legal Genealogist NYPL = New York Public Library. 180,000 free digitized images. Wow!



INTERESTING ARTICLE




The Three Unique Sources Didn’t Prove Anything from the Life from the Roots blog – trying to nail down that elusive “fact”.


Newspapers Help Smash a Genealogy Brick Wall from the FamilySearch blog – a search story with tips along the way


The Average American Lives 18 Miles from Their Mom  from mentalfloss.com – I am not average; I live 1559 miles from my mom


George III’s Huge Map Collection Digitized  from The History Blog – “The British Library has begun a massive project to digitize all of King George the third’s 50,000 piece map collection.…” Can you imagine how it might help you find where your ancestors have lived if you had contemporaneous maps in which to look?



SCOTLAND





TIPS






Finding the Neighbors from This American Mutt blog – if you can’t find your ancestor, try this!


Paper Notices  from Genealogy Tip of the Day  – a possible saving grace if the courthouse burned down




Tuesday’s tip: My Favorite Lesser-Known Websites from the Pages from the Ancestry Binders blog – there are two or three here that I have not heard of that sound helpful; I intend to check them out



TOOLS


Read the Directions from The Legal Genealogist  - she found a downloadable .pdf, which explains exactly what the census takers were told to do for each and every U.S. census from the first census in 1790 all the way up to the census of 2000. That will be a huge help. 




Legacy 8 Tips the Michigan Family Trails blog has an ongoing series on tips for using Legacy 8, a genealogy desktop software. This link is to the gathered index page all of such posts on her blog (as such, it will grow).


Using the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Mennonite Vital Records from Ancestry.com blogs– over the course of many years, the Lancaster Mennonite historical Society compiled more than 200,000 index cards with records of Mennonite families in the region, and ancestry has them! Oh boy, oh boy!


Dear Randy: How Do You Use Your Smart Phone to Do Genealogy? from Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings blog – and I thought I was good with a smartphone! There’s a lot more out there than I was aware of.





Old Genealogies in the Digital Age from the Vita Brevis blog – the New England Historic Genealogical Society is adding genealogies published in the 19th and early 20th centuries to their digital library


Allen County Public Library Online Resources  from the DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy blog – she  often stresses the importance of traditional documentary research as she does here regarding the excellent resources online from the ACPL Genealogy Center for African American and Native American genealogy research.



USA


         ARKANSAS


From the Depths of the Law Library from The Legal Genealogist – if you have ancestors who lived in pre-Arkansas, sometime between 1809 in 1834, you’ll want to read this.


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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Noteworthy Reads Revisited

Climbing My Family Tree: Noteworthy Reads
Image from Pixabay.com


Despite my New Year’s intentions, it turns out I can’t quit doing the Noteworthy Reads posts. I’m addicted to doing them. I caught up on all of my blog-reading over the past few days and found myself bookmarking blog posts that I just had to share! Except that there’s a limit on how many I can share with friends on Facebook since many of my friends are not into genealogy. I started thinking that I would miss sharing the interesting articles I found on my blog. This led to wondering whether I really had to stop doing posting the Noteworthy Reads; which led to me considering how I would do it if I did continue to write them. This was just one step away from deciding that I was going to feel better if I continue to write them.

Moreover, I found out that quite a few people like the Noteworthy Reads posts and were sorry to see them go. A few people suggested that that doing shorter Noteworthy Reads post would be easier. I can see where that would seem to be a good idea, but, in actuality, that’s not how it works. I read the same number of blog posts either way. In the past four or five days, I got all caught up, having gotten behind during Christmas the Christmas break and the beginning of January; I read or skimmed approximately 2000 posts (do you all have to be so prolific?) and bookmarked articles I really wanted share as I read. Before writing a Noteworthy Reads post I go back over everything that I bookmarked and determine which ones are the best to include – deciding which of a bunch on the same subject is the best written for my audience, which explains something the best, which I now find the most interesting as some may have hit the mainstream media since I bookmarked it and there’s no need to post it if everyone knows about it, etc. If I was going to do a shorter post I would have to be far more stringent in my choosing, which would take more time. [I once told a boss who wanted something written quickly (within two hours) succinctly and well, that he could have written quickly or succinctly, but not both. I tend to write long. If what I have produced is relatively short, I had time to edit. Good editing occasionally takes longer than writing the original, as it requires more strategic thought.]So having decided that I will be writing more Noteworthy Reads posts, I also decided that the posts will likely be as long as they were before, containing quite a few links. However, I decided to only commit to putting up the Noteworthy Reads posts up sporadically, not on a set schedule.

I realize that stating that the Noteworthy Reads posts will go up sporadically is not good business sense as it makes it difficult for readers to predict when they will be posted. However, this blog is a hobby, not a business; and, it’s only going to be a hobby as long as it is still fun. The Noteworthy Reads posts may end up going up fairly regularly, but to say at the outset that they will go up sporadically is a psychological trick on myself since if there is no deadline I am not stressed by not making it or staying up all night in order to make it. So with any luck, the next Noteworthy Reads post will go up sometime in the next five or six days.

--------------

In other updates, I didn’t get much genealogy research done this week because I worked late most nights and the night that I did not, I had a church meeting in the evening. On this nice long weekend I just had, I found myself doing more organizing than research, as well as chasing down things to photograph for my Instagram 365 project. I don’t mean to say that I was organizing the research itself, but I was organizing the space in which I do the research as I find I get very little done in a place that looks like it’s drowning in paper. On my last move. I downsized to a one-bedroom apartment, and my office is my living room couch. I seemed to have grown piles of paper all around one end of the couch because I didn’t have a readily accessible place to put them. This weekend I found a small stack of drawers that look like huge books that I bought and placed beside the bookcases, and into which I’m putting the documents that I took from my parents on my last visit and the items in emails from distant cousin connections that I want to check out or verify someday in the future. The area looks much neater. I’m really looking forward to starting work to work there (but I have another church meeting tomorrow night).
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Sunday, November 22, 2015

NoteWorthy Reads #24

Image from Pixabay.com


For me, Noteworthy Reads are articles, websites, or blog posts I found recently which are fascinating, interesting and/or helpful, and occasionally “wacky” or “wonderful” will likely sneak in as well. When I have the time I review the posts to determine which entries should be put in my Resource pages; the rest will remain available through the blog's search function.

Note: Just because I list an article does not mean I endorse its contents. It just means I want to be able to find it easily in the future when I may want to consider the issue in more depth.


A GOOD THING
  
13 Things for History Lovers to Do Online When They're Bored  – 13 fascinating transcription projects from BuzzFeed.com


CANADA

Immigrants to Canada, Porters and Domestics, 1899-1949  – the Library and Archives Canada has a new database containing more than 8000 references to people who came to Canada as porters or domestics during this timeframe.



New England Planters  from the Vita Brevis blog - "...before the Loyalists fled to Canada after the American Revolution, another important group settled Maritime Canada: the New England Planters. This often overlooked group of New Englanders (and others) left a cultural and political impact on Canadian history."



DNA

X Marks the Spot  rom the Vita Brevis blog – good explanation of the nature of the X chromosome inheritance




ENGLAND 



FUN




GERMANY

Looking for Immigrants from the Rhineland? from Connecting the Worlds blog – if your people are from the Northrhine-Westphalia area, you’re in luck!


GREAT STORIES

The Pages from the Ancestry Binders blog has been running a nine part series entitled Dad’s War Letters in which she’s been printing transcriptions of excerpts of several letters from when her father was in World War II. They are wonderful letters. So far she has posted six parts. Here is the link to Dad's War Letters, Part One of Nine, go read ALL of them.


Holbrook line: Susan Eddy Stanard 1835-1910 from the Happy Genealogy Dance blog – sometimes it’s amazing what you learn when you think you’re learning something else



HISTORY

What Presidents Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, & Wilson Sounded Like  from stuffnobodycaresabout.com – recordings of the above-named presidents from the Vincent Voice Library at Michigan State University.





INTERESTING ARTICLE

Missing Great Uncle Rex in the 1939 Register… A Puzzle Solved from the Family History 4U  blog – interesting story and a good explanation of how to get around transcription errors.


The Most Unusual Ancestry in Each State  from 24/7 Wall St – long, but interesting article. Did your state surprise you?

Scary Times for Joses Bucknam from the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog– Revolutionary war prisoner of war 

Object of Intrigue: the Prosthetic Iron Hand Of a 16th-Century Knight  from AtlasObscura – Götz von Berlichingen, the owner of the prosthetic iron hand, sounds like a very interesting man. 

1900 Census Instructions for San Diego Enumerators from the Genea-Musings blog– didn’t you always want to know how enumerators were chosen and what their instructions were?

Her Choice, Not His  and The Rest of Ann’s Story from The Legal Genealogist – the probate lesson, and the rest of the story.


IRELAND

The blog for the Ancestor Cloud community is running an ongoing series on Genealogy in Ireland. So far they have five parts:



SCOTLAND 

What Happened to the Family Fortune? Historic Scottish Probate Records Now Online!  from the blog from the Ancestry.com blog – two centuries worth of historic Scottish probate records are now online at Ancestrydotcom.


TIPS 

The New FamilySearch – I’m Loving It! from the Opening Doors in Brick Walls blog – FamilySearch has made it easier to search non-indexed records and Cathy shows us how, with screenshots








TOOLS 






USA
PENNSYLVANIA

Warrantee Township Maps  – the Pennsylvania State archives holds warrantee Township maps which show all original land purchases from the Proprietors or the Commonwealth made inside the boundaries of present-day townships [includes name of warrantee, name of patentee, number of acres, name of tract, and dates of warrant, survey and patent].


OFF TOPIC  - but since family historians care about family heirlooms…

            A personal warning. If you want to move or ship a piece of furniture or family heirloom that you truly care about and want it to arrive intact, I strongly recommend that you do NOT use a company named Minimoves, even if directly referred by larger moving companies. [I am not linking to them. The website inspires a trust that would be seriously misplaced.] 
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Saturday, October 31, 2015

NoteWorthy Reads #23

Image from Pixabay.com


For me, Noteworthy Reads are articles, websites, or blog posts I found recently which are fascinating, interesting and/or helpful, and occasionally “wacky” or “wonderful” will likely sneak in as well. When I have the time I review the posts to determine which entries should be put in my Resource pages; the rest will remain available through the blog's search function.

Note: Just because I list an article does not mean I endorse its contents. It just means I want to be able to find it easily in the future when I may want to consider the issue in more depth.

October turned into a rather full and overwhelming month for me and I didn’t get much done on my genealogy research or write any blog posts, but you all wrote some very interesting blog posts/articles! I’m hoping that November is better for me and continues well for you!


CANADA

Finding Tips for Using the Upper Canada Sundries  from Legacy News – also known as the Civil Secretary’s (to the Lieutenant Governor) Correspondence – I want to look at this!

Saddlebag Preachers of the Eastern Townships  by the Genealogy Ensemble blog – traveling preachers served the religious needs of Québec’s Eastern townships between 1798 and 1812.



DNA



EDUCATION

Shameless Plug from the Ancestoring blog – describes Legacy’s new webinar website, which, frankly, sounds very cool!


ENGLAND

TheGenealogist Has Released 5 Million British Emigration Records from GenealogyBlog – from the article, “TheGenealogist allows you to track transmigration of people across countries routing through British ports on their way to America.”

Plugging Genealogy’s 30 Year Gap from the BBC.com – the 1939 registration survey are going to be released online, allowing genealogists to fill a 30 year gap in census records.

English and Welsh 1939 National Register to Go Online November 2  from The British GENES blog  – this article has the cost to view the records. Additionally, see the comments to see where to find the Scottish and Northern Ireland versions.

Soldiers of the Queen from the blog, Genealogy: Beyond the BMD – she’s found an online collection of British military photographs and research. It looks utterly fascinating for those who may have ancestors who were in the Queens army in the Victorian era. A word of caution, if you are surfing the web with a headset or an earpiece in your ear take it off before clicking the link at the bottom of the article into the Soldiers of the Queen website – that music is LOUD!


FUN



GERMANY



GREAT STORIES


A Tale of Two Sisters from the Borthwick Institute blog - sort of a sad story derived from documents in the collection. But now I want to know what happened next.


A Day in the Life of My Great-Grandda  from Black Raven Genealogy  - I love the stories behind family keepsakes. 


HISTORY

Yale Just Released 170,000 Incredible Photographs of the Depression from Gizmodo.com – fascinating photos. Is your family in them? 


Visitation of the Plague, London 1665 and Spanish Influenza of 1918  from thesocialhistorian.com – fascinating reads to put a context to our ancestors lives/deaths



The King is Dead at Versailles  from The History Blog  – King Louis XIV of France died a painful, and well-documented, death. Approved medical practice is eye-opening (and appalling).

Siege of Lucknow – As Described in the Diary of Mrs. R C Germon  from thesocialhistorian.com- fascinating story of the seige of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny or the First War of Independence to the Indians (depending on whether you're from Great Gritain or India) as recounted in the diary of Mrs. Maria Vincent Germon, wife of one of the commanders of the outpost at Lucknow


IMAGES – FOR BLOGGING



INTERESTING ARTICLES





I Write, Therefore I… Think?  from the blog A Family Tapestry  - helps me too.

Do You Have a Skeleton in Your Family History Closet? from FamilyLocket.com – about all of us do, but what do you do when you find one?



IRELAND

DNA Shows Irish People Have More Complex Origins than Previously Thought from SOTT.net - well, that likely explains some of what showed up in my DNA results 



SCOTLAND



TIPS


What Is Bounty Land?  from the blog of Fold3.com  – read the comments for more tips.


It is All in the Name or is it? from Old Bones Genealogy – pronunciation is key! 


What Is the Real Effect of Record Loss? Work Arounds from the Genealogy’s Star blog – where do you find records when the courthouse has burnt down?



TOOLS



USA
  
             NEW YORK
            
Laws of the state of New York from Manhattanpast.com – links to Google digitized editions of the laws of New York from 1638 through 1922.

MICHIGAN

DETROIT FREE PRESS NEWSPAPER NOW ONLINE – 1837 to September 2015  from the Michigan Family Trails blog – with links and prices


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