Once again, this week’s newest genealogical records to come online don’t disappoint. As I compiled this list for you this week, I jumped with joy as I discovered records that confirm the stories of my youth.
Like many families, mine is complicated. After my paternal grandparents divorced in 1956, my grandmother married her ex-husband’s brother in 1958.
Elzie Moore was not only my great uncle, but my step-grandfather (if there is such a thing.) As a child all I knew was that I was lucky to have what amounted to three grandfathers, although we respectfully called him “Uncle Elzie”.
This photo very much represents how I remember him:
He was devoted to my grandmother and ready to help whenever needed.
But well before I was born, he was ready to help his country when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941.
He didn’t talk much about it, but I remember the day I was sitting on his lap examining his face. I asked him about the prominent scar on the side of his chin. He laughingly told me a variety of wild hair-brained stories as to how he got it. He then simply and quietly told me he had been shot during the war. That was that.
The story was later confirmed by my dad, who went on to explain that was just one of several wounds Uncle Elzie sustained through a heroic career.
And now, so many decades later, the details from the records themselves appear on my screen. In the WWII Hospital Admission Card Files released this month by Ancestry, I discovered not one but three different admission records.
The first was the admission record for that chin injury. He was admitted to the hospital in July of 1944 for a facial wound by a “bullet, missile” sustained in battle. He was discharged in September 1944 and sent back to the front line.
The next record was an admission in November 1944 (although there appears to be a discrepancy in the transcription because the discharge date is listed as May 1944.) This time his injuries were shells and fragments to the thigh, buttock and hip in battle.
When working with these records it’s important to closely examine the service number listed. The third record had also matched “Elzie Moore” which you wouldn’t think was a common name. However, closer inspection revealed a different service number – he was not the same man.
Though the man himself rarely spoke of his service, the genealogy gems I found today in the records speak volumes. I’m grateful to have more of the story behind the “Purple Heart” inscription that appears on his grave marker.
I hope this week’s list below brings you new genealogy gems!
New Records at Ancestry
Denmark
Denmark, Church Records, 1812-1918
Updated 1/15/2020
United States
U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954
NEW as of 1/6/2020
Washington State, U.S.
Washington, Death Index, 1940-2017
Updated 1/21/2020
New Records at FamilySearch
New Free Historical Records on FamilySearch: Week of 6 January 2020
United States
Georgia
Georgia, Chatham, Savannah, Laurel Grove Cemetery Record Keeper’s Book (colored), 1852-1942
129 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Georgia, Columbus, Linwood and Porterdale Colored Cemeteries, Interment Records, 1866-2000
114 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Hawaii
Hawaii, Board of Health, Marriage Record Indexes, 1909-1989
12,560 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Louisiana
Louisiana, New Orleans, Interment Registers, 1836-1972
868 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Louisiana, New Orleans, Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels, 1807-1860
115,098 New indexed records collection
Michigan
Michigan, Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records
2,957 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Mississippi
Mississippi, County Marriages, 1858-1979
2,419 Added indexed records to an existing collection
North Carolina
North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922
239 Added indexed records to an existing collection
South Carolina
South Carolina, Charleston City Death Records, 1821-1926
37,437 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Tennessee
Tennessee, Shelby County, Memphis, Board of Health Death Records, 1848-1913
1,330 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Missouri
United States, Missouri, Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops, 1863-1865
17,881 New indexed records collection
American Samoa
American Samoa, Vital Records, 1850-1972
2,237 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Australia
Australia, South Australia, Immigrants Ship Papers, 1849-1940
145,165 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Brazil
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Civil Registration, 1829-2012
75,768 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Brazil, Santa Catarina, Civil Registration, 1850-1999
3,314 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Canada
Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001
4,881 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Chile
Chile, Catholic Church Records, 1710-1928
806 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Chile, Cemetery Records, 1821-2015
203,870 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Colombia
Colombia, Bogotá, Burial Permits, 1960-1991
6,371 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Ecuador
Ecuador, Catholic Church Records, 1565-2011
2,277,196 Added indexed records to an existing collection
England
England, Oxfordshire Parish Registers 1538-1904
43 Added indexed records to an existing collection
England, Yorkshire Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1613-1887
1,898 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Haiti
Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Civil Registration, 1794-2012
193,434 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Ireland
Ireland, Poverty Relief Funds, 1810-1887
691,210 New indexed records collection
Italy
Italy, Trieste, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1924-1944
1,305 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Netherlands
Netherlands, Noord-Holland, Civil Registration, 1811-1950
72,937 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Peru
Peru, Áncash, Civil Registration, 1888-2005
140,119 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Peru, Ayacucho, Civil Registration, 1903-1999
3,733 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Peru, Huánuco, Civil Registration, 1889-1997
10,307 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Peru, Prelature of Yauyos-Cañete-Huarochirí, Catholic Church Records, 1665-2018
550 Added indexed records to an existing collection
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, Civil Births, 1802-1969
1,200 Added indexed records to an existing collection
South Africa
South Africa, Civil Marriage Records, 1840-1973
425 Added indexed records to an existing collection
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal, Vital Records, 1868-1976
4,543 Added indexed records to an existing collection
MyHeritage
Sweden
Sweden Household Examination Books, 1840-1947
Updated January 19, 2020
Total number of records in the collection: 125,672,188
“The Household Examination Books are the primary source for researching the lives of individuals and families throughout the Parishes of Sweden, from the late 1600’s until modern times. The books were created and kept by the Swedish Lutheran Church which was tasked with keeping the official records of the Swedish population until 1991.
Each book or series of books represents a 3-10 year period of time within a parish. Every year until 1894 the Parish Priest would visit each home and test each individual’s knowledge of the catechism. They would also collect information about birth dates, marriages, deaths, where people had moved to or from, etc. Each year the priest would come back and update the information of the previous year, noting changes within the population of the home. After 1894 the examinations were less focused on doctrinal knowledge and more focused on enumerating the Swedish population.”
The British Newspaper Archive
“This week we are delighted to welcome 71,598 additional pages to The Archive, as well as five brand new titles. Two of these titles, the Wakefield Express and the South Notts Echo, originate in England, while the other three, the Leinster Reporter, the Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, and the Times of India are spread out across Ireland, Wales and India respectively.”
Start searching the British Newspaper Archive here.
New historic newspaper titles added:
Leinster Reporter
Years added: 1897-1925, 1927-1928
Caernarvon & Denbigh Herald
Years added: 1850-1872, 1874-1877, 1897
Times of India
Years added: 1861-1865, 1867-1888
Wakefield Express
Years added: 1879, 1892, 1897-1898, 1902, 1911, 1918
South Notts Echo
Years added: 1919-1923, 1927-1939
What Have You Found this Week?
Did you find some genealogy gems in any of these new records? We’d love to hear your story. Please leave a comment below.
And if you enjoyed this article we’d be grateful if you shared it on Facebook and other social media to help other family historians. You’ll find convenient sharing buttons at the top of this article. Thank you!
I found my father’s WWII hospital admission and discharge – thanks.
That’s terrific, thanks for commenting!
I recently searched the above record and found one for my husband when he was hit by a motorcycle (while in England), which he had told me about. Now I’d like to find the time, while he was in the states, with scarlet fever and double pneumonia (at the time of a big flood that was in Arkansas) Bonnie Morris, Whittier, CA
Hi Lisa:
Claudia sent all this information to me and I was so blessed to have Uncle Elzie and Aunt Pauline in my life. What a wonderful job you did in bringing back lots of good memories. Thank you again. Hope to see you one day. Wanda
In the WW11 Hospital records I had the same issue you experienced with the admission date being after the discharge date. The same with every family member I found. Did the transcribers mix something up?
Sure seems like it, doesn’t it? I’ve put in a request to the National Archives to order copies of the originals. I’ll be reporting on the results soon I hope.
Thanks for the link to the WWII hospital records! I found my husband’s grandfather in them! He was killed during WWII and now we know the nature of the wounds he received. Thank you for your newsy article!