New Jersey Death Index and More US Genealogy Records Online

by | Jul 27, 2018 | 01 What's New, Newspaper, Records & databases

The New Jersey Death Index tops this week’s list of new and updated U.S. genealogy records online. Along with a Native American census collection, our list includes family history records for Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Among the documents you can search for your ancestors are vital records, obituaries, digitized newspapers and even home movies!

Featured collection: New Jersey Death Index

The US records advocacy group Reclaim the Records has been able to secure copies of the New Jersey Death Index for the years they still exist. It’s the first public copy to be available online and it’s free to search! According to a recent announcement, the records exist for “about half of 1920-1924, all of 1925-1929, and then from 1949 to 2017.”

You can search a database of over 1.2 million records for 2001-2017 and click through to explore links to over 500,000 digital images for the not-yet-transcribed 1901-2000 data. “Most of the years of the index will at least give the age at death, from which you can infer an approximate birth year, but the later years of the index (after about 1985) also give the deceased person’s exact date of birth. Some of these records give a numeric locality code for the place of death and/or the place of residence of the deceased.”

Taking things a step further, Reclaim the Records is working with the state archive to secure additional records from the missing years. It also hopes to force the state to recreate missing years of the death index; we’ll report progress on that front as we hear about it. Search the New Jersey Death Index for free.

More US genealogy records now online

Native American records. The free Genealogy Giant, FamilySearch.org, has updated its collection of United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940. Site visitors may now search nearly 250,000 records of “census rolls for various tribes. Original records are NARA Series M595. This NARA series also includes some vital records.”

Georgia. The Digital Library of Georgia has added a new collection of town and home movies that have been digitized by the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection. Better yet, according to the site, “DLG staff provided enhanced descriptions of these moving image resources that enable users to locate segments of the moving image footage without having to view the footage in its entirety.” The finding aid includes shot lists, Library of Congress subject headings, word-search capabilities and “a time-correlated description that connects the text search term to the corresponding moment in the moving image footage.” The Georgia Town Films Collection covers the towns of Fitzgerald, Bowman, and Athens; the Georgia Home and Amateur Movies collection comprises 126 home movies.

Illinois. Genealogy Giant Findmypast has published the browse-only collection, Illinois, Tazewell County, Obituary Card Index, which covers nearly a century (1914-2007) of obituaries published in the Pekin Times. The index includes the deceased’s full name, birth date, death date, and burial place.

New York. FamilySearch.org, has updated its collection, New York State Census, 1905. It now has over 7.7 million records available for free searching. State census records for New York are especially valuable, given that the state was the first U.S. home for millions of immigrants and their children, and since state vital records aren’t easy to come by.

Haven’t heard much about state-level censuses? Click here to read a little more about state census records.

North Carolina. You can now search (for free) over 150,000 records in FamilySearch’s database of North Carolina, Davidson County Vital Records, 1867-2006. According to the site, the collection includes “images of death records and marriage licenses recorded in Davidson County, North Carolina. Some of the individual volumes include an index and there are comprehensive indexes to some of the records. Index and images of birth certificates for the years 1914 through 1930 and delayed births certificates filed between 1940 and 2006 (for births occurring between 1869 and 2000).”

Tennessee. A free new website, ChattanoogaNewspapers.org, features about 6000 pages of old Tennessee newspapers. According to a report at Nooga.com, “The first batch of newspapers covers 1862 to 1907 and 12 different newspapers. Publications include The Chattanooga Star (1907), The Daily Times (1869-1895), The Chattanooga Daily Times (1875-1911), Chattanooga Daily Gazette (1864-1865) and others.”

Virginia. “The Virginia Newspaper Project has reached a major milestone: over a million historical newspaper pages have been added to Virginia Chronicle. According to an announcement at Virginia Memory, “Recent additions include: 1879-1959 of the Northern Neck News of Warsaw, additional West Virginia titles and the Idle Hour of Glen Allen.” The project is ongoing, so keep checking back.

Keep up with new Genealogy Gems like these

New records come online every week–sometimes by the million! And important DNA news breaks frequently, like this week’s news about Findmypast’s new partnership with Living DNA. We curate these “gems” and tons of try-this-now tips in the Genealogy Gems weekly e-newsletter. Subscribe for free and you’ll stay informed and inspired as you search for your ancestors’ stories!

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About the Author: Sunny Morton

About the Author: Sunny Morton

Sunny is a Contributing Editor at Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems; her voice is often heard on the Genealogy Gems Podcast and Premium Podcasts. She’s  known for her expertise on the world’s biggest family history websites (she’s the author of Genealogy Giants: Comparing the 4 Major Websites); writing personal and family histories (she also wrote Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy); and sharing her favorite reads for the Genealogy Gems Book Club.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

New European Genealogy Records Online

by | Jul 20, 2018 | 01 What's New, Records & databases

This is the week to explore new European genealogy records online! This weekly record roundup covers four areas of England as well as France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Scotland, Spain and Sweden. Boost your family history research by keeping up with new records that may mention your ancestors.

European genealogy records for 8 countries

Explore your European roots with these new and updated family history records on three of the Genealogy Giants websites: Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, and Findmypast. If you find anything exciting about your ancestors, we’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below or contact us here at Genealogy Gems.

England genealogy records

Berkshire. New at Genealogy Giant Findmypast is Berkshire Registers & Records, in which subscribers may “explore PDF images of registers and records from the English county of Berkshire. Discover your ancestors in parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials from the parishes of Leckhamstead and St Mary in Reading.”

Collections at Ancestry: Explore the following collections at Ancestry by going to Ancestry here and then in the menu Search > Card Catalog > and search the name of the collection we list below. 

Cambridgeshire. The Cambridgeshire, England, Electoral Registers, Burgess Rolls and Poll Books, 1722-1966 collection has nearly 1.7 million records. According to the collection description, “This database contains yearly registers listing names and residences of people in Cambridgeshire, who were eligible to vote in elections. These year-by-year registers can help place your ancestors in a particular place and possibly also reveal a bit about property they owned.”

A related new collection at Ancestry.com is Cambridgeshire, England, Juror Books, 1828-1883 contains over 20,000 records of “of those qualified to serve as a juror in the county of Cambridgeshire between the years 1828 and 1883. Qualifications were based on ownership of land or property and therefore excluded the majority of residents….This collection includes residents of Cambridgeshire as well as those living in the historic county of Huntingdonshire and historic region of the Isle of Ely, both of which now fall under the administration of Cambridgeshire.”

Durham. Findmypast has also published Durham Registers & Records, which consists of “baptism, marriage and burial registers covering 14 parishes [in this northeastern England county] as well as a guide to the “Antiquities of Sunderland and its vicinity.”

London. Findmypast has added over 109,000 new records to its Greater London burial index. New additions cover Middlesex and British deaths overseas. “The records consist of transcripts that may reveal a combination of your relative’s name, age, occupation, religious denomination and where they were buried.”

France genealogy records

Coutances et d’Avranches. The free Genealogy Giant, FamilySearch, has added about 13,000 records to its collection, France, Coutances et d’Avranches Diocese, Catholic Parish Records, 1533-1894. According to the site, you’ll find a “name index and images of Catholic parish registers recording events of baptism, marriage and burial in the Diocese of Coutances et d’Avranches. Parishes within this diocese are within the boundaries of the department of Manche.”

Saône-et-Loire. Also at FamilySearch is a new online record collection: France, Saône-et-Loire, Censuses, 1836. Included are more than 380,000 records that are described as “a complete indexing of the population censuses for Saône-et-Loire.” Census records include first and last names, ages, marital status, number in household and relation to the head of household. (Click here for a free FamilySearch tutorial on reading French handwriting.)

Here’s a tip for you: click on the image to the right to explore more French genealogy records that have recently come online.

Germany genealogy records

About 70,000 records have been added to the free FamilySearch collection, Germany, Baden, Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, Catholic Church Records, 1678-1930. Among the records are baptisms, marriages and burials. Also recently updated on the site is a related collection, Germany, Baden, Church Book Duplicates, 1804-1877.

Ireland genealogy records

FamilySearch.org has updated its indexed collection, Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913. It now includes over 2 million records of “1864-1913 births, 1845-1870 marriages, and 1864-1870 deaths. These are copies of the original documents and volumes held at the General Register Office and are referenced in the Ireland Civil Registration Indexes,” states the site.

Luxembourg genealogy records

Now with over 100,000 records available to search is Luxembourg, Civil Registration, 1796-1941 at FamilySearch.org. These include “images of civil births, marriages, deaths, and indexes. Some records are indexed, including births 1800-1923, marriages 1796-1923, and deaths 1796-1923. The original registers are located in the National Archives of Luxembourg.”

Scotland genealogy records

Now at Findmypast.com, subscribers may “learn about the Jacobites and the Jacobite Risings of the 17th and 18th centuries” in Scotland, Jacobite Histories, 1715-1745. This collection of 23 publications ranges “from memoirs to song books” and consists of “digital PDF images that can be searched by name, conflict, publication title, year and keyword.”

Spain genealogy records

Free at FamilySearch.org are additional records in its collection, Spain, Diocese of Lugo, Catholic Parish Records, 1550-1966. This index-only database references baptisms, marriages, and deaths mentioned in Catholic Church records created by parishes in the diocese of Lugo, Spain.

Sweden genealogy records

FamilySearch.org has updated its collection of Sweden, Örebro Church Records, 1613-1918; index 1635-1860. It now contains over 380,000 baptisms, marriages, and burials from the county of Örebro.

Learn more about European genealogy records

Improve your knowledge of researching your roots from various European countries with these free get-started tutorials:
About the Author: Sunny Morton

About the Author: Sunny Morton

Sunny is a Contributing Editor at Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems; her voice is often heard on the Genealogy Gems Podcast and Premium Podcasts. She’s  known for her expertise on the world’s biggest family history websites (she’s the author of Genealogy Giants: Comparing the 4 Major Websites); writing personal and family histories (she also wrote Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy); and sharing her favorite reads for the Genealogy Gems Book Club.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

British Isles Descendants Will Love these New Records Online

by | Jul 13, 2018 | 01 What's New, African-American, Australian, British, Canadian, MyHeritage, Records & databases

Millions of British Isles descendants—whether still living in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales or dispersed to the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, may find their ancestors in these new online records that include medieval maps, BMD and immigration records, name changes and even medical records for British troops in WWI.

British Isles descendants: Time to explore!

New collections for across Britain

Britain name changes. TheGenealogist.co.uk has published a new database that will help researchers identify official name changes by their ancestors in Britain. According to Family Tree (UK), “The Change of Names Database covers information gathered from a number of sources including Private Acts of Parliament; Royal Licences published in the London and Dublin Gazettes; notices of changes of name published in The Times after 1861 with a few notices from other newspapers; registers of the Lord Lyon [King of Arms] where Scottish changes of name were commonly recorded; records in the office of the Ulster King at Arms and also some private information.” Click here to learn more about name change records and subscription options.

British WWI records. British Isles subscription-based Genealogy Giant Findmypast.com has added nearly 700,000 records to its collection of British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers’ Medical Records. According to the site, “These records may allow you to discover when and where your ancestor was wounded, where they were treated how long they were held at the medical facility for treatment. Images may provide a variety of additional details such as their service history and a description of the wound.”

British Isles descendants FMP British WWI medical record

Sample image from Findmypast.com. Crown Copyright Images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England.

Battle artifacts. You can now browse or search a new database of more than 2000 archaeological artifacts that have been recovered from Anzac Cove and the Gallipoli Penninsula, in the area where thousands of Turkish, Australian, New Zealander, British, French, Indian and Newfoundlander troops died as part of a campaign over control of Istanbul. According to News Australia, this artifact collection results from “the world’s most extensive battlefield archaeological study uncovered items which gave a glimpse of life on the frontline for Turkish and Anzac troops, uncovered the trenches where men fought, lived and died, and unearthed everyday items such as bottles of beer and belt buckles.”

Medieval maps. Those who can trace their family history back to medieval times (even just to a particular region) will be excited to hear that the British Library has published a collection of free online maps. According to this announcement, “The Virtual Mappa Project has been officially released as an open access publication, with an incredible collection of digitised medieval world maps from the British Library and beyond, all online, annotated and waiting to be explored.” This collection is published “in a visually navigable, text-searchable, translated format that makes their intricacies much more accessible to modern minds.” Click here to read more instructions and to start exploring this collection!

Australia

Obituaries. Subscription-based Genealogy Giant Ancestry.com has updated its database, Australia and New Zealand, Obituary Index, 2004-2018, which now has more than 370,000 records. According to the collection description, this recent collection is curated through online research: “The collection contains recent obituaries from hundreds of newspapers. We work with partners to scour the Internet regularly to find new obituaries and extract the facts into our database. Where available we include the original URL link to the source information. As the internet is a changing medium, links may stop working over time.”

Queensland immigration. The tech-savvy subscription-based Genealogy Giant MyHeritage.com has published a new collection with more than 100,000 records in it: Queensland, Australia Passenger and Crew Lists, 1852-1885. According to the site, “This collection is an index to inwards passenger and crew lists arriving in Brisbane and Moreton Bay between 1852 and 1885, sourced from the Collector of Customs (Brisbane) records, held at the National Archives of Australia, Brisbane (Shipping Inwards Series J715). Many of the ships have two lists–one prepared at the time of departure (classified in this index as a “Departure” list), and another prepared upon arrival (classified in this list as an “Arrival” list). The index covers over 100,000 individuals from 485 different voyages. A few outwards lists are also included. Information provided may include name of passenger or crew member, age, marital status, occupation, name of ship, departure date and place, and arrival date and place.”

South Australia immigration. The free Genealogy Giant, FamilySearch.org, has added more than 25,000 records to Australia, South Australia, Immigrants Ship Papers, 1849-1940. According to the site, this update includes “a record of births and deaths aboard, 1849-1867 and 1873-1885. Indexed records in collection include passenger lists arriving and departing from South Australia. Information on images varies but may include ship’s name, master’s name, tonnage, where bound, date, port of embarkation, names of passengers, ages, occupation, nationality, and port at which passengers have contracted to land.”

Canada

New Brunswick births. FamilySearch has also added nearly 24,000 names to its collection, New Brunswick Late Registration of Births, 1810-1899. “These records include indexes and images of provincial returns of births, 1869-1906 and late registrations, 1810-1906. The late registrations from 1810 to 1899 are arranged by birth year and then surname. Although the index is complete, images are being added to this collection as they become available. The returns of births, 1870-1906, and the late registration documents which were original certificates and some returns, 1810-1899, are arranged alphabetically within each year.”

England

Kent births. This collection isn’t huge, but it’s new and as the record of a male midwife, it’s fairly unusual: Kent, Lydd Midwife’s Birth Register 1757-1815. The site states, “The collection contains over 2,400 records transcribed from the original register of William Waylett (1729-1815), a male midwife who practiced in Lydd and the surrounding parishes on Romney Marsh in Kent….Transcripts span the years 1757 to 1815 and will reveal a combination of your ancestor’s birth date, birth place, parent’s names and any additional notes. Notes may include details of the pregnancy, delivery, mother, or payment for services.” If you find your ancestor in these records, we hope you’ll let us know about it!

Liverpool church records. Ancestry.com has added to several separate collections of Liverpool Anglican church records so that they now total more than 4 million records. You may want to search first the multi-record type Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1659-1812, and follow up by searching within these individual collections of Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1917, Liverpool, England, Church of England Confirmations, 1887-1921, Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 and Liverpool, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1975.

Northumberland and Durham burials. Findmypast.com has added over 14,000 new records to Northumberland and Durham Memorial Inscriptions. According to the site, “The new additions cover churchyards in Birtley, Blyth, Boldon, Eighton Banks, Gosforth, Great Lumley, Penshaw, Ryhope, South Shields, Whitley Bay and Woodhorn. Each result includes a transcription of an original inscription. The amount of information listed may vary although most transcripts will include a combination of your ancestor’s burial year, birth date, death date, age at death, denomination, inscription, location, plot, stone type and any additional notes.”

Yorkshire burials. Findmypast.com has added more than 38,000 new records to its database, Yorkshire Burials. According to the site, the collection “now contains over 5.1 million records spanning more than 400 years of the county’s rich history.”

New Zealand

Nearly a half million records already appear in New Zealand, Cemetery Transcriptions, 1840-1981, a brand new free collection you can search at FamilySearch.org. Containing indexed names and images from various places across New Zealand, the records may include the cemetery name, name of deceased, death date, age at death and names of family members.

Scotland

Ancestry.com subscribers may now search a new collection with more than 3.2 million records: Aberdeen City and Former Counties of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1832-1976. “This database contains yearly registers listing names and residences of people in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who were eligible to vote in elections. These year-by-year registers can help place your ancestors in a particular place and possibly also reveal some information about property they owned. Coverage for the area and timeframe is not complete, so it may be helpful to check the browse menu on the right [of the database’s search page, linked to above] for details of which volumes are included.”

British Isles descendants Aberdeen voters Ancestrycom

Sample image from electoral roll of Aberdeenshire County, 1862, images 25-26 on Ancestry.com.

 

United States

Deceased physicians. Findmypast.com has published more than 700,000 biographical card files of deceased doctors from the American Medical Association. The Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968 is a browse-only collection. The site explains, “Each record consists of a transcript that may reveal when your ancestor died, where they practiced, where they attended school, where they were living at the time of their death, details relating to their career and their cause of death.”

Indiana marriages. Findmypast.com has added nearly 80,000 records of Indiana marriages (1818-1920) to its growing (and already enormous) collection of United States Marriage records. According to the site, “The collection includes both transcripts and images of original documents that will list a combination of your ancestor’s marriage date, location, the names of both the bride and groom, their birthplaces, birth dates, ages, residence and the names of both their parents.”

Massachusetts. The Boston Public Library has curated a collection of thousands of high school yearbooks from across the state of Massachusetts and published them online for free viewing at the Internet Archive. The collection page appears to comprise 4440 volumes dating back to 1892. (We read about this new collection in this online article at CBS Boston.)

Native American census. New and free to explore on FamilySearch.org is United States, Native American, Census of the Ute Tribe, 1944. Though a small collection (only about 2500 records), it may be key to helping you trace Ute ancestors and tribal membership. According to the site, these records come from an “index and images of Indian Census Roll taken on the Uintah and Ouray reservation in northeastern Utah during the month of January 1944 by the Office of Indian Affairs….Additional records for this tribe, reservation and agency will be found at the National Archives at Denver in Record Group 75 Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”

North Carolina. A new collection of nearly 20,000 records at FamilySearch is North Carolina, County Divorce Records, 1926-1975. The collection description states, “This collection contains an index and images to the ‘index to former husbands and maiden names of divorced women’ covering the years 1926 to 1975. The documents included are affidavits, which are titled “Notice of Intention to Resume Use of Maiden Name.”

Also new for North Carolina is the online availability of some issues of the Charlotte Post, an African American weekly newspaper founded in 1878 and now available on DigitalNC. According to this article, “The first issues that we are making available online on DigitalNC cover 1988-1990, 1993, and 1996.” However, the landing page shows online issues back to 1971.

Ohio. Nearly 168,000 records have been added to the free FamilySearch collection, Ohio, Crawford County Obituaries, 1860-2004. These records come from the obituary file at the Crawford County Genealogical Society in Galion, Ohio. (We love societies and the work they do to compile and preserve local records!)

Tennessee. More than 150,000 records have been added to the free FamilySearch collection, Tennessee Death Records, 1914-1963. This collection includes indexed images of statewide death certificates.

Washington, D.C. FamilySearch.org has added nearly 100,000 record entries to District of Columbia, Glenwood Cemetery Records, 1854-2013. According to the site, “This collection includes images of cemetery records from 1854-2013 from the Glenwood Cemetery, a historic cemetery located on Lincoln Road NE in Washington, D.C.” This collection continues to grow as more images are added.

About the Author: Sunny Morton

About the Author: Sunny Morton

Sunny is a Contributing Editor at Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems; her voice is often heard on the Genealogy Gems Podcast and Premium Podcasts. She’s  known for her expertise on the world’s biggest family history websites (she’s the author of Genealogy Giants: Comparing the 4 Major Websites); writing personal and family histories (she also wrote Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy); and sharing her favorite reads for the Genealogy Gems Book Club.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

New Google Video from Genealogy Gems!

by | Jul 11, 2018 | 01 What's New, Google

Google your family history with Genealogy Gems! Google has a great collection of free online search tools–all powered by the same Google search engine–that can help you discover your family history. In this new Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning video, Google guru Lisa Louise Cooke demonstrates how she fleshed out a story on her family tree by using Google searches, Google Earth, Google Images, Google Books, Google Scholar, and more.

Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning members may now watch a brand new video tutorial: “Reconstruct Your Ancestors’ World with Google.” In this 60-minute video, renowned Google expert Lisa Louise Cooke uncovered a story on her family tree by using a variety of Google tools–then brings all her discoveries together in a compelling video that can be shared with your family.

Lisa’s case study begins with a story from her family archive: a short autobiographical sketch.

Already a rich narrative, the story is just the beginning of what can be learned about this family for free when you run certain details through Google’s many powerful online search tools: Google search, Google Earth, Google Images, Google Books, Google Scholar, Google Alerts, Google Patents, and even YouTube (which is owned by Google).

Google your own genealogy gems

In this video–available exclusively to Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning members–Lisa walks you through each step in the Google search methodology process. She helps you formulate “Google-able” questions and know which part of the vast Google search system might best help you answer them. Then she demonstrates how to search Google’s various facets most effectively and efficiently with queries that bring up the kinds of results you want. You’ll learn important tips such as the difference between Google Books and Google Scholar and how to fine-tune your Google Image searches. Finally, you’ll see how she skillfully and creatively threads together her discoveries to reconstruct meaningful stories she can share with her relatives.

Lisa delivered this presentation at RootsTech, the world’s biggest annual genealogy conference, but only as a Premium eLearning member do you have access to the downloadable handout that summarizes everything you need to know.

 

More about Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning

Every month, Premium eLearning Members get access to a brand new Premium Video just like this one, along with a new Premium Podcast episode. Plus, you get access to an archive of all previous video classes and podcast episodes. Enjoy them entirely at your own pace–all for less than $5 a month! You’ll find all kinds of genealogy topics, but especially DNA, online research, maps and geographical tools, using Evernote for genealogy, organizing your family history, technology, mobile and cloud-based research, and more! Here’s a 10-minute clip from Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 157 that includes an overview of how Premium eLearning works–check it out!
About the Author: Sunny Morton

About the Author: Sunny Morton

Sunny is a Contributing Editor at Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems; her voice is often heard on the Genealogy Gems Podcast and Premium Podcasts. She’s  known for her expertise on the world’s biggest family history websites (she’s the author of Genealogy Giants: Comparing the 4 Major Websites); writing personal and family histories (she also wrote Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy); and sharing her favorite reads for the Genealogy Gems Book Club.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

Mayflower Ancestors Tops US Genealogy Records now Online

by | Jul 6, 2018 | 01 What's New, Records & databases, United States

A new Mayflower ancestors database can help connect you with your Pilgrim roots. Also, amateur US newspapers: Hill Air Force Base newspaper, Norwegian and African American Mormons, PERSI updates and collections for Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

Featured: Mayflower ancestors database

An estimated 10 million living Americans and as many 35 million people worldwide have Pilgrim ancestors. So a new database of Mayflower passengers and their descendants at AmericanAncestors.org may prove helpful to a very large group of people! In fact, the new database was so newsworthy, USA Today even reported on it.

“The database contains authenticated information on more than 59,450 people in the fifth generation of the Mayflower passengers known to have descendants,” states the article. “That ‘fifth generation’ of descendants lived in the 1700s and 1800s, so the name you type in to search the database would have to be one of your ancestors who lived during that time.”

According to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which runs subscription site AmericanAncestors.org, “The Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880 database features more than half a million searchable names….This exclusive database offers meticulous documentation for the fifth generation of Mayflower families who arrived in 1620 and left descendants….All information in the database is derived from the original printed books published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. These volumes are often referred to as the ‘Silver Books’ for their distinctive covers.”

This “largest online database of authenticated Mayflower passenger genealogies” is only available to full members of AmericanAncestors.org. You can try a 3-month all-access membership plan for $34.95.

More US genealogy records now online

Amateur newspapers from the 1800s

A new digital archive of 19th-century amateur newspapers is now available to patrons of subscribing libraries. According to a press release, these youth newspapers are “considered the social media of the 19th century and gives students and researchers a unique inside look at how teens and young adults of the period expressed themselves and their opinions to the world.” Ask a reference librarian at your favorite library or archive if they have access to this collection. Even if you can’t access it, if you like old newspapers, it’s worth reading this blog post with lots of great discoveries from the collection.

Latter-day Saint (Mormon)

Two new databases may help you discover more about your ancestors who united with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

  • African Americans comprised a tiny minority of members of this faith before 1930. According to this article in the Salt Lake Tribune, a new database seeks to recover and compile information about them. Search it at its free website, A Century of Black Mormons.
  • AmericanAncestors.org has published a new collection, Norway: Mormon Missionaries and Emigrants to America (1886-1900). According to the site, it “provides a listing of approximately 650 Mormon emigrants, who boarded ships in Christiania from 1886 to 1897, and journeyed to the British Isles and then to America. This resource gives names, gender, ages, marital status, occupations, place of residence, destinations of specific ships, European departure dates, and arrivals at U.S. ports. The work also presents biographical sketches of approximately 160 Latter-day Saints who served as missionaries in Scandinavia and some who served as leaders aboard the ships carrying Norwegian emigrants.”

Military: Hill Air Force Base

A new addition to the free website Utah Digital Newspapers is a complete run (1943-2006) of the Hill Air Force Base’s Hilltop Times newspaper. According to this Deseret News article, “The installation, which was founded shortly before the U.S. entry into World War II, went on to serve a critical maintenance and supply role during the war. The bombers that defeated the Axis powers in World War II — the B-29, B-25, B-24 and B-17 — were repaired, modified or maintained in some way at Hill Air Force Base.” The collection includes more than 61,000 digitized newspaper pages.

Periodical Source Index updates

Genealogy Giant subscription website Findmypast.com continues to update the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). This comprehensive subject index to thousands of historical and genealogical magazines, journal articles, and periodicals is strongest for U.S. sources and can help you discover mentions of your relatives (and places or organizations associated with them) in sources you may otherwise never learn about. Findmypast is the exclusive online home of PERSI and has been adding digitized article images to the indexed entries. They’ve recently added over 13,000 more article images from:

  • “Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine / American Spirit – volumes 43 to 53, 56 to 57 – this magazine offers articles on American history and historical subjects pertaining to Colonial America, as well as sections on genealogy
  • Fitchburg Historical Society Proceedings – volumes 1 to 5 – including papers relating to the history of the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts
  • Genealogical Advertiser – volumes 1 to 4 – a quarterly magazine of family history, which includes marriage and probate records
  • Genealogical Magazine – volumes 1 to 4 – this periodical is a journal of family history, heraldry, and pedigrees
  • Genealogical Quarterly Magazine – volumes 1 to 5 – this periodical is devoted to ‘genealogy, history, heraldry, revolutionary and colonial records’. From its pages, you can discover marriage notices, cemetery inscriptions, inhabitant lists, and church records for various places in New England.”

Statewide genealogy collections: From Alabama to West Virginia

Alabama. New at Genealogy Giant subscription website Ancestry.com is the collection, Alabama, Surname Files Expanded, 1702–1981. According to the site, “This database contains various records providing biographical information on individuals who lived in Alabama….Staff members at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) started compiling these records on Alabamians in 1901. They include a variety of items and record types arranged by surname: newspaper clippings, obituaries, local and family histories, donated family research and records, extracts from censuses, research requests made to the archives, and other items. While ADAH staff began collecting and assembling these records in 1901, names of people included can predate this year.”

Georgia. We’ve reported in the past on individual updates to the Digital Library of Georgia. Now the entire website has been redesigned and relaunched. According to a press release, “The site connects users to a half a million digital objects in more than 700 collections from over 130 institutions and 100 government agencies.” Site visitors will now be more easily able to navigate the site, perform full-text searches, browse collections in different ways (including map browsing) and access virtual collections from several organizations. Click here to visit the new site.

Indiana. Most issues of The Southeastern Student, an early newspaper at Indiana University, are now available in digitized format online on the Indiana University Southeast Library Student Newspapers home page. The paper and its successors appear in a collection spanning 1947 to 2007.

Massachusetts. AmericanAncestors.org has added new browsable Catholic church record collections for the following parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston Records: Most Holy Redeemer (East Boston) (7 volumes), Sacred Heart (Malden) (3 volumes), St. James (Haverhill) (7 volumes), St. Mary (Lawrence) (12 volumes), and St. Peter (Lowell) (9 volumes).

Ohio. One of the oldest Catholic diocesan publications in the United States, The Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati, OH), is being digitized and placed online. Issues dating 1831-1885 are already online and eventually all through 1922 will be placed online. Read these issues here for free—along with several other digitized Catholic newspapers from around the United States.

Vermont. Millions of Vermont newspaper pages dating from the 1700s up to 1922 are now available online, thanks to a collaboration between the Vermont Secretary of State’s office and Newspapers.com. Access is free to Vermont residents and available to subscribers of Newspapers.com. Click here to learn more about accessing these newspapers.

Washington. New at Ancestry.com is Washington, Episcopal Diocese of Spokane Church Records, 1870-1947. According to the site, “This collection includes baptism, confirmation, marriage, and death records from the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane between the years of 1870 and 1947. Established in the mid-1860s, the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane is comprised of 38 congregations and covers all of Washington State east of the Cascade Range, as well as the northern Idaho panhandle.”

West Virginia. Another of the Genealogy Giants, subscription site MyHeritage.com, has published West Virginia Death Index & Certificates, 1853-1964 with more than 5 million records. According to the site, “West Virginia death records between 1853 and 1964 include name, gender, date of death, age of death, and often other important information such as marital status, birth date, burial date, cemetery where interred, and details about the decedent’s occupation, spouse, father, and mother. The associated images in this collection, including copies of state-issued death certificates, should be examined to discover other information not present in the index. This index and images are provided by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.”

Note: Many West Virginia vital records are free to explore here and are an incredibly rich resource, but the search interface is very limited AND it doesn’t include all data for all counties. According to the site, “Death records in West Virginia are withheld from the public for 50 years from the date of issuance but all extant state death certificates for individuals from all 55 counties dating from 1917 through 1964 are available. Additional records extending the collection from 1964 will be added as they become available.”

Even more US genealogy gems

If you’re a Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning member, you can listen to Lisa Louise Cooke’s new interview with Genealogy Giants guru Sunny Morton on an unexpected source for US newspaper content. This conversation is in Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode #160. Learn about millions of newspaper pages you may already have access to–and get step-by-step instructions for how to access it. Think you’d like to join our Premium eLearning community? Click here for more info.
About the Author: Sunny Morton

About the Author: Sunny Morton

Sunny is a Contributing Editor at Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems; her voice is often heard on the Genealogy Gems Podcast and Premium Podcasts. She’s  known for her expertise on the world’s biggest family history websites (she’s the author of Genealogy Giants: Comparing the 4 Major Websites); writing personal and family histories (she also wrote Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy); and sharing her favorite reads for the Genealogy Gems Book Club.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

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