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We Dig These Gems! New Genealogy Records Online
New genealogy records online this week includes civil registrations for Italy and the Philippines, Irish vital records indexes, Pennsylvania veterans’ files and even 20th-century U.S. merchant marines databases. Which may include your relatives?
ITALY CIVIL REGISTRATIONS. Digitized (not yet indexed) civil registration records for Forlì-Cesena Forlì (1800-1815, 1866-1930) and Imperia Ventimiglia (1806-1913) are now free to view on FamilySearch. Records for each locale may vary, but in addition to civil registrations may include marriage banns, memorandums and marriage supplemental documents; annotations to death records and other miscellaneous records.
IRELAND VITAL RECORDS. Indexes to birth records (1864-1914), marriage records (1845-1939, but begins 1864 for Roman Catholic marriages) and death records (1864-1964) are now available to search at IrishGenealogy.ie.
PENNSYLVANIA MILITARY. Ancestry has posted a new database of Pennsylvania, WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948 WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948 and updated its Pennsylvania, Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966
database.
PHILIPPINES CIVIL REGISTRATION. About 1.8 million indexed images of Manila civil registrations (1899-1984) are now free to search on FamilySearch. This represents a partial index (just the births for 1900-1980).
U.S. MERCHANT MARINES. Ancestry recently posted two new 20th-century databases on merchant marines: the WWI-era U.S., Lists of Merchant Seamen Lost in WWI, 1914-1919 and the longer-spanning U.S., Merchant Marine Applications for License of Officers, 1914-1949
.
Thank you for sharing these new genealogy records online with fellow genies and society members! We appreciate you helping us spread the good news. Didn’t find the records you’ve been pining for? Click here for a Google-based strategy on searching online for genealogy records.
Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Episode 129
Get inspired in Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 129! You’ll hear about church records and YouTube for genealogy, locating hard-to-find records and–even better–locating ancestors’ parents.
How many ways can you think of to find family history? Lisa Louise Cooke can think of a lot–and she packs as many of them as possible into the newly-published Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode #129.
In this members-only podcast, Lisa starts off with a rundown of some great new genealogy records online. I particularly enjoyed the back story she shares on the 1939 Register recently released by Findmypast for England and Wales.
Then Lisa tackles a tough two-part question that a listener sent in. We follow along with this listener’s progress in trying to track down an elusive record type. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t pan out. (Sound familiar?) So then it’s back to the drawing board with some follow-up Genealogy Gems advice and great feedback from yet another listener! I love how this show segment shows the inside process of multi-step research problems.
A segment on YouTube for family history follows. Lisa is so great at figuring out how to use everyday buy adhd medication online technologies and online resources for family history, and YouTube is no exception. I admit I was a bit skeptical the first time I read about searching YouTube for ancestors in Lisa’s book, The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, but I have since found some amazing things on YouTube. Don’t miss these tips!
Two guests join the show today. First is an exclusive Gems interview 
with Sabrina Riley, a Library Director at Union College. Sabrina oversees an archive of Seventh-Day Adventist church records and gives us great tips on using these (and other denominational records) for genealogy.
Then Diahan Southard chimes in with an insightful DNA commentary on when our DNA circles don’t necessarily result in family connections.
What a great lineup! If you’re a Genealogy Gems Premium website member, sign in and then click here and start listening. If you’re not, click here to learn more about the benefits of Genealogy Gems Premium membership. Listening to this exclusive podcast episode is just ONE of MANY benefits you’ll receive for an entire year!
Write Your Own “Where I’m From” Poem and Enter to Win FREE Genealogy Gems Membership!
Did you see the contest we announced last week? Write your own version of a popular family history poem, and you could win a free 1-year Genealogy Gems Premium website subscription!
Last week, Lisa Louise Cooke welcomed Kentucky poet laureate George Ella Lyon to Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 185 (click here to listen – it’s free!). George Ella wrote a poem that has become a very popular family history writing exercise. It’s called “Where I’m From.” You can hear her read it on the podcast or click here to read it on her website.
“Where I’m From” follows a simple format anyone can follow. Make lists of things that remind you where you’re from: memories of people, places, words or phrases, food, smells, everyday household items, pastimes, hard times–whatever comes to mind. Then shape the list into a poem. It doesn’t have to rhyme or follow any set format. It just needs to sound good to you.
To encourage YOU to write your own “Where I’m From” poem, we’re sponsoring a giveaway. Here’s what you do: write your poem, then call in and read it on Lisa’s voicemail at (925) 272-4021) by December 31, 2015. Also leave your name, phone number, and email address on the voicemail so we can reach you (your phone and email will be kept private). On December 31, 2015 we will choose one caller to win a 1-year Genealogy Gems Premium website subscription, a $39.95 value–either a NEW subscription or a RENEWAL for any current member. We may share that caller’s poem and any others on upcoming Genealogy Gems podcast episodes–just to inspire everyone else!
Here are some tips from George Ella Lyon on writing your own version of “Where I’m From:”
- “Just list whatever comes to mind to start: food, music, landscapes, people. Be open to whatever you think of.
- This is a process. It may take several days to craft your list.
- Later, as you organize what you write into its final shape, go back and see which lines have the most energy. Read it out loud. What order feels right?
- Have fun! Don’t criticize yourself.
- You can write “Where I’m From” from your current point of view or looking back.
Ready to write your own poem? Ready to challenge some friends or fellow genie buddies to do the same? Just share this post with them by email or through your favorite social media channels. We can’t wait to hear from you!
