Tuesday, September 20, 2016
October Is Family History Month & WikiTree is Celebrating With Source-A-Thon
Monday, September 19, 2016
Researching Heraldry
One interesting aspect of European ancestry is that many centuries-old families are represented not only in name, but also by a crest or coat of arms. There are many avenues of research available. This website can help you to better understand heraldry. If you have German heritage this site may be useful. The Allen County Public Library has a guide here.
Another site run by John Lehman offers multiple arms for more common names such as Allen, Smith, etc. Finally, the Library of Congress has a bibliography here.
German-American Day in St. Louis is October 1st
St. Louis will celebrate German-American Day on Saturday, October 1, 2016 at the St. Louis German Culture Society's Hall. The hall will be transformed into a biergarten with beer, pretzels, Kaffe and Kuchen (coffee & cake) will be available. For more information call Event Chair Dorris Keeven-Franke at 636-221-1524 or check out the website here. Experience German Gemutlichkeit in Missouri!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
September Is International Save Your Photos Month
Falling Into Genealogy at Midwest Genealogy Center
MyHeritage Releases Large Collection of Finnish Historical Records
MyHeritage announced today the addition of a new historical records collection: Finland Church Census and Pre-confirmation Rolls, 1657-1950. The collection includes clerical surveys (rippikirjat) and pre-confirmation books (lastenkirjat) for a period starting in 1657 and spanning nearly 300 years. The collection, indexed and searchable in its entirety, is currently available only on MyHeritage, along with millions of scanned original documents. It was created with the cooperation of the National Archives Service of Finland.
Friday, September 02, 2016
September Missouri Genealogy Events
- 2-4 September 2016, KansasCity Irish Fest will feature music, heritage workshops and displays, comedy, genealogy, a children’s area and more.
- 9-10 September 2016, the Ozarks Genealogical Society (OGS) in Springfield, MO will hold its annual conference at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. Michael J. Leclerc, CG will be the featured speaker, presenting The New England News: Colonial New England and Its Migration.
- 16-17 September 2016, Genealogy KC at the Liberty Missouri Stake Center, adjacent to the Kansas City Missouri Mormon Temple.
Ancestry.com Offering FREE Access to Occupation Records This Labor Day Weekend!
Access to occupation records on Ancestry.com will be free now until September 5, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Illinois Record Searches
In addition, the Illinois State Genealogy Society Blog shares updates and information that will help your search. Happy hunting!
Utilizing Google Earth
I have spent a few hours playing with Earth Point, a tool Eric recommended. I like it for its ease of use and have explored several of the free options including my favorite: Township and Range. On this page you can enter the coordinates and see mapping as well as "street views" of most addresses in the United States.
Thanks Eric for sharing your knowledge and giving us another great tool to find our ancestors and understand how and where they lived.
FGS Conference and the BIG Announcement
According to FGS:
The War of 1812 pensions, among the most frequently requested set of materials within the holdings of NARA, had never been microfilmed or digitized. Now, with fundraising complete for the project, and with ongoing cooperation from the project’s partners and major supporters, NARA, Ancestry, Fold3, and FamilySearch, these important documents will be made available free, forever to the general public. The project, set out to raise more than $3 million in 2010, an unprecedented amount for the genealogical community.