Thursday, April 30, 2009

Prologue Magazine

The Spring issue of Prologue Magazine, published by the National Archives, highlights the move of the Kansas City National Archives into a new location in downtown Kansas City, MO, near historic Union Station. A history / genealogy fair will be part of the festivities.

One of 13 Regional Archives, the National Archives at Kansas City will hold Federal records from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, along with select material from Minnesota and the Dakotas. If you had family in any of these locations, it would be worth your while to establish a relartionshuip with ther National Archives of Kanasas City.

Among its holdings are original records of the U.S. District Courts, U.S. Attorneys, Bureau of Prisons, Steamboat Inspection Service, Bureau of Indians Affairs, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, National Parks Service, and microfilm publications of many of the nation's most significant records.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Social Networking For Genealogists

The Glenview Public Library has purchased the following book. I expect it to enhance your genealogical research, and help you find new ways to communicate and share with other family history researchers:

Social Networking for Genealogists by Drew Smith

Genealogical Pub. Co., c2009

R929.10285 SMI GENEALOGY

(A circulating copy is on order)

Contents: RSS -- Tags -- Message boards and mailing lists -- Blogs -- Wikis -- Collaborative editing -- Photo and video sharing -- Social bookmarking -- Sharing personal libraries -- Podcasts -- Social networking for its own sake -- Virtual worlds -- Genealogy-specific social networking.

This book describes the wide array of social networking services that are now available online and highlights how these services can be used by genealogists to share information, photos, and videos with family, friends, and other researchers.

Each chapter guides you through a unique category of social networking services using genealogy-related examples. From blogs and wikis to general social networking sites that have genealogy applications, such as Facebook, and virtual worlds such as Second Life, author Drew Smith shows you how to incorporate these powerful new tools into your family history research.

This book is about the type of social networking that has been made possible by the development of international computer networks, the availability of network access to most homes (especially broadband access), the creation of websites dedicated to particular kinds of networking (posting photos, viewing and commenting on videos, seeing what books friends have in their libraries, etc.), and the ease of participating in these sites without having to be a computer expert. It identifies those kinds of social networking sites and services that will be of the most interest to genealogists.

THE AUTHOR: Drew Smith, MLS, is an academic librarian with the University of South Florida in Tampa. An expert in digital genealogy, with a lifelong interest in family history research, he is Director of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and President of the Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa. He is also a regular contributor to Digital Genealogist magazine and is co-host of the weekly Genealogy Guys Podcast.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Ancestry Magazine

Ancestry Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine for family historians and other genealogy enthusiasts. It is available for free, in electronic format, if you subscribe using an RSS feed. Past issues are available in the Archives.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Article About Jewish Names

This article on Hebrew-Yiddish Name Pairs is by Daniel Stuhlman. Mr. Stuhlman is President of Stuhlman Management Consultants, Chicago, and on the faculty of Rutgers University School of Communication, Information and Library Studies.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Glenview Snapshot

How well do you know the community in which you live?

The U.S. Census Bureau makes available a fascinating list of facts about Glenview, taken from selected social characteristics in the United States: 2005-2007 for each town.

The list of selected social characteristics for Glenview IL includes data about households, relationships, marital status, fertility, grandparents, school entollment, educational attainment, veteran status, disability status, residence 1 year ago, place of birth, U.S. citizenship status, year of entry, world region of birth of foreign-born, kanguage spoken at home, and ancestry.

Other lists of data specific to Glenview pertain to economics, demographics, and housing. Information is also available in narrative form.

Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, April meeting

April 26th

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois will meet at Temple Beth Israel, 3601 W. Dempster Street in Skokie. The library will be open for research at 12:30 and JGSI members will be available to help you with your family research using some of the many internet sites.

The first of a new JGSI interest program group, Birds Of a Feather, will also meet from 12:30-1:45. This BOF group, led by Judy Frazin, will focus on Polish Research. Those interested should bring their Polish “brick walls” and successes...including any actual documents.

Our April program, featuring Mike Karsen, will begin at 2:00.He will speak on "Preserving Your Ancestor's Legacy: Write Their Life Story."

We hope you will join us on April 26th.

Looking ahead...
June 14th: SAVE THE DATE

JGSI will host National Lecturer and Author BEAU SHARBROUGH

Monday, April 20, 2009

CAGGNI Meeting

The Computer‑Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois (CAGG‑NI) meetings are held the third Saturday of each month at 10:30am at the Schaumburg Township District Library. Located at 130 South Roselle Road, Schaumburg, IL. 60193.

SUBJECT: Find That Obituary! Online Newspaper Resources
DATE: Saturday, May 16, 2009
MODERATOR: Ralph Beaudoin

Ralph Beaudoin will show us how and where to find the obit on that long deceased ancestor and other information that can be found in online newspaper
archives.

The first of this year’s series of programs to help get our online lives together.

Contact info: Stan Schmidt, Publicity, 630‑529‑4849

Historical Register and Dictionary of the U.S. Army

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

Historical register and dictionary of the United States Army, from its organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903 / by Francis B. Heitman.
R355.3 HEI GENEALOGY v. 1 and 2

This is a complete list of commissioned officers of the U.S. from the organization of the Army, September 29, 1789, to the year of the list's original publication in 1903, giving the officers' full names and showing their services. The heart of the work, Part II, an alphabetical listing of the officers, runs to some 60,000 entries. Each entry contains a brief paragraph on the officer giving his state or country where born, state from which originally appointed, date of induction, rank, date of discharge, promotions, medals, battles participated in, and, in about a fifth of the entries, date of death after leaving the Army.

"He Loves A Good Deal of Rum..."

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

"He loves a good deal of rum-- " : military desertions during the American Revolution, 1775-1783 / Joseph Lee Boyle.
R973.34 BOY GENEALOGY v. 1 and 2

This compilation is from thirty-eight newspapers published from Massachusetts to North Carolina from 1775 to 1783. It is arranged chronologically by date of newspaper deserter notice

New World Immigrants

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

New World immigrants : a consolidation of ship passenger lists and associated data from periodical literature / edited by Michael Tepper.
R929.373 NEW GENEALOGY v. 1 and 2

This work is a collection of ninety-seven articles from some fifty periodicals, mostly totally unknown to the researcher. Within the general time frame 1618-1878, the articles identify upwards of 27,500 emigrants, mainly English, Irish, Scottish, German, Swiss, French, Dutch, Norwegian, and Russian-German.

Most of the work focuses on passenger lists of the pre-Revolutionary period. The entire first volume is given over to the hundred-year period 1618 to 1718. The 19th century is represented by 15 articles. The period before the advent of the official U.S. Customs Passenger Lists in 1820 is generously represented.

Roll of Battle Abbey

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

The Roll of Battle Abbey annotated by John Bernard Burke.
R929.341 ROL GENEALOGY

This roll is the earliest record of the Normans. The Abbey was a memorial of the Battle of Hastings. Its first Benedictine c ommunity came f rom Normandy. Their purpose was to pray for those who had died in the battle, and preserve a faithful record of those who had shared in the victory.

The book lists the names of the Norman chieftains who accompanied the Conqueror, followed by annotations and heraldic images.

The Greek Texans

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

The Greek Texans --2nd edition by James Patrick Maguire and others.
R976.4 GRE GENEALOGY

The 1860 census showed only 2 Greeks in Texas. A century later, there were over 10,000. The major immigration took place in the 3 decades following 1890.

This book presents the early history of Greek sailors, fishermen, and adventurers in Texas. It contains articles about significant individuals, societuies, families, events, and organizations., along with many wonderful photographs and documents.

The Polish Texans

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

The Polish Texans by T. Lindsay Baker.
R976.4 BAK GENEALOGY

Thousands of Texans trace their roots back to Poland. Most of them came during the early 1800s when their homeland was divided and ruled by others, and they played an active role in the Texas War of Independence. Later, farmers from Upper Silesia in Southwestern Poland settled at Panna Maria, Bandera, and San Antonio. They founded the earlies Polish colonies, the first Polish churches, and the first Polish school in America.

This book covers the history of Poles in the early history of Texas; founding the first Polish colonies in America; first years on the frontier; expansion of Silesian settlement; the Civil War years; reconstruction for the Silesian Poles in Texas; coming to East Texas; Soldiers from Mexico; Polish life in 19th century Texas; business and commerce; and Polish Texans in the 20th century.

There is a reading list, and the text is illustrated with many great photos and documents.

Creativitree

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

Creativitree : design ideas for family trees by Tony Matthews.
929.1 MAT
(There is another copy in Reference Genealogy)

This book contains many styles of beautiful, humorous, and unique black and white pedigree tree designs that can be reproduced and filled in. The text also includes tips for designing your own forms, the best types of materials to use for long-term preservation, etc.

Erin's Sons

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

Erin's sons : Irish arrivals in Atlantic Canada, 1761-1853. Volume II by Terrence M. Punch, FRSAI.
929.3415 PUN v. 2
(There is another copy in the Reference Genealogy collection)

Geographic area covered includes provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New brunswick, and Nova Scotia. 7,000 Irish arrivals in Atlantic Canada before 1853 are listed. Information derived from diverse sources such as church and cemetery records, lists of convicts, indenture documents, and passenger lists, is included in each listing.

There are indexes of surnames and ship names.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Google Your Family Tree

The Glenview Public Library has purchased the followiong book that can help you with your genealogy:

Google your family tree : unlock the hidden power of Google by Daniel M. Lynch.
929.1 LYN

There is also a copy in the Reference Genealogy collection.

This book explains how to use the many powerful capabilities contained within Google to jumpstart a family history search, in simple, easy-to-understand language.

It teaches you how to use basic and advanced search operators to filter results; find puvlished information about your family history; discover visuals to help illustrate your family story using Google Images and Video; explore your ancestral homelands with Google Maps and Google Earth; ; conduct research in historical newspapers using the Google News Archive; set up automated searches using Googlle Alerts; use language tools to find and translate foreign content; and make the most of free websites for genealogy.

Examples of advanced Google searches you may not have tried before include the Google Phonebook search; intext, intitle, and inurl searches; and organizing your research using Google Notebook.

The appendix includes five sections about beginninig genealogy, best web sites, information about internet search engines, and a concise summary of Google commands and syntax with their use for genealogy.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Interpreting Headstones

The North Suburban Genealogical Society invites you to hear Craig Pfannkuche as he presents a guide to our members in reading and understanding headstones. The subject title is Interpreting Headstones.

Craig is on the Board of Directors for the McHenry County ILL. Genealogical Society and the Chicago Genealogical Society. Mr. Pfannkuche is a frequent lecturer on genealogical subjects but has also published written articles of interest to genealogists.

When: May 9, 2009
Where: Glenview Library 1930 Glenview Road, Glenview , IL 60025
Admission: Free
Time: 1 p.m. problem solving
1:45 p.m. general meeting
2 p.m. Program w/Craig Pfannkuche

Contact: Jim Boyle, 847-401-2579

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Researching Haiti

Did your ancestors come from Haiti? Where can you find resources for Haitian family research?

Haiti is on the Caribbean / West Indies page of Cyndi'a List.

It is also included in Caribbean Gen Web, and on the Haiti Page of the Family Search Catalog, which will provide the microfilm numbers you need at the Family History Center.

Subscribe to the Haiti Mailing List and consult the experts in Haitian genealogy. Don't forget to search the list Archives.

Search the vital records database at the website of the Haitian Genealogical Society.

It is also a good idea to search the Library's genealogy databases using the keyword "Haiti."

Monday, April 6, 2009

Social Security Death Index

Using the Social Security Death Index can advance your genealogy.

It contains information on over eighty million deceased individuals with United States social security numbers whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration. Birth years for the individuals listed range from 1875 to last year. Information in these records includes name, birth date, death date, and last known residence.

When you locate the individual for whom you are searching, you can generate a letter to the Social Security Administration you can send along with payment for a copy of the original application your ancestor filled out. The application shows the address where they were living at the time, along with their parents' names (including mother's maiden name). These documents are very valuable to genealogists.

The Rootsweb version of the Social Security Death Index includes a full tutorial on using it.

Friday, April 3, 2009

We're Related

Did you receive an email on April Fool's Day telling you that President Barack Obama confirmed you as a cousin on the We're Related application on Facebook?


The April Fool's joke resulted in We're Related's biggest day ever, with five times more traffic than average.

FamilyLink.com, Inc. is the developer of We're Related.

We're Related is the fourth most popular application on Facebook, and the number one social application for families. We're Related helps individuals stay in touch with their families by connecting them to their possible relatives.

FamilyLink.com, Inc. is the leading social networking company for families globally. It was formed in 2006 by original founding executives of Ancestry.com and MyFamily.com.

Other genealogy applications for Facebook include Family Tree and One Family Tree.

Sign up for a Facebook account, and be sure to install these applications,,,they really can help you find your family!

Scotland's People


ScotlandsPeople is one of the largest online sources of original genealogical information, with almost 50 million records to access.


The digital images on Scotland's People, the official Government source of genealogical data for Scotland, are of deaths and burials contained in the Old Parish Registers of Scotland (OPRs). The OPRs are the records which the Church of Scotland kept of births and baptisms, banns and marriages and deaths and burials for the 300 years before the start of the civil registration system in 1855.


You can do free surname searches, but there is a cost for viewing the digitized documents.