Seasons Greetings and My Blogs

Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, etc. to all my blog readers and followers-your support is greatly appreciated.

Hopefully your
genealogy bucket
is full this year!

For those who were not aware, I write several genealogy blogs--all of which can be viewed for free. Those blogs are:

Genealogy Tip of the Day--one genealogy tip every day
http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com

Daily Genealogy Transcriber--one piece of handwriting to interpret every day
http://genealogytranscriber.blogspot.com

Casefile Clues--the free blog that corresponds to my newsletter, Casefile Clues
http://blog.casefileclues.com

Search Tip of the Day--actually whenever the "spirit" moves
http://genealogysearchtip.blogspot.com/

Rootdig--whatever crosses my genealogy desk--only things I actually use or buy myself--I don't mention or "plug" it if I don't use it myself.
http://rootdig.blogspot.com

Enjoy--the blogs and research tips!

Repeated Census Pages on Film and Digital Format

Those who are not followers/readers of my Rootdig.com blog may wish to view this post about "repeated" digital images made from microfilm that originally had duplicate images.

What Qualifies for One of Our Search Tips

Generally speaking, our "search tips" are either a database search technique (trick) that I've forgotten about or recently found helpful or a neat/interesting database or website that I've just come across. The websites may be "new" or ones that have been around a while.

The only rhyme or reason to how something gets listed is if it's something I've recently used. That's enough of an agenda (grin!).

93 Issues of Casefile Clues for $25

I'm offering 93 issues of Casefile Clues for $25.

Casefile Clues contains analysis, interpretation and how-to advice based on original documents and families I've encountered in my own research. Clearly written, organized, down-to-earth, and practical, it contains deeper analysis of items that run through this blog.

To view the list of issue titles and topics from Volume 3, visit this page.

Give yourself a genealogy gift this holiday season: 93 issues of Casefile Clues for $25. The first 41 issues will be in your inbox within a day or so of your order.

Casefile Clues is sent as a PDF file.

You can learn more about Casefile Clues  here.

Prisoner of War Databases at the National Archives

The US National Archives has a variety of databases of individuals who were prisoners of war during several 20th century US military operations.

US Army and Navy Pension Laws: 1776-1854

Need to know something about various US military pension, bounty land, and other benefit laws before 1845? The book, Army and Navy Pension Laws, and Bounty Land Laws of the United States: Including Sundry Resolutions of Congress, from 1776 to 1854: Executed at the Department of the Interior : with an Appendix, Containing the Opinions of Attorneys General of the United States, with the Decisions, Rules, and Regulations, Adopted by Different Secretaries, Relative to the Execution of Those Laws, may help.

This book can be viewed in digital format here on GoogleBooks.

History Behind the Cable Act of 1922

There is an interesting discussion here ("Cable Act [1922]
Congress Establishes Independent Citizenship for Married Women") of the history behind the 1922 Cable Act which separated the citizenship of a woman from that of her husband.

Early 19th Century Directories for Baltimore

The Maryland State Archives has a variety of early 19th century city directories for Baltimore on their site--both in text and PDF format.

Cyber Monday Genealogy Webinar Sale!

Give yourself the gift of genealogy education this holiday season. We're running a sale on my how-go genealogy webinars. Easy to follow, easy to understand and geared towards beginners with experience and intermediate researchers. Handout included!

Our $5 genealogy sales are running until 2 December! 

Don't wait! Download is immediate.

Arizona Vital Records Online

Arizona Office of Vital Records has digital images of birth certificates as late as 1938 (starting potentially in 1855) and death certificates as late as 1963 (starting potentially in 1870).

Nebraska Homestead--First Name Only Searches at BLM and Not Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com recently released their database of completed homestead applications for Nebraska. Ancestry.com allows searchers to search only by first name--a last name is not required. The Bureau of Land Management has included the patents for Nebraska homesteads on their site-but a last name is required. If you're really having trouble finding a Nebraska homestead on the BLM site, you might want to try Ancestry.com's database of completed homesteads--or have a friend search it for you only using the first name.

Illinois 1929 Roll of Honor

The 1929 publication, Roll of Honor, contains the locations of the burial places of soldiers, sailors, marines, and army nurses who served in any of the wars of the United States and are buried in Illinois. The database contains more than 72,000 names.

US Genweb Archives Project--Map Collection and Links

Links to maps for the entire United States, individual states, and, in many cases, individual counties can be found on the United States Digital Map Library through the US Genweb Archives Project.

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

This interactive website at the Newberry Library has historical county boundaries for counties in the United States.

Organizing Genealogy Information-3 Week Class

By popular demand, we're offering a new section of my "organizing genealogical information" class. Details are here. Don't wait, registration is limited.

Hamilton County, Ohio Military Discharges 1859-1946

FamilySearch's update recently indicated they had recorded copies of military discharges for Hamilton County, Ohio between 1859 and 1946. How complete they are is not known, but this may be helpful for those with relatives in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area.

Initials?

When thinking of all those variants, diminutives, and nicknames for that first name, don't forget that an individual can be listed with just his initials. William may not only be "Will" or "Bill," it may also be "W."

Illinois State Statutes

Links to 155 years of Illinois state statutes on The Advancing Genealogist website.

Your Ancestor's Military Unit at Amazon.com

Have you searched for your ancestor's military unit on  Amazon.com? It's been a while since I did and a recent search there located a book I was unaware of on the 78th Illinois Infantry that I was able to purchase for under $10.

Join Michael at Salt Lake's Family History Library in 2015

We've set the dates for our 2015 research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Visit our informational page and reserve your spot!

1903 Map on US Immigration

For those needing a very early 20th Century perspective on United States immigration, this map from the US Bureau of Immigration may be worth a look.  Unfortunately the source isn't listed.

Database for Cook County Cemetery in Dunning, Illinois

This database contains the names of nearly 8.000 individuals who were buried in the Cook County [Illinois] Cemetery in Dunning, Illinois. Most were paupers, residents of mental institutions, and others in Chicago who were unable to afford a burial elsewhere.

Bushwhackers and the Missouri-Kansas Civil War Conflict

If your family were Bushwhackers, involved with Bushwhackers, or lived in the Missouri-Kansas area, this site should provide you with some historical background.

150,000 Digital Books At FamilySearch

There are over 150,000 books available in digital form on FamilySearch. These books are full text searchable and come from a variety of libraries across the United States.

Virginia Chancery Court Records Online

It is not complete, but the Library of Virginia has an extensive collection of digital images of county chancery court records on their site.

Reading Handwriting Tutorials

BYU has online handwriting interpretation tutorials on their website for a variety of languages, including:

• English
• German
• Dutch
• Italian
• French
• Spanish 
• Portuguese

Prussia-Ostpreußen Gazetteers

The FamilySearch Wiki now contains Prussia-Ostpreußen Gazetteers in downloadable PDF format.

Indexes to NARA Material in Kansas City

The National Archives--Kansas City Branch--has several indexes to records regarding US aliens in the early 20th century on their site as well as other materials in their collection.

Omaha Nebraska District Court Naturalizations 1867-1991

This index on the National Archives website includes naturalization records filed in the Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. District Court, 1867-1991

OCR Can Make Names Where None Exist

Just a quick reminder about the limitations of OCR technology when using computer-generated indexes.

$5 Webinar Sale Back until 25 August

Due to popular demand, we have brought back our $5 webinar sales now through 25 August. If you've not seen our list of topics, a complete list and ordering instructions are available here.

We have a variety of topics and our presentation is informal with a focus on increasing your skill level and knowledge.

Download is immediate and you can view the presentation as many times as you want.

Full or Everyname Index?

We've mentioned it before, but we will again--with the thought that if I occasionally forget, someone else might too.

Always determine (if possible) if the index or finding aid to a series of records is an every name index, an index to principal people involved, or something in between.

Your search methodology depends upon it.

1914-1918 Prisoners of the First World War ICRC Historical Records

From a website of the International Committee of the Red Cross:

"The belligerent countries sent lists of prisoners of various nationalities to the ICRC. Then it set up alphabetical indexes"

Search the index here. 

Varieties of Irish Names

For those with Irish relatives, this 19th century publication on names may be helpful. Varieties and synonymes of surnames and Christian names in Ireland for the guidance of registration officers and the public in searching the indexes of births, deaths, and marriages. The book can be located digitally here.

Are the Covered Years Really Covered?

Always check any database with a test search if you think it's not working or as complete as described. A recent search of a database for Cook County, Illinois, returned no hits for people with the last name Smith born between 1930 and 1938. That's got to be a problem with the search--not me.

Tennessee Bible Records Online at TN State Archives

The Tennessee Secretary of State's Office has posted scanned images from 1500 family bibles and put them on their website.

Meyers Orts Online

This early 20th century Gazetteer is used extensively by German researchers. It is available in digital format via FamilySearch by using the links on the Familysearch card catalog.

Your Name in Suetterlin

Need to see your name (or any name) in Suetterlin? Try this site.

Every Name or Just Some Names?

When using any index, determine if the index indexes:

• every name
• names of "important" people
• one name per document or record

If you don't know, how do you know what you are searching? Check out my post on Rootdig for a longer discussion. 

Dating Postcards

This page has good information on "dating" postcards.  http://www.fortlewis.edu/finding_aids/images/M194/PostcardDating.htm

Newspapers Indexed Via Elephind?

Elephind continues to add indexes to digital newspapers to their collection. If it has been a while give the site another try at http://www.elephind.com

Ft. Wayne Indiana Library Research Trip this August-Join Me

Join me for 3 plus days of research at one of the largest genealogical libraries in the United States, the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in August of 2014. Additional details are on our web site.

See you there!

Savannah Georgia Newspapers Available Digitally

Those with connections to Savannah, Georgia may be interested in the digital collection of newspapers at The Digital Library of Georgia, which includes the following items:

• Savannah Georgian, 1819-1856
• Savannah Morning News, 1868-1880
• Savannah Republican, 1809-1868

Winona, Minnesota Newspapers

The Winona State University Darrell W. Krueger Library has digitized over 150,000 pages of newspaper text from Winona, Minnesota. The text is fully searchable and free. 

Only One Troutvetter-OCR Not Perfect

Remember that OCR is not perfect. This image is a partial screen shot of a search for "Troutvetter" on the American Memory collection at the Library of Congress website. For some reason, it "found" the second Troutvetter reference, but not the one three lines above it. The "v" in the first one is darker and that may explain the reason it wasn't found.

Just something to keep in mind as we rely on OCR more and more in our research.

Reviewing Content on Chronicling America's Newspapers at the Library of Congress

When was the last time you reviewed the material on the Chronicling America project at the Library of Congress' website? I recently discovered new additions relevant to my own research.

Allen County (Indiana) Public Library Trip-August 2014

Join me for 3 plus days of research at one of the largest genealogical libraries in the United States, the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in August of 2014. Additional details are on our web site.

See you there!

Iowa Digital Maps Collection

This site has a wonderful digital collection of maps for Iowa.

Rail Road Historical Society Websites

Looking for information on an old rail road? This page has an excellent set of links to rail historical sites--check it out at http://www.nmra-mer-tidewater.org/historical.htm

Ending Webinar Sales 28 May---Don't Wait

If you've been waiting to purchase a genealogy webinar, now is a great time. On 28 May, I'm taking down the sales pages for my webinars and they will no longer be offered so that I can concentrate on other genealogy-related activities.

My contract with the hosting and download service ends at the end of the month, but we're pulling the sales pages down before that to give people time to download any purchases they make.

Downloads of webinars are immediate and presentations can be viewed as many times as you like.

Now's a great time to increase your genealogy knowledge at an affordable price.

Georgia Death Certificates 1914-1927

The Georgia State Archives has Georgia death certificates online for 1914-1927. Records in early years are not complete. Searches include parent's names on the death certificate.

General information on Georgia death certificates is here.

New Hampshire Maps and Gazetteers Online

The University of New Hampshire has put four sets of digital maps online on their website. Those looking for New Hampshire locations may wish to check them out.

Casefile Clues Returns from Hiatus

After a hiatus, we are ready to resume distribution of Casefile Clues. You can get free copies following the directions below

• 2 free copies of Casefile Clues can be yours-simply enter in your email address and "submit" order. There is no credit card or other personal information required. Copy 1    Copy 2

We are looking forward to returning to our research, analysis and discussion of records. And, yes, we are even looking forward to returning to citations. We’ve got stories on some old favorites, follow ups to a few missing links, and new families and locations to discuss. We are excited about what’s coming up in the newsletter.

An email about the newsletter was supposed to be sent earlier to all subscribers, but apparently it did not go out. All subscribers will receive the full number of issues that were a part of their original subscription. Subscribers who have been left on the distribution list after their subscription expired will be removed from the list.

Questions can be sent to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.

If you would like to subscribe, you can do so at this link. 

Early Virginia Religious Petitions At Library of Congress

The "American Memory" collection at the Library of Congress has a wonderful digital collection of religious petitions from Virginia. There's not an every name index, but the items are searchable by county. View them at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/petitions/

Webinars on Court Records, Land Records and Illinois

We've added presentations on very popular topics to our list of sessions beginning on 27 April 2014--including land records, court records, and Illinois. Check out the details and times on our announcement.

Google Name and Every County Separately

While "stuck" on a relative, I remembered that I had forgotten to Google his name as separate searches with every county in which he lived.

Discovered a message board posting for the relative in a county where he probably only lived three or four years.

Sometimes we all need reminding of search approaches that we've forgotten.

Missouri Confederate Pensions at FamilySearch

There is no everyname index, but these pensions (approved and denied) are filed alphabetically based upon whether the applicant was applying for a pension or admission to the veteran's home. Make certain to look in all four parts of this collection on FamilySearch.

Don't Take Those Descriptions Literally

The 1885 Nebraska State Census at FamilySearch reads:

"Name index and images of the state census for Nebraska taken in 1885. The microfilms are from National Archives publication M352. The population schedule lists all household members."

That's true. But their digital version includes the agricultural schedules as well--as does the index. In one case, the head of household name on the agricultural schedule got indexed "better" than the same person's name on the population schedule. Finding him in the agricultural schedules helped me to find him on the population schedule--all I had to do was search for his farming neighbors and there he was.

And I bet that the 1885 Nebraska State Census is not the only record that has a description that's not quite as detailed as a person would like.

Organizing Genealogical Information Class

We've added a session of this 4 week class with meetings in the evenings for those who cannot work daytime into their schedule. Check it out here.

WIldcards at FamilySearch

Generally any search term that is a name at FamilySearch must include three characters in addition to the wildcard. However, you can use a wildcard operator after just one letter has been entered. Wildcard operators on FamilySearch include ? for one and only character as its replacement and * as a placeholder for multiple characters.

The following searches on the last name are allowed:

• n*ll--which gets anything that starts with an "n" and ends with two "l"s.
• n??ll--which gets names that start with an "n," then have two letters and end with two "l"s. 

Differences in Ancestry.com Library Edition

Users of the Ancestry.com "Library Edition" know that it's different from the personal "home use" edition. This page has links to pdf files and other materials discussing the differences.

How Many Wildcards at Ancestry.com?

Were you aware that searches at Ancestry.com can include more than one wildcard term? Search terms generally need to include at least three letters, but a nice option for Trautvetter is Tr??t?e??er.

? requires one letter in its place at Ancestry.com
* can be any number of characters

For Trautvetter, this is a very effective search.

Not all sites support this many wilcards.

Unexact at FamilySearch Does Not Include Soundex

For those who use FamilySearch and wondered if "unexact" searches include the Soundex option--the answer is not necessarily. See this post on my Rootdig.com blog.

NYPL releases 20, 000 historical maps

The New York Public Library recently released a set of 20,000 historical maps on their website. This post on their site contains more details.

Online Search Strategies Webinar Released

We are very excited about the release of our webinar that had the largest online attendance ever: "Online Search Strategies." The presentation focuses on organizing your search process to avoid repetitive searching and for more effective troubleshooting. Visit this blog post for additional details.

Index to United States Veterans' Administration Pension Payment Cards 1907-1933

FamilySearch's index to United States Veterans' Administration Pension Payment Cards 1907-1933 is still in process as of this writing, but it is an everyname index. Which means if the widow's name happens to appear on the card (even as a reference) she is included. If for some reason another name is on the card, that name will be in the index.

Refresh Those Search Pages At Ancestry.com

Tonight when using Ancestry.com for a webinar, I noticed that the search box looked different--there were fewer search boxes. It wasn't that I had the simple search option checked. Somehow my browser had something in it causing it to alter the search screen. I went back to Ancestry.com home page and back into the census search I needed and all was find. Refreshing the page may have worked too.

Ths Irish in the American Civil War

If you've got Irish ancestors who fought in the American Civil War, this website/blog may have some interesting reading for you--"The Irish in the American Civil War."

What Sites Use Which Wildcards and When?

Do know which of the main genealogy database sites allow wildcards, which wildcards do what, and how many letters must be included before a wildcard can be used?

If not you might not be searching as effectively as you could be.

If it has been a while since you last searched on a site, consider reviewing their "help" information regarding the wildcards.

Webinars: Ancestry.com's "New" Search and Structuring Online Searching

We've added two new webinars to our schedule for next week:

• Using the "New" Search at Ancestry.com--26 March 2014
• Structuring Your Online Searching--27 March 2014

Both are at 7 PM Central time. Complete information is here. 

A Thousand Years of Europe

A map showing European borders over 1000 years. An interesting visual display on this site.

Google Alerts Don't Really Work

If you are replying on Google Alerts to find various "new" items, consider something else. My alert for "trautvetter" has failed to locate any web page that mentioned funerals and obituaries for two family members of that last name who died recently.

If Google Alerts is your only way of getting "new sites," try looking around for other options.

St. Patrick's Day Brick Wall A to Z webinar giveaway-all 4

Through midnight (11:59 PM Central) on 17 March 2014, I am giving away copies of my "Brick Walls A to Z" presentations. Details here.

Hathitrust Images of Territorial Papers

Hathitrust has scanned images of a complete set of the US published territorial papers. The main catalog entry can be viewed here.

Mississippi Territorial Censuses 1801-1816

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has put territorial censuses for the 1801-1816 era online at their website.

[9:55 PM Central 13 March 2014--post was edited to correct the post to read "Territorial" censuses instead of state]

If the Sliders at Ancestry.com Seem a Little Off

Make certain your search screen is not set to exact if the "sliders" on Ancestry.com are not working right (as shown in this post). No guarantee, but it may help.

Cincinnati Birth and Death Records 1865-1912

The University of Cincinnati has an index of Cincinnati Birth and Death Records 1865-1912 on their website.

Virginia Legislative Petitions

The Library of Virginia has an extensive collection of legislative petitions for the late 18th century and part of the 19th century. Those with Virginia kin during this time period may wish to learn more about this collection. It is name searchable.

Link:

http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/petitions

Organizing Genealogical Information-March 2014

We are offering our 4 session "Organizing Genealogical Information" class this March. For additional details visit our more detailed blog post here.

Illinois Newspapers on Microfilm

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, has a wonderful collection of Illinois newspapers on microfilm. Many of these are not available in digital format. This webpage contains links to Illinois newspapers organized by county, town, and time period. Film can be purchased or ordered via interlibrary loan.

Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1784-1894

This set of online maps from the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress contains detailed drawings showing Indian Land Cessions between 1784 and 1894.

Missouri Death Certificates from 1910-1963

The Missouri State Archives has death certificates form 1910-1963 online. It's been a while since we mentioned this and periodically the site extends the ending year of the database.

Old Yearbooks Online?

Have a relative who attended college? See if the college itself has put their old yearbooks online. Look at the school's alumni page or library website to see if there are links to digital copies. If you can't find them, try emailing the alumni office to see if they know if older yearbooks are available online. You may be surprised.

English Handwriting "Courses"

Need to brush up on your ability to read English? Here are two sites that may help:

• English handwriting 1500-1700
• Reading old handwriting 1500-1800 (from the National Archives-UK)

Databases at the New Brunswick Provincial Archives

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick has a variety of online searchable databases on their site including city directories, marriage and death records, land records, and more. The site is accessible here.

My May/June 2014 Trip to the Family History Library

If you've been thinking of joining me in late May and early June for a week of research at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, there's still room for a few more on my trip. Additional details are in this blog post.

Links to Free Newspapers

I mentioned this on Rootdig earlier today, but thought that readers here may be interested in Penn Libraries list of online digital newspapers.

How Complete is That Newspaper Image Database?

Do you know how complete that online database of digital newspapers really is? If a site indicates they have coverage of the Lazytown Leader from 1880 until 1900, do they have all the issues of that daily newspaper or only a smattering? It may be that there are months where no papers are online or only a few issues are digitized.

And this may be the case even if a microfilm copy of the entire set of newspapers exists.

The reason you can't find that obituary for 12 November 1890 may be because there are no online images from November of 1890.

Chicago Area Ancestors?

If you have family in Chicago or Cook County, Illinois consider looking at this research guide created by the Newberry Library in Chicago. It includes links to websites, databases and research guides centering on the Chicago area.

Similar Records in Different Family History Library Digital Collections

Short warning when using "Historical Records Collections" of digital materials at FamilySearch.

Sometimes similar records may appear in different "collections" as shown in this example which circles four different sets of images from New Hampshire materials that include probate files from various New Hampshire counties.

Of course all of us should use the card catalog at FamilySearch, but I'm suspecting I'm not the only one who occasionally does not do that ;-)

Are Your Google Alerts Not Working?

If your Google alerts are not working the way you think they should, consider taking a look at this post on Rootdig.

Post Roads in 1873-From Rootdig.com Blog

If you have a need for information on post roads in the US in 1873, this blog post on my other blog may be of interest.

Bridges Across America

Bridgehunter.com has pictures of thousands of bridges across the entire United States. Some counties are more represented than others, but users can search by county and see pictures of the bridge and the location of the bridge on a Google map.

Really an interesting site--learn more at http://bridgehunter.com/.

History of Vaccines

This site at the College of Physicians at Philadelphia may provide you with some historical background on vaccines and epidemics. Interesting reading.

Too Many Browser Windows Open?

Did you know that ctrl-tab will cycle you through your open browser windows in a Windows environment? Thanks to Jenny L. for posting this on her Facebook newsfeed.

Digital Images In Reverse Order

For those who don't read my Rootdig blog, here's a post about a roll of microfilm that was digitzed backwards. Always a good idea to look at that first "image" when browsing at FamilySearch.

How Well Do You Know Your American Counties?

Neat little site will give lists of counties. You guess the state they are in. How well do you know your US counties?

Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State

Need to brush up on your US history, particularly wars with other nations, boundary disputes, and thte like. The Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State has an excellent page with events, dates, and other information.

Never hurts to brush up on your history.

My Blogs

For those of you who did not know, this is not my only genealogy blog. Here's list with the links. Enjoy!

• Daily Genealogy Transcriber
• Genealogy Tip of the Day
• Rootdig
• Genealogy Search Tip

You can subscribe to any of the above blogs for free.

United States Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942

Were you aware of this index created by the arm of the US government responsible for pensions during this era? It's on microfilm from the National Archives and available for free at FamilySearch.

ELCA Records on Archives.com

1882 baptismal record from Gothenburg, Dawson County, Nebraska; digital image obtained on Archives.com

Archives.com has digitized the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's microfilmed copies of some congregational church records. Unfortunately Archives.com does not have any easy to find the inventory on their site. This PDF file from the ELCA Archives contains a list of congregations represented in the digitized version of their microfilmed congregational records at Archives.com. Keep in mind that it is difficult (almost impossible) to really browse these records on the Archives.com site.

It's great to have digital access to these records, but the implementation at Archives.com could have been more user friendly.I generally find a record (ie. a person's entry) in the desired congregation and then "browse" from that image.

The inventory on the ELCA site contains a variety of abbreviations. Here is a listing of those abbreviations as obtained from the ELCA Archives and reprinted with their permission:

ELCA (EA) - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1988-present)
  I. TALC (A) - The American Lutheran Church (1960-1987)
     A. ALC (AM) - American Lutheran Church (1930-1960)
        1. Buffalo (B) - Buffalo Synod 1845-1930
        2. Iowa (I) - Iowa Synod (1854-1930)
          a. Texas (T) - First (German) Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas (1851-1896, district 1896-1930)
        3. JSO (O) - Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States (1818-1930)
          a. Augsburg Synod (1876-1903)
          b. Concordia Synod of Virginia (1868-1877)
          c. Evangelical Lutheran Conference (1881-1882)
          d. Indianapolis Synod (1846-1858)
          e. Tennessee Synod (Reorganized) (1848-1884)
     B. ELC (E) - Evangelical Lutheran Church (1917-1960) (was the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America 1917-1946)
        1. Hauge (H) - Hauge's Synod (1876-1917) (split from Eielsen's Synod)
        2. NS (S) - Norwegian Synod  (officially the Synod for the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) (1853-1917)
        3. UNLC (U) - United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (1890-1917)
          a. AN (AN) - Anti-Missourian Brotherhood (1887-1890) (split from Norwegian Synod)
          b. NA (NA) - Norwegian-Augustana Synod (1870-1890) (split from Scandinavian Augustana Synod)
          c. NDConf (CO) - Norwegian-Danish Conference (1870-1890) (split from Scandinavian Augustana Synod)
     C. LFC (F) - Lutheran Free Church (1897-1963) (was Friends of Augsburg, 1893-1897, split from United Norwegian Lutheran Church)
     D. UELC (UE) - United Evangelical Lutheran Church (1896-1960) (was the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church 1896-1946)
        1. (DA) - Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church Association (a.k.a. Blair Church) (1884-1896) (split from Norwegian-Danish Conference)
        2. (DN) - Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (a.k.a. North Church) (1893-1896) (split from Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church)
  II. LCA (L) - Lutheran Church in America (1962-1987)
     A. DELC (D) - American Evangelical Lutheran Church (1874-1962) (was the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church (1874-1953)
        1. Church Mission Society (Kirkelig Missionsforening) (1872-1874)
     B. AUG (AG) - Augustana Lutheran Church (1860-1962) (was Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America 1894-1948, Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America 1860-1894)
     C. Suomi (SU) - Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (Suomi Synod) (1890-1962)
     D. ULCA (UL) - United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962) [Member Synods of ULCA, GC, GS, USS]
        1. GC - General Council (1867-1918)
        2. GS - General Synod (1820-1918)
        3. USS - United Synod of the South (1863-1918) (was the General Synod of the Confederate States of America 1863-1866, Evangelical Lutheran General Synod in North America 1866-1876, Evangelical Lutheran General Synod South 1876-1886)
  III. AELC (AE) - Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (1974-1987) (split from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod)

Note: The first abbreviation is used as a call number in the archives collection catalog. The paranthetical codes are those used in the archives congregational microfilm database. Other non-predecessor synod codes used in that database are:

(EI) - Eielsen's Synod (1845-1997)
LCMS (MO) - Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (1847-current) (was German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States 1847-1917, Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States 1917-1948)
WELS (W) - Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (1917-current) (was Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Other States 1917-1919, Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin and Other States 1919-1959)
    Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Michigan and Other States (1860-1917)
    Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Minnesota and Other States (1860-1917)
   German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin and Other States (1850-1917)
   German Evangelical Lutheran District Synod of Nebraska and Other States (1904-1917)
ELCIC - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (1985-current)
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (1960-1985) (split from The American Lutheran Church, 1960, full autonomy 1966) (LCA Canadian congregations joined in 1985 forming ELCIC)
AALC - American Association of Lutheran Churches (1987-current) (split from The American Lutheran Church)
AFLC (AF) - Association of Free Lutheran Churches (1962-current) (split from the Lutheran Free Church)
CLBA (LB) - Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America (1900-current)
ELS - Evangelical Lutheran Synod (1918-current) (was Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church 1918-1957 (a.k.a. "Little Norwegian" Synod)) (split from the Norwegian Synod)
Lat - Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1975-current)

Need Umlauts?

If you need the codes to create a variety of diacritics, here's a list of the alt codes to create them http://usefulshortcuts.com/alt-codes/accents-alt-codes.php.

Plat Plotter

If you need a new site to try platting out properties in metes and bounds, give this a try. I've not really experimented with  yet, but it looks interesting

http://platplotter.appspot.com/lib/pp_about.html

Thanks to Peggy L-my Facebook friend for pointing me in the direction of this one.

Do You Always Believe Bibliographies and Inventories?

Catalogers are human and, being human, they occasionally make a mistake. A recent of online church records with which I was working indicated they only went to 1900.

It turns out there were entries from the 1910s as well.

If I had believed the inventory I would never have located entries from 1905 that were helpful in my research.

Jump Start Genealogy 2014

Genealogy Jump Start 2014!

Need to jump start your genealogy in 2014?? Note date change!

To help get your genealogy new year off to a great start, we are offering a series of three webinars on 10 January 2014, my "Genealogy Jump Start 2014."

All presentations are made using Gotomeeting--no software required. Handouts will be sent via PDF at least one day before the presentations. Join us and get your research jump started for 2014!

Day Time	Title and Description	Register
24 Jan 2014 at 11:00 am Central	Sourcing This presentation will discuss the elements of sourcing genealogical documents. Included will be a variety of example, starting with online census records and including a variety of original, microfilmed and digital material. The first fifteen registrants can submit one item to be used as one of the in-class illustrations. Geared towards advanced beginners and anyone who wants to learn more about the importance and elements of citation.	Sign me up for $6.00!
24 Jan 2014 at 1:00 pm Central	Correlation and Analysis of Information This presentation will discuss methods for putting together what you have already located, ways to analyze that information to maximize the clues it does contain, and the several different angles from which the researcher should look at every document and record. Geared towards intermediate level researchers--or beginners with some experience who are tired of getting stuck.	Sign me up for $6.00!
24 Jan 2014 at 3:00 pm Central	There is No Preponderance of Evidence Professional genealogists suggest we longer use this term in our research for some good reasons. We’ll discuss those reasons briefly. But more importantly we will see ways to handle those situations when information is not clear and convincing and how to best “make our case” when the answers we seek are not explicitly stated in records. This presentation will discuss two in-depth examples (from 18th and 19th century situations). Intermediate researchers.	Sign me up for $6.00!

Questions? Email Michael at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

The presenter:

Michael John Neill has actively researched his genealogy for thirty years in over twenty states and five foreign countries. He is an experienced online and onsite researcher, a college professor and has written on a wide variety of topics. Michael has given day-long genealogy how-to seminars across the  United States and has led a group trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake for eight years. He maintains the Genealogy Tip of the Day and Rootdig.com blogs. Michael's style is clear, down-to-earth, and informative. 

Don't Forget About CastleGarden.org

Sometimes the websites that have the images get to be addicting and it's easy to forget about those that "just" have indexes. CastleGarden.org is one of those sites. It has immigration indexes for the old Castle Garden in New York City for 19th century immigrants. I have a couple of ancestral families whose names have been transcribed correctly on CastleGarden.org and not so accurately on those other sites.

Missouri Plat Books

141 county plat books from Missouri have been scanned and can be viewed for free on this section of the Missouri Digital Heritage website--part of the Missouri Secretary of State's internet presence.

Linkpendium in Beta Testing

Linkpendium is still in beta testing (so there are some bugs), but if you've given this genealogical search engine a try, consider doing so at http://www.linkpendium.com/family-discoverer/.

If the resulting page does not come up, hit the link to view the cached page.