My Blogs

I currently maintain the following genealogy blogs:

• Rootdig.com--my genealogy research blog
• Genealogy Tip of the Day--one genealogy how-to tip every day
• Daily Genealogy Transcriber--can you read the handwriting--now with answers posted the next day
• Search Tip of the Day--not quite every day--just when I come across something

Check them out--each can be subscribed to for free using the email box on the right hand side of the page.

Mocavo's Free US Census Index and Images

Some readers may be aware that Mocavo.com has recently announced free access to the United States census search and images. To make the search a little easier, we've created this year specific portal page on our Rootdig.com blog. Those with an interest can visit that page and leave comments there. Thanks!

Webinars: War of 1812 Pensions, VA Land Patents, LOC Newspapers, and More

We are still accepting registrations for 4 webinars upcoming in June--registration entitles you to a complimentary recording of the presentation after it has been processed. This way if your schedule changes you still get the presentation. Topics are:

• War of 1812 Pensions at Fold3.com-these are free on their site.
• Using Colonial Land Patents at the Library of Virginia website-these images are free on the website.
• Library of Congress online digital newspapers--free on their site.
• Using local land records online at FamilySearch. Not all of these are online, but we will discuss how to use the ones that are.

There are more details in our original blog post. 

Details from 1945 South Dakota State Census

FamilySearch recently released an indexed set of index card transcriptions of the 1945 South Dakota State Census. Included in this enumeration were:

• Military service
• place of birth
• parents' places of birth
• education
• where graduated from
• maiden name of wife
• church affiliation

You can search the South Dakota, State Census, 1945 at FamilySearch. A free account is needed to view images of the cards. 

Missouri State Penitentiary, 1837-1987

The Missouri State Archives has put on their website an online index to prisoners in the Missouri State Penitentiary from 1837-1987.

Last Name First Name in OCR Databases--Does It Matter?

Searches for a "first name last name" combination on most newspaper sites doesn't really mean that the database has the names coded as "first names" and "last names." It usually means that the search is conducted so that the "first name" is within a fixed number of words or characters from the "last name."

A website would not let me search only for Mimka as a first name--which it is.

It wanted a last name and warned me that a last name was necessary.

So I simply put Mimka in the "last name" box and hit search.

Problem solved!

(I wish they were all that easy.)

FamilySearch Digital Books Passes 200,000 Items

According to a press release, this database of digital copies of books at FamilySearch is up to 200,000 books. Wow.

Webinars: FamilySearch, Court Records, Blogging and ELCA Records

We've put four webinars on our upcoming schedule:

• Using the ELCA records at Ancestry.com
• FamilySearch search techniques
• Court Records
• Genealogy Blogging

Check out our schedule here. 

New Brunswick Provincial Archives Database Update

If it's been a while since you looked at the New Brunswick Provincial Archives list of databases, check it out. They've added a few recently to their list.

Downloading Entire Virginia Chancery Case Files as 1 Zip File at Virginia Memory

Chancery court records for Virginia counties continue to be added to the Virginia Memory collection at http://www.virginiamemory.com.

Now files for some counties can be downloaded as one zip file. Before each document image had to be downloaded separately. This feature is not currently available for all counties, but where it is downloading is much easier than in that past.

Dublin, Ireland Records

This website contains databases of a variety of records from Dublin, Ireland.

18th Century Newspapers from Ostfriesland, Germany

A loyal reader sent me a link to digital newspapers from Ostfriesland, Germany in the late 18th century. A big thanks to ET for passing this along. The search results for the Wöchentliche Ostfriesische Anzeigen und Nachrichten can be viewed here on the GDZ website.

United States Passport Applications

United States passport applications from 1795-1925 are online free at FamilySearch.

Old LDS Research Guide to Gothic Handwriting

The "old" LDS research guides have been replaced by the research wiki. Those who have used the guide to Gothic handwriting can find a copy here. It's still an excellent publication.

May 2015 Organizing Genealogical Information Class

We have brought back our "Organizing Genealogical Information Class" for May 2015. Details here.

1871 German Atlas

The University of Wisconsin has changed and updated the interface for their digital version of the Ravenstein Atlas des Deutschen Reichs.