Sunday, May 31, 2015

My Blogs

I currently maintain the following genealogy blogs:


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

Saturday, May 30, 2015

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.

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. 

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Friday, May 22, 2015

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.)

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

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.


Friday, May 8, 2015

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.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

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.

Friday, May 1, 2015

1871 German Atlas

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