GenealogyBlog

Finally – I get to post about a newspaper that pertains to me. I graduated from GRCC in 1984. I actually attended there in 1969, 1970, and 1981-1984. I went to school while working, quite often attending night classes. GRCC has digitized The Current, which is the school newspaper. This is exciting for me, as every now and then I have had a need to get historical information from the period when I went to school there. The following is from the Holman Library blog.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Green River College, Holman Library has developed a digital archive of the school newspaper, The Current. The collection contains scanned copies back to the first issue, which was published in the fall of 1965, up to 1999 or later. More recent issues are being added regularly.

Read the article.

Browse the Newspaper.

Thanks to ResearchBuzz for the heads-up.

The following teaser was posted January 20, 2015 at independent.ie:

Heather Humphreys looking at documents in the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Photo: Douglas O’Connor.

Some four million State files are set to have a new home as part of a new €8m redevelopment of the National Archives of Ireland.

The design and construction phase at the archives’ Dublin headquarters in Bishop Street will begin later this year, and will see an estimated 100 million pages stored in more suitable conditions.

It is also hoped the investment will allow for sufficient storage to accommodate a change to a 20-year rule for the release of State papers.

Launching the plans, Arts Minister Heather Humphreys said the expansion would transform the building into a “state-of-the-art” facility.

Read the full article.

Food makes up, and takes up, a considerable portion of our human existence. A large portion of our time goes to earning an income, from which a significant portion goes to food. Hours can be spent each day preparing the daily meals. Major significance is given to the customs, habits, and manners surrounding food. Food can tell us about who we are, where we live, and in what time period we exist. The same is true for those who have gone on before us.  Food, often overlooked, should be a significant part of ones genealogical research. Learning about our food heritage and even those secret family recipes is made easier using From the Family Kitchen: Discover Your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes, by Gena Philibert-Ortega.

The book looks like a blast-from-the-past, hardbound, family recipe book. However, inside this creative little book one can find historical recipes, food traditions and clues to one’s family food past. Here are just a few things covered in this book:

• “Methods for gathering family recipes
• Interview questions to help loved ones record their food memories
• Places to search for historical recipes
• An explanation of how immigrants influenced the American diet
• A look at how technology changed the way people eat
• A glossary of historical cooking terms
• Actual recipes from late nineteenth–and early twentieth-century cookbooks”

The author suggests you are now thinking,”What does food have to do with genealogy?” Her response, “For me, the real question is why doesn’t everyone include food traditions in their family history? I grew up in Southern California. Mexican dishes from tamales to burritos and tacos to quesadillas have always been a common factor in my life. But, I remember when finding a taco stand in other states was nearly impossible. I remember hearing of family friends who moved back east and could only find tortillas in a can. Now, it seems Mexican dishes are nearly a mainstay of the average American home. This book walks the reader through understanding and preserving one’s own food heritage as well as researching and evaluating one’s ancestral dietary connections.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART A: DISCOVER YOUR FAMILY’S FOOD HERITAGE

Chapter 1 Food Heritage

Genealogy is more than names and dates. Studying social history will help you better understand how your ancestors lived.

Chapter 2 They Brought Their Food With Them

Immigrants brought recipes, raw ingredients, and even seeds from their homelands. How did these food traditions meld into our ancestors’ diet?

Chapter 3 Oysters, Peacocks, and Green Jell-O

Food traditions vary by region, state, county, city, and even neighborhood. This chapter explores the impact of climate, ethnic and religious groups, and industry on our food.

Chapter 4 Food Throughout Time

The foods your ancestors ate were often influenced or dictated by technology, location, and social and political events such as economic depression and war.

Chapter 5 Cookbooks and Menus

This chapter explores the evolution of cookbooks since the eighteenth century and explores menus from nineteenth-century restaurants.

Chapter 6 How to Find your  Ancestor’s Recipes

The best place to find family recipes is in your own home. You can also interview relatives and research local cookbooks to learn more about your ancestors’ diets.

PART 2: A LOOK BACK AT HISTORICAL RECIPES

Chapter 7 Decipher Old Cooking Terms

Having trouble understanding an old recipe? This chapter includes a vintage glossary of cooking terms, measuring charts, and cooking times.

Chapter 8 The Arts of Dining and Cleaning

Cookbooks are more than just recipes. Read vintage advice on menu planning, table setting and decorating, and proper cleaning techniques.

Chapter 9 Historical Recipes

This chapter contains recipes from both community cookbooks and cooking school cookbooks and from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

PART 3: RECIPE JOURNAL

Record you own family recipes in this journal section

Bibliography and Resources

Index

Delve into your own culinary heritage in From the Family Kitchen: Discover Your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes, available from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: GPO01, ON SALE FOR 55% OFF! Just $12.60; Reg. Price: $27.99.

“and then on the 3 of March came into Chesapeake bay, at the mouth of the Patomecke, this baye is the most delightfull water I ever saw, between two seet lande, with a channel, 4:5:6:7: and 8 fathoms deepe, some 10 leagues broad, at time of yeare full of fish, yet it doth yeild to Patomecke, which we have made St. Gregories; this is teh sweetest and greatest river have seene, so that the Thames is but a little finder to it, there are noe marshes or swampes about it, but solid firme ground.” — Father Andrew White, S.J.

This Issue: NGS Research in the States Series: Maryland; written by Patricia O’Brien Shawker.

“The Chesapeake Bay described by Father White dominates Maryland… At the time of Maryland’s founding, it was increadibly rich in fish and shellfish, a magnet attracting the Europeans…

“Knowledge of the history of Maryland and the nature of the record keeping is essential when conducting genealogical research. As one of the original thirteen colonies, Maryland had 140 years of colonial history and has one of the most complete collections of colonial records.”

Each guide in this series offers a bit of history behind each type of record or resource as well as names and descriptions for specific archives.  For example, under the heading Women of Maryland, you will find the following:

“The Maryland State Archives has three online research aids for women. One is the Women Legislators of Maryland, another is the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, and the third is Maryland Women Citizen; Women’s History at the Maryland State Archives. All three of these have biographical and genealogical information about women in Maryland. There are more than one hundred items useful for researching women in the Archives’ special collections including the records of women’s clubs in Maryland (minutes and reports) and the records of the Young Women’s Christian Association (directories, minutes, and reports). Other useful records are city directories (which usually list them as a widow), wills, marriage, divorce, church, land, and military pension records. The Maryland Room at the Hornbake Library of the University of Maryland has a resource guide for women, which includes the Female Writer’s of Maryland, Biographies of Women from Maryland, and Maryland Women’s History.”

In the guide, each section is handled in like manner. Plenty of specific information on what records are available and where to find them.

About the Series

Beginning in 1987, the National Genealogical Society began publishing a series of state guides in the organization’s magazine, the Quarterly. These guides were later re-issued as special publications designed to support genealogical research in each state. Eventually those guides became outdated and out of print. The current set of guides represents a refresh of those publications, updated and improved for today’s traditional and digital research resources.

About the Authors

Patricia O’Brien Shawker is a professional genealogist and lecturer. She served as the Director of the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) and has served as the treasurer for the National Genealogical Society.

More About the State Guides (from the Introduction)

“Readers should be aware that every effort has been made to include current web addresses throughout the publication and all were verified immediately prior to release…”

“Two research facilities used by many genealogists are the Family History Library (FHL) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Most genealogists are familiar with the abbreviations used for these two facilities and they are used in these publications. Otherwise the use of abbreviations and acronyms is kept to a minimum.”

Table of Contents

History and Settlements

Archives, Libraries, and Societies

• Enoch Pratt Free Library
• Maryland Genealogical Society
• Maryland Historical Society
• Maryland State Archives
• Maryland State Law Library
• National Archives — College Park
• Other Facilities
• Other Libraries and Societies

Major Resources

• Aids to Research
• Archives of Maryland
• Atlases, Gazetteers, and Maps
• Biographical Directories
• Business Records
• Cemetery Records
• Censuses and Census Substitutes
  • Colonial Census
  • Federal Census
• City and County Directories
• County Records
• Court Records
  • Colonial
  • Post-Colonial
  • After 1851
• Ethnic Records
  • African American
  • Germans American
  • Irish American
  • Jewish American
  • Native American
• Land Records
  • Colonial Land Grants
  • State Land Grants
  • Subsequent Land Records Transactions – County and Baltimore City Land Records
• Military Records and Benefits
  • Colonial Wars
  • American Revolution
  • War of 1812
  • Mexican War
  • Civil War
  • Spanish American War
  • World War I
  • World War II
• Naturalization and Immigration Records
• Newspapers
• Religious Records
• State Records
• Tax Records
  • Colonial Tax Records
  • Later Tax Records
• Vital Records
  • Adoption Records
  • Birth and Death Records
  • Marriage and Divorce Records
• Voter Registration
• Women of Maryland
• Conclusion

These guides are an excellent resource for state by state research. Available guides, including NGS Research in the States Series: Maryland, are available from Family Roots Publishing.

Other guides in series reviewed to date (in alphabetical order):

• NGS Research in the States Series: California
• NGS Research in the States Series: Illinois
• NGS Research in the States Series: Indiana
• NGS Research in the States Series: Kentucky
• NGS Research in the States Series: Michigan
• NGS Research in the States Series: Missouri
• NGS Research in the States Series: Nebraska
• NGS Research in the States Series: New Jersey
• NGS Research in the States Series: New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County
• NGS Research in the States Series: North Carolina
• NGS Research in the States Series: Ohio
• NGS Research in the States Series: Oklahoma
• NGS Research in the States Series: Oregon
• NGS Research in the States Series: Pennsylvania
• NGS Research in the States Series: South Carolina
• NGS Research in the States Series: Tennessee
• NGS Research in the States Series: Virginia
• NGS Research in the States Series: West Virginia

The following teaser is from the January 18, 2016 edition of belta.by:

View of the charred remains of Jewish victims burned in a barn by the Germans near the Maly Trostenets concentration camp.

MINSK, 18 January (BelTA) – Austrian historian Hubert Steiner gave Belarus the copies of the deportation orders from the Austrian State Archives containing the names of the Austrian Jews who were killed by the Nazis in the concentration camp Trostenets, BelTA learnt from the Embassy of Belarus in Austria.

Hubert Steiner’s visit to Minsk on 15-20 January has been organized by the Belarusian embassy in Austria. For many years the historian and referent of the Austrian State Archives has studied the deportation of Austrian Jews to the death camp Trostenets during the Second World War.

Read the full article.

From what I’ve read, 201,000 people were murdered at Trostenets – most shot in the back of the neck. And there are those who claim that there was no holocaust… Very disturbing.

The following teaser is from an article posted in the January 18, 2016 edition of dailyfreemen.com

POUGHKEEPSIE New York – The “Ancient Documents Portal” is now open and accessible through the Dutchess County website.

Through the portal, at www.dutchessny.gov/countyclerk, 12,000 pages of documents from the county’s earliest court records are now catalogued, digitized and accessible for viewing.

The project is a joint effort of the Dutchess County clerk and historian. It was funded by the New York State Archives through the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund.

Read the full article.

I did a search for Ebenezer Titus, and found a number of documents I hadn’t seen before. I clicked on the links and could view digital images of the original documents.

The following is from FindMyPast:

· Findmypast aims to deliver a more focussed, efficient and comprehensive service to US family historians

· The move is part of Findmypast’s plans for continued expansion in the US

January 18, 2016 – Leading family history website Findmypast, has today announced that sister site Mocavo will be incorporated into Findmypast to create a single experience for customers interested in discovering more about their family history.

The move forms an important part of the US growth strategy set out by Annelies van den Belt, CEO of Findmypast, and will bring the best aspects and features of both sites into one place.

The two websites are currently working together to transfer Mocavo’s strengths and expansive record collections over to Findmypast.

The transition will begin immediately and is expected to be completed within the next few months.

The move is part of Findmypast’s continued expansion and growth in the US market. By merging the two brands, Findmypast will create a more focussed and efficient business that will offer a more comprehensive experience to US customers while continuing to offer the industry’s best British and Irish collections.

In 2016, Findmypast will also be publishing hundreds of millions of new and exclusive US records to further enhance the experience for US family historians.

As part of Findmypast’s commitment to sustain Mocavo’s ‘free forever’ promise, Mocavo subscribers will continue to enjoy free access to all of the same records that were previously published for free on Mocavo. In addition, they will be invited to take advantage of a subscription to Findmypast equivalent to their existing Mocavo subscription. Mocavo customers can easily import their family trees onto Findmypast and can immediately start to receive hints opening the door to new discoveries that they never knew existed. A subscription to Findmypast will allow them access to the site’s entire collection of records, containing over eight billion names, as well as the thousands of new records released by Findmypast every week.

The following is from the Genealogical Council of Oregon (GCO):

GCO has a new website! – www.gcoconference.com

July 28 & 29, 2016 – Western Institute of Genealogy and July 30, 2016 – Summer Genealogy Fest

We are having two events and each has it’s own registration page. They are individually listed under the tabs of the Summer Genealogy Fest and the Western Institute of Genealogy on the website.

Flyers and registration pages are available to print and share.

The Summer Genealogy Fest is a one-day event and encourages all levels of family historians to attend.

The two-day event, Western Institute of Genealogy (WIG) has limited spaces and will fill quickly. Please note that the WIG courses are for intermediate or advanced genealogists. We will soon open up registration for non-APG members, so get your seat soon!

If you have questions please contact us at: gcoconference@gmail.com

The following is from FGS:

Significant Milestone Reached in Landmark Project Thanks to Donors

January 19, 2016 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces the $2 million dollar mark has been surpassed in 2015 with the support of donors in the fundraising efforts to digitize the 7.2 million pension images for the 180,000 pensioners of the War of 1812 in the Preserve the Pensions project.

This is a landmark project. It marks the first time the genealogical community has come together to raise such a significant amount of money to preserve priceless documents. When completed, this project will save tax payers $3.45 million dollars. FGS’ previous successful efforts to index the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System with the help of volunteers produced a $6.3 million dollar tax savings. Hence, these two projects will result in nearly a $10 million dollar savings to tax payers.

“We are deeply appreciative of so many within the family history community who continue to support the Preserve the Pensions project,” says D. Joshua Taylor, FGS President. “This important milestone is the start of the ‘homestretch’ and is evidence of the passion and commitment amongst genealogists to preserve records for the future.”

For every dollar raised, .98 cents goes directly to digitizing the documents. There are no salaries paid for this project—the project costs are primarily to print materials to publicize the project. Additionally, in 2015 the project raised $208,401 in total cash donations. This amount, coupled with the generous match from Ancestry.com, doubled the funds raised to $416,802 bringing the total amount raised for the project thus far to $2,032,198!

With generous donations and continued help in sharing information about the project, significant progress can be made in 2016—possibly completing the fundraising for the project. The images for pensioners with surnames beginning with the letters “A” through “M” have already been posted on the Fold3 website and will remain free forever thanks to donors!

Furthermore, due to record preparation and image capture issues at the archives, there is a delay in the publication of images on the site. It is anticipated that these issues will be resolved quickly and that image publication will resume within the next 60-90 days. There is always a publication preparation delay between record capture and publishing the images online. In the meantime, because of the support of donors, great fundraising progress has been made to complete the project, and further donations can be made on the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions website.

Findmypast Announces Free Weekend 22-25 January 2016

· Findmypast announces free access to historical records this weekend
· Billions of records available to everyone to search for free
· Local subscribers granted World access, and World subscribers enjoy 3 days added to their subscription

London, UK, 20th January 2016 Findmypast has announced that this weekend, they will be opening up their archives and giving unlimited free access to billions of records and newspaper pages from all over the world. From 7am on Friday, January 22nd to 7am on Monday, January 25th (EST), absolutely everyone will have access to Findmypast’s comprehensive collections of historical records and innovative research tools, including:

· Millions of records you won’t find anywhere else, including fascinating WW2 Prisoner of War records, millions of England & Wales Crime records and the incredible British in India collection
· The largest online collection of England & Wales Electoral registers, containing over 220 million names
· Birth, marriage and death records dating back to the 18th century
· The largest online collection of UK parish records, dating back to 1538
· Historical newspapers from across the world, including nearly 13 million British newspaper dating all the way back to 1710
· The most comprehensive collection of UK military records anywhere online
· The largest collection of Irish family history records available online
· Passenger lists for ships sailing to and from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA
· An easy to use online family tree builder, which allows you to import and export your tree if you’ve built it elsewhere
· Our Family Tree hints feature, which will suggest potential matches between the ancestors in your tree and records from our archives

Family historians will also have free access to the millions of other records available to search on Findmypast. Access to the 1939 Register has not been included and pay as you go credits will be required in order to unlock household records.

Extended access for existing users
It’s not only new users who’ll enjoy special family history research opportunities this weekend. Those with current Findmypast Local subscriptions (with an active Britain, Ireland, US & Canada or Australia & New Zealand subscription) will be able to access Findmypast’s historical World records during the free access weekend, and those with active World subscriptions will have an additional three days added to their subscription.

Find out more at Findmypast’s dedicated Free Weekend page.

As I blogged in 2014, soon after Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips wrote his first book on the topic, if you’ve got Maryland or Virginia Colonial roots, you really need to see the results of his research. He’s just written two new books on White Slave Children – many of whom many be our ancestors! Following are descriptions of the three books now in print. Since the first book was so popular, we’ve bundled the 3 volumes at 15% off. This sale runs through Tuesday, January 26. If you only need one or two of the books, you can get them at 10% off. Just click on the links.

Wondering if your ancestors might have been white slave children? As I did in 2014, I will personally check the index for surnames for you. As before, email me with the surname in the subject line of the email. Please – just the surname, no more. I will reply with just one word – yes or no. If Yes – I’ll note which book or books the surname is found in. Those requesting a surname search should note that I will not be able to reply on Saturday or Sunday, but will make the reply on Monday. Send index checking requests to me at Lmeitzler@gmail.com .

Picking up where he left off in his ground-breaking book Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records, Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips has now taken the story back even further – back to the scenes of the original crimes-kidnapping of children to be sold into slavery (ca. 1660-1720). This new book is entitled White Slave Children Of Colonial Maryland And Virginia: Birth And Shipping Records.

In his original book, which I found to be most helpful, Dr. Phillips identified 5,290 “servants” without indentures, transported against their will. He culled that evidence from the Court Order Books of colonial Maryland and Virginia, where the county courts were authorized to examine the children, adjudge their ages, and sentence them to slavery for a number of years. The younger the child, the longer the sentence. In this book, compiled from shipping records found in the Library of Congress, the Bristol [England] Record Office, and elsewhere, the author has identified 170 ships that carried white slave children to the plantations of colonial Maryland and Virginia. The shipping records itemize the unfortunate kids as “cargo” and specify the import duties paid to the Royal Naval Officers for each child. The white slave ships sailed from no fewer than seventeen ports of departure in England.

The places from which the children were taken and their adjudged ages on the dates of their court appearances have enabled Dr. Phillips to conduct a targeted search of the birth and baptismal records. In all, he has matched more than 1,400 children with the parish or town records. The book also contains an exposé of the colonial shipping industry. Among the child traffickers were the Mayors of Bristol and Bideford and the Governor of Virginia.

Birth and Shipping Records – which begins with a detailed discussion of the author’s sources and detective-like methodology and concludes with a surname index – is arranged according to the localities in the British Isles from which the victims were confiscated. It is a volume that will help researchers trace their white slave heritage back even further than before, and it cries out for correctives to be written in American history books regarding our colonial origins and our treatment of one another.

Click here to order at 10% off. Sale runs through January 26.

Click here to order a bundle of the three books at 15% off, plus a $2 shipping savings. Sale runs through January 26.

—–

Also brand new from Dr. Phillips is White Slave Children Of Charles County, Maryland: The Search For Survivors. In this second companion volume to Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records (see also White Slave Children of Colonial Maryland and Virginia: Birth and Shipping Records), Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips takes the story forward–examining the treatment of children kidnapped and sold into slavery, and identifying those who survived.

In his original book Dr. Phillips identified 5,290 “servants” without indentures, transported against their will to places in Virginia and Maryland, including Charles County. For this book Dr. Phillips has indexed seventy-five years of handwritten records from Charles County, Maryland (1658-1733). The records are nearly complete and most have never been transcribed before–872 “servants” without indentures were brought to this county, and 333 were owned by the judges on the very court that sentenced them to slavery.

This book contains three indexes–with detailed abstracts–to Charles County servants with or without indentures (recaptured runaways, petitions for freedom, complaints of abuse or neglect), and six indexes to all residents of the county (vital records, witnesses who stated their ages, grantee index to deeds, gifts of livestock, deaths and estates, and orphan children). Most of these records have been microfilmed, scanned, and posted online by the Archives of Maryland. With brief citations, the reader is steered to online images of actual handwritten records.

All nine new indexes have been cross-checked with Dr. Phillips’ master list of 872 “servants” without indentures, from which he has compiled an Encyclopedia of Survivors. This section of the work, one of the longest, assembles all that is known about the lives of the children following their release from servitude. Many of these biographical sketches trace descendants for several generations, refer to acquisitions of land, and contain other details useful to genealogists. The alphabetically arranged chapter entitled Vital Records is a godsend for anyone tracing Charles County roots, whether or not your ancestor suffered white enslavement. Dr. Phillips has also included full-fledged biographies of three of the worst abusers of child labor among the county officials, an exposé of how the system of white slavery operated, and instances of resistance by the survivors. Thus begins the dark era of white slavery on the North American continent.

Click here to order at 10% off. Sale runs through January 26.

Click here to order a bundle of the three books at 15% off, plus a $2 shipping savings. Sale runs through January 26.

——–

As most of my readers know, Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records, is one of my favorite source books. It was published in 2013, and I refer to it regularly when researching my Maryland and Virginia families. Following is a review I did of the book when it first appeared:

Every parent has the fear that their child might disappear. And I can tell you that grandparents also have the same fear. As a grandparent of 3 small children, when they are under my care, I watch them like the proverbial hawk.

Believe it or not, based on an English law passed in 1659, minor children could be kidnapped by justices of the peace if they happened to be begging, or just seemed to be vagrant. These children were shipped to the plantations as servants without indentures. According to the author of “Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records (Maryland and Viginia),” the younger the child, the longer the sentence, and the county courts were the judges of their ages. The judges decided their age – and many of the kids were placed in servitude to the very judges who sentenced them.

Over 5000 children were picked up in Ireland, Scotland, England and New England, and shipped to Virginia and Maryland between 1660 to 1720. The names of these kids, their assigned age, the owner, and the date they appeared in court are found in Richard Phillips brand new book, “Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records (Maryland and Virginia).” The book also contains an index to ships and their captains that imported the children. A surname index is included.

I got really excited about the volume when, on page, 88, I found an entry for Charles County, Maryland that reads thus: Cornute, Hendrick, 14 June 1670, age 20, John Okeane. I’ve got to wonder, is this possibly a progenitor, sibling or cousin pertaining to my Cornute/Cornett family line? This Cornute is on of the earliest I’ve seen in America. This is a lead I didn’t have before.

Exacting information is given in the book as to where to locate digitized, microfilmed and in some cases original copies of the County Court books from where to the information for this book was taken. Now I can take the next step and view the original document. In my Cornute case mentioned above, the data is actually digitizing and available online!

The following is from the table of contents:

• Preface
• Guide to the Records
• Guide to the Indexes
• Northampton County, VA
• Accomack County, VA
• Somerset County, MD
• Talbot County, MD
• Queen Anne’s County, MD
• Kent County, MD
• Cecil and Dorchester Counties, MD
• Baltimore County, MD
• Anne Arundel County, MD
• Prince George’s County, MD
• Charles County, MD
• Stafford County, VA
• Westmoreland County, VA
• Northumberland County, VA
• Lancaster County, VA
• Old Rappahannock County, VA
• Richmond County, VA
• Essex County, VA
• Middlesex County, VA
• York County, VA
• Charles City County, VA
• Henrico County, VA
• Surry County, VA
• Isle of Wight County, VA
• Norfolk County, VA
• Princess Anne County, VA
• Index to Ship Captains
• Index to Ship Arrivals
• Surname Index
• Appendix: Jacobite Rebels

I recommend this book to anyone researching early colonial American relatives, especially for those with New England, Maryland and Virginia ancestry.

Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records (Maryland and Virginia); by Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.; Baltimore MD; 2013; 320 pp, 5.5×8.5; Item #:GPC4606.

• Without Indentures: Index To White Slave Children In Colonial Court Records (Maryland And Virginia)
• White Slave Children of Colonial Maryland and Virginia: Birth and Shipping Records
• White Slave Children of Charles County, Maryland: The Search for Survivors

The following is from FamilySearch:

A few domestic and international updates this week. For the United States you’ll see some new content for United States GenealogyBank Obituaries 1980-2014, North Carolina State Supreme Court Case Files 1800-1909, Utah Death Certificates 1904-1964, and the Rhode Island District Court Naturalization Indexes 1906-1991. Find these and additional updates below for Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Italy, and Sweden.

COLLECTION – INDEXED RECORDS – DIGITAL RECORDS – COMMENTS

Australia Tasmania Miscellaneous Records 1829-2001 – 0 – 68,774 – Added images to an existing collection
Belgium Hainaut Civil Registration 1600-1913 – 32,642 – 208 – Added indexed records and images to an existing collection
Bolivia Catholic Church Records 1566-1996 – 35,765 – 0 – Added indexed records to an existing collection
Italy Napoli Civil Registration (State Archive) 1809-1865 – 146,760 – 0 – Added indexed records to an existing collection
Sweden Örebro Church Records 1613-1918; index 1635-1860 – 42,405 – 0 – Added indexed records to an existing collection

United States Databases
United States GenealogyBank Obituaries 1980-2014 – 0 – 27,075 – Added images to an existing collection
North Carolina State Supreme Court Case Files 1800-1909 – 876,769 – 0 – Added indexed records to an existing collection
Rhode Island District Court Naturalization Indexes 1906-1991 – 136,534 – 0 – Added indexed records to an existing collection
Utah Death Certificates 1904-1964 – 0 – 25,217 – Added images to an existing collection

Help Us Publish More Free Records Online
Searchable historical records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of online volunteers worldwide. These volunteers transcribe (or index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are always needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published weekly online on FamilySearch.org. Learn how you can volunteer to help provide free access to the world’s historical genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org/Indexing.

About FamilySearch International
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Family Roots Publishing printed and bound the second Silesia volume of the Map Guide to German Parish Registers series this last week. This book is volume 54 of the series. The softbound books are now shipping and the hardbound volumes will ship in about a week. This volume covers RB Breslau, while volumes I (in print) and III will cover Liegnitz and Oppeln respectively. Over the last decade, I’ve received dozens of calls from folks anxious to get their hands on the Silesia Map Guides. Well, the books are finally coming available. The following is a detailed explanation of what the book is, and how it can help genealogists.

Published by Family Roots Publishing Company, Volume 54 of the German Map Guide series was published in January of 2016. This volume includes a total of 2074 places – mostly towns, found in the Kingdom of Prussia, Province of Silesia, Regierungsbezirk Breslau. This book also includes a master index to Volumes 53 through 55, which covers all of Silesia. Written in English by Kevan Hansen, the volume was principally written to help family historians resolve where their family may have gone to church – and left vital records behind that may be seen today. This is the fifty-fourth of a series covering all of Germany. The series is still in production. In many cases, even the smallest places are listed in this series – some with as little population as one person! These places are as of about 1870. If the place existed prior to that date, it will most likely be listed. If the place was named after that date, the chances drop.

To order this volume in Soft Cover, click here or on the illustration.

To order this volume in Hard Cover, click here.

Each volumes of the series does the following:

• Identifies the parish where an ancestor worshipped based on where they lived.
• Gives the FHL microfilm number for the family’s parish records.
• Identifies nearly every city, town, and place that included residents.
• Visually identifies church parishes for Lutherans & Catholics in each district.
• Identifies adjoining parishes in case an ancestor attended an alternate parish.
• Aids in area searches, particularly across district or regional borders.
• Provides visual identification of search areas in which to look for a family.
• Helps in determining proximity of one area to another.
• Aids in determining reasonable distances of travel from one area to another.
• Identifies population centers in each parish.
• Identifies archives, repositories, and other resources.
• Aids in identification of the location of minority religions.

Note – anyone doing research in Silesia parish registers will find the Silesia Place Name Indexes: Identifying Place Names Using Alphabetical And Reverse Alphabetical Indexes helpful. It’s key to reading hard-to-decipher place names found in the parish registers. Click on the above link to check it out.

Map Guide To German Parish Registers Vol. 54 – Kingdom Of Prussia, Province Of Silesia lI, Regierungsbezirk Breslau, with full index of included towns, by Kevan Hansen, 242 pp

German Map Guide Volume 54 – Soft Cover (Item #FR0107):

ISBN-13: 978-1-62859-065-4 ISBN-10: 1628590653

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015950405

The following places are found in this volume.

• Adelsbach
• Agnesfeld
• Akreschfronze
• Albendorf
• Albrechtshof
• Alexanderwitz
• Algersdorf
• Allerheiligen
• Altaltmannsdorf
• Altbatzdorf
• Alt Ellguth
• Altenau
• Altenburg
• Alt Festenberg
• Alt Gandau
• Alt Guhrau
• Althain
• Alt Hammer
• Alt Hammer-Goschütz
• Alt Hammer-Militsch
• Altheide
• Alt Heinrichau
• Althof
• Althofdürr
• Althofnass
• Alt Jauernick
• Alt Köln
• Alt Lässig
• Alt Liebichau
• Alt Lomnitz
• Alt Neu Heidau
• Alt Raudten
• Alt Reissbach
• Alt Schliesa
• Altstadt
• Alt Waltersdorf
• Alt Wansen
• Altwasser
• Alt Weistritz
• Altwilmsdorf
• Alt Wohlau
• Alzenau
• Amalienthal
• Annenthal
• Arnoldsmühle
• Arnsdorf
• Aspenau
• Auras
• Austen
• Bachreitz
• Bachwitz
• Backen
• Bahra
• Baitzen
• Baldowitz
• Banau
• Bankau
• Bankwitz
• Bärdorf
• Bärengrund
• Barottwitz
• Bärsdorf
• Bartkerey
• Bartnig
• Bartschdorf

[Read the rest of this entry…]

The following news release is from Matthew Deighton, with Ancestry.com:

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: HISTORIC NOTICES OF WANTED CRIMINALS GO ONLINE
More than 90 years of Police Gazette records published online by Ancestry

♣ Police Gazettes reveal fascinating information on suspected wanted criminals, crimes committed and missing persons
♣ A suspect in the Whitechapel Murders and infamous Sheffield murderer Charles Peace appear in the records
♣ Entries reveal child murders committed by desperate single mothers who were ostracised from society

More than 100,000 records and images from Police Gazettes, revealing details of wanted suspected criminals, offenders in custody and missing persons have been published online by Ancestry, the world’s largest family history resource.

The UK, Police Gazettes, 1812-1902, 1921-1927 collection, sourced from Luminary Trading Limited and Lastchancetoread, contains copies of the “Police Gazette”, or “Hue and Cry”. The publication was used for communication between members of the police force across the United Kingdom – much like the National Crime Agency’s most wanted list today.

Searchable by name, age, type, date and location of crime, these records contain vital information and fascinating detail for anybody looking to find out more about either an historic offender or indeed a victim of crime in their family tree. The records can even give a glimpse at the faces of wanted suspected criminals through police sketches issued alongside requests from information.

Several interesting characters feature in the records, including:

♣ Charles Peace – Maimed in an industrial incident as a child, murderer Peace appears in the records in 1876 in an appeal for information about his location on several occasions. He’s described as ‘thin and slightly built’, with ‘grey (nearly white) hair, beard and long whiskers’. The record goes on to give details of his trade – a picture-frame maker, with a history of burglary. He murdered a policeman and a neighbour, but managed to stay on the run until he was arrested for burglary in London, and eventually faced the death penalty

♣ Michael Ostrog – Ostrog, one of the suspects in the Whitechapel Murders that made Jack the Ripper famous, was charged with larceny, but failed to report after he was released from Surrey County Lunatic Asylum in 1888. The record lists several of his aliases: Bertrand Ashley, Claude Clayton and Dr. Grant, and describes him as ‘’a dangerous man’, who had moles on his shoulder and neck, as well as ‘corporal punishment marks’. An accompanying sketch of a bearded Ostrog is an example the police tried to identify criminals on the run.

Ostrog was not the only man in the Police Gazettes to use aliases, with one in ten (9%) of all entries featuring a pseudonym, perhaps unsurprising given that most criminals attempt to shield their identity from the authorities.

The records also include a number of reports featuring murdered new-born babies, which illustrates the issues attached to illegitimate children in the 19th Century. The Bastardy Clause in the New Poor Law of 1834 made all illegitimate children solely the responsibility of their mother until the age of 16, which left mothers, often estranged from their families, with limited choices. In desperation, many mothers resorted to infanticide to protect themselves. Many of the mothers were never identified, with the police often seeking more information on the crime. Some examples from the records include:

♣ ‘Ann Yates’ – Murdered her daughter and threw the body into a well in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, in 1875 after being forced to live in the Shepton-Mallet Union Workhouse when she was unable to provide for her illegitimate offspring. The police believed the ‘good-looking’ 24-year old had fled to Cardiff to start a new life

♣ ‘Two women’ – In 1894, the body of a newly-born male child was found in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Hoghton, tied up in a white coarse apron. The police sought two women who were observed on the canal bank in Blackburn when a splash was heard, ‘caused by one of the women throwing something into the water’. The younger woman, who ‘appeared to be ill’, was leaning on the arm of an older woman who was ‘tall and stout’

Ancestry’s Senior Content Manager Miriam Silverman comments: “This collection provides rare insight into crime and punishment in the 19th Century as well as helping us to better understand how the British police force worked shortly after it was introduced.”

“Whether you’re locating the black sheep in your family tree, discovering more about an ancestor who was the victim of crime or even unearthing some infamous criminals, these records can help reveal the details.”

To search the UK, Police Gazettes, 1812-1902, 1921-1927 collection for free, and more than 16 billion other historical records worldwide, visit www.ancestry.co.uk.

ABOUT ANCESTRY

Ancestry is the world’s largest online family history resource with more than 2 million paying subscribers across all its websites. More than 16 billion records have been added, and users have created more than 70 million family trees to the core Ancestry websites, including its flagship site www.ancestry.com and its affiliated international websites.

Ancestry.co.uk contains more than one billion records in collections including the most comprehensive online set of England, Wales and Scotland Censuses from 1841 to 1911, the fully searchable England and Wales Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes, the World War One British Army Service and Pension records, UK Parish Records and the British Phone Books.

Ancestry operates a suite of online family history brands, including Archives.com, Fold3.com, Newspapers.com, and offers the AncestryDNA product, sold by its subsidiary, Ancestry International DNA, LLC, all of which are designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.

The 2016 RootsTech Innovator Summit is looking to be an exciting part of RootsTech this year. If you’re not registered yet, you might want to do so ASAP!

The following is from RootsTech:

Tech entrepreneur and cofounder of InsideSales.com will be a part of the largest family history and technology conference in the world. Ken Krogue will be the featured keynote speaker at the RootsTech Innovator Summit, a one-day event for developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators who want to explore business and technological opportunities within the multibillion-dollar family history industry.

Ken Krogue cofounded InsideSales.com in November 2004. InsideSales.com offers the industry’s leading sales acceleration built on Neurolytics®, a predictive and self-learning engine that drives revenue growth by recommending the best leads to contact and close. He sets the vision for the company together with CEO Dave Elkington. Ken has more than 24 years of experience in sales, business strategy, and marketing in both domestic and international markets.

Learn more about the 2016 RootsTech Innovator Summit keynote speaker Ken Krogue at RootsTech.org.