1950 census indexing review progressing fast!

This announcement from FamilySearch is three days old. I am catching up after spending most of the last couple of weeks working on the syllabus for two courses at GRIP. When I needed something else for my brain to do, I would do some of the reviewing in the 1950 census for places and surnames in Minnesota. I find this addicting and don’t know why! I suggest you do the same via FamilySearch and Ancestry. To participate on https://www.familysearch.org/ click on the 1950 census banner on the opening page or click on the Get Involved tab at the top.

 

New! Nevada is now published! Census records for 7 states are now available for searching on FamilySearch and Ancestry!

· Delaware

· Nevada—New!

· New Hampshire

· Rhode Island

· South Dakota

· Vermont

· Wyoming

New! You can now find and review families at the city or county level! Select the state, and then click on the option below the selected state to find families within a county or city. This also works with a specified surname, so finding specific families to review is easier than ever.

Indexed by computers, reviewed by people

 

States Available for Review:
All states other than those published are now available for review.
The following states are above 66% reviewed:

· Utah (87%)

· Idaho (73%)

· Arizona (69%)

· New Mexico (67%)

· Oregon (67%)

· Florida (67%)

“Review Families” is the most valuable task to complete for each state because of the grouping of households and detailed fields included. This task takes more time to complete but needs to be done prior to the publication of each state.

Completed States Pending Publication

· None

Overall Project Statistics:

· 148,296,584 fields reviewed

· 102,521 participating volunteers

 

Legacy Family Tree Webinars 50% savings New members

Today through April 30th, New members are eligible to save 50% off the regular price for a one-year subscription to the Legacy Family Tree Webinars. What does this mean? The regular price is $49.95. It also means anytime access to the 1,762 webinars covering many topics, ethnic groups, states, provinces, and countries. It gives access to 6,496 syllabus pages. Members get access to the syllabus for each new webinar. Join today via my affiliate link to help support this blog. http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=6984

 

MyHeritage offers free access to Australian and New Zeland records for a limited time.

From a press release received today. It’s a nudge to me to work on my connections to Australia and those are on both of my parents’ lines. 

“To make Anzac Day even more meaningful, MyHeritage is pleased to offer free access to our collections of 95 million records from Australia and New Zealand, between 20 April and 26 April 2022 (inclusive).

Search free Australian and New Zealand records on MyHeritage 

MyHeritage can help you discover and preserve the stories of your Australian and New Zealander relatives who fought for freedom, or any of your relatives from the region – so seize this excellent research opportunity when the records are free of charge.”

More details are on the MyHeritage Blog

 

My free online genealogy presentations April 19-May 3

Please join me and these great host organizations for these free presentations. Click on the highlighted link for registration information.

April 19, 2022. Free Webinar Wisconsin State Genealogical Society, Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. CDT. I will be presenting “Did Your Ancestors Join Ethnic Organizations? Finding the Excellent Records” accompanied by an extensive handout.

 

April 23, 2022. Minnesota Genealogical Society Spring Conference. Saturday. I will be presenting “The Changing World of Genealogy: Things Past, Present, and Future.” 

 

April 28, 2022. Free Webinar on Thursday morning. “Researching Native American Ancestors, Part 2.” I will be presenting “Researching Native American Ancestors” This 2-part seminar will cover the basic methods and sources available for research. The discussion will include the most useful record types both print and online, the importance of historical context, and where these materials can be located in major repositories and online databases. This is being offered by the Fort Myers Regional Library of the Lee County [FL] Library System.

 

May 3, 2022. Evening Webinar. Boulder Genealogical Society [Colorado] Tuesday evening, 7:00 p.m. MDT, 8:00 CDT. I will be presenting “The WPA Era: A Free Boon for Research.” Limited to 100 registrants.

 

Legacy Family Tree Webinars 24-hour marathon

A 24-hour marathon of webinars is taking place NOW through Legacy Family Tree Webinars. The presentations are free when first given and after a couple days, will be available for 1-week for free. 

Most presentations include a handout but those are only available to those who have a Legacy Family Tree Webinars. What does a $49.95 membership do for you?

  • Access at any time to the library of 1,700+ past webinars
  • Access at any time to the 6,400+ pages of handouts
  • 5% discount on items in the store
  • Access to chat logs from webinars
  • First door prize chance during live webinars
  • More details at https://familytreewebinars.com/

This makes sense education-wise and budget-wise. Consider joining today and please use my affiliate membership link to help support my own blog. http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1739

 

Indigenous research in Canada

At the end of my Native American research webinar for the Boston Public Library, a question was asked about French Canadian and Native research. These are a few links that may be helpful. It’s not my area of expertise but I welcome comments on additional resources to assist researchers. 

 

 

Updates after Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society Conference

This past Saturday, I presented four sessions virtually for the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society Spring Conference. It was a great day for me, and the audience was wonderfully involved. The organizers ran it well and I thank them for the invitation. They asked for some additional information and some repeats of what appeared in my PowerPoints in addition to the handout. 

  1. First morning presentation: U.S. Federal Government: Underutilized Research Resources

     A few Record Groups:

  • Census RG 29
  • Pension records RG 15
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs RG 75
  • Bureau of Land Management RG 49
  • Department of the Interior RG 48
  • USCIS RG 566

  • Naval History and Heritage Command: https://www.history.navy.mil/

Military Headstone Articles:

Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Headstone Records for US Military Veterans. Part I: Headstone Design NGS Magazine 39 #1 (January-March 2013): 30- 33. FHL 973 D25ngs

Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Headstone Records for US Military Veterans. Part II: Records for Headstones Requested from 1879 to 1925.” NGS Magazine 39 #2 (April-June 2013): 32-35. FHL 973 D25ngs

Clair Prechtel-Kluskens. Records of Burial Flags for Veterans.” NGS Magazine 42 #4 (October-December 2016): 39-42. FHL 973 D25ngs

John P. Deeben. Last Rites for the Honored Dead: Records of Military Burials in National Cemeteries. NGS Magazine (January-March 2011): 15-18. FHL 973 D25ngs

 

2. Links following our discussion on identifying buildings and places in old photos:

3. Additional citations to some of the items mentioned in the German organizations and periodicals presentations:

  • Hofmann, Annette R. “Lady ‘Turners’ in the United States: German American Identity, Gender Concerns, and ‘Turnerism.’” Journal of Sport History 27, no. 3 (2000): 383–404.
  • Lorh, Rev. L.L. “The Germans in North Carolina West of the Catawba. The Pennsylvania German, v XII, #4, April 1911, page 206.
  • Nolan, J. Bennett. “John Conrad Weiser The Elder, A Forgotten Pioneer.” The American-German Review, 7, no 3 (1936): 42-45.
  • Roberts, Warren E. German American Log Buildings of Dubois County, Indiana. Winterthur Portfolio. V. 21, # 4 (Winter, 1986): 265-274; (Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum).
  • Schede, Simone. “Gone, but Not Forgotten”—But Almost: The German Heritage of Arkansas.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 44, no. 4 (1999): 477-96.
  • Wayland, John Walter. “The Germans of the Valley (Concluded).” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 10, no. 2 (1902): 113-30.

Lastly: The German Relief Society of Mobile, Alabama, articles in the Deep South Quarterly 49, no. 3 (2012): 121-125. The records are at the University of South Alabama.

 

Pronunciation does count as far as city and county names in Minnesota

I think we all tend to get a specific pronunciation in our brain and can’t unlearn it. One place is Mower County, Minnesota. This is a county that confuses many people as they try to pronounce the name. I was taught it was closer to Mow – er as in mow the lawn and not like Mauer. I found an interesting article today https://www.austindailyherald.com/2017/06/whats-in-a-name-sometimes-a-surprise/ that says locals say it more like Moore which is close to Mower than Mower. 

I could list other towns but instead will go back to working on handouts for an upcoming conference. 

April 2 Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society Virtual Conference

I’ve been working on adding new things and updating URLs for my four presentations and accompanying handouts for the April 2, 2022, Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society’s Virtual Spring Conference. Join us from anywhere via Zoom. These four presentations also provide help with your non-Germanic ancestors and records. Registration and fee payment required. https://www.magsgen.com/eventListings.php?nm=19#er140

o The U.S. Federal Government: Underutilized Research Resources

o World War I Era U.S. Alien Registrations [Mainly German]

o They Joined, They Associated: Finding Records of Germanic Organizations and Other Collections

o German Research Gems: Back Issues of Historical and Genealogical Periodicals

 

 

Native American Research? FREE two-part webinar series

Over the past 25 years, I have worked extensively with Native American Tribes, law firms, and individuals in the area of Native American research in the United States. Among the various titles and positions I have held as an independent contractor are consultant to an enrollment committee, Enrollment Committee Chair, creator of enrollment documents, creator of tips on how to enroll and where to find records, analysis of submitted enrollment applications, court testimony on enrollment issues, searching out records in local, state, and national repositories (and online) to create an archive for a tribe, and locating many original records that some Tribes did not know existed. 

On March 24 and April 28, I will be presenting a two-part webinar series hosted by the Fort Myers Regional Library of the Lee County, Florida, Library System. The good news for you is that the webinars are free, each has an extensive handout with a lot of reminders, resources, and some wonderful online links. You do need to register in advance. See below for the link.

No two Tribes (clans, community, nation, or rancheria) are the same. Nor are our ancestors the same. Whether your Native American connection is known, is a family secret, a DNA result, or the probability has been passed down orally, this series will aid in your research. Whether your Native American heritage is from 1900 or 1750, you’ll learn more about the research route. Do come armed with questions so we can help you find the correct research path.

Many types of records and the repositories where they can be located will be covered.  The record types to be discussed include Indian census and annuity rolls, oral history, manuscripts, private sources, Indian school records, Tribal records, and Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) collections.  Historical societies, state archives, county courthouses, NARA regional facilities and more will be covered. The importance of understanding the historical context of the records, and the lives they reflect, and their impact on events will be discussed. Many important records are those related to individuals and families that did not attain official enrollment/membership or correspondence related to their quest. 

These sessions are designed to share the basics of ancestral research for those with Native American ancestry. It does not provide instructions on how to enroll with specific tribes but provides a path for you to determine your eligibility. Resources that are universal to this type of research are covered. In addition to the resources that I will discuss and provide in the handouts for those who attend the virtual seminars on these dates, we have more for you. Bryan L. Mulcahy, the Fort Myers Genealogy Librarian has compiled a number of guides that would help supplement, not replace, the handout information. These supplemental materials would include information and links pertaining to the NARA, Bureau of Indian Affairs, manuscripts, county courthouse research, and a listing of Native American resources in the collection at Fort Myers Regional Library.

Ready to join the webinars?