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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized    Leave a comment

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized    2 Comments

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  Leave a comment

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized    1 Comment

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  4 Comments

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized    Leave a comment

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

Paula Stuart-Warren  Native American    Leave a comment

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?

 

 

Are you ready for the 1950 census that appears in 2 weeks?

Paula Stuart-Warren  census    Leave a comment

April 1 is much better than just April Fools’ Day this year. The 1950 United States population census will be released free to the public by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on a dedicated website. NARA’s 1950 census informational page listed first in the helpful websites below will post that link at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. For me in Minnesota, that means 11:01 p.m.  

It will be “helpfully” indexed via an artificial intelligence/optical character (AI/OCR) recognition tool that the National Archives will have for us on that day. Users can also contribute additional names and corrections to those that will appear if we see errors.

I have been listening to webinars, reading blogs, and checking social media for news, updates, and tips on accessing the 1950 census that day. Major genealogy websites will be adding the images to their websites. That won’t occur at 12:01 a.m. EDT, though. Then those websites will be actively indexing the census with employees and volunteers. Many genealogists did that for the 1940 census and it was fun and personally rewarding to be part of that.

I have studied addresses of various family members to hopefully be sure where everyone was located. City directories, previous censuses, memories, old telephone books, military records, and many other records we use in our family history research will aid in that address search. I used a photo of 21-month- old Paula Stuart to determine where my parents and I were living in 1950. It was just before my parents owned a house and the photo showed me still in our rented upstairs residence that month. Then I located that address on the East side of Saint Paul on an enumeration map. The enumeration maps show which area of a city, town, county, or other designated place is the area in which your people were living. The ED (enumeration district) is noted on the census pages and will help if the AI/OCR created index doesn’t yield a direct hit for you.

A selection of helpful links to help you learn more as you prepare for searching the 1950 census:

 

 

Mastering Genealogical Proof – Beginning Principles Class Series with Cyndi Ingle

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

From a notification I received:

This will be a beginner/low-intermediate level class to study the book Mastering Genealogical Proof by Tom Jones. We will cover the principles outlined in the book as well as discuss the workbook questions.

  • There will be two sessions: Wednesday daytime at 3pm Eastern, and Wednesday evenings at 7pm Eastern (so adjust for your time zone), both being led by Cyndi Ingle (of Cyndi’s List). Beginning April 6 – May 25, 2022 (7 weeks, plus optional 8th week). Each class will be about an hour.
  • We will meet on Zoom.
  • You will need to have the book, Mastering Genealogical Proof. It can be purchased on Amazon or through the National Genealogical Society if you don’t already have it.
  • More details and how to register via Genealogy Pants