Thursday, October 27, 2011

More New York Resources

When you go to New York City to research your New York ancestors, visit the Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy of the New York Public Library (NYPL) in the beautiful landmark building on 5th Ave. & 42nd St. They have good hours and they're free!

They have many indexes to records, some of which are not easily available anyplace else. For example, the indexes to birth after 1909 and deaths after 1948, are at the NYC Dept. of Health but are not open to the public; only authorized agents. But the library has indexes to NYC births and deaths up to 1982.

Some other key resources you'll find here:

Indexes to NYC births (late 19th century-1982), deaths (late19th century-1982) and marriages (1869-1937), many also available through the Italian Genealogical Group.

Coroner's inquests, New York, NY, 1823-1898 and Index to Divorces, Annulments, & Separations in New York County, 1784-1910.

Comprehensive collection of city directories not only for New York but for the entire country, along with a historical telephone directory collection.

All surviving New York State census records on microfilm for all counties including finding aids. Also New Jersey State census records.

1890 New York City “Police” Census (a great substitute to the 1890 Federal census)

The best collection of New York City historical newspapers (some online and many only on microfilm).

Many books, both family histories and genealogical compilations by location, and other materials searchable through our online Catalog including everything that came from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Library in 2008.

NYC land and property records between 1654 and 1857, indexes and the actual records.

18th and 19th century wills for many counties in New York State.
The friendly and helpful staff can advise you on the other collections around the city.

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Room 121
New York Public Library
212-930-9223
mairaliriano@nypl.org

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Legacy Tree Professional Research Services

Do you need help with your research? are you unable to travel to a country where you need records researched?  These professional researchers can help you get past these obstacles in your personal research.

Legacy Tree Genealogy is located near the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their team of professional genealogists have university degrees in genealogy and family history, are accredited genealogists, have received certifications and other awards, and/or have decades of genealogy experience.  They can research U.S. genealogy, the British Isles, Germany, Canada, Italy, and more. 

The website offers various free genealogy resources.

Email info@legacytree.com or call 801-783-1277.

Monday, October 24, 2011

NYC Municipal Archives

Do you have New York City ancestors?

The NYC Municipal Archives has records dating from the early seventeenth century to the present.  Collections comprise office records, manuscript material, still and moving images, ledger volumes, vital records, maps, blueprints, and sound recordings.  Highlights include vital records, census, and city directories that are an essential for researching family history.  There are also records pertaining to the administration of criminal justice from 1684 to 1966; more than one million photographic images including pictures of every house and building in the city, ca. 1940; legislative branch records of the Dutch colonial government in New Amsterdam; Robert Moses’ papers documenting the city’s infrastructure from 1934 through 1959, and mayoral administrations from 1849 to the present.
The NYC Municipal Archives is at 31 Chambers Street, Room 103 · New York, NY 10007.  It is open Monday through Thursday 9 AM to 4:30 PM, and Friday 9 AM to 1 PM.  Telephone (212) NEW-YORK
or e-mail them.

Friday, October 14, 2011

High School Yearbooks

Old high school yearbooks are online at MemoryLane.com. Register for free to view them.

Scroll down to select state, city, school, and year.

On the picture of the yearbook, click "explore now."  Drag the yellow toolbar to the right to scroll through the pages of the yearbook.

View Glenbrook South High School's 1963 yearbook.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Family Treasures on eBay

The October 30 regular meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois (JGSI) wwill feature JGSI member Norman Sandfield.

Norman will help you discover how to use eBay as a source for family memorabilia and history. “There is life beyond Jewish Gen! Finding and Buying My/Your Family’s History, Memorabilia, and Heirlooms on eBay."  There will be an additional segment on understanding and successfully using eBay, eSnipe, PayPal, FatFingers.com, NewspaperArchive.com, Amazon.com’s ‘Search Inside the Book,’ etc.”
Regular meetings are held at Temple Beth Israel (3601 W. Dempster Street, Skokie) The temple will open at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate members who would like access to library materials, need help with genealogical internet Web sites, or have genealogical related questions. The scheduled programs begin at 2:00 p.m. and the Library will reopen after the programs until 4:00 p.m.

Beginning Genealogy Workshop

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois will host a beginners' workshop on October 23, presented by Judith R. Frazin.

Refreshments will be served at 9:30 A.M.  The program starts at 10:00 A.M. at Anshe Emet, 3751 North Broadway, Chicago.

Ohio Obit Database

Do you have Ohio ancestors?

In the spirit of that all important holiday, Halloween, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is helping Ohio libraries organize their dead people. No, we’re not talking zombies here, but obituaries!

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center hosts The Ohio Obituary Index, an award-winning web site that you can join.  The obituary listings of 49 Ohio Public Libraries are online, where people can find and order them. Although they partner with Ancestry.com and Archives.com, their site will always remain free to view.

This user-friendly web-based index of newspaper obituaries includes other items, such as local history collections of clippings, wills and estates, funeral records, etc.  It contains over 2,200,000 names and citations to over 3 million newspaper sources.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Civil War Surgeons

The  November Meeting of CAGGNI (Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois) will be a special presentation: The Search for Civil War Surgeons: A Personal Quest by Dr Trevor Steinbach.

This Meeting will be at Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 North Dunton Avenue, in Arlington Heights. There will be no meeting in December. The 2012 schedule will resume at Schaumburg Library.
Dr. Trevor Steinbach is not only a Civil War Medical Reenactor but has done extensive research on all four of the people that he portrays. His quest to research Dr. C.A. Bucher from his home town Batavia has taken over 10 years. The processes that he used and the data that he uncovered while research 4 Civil War Surgeons will both entertain and provide the audience with new resources.

Dr. Steinbach has been portraying Civil War medical officers since the early 1990’s. His current personas include Dr. James R.M. Gaskill from 17th Corps Field Hospital and Dr. Urban G. Owen from the Army of Tennessee Field Hospital. He has written a monthly column on Civil War Medicine for the Civil War Courier Magazine since 2003. He is a board member of the Society of Civil War Surgeons, the national organization for medical reenactors.

CAGGNI is a group of amateur genealogists who are committed to using technology and the internet more effectively in support of their family history research activities.

CAGGNI meets at 10:30am on the third Saturday of every month except December at the Schaumburg Township District Library. Monthly meeting topics cover a broad range of subjects of interest in supporting genealogical activities including software, tools, techniques and methodologies. Additionally, monthly newsletters, support for both computer and genealogy issues and Internet surname exposure are among the benefits of membership. .

For questions about CAGGNI, contact president@caggni.org or webmaster@caggni.org.

More Help With Polish Genealogy

Looking for Help to Find Your Polish Ancestors? 

Members of the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) are available on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the PMA library to help with your research challenges. However, if you are unable to stop by, you can e-mail an inquiry to PGSAQueries@pgsa.com or go to http://www.pgsa.org/ , Click on "How To...." in the side bar and access "Frequently Asked Questions" , where you will find answers to the most often asked questions. In fact, visiting FAQ's first might save you having to send that e-mail.

Researching Polish Genealogy

McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society (MCIGS)  presents Researching Polish Genealogy on
November 10, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. in the McHenry Public Library, 809 N. Front St. (Route 31), McHenry, IL 60050, (815) 385-0036.  The Guest Speaker will be Cynthia Piech of the Polish Genealogical Society of America.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Cook County Property Records

Jeanne Bloom CG(SM) will present Polished Gems: Property Records of Cook County at the next meeting of the Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists.

The meeting will be held on Saturday, November 5, at 10:00 AM at The Arlington Heights Senior Center, 1801 W Central Rd, Arlington Heights, IL

*****PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A NEW DAY, TIME AND ADDRESS*****

Plan to arrive at 9:30 AM, prior to the presentation, for casual discussion or to exchange information with others who enjoy genealogy.

Unlike most of the counties in Illinois, Cook County property records are organized by legal descriptions. To obtain a legal description, a researcher must know the current address of the property. Real estate documents recorded after 1871 are first recorded in tract books. Document numbers are then recorded in paging books. Jeanne will explain where to go and what steps to take to locate your property records.

Jeanne Bloom CG(SM) is a full-time professional researcher specializing in Chicago and Cook County research, problem solving and multi-generational family histories. She conducts research projects for government agencies, attorneys, authors, newspapers, heir-search firms, professional genealogists, and family researchers. Jeanne searches and identifies family members of unaccounted servicemen from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Jeanne writes articles for scholarly journals and society publications and is a frequent lecturer at conferences, workshops, and institutes. She has served as the editor of a book and a newsletter.

Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists

P.O. Box 148 ● Mount Prospect, Illinois, 60056.