by Lacey Cooke | Dec 1, 2017 | 01 What's New, Canadian, Records & databases, United States
New and updated records for Canada and the United States are hot off the press this week. Mortality schedules, cemetery records, Roman Catholic records, and passenger lists are listed for Canadian genealogy research. For the United States, check out Ohio newspapers, New Jersey census records, Confederate maps, and more.
Canada – New and Updated Collections
Ancestry has three brand new collections of Canadian records. First is the Census Mortality Schedule, 1871, covering the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec.
Specifically for Ontario, Toronto Trust Cemeteries, 1826-1989 includes records of several Toronto Cemeteries. And the Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923 collection includes indexed records of Ontario baptisms, marriages, and burials. Other records, such as family lists, communions, and confirmations may appear, but do not have associated indices.
At FamilySearch, the collection of Canada Passenger Lists (1881-1922) has been updated with over 33,000 new indexed records. The collection contains an index and images of ships’ passenger lists (also known as ships’ manifests or seaport records of entry).
United States – Newspapers, Census Records, & More
Ohio. MyHeritage has a new collection of Ohio Newspapers from 1793-2009 that you’ll definitely want to explore. These newspapers come from various cities and towns throughout the state and may provide vital records substitutes as well as a glimpse of daily life.
New Jersey. State Census records for New Jersey are now online at Ancestry for the following years: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1905, and 1915. Records did not survive from all New Jersey counties but all available records are included in this collection.
New York. Brooklyn, Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Employment Cards, 1908-1965 is another new collection at Ancestry. Records include name, age, birth date, next-of-kin, and employment date.
Illinois. New over at FamilySearch are Illinois Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880. This collection lists people who died in the year preceding each census starting in 1850.
National Archives. Over 100 Confederate maps have been digitized at the National Archives. These maps are part of Record Group (RG) 109 and can be viewed online as well as downloaded. Additionally, some of the maps contained unique information on the back, and both sides are available to view in the Catalog.
Railroads. Finally, the Railroad Retirement Pension Index, 1934-1987 is available now at Ancestry. Records vary, but the information found may include birth date, death date, and social security number.
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by Lisa Cooke | Apr 8, 2015 | 01 What's New, Digital Archives, Libraries
The 40 millionth record has been added to WorldCat, the enormous multi-library catalog that helps people find library materials all over the 
world.
Even cooler, that 40 millionth record was harvested to WorldCat through the WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway. This gateway allows for “unique, open-access digital content” to be brought into WorldCat, according to owner OCLC. “Once there…collections are more visible and discoverable to end users who search WorldCat as well as Google and other popular websites.”
If you haven’t used WorldCat for genealogy, you may be missing out on a lot. Like published history books (regional, county, local, ethnic, religious and more). And published family histories (search by the surname as a subject). The holdings of the enormous Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah are now included in WorldCat, too (click here to read a blog post on that).
The idea that digital archives are integrating into WorldCat–hence becoming more searchable for us–is fantastic. What kinds of digitized materials might be cataloged here? Well, the Arizona Memory Project is the digital archive that provided that 40 millionth WorldCat record. The Arizona Memory Project “provide(s) online access to the wealth of primary sources in Arizona libraries, archives, museums and other cultural institutions including government documents, photographs, maps and objects that chronicle Arizona’s past and present.” Good stuff!
Remember to also search ArchiveGrid, WorldCat’s sister search interface for archival materials, for original family history documents.
by Lisa Cooke | Mar 26, 2016 | 01 What's New, Church, Listeners & Readers
A Dutch genealogy researcher writes in with tips and encouragement for finding your family history in The Netherlands.
Niek in Arnhem, The Netherlands recently wrote in with 5 excellent and enthusiastic tips for exploring your Dutch family history. Here’s what he had to say about the civil registry, surnames, church records, land records and royal lineages:
“About three years ago my father got diagnosed with skin cancer and to help him get his mind of things I opened up an account on MyHeritage for us, so we could start working on our family tree together. Maybe I have some tips that could be of some value for your listeners with roots in The Netherlands:
1. Civil registry. In 1811, the civil registry was introduced by the French, who ruled the country. This meant that municipalities were obliged to keep the records (marriage, death and birth) of their citizens. That system hasn’t changed much since 1811 and most of the information can be found online on websites like www.wiewaswie.nl and www.geneaknowhow.net (the latter has some English translations as well). It’s very easy to find your Dutch ancestors [back] to 1811. For example, I know the names and most of the date of births and deaths of 60 of my 64 four-times great-grandfather who lived during the introduction of the civil registry.
For me, the most exciting thing about these post-1811 documents is that they were often signed by the father of the newborn or by the bride and groom. To see the 200 year-old signature of your ancestor can really send shivers down the spine! [Click here to read more about Dutch civil registration on the FamilySearch wiki.]
2. Surnames. The introduction of the civil registry also meant that citizens had to have a last name. Up to then last names were used, but not mandatory. It could be that last names would change after a generation. For example, my last name, Lucassen means Son of Lucas, my oldest paternal ancestor I could find was named Lucas Jans, which means Lucas, son of Jan. And his son was called Jan Lucassen, and this last name was passed down the generations (although some of his children had Janssen, son of Jan, as a last name).
3. Catholic church records. I am from the province of Brabant, which was a Catholic province. Before 1811, records were kept by the church. The Catholic church was particularly skilled at keeping records and information. Although they unfortunately don’t have dates of birth and dates of death, they used to register the dates of baptism and burial. (A baptism date isn’t the same as a a date of birth, although, in the civil registry marriage certificates, the date of birth is the same as the date of baptism.) [Click here for a FamilySearch wiki article on Dutch church records.]
4. Land records. Apart from the church the municipalities kept records of sales of land and property, which is a great way to find out more about the family relations of your ancestors, and about the houses they may have owned. For many parts of the country, these records can easily go back to the 17th century. [This FamilySearch wiki article tells you more about Dutch land and property records.]
5. Royal lineages. If you’re lucky you’re able to connect one of the branches of your family tree to nobility, as many parts of The Netherlands and the rest of Europe were ruled by knights and viscounts. If this is the case in your family, you can easily climb up in your family tree for several centuries because the family relationships of nobility is very well documented and an important part of their heritage (like the story you told about your visit to Windsor Castle) because of the possession of land over which they ruled. Sometimes you do hit a dead-end when a parent of one of your ancestors isn’t known, or isn’t known for certain. But some of the lines travel back really, really far! [Click here for a FamilySearch Wiki article with more on researching noble lines.]
More Dutch Genealogy Gems
“Exercise Field Artillery Corps” album, image AKL092038, Netherlands Institute of Military History uploads at Flickr Creative Commons, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nimhimages/16026248719/.
Dutch Reformed Church Records (U.S.) on Ancestry.com
Europeana Digital Archive: World War I Collection
Netherlands Military Institute of History has Flickr Photostream
