US Genealogy Records that Came Online this Summer

Not everyone was on vacation this summer. Genealogy companies and archives have been busy adding new records to their online collections. 

US Genealogy Records new this summer

Mississippi Newspapers

In late July 2019 the Mississippi Department of Archives and History announced that “More than 238,000 pages of out-of-copyright Mississippi newspapers are currently online, with approximately 90,000 more pages expected to go online in the next six months.”

According to their press release: Researchers from around the world now have free online access to hundreds of Mississippi newspapers. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) participated in the National Digital Newspaper Program, a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize newspapers across the country. The publications are accessible through the Library of Congress on its Chronicling America website, along with papers from other participating states.

“Primary sources are key for students because it makes history relatable,” said Al Wheat, MDAH director of education and co-coordinator of Mississippi History Day. “Every year we send students to the National History Day competition, which offers two prizes to students who made use of Chronicling America in their research. Instead of simply reading about a historical event, students can learn from the people who experienced that event through this exceptional website.”

MDAH has the most extensive collection of Mississippi newspapers in the state, housing more than 13,000 microfilm rolls of papers in its archival collections. NEH provided funding for the Mississippi digitization project through three, two-year grants.

Mississippi content includes titles published between 1820 and 1963 in fifty-three of the state’s eighty-two counties. Ninety antebellum titles, including papers published in Canton, Carrollton, Columbus, Holly Springs, Kosciusko, Panola, Port Gibson, Yazoo City, and Woodville, are online.

Mississippi Newspapers

Twenty-three titles have at least one issue published between 1860 and 1865. Noteworthy Civil War-era titles include the American Citizen published in Canton, the Eastern Clarionpublished in Paulding, the Daily Clarion published in Meridian, the Macon Beacon, and the Oxford Intelligencer.

More than 100 newspapers document the Reconstruction era in the state through 1922. Included are titles from Aberdeen, Bay St. Louis, Corinth, Ellisville, Hernando, Liberty, Okolona, Philadelphia, Ripley, and Starkville.

A number of issues published between 1923 and 1963 will go online within the next six months. Included are several African American newspapers: the Jackson Advocate, the Southern Advocate published in Mound Bayou, and the Weekly Echo published in Meridian. Two newspapers that will go online won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing: the Lexington Advertiser edited by Hazel Brannon Smith and the Chronicle edited by Ira Harkey, Jr.

Access the newspapers for free at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.

Another exciting free historical newspaper website!

Click the video below to watch:

Georgia Obituaries and Burial Records

The Madison GA Cemetery Stewardship Commission announced that the Madison Cemeteries website now has over 800 obits for our 4,000 burials, and they are adding more every day.

 

U.S. Genealogical Records at Findmypast

Pennsylvania, Oath of Allegiance

Did your ancestor arrive in Pennsylvania between 1727 and 1775 or between 1786 and 1808? This records hold the names of thousands of male immigrants who were required to take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown and the Province of Pennsylvania as well as immigration lists between 1786 and 1808. Within these pages you will find your ancestor’s name, the ship they arrived on, there and arrival ports, and arrival date. Names are organised by vessel.

All males over sixteen years of age were obliged to take this oath and declaration, as soon as after arrival as possible. The lists of foreigners arriving after 1786 including the names of wives and children. The full oath can actually be found on image number 9. An index to surnames begins on image number 675.

Pennsylvania Immigrants, 1727-1776

Explore this 1856 publication which, in its own words, is a ‘A Collection of Upwards Of Thirty Thousand Names Of German, Swiss, Dutch, French And Other Immigrants In Pennsylvania From 1727 To 1776: With A Statement Of The Names Of Ships, Whence They Sailed, And The Date Of Their Arrival At Philadelphia, Chronology.’

As well as names, these records may also provide you with historical and biographical notes. The prefece went on to add that ‘present descendants of the early German, Swiss and French immigrants, now numbering millions living in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and in the Western States, will be enabled, if they procure this publication, to ascertain the time of their ancestors’ arrival and other facts of value to most of them.’

United States, Passenger and Crew Lists has been created by merging all of Findmypast’s existing US passenger and crew lists with over 2 million brand new records covering Boston, Texas and South Carolina.

Spanning over 160 years of travel, this vast national collection brings together records of passengers and crew who arrived in America by ship or by plane, from the East Coast to the West Coast, between 1800 and 1964.

passenger list genealogy records

Passenger boarding in the 1950s.

Including ship manifests, crew lists, flight manifests, passenger arrival lists and more, the records document the arrival of millions of immigrant from Europe, Asia, and South America into the United States, where most settled to create a new life for themselves and their descendants.

A significant portion of the documents available within United States, Passenger and Crew Lists have been produced through a combination of historical records found at the National Archives & Record Administration (NARA) in Washington D.C. A number of the crew lists have also been made available by the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut.

The collection also includes records provided in partnership with the John F Kennedy Trust Ltd, an organization which has worked with the Balch Institute, the Ellis Island Restoration Commission and the Battery Conservancy to compile a comprehensive database of Irish emigration to the United States.

Passenger lists are just one of many records that detail your family’s journey to the United States. Transcripts will reveal your ancestor’s birth year, birth place, place of arrival, arrival year and ship name.

Images will provide additional information such who your ancestor was traveling with, their occupation, last permanent residence, and the names of those who died during the voyage. On crew lists, you may discover your ancestors position on the chip, whether they were able to read or write, length of service, as well as a physical description.

United States, Passenger and Crew Lists

Over 777,000 new records from the major port city of Baltimore in Maryland have recently been added to these passenger and crew lists.

This national collection brings together records of passengers and crew who arrived in America by ship or by plane from the East Coast to the West Coast and will reveal where your ancestor was born, where they sailed from, where they arrived and when.

Billion Graves at FMP

Pinpoint your ancestor’s final resting place with new additions to our Billion Graves Cemetery Indexes. Our latest update includes:

cemetery and grave research

Tombstones are records too.

Cemetery records are of great importance in discovering where and when your ancestor died. They can also provide you with information regarding their birth and marriage dates.

With an abundance of cemeteries, it can be overwhelming trying to pinpoint the precise cemetery in which your ancestor was laid to rest, and visiting each potential location is costly. However, in partnering with BillionGraves, we aim to make available all the cemetery records held on their site for free, saving you time and money as you search for your ancestor.

BillionGraves is the largest resource for GPS-tagged headstone and burial records on the web, with over 12 million headstone records.

The Newest Batch of British & Irish Genealogical Records Now Online

It’s always exciting to see new genealogical records come online because they offer new hope for discoveries and brick wall busting. 

Findmypast, a leader in British genealogical records, has recently added thousands of new records to existing and new collections. Among these you’ll find everything from baptism and burial records to British and Irish digitized newspapers. 

British Records

Huddersfield, England Baptisms                                                       

A large market and university town in West Yorkshire, England, Huddersfield is nestled between Leeds and Manchester. It’s the 11th largest town in the United Kingdom, and is known for it’s Victorian architecture. Huddersfield railway station was described by former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom John Betjeman as “the most splendid station façade in England”, second only to St Pancras, London. 

Huddersfield Railway Station (RLH)

Over 52,000 records covering 14 new parishes have been added to Findmypast’s collection of Huddersfield Baptisms. All new parishes are highlighted in the Huddersfield baptisms parish list.

Each baptismal record includes a transcript of an original parish register entry. This will reveal a combination of your ancestor’s:

  • baptism date,
  • parent’s names,
  • father’s occupation
  • and father’s address.

Click here to search the Huddersfield Baptisms                                      

 

Yorkshire, England Memorial Inscriptions

If you are trying to find out when your ancestor died and was laid to rest in Yorkshire, this growing collection is worth a look. Over 5000 additional records have been added to the Yorkshire Memorial Inscriptions collection. 

These newly added records cover 14 Anglican churchyards across the York area (West Riding, North Riding and Ainsty).

The bulk of the records mainly cover the years of the First and Second World Wars. 

Search for your ancestors now in the Yorkshire Memorial Inscriptions

 

Middlesex Baptisms and Monumental Inscriptions

An historic county in southeast England, Middlesex was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons. It existed as an official administrative unit until 1965, and now mostly falls within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in other neighboring ceremonial counties. 

Baptisms

Findmypast has recently added over 64,000 new records to existing parishes within the collection of Middlesex Baptisms. These transcripts of original parish register entries will reveal a combination of your ancestor’s baptism date, parent’s names, father’s occupation and address.

The collection also covers parts of London, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.

Search the Middlesex Baptisms Collection

Monumental Inscriptions

Over 5,000 additional monumental inscription records are now available to search. The new records cover two cemeteries in Teddington as well as the Parish of St Mary’s in Sunbury.

Monumental Inscriptions can reveal the names of others buried in that plot as well as more specific details regarding age, birth and death dates. This can be incredibly helpful as it can provide you with the names and dates of your ancestor’s next of kin, including their relation to one another.

Search the Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions here.

 

Essex Genealogical Records

Essex is a large county in the south-east of England and forms part of the Metropolitan Green Belt just beyond greater London. The original Kingdom of Essex, founded by Saxon King Aescwine in AD 527, occupied territory to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lee. In the 1640s, during the English Civil War, notorious witch hunter General Matthew Hopkins lived in the county accused 23 women in Chelmsford in 1645.

You will find five million baptism, banns, marriages, and burial records from Essex on Findmypast. These records were created from the original registers held by the Essex Record Office and other sources.

John Constable The Hay Wain
The oil on canvas The Hay Wain by John Constable shows the Essex landscape on the right bank.

Essex Baptisms

This collection covers 532 parishes and reveals:

  • birth place,
  • birth date,
  • birth place,
  • denomination,
  • residence,
  • baptism date,
  • baptism place,
  • parents’ names,
  • and father’s occupation.

Search the Essex Baptism Index 1538-1920 here.

Essex Marriages and Banns

These records cover 553 parishes and provide the following information:

  • residence
  • occupation
  • marital status
  • banns year
  • marriage date
  • location
  • spouse’s name
  • spouse’s residence
  • spouse’s marital status
  • father’s name
  • spouse’s father’s name
  • names of any witnesses

Search the Essex Marriages and Banns 1537-1935

Essex Burials

This collection covers 455 parishes and provide:

  • birth year
  • age at death
  • denomination
  • birth year
  • burial year
  • burials date
  • burial place

Search the Essex Burial Index 1530-1994

 

Derbyshire Genealogical Records

Derbyshire stole my heart this year during a recent trip to England where I spoke at THE Genealogy Show conference. It’s preserved historic beauty can be greatly attributed to the Peak District National Park which mostly falls within this East Midlands area county. 

Derbyshire
Photo: My recent visit to beautiful Derbyshire, England

Births and Baptisms

Just under a thousand additional records from 15 non-conformist parishes have been added to the Findmypast collection of Derbyshire Births and Baptisms.

Mainly covering Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, the full list of new additions has been highlighted in their Derbyshire parish list.

Search Derbyshire Births and Baptisms here.

 

Kent Burials

Over 4,500 records of burials that took place at St Martin’s church in Cheriton are now available to search here. These new additions cover two periods, 1843 to 1855 and 1907 to 1958. Search these records to discover where and when your ancestor was buried, as well as the names of their spouse and father.

These burial records constitute a valuable resource for researching ancestry in Kent and have been provided in association with:

  • Canterbury Cathedral Archives
  • Kent County Council
  • the North West Kent Family History Society,
  • Folkestone & District Family History Society
  • and Val Brown. 

 

Billion Graves Cemetery Indexes at Findmypast

You just might be able to pinpoint your ancestor’s final resting place with the new additions to Findmypast’s Billion Graves Cemetery Indexes. The latest update includes:

Cemetery records like these can provide you with information regarding your ancestor’s birth and marriage dates.

According to Alex Cox of Findmypast, “With an abundance of cemeteries, it can be overwhelming trying to pinpoint the precise cemetery in which your ancestor was laid to rest, and visiting each potential location is costly. However, in partnering with BillionGraves, we aim to make available all the cemetery records held on their site for free, saving you time and money as you search for your ancestor. BillionGraves is the largest resource for GPS-tagged headstone and burial records on the web, with over 12 million headstone records.”

 

British and Irish Newspapers

Additions to Existing Newspaper Collections

Findmpast has added 98,602 brand new pages to eleven of their existing titles. Spanning the years 1865 to 1999, the new additions include extensive updates the Huddersfield Daily Examiner as well as titles covering the south of England (Crawley and London), the Midlands (Coventry), and the North West (Liverpool).

Further updates have also been made to the specialist publication – Field – for which they now have editions up to 1911.

Additional updates have been made to twenty-one  existing titles, covering the length and breadth of Scotland, Ireland and England. These include updates to two Cornish titles – the Royal Cornwall Gazette and Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser, as well as updates to seven Scottish titles, including the John o’Groat Journal and the Perthshire Advertiser.

There has been a significant update to the Bristol Times and Mirror, with over 33,000 pages added, covering the years 1897 to 1911.

Also updated are two early Labour publications – Clarion and the Labour Leader – as well as one of our religious titles, Witness (Edinburgh), and the sporting title, the Football Post (Nottingham). As you can see, there is a diverse range of interests represented.

New Newspaper Titles

The Queen, The Ladies’ Newspaper and Court Chronicle, a society magazine by Samuel Beeton established in 1861, and the Women’s Gazette and Weekly News have also been added. Published in Manchester, this was a ‘journal devoted to the social and political position of women.’

More historical newspapers added this summer include:

  • Hawick Express covering the years 1892, 1903-1904, 1913-1914, 1919-1940, 1950-1952
  • Coatbridge Express covering the years 1885-1951
  • Dalkeith Advertiser covering the years 1869-1953
  • Barrhead News covering the years 1897-1912
  • Banffshire Herald covering the years 1893-1912
  • Banffshire Advertiser covering the years 1881-1902, 1905-1912

Check out the latest British & Irish Newspaper Updates here.

What Makes Findmypast a Genealogy Giant

Here’s what makes Findmypast a Genealogy Giant Findmypast ranks as one of the Genealogy Giants: one of the world’s biggest and best genealogy websites. It’s a must-use site for tracing your roots in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Findmypast also offers...

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