Sacramental Records Now Searchable Online in New and Updated Genealogical Records

Special thanks to the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Archdiocese of Boston for their effort to make Sacramental records for genealogy available online. These and other new and updated genealogical collections are mentioned in this weeks list from the United States, Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, and free record searches at Findmypast!

dig these new record collections

United States (New England area) & Canada – Sacramental Records for Genealogy

NEHGS has announced the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and Archdiocese of Boston have made millions of 18th and 19th century sacramental records searchable online.

The records, which document baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and other sacraments, cover more than 150 parishes from throughout eastern Massachusetts. They also hold records that were carried out in other locations in New England and parts of Canada.
These detailed documents are a critical resource for researchers, historians, and genealogists, especially when secular records are unavailable. They record important moments in the lives of the individuals, families, and communities.
Though the fully searchable data will not be available immediately, anyone can browse images of parish records as they are completed. Click here to learn how to browse records.

United States – Oklahoma- Vital Records

Ok2Explore is a free searchable index of births and deaths that occurred in the state of Oklahoma. Only limited information is available for births occurring more than 20 years ago and deaths occurring more than 5 years ago.

Visitors to the site may search the index using any combination of the subject’s name, date of event (birth or death,) county of event, and sex of the subject.

Remember this is only an index version of the record, but you can order certified copies for a fee.

Ireland – Petty Sessions

New and updated genealogical collections this week include the Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers at Findmypast.

With over 227,700 new records, the petty sessions handled the bulk of lesser criminal and civil legal proceedings in Ireland. Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers now contains over 22.8 million records and is the largest collection of Irish court & prison records available anywhere online. Each record includes a transcript and a scanned image of the original document. These documents will include details of victims, witnesses and the accused, such as an address, date in court, details of the offence, details of the verdict, and the sentence.

Cases range from merchants who had not paid duty on their goods, to workers suing for unpaid wages. Farmers were sometimes fined for letting their cattle wander or for allowing their cart to be driven without their name painted on the side. Public drunkenness was a common offence, as was assault and general rowdiness. Though these records are not considered typical for finding vital information, they can work as great clues to lead you to the information you need.

United Kingdom – Dorset – Memorial Inscriptions

The Dorset Memorial Inscriptions collection at Findmypast contains over 40,000 new records. The collection contains details of inscriptions found on gravestones, tombs, monuments and even stained glass windows throughout 266 parishes within English county.

Each record includes a transcript. The information contained varies, however, most will include a combination of birth year, death year, burial date and location, relative’s names, memorial type and notes on the inscription.

United Kingdom – Warwickshire – Burials

Also at Findmypast, over 175,000 new records have been added to the Warwickshire Burials. The entire collection now contains more 1 million records and includes monumental inscriptions from Clifton Road Cemetery in Rugby.

Each record includes a transcript of the original burial registry or details from the monumental inscription. While the information listed will vary depending on the records original source, most will include your ancestor’s name, age, birth year, death date, burial year, burial location and the name of the officiating minister. A number of records will also include parent’s names and residence. Inscriptions will include information recorded on the individual’s grave stone and will usually include the name of the individual’s spouse, children and/or parents. Also, some grave sites may have more than one person buried in the same plot.

United Kingdom – Northumberland & Durham – Monumental Inscriptions

Over 16,000 records for the Northumberland & Durham Monumental Inscriptions at Findmypast are now available. These include the full description found on a grave stone or monument which will often include additional family names and dates.

Each record includes a transcript of the original source material. The amount of information may vary due to the age and legibility of individual monuments, but most records will include birth date, burial year, burial place, death date, denomination, inscription, and even the type of stone their monument was made from.

Ireland – Quaker Congregational Records

Also at Findmypast, Ireland, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Congregational Records has been updated with an additional 5,000 congregational records. Congregational records include details of the meetings your ancestor’s attended and the activities they engaged in. This is a nice way to enrich your family story.

These records, dating back to the mid-1600s, include minutes from half-yearly Quaker meetings. Each entry includes an image of the original handwritten record. The information included will vary, but most will include the congregation date, address, meeting, archive and reference.

MyHeritage Year End Review

MyHeritage had some pretty exciting things going on in 2016. In their recent blog post, “A Look Back at 2016,” you will see the list including the MyHeritage mobile app, the introduction of Tribal Quest, the debut of the beautiful Sun Chart, and their recent announcement of MyHeritage DNA, just to name a few. Visit the blog post to see the MyHeritage year-in-review for yourself!

Venezuela – Australia – El Salvador – Philippines – Netherlands – Canada – Spain – Slovenia – U. S. – Italy

FamilySearch.org took a short break over the holidays from updating their collections, but with the start of the new year, they have added and updated over 20 collections from all over the world! Check out these great records:

Venezuela, Diocese of San Cristóbal, Catholic Church Records, 1601-1962 688,577  *09 Jan 2017
Australia, Queensland, Immigration indexes, 1864-1940 64,508  *09 Jan 2017
El Salvador Civil Registration, 1704-1990 832,749  *06 Jan 2017
Philippines, Manila, Civil Registration, 1899-1984 2,847,720  *06 Jan 2017
Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Miscellaneous Records 1,254,022  *06 Jan 2017
Canada Census, 1901 5,343,565  *06 Jan 2017
Spain, Soldier Personal Service Files, 1835-1940 1,687  *06 Jan 2017
BillionGraves Index 20,128,469  *06 Jan 2017
Slovenia, Ljubljana, Funeral Accounts, 1937-1970 5,664  *06 Jan 2017
Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 2,608,950  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Rieti, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1840-1945 134,767  *05 Jan 2017
Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 3,311,060  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Enna, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1866-1944 131,581  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Reggio Calabria, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1784-1943 108,208  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Trapani, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1906-1928 105,264  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Pescara, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1929 385,939  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Cremona, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1744-1942 425,374  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Bergamo, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1866-1901 629,035  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Caltanissetta, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1820-1935 403,003  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Napoli, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1865 633,646  *05 Jan 2017
Italy, Taranto, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1926 272,929  *05 Jan 2017
Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936 90,841  *04 Jan 2017

Free Record Searches at Findmypast

Findmypast is offering a free records search weekend from January 12 – 15th, 2017. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity!

For records in the United Kingdom, click here.

For records in the US, click here.

For records in Ireland, click here.

For records in Australia, click here.

Look Who Just Joined the Genealogy Gems Community!

MyHeritage logo MyHeritage.comMyHeritage has signed on to sponsor The Genealogy Gems Podcast! Their support helps us to continue to bring you free multimedia content to inspire and inform your genealogy journey.

Our editorial team has spent several months getting to know MyHeritage.com. We think you’ll love their…

International membership. MyHeritage serves over 70 million members worldwide in 40 languages. Did your English-speaking ancestors originate in the British Isles? Are you discovering Sephardic roots in Spain? MyHeritage members may be your cousins—or know something about them. Check out their world membership map here.

24/7 record searching technology. MyHeritage uses a unique and powerful search system called Record Matches to constantly cull 5 billion historical records for your family. It’s the only family history interface out there using semantic analysis to search  newspaper articles, books, and other free-text documents. It is also the first to translate names between languages. I personally like that matches from MyHeritage’s historical newspaper collections show up toward the top. It’s a great way to find obituaries!

Millions of trees. MyHeritage can search over 1.5 billion records in their own 27 million trees and recently-acquired Geni.com’s unified tree. From a single screen, members can search all those trees plus WikiTree and other trees. But you don’t even have to search. MyHeritage’s unique Smart Matching technology intelligently matches each family tree to hundreds of millions of profiles in other family trees. Members are alerted when new matches appear on the site.

Offline software companion. Family Tree Builder 7.0 is free software that allows you to keep a master copy of your family tree offline.  Read my blog post on that topic here.

Great app. The MyHeritage app for iPhone, iPad and Android 2.2 helps you research, record and share your family history on the go. You can browse records, photo-share, and show off your tree in its beautiful display.

Genealogy Gems will continue to bring you news and gems on a wide range of genealogy topics and companies, not just MyHeritage. But we do encourage you to get to know MyHeritage.com. We choose our advertisers carefully and are very proud to partner with them!

What Mitochondrial DNA and a King have to do with You

Michael Ibsen, a cabinet maker living in London, was recently awarded the title of “royal descendant” when researchers identified him as a direct maternal descendant of Ann of York. Why did this lucky man have an unsolicited team of researchers filling in 17 generations of his genealogy?DNA and Genealogy

They were trying to identify a body.

A body discovered under a parking lot in Leichester, England.

According to an article in the Mail Online, thanks to the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Ibsen, that body has been identified as Richard the III. Researchers needed Ibsen because his mtDNA is EXACTLY the same as his 17th great grandmother, Ann of York.   Because mothers pass their mtDNA to all of their children, and only the daughters pass it on to the next generation, Ann had exactly the same mtDNA as her brother, Richard.

With the positive identification in hand, researchers are now prepared to undertake a  £100,000 project to discover the combination of letters in a four-digit code that makes up the genetic book that is (or was) Richard III.  This process is called full genome sequencing. They are also planning to sequence Mr. Ibsen’s genome to see what shared segments may still remain.

What does this project have to do with you?
DNA and genealogy
So what does this project have to do with you the genealogist who doesn’t have a team of researchers hammering out your 17th generation grandparents?

First, it is a win for genetic genealogy as mtDNA was used to unequivocally link past and future generations. Each story like this serves to increase buy soma medication online awareness for genetic genealogy, which means more people get tested, which means databases grow larger, which means you will find more matches, which means you will have more genealogical success. Plus, the comparison of the ancient Richard the III genome with the modern genome of Mr. Ibsen will be the first of its kind to try to identify shared segments of DNA after so many generations.

In a recent interview Michael Ibsen said, “I almost hope somewhere along the line they dig up some more people so others can be ancestors and descendants in the same sort of way. It is going to be an extraordinary experience.”

Someone needs to introduce Mr. Ibsen to genetic genealogy as that is EXACTLY what genetic genealogy is all about-but minus the digging up the bones part! Genetic genealogy is all about using the DNA of living people to reconstruct the DNA of your ancestors. It is about making connections among modern day genealogists that can help them answer questions about their relatives.

While a full genome sequence is not a practical genealogical tool for most genealogists, there are other kids of DNA tests that could help you answer  genealogical questions.

You can find more information about a few famous people and their DNA here.Dr. Turi King and Genealogist Lisa Louise Cooke

And learn even more by reading MNT’s article 3D model provides new insight into King Richard III’s spinal condition.

And don’t miss Lisa’s interview with Dr. Turi King who ran the DNA testing on King Richard III. Listen to Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 152 now.

Genealogy Gems Podcast and Family History

Enjoy Free and Unlimited Access to MyHeritage In Color™

We got some happy news during this time of self-quarantine. MyHeritage is granting free access to  MyHeritage In Color™ through April 23, 2020. 

Colorizing Old Family Photos

I shared this new service with you recently here on the Genealogy Gems blog, along with an example of the lovely work it did with one of my own old family photos.

myheritage photo colorization

Eddie Larson and his wife colorized.

Read the post to learn more about using the service: MyHeritage Launches Colorized Photos!

Details on the Free Access

Here are the details on the free access and some exciting prize drawings from my friend Daniel Horowitz, Genealogy Expert at MyHeritage:

I’m happy to share that we’re giving everyone FREE and unlimited access to MyHeritage In Color™ from March 23 to April 23, so that people everywhere can join in the fun of colorizing their black and white photos.

Ordinarily only 10 photos can be colorized by users who do not have a Complete plan, but now, you can colorize as many photos as you’d like for free.

Colorizing photos is the perfect activity for anyone who is isolated at home. We invite everyone to pull out their family photo albums, colorize their photos, and start reminiscing.

Enter the Drawing

Over the coming month, anyone who shares their colorized photos on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with the hashtag #ColorBeatsCoronavirusBlues and tags @MyHeritage will enter a weekly draw. Each week we’ll select one lucky winner who will receive a free MyHeritage Complete subscription!

5 Genealogy Resources to Look For at YOUR Public Library

genealogy at the public library

This week, I’m researching at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which has one of the best public library genealogy collections in the United States. They’ve got more than half a million items on microfilm and fiche and 350,000 more in print. Among these items are nearly 50,00o city directories; 55,000 compiled family histories; most National Archives microfilmed military service and pension records….Okay, I’ll stop before you get jealous.

But in fact, MOST public libraries have some good genealogy resources. Have you checked out the library near you lately? OR the local history and genealogy collection in a public library near where your ancestors lived? You may likely find these 5 great resources:

  1. Access to paid subscription genealogy websites like Ancestry.com Library Edition, HeritageQuest Online, Fold3 and other genealogy databases.
  2. Local historical newspapers–or at least obituaries from them. ALSO access to historical newspaper websites like GenealogyBank.com which may have papers you’ll never travel to see in person.
  3. City directories, old maps and/or local histories for that town.
  4. Surname files. These aren’t at every public library, but you’ll often find them in libraries that have dedicated genealogy rooms. These likely won’t be neatly organized files with perfect family trees in them, but collections of documents, bibliographic references and correspondence relating to anyone with that surname.
  5. Other surprising local history resources. For example, my hometown library in Euclid, Ohio, has online collections of Euclid newspapers, history, yearbooks and oral histories!

What does your library have? Browse its website or call and ask about its local history and genealogy collections. You might even Google the name of the county with the phrases “public library” and “local history” or “genealogy.” Another branch of the same library system (not in your own or ancestor’s town but nearby) might have just what you need to find your family history!

Listen to the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke. It’s a great series for learning the research ropes and well as refreshing your skills.

Want to learn more about doing genealogy at the public library? Check out two recently republished episodes of Lisa’s Family History Made Easy podcast:

Episode 34: Do Your Genealogy at the Public Library, Part 1 Genealogy librarian Patricia VanSkaik talks to us about researching at public libraries. She shares what kinds of things may be at the library (including unique resources), how to prepare for a visit and lots of great tips for making the most of your research time there.

Episode 35: Do Your Genealogy at the Public Library, Part 2 We go deeper into genealogy research at the public library. Genealogy librarian Patricia VanSkaik is back to talk about how to search an online library card catalog including advanced search methods, the unique collections that may be at public libraries, how to ask for exactly what we want, and the obstacles librarians face when it comes to cataloguing large and unique collections that may interest genealogists.

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