Cemeteries In Paris France

Just read about a new website containing the burial registers of 19 of the 20 cemeteries in Paris. These are now available online for the period 1804-1918. You will need Google Translate's help to access the information.  Learn more from this article:

https://french-genealogy.typepad.com/genealogie/2019/02/paris-cemetery-records-online.html

Even without French ancestry (which I have not), it would be a fun browse through the name of these Paris cemeteries.

How different are these cemeteries in Paris from any place else in 
the world? 

World War I Veterans' Names Master Index

"Researching an ancestor who served the U.S. in World War I can be difficult, as there aren't the sorts of comprehensive indexes and collections of service records available as for (other U.S. conflicts)."  So David A. Norris began his article in the Jun-Jul 2019 issue of Internet GENEALOGY. 

"Drawn from National Archives microfilm, this collection has index cards for anyone who served the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I, and who made claims for Veterans Administration pension insurance or veterans' bonus payments."

The full name/title for this collection on Family Search (and the full title of Norris' article) was "Veteran's Administration Master Index, 1917-1940."

Will this resource be helpful to you?

Spokane Chronicle and Spokesman Review

One of the most read posts on this blog is about how to access the Spokane Chronicle on Google News. While it is still there right now the search was turned off years ago, but now Newspapers.com also has the Spokane Chronicle and the Spokesman Review online and both are fully searchable.

Fish vs Whale...... Do You Know The Difference?

What does today's post have to do with genealogy? Nothing and maybe everything. Your ancestors and mine (especially your Scandinavian ancestors of which I have none :-) ate whale blubber and whale meat and tons of cod fish. THEY knew the difference.

Whales have lungs, their tail goes up/down and is attached horizontally, and they give birth to live young and nurse them, and has smooth, rubber-like skin. 

Fish have gills, their tail is vertical and goes side-to-side, they lay eggs in water and swim away, and they have rough scales.

Now you know. Pop a quiz to your fishing grandsons!

Needing Access to NY Passenger Lists?

Needing to access the New York City passenger-immigration lists? And you've been told that this tremendously large group of records is still waiting to be digitized/indexed? WELL!  Wait no longer.... at least for some of these records. 

The leader in FREE online resources, FamilySearch.org, has some passenger lists! "A whopping 9.3 millions images and almost 64 million names have been fully transcribed and are now searchable." So penned Joe Grandinetti in the Jun-Jul 2019 issue of Internet GENEALOGY.  These include:

• NY Passenger Lists (Castle Garden) 1820-1891
• NY Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island) 1892-1924
• NY Passener and Crew Lists 1925-1957

And they are all to be accessed at www.familysearch.org. Check it out!

Vanity, Thy Name Is Woman

If you don't burst out laughing at seeing this old magazine ad, you're missing a big part of your funny bone:

Don't be too smug. But in your family photo collection you have ones of ladies with marcelled hair like this one shown. My mother-in-law, born in 1913, in her 20s had her hair done like this!

Whitman County Genealogical Society Free Mini Seminar

Whitman County Genealogical Society

is hosting a FREE Fall mini-seminar

Bishop Place Independent Living Social Room, 811 SE Klemgard, Pullman, WA

Saturday, September 14, 2019

featuring: DAN OWENS

“Using the Public Library for

 Genealogy and Local History”

                                                                               

DULCE KERSTING-LARK

 "Archival Power: Demonstrating the Importance of Primary Sources to Stakeholders and the Public"

9:00 am: The doors open.

9:30 am-10:30 am: Dan Owens will discuss the resources in the Palouse Heritage Collection at Neill Public Library in Pullman as well as working with public libraries, in general, when doing genealogical research or learning more about local history. This can be applied to researching in any area, not just our own local area. In addition he will cover the ins and outs of interlibrary loan.

10:30 am-10:45 am: Break and refreshments.

10:45 am-11:45 am: Dulce Kersting-Lark will discuss how working with original source materials is a privilege, but it is also a complex challenge. The nature of archives makes them both authoritative and flawed. Creating a community repository in a border town is just one of many challenges that we must make our users aware of from the get-go. How we promote the value of primary source material to the broader public is another. She will also speak to the interesting and rewarding work she does at Latah County Historical Society, as well as share information about the History Relevance Campaign.

If you have any questions or need more information contact WCGS President, Sue Kreikemeier at: aerocraft@completebbs.com  or 509-635-1303. Please RSVP to Sue or whitmancgs@gmail.com

by September 7 to accommodate handouts & refreshments.

While the seminar is free, donations are welcome at the door.

Directions: Turn off Bishop Boulevard onto Klemgard Ave., follow Klemgard Ave. up the hill and turn left at the top. Do not go into the front entrance, but turn right, continuing up the hill and turn left at the white car ports. Find an appropriate parking place, enter the building through the main doors and go straight ahead to the Social Room.

Birds' Eye Maps?

Perhaps your first thought upon reading that post title was that it was going to be something about birds making maps? Nope.

Wikipedia explains: A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans, and maps. It can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawing.

Wikipedia didn't say when these specialty maps began but posted one for Paris in 1850. 

If you'd enjoy seeing a birds' eye map of Spokane, there is one hanging on the wall outside the Northwest Room in the downtown Spokane library. (Hurry; library closes in Jan for two years.)

Obituaries: Always Take Two

Nowadays this doesn't happen quite as much, but only a few years ago the newspaper would publish two different death notices for a person. If you read carefully, it's easy to see that each one contains more/different information. And one has a photo while the "twin" does not! And one for each lady does not carry the date of death! 

Point of this post is this: Do look for a second "obituary" or death notice (or perhaps more than two even) when dealing with newspapers. 

Beer labels?

When I was blessed to visit Iceland, we went to the National Museum of Iceland in the capitol city, Reykjavik. Of course I had to peek into the archives. One set of shelves with big binders really caught my eye:

All of those binders were full of sheet protectors covering BEER LABELS! Icelandic beer, I guess. Didn't look at all of them. Isn't that the most unusual thing to find in an archives??

Opportunity: DNA classes here in Spokane

Basic DNA and Genetic Genealogy

This will be a six-week course to help you understand how to break down and apply your DNA matches.

We will be covering what DNA tests are available; the advantages and disadvantages of the major testing companies; and how to choose the right test for your genealogy questions. This course will also help you interpret your DNA test results.

Participants will be responsible for obtaining Blaine T. Bettinger, The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy. ISBN-13: 978-1-4403-4532-6.

Limited space availalbe, please contact Lynda Keenan at llkeenan62@gmail.com

The class will be held at the Shadle Public Library

Date and time:

Monday, Sept 16 12:30pm-2pm

Monday, Sept 23 12:30pm-2pm

Monday, Sept 30 12:30pm-2pm

Monday, Oct 7 12:30pm-2pm

Monday, Oct 21 12:30pm-2pm

Monday, Oct 28 12:30pm-2pm