FamilySearch Collection Update: New Records Added Online for Czech Republic, Mexico, and U.S.

Received May 11 from FamilySearch.org:

Eight new searchable collections were updated or added this week at FamilySearch.org—millions of new free images and records.

This week the complete name indexes for the states of Alabama, Colorado, and Illinois were published online at FamilySearch’s Record Search pilot (FamilySearch.org, click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot) or Beta.FamilySearch.org.

The Delaware state birth records, 1875 Minnesota State Census, and Illinois, Cook County birth records were also added.

Also released was a digital image collection of church records from Litomerice, Czech Republic—60,000 images! Consumers will see these types of collections more and more online as FamilySearch digitizes microfilms in its Granite Mountain Records Vault. Instead of a microfilm reader in a local family history center, patrons use FamilySearch’s image viewer online to search these high quality digital collections—and they are accessible 24/7.

See the chart below for the complete list of all the newly added or improved collections.

None of this would be possible without the great contributions of many online FamilySearch volunteers. These individuals donate the time and effort needed to make these collections freely available to FamilySearch patrons. If you would like to help by donating a few minutes here and there online with projects of personal interest, become a FamilySearch community volunteer at FamilySearchIndexing.org. Many hands produce great work. Thank you for your support!

Collection Name	Indexed Records	Digital Images	Comments
Czech Republic, Litomerice State Regional Archive Church Records 1552-1905, pt. 03 - WP		60573	Browsable images only
Mexico Census 1930 Index, Yucatan	378550	1061300
U.S Delaware State Birth Records 1861-1922 - FSI	121234	93600
U.S Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers 1873-1908	1240000	33245
U.S 1875 Minnesota State Census	475000	13600	Must be registered to see images.
US Federal Census, 1910, Alabama	1870520	46763
US Federal Census, 1910, Colorado	767680	19192
US Federal Census, 1910, Illinois	5024520	125613

About FamilySearch
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

DAR Databases Now Online

From the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution:

After nearly a decade of scanning, indexing, and other behind-the-scenes work by DAR members and employees, the Daughters of the American Revolution is pleased to announce the availability of the DAR Genealogical Research System on our public website. Here are the direct links:

http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm or www.dar.org (and click on the Library button at the top, then the second tab in the left-hand column).

The GRS is a growing collection of databases that provide access to many materials collected by the DAR over the past 119 years. Included in this collection of databases is the GRC National Index which has been available to researchers for the past few years. There are still some kinks we’re working out here and there.

When you go to the link above, you will find several tabs that will enable searching in the various databases:

Ancestor – established DAR Revolutionary War Ancestors and basic information about them with listings of the applications submitted by descendants who joined the DAR [updated daily]

Member – limited access to information on deceased/former DAR members – not current members.

Descendants – index of generations in applications between the DAR member and the Revolutionary War ancestor. There is much eighteenth and nineteenth-century information here. [ongoing indexing project]

GRC – everyname index to 20,000 typescript volumes (some still being indexed) of genealogical records such as cemeteries, Bibles, etc. This index is not limited to the period of the American Revolution at all.

Resources [In particular, the digitized DAR Library Revolutionary Pension Extract Card Index and the Analytical Index Cards. Other information sources will be coming in the near future, mostly relating to Revolutionary War service, bibliographies, Forgotten Patriots (updates), etc. Read the introductions to these to learn why these are both important genealogical indexes. For example, the Rev. War pension index includes the names of people mentioned in those pensions that were abstracted (not just the pensioner or widow)!!!!]

Library Catalog – our book, periodical, and manuscript holdings

Each of these has interrelated content, and a description of each is given more fully on the website. You will notice restricted information in many search results. This is the result of a concerted effort to protect the identity of our members while providing historical genealogical information to researchers.

The national numbers of members (without the names of living members) given in the search results are needed to order copies of applications and supplemental applications. They do not lead online researchers to any other information about the member.

P.S. Randy Seaver has written a wonderful tutorial on using these databases on his genealogy blog, Genea-Musings.

Obituary Database

The Obituary Database of the Spokane Public Library has finally gone online and is ready to be searched! The web site is here. It currently includes over 17,000 records and is complete from January 1, 2008 on. Earlier records are included and are one’s that I have done lookups for and added to the database. It is searchable by name. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Find-A-Grave: Family Linking Feature

For those of you who have taken my Find-A-Grave computer class (November 2006) or who have found this delightful site on your own, I wanted to let you know there is a great new feature available. I wrote a tutorial on it at my personal genealogy site here. Enjoy!

What You Missed: The August 2008 Computer Class

"WorldVitalRecords.com" was the topic of the August 2008 EWGS computer class held Saturday, August 16th in the Gates Computer Lab of the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library. This free for-members-only class was presented by yours truly, Miriam Robbins Midkiff. We took a look at the genesis of this subscription website, the philosophy of founder Paul Allen (formerly of Ancestry.com), and the growth of database offerings that has occurred since the site's founding, many of which are available because of WVR's terrific partnering with other genealogy database websites and resource publishers, such as Everton Publishers, Simmons Historical Publications, and Godfrey Memorial Library, to name just a few. The free social-networking, online family-tree-building, and lookup service of WorldVitalRecords, FamilyHistoryLink, was reviewed as well. Attendees were encouraged to sign up for WVR's free weekly e-newsletter, which lists newly-added databases that are free-to-access for the first seven days they are online. They were also urged to try out WorldVitalRecords one of the local Family History Centers, which have free access to this database-rich genealogy subscription website.

If you would like a copy of the syllabus that was used for this presentation, please e-mail Miriam here.

The next computer class will be presented by Barbara Brazington on "Historical Societies & Museums Online" on Saturday, October 18th (September's class has been cancelled). If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are some spots available during the 10:15 -11:15 AM and the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM sessions. We no longer offer a 1:30 - 2:30 PM session. You must be a current EWGS member to attend. If you are interested in joining EWGS, please go to our website here and download the membership application.

SSDI - Free on GenealogyBank

Tom Kemp just announced today that the Social Security Death Index database will now be free to access at his website, GenealogyBank.

"So what?" you may be thinking. "I can access the SSDI in several places online for free already."

BUT, the SSDI database at GenealogyBank is the most comprehensive one on the Internet.

It has expanded & enhanced the data – adding the day of the week when the person’s birth or death occurred and the GPS coordinates that many genealogists like to have for their records.

Also, no other site updates the SSDI weekly. Most update every month or longer.

Check out Tom's announcement here.

FamilySearch Update: New Records Added

FamilySearch added over 2 million new images or indexed records this week to its pilot Record Search databases this week. Thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers who help bring these projects to the Web for public access. Patrons can search these databases for free online at FamilySearch.org or directly at http://pilot.familysearch.org.

Project Name: WWII Draft Reg. Cards
Indexed Records: ---
Digital Images: 1,651,453
Type: Images
Comments: Updated - 1 new state (Ohio)

Project Name: 1930 Mexico Census
Indexed Records: 314,548
Digital Images: 104,849
Type: Index
Comments: Updated - 1 new state (Coahulia)

Project Name: West Virginia Vital Records (Marriages)
Indexed Records: 306,782
Digital Images: ---
Type: Index
Comments: Updated - 14 new counties

Project Name: Lima, Peru Civil Registration
Indexed Records: ---
Digital Images: 134,664
Type: Waypt
Comments: Updated - User guidance added

Project Name: 1885 Florida State Census
Indexed Records: ---
Digital Images: 8,468
Type: Waypt
Comments: New collection

Project Name: 1935 Florida State Census
Indexed Records: ---
Digital Images: 36,019
Type: Waypt
Comments: New collection

Project Name: 1945 Florida State Census
Indexed Records: ---
Digital Images: 51,686
Type: Waypt
Comments: New collection

Another FamilySearch Update

46 Million New Names and 1.2 Million New Images Added to Online Census Collections

Approximately 46.3 million new records and 1.2 million new images are now available on the Record Search pilot at http://pilot.familysearch.org. This brings the total number of names available on the test site to 467,180,871.

Two new Records Access projects (1841 & 1861 England Census collections) were published with links to images on findmypast.com. This is important because it tests the pilot search engine’s capacity to ingest third party indexes and link to images hosted on affiliates’ sites. Such functionality enables FamilySearch to better fulfill its goal to increase access to more genealogical records faster for its users and members. Recent Records Access news announcements can be found at FamilySearch.org.

Project Name: 1841 England and Wales Census
Indexed Names: 15,806,949
Digital Image Count: 340,544
Comment: New - linked to FMP images

Project Name: 1850 United States Census
Indexed Names: 6,044,749
Comment: Updated - NY, PA, NC

Project Name: 1850 United States Census (Mortality Schedule)
Indexed Names: 62,269
Comment: Updated - NY,NC

Project Name: 1850 United States Census (Slave Schedule)
Indexed Names: 299,141
Comment: Updated - NC, UT

Project Name: 1861 England and Wales Census
Indexed Names: 19,178,973
Digital Image Count: 922,225
Comment: New - linked to FMP images

Project Name: 1870 United States Census
Indexed Names: 4,350,059
Comment: New - indexed data (15 states)

Project Name: 1930 Mexico Census
Indexed Names: 617,446
Comment: Updated - Chihuahua

FamilySearch Record Search Update

From Paul Nauta of FamilySearch Record Search:

The FamilySearch Record Search pilot has just added 3.1 million records from the 1850 U.S. Census for the states of Maine, New Jersey, and Ohio. An additional 117,000 unindexed digital images were added for Philadelphia marriages and Czech Republic church books. These collections can be searched for free at http://pilot.familysearch.org.

What You Missed: The February 2008 Computer Class

"Finding Vital Records and Obituaries Online" was the topic of the computer class held Saturday, February 16, 2008 in the Gates Computer Lab of the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library. This well-attended class was presented by Miriam Robbins Midkiff, who briefly went over some cautionary information regarding online records and indexes, then encouraged the EWGS members present to explore the websites listed on the syllabus.

Donna Potter Phillips shared her easy tip on finding vital records online. She simply goes to Google and enters "vital records" plus the location she's researching: "spokane county" or arkansas. Jeanne Coe shared a fabulous--yet controversial--resource, the Sound Politics Washington State Voter Database. How does this relate to vital records? Well, if you have relatives who are Washington State voters, their birthdate and last known address will be listed in this database. I filled in some blanks in both my husband's and my own family trees, and gleaned some addresses so that I can write to these relatives to ask for more information. Thanks, Jeanne!

Several members made some great finds on their ancestors during the class. If you think you've explored all the vital records and obituaries databases and websites out there, think again. New data and new websites are being placed online everyday. Some of it requires payment to access, much of it is free. Please e-mail me at kidmiffATgmailDOTcom, substituting appropriate letters for the green words in all capitals, for a copy of a free syllabus.

The next computer class will be presented by Bette Butcher Topp on "European Resources Online" on Saturday, March 15th. If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are some spots available during the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM and the 1:30 - 2:30 PM sessions. You must be a current EWGS member to attend. If you are interested in joining EWGS, please go to our website here and download the membership application.

What You Missed: The January 2008 Computer Class

"Footnote.com" was the topic for the January 2008 computer class, presented by Miriam Robbins Midkiff. You've probably heard about this relatively new website, and wondered what it was all about! Footnote is a fantastic website used by genealogists, historians, researchers and educators alike. Partnered with the National Archives, Footnote is releasing digitized images from various collections, including Civil War Soldiers' Pension Index cards, Revolutionary War Rolls, WWII U.S. Air Force Photos. There's more than just war records, though. Texas Birth and Death Certificates are being scanned and placed online, as are city directories, naturalizations, and the SmallTown Newspaper collection!

There is much free data available on Footnote, and non-subscribers can choose to download images of paid data for $1.95 each. Three-day free trial offers, monthly subscriptions of $7.95 and annual subscriptions of $59.95 are also available. As we investigated this terrific website, attendees were encouraged to visit their local Family History Center, where patrons can access the entire subscription website for free! Also, if you're interested in a subscription, my free syllabus on using this website contains a link for a 10% discount off an annual subscription. Just e-mail me at kidmiffATgmailDOTcom, substituting appropriate symbols for the words in all capitals, and I'll be happy to send you a copy of the syllabus.

Lost Cousins is Completely Free Until 2008!

I received the following message today in an e-mail:

All users of the LostCousins site will have totally free access from December 26 to January 6, so it's a great opportunity to find and contact living relatives who share your ancestry!

The LostCousins website has a unique system that identifies living relatives who share the same ancestors automatically, confidentially, and with virtually 100% accuracy. It's all done using census data, most of which is available free online at the FamilySearch site.

The more relatives you enter on your My Ancestors page, the better your chance of finding a cousin immediately - and the more cousins you'll find over time.

Founder Peter Calver explained why the system works so well: "Using the census ensures that two members who share the same relative enter precisely the same data - this means we can not only match you automatically, but do it with 100% accuracy.

"Once you've told us about your relatives from the census, it takes just seconds to search for other members who share your ancestors - and you can repeat the search as often as you like, even after the offer ends. Our simple search and accurate matching will save you an enormous amount of time and effort that might otherwise be expended following up false leads."

A recent survey revealed that the average LostCousins member has been researching her family tree for over 10 years, so the cousins you find are likely to have lots of useful research to share - as well as photographs and other memorabilia.

Although new members are required to register, no credit card or other financial information is requested - so there's absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain by taking part. From January 7 onwards you'll need to be a subscriber to initiate contact with a new cousin, but otherwise you'll continue to have full access to your data and to the site.

The LostCousins website can be found at: http://www.LostCousins.com

FHL & Major FHCs to Receive Free Ancestry.com Access

I received the following just a few minutes ago, via e-mail from FamilySearch:

FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY AND MAJOR REGIONAL FAMILY HISTORY CENTER PATRONS TO RECEIVE FREE ANCESTRY.COM ACCESS

FamilySearch and The Generations Network Agreement Give Patrons Access to More than 24,000 Ancestry.com Databases and Titles

SALT LAKE CITY—FamilySearch and The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com, today announced an agreement that provides free access of Ancestry.com to patrons of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and the 13 largest regional family history centers effective today.

With this new agreement full access will be provided to more than 24,000 Ancestry.com databases and titles and 5 billion names in family history records. In addition to the Family History Library, the following 13 regional family history centers have been licensed to receive access to Ancestry.com:

* Mesa, Arizona
* Los Angeles, California
* Oakland, California
* Orange, California
* Sacramento, California
* San Diego, California
* Idaho Falls, Idaho
* Pocatello, Idaho
* Las Vegas, Nevada
* Logan, Utah
* Ogden, Utah
* St. George, Utah
* Hyde Park, London, England

“We’re excited for our patrons to receive online access to an expanded collection of family history records on Ancestry.com,” said Don Anderson, director of FamilySearch Support. “Ancestry.com’s indexes and digital images of census, immigration, vital, military and other records, combined with the excellent resources of FamilySearch, will increase the likelihood of success for patrons researching their family history.” The Generations Network and FamilySearch hope to expand access to other family history centers in the future.

FamilySearch patrons at the designated facilities will have access to Ancestry.com’s completely indexed U.S. Federal Census Collection, 1790-1930, and more than 100 million names in passenger lists from 1820-1960, among other U.S. and international record collections. Throughout the past year, Ancestry.com has added indexes to Scotland censuses from 1841-1901, created the largest online collection of military and African American records, and reached more than 4 million user-submitted family trees.

Free access is also available at Brigham Young University Provo, Idaho, and Hawaii campuses, and LDS Business College patrons through a separate agreement with The Generations Network.

“FamilySearch’s Family History Library in Salt Lake City is one of the most important physical centers for family history research in the world, and we are happy that patrons to the Library and these major regional centers will have access to Ancestry.com,” said Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com. “We’ve enjoyed a ten-year working relationship with FamilySearch, and we look forward to continued collaboration on a number of family history projects.”

About Ancestry.com (visit www.ancestry.com)
With 24,000 searchable databases and titles and more than 2.5 million active users, Ancestry.com is the No. 1 online source for family history information. Since its launch in 1997, Ancestry.com has been the premier resource for family history, simplifying genealogical research for millions of people by providing them with many easy-to-use tools and resources to build their own unique family trees. The site is home to the only complete online U.S. Federal Census collection, 1790-1930, as well as the world’s largest online collection of U.S. ship passenger list records featuring more than 100 million names, 1820-1960. Ancestry.com is part of The Generations Network, Inc., a leading network of family-focused interactive properties, including www.myfamily.com, www.rootsweb.com, www.genealogy.com and Family Tree Maker. In total, The Generations Network properties receive 8.7 million unique visitors worldwide and more than 416 million page views a month (© comScore Media Metrix, October 2007).

About FamilySearch
FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.

Genealogy Search Engine Upgrade at MyHeritage Research

I received the following message from MyHeritage Research:

MyHeritage Research, the genealogy search engine on MyHeritage.com, has been significantly upgraded this week. This genealogy tool specializes in finding ancestors and advancing your family research. There is nothing else quite like it on the Internet. It is free and you're invited to use it on this link.

MyHeritage Research now searches across more than 10 billion records to provide you the most extensive genealogy searches available anywhere on the Internet, and it's free. This week we've released version 2.0, adding hundreds of new genealogy databases to its coverage. So even if you've tried it in the past, you're encouraged to use our new version, as you're likely to find more results.

To use MyHeritage Research, click [here]. In the search form, enter the last name you are researching, or a combination of a first name and last name. MyHeritage Research will then search for it in 1,400 genealogy databases and Websites on the Internet that cannot be searched by regular search engines like Google. Searches can look for an exact spelling, or multiple spelling variations (we call this Megadex). Because of the sheer extent of this search engine, some searches may take several minutes to complete. This search engine is particularly useful if you are researching a rare last name, or an uncommon combination of a first name and last name.

We also have good news for anyone interested in Jewish Genealogy. Thanks to our new collaboration with JewishGen, the top Website for Jewish genealogy, we've been able to add a JewishGen All-in-one search to MyHeritage Research. So searches on MyHeritage Research will now include almost all JewishGen databases, a feature not available anywhere else on the Web.

If you would like to share success stories, or send requests for covering additional sites in MyHeritage Research, or have bugs to report, please use our support forum available here. We appreciate all feedback.

What's next? Here at MyHeritage, we're constantly working hard to bring you new tools for advancing your genealogy hobby. We've recently developed a breakthrough - Smart Matching technology which connects family trees submitted by our users. Stay tuned for exciting information about this very soon.

Enjoy!

MyHeritage team

What You Missed: The November 2007 Computer Class

I absolutely hate missing our wonderful computer classes that we offer freely to members of EWGS, but last month I was ill and so I didn't get the opportunity to hear Bette Butcher Topp's lesson on finding and using the terrific genealogical society websites available online.

Did you know that many genealogical societies transcribe data and then offer it in database form on their websites for out-of-area researchers like you and me to access? I can think of one society in particular that I'm a member of that has fantastic online material: the Western Michigan Genealogical Society. They have an index of newspaper death notices and obituaries from 1910 to the present, as well as engagements, weddings, and anniversaries from 1976 to the present. They also have school census indexes, marriage indexes, and funeral home indexes, just to name a few. With 12 family surnames living in Western Michigan from the 1840s to the present, I use their databases all the time!

And did you know our very own Eastern Washington Genealogical Society has a page of databases and indexes on our website here? We're also working on an obituary database to eventually put online, and you can contact Carol Nettles (see the member directory) to volunteer for that project.

Well, it's treasures like these that Bette highlighted in her class on November 17th, and if you missed it, you can email me at kidmiffatgmaildotcom (substitute the appropriate symbols). I'll e-mail her excellent syllabus to you so that you don't miss out again!

The next computer class will be held January 19th and will be presented by Miriam Robbins Midkiff. Her topic is "Using Footnote.com." If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are a few spots available during the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM and the 1:30 - 2:30 PM sessions. You must be a current EWGS member to attend.

Ancestry Surveys 10,000 members

Ancestry posted the results of their survey of 10,000 members to find out what materials they wanted more of. Click here to see the results. Do you agree with the results??

Here are the comments of Randy Seaver.