Genealogy is all about linking. Each researcher wants to find that elusive connection that takes his/her family tree back further in history.
History is interesting, too, just for the sake of history. Here are a few interesting genealogical or historical links and/or tidbits of information that I read this week:
- Research can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. There are still many free resources including some that are online. This site lists birth index and record resources by state.
- Ancestry.com recently announced that it has completed indexing the state of New York in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. This is in addition to the previously indexed states of Delaware, Maine, and Nevada as well as Washington DC.
- I used to be one of the volunteer transcribers for Newspaperabstracts.com (and I still get a thrill from reading old newspapers on microfilm) so I was happy to see this post at Genealogybank about finding and using birthday greetings in newspapers for research.
- Are you local to the Greater Cincinnati area? Even if you are not, you might want to check out the blog of the Hamilton County Genealogical Society (of which I am a member and research volunteer) if for no other reason than that there is a calendar of events. I noticed that the entries go well beyond the bounds of our area. Kudos!
- The North Carolina State Library and their State Archives together won an award for their digital preservation efforts. I haven’t done any research via their digital resources but I have wonderful memories of the day my daughter, Lisa, and I shared while digging through boxes and folders that contained papers belonging to one of our ancestors. What an awesome feeling touching an ancestor’s personal effects! After the Archives we also visited the Library, which is nearby, and the ladies there were so sweet and helpful. I left the library with several pages that I needed from a book that my local library (the wonderful Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County) didn’t have. We ended that day with a visit to the State Museum (which was free!) and ate a very late lunch in a small restaurant located in a parking garage. I congratulate the NC Library and the NC Archive but I ask that you not digitize everything because I just recently told my husband that I want to visit the complex at Raleigh again for further research.
- Speaking of my husband, here’s a link (NOTE: scroll down to Kris Williams article) that brings back memories of our 25th wedding anniversary trip. As you’ve probably surmised, we made it onto this island and - more important – off again without swimming across the bay.
Mr. and Mrs. Pitman boarding the boat to Alcatraz in July 2003 after already completing 25 years of their life sentence together.
