Oct. 7, 2006-Spokane, Washington

I'll be presenting the Fall Seminar at the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society in Spokane, Washington, on October 7 2006. More information can be found on the society's website.

Reading Signatures

We've posted twentysome signature samples on our site. Those who are interested can take a shot at reading the writing.
http://www.rootdig.com/signatures2/
http://www.rootdig.com/signatures/
Some are easier than others and we'll work on adding more as time goes on.

Got Stones?

My ancestor Riley Rampley has three tombstones:

• One with just his name
• One with his military information
• One with him and his wife

Riley died first, which explains the stone with just his name.

Look around near your ancestor's stone. You may find relatives. Or you just might find duplicates!

Riley and Nancy are buried in the Buckeye Cemetery in rural Hancock County, Illinois, a few miles west of West Point--and not too far from where their farm was located.

An Actress in NYC

One never knows what one will find.

The 1893 obituary for Marie Cawiezell in Davenport, Iowa, indicates her daughter Emma had died a few weeks earlier in NYC. Until I saw the obituary reference, I just assumed Emma had died "young" and eluded death records in Davenport and was buried in an unmarked grave.

A search of NYC death records indicated that she was living as an actress in NYC under the name of Emma Davis. Fortunately, her real name also was included on the death index. A copy of her death certificate can be viewed on our site.

Now to find out more about her.

Found Mae West in 1930

We have a winner in our 1930 Find Mae West contest.
The entry has been posted at:
http://www.rootdig.com/1930census/1930_mae_west.html
More contests will be announced later.

WW Two era draft cards

This is the World War II draft for my grandfather. These cards are available from Selective Service as long as you can prove the registrant is deceased . We have an article on our site about accessing these draft cards from Selective Service.

The Source

The newest version of the Source has just arrived in my mailbox. For those genealogists who don't have a copy and need some summer reading, it will provide you with hours of learning. The first edition of the source was one of the first genealogical reference books I ever bought.


The Source can be purchased directly from Ancestry.


We will be reviewing the newest edition of The Source in an upcoming column on Ancestry's blog.

FGS Boston 2007

There is still plenty of time to register for the Federation of Genealogical Societies' conference in Boston, Mass. 30 Aug through 2 Sept. I'll be there, speaking, visiting the exhibit hall and catching up with other genealogists.

For the conference program grid and to register: http://www.fgs.org/2006conf/FGS-2006.htm

To keep up-to-date on conference details and news: www.FGSConference.blogspot.com

To see the list of Exhibit Hall exhibitors: http://www.fgs.org/2006conf/conf-exhibitors.asp

Michael

Did Grandpa and Grandma Immigrate Too?

Tips from the Pros: Did Grandpa and Grandma Immigrate Too?

from Michael John Neill (from the 24-7 Family History Blog at Ancestry.com)

Don’t overlook Grandpa and Grandpa in your search for immigrant ancestors. When it is determined that an ancestor emigrated as an adult, the thought many times is that the parents remained in the old country, never to see their child again. This is not necessarily so. There were no age limits on immigration and ship manifests are scattered with names of individuals in their sixties and seventies leaving their homeland.

Widows or widowers whose children had all left were more likely to emigrate, perhaps when the last child left. It may explain why an elderly couple has disappeared in the old country.

In my research, when one set of my ancestors disappeared from the church records of their local parish, I assumed it was because they moved to a nearby parish and I had just failed to locate them. A comprehensive search of census and cemetery records for the children in the United States located them on the opposite side of the Atlantic. They were enumerated with a married daughter in the 1870 census and are buried in the same cemetery as that daughter. So if Grandpa and Grandma are lost, don’t neglect the possibility that they might have crossed the pond as well.

The post can be viewed on the Ancestry.com blog here along with other posts

Florence Nightengale in 1871 and 1881

I added these images to make our Florence Nightengale UK census page complete.
http://www.rootdig.com/uk/florence_nightengale/

Lewis Carroll in 1841 and 1851

We have added 1841 and 1851 census images for Lewis Carroll to our site (of course, Lewis Carroll is not his real name).

Cemeteries

Summer is a great time to visit cemeteries and photograph tombstones. Just remember to leave no mess and obtain permission before crossing private property. More suggestions on photographing stones and making rubbings can be found on our site.

The picture to the left was taken at the West Point, Hancock County, Illinois, cemetery and is the stone of my great-grandparents.

Karl Marx in the Census

Karl Marx spent a great deal of his life in the United Kingdom (which I forgot) and is enumerated in the 1851-1881 Census for the UK. We have created a webpage with links to the images here:

http://www.rootdig.com/uk/karl_marx/index.html

Famous United Kingdom Residents in the Census

We've modified our UK Famous census page, which includes links census images for the following:

Queen Victoria
Lewis Carroll
Charlie Chaplin
Agatha Christie
Winston Churchill
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickins
Alfred Hitchcock
Rudyard Kipling
A A Milne
Florence Nightingale
Beatrix Potter
Alfred Tennyson
J R R Tolkien
H G Wells
Oscar Wilde

Find Mae West in 1930

We have announced our latest search contest:
Mae West in 1930
More details have been posted at:
http://www.rootdig.com/contest/
Michael

2007 Research Trip to Salt Lake

We are taking reservations on our 2007 trip to Salt Lake City, where you can overload on genealogical information. More information about our trip has been posted on our site.

Before Looking for a Civil War Pension

There is a lot one should do before searching for a Civil War pension, and there are several finding aids to these records that are NOT online.

A recent article posted to our site discusses searching for pension records--one of the best genealogical sources there is.

http://www.rootdig.com/adn/before_pension.html

Michael

1920 Famous Census Additions

We have added the 1920 census image for
Mae West
Cy Young

to our site. These two individuals were subjects of our "famous census" search contest.

The images can be viewed from
http://www.rootdig.com/1920census/
Michael

Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin and Henry Ford

We've added census images for the following to our site:
1910 Henry Ford
1910 Irving Berlin
1920 Fred Astaire

Just go to our main page and choose the desired year:
http://www.rootdig.com/contest/

These were submitted by contest winners. We are hoping to announce more contests later in the week at http://www.rootdig.com/contest/

Michael

Primary and Secondary

The difference between primary and secondary confuses many genealogists. I posted an article today which discusses the difference. It is also important to remember that classifying a piece of information as either primary or secondary is only PART of the process by which one decides how reliable a given piece of information is.

The article can be found at:

http://www.rootdig.com/adn/primary_secondary.html

Michael

New Famous Census Search Contests

We have added famous census search contests for the following individuals on our site:

1910 Henry Ford
1910 Irving Berlin
1920 George Burns
1920 Fred Astaire

details are on our site at:http://www.rootdig.com/contest/

Thanks!

1910 Everyname Census Index at Ancestry

Ancestry has finally released their 1910 everyname census index. A recent column posted on this website discussed some ways to prepare for that release. The article is here:

http://www.rootdig.com/adn/ready1910.html

The 1910 census index at Ancestry.com is here:
1910 United States Federal Census Index (everyname)

Michael

President Lincoln in 1850 and 1860 census

For those who are interested, we have posted links to 1850 and 1860 census images of President Lincoln.
http://www.rootdig.com/abraham_lincoln.html
Michael

Potential Security Breach at WIU

Just what you want to read in your email. WIU (Western Illinois University) alumns probably already know, but just in case:
http://www.wiu.edu/securityalert/
Michael

NGS 2006

Our time at NGS 2007 was short, but very eventful!

Personally I get great deal of value out of the program syllabus, which includes speaker's handouts which summarize their lectures. I tend to be a learner who (ironically) learns best and easiest by reading--so the syllabus is usually of significant interest to me. When a national conference is close enough, I would encourage attendance.

Thanks to those who came up to ask questions after my Illinois and Ohio lectures. I always enjoy the questions and appreciate the time that some of you give to wait patiently for a chance to ask and get an answer.

Those interested in our research trips to Ft. Wayne and Salt Lake should stay tuned. Details are forthcoming.

Michael