Free Access to Irish Records on findmypast.com June 27-30

Have you investigated the offerings of findmypast.com? Here's a chance to research part of that website for FREE. This is from a press release provided courtesy of findmypast.com.

"On June 30, 1922, the Public Records Office of Ireland, located at the historic Four Courts in Dublin,

The fire has had lasting effects – still felt today – as Irish family history requires a unique approach to research than other heritages. To commemorate this anniversary and encourage exploration of Irish genealogy, findmypast.com will offer its full collection of Irish Birth, Marriage and Death indexes free of charge from June 27 to June 30. Anyone searching for their Irish ancestors can access the full Irish record collection by registering for free at findmypast.com.

Despite a great loss of records in the historic fire, there are still many opportunities to discover Irish heritage, with countless fascinating stories to be found from the records that survived."
caught fire during the Irish Civil War. Tragically a considerable amount of Irish records were destroyed.

The Harvey Girls and the railroads

In my lecture about finding railroad records that might relate to an ancestor, I discuss some of the railroad-connected jobs in which the workers were not directly employed by the railroads. I love to do this lecture and open the eyes of researchers eagerly looking for records, sharing tactics to take in "tracking" them down, and tell about the myriad of finding aids that are available. My handout for this lecture includes many websites.

One of the occupations I discuss is the Harvey Girls. You may have seen the 1940s movie with Judy Garland or read the book from that era. These women worked in the hotels and restaurants of Fred Harvey that served various stops along the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. Did you know about Lesley Poling-Kemps 1994 book, The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West?

My news feed today showed a link to an article about a new exhibit and a documentary film at the U.S. National Archives at Kansas City, Missouri.  "A documentary capturing first-person accounts of the famous Harvey Girls will premiere Friday at the National Archives in Kansas City in conjunction with an ongoing exhibit there. The free film, “The Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound,” will be followed by a panel discussion by the film’s producers and other scholars." Oh, do I wish I could be there in-person. The exhibit runs till next January 4th. I see a road trip in my future.

ad more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/19/4301648/harvey-house-documentary-premieres.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/19/4301648/harvey-house-documentary-premieres.html#storylink=cpy

To read the full articles in the online edition of the Kansas City Star, click here.

Slovenian Consulate opens in my neighborhood of Roseville

It's not every day that a foreign country's consulate opens near me! It's practically in my backyard. The Consulate of the Republic of Slovenia is in the home of Miro Medved who was named Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovenia.

"Slovenia, a country about the size of New Jersey, gained its independence in 1991 from communist controlled Yugoslavia. . . Medved said it was time to establish a consulate in Minnesota, where he said around 30,000 people of Slovenian descent reside."

I was aware that many Slovenians first settled in northern Minnesota on what is fondly called the Iron Range and were miners or in other occupations. The article related that many have moved to the Twin Cities metro area. It also told me that Minnesota's own U.S. Senator, Amy Klobuchar, is of Slovenian descent.

Yul Yost, a Slovenian-American, who lives in Roseville, . . . said he wanted to forge a network of Slovenians together living in Minnesota, so he and others organized the group Twin Cities Slovenians ten years ago. The group’s goal is “to honor Slovenian heritage interest through the sharing of fellowship, culture, history, music, language, literature and genealogy activities.”

Ah, that magic word, genealogy!

Read the full article in the May 28th Roseville Review.

St. Paul's Pilgrim Baptist Church celebrates 150 years

Sasha Aslanian, a reporter from Minnesota Public Radio, has a wonderful story today about Pilgrim Baptist Church. The church is celebrating 150 year of existence. It was founded by former slaves.

Sasha relates ". . . Robert Hickman, an escaped slave from Missouri who 150 years ago led slaves traveling north on the Underground Railroad, a physical and spiritual migration that Pilgrim Baptist celebrates this month."

The name Hickman is definitely a recognizable one in St. Paul's black community. Unfortunately, when they arrived in St. Paul, members of the group were forced to separate with some going to different places in Minnesota. This sad occurrence may have solved a research mystery for me.

 " In 1866, Pilgrim Baptist Church moved to a permanent home in downtown St. Paul, making it the first predominantly black church in Minnesota. Church members celebrated with a baptism on the shore of the Mississippi."  Today the church is located on Central Avenue in St. Paul.

Robert Hickman, a 39 year old preacher is listed on the 1870 census of St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota (page 15/1097, line 6). The census entry states he was born in Missouri. Here is a view of his household on that census from Ancestry.com.

 Please click here to read the great story on MPR's website.

For more on Robert, read this website www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/hickman-robert-t-1831-1900

Bus it to the FGS Conference from Minnesota

If you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin, why not consider riding to the Federation of Genealogical Societies August 21-24 Conference in Fort Wayne with a bus filled with eager genealogists? The conference theme is "Journey through Generations" and you have the opportunity to travel with others who understand that phrase!

Check the website of the Minnesota Genealogical Society for the full details. MGS has arranged for hotel rooms and the bus will deliver you to the convention center each day.

2013 FGS Conference Early-Bird discount ends July 1

This press release is from the Federation of Genealogical Societies. I am on the FGS Board of Directors and am also National Conference Co-Chair for this event.

“Journey through Generations” – A Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists

June 10, 2013 – Austin, TX.  Discounted early-bird registration for the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference will continue only until July 1. Early registrants receive a $50 discount for the full four days, or a $20 discount for any single day. Details at http://www.fgsconference.org. 

The conference will be held 21-24 August 2013 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Grand Wayne Convention Center. This year’s conference theme is “Journey through Generations,” and the local hosts are the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) and the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI). Platinum sponsors are FamilySearch.org, FindMyPast.com and Ancestry.com.

The conference offers opportunities for all who are interested in researching their family history, with over 160 educational sessions on records, strategies, and tools for genealogists at all levels. The exhibit hall features over 70 vendors offering a wide range of genealogical products and is open and free to the public. 

Luncheons, workshops and special events provide additional opportunities for networking and learning. Make sure the get your tickets to these conference “extras” early to guarantee your spot.

See you in Fort Wayne in August!

Learn More and Stay Connected:

• Visit or subscribe to the FGS Conference Blog at http://www.fgsconferenceblog.org.
• Like the conference on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FGSconference.
• Follow the conference on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/FGSconference and hashtag #FGS2013.
• Visit Fort Wayne at http://www.visitfortwayne.com/FGS.

Wisconsin Historical Society digitizes 3,000 maps

I love this! 3,000 of the 25,000+ maps held by the Wisconsin Historical Society are now digitized and online. I spent too much time already tonight looking at various maps for cities and towns where my ancestors resided.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to access the maps and atlases and learn more about the collection.

Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree

I really enjoyed the special genetics learning day at the Jamboree. The speakers, lectures, and comaraderie were great. I volunteered as a room monitor all day and tonight my feet really know I did that! I learned a lot about DNA testing from knowledgeable presenters in the rooms where I worked. I am convinced more than ever that I need to do this NOW.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. during a late afternoon break with Cyndi Ingle Howells and Elyse Doerflinger. Thank you to Cyndi for arranging the meeting.

Elyse Doerflinger, Dr,. Gate, and me

I met new friends and spent some time with long-time friends. That's an important part of these conferences. Also, that we ate too much! Looking forward to three more days in Burbank learning, presenting and having meetings. Hey fellow Minnesotans, the sun really does still exist.

St. Cloud, Minnesota Genealogy Conference, June 22

The Minnesota Genealogical Society and the St. Cloud Area Genealogists are hosting the St. Cloud Genealogy Conference on Saturday, June 22, 2013. It’s an all-day event and the cost is only $35 which includes lunch and snacks.

The program features two plenary sessions and two rounds of breakout sessions, with topics including researching at the National Archives, scanning images, finding European origins, and the newest changes at FamilySearch.org, plus two German research topics: reading German church records and German research on the web.

The location is the Apollo High School at 1000 N 44th Avenue in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

For more details and to register, visit the MGS website:  www.mngs.org

Ancestral information NOW before it's too late

We all hear about interviewing the older generations of our family before they are gone. I have an additional task for your list of family history activities. Take pictures of the ancestral homes and businesses now. That's now as in NOW.

We don't know when the buildings might be destroyed by fire, floods, tornados, or by a wrecking ball. This afternoon I decided to drive past a couple places where my family had lived in the past. 1011 Portland Avenue in St. Paul looked just fine. This is where my maternal Grandmother Gertrude M. (Cook) Hanley lived for many years as a child.

But earlier I had driven up Marshall Avenue from the St. Paul Cathedral to take a look at 358 Marshall where the sisters of my maternal Great Grandfather John T. Cook had lived. Minnie, Ellen, and Catherine Cook had a nice home where members of the greater family were welcomed. I have written about this home several times. I have a faint memory of being in the home as a very young girl. My mother and grandmother told me about the many happy hours spent there.

As I drove west on Marshall I saw two fire engines with lights flashing. My heart sank and I hoped that the house wasn't on fire. It had been in less than ideal condition the last time I drove by there. Then I saw the fire engines were in front of homes in the lower address numbers. Whew!

A couple seconds later I was in the correct block and there was still shock. The house is gone and replaced by a big building. I had never stopped to take a picture of the home. I am kicking myself and feel sad about it. In its place is 370 Marshall. It was built in 2005. Had it really been that long since I drove past there?

I came home and did some online searching. 370 Marshall is a 68 unit upscale condominium building. I found one item on an older city council agenda:

Agenda of the St. Paul City Council
Wednesday, October 8, 2003

5. Letter from the Office of License, Inspections and Environmental Protection announcing a public hearing before the City Council on October 22, 2003, to consider the appeal of Real Estate Development Group to a decision of the Heritage Preservation Commission denying a demolition permit application to raze the house and garage at 358 Marshall Avenue in order to construct a six story 68-unit condominium building.

http://service.govdelivery.com/service/docs/STPAUL/STPAUL_DeptCityCouncil/STPAUL_65/STPAUL_65_20031008_en.pdf

Take those pictures now or get someone to do it for you if the homes and businesses are not nearby. I will be taking many pictures of other homes and businesses in the coming months.

FamilySearch Updates for genealogists

Another press released was received from FamilySearch this week. How often do you check the FamilySearch website's section of digitized records and indexes? When you visit the website click on Search and then scroll down the next page to "Browse All Published Collections" and then click on the country of interest. I plan to keep checking the Illinois county marriage records.
 
"FamilySearch has added more than 2.16 million index records and images this week from Argentina, Austria, Italy, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 1,152,830 index records and images from the U.S., Illinois, County Marriages, 1810–1934, collection, and the 244,523 images from the Spain, Province of Valencia, Municipal Records, 1611–1935, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org."

Check the full table of this week's updates at https://www.familysearch.org/node/2181

MyHeritage offers free access to military records

Memorial Day weekend brings another press release about free access to military records. Enjoy!

"In honor of Memorial Day next week, MyHeritage is granting free access to millions of military records from our most popular collections. The records can be accessed from here.

The free offer ends on May 28.

The collections will help you journey back in time to some of the most important conflicts in world history, which impacted American families as well as millions of families worldwide.

Here is the link to our official blog post here - http://blog.myheritage.com/2013/05/memorial-day-free-access-to-us-military-records/ and an image is attached."

Click on "Search Now" in their blog post.

Six weeks left to save on FGS Fort Wayne Conference

Just six weeks left to take advantage of the fantastic $50 savings on the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies conference registration. If you register for the FGS Fort Wayne conference no later than July 1st, you will save $50 off the full four-day registration price.  The savings on a single day registration is $20. The conference has things of interest for all levels of genealogical experience.

If you have already registered, please let your genealogy co-horts and fellow society members know about the savings deadline. Consider registering soon for workshops, luncheons, and special events. All of these are showing fantastic registration numbers and some may fill soon.

It’s easy to go back to the registration page of the conference website, log in, and add luncheons, special events, the Farewell Brunch, donate to the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions Fund, or other items.

Check out the conference website at www.fgsconference.org

Minnesota records live on FamilySearch

Have you recently checked the Minnesota category of the Historical Record Collections at FamilySearch? It has 22 section of material related to the state. Add a lot more when you check out the U.S. census records. Many have digitized images, some are record abstracts, and some are indexes. Check out the list below (and many others) at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1&countryId=18. Check back at least every month to see if more had been added. Once you are on the page, check the last column to see when each collection was last updated.

June 1: Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy registration opens.

SLIG Registration Opens June 1
The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy is opening registration June 1, 2013 at 9:00 AM Mountain Time. So many great tracks for January 13-17, 2014!

Course 1
American Research and Records: Focus on Families
Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA

Course 2
New York Research
Karen Mauer Green, CG

Course 3
Research in the South
J. Mark Lowe, CG

Course 4
Scottish Research

Course 5
Advanced Research Tools: Land Records
Richard G. Sayre, CG and Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL

Course 6
Credentialing: Accreditation, Certification, or Both?
Apryl Cox, AG and Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL

Course 7
Producing a Quality Family Narrative
John Philip Colletta Ph.D., FUGA

Course 8
Researching in Eastern Europe
Kory Meyerink, AG

Course 9
Advanced Genealogical Methods
Thomas Jones Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS

Course 10
Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum
Angela McGhie and Kimberly Powell

Course 11
Problem Solving
Judith Hansen, AG, MLS

Please visit the website for more information: www.slig.ugagenealogy.org
Email sligdirector@ugagenealogy.org with questions.

2.5 Million Criminal Records Now Available Online for the First Time

Findmypast.com Launches UK Criminal Records dating 1770-1934

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 20, 2013) – Findmypast.com, an international leader in online family history, today announced the largest collection of historical criminal records from England and Wales is being published online for the first time in association with the National Archives (U.K.).

More than 2.5 million records dating from 1770-1934 will be easily searchable and provide a wide variety of color, detail and fascinating social history, chronicling the fate of criminals ranging from fraudsters, counterfeiters, thieves and murderers and their victims.

With this new addition, findmypast.com World Subscribers will have access to mug shots, court documents, appeal letters, registers from the prison ‘hulk’ ships used when mainland prisons were overcrowded. The first 500,000 of criminal records are now available to search on findmypast.com, and the remainder is to be online

5 day Free access to military records on findmypast.com

This great news about five days of free military records access was sent by findmypast.com

"In honor of Memorial Day on May 27, and in remembrance of all who died while serving our country, findmypast.com will offer its collection of U.S. and international military records for free in the days leading up to the national observance.

With more than 26 million U.S. and international military records available, findmypast.com is encouraging people to explore and learn about the heroic efforts of their ancestors this Memorial Day. Record sets such as ‘Draft Registration Cards,’ ‘Casualties Returned Alive,’ ‘POWs’ and others will offer a captivating glimpse into the lives and experiences of our veteran ancestors.

The US and International military records will be available free of charge starting at midnight EDT on Thursday, May 23 until midnight EDT on Monday, May 27. Anyone can access the records by registering for free at findmypast.com." 

First-ever New York State Family History Conference September 20 and 21, 2013.

This press release was received from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. I am honored to be among the speakers at this inaugural event. I have some brief New York ancestral connections, have researched that state for clients, and a fun research project on a relative's family has been all over the state.

NEW YORK, NY, March 19, 2013 -- The Central New York Genealogical Society and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society are cosponsoring the first-ever statewide genealogical conference in New York.  The two-day conference will be held on September 20 and 21 at the Holiday Inn & Conference Center Liverpool, just outside Syracuse, New York.  Preconference research activities will be available on September 19.  Attendees will have an opportunity to advance their skills in researching

New York families and to build general skills through 20 lectures in two parallel tracks; two luncheons and a dinner, all with riveting speakers; and exhibits by vendors and societies. The Conference Program and exhibitor information may be found on the Conference website, www.NYSFHC.org.

New York State poses numerous challenges for even the most experienced family history researcher.  The New York State Family History Conference will break down research barriers and provide a forum that brings people together to share their research knowledge and problem-solving experiences and to collaborate on key research issues. Future conferences will be scheduled at regular intervals.The earlybird registration fee for the two-day Conference (excluding meals and printed syllabus) is $115 until July 1, after which it will be $140; members of the CNYGS or the NYG&B receive a $25 discount. Purchase tickets in the online store at www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org. 

Conference speakers include the top names in New York genealogy:  Blaine Bettinger, The Journal of Genetic Genealogy;  Ruth Carr, New York Public Library (retired);  Sachiko Clayton, New York Public Library;  Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CG, NYG&B Record; Stefani Evans, CG, National Genealogical Society; James D. Folts, New York State Archives;  Karen Mauer Green, CG, NYG&B Record;  Eric Grundset, Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution;  Terry Koch-Bostic, National Genealogical Society; Michael Leclerc, Mocavo; Joseph Lieby, Palatines to America German Genealogical Society;  Maira Liriano, New York Public Library;  Kathleen Roe, New York State Archives;  Paula Stuart-Warren, CG; and  D. Joshua Taylor, findmypast.com.

Sponsors of the conference include: findmypast.com, Mocavo, the National Genealogical Society, the New York Public Library, the Office of Cultural Education/New York State Education Department, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

For more information on the host organizations, please visit their websites:

• The Central New York Genealogical Society www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycnygs.

• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org.