Updates about Olive Tree Genealogy website and other FREE genealogy records. Bringing you tutorials, genealogy book and app reviews, genealogy news, genealogy specials and more. Helping you find your family tree and ancestors.
The Daily British Whig is rapidly being digitized by Digital Kingston from 1850 to 1929.
I had fun searching and discovered that there are articles about people who lived outside of Kingston.
Well, that was the case with one of my dozen websites, a little-known one called The Genealogy Spot
I originally set it up as an overflow site off Olive Tree Genealogy but it got away from me! I kept tossing miscellaneous things into it - obscure databases and links, some great, some not-so-great.
Last year I decided it had to stop. So I made some hard decisions about what was worthwhile for genealogists and what wasn't, created a simply navigation system, and got to work.
My first decision was to focus on immigration - with ships arrivals in USA and Canada but equally important, ship departures. It's pretty tough to find departures so I made it my mission to find as many obscure databases as I could that showed departures from North America in particular. The result is that I've got some unusual databases that aren't easily found. I hope visitors find an ancestor in them!
Next I switched hosts, the place where websites live. I opted for a different operating system and set about to learn it. Then I redesigned the entire site, and got busy transferring data over to the new one. I ended up with an entirely new site of 479 pages, smaller and more organized than the original site.
Once all that was done, I had to double and triple-check all the links, both internal and those link out to other sites of value. That took me two months of non-stop work. But today I completed it. I think I found and fixed them all.
I'd love it if you would take a few minutes to drop by and check out TheGenealogySpot.comto see if you can find an ancestor or two. And if you see any problems, please let me know so I can correct them.
"We Won in London England x2! Go...Chasing Waterfalls! A documentary I shot over a few years, and which was partially featured as an episode for Historical Niagara TV series was selected in the UK for BEST DOCUMENTARY featured the 150+ waterfalls/cascades between Niagara through Hamilton. I was pleased to be selected a semi-finalist for BEST DIRECTOR by Best Director Awards in London England.
Thank for to all my 'experts' who participated in this film--Jim Diodati, Pat Darte, Jon Montgomery from #AmazingRaceCanada, Amanda Walton, Harry Houdini's nephew, George Hardeen Ontario Waterfall expert, Mark Harris, Jack Custers #yourtvniagara, Daniel Rodrique, Michael Clarkson, Ernesto Reinhart Retired University instructor Burt Murphy, #ballsfalls Conservation staff, #decewfalls staff, Lezlie Harper, Genealogist Lorine McGinnis Schulze, St. Catharines Mayor #waltersendzik, Hamilton Mayor #fredeisenberger #BestDirectorAward and thank you to all the folks over the last 3 + years who joined me on these fun, sometimes crazy, long hiking expeditions!"
Naturalization is the process by which an alien from one country becomes a citizen of another country. The naturalization process did not have to happen in one court, or in one location. It was not mandatory and not all aliens became citizens, and not all completed the process once they started it. Naturalization Records are very important to your genealogical research but are often overlooked.
I created a simplified design and navigation system that will hopefully allow visitors to find their ancestors in these records much more quickly.
I have links, original documents, and my transcribed indexes of names for Naturalization Records, Passports, Alien Registrations and much more.
Here are a few links to get you started:
U.S.A. Naturalizations
Canada Naturalizations
American Passport Applications
American Alien Registrations
Canadian Passports
Canadian Oaths of Allegiance
Canadian Sessional Papers
I took me 6 months to redesign and move the site to it's new home, followed by a month of checking and double-checking for broken links. Fingers crossed, but I think I found and fixed them all.
Please take a peek, and if you do find something wrong, I'd appreciate you dropping me a note at olivetreegenealogy@gmail.com so I can fix any problems I might have missed.
Enjoy your visit!
Thanks to Bos Genealogy in English for tweeting about these new records for Belgium genealogy.
My husband's great-grandfather Achilles (Archie) DeMeuleneare was born in Tielt, West Flanders so this is of great interest to us.
Province West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, index civil records of death 1794-1926 [SEARCH or INDEX]
concerns Boezinge (1899-1919),
Houthem-bij-Ieper (1891-1913),
Ieper (1806),
Koekelare (1896-1906),
Kortrijk (1876),
Nieuwkerke (1880-1919)
Headstones from a historic Black DC cemetery wound up along the Potomac River in Virginia. The headstones were from Columbian Harmony Cemetery, a historic African American burial ground that was dug up and relocated in 1960 to make way for commercial advancement.
According to the online article "Columbian Harmony had been the final resting place for a century’s really worth of D.C.’s most illustrious Black citizens. Amongst them: Elizabeth Keckley, confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln Philip Reid, who aided develop the statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol dome and scores of Black Civil War veterans from the Union Army. But it was not just renowned names. Some 37,000 individuals have been laid to relaxation there among 1859 and 1960. "
Many descendants of those blacks buried in the cemetery, and whose stones are now among the discarded stones in Virginia, are hoping to see as many stones as possible rescued and placed in another cemetery, while others hope to erect a national park to memorialize the dead.
Continue reading at https://farmaciacapdelavila.com/how-headstones-from-a-historic-black-dc-cemetery-wound-up-along-the-potomac-river-in-virginia.html
The survey took place as a result of the 1909-1910 Finance Act which provided for the levy and collection of a duty on land in the United Kingdom based on any increased value of the land as a result of public money spent on communal infrastructure – a so-called ‘increment value duty’.
The Valuation Office was set up by the Inland Revenue in 1910 for England and Wales (and in 1911 for Scotland) to carry out the work of the survey.
118 valuation districts were established in England and Wales, each in the charge of a district valuer and each comprised a number of income tax divisions. It was by these valuation districts and income tax divisions that the work of the survey was organised and carried out.
Some 1910 Inland Revenue map and forms are being indexed and can be searched through Hertfordshire Names Online.
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| Edward Lillie, Sr., died 12/27/1688 in Boston |
During the 20th century, gravestones and pieces of stones were removed from various cemeteries for preservation purposes. Sometimes they were removed to prevent theft, with the full intention of restoring and replacing them at a future date.
Please take a look at the 9 photos provided on site and see if you can help identify where each stone belongs.
His wife was identified as Dirkje (sometimes written as Dirckien) Harmensdr. (or Harmense, meaning daughter of Harmen) BOERTGENS, in a notorial paper dated 24 May 1658 at Amsterdam.
With her permission I am posting all the photos she kindly sent me so that an interested descendant can look for a name of interest. You can contact Karen on her Facebook page at or her Instagram account
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The talk is on Wednesday November 18 at 2 PM Eastern Time. It is titled "The History of the Geography of New York City." The talk describes the five boroughs and the five counties, and how they came about. It also goes into detail on the history of Brooklyn and of Queens.
The talk is free but you have to register. The details for registering can be found at https://jewishgen.org/live
This episode produced by Peter Sacco of Historic Niagara fame, is about waterfalls of Niagara. Special guests were Harry Houdini's son George Hardeen and Amazing Race Canada's Jon Montgomery. Be sure to take a peek at
The register records date back as far as 1619 and include the Church of Ireland parish registers for baptism, marriage, and burial; 1,110 sets of parish records in total and approximately 840 of which contain varying quantities of public records which have not yet been digitized.
Continue reading at https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/genealogy/church-ireland-parish-registers-online
Dutch troops were sent to Recife and Olinda in Pernambuco Brazil and no doubt Barentje and Teuntjes first husbands were among those sent to maintain order.
They settled first in Brazil before 1637 and then New Netherland circa 1657.
More at The Straetsman Sisters Barentje & Teuntje and Their Six Husbands
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| Uncle Clare |
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| Huge envelope arrives |
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| Lots of pages to read! |
Ready for my shot! Yes I just did two more interview for two more episodes of Peter SaccoTV series “Historical Niagara”.
Details to be posted on my Olive Tree
Genealogy blog later this week. Chopped my hair again yesterday in preparation
for today - my Pandemic haircut!
It will be a different Hallowe'en this year. Covid-19 means it may not be safe to take our children or grandchildren Trick or Treating.
So with a sense of nostalgia, let's look back at some of the costumes I made for my kids or they put together themselves. I never let them wear a purchased costume, instead we'd go up into the attic where I kept stacks and stacks of clothes from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and we'd let our imaginations run wild.
I hope you can still make this year's Pandemic Hallowe'en fun for your little ones.
His marriage intentions were recorded in the New Amsterdam Reformed Dutch Church that month, and they revealed his origins were in Amsterdam Holland.
A search of the Amsterdam church records found his baptism in 1656 to parents Sipke (aka Zipke) Auckus and Baefje Jans.
Just click on your chosen state below and the links to newspaper titles from that state will appear.
I was so intrigued by this new-found information that I started researching to see if I could find any of his tokens and I found that one of his existed created circa 1650!. I also learned that Ramsgate was spelled Romansgate back then.
Once I found that one of Henry's tokens had been sold on an auction site a few months before, I became determined to find another and purchase it. I'm excited to say I succeeded! I managed to find two in England, and I bought them both. I plan on having a small plaque made with Henry's birth, death and location. Then I'll have the tokens and the plaque framed and it will have a place of honour on my wall.
This is the description of the tokens: (rosette)HEN.NOLDRED.IN.ROMANS , around beaded inner circle, three tobacco rolls / logs of wood.
Rev: (rosette)GET.IN.YE.ISLE.OF.TENNET , around beaded inner circle, HIS HALF PENY in three lines. M. Dickinson 454. Neither obverse or reverse dies represented in Norweb.
What is the oldest ancestral item you own?
Joyce McFarlane in Ontario has the following items to give to any descendant who wants them.
Have been going through some old boxes of parents stuff. I have come across, a picture, a bible, and hymn book. picture labelled Jay Haight, bible belonged to Mrs Claire Haight, and Hymn book, Clement Haight. Looking for any relatives that might want these.
You can contact Joyce through her Facebook page
Looking for an ancestor photo? See LostFaces.com!
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| My Father & Mother 1946 |
Someone posted an intriguing photo on Twitter. It was simply a photo of two sisters walking down a sidewalk circa 1940s. It suddenly occured to me that during the time of Sidewalk Photographers roaming the streets of large cities, there must have been hundreds if not thousands of such candid photos taken.
Of course the way it worked was the photographer would snap a picture then try to convince the subjects to purchase a copy.
I have a few of those "Walking photos" and thought it would be fun to post them here. Maybe you have some too? Tell us about them in the comments below.
Left is a photo of my mom and dad in 1946. I love this photo because mother is pregnant with me!
I have another earlier Walking Photo of my grandmother and mother holding my brother's hands. Behind them is my aunt (mother's sister) with her son. It was taken ca 1939 either in Guelph or Toronto Ontario Canada
You can search names or locations. If you have Saskatchewan ancestors you will want to check this out.
MissouriBirthIndex.com and MissouriDeathIndex.com
The Laura Secord episode is available to watch on YouTube. If you use the scroll bar to find me, look for my bright pink top around the 28 minute mark. I hope you'll watch the entire episode as it's quite interesting, and walks you alongside Laura on her famous journey.
Chris Brooks and I researched and found Theunis' baptism. His parents' names are now known! We found a great deal on the family -- and our jointly authored article Origins of the Pier Family in the Netherlands and an Update of Their Connection to the Ostrander Family by Lorine McGinnis Schulze and Chris Brooks, was published in the July 2000 issue of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record. in Deventer, Overijsel, Netherlands.
He married Jannettie Arentsdr. on September 14, 1624 in Amsterdam Netherlands. Theunis Jansz's sons Jan and Arent, were the immigrant ancestors of the PIER family in America.
