Ships Outbound from USA to Europe & United Kingdom

Neither U.S. A. nor Canada maintained outbound ships passenger lists.

ShipsListsOnline is pleased to announce a new project to transcribe ships passenger lists leaving USA, bound for Europe and United Kingdom.

Our ShipsListsOnline Team is hard at work on these lists so please watch this page or join the free Olive Tree Genealogy Newsletter for updates on this and other Ship Passenger List Indexing Projects

Additions this week:

* Added List of Passengers on Steamship Cherokee for Chagres from New York November 1851

* Added List of Passengers on Steamship Iowa Sailing for Glasgow Scotland from New York 4 May 1867

*Added R. M. S. Saxonia Cunard Line: List of Saloon Passengers sailing from Boston Massachusetts to Liverpool England 24 July 1906 (A-C Surnames)

*Added S.S. Furst Bismarck Hamburg-America Line from New York to Southampton and Hamburg Germany 9 July 1896 (A-E Surnames)

Vermont Vital Stats at Bennington Co. Musuem

Bennington County Museum has recently acquired 128 rolls of microfilm containing birth, marriage and death records for all of Vermont from the period 1908 to 1941.

The records complete a collection that dates to the 1760s, allowing genealogy buffs, historians and people interested in their heritage to hunt for ancestors.

Although these records are not online, at least it is available for those seeking their Vermont Roots.

United Kingdom Nonconformist birth, marriage and death records online

Nonconformist birth, marriage and death records online

The National Archives (United Kingdom) collection of nonconformist birth, marriage and death records from 1567 went online 14 September 2007 for the first time.

A new partnership project between The National Archives and S&N Genealogy Supplies means that you can now access images of these records online. BMD Registers provides access to the non-parochial and nonconformist registers 1567-1840 held in RG 4 and RG 5.

Birth, marriage and death records are crucial tools for anyone researching their family history. Before 1837, when civil registration was introduced in England and Wales, church registers provided an important source of information on births, baptisms, marriages and burials.

The National Archives holds 5,000 registers of a huge variety of nonconformist congregations, including Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Protestant Dissenters (known as 'Dr Williams Library') and Independents. There are also registers from a small number of Roman Catholic communities. Basic searching is free of charge, but there is a fee for advanced searching and to download images.

For free United Kingdom genealogy records online vist AllEnglishRecords.com

The Confusing Maze of Genealogy Mixups in Names

Several years ago I spotted this Q & A online and I tucked it away thinking one day I wanted to write about names and the perils of genealogy research if you are not open minded enough ....

Question: What do Sean Gough, Jean Lefevre, Giovanni Ferrari, Juan Herrero, Ivan Kowalski, Hans Schmidt, Jan Kowalski and Janos Kovacs have in common?

Answer: In Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, respectively, all are John Smith.

What a great reinforcer of the idea that as genealogists we need to look beyond what we are familiar with. We need to think outside the box. Coming from a North American culture we might assume if we find an ancestor named Janos Kovacs that it's an unusual name. Not so!

What about spelling? How often have you found a name in a census or other genealogy record, that was close but not exactly the name you were looking for? Don't discard it! Look at other clues - spouse, children, ages, occupation, location - could it be your ancestor? Remember spelling didn't "count". Census takers and other clerks wrote what they heard (phonetically). Accents confused the ears.

My own ancestor's surname was Vollick. Sometimes it was rendered as Follick. Other variations I have found in documents are Valck, Volk, Valic, Falic, Folic. Why "V" and "F" interchangeably? Because the Dutch-German "V" can sound like "F" to English speaker's ears.

My immigrant ancestor's 'real' name was Van Valkenburg! How would I ever have found my ancestor if I hadn't kept an open mind and looked at other clues? And much to my initial surprise, Van Valkenburg is not an unusual name.

Another true example from my own ancestry - when Leonard-Tremi Le Roy left Quebec for New York, his name was misinterpreted by Dutch recorders as "Jonar" and then "Jonas". His surname Le Roy (pronounced Le Raw) was misinterpreted as Larrowa which evolved into Larroway.

So be aware that bad handwriting, inability to spell, accents, and other events can change an ancestor's name - and don't be so quick to assume, for example, that Leonard-Tremi Le Roy is not your 5x great grandfather Jonas Larroway. If both men have the same wives and children, same birth year, same place of birth, and name siblings who are identical, you can be pretty sure that you've just stumbled into the confusing maze of names in genealogy research.

New York Times FREE 1851-1980

Yesterday at midnight the New York Times stopped charging for access to parts of its Web site

In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also open its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain.

There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will be free.

This is great news for genealogists searching for older records in newspapers

Naturalizaton Records and Passport Records

The following Passports & Naturalization Records have been added to NaturalizationRecords.com

As always these records are FREE.

Thank you to all who submitted a record! Please consider submitting your ancestor Citizenship Records to NaturalizationRecords.com You will help others searching
the same ancestor, and can make contact with them.

Submissions remain the property of the submitter, and are free for all to view.

It is easiest to go to the index pages to view these newest ancestor records.

Naturalizations

Passports

Records added today are:

1939 American Passport for Ida Katharyn Waltz of Indiana

1920 Passport & American Red Cross American Expeditionary Force ID Card for Raymond J. Thomas, M.D of Chicago Illinois

1924 Passport for Ramona E. Wulff of Sacremento California

1948 Passport Leonardo & Michael Cazzorla of New York

1922 Passport for Gustav & Betty Stiefel, New York City New York

1917 Naturalization Hearing for Gustav Stiefel, New York City New York

1919 Naturalization Certificate for Gustav Stiefel, New York City New York

1897 Russian Passport for Barnet Kreit aka Berko Kraid of New York

1915 Naturalization Declaration of Intent for Barnet Kreit aka Berko Kraid , Brooklyn New York

1941 Naturalization Certificate Jessie Boyd, Chicago Illinois

1939 Naturalization Certificate Southern District of NewYork for Pavlina Sansky

Feel free to pass this message on to others who might be interested

Ancestor Marriage Record Finder

Can't find your ancestor in Marriage records?

Most genealogists search Marriage records such as Church records and Vital Stats (Marriage Registrations or Certificates). If we don't find our ancestor in one of those Marriage records, we're stuck! Where to search next? My AMF (Ancestor Marriage Finder) can help.

I am pleased to announce that Ancestor Marriage Record Finder: Tips on Finding a Marriage Record When You've Hit a Brick Wall is now available as an E-Book on Amazon for only $1.15

What happens when a couple marry? What events take place around a marriage? What kind of Marriage record paper trail is created at the time of marriage of an individual? The answers to these questions will lead you to other sources of marriage records and hopefully end that brick-wall.

When an ancestor is married, many records leading up to and surrounding that marriage might be created. Let's talk about records kept before an ancestor marriage and those created after a marriage.


Get tips and ideas in my E-book for alternate record sources when you've hit that brick wall

Get Help finding Ancestors with Ancestor Birth Record Finder & Ancestor Death Record Finder

Finding Ancestors Immigration in Almshouse Records

In the early 1800's port cities in the USA bore the burden of immigration. By the time they arrived, so many immigrants were tired, hungry and poor they ended up in the City Almshouse. This meant the citizens had to take care of them. At first the citizens of the city asked the Mayors for funds to support the poor. Eventually they asked the states, and by mid-century some states (Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts) set up State agencies to deal with the issue. Eventually, beginning in the 1880's, the Federal Government nationalized the programs.

Dating back to the colonial era, New York City assumed responsibility for its citizens who were destitute, sick, homeless, or otherwise unable to care for themselves. The city maintained an almshouse, various hospitals, and a workhouse on Blackwell's Island (now called Roosevelt Island) for the poor.

These Almshouse records often contain immigration details, such as name of ship, date of arrival in USA and port of arrival.

Olive Tree Genealogy has an ongoing project to transcribed and publish New York Almshouse Records. The first set is for the years 1819-1840 and includes Ship Captain's Name, Date of Bond, Sureties, Date Discharged, Death Date, Remarks, etc.

For example, under date 1820 March 11 Elizabeth Kennedy age 34 is listed as having died June 14, 1820; her daughter Mary Ann died Nov. 5, 1820

Researchers can use the clues in the Almshouse records (admission date, ship captain's name, owner's name, etc) as well as census records, to narrow the time frame of arrival. Families with children born in one country, such as England, and then in New York will find it much easier to narrow the time frame of immigration.

For individuals recorded in 1855-1858 Almshouse Records for New York City the information includes ship name, date of sailing, ports of departure and arrival

Cook Co.Illinois Records going online

Genealogists and people interested in researching their family tree will soon be able to access key records from their home computer instead of ordering by mail or traipsing down to the Cook County offices

Digitized versions of county records such as birth and death certificates and marriage licenses should be available beginning in January 2008 on one searchable Web site

The Web site is part of a year long effort to digitize the county's 24 million vital records, which date to 1871, when record-keeping began after the Chicago Fire destroyed earlier records

Documents available online will be birth certificates that are at least 75 years old, marriage certificates more than 50 years old, and death certificates more than 20 years old. Read the full article

Peterbrough County GenWeb - new genealogy data

I'm the new host of Peterborough County GenWeb. Thanks to former hosts for leaving the site intact with exisiting genealogical material. I added more free genealogy data on Labor Day weekend so be sure to drop by to see what's new.

Follow the links or use the Peterborough County GenWeb Site Map for a quick start

Waterloo County GenWeb new data

I just took over as the new host of the Waterloo County GenWeb site (part of Ontario GenWeb)

Thanks to the former hosts, there was already genealogical material there, and I've added more. For example I uploaded a list of Waterloo County Individuals in the Criminal Assize Clerk criminal indictment files, 1853-1929. I hope this helps everyone with Waterloo County ancestors!

Waterloo County is interesting because it was settled by blacks and Mennonites from Pennsylvania, as well as a large German population.

NEW! Naturalization Certificates & Alien Registrations online

Naturalization Records today added Naturalization Certificates and Alien Registration Cards for several individuals in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts and Colorado. Is one your ancestor?

*Added Certificate of Naturalization Elizabeth Koval, from Czechoslovakia, in Pennsylvania 1945

*Added McKeesport, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania Alien Identification Card for Elizabeth Koval 1940

*Added Certificate of Naturalization Alexander Johnson Duncanson from Canada or United Kingdom, of East Jordan, Michigan 1925 + wife & children

*Added Certificate of Naturalization Michael Chekorin from Russia, New York City 1940

*Added Naturalization Certificate William Parker Deerfield, Franklin County Massachusetts 1859

*Added Certificate of Citizenship Henry A. Foye from Ireland Arapahoe County Colorado 1894

Take Me to Scotland!

Was Great-Grandpa Scottish? Travel to the ancestral home, walk in the footsteps of the clans. In 2009, there will be a Gathering of the Clans, and a year-long celebration of Scottish history. Homecoming Scotland will mark the 250th birth anniversary of Scotland's greatest poet, Robert Burns.

For this once in a lifetime anniversary, experienced genealogists will verify and document your Scottish origins. Those whose Scottish ancestors are in the US or Canada can trace their family back to their ancestral origins in the Old Country (Scotland).

The Genealogy Team, with over 50 years of combined experience in Scottish genealogical research, have agreed to accept assignments through this Special Olive Tree Genealogy offer. Olive Tree Genealogy visitors can choose from a 10% discount on the first step of their journey (starting with your last known ancestor the Team will research 2 generations back in Scotland records) or a free consultation with The Genealogy Team

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Baggage Lists

The Port of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Baggage Lists were maintained by officials from 1800 to 1820. These Baggage Lists help fill in gaps for pre-1820 ships passenger lists. They are lists of passengers and their luggage on board ships.

Some Philadelphia Baggage Lists can be found online at OTE, a sister site of Olive Tree Genealogy

The online lists include images of the actual manifest and a transcription of the names of the passengers on board. Remember that if your ancestor had no luggage, his or her name will not be found on these lists.

Fort Ville-Marie, French settlement in Montreal in 1642 found!

If you have ancestors who settled in New France in the early 1600s this story may be of interest to you

Dig uncovers 1642 Montreal site

Bneath the worn cement floors of and old warehouse lies what archeologists believe are the first permanent buildings of the settlement that became Montreal.

Archealogists have found the remains of Fort Ville-Marie, the lost, original French settlement in Montreal.

The fort was built in 1642 and housed as many as 50 early colonists, including Montreal's founder, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, and nurse Jeanne Mance. It would have been a key meeting place for aboriginal allies as well as the colony's administrative heart.

But the exact location of the fort, which was eventually abandoned, has baffled historians since the 19th century. The most recent record of the fort dates from 1683.

Read the full story at TheStar.com - News - Dig uncovers 1642 Montreal site

Palatine (German Palatinate) History

PALATINE HISTORY
by Lorine McGinnis Schulze
Olive Tree Genealogy http://olivetreegenealogy.com/
Copyright © 1996

Excerpt:

"The Palatinate or German PFALZ, was, in German history, the land of the Count Palatine, a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Geographically, the Palatinate was divided between two small territorial clusters: the Rhenish, or Lower Palatinate, and the Upper Palatinate.

While the land of the Palatinate was good for its inhabitants, many of whom were farmers, vineyard operators etc., its location was unfortunately subject to invasion by the armies of Britain, France, and Germany. Mother Nature also played a role in what happened, for the winter of 1708 was particularly severe and many of the vineyards perished. So, as well as the devastating effects of war, the Palatines were subjected to the winter of 1708-09, the harshest in 100 years.

The scene was set for a mass migration. At the invitation of Queen Anne in the spring of 1709, about 7 000 harassed Palatines sailed down the Rhine to Rotterdam. From there, about 3000 were dispatched to America, either directly or via England, under the auspices of William Penn. The remaining 4 000 were sent via England to Ireland to strengthen the protestant interest....."

Read the complete article History of the Palatines or start your search for Palatine ancestors in

Palatine Ships' Lists to PA

Palatine Ships' Lists to NY

Palatine Child Apprentices 1710-1714

Family Names

Palatine Denizations (Naturalizations) 1708

[The full article has been published, with my permission as Irish Palatine Story on the Internet in Irish Palatine Association Journal, No. 7 December 1996]

Best Kept Genealogy Secret

Sometimes it's hard to see the trees for the forest...

Ancestry.com is a subscription based membership site with tons of genealogy databases. But what a lot of genealogists don't realize is that Ancestry has almost 300 FREE databases - yes - entirely FREE, no strings attached to search.

This seems to be a well kept genealogy secret!

I'm not talking about their Free Trials or Free Access. I'm talking about genealogy databases that only require you to register with your name and email address in order to search them.

Some examples of these free genealogy records are New York Marble Cemetery Records, New York City, NY, 1830-1937, Wuerttemberg, Germany Emigration Index, Philadelphia German Immigration, 1700-75 & WWI Civilian Draft Registrations . These are only 5 of the 280+ records Ancestry offers for free.

Choose from FREE Births, Marriages & Death Records
FREE Census Records
FREE Court Records
FREE Directory Records
FREE Family Tree Records
FREE Histories Records
FREE Immigration Records
FREE Military Records
FREE Newspapers Records
FREE Reference Records

Footnote.com Special for all of August

More news from Olive Tree Genealogy! After talking to Footnote.com they agreed to extend the special discount offer on memberships for the rest of August.

You can get this discount price by going to Olive Tree Genealogy and clicking on the link at the top of the page or at my blog right here - top of page

I hope you find some ancestors! I have been very lucky and am quite excited about the finds I've made on Footnote. They have NARA records, Naturalization records, Revolutionary War records and much much more.

Feel free to tell others about this Special Price for all of August through the Olive Tree Genealogy Special link

Genealogy Cemetery Hunt for Children

Last summer when my two eldest grandchildren came for their annual week long visit, I set up a Genealogy Game for them.

I was desperate for something to do with them and suddenly thought I'd take them on a hunt through a local cemetery for the grave of my great-grandmother's brother. I figured they'd be fascinated by the hunt for half an hour tops but it would help fill the time!

I gave each of them (8 year old and 6 year old) a large piece of paper with the last name of the ancestor we were hunting for (VOLLICK). I gave them a brief outline of the family relationship.

We talked about respecting the graves and gravestones of those buried in the cemetery and "manners" one should use in a cemetery. Then we set out.

The only other rule I gave them was that they must be able to see ME at all times. I didn't make the mistake of saying that I had to be able to see THEM, because of course that can be argued! ("Gee grandma I THOUGHT you could see me even if I went further down the path.....")

We walked together for awhile then they went off on their own. They loved this game. Two hours later they were still walking around the stones, reading every single one out loud and running back to ask me questions. They were fascinated by the ages of some of those who were buried there, particularly the children.

This gave us so many opportunities for learning - math skills in figuring out ages from birth and death dates, reading, history lessons when war graves were spotted and talking about young children dying more frequently in the 1800s than now, respect for ancestors and our dead, etc.

We ended up having a picnic on a park bench in the cemetery, then more hunting (yes we were successful!) and then off we went home, having spent an entire afternoon in the Cemetery.

The next day they asked me if we could go on another hunt! All in all a very successful Genealogy "game".

One of the questions they asked was why some of the gravestones were partially hidden by overgrown grass, and very dirty - so next summer I'll give each of them a tiny soft brush to brush off any dirt and leaves they find.

Passport Applications - A Genealogy Hidden Treasure

Passport applications are a genealogy hidden treasure.

NARA has passport applications from October 1795-March 1925. The U. S. Department of State has passport applications from April 1925 to the present.

Some immigrants applied for passports to return home to visit family or friends. These records usually give a place of birth or at least the destination (which is often the home town)

The first passport issued in USA was dated July 1796. However until 1914 American citizens did not require a passport to travel abroad. You can read more about Passport applications at NaturalizationRecords.com website

NaturalizationRecords.com has the following FREE Passport Records online:

* Register of Passport Applications 1809-1817
* Index to Emergency & Special Passport Applications 1830-1831
* Register of Passports from 14 November 1834 to 1843 an Index for all states in USA
* Index to Special Passports 1829-1887 an Index for all states in USA
* Index to Special Passports 1887-1894 an Index for all states in USA

Links to all the above passport records are found at Passports

There are also links to individual passports:

* William Clinton Jessup of Connecticut 14 May 1920 Passport & Photo
* Josef Spolek Passport 1883
* Passport for Anna Epping (late Cole) and son William from Germany to United States 1923 - Cuyahoga Ohio
* Passport of Robert Spanton Benfell Washington USA
* Passports issued from Sep 1918-Jan 1919 in Philadelphia, PA
* Italian passport of Andrea DeJana, 1927 one of the group of Italian immigrants and workers who settled in Port Washington New York
* Italian Passport of Al Marino’s mother Maria, 1916 one of the group of Italian immigrants and workers who settled in Port Washington New York
* 1920 Italian passport of Angelina Giordano wife of Philip Lovetere of New Jersey including photo of Angelina born 1895 in Italy
* 1927 Italian passport of Leonardo Giordano father of Angelina Giordano including photo of Leonardo born 1864 in Italy
* Dutch Passport of Johanna Bosselaar issued 24-05-1955. Johanna Bosselaar Kloosterman born 1892 Holland immigrated to America
* Passport of Herbert B. Khaury aka Tiny Tim of New York
* Passport issued in Malta to Joseph Zarb, a British subject going to Portsmouth, December 1898
* Brazilian Passport of João Robertson AKA John Robertson, 1882 Captain John Robertson, naturalized Brazilian citizen, natural of London, English Empire, son of Guilherme Robertson, issued passport to go to England
* Passport holder made of fabric, owned by John Chekatauskas, circa 1930
* Passport of Isador Hirschberger, father of artist killed at Dora Concentration camp.
* Jerusalem Passport of Nadji Nissan
* Israeli Passport of Uzi Nissan