Oklahoma birth and death records are now searchable online at Ok2Explore

Ok2Explore is a free searchable index of births and deaths that occurred in the state of Oklahoma. Included is limited information on births occurring more than 20 years ago and deaths occurring more than 5 years ago. Indexes are updated each month.

The State of Oklahoma began filing records in 1908, however it was not required by law until 1917. 

Births The earliest birth record on file is 1865.

Deaths The earliest death record on file is 1908.

Visitors to the site may search the index using any combination of the subject’s name, date of event (birth or death), county of event, and sex of the subject.If you find a record of interest you can order a copy online.

 

Found an Ancestor in St. Marys Churchyard Brixham Devon

I just found an ancestor on a site Cowtown Brixham Graveyard that I didn't know existed until today.My 5th great-grandfather William Norman was buried in St. Mary's Church graveyard in Brixham Devon in 1836.

Brixham is divided into two halves, Lower Brixham, known as ‘Fish Town’ and Higher Brixham, known as ‘Cow Town’. Lower Brixham is a working fishing port which many people know as ‘the town of Brixham’. Higher Brixham was the original rural Saxon settlement. A thriving Victorian farming community developed centred around its medieval parish church of St. Mary’s.

A full database search engine website grant was funded by the Heritage Lottery. The database consists of all memorial inscriptions found in St Mary's church and grave yard in 2019. 13,000 names have been entered on the project register.
 
This is my ancestor's information and next I hope to spot a photo of his tombstone on the section of the site with images.

• Surname NORMAN
• First Name WILLIAM
• Date of Death 21/01/1836
• Age 80
• Relationship HUSBAND OF ANN NORMAN
• Plot PLOT 7 O04

If you are looking for births, marriages or deaths, see Featured Database Brixham Devon Church Records

There is more information photographs, family histories, walks etc on the Cowtown St Mary's 1850-1900 Project on Facebook. 

Female Denisovan Face Reconstructed via DNA

It was recently discovered that ancient humans called Denisovans once lived alongside Neanderthals. In 2012 a Denisovan genome was sequenced and it was found that their genes still live in the DNA of some Asians, Australians and Melanesians.

These early humans interbred with Neanderthals and other early humans. Thus their DNA lives on. Through DNA, researchers were able to predict  Denisovan appearance and now a young female Denisovan face has been reconstructed.

See her face, and read more at This is what mysterious ancient humans might have looked like By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Finding Ancestors in Hearth Taxes

Hearth tax assessments 1667 Essex UK

Hearth Tax Digital is an online searchable database of Hearth Tax records in the United Kingdom. It is an ongoing project and is updated as new counties are completed. You will find both transcripts and databases available.

The website explains Hearth Taxes as:

Hearth taxes were levied in medieval and early modern Europe, notably in France and the Low Countries, but were not levied in the British Isles until the late seventeenth century. Following the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660, the hearth tax was levied in England and Wales from 1662 until 1689 (it continued to be collected in Ireland until the early nineteenth century). It was charged according to the number of fireplaces in dwellings, and it was collected twice each year at one shilling per hearth. It was also levied in Scotland in 1691 with collection lasting until 1695. The hearth tax provides a remarkably rich series of records on population, wealth distribution and poverty in a period of key political, social and economic change.  

The site is maintained by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (University of Graz, Austria) and Centre for Hearth Tax Research (University of Roehampton, UK) and supported by the British Academy.

A New Look for Canadian Military Heritage

Canadian Military Project is another site I've revamped with a new navigation system and content. The new site is two older sites merged into one clean easy-to-navigate site at http://CanadianMilitaryProject.com
 

The Canadian Military Heritage Project is dedicated to presenting Canadian military history ~ the wars, uprisings and conflicts in which Canadians participated. Our pages provide historical background as well as genealogy records for each conflict.

These pages will be of interest to educators, students, genealogists, military historians and those who are interested in the stories of the participants themselves.

A New Look for PastVoices.com

I've finally taken the plunge and have been working very hard on redoing and moving my many websites. Two are now online and I'm pretty excited to share them with you. I've removed dead links and stale content, and replaced those with fresh content and links. I've also designed new navigation (menu) systems to make it easier for visitors to find what they want.

First up is Past Voices. It is still at http://PastVoices.com  Past Voices gives our ancestors a voice – and these voices from the past come alive in their letters. Many letters on Past Voices are from soldiers far from home. Nothing tells the true reality of war more than the simple writings of the common soldier. These poignant letters from lonely men to their mothers, wives or sweethearts will touch your heart.

Check it out for yourself - perhaps you'll find an ancestor's letter or postcard waiting for you!

Ancestor Most Wanted Charles Fuller

1841 Census Lenham

Here is my Number 1 of 10 Genealogy Mysteries: My great-great grandfather Charles Fuller. When and where he was born is anyone's guess. Here is what the U.K. census takers recorded during his lifetime spent in Lenham Kent England:

1841 census Lenham - Charles age 14 (b. 1825) - no birth location given in 1841 but I believe this is my ancestor
1851 census Lenham - Charles age 23/25 b Faversham (b 1826)
1861 census Lenham - Charles age 32 b. Milton (b 1829)
1871 census Lenham -  Charles age 44 b Faversham (b 1827)
1881 census Lenham -  Charles age 52 b. Lenham (b1829)
1891 census Lenham-  Charles age 60 b Frinsted (b 1831)  

THE KNOWN  Here is what I know about Charles: Marriage of Baptisms in St. Mary's Parish Church, Lenham. Entry #221:

Oct 17, 1858: Charles Fuller, of age, bachelor, labourer in Lenham. Father: John Fuller, labourer. Charles married Georgiana Golding, minor, spinster in Lenham.  Father of Georgiana given as George Norris, labourer. Married in the Parish church after banns. Witnesses: George & Sarah Earl. Neither groom, bride nor witnesses were literate, all signing with their marks.Marriage Cert. Parish of Lenham, Hollingbourne District, Kent.

1861-1891 census is definitely my ancestor.
1851 is almost certainly him as he is living quite near Georgiana Golding who later became his wife

I believe Charles died in the last quarter of 1892. His age was given as 68 giving him a year of birth of 1824.   

MY THEORY

1826 Baptism of Charles Fuller

I suggest my ancestor is the  Charles FULLER, baptised 31 Oct 1826, Faversham, Kent to John & Winifred FULLER  In 1830 Winnifred died. In 1839 John Fuller remarried to Sophia. In the 1841 census where I found the boy I believe is my Charles, he is living with a "mother" Sophia and a younger sister Harriet.

One of the clues that led me to formulating the theory that my Charles was the Charles baptised to John and Winnifred is the name "Mene" and others which repeat in the generations. John and Winnifred named their children

• Mene 
• Mary Ann 
• Sarah 
• Joseph 
• John
• Philadelphia
• Henry
• Edward
• Harriet
• James
• Frederick
• Charles

My ancestor Charles and his wife Georgiana named their children

• Frederick
• Elizabeth
• Harriet
• Martha Ann
• Charles *my ancestor - see photo below
  
• Alfred
• Mene
• Edward John 
• Walter
• Albert Henry 

For some of the children I do not have middle names but I have highlighted the names that repeat in Charles' children.

Charles Fuller son of Charles & Georgiana with wife Mary Ann Norman Caspall

MY GOAL
What I am hoping to find is proof that the Charles baptised in 1826 to John and Winnifred is my ancestor.

Do my readers have suggestions, ideas or thoughts? 

1891 Canada Census Abbreviations

Recently a member of an online group posed a very interesting question. She asked "Does anyone know what the initials, "s.a." in the religion column stand for on the 1891 Canadian Census?"

S.A. is not found on the official list of abbreviations to be used by the 1891 census takers. So what could it mean?

The general consensus of the group was that S.A. stood for "Salvation Army" Does anyone else have any ideas?

Found: A Book that Survived a Bomb Blast in 1940

ABC Adelaide posted on their Facebook page and I thought I'd help share this through my Olive Tree Genealogy blog and Social Media.

Can you help us find the owner or family of this book that survived a bomb blast - probably during the Battle of Britain in the UK? 
Megan Dubois is a book collector who found this rare find in a second-hand store in Cleve so if you know any Goddard’s who used to live around Cleve, or perhaps a McLellen or McHellen family who came out to Australia after World War 2, we’d love to hear from you! 

The inscription reads, "I bought this book in 1935 for 1/- it was in our house when a land mine dropped on it in 1940 Oct 18. I rescued it from the rubble and have used it ever since, I also had a cookery book from the same edition which my daughter Dian McLellen (Possibly McHellen) has. Joyce Goddard (Mrs) 1985."

What Strange Inscriptions Have You Seen on a Photo?

Photo Detective posed an interesting question on her Facebook page: "What's the strangest thing you've ever seen written on a family photo?"

I have a few vague or humourous inscriptions on photos but my favourite is this photo on the left with the inscription:

"Merchant Maulsby, cousin Matilda’s father the meanest man that ever lived"

 

 

 

I also like this inscription on an 1860s cartes de visite (CDV) of Lydia Edwards. She does look ill or at the very least, depressed.

 

"Lydia Edwards, Grandfather’s wife and a great invalid" 

 

What are some of the unusual writings you've ever found on an old photo? 

Searchable Illinois Physcian Database Online

James Craig Small 1917

The Illinois State Archives is happy to announce that the Physician Database is now available on CyberDriveIllinois

The database consists of more than 62,700 physicians and surgeons who registered for license with the Illinois State Board of Health and the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. The records span August 1877 to February 17, 1937.

The database contains more than 62,700 names of physicians or surgeons. Entries include the physician’s full name; certificate number issued; the known counties where the physician resided; year of registration or certificate issuance; and the volume and page numbers of the register where the physician’s entry appeared. Beginning in September 1898, the line number on the register page containing the entry is also listed. The date of birth for each physician or surgeon is included starting in 1924. Register entries occasionally listed multiple registration dates, counties, or ages for some physicians or surgeons.

Each database entry contains a link to the image of the register pages containing the physician’s entry.Here is the entry for the image above

Name James Craig Small

Certificate Number 12787

Line Number 7

Original Volume & Page #'s V. 11, n.p.

Year of License 1917

Residence/Location (Illinois Counties Listed) Cook

A New Leaf TV Show Starts Oct 5th!

Host Daisy Fuentes is taking ordinary people on an emotional journey to help them discover more about their family’s origins. Who will add A New Leaf to their family tree?

From A New Leaf Facebook page:

A New Leaf will follow everyday people on the cusp of key life inflection points, using family history, genealogy, and sometimes DNA analysis to help guide them on their journey of self discovery. Along the way, viewers will learn about different cultures as our featured guest uncovers new information about their family's heritage. Each week, A New Leaf will teach viewers the importance of appreciating and understanding their family history in order to make important decisions to enact positive changes in their lives.

Catch the Series Premiere on NBC on Saturday, October 5th!

Listowel Ontario Photo Album Found

Shelley C. posted on the Ontario Genealogy Facebook page:

I've "rescued" an old photograph album that belonged to the STRACHAN Family from Ontario, Canada. The album includes photographs of:

Jim STRACHAN (2 photos)
Ed STRACHAN
Nellie DAVIDSON
Alex STRACHAN
Kate CAMPBELL
Dale FRANKISH
Agnes STRACHAN MEEKS
Margaret PENOYER
Uncle Alex STRACHAN + CAMPBELL
Hugh & Maggie STRACHAN
Tom & George STRACHAN
Len MEEKS
+ six unidentified photographs

The photographs were taken in Listowel, Ontario, Canada; Watkins, NY; Canandaigua, NY; and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in the 1870's through 1900's.

If you know the family you can either contact Shelley through Facebook or leave a comment on this post and I will see that she receives it.

125 Year Old Letter Found in Floorboards

"A letter written in 1894 and found between the linoleum and floor boards of a house being demolished to make way for Hobart's State Library will finally be returned to the author's family." ABC News

The letter was written by Sidney Hulbert on May 13, 1894 while he was in Sydney Australia and was found by Rex Nightingale during construction. He held on to the letter for 60 years and then turned to Social Media to find descendants. After being posted to ABC Facebook pages in both Hobart and Sydney, the letter was identified by its author's grand-niece Robyn Lobb.

Continue reading 125 year old letter found under floor to be returned to writer's family after social media search

Archives of Michigan New Website!

The Archives of Michigan new site, Michiganology.org, is now live! They have many upcoming items of interest to genealogists. For example this is what they say about Michigan death records which are currently searchable from 1921 to 1947:

Over the next months this collection will grow to include death certificates from 1897 to 1952. Death certificates from 1897 to 1943 will display full images while 1944 to 1952 will only provide index information. Once these certificates are older than seventy-five years, the images will be added.

You can also volunteer to help index Michigan Naturalization records

Naturalization is the process by which a person born outside the United States becomes an American citizen. Citizenship records can provide a wealth of information to family historians. The amount of information varies by year, but can include the date and location of a person’s birth, occupation, immigration year, marital status and spouse information, the names and addresses of the people who witnessed the naturalization ceremony and more. 

New BDM for New Brunswick online!

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick recently added more records to their searchable Vital Records database

As of September 12, 2019 there are 1,007,301 birth, death & marriage records online consisting of the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Births

Index	Description	Years	Records	Last updated
141A1b	Index to Late Registration of Births	1810-1923	111,915	2019-09-09
141A1c	Index to Late Registration of Births: County Series	1869-1901	2,294	2019-09-10
141A2/2	Index to County Birth Registers	1800-1919	87,950	2019-09-10
141A5	Index to Provincial Registrations of Births	1870-1923	158,708	2019-09-03

Marriages

Index	Description	Years	Records	Last updated
141B7	Index to New Brunswick Marriages	1847-1968	280,000	2019-09-12

Deaths

Index	Description	Years	Records	Last updated
141C1	Index to County Death Registers	1885-1921	40,447	2019-08-07
141C4	Provincial Returns of Deaths	1815-1919	84,191	2019-08-12
141C5	Index to Death Certificates	1918-1968	241,796	2019-09-12

Search for Ancestors in Insane Asylums

Sometimes our ancestors ended up in Insane Asylums not because they were insane but for other reasons - post partum depression in women, menopause, depression... any number of occurrences could land an individual in an asylum.

Olive Tree Genealogy has an Insane Asylum section which includes England, Scotland, Australia and Canada. One database in particular may be of interest to Canadian genealogists.

Toronto Insane Asylum 1841 ABSTRACT of PATIENTS admitted, discharged, and remaining in the temporary Lunatic Asylum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada from January 21st to July 31st, inclusive, 1841 

Introducing The Photo Alchemist!

Olive Tree Genealogy is thrilled to introduce my readers to Claudia D'Souza aka The Photo Alchemist. I first noticed Claudia's amazing restorations and colourization of ancestor photos a few months ago. 

Read Claudia's story and visit her website at www.thephotoalchemist.biz

I have watched the video of Claudia colourizing a photo at least a dozen times. I'm fascinated by her technique and in awe of the finished product.  And now ... Claudia's story below

In 2009, I started researching my family history. Soon I was diving into the fortunes and misfortunes of my ancestors.

I marvelled at the explorer life of German great grandad Frederick, whose father was a founding member of the now extinct German Club in Burma, and who was forced to flee to India, and leave all his wealth behind, following the invasion of the Japanese; I cried as I unravelled the tragic life of British great grandma Jayne who, by the age of 23, had already buried three husbands and my heart broke while trying to discover the mysterious origins of Portuguese Grandfather Candido, who was abandoned at a doorstep of a rich doctor, on a cold Christmas Eve.

Claudia at The Genealogy Show in Birmingham England

Photographs became a huge part of my newly found obsession. If records, letters and documents are the bones of a family history, photos are without doubt the flesh. However, I was sad to find that photos were scarce, and often in very bad condition. I searched for restoration services, but they all required me to part with my precious originals, and there was no way on earth I was prepared to do that!

So, combining my advanced IT skills with my Fashion History passion and Art skills, I started exploring and developing ways of not only restoring and retouching old photos, but also adding carefully researched colour, enabling us to see our ancestors, just like they saw themselves and each other.
Knowing Grandfather Candido was abandoned on Christmas Eve felt 100 times more vivid, once I restored and colourised his photo and looked into his profound, sorrowful brown eyes.  Seeing the face of great grandma Jayne in colour, showed me a strong woman with whom suddenly I felt a deep connection even though we never met!

In 2017, I started interacting with genealogists across the world via social media and, after sharing one of my pieces online, I was flooded with requests for help with old photos. Realising I could help others and feed my passion, I quit my job as a Marketing Director and launched “The Photo Alchemist”.

Now I spend my days digitally bringing to life photos from clients all over the world, without the need for them to part with their precious originals. But the best part of my job is getting to know other people’s family histories, being trusted with their precious family photos, and playing a small part in keeping their legacies alive.

WEBSITE: www.thephotoalchemist.biz  
TWITTER: @Dsouza_Claudia
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/thephotoalchemist

Women’s Travel Diaries 1827-1991

Thanks to FamilyTreeMagazine for posting that Duke University has a digital collection of historic women's travel diaries available online. 

The diaries in this digital collection were written by British and American women who documented their travels to places around the globe, including India, the West Indies, countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as around the United States. 

There are over 100 diaries of varying length, selected from several archival collections at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University.

Online Images Boston Pilot Missing Friends

Boston Pilot (1838-1857)
Volume XI, Number 41, 7 October 1848

Run, don't walk, to view the online pages of The Boston Pilot  at Boston College Libraries to match your ancestor found in my Missing Friends Project.

The Missing Friends Project is abstracting the names of those who immigrated from UK to America or Canada and who were inquired about by family in various 19th Century newspapers. 

Missing Friends Project starts with Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, published in London England and their weekly column (1886-1900) called "Long Lost Relatives". We also have begun extracting names of those in the Boston Pilot, published in Boston Massachusetts (1831-1921).

Our Boston Pilot project is only extracting the names of missing Irish individuals who sailed to Canada. It is important to note that many who sailed first to Canada went on to USA and are so noted in the extracts. Many of the relatives and friends seeking them were based in USA and their location is also given.

Available online: 27 January 1838 - 26 December 1857 (996 issues)