Civil War NARA Records Available online

Through its partnership with the National Archives (NARA) Footnote.com has been able to digitize and index records including Confederate Soldiers Service Records, the Southern Claims Commission Records, and the Lincoln Assassination Trial Papers. Each of these titles features information and details that few have had the opportunity to view.

Footnote.com brings to life these stories within millions of original Civil War documents, most of which have never been available before on the internet.

Footnote plans to eventually create the largest Civil War community on the web with additional options. Visitors to Footnote.com are encouraged to highlight and discuss what they’ve found. Members are also able to upload their own photos and documents and create their own footnotes by annotating and commenting on the records.

Milwaukee County Wisconsin Almshouse & Poor Farm Cemeteries List of Burials

The Milwaukee County Farm Cemetery (a.k.a. Potter's Field) was used during the years 1872-1974. This cemetery was used for the poorhouse inmates and also for burial of other indigent people and transients for whom no funds were available for burial.

There are nearly 6,400 names in the burial register book the names of the deceased and these are now online starting in 1872 at Milwaukee County Wisconsin Almshouse & Poor Farm Cemeteries List of Burials

Search other Almshouse records for Canada, USA & England on Olive Tree Genealogy

Getting Real with Naming Patterns

I've been following some genealogy discussions on mailing lists recently and noticed that many genealogists fall into the trap of taking sides on a question - sides that are emphatically one way or another, with no middle ground or room for a "Maybe...."

One of the discussions started over a seemingly simple question -- were there naming patterns for children in the 1800s in [fill in blank with any country].

Subscribers began to jump in with their opinions - all either YES or NO with reasons or rationale or examples to support their YES or NO stance.

But no one jumped in with "MAYBE.... SOMETIMES... YES BUT...."

Let's get real! Naming patterns existed.

Were they identical in all cultures? No

Were they identical in all centuries? No.

Were they always used? No.

It's easy to forget that our ancestors were living breathing people, just as we are. They fought, they loved, they cried, they laughed, they had good days, they had bad days, and so on.

Even if there are established naming patterns that are used 99.9% of the time (as is the case with the Dutch who settled New Netherland, now New York in 1600s) --- as researchers we must keep an open mind as to whether or not the customs might not have been followed

Maybe *your* ancestor fought with his father or mother and vowed to never name a child after him or her.

Maybe *your* ancestor was a free spirit and loved the name Lancelot even though the first born male in her family had been called James for the last 10 generations

Maybe your ancestor wanted to cozy up to his rich great uncle so he named his first born son after that person instead of his father.... and gave his second born his father's name.

If you find 7 children in a family and 6 are named after known family members (paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles...) then there is a good chance that the 7th was also named after a family member - but it's not guaranteed, they might have named that child after a good friend - or an important contemporary person or a benefector.

On the opposite side of the fence, you may be trying to find parents' names. You spot what looks like a naming pattern of children which fits with the parents you are fairly confident are the correct parents. But one parent's name is missing from the pattern... That's not the time to toss out your theory! There may be a missing child, one whose existence you aren't aware of, or who died. And that child may be the missing link, named after that one parent who is missing from the pattern.

So, use Naming Patterns as a guide. That's all it is, it is not a set of rules set in stone

Revolutionary War Pension Files To be Released by Footnote.com Teaming with FamilySearch

Today, Footnote.com announced an agreement with FamilySearch, historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch is the world’s largest repository of genealogical information.

This new partnership brings together two organizations that will utilize their combined resources to digitize and make available many large historical collections. The first project will be the three million U.S. Revolutionary War Pension files which will be published for the first time online in their entirety.

The Revolutionary War Pension Files feature original records that include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns and other miscellaneous personnel pay and supply records of American Army Units from 1775-1783. They provide a wealth of new information for historians and genealogists which they can share with other colleagues and family members.

Declarations of Intent, New York, Justice's Court, Albany, New York Index to Books 4-6 1837-1843

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've completed the transcription project for Declarations of Intent, New York 1827-1895, Justice's Court, Albany, New York Index to Book 4, 5 & 6 (1837-1843)

This adds just over 2,800 new names to the original set of records previously online. Surnames A-Z are now complete, except for B which is missing

http://naturalizationrecords.com/usa/nyintentbk4-6_a.shtml starts Surname A, just scroll down to choose another surname letter

Naturalization Indexes and Images for NARA records online

Naturalization Indexes and Images for NARA records are now available online.

You can find links to these online NARA records for Naturalization at

California Naturalizations

Massachusetts Naturalizations

Maryland Naturalizations

New York Naturalizations

Pennsylvania Naturalizations

Louisiana Naturalizations

Ships Passenger Lists to Canada Before 1865

© Lorine McGinnis Schulze of http://olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml (Article may be republished or distributed in its entirety providing this header, all URLs and copyright notice are left intact)

There are no comprehensive lists of immigrants arriving in Canada prior to 1865. Until that year, shipping companies were not required by the government to keep their passenger manifests.

There are individual projects and databases online that may be of help in your search

Shipping Company & Customs Agents Records

There are a few surviving passenger lists which were kept by shipping agents in the originating country. The Passenger Books of J & J Cooke, Shipping Agents gives sailings from Londonderry to Quebec and St. John New Brunswick from 1847 to 1871. These are online at
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/jjcooke.shtml

St. Lawrence Steamboat Co. Passenger Records 1819-1836 at
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/1819_20index.htm

The Hawke Papers, letterbooks of Chief Emigrant Agent Anthony B. Hawke are also available at the Archives of Ontario. They cover the years 1831 to 1892. See the
searchable database for years 1865 - 1883 at http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/db/hawke.htm

Names of Emigrants from the 1845-1847 Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal is online at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/ships/emigrants-montreal1845-1847a.htm. This an index only but if you find a name of interest you can consult the published book

There is also the Return of Emigrants Landed at the Port of Kingston Ontario, Canada 1861-1882 which gives the final
destination of the individuals, their date of arrival at Kingston and more. It is found at
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/kingston1861oct-1862may.shtml

Immigration Projects Online

Ships passenger lists for Peter Robinson Settlers sailing 1825 Ireland to Canada are online at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/ships/
Petworth Immigrants 1832-1837 at
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/petworth.html

Emigrants from England in New York City Almshouse 1818-1830
- 254 names of English immigrants to Canada & USA including the name of the ship they sailed on at http://www.allenglishrecords.com/almshouse-a-f.shtml

If you are looking for Irish ancestors, you may want to search the online database Irish Immigrants at Grosse-Île at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/022-504-e.html This database has information on 33,026 immigrants whose names appear in surviving records of the Grosse-Île Quarantine Station between 1832 and 1937.

Search Engines

There are search engines to search multiple websites for
ships going to Canada at
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/search_shipscanada.shtml
They include most ships lists on the Internet going to Canada and the online InGeneas databases for immigration to Canada 1800s

New Brunswick Arrivals

The Saint John Customs House Passenger Lists 1815, 1832,1833-1834 & 1837-1838 are the only known surviving listsfrom this time period. Some can be found online at
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/saintjohnindex.htm Most of the Customs House records were lost in 1877 in the Great Fire of Saint John. Famine lists from 1845-1850 appear also to have been lost.

Mailing Lists

There is a mailing list called CAN-SHIPSLISTS-PRE1865-L for queries and discussion involving immigration to Canada before 1865. You can subscribe from this page
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/CAN/CAN-SHIPSLISTS-PRE1865.html

Newspaper Arrivals

TheShipsList website has Quebec ship arrivals extracted from contemporary newspapers.
See
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/index.htm

Library & Archives Canada Holdings

There are a few ship passengerlists pertaining to British-subsidized immigration schemes for the period 1817-1831 and these are available from the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.

The Miscellaneous Immigration Index is a nominal card index to some of those records and it is available for consultation in the NAC Reference Room. It relates mostly to immigrants from the British Isles to Quebec and Ontario between the years 1801 and 1849. The Miscellaneous Immigration Index has been put into a database, which you can consult on the InGeneas web site.

For immigrants from France, the NAC holds scattered records for the years 1732 and 1749 to 1760. Microfilm copies of these lists are available through ILL - ask your local library for help. You can also consult the NAC microfilm shelf-list for reel numbers.

Miscellaneous Websites with Immigration Information on Shipsto Canada

Immigrants to Canada
http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/thevoyage.html

The Ships List
http://www.theshipslist.com/

Ships Passenger Lists Online
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/ships/

Finding Ships Passenger Lists to Canada
http://shipslists-online.rootschat.net/canada/

Ships Passenger Lists to Canada 1400-1930
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tocan1400-1800.shtml

Lists Of Stockholders Canada & USA 1890

"Report of the Superintendent of Insurance of the Dominion of Canada for the Year Ending 31st December 1890" was published in 1891 and included are approximately 60 pages of names of shareholders and guarantors for various Insurance and Assurance Companies across Canada & USA.

The date for the list of names is 1890 and ncludes people from all over Canada, USA and Europe.

Each individual has a residence listed, in some cases, an actual street address. The shareholders' residences include such places as:

Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Scotland, New York, Quebec, Vermont, Pennsylvania, NWT, England, Illinois, India, Newfoundland, Manitoba, Cape Breton, Jamaica, Ireland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachussets, Minnesota, Ohio, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Channel Islands, France and Wales.

These lists can be used simply to verify that an individual lived in a certain place in 1890. They also contain quite a bit of detail for some entries, which are terrific clues for further research. Here's a few examples:

One listing is for

"Edward Rawlings, Montreal" and under his name, labelled as "in trust" are the names Miss A L Rawlings, Miss E M Rawlings, Miss KNB Rawlings, George W Rawlings, HEA Rawlings, and WT Rawlings

Beside Edward's name is his number of shares in the Guarantee Company of North America - 4645, amount subscribed for 232,250, paid in cash 52,610. His children are noted as to their number of shares, amount subscribed for and amount paid up in cash - each child except Miss AL has 5 shares, 250 subscribed for and 250 paid in cash. Miss AL has 6 shares, 300 subscribed for and 300 paid in cash.

It occurred to me that this entry meant that Edward had died, and the rest of the names were his heirs, most likely his children, given the words "in trust". So I checked the online 1881 census at http://familysearch.org/ and found Edward and his family living in Montreal (Ste Antoine Ward)

This gives you some idea of the usefulness of this book. It can be consulted online at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/canada/shareholders.htm

Death Record Finder - Finding an Ancestor in Death Records

Most genealogists search death records such as Cemetery records, Obituaries and Vital Stats (Death Registrations or Certificates). If we don't find our ancestor in one of those death records, we're stuck! Where to search next? The ADF (Ancestor Death Finder) can help. You can purchase my E-Book Ancestor Death Record Finder: Tips on Finding a Death Record When You've Hit a Brick Wall at Amazon for only $1.15
What happens when a loved one dies? What events take place around the death of a family member? What kind of death record paper trail is created on the death of an individual? The answers to these questions will lead you to other sources of death records and hopefully end that brick-wall.

When an ancestor dies, many records of that death might be created. Let's talk about records kept before an ancestor death and those created after a death. Get the full list of suggestions in my E-Book


Purchase the Kindle E-Book full version on Amazon

New One-Step Search Engine from Steve Morse

Steve Morse has created another one-step search form for family researchers on his website.

Steve's latest One Step is for the Montreal City Directories . . . "Annuaires Lovell de Montreal et sa banlieue" a free online database located at the National Library of Quebec "Bibliothèque National du Québec," containing digitized copies of Montreal city directories from 1842 to 1977, and criss-cross directories from 1974-1992.

Go to the "Births, Deaths, and other Vital Records" section of Steve's website and scroll down to the fourth entry from the end.

The advantage of the One-Step is that you can search for your ancestors name,
year by year, without having to do all the navigating and clicking that you have to do when doing such a search from the website directly.

Dating Ancestor Photographs Before 1900

If you are lucky enough to have an ancestor photograph or family photograph album, you can date it according to the type of photograph.

Daguerreotypes (ca 1839)
Photography in USA began circa 1839 but not many are found before 1854.

Ambrotypes (circa 1854)
The ambrotype was a glass negative backed with black material so it appeared as a positive image

Tintypes (ca 1855)
The Ferrotype process (tintypes) was introduced in the United States in 1855. It substituted an iron plate for glass and is one of a kind. No copies could be made from a tintype.

Carte de Visite or CDVs (ca 1859)
CDV stands for carte de visite. CDVs replaced ambrotypes, producing a card 2.5 by 4" CDVs arrived in the United States around 1859, on the eve of the Civil War (1861- 1865). On June 30, 1864 a tax on photographs, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes and other "sun-pictures" went into effect. Tax Revenue Stamps had to be placed on the backs of photographs from that date (1864) until August 1, 1866. This helps date CDVs taken in this time period.

Cabinet Cards (circa 1870)
CDV´s were replaced in the 1870s by Cabinet Cards which were on a larger 4 by 6" card.

Lost Faces - Ancestor Photos
I am pleased to now offer individual quality photographic reproductions for sale! You can purchase a photographic reproduction of any ancestor photo from my Civil War era photo albums. I have rescued over 3000 one-of-a-kind identified family photos taken 1850 to 1900. See http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/faces/

*************************************************
Article by Lorine McGinnis Schulze. Permission is granted to reproduce this article in its entirety including this footer. All URLs must remain intact

1819 - 1820 U.S. Passenger Lists Now Online

GenealogyBank.com has put a FREE digital copy of the complete 1819 to 1820 U.S . Passenger Lists online

Search other records on GenealogyBank such as Historical Newspapers 1690 - 1977, Historical Books 1801 - 1900, Historical Documents 1789 - 1980, America's Obituaries 1977 to current, and Social Security Death Index 1937 to current

This is an exact digital copy of the original document that was published by the Federal Government in 1821. It covers the arrivals in 35 ports in 14 states and the District of Columbia.

A typical entry gives the passenger's name, age, where they were coming from, and their destination, the name of the ship, ship's captain and the port. Some entries also include additional notes.

This published passenger list gives the names of all passengers arriving in the US between October 1819 and September 1820. It includes not only immigrants coming to
the U.S. but also a large number of U.S. citizens who were traveling by ship from one part of the country to another.

Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732 online

See Census News for details on how to search the online Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732

This is a compilation of the twenty-eight earliest census records of Louisiana. These census records cover Fort Maurepas, Biloxi, Mobile, Natchez, New Orleans, and other locations. The records are both civilian and military and they cover from 1699 through 1732.

Besides census records, there are lists of 1,704 marriageable girls, a 1726 list of persons requesting negroes, landowner lists, and a list of persons massacred at Fort Rosalie in 1729.

Other features include a synopsis of Louisiana's colonial history, tips on French colonial naming practices, and a comprehensive index of 5,000 names.

Also find ancestors on Ships Passenger Lists to Louisiana in this early period.

Free Credits for ScotlandsPeople Site

The Scottish Sunday Mail is giving away to their readers 20 free credits for the ScotlandsPeople site.

1. Go to www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and click on the register button if you're a new user, or log in using your username and password if you already have an account.


2. New users will be required to complete a registration form before they can access the ScotlandsPeople site.


3. Once logged in, click on NEED MORE? on the top right hand side of the page.


4. You will be taken to a page where you should enter the voucher code sundaymail to access the great genealogy giveaway.

Free Search of Titantic Images of Passenger List

Titanic Passenger List Online and Free


Free and Online for the First Time to Mark 95th Anniversary


Fully digitised images of the RMS Titanic's original 34-page passenger list are now available for the very first time online.

Its addition completes the set of passengers lists for the ships leaving the UK furing the decade 1910-1919, recently added to the ancestorsonboard.com collection. These images are available only at Find My Past dot com, and are presented in association with The National Archives.

The original Titanic passenger list records the names, port of departure, occupation, nationality, age, class of travel, destination and country of intended future permanent residence of all who sailed on its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. For a limited time only visitors will be available to view, print, save and download the Titanic passenger list free of charge.

Marking the 95th anniversary of the ship's tragic loss, the online release brings the original documents together for the first time online and in print, as there are no images of the originals published in any media elsewhere. Read more and start searching More passenger lists are found on Olive Tree Genealogy pages

Scotland Census Collection, 1841-1901 online

Americans and Canadians with Scottish ancestry can now search for their Scottish ancestors among the more than 24 million names in the complete Scotland Census Collection, 1841-1901, on Ancestry.com.

These censuses include names, occupations, places of birth and residence of our Scottish ancestors. U.S. passenger list records also include Scottish immigration during this period, making it easier for individuals to trace their ancestors

The complete Scotland Census Collection adds to Ancestry.com's growing international census collection, which already includes the only complete online collections of fully-indexed and digitized U.S. Federal Censuses from 1790 to 1930, England and Wales censuses from 1841 to 1901, and the 1851, 1901, 1906 and 1911 Canadian census.

Use census links at CENSUS RECORDS and passenger lists at SHIPS PASSENGER RECORDS

FREE Access to Ancestry's Immigration Collection!

To celebrate the 100 anniversary of 1907 - the largest year of immigration through Ellis Island - Ancestry is giving all researchers FREE ACCESS to their Immigration Collection until April 30, 2007

Discover your ancestors in the largest collection of passenger lists available online. Search more than 100 million names from more than 100 U.S. ports.

See details and link to Ancestry's FREE Immigration Records Collection (Free Until April 30, 2007) Includes arrivals in New York (Castle Garden, Ellis Island), Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and more

Utah Death Certificates Now Online

FamilySearch, in conjunction with the Genealogical Society of Utah and the Utah State Archives and Records Service, announced that the state's free online index to death certificates is now linked to original images of the historic documents.

The integration of the index with free digital pictures of the death certificates issued from 1905 to 1954 by the state will open doors to additional information for family historians and genealogists with Utah ties.

The online index to 250,000+ Utah deaths was created by the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics and has searchable information limited to the name of the deceased person, their date of death, sex, and where they died.

Ellis Island Immigration Hearings

From 1892 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island. Last Friday, March 30, the processing station once again opened its doors to immigrants .

Over 150 immigrants, including 30 members of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), attended a hearing organized by the House immigration subcommittee to discuss the issue of 12 million undocumented immigrants presently in the USA.

The statue of Annie Moore, the 15-year old from Cork Ireland who was the first immigrant through Ellis Island in 1892, stands nearby.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, the California Democrat who is chairperson of the subcommittee, thought it apt to hold the first of several planned hearings at Ellis Island, where over 40 percent of Americans can trace their roots.

Finding American Naturalization Records

Many Declarations (not the Petitions) have an exact date of immigration. Be careful to look for all records in the Naturalization Process: Declarations of Intent, Petitions and so on... for each contains different information.

There is an explanation and Resource Guide to Naturalization
Records at Naturalization Records

Before 1906, the declaration of intent generally contains more genealogically useful information than the petition. Petitions before 1906 usually show only a name, former
allegiance, and date of naturalization. The declaration may include the alien's exact date of immigration into the United States

An immigrant who arrived after June 29, 1906 could not naturalize until the government located their immigration record (a passenger list). Petitions (not the Declarations) after 1906 have information that has been verified and matched to an immigration record. In fact a a certification of the immigrant's arrival record was a required part of the process

The easy way to remember is to think of opposites: BEFORE 1906, the Declaration has more useful genealogical info than the Petition (usually) and AFTER 1906 it's the opposite - the Petition is more useful and accurate than the Declaration

For a Resource Guide to the records, what you can expect to find, where to find them, and alternate sources of finding those important years (immigration and naturalization) at USA Naturalization Records Read the intro then choose your state of interest.

There are also many online records and links to searchable online records at Naturalization Records

************************************************************************
Permission granted to republish this article provided all links remain intact and credit is given to the author Lorine McGinnis Schulze and the website http://naturalizationrecords.com