Focusing on genealogy research with emphasis on New York State
This weekend you can access the global records at Ancestry.com for free. This offer ends at midnight on Monday, September 1.
Ancestry.com has 1 billion new records and 200 million new images
including birth, death, census, church, immigration records, and more. Records are available from 67 countries.
To access the collection, go to: www.ancestry.com. You will need to create a free user name and password if you have not already done so.
Happy hunting!
The Dutchess County Genealogical Society was formed in 1972 and is based in Poughkeepsie, NY.
The site has a very informative section on requesting vital records in Dutchess County. It includes links to the Registrar offices in the county and community links for those towns that do not show up in the Registrar listings.
The society offers Name Searches focused on the pre-1880 time period. For a specific question based on one surname, volunteers will search indexed materials in the library for up to two hours. The cost is $10.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members. This covers the cost of up to 10 photocopies at no additional charge.
The society maintains a library located at the Family History Center in the LDS Church in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Some of the collection is listed on the website.
The membership year runs from July 1 to June 30 and includes a subscription to the quarterly newsletter, The Dutchess, the Member Surname Index Listing, free queries, and reduced fees for Name Searches. Dues are $25.00 per year.
For more information about membership, Name Searches or the library, go to the society’s website at:
www.dcgs-gen.org/index.htm
Two local genealogists, Don Eckerle and John Martino, were recently interviewed on the “Forget-Me-Not-Hour” on Blog Talk Radio.
Don is a member of the German Genealogy Group and John is a member of the Italian Genealogy Group. Don and John, along with another volunteer, Bob Boeckle, received the National Genealogical Society Award of Merit for 2014 in recognition of exceptional contributions to the field of genealogy.
During the interview, Don and John, speak about the volunteer indexing projects they have worked on since 1999. To date, Don, John, Bob and over 2,500 volunteers have indexed 16 million records. The majority of the projects focus on New York City and Long Island vital records and naturalization records.
To listen to the broadcast, go to:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/janeewilcox/2014/08/06/italian-genealogy-group-and-german-genealogy-group-ny-indexing-projects
If you are interested in volunteering with the indexing projects, contact John Martino at: JohnM16881@aol.com
Legacy Family Tree Webinars will present a free webinar on Wednesday, August 27, at 2 p.m., entitled “Researching Your Italian Ancestors.”
The availability of Italian records has increased exponentially in the past few years, making research much easier than it has been. In this overview, learn to find the records you need (on film, on site and on line), what to look for in the records, and a tiny bit of history to put it all into perspective.
The presenter, Ruth Lapioli Merriman, works preparing digital images from Italy for publication on the FamilySearch website and on the website of the National Archives of Italy. She has been an accredited Italian researcher with ICAPGen for 10 years and is passionate about Italian genealogy.
To register for the webinar, go to:
http://www.familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=217
The Western New York Genealogical Society was founded in 1974 to help preserve and encourage interest in the area’s genealogical heritage.
Its focus is on the eight Western New York counties:
Erie
Niagara
Genesee
Wyoming
Orleans
Chautauqua
Cattaraugus
Allegany
Membership is $22 for the first year and $20.00 per year after that. Members receive a subscription to the quarterly JOURNAL, issued June, September, December and March. Each issue contains 48 pages including unpublished records, queries, book reviews, and Bible record information.
Members also can register New York related surnames in the surname list distributed annually to members and register New York related ancestors charts in the Ancestor File.
For more information, or to obtain a membership application, go to: www.wnygs.org
The next episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 9 p.m. on TLC.
The episode will feature actor Kelsey Grammar.
For more information, go to the TLC website at:
http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/who-do-you-think-you-are
Three free webinars will be take place this Wednesday, August 20.
Legacy Family Tree webinars will present a program at 2 p.m. entitled “Find A Grave: The World’s Largest Cemetery Database.”
Explore Find-A-Grave, the largest cemetery database in the world and a must-have tool in your genealogy toolbox. Learn insights and methodologies for using the site for family history research. Suggestions will be provided about contributing your own photographs to the site.
To register for the webinar, go to:
www.familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=196
The Georgia Genealogical Society will present “Staying Safe Using Social Media” at 8 p.m.
Are you hesitant to use popular social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter or even Pinterest and share your genealogy research because of issues involving personal information and privacy? Learn how to safely navigate these sites and still get the most out of them.
To register for this webinar, go to:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/310150605710702873
The Southern California Genealogical Society will present “Seven Strategies for Finding the Hard Ones,” at 9 p.m.
This presentation goes through step-by-step procedures using 7 strategies for finding the most challenging data. Strategies include the use of collaboration, search engines, the tomes, property records, broadening your search, on-site hard copy, and DNA evidence.
To register for the webinar, go to:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/322464345
The Wisconsin State Genealogy Society will present a free webinar on Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m. entitled “The Hidden Web: Digging Deeper.”
The presenter will be Cyndi Howells Ingle, creator of the Cyndi’s List website.
When Google and traditional search engines don’t return useful information, don’t stop there. This webinar will explore resources that are invisible to Google and hidden deep within web sites and proprietary databases. The “hidden web” lies buried within the collections for commercial web sites, libraries, archives, and museums. Also under discussion will be the importance of indexes that deep-link into web sites online.
To register for this free webinar, go to: http://tinyurl.com/k26tnkg
After registering, you will receive an email with information and a link for the night of the webinar and handout information.
There are several genealogy societies throughout New York State that can be very useful to you in researching ancestors of the different regions.
In this blog, periodically we will feature different genealogy societies in New York State and the benefits of membership for each group.
We will begin by featuring the Capital District Genealogical Society, located in Albany. One of the missions of the society is to provide help to those seeking information via queries on relatives and/or family who in the past had connections to the Capital District and adjacent counties.
This society covers the following counties:
Albany County
Columbia County
Fulton County
Greene County
Montgomery County
Rensselaer County
Saratoga County
Schenectady County
Schoharie County
Washington County
Membership is $15 a year and includes a newsletter. Members are entitled to unlimited queries in the newsletter.
The society also has two items for sale: 1854 Albany County Map on CD-ROM for $15.00 and 1855 New York State Albany County Census on CD-ROM for $20.
For more information about the society, go to:
www.capitaldistrictgenealogicalsociety.org.
The next episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 9 p.m. on TLC.
The episode will feature actress Valerie Bertinelli.
For more information, go to the TLC website at:
http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/who-do-you-think-you-are
