I just read a New York Times article (requires free registration) about the Ferry Building on Ellis Island which was reopened to the public today following a $6.4 million facelift.

“It is the first step in a broad plan to reopen all of the buildings on Ellis Island, including a former 750-bed hospital complex that would be converted into an educational institute and conference center…Inside the Ferry Building, in the lunchroom where some immigrants had their last meals before coming New Yorkers, visitors will find an exhibit about the hospital complex, which at times held hundreds of patients with infectious and contagious diseases.”

According to the Encyclopedia of Ellis Island, by Barry Moreno (Librarian and Historian, Museum Services Division, Ellis Island Immigration Museum), the current building is one of three that existed on the site, and was built in 1936.

“The center section of the building contained a waiting room for passengers that included high-backed wooden benches at each corner; officials of the U.S. Customs Service occupied the left wing. The right wing contained a lunchroom, kitchen, and lavatories. A lead-sheathed cupola or tower of two tiers surmounts the building…Throughout the years, these ferry houses mainly served the riders of the ferryboat Ellis Island.”

April 17 will mark the 100th anniversary of “the peak of activity on Ellis Island, when it processed 11,747 immigrants in a single day.”

I received the following press release from Sari Bodi regarding her book, which is set for publication in May. Since there is a genealogical tie, I’m filing this in our Book and Movie Club and am looking forward to reading a copy with my daughter. I think the contemporary setting and historical aspects will capture her interest, and I’m always looking for ways to sneak in a history lesson. 😉 

A Mayflower Passenger is Catapulted into the 21st Century and Allie’s World

The Ghost in Allie’s Pool
A Young Adult Novel by Sari Bodi

“Just wait until you meet Allie and her mysterious friend in this imaginative, satisfying story. Heart stopping and unusual, I couldn’t put it down. You won’t be able to either.”

-Patricia Reilly Giff, Newbery Honor Book author of Lily’s Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods

The Ghost in Allie’s Pool expertly weaves Allie’s struggles in navigating eighth-grade social life, with the true story of Dorothy May Bradford, who in 1620 sailed on the Mayflower with her husband, William, future governor of the Plymouth colony. The themes of family history, friendship, and an exploration of the harrowing Mayflower voyage, as seen from a teen’s point of view, add extra layers to this young adult novel for readers 10 and up. Continue reading →

Here’s the press release from Roots Television: 

Show Us Your Roots and Win $500!

Roots Television, LLC (www.rootstelevision.com) wants everyone to flaunt their roots!  Launched just a few months ago, this first-ever online home for family history programming boasts 20 channels of great shows for the roots-enthusiast – all available 24/7 and almost all for free.  And now viewers have the opportunity to submit their own video through the freshly introduced RootsTube channel and win $500!

Yes, it’s finally here!  The perfect way for millions of genealogists around the globe to share their sleuthing adventures, family reunion mishaps, cemetery explorations, interviews with WWII vets, trips to the old country, or even the local society’s monthly lectures.  With a few easy-to-follow instructions, anyone can put their video out there for fellow roots-lovers to enjoy. 

To celebrate the launch of RootsTube, Roots Televisionâ„¢ is holding a Wild Roots! contest.  While submissions of all things genealogical are welcome, viewers are invited to tell the world about the craziest thing they ever did in their quest to learn about their heritage.  Did you accidentally pull an all-nighter at your computer?  Did you cross a field with a bull in it to get to an old cemetery?  Did you purposely get yourself locked into a library overnight?  If so, we want to hear about it.  You can tell your tale directly to the camera, re-enact it, animate it, use hand puppets or whatever appeals to you.  Do it by yourself or with your sister, research buddies, fellow society members, or that 6th cousin of yours in New Zealand.  On May 15, 2007, Roots Television will select and announce the winner of the Wild Roots! contest. Continue reading →

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
— Henry David Thoreau

Posted This Week

• Black’s Blue Book (“…directory of Chicago’s prominent colored citizens and their industrial activities”) 
• Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1956 
• View a list of all new and updated databases 
• Learn more about what’s new at Ancestry.com 
• Search the Ancestry.com Card Catalog
   

Some of us may find evidence of our ancestors’ travels in passenger arrival records and the recently added U.S.-Canadian Border Crossings. Have you taken the time to document the places you’ve visited and the significance of your trips? Did you travel to visit a family member? Or perhaps to visit an ancestral home? Or maybe you just have a favorite retreat? Whether you’re a world traveler or just enjoy a jaunt to the country, record the memories from these trips and include them as part of your family history.

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Billed as the “Maple Sugar Capital of the World” on its website, the city of St. Albans, Vermont, is nestled in a valley between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, through which the U.S.-Canadian border runs. When family historians first hear about the records of St. Albans’ District Border Crossings, they might think it an obscure collection of records from that border town, but in fact, the St. Albans District encompassed most of the U.S.-Canadian border. This past week Ancestry released a new collection of 4 million records which contains border crossing records from the St. Albans District.

You can see a list of the ports included in this release in the database description. Ancestry will be posting more U.S.-Canadian border-crossing records in the future as well.

Where Are the Early Years?
Since many of our ancestors came to the U.S. through Canada in years prior to 1895, it would be great if this database included earlier records. I know of at least one of my families (those famous Kellys) made their way to the U.S. via Halifax. Unfortunately, until 1894, records of immigration through Canada to the U.S. weren’t recorded. In fact, this actually added to the appeal as many immigrants avoided immigration screening and hassles by choosing the Canadian route. In 1895 the U.S. government closed this loophole by requiring Canadian steamships and railroads to complete manifest forms and only provide transportation to U.S. destinations to immigrants that would have been allowed to enter the country via other U.S. ports.

What’s in the Records?
A variety of records are included in this database, including manifests, Primary Inspection Memorandums, Records of Registry, and Land Border Departure Records. The depth of information collected in these records varies. Some manifests are rich in detail, while later manifests, including some created by airlines, will be leaner with many only containing a first initial and surname, along with the date of arrival and point of embarkation and disembarkation.

Many of the records are on Form 1-Canada, titled “List or Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory” and will include full name, age (with columns for years and months), and gender; marital status; occupation; literacy; nationality, and race or people; last permanent residence (city or town and country); name and complete address of nearest relative or friend in country whence alien came; final destination and whether they had a ticket to their final destination; by whom the passage was paid; how much money was in their possession; whether ever in the U.S. prior to this trip and if so, where; whether going to join a relative or friend and if so, who (including name and complete address); causes for deportment (including mental and physical health conditions); physical description; and place of birth (city or town and country). Continue reading →

For the past several years I’ve worked with a colleague on a project to locate photographs of the Revolutionary War generation. (See my new blog for additional information.) Along the way I’ve re-discovered many “lost” photos and identified some previously unidentified images. The simple truth is that our project is more complicated than the visual evidence found in these pictures taken after 1840.

If you’ve ever thought that all our ancestors died at a young age, think again. Disease, accidents, and diet all contributed to poor health, but the age range for the individuals we’re researching is eighty to one hundred–with a few more than 110!
 
Kids were important players in the formation of these United States. We’ve found an astonishing number of men who claimed to have served in the military at a young age beside their fathers. I guess if you were old enough to hold a gun you could join the fight for independence.

We’ve found many more photos than skeptics told us we would. They turn up in historical societies, family collections, and auction catalogs. Many are identified with a name but without a connection to the Revolutionary War. That’s our job. If you’ve got a photo you think meets our specifications, send me an e-mail. We’ll ferret out the facts. Continue reading →

I located the gravestone of one of my great-uncles once, directly beside that of his wife in her family’s plot. Both stones were inscribed with a year of birth and her stone was inscribed with the year of death; his death year was blank. It was not until I visited the municipal cemetery department that I found he was buried in another cemetery altogether–with another woman with the same surname as his.

Always be sure to do thorough research and follow up on anomalies. This revelation led me to records of his second marriage and a whole collection of additional records for his ‘second’ married life.

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Mind Your “Vs” and “Ws”
In searching for my Vent ancestors, in areas where I knew they were living, I often could not find them until I remembered an incident that happened to me years ago.

When I was right out of high school, I lived in an apartment behind the home of a lovely Norwegian lady. My nickname is “Vee,” and my maiden name is Vent; my little landlady would call me “Wee Went.” But if she was saying that she and someone else went somewhere, she would say “vee vent.” It was a matter of how they pronounce their letters. I guess I should have told her my name was Wee Went. (Ha-ha!)

Anyhow, my early German ancestors may have pronounced Vent as “Went” or “Wint” in their broken English. I began looking for “Went, Wint, Want” and I began finding my people. We have to think of how they may have pronounced their name to the census enumerator or whomever. Many of these ancestors were illiterate and thus were dependent on the scribe to spell their names. This is the kind of stuff that really makes these searches interesting, isn’t it?

Veniece Vent Lovell Continue reading →