As we look towards 2009, let’s set some goals in our family history research. Whether your goal is to finally find great-grandpa in the 1900 census, to file that stack of papers, label those photographs, or master a new skill–make a list of things you’d like to accomplish this year. Put it on your desktop where you can review it regularly. Then take each item and set up a plan to make it happen. For example, you could set aside a certain amount of time each day to browse through the census for great-grandpa, even if it’s just ten minutes over that morning cup of coffee. Keep track of where you left off for the next day. File or label photos for fifteen minutes a day. Investigate webinars, classes, or publications that can help you further your research and grow your skills. Let’s make this a great year for your family history!

Religious records rank among the most promising sources for discovering dates, places, and family relationships. In fact, in years before civil registration of vital statistics (a relatively late development in the United States and some other countries), religious or church records rank as the best available sources for birth, marriage and death information.

Traditionally, various denominations have kept different types of records. For example, presbyteries transferred membership records when a member moved to the new church. For centuries, Catholics and most Protestant denominations have kept careful records of baptisms and marriages that included names of godparents and witnesses–many of whom were relatives. Some religions baptized later in life and these records will contain important information about adult members.

Death and funeral information was not always recorded in official registers by some denominations and may therefore be harder to find.

Locating Religious Records
Church records themselves are becoming increasingly available on the Internet. Put the name of the denomination of interest into a search together with the name of the place where your ancestors lived and you may be pleasantly surprised to find great clues. The Jewish Family History Collection is just one indication of how rapidly religious sources are being added to Ancestry.com. Continue reading →

Simplify Finding Distances between Locations
Not long ago I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how far my ancestor lived from the cemetery that I believe he is buried in “as the crow flies.” I could locate both locations on a map, but didn’t know where roads might have been on the frontier. I have since found a free website for joggers and bikers very useful for getting distances. GMaps Pedometer allows you to get straight line distances (manual) between two or more points.

Distances on current roads are available taking into account curves and turns onto other roads (automatic). This will be useful to get an exact driving distance from a landmark to a cemetery or other location. The site is based on Google Maps and has that look and feel to it. Double click to set your start, turn, and end points. I like to zoom in quite a bit and then click and hold to move the map when my route starts to go off the edge. The cyclist route will not let you go down a one-way street the wrong way like the runner route would.  

Gerald M. Graves
Van Meter, Iowa Continue reading →

The year was 1905 and it marked the end of the Russo-Japanese War, which was fought over a dispute stemming from Russia’s occupation of territory in Manchuria. Losing a series of costly battles made the war unpopular in Russia. In January 1905 when protesters assembled at the Tsar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to present a petition asking for better working conditions and an end to the Russo-Japanese War, the Imperial Guard opened fire on the crowd turning the peaceful protest into a massacre. “Bloody Sunday” led to riots and strikes throughout Russia as resentment for the Tsar spread. The disorganized Revolution of 1905 forced the Tsar into concessions, many of which were quickly withdrawn, leaving little change other than the temporary break-up of the revolutionary factions that were fighting for change. 

Norway, which had been united with Sweden since 1814, made a peaceful break and became in independent nation with the signing of the Karlstad Agreement.

Canada added two new provinces in 1905 as Alberta and Saskatchewan, formerly part of the Northwest Territories, joined the Canadian Confederation. Continue reading →

Contributed by Andrew Nichols, Phoenix, Arizona
This is a picture of my great-great-grandfather, Henry Rose, just back from a successful rabbit hunt.  This picture was taken in the late 1800s near Agra, Kansas.

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Contributed by Donna and George Ballamy
This picture is of my Grandfather Henry Lowe, Aunt Lucille, and Grandmother Lowe in their 1908 Maxwell.