2008 at Ancestry: Collection Highlights
This week, I went through all of the newsletters from this year and pulled out some of the larger databases that were posted this week, and some of my personal favorites from this year. My thought was to write a column about them, but when I realized how many there were, I decided that the article would focus on five or so. Here is my initial list, beginning with some of the more exciting titles for the U.S. (Bear in mind though that this is not all-inclusive for 2008. To make sure you’re catching all the resources for your area of interest, search the card catalog.)
- U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 (Update adding Wisconsin) First release from the World Archives Project
- U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918
- U.S. City Directories (1,100 directories from various states)
- Major Historical Newspaper Collection Update– 20 million images added
- California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968
- Brooklyn, New York Catholic Church Baptism Records, 1837-1900
- Brooklyn, New York Catholic Church Marriage Records, 1839-1900
Native American
- U.S. Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized
Tribes, 1898-1914 - U.S. Native American Applications for Enrollment in Five Civilized
Tribes, 1896
African American
- U.S. Southern Claims Commission Master Index, 1871-1880
- U.S. Southern Claims Commission, Allowed Claims, 1871-1880
- U.S. Southern Claims Commission, Disallowed and Barred Claims, 1871-1880
- U.S. Freedmen Bureau Records of Field Offices, 1865-1872 (Updated)
- U.S. Freedmen’s Marriage Records, 1861-1869
Census
- Florida State Census, 1867-1945
- Illinois State Censuses for the following years: 1825, 1830, 1835, 1845, 1855, and 1865
- Missouri State Census Collection, 1844-1881
Military
- U.S. Navy Pensions Index, 1861-1910
- U.S. Military and Naval Academy Registers, 1805-1908
- U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
- U.S. Navy Cruise Books, 1950-1988
- Returns from Regular Army Regiments, 1821-1916 (browseable)
- Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865
- U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-
1783 (Browsable by location) - U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1940 - Updated
- U.S. Army Indian Campaign Service Records Index, 1815-1858
- U.S. Index to General Correspondence of the Record and Pension
Office, 1889-1904 (browseable)
State Vitals
- Cook County, Illinois Birth Index, 1916-1935
- Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930-1960
- Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988
- Missouri Still Birth & Miscellaneous Records, 1805-2002
- Missouri Death Records, 1834-1931
- Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002
- North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004 (Updated adding nearly 500,000 records)
- North Carolina Divorce Index, 1958-2004
- Tennessee Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965
- Washington Births, 1891-1907
- Washington Deaths, 1891-1907
- Wisconsin Death Index, 1959-1997
Immigration/Naturalization
- U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes, 1794-1995
(Index with certificate number and for most, volume and page number.) - California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 (Updated)
- Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia, 1800-1819
- South Carolina Naturalizations 1783-1850
- New York Petitions for Naturalization-Update (Index cards)
- Michigan Passenger and Crew Lists, 1903-1965
- Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956 (Updated)
International/Ethnic
Australia
- Australia, Convict Savings Bank Books, 1824-1886
- Australia, List of Convicts with Particulars, 1788-1842
- New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists,
1828-1896 - New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists,
1826-1922 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register, 1826-1879
- New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related
Records, 1790-1849 - 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy)
- 1841 New South Wales, Australia, Census
- New South Wales, Australia Historical Electoral Rolls, 1842-1864
Canada
- 1891 Census of Canada
- Drouin Collection (French-Canadian)
- Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935
- Nova Scotia 1770 Census
- Canadian City and Area Directories, 1819-1899
- Ontario, Canada Voter Lists, 1867-1900
France
- Marne, France Births, 1501-1907 (in French)
- Marne, France Marriages, 1529-1907 (in French)
- Marne, France Deaths, 1547-1907 (in French)
- Paris, France & Vicinity Births, 1700-1899 (in French)
- Paris, France & Vicinity Marriage Banns, 1860-1902 (in French)
- Paris, France & Vicinity Marriages, 1710-1907 (in French)
- Paris, France & Vicinity Deaths, 1707-1907 (in French)
- Paris & Vicinity, France Electoral Rolls, 1891
Germany
- 500 German City Directories
- Bremen, German Deaths of Sailors and Ship Passengers, 1834-1875 (in German)
- Bremen, German Desertions of Sailors, 1855-1874 (in German)
- Bremen, Germany Ships Crew Lists, 1815-1917 (in German)
- Bremen, Germany Sailors Registry, 1824-1917 (in German)
- Bremen, Germany Births on Ships, 1867-1911 (in German)
- Germany, Topographic Maps, 1860-1965 (in German)
- German Casualties in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871 (in German)
- Various German directories and biographical titles (in German, some with free indexes)
- Holocaust: Schindler’s Lists
Ireland
Italy
- Calabria Region, Italy, Civil Registration, 1810-1936 (in Italian)
- Lombardia Region, Italy, Civil Registration Records, 1866-1936 (in Italian)
- Piemonte Region, Italy, Civil Registration Records, 1870-1937 (Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Provinces–in Italian)
Jewish
Sweden
- Värmland, Sweden, Parish Records, 1661-1895 (in Swedish-updated)
Switzerland
- Swiss Overseas Emigration, 1910-1953 (in German)
UK/Scotland
- UK Medical Registers, 1859-1959
- UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- British Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1918
- UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
- The Voters’ List for the City of London, 1895
- The Voters’ List for the City of London, 1897
- England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906
- England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940
- British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
- England, The National Roll of the Great War, 1914-1918
- British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
- British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920
- Great Britain, Royal Naval Division Casualties of The Great War, 1914-1924
- Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910-1950
- Former Colonial Dependencies Slave Register Collection, 1812-1834
- Dunfermline Journal, 1851-1931 (Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland)
Find your column very informative and enjoyable. I wonder why there is not more information about Hungary? I realize that she has gone through many occupations and records may be hard to obtain, however, I see no mention of any attempts by Ancestry or another research firm for records. Could you cover Hungary on-line and repository sources in your next column for 2009? I’m sure there are many out there who would appreciate it.
Comment by Edith Marino — 22 December 2008 @ 8:20 am
My favorite site entered in Ancestry this year is: Bremen Germany Crew Lists on Ships 1815-1917. Renke Hashagen (my dad’s g-g-grandfather) supposedly went to the North Pole and never came back. Through a query on Ancestry I had found out (church records) he was born 13 Mar 1797, Bremen, Germany and probably died in Gronland (Greenland) about 1820. The Crew Lists showed him as a crew member on two whaling ships. Ancestry solved this family mystery in more ways than one!! He wasn’t going to the North Pole. He was a carpenter on whaling ships, one of which probably sunk. By the way, when I started my searching many years ago, I didn’t even know the ancestor was named Renke. Thanks, Ancestry. Theora Frisbee
Comment by theora frisbee — 10 February 2009 @ 10:42 am