Have you been procrastinating over this topic because you are afraid you can't do it? Shirley Hornbeck shows you how to send, make, and receive Gedcoms. Once you do it, this won't seem like such an awesome task.
GEDCOM TIPS
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LOOKUPS
Here is a web page which puts you in contact with people who will do lookups in various states for census, birth, death etc. records. This page will become even more valuable as they acquire volunteers for additional states:
Lookups
FREEBIES
Thanks to Bonnie Jameson for this nifty list of free resources:
FREEBIES
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US MILITARY RECORDS
The following narative provides you with sources for obtaining information for people who served in the US military:
MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION IN
WASHINGTON DC HAS THE FOLLOWING RECORDS:
Volunteers
These are individuals who served voluntarily during a federal emergency from
1775 through 1902. This would include all the early wars
.
US Regular Army
Regular Army enlisted personnel who served from 1789 through 31 December 1885,
and officers who served from 1789 through 30 June 1917.
US Navy
Enlisted personnel who served from 1798 through 31 December 1885, and officers
who served from 1798 through 31 December 1902.
US Marine Corps
Enlisted personnel who served from 1789 through 1904, and some officers who
served from 1789 through 31 December 1895
.
US Coast Guard
Persons who served in predecessor agencies to the Coast Guard (i.e. Revenue
Cutter Service, Life-Saving Service, and Lighthouse Service) from 1791 to
1919. (For Coast Guard records,see under next two headings.)
Confederate Service
Records relating to persons who rendered military service for the confederate
states government in its armed forces from 1861 through 1865.
Veterans Records
Claims filed for Pensions based on Federal military service, 1775-1916, and
Bounty Land Warrant application files relating to claims based on wartime
service, 1775-1855.
THE NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER IN ST. LOUIS, MO.
HAS THE FOLLOWING RECORDS:
US Army
Officers separated after 30 June 1917, and enlisted personnel separated after
31 October 1912.
US Air Force
Officers and enlisted personnel separated after September 1947 (date of
establishment of the US Air Force).
US Navy and Marine Corps
Naval officers separated after 1902, Naval enlisted personnel separated after
1885, Marine Corps officers separated after 1895, and Marine Corps enlisted
personnel separated after 1904.
US Coast Guard
Officers separated after 1928 and enlisted personnel separated after 1914.
Civilian employees of predecessor agencies,
1864-1919
(cont.)
US MILITARY RECORDS CONTINUED
THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL RECORDS CENTER IN SUITLAND,
MARYLAND, HAS THE FOLLOWING RECORDS:
US Coast Guard
Officers who served from 1890 to 1929, includes records of former Revenue
Cutter Service officers whose terms of service extended beyond 1915.
ADDRESSES
General Records Branch (NNRG-P)
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20408
National Personnel Records Center (Military Records), NARA
9700 Page Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63132
Nearly all of the records at the National Archives and Records Administration
are available for examination. In general, they would only be restricted if
their examination would pose a national security problem or invade the privacy
of a living individual.
There are restrictions on the use of the records at the National Personnel
Records Center. They will only release records to veterans and members of
their immediate family--LIMITED TO spouse, parent, grandparent, child, or
sibling. If the veteran is still living, WRITTEN CONSENT is required, even
for members of the immediate family.
Both of these agencies require the request for records to be made on a special
form. Write first and ask for the form.
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CENSUS-ON-LINE
"The latest Eastman's On-Line Genealogy Newsletter has a really
interesting article about Genealogydatabase.com. This is a new service
from Heritage Quest (formerly AGLL). Heritage Quest has digitized the
entire 1790 through 1920 censuses and will now be putting them on-line.
What a fabulous addition to the Internet. The website is at:
http://www.genealogydatabase.com/ . The site doesn't state what the
subscription prices will be but does say:
"GenealogyDatabase.com will be available to libraries on a subscription
basis for public use through their local library system in Fall 2000.
The site will also offer individual consumer subscriptions and a
selection of free genealogy search tools."
CENSUS ON- LINE
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RANDOM ACTS OF GENEALOGICAL KINDNESS
RAOGK is a grassroots movement that consists of volunteers who
agree that once per month they will do local legwork (such as
take a photo of a tombstone at a specified location or obtain a
record from the local county courthouse) for one person who
requests a specific favor in their locality. In return, in
addition to reimbursing the RAOGK volunteer for costs such as
videotape, photocopies, or postage, RAOGK asks that the person
who received the benefit of the favor in turn volunteer to
perform a similar act of genealogical kindness for someone who
needs a favor in the locality where s/he resides.
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness was started by researchers
at one small Web site, but it has grown rapidly into an
international movement. Read all about it and sign up as a
volunteer if you can
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
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NEWSGROUPS
Tired of getting all those Roots-L Digests? Tired of reading through them
and finding nothing that works for you? Forgot the address for
unsubscribing? Well then Bucko, Newsgroups may be what you need.
Newsgroups are like mail lists except that you never have to subscribe and
unsubscribe and you can read them at your leisure when you want to call
them up off your desktop. Newsgroups can be accessed through Netscape or
Internet Explorer but I prefer a free program which can be downloaded off
the Net. It is called "Free Agent". Once you download it you can place an
icon on you desktop and call up the messages as often or as few times as
you desire.
FREE AGENT
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BRINGING OUT THE INFORMATION ON A TOMBSTONE
Bby Crispin Vessell
Heartland Genealogical Newsletter
When you are looking at the tombstone of your ancestor and part of it is unreadable, there are several techniques that you can try to obtain the information that will not damage the stone.
First, and most likely the best method is to try and use baby powder or flour to read the letters or numbers on the stone. If the letters are sunken in then the powder will fill in the indention making the inscription readable. If the letters are raised then the stone will be covered by the powder and the letters will not be because they stand out above the powder. Either way, this method does not damage the stone in anyway and leaves no permanent marks on the stone.
Second, another method to use is to take a pencil and tissue paper and create a rubbing of the stone. To do this place the tissue paper on the stone surface and run the pencil lightly across the stone till you have covered the entire surface of the stone that you wish to read. If the writing is raised the letters will not have pencil lead in them and will stand out on the tissue as white lettering. If the Letters are sunken into the stone the will appear a darker color than that of
the rest of the tissue paper. A drawback to this method though is that the pencil will leave a mark on the stone at times that might take a while to disappear.
If you do not have either of the two methods above at your disposal, you can take dry dirt and gently rub some of it in the lettering or inscription on the stone to try and raise the letters and numbers, this has a 50 - 50 chance of working. It will usually not have a lasting mark on the stone but causes the stone to look unsightly.
Some things you should never do though include any type of method that would harm or vandalize the stone in any way. You should never use paint or markers to color in the stones. This will damage the stones and is illegal.
Finally, common sense approaches are the best idea, if you think it could harm a stone, then its best just to trust your first impression, or ask another genealogist. If you have questions there are E-mail list that address this very topic and are a great source of information on cemeteries in general. Keep looking and digging!
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CEMETERY RECORDS
This appears to be an excellent source for searching cemetery records by states and counties. Even some other countries in this.
Cemetery Records
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"PRE-1905 DEATH RECORD PROJECT"
I believe some of you, like me, are native Californians. If so, this project may be of value to you.
The "Pre-1905 Project" has as its goal the transcription of all California vital statistics onto a web page for use by researchers. As you know the State of California's vital statistics are available starting in 1905. Records before this date are available at the various counties.
At the present time the Project is recording death records but hopes at a later date to do this with marriage and birth records. So far records for only two counties are completed, Riverside and Madera.
By looking at the following URL you will be able to see the progress that has been made in the county of your interest. You should bookmark this URL so that you can come back to it at a later time.
I have volutered to assist in the project so if you have any questions let me know. I suspect design of this project will spread to other states.
Pre-1905 Death Record Project
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