Indholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2021 i Family Tree

New things are both a blessing and a curse. My wife recently replaced her phone. Though we have similar phones from just a couple years apart, the technology has already advanced so much. I’m perplexed any time she hands me her phone and asks me to take a picture or make a call. Why doesn’t hers have the same buttons as mine? Do I swipe up to do that, or down? And where exactly did she put that app? As genealogists, we can all relate to the pains of changing technology. Websites and mobile apps pop up, then disappear just as fast. And advances in artificial intelligence and optical character recognition bring new records online and index them at lightning speed. With all that change, it can be hard to keep…

A newly updated app, Genea <verticalhorizon-software.com/genea.html> ($7.99), allows you to organize genealogy-related notes, keep research logs, and sync data between Macs and iOS devices. You can sort and search notes (which can be both text and images), as well as connect interrelated events, people, text or other items. Research logs, too, have been buffed in the revised version. Users can now create an unlimited number of research logs with defined objectives and searchable, contextual information. They can also share logs as PDFs, export notes with linked events as GEDCOM files, and add research activities to a calendar.…

is the founder of the Genealogy Gems website and podcast <www.lisalouisecooke.com>, and host of the Family Tree Podcast <www.familytreemagazine.com/podcasts>. Road Trip The wide-open road calls to us in the summertime. And in 1931, writer and illustrator Clarence Peter Helck created a chromolithograph pictorial map for Fortune magazine illustrating how seriously Americans answered that call. His elaborate color map available at the David Rumsey Map Collection website <www.davidrumsey.com> includes statistics on how many passenger cars visited popular attractions like Coney Island and the Indianapolis Speedway, plus notation boxes with fun facts. The corners feature cars (spanning 1895 to 1931) that traveled the roads at that time. App Obsession MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com> continues to introduce exciting and ground-breaking photo tools such as the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer and MyHeritage In Color tools (see pages…

If you’ve spent any time with vintage family photos, you’ve probably noticed colors in them that show signs of wear. Perhaps a red or blue haze has settled on those 1960s family vacation snapshots. Or fading hues have dimmed Grandma’s cheerful wardrobe. Maybe you’ve wished for rosier tones in your black-and-white or sepia images. It’s more difficult sometimes to feel a connection to relatives when you can’t see the warm tones of their skin, hair, eyes or clothing. Photo backgrounds can seem equally unreal when they’ve been reduced to shades of gray. Fortunately, the technology now exists to put bloom back in the cheeks of your ancestors in family photos. You can restore original colors and even inject color into black-and-white images. While you’re at it, you can address other…

ALTHOUGH ARIZONA IS THE YOUNGEST OF THE contiguous states, it has been home to Native peoples for at least 12,000 years and to Spanish settlers predating American independence. The state’s long history can prove a fertile ground for your genealogy research. HISTORY By about 200 A.D., Pueblo tribes began living in adobe structures, sometimes built into caves or hillsides. And by about 450, the Hohokam were farming the Gila and Salt River valleys near present-day Phoenix, eventually constructing a 700-mile network of irrigation canals. A Hopi village, Oraibi, established around 1150, is thought to be America’s oldest continuously inhabited town. Later-arriving tribes included the Navajo and Apache. The first Spanish expedition, led by Father Marcos de Niza, arrived in 1539. De Niza’s report of finding the fabled Seven Cities of…

PENNSYLVANIA WAS THE MOST RELIGIOUSLY AND ethnically diverse of the original Thirteen Colonies. Philadelphia, its largest city, was the top port of arrival during the 1700s and remained an important entry point well into the 20th century. The commonwealth grew enormously in the 19th century, and while its early role as the nation’s breadbasket was eclipsed by the Midwest, Pennsylvania’s wealth of coal and timber made it a magnet for immigrants of many ethnicities—and a center of industry. The 20th century was less kind to Pennsylvania demographically as its population stagnated, but its storied place in American history has resulted in many records becoming more accessible online. A COMMONWEALTH OF HISTORY Native American nations known as the Leni Lenape and Susquehannocks inhabited Pennsylvania for centuries, with some Shawnee bands settling…

When it comes to genealogy, there are never enough hours to do research. And to make matters worse, we can easily get distracted from our work when we do find the time by bright shiny objects (also known as “BSOs”) such as automated record hints. What’s a family historian to do? To best streamline your research, you’ll want to develop a system to log—and save for later—the seemingly endless genealogy “to-do” items that crop up as you learn more about your ancestors. And when you finally do handle those tasks, find a way of logging what you found there to prevent repeating yourself in the future. Enter Trello <www.trello.com>, a free online collaboration tool that organizes projects and ideas into easy-to-navigate boards, lists and cards. If you’re ready to level…

Coverage: Varies by locality. Usually kept by county from foundation, then by state officials beginning in the 19th or 20th century Jurisdiction where kept: State departments of health or vital statistics offices; copies at state archives, county courthouses, town halls, denominational archives, local religious institutions Key details: Name of bride and groom; marriage date; name of officiant; county; name of bride’s and groom’s parents; birthplaces for bride, groom and parents; names of surety (bondsmen) Alternates and substitutes: newspapers, church publications and records, censuses, death records, probate records, pension records, obituaries, Bible records…

Q My husband had a great-great-uncle from Indiana who served for the Union Army and a POW. He was aboard the Sultana when it exploded. Are there records of those killed in the explosion? A The 27 April 1865 explosion of the Sultana on the Mississippi River near Memphis was the worst maritime disaster in US history. Packed with some six times its carrying capacity—including Union POWs just released from Confederate camps such as Andersonville—the steamboat was carrying more than 2,100 passengers. Estimates of the numbers who died when three of the Sultana’s boilers exploded and the ship sank range from 1,160 to 1,500; many of the bodies were never found. You can search for records of ex-POWs aboard the boat at < www.civilwarprisoners.com/search.php?database=sultana>. A list of survivors can be…

Add a birth year and/or place your ancestor might have lived to help distinguish him from others with the same name. Enter whatever name information you have. Click the word Exact for a popup menu of options to restrict your search to “Exact” (to perform a search on just the characters you typed), “Exact and Sounds Like” (a search on names that sound similar) or “Exact and Similar” (a search on names with similar meanings or spellings). You can also search by initials (for first names) or Soundex matches (for last names). Click Add Event to also search by a specific event: birth, marriage, death, “Lived In” (place of residence in, for example, census records), “Any Event” (all date fields in a record), etc. You can add as many as…

CENSUS & VOTER LISTS • 1790–1940 United States Federal Census (15 separate collections)• U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850–1880• U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885–1940• 1851–1911 England Census (seven separate collections) BIRTH, MARRIAGE & DEATH • U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s–Current• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560–1900• U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s–1999• England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975• England, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007• Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558–1898 (in German) MILITARY • U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1900• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889–1970• U.S., Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863–1865• U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861–1865• U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934• U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards,…

Newspapers.com. I have gotten so much information from family obituaries that I find in old newspapers on this site.Michelle A. Johnson via Facebook FINDMYPAST. For my UK research, they had parish records. Without them, it would have been hard to get beyond c. 1841.Barbara Parry via Facebook Ancestry. I have found more information and photographs through this than any other site.Robert Davis via Facebook ANCESTRY AND NEWSPAPERS.COM so far. But my most interesting finds have been on free sites like FamilySearch and Fulton History. I found my dad’s army discharge papers for free on FamilySearch.Carla Ginn Griffith via Facebook Findmypast has been the best for me. I have found several wills, BMD [birth, marriage, death] records.Pam Bylczynski via Facebook…

In 1838, Jesuit priests who ran what is now Georgetown University sold 272 enslaved people to put the college on a firm financial footing. That group of enslaved people, nicknamed the “GU272,” has in recent years inspired conversations on accountability and racial healing. In March, America magazine reported that the Society of Jesus (that is, the Jesuit religious order) has pledged to raise $100 million to promote racial healing, as part of a collaborative effort with descendants of the GU272. According to the article, “The foundation will support the education of descendants for future generations and provide direct relief to the impoverished, the infirm and elderly.” Learn more at the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation <www.descendants.org>.…

1540 Spaniard Vázquez de Coronado explores southeast Arizona and claims the region for Spain 1752 The first Spanish garrison (presidio) is founded in Tubac 1821 Mexico (then including Arizona) wins independence from Spain 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transfers vast swaths of land to the United States, including much of modern Arizona 1854 The United States buys southern Arizona in the Gadsden Purchase, establishing the modern US-Mexico border 1863 The Arizona Territory is formed; two years earlier, a separate Arizona Territory supported the Confederacy 1867 Arizona cedes much of its land west and north of the Colorado River (including modern Las Vegas) to Nevada 1886 Geronimo surrenders, largely ending armed conflict between the US armed forces and American Indians in the region 1912 Arizona joins the Union, the last…

1638 Settlers found New Sweden in the Delaware River Valley 1655 The Dutch capture New Sweden, incorporating it into New Netherland 1664 The Dutch cede New Netherland to the English 1674 The English retake control of New Netherland after a brief conflict with the Dutch 1681 King Charles II grants the Province of Pennsylvania to William Penn 1701 The “Lower Counties” (Delaware) gain a legislature independent from Pennsylvania; the two share a governor until 1776 1776 The Second Continental Congress signs the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia 1787 Pennsylvania is the second state to ratify the Constitution 1800 The US capital moves from Philadelphia to the newly built Washington, DC 1878 Lackawanna County is created from Luzerne County, the last major change to Pennsylvania county borders…

Before you learn where to find Italian records, you’ll need to know what records you’re looking for in the first place. And the best records to research an Italian family are stato civile records, or registration records of births, marriages and deaths kept by civil government authorities. Different regions of Italy began record-keeping at different times, so when they begin for your family will depend on your ancestors’ town of origin. Civil records from different eras also have different names, and are indicated as such in Italian genealogy websites: • Stato civile napoleonico(1804–1815; civil registration of the Napoleonic Period, or SCN): Areas ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte (which was almost all of modern-day Italy) began record-keeping during his reign. • Stato civile della restaurazione (1815–1860/1865; civil registration of the Restoration Period,…

FINDING MAIDEN NAMES is no easy task, but they’re crucial for taking your family history back another generation. Search broadly for records that might contain your ancestor’s maiden name. We cover marriage records—the most obvious place to find them—in the new Source Spotlight column on page 58, and you can find other key record groups at <www.familytreemagazine.com/femaleancestors/maiden-name-records>. Remember to list women in your family tree by their maiden names whenever possible. This issue also has tips for understanding Scandinavian names (page 69) and a roundup of surname studies (page 64), communities that research a particular family name.…

1 Elaine Connell found this image in an old photo book of her father-in-law’s. The fact that it’s made of glass suggests it’s an ambrotype, a type of wet collodion image patented in the mid-1850s and popular until the 1870s. They are usually varnished on the back to make the negative image appear as a positive. 2 As a genealogist, Elaine has a suspect in mind: Alexander Monroe Connell (1823–1890), a Civil War soldier born in Coweta, Ga. Upon the war’s beginning in 1861, Alexander would have been about 38, a feasible age for this man. 3 His small, dark-collared wool jacket with bold buttons could be a “Georgia jacket,” which featured a black collar and epaulets. (The latter are missing from this image.) The man folded down his standing…

1 Run “fuzzy” searches. Names, dates, and places in old records are often inconsistent or spelled incorrectly. Broaden your search to include records that are close to your search terms. The “Show More Options” section of the search form, as well as the search forms for categories and individual collections, have filters to search for sound-alike names and date ranges. 2 Use wildcards. Ancestry.com’s search filters help account for mistakes and inconsistencies in records, but they don’t catch everything. Search wildcard characters can help. Use a ? to substitute for one letter in a name, and a * to stand for zero or more letters. For example, Johns?n will return records for Johnsen and Johnson, and Smel*er finds Smeltzer, Smeller and others. 3 Go nameless. Can’t find a record? A…

Genealogy how-to downloads and videos, plus PDF back-issues of Family Tree Magazine <www.familytreemagazine.com/shop> Free genealogy advice from host Lisa Louise Cooke and expert guests iTunes / <www.familytreemagazine.com/podcasts> Our members-only online library of genealogy instruction <www.familytreemagazine.com/product/website-vip> Detailed online courses and webinars full of expert advice about key research subjects <www.familytreemagazine.com/course> <www.facebook.com/familytreemagazine> @FamilyTreeMag Family Tree Magazine @familytreemag…

During the pandemic, one of the things many people have missed the most is the ability to travel. Zoom meetings and Instacart or DoorDash orders can’t substitute for the pleasures of actually going places. Even if you’re not ready to travel again yet, however, navigating places from your ancestors’ past can help prepare for nonvirtual visits. Whether you’re planning a long-postponed tour of your ancestors’ original stomping grounds or just imagining what their lives were like there, our annual installment of 101 Best Websites can be your guidebook. As we have for two decades now, we’ve ventured to every corner of the internet to discover the best sites for genealogy research, near or far. From cutting-edge topics like DNA to the best places to view cemetery records, these 101 sites…

Websites Arizona Memory Project <azmemory.azlibrary.gov> Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates < www.azdhs.gov/licensing/vital-records/genealogy/index.php> AZGenWeb Project <sites.rootsweb.com/~azgenweb> Cyndi’s List: Arizona <www.cyndislist.com/us/az> FamilySearch Research Wiki <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Arizona,_United_States_Genealogy> Linkpendium: Arizona <www.linkpendium.com/az-genealogy> Western States Marriage Records Index <abish.byui.edu/specialcollections/westernstates/search.cfm> Publications Arizona Place Names by Will C. Barnes (University of Arizona Press) Arizona: A History by Thomas E. Sheridan (University of Arizona Press) Hispanic Arizona, 1536–1856 by James E. Officer (University of Arizona Press) Historical Atlas of Arizona by Henry P. Walker and Don Bufkin (University of Oklahoma Press) Archives & Organizations Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records <www.azlibrary.gov> Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board <www.azgab.org> Arizona Historical Society <www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org> Arizona State University Library <lib.asu.edu> National Archives at Riverside <www.archives.gov/riverside> Pioneers’ Cemetery Association <www.azhistcemeteries.org> Sharlot Hall Museum <www.sharlothallmuseum.org> University of Arizona Library <www.library.arizona.edu>…

Websites Archives Records Information Access System (ARIAS) <www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us> Cyndi’s List: Pennsylvania <www.cyndislist.com/us/pa> FamilySearch Research Wiki: Pennsylvania <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Pennsylvania,_United_States_Genealogy> Linkpendium: Pennsylvania <www.linkpendium.com/pa-genealogy> Pennsylvania GenWeb <www.pagenweb.org> Publications Guide to African American Resources at the Pennsylvania State Archives by Ruth E. Hodge (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission) Guide to Genealogical Sources at the Pennsylvania State Archives by Robert M. Dructor (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission) Pennsylvania Land Records: A History and Guide for Research by Donna Bingham Munger (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) Research in Pennsylvania by Kay Haviland Freilich (National Genealogical Society) Archives & Organizations Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department <www.carnegielibrary.org/research-overview/genealogy> Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania <www.genpa.org> Historical Society of Pennsylvania <www.hsp.org> Mennonite Heritage Center <www.mhep.org> Moravian Archives <www.moravianchurcharchives.org> National Archives at Philadelphia <www.archives.gov/philadelphia> Pennsylvania State Archives <www.phmc.pa.gov/archives/pages/default.aspx> Pennsylvania State Library <www.statelibrary.pa.gov/pages/default.aspx>…

1. COMUNI ITALIANI <en.comuni-italiani.it> Click on the name of a province and town to get connected to more web resources for that area. 2. SOCIAL HISTORIES Classic books like La Storia: Five Centuries of Italian American Experience by Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale (Harper Perennial) give insight into your Italian ancestor’s everyday life. 3. NEWSPAPERS Italian-language newspapers (or English-language newspapers in Italian-American communities) provide another great view at life in immigrant communities. Look for them in databases like GenealogyBank < www.genealogybank.com> or the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center <cla.umn.edu/ihrc/research>. 4. ORDER SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF ITALY IN AMERICA <www.osia.org> This organization, founded in 1905 as Oridine Figli d’Italia, helped Italian-American immigrants adjust to life in their new country. 5. NAMING TRADITIONS Your ancestors’ names can contain clues to…

In addition to its billions of records, Ancestry.com supports a robust online family tree feature that can help you track your research. Add Ancestry.com records directly to your tree, or upload your own facts and sources (including GEDCOM files). And with more than 100 million user-created family trees in Ancestry.com’s database, you’re sure to find your ancestors among other users’ family trees—though (as with other published genealogy sources) you should always verify the information in other users’ Member Trees before adding it to your own. Ancestry.com’s family trees sync directly with RootsMagic and Family Tree Maker software.…