Gaming for Ancestors

If you are looking for a fun and unusual way to record your family tree you might want to consider playing Family Village.

Family Village is a facebook game that allows family history hunters to build a family tree in game format. The premise of the game is to invite relatives to play and create a database of ancestors along with living family members by entering their information into the game.

How Does this Create a Database of Ancestors?

The game allows you to go on quests and build a village by entering all the usual types of genealogical information about your ancestors such as birth, marriage and death documents and photos. It allows you to enter immigration information, maps and newspaper articles as well as adding occupations. You can even build avatars of your ancestors.

 

In their vision statement game developer Finium  says that their purpose in developing the game is to provide meaningful games that will aid family tree hunters in preserving their family history.

Family Village is a great way to connect with relatives and get the whole family involved in genealogy.

Ships Lists: Free Genealogy Resource

Genealogy beginners looking for immigrant ancestors should head straight over and bookmark The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG) website.

The ISTG is a volunteer group that has been working since 1998 to transcribe ships lists on a global scale and publish them on the internet. In the years since its inception, the ISTG website has grown to include volumes of passenger manifests.

 

The scale of the site may make navigating it a little intimidating to the novice family history hunter.  A short tutorial will help make things a little easier.

How to Search the ISTG

Step one:

Locate the search box on the upper left hand corner of the opening page and enter the surname you are researching. This should move you forward to a page with a long list of matches.

Step Two:

On the upper right hand corner of the page, you will find an option for advanced searches…click the option.

The advanced search will give you four text boxes

1.      All – will return pages that include all of the terms entered

2.      Phrase – will return pages matching the exact phrase

3.      Any – will return pages that match any of the terms – in no specific order

4.      None – includes other selected items and must be used in tandem with other fields

For example, entering “Alexander McCallum” into the “All” field returns ships named Alexander as well as passengers surnamed Alexander and McCallum.

The same search entered in the “Phrase” field returns only passengers named Alexander McCallum.

In the Any field these search terms return the same results as entering into the “All” field. It is good to use the “None” field in tandem as you can enter terms you do not want matched in order to narrow your search.

Once you are comfortable using the search function you will be free to search some of this sites great free resources from Jacobite rebellion ships to New York arrivals.

One great feature of this site that you will not want to miss is the ISTG compass, which is a tool to simplify your searches by breaking down resources into consumable information bites.

The ISTG is another site that relies heavily on volunteer transcribers, if you would like to help check out their Guild Application for more information.

Make sure you are prepared for your visit to The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild with Genealogy Beginners Family Tree Starter Kit, available with your 30-day free membership.

Research Americas Earliest Immigrants FREE

Family Tree fanatics wishing to research the earliest immigrants to the Americas are in for a real treat with this fantastic book published in 1874 and titled The Original Lists.  

 The book will be of great interest to any family history seekers whose family came to the Americas during 1600-1700.

 

 

Its contents are comprised of the original lists of:

• Persons of quality
• Emigrants
• Religious exiles
• Political rebels
• Serving men sold for a term of years
• Apprentices
• Children stolen
• Maidens pressed; and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700

It is exciting to note that within the pages of this fantastic resource is a list of  early immigrant passengers that came over on the Mayflower (1620), The Fortune (1621), The Anne and Little James(1623).

Along with this bounty of genealogical booty, the book lists the ages of individuals, the ships they embarked on and various other interesting details such as the following:

“The bill of mortality of the said rebells that dyed since they were reced on board and were thrown overboard out of the said ship are these uiz. December the Sixteenth Thomas Venner, Seventeenth W* Guppy, Eighteenth John Willis, Nineteenth Edward Venn,  the same day Philip Cox one and Twentieth Robert Vawter, Five and Twentieth Wm Greenway, January the first Peter Bird, Witnessed by the commander, March and officers’ of the said ship this Eigth day of January 1685.”

 John May

John Penn

John Maddison

Gabriel Whithorn

Malcum Fraser

One very interesting chapter is “Entries relating to America taken from the Indexes to the Patent Rolls, commencing 4 James I 1606 and ending 14 William III 1702.” The entries in this section are very intriguing and include entries such as:

“Grant of Incorporation, by the name of the treasurer and Company of Adventurers  and Planters in the city of London and Bristol, For the Colony and Plantation in Newfoundland.”

Taken from manuscripts held in the State Department; Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, England, this incredible resource is filled from cover to cover with fascinating histories of the earliest pioneers to the Americas.

Before you start flipping through the pages, remember to download your Family Tree Charts and Research Tracking forms available with your 30- Day free trial to Genealogy Beginner.

Read The Original Lists at Internet Archives

Obama Descendant of First Slave?

Since first starting out on the election trail, President Barack Obama’s family history has been a subject of great interest. In this week’s news, Obama’s family tree has become even more noteworthy as genealogist claim to trace his descent from the American Colonies first documented slave.

 

 

 

The Roots of Slavery

The commencement of slavery in the US began in Virginia with the arrival of 20 Africans aboard a Dutch Man – o – War. At its inception, slavery was not legally recognized and the status of Africans was documented as indentured servants. This can be seen in the colonial court records of Virginia in a document dating from 1625 that notes “Antonio the Negro” as a servant.

In those early times, there was no distinction between black and white indentured servants. As a result, it was common for black and white indentured servants in addition to “Poor whites” to associate closely, working side by side, becoming friends and often intermarrying.

John Punch

In the year 1640 one black and two white indentured servants ran away from the Virginia plantation where they worked.  Eventually, the tree escapees were captured and returned to the plantation. Upon their return, the Virginia General Court passed a sentence of four additional years of servitude onto the white runaways while African John Punch received a punishment of life in servitude, making him the first (documented) black slave in American history.

The Ancestral Connection

Genealogist conducting research for Ancestry.com claim to have traced the descent of the American Commander and Chief to Punch; surprisingly through Obama’s maternal white line.  The president’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham is reported to have a line of descent to white landowners in the Virginia colonies.

The genealogists contend that it is through a Dunham woman and John Punch that President Obama’s line descends. If their findings are accurate, Punch is Obama’s 11^th great grandfather.

If this is true, there is a certain poetic justice in that a descendant of the first black slave was to become the first black president.

When Genealogy and History Meet

While all family history researchers love to find surprising information during our searches it is doubly exciting when research leads to the discovery of documents of great historical importance.

One such discovery was made recently at the London College of Arms.

 

 

It is within the London College of Arms where the official registrations of Coats of Arms and pedigrees for the titled nobility of Great Britain are held. It is also the place to go if there is a knight or a Royal in your family tree.

Family History and Armorial Bearings

A Coat of Arms or “Armorial Bearings” are a mater of heredity that can only be born by a direct male descendant and legitimate heir of the person to whom they were first granted.

At the London College of Arms, the individual known as the “Officer in Waiting” acts as advisor to those wishing to research their paternal line. His role is to inform petitioners of costs and give direction concerning genealogical research. It is however, the persons known as Heralds who since medieval times have acted as genealogists and in fact developed scientific genealogical methods.

Heralds or “Officers of Arms” are experts at delving into centuries old manuscripts to search out pedigrees listing armigerous ancestors.

The Discovery

The London College of Arms has in their official collection, approximately 750 volumes of manuscripts listing armorials and pedigrees for almost every generation of British, Scottish, Irish and Welsh nobles from 1530 to 1688.  Apart from this main collection exists an unofficial collection of particular genealogical and heraldic importance that dates from an even earlier period.

It is among the latter collection that the recent discovery was made of a rare accounting document that recorded the undertakings of Italian bankers in early 15^th century London. The document, belonging to Domenicio Villani & Partners, a Florentine merchant-banking company, was found nearly concealed under a coat of arms. Information contained in the papers gives great insight into the history of trade in medieval Britain.

You might wonder what these papers were doing in the London College of Arms. That is actually no mystery as during medieval times, good quality paper was scarce and repurposing was quite commonplace.

Irish Surname Resources

Are you an O’Mally or an O’Neil?

If you are a genealogy beginner in search of Irish surname resources you are in luck because you are among the millions of fortunate family tree fanatics who can draw from a wide variety of genealogy resources.

 

 

To get started you might want to check out this fantastic Irish Surname Infographic which gives an at-a-glance overview of the top twenty most common Irish surnames.

Other information you can find on the infographic include:

 

Another fantastic resource to check out is Irish Central an online magazine packed with all things Irish including an in depth article explaining the top 100 Irish surnames.If you already know about your Irish surname and you are ready to start digging deep for your Irish roots try stopping by Irish Genealogy where you can search almost three million pre-20^th century Church records for FREE.

Want more resources? Try Genuki Ireland for links on where to research:

 INFORMATION RELATED TO ALL OF IRELAND

Archives and Libraries Bibliography Biography Cemeteries Census Chronology Church Records Civil Registration Court Records Description and Travel Directories Emigration and Immigration Gazetteers Genealogy

Heraldry History Land and Property Maps Military History Names, Geographical Names, Personal Newspapers Nobility Occupations Periodicals Probate Records Social Life and Customs Societies Taxation

Before you get started on your Irish family history research, don’t forget to download your Research tracking forms and Family Tree Charts. Available with your 30-Day FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP to Genealogy Beginner

Newest FREE Family Tree Resources

If you have been waiting for new genealogy resources to become available online, your wait may be over. The month of July 2012 saw some great additions to genealogy resources by FamilySearch.

The new additions span the globe from the USA to Asia…some dating from the 1400s.

 

 

Keep reading for a complete list of the July’s new records:

Record For	Record Type	Date Added
United States
Alabama, Madison County	Chancery and Circuit Court Records, 1847-1950	10 Jul 2012
California, San Mateo	County Records, 1856-1991	17 Jul 2012
Indiana	Marriages, 1811-1959	7 Jul 2012
Maine	State Archive Collections, 1790-1966	10 Jul 2012
Missouri, Jackson	County Voter Registration Records, 1928-1956	17 Jul 2012
Nevada	County Birth and Death Records, 1871-1992	10 Jul 2012
New York, Orange County	Probate records	10 Jul 2012
Oregon	Douglas County Records, 1852-1952	10 Jul 2012
Texas	Deaths, 1977-1986	19 Jul 2012
United States	Census, 1940	6 Jul 2012
United States	Social Security Death Index	2 Jul 2012
United States	Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files	7 Jul 2012
United States	National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938	10 Jul 2012
Utah	County Marriages, 1887-1937	6 Jul 2012
Utah	Marriages 1887-1966	16 Jul 2012
Canada
Canada	Census, 1916	3 Jul 2012
Nova Scotia	Vital Records, 1763-1957	3 Jul 2012
Ontario	Marriages, 1869-1927	6 Jul 2012
Quebec	Notarial Records, 1800-1900	17 Jul 2012
Saskatchewan	Probate Estate Files 1887-1931	6 Jul 2012
Great Britain
Scotland	Census, 1881	2 Jul 2012
Scotland	Census, 1891	2 Jul 2012
Western Europe
Italy, L’Aquila, Camarda, Parrocchia di San Giovanni Battista	Catholic Church Records, 1606-1941	3 Jul 2012
Italy, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale	Catholic Church Records, 1531-1998	3 Jul 2012
Italy, Trento, Diocesi di Trento, Catholic	Catholic Church Records, 1548-1937	21 Jul 2012
Italy, Vicenza, Casoni, Parocchia di San Rocco,	Catholic Church Records, 1597-1937	3 Jul 2012
Spain, Province of Sevilla	Municipal Records, 1903-1918	10 Jul 2012
Spain, Province of Tarragona	Records of Widows and Orphans of Spanish Officials, 1860-1960	10 Jul 2012
Eastern Europe
Czech Republic	Censuses, 1843-1921	10 Jul 2012
Czech Republic	Land Records, 1450-1889	10 Jul 2012
Poland	Roman Catholic Church Books,	16 Jul 2012
Slovakia	Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1910	19 Jul 2012
South America
Chile, Santiago	Collection of Genealogies, 1500-1980	11 Jul 2012
Chile, Santiago	Cementerio General, 1821-2011	11 Jul 2012
Peru, Lima	Civil Registration, 1874-1996	11 Jul 2012
Peru, La Libertad	Civil Registration, 1903-1997	2 Jul 2012
Dominican Republic	Civil Registration, 1801-2010	11 Jul 2012
Ecuador	Catholic Church Records, 1565-1996	2 Jul 2012
Guatemala	Civil Registration, 1877-2008	3 Jul 2012
Portugal, Braga	Catholic Church Records 1530-1911	11 Jul 2012
Portugal, Castelo Branco	Catholic Church Records	20 Jul 2012
Portugal, Diocese of Lamego	Catholic Church Records, 1529-1916	11 Jul 2012
Portugal, Diocese of Vila Real	Catholic Church Records, 1575-1975	11 Jul 2012
Asia
Korea	Collection of Genealogies, 1500-2009	10 Jul 2012
South Africa
South Africa	Free State Dutch Reformed Church Records, 1848-1956	19 Jul 2012
South Africa	Orange Free State, Estate Files, 1951-2004	11 Jul 2012
South Africa, Western Cape	Various Records	10 Jul 2012

 

Before you tackle all of these new family history records and break your genealogy brick wall, remember to download your Research tracking forms and Family Tree Charts. Available with your 30-Day FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP to Genealogy Beginner

 

Pinning your Family Tree

Well it certainly did not take long for family tree fanatics to make use of social media “pinning” sites.

If you are new to social media here is what you need to know about pinning. Pinning is a visual way of sharing your interests via a virtual pin board.  You can create boards based on a singular theme such as genealogy, family tree, family history etc. Ultimately, what these sites do is share links through images. One way to think of it is as a visual bookmark.

 

Pinning for Genealogy

Pintrest

Pintrest can be used as a fantastic tool for organizing your genealogy, sharing resources and following others with like interests. The only catch is that in order to use Pintrest you must first receive an invitation.

Pinspire

If you do not have an invitation to Pintrest, you can try out its identical twin Pinspire. Pinspire is identical to pintrest with one exception…no invitation required.

If you want to check out more pinning sites, Minglewing, Piccsy and Storify are good places to start.

Uencounter.me

The newest kid on the pinning block is Uencounter.me a pinning site with a purpose. Uencounter.me is a mapping site that focuses on letting the user built a visual map of their family tree.

Building a visual map of your ancestors can be a very helpful tool for your family history research. However, the possibilities for information sharing with this type of application are easy to see.

Imagine the map as a resource for finding ancestors by location. Although other search sites come close, if you are not familiar with the geography of the area you are searching… it is easy to become confused and miss something.

For example:

My line of  McCallum’s hail from Lanarkshire Scotland can be found in the census at Firth, Carstairs and Carnwath.  While that may not mean much on a data screen, having a visual of just how close those communities are, helps give some perspective to your search.

Using Uencounter.me

The process starts by bringing up the map and asking you to zoom into your area of interest. You can also pin a place by adding the address.

Drop down menus let you select:

• Type of Encounter: Genealogy,
• Dates to and from: a date range from the present to the year zero,
• People Here Are / were:  ancestors
• This pin relates to:  an ancestor
• Specifically:  Birth, Marriage, Death, other

For those of you who want to pin live relatives do not worry as the site gives the option for a privacy setting on an individual basis. As you move forward to the next step you will get a pop up box that allows for notes, you can even add photos.

While Uencounter.me shows all the earmarks of a superior genealogy tool, a searchable name function would make this an invaluable free resource for genealogists everywhere.

Need to learn more about finding your ancestors through the geography of genealogy check out Genealogy Beginners lesson on Searching by Place. Available with your 30-day free trial membership.

Genealogy: Online Ethics and Etiquette

From the novice to the veteran family historian we can all agree that the vast amount of information available online for genealogy research is a great blessing. Therefore, it is more important than ever to become familiar with the ethical practices and etiquette involved in information sharing when it comes to our family trees.

On sites such as Ancestry.com and Find a Grave, a great deal of the information is made available through the contributions of fellow researchers. Thus, it is becoming easier for genealogy beginners to discover documents and photos at the touch of a few keys.

Family Tree Ethics and Etiquette
Published genealogies can be a truly wonderful resource, they aid us in our own research and quite often lead to the discovery of cousins we never knew we had. The down side of this is that through innocent error and sometimes intent, the genealogical community experiences a degree of unethical behavior and bad manners.

It is very exciting to find published information about your ancestors online however, before you snag that birth, marriage, death record or photo of G.G. Grandma:

1. Ask Permission
This is a common scenario on sites like Ancestry.com where photos and records are often public. This is because Ancestry.com is meant to be a collaborative site and although it states in their Community Guidelines that “Any information you post in our community is public and can be copied, modified and distributed by others” you should still ask permission of the original poster.

2. Give Credit
When using published documents or photos always thank the original contributor A little blurb that reads – Photo Courtesy of Ms. Nice Genealogist – is just good manners.

To learn more about this subject check out Genealogy Beginner’s lesson # 1. Genealogy Standards and Guidelines: You Need to Know This First, available with your 30-day free trial membership.

Find a Grave: Free Family Tree Resource

Find a Grave is a FREE genealogical resource that every genealogy beginner should visit and bookmark today.

Founded in 1995 by Jim Tipton, a self-proclaimed nerd with the odd hobby of searching out and visiting the grave sites of the famous; Tipton’s goal in the creation of the site was to share his interest with like-minded others.

It was not long before he came to the realization that his hobby had great historical and genealogical significance.

What Does Find a Grave Contain?

Filled with memorials this virtual cemetery has listings for:

• North America (by province and state)
• South America
• Europe
• Asia
• Australia and Oceana
• Africa

Not to be forgotten is the “Famous Graves” section that has a comprehensive search field that allows for numerous search types.

It also has some fun categories such as:

Yearly Necrologies: listings of individuals who died during specific times

Posthumous Reunions: a page that lists movies and TV shows with cast members who have passed away. For example when I clicked on the TV show Star Trek, it listed 46 cast members (both guest starts and original crew).  For each listing, it gave the date and place of birth and death, a biography that contained many details, cause of death, place of burial and special details.

Interesting Epitaphs: This category is self explanatory and indeed does contain some very interesting epitaphs.

Is it Worth My Time?

The best way to tackle this question is by giving it a test run. For this purpose, I will use three of my ancestors, one from the US, one from Canada and one from Scotland using the broadest search category…surname search.

1. U. S. – Undseth: This search did not return any direct line ancestors, however there were a few cousins listed.
2. Canada – McCallum: This search found several of my ancestors graves listed in three provinces.
3. Scotland – Sinclair: This Search was the most successful and returned numerous family lines from the Orkney Islands.

Find a Grave is most definitely worth your time. In fact, you could easily spend hours and hours searching through the site for burial records to flesh out your family history.

How do I Join?

Joining is easy; simply fill out the online registration and you can immediately begin searching for your ancestors.

Find a Grave is a true genealogy treasure that allows you to not only search for your ancestors but also to contribute to the already huge database. Before you get started, be sure to download your complementary Cemetery Visit Tracking Form available with your free 30-day trail membership to Genealogy Beginner.

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