Follow Friday: Online World War II Indexes & Records for Genealogists

If you're looking for a good overview of World War II records, then militaryindexes.com is for you. In one lovely concise page, they've listed free and commercial resources for World War II records.

One of the links is to the enlistment records in the Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946, a searchable database of 8,706,394 records at the National Archives. Other NARA databases include the Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947, documenting the period 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946; World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, created, 4/2005 - 10/2007, documenting the period ca. 1941 - ca. 1945; Records About Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, created, 1988 - 1989, documenting the period 1942 - 1946; and Records of Duty Locations for Naval Intelligence Personnel, created, 1942 - 1945, documenting the period 1942 - 1945. 

Other links on the militaryindexes.com page for WWII include the Ancestry and Fold3 commercial sites and a list of WWII resources by state and by country.

Another useful link explains how to order records from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

If you're just starting your WWII research or you need some fresh ideas, the Online World War II Indexes & Records site can help.

Tuesday's Tip: More U.S. Copyright for Genealogists – Orphan Works

Last week I provided a link to downloadable handy guide for genealogists to the complex issue of copyright in the United States.

Today let's talk about a situation genealogists run into a lot: "orphan works," defined as the situation in which the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner.

Archivists Heather Briston, Mark Allen Greene, Cathy Henderson, Peter Hirtle, Peter Jaszi, William Maher, Aprille Cooke McKay, Richard Pearce-Moses, and Merrilee Proffit have compiled a guide describing what professional archivists consider to be best practices regarding reasonable efforts to identify and locate rights holders. 

Visit this link to download the SAA best practices document.

Follow Friday: Nutfield Genealogy

Today's Follow Friday is pretty famous: Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Nutfield Genealogy blog. Whenever I get tired of slogging through all my Prussian and Scandinavian research on my family, I take a vicarious trip to New England via Heather's blog and that inspires me to work on my husband's long and distinguished New England family history. I even nourish the hope that someday I'll find a link between Heather's family and my husband's because she's really a genealogical role model for me. Maybe someday we'll get to talk about the summer I spent at Plimoth Plantation in 1974.

So visit Heather Rojo and her excellent blog today.

Tuesday's Tip: U.S. Copyright for Genealogists

Copyright law in the United States is as old as the country itself and is a complex topic. For genealogists, a basic understanding of copyright is valuable as we negotiate our way through dozens of different types of source materials in the course of our research. 

Archivist Peter Hirtle of Cornell University has put together a clear and helpful chart on this complex topic, available here. 

The document is comprehensive and best downloaded, but for a preview of a portion of the document, see below:

© 2004-10 Peter B. Hirtle. Last updated 4 October, 2010 . Use of this chart is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Meme: 99 (Plus) Genealogy Things

A meme is going around Geneabloggers' circles about 99 (or more) genealogy things you've done, not done or have no desire to do. The latest version was created by Becky at the Kinexxions blog and my thanks to Susan Petersen at the always excellent LongLostRelatives.net for the idea.

Rules are simple:

Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (color optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

So here's mine:

1.  Belong to a genealogical society. Several!

2.  Researched records onsite at a court house – Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa, so far.

3.  Transcribed records.

4.  Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave. And have taken some volunteer photos, which is a great way to see new old cemeteries.

5.  Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents). I’ve got 23 generations on one line of my husband’s.

6.  Joined Facebook. And Twitter. And Google Plus. And LinkedIn.

7.  Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.

8.  Joined the Geneabloggers Group on Facebook. Thx, Tom!

9.  Attended a genealogy conference. Jamboree’s my favorite

10.  Lectured at a genealogy conference. Again, Jamboree’s my favorite.

11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society. California, Arizona and Colorado groups so far.

12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.

13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.

14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society. I got to go back and speak at the 30^th anniversary of the Pikes Peak Genealogical Society that I helped found and served as first president.

15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery. My husband likes to get lost in an Italian beef deli on the way to Chicago cemeteries.

16. Talked to dead ancestors. I get along VERY much better with them than with living relatives.

17. Researched outside the state in which I live – so far in Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. New England’s next!

18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants. Just a drive-by.

19. Cold called a distant relative. I prefer letters at first.

20. Posted messages on a surname message board.

21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.

22. Googled my name. You haven't?

23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness. Among the most rewarding aspects of genealogy.

24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it. I work on the trees of friends when I get stumped on my own.

25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.

26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research. Nope, this would cut into my own research too much. 

27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.

28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.

29. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.

30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion. Not exactly on my bucket list ever.

31. Participated in a genealogy meme.

32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).

33. Performed a record lookup for someone else.

34. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise. I like my cruising linked to vacation time.

35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space. Yes, in fact Reunion has a sibling category called “Alien Abduction” which is very satisfying to use.

36. Found a disturbing family secret. Very very sad, but not disturbing.

37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.

38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).

39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.

40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).

41. Taught someone else how to find their roots. I volunteer at the local LDS library and it’s great fun. And I worked as a librarian for nearly 35 years doing this very thing.

42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure. Nope. But I did have my tree corrupt and I had to fix 226 people and 22 sources recently.

43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology. I get technology fatigue for sure.

44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher. Yes, online.

45. Disproved a family myth through research. My black-sheep uncle supposedly was run over by a taxi on State Street while drunk. He died of cholera instead.

46. Got a family member to let you copy photos. Love my portable scanner!

47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records. Yes, but don’t recommend this or iPhone camera for this purpose.

48. Translated a record from a foreign language. Yep – German, Swedish, Norwegian, so far. Needed help on the German a lot.

49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record. I’ve got departures from Antwerp, Hamburg, Southampton, Queenstown and probably so others.

50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer. And still have the printouts and the headaches.

51. Used microfiche.

52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

53. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.

54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.

55. Taught a class in genealogy. Used to love teaching adult school genie classes.

56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.

57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century. 58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.

59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.

60. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.

61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer. But what a dying skill!

62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.

63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research. Revolutionary War pension files – fascinating!

65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC. Taken classes in Archives II in Maryland.

66. Visited the Library of Congress. Took library science grad classes there.

67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower. Ha – mine barely got here in the late 19^th c.

68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. On my husband’s side.

69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone. Of course – and use the micro setting on your digital camera – you get better results.

70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

71. Can read a church record in Latin. Just translated some Irish ones for a client.

72. Have an ancestor who changed their name. Can you say Scandinavia?

73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list. The Norway one is invaluable – lovely helpful people.

74. Created a family website. Nope, just for my business.

75. Have more than one "genealogy" blog. Like genealogy, blogging is addictive. NO! Please! Help me before I start another!

76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone. Would love to have this problem.

77. Have broken through at least one brick wall. The best feeling in the world and many thanks to Sister Peggy who stopped what she was doing on a Saturday afternoon to consult those ancient parish registers.

78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.

79. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.

80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.

81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the "Psychic Roots" variety. I dreamed I found a long-lost relative on the next line of a record just last night.

83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War. Only on my husband’s side – the most interesting is John Curtiss who turned coat and fought for the Tories and had to escape to Canada. He sued and got his Connecticut farm back after the war.

84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War. See above.

85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors. See above.

86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.

87. Use maps in my genealogy research.

88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.

89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors. Maybe….

93. Consistently cite my sources. Natch – not as hard as it sounds.

94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors. Not yet, but look out, Germany.

95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes. Yep – also not as hard as it sounds.

96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more). Yep, those Colonial ancestors on my husband’s side were hard on wives.

97. Made a rubbing of an ancestor’s gravestone.

98. Organized a family reunion.

99. Published a family history book (on one of my families).

100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research. No, but it’s odd to sometimes be rooting that someone is dead so I can find a record.

101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.

102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance. Does almost dying of happiness count?

103. Offended a family member with my research.

104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

We Can All Use a Feel-Good Family History Story

I think we can all use a feel-good family history story. How about this one, from Mount Healthy, Ohio, where one where four couples in one family all share the same wedding date?

Wedding bells make a habit of ringing on the ninth day of the ninth month for the marrying Perchermeiers of Mount Healthy. At the same time, in the same church, her grandparents will mark their golden wedding anniversary. Somewhere in heaven, her great-grandparents will note their 75th anniversary while her great-great-grandparents observe their 100th.

"This date is not just about us," Ray said, holding his bride-to-be's hand even tighter. "It's about the people who got married on this day before us. And it's about continuing this tradition. I hope our kids get married on Sept. 9."

 Awwwww.

Follow Friday: Ireland Reaching Out and Tracking the Irish Diaspora

Are your ancestors from Galway? There's an interesting new project in Ireland that's designed to reach out to descendants from that county called Ireland Reaching Out. 

In a recent New York Times article, the project director, Mike Feerick, stated, “The project is based on a very simple idea: instead of waiting for people of Irish heritage to trace their roots, we go the other way."

I learned today that there's a word in Gaelic for emigrants — deorai — which means exile or wanderer and those who left will always have an Irish identity regardless of location. That idea has made its way into Ireland Reaching Out. “I want Ireland to start thinking of itself not as a physical place, but as a people,” Mr. Feerick said, and he wants it to start acting like it, too, through local projects like the one in Galway. 

Register here to participate in Ireland Reaching Out.

Randy Seaver's SNGF: Genealogy Roulette

Randy's mission tonight:

This is a fun meme from Randy at Genea-Musings.
1) How old is your great-grandfather now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your “roulette number.”
2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ahnentafel (ancestor name list). Who is that person?
3) Tell us three facts about that person with the “roulette number.”
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog.
5) If you do not have a person’s name for your “roulette number” then spin the wheel again – pick a grandparent, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!

OK, I admit I tried to game the system: I tried all four great-grandfathers: the Norwegian, the Austrian, the Scot, and the Prussian. The earliest, Gottfried Hann, died in 1896 at the age of 35; the latest, George Ross, died in 1940 – that's interesting all by itself. 

Less interesting is that all four produced Ahnentafel in the 400s, squarely in the middle of the Tyler family. This is my aunt's husband's family, who emigrated from England to Washington DC in 1899 and shortly thereafter to Chicago. For our purposes, I'll profile David Edward Tyler, the immigrant patriarch of that family:

Birth:      2 Nov 1866, Brixton, Surrey, England

Death:      4 Feb 1951, Evanston, Cook, Illinois

Burial:      7 Feb 1951, Skokie, Cook, Illinois

Occupation:      Steward, Glenview Golf Club (30 years)

Father:      Eli TYLER  (1837-1914)

Mother:      Sarah Elizabeth HARVEY (1838-1908)

1871: 138 Lyham Rd., Clapham, London, England

1891: 176 Lyham Rd., Clapham, London, England; Baker

1900: 233 35th St. NW, Georgetown, District of Columbia

1910: 124 Wesley Street, Wheaton, DuPage, Illinois; Coachman for a private family

1920: 2748 Bennett Ave., Evanston, Cook, Illinois; Caddymaster, Golf Club

1930: 2748 Bennett Ave., Evanston, Cook, Illinois; Steward, Golf Club

1951: 2748 Bennett Ave., Evanston, Cook, Illinois

Services for David E. Tyler, 84, of 2748 Bennett Av. Evanston, manager of the locker room at the Glenview Golf Club for over 30 years, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the chapel at 1567 Maple Av., Evanston. Mr. Tyler, who died Sunday in St. Francis hospital, Evanston, also was a coachman for Admiral Dewey, the hero of Manila, in Washington for five years. He leaves his widow, Bertha; four daughters, Mrs. F.E. Meyer, Mrs. Stanley Jakely, Mrs. Robert E. Davis, and Mrs. Louis Johnston, and two sons, Albert E., and William F. -- Chicago Daily Tribune 6 Feb 1951.

So: from Scotland to Admiral Dewey in a few easy steps. Thx, Randy – this was a good one.

Follow Friday: Great Britain Family Names Profiling

 

 

Today's Follow Friday is quick and fun: the Great Britain Family Names Profiling Web site at publicprofiles.org. Surname mapping is pretty common now, but I think they do a nice job here. You can search for 1881 or 1998 and by full or partial name. Even my unusual Mutch Scottish name is in their database and very accurately concentrated in Aberdeenshire.

The Web site has this About section:

Welcome to the Great Britain Family Names Profiling website which presents the findings of a project based at University College London (UCL) that is investigating the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic. It allows users to search the databases that we have created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names. On each page of the website, you will find a Help link on the top-right corner which We hope will answer any questions you might have.

Have some fun and visit http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/