"Tracing Our Roots" Newsletter Archive (A monthly genealogy newsletter written by the late Brenda Kellow, dec'd, for the Plano Star Courier newspaper. We've included all the ones we could recover.)
New innovations come with mixed emotions, but not the news released this week by the Family History Department or at the National Genealogical Society Conference. Both of these separate announcements have the potential of changing research, as we know it today.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the reorganization within the Family History Department that I find exciting. They founded a Records and Information Division (RID) to organize quick and easy access to ALL the Family and Church History Department holdings for help with family history research. David Rencher will leave his post as Director of the Family History Library (FHL) to become Director of the RID. In his statement at the Conference he said the objective is to make more records available electronically with the long-term goal of having all records available in electronic format that is easily accessible.
I asked the question whether or not this electronic information would be available in the form of CDs for purchase, Internet subscription, or free Internet access, but it was never answered.
The other groundbreaking news from the technology front is the announcement that the Eye Com Image Mouse will convert microfiche or microfilm to digitized images. It works much like a regular mouse and pad except that it is larger. It works much like a scanner in that by moving the Mouse over the fiche or film, the built-in light source sends the image to the computer, where it can be converted to a JPEG of GIF format. Now that libraries have electrical outlets for us to use, we can take it with us to use, as soon as the price is lowered from its current $1,500. You may the item on the web page at http://www.eyecom.com.
ONLINE: E ULTIMATE REUNION is another innovative website helping amateur and professional family history researcher find pictures of tombstones. The site is located at www.ancestosreunited.com.
No-Find No Fee from British Ancestors offering searches throughout England and Scotland for vital and church records for the period 1800-1900. Their site is located at www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=774&sourceid=1028.
State Archives Page: Links to the state archives for every state and some with online records! www.censusdiggins.com/state_archives.htm.
Heritage Quest soon will release "The 1930 Census, A Reference and Research Guide" by Thomas Jay Kemp.
QUERY: Ambry Ward, of Bucks County, Penn., AmbryW@aol.com, is looking for other researchers of the Ward family of Plainfield Township, Northampton County, Penn. and neighboring counties of Lehigh, Monroe and Bucks. Warren County, NJ is also a neighboring county in which migrations were common. Benjamin and Barbara Ward can be traced back to 1775. They had five or more children. Birth dates, death dates, and origins for Benjamin and Barbara are unknown. Benjamin was deceased by 1800 but Barbara was listed in the 1820 Census for Plainfield Township, Penn. Ms. Ward will share information on the descendants. Her family is included in Chapter 25, "Descendants of Benjamin and Barbara Ward," in Charles Sandwick's 1985 book, "Jacobsburg, A Pennsylvania Community and Its People," URL www.jacobsburg.com.
New Genealogy Books in the Library:
Land Deed Genealogy of Marshall County, TN 1840-1845;
Maryland, Index to Wills of St. Mary s County, 1662-1960 and Summerset County, 1664-1955;
Tennessee Convicts, Early Records of the State Penitentiary, vol. 2, 1850-1870;
The Routh Cemetery Legacy;
Princeton 1881-2000;
Professional Genealogy, a Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians;
Genealogy Online, 5th ed.;
Research Guide to the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma;;
Colonial Poll and Tithables, Halifax, Virginia;
Beech Bottom Ohio;
Civil War on the Web;
Pocahontas Descendants;
Will Abstracts of Brooke County, West Virginia 1797-1849;
Tenant Farming in Collin County 1890-1920;
Historic Families of Kentucky;
Marriages of Blount County Tennessee;
How to Write Your Personal and Family History;
Some Alabama Pioneers;
Adventures in Genealogy;
Denton County, Texas Wills 1876-1940;
Microfilm Resources for Research.
Brenda Kellow, dec'd, Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Instructor, had a Bachelor s Degree in history and taught genealogy courses at the local Community College and computer genealogy at the University.
