"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.)
The Internet has become an indispensable source for searching ancestors in foreign lands. Becoming savvy as to the best links can certainly help save valuable time and energy. Twice this week, I have been asked for help in searching Scottish ancestors. There must be others who are in this phase of research as more and more of us are finding our immigrant s motherland. It is for this group of family history searchers that I list the following sites.
The first site I suggest for searching outside of the United States is http://www.worldgenweb.org/. Here you can find worldwide help from volunteer genealogists. It is the foreign version of www.USGenWeb.org. The second is www.GenUKI.org. This large collection of genealogical information pages is for England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. The third favorite site is http://www.sog.org.uk/ sponsored by the Society of Genealogists in London. Scottish Documents Online at http://www.scottishdocuments.com/content/default.asp offers a history of Scotland s written history. Though all the above are good, don t forget to search the National Archives site (British Archives that is) at http://www.scottishdocuments.com/content/default.asp. Get on their email list to receive updates and keep abreast of all the new items uploaded each week. I am on their list and they just informed me of the newly uploaded Estate Duty Office Indexes to Death Duty Records of 1873. They also just uploaded five years of English and Welsh wills and administrations from 1796 to 1873. Please don t overlook this important site.
If you want a professional to give you an assessment of difficulty in your search for a particular person, the people at British Ancestors will give you a free consultation at http://www.britishancestors.com/consult.htm.
Many books and CDs can help with your research of Scotland. Here is a brief list:
- Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors by Cecil Sinclair.
- Scotch-Irish Sources for Research by Afton E. Reintjes.
- Family Tree Maker CD 364, American Source Records in England, 1600s-1800s International Records.
And two of my favorite resource books are A Genealogist s Guide to Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors by Linda Jonas and Paul Milner, and Ancestral Trails by Mark D. Herber, considered to be the Bible for United Kingdom and British research.
All the items mentioned above are available either online or at your local book store. When you search for purchases online, don t forget to search from www.fetchbook.com for the best price. When I site valuable Internet sites like the ones above, I can t help but remember how I have prayed for the Web to develop to this degree during my lifetime. My prayers are being answered as more scholarly data appears online each and every day.
GENEALOGY LIBRARY LOCK-IN
Genealogy Friends and the Gladys Harrington Library will co-sponsor the spring library lock-in, "Trick or Treat," this Friday, October 29, at the library. Registration begins at 5:30 PM. Pre-registration is encouraged. Registration forms may be obtained at any Plano library or from the GenFriends website, http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgfpl/lockin_reg.htm. For further information contact Genealogy Friends at genfriends@comcast.net, or contact Joyce at 972-669-1706 or genepool1@comcast.net. Come dressed as your ancestor or in a Halloween costume.
NEW IN THE LIBRARY
Courthouse research for family historians; Mississippi 1860 census index, Vol. I A-Z; Tennessee 1860 census index; Georgia 1860 census index; Arkansas 1860 census index; Kentucky 1860 census index; South Carolina 1860 census index; Texas 1860 census index; Alabama 1860 census index; Butler County in the Nineteenth Century; U.S. Army in World War II atlas: the European theater; Guide to official records in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Virginia militia in the War of 1812; Alabama: her history, resources, war record, and public men from 1540 to 1872.
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.
