FEATURED SITES
November 2009
Eastman's Online Genealogy News
http://blog.eogn.com/
Dick Eastman has been writing genealogical articles since before the beginning of time, and he really knows his stuff. His latest offering is a blog where he posts interesting and useful tid-bits of historical and genealogical information. The basic blog (http://blog.eogn.com/) is free, but you only get access to snippets from each article. In order to view the entire article, as well as additional articles not available on the free site, you need to subscribe to his "Plus Edition," which is only $20 per year. Go ahead, but the bullet and spend the 20 bucks. Dick Eastman is not only well respected within the genealogical community, but his information is incredibly useful.
Take a look at Eastman's Online Genealogy News today. You'll be glad you did.
October 2009
www.GeneFun.com
http://www.genefun.com
We thought you could use a break and give your brain a rest. We found this Web site, www.GeneFun.com, and liked some of the products they have to offer. For about $12 per deck, you can create customized playing cards with photos and facts and figures of your family members. A great holiday gift idea.
No information, no databases, just a cute way to share your family history."
September 2009
How Do You Pronounce THAT Name?
http://www.genealogymagazine.com/surnames2.html
The Web site of the month for June '09 is "How Do You Pronounce THAT Name?", which provides both pronunciation guides as well as variant spellings on hundreds of surnames. If you've searched and searched for a surname without success, your failure may be to the way the name was spelled. Pronouncing the name differently often leads to additional records. Even if your surname seems pretty simple, it's worth it to take a look at this site to see if there's a variant way to pronounce it."
August 2009
Cook County, IL Vital Records
http://www.cookcountygenealogy.com/
Cook County, IL Vital Records makes it easy to search and find a record, then instantly download a high quality image to our computer. The fee is $15 per record, plus a $1.75 fee for your ENTIRE order. If you download one record, the fee is $1.75. If you download seven records, the fee will still be just $1.75.
On the Web site, you can download birth records over 75 years old, marriage records over 50 years old and death records over 20 years old. We love the user interface (it's SO easy) and the incredible service they provide.
July 2009
Online City, County and Rural Directories
http://sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/Home
Wayyyyyy back in February of last year ('08), we covered the topic of City Directories in the Got Genealogy News. In the article, we stated that there wasn't a comprehensive listing of all available online directories, which stirred Miriam Midkiff to action. Since then, she was worked, tirelessly, to compile such a listing, and to recognize her hard work, her "Online City, County and Rural Directories" Web site is our site of the month.
Such a site will always be a work in progress as more and more directories are transcribed and/or digitized. Check out her site and if you know of some directories not on her list, drop her a line. Great job, Miriam, and thanks for letting us know.
June 2009
County Maps of the USA
http://www.statoids.com/sus.htm
"June's Web site of the month is "Maps of U.S. Counties," a neat little site that provides you with current and historical maps of all 50 states with all their counties or parishes. For each state, there is a U.S. Census Bureau map showing the census divisions within each county, as well as clickable maps where you can select a county, click it, and be taken to that county's Web site. Some states even have a map showing the historical progression of counties. We love this site because it's simple and easy to use and chock full of useful information. Be sure to bookmark this site."l
May 2009
Ohio Historical Society
http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/index.html
"This month we've chosen the Ohio Historical Society's Archives and Library Web site where you can find a fascinating collection of documents of early Ohio history. There's a searchable Death Cert index (no images, but you can order them on the same Web site for only $7.00 each), the Ohio Memory project, which we mentioned in this month's newsletter (and includes digitized books and other information), and other online exhibits of interest to family historians.
You don't have to be an OHS member to use this Web site and we think they deserve our attention this month for a job well done. Check them out."
April 2009
Dead Fred
http://www.DeadFred.com
Our Web site of the month is Dead Fred a place where you can post family photos, photos of unknown parties, and search for photos of family members as well. Think of it as a permanent repository of photos. Powered by some dedicated volunteers, Dead Fred kindly accepts donations of photos and/or money, and we think this site is one you should get to know. Over 1400 people have found photos of previously unknown family members on Dead Fred. Kudos to you, Fred."
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March 2009
The Kentucky Vital Records Project
http://kyvitals.com/vis/search/search.php
The Kentucky Vital Records Project is a work in progress, but through the hard work of some dedicated individuals and generous supporters, they've managed to transcribe thousands of death records and have placed their images online for free downloads. They also provide a link to a RootsWeb site where a more complete Kentucky deaths index (sans images) is available. The images are pretty good and you can search for all with that surname or limit your search to a specific county.
This is all well and good, but what we really love about this site is the ability to view variant surname spellings so you can determine if you've missed any. We were researching the surname VENEGAR, which can be spelled lots of ways, but we found a few even we hadn't considered (and we know EVERYTHING!). In all, this site provided us with ten different ways to spell Venegar, helpful if you're researching a site that doesn't let you do wild card searches.
Eventually, they plan to have all the KY births and marriages online as well."
February 2009
Louisiana Secretary of State's Office
http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/
"The Web site of the month for February is the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. They have made it truly a pleasure to find death records (over 50 years old), their search engine is stupid simple, and once you find a record you'd like to order, a single click and you complete the request form, online, which you can print and mail.
But it gets better. Louisiana's death certificates are only $5 bucks each, and the turn around time is about 7-10 days!! Not only have they made it easy, they've kept it affordable and provide you with excellent service. We haven't seen a government agency provide so much for so little in a long time.
Great going, Louisiana!!"
January 2009
"My Family Health Portrait"
https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/fhh-web/home.action
Provided by the U.S. Surgeon General, "My Family Health Portrait" is an internet-based tool that makes it easy for you to record your family health history. The tool is easy to access on the web and simple to fill out. It assembles your information and makes a pedigree chart that you can download. It is private. it does NOT keep your information. It gives you a health history that you can share with family members or send to your health care practitioner.
It should only take about 15 to 20 minutes to build a basic family health history then you have the option of sharing it with other family members, if you wish. Relatives can start with your information and create their own history. You and your health care practitioner should review it together before making it part of your medical record.
The Surgeon General's family health history tool does NOT make your health information available to the government or to anyone else but you. It only provides the software for organizing your information. By accessing the tool on the web, you make use of that software. But the information you fill in is never available to anyone else, unless you decide to share it. After you fill in your information, it is available only to you for downloading into your own computer.
December 2008
San Francisco Genealogy
http://www.SFGenealogy.com
"Okay, so maybe we're partial since we're based in Oakland, but SFGenealogy.com is an amazing collection of FREE searchable databases of information involving the 12 San Francisco Bay Area counties. Founded by Pamela Storm and Ron Filion, their records take full advantage of the rich history San Francisco played during the gold rush. As a result, after 1848, the City of San Francisco became the major west coast center for immigrants and emigrants from all points of the globe and played many parts in national and world history throughout the years. The surrounding counties also grew in population. This Web site is easy to navigate and includes information such as vital records, city directories, immigration records, church and military records, etc. With pleasure, we designate SFGenealogy.com our Web site of the month."
November 2008
Janet's Genealogy Blog
http://tokerud.typepad.com/genealogy/
Web logs (blogs, for short) are growing in popularity and allow anyone with access to the internet to share their thoughts with the world. In that vein, we did a search for genealogy blogs and found one that we really liked.
http://tokerud.typepad.com/genealogy/ is the blog of genealogist Janet Tokerud, originally from Salem, Oregon. We chose her site as the GGN site of the month because we like not only her content, but the clean way it's laid-out.
We hope that all GGN readers will take a stab and create a blog and share their successes, questions, photos, and other genealogical information with the world. There are plenty of free blog sites where you can create to your heart's content -- just Google for "free blog" and marvel at the results.
Remember, you don't want to die with your story still in you. The reason we're doing this research in the first place is to tell the ancestors' stories. A blog is a wonderful way to publish your information for the world, and it won't cost you a cent.
October 2008
HonoringOurAncestors.com
www.honoringourancestors.com/grants.html
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, that's her name ... she married a man with the same surname as her maiden name) provides genealogical grants, no strings attached, and her Web site, www.honoringourancestors.com/grants.html, is where you can find out how easy it is to apply for one of her grants.
In a word, she's just trying to give something back for all the kindness that others have shown her over the years. She's a great lady, knowledgeable, funny and generous. In addition to her genealogical grants, there's a ton of other stuff on her Web site that is worth exploring.
Without a doubt, Megan has earned the October "Site of the Month."
September 2008
CivilWarDocs.com
www.civilwardocs.com
CivilWar Docs.com allows you to purchase Union or Confederate documents at a fraction of the cost you'd pay to get the identical docs from the National Archives. They give you the option of either sending you a hard copy via postal mail, or emailing you a digital copy of the document, for the same price.
Their collection of documents continues to grow all the time, but we think CivilWarDocs.com deserves a high five for making these documents more accessible to more people.
August 2008
Cuil.Com
www.cuil.com
There’s a new search engine in town, and unlike other search engines who have come and gone, we think that Cuil.com is truly a force with which to be reckoned. Pronounced COOL, Cuil.com supposedly is the world’s largest search engine and has three times as many pages as Google and ten times as many as Micro$oft (msn.com).
Blah, blah, blah. We don’t care about all that, but what we do care about is the cool way that the search results are displayed. We did a search for “Canadian genealogy,” below, and we just loved the way the Web pages are displayed. But it gets better in that the “Explore by Category” box allows you to click on any of those more detailed, yet relevant, topics for more information and hot links.
It’s hard to explain, in words, how this works … you gotta see this to believe it
How cool is Cuil? We think it rocks and we’re pretty sure that it’s gonna be our favorite search engine from now on. www.Cuil.com
July 2008
Olive Tree Genealogy
www.olivetreegenealogy.com
Olive Tree Genealogy is our choice for the Web site of the month. Olive Tree provides countless transcriptions and extractions from dozens of different genealogical topics. Their site is well planned, easy to navigate and search, and considering that they've been free for over a decade, Olive Tree Genealogy is one place you should plan to visit. Lorine McGinnis Schulze, founder/owner of Olive Tree, has collaborated with other researchers to publish their research information online. We think that Lorine deserves our support. She's done a great job and deserves the Got Genealogy "Web site of the month" award.
June 2008
Missouri State Archives - Soldiers' Records
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/soldiers/
"In keeping with this month's topic in the Got Genealogy News, we've chosen a Web site that includes free and easy-to-find military service information, including digital images of many of them. The Missouri State Archives has been doing some really cutting edge work in terms of digitization of records and providing them, freely, to the general public. We mentioned their vital records in a previous Web Site of the Month, but they truly do deserve to be applauded for their hard work.
The site is really easy to use, and if you put in a partial name, you'll get that name as well as derivative names in your search results. The images are quite good and download in a snap. We're just sorry that we didn't have more ancestors from Missouri."
May 2008
Genealogy.about.com
http://www.genealogy.about.com
Kimberly Powell is a professional genealogist and she's created a nifty website chock full of good information. Her topics include free online genealogy classes, DNA, cemetery records, ethnic research, and dozens more. She also publishes a free weekly online newsletter that includes tid-bits of information from around the world. We really appreciate how hard she's worked to compile all this information and we recommend that you check her out.
April 2008
Everton Publisher's "Genealogy Blog"
http://www.genealogyblog.com/
Though merely a lowly blog, this web site provides timely and useful tidbits of genealogical information on nearly a daily basis. The site looks pretty good (lots of white space. We LOVE white space), is easy to navigate and we bet you'll learn something you may or may not have wanted to know in the wonderful world of genealogy. We love their style and they're not afraid to laugh at themselves (which makes us love 'em even more). Of course it's free and well worth the price of admission.
March 2008
“Cheap Texas Death Certificates”
http://www.jayodom.org/texasdeathcertificates.html
There’s this guy, Jay Odom, who will provide fast, cheap Texas death certificates for only $7 each. These are uncertified death certificates, but the information is identical to the certified certificates, missing only the fancy paper and official embossed stamp from the Department of Health. If you were to order these from the State of Texas, you’d pay $20 for a certified copy.
You can order these online (and pay with a credit card or via PayPal) or mail in the order form. Jay responds almost immediately and gets the certificates in the mail within days. In addition to the death certs, Jay will also provide Tennessee Death Certificates ($7 each), Texas Civil War Pension files ($30 each), Texas Civil War Enlistment records ($15 each) or Oklahoma Civil War Pension files ($30 each).We’ve used Jay for years and have always been completely satisfied with his work.
February 2008
Conway Public Library
http://conway.lib.nh.us
Conway Public Library was founded in 1895 in the tiny town on Conway, NH and since then, they've worked very hard to provide free, searchable genealogical information on their website (http://conway.lib.nh.us). What we link best about this is their collection of transcriptions of BMDs (births, marriages and deaths) dating as far back as 1887, with deaths going all the way through 2003. You won't find any images on this website, but the indices
are easy to use and chock full of great information. The website also has online obituaries, personal histories, names of early settlers, and cemetery records ... all searchable, and all free.
We appreciate all the hard work their volunteers have done and as their work continues, we'd like to say, "Nice Job, Conway."
January 2008
Missouri Birth & Death Records Database
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/
The Missouri State Archives has taken the very bold and timely step of providing online, free of charge, birth and death records that you can download and print on your home printer. Missouri started requiring the recording of all births and deaths statewide in 1910 and in this database you’ll find death records that are more than 50 years old and birth records prior to 1910.
The search engine is very easy to use and the quality of the images is excellent. If you’re unsure of how a name is spelled, do an Advanced Search and use the search modifiers. All images are displayed in PDF format, meaning that they can be viewed by Mac or PC users using any PDF viewer.
