Free Genealogy Resources

Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts

Freebie for Newfoundland Genealogy

Yesterday I was poking around on the internet and came across a great site for those tracing ancestors from Newfoundland. According to the Newfoundland's Grand Banks website, it offers "genealogical and historical data for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador." I'm still exploring to learn the true depth of the site, but from what I've found so far, it could be an invaluable free resource for those tracing their genealogy.

The site offers a message board for genealogists researching families from the area, a wide array of transcriptions and historical information on the area. Specific genealogical data you can expect to find includes

Cemetery Transcriptions
Census (Newfoundland, US, Canada and British
Directories
Family Bibles
Legal Documents
Newspapers
Photographs
Passenger Lists
Parish Records
Voter's Lists
Vital Statistics
Wills

On the historical side, the site offers

Colonial Office Records
House of Assembly Records
Historical information on some communities
Disasters
Military Records
Stories

If your family has a connection to Newfoundland and you haven't yet checked out this free genealogy resource, make sure to add it to your to-do list. You may be surprised what you can find.

Free Genealogy Resources for Hawaii

Today I visited the website of the Hawaii State Archives. Even those I have no ancestors from the state (at least that I know of at this point), I was curious about what they have to offer. Those who do have Hawaiian ancestors will be pleased to hear that they have several digital collections.

The page is broken up into four sections-search, indexes, records and other resources. The search will look through all the digital collections that are indexed by name with the exception of the genealogy index, Mahele book, map and library catalog, and photographs.

The Indexes section has a Genealogy Index, Government Office Holders 1843-1959, Chinese Passenger Manifests Index, Japanese Passenger Manifests Index, Portuguese Passenger Manifests Index, two Land Indexes by name 1838-1918 (A, E, U only in one and R-Z only in the second), and a Name Index 1790-1950 (A-Bishop Only).

The Genealogy Index can be searched or browsed. The results will give you the specific location of the document, the name(s) and a link to an extract and actual image of the document. This particular index is a wealth of free genealogy resources with marriage records, divorce records, probates and wills, and naturalization, denization and passports.

The Government Office Holders Index can be searched or browsed. If browsing, you have the option to browse by name or office. The index is incomplete and doesn't offer a lot of data.

You can search or browse all of the passenger manifests indexes. Once you find the name you are seeking, click on the PDF icon for more information. This may include the person's full name, age at time, marital status, date of arrival, ship name and place they emigrated from.

The Land Indexes are incomplete. They are broken into two separate indexes, one for surnames beginning with A, E or U and one for surnames beginning with the letters R-Z. Again, this can be searched or browsed. Click on the PDF icon for more information such as date, land patent number, lot and location.

As with some of the other indexes, the Name Index is a work in progress. At this time, only A through Bishop is available. The PDF icon will show you a card which has various miscellaneous information about the individual. Available information varies by card.

The records are broken up into Judiciary Records, the Mahele Book, Photograph Collection, Tax Ledgers 1847-1900 (Hamakua and Hilo), Vital Statistics 1826-1929 (Molokai, Niihau, Kauai and some of Maui) and World War I Service Records.

The Judiciary Records collection is very limited. At the time of this post, it only has two probate case files. The description of the collection notes that more will be added as they are requested.

The Mahele Book is a PDF file. For those not familiar with the mahele, it was the division of lands between Kamehameha III, the chiefs, and the konohiki. This division occurred between January 28, 1848 and March 7, 1848. For a fuller description of the transactions documented in this book, I would suggest checking out the Hawaiian Kingdom Government's page on the history of land titles. Keep in mind that the book is a handwritten record and locations are given by their traditional names, not necessarily by what they are called now.

The Photograph Collections has 290 items. You can browse through the photographs 9 to a page or search by keyword. It includes pictures of various landmarks around the state and people. If your ancestors owned a plantation in Hawaii, you may get lucky and find a picture of it since there are several plantations in the collection.

You can search or browse by name the WWI Service Records. Information in this database was compiled from enlistment records. This free genealogy resource can offer information on the ancestors date and place of birth, service related injuries, residence and more.

The Tax Ledgers are organized by date or location. They open as a PDF file. They contain the individual's name, age, residence, type of property, property value and exemptions. The majority of the ledgers are in Hawaiian, but some offer English as well.

The Vital Statistics Collections spans the years 1826 through 1929. Currently, there are birth, marriage and death records for Kauai, Niihau and Molokai. There are birth and death records for Maui with a few marriages as well. You can search or browse by name or location. If you don't find your ancestor's name when browsing, it's recommended that you search the name as well as it may be indexed incorrectly.

Last but not least, the Other Resources section links you to the library catalog.

Immigrant Foods

Since my daughter hit a major growth spurt this summer, she was in need of some new winter clothes. Being a budget-minded person, I hit my two favorite thrift stores. While browsing through the cookbooks, I came across The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors by Jeff Smith. At only a dollar, it was too good to pass up.

The book is more than just a cookbook. It starts out with a glossary section. This includes information on kitchen equipment, cooking methods and terms, ingredients and condiments, and herbs and spices. The next section is the immigrant experience. If you have an opportunity to flip through this book, definitely check out this section. It will open your eyes to what your immigrant ancestors went through.

After these two sections, you reach the cookbook part of the book. It gives recipes from thirty-five ethnic groups including Armenian, Ethiopian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Romanian and Welsh, just to name a few. Each ethnic group has a separate chapter. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the group, which is followed by 5-15 recipes for the group.

The final chapter is the epilogue. It includes a bibliography for recipes and immigrant stories, and sources for unusual ingredients.

Finding this book reminded me a fact that it's easy to lose sight of while researching your family tree. Genealogy is about more than just names, places and dates. It is the stories, heirlooms, recipes and culture that are passed down through the generations. What has been passed down through your family through the years? Does your family have recipes that have been cooked for generations?

Alaska Resource

The Alaska State Archives has a couple helpful free genealogy resources for those with Alaskan ancestors in their family tree. The archives hold naturalization records 1880-1972, pioneer home residents 1913-1980, probate index 1883-1960, teacher records 1917-1959, World War I veterans 1913-1923 and vital statistics 1816-1998. Only two of these resources are available online at this time. You can submit a research request to the archives for lookups in the other collections. There may be a fee for this service.

The Naturalization Records Index offers quite a bit of information, more than you normally expect to find with an index. It gives you the name, alias, country, type, location, date, record type, precinct, case number, residence and occupation. It is a large PDF file so will take a few minutes to fully download. It is organized alphabetically by surname.

The Probate Index is also organized alphabetically by surname. It gives you the name of the individual, case number (when available), precinct, case type, date and information where the actual file is located.

Massachusetts Resource

If you have family from Massachusetts, you might want to take some time to browse through the Massachusetts Archives. They have several free genealogy resources available online including the Massachusetts Archives Collection Database, Index to Passenger Manifests and Vital Records.

The Massachusetts Archives Collection Database spans from 1629 to 1799. Searching it will yield a wide variety of information. A search of the surname Smith will give you over 400 records including petitions, letters, land records, court transcripts and other records.

The Index to Passenger Manifests lists immigrants arriving at the port of Boston from January 1848 to July 1891. It is searchable by name, ship name or date. Information which may be included on the passenger manifest detail includes name, title, age, gender, place of birth, destination, occupation, citizenship data, residence, who they were traveling with, arrival date and ship name. Some entries have additional comments.

Vital Records are available for the years 1840 to 1910. You can search by name, date and type of record (birth, marriage or death). It doesn't give much information, just the name, town and year.

However, it does give you the volume and page the record is found on. You can use this to look the record up yourself at the Archives building or you have the option to mail in a request to have one of the staff look it up for you. There is a $3 fee for a certified copy of a birth, marriage or death records. You can order up to 5 at a time, but must enclose a separate check or money order for each certificate.

Free Genealogy Resources for Australia

While I haven't yet had the need to research Australian genealogy records while building my family tree, I recently came across some free genealogy resources for there. I thought I'd pass them along in case one of my readers had Aussie ancestors.

The Australian Cemetery Index is a nice resource. It is searchable by surname. If you are not sure of how the surname is spelled, you can do a partial search on the surname. Unlike most searches which allow you to use a partial name, there is no minimum amount of letters you must use. You can search only the first letter of the surname. Information provided includes, when possible, name, date of birth, date of death, age, remarks, cemetery, portion and row. Some entries also include an image. The cemetery index does include some unmarked graves.

Find A Grave also holds a nice number of cemetery transcriptions and photographs for Australia. Be sure to check it for ancestors from other areas as well. The site predominantly covers United States cemeteries, but there is a growing number of ones from other countries as well.

The Australian Virtual Immigration Wall of Honor is a user-submitted database of immigrants to Australia. Information provided may include name, maiden name, birth year, birthplace, name of ship or airline, year of arrival, and port or airport of arrival. Since it is user-submitted, it is not a complete listing off all immigrants to Australia. However, as a free genealogy resource, it's worth checking.

AustraliaGenWeb is part of the WorldGenWeb Project. I'm a big fan of the GenWeb Project as it is free and can be helpful in tracing your family tree. The amount of data available on each project site can vary widely, but may include vital records, local history, military records, transcriptions for cemeteries or censuses, biographies and free lookups, just to name a few. Records are user-submitted so you will want to check back often to see what is new.

Cyndi's List has a massive listing of genealogy resources for Australia, many of which are free.