Friday, December 30, 2016

PGS Events for the Week of 1-7 January 2017

Tuesday, 3-Jan-2017 at 6:00 PM--Newspapers Online in Genealogy—This class will explore the genealogy data to be found in newspapers (obituaries, weddings, human interest stories, etc.) and show where to find the online repositories and how to use them. Summers   , Local History Room, Largo Library.
Thursday, 5-Jan-2017 at 1:00 PM--Swedish Genealogy Interest Group--The session will explore the many tools available and methods possible for locating and researching your ancestors who came from Sweden. Contributions of interest to the group as a whole are welcome and encouraged. Charest, Local History Room, Largo Library.
Friday, 6-Jan-2017 at 10:15 AM--Franco-American Discussion Group. Geographic areas include: Europe (primarily France, but not limited to France)-Eastern Canada (primarily Quebec, some Ontario, but including the Acadians of the Maritime Provinces)-USA (Central North America and New England, also Louisiana and the surrounding Southern states). Grandmaison, Local History Room, Largo Library.
Saturday, 7-Jan-2017 at 10:00 AM--Family Tree Maker User Group--Questions & Answers and Demonstration of how to use the Family Tree Maker genealogical database software. Hosmer/Bryan, Local History Room, Largo Library.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Cook County Naturalization Records: Declarations of Intention

Naturalization records can be tough to find because of the ability of our ancestors to use courts from the local to the federal level. Their paperwork can be in the archives of county courts all the way to the National Archives housing federal court records.

That dispersal of records is what makes this online set of Cook County, Illinois circuit court declarations of intention ("first papers") so valuable. After searching on you specified criteria, you will get a hit list. Click on any name and you will see a record consisting of record location (volume, page number, declaration number), name, occupation, birth location and date, departure location, arrival date, and declaration date.

Check it out at:
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court: Search the Naturalization Declarations of Intention:

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Monday, December 26, 2016

Here's a Fun Test For You

Here is a little test from Tamie Dehler writing in the Tribune Star Website. You can confirm what you know, or get an insight where you might need to do a little exploration.

Good luck at:
Genealogy: Put yourself to the test | Community | tribstar.com:

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Thursday, December 22, 2016

Finding School Records for Genealogy

Lisa Louise Cooke, writing in her Blog, Genealogy Gems, gives us the article "School Yourself: 10 Ways to Find School Records for Genealogy." This very helpful article is filled with good advice as well as links to many of the referenced websites.

Remember, Lisa is going to be the principal speaker at our 2017 seminar on 25 February. You can find more information about it and a registration form at: http://www.flpgs.org/NMbrs/seminar/2017/Sem17.aspx

Here is the link to Lisa's article:
School Yourself: 10 Ways to Find School Records for Genealogy:

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Monday, December 19, 2016

Oak Hill Cemetery Burial Records, Georgetown, DC

Oak Hill Cemetery, in the center of Georgetown, DC, lying long Rock Creek, was established in 1849. It has an interesting history, to which there is a link on the landing page.

You can look up individual burials in an index which will link you to tombstone inscriptions and burial records. And you can also look at maps of the various sections of the cemetery.

Check it out at:
Oak Hill Cemetery Burial Records and Lot and Section Maps:

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Friday, December 16, 2016

PGS Events for the Week of 18-24 December 2016

Tuesday, 20-Dec-2016 at 6:00 PM--Ancestry.com searching--the next level. This class will explore approaches to difficult searches--how to find them when they're not where they should be. Bryan, Local History Room, Largo Library.
Wednesday, 21-Dec-2016 at 6:00 PM--Scanned Genealogy Books Online--How and where to find them  (google books, heritage quest,ancestry.com, et al). Summers, Local History Room, Largo Library.

Best Cemetery and Directory Genealogy Websites for 2016

FamilyTreeMagazine gives us their take on the top 101 genealogy databases for 2016. The link below takes you directly to the list of best cemetery and directory genealogy websites, but links at the bottom of the list will take you to the other categories of websites as well as to the main article itself.

2016 Best Cemetery & Directory Genealogy Websites - Family Tree Magazine:

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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Fire Insurance Maps for Cities in Georgia

Now you can review online a collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for towns and cities in Georgia for the years of 1884 to 1922. We can thank the Digital Library of Georgia and Galileo.

You can do a basic word search, or elect to do an advance search to quickly narrow down your search results. You can also search for a specific address. Browsing is also available--by city, county, or year.

Check it out at:  Ben Hill County:

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Saturday, December 10, 2016

Twenty Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Research Techniques

Elizabeth Shown Mills writing in her Evidence Explained Blog, gives us twenty questions to guide us in our research, and perhaps to remind us of some things we should be doing and are not.

This is a good read. Check it out at:  QuickTips:

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PGS Events for the Week of 11-17 December 2016

Tuesday, 13-Dec-2016 at 6:00 PM--Familysearch.org—the class will demonstrate how to search the vast databases available on this rapidly-expanding site made available from the LDS (Mormon) genealogy collection. Bryan, Local History Room, Largo Library
Thursday, 15-Dec-2016 at 1:00 PM--Irish Genealogy Interest Group, Focareta-Padgett, Local History Room, Largo Library
Friday, 16-Dec-2016 at 10:30 AM--German Genealogy Interest Group. Dietz, Local History Room, Largo Library
Saturday, 17-Dec-2016 at 10:00 AM--Computers in Genealogy--Question and answer session on the use of computers in genealogy research and record keeping. Bryan, Jenkins B, Largo Library.
Saturday, 17 Dec 2016 at 11:00 AM—Christmas Party & Show and Tell. Jenkins B, Largo Library.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Digitized Newspapers From Virginia

This vast collection of digitized Virginia newspapers is hosted by the Library of Virginia. It boasts over 120 titles representing 102,502 issues, comprising 809,181 pages, and 122,203 articles. Quite impressive.

You can search the collection using a simple search box, or browse by title or date.

While you are on the site, click on the link given for "The Virginia Newspaper Project" to get a more complete picture of the newspaper resources the library makes available.

Check it out at:  Virginia Chronicle:

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

Disasters that Affected our Ancestor's Lives

Storms, explosions, wrecks, crashes, floods, fires! These types of catastrophic events and others often affect the lives of our ancestors. Learning about those disasters help us to better understand the lives of our ancestors who lived through them.

This website Chronicles and categorizes disasters making is easy to find applicable events by type of disaster, year of occurrence, or state of occurrence. Canada is also included as a browse destination.

This is fascinating reading, so be prepared to spend more time at the site than you may have planned. Check it out at:

GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods | Events That Touched Our Ancestors' Lives:

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Saturday, December 3, 2016

WWII Collection on Fold3.com Is Free for The Month of December 2016

The Ancestry website Fold3, which specializes in US military records and is available free of charge if used within the Largo Library, is offering free access to their  World War II records for the entire month of December 2016.

This link will take you directly to the free offer:
https://go.fold3.com/wwii/ 

Friday, December 2, 2016

PGS Events for the Week of 4-10 December 2016

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Help in Breaking Down Your Brick Walls

You may think getting through that brick wall is a hopeless venture, but you never know when you may come across just the piece of information you need, or read about a strategy you have not tried before.

Family History Daily gives us an article titled "The 13 Reasons You Can't Break Down Your Brick Walls" that just might give you the help you need.

Check it out at:
The 13 Reasons You Can't Break Down Your Brick Walls | Family History Daily:

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