Genealogy News - June 2007

In our CVGS Research Group meeting, we discuss what has happened in the genealogy world over the past month. Today, we discussed the following:

1) New and useful databases at http://www.ancestry.com/ (not a complete list! See http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx):

* Native American Family History Databases - Indian census records from 1885 to 1940.
* Library of Congress Photo Collection - 1840 to 1900.
* U.S. County Land Ownership Atlases, ca 1864-1918.

2) Ancestry.com -- announced partnership with Sorenson Genomics to put some DNA data online. Note that this is only what Sorenson has, not what all DNA services have.

3) ProQuest Databases

* Partnership with American Antiquarian Society (in Worcester MA) to provide online access to part of the AAS collection, apparently through HeritageQuestOnline (home access with library subscription).

* Partnership with the UK The National Archives to provide access to selections from the UK Colonial State Papers. These hand-written materials offer new insight into British trade, history and overseas expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries. It is not clear how access will be provided.

4) New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has added 500,000 names to their databases, plus years 2000 to 2002 of the NEHG Register journal, and updated the SSDI. The new records include many in the Mass VRs for 1841 to 1910.

5) Online Database of US World War II MIA and POWs - go to http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/INDEX.HTM

6) LDS FamilySearch "Record Search Pilot" announced - you can sign up, evaluate the available databases and comment on them - at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html

7) Useful and interesting web sites:

* http://www.genealogybranches.com/ - collections of links
* http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/ - archaic medical terms, diseases and causes of death
* http://www.myheritage.com/ - a super genealogy database search engine
* http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/. - Canadian County Atlas Digital Project - only has Ontario so far - maps of towns showing plots from ca 1880.
* http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/form.php - Get Grandpa's FBI File.
* http://olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml - online databases for US and Canadian immigration, naturalization, VRs and more.
* http://www.geonames.org/ - Geographic names, linked to Google type satellite maps.
* http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1 - Veterans Administration National Gravesite Locator.