Cast Your Vote for the Best Family Web Site

The entries are in, the finalists are chosen. Now it’s time for YOU to be the judge!

The five finalists in Family Tree Magazine’s Best Family Web Site Contest are:

• Family Historians
  
• The Genealogy of the Kloosterman Family
  
• John & Susan Howell's Family Trees
  
• Kerry Kelley's Genealogy Web Site
  
• Our Innes Tree and Tangled Branches 

Celebrate African-American History Month in February

Americans have observed African-American History Month each February since 1976. This celebration evolved from Negro History Week, established in 1926 by Harvard scholar Carter G. Woodson to focus the public’s attention on African-Americans’ contributions to our country’s growth.

This month, special educational Web sites, television programs and classes make it a great time to pick up genealogy tips and fill out your tree with social history. Look for learning opportunities at your library or history museum and Web sites such as:

Afrigeneas
http://www.afrigeneas.com: This repeat on Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Web Sites list is the place to start researching African-American ancestors.

Black History Facts
http://www.yenoba.com: Find out what happened on this date in African-American history.

FamilyTreeMagazine.som African-American Toolkit
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ethnic_cat.asp?ethnicity=AfriAmer: Get genealogy research tips, repositories and links to online resources.

The History Channel: Black History
http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory: Watch and listen to clips of African-American leaders in action.

Biography
http://www.biography.com/black_history: Read profiles of pioneers in black history.

PBS
http://www.pbs.org: See when shows such as "African-American Lives" and "Sisters of Selma" air on your local PBS station. Click Programs A-Z for the companion Web sites to "African-American Lives" and other shows.

See Your Civil War Ancestors' World

ProQuest Information and Learning (http://www.proquest.com)—creators of the recently sold HeritageQuest Online genealogy database service—is working on a new digital resource for Civil War research.

Slated for debut this spring, ProQuest Civil War Era will be available through subscribing libraries. According to the company's announcement, the service will offer "a comprehensive view of not only the years of battle, but the factors leading to war" with complete runs of eight newspapers (Richmond [Va.] Dispatch, Charleston [SC] Mercury,  New Orleans Times Picayune, Boston Herald, New York Herald, Columbus [Ohio] State Journal, Kentucky Daily Journal and Memphis Daily Appeal) from 1840 to 1865, as well as nearly 2,000 opinion pamphlets from government officials, social reformists and other leaders of the time.

It’s unlikely you’ll find ancestors in the database; rather, this service will give genealogists a picture of the complex issues and highly charged political climate surrounding your Civil War relatives.

Look for help researching Civil War soldier ancestors in the July 2007 Family Tree Magazine.

Death Certificate Buzz in the Beehive State

Utah’s free online death index is now linked to digitized certificate images, thanks to the state archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ FamilySearch Web site (http://www.familysearch.org) and the Genealogical Society of Utah.

The index covers more than 250,000 certificates issued from 1905 to 1954; state archives spokesperson Glen Fairclough says those from 1955 and 1956 will follow later this year.

Searching is a bit cumbersome. Go to http://historyresearch.utah.gov/indexes/index.html and type a name—last, then given, then middle--into the search field. Results come in menu form, listing the name you typed along with names occurring alphabetically before and after it in the database. (If the name you typed isn’t there, the menu will show where it should be.) Search on variations, since Soundex isn’t an option.

Because this search covers the death index as well as other state archives databases, you’ll see corporate names in the results menu, and some matches lead to records other than death certificates.

Select a name in your results menu to see transcribed information and a thumbnail image of the certificate. Click to enlarge it. You also can order copies from this page. Several of our test search results were missing the images; Fairclough said administrators are ironing out such glitches.

test

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Tell us About Your Favorite Ancestor

Maybe your relative led a fascinating life, did something that tickles your funny bone or was a steadfast, genuinely good person—tell us what you love about your favorite ancestor in the FamilyTreeMagazine.com Everything's Relative Forum.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?
tid=212&posts=1#M447

• All Aboard for Orphan Train Resources
  Was your ancestor one of the 200,000 children from the East Coast who, between 1854 and 1930, was sent to adoptive homes in the Midwest? Use these resources  to research Orphan Train relatives.
  http://www.familytreemagazine.com/feb07/orphan.asp


• Adoptive Family Tree Chart
  If standard ancestor charts don't fit your adopted family members, this tree's for you. 
  http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/research/adoptiontree.pdf


• Tips for Displaying Memorabilia
  Follow these pointers to safely display your precious family memories.
  http://www.familytreemagazine.com/feb07/archives.asp

Born at Sea

Q. If someone was born aboard an immigrant ship traveling to America, how and where is the birth recorded?

A. To learn the answer, see http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/current.html. 

Read more Q&A with the experts at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/previous.html.

Clearly Stated

Genealogist Rene Larson wonders if the caption on the back of this photo is correct: "The Edwards Family. This picture taken at Gore, Okla. sometime before statehood." 

Is the caption right? See  http://www.familytreemagazine.com/
photos/current.htm for photo historian Maureen A. Taylor's analysis.

If you have a family photo mystery for Taylor to solve, check out our Submission Guidelines at: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/photohelp.htm.

Find upcoming genealogy and living history seminars—and publicize your group’s events--in our online calendar. You must be registered with the FamilyTreeMagazine.com Forum to post.