Swiss Watch
Swiss Roots, a brand-new Swiss-American genealogy-and-culture Web site at http://www.swissroots.org, will add an unexpected (for genealogy) pop-culture twist to its promotional hoopla: "Big Ben" Roethlisberger,
quarterback of the Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers, will visit his ancestral homeland this May in Switzerland's Bernese Emmental. Other events include a display of the Swiss Federal Charter at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, an exhibit
at the Ellis Island immigration museum and a vintage Swiss Postal Bus road show through the US states where the most Swiss Americans live (California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).
The site, a project of the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York, bills itself as a cool, hip place for "Swissophiles" to congregate. Databases in the heritage section include Swiss immigrants' Ellis Island passenger lists revised to correct misspellings
and "mishearings," with links to the Web sites of passengers' hometowns. You'll also find historical timelines and profiles of famous Swiss-Americans, such as chocolatier Milton Hershey and actress Renee Zellweger.
An interactive community section features message boards, information on Switzerland, shopping, recipes and a calendar of stateside Swiss-related events.
Enter Our April Issue Quiz and Win!
Show us how sharp you are, Family Tree Magazine readers! Get your April 2006 issues and find the answers to the following five questions—we promise they're all in there. The first three of you to e-mail the correct responses to ftmnews-editor@fwpubs.com
will win our 2006 Genealogy Guidebook, a special issue filled with brick-wall busting tips for your most stubborn research problems. Ready . . . set . . . go!
- How many Irish immigrants arrived in New York City in 1847?
- What are three types of records you can find on ArchiviaNet, the Library and Archives Candada online research site?
- What is one way to recruit a clergyman to your genealogical team?
- What is an FHC and how can you find one?
- What is a vendue list?
Power Grid
Find out where the resources you need are hiding using the new ArchiveGrid Web site (http://www.archivegrid.org). It lists nearly a million historical documents, family histories and collections of personal papers
in archives around the world.
It's free through the end of May—its creators at the nonprofit library membership organization RLG are seeking funding to keep it gratis after that.
Run a search using the box on the home page. Each match shows snippets of the item description containing your search terms, a link to the holding institution's full record and a link to that library's home page. If the library is far away, explore its
Web site for information on interlibrary loan and research services—you may be able to borrow the item, or request a photocopy or lookup.
Public Records Updates:
Colorado and South Dakota
Access to some Colorado ancestral information may be in peril due to legislators' identity theft worries. HB06-1357, which has passed the House and waits for a Senate committee review, would prohibit county clerks from letting a person other than the
one named in the record or an immediate family member see marriage license applications.
Marriage certificates wouldn't be closed, but they contain less information than the applications, which provide names of the brides' and grooms' parents, the couples' dates and places of birth and their last names, if different at birth.
Concerned? See COGenBlog (http://www.cogenblog.com) for instructions on what you can do to keep these public records, well, public.
Meanwhile, in South Dakota, the state health department heaped insult upon injury by closing access to indexes of marriage and death records from the past century—unless you're a member of the South Dakota Genealogical Society (http://www.rootsweb.com/~sdgenweb/gensoc/sdgensoc.html).
Last year, the legislature—prompted by identity theft fears—passed SB41. That law lets people who show identification get informational copies of original birth, marriage and death records, but limits certified copies to the person named in
the record plus immediate family members or authorized representatives. Birth records older than 100 years are public (search an index to these at http://www.state.sd.us/applications/PH14Over100BirthRec);
as are death, marriage and divorce records older than 50 years.
The law didn't mention marriage and death record indexes, so state health officials recently decided they should be restricted, too. The state genealogical society struck a deal; South Dakota newspaper editors refused a similar privilege, saying public
records should be public for everyone.
All this is still an improvement over the original version of SB41, which would've prevented anybody other than the person in the document from seeing even informational copies. For more on the hoops you must jump through to request a record, see http://www.state.sd.us/doh/VitalRec/vital.htm.
Tell Me a Story
I’ve spent these last few days in Florida, attending the Bar Mitzvah of my nephew, Eli, and, I've had the chance to learn more about Eli’s maternal heritage from Lee, my sister-in-law’s mom. As I sat listening to tales of life in Manhattan
around the turn of the last century, I was reminded of why I love family stories—and why I collect them like some people collect stamps or coins.
Read more at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/current.html.
AncestorNews columnist Nancy Hendrickson is the author of Finding Your Roots Online, on sale now at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/store/display.asp?id=70583.
Browse
past AncestorNews columns at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/previous.html.
Put a Cap on It
This tip about recording information on your genealogical charts comes from the May 2006 Trace Your Family History, a special publication on newsstands now.
Write surnames in all capital letters on your genealogy forms.This approach lets you (or someone reading your pedigree charts) immediately distinguish last names from first and middle names. This might seem unecessary at first, but when you run
into kin named Guillame GAUTIER de LACHENAYE, you'll see the importance.
Do you have a great idea for discovering, preserving or
celebrating family history? E-mail us your tip at
ftmnews-editor@fwpubs.com with "TIP OF THE WEEK"
in the subject line. If we publish it, you'll win a free
copy of the September 2005 Family Tree Sourcebook
a special issue of Family Tree Magazine. It's available for purchase online at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/mags/display.asp?id=1699.
Overwhelmed by the number of family history-related Web sites popping up? FamilyTreeMagazine.com sorts through them all—whew!—to bring you only the very best. We recently recommended the following as Sites of the Week:
• Scottish Handwriting
http://www.scottishhandwriting.com/content
Get tutorials and weekly tips for deciphering old Scottish script.
• Colorado's Historic Newspaper Collection
http://host1.cdpheritage.org/newspapers
Search for digitized Colorado newspapers from 1859 to 1923.
• Census of Population and Housing
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/index.htm
Get statistical data from historical US censuses.
• National Geographic MapMachine: Civil War Edition
http://nationalgeographic.com/maps/civilwar
Just type in a city or state name to see locations of Civil War battles your ancestors fought.
Remains of the Day
Two people wrote asking how to locate more pictures by the photographers whose imprints are on their family photos. The bad news is unless the photographer or his relative donated his prints and negatives to a repository, it's likely the material
was discarded. But if the photographer's collection survived, here are some ways to find it.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/current.htm.
If you have a family photo mystery for Taylor to solve, check out our Submission Guidelines at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/photohelp.htm.
Lancaster, Pa.
James M. Beidler
April 1
Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society Family History Conference
Topics: - Contrasting German Migrations: 18th-Century vs. 19th-Century Waves
- Philadelphia Research: Repositories and Records
For more information, see http://www.lmhs.org.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
April 1
Oklahoma Genealogical Society
Topics: - Flesh on the Bones: Putting Your Ancestors into Historical Perspective
- The Silent Woman: Bringing a Name to Life
- The Immigrant Experience: From Steerage to Ellis Island
- From Yawner to Page Turner: Writing Your Ancestor's Story
For more information, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgs.
Westampton, NJ
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
April 5
Burlington County Genealogy Club at Burlington County Public Library
- Topic: Trace Your Roots with DNA
For more information, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~njbcgc/.
Plain City, Ohio
James M. Beidler
April 8
Ohio Chapter, Palatines to America Spring Seminar
Topics: - Tips for Beginning Genealogists
- Hunting a Homestead Using Land Records
For more information, see http://www.oh-palam.org.
Stony Brook, NY
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
April 8
Genealogy Federation of Long Island
Topic: - Trace Your Roots with DNA
- Reverse Genealogy: Finding Your Lost Loved Ones
For more information, see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gfli/.
Boston, Mass.
Maureen A. Taylor
April 8
New England Historic Genealogical Society Seminar—Your Family History: Plan Before You Write
- Topic: Historical Context: Adding Colorful History to Your Family Story
For more information, see http://www.newenglandancestors.org.
Elkins Park, Pa.
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
April 10
Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia
- Topics: Real World DNA Testing
For more information, see http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsp/.
Newtown, Conn.
Lisa A. Alzo
April 12
Genealogy Club of Newtown, Conn.
- Topic: Writing Your Family History
For more information, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~ctgcnc.
RootsMagic Genealogy Software - "An excellent choice for any genealogist" says Family Tree Magazine. Get a free trial copy at http://www.RootsMagic.com
PUBLISH YOUR FAMILY HISTORY. Preserve and share your precious family research. Personal coaching. Many options. www.GatewayPress.com
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