Making a Family Tree

A chilling yet important tool for those searching for relatives who may have been impacted by the world wars.  Stephen P. Morse and Peter Landé write,

“The recent opening of the Red Cross International Tracing Service (ITS) records, the largest collection of information on Holocaust victims and survivors, has aroused new genealogical and historical interest in the availability of Holocaust information, whether on the web or otherwise.  It has also increased the awareness that Holocaust records do not only relate to Jews, but, in fact, the overwhelming majority of persons indentified in records are non-Jews who were persecuted for a variety of reasons.”

Read more about Dachau Concentration Camp Records

Search Dachau Concentration Camp Records

Stephen Morse has an amazing website with a wealth of genealogy search references and information.  I strongly recommend a visit.

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Congress has approved the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) plan to build a new 525,000-square-foot facility in St. Louis for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

GSA announced plans in June 2007 to build a facility for NARA’s National Personnel Records Center on 23.5 acres it bought at 1829 Dunn Road. NARA’s National Personnel Records Center is one of the agency’s largest operations with a central repository of personnel-related records for both military and civil service employees, including military personnel files of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Elvis Presley, Ted Williams and former Presidents George H.W. Bush and John F. Kennedy, among many other notables.

GSA is in the process of selecting a developer…

Read the full story at www.bizjournals.com

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As reported by Jean-Yves BAXTER on News

A New York state employee who had access to government-owned
archives has been arrested on suspicion of stealing hundreds of
historic documents, many of which he sold on eBay, authorities said on
Monday.

Among the missing documents were an 1823 letter by U.S. Vice
President John C. Calhoun and copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs,
pamphlets written by the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in Texas.

Daniel Lorello, 54, of Rensselaer, New York, was charged with grand
larceny, possession of stolen property and fraud. He pleaded innocent
in Albany City Court on Monday

He was found out by an alert history buff who saw the items posted
on the online auction site and alerted authorities, the state attorney
general’s office said in a statement.

    Read the full story.

Wow…

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I was thinking about what to get my Wife for Valentines Day and came across this great idea that I thought you might be interested in as well.

Your Family Coat-of-Arms on a Wine Bottle!

Click on the link above and search for one of your surnames. From there, you select the coat-of-arms, provide any special messaging, and then click done! They’ll ship the wine directly to you (for a reasonable price).

Not all US states allow for the shipping of wine but most do and those that do not, they have some nice non-alcoholic options to choose from.

So, jump on over to Signatures Wines. If nothing else, it might be fun to see your Family Coat-of-Arms.

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Tracing your family ancestry is a great way to connect with family members around the world. One of the best ways to get started with the process is to find a brief introductory guide in genealogy. You don’t have to become an expert on the subject, but you do need to know some basic tips for sorting through the tremendous amount of data available online and in public records.

The Basic Beginner’s Genealogy Guide from Genealogy Beginner provides you with the basic skills you need to trace your ancestry, dating back hundreds of years. One of the first things you’ll discover when you read this guide is how to simplify the process. For example, the first chapter of the guide provides you with tips for tracing your closest relatives and working backwards from there.

Many of the people who have purchased The Basic Beginner’s Genealogy Guide from Genealogy Beginner have reported finding more information on their ancestors than they ever imagined possible. If you’re approaching your genealogy research like a fun hobby, the guide offers several suggestions for planning fact-finding activities. One of the most popular activities involves incorporating a family reunion into your genealogy research efforts.

Like most family reunions, the genealogy family reunion takes place at a central location, preferably near a popular tourist attraction or outdoor recreational facility. The guide offers suggestions for planning your family reunion and also offers practical advice for gathering information about your ancestors. A genealogy family reunion is a great way to gather old photos, newspaper clippings, stories about relatives, and even video footage.

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Any opportunity you have to get to Salt Lake City and the LDS Library, you should consider it.  The LDS (Later Day Saints) is the single largest collection of genealogy records in the world.  Below is a short post about an upcoming organized trip.  Kathryn Doyle writes:

“It’s not too early to sign up for the 8th annual CGS Salt Lake City Research Tour, April 13-20, 2008. CGS President, Jane Lindsey and CGS Research Director, Nancy Peterson return again as volunteer leaders of this very popular trip to the Family History Library. The trip registration form gives a full description of cancellation and refund policy.

Accommodations are at the Shilo Inn, located three blocks from the Family History Library. The Shilo provides free high-speed internet access in every room.

The cost is $625 (airfare not included.) A deposit of $200 holds one space.”

Click here to read more about this trip.

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From the National Archives today…

Washington, DC…The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will receive $411.1 million in funding for the current fiscal year under the omnibus appropriations bill signed by President George W. Bush on December 26.

The funding level represents an increase of 20.5 percent over the Fiscal Year 2007 level of $341.1 million, which was a continuation of the FY 2006 funding because of the absence of a regular appropriation for NARA. The FY 2007 funding level also did not include any monies for the larger construction projects for the Presidential libraries.

NARA’s funding is part of the $555 billion Consolidation Appropriations Act of 2007, which funds the parts of the U.S. government that have not received regular appropriations.

Read the full news release

A 20% increase is a lot.  However it sounds like they were overdue.  Let us know if you disagree.

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Does VA have any records that I can use to obtain the military history of a relative or friend?

The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs does not maintain any historical military records such as military units assigned to, dates and places of assignment, pay records, etc. For all information about military records, go http://www.archives.gov/

I’ll post about The Archives shortly, they have some interesting news today about increases in budgets.

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DeadFred.com is a great site with a great name!

When I last visited they were boasting over 14,000 surnames indexed and organized with photos for each. The idea is that you search by surname and find photos along with those who submitted them to link up and add to the richness of everyone’s family tree. As they put it,

Trace your roots for free with our searchable database containing thousands of identified and mystery photos for genealogy enthusiasts looking for long-lost family.  Anyone who finds a photo of a direct ancestor that is owned by the
archive will receive the photo for free.

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Just came across this. You can read more about these classes or visit GenClass directly.

GenClass.com offers online, short-term, fact-packed courses in a multitude of relevant subjects. You might want to add one or more of these classes to your holiday wish list!

Most of the founding instructors previously taught these successful online classes at MyFamily.com, and new staffers have since joined. The group now represents instructors living in the US, Canada, England, Scotland and Israel.

Classes for January, February and March 2008 are now open for registration, and include Jewish Basic Research and Jewish Internet Research. Micha Reisel and I team-teach those two classes.

In addition, new instructor Alexandra Goldberg will offer “Genealogy for Kids” in January. If you are wondering how to get your children interested in this quest, this might be the perfect introduction.

The classes will help prepare newcomers or more advanced researchers by providing essential tools and information.

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