Category: Genealogy

Trying GenealogyBank

Trying GenealogyBank

Posted on by Jack

I am still trying GenealogyBank. See my earlier post for more (or maybe less) on my initial impressions.

I’m about half-way through the trial and I’m very impressed with the old newspapers aspect of the website. So far I haven’t had much luck searching the historical documents and books in their collection but given time I may get better at that. The GenealogyBank search box to the right is free to use and gives you an idea of the site but you do need to pay to actually view the documents.

I find the newspaper search much better than the one at Ancestry. I think the search function works better and there is quite a collection of newspapers to search. I’ve not had much luck with my New York City ancestors. Part of the problem is common names such as Greer and Tracey.

Reidy is not so common but in most of the records my great grandfather’s name was spelled Ready. So a search for William Ready pulls up articles with headlines such as “William ready to do this or that”.

But I have found quite a bit on other lines, especially those in Maryland and Delaware. And despite all the difficulties I have found some things in New York City. Despite my ancestors being mostly obscure, they got into the papers at times.

Some of the findings are the types of things I expected. Some are total surprises. So far I’m impressed with GenealogyBank.

GenealogyBank trial

GenealogyBank trial

Posted on by Jack

I am trying out GenealogyBank right now. I suppose I would have rather had a free trial but they charge for a 30 day access trial. The GenealogyBank search box to the right is free to use and gives you an idea of the site but you do need to pay to actually see the old newspapers, historical documents and books in their collection.

Most of the papers are from the U.S. but there are Irish American newspapers with information on Ireland and that is of interest to me. In fact, I’ve found a few worthwhile items there during this trial.

So far I’m a few days into the trial and feel it is well worth the fee for looking. They do have quite a collection and I have found quite a bit in a few days.

So if you think this might be of interest, look around. I’ll be writing more about my experience with GenealogyBank. I just noticed that I hadn’t posted in about a week and want to let you know what I’ve been up to.

Google Newspaper Archive has not gone away

Google Newspaper Archive has not gone away

Posted on by Jack

The Google Newspaper Archive has not gone away although many think it has. A few years ago, it was announced that Google was shutting down the Newspaper Archive project.

But reading further into the articles you may notice that while Google is no longer scanning newspapers to add to the archive, what was already done is still online and searchable.

The link http://news.google.com/newspapers will give you a list of newspapers in the archive and a search box. You can refine your search after the initial seach.

The link https://news.google.com/news/advanced_news_search?as_drrb=a takes you to a seach box that lets you refine your search right away.

I haven’t decide which I like better but give both a try. You may find nothing but then maybe you will find something worthwhile.

Letitia “Lottie” Greer of New York City

Letitia “Lottie” Greer of New York City

Posted on by Jack

As I mentioned before, I’ve been filling in some details on close relations who are not direct ancestors. That is, collateral rather than lineal relationships. I’ve been looking into the John Greer and Julia Mary Hopkins family of New York City.

Their second child Letitia “Lottie” Greer very rarely used her actual first name. In fact the only record I’ve found so far with Letitia as her name Continue reading “Letitia “Lottie” Greer of New York City”

How to create eBooks (EPUB files) for free

How to create eBooks (EPUB files) for free

Posted on by Jack

Dick Eastman in his Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter has posted an article called How to Create EPUB Files for use in eBooks.

Since an EPUB has many advantages over the the PDF or even paper copies may be using now, you might want to consider it. The article goes into these advantages. But perhaps more importantly, it tells you how you can do this for free or with other paid options if you prefer that route.

Normally this article is available to customers of the paid version of the newsletter but this article is offered as free EPUB download to all who read the shorter version in the free newsletter online.

I read the article last night on my iPhone with the free Bluefire Reader app.

St. Louis Public Library Obituary Search

St. Louis Public Library Obituary Search

Posted on by Jack

The St. Louis Public Library has an online index to the obituaries published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. So if you know or think your ancestor may have had an obituary published there, check out this index at http://www.slpl.org/slpl/gateways/article240117800.asp .

My thanks to HeartlandGenealogy where I ran across this.

Calendars of Wills and Administrations, Ireland National Archives for Irish genealogy

Calendars of Wills and Administrations, Ireland National Archives for Irish genealogy

Posted on by Jack

Updated Jan 15, 2014.

See http://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2014/01/15/calendars-of-wills-and-administrations-1858-1922-national-archives-of-ireland/

Family Search – a billion records and counting

Family Search – a billion records and counting

Posted on by Jack

I have written before about being a volunteer indexer for Family Search. Family Search provides a wonderful free resource to the genealogy community by providing free access to many records.

Billions Badge from Family SearchYesterday I received an email from FamilySearch Indexing. They have reached one billion records indexed and are busy working on the second billion.

If you haven’t joined the effort, please consider being an indexing volunteer for familysearch.org. It is not hard and you can spend as much or as little time as you like. This is a great way to contribute a little bit of time to make it better for all of us in the genealogy community.

Changes at Family Search, more ways of sharing

Changes at Family Search, more ways of sharing

Posted on by Jack

FamilySearch.org has long been one of my favorite genealogy websites.

They have plenty of records and more are indexed everyday by a large number of volunteers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormons) are well-known in the genealogy community for having a large numbers of genealogy records and sharing them with the wider community.

They have long been shared via their Family History Centers but with the advent of the internet have shared their resources online. I assume most know this, but I should add that use of these resources is for the general public and no church membership is required. In fact, I don’t recall ever been being asked about church membership.

There is certainly a lot of new stuff including family trees, helpful videos, documentation, and assistance. You are asked to set up a free account to do somethings. I’ve had my free account for years and plan on exploring the newer aspects of this website.

Oh, and if you want to volunteer to help this free site help more people, I’m sure they would welcome the help.

So check out https://www.familysearch.org/. It should be fairly simple to find stuff from the home page but in case you have problems, here is a link directly to their Help Center.

Mailing lists for genealogy

Mailing lists for genealogy

Posted on by Jack

If your hobby is genealogy you may like mailing lists where you get emails on a topic which could be a surname or an interest such as Irish genealogy or even as local as Co Limerick genealogy. Mailing list (sometimes called maillists) work by sending a copy of each message to posted to all subscribers. Some lists are very small and some are large.

Generally on lists, it is good practice to subscribe and then just read messages for a week or so before you post. Get a feel for the list. And read the welcome message you get when subscribing. List owners often describe the type things that are allowed and not allowed on their lists. Mail lists are a very powerful way to get your message in front of many people who may be able to help.

Learn the types of things that are unacceptable on the list, how people ask questions, etc. Participating on a list is not hard but it’s a good idea to make a good first impression.

Many genealogy lists are hosted by Rootsweb. And they are free. You may want to check out the Rootsweb Mailing list page. There are thousands of mailing lists and you are bound to find one or more that fit your interests. There are 2 search boxes and you can search the archives for a name or term of interest. Or search for a maillist (Find a mailing list) by keyword. The keyword Ireland pulls up about 200 mailing lists out of the 30,000 or so lists at Rootsweb.

John Greer and Julia Mary Hopkins family of New York City

John Greer and Julia Mary Hopkins family of New York City

Posted on by Jack

Lately I’ve been filling in some details on close but not direct ancestors in hopes I’ll find something that gives me some insight or additional direction on my more direct line. So that’s what this is about. One of my great grandmothers was Elizabeth Greer born in Ireland to Ruth Allingham and Matthew Greer.

Elizabeth had an older brother named John Greer who was born in Ireland about 1860. I believe he came to the US in the 1870s and married Julia Mary Hopkins in 1888 in New York City (NYC). Continue reading “John Greer and Julia Mary Hopkins family of New York City”

Irish surname websites for genealogy

Irish surname websites for genealogy

Posted on by Jack

Sometimes you just get lucky.

Maybe someone has already done a good bit of work on your family but you don’t know it. Perhaps a third or fourth cousin you don’t know.

Or there might be some people searching the same surname who are not closely related but may have some advice for you. Sometimes these people with a wealth of information on your family have a website or sometimes someone with a website for your surname of interest be aware of someone searching the same surname.

One way to see if there is a webpage for people interested in your Irish surname is my webpage listing hundreds of links to websites for particular Irish surnames. Have a look at the links on my Irish surname page .

Another option is to use Google or some other search engine to find the names that interest you. Be creative in your search terms!

Family Search is free and needs volunteers to help with indexing

Family Search is free and needs volunteers to help with indexing

Posted on by Jack

Last year I wrote about volunteer indexing at Family Search on my blog but could not find my post here. So I looked back and it was on my other blog which I have since combined with this one but apparently left a few things behind. Since there is nothing here on indexing I’ll fix that now.

Family Search provides a wonderful free resource to the genealogy community by providing free access to many of the records held by the LDS. For those who have not seen it, the website is familysearch.org.

Now that I’ve done a several sets of of records, I can tell you a bit more about my experience. As I said then you can do it at home on your computer. It involves installing a small program from Family Search and that it easy to do. They start you off with some small batches of fairly simple records. You download an image of the records to be indexed.

Then when you are ready, you get to choose from a variety of projects with various levels of difficulty assigned. So far I’ve stuck to beginner records and there are several ongoing projects at that level. They are not hard but sometimes the handwriting is difficult to decipher. If you consider a batch too difficult or unclear, you can return it.

My understanding is that 2 indexers do each record and if they disagree, a third more experienced indexer looks at the record. So I don’t worry that if I am wrong on something, the index will be wrong. My work is checked one way or another.

So far, I’ve looked at English and American census records, WW1 draft registration records, and marriage records. It is not hard and you can spend as much or as little time as you like. This is a great way to contribute a little bit of time to make it better for all of us in the genealogy community.

Wiliam Riedy (Ready or Reidy) from Rathkeale, Limerick to New York about 1880

Wiliam Riedy (Ready or Reidy) from Rathkeale, Limerick to New York about 1880

Posted on by Jack

William RIEDY of Rathkeale was born around 1861/1862 and emigrated to New York City about 1880. He married Mary O’BRIEN (ca 1863-1918). His parents were Edward or Edmund RIEDY and Mary SCANLAN (we think). Her parents were Patrick and Bridget O’BRIEN.

His last name is spelled Ready in some documents and Riedy in others. The spelling Reidy is also used quite frequently.

William became a US citizen on 8 Oct 1890 in the Superior Court of the City of New York. On December 24, 1895, he was injured in a blasting accident and died about a month later.

The 1852 Griffith’s valuation found Edward RIEDY on a 25.5 acre farm in Riddlestown (townland), civil parish of Doondonnell, Rathkeale, Co Limerick. The farm was leased from Gerald Blennerhassett. This farm may have been around TallyHo Lodge.

More details are on my website.

Irish genealogy and Registry of Deeds Index Project

Irish genealogy and Registry of Deeds Index Project

Posted on by Jack

If your ancestors may have owned or leased property in Ireland you may want to check out the Registry of Deeds Index Project. There are over 110,000 records indexed now and with more being added by volunteers. The index is searchable by name, location, and other ways. This is a wonderful resource for those of us with an interest in Irish genealogy.