Geneaology

Web turns up ancestors

Where on the Web are your ancestors? Practically everywhere. Today's column features information about helpful Web sites from readers as well as my own discovery:

By DONNA MURRAY ALLEN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 11, 2001

Where on the Web are your ancestors? Practically everywhere. Today's column features information about helpful Web sites from readers as well as my own discovery:

CANADIAN CENSUS INFORMATION: Want to know more about Canadian census returns? Log on to www.archives.ca/02/02020205_e.html. You'll find out which returns you can obtain for each of the provinces through 1901, the last year for which returns were made public. Microfilmed records may be borrowed through the Mormon Church's Family History Centers. Post-1901 returns are under wraps indefinitely due to strict privacy laws.

CALCULATING BIRTH DATES FROM TOMBSTONES: We've all seen tombstones bearing inscriptions such as "John Smith died at age 79 years, 3 months and 2 days." If you're a math whiz, calculating the person's birth date is a piece of cake. The mathematically impaired can get an assist by logging on to http://searchforancestors.com/utility/birthday.html. Just plug in the death date data and the birth date will be automatically calculated.

PENNSYLVANIA LAUNCHES DIGITAL STATE ARCHIVES: ARIAS -- Archives Records Information Access System -- is Pennsylvania's first foray into placing state government archival records online. Revolutionary War Military Abstract Cards, World War I Service Medal Application Cards and Spanish-American War Veterans Cards are now accessible at www.phmc.state.pa.us/. Card files from the Civil War and the Mexican Border Campaign come next. The total series includes 500,000 records. These online files are especially intriguing because they are photocopies of the actual cards, not merely compiled lists.

The Revolutionary War cards, arranged alphabetically by the soldier's surname, pertain to service in the Pennsylvania Militia, Pennsylvania Line and the Navy. The card files of veterans who served in the Spanish-American War was created by the Office of the Adjutant General in 1941 from information taken from the original records of the U.S. War Department. The WWI Service Medal cards were originally submitted by veterans and their survivors who applied for medals in accordance with the Act of April 21, 1937. All cards contain basic demographic and military data.

COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL RECORDS: Be sure to check out county, township and city repositories for genealogical documents. County health departments in Florida and some other states keep copies of birth and death certificates for selected years. In Hillsborough County, you can get birth records from 1930-39 and from 1950 to the present. Death records date back to 1991. (Call (813) 307-8002 for details.) Pinellas County's records go back to the early 1900s. (Call (727) 893-2209.) Prices range from $7-$14. Expect to pay a search fee if you don't know the date. Dates and prices vary by county.

In New Jersey, you'll find copies of selected vital records and marriage license applications at the Municipal Services Center in each township. Each city also has its own center. Cities trump townships. If your ancestors lived in the city of Burlington in Bordentown Township, for example, the records you want will be in Burlington. (New Jersey doesn't have countywide repositories for these documents.)

For information about state departments of vital statistics, log on to www.vitalrec.com/ or contact your local library.

HONORING YOUR ANCESTORS: Megan Smolenyak, who wrote In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity, is gathering stories for a new book. If you've honored your ancestors in some exceptional way like re-enacting a wagon train journey, consider submitting your story. Contributions will also be accepted from genealogy societies and historical societies that sponsor unusual fund-raisers. Email megan@honoringourancestors.com for details.

GREAT LAKES CREW MEMBERS: Looking for information about the crews who operated ships on the Great Lakes? Ocala reader Maggie Wise suggests logging on to www.mi.familyhistory.net/glsdb/index.html or subscribing to this e-mail list: GLSHIPS-L@rootsweb.com. The list generates lots of e-mails, but Maggie says it's worth it.

GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP: Some experts claim that 25 percent of Americans have German ancestors. If you're one of them and could use some help in digging up your roots, consider joining the German Genealogy Group. Visit www.germangenealogygroup.com for details.

Donna Murray Allen welcomes your questions about genealogy and will respond to those of general interest in future columns. Sorry, she can't take phone calls, but you can write to her c/o Home & Garden, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail her at rootscolumn@aol.com.

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