America

  • A ‘Blacksheep’ Pilgrim or the First American Individualist?

    Nov 24

    People generally have the notion that the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in the 1620s were a very docile, proper group of people, just seeking a new homeland to worship as they saw fit.  Yet, that original group of 102 passengers on the tiny Mayflower ship of 1620 was quite diverse. The following is about one family who stood out from the rest at...

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  • You Might Be a Descendant of the Original Pilgrims

    Nov 20

    This time of year near Thanksgiving one reflects on those brave souls on the Mayflower ship who came to a new land on November 11, 1620. Generally, everyone refers to all those individuals as ‘Pilgrims’ but in truth only 41 were Pilgrims.  Many others were indentured servants, paid servants and hired workers to assist the Pilgrims set and run ...

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  • ‘Characters in a Drama’

    Nov 12

    In a recent article and book written by Mark Whitaker, CNN’s managing editor, he covers about his own search for his family’s history.  He compared his family members, like all other individuals from anyone’s family, as  ‘characters in a drama.’  Learning there is truly a distinctive element in every family story; Mark stated that all ...

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  • Documents on Military Veterans

    Nov 10

    With the National Veterans Day celebrations annually on November 11th, it is time to may sure that you have identified any military veterans on your family tree.  First, become knowledgeable of when the United States was engaged in any war. There is a good timeline and explanation of military operations online with wikipedia.  This includes the y...

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  • U. S. Military Soldiers Buried Overseas

    Oct 25

    The United States Military branches have tried over the decades to fulfill a commitment to bring every single American soldier back home, even those killed in battle. Yet, over the 20th century with the many wars, it was not always possible.  So special cemeteries, considered American property, were constructed on foreign soil for those fallen sol...

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  • Any Michigan Ancestors?

    Oct 15

    In an early August FamlyTree Genealogy Blog the online site ‘Seeking Michigan’ and its death records from 1897 to 1920 were explained. This same site has even more to offer a researcher with ancestors from the state of Michigan. Their large Michigan Collection is divided into other aspects of her people and history that makes up Michigan. Ther...

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  • The Photo Faces of America

    Oct 13

    The United States Library of Congress has joined with the online photo site ‘Flickr’ to help bring the massive collection of photo images to the homes of researchers. Inspecting this homepage offers up such a variety of topics. Known as the Library of Congress’ Photostream, there are seventeen major set of photos.  They range from images...

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  • Maps From the United States, Europe, South America and Beyond

    Oct 11

    It is wonderful that maps were made decades and centuries ago which now offer up a window into places across the United States and other continents. The land has always been there, but names of regions, villages, towns, states have changed over the years. An interesting online site, titled David Rumsey Historical Map Collection helps to provide ...

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  • Discovering Any Wyoming Roots

    Oct 7

    Not all our ancestors remained in Northern or Southern regions of the United States, or along the Pacific coast. Many people ventured out to the wide-open ranchland and mountainous locations of this nation.  The state of Wyoming is an excellent example of an area with open high plains, foothills of the Rocky Mountains as well as full mountainous r...

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  • Free Search of the Mortality Schedules Database

    Sep 30

    Besides the U. S. Federal Census records which are done every ten years starting in 1790, the United States also had included during certain years a mortality schedule to record those American individuals who had died the previous year. These additions were done during the 1850 through the 1880 Federal census years. When the census taker asked if a...

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