U.S. history

  • Finding an Ancestor in the Dakota Territory in 1885

    Feb 17

    Many people at the end of the American Civil War decided to start fresh in a new land. The Dakota Territory, 1861 to 1889, which would later makeup North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming became the new home of many people who once lived east of the Mississippi River. There were new settlers from the Union Northern states as well ...

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  • 1895 Maps of Ancestral Hometowns

    Feb 9

    During the course of your family history research you noted the numerous hometowns where your ancestors lived. They may have resided in a small community, a modest-sized town or large city. You may have the name of the town, but not know which county it was situated in. How about any neighboring communities, are you familiar with those places? More...

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  • US Gen Web Project

    Oct 20

    In 1996 a group of volunteers worked together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The USGenWeb Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. The databases cover all 50 states and within each state it is broken down to counties. At the national si...

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  • Wyoming Genealogy

    Oct 19

    The western state of Wyoming has Crow, Arapaho, Shoshone and Lakota as some of the original Native Indians to the region. The French fur traders traveled through the region. It was John Colter, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who made a written description of the region in 1807. Not until the Union Pacific Railroad reached Wyoming in 1867 did...

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  • Wisconsin Genealogy

    Oct 19

    A state bordered by Lake Superior and Lake Michigan along with the upper Mississippi River. The Native Indians of the region have included the Ioway, Ho-Chunk and Menominee tribes. By the time Europeans arrived they found the Kickapoo, Fox, Ojibwa, Pottawatoemie and Sauk tribes. French explorers arrived in the Wisconsin region by traveling the...

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  • West Virginia Genealogy

    Oct 19

    This state was born during the American Civil War of the 1860s when it broke with the state of Virginia over that state’s attitude with seceding with the federal Union. For decades the lands of West Virginia were that of the colony and then state of Virginia. During the late 1600s and early 1700s various English explorers had gone into the w...

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  • Washington Genealogy

    Oct 19

    The state in the far northwest portion of the country borders the Pacific Ocean and the nation of Canada. The Spanish Captain de Heceta claimed the northern coastal lands along the Pacific for Spain in 1775. The English explorer Capt. James Cook in 1778 and Capt. George Vancouver in 1792 traveled the shore of Washington. In 1790 more nations ...

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  • Virginia Genealogy

    Oct 19

    The Native Indians of Virginia are many and varied. One of the largest group was the Algonquian with populations over 10,000. Some of the Algonquian tribes were Doeg, Powhatan, Pohick and Nansemond. They lived in the coastal regions. Moving inland were the Iroquoians with tribes of Cherokee, Nottoway and Meherrin. The Siouan group had the Monac...

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  • Vermont Genealogy

    Oct 19

    The Mohicans and Abenaki, along with the Iroquois were the main Native Indian tribes in Vermont. The French explorer, Jacques Cartier, in 1535 came through the region. Then, on July 30, 1609, Samuel de Champlain claimed Vermont part of New France and built a fort. By 1690 a group of Dutch and British settlers from New York came north into Vermon...

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  • Utah Genealogy

    Oct 19

    The land of Utah and the city of Salt Lake City are centered on the Mormon religion and their people. Before the Mormons arrived, there were the Native Indian tribes of Navajos and Apaches. There also the Shoshone, Ute, Piute and Goshute native people in Utah. The Spanish explorer de Coronado in 1540 crossed into the region. Not until the mid...

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