If you have not had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Dr. Shelley Murphy, then make it a priority. She knows her subject and can present it in a cogent and entertaining manner. Her presentation at the FRGS 4th Annual Fall Genealogy Conference, “Getting Started with Genealogy,” was relevant for those searching European, Native American or African American ancestors, and those in the audience probably represented all three. Dr. Murphy encouraged us to know the laws that were in place at the time of our ancestors, to learn what resources are available and where to obtain records, to make… Continue Reading »
Spring 2016 Updates
Fredericksburg Marriage License Project Update – Marriage licenses are now digitized back to 1857. We can almost see the end of this project, which will include marriages back to the mid-1700s! Fredericksburg Circuit Court Digitization Project – Fredericksburg marriages are now digitized through 1889. Fredericksburg is only the second municipality to request database access earlier than 1890. FRGS members are working on this project. The court received funds this winter to allow their land records to be digitized. And their archivist is busy digitizing other records. FRGS member Ray Maki gave his Making Sense of the Census to the Heartsfield… Continue Reading »
Researching Quaker Ancestors
Member Elizabeth Ernst presented information on researching Quaker ancestors. She told us that Quakers dress normally, are mostly pacifists,Civil Rights Activists, mostly abolitionists, and educators. There are approximately 359,000 Quakers worldwide with 87,000 in the U.S. George Fox (1624-1691) of Leicestershire, England was the founder, and he believed “There is that of God in Everyone.” One of his most important converts was William Penn. In 1681, the King of England gave Penn 45,000 square miles in the new world for a Quaker colony. That colony was to be called Pennsylvania. Quaker records were kept in the monthly meetings (not quarterly meetings). The monthly meeting records… Continue Reading »
DAR Library
DAR Librarian Elizabeth Ernest provided FRGS members with an extensive overview of the DAR’s holdings. The DAR is a non-profit volunteer women’s organization with over 180,000 members. The library holds extensive collections, categorized by subject: Print, Special Collections, and Digital Collections. Their GRS (Genealogical Research System) contains member applications and supporting documents. Much of this information is available online. Their GRC (Genealogical Records Committee) has over 20,000 volumes donated by state chapters. The DAR’s newest project is the Patiot Records Project, an ongoing volunteer effort to index names. Currently eight states have been completed. For much more information check their website… Continue Reading »
October 2015 Genealogy Conference
The October 2015 Genealogy Conference was held this morning at the CRRL. Over 100 people registered for this two track conference. We thank everyone who came and especially thank our wonderful speakers – Mary Ann Kelley, Shannon Combs-Bennett, Vic Dunn, Kim Campbell and Sharon Hodges. Thank you!
African American Research Tips
Last Wednesday evening our genealogical society had the honor to host Char McCargo Bah, owner-CEO of Finding Things for U, LLC. Ms. Bah educated those in attendance with her presentation: We Were Always in the Courthouse: What You Can Find on African American Court Records. Char’s Hints: You can’t research African American ancestors without tracing the white population. No one is an island; we are all part of a community. Don’t skip anything when researching genealogy. At some point you’ll come to a brick wall and you’ll need that piece of information you skipped over. If you’re using information that has… Continue Reading »
Another Anomaly in Fredericksburg, VA Marriages
I love genealogy research because I am always learning something. Three years ago we volunteered to digitize Fredericksburg marriages so the wealth of information on those documents would be available for genealogists tracing their ancestors in this part of the country. We learned as we went along that marriages taking place in this town were not just local folks, but for couples coming from the northern states and states to the west. This made sense since Quantico Military base is close by, but then we ran into the anomaly in 1939-1940 when we learned the northern states started to impose… Continue Reading »
Save those Images – Now!
It was recently brought to our attention that images on sites like FamilySearch.org are not guaranteed to be there forever. Three years ago we captured an image of a marriage certificate from Cook County, Illinois. Today that image is no longer available on that site. Why? Because FamilySearch contracted with Cook County for those images to be available for about two years only. Now an index of what is available appears on their site and anyone needing a certificate has to go to http://www.cookcountygenealogy.com and pay $15.00! How many times have we, as genealogists, get caught up in the search… Continue Reading »
Virginia Vital Records Available – The Rest of the Story
Dick Eastman’s announcement reads: “Governor Terry McAuliffe recently announced the completion of a two-year, public-private collaboration between the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Ancestry.com that fully digitizes the state’s vital records. To date, more than 16 million records have been digitized and indexed. Scanned images of the original, public* documents are available online through Ancestry.com. Access to the indexed information on the records is available free of charge through VDH’s Division of Vital Records’ and the Library of Virginia’s websites. So far, birth and death records from 1912 to the present, marriage records from 1936 to the present and divorce records from 1918 to the present have been… Continue Reading »
Fall 2014 Update
Lackawanna County, PA Marriage and other records. http://www.lpa-homes.org/LPA_Applications.htm This is the link to the Recorder of Deeds, if you select Public Records you get a drop down menu. http://www.lackawannacounty.org/index.php/departmentsagencies/county-government/recorder-of-deeds Creative Director at the In-Depth Genealogist – FRGS is pleaed to announce our member Shannon Combs-Bennett has recently joined the leadership team. Congratulations, Shannon. We are so proud.
Marriage Record Digitization Project
We came upon a curious blip in our project of digitizing marriages performed in Fredericksburg, VA. Between 1995 where we started back to 1940 the highest number of marriages per year was 335 in 1942. Until we hit 1940. The number of marriage licenses taken out in 1940 was 1,599; 1939 even higher with 1,771. We also noted the majority of licenses were given to out of state couples. Why? Possibly the war in Europe had some impact on couples. After some research we also found that mandatory premarital blood tests were being passed in the northern states. Virginia’s “Premarital Examination… Continue Reading »
African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia
African American cemeteries was recently notified about a new release on in central Virginia. It sounds like an interesting read for any genealogist. Lynn Rainville’s most recent book is Hidden History: African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia (University of Virginia Press) is now available. In addition to preserving African-American cemeteries for future generations, funerary traditions, gravestones, and cemetery landscapes illustrate past attitudes towards death and community. Because of the historical importance of mortuary landscapes, cemeteries provide a window into past family networks, gender relations, religious beliefs, and local neighborhoods. In this project we take an interdisciplinary approach, combing anthropological, archaeological, historical, oral historical,… Continue Reading »
May 2014 Update
Good news on Fredericksburg Marriage Licenses database. The 335 marriages of 1942 are now indexed. We have been told an arrangement has been made for the originals to be available at the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center instead of being archived. As stated in the past, Virginia was and still is an easy place to get married. Consequently couples from all over the U.S. were married in Fredericksburg. At the Wednesday 11 June 2014 meeting, Julie Nielsen Cabitto will explain Virginia Chancery Records. Visit Julie on her Polish genealogy blog: http://sanetra-genhistory.blogspot.com or for Virginia history: http://juliecabitto-preservinghistoryrecords.blogspot.com – The June meeting will be the last of the season. Join us… Continue Reading »
An In-Depth Guide to Richmond, Virginia
Fredericksburg Regional Genealogical Society member Shannon Combs-Bennett has her first publication, An In-Depth Guide to Richmond, Virginia available just in time for use by attendees of the National Genealogical Society’s 2014 Family History Conference,Virginia: The First Frontier, being held in Richmond 7-10 May 2014! A first in the series, this book was created as a genealogists travel guide for Richmond, Virginia. She shares not only items that would have interest to genealogists but to the whole family. The book includes: a Packing Checklist, Downtown Richmond City Safety Guide, Public Transportation, Shopping (ATM’s & Banks, Convenience Stores, Restaurants), Richmond Area Genealogy and other Attractions,… Continue Reading »
Chancery Records
According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, Chancery is “Proceeding according to the forms of principles of equity.” Virginia is fortunate to have online through the Library of Virginia’s website, chancery court records back to the 1700s. Because chancery courts were deciding issues not necessarily to the letter of the law, but on equity and fairness, those court cases include estates, land disputes, divorce proceedings and business partnership issues. These records can hold a goldmine of information – for those who have Virginia ancestors. The Library of Virginia website is not the easiest to navigate. A hint is to use the… Continue Reading »