LOC Launches Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Resource [Updated]

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps in the public domain are now available for research on a new Library of Congress website. The LOC published nearly 25,000 maps earlier this week, and expects to release half a million by 2020:

The Library of Congress has placed online nearly 25,000 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, which depict the structure and use of buildings in U.S. cities and towns. Maps will be added monthly until 2020, for a total of approximately 500,000.

The online collection now features maps published prior to 1900.  The states available include Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Alaska is also online, with maps published through the early 1960s.  By 2020, all the states will be online, showing maps from the late 1880s through the early 1960s.

In collaboration with the Library’s Geography and Map Division, Historical Information Gatherers digitized the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps during a 16-month period at the Library of Congress.  The Library is in the process of adding metadata and placing the digitized, public-domain maps on its website.

The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are a valuable resource for genealogists, historians, urban planners, teachers or anyone with a personal connection to a community, street or building.  The maps depict more than 12,000 American towns and cities.  They show the size, shape and construction materials of dwellings, commercial buildings, factories and other structures.  They indicate both the names and width of streets, and show property boundaries and how individual buildings were used.  House and block numbers are identified.  They also show the location of water mains, fire alarm boxes and fire hydrants.

While Sanborn Maps covering Texas and Louisiana are not mentioned in the PR, there are a few available on the LOC website. There is a more complete collection of maps for Texas available to Houston Library patrons through our affiliation with ProQuest.

If you are seeking more information regarding these valuable resources, there is a webinar available on the Legacy Family Tree site entitled "Fire Insurance Maps - The Google Maps of Their Day"

[Update -- Diane Haddad has posted a helpful example of how to use the maps for genealogical research on the Genealogy Insider blog. 6 Jun 2017]

MC

Import your pictures from Facebook and Instagram into FamilySearch.org

Looking for another way to get your family interested in family history?  Want to attach photos to family members and their information? Have a ton of family photos that have been shared among your family members via Facebook or Instagram?

Those photos can now be imported directly into  your FamilySearch.org account from these two social networking sites.  This new integration makes it easy to choose which photos from these social networking sites you'd like to link to people in Family Tree and preserve for future generations.  A great way to leave a photo legacy.

Follow these directions:

Preservation is the key to keeping families alive.  Enjoy

SK

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project is a online digital collection of materials relating to the history of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. The collections contain wills,probates, transcripts of 17th century laws, Material Culture, biographies of colonists, Art and anything else shedding a light on the social history of Plymouth. If your ancestors were colonists at Plymouth, the Plymouth Colony archive project will enable you to place the lives of your ancestors within the social and historical contexts of their times. Material culture and Art reveal something how they lived their daily lives.
Sometimes, learning about the wider picture of your ancestor's world can help you break through those pesky brick walls. Genealogy is more than just collecting names and dates. The link to the Plymouth Colony Archive Project is http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/index2.html

Happy Searching!

RS

College yearbooks as sources of genealogical information

Did your ancestors attend college? If so, old college yearbooks can be an unusual source for genealogical researchers. The Internet Archive is one of several digital databases containing digitized college yearbooks from 19th century America. These old yearbooks list the name of the student, where they were from and their current address at the time of the school year. This information allows you to search for your ancestors in the census, city directories as well as uncover clues relating to migratory patterns within your family across time.

Page from the yearbook of Straight University[Now Dillard University] dated 1870 listing students




RS

DAR Lineage Books and DAR Patriot Index - Helpful Information

DAR Lineage Books:

Not all of the info was every submitted for verification the DAR staff genealogists.  Each person did become a member; however, the lineage books included lineages that were never submitted or vetted by the National Society. As such, they are not considered “canonical” and cannot be used for membership. Just as with any derivative work, careful researchers will use them with a grain of salt. Most, if not all of them, have been digitized either through Google Books or Ancestry.

 

DAR Patriot Index:

From an historical point of view, the different editions of the Patriot Index will allow users to track minor changes in a patriot’s record.  However, for many years the changes to the Patriot Index were published in the DAR Newsletter or Magazine.  The published changes are often more informative in that they will usually indicate what specifically was changed, (but not with any sources listed). The Millennium Edition (2003) is the last edition. The Patriot Index will not be published again. Instead, the GRS provides researchers with the same information, and much more.  Changes to the Patriot or individuals in the lineage can be tracked by using the Descendants Database, which provides a transcription of each verified membership application and/or supplemental applications.  The transcriptions are based on what is listed on the application so if new data for dates and places of birth, death or marriage are added, researchers can see these changes by comparing the most recent listings for a patriot with older ones.  Changes to the patriot’s service and/or residence cannot be tracked through the Descendants Database.  Clues to when something might have changed will be found in the list of verified Member Applications (on the Full Record).  Look for “CN” next to a National Number. This is an indication that a correction to the patriot’s record was made on that paper.

Elizabeth J. Ernst

Catalog Librarian

DAR Library

National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Race and Slavery Petitions Project

The Race and Slavery Petitions Project,created by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is a database of information relating to slavery and race  abstracted from 18th and early 19th century documents. Details about 150,000 individuals[consisting of slaves, free persons of color and Whites] were gathered from legislative and county court petitions, deeds, wills and other related documents across the American South. Some of these petitions also provide a window into the social life of Women, slaves and free persons of color. These abstracts are a goldmine for genealogists looking to identify slaveholders, spouses, manumissions, landownership and clues to migration of family members.  I found a petition involving my ancestor François BIROTTE, free men of color at St. Landry Parish in a messy case against one of the many women he became involved with during his lifetime.

François BIROTTE, f.m.o.c. vs. Lise PREVOST, f.w.o.c.  in the St. Landry Parish District Court[1825]


The Race and Slavery Petitions Project can be found at https://library.uncg.edu/slavery/petitions/

RS

National Records of Scotland

The National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh preserve and archive records relating to the history of Scotland and it's citizens. They also provide valuable research guides for genealogists looking for Scottish ancestors. The records most valuable to researchers include:

• Civil marriage, birth and death registers begin in 1855 to the present
• Pre-1855 marriage, death and birth records exist in the Church of Scotland Parish registers. Oldest parish registers entries begin 1553.
• Census records 1841-1911
• Last Wills and Testaments 1523-1915
• The Scottish Catholic Church Archives contain entries beginning from 1703. Scottish Church Records existing before 1855 have been digitized and are available for viewing online.

Because of privacy laws within the Catholic Church, the majority of these records aren't available for public viewing until 100 or more years from the occurrence of the event. The National Records of Scotland can be accessed at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/




RS

Free U. S. Census Records on FindMyPast



You may already be aware of this but thought it would be good to remind our customers that the U. S. Census Records are free at Find My Past.  They have the digitized population census records from 1790 to 1940.  The 1850 slave schedule abstracts are available and give the age and estimated birth year of slaves for each slaveholder and names other slaveholders on that page. Also, there are other U. S. B.M.D. (birth, marriage and death) records available for various states.   Free registration is required.

 FS

PRDH [Research Program in Historical Demography]

The PRDH[Research Program in Historical Demography] began in 1966 as an ambitious project at the University of Montreal to reconstruct and document the entire population of Quebec from the 17th century. The names of each individual settler is added to a massive population register that includes vital information like birthdates, date of death, marriage, occupation, place of birth and all their known family members. The PRDH is a valuable source for anyone with French-Canadian ancestors from Quebec. Several of my father's Quebecan ancestors appear in the database. Curious researchers can do a free reference search for any ancestors. With a full subscription, you will be able to view complete demographical information about each individual in Quebec. The fees are charged in Canadian and American dollars. The link to the PRDH database is https://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca/en/le-prdh






RS

Genealogy Adventures: A genealogy blog

I just discovered a cool new genealogy blog called Genealogy Adventures created by Brian Sheffey.
His posts not only deal with the traditional methods of genealogical research, but also, incorporate  exciting new forms of evidence and data gleamed from the growing field of Genetic genealogy to solve brick walls.  Like Sheffey, I have had success in using DNA to decipher the secrets of my genetic past encoded in my genes. Some of my discoveries have confirmed family tales, the historical record as well as opening a door into a new group of unknown forbearers. One of my greatest discoveries wouldn't have been made if it wasn't for the availability of DNA technology. The link to his  Blog is https://genealogyadventures.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!



RS

Baptist Heritage

biography of William Buck

obituary of the Reverend Henry Adams from the "Baptist Magazine[pub. 1813]

Baptist Heritage is a collection of digital archives relating to the history of the Baptist Church in the United States. The collection contains 19th century Baptist Newspapers, Periodicals, Annual Convention minutes, Biographies of clergyman and pamphlets that may be of genealogical value to researchers with Baptist ancestors. The Baptist Heritage archives can be researched at http://www.baptistheritage.com/digital-library



RS