Tag: genealogy

Irish Genealogy Lectures

Irish Genealogy Lectures

Posted on by Jack

There are 2 interesting-sounding lectures on Irish Genealogy coming up. Here is the quote from the National Genealogical Society:

9 August 2009
Ottawa, Ontario – Everyone welcome to a Sunday afternoon of Irish heritage and genealogy starting at 1:30 pm. Two lectures by John Grenham, M.A., well known author and professional genealogist from Dublin, Ireland (www.Johngrenham.com). Topics: “Chasing Shadows: Irish Genealogy Online” and “Whatever you’re having yourself: Irish Census Substitutes.” Admission: $10/person at door. Free parking on site: Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Dr., Ottawa, Ontario (Canada’s capital). Sponsor: British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa. Co-sponsors: Ottawa Branch/Ontario Genealogical Society; The Irish Society of the National Capital Region; Monterey Inn Resort & Conference Centre.
For more info, see www.bifhsgo.ca.

This a a quote from their blog at:

http://ngsgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/events-around-united-states-as-of.html

This would be a good blog to checkout upcoming events of interest.

Registry of Deeds Index Project

Registry of Deeds Index Project

Posted on by Jack

Those of us with ancestors from Ireland who may have owned or leased property should check out the Registry of Deeds Index Project. There are over 40,000 records indexed now and that number should grow. The index is searchable by name, location, and various other ways. So it is well worth a look if one of your interests is Irish Genealogy.

Great Book on Ellis Island

Great Book on Ellis Island

Posted on by Jack

I’m reading American Passage: The History of Ellis Island by Vincent J. Cannato. I am enjoying it. I guess I’m about half-way through. There is extensive discussion of the debates about admitting or excluding certain immigrants, changes in immigration law (and the degree of enforcement), and government officials at several levels.

In some cases these are illustrated by discussion of certain cases. For example, in 1912 Chaie Kaganowtiz (a Russian Jewish widow) and her 9 children were almost excluded. But given that milllions of our ancestors came though Ellis Island over about 3 decades, only a very small percentage can be mentioned in any book. By the way, a chapter is devoted to Castle Garden, the previous immigration station in New York.

I’m reading slowly and enjoying while I learn. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone with a interest in Ellis Island, genealogy, or immigration issues.

Geocities Is Closing

Geocities Is Closing

Posted on by Jack

I just signed on to my yahoo mail and got a notice that Geocities was closing on October 26. They had previously warned this would happen before the end of the year but they are now giving some details. If you didn’t know, Geocities is a free web hosting service owned by Yahoo. The service was supported by advertising placed by Geocities on the hosted web sites.

So if you are one of the many genealogists using this service, it is time to think about options (if you haven’t already). There are other “free” hosts around. There are a number of hosts who will host your site for a few dollars each month. Generally you have many more options when you pay but a “free” site might fit your needs.

My site was on Geocities for years and after I received the warning from them a few months ago, I investigated web hosts and decided to move to my own domain.

Since the pages on Geocities will not be recoverable after October 26, you might want to download them (if you haven’t already) and start thinking about where you want your genealogy pages on the internet to move.

Here is the Yahoo/Geocities help page on the closing:

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/close/