June 2007

From The Generations Network:

PROVO, Utah, June 27 /PRNewswire/ — The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced two new additions to the Ancestry network of sites in France and Italy — Ancestry.fr and Ancestry.it.

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U.S. Indian Census Schedules
From The Generations Network:

PROVO, Utah, June 26 /PRNewswire/ — Ancestry.com, the world’s leading online family history resource, today launched more than 7.5 million names in U.S. Indian Censuses, the largest online collection of Native American family history records. Taken by the Bureau of Indian affairs, the censuses document some 150 years of Native American family history. These censuses create an intimate portrait of individuals living on all registered Indian reservations between 1885 and the 1940s.

The U.S. Indian Censuses are among the most important documents for tracing Native American family history — as well as the place to for anyone with Native American ancestry to begin searching for their heritage. Representing more than 250 tribes from some 275 reservations, schools and hospitals across the United States, the censuses typically recorded names, including Indian names, ages, birth dates, tribe, reservation and more.

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I knew I’d seen this somewhere, and I meant to go looking for it again. In my spare time. Ahem. Fortunately, I just stumbled upon it.

If you’re using the digital component of the MRIN Filing System, and you’re a Legacy user, there’s a quick way to find your next MRIN or your next MRIN-extension. When you go to put a number in the Source Citation Detail Box, click on the magnifier next to the File ID box.

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There’s a good tip at Dead Fred’s newsletter about how to handle photographs. Dead Fred’s newsletter, Relatively Speaking, is free, and can be subscribed to with only your name and email address. Dead Fred is a good source for searching old photographs, or submitting your unknowns for possible identification.

A small aside …

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When I can cook a full-course breakfast in the time it takes for booting up my computer I start thinking it must be time to reinstall my operating system. But a much simpler method can make a difference.

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If you’ve digitized all the paper you can with OCR, the pile that’s left needs a different solution.

This is the do-it-yourself method for scanning and saving multi-page documents.

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So, how’s it going with digitizing all that paper? Or have you found everything you need on the Internet?

I have lots of family history on paper, and for two reasons … two cousins who snail-mail it to me. One who travels a lot and likes to print everything she finds, and another who doesn’t have a computer and has done 9 years of research with nothing but stamps, envelopes and a local library.

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I knew I was forgetting something. I’m at an age now where my memory cells seem to be diminishing at an ever-increasing speed.

I was over at Ancestry.com going merrily through a batch of old newspapers, (Wow, look at that, in 1890 my great-grandfather received a commendation at a county fair for a “mammoth cucumber”… He was a conductor for the NYC. Who would have guessed he was also a cucumber aficionado?) and saving page after page to my computer, muttering under my breath “why don’t they have a highlighter tool so I don’t have to search for the snippet again later …,” mutter, mutter …

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Sandusky Star Journal – August 6, 1917:

ALL VEHICLES MUST HAVE LIGHTS AUG. 10

The crusade in Erie Co. against drivers of vehicles not equipped with lights one hour after sunset will begin on Aug 10 Prosecutor Flynn announced Monday after notifying Sheriff Perry. Constables in the various villages will be notified the prosecutor declared.

Upon learning of the action of the prosecutor Chief of Police Weingates announced that the law would be rigidly enforced in Sandusky beginning next Friday. The motorists are now obeying the law in this respect and we will go after bicyclists and owners of horse drawn vehicles beginning Aug 10 declared the chief.

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There has been a lot of interest in the MRIN filing system so I think it’s worthy of a recap. From the questions I’ve been asked it seems my overly-complicated presentation of it left some people in the dust. And there may have been other people who threw up their hands and just left. I’m sure there are genius-level filing systems around. The MRIN filing system just isn’t one of them so I take full responsibility for being abstruse.

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