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  1. #1
    Leander
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    Default Valuable Research Links

    For those who aren't already aware, Family Search has a pilot program up and running. Since this is not the final product and software and data are often being changed/updated, there may be times when you cannot access the website or you might get unpredictable search results.

    I've taken a spin through the search feature and it has yielded valuable information with links to original documents [in most cases].

    Here's the link: https://search.labs.familysearch.org/...rt.html#p=home

    Collections include the following. This is not a complete list.

    Alabama Statewide Deaths 1908-1974
    Arizona Deaths 1870-1951
    California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records 1835-1931
    Civil War Pension Index Cards
    England and Wales Census 1841
    England and Wales Census 1861
    England Baptisms 1700-1900
    England Marriages 1700-1900
    England, Cheshire Register of Electors 1842-1900
    Florida Deaths, 1877-1939
    Freedman Bank Records 1865-1874
    Germany Burials 1500-1900
    Indiana Marriages 1811-1959
    Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes 1845-1958
    Maryland, Cecil County Probate Estate Files 1851-1940
    Massachusetts State Census 1855
    Michigan Births 1867-1902
    Michigan Deaths 1867-1897
    Michigan Marriages 1868-1925
    New Hampshire Birth Records Early (late 17th century) to 1900
    New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island) 1892-1924
    New York State Census 1892
    North Carolina Deaths 1906-1930
    Ohio Deaths 1908-1953
    Ohio Tax Records 1816-1838
    Ontario Deaths 1869-1947
    Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates 1803-1915
    Philippines Marriages
    South Carolina Deaths 1915-1943
    South Carolina Deaths 1944-1955
    South Dakota State Census 1905
    South Dakota State Census 1915
    South Dakota State Census 1925
    Texas Death Index 1964-1998
    Texas Deaths 1890-1976
    United States Census 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1920 (there may be more censuses now. The 1890 census was almost entirely destroyed by fire. Few remnants survived).
    Utah Death Certificates 1904-1956
    Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records 1908-1949
    Washington (State) Death Certificates 1907-1960
    West Virginia Births 1853-1930
    West Virginia Deaths 1853-1970
    West Virginia Marriages 1853-1970

    ================================================== =============

    As was discussed in another thread, the State of Illinois has published a large collection of records indexes on line. It can be a little confusing to figure out how to go about ordering copies of records that are found in the indexes, but if you follow some of the links it will eventually become clear.

    Copies of most records can be ordered by writing to the archive (IRAD) that holds the record(s). Or, you can call them. No credit card required, and they ship all over the world. They send a bill with the records, so it's the honor system; you receive the documents and they expect that you will return payment to them.

    Charges are nominal. Actually, they are downright cheap. Folks have ordered several records and received bills for $1.00 [USD]. They merely charge copying fees and postage. It's a great deal and a wonderful service. They are courteous, professional, and extremely helpful.

    Be advised that they will not fill an order for a large number of documents. Please request only 1, 2, or 3 documents at a time. If you need more make another request. They had a problem with people who ordered large quantities of records - large orders keep them from fulfilling other people's requests. Many of the depositories are staffed by graduate students who work during their free time, so finding and copying a large number of records causes delays.

    Website: https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/de...databases.html

    ================================================== =============

    Other links:

    Missouri Archives: https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/

    Wisconsin Historical Society: wisconsinhistory.org/genealogy/ogrs/ put https://www. at front

    Minnesota Historical Society Death Indexes: people.mnhs.org/dci/search.cfm?CFID=16936010&CFTOKEN=20155413 put https:// at front

    Idaho Death Index 1911-1956: rootsweb.ancestry.com/~idgenweb/deaths/search.htm?cj=1&o_xid=0000584978&o_lid=0000584978

    Idaho Death Index 1911-1956 (Brigham Young University): https://abish.byui.edu/specialCollect...searchForm.cfm

    Alachua County Florida Marriage License Search, 1837 thru May 1973 (with links to images): https://www.clerk-alachua-fl.org/Arch...arrsearch2.cfm

    Bay County Florida Genealogy Gateway: https://www.northwestfloridagenealogy.com/gengate/index

    State of Maine Archives with searchable Marriage & Death Databases: https://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/

    State of Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910. Indexes only: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/vitalreco...rdsSearch.aspx

    State of Massachusetts Vital Records, 1600-1850: https://ma-vitalrecords.org/

    Vermont Marriage Records (various links): https://www.genwed.com/state/vtgen.htm

    Hope these are helpful. Happy searching!
    Last edited by Procat; 31-03-2010 at 10:56 PM. Reason: Commercial links removed

  2. #2
    Procat
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    Hi Leander,

    Thanks for putting this together - a good effort. I have turned it into a sticky to make it easier to find. Unfortunately a couple of the links are deemed commercial and I have altered these.

  3. #3
    Leander
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    Thank you, Procat. You are fast and efficient. :-)

  4. #4
    Valued member of Brit-Gen
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    I'm a little confused here. In an earlier thread Birmingham History forum was deemmed "commercial" because it invited people to donate to help support forum costs if they care to (an invitation which is not particularly easy to find), whereas in the post above it states "Charges are nominal. Actually, they are downright cheap", and this is made a Sticky. Isn't there some inconsistency here?

  5. #5
    Procat
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikejee View Post
    I'm a little confused here. In an earlier thread Birmingham History forum was deemmed "commercial" because it invited people to donate to help support forum costs if they care to (an invitation which is not particularly easy to find), whereas in the post above it states "Charges are nominal. Actually, they are downright cheap", and this is made a Sticky. Isn't there some inconsistency here?
    Hi Mike,

    The fact that a link goes to a commercial site does not have any bearing as to whether a thread is worthy of being turned into a sticky. Stickies are done due to the perceived value of the thread to members.

    The link to which you refer appears to be State Govt site (I have been unable to get on to it for the last couple of hours) which exempts it from being commercial.

    The AUP states:

    Links to commercial sites, (any site which has, or offers by advertising, items, donations or services for sale) including pay per view sites, or having a commercial link as a signature are strictly forbidden and will be removed without warning. An exception to this rule is made for Government repositories of records such as the National Archives.

  6. #6
    Leander
    Guest

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    Sorry, I made a BIG mistake on the initial post. It was the 1890 Census that was destroyed by fire, NOT 1910. Sheesh, this is what happens where one is copying and pasting late at night. Beg pardon.

  7. #7
    Procat
    Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Leander View Post
    Sorry, I made a BIG mistake on the initial post. It was the 1890 Census that was destroyed by fire, NOT 1910. Sheesh, this is what happens where one is copying and pasting late at night. Beg pardon.
    Fixed.

  8. #8
    Leander
    Guest

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    Procat, you're the best! Thank you again.

  9. #9
    Leander
    Guest

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    I simply cannot believe it has been about 7 years since I have posted. I hope everyone is well. I'm a grandmother now, so I stay pretty busy with the grandchildren. And, I still work full time, so don't have a lot of spare time anymore.

    There are a few more items, hopefully useful, I would like to add:

    1. A website called "Fulton History", which has digitized a number of old newspapers, mostly from smaller towns and cities across New York State. It's free and you don't even have to create an account. It can take a while to become accustomed to using their search function. They are starting to cast a wider net by adding newspapers from other places, as well as adding trade journals. www.fultonhistory.com

    2. Another free historic newspaper site where no account is needed is https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/. The majority of newspapers are from small towns and cities in New York State, although there are a few from areas with larger populations.

    3. An organization which I recently joined - Reclaim the Records - has been successfully using Freedom of Information Laws (FOIL) to compel states and municipalities to provide indexes to vital records. Reclaim the Records obtains those indexes - which are usually on microfiche - and some of those indexes are already published. They are not yet digitized and therefore not searchable, but the images of the lists are available for browsing.

    The images for New York State death records can be found here:

    https://archive.org/details/New_York...ath_Index_1888
    https://archive.org/details/New_York...ath_Index_1889
    https://archive.org/details/New_York...ath_Index_1890
    https://archive.org/details/New_York...ath_Index_1891

    You see how it goes. To go to another year just change the year on the end of the URL. The first few years are scant, as it took a while for municipalities to come into compliance. For example, 1888 only has 2 pages of records from A-Z. :-)

    These are just indexes, by year and then alphabetically by name, and contain only the name, the city/town of the event, and a record number that can be used to order a copy of the official death certificate from NYS Department of Health.

    At some point in the 1940s (if I remember correctly), the records go from being purely alphabetical to using a soundex scheme.

    Notes: These indexes do NOT include New York City Records. NYC keeps its own records and they have also been served with FOIL requests to release their indexes.

    The cities of Albany, Buffalo, and Yonkers were non-compliant and did not start sending their records to the state until 1914 or later. Early records for those cities are not in the indexes, but are held separately by the cities. There are currently legal requests lodged with those cities to provide their indexes separately. This is especially important in the case of the city of Albany. Albany started recording vital records in 1870 - earlier than most others. Since it is the state capital, there was a lot of activity there.

    Right now, the organization is starting with death indexes. As those become completed, they will move on to birth and marriage records.

    Of course, there are other types of records that are also being requested, such as vital records for institutionalized people, who may not be included in the standard death index.

    They are also pressuring other states to release their indexes, so hopefully additional info will be made available in the near future. Of course, there are already some states that have their indexes (or some of their indexes) online already. California (partial) and Michigan come to mind. I think Maine does too. There may be others.

    Anyhow, I'll update as new information becomes available.

    All the best!

  10. #10
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Thank you so much for all the above information and taking the time out of your busy life to post it all. As someone who has no idea what they are doing when searching anywhere in the US this info makes me want to learn more.
    Thanks again
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

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