Archive for December, 2010

Surname Forum Activity
———————-

A friend sent me this URL for www.freebmd.org.uk

The first page says:

“Welcome to FreeBMD.

FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records. It is a part of the FreeUKGEN family, which also includes FreeCEN (Census data) and FreeREG (Parish Registers). To search the records that have so far been transcribed by FreeBMD click on the Search button below.

The recording of births, marriages and deaths was started in 1837 and is one of the most significant resources for genealogical research. The transcribing of the records is carried out by teams of dedicated volunteers and contains index information for the period 1837-1983. PLEASE NOTE: WE HAVE NOT YET TRANSCRIBED THE WHOLE INDEX.

The FreeBMD Database was last updated on Fri 3 Dec 2010 and currently contains 194,153,764 distinct records (247,268,145 total records).”

I searched on the surname “Munnelly” (the original surname for many Manleys with Irish roots) and found over 100 entries – and other spelling variations may yield even more.

Since many Irish emigrants went to England and Wales during the famine years, as well as coming to the US, this is a great resource for those looking for Irish ancestors with the Manley surname.

Reminder: the sale on y-DNA tests at www.familytreedna.com is still in effect until December 31, 2010. You must join a “project” such as the Munley/Manley Surname Project in order to get the sale prices. Send me a note if you need more information.

Marianne Manley Granoff
Albuquerque, NM
granoff@zianet.com
Go to Source

Surname Forum Activity
———————-

I read a post from Kristen and this sounds like a connection
feel free to email me at radire@hotmail.com
Michael Manley, brother Patrick and mother Mary Ellen
Go to Source

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

Robert Estes of DNAeXplain announces the discovery of a previously-undiscovered Native American haplogroup.  Up to the current point, research had found only two Y-DNA haplogroups in the Native peoples of North and South America – C3b and Q1a3a (aka Q1a3a1).  However,  new research described in the accompanying paper (here (pdf)) uncovers a third haplogroup found in Native peoples.

From the paper:

“For the past decade, since the advent of genetic genealogy, it has been accepted that subgroups of haplogroup C and Q were indicative of Native American ancestry. Specifically, subgroups C3b and Q1a3a, alone, are found among the Native peoples of North and South America. Other subgroups of haplogroup C and Q are found elsewhere in the world, not in North or South American, and conversely, C3b and Q1a3a are not found in other locations in the world. This makes it very easy to determine if your direct paternal ancestor was, or was not, Native American. Or so it seemed.”

Estes is a scientist and business owner in the information technology arena.  She is the Administrator of the Lost Colony DNA Project, and more than 20 surname projects.  Her contact information can be found in the paper.

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad is, I admit, a rather specialized database—though it was just bolstered by a major update that fills in the years 1910–1962. These are records created by American consulates overseas when a U.S. citizen (other than military personnel) died within their district. My people are pretty much homebodies, so I don’t have any relative I know of in the database. Which is really too bad, because these can be fascinating records.

Sometimes you get just the basic form. Forms varied a little over time, but they looked something like this:

You may find names and addresses of family, both back in the States and abroad, plus details of the burial and death, perhaps an occupation or naturalization information.

But that may be just the beginning. If you do find an ancestor in this database, make sure you check the pages immediately preceding and following the record (with the arrow button at the top right of the screen) because sometimes there is an entire file.

You might uncover a little mystery about a family fortune:

You might learn that your aunt who died when the Titanic went down had an apartment in Paris:

If you happened to be related to Reverend Edmund A. Neville, who died in Saltillo, Mexico, in 1913, you’ll get a good chunk of history. There’s a letter from the vice consul detailing Reverend Neville’s return to Mexico shortly before he died and meetings he had in Washington, D.C., and New York. A newspaper clipping from the Mexican Herald talks about Neville’s extensive travels, including his encounter with cannibals in New Guinea. There are also details of his last day and sudden passing, plus a list of his effects.

William Poland’s attempt to dive from the mast of the S.S. Silver Sword generated six pages of documentation. FBI head J. Edgar Hoover himself took an interest in the 30-plus pages on Fred Curtis Thornley. And the file for Sinclair Lewis, America’s first Nobel Laureate in literature, contains more than 100 pages of correspondence and other paperwork dealing with his estate. So if your ancestors had a bit more of the wanderlust in them than mine and you do find one in the Deaths of American Citizens Abroad database, cross your fingers. You may be in for some eye-opening armchair (or computer desk) travel.

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

On the 12th day of Christmas, my genea-Santa gave to me … a Family
Tree Magazine VIP membership!

Did you procrastinate on a gift for your favorite genealogist? Don’t panic! The Family
Tree Magazine VIP membership—a great last-minute gift that doesn’t require shipping—includes:

• a subscription to the print Family Tree Magazine
• access to the genealogy guidance in our searchable online article archive from past
  issues of Family Tree Magazine, as well as The Family Tree Sourcebook
• 10 percent off purchases in ShopFamilyTree.com
• …and more! ;

Click
here to check out the benefits of a Family Tree Magazine VIP membership.

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

On the 11th day of Christmas, my genea-Santa gave to me … the Beginner’s
Guide to Genealogy download!

Was someone on your Christmas list bitten by the genealogy bug this year? Our downloadable
getting-started guide has important information for beginners to know in a user-friendly,
engaging presentation. That includes:

• Research principles (such as starting with yourself and working back in time)
• How to fill out basic genealogy forms
• Finding and using essential records, such as censuses and vital records
• How to keep your research organized
• Common myths and research traps to avoid
• Best websites for genealogy research 

The Beginner’s Guide to Genealogy download is a fully searchable PDF your giftee can
refer to again and again. Click
here to get it from ShopFamilyTree.com. 

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

On the tenth day of Christmas, my genea-Santa gave to me … a Family
Tree University Independent Study course download. 

You can give the gift of genealogy learning, even if it’s too late for shipping by
Christmas. FTU Independent Study downloads include the lessons, recommended reading,
resource lists and other materials from Family Tree University classes.

Nearly 20 courses are available, including Tracing Immigrants, which helps you find
important clues for tracking ancestors in their homelands. In the first lesson of
this course, you’ll learn what key facts that will help you start tracing ancestors
overseas:

• The immigrant’s name (before and after immigration—many immigrants Americanized their
  names once they got here)
• Date of immigration
• Port of entry
• Port of departure
• Town or village immigrant came from
• Place immigrant settled in the United States
• Names of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins
• Religion (may give clues to parish back home)
• Native language 

Click
here to explore the available FTU Independent Study course topics. 

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

On the ninth day of Christmas, my genea-Santa gave to me … the Family
Tree Pocket Reference download!

The Pocket Reference is a handy, timesaving collection of genealogy reference
material—resources, tips, lists and need-to-know facts. The downloadable version is
a fully searchable PDF. You’ll get definitions for unfamiliar terms and acronyms,
US state fast facts, family tree software at a glance, genealogy data websites, surname
origins, cultural naming practices, census dates and questions, US immigration ports
and more.

Here’s one quick example of what you’ll find the military records section: 

Depending on when your ancestor was born, here are the war records to look for:

• Born 1726-1767: Revolutionary War (1775-1783) records
• Born 1762-1799: War of 1812 (1812-1815) records
• Born 1796-1831: Mexican War (1846-1848) records
• Born 1811-1848: Civil War (1861-1865) records
• Born 1848-1881: Spanish-American War (1898) records
• Born 1849-1885: Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) records
• Born 1872-1900: World War I (1917-1918) records
• Born 1877-1925: World War II (1941-1945) records
• Born 1900-1936: Korean War (1950-1953) records
• Born 1914-1955: Vietnam War (early 1960s-1973) records

Click
here to get the Family Tree Pocket Reference from ShopFamilyTree.com.

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

The US Census Bureau in Washington, DC, announced today the
first numbers from this year’s census. As of April 1, 2010, the US population
was 308,745,538. That’s a 9.7% increase from the 2000 census.

The state with the biggest upswing in population was Nevada, which grew by 35% since
2000. Michigan and Puerto Rico had declines of 0.6% and 2.2%, respectively.

The bureau is required by law to report the population and congressional apportionment
totals to the president by Dec. 31 of the year the census is taken. You can play
with a neat interactive map of historical census data here.

Check out all our past
articles on the census here. Or you might enjoy our Census
Secrets CD or our Online
Census Secrets webinar.

News from around the web.
Go to Source
—

On the eighth day of Christmas, my genea-Santa gave to me … a subscription to Family
Tree Magazine!

America’s No. 1 how-to family history magazine delivers the tips and tools you need
to discover your family’s past. Our user-friendly approach to discovering, preserving
and celebrating family history makes genealogy a hobby anyone can enjoy.

Check out FamilyTreeMagazine.com to
see some of the genealogy advice you’ll find in our pages. Try these for starters:

• 101 Best Web
  Sites for Genealogy
  
• Free Genealogy Forms 
• Genealogy Glossary 
• Insider’s
  Guide to Genealogy Acronyms
  

Click
here to order a Family Tree Magazine subscription in the United States. 

Click
here for a Family Tree Magazine subscription in Canada. 

Click
here for an international Family Tree Magazine subscription.