Weekly Genealogy Finds May 16-22nd

U.S. flags stand in front of fallen service members graves on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington Va, May 28, 2012. DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo (Released) By English: Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Articles/Blog Posts

• FamilySearch has Civil War records! Not sure how to use them? Check out this article that has tips and tricks from Thomas MacEntee, Joshua Taylor, Amy Johnson Crow, and Michael John Neill!
• Genealogy Lady‘s series about identifying clues in photographs now has three posts! The first one is here and is about identifying and describing what you see in a photo (especially the clothing) to help date the picture. The second one is found here and continues with some great advice on how older people’s fashion will differ from the younger generations. It also continues with the second step of identifying the “period silhouette” (the shape of a person) and includes great links to more resources. Her third in the series can be found here and focuses on creating a timeline with your genealogy knowledge to help narrow down possibilities of who is in the picture. Then it goes on to step four which is to use that time line to create a date range  for the photo. Really wonderful information for any genealogist with undated pictures!
• Doing some genealogy searching on Google? Dick Eastman (who writes EOGN) has a blog post about using a date range in your searches and why you’d want to use it. Check it out here!

Webinars/Videos

• Judy G. Russell recently did a webinar for Legacy Family Tree and it is now offered for free until May 25th – this Monday! The webinar is called “Martha Benschura: Enemy Alien” and you can click here to read how to watch the 1 hour and 26 minute video.

Resources

• It’s Memorial Day Weekend which means free access this weekend for some websites! At the moment, it’s the New England Historic Genealogical Society! They have select military databases open until May 27th to guest users (which does mean you need to register, but it’s still free!). The records they are opening are: Colonial Soldiers and Officers in New England 1620-1775, Massachusetts Revolutionary War Pensioners’ Receipts 1799-1807, and Massachusetts Revolutionary War Pensioners’ Receipts 1829-1837. Great information there!
• The National Library of Ireland is going to launch a database of images from the 1,091 Catholic paraish registers in their collection – online and FREE from July 8th! Check out the In-Depth Genealogist for more information.
• Going to a cemetery this weekend? Notice any odd symbols on the graves? This guide can help you to figure out what those symbols may have meant.
• Kilmainham Gaol is launching a new website that will show it’s prisoner autograph book from 1916-1923. The proposed date for this launch is March 2016 and you can read more about it here from Irish Genealogy News.
• FindMyPast Friday’s announces new records for this week: City of London, Haberdashers, Apprentices and Freemen 1526-1933; City of London, Ironmongers, Apprentices and Freemen 1511-1923; Surrey, Southwark, St George the Martyr Mortuary Register 1880-1891; British Royal Navy, Foreign Awards to Officers Index 1914-1922; and Victoria Inward Passenger Lists 1839-1923.
• New books from the National Genealogical Society! These are for specific states: California, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Read more about the books from EOGN here!
• Maine has changed their law about vital records! Records from 1892-present day are no longer available at the Maine State Archives and are now going to be issued from the Data, Research, and Vital Statistics at the Vital Records Office. Read the official announcement (and more information) here.