Thursday, November 14, 2013

Ancestry Update: November

The following is from Ancestry.com.

It’s time to see the newest updates to Ancestry.com including content and website upgrades.

Fold3 Honor Wall

The recently launched Fold3 Honor Wall is a free and interactive way to remember those who fought in the armed services.  Currently The Honor Wall pages have data sourced from records spanning more than 200 years of U.S. military history, detailed on over 20 million personalized online pages already created. The unique virtual memorial will continue to grow and evolve as new pages are contributed by visitors to The Honor Wall, and those already existing are supplemented by additional user content. We are encouraging everyone to get on and make sure your loved one has a page of their own.

Click here to learn more.

DNA Homepage with 1-2-3-4 “How does it work”

You’ve probably already checked your new AncestryDNA results, but did you check out the new logged-out DNA homepage? In an effort increase education and understanding with the AncestryDNA test, we updated the DNA homepage to include a 1-2-3-4 “How does it work” section. This seeks to provide visitors with a better on-boarding experience that helps to anchor expectations but also provides more information about the service. You can watch videos, see testimonials, read the FAQs and of course order another AncestryDNA test.


Newly Added Content

U.S. Virgin Islands, Applications for Travel Identification Cards, 1918
Records: 182  
Launch on site: September 20
These days, we travel from the U.S. to the Virgin Islands, but back in 1918, these folks wanted to do things the other way around.

The U.S. acquired the Virgin Islands at the onset of World War I in Europe. With travel restrictions in place during World War I, identification as U.S. citizen by right of birth in the Virgin Islands was necessary to travel to the United States. This collection includes applications for travel identification cards made during 1918.


Canada, St. Lawrence Steamboat Company Passenger Lists, 1819–1838
Records: 187,465       
Launch on site: September 26
Following the successful launch of his Canadian brewing company in the 1780s, John Molson and his sons expanded into the shipping industry, hauling passengers and freight along the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Québec by steamboat. Wonder what it was like watching those folks walk down the gangway once they got where they were going?

  
UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1627–1969
Records: 160,370       
Launch on site: September 27
Once upon a time, the sun never set on the British Empire. Apparently this was because clerks were working around the clock. In this database you’ll find birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial records for British subject from more than 30 countries and territories around the world, including Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, and Luxembourg.


U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895–1914
Records: 104,657       
Launch on site: September 30
Remember the Baker Roll? These are the federal government’s official rolls (the “Dawes Rolls”) for the rest of the Five Civilized tribes. The rolls are organized by tribe and include claims by blood, marriage, minor children, newborns, and freedmen, who were former slaves held by Indians. And they list folks who didn’t make the cut, too.


Germany, Jewish "Training" Centers
Records: 1,175
Romania, Bucharest Jewish Students, 1943
Records: 1,376
Mannheim, Germany, Jewish Community Records, 1940
Records: 1,676
Romania, Jews From Iaşi Who Survived the Transports, 1941
Records: 1,609
Belgium, The Twentieth Train, 1943
Records: 1,638
Launch on site: September 11

Romania, Bucharest Jewish Males, October 1942
Records: 1,594
Israel, Sarajevo Survivors Who Went to Israel, December 1948
Records: 1,553
Poland, Deportation of Bialystok Children from Theresienstadt, 1943
Records: 1,249
Launch on site: September 12

Poland, Kolomyya Kehila Dues, 1939
Records: 1,271
Sweden, Displaced Persons From Bergen-Belsen to Sweden, July 1945
Records: 1,606
Czechoslovakia, Jewish Physicians Who Died From the Holocaust, 1939–1945
Records: 1,668
Poland, Jewish Children Survivors of the Holocaust, 1945
Records: 1,568
Romania, the Jews of Oradea (Nagyvarad), 1939–1945
Records: 1,555
Philippines, Jewish Refugees, 1937–1941
Records: 1,318
Poland, Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp Victims and Survivors, 1940–1945
Records: 4,843
Germany, Sachsenhausen Arrivals & Departures, 1940–1941
Records: 4,991
Launch on site: September 13

Romania, Jews From Iaşi Who Survived the Transports, 1941
Records: 1,609
Mannheim, Germany, Jewish Community Records, 1940
Records: 1,676
Launch on site: October 9

Israel, Sarajevo Survivors Who Went to Israel, December 1948
Records: 1,553
Romania, Bucharest Jewish Males, October 1942
Records: 1,594
Poland, Deportation of Bialystok Children From Theresienstadt, 1943
Records: 1,249
Launch on site: October 10

Poland, Jewish Children Survivors of the Holocaust, 1945
Records: 1,568
Launch on site: October 11

Poland, Kolomyya Kehila Dues, 1939
Records: 1,271
Sweden, Displaced Persons From Bergen-Belsen to Sweden, July 1945
Records: 1,606
Germany, Jewish “Training” Centers
Records: 1,715
Czechoslovakia, Jewish Physicians Who Died From the Holocaust, 1939–1945
Records: 1,576
Launch on site: October 18
Trains saved some and doomed others in this month’s installment of Holocaust databases from JewishGen.

USHMM: Czechoslovakia, Selected Jewish Holocaust Records, 1939–1941
Records: 9,459
Launch on site: October 15
German occupational institutions and Czech auxiliary agencies generated these lists of Jewish doctors and professors, as well as police correspondence and questionnaires.


Oregon, Church and Cemetery Records, 1840–1965
Records: 77,910         
Launch on site: October 3

Agana, Guam, U.S., Passenger and Crew Lists of Arriving Vessels and Airplanes, 1948–1954
Records: 213,672       
Launch on site: October 4 
  
U.S., School Catalogs, 1765–1935
Records: 5,378,762    
Launch on site: October 9
Want to know what people used to laugh at? This database include 30 years of the Harvard Lampoon. There’s some other stuff, too—catalogs, obituaries, class histories, speeches, circulars—from just about any sort of institution of higher learning you can think of. Just in case you have no sense of humor (or no relatives who went to Harvard).


New Zealand, Notices of Deceased Estates, 1880–1950
Records: 83,202         
Launch on site: October 10
Find out who left what to whom in these estate lists from the New Zealand Gazette. Plus residence, British or foreign residence (if any), date of death, estimated estate value, and remarks.


New South Wales, Australia, Index to Deceased Estate Files, 1923–1958
Records: 445,416
Launch on site: October 10
More proof of the high cost of dying.

Before probates and letters of administration could be executed on an estate, a duty had to be paid. The amount could vary depending on the relationship of the heirs and the value of the estate. Deceased estate files were created for estates a duty was imposed on.                      
                       

Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, Jail Registers, 1876–1896
Records: 2,634
Launch on site: October 16
Before the Breathalyzer, did they just take your word for it?

This index to the Peterborough Country Jail register lists an inmate’s name, age, marital status, faith, crime committed, sentence, time served—and whether the inmate was temperate.

  
Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920
Records: 761,979       
Launch on site: October 17
You can discover more than just where your ancestor “went to meeting” in these abstracts from Connecticut church records.

And for the record, information in Connecticut church records is often more informative, complete, or accurate than the town vital records. (Government shutdowns maybe?)


Georgia, World War I Service Cards, 1917–1919
Records: 110,665       
Launch on site: October 22
Not sure why, but Georgia was home to more training camps than any other state during World War I, and the state’s sons proudly served in the U.S. Armed Forces. This collection contains more than 100,000 service cards recording loads of details on Georgia men who served in the U.S. Army or Navy.

U.S., Select Family History and Bible Records Index
Records: 14,871                     
Launch on site: October 22 
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), one of the oldest historical societies in the U.S., is home to an extensive collection of compiled family histories and Bible records. This index is your guide to those holdings.

Washington D. C., Military Naturalization Petitions, 1918–1924
Records: 5,897           
Launch on site: October 24
Some of these soldiers fought for citizenship the hard way. This database contains Petitions for Naturalization filed by former soldiers in Washington, D.C., courts during the years 1918–1924. A WWI-era law waived the residency requirement for aliens willing to fight for Uncle Sam.


Connecticut, Military Questionnaires, 1919–1920
Records: 13,418                     
Launch on site: October 24
What did your Connecticut doughboy think of the Great War? Lucky for you, somebody thought to ask.
These questionnaires were to be “a permanent memorial of the deeds of Connecticut soldiers and sailors … in the World War.” They include a page of personal information followed by the respondent’s war record with comments and sometimes a photograph.


1921 Census of Canada (index)
Records: 8,800,634    
Launch on site:October 29
No more election districts and sub-districts necessary. Now that the index is live, you don’t have to know a thing about Canada to search the 1921 Canadian Census. OK, names of a few Canadians probably wouldn’t hurt.

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