May 31, 2013

Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA

Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA is Richard Hill's true and intensely personal story of how he pieced together the long-kept secret of his own origins. This highly suspenseful book is a page-turning saga of personal detective work that will appeal to anyone who loves a good mystery.

But this isn't fiction. It's an engrossing account of an adoptee trying to reclaim the biological family denied him by sealed birth records. This fascinating quest, including the author's landmark use of DNA testing, takes readers on an exhilarating roller-coaster ride and concludes with a twist that rivals anything Hollywood has to offer.

Easy to read and hard to put down, Finding Family is the first book to chronicle the paradigm-shifting application of genetic genealogy to adoption search. Whether you're searching for your own roots or just craving a darn good read, Finding Family is a book you will likely devour in one sitting...and wholeheartedly recommend to others. 

In the vein of a classic mystery, Hill gathers the seemingly scant evidence surrounding the circumstances of his birth. At his adoptive father's deathbed, he discovers shocking information that leads him to methodically chase down leads, which sometimes yield poignant glimpses of his birth parents, sometimes garner resistance, and as frequently flat-line in disappointment.

As his resolve shores up, the author also avails of new friends, genealogists, the Internet, and the latest DNA tests in the new field of genetic genealogy. As he closes in on the truth of his ancestry, he is able to construct a living, breathing portrait of the young woman who was faced with the decision to forsake her rights to her child, and ultimately the man whose identity had remained hidden for decades.

During the course of Hill's mission, Finding Family offers guidance, insight, and motivation for anyone engaged in a similar mission, from ways to obtain information to the many networks that can facilitate adoption searches. Best of all, the author demystifies how DNA and genetic genealogy can produce irrefutable results in determining genetic connections. In an intimate, personal voice, Hill sheds light on this new science that is helping adoptees bypass sealed records and similar stumbling blocks. It is certain to inspire those who are in search of their birth parents as well as others who are uncertain of their biological ancestry. 

Richard Hill's groundbreaking use of DNA testing in adoption search was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. His DNA Testing Adviser web site makes genetic genealogy understandable to all. Now retired from careers in science and marketing, Richard serves on the Advisory Board of the Mixed Roots Foundation where he is Co-Director of the Global Adoptee Genealogy Project.


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Military Service Records at the National Archives


A guide to military records found at the National Archives.. Read More




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U.S. Selected Counties, 1850 Census Index

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May 25, 2013

Finding Answers in British Isles Census Records

It's said a picture is worth a thousand words, but if you really want to see into the lives of your British Isles ancestors, find them in the census. This book will show you how. Accredited Genealogist Echo King leads you step-by-step through these essential records and explains everything from how British census-taking began to how you can use the census to uncover details that will enrich your family story. Whether you are new to family history or you are a seasoned veteran, Finding Answers in British Isles Census Records has something for you...

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History of the German Empire, 1867-1914

"The German Empire was literally created on the battlefield, for not only was it the natural outcome of a war in which all the German tribes fought together against a hereditary foe, but the treaties which brought the States of the South into federal relationship with those of the North were concluded at Versailles, within sight of the ring of German steel which enveloped Paris. It was significant of Bismarck's determination to run no risks, now that the last stage of the struggle for unity had been reached, that he opened negotiations with the Sovereigns and Governments of the still outstanding States immediately the French had shown the first signs of wavering and had asked the price of peace..." William Harbutt Dawson 

Contents: 
The Germanic Federation, 1806-1848. 
The Frankfort National Assembly, 1848-1851. 
Bismarck - the First Phase, 1851-1861. 
The Prussian Constitutional Conflict, 1858-1863. 
Bismarck's Visit to London in June, 1862. 
The Elbe Duchies and the Danish War, 1846-1865. 
The Extrusion of Austria, 1865-1866. 
The North German Confederation, 1866-1867. 
The Hohenzollern Candidature, 1867-1870. 
The War with France, 1870-1871. 
The New Empire, 1870-1874. 
Church and State, 1868-1883. 
Social Democracy, 1848-1888. 
Protection and Fiscal Reform, 1879-1887. 
Social Adjustments, 1871-1888. 
Foreign Relations, 1871-1887 - France. 
Foreign Relations, 1875-1885 - the Eastern Question. 
The Colonial Era, 1880-1890. 
Bismarck - the Last Phase, 1888-1890. 
Emperor William II. 
Domestic Affairs, 1890-1900 - the New Course. 
Emperor William II. 
Domestic Affairs, 1900-1914 - the Reaction. 
Foreign Relations, 1890-1904 - Weltpolitik. 
Foreign Relations, 1904-1906 - Morocco. 
Foreign Relations, 1906-1913 - the Triple Entente. 
Foreign Relations, 1913-1914 - the Latter Days. 
The Franco-Russian Alliance. 
The Russo-German Reinsurance Treaty of 1884-90.

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U.S. Selected Counties, 1810 Census Index

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May 20, 2013

Connecticut & Rhode Island, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

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Fireside Folklore of West Virginia, Vol. I

Fireside Folklore of West Virginia Vol. 1 is the first in a new spellbinding series focusing on the state's ghost stories, legends and haunted locations. Readers will recognize familiar tales and will learn of the authors own paranormal experiences while searching for ghosts, urban legends and other entities.

At the old  Whipple Store in Fayette County mystery abounds. 
What is it about this building that draws investigators?

Why does the Granny Witch mysteriously appear to hikers?

Who is Deloris and does she really appear in the small community of Burnt House?

Who commited the violent murders at the old farmhouse?

 The 174 pages feature over 120 images including photographs and old folklore woodcuts. The 24 intriguing chapters are based on Sherri Brake's popular column appearing in West Virginia's largest independent publication, Two-Lane Livin'. Each story features extra details and photographs not seen in the original columns debuting from 2010-2012... Read More



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Indian Nations of North America

Walk with the indigenous people who settled North America —and with their descendants, whose more than 500 tribes range from the Arctic Circle across the Great Plains and to the Eastern Seaboard. Lakota, Cherokee, Navajo, Haida: these groups and many others are profiled in engaging entries and portrayed in magnificent images and maps that authentically evoke each tribe's history and character. Organized into eight geographical regions, this encyclopedic reference gives fascinating details about key tribes within each area: their beliefs, sustenance, shelter, alliances, interaction with nature, historic events, and more. Learn about the spiritual and cultural traditions of Native Americans across the continent...investigate how and when each tribe came into contact with Europeans, and how their lives changed. This is the definitive, insightful reference on Native Americans —captivating and informative for all who appreciate history, diverse cultures, stunning images, and the artistry of maps... Read More


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May 19, 2013

Massachusetts, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

This data set includes an index to the 1850 census of the actual records themselves — in the census taker's own handwriting! The index references more than 385,000 Massachusetts heads-of-household counted in this especially valuable census...

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May 18, 2013

North Carolina, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

This data set includes an index to the 1850 census of the actual records themselves — in the census taker's own handwriting! The index references more than 140,000 North Carolina heads-of-household counted in this especially valuable census...

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May 17, 2013

Pennsylvania, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

Often referred to as the first modern census, the 1850 census employed improved techniques for collecting information. For the first time, enumerators were provided printed instructions that explained their responsibilities, census procedures, and the intent behind census questions. These instructions accounted for a greater degree of accuracy in the census record...

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May 16, 2013

Indiana Census Records: 1860

With the information provided in the census (names, ages, birthplaces and more, depending on the census year), you can immediately fill in holes in your family tree. Censuses help you pinpoint a family's location at a particular time. When you know where a family lived, you know where to look for other important records, such as county records of births, marriages, and deaths...

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May 15, 2013

Kentucky, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

This data set includes an index to the 1850 census of the actual records themselves — in the census taker's own handwriting! The index references almost 192,000 Kentucky heads-of-household counted in this especially valuable census...

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Genealogy: Search for a grave leads to a family he never knew

Bill Shehan started out looking for his sister. He found a family. 

A mourning dove calls as he tells the story, seated on a wicker chair on a porch outside his home on Waverly Road. It isn’t an easy story. Shehan, now 73, was placed in an orphanage with his brother and sister after their parents divorced when he was a year old. His brother, who was older, was adopted. His little sister, Mary Jane, died in 1951 at age 10. 

Shehan remembered the open coffin, her pigtails and her blue dress. He remembered the cemetery was on a hill outside the town where his father was from, Erwin, Tenn. Those were memories that didn’t lend themselves to casual conversation. “Sad memories,” he said...

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May 14, 2013

Indiana, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

This data set includes an index to the 1850 census of the actual records themselves — in the census taker's own handwriting!! The index references almost 257,000 Indiana heads-of-household counted in this especially valuable census...

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May 13, 2013

Illinois, 1850 Census Microfilm Records

This data set includes an index to the 1850 census and scanned images of the actual records themselves — in the census taker's own handwriting! The index references almost 235,000 Illinois heads-of-household counted in this especially valuable census...

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May 12, 2013

Georgia, 1870 Census Index

This data set contains an alphabetical index of approximately 333,000 residents who were counted in 132 Georgia counties in the 1870 United States census...

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Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide (Finding Your Ancestors)

For millions of Americans, home means Italy, where their roots started years ago. In Finding Your Italian Ancestors, you'll discover the tools you need to trace your ancestors back to the homeland. Learn how and where to find records in the United States and Italy, get practical advice on deciphering those hard-to-read documents, and explore valuable online resources. The guide also includes maps, multiple glossaries, and an extensive bibliography...

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Harvesting Your Family Tree: A Guide to Genealogy Research

From beginner to accomplished, with step by step instructions to take the mystery out of tracing your roots.

The author guides you through your research with easy to follow instructions, to keep you on the right path to uncovering your family's information and ways to get around those seemingly impossible "dead ends."

Complete guides to free research websites, state by state sources, and sites that give you access to ships passenger manifests, state archives, and volumes of important sources; and all at no cost.

Advanced genealogy sites for in-depth research and record keeping at minimal costs are also explained in detail.

Learn the best and most efficient ways to make contact with distant relatives who can help with the missing pieces of your family history puzzle.

By following the steps outlined, you will be able to create and share what will become a family heirloom for your children, grandchildren, and any family members interested in learning about their roots...


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May 11, 2013

Virginia and West Virginia, 1870 Census Index

This data set contains indexes to approximately 491,000 entries from 152 counties in Virginia (381,215 entries) and West Virginia (109,495 entries)...

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May 10, 2013

North Carolina and South Carolina, 1870 Census Index

Explore this index for North and South Carolina in 1870. Discover an ancestor's full name, county and locality of residence, source information, plus more. This data set contains indexes to approximately 494,000 census records from 121 counties in North Carolina (295,007 entries) and South Carolina (199,064 entries)...

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May 9, 2013

Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis, 1870 Census Index

This data set contains indexes to approximately 352,000 census records from three major cities: Baltimore, Maryland, Chicago, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri...

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May 8, 2013

Census Index: New York City, New York & Long Island, 1870

This database contains indexes to approximately 500,000 census records from five counties that comprised New York City in 1870. These counties are Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk...


May 7, 2013

East Pennsylvania, 1870 Census Index

This database contains more than 219,000 entries listing heads of household as well as every male over age 50, every female over age 70, and other surnames within the household...

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May 6, 2013

West Pennsylvania, 1870 Census Index

This database contains indexes to approximately 312,000 census records from 26 counties in Western Pennsylvania. Contains entries listing heads of household as well as every male over 50, every female over age 70, and other surnames within the household...

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May 5, 2013

Search the World's Largest Pedigree-Linked Database

MyTrees.com Ancestor Search - Over 1 Billion Names!
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To Free a Family: The Journey of Mary Walker

What was it like for a mother to flee slavery, leaving her children behind? To Free a Family tells the remarkable story of Mary Walker, who in August 1848 fled her owner for refuge in the North and spent the next seventeen years trying to recover her family. Her freedom, like that of thousands who escaped from bondage, came at a great price—remorse at parting without a word, fear for her family’s fate.

This story is anchored in two extraordinary collections of letters and diaries, that of her former North Carolina slaveholders and that of the northern family—Susan and Peter Lesley—who protected and employed her. Sydney Nathans’ sensitive and penetrating narrative reveals Mary Walker’s remarkable persistence as well as the sustained collaboration of black and white abolitionists who assisted her. Mary Walker and the Lesleys ventured half a dozen attempts at liberation, from ransom to ruse to rescue, until the end of the Civil War reunited Mary Walker with her son and daughter.

Unlike her more famous counterparts—Harriet Tubman, Harriet Jacobs, and Sojourner Truth—who wrote their own narratives and whose public defiance made them heroines, Mary Walker’s efforts were protracted, wrenching, and private. Her odyssey was more representative of women refugees from bondage who labored secretly and behind the scenes to reclaim their families from the South. In recreating Mary Walker’s journey, To Free a Family gives voice to their hidden epic of emancipation and to an untold story of the Civil War era... Read More


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The True Image: Gravestone Art and the Culture of Scotch Irish Settlers in the Pennsylvania and Carolina Backcountry

A thousand unique gravestones cluster around old Presbyterian churches in the piedmont of the two Carolinas and in central Pennsylvania. Most are the vulnerable legacy of three generations of the Bigham family, Scotch Irish stonecutters whose workshop near Charlotte created the earliest surviving art of British settlers in the region. In The True Image, Daniel Patterson documents the craftsmanship of this group and the current appearance of the stones. In two hundred of his photographs, he records these stones for future generations and compares their iconography and inscriptions with those of other early monuments in the United States, Northern Ireland, and Scotland

Combining his reading of the stones with historical records, previous scholarship, and rich oral lore, Patterson throws new light on the complex culture and experience of the Scotch Irish in America. In so doing, he explores the bright and the dark sides of how they coped with challenges such as backwoods conditions, religious upheavals, war, political conflicts, slavery, and land speculation. He shows that headstones, resting quietly in old graveyards, can reveal fresh insights into the character and history of an influential immigrant group... Read More


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May 3, 2013

Passenger and Immigration Lists: New York, 1820-1850

Passenger lists are important primary sources of arrival data for the vast majority of immigrants to the United States in the nineteenth century. In the mid-1800s, immigrants (particularly Irish, Germans, and Italians) flocked to the port of New York. Indexed and easy to search, this database references approximately 1.6 million individuals who arrived in New York between January 7, 1820 and December 31, 1850.

The information collected for this database was taken from the National Archives Microfilm Series M237, rolls 1 through 95 (Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919). While the volumes vary in dates covered and information recorded, the information you can obtain from this database can help you create a well-rounded picture of your ancestor's arrival in America.

Partly in an effort to alleviate overcrowding of passenger ships, Congress enacted legislation (3 Stat. 489) on March 2, 1819 to regulate the transport of passengers in ships arriving from foreign ports. As a provision of this act, masters of such ships were required to submit a list of all passengers to the collector of customs in the district in which the ship arrived. The legislation also provided that the collector of customs submit quarterly passenger list reports to the Secretary of State, who was, in turn, required to submit the information to Congress. The information was then published in the form of Congressional documents. These passenger lists are important primary sources of arrival data for the vast majority of immigrants to the United States in the nineteenth century.

A further Congressional act passed on May 7, 1874 repealed the legislative provision requiring collectors to send copies of passenger lists to the Secretary of State. Thereafter, collectors of customs were to send only statistical reports on passenger arrivals to the Department of Treasury...

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May 2, 2013

Census Records: United Kingdom, 1851

A census is an official enumeration of the population in a particular area. In addition to counting the inhabitants of an area, the census generally collects other vital information. Since 1801, the United Kingdom has undertaken a census every ten years (except for 1941, during World War II).

Useful enumerations featuring the names of every resident of England and Wales began in 1841, and by 1851 the census schedule showed each person's full name, age, gender, occupation, address, relationship to the head of the household, marital status, and the exact town or parish of birth.

More than an index to the census, this database includes all of the information you'd find on the actual census page. Knowing the exact town or parish of a person's birth can be especially helpful in tracking a person's mobility and in locating the proper entries in civil registration records or parish registers.

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May 1, 2013

New England Irish Pioneers (Ancestry)

This detailed work sets forth the history and happenings of Irish immigrants to America in the seventeenth century. Important historical events are described, groups of immigrants are identified, and many prominent individuals and their families are discussed. This database will help individuals who are searching for early Irish immigrants and the historical background of their lives...

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The Irish Flax Grower's List, 1796

In 1796, the Irish Linen Board published a list of nearly 60,000 individuals who received awards for planting between one and five acres of flax. Individuals who planted one acre were awarded four spinning-wheels, and those growing five acres were awarded a loom. The "Flax Grower's List," is an extremely useful genealogical record since virtually no Irish census of the nineteenth century has survived.

With the information listed, you may be able to compensate for the lack of genealogical records available for Ireland at this time. Land records are unique because they allow you to obtain an idea of your family's migration pattern and help you determine local resources to research for more information. If you are one of the nearly 70 million individuals worldwide with Irish heritage, the Flax Grower's List is an important resource.

Counties Covered:
Antrim - Galway - Meath - Armagh - Kerry - Monaghan - Carlow - Kildare - Offaly - Cavan - Kilkenny - Roscommon - Clare - Laois - Sligo - Cork - Leitrim - Tipperary - Derry - Limerick - Tyrone - Donegal - Longford - Waterford - Down - Louth - Westmeath - Dublin - Mayo - Wexford - Fermanagh


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Palermo, Sicily, Italy, Birth Records Index, 1876-1885 (Ancestry)

More than 80 percent of Italian Americans can be traced back to the Sicily Region. Palermo, as the largest of Sicily's port cities, is one of the best sources of information for Italian American researchers. In Palermo's state archive, thousands of vital records have been preserved by the Italian government. These records contain the names of thousands of Palermo's inhabitants, as well as others who came to the city to sail to America. An index was created of these records by Italy's government, but that index was arranged alphabetically by the husband's surname. This database allows researchers to search Palermo's birth records (1876-85) more thoroughly; one can search either by the father's surname, or the mother's. Note: the abbreviations "uff 1" and "uff 2" refer to the civil registration offices in Palermo, "office #1" and "office #2." Also available through the FHL, film # 1350813. This is Parts 1-3 of the database; it has search results for surnames beginning with the letter A-Br only... 

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