2012 Spring Newsletter

Mid-Continent Genealogical Library o +VTU /PSUI PG * JO *OEFQFOEFODF .JTTPVSJ UIJT MJCSBSZ EFEJDBUFE TQFDJĕ DBMMZ UP HFOFBMPHZ JT B HFN ć JT MBSHF MJCSBSZ IBT TFDUJPOT EFWPUFE UP GBNJMZ IJTUPSJFT DFOTVT *OEJBO SFDPSET BOE QVCMJDBUJPOT CZ DPVOUZ BOE TUBUF ć FZ IBWF OVNFSPVT EPDVNFOUT PO NJDSPĕ MN BOE NJDSPĕ DIF BOE FYUFOTJWF SFDPSET GPS UIF 4UBUF PG .JTTPVSJ ć FZ IBWF B MBSHF 'BNJMZ )JTUPSZ TFDUJPO EFEJDBUFE UP 'BNJMZ 5SFFT UIBU QFPQMF IBWF QVCMJTIFE JO CPPL GPSN and donated to the Library. I found a book on the McNerney Family written by a distant relative of my husband’s. Living in Arizona, she did all of the genealogical research, published the book and donated a copy to all of the Libraries where UIF .D/FSOFZ GBNJMZ TFUUMFE Bę FS BSSJWJOH UP UIF 6OJUFE 4UBUFT JO ć FZ BMTP IBWF B MBSHF BSDIJWF PG DPVOUZ DFNFUFSZ books and other vital records. To save time, you can log onto their card catalog as a guest and search for the publications UIBU ZPV XPVME MJLF UP TUVEZ CFGPSF ZPV BSSJWF +VTU NBLF TVSF UIBU ZPVS DBUBMPH TFBSDI TQFDJĕ FT UIF (FOFBMPHZ -JCSBSZ BT UIF .JE $POUJOFOU 1VCMJD -JCSBSZ IBT TFWFSBM CSBODIFT ć F BEESFTT GPS UIFJS POMJOF DBSE DBUBMPH JT IUUQ XXX NZNDQM org/catalog Wills and Probate Records – Old Wills and Probate Records can tell you a lot about your ancestors. Most name a sur viving spouse, children and other extended family members. You can also discern what type of lifestyle they lived from UIF FTUBUF UIBU UIFZ MFę UP UIFJS TVSWJWPST (FOFSBMMZ BMM PG UIF TVSWJWJOH DIJMESFO BSF OBNFE JO UIF XJMM FWFO JG UIFZ IBWF moved away. Many times Grandchildren of children who have predeceased the parent are also named in the will. When TFBSDIJOH GPS BO PME XJMM JU JT CFTU UP TUBSU BU UIF $PVOUZ )JTUPSJDBM 4PDJFUZ PS 1SPCBUF $PVSU *G UIFZ DBO ĕ OE OP SFDPSE State Historical Societies or State Archives are a good place to search. Most State Archives or Historical Societies have a searchable database online to tell you if they have the will books for that particular countyand that time period. In addi UJPO 'BNJMZ4FBSDI PSH NBZ IBWF UIF XJMMT GPS UIBU QBSUJDVMBS DPVOUZ PO NJDSPĕ MN :PV TJNQMZ OFFE UP PSEFS JU GSPN UIFN BOE HP JOUP B MPDBM 'BNJMZ4FBSDI MPDBUJPO UP WJFX UIF NJDSPĕ MN ,FFQ JO NJOE UIBU NPTU XJMMT XFSF NBEF CZ QFSTPOT XIP PXOFE QSPQFSUZ BOE QSJPS UP UIF UI $FOUVSZ NPTU XPNFO EJE OPU PXO QSPQFSUZ TP UIFSF BSF WFSZ GFX XJMMT MFę CZ XPNFO ć FSF XFSF TJNQMZ QSPWJTJPOT JO UIF XJMM GPS UIF DBSF PG B XJEPX PS BOZ VONBSSJFE GFNBMF JTTVF *O BEEJUJPO JG B property owner died intestate (without a will), the estate would still need to go through probate, so check for other probate records or letters of administration for that county. I cannot begin to stress how helpful the internet is as a genealogical research tool. You are just a “mouse click” away from valuable genealogical information that would have taken months or years of research to provide. Following are the web sites most useful to the genealogical researcher: Ancestry.com 1FSIBQT UIF NPTU DPNQSFIFOTJWF XFCTJUF GPS HFOFBMPHJDBM SFTFBSDI ć JT XFCTJUF IBT WJUBM SFDPSET GBN JMZ USFFT OFXTQBQFS BSDIJWFT BOE NFTTBHF CPBSET UP JOUFSBDU XJUI PUIFS SFTFBSDIFST :PV NBZ FWFO ĕ OE PME QIPUPHSBQIT of your ancestors. You must subscribe to this website for a fee, however in my opinion it is a good value for the wealth of JOGPSNBUJPO JU QSPWJEFT ć F XFC BEESFTT JT IUUQ XXX BODFTUSZ DPN ć F 64 (FO8FC 1SPKFDU o ć JT JT B GSFF XFCTJUF UIBU QSPWJEFT BSDIJWBM SFDPSET PO UIF TUBUF BOE DPVOUZ MFWFM *U DBO CF B very good tool depending upon how much information has been provided by local volunteers. It is also a good resource for how and when counties and states were formed, which is a necessary to be sure you are searching in the correct county GPS SFDPSET ć F XFC BEESFTT JT IUUQ XXX VTHFOXFC PSH As many of you have discovered, there are many Genealogical Websites that are dedicated to taking your money, so be very DBSFGVM 'PS JOTUBODF JG ZPV UZQF JOUP ZPVS TFBSDI FOHJOF i,BOTBT 7JUBM 3FDPSETw ZPV XJMM IBWF NBOZ XFCTJUFT PČ FSJOH ZPV JOTUBOU SFDPSET GPS B GFF ć FTF VTVBMMZ IBWF B i DPNw JO UIF XFC BEESFTT %P OPU VTF UIFTF XFCTJUFT *OTUFBE HP UP UIF 4UBUF T website which will have “.gov” in the web address. Unless it is a website that you have heard of such as Genealogy.com or Ancestry.com, or one that I previously recommended, be sure the web address ends with “.gov” or “.org”. Be wary of any websites that do not. *O DMPTJOH * BN FYDJUFE UP TBZ UIBU * BN MPPLJOH GPSXBSE UP UIF SFMFBTF PG UIF 6 4 'FEFSBM $FOTVT ć F ĕ STU DFOTVT Bę FS UIF (SFBU %FQSFTTJPO JU XJMM DPOUBJO OFX JOGPSNBUJPO TVDI BT UIF JODPNF PG XPSLJOH JOEJWJEVBMT UIFJS FNQMPZNFOU TUBUVT BOE UIFJS iVTVBMw PDDVQBUJPO ć FZ BTLFE BMM NBSSJFE XPNFO UIF OVNCFS PG NBSSJBHFT UIFZ WF IBE BOE UIFJS BHF XIFO NBSSJFE UIF ĕ STU UJNF /PU TVSF XIZ UIFZ BTLFE UIBU #Z UIF UJNF ZPV SFBE UIJT UIF DFOTVT TIPVME CF POMJOF GPS BOZ one to view and unlike previous censuses you will not have to subscribe to a genealogical website, such as Ancestry.com, to view it. It will be available for free! For more information go to: http://1940census.archives.gov/ Good luck in your research! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at sheilagoodwin@sbcglobal.net

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