Historical Records

Quand un généalogiste se lance dans des recherches sur un combattant français de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il est souvent amené à travailler sur un profil de prisonnier de guerre. C’est presque une affaire de statistiques, avec plus de 1,8 million de soldats capturés par les forces allemandes entre mai et juin 1940 ! La recherche prend alors une tournure particulière. Ce moment de la vie du combattant stimule la curiosité de son descendant. Et, ce qui n’est pas le moindre paradoxe, le généalogiste a parfois connu l’ancien prisonnier de guerre. Il a écouté les récits de son père, de son grand-père, il en a collecté les anecdotes. Mais une fois que le principal témoin a disparu, il se rend compte qu’il lui manque des données précises pour documenter cette histoire individuelle transmise dans l’intimité familiale. Heureusement les archives existent. Elles permettent de compléter les précieux souvenirs. Ce webinaire a pour but de recenser les sources, qui sont variées. Et, à partir de cet inventaire, il s’agira d’envisager les méthodes de recherche, et les conditions de consultation, en fonction des configurations.

Identify push factors to emigration (internal issues influencing emigration): Identify pull factors to emigration (external forces encouraging emigration) • Discuss factors and resources for each time period • Emigration pre-1717 • Scots-Irish (1717 – 1783) • Revolutionary War to the Famine (1783-1845) • Famine years and after • How to use to find places of origin

The library holds the world’s largest collection of maps—over 5.2 million maps according to their website. This webinar will describe the collections most valuable for genealogical research. We are going to explore the online resources and how they can help our research. Exploring the phenomenal learning resources is also on the agenda. We will also talk about finding aids, research guides, reproduction capabilities, and alternative ways to access the map collections. Lastly, we will discuss the resources that are only available onsite, such as the cartographic library, cartographic exhibits, and other unique holdings.

Religious records are essential in genealogy research. Do you know all ancestors’ religions? Review the Protestant Reformation and religions in the U.S. Find your ancestor.

Just who was creating the documents genealogists typically turn to first? What rules did they follow? How long did they have to complete their job? How big is an enumeration district? These questions, and more, probably occur to anyone doing extensive research in the U.S. Census reports. This talk reviews the staffing, training, search for accuracy, penalties for non-cooperation, and bureaucracy of the U.S. Census from 1790 through 1950.

After the end of the Civil War in 1865, African Americans began leaving the areas where they had been enslaved. Many went to North to larger towns where work was more plentiful. But less discussed is that a number went West to farm, using the Homestead Act of 1862 to claim land of their own. Other settled in and helped develop some all-Black towns in Kansas and Oklahoma. Still others headed to the Pacific Coast for work. What can we find out about these settlers’ lives? Where can we find records?

U.S. Migration patterns trended from the east to west coasts as Manifest Destiny played out in our American ancestors’ lives. Did they write letters? Yes, they did. Did they keep a diary? Likely. But, have those documents survived, and if so where might they be located? Follow through historical documents the 100+year Westward Migration of one family who created, saved, and handed down pertinent historical documents pinpointing their migration from Kentucky to Illinois in the early 1830s, chronicled an overland journey to the California Gold Rush 20 years later in 1850, then later emigrated from Illinois to Kansas in the early days of the Civil War. Discover what brought one descendant to Kansas City, Missouri, after World War II. Where’s their next stop? This case study is studded with potential research avenues for any genealogist, anthropologist, archivist, cartographer, or automobile enthusiast.

Before the Revolutionary War, geography, topography and a strong indigenous people presence shaped migration patterns. This webinar covers the dominant push-pull forces and challenges for colonial migration. Using maps and other graphics, the major migration routes by region will be described: New England, mid-Atlantic and southward from Virginia. Famous paths such as the Kings Highway, the Great Valley Road, and the Fall Line Road as well as less well-known paths such as the Greenwood Path and the Forbidden Path will be covered. Using a set of case studies, the process of locating clues in local histories, land records, and vital records is unfolded.

Genealogical scholars make conflicting claims about the number of wives, and the number and mothers of the children, of Joseph Brownell, a Mayflower descendant of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, born at Little Compton, Rhode Island, 16 February 1699, to Thomas Brownell and Esther Taber. These conflicting claims raise significant questions about the makeup of Joseph Brownell’s family. Did he have one, two or five wives? Did he have one, three or eight children? To which wife, or wives, were they born? The presenter will lead participants through reasonably exhaustive research and standards-based evaluation of indirect and negative evidence found in Quaker meeting records, and vital, land and probate records to demonstrate how proof can be constructed to answer these questions. Correlation of this evidence with the timespan of each marriage will then enable his children to be assigned to their correct mothers.