Michigan ... where there's Genealogy Gold

I can't leave this state yet until I find more gold.   It is shimmering through the trees and the rocks.  Makes a person want to just stay forever.

A gal named Kim gave me a tip on finding some gold, so the mouse and I set off real quick to see what was there.  Sure enough that gal Kim was right!  It didn't take the mouse long to find The Dibean Michigan Marriage Index.  It's full of gold!  Every county in Michigan is listed, along with corrections and additions and new marriages.  Even the mouse bounced around with joy.

Then I discovered gold at the Michigan Department of Health.   It was their Genealogical Death Indexing System where I found it.  There are only thirty years worth of information on it, 1867-1897, but I found some nuggets.

As long as the stable boy tends to my horse, the mouse and I travel along the trails of Michigan.  It was on one of those travels that I discovered more nuggets at the Michigan County Histories and Atlases.    The mouse whispered in my ear that I should let it click on "Browse Michigan County Histories and Atlases."  The diggin' is so good there I was shouting and doing a happy dance.

I may never leave this beautiful state.  There is a Western Michigan Genealogical Society that has Online Searchable Databases.  The mouse said he would just take over and let me rest a spell.  So I leaned back on my saddle bag and let him lead the way.

After a hearty meal of  stew and biscuits, the mouse and I took off for a place called Brighton.  It was there I discovered more nuggets at the Brighton District Library.  They have indexes to marriage notices, obituaries, marriage records, cemetery records and death notices and records.

You will have to just stick with me through all this traveling around.  I may stay in Michigan a bit longer and then you may find me somewhere else.

Ruby ... still mining gold in Michigan

Finding Genealogy Gold in Michigan

It was fun spending a few days in Tennessee.  The horse and mouse won and have forced me to leave for Michigan.  That's a bit further north and you won't believe the gold I've found.

They have what is called a Michigan Genealogical Council.  The mouse showed me all kinds of links at what is called a sidebar.  I hardly knew where to begin.  First I clicked on Michigan Genealogical and Historical Societies.  A big bunch of those so people in Michigan must like to do genealogical research ... what I call diggin' for genealogy gold.  It is such a large state with so many societies, I hardly knew where to look, but I settled for the Jackson County Michigan Genealogical Society.  Pure gold there!  They have death indexes 1886-1899 and death indexes 1900-1901.  There's also a township map and I discovered all kinds of gold there such as a listing of documents and resources for the individual townships.  I may be here for a while.

The mouse doesn't stay still for long, so clicked on Research Tools.  Looks like a lot of genealogy gold there also, everything from libraries and archives to newspapers and finding aids.  There I discovered the Archives of Michigan; Michigan Historical Center.  I love indexes so clicked on Indexes.  Sure enough there I discovered Seeking Michigan that everybody along the trail has talked about.  You can search all kinds of things there.

That Seeking Michigan is a bit tricky, so let me give you some advise.  Go to the top right hand corner and you'll see Advanced Search.  Have your little mouse click on that.  Up will come some search boxes and also the names of all their collections.  That's gold ... death records 1897-1920, Civil War manuscripts, Civil War records, maps, plat maps and a whole lot more.

There is so much here I have decided to put the horse in a stable, grab my saddle bag and mouse and head out to see what gold I can find.  I expect there will be lot of it in Michigan.

Ruby ... finding genealogy gold!

Genealogy Gold in Tennessee

After wandering all over this country, I decided to stay in Tennessee for a while and dig for gold.  The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a good place to spend my time.   It is located in Nashville, but my clever little mouse discovered it for me.

I have discovered the Family Bible Records Online.  The volunteers have scanned over 1,500 family Bible records that are located in the Tennessee State Library and Archives.  All the names within the Bible record are indexed.  Because the south can be difficult for researchers to locate birth, marriage and death records, this a great online resource.  Thanks mouse!

Bible Record - Family Bible Records Online

With a click of the mouse I discovered Research & Collections.  There is everything imaginable there, such as military records, land records, maps, early legislative records, birth and death records, supreme court records and the list goes on.

The Tennessee USGenWeb site is stuffed full of things to read and research.  I am looking for some gold in cemeteries, so stopped off at the TNGenWeb Cemetery Database.  I discovered a listing of cemeteries in Carter County, but was so happy to click on the map showing the location within the county.    Some of the cemeteries have listings of headstones and information.  Turned that horse around and trotted from Nashville to Carter County.  I will need to compare this to FindAGrave.

Carter County, Tennessee Cemetery Map 

Look for gold at the TNGenWeb Historical News Portal.  You can check the name index or browse by county.  Before you dig, check out the Newspaper Map.

Now that I am wandering around Tennessee,  I have settled down for a spell in Stewart County.  They have a USGenWeb page also.  This is going to keep me busy for a few days.  There are family records, cemetery records, historical documents, photographs.  Might as well turn the horse out to pasture and bunk down here.  See you in a couple of days!

Ruby .... digging for genealogy gold in Tennessee

Adventures Diggin' for Genealogy Gold

The other day I heard that there is genealogy gold in South Dakota.  I made a trip to Pierre, South Dakota and dropped in at the South Dakota State Archives.  They dug that building into the side of a hill and from where it is located, people can watch wagon trains ford the river and head for the gold fields in the Black Hills.  That hole in the hill has a lot of genealogy gold buried in it, such as a Newspaper Index and the Index to the Civil War Veterans taken in 1885.  I just happened to have relatives who were in Dakota Territory in 1870, so I looked them up on the 1870 Agricultural Census.

I could have stayed in that building in the hill for a long time, but decided I needed to drift south to Kansas.  The Kansas Historical Society is in Topeka.  Plopped my bags down with relatives and took off on a run to see what I could find.  I discovered gold in Kansas Memory.  I clicked on Atchison County and up came 347 memories ... everything from photos to documents.  

Carpenters Building a House
Kansas Memory

From Kansas I crossed the mighty Mississippi and set off for Ohio.  Somebody in my travels told me I should go to the State Library of Ohio in Columbus.  That's one big city, but I have a mouse and it didn't take me long to find my way to genealogy gold.  Buried there is information about their Digital and Special Collections.  They open the door to other places in Ohio and before I knew it, I was looking at City Directories.  With the help of that little mouse, I was looking at the 1825 Hall Cincinnati Directory.  Now that is really genealogy gold!  I threw that old directory into my saddle bag and decided to see what else I could find.  There's even more genealogy gold.  I discovered the Ohio Public Records Index (deaths). started clicking and before I knew it, the horse needed fed and watered.  

I took off for Delaware.  It's a small state, but the records there are enormous.  My journey took me to Delaware Public Archives.  The mouse led me to their Digital Archives.  There are a lot of new-fangled names like eBooks and PDFs.  I kept clicking and discovered what they call PDF files for five volumes of the Delaware Archives-Military.  Talk is that my great, great, great grandfather served in the Revolutionary War from Delaware.  This might be a big help!  

The mouse is tired, my saddle bag is full and the horse needs a rest.  I'll be off somewhere else tomorrow, so stay tuned. 

Ruby --- mining for Genealogy Gold! 

Another Day of Mining for Genealogy Gold

There is definitely gold in the states.  And you thought there was gold only in California?  Nope, you are wrong.

I just discovered gold in Connecticut, of all places!  The Connecticut State Library has a great digital collection.  The Connecticut State Library Digital Collections has many images and collections, but I found the Account Books, Diaries, and Journals to be very helpful.  It is thrilling to discover a nugget buried somewhere and such is the case of digital images of Capt. N. Lyon's Cash Book No. 2, ca 1856-1861.  He kept the cash book while serving in Co. B, 2nd Infantry of the US Army.  If you think cash books and account books are mundane, think again.  Something like this may be the only place you'll be able to place an ancestor at a given time.

Capt. N. Lyon's Cash Book No. 2

Miners expect to find gold and other minerals in Montana.  The Montana Historical Society has a digital collection in the Montana History Project.  This consists of diaries, letters, documents, brand records, county histories, maps, military enlistments and even state prison records.  Since I got lost looking for Badger Creek, it seemed like a good idea to check out the Montana Place Names web site.  I entered Badger Creek (Glacier) as a place name and presto there appeared a topographical map showing me exactly where I need to stake my claim and start mining.

I heard there was gold in Wyoming, so decided to check out the Wyoming State Archives.  There might be newspapers there that I can check for information on diggins.  Found them at the Wyoming Newspaper Project.  Those people have been busy.  They have converted over 800,000 newspaper pages into digital format.

Spending more time in Wyoming before moving on.  Keep checking on my mining progress as I bring you news as to what I'm finding.  So far I have been striking gold!

Ruby --- the mining genealogist!

Finding Genealogy Gold

Genealogical research is like looking for gold.  Maybe the first attempt you don't strike it rich and maybe not even on the second attempt.  However, any good miner will tell you to keep trying but to also change your location.  There are treasures in all kinds of locations, particularly on Internet.

In a self-challenge I have been looking for gold in state archives, state libraries and state historical societies.  I have struck pay dirt and feeling philanthropic this morning, I have decided to share my luck with you.

The Maine State Archives has an extensive index to Revolutionary War Land Grants and Pension Applications.  While it is only an index, there is identifying information as to where the records are located.  There a lot more on their web page, so explore!

Working with land records and the land laws, I was pleased to learn more about Missouri's land history.  The Missouri State Archives through Missouri Digital Heritage allows you to search Missouri Land Patents.  The actual deed is not shown on the web site, but with click of the mouse you can locate sufficient information to send for a copy of it for $1 from the Missouri State Archives.  If your ancestor is listed, that's pay dirt!

Because I have an abundance of North Carolina ancestors, I am always interested in what I can locate  in that state.  Taking a trip through the State Library of North Carolina's web site, I decided to dig deeper.  I learned that they have free digitized NC Newspaper online.  Actually there is a lot  more mining to do there because I have noticed more digital images at DigitalNC.

I decided to try my luck in the deep south in Mississippi.  The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is an excellent place to explore.  Right away the Digital Archives caught my eye.  Browsing through the list of topics, I spotted Confederate Pension Applications (Mississippi).  That looked like a great place to dig.  Confederate pensions were granted only through the former Confederate states and not by the federal government.  Every good miner has to do their preliminary work, so I had my tools at hand ... names, locations, dates and more.  Browsing the images of the pension applications is easy because they are in alphabetical categories.  Once again I strike it rich!

This miner is getting tired and it is time to pull out my maps, clean up my tools and begin another day.  Look for more news of my findings of genealogy gold.  I don't even mind if you move in on my location and look for your own gold.

Ruby .... the genealogist and miner!