Friday, August 8, 2008

Mamma Mia! and the Joy of Choosing Your Own Ancestors

Yesterday I went with my mom to see the movie Mamma Mia!. I am such a good son, taking my mother to see this completely ridiculous campy musical extravaganza. I also saw the Broadway musical version last year with my mom and two other friends. And now I'm going to admit that I'm an Abba fan. I've liked them since I was a young sprog and they were still together making records. And all married to each other. And I honestly thought I would hate Mamma Mia!. But I admit I liked the thing. It's just so silly and uplifting and fun. And it's filled with Abba songs. Tons of them. The movie is just about as much fun as the stage musical. And Meryl Streep looks like she's having a blast throughout.

Mamma Mia! Abba songs soundtrackSo now I know what you're thinking: What does Mamma Mia! have to do with genealogy? C'mon theatergoers, it's soooo obvious. The girl has three dads! And she doesn't know which one is really her dad. Sophie's mom had brief affairs with three men right in a row some twenty years ago. And now Sophie, who's about to be married, wants to know who her dad is. So she invites all three to the wedding. And they all show up. Mayhem and Abba songs ensue. C'mon if you had three dads wouldn't you dance around and start singing "Voulez-Vous" for no reason? While most of us are trying to figure out who our great great great great grandparents are, this poor girl has three potential dads lined up in a row and she doesn't know which one is the right guy. Hey, even own her mother, Meryl Streep, doesn't know. Now before you can say, "DNA test," please consider this: there are no Abba songs about DNA. Nope. Nothing about genetics either, or genealogy, or having three dads. And consider this: Sophie's dad is one of the following...

1. Remington Steele
2. Mr. Darcy himself
3. Some sea-faring Swedish guy

Er, actually that would be:

1. Pierce Brosnan
2. Colin Frith or Firth I can never remember which
3. A fine Swedish actor whose name I can't spell

Now would you have a DNA test, or perhaps just choose Mr. Darcy? Personally I think I'd run off with Sophie, who is just as cute as can be. Er wait a minute I've gone off track here. So pretend for a moment that you get to pick your ancestors. It would make genealogy sooo much easier. Yeah, I'm not sure if I'd want that Jane Austen dude as an ancestor, so I'm going with Remington Steele. Even if he can't sing. And for my grandparents... hmmm... let's see...

All right now back to some real genealogy. Everyone go click on some links over on the right side.

Friday, July 25, 2008

20 Things That Make Genealogy Fun

This is intended to be a bunch of silly nonsense. So please don't take it too seriously.
  1. In Germany all the women are named Anna Maria and all the men are named Johann. This was done to confuse genealogists.

  2. In Mexico all the women are named Maria and all the men are named Juan. This was done to confuse genealogists.

  3. In Ireland all the women are named Mary and all the men are named James Patrick O'Connor. This was done for "fun in the pub."

  4. In New Mexico the "Kevin Bacon Game" is called the "Juan Baca Game." No one knows who Juan Baca was, but everyone in New Mexico can trace their ancestors to him.

  5. In Boston the "Kevin Bacon Game" is called the "James Patrick O'Connor Game." And you're only allowed to play with a Boston accent. For tips on fine tuning your Boston accent see the Academy Award winning Martin Scorsese film, the Depahhted.

  6. The record you need is always at the end of the microfilm roll.

  7. The records at the beginning of the roll are clear and easy to read with beautiful penmenship. By the time you scroll to the end of the roll where the record you need is located, everything is a blurry mess.

  8. Oh nevermind. They're gonna digitize all of it soon anyway, right?

  9. You actually know what M237 means. You freak.

  10. All of your ancestors settled in Chicago. Whenever you can't find something about them you curse Mrs. O'Leary's cow.

  11. That same cow is probably responsible for the loss of the 1890 census.

  12. Stupid cow.

  13. You wonder why a non-profit religious organization can distribute National Archives microfilm better than the National Archives.

  14. You wish the founding fathers had thought up Social Security so the Social Security Death Index would begin around, oh, 1780 or so.

  15. When someone first tells you their last name you immediately convert it into a Soundex code. This kind of behavior is so not normal. Er wait a minute, since everything has been/will be digitized we don't need Soundex codes anymore, right?

  16. Your ancestors did not swim to America.

  17. You are not a Cherokee princess.

  18. None of your ancestors knew Jesse James.

  19. But my Apache princess ancestor knew Billy the Kid.

  20. So yeah, my ancestors are cooler than yours. Well of course everyone thinks that... Ok, number 19 is not really true.
Your ancestors really did swim to America. Perhaps alongside one of these ships: Finding Passenger Lists 1820-1940s (arrivals at US Ports)

Your ancestors are named Anna Maria and Johann. You'll love it here: German Roots: German Genealogy Resources

Your ancestors are named Mary and James Patrick O'Connor: Irish Genealogy Resources

You've been playing the "Juan Baca Game..." New Mexico Genealogy Resources

Don't know what M237 means? You do now... National Archives Microfilm Publication M237: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, 1820-1897, which of course, has been digitized.

The Fate of the 1890 Census Stupid cow!

This is a revised and reduced version of my original "25 Things that Make Genealogy Fun" list. So yeah basically I stole this from myself. Please don't bother with the original one. Note lack of link.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Chicago and Cook County Vital Records Now Online

The Cook County, Illinois Clerk's Office has a new website where you can obtain online copies of Cook County and Chicago birth certificates 75 years or older, marriage licenses 50 years or older, and death certificates 20 years or older. You may search the database for free, but payment is required to download copies of the records. The records begin circa 1872. Cook County vital records before that were destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871. Not all of the records have been posted online yet, but more are being added.

See: Cook County Genealogy: Vital Records - Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates

Also helpful: Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Thanks to Anita for letting me know when these went online.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Online Death Certificates - Updated

Online Death Certificates and Records - USA
This article was updated on 16 July 2016.

Here is a list of some collections of online digitized death certificates, death records or death ledgers. Some are free, some fee-based. Note that some death certificate images at these websites may be unavailable because of errors or other reasons. And some of the databases listed here may be incomplete.

Arizona
Arizona Death Certificates 1870-1965 (free) also includes birth certificates 1855-1940

California
California: County Birth and Death Records, 1849-1994 from FamilySearch (partial) (free) These are browsable scanned birth and death registers or certificates for various California counties (plus some cities and towns). Not all cities and counties are included and coverage varies. There is currently a searchable name index for the cities of Stockton, Lodi and Manteca, and the counties of San Benito and San Joaquin. There are also browsable images of indexes included in some volumes. More name indexes are being worked on. You might find it helpful to search one of the online California death indexes listed here: Online California Death Records and Indexes.

Delaware
FamilySearch has Delaware Death Records 1855-1961. (free)

District of Columbia
FamilySearch has District of Columbia Death Certificates and Records 1874-1961. (free)

Georgia
Scanned Georgia death certificates are available online for 1919-1939 (free). See: Online Georgia Death Records and Indexes

Idaho
FamilySearch has Idaho Death Certificates 1911-1937 (free)

Illinois: Chicago and Cook County (and 3 other counties)
The Cook County Clerk's office has birth certificates more than 75 years old, marriage certificates more than 50 years old, and death certificates more than 20 years old available online for a fee. The records go back as far as 1872 -- earlier records were lost in the Chicago Fire of 1871. See: Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records Indexes and Obituaries (free and fee-based listings)

Along with Cook County, similar databases with birth, marriage and death certificates are online for DeKalb County, Kane County and Kankakee County (available for a fee). For links to these as well as other Illinois death indexes see: Online Illinois Death Records Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries (free and fee-based listings)

Indiana
As part of their subscription-based collection of genealogy records, Ancestry has an Indiana death index for 1899-2011, including digitized images of the death certificates. See: Online Indiana Death Records and Indexes

Kentucky
As part of their subscription-based collection of genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1963. See: Online Kentucky Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Massachusetts
FamilySearch has Massachusetts Death Records 1841-1915. (free)

Michigan
Missouri
Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1965 (free) from the Missouri State Archives

Nevada
Ancestry has Nevada Death Records from 1911-1965 with digitized copies of the death certificates (fee-based).

New Hampshire
FamilySearch has New Hampshire Death Records 1654-1947 with scanned images (free), and New Hampshire death certificates 1938-1959 (free). Ancestry has scanned New Hampshire Death Certificates 1901-1947 (fee-based). For information on these see: Online New Hampshire Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

North Carolina
As part of their collection of online genealogy records, Ancestry has scanned North Carolina death certificates from 1909-1975 available for downloading (subscription required). And FamilySearch has digitized North Carolina death records from 1906-1930 (free to download). For information on these see: Online North Carolina Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Ohio
FamilySearch has scanned Ohio death certificates from 1908-1953 (free), and some online digitized images of mostly pre-1908 Ohio death registers from county courthouses (free). For links to these see: Online Ohio Death Records Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries

Pennsylvania
Ancestry has scanned Pennsylvania Death Certificates (indexed) for 1906-1963 (fee-based).

FamilySearch has scanned Philadelphia City death certificates from 1803-1915 and Pittsburgh City death records from 1870-1905. (free)

South Carolina
As part of their collection of online genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized South Carolina death certificates from 1915-1961 (subscription required). And FamilySearch has digitized South Carolina death records from 1915-1965 (free to download). For information on these see: Online South Carolina Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Tennessee
FamilySearch (free) has Tennessee Death Records 1914-1955; and Ancestry (fee-based) has Tennessee Death Records and Certificates 1908-1959 (except 1913). For information see: Online Tennessee Death Records and Indexes

Texas
FamilySearch (free) and Ancestry (fee-based) have scanned Texas death certificates at their websites. For information see: Online Texas Death Records and Indexes

Utah
Utah Death Certificates 1905-1965 (free)

Vermont
As part of their collection of online genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized Vermont death certificates from 1909-2008 (subscription required). For information on these see: Online Vermont Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Virginia
Ancestry has a Virginia Death Certificates Index for 1912-2014 with online death certificate images from 1912-1987 (fee-based).

West Virginia
West Virginia Death Certificates and Records 1853-1965 (free) coverage varies by county - also has birth and marriage records

Other States - Death Indexes
For a directory of online death indexes, including some cemetery records, obituaries, and probate records see: Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records