Celebrating Ten Years of German Roots

October 2008 is the tenth anniversary of my German Roots: German Genealogy Resources website. It started off with just a handful of pages and now it has, oh I don't know, a whole lot of pages.

I initially started the website as a directory of online resources for German-American genealogy research. Eventually I added some of my own content and articles. And a whole bunch of other genealogy stuff. It was originally put online in October 1998 at home.att.net/~wee-monster

In case you're wondering about the URL, Monster was my dog at the time. She died last year. She was wee :)

The website is now at www.germanroots.com which is easier to remember than the name of my dog, I suppose.

Three other websites were eventually spun off of the German Roots site, when I realized it was getting too big and I wanted to expand it beyond German genealogy. These are:

Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries for the USA, which was originally a single webpage on the German Roots website.

Online Military Indexes and Records, also originally a single webpage on the German Roots website.

Genealogy Articles, Tips and Research Guides, which is where I put more general genealogy stuff.

So here's to a very interesting ten years of German Roots. Thanks to all the people who have offered suggestions and comments and constructive criticism. Everyone gets a symbolic cyber German beer! Prost!

Genealogy Records and Indexes on the Internet - USA

Ok, I admit it. Sometimes I can't remember where some of my own webpages are and I have to use Google to find them. How embarrassing. So I've compiled this list of many of my directories of online U.S. genealogy indexes and records. To help me find them myself and maybe it will be helpful to you too...

Cemeteries, Obituaries and Vital Records

• Online Death Indexes, Death Certificates, Obituaries and Cemetery Burial Records


• Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes

Census Records

• Some Free Online Census Records Indexes


• State Census Records includes links to some online indexes

County Histories and Biographies

• Online County Histories, Biographies and Indexes

Immigration Records

• What Passenger Lists are Online?


• Online Naturalization Records and Indexes

Military Records

• Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Newspapers (Historical)

• Directory of Historical Newspapers on the Internet

Louisiana Death Index Now Online

The state of Louisiana now has an online death index that presently covers the years 1911-1956. You can order copies of the death certificates by mail for a fee. The database also includes a few entries prior to 1911, but copies of some earlier records may not be available. See: Louisiana Death Records Index 1911-1956

For more online Louisiana death indexes see: Directory of Online Louisiana Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Thanks to Elizabeth for letting me know about the Louisiana database.

Latest Additions - Online Death Indexes, Records and Obituaries

The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records Directory has been updated with links to the following items...

Alabama
- Jefferson County: Birmingham Area Newspapers Obituaries Index, January 1943-December 1976 (update: more years added)

Arizona
- Maricopa County: West Valley Genealogical Society Obituaries Index 1998-2003 (update: year 2003 added)

Georgia
- Chattooga County: Death Notices from the Summerville News Newspaper 1927-1942 (also has some cemetery listings)

Illinois
- Cook County and Chicago section: Historical Cook County Vital Records - Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates (index searches are free/payment required to download copies of the records) ... See: Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Indiana
- Knox County Death Indexes, 1921-June 2002 & Vincennes Sun-Commercial Obituary Index 2002-2007 from the Knox County Public Library
- Perry County: Tell City-Perry County Public Library Obituary Finder (recent)

Kansas
- Johnson County District Court Public Records Search -- includes indexes for recent probate records and marriage licenses

Kentucky
- Boyd County Cemeteries & Ashland Daily Independent Obituary Index 1922-1945 -- from the Boyd County Library; also includes other genealogy indexes

Michigan
- Michigan Death Records 1867-1897 at FamilySearch Labs (includes scanned images from the death ledgers) beta testing
- Barry County Public Records Index - includes a death certificates index

Mississippi
- Monroe County: New Hope Cemetery Burials (Parham, Mississippi)

North Carolina
- New Hanover County: Oakdale Cemetery Burials -- in Wilmington, North Carolina

Ohio
- Fairfield County Cemeteries Surname Index
- Franklin County: Silent Home Cemetery Burials (in Truro Twp near Reynoldsburg)
- Washington County: 5,275 Burials in Washington County, Ohio Cemeteries

Oklahoma
- Muskogee Death and Newspaper Obituary Indexes 1918-1936 and 1954-2008 (update: more years added)
- Washington County: White Rose Cemetery Burial Search -- City of Bartlesville

South Carolina
- Greenville County: Greenville News Obituary Index 1917-1993 and 1994-present
- Greenville County Historical Records Search -- includes some older probate and estate records

Tennessee
- Tennessee Death Index 1914-1925 (update: year 1925 added)
- Tennessee Death Index 1949-2005 (not complete) "Partial Indexes from 1949-2005"
- Blount County Obituaries Indexes: includes Maryville Times Obituary Index 1906-1960 (over 16,000) & Index to Misc Obituaries 1867-1940 (over 11,000)

See: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

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.

So 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.