Ohio Network of American Research History Centers

Check out these great Northeast Ohio research centers. Western Reserve Historical Society 10825 East Boulevard Cleveland, OH 44106-1703 216-721-5722 Counties- Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor PO Box 533 151 West Wood Street Youngstown, OH 44501-0533 330-743-5934 Counties- Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, Trumbull The University of Akron Polsky Building 225 S Main Street, Room LL10 Akron, OH 44325-1702 330-972-7670 Counties- Ashland, Coshocton, Holmes, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Wayne Good luck with your searches.

Cleveland Public Library Genealogy Sources- Cont.

Found a couple of more excellent resources that are available at the Cleveland Public Library Genealogy and Local History department. Grave Registration Cards A-Z Soldiers Buried in Ohio from the Revolution War to World War 2 1810-1957 The records are located on microfilm. The information included in these records are the solider's name, residence, death date, cause of death, date of burial, date of birth, place of birth, name of cemetery, location of cemetery, lot number, type of grave marker, name of relative, address of relative and military service record. Majority only list solider's name, birth date, death date and cemetery information. The Civil War soldiers will also include their military service record. Soldiers files from WW2 and the Korean War The records are located on microfilm. Newspaper columns appeared during this time profiling soldiers that had served. Arranged alphabetical by last name. Often includes a small photo. So if you have military soldiers that lived in Northeast Ohio check out this valuable resource.

Upcoming talks OGS library

August 3 Derek Davey presents "Researching your War of 1812 Ancestors" 10 a.m. OGS library August 10 Derek Davey presents "Using FamilySearch for your Free Research" learn what FamilySearch has available for records and how to navigate their website. 10 a.m. Must preregister. Location: 611 State Route 97 West (South side) Bellville OH 44813-8813 (419) 886-1903

Probate Court- Guardianship records

A gold mine for information is in the case of the process when a father dies with minor children or a wife has died and her family leaves money where she had surviving minor children. Both of these scenarios provide a source of genealogical related data that may not be found in any other source. When the father died the court's of the county appointed a guardian for all children under 18 that survived in a household. This occurred even when the mother survived. It was felt that the women were not able to take care of the children so a man was appointed to make the decisions. The papers filed were included in the deceased Probate records. The court establishes the date of death of the individual, age of children with birth date, full name of children and name of guardian. I have seen in cases prior to the normal filing of vital records this to be a gold mine of data. In one situation I was able to get the exact date of death for a individual prior to 1860 along with children's birth dates going back into the 1830's. Each year after the guardianship was established the court reviews the case to make sure that the children are getting proper care. This generated more paper work on the children. The second scenario that would fall into a guardianship proceeding is when the mother has died and money is being left to the children from the mother's side of the family. Here again the children are identified along with birth dates and the mothers death date. Connection to the person leaving the money is also established. This is a outstanding way to establish the maiden name of a wife. Court records are a overlooked resource when doing your family research. Irony it can provide valuable information about a family unit that can be found no where else. Make certain to check for Guardian files on your family members when a parent died with minors. These records were filed also even when the person may not have left a will. Good luck with your search and please give me your input.

Cleveland Public Library- Genealogical Resources

When researching in Northeast Ohio one of my favorite places to conduct research is at the Cleveland Public Library- History and Geography Department on Superior street.  The unique items in this collection make it well worth a personal trip, but some of the records can be accessed online.  I will highlight some of the items in the collection that I find unique.

As mentioned in a previous article on City directories it is one of my favorite between census sources for documenting a families location.  The library has a complete collection of directories for the city directories for the City of Cleveland on microfilm. This collection starts as early as the 1840's. Other cities that are covered are Bay Village, Bedford, Berea, Chagrin Valley, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Lyndhurst, Parma, and Rocky River.  The years vary in this collection and the records are not available online through the library, but some are available on Ancestry.

My favorite part of the collection and what I find to be a amazing source is the Cleveland Necrology File.  It is a amazing resource.  This is the death notices in the City of Cleveland that appeared in the paper from roughly 1833, 1847-1848 and finally 1850-1975.  Now for the amazing part this collection is available for review online.  Included in the online information is the persons name, date of death, name of paper, address, survivors and where they were buried.  The papers included are the Plain Dealer, Herald and the Press.  I can not say enough good things about this collection.

In the upcoming weeks I will be highlighting other items from this collection.  As always please post your questions and ideas for me.  Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Civil War- GAR genealogy

Thought folks might like reading a recent article I did. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art177148.asp

Free Genealogy Websites- Part 2

Let me clarify that sections of these websites are free.  Some sites charge a nominal fee.  Still have value though when you use the free areas.

11. genserv.com

–        Over 21 million individual listings.

–        Some databases need a small fee.

12. ingeneas.com

        Free passenger lists for Canada. Must order the actual record for a fee. 

13. rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bwo/

        Free look ups from people offering this service.

14. archives.gov/research/arc/

         Lists Dawes rolls, WW II Draft registration, Casualty list, Indian Bounty Apps, Criminal Case files

15. ellisisland.org

         Must register to access. List of passengers between 1892-1924

16. freebmd.org.uk/

         Lists vital records between 1837-1983. England and Wales Vital Records.

17. geonames.usgs.gov/

         Over 2,000 names and helps with locating ones that do not exist anymore.

18. castlegarden.org

        Immigration information between 1830 to 1890. Port of New York

19.  geneanet.org

        Primarily based on French records across the world.

20. lva.virginia.gov/

        Lists land grants from 1623-1992.Digital images of 6,000 + bibles. Searchable index of wills pre 1800. Digital library of Virginia

Have some fun with these websites.  More to come in the upcoming weeks.