Illinois opens original birth certificates to adoptees! – Tuesdays’s Tip

Have you heard the great news genealogists?

The next phase of the new Illinois open records adoption law went into effect this week.  As of November 15th, adopted persons over the age of 21 who were born in Illinois on or after January 1, 1946 may now request a non-certified copy of their original birth certificate.  Adopted persons born in Illinois prior to January 1, 1946 have been able to request their original birth certificates since the law went into effect in 2010.

Important Note: Under the new law, original birth certificates cannot be issued in person by state or county vital statistics offices.  In most cases, the original birth certificate will list the first and last names of one or both birth parents.   All birth parents may indicate their preferences regarding contact with their adult birth child.

The options available under this new law are different for adopted persons, birth parents and their family members. The options available also change depending on the date of birth of the adult adopted person.

The law also makes provisions for surviving spouses and adult children of deceased adopted persons to make requests for the adopted person’s original birth certificate.

The form for requesting the original birth certificates is available on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website at:  http://www.idph.state.il.us/vitalrecords/vital/pdf/MedInfo_Non_Cert_BC_Request_form.pdf

You can also visit http://www.newillinoisadoptionlaw.com for more information about these changes!

See You at the Library!

Debra

Free DNA Genealogy Presentation Nov. 10 at the Fountaindale Library – Thrifty Thursday

Demystify your DNA research with a fantastic fall program at the Fountaindale Public Library!

Noted genealogist and author Dave Dowell will present “Adding DNA Testing to your Genealogical Tool Kit” and sign copies of his new book Crash Course in Genealogy.

The event will be held on Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room B of the Fountaindale Public Library.  The library is located at 300 W. Briarcliff Road in Bolingbrook, IL.

Dave’s DNA program will help answer questions on Which DNA tests should you take and what type of information you can glean from the results.  His Crash Course in Genealogy book signing will follow the lecture portion of the program!  You won’t want to miss meeting this fantastic author and presenter!

Registration for this event is strongly encouraged, and will ensure that our bookseller will bring enough copies of the book to the signing.  Light refreshments will be provided.

I blogged about Dave Dowell’s book, Crash Course in Genealogy back in July, and I really can’t tell you how much I love his book.  I purchased a copy for our circulating collection, and it’s constantly checked out!  In the library world, there’s no better praise for a book title!

You can register for this event by calling the library at (630) 685-4176 or by visiting our registration event calendar online.

Bring twenty of your friends!

See you at the library!

Debra

Find Free Genealogy Resources @ Try-It Illinois October 1 – November 30, 2011! – Follow Friday

Attention Illinois residents!  Some of the best genealogy resources online are available for free through the Try-It! Illinois Database trial October 1 – November 30 2011.

This twelfth annual statewide database trial is sponsored by Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White and the Illinois State Library. Try-It! Illinois offers library staff and patrons to survey and evaluate a wide variety of electronic resources. Thanks to the partnerships between the Illinois State Library and the participating electronic resource vendors, there is no charge for accessing these databases during Try-It! Illinois.

http://finditillinois.org/tryit/

Due to the nature of this program, libraries are asked not to post the Try-It! Illinois login and password on the Internet, on Web sites or in publicly archived e-newsletters.  To access these resources, please contact your local Illinois Library and pick up a login information sheet in person!

Due to the absolutely astounding offering of databases, I’ve compiled a “must see” list of genealogy resources available during the trial:

• African American Heritage
• America`s GenealogyBank
• America`s Historical Newspapers
• America’s Obituaries & Death Notices
• American Broadsides and Ephemera
• Digital Sanborn Maps Geo Edition
• Fold3 History & Genealogy Archives Plus
• Historic Map Works
• Historical Chicago Defender (1909-1975)
• Historical Chicago Tribune (1849 – 1985)
• Historical New York Times (1851 – 2006)
• Newspaper Source Plus
• NewspaperARCHIVE.com (world newspapers from 1700′s onward!)
• ProQuest Obituaries

Here is a recommended list of auxiliary resources which may assist you with your research:

• African-American History Online
• American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collections: Series 1
• American History
• Daily Life America
• Daily Life Through History
• Daily Life World Folklore and Folklife
• Dictionary of Irish Biography
• p4A Antiques Reference database

The Try-It Illinois database trial is a great way for patrons to give libraries valuable observations and feedback regarding online databases.  So please let your librarian know what you enjoyed and what tools you found useful!

See you at the library!

Debra

Utilizing Spokeo for Genealogy Research – Thankful Thursday

The ancient Greek philosophers have urged countless generations to “Know Thyself”. Now there’s a website that can tell you (and others) who you are with one mouse click.

Spokeo.com, a split personality website which marries online ‘white pages’ with an information gathering search engine, allows subscribers to search for individuals by name, location, ect. and relays information about marital status, household income, political affiliation, and other vital tidbits.

This site was a topic of discussion at our FPLD Genealogy Club meeting last night.  Our speaker Robin Seidenberg reminded us that our information isn’t really private in this digital age. (BTW: Read Jennifer Holik-Urban’s review of last night’s meeting.  It’s fantastic!)

According to their website, Spokeo is “a people search engine that organizes vast quantities of white-pages listings, social information, and other people-related data from a large variety of public sources. Our mission is to help people find and connect with others, more easily than ever.”

The really interesting aspect of this website, apart from the cute name and accurate mapping tools, is the epic failure of the information available.

According to Spokeo, I’m married, and live with my parents, three siblings, grandmother, and several cats in my parent’s home in Michigan.

Our house appraised at over one million dollars, I’m a Catholic, a Republican, and I run a home-based business. My hobbies are cooking and traveling. My astrological sign is Aries, and I enjoy reading books about fashion.

WOW! I’M MARRIED! REALLY? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?  (Shouldn’t I remember something like that?  I know some people would like to forget their marriage, but am I one of them?)

AND GRANDMA’S ALIVE!   NO WAY! (Dude, she died a decade ago!  But to be fair, we still get her catalogs and mail.)

I’ll admit my parents just had their kitchen remodeled, but I’ve dropped off their mortgage checks at the bank, and there’s NO WAY their home is worth one million dollars.Political and religious privacy aside, I don’t run a home based business.

Did they get anything right? Yes. My parents have a cat, I am an Aries, and I enjoy cooking and traveling.

And I could have found out more about myself, like my education level, my economic health, or my wealth level if I purchased a one-year subscription to the website for the ultra low price of $2.95 a month.

So, go to Spokeo.com, get to know yourself, and comment on your findings in the comment/reply section below, and let me know what you think.

In the meantime, if you find my husband on Spokeo, tell him to come home to my flat, because he doesn’t need to drive to my parents place. I want to start a family, and I need him to help me hang up the new curtains I bought and empty the trash before garbage day. Oh, and tell him we’re having my deceased grandma over for the weekend, so we’ll need to run a few errands before then.

See you at the Library!

Debra

Minding the Gap in Post-WWII Immigration/Refugee Genealogy Records – Society Saturday

Each patron query is an opportunity to learn something new.

My case in point from last week -My patron has been seeking records on Lithuanian immigrant A. Bartkus and his family. Anything goes.  My patron didn’t really have much to work with, as her dad won’t talk about his childhood in World World II Lithuania/Germany.

A short interview and an Ancestry immigration search later, and a bright, shiny, Passenger List record appears.  My patron is excited.  Performing another search for the immigration vessel yields a unique story about military vessels shuttling refugees from Europe to the USA and beyond.  My patron is amazed.  “You’ve made my day, my month, and my year!” She said.  “I haven’t found out much of anything before today!”

Yes, I’m awesome on a good day.

Which brings me to ‘Minding the Gap’ portion of Post-WWII genealogy research.  As a descendent of recent immigrants, you can find documents and assistance with the following depositories:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offers amazing resources for Post WWII Immigrants including:
Naturalization Certificate Files (C-files) from September 27, 1906 to April 1, 1956
Alien Registration Forms from August 1, 1940 to March 31, 1944
Visa Files from July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944
Registry Files from March 2, 1929 to March 31, 1944
Alien Files (A-files) numbered below 8 million (A8000000) and documents therein dated prior to May 1, 1951

Records Relating to World War II Era Refugees at the National Archives
There are a lot of records regarding the plight, migration, and individual refugee information available to order in the Archives.gov Civilian Agency Records.  Try looking through U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies, 1948-61 -This Record Group contains additional material relating to the Marshal Plan and the plight of European refugees. There are two divisions to these files including Geographic Files, 1953-54 (Germany-Refugees) and  German Division, Subject Files, 1948-53 (Refugees).

It might be a long shot, but the UK National Archives has an amazing in-depth research guide for refugees topics and records research.  This is a sizable guide, but it has a lot of great links and information.

I always tell my patrons to reach out to those relatives who might be able to answer your questions.  A silent parent might have a chatty sibling or cousin who is willing to talk to you.  Remember, if at first you don’t fricassee, fry, fry, a hen.

Reminder: Don’t miss the next FPLD Genealogy Club Meeting on Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room A.  Genealogy speaker Robin Seidenberg will present To Tell or Not to Tell : Should the Family Skeleton Stay in the Closet?

How would you deal with suicide or the cousin who kept her “cough medicine” (liquor) behind the refrigerator? What about the relatives whose birth dates are not on their tombstones because they always lied about their ages?

Robin will present various family situations. Participants in the discussion group will share ideas and learn from one another. Ultimately each person will determine the most comfortable way to handle these issues

Which brings us to the question/comment of the day: What have you done to overcome the gaps in your family genealogy?

Post your interesting or creative responses in the comment area below.

See you at the Library!

Debra

Tracing your Legal Ancestors – Tuesday’s Tip

I’ve resisted tackling the UK legal portion of my research for some time.  At first glance, the British legal system seems like a mess of courts, divisions, and terminology which might trip up a full trained American lawyer.  Needless to say, I don’t want to phone my one an only lawyer acquaintance for genealogy assistance at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night.

Tracing your Legal Ancestors – A Guide For Family Historians by Stephen Wade is an intensely well-written and informative guide to possibly the most difficult UK genealogical research.  For non-UK researchers, this is still an interesting read do to its clear and concise descriptions of court proceedings, legal professions, the history of legal divisions, and resources for legal genealogical research.  Although many of the examples are based in England, many of these practices were standard in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland as well.

What is inferior or superior court?  You can settle court questions ranging from medieval to modern, city to rural, as well as military and church cases.  I was even surprised at the the amount of information which can be found in coroner’s courts, which feature hearings on deaths (suspicious or otherwise).  I can imagine the information in those court proceedings could make for interesting reading and book material!

I don’t have any legal ancestors (that I know of), but I know some of them might have had a run-in with the law at one point or another.  For my research, I was very happy to find a large chapter dedicated specifically to the legal system and resources of Scotland and Ireland.

The contents for Tracing your Legal Ancestors – Introduction, (1) Understanding the Legal Professions, (2) Community of Lawyers, (3) The Judges and the Courts, (4) The Magistracy, (5) A Survey of Sources I, (6) A Survey of Sources II, (7) The Literature of Judiciary, (8) The Servants of the Law Machine, (9) Lawyer Ancestors in Scotland and Ireland, (10) Approaches and Methods: A Summary, (i) Glossary, (ii) Bibliography & Sources, (iii) Index

Kudos to Tracing Your Legal Ancestors author Stephen Wade for demystifying the UK legal system for genealogists!

Which brings us to the Comment/Question of the Day: What side of the legal system did your ancestors frequent? 

Leave your creative and interesting responses in the comment box below.

Don’t forget to attend the next FPLD Genealogy Club Meeting on Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m.  Guest speaker Robin Seidenberg will present To Tell or Not to Tell:  Should the Family Skeleton Stay in the Closet? – A genealogical discussion on whether you should disclose all your findings or breaking the news about your ancestor’s prior bad acts.  The Genealogy Club meeting will be held in Meeting Room A at the Fountaindale Public Library District, 300 W. Briarcliff Road in Bolingbrook.  This is a drop-in event, so bring a friend and dive

See You At the Library!

Debra

Looking at Rootsireland.ie – Those Places Thursday

I’ve had limited luck researching Irish records.  It’s not that I don’t think I’m trying hard enough, I just think the ‘luck of the Irish’ is simply not with me on this endeavor.  When I think strategically about Irish research, there are several apparent disadvantages, namely non-existent census records, late vital records registration, and limited early marriage records for a majority of the population.

The census records I need have been destroyed, and with government registration of births, marriages and deaths in Ireland beginning on January 1, 1864, my options are limited for finding my famine-era ancestors.

But I’ve been conducting some research on www.rootsireland.ie, and I’ve found some very helpful and promising leads.  This site has a lot of records for people searching for documents from Northern Ireland, and it has a great selection of items from across the country.  The obvious holes in this site revolve around the absence of records from a few densely-populated areas such as Wexford, Kerry(South), Cork counties, as well as the City of Dublin.

As with sites such as findmypast.co.uk, scotlandspeople.gov.uk, and findmypast.ie, searching for records is free, but viewing individual documents will cost you about $7 American.

So on this note, the comment/question of the day is: What Irish records do you need and why?

Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment box.

See you at the Library!

Debra