Tag: Genealogy Resource

Friday Finds: Stark County, Ohio Deed Archive

Kris Hocker on 7 Dec 2018

I’ve been following up on a clue regarding Michael Bender that led me to Stark County, Ohio. Needing to review a deed for the county, I went looking on FamilySearch to see if it was available online. No joy.

Next stop Google. One of the results was Archive Search Instructions for the Stark County Recorder. Lo and behold, deeds for 1809-1916 are available to search in their archives!

Stark County Recorder Archive

Stark County Recorder Archive search interface

It includes images for both the deed indices and the deed books and is easy to use—even if you can’t just type in a name and pull up a record.

  1. First, you’ll need to create an account and log in
  2. Choose Archives in the menu at the top of the page
  3. Select your parameters for the indices in the top set of drop-down menus on the left
  4. Click on the image icon to show the image
  5. Go to the first letter of the surname, then look for the first letter of the given name
  6. Make note of the page number associated with the first letter of the given name
  7. Select that page from the “Page” menu and click the image icon

You can scroll through the images using the arrows just above the image.

Once you’ve found a deed you want to view in the indices, make note of the book letter or number and the page number. Use the lower set of “Books” menus to make your selections and click the image icon pull up that page. You can save, print, email and/or download a PDF of your selected page by using the controls at the top of the image.

I found the deeds I was looking for, plus others which are adding to my knowledge of the Bender family. Check it out for yourself!

Coming Soon in Print

Kris Hocker on 17 Dec 2014

Lancaster PA Online Deeds Books A-D

Lanc Co PA Deed Index

An Index to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Online Deeds

I’ve been working on a print version of my An Index to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Online Deeds, Books A-D, 1729-1760. The proofing for the print format is almost complete. I want to review it one last time in hard copy, then it should be available for purchase through Lulu.com and eventually Amazon and other book sellers.

The book includes indexes arranged by both grantor and grantee, the location of the land or type of deed (i.e. mortgage), and, if provided, the name of the spouse. It also includes both the deed book page number and the online film image number for easy access to the appropriate online image file. It will be sized 8.5″ x 11″ for easy skimming.

Stay tuned for the announcement.

An Index to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Online Deeds, Books A-D, 1729-1760 is now available as a paperback book. You can purchase it on Lulu.com for $14.95.

Book Review: Our Daily Bread Gaining Insight into German Village Life

Kris Hocker on 18 Sep 2014

Church at German village Haag


I’ve been working on “A Hacker-Hocker Family” recently and decided I needed to add flavor to the narrative. I wanted to provide some social and historical context to help bring my ancestors to life as real people.

Since most of my ancestors were German and continued their customs and traditions, bringing their way of life to the New World when they immigrated, I needed to understand life in a German village. Unfortunately, while there are scads of information about historical events and personages, I wasn’t able to find much on the day-to-day lives of the common people—people like my ancestors.

Until, that is, I found Teva Scheer’s book Our Daily Bread: German Village Life, 1500-1850 (affiliate link). The author created a fictitious village called Hochfeld am Neckar in southwestern Germany and tells the story of village life through the events in the life of her main character, Johann Adam Mann, his family, ancestors, and neighbors.

The book sets the groundwork in the first three chapters, covering peasant status, religion, and war. It, then, expands to cover family, “the daily aspects of villagers’ lives: their families, livelihoods, inheritance customs, self-governance practices, and village institutions such as the school.”1 And finally, the author wrote about the immigration experience, both leaving Germany and settling in America.

Although as the author claims, “this is not an academic work,” she does provide extensive footnotes throughout the content and a bibliography at the end. While most of the events she wrote about occur in the 1800s, they are still applicable to earlier generations. Nor does she ignore earlier historical events that shaped the villagers lives—the Reformation, the 30 Years War.

The book was both informative and easy-to-read. I bought the Kindle ebook, but it is available in paperback, as well. I would recommend it to any genealogist with German ancestors.

Buy Our Daily Bread: German Village Life, 1500-1850

This is an affiliate link. If you purchase the book by clicking this link, Amazon will pay me a little money. It won’t affect the price you pay.

Understanding Colonial Legal Definitions

Kris Hocker on 27 Dec 2013

During genealogical research, it is common to come across terms which you may not understand—either because they are legal terms or because the context doesn’t fit your understanding of the word(s). This can create difficulties in interpreting a document and fully understanding its implications for your ancestor and their family.

Robert Baird (Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet) has a list of colonial legal terminology and other articles that are incredibly useful in explaining terms and practices with which you may not be familiar.

Friday Finds: Order LDS Films Online (Soon?)

Kris Hocker on 8 Apr 2011

I’ve known that you could order microfilm online from the Church of the Latter Day Saint’s FamilySearch if you lived in Australia for a little while. Now, however, if you live in Utah you can do it, too. And it’ll soon be available to the rest of us in the United States.

“You can sit at home and order microfilms and microfiche from FamilySearch in Salt Lake City. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection and a user ID, which is free.

The films and fiche will be delivered to a Family History Center near you and you will be notified when they arrive. You then must go to the Family History Center and use the microfilm and microfiche readers there to view the materials.”

This makes so much sense to me. I haven’t actually ordered films in recent years because of the inconvenience—having to drive to the nearest Family History Center—over 30 minutes away—to spend mere minutes writing up the order and paying for it. Then driving back down when the microfilm arrived. There are so many other avenues of research I can follow from home that I couldn’t be bothered. Now I’ll be able to conveniently follow-up on research that I’d tabled due to the inconvenience factor. Yay!

Update: This has been available for some time now. I’ve been ordering films from them and having them sent to a local library that is part of the FHL’s program. It’s incredibly convenient and—except for one bobble that was quickly corrected—has been a smooth and reliable process!

Friday Finds: Maryland Historical Magazine

Kris Hocker on 4 Mar 2011

Maryland Historical Magazine

I was recently going through the stacks of materials distributed around my “office” when I came across a document I’d ordered from PERSI—”Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for Elizabeth Township District [Washington County]” from the Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 13. I had ordered this because copies I had made at the Pennsylvania State Library were difficult to read; I was hoping for a clearer copy.

What I found made me unhappy. The copies I’d made were not from volume 13, number 2; they were from volume 13, number 3. So, here I have a nice stack of reading that doesn’t include the information that I was seeking. My bad for not clearly marking each photocopy with its full source citation!

Maryland Historical Magazine

Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 13, Number 3, page 245 PDF

I went online to see if I could find somewhere I could order copy of the pages from the correct volume. Instead I found a page on the Maryland Historical Society’s website that seemed to imply that they were providing online access to the periodical.

Wow! I logged in and sure enough volumes 1, number 1 through volume 99, number 4 are available online as PDFs through a joint project of the Maryland Historical Society and Maryland State Archives. Volumes 101-104 are available to members of the Maryland Historical Society. The volumes have been indexed, so you can search them.

Online viewing through the PDF viewer I have was not optimal—the text appears jagged and bitmapped. Opening the file in Preview on the Mac (an option in the viewer) was similar. However, downloading the file and viewing in the Adobe PDF viewer solved the problem—crisp, clear text! I search for “Hoover” in the PDF and it skipped to the first notation (see blue highlight).

I’m so glad I decided to clean up a bit and discovered my mistake. It lead to a wonderful online resource!

Irish Family History Foundations Exceeds 18 Million Records!

Kris Hocker on 3 Mar 2011

In March our thoughts turn to Ireland—and where else would they be with St. Patrick’s Day coming up? So, this announcement is rather timely! If you’ve got ancestors from Donegal, listen up…

The Irish Family History Foundation’s Online Research Service (ORS) are pleased to announce the availability of an additional 90,000 civil death records from Donegal Ancestry along with other corrections and updates including 6500 new birth records.

Just go to the following site and login using your existing IFHF login details. http://donegal.rootsireland.ie/

We now have over 18 million records online.

Remember that you can purchase and spend your credit at any of the IFHF online centres.

Please check out our interactive map to see which centres are currently live.

If you have any questions or comments please check our Online Help and if this does not provide an answer, then do not hesitate to contact us or one or the county centres.

FamilySearch: New Records Added

Kris Hocker on 2 Mar 2011

FamilySearch.org announced the addition of new records for: Brazil, England, India, Italy, Nicaragua, Spain, Wales and the United States.

More fascinating collections were published this week online at FamilySearch.org—39 million new records, to be exact. The England and Wales 1901 Census will certainly be a favorite for British and Welsh researchers. And how about one million images added for Italy? Or India Land Ownership Pedigrees? FamilySearch’s Texas collections have always been popular, and this week Texas collections have grown by 1.5 million new records (including birth, tax, and county records). In addition, more collections were released for Brazil, Nicaragua, Spain, and the U.S. (Delaware, New Hampshire, and Virginia).

A wide variety of original source records from around the world are continually being added to FamilySearch’s online collections. Search them now at FamilySearch.org.

See the table below for additional details about the latest collection updates.

Collection Records Images Comment
Brazil, Catholic Church Records 0 233,420 Images added for Sao Paulo (Piracicaba);Minas Gerais (Guaxupe, Pouso Alegre, and Joao del Rei); and Rio de Janeiro (Nova Iguacu).
England and Wales Census, 1901 34,138,362 1,456,023 Rich index with links to images on FindMyPast.com.
India, Moga Land Ownership Pedigrees 0 7,640 Set of land ownership pedigrees (Shajjra Nasb) that show familial relationships as land was passed from father to son (in Sanskrit).
Italy, Civil Registration, 1806-1940 0 944,579 Additional images added for Ischia, Napoli City, Nuoro, Mantova, and Padova.
Nicaragua, Managua, Civil Registration, 1879-2007 0 265,237 New digital images added.
Spain, Catholic Church Records, 1500-1930 17,348 87 Additional records from the diocese of Ávila.
U.S., Delaware Marriage Records, 1913-1954 53,352 112,854 Name index and images of Delaware statewide marriage records. The certificates are arranged by year and then by certificate number.
U.S., New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947 318,102 1,028,209 Index and images of New Hampshire marriage records. These records consist of cards giving the names of the bride and groom with the town and date of the marriage and often much more information. Note: There are two images for each marriage.
U.S., Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1934 440,509 416,479 Currently years 1903 to 1909 and 1926 to 1934 are available. More years will be added later.
U.S., Texas County Tax Rolls, 1846-1910 0 678,887 New digital images added.
U.S., Texas, Mills County Clerk Records, 1841-1985 0 90,818 New digital images added.
U.S., Virginia Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1929 0 11,999 Naturalization petitions from four U.S. District Courts in Virginia; these records correspond to four record series at the National Archives.