Temporary Stoppage

Over the last few weeks the amount of readership for this blog has decreased dramatically. To me this is a indication that I am not reaching the audience with interesting and helpful information. The amount of time I spend researching the daily blogs does not warrant the readership. Thank you for your support in the past.

In a few days I will make a final decision.

Upcoming week

I will be in upstate New York during the upcoming week so I am spending the weekend writing this weeks blogs ahead of time. Have a great weekend and I will continue my overviews on Monday.

Allen County Public Library- Ft Wayne IN

If you have not made the trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft Wayne, IN you have missed out on one of the largest genealogical libraries in the country. It is well worth the trip. They have just redone it in the last year and have all there resources available in the racks. Here is a link to a tour of the library.

http://www.genealogycenter.info/video/

Have a great weekend.

Livingston County, MI- Obits

The best place to look for obits in this county is at the public library in Brighton. They have a extensive collection of newspapers in the county.

Remember before tracing obits you need to know when a particular person died. From that date work forward for sometimes as many days as a week to check for a obit. Most obits are not the best on information on our ancestors, but must be located. Pay special attention to names mentioned in the article, because they will often provide clues later in your search on relationships and ancestry. Always make copies of the obits when available. Be sure to note name of the Newspaper, date and page. This will help in your proof and verification.

The records are as follows.

Brighton Argus - microfilm
1880 - 1883	April - December
1895 - 1896	December - November
1900 - 1939	January - December
1965	January - December
1968	January - December
1970 - 2000	January - September
Livingston County Daily Press and Argus - microfilm
2000	September - Current

Tomorrow I will profile the Brighton library. Have a great day.

Ft. Wayne Trip- Detroit area

For those folks in the Detroit area here is a wonderful opportunity to go to one of the premier genealogical libraries in the country.

The Detroit Society for Genealogical Research is taking a bus trip to Ft
Wayne to the Allen County Public Library to research for the day.   They
will be leaving Southfield, Michigan on Feb 23 in the early morning (ca
6:30am) and returning that same night.  Dinner is available on the way home
for an additional fee. 
Contact me off list for more details.   All are welcome!


I was there in August and it is wonderful what they have done.  Have a great day.

Lvingston County -Civil War Records

Many counties have records on a local basis for their soldiers that participated in the war. Be certain to check with the courthouse in the county of Livingston for these records. They are often in the probate court and tend to be records that are often overlooked for information.

Here is another excellent link I found on the Civil War in Michigan. http://users.aol.com/dlharvey/

Have a great day.

Livingston County Cemetery Records

The majority cemetery inscriptions in the county of Livingston have been indexed at the following web site. http://www.livgenmi.com/cemetery.htm Understand that this is a very early county and over time stones have gone missing for a variety of reasons. The copies of these records is also located at the library in Howell.

When planning to visit the graveyard be sure to check for a care taker of the records for the cemetery you are looking for your ancestor. They often provide valuable clues to your families ancestry.

Good luck in your family search.

Upcoming Workshop

It is always a good idea to attend the presentations put on by the local genealogical
groups in your area.  The learning genealogy never ends and you always have room
to learn new things.  Here is one coming up in March.

The Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan, in cooperation with the
Programs Department of the Sterling Heights Public Library, is hosting a
Genealogy Technical Workshop on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the Sterling
Heights Public Library, 40255 Dodge Park Rd., Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Welcome and late registration at 9:30 a.m.  Workshop is 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

The workshop is open to PGSM members and the public.  The lecture will be a
live Internet demonstration. You can bring your own laptop computer and
follow along.  Wireless service is available at the library.  One segment of
the demonstration will be setting up a free website on aol or comcast.  You
must bring your own login username and password to access your personal
system provider online.

To register, e-mail:  info@mipolonia.net
                     Please register early.

Have a great weekend.

Break

I will be traveling to the library today to conduct some research. Should hopefully be able to post the results next Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend.

Livingston Co., MI- Naturalization Records

When researching naturalization records in Livingston County you have two excellent places to find the records. The first is at the probate court in Howell and the second is a book published on the topic that is located at the local Howell library.

Naturalization records offer us clues to the potential origin of our ancestors. The document indicate the person nationality, ship, time arrival, location at time of application and port of arrival. In my searches it has been very rare to find the information necessary to pinpoint exact locations of origin, but they do exist.

The book of interest at the library on the topic is

Charboneau, Milton, Naturalization Records, Livingston County Michigan, (Howell, MI, Livingston County Genealogical Society, 1991, No film) This covers court records from 1847- 1851 and indexes from 1859 to 1957.

The actual documents can be found at the courthouse in the Probate Court. The book will help you in narrowing down your search.

Get out there and support your local genealogical groups they are doing wonderful work at preserving our historical past. Have a great weekend.

Livingston County- Land Records

Land records in Livingston began being documented in 1836. These records tend to be a often overlooked part of most peoples genealogical research. Land records provide actual documentation of a time period when a person moved into a county, relatives that live close to that person and approximate times when the person died. This truly is part of the detective work we hear about in genealogy.

Land records can vary in length and information. In my own personnel research I have seen many mentions of relationships identified in these documents not only with children, but also brothers, sisters, parents, aunts and uncles.

Be certain when researching your families land records. It is hard work and takes some getting use to, but pays off in big dividends. Have a wonderful day.

Livingston County- Wills

The research necessary to locate a will for a dead ancestor is well worth the search. Key to the search is to identify the persons date of death and use that as the starting point. Typically the will if written will be filed within six months after the persons death.

The wills in Livingston County are located at the Probate Court. After searching I was unable to come up with a time period that the records were filed and indexed. Be certain to obtain a copy of the document when you send or visit the courthouse. Names and comments provide valuable clues when doing ones search. Maiden names for daughters are often only found in her parents Wills. Executors are often relatives and can be traced later for more clues.

Tomorrow I will be talking about naturalization records. Have a great day.

Livingston County- Death Records

Death records are important to confirm facts about our ancestors and their relationships. Records in Livingston county are at the courthouse in Howell.

The County Clerk records include those deaths in the county from 1867 to present. All certified records can be obtained at these two locations. Be sure to have the date narrowed down to the day or at least the year. Please be patient with the these folks as it takes time to retrieve the records.

Remember the information in a death records is only as good as the person giving the information. Be sure to confirm the information with other source records. Many times maiden names of mothers, spelling and place of birth have errors. Be certain to confirm this information.

I will be discussing the wills in Livingston County. Have a great day.

Livingston County Marriage Records

The county of Livingston started recording marriage records in 1836. This is a very early period of time as compared to many other counties. The records are located at the courthouse in Howell.

All of the marriage records are indexed. Be sure to pay special attention on marriage records to who the trustees that are listed. They often provide valuable clues to family relationships that are often overlooked when to doing your genealogy. Be sure to make copies of this document, because some of the names don't always stick out as clues immediately. In my family a person listed on a marriage record as a witness later was traced to be the maiden name of the mother once I traced the family back into Virginia.

Tomorrow I will be going over the death records of the county. Thank you again for your support and please send any questions or ideas you might have.

Genealogy Program- Mt Clemens, MI

For all folks in Southeast Michigan I thought this might be a wonderful oppourtunity
to expand your genealogical understanding. 


There will be a Book Fair on Saturday, February 9th from 10 am - 4pm at the
Mount Clemens Public Library featuring a variety of talks and workshops on
different subjects.   The schedule, details and registration form is online
at  www.libcoop.net/mountclemens/bookfair.htm

The sessions on genealogy (all free) include:

10:05-11:45  "The Roots of Your Family Tree: Learn How to Dig"    Ann
Faulkner and Lisa Eschenburg of the Macomb County Genealogy Group (MCGG)
will present a Beginner's Workshop on how to Trace Your Family Tree.   An
overview on how to find, record, prove, and organize your information using
both traditional and computerized methods, will be discussed.    Assisted by
other members of the MCGG, we will then divide up into small groups to
answer your questions and discuss your individual research.   It would be
helpful if you brought any photocopies of family documents that you might
have, for this phase of the workshop.   Handouts will be available.

1:15-2:45  "Putting Flesh on the Bones of Your Ancestors" with Bob Bauer.
How to write up the lives and stories of your ancestors to make them come
alive to their descendants.

3:00-4:00  "Genealogy and Local History Roundtable."


Have a great Sunday.

Genealogy Groups

I hope that this site is providing valuable information for those folks that are readers. Now is the time to be attending your local genealogy group meetings. These are excellent places to learn new skills for future search and networking with people that can help you with your family search.

This take some time to attend these meetings in your area. The time spent will be well worth your time.

Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if there are any specific topics that you would like to see covered. Spread the word on the blog.

Birth Records- Livingston Co., MI

Birth records are valuable document in our family searches. The primary location to locate these records is at the county courthouse in Howell. It did not become the responsibility of the county to start recording birth records until 1867. Prior to this time they are non existent unless found in other sources.

Birth records start in 1867 and run until present. Be sure to have at least a decade narrowed down when you begin your search. Birth records tend to be indexed so you will be able to not only get the name of the person you are looking for, but also people with the same last name. This is helpful is rural counties where the population was not so high. Sure there are exceptions to this search, but they are few. Common surnames in a particular area translate into common relationships.

Be patient with the courthouse folks and realize they get many requests for searches. If you plan to go in person it is always a good idea to call ahead and make sure that they will be open when you wish to go.

Have a great day.