Author: GenealogyUpdate

27 Dec 2014 – What’s New at Internet Archive?

AccessGenealogy has pulled out 82 more “new” books at Internet Archive… all of these have been added to their Massachusetts genealogy page.

16 December 2014 – Whats new at Internet Archive?

The following items are some of the new manuscripts placed online at the Internet Archive for 16 December, 2014 which pertain or would be of interest to genealogists. This weeks additions consist of records mainly pertaining to Maine counties and towns, including biographical, histories, vital records, directories, centennial addresses, and church related manuscripts. The “town registers” mentioned below can serve as both a directory for the town(s) and a census.

Whats New at the Internet Archive

The following items are some of the new manuscripts placed online at the Internet Archive for the week of 7-13 December, 2014 which pertain or would be of interest to genealogists. This weeks additions consist of records pertaining to Maine counties and towns, including histories, vital records, cemetery transcriptions, centennial addresses, and church related. The “town registers” mentioned below can serve as both a directory for the town(s) and a census.

Arizona Obituary Search

The Mesa AZ FamilySearch Library has been indexing a variety of newspaper obituaries for Arizona and provides a database to be searched from their website. The search enables you to search by name for an obituary and allows last name only searches or last name with given. For the most part, these obituaries seem to be from mid 1980’s through the present date. I did find, while searching for Partridge, an index to an 1899 obituary for a William Partridge, but the paper is not given, making it more of a death record then that of an obituary.

Once users have located the obituary they’re looking for, they will need to locate a copy of the paper. Since these are recent obituaries, many local libraries in Arizona will likely have a copy of the paper on file, or a microfilm of the paper. The website provided a convenient way to obtain a copy of any of the Arizona Republic Newspaper obituaries but at a steep $15 per obituary search and at the present time, the form they linked to is no longer online. Regardless there should be cheaper methods for obtaining the obituary if needed.

The History of an Illinois Town – Prairie du Rocher

AccessGenealogy has been working over the past year to compile early records and histories of French-American, Canadian-American towns and settlements that presents a look into the early history of this ethnic group of people as they were some of the earliest settlers in the Midwest, settling and trading in Native American towns long before the English were present in the area. Our American history, though, so perpetuated by English roots, often forgets this settlement of people, and their contribution to what is now America.

The latest offering takes a look at the oldest European settlement in Illinois: Prairie du Rocher. Prairie du Rocher is a quaint French town along the Mississippi River in what is now Randolph County. When encountered by the French the area around Prairie du Rocher was settled by the Native American tribes of the Illinois Confederacy. To establish their trade amongst these friendly tribes, the French established Fort Chartres, which also served as a military reminder to the Spanish, English and American interests in the area. Along with the building of the fort came the fur traders, merchants, farmers, and tradesmen, all needed to ensure a thriving enterprise at that time. They settled down in communities around the fort, the most ancient of them being Prairie du Rocher.

But Prairie du Rocher isn’t a town comprised of just French and Native American families. It also had multiple immigrations of Germans, Irish, British and Americans, which over the centuries has integrated it’s population in a mecca of nations. Of particular interest to genealogists will be the multiple articles on family genealogies, which contain biographical details of many of the earliest residents: Barbeau, Blais, Blow, Brickey, Coerver, Conner, Didier, Eichenseer, Ellner, Frawley, Grassinger, Hauck, Hoef, Ker, Kribs, Langlois, Louvier, Moskop, Mudd, O’Hara, Palmier, Seitz, Shea, Siegfried, and Wierschem families of Prairie du Rocher.