The Dead Librarian

Morning Delight

2012-01-31T06:18:00.002-05:00

So let's step it up a little this morning with a confession. I sweat every morning with 4 (count them!) 4 boys. Two of them have four legs, Hampton and Rock. The other two are Kelly Nash and Jonathan Rush, WCOS announcers who amuse me every morning with conversation and music while I run with the dogs. That wasn't so bad was it?!

WCOS is a country music station and if you studied my family tree you would see that I have a long and entrenched red-neck past. You can cry me a river about the commercialization of country music and I don't care. I love it. However, I don't usually think of a country music station as a hotspot for genealogy discussions, yet, in the last month Nash and Rush have talked on the radio about their family history research. Their stories highlight the joys and pitfalls of digging into your past.

Kelley Nash recently decided to find his birth father. This question finds its' way into the Walker Local History Room all the time. It is probably the most personal question we handle and also the most difficult. Living people are very difficult to find. Most records are sealed and other public records, like phone books, usually have an option for info to be opted out. It is really a missing person case and requires a private detective and not a genealogy query. However, in Nash's example he found through the SSDI that his father was deceased. He found an obit which lead him to Hawaii and a second family. There is his joy - he found his father.

Now for the pitfall. Be aware that you may not like the past you dig up. According to Nash he went to Hawaii to meet this second family and he wasn't thrilled with the discovery. Frankly, I laughed out loud (not an easy feat when I am running and barely able to keep my breath!) when he described his Hawaiian bikerish half brother. I'm glad Kelly could laugh about his adventures but it is an emotionally complex search. The researcher needs to be prepared for all possible outcomes.

Jonathan Rush had a different type of family history adventure that I will share in the next post...ha,ha!

Genealogy Courting

2012-01-03T08:10:00.000-05:00

This is not the tale of a love story but about a lust for online records and genealogical data. A couple of years ago I attended the NGS conference in Raleigh, NC and while I learned alot during those few days I distinctly remember someone from Ancestry proclaiming that available microfilm records are a non-renewable resource and will be completely digitized within the decade. In non-profit "library land" a decade sounds like job security but with for-profit companies losing material is a death sentence and Ancestry was planning ahead.

During 2011 I thought about the completion of microfilm digitization, and the future of for-profit companies, as our small local history room was approached by three major genealogy companies. Two of the companies wanted our records and one wanted our public service skills.

The FamilySearch Affiliate program was, without a doubt, a win-win proposition. It is a perfect "marriage". Our library patrons now have access to all of the FamilySearch microfilm records and use our library with its' great equipment and generous hours. FamilySearch gets a Family History Center with the support of the Richland County Public Library.

Sharing our digitized materials with for-profit companies is more complicated.
Libraries are free institutions and for-profit companies get paid for access to their resources. However, small rooms like ours have limited staff and $$$ to make our materials available online.  We simply don't have the storage space or the tech support to build an online collection.

Archives.com approached us about absorbing our obituary index. However, they did not provide a user friendly interface and the process for absorbing the index was going to be alot of work for us. It is a BIG index!

Right now we have a pilot project with Ancestry.com to make available our Columbia City Directories. We have a volunteer (who is way smarter than we are!) to help us with the scanning and photoshopping the images. Ancestry provides us with a quality space for our collection, they index the images for us and provide a search mechanism. We have a graduate assistant who is going to work on quality control. We are also talking with them about including our obit index.

Ancestry now gets to include the collection as part of their product.  But we can provide our users free access to the collection with a link. Can a marriage between us work? What do you think? See for yourself:  RCPL Columbia City Directories.

Join us!

2011-11-26T08:11:00.001-05:00

70th Anniversary Remembrance of Columbia Army Air Base

November 30, Richland County Public Library, 3 PM

To mark the 70^th Anniversary of Columbia Army Air Base (CAAB), now Columbia Metropolitan Airport, the Local History Room, Main Branch of the Richland County Public Library (RCPL), will host a Literary Salute to local authors of WWII titles.

Dr. John Hammond Moore- Columbia and Richland County, a South Carolina Community; 1740-1990

Moffatt Burriss- Strike and Hold: A Memoir of the 82^nd Airborne in WWII

Jack Kneece- Ghost Army

Rebecca Pepin- Honoring South Carolina’s WWII Heroes of Flight

Russell Gimmi- Airman: The Life of Richard F. B. Gimmi

James J. Lynch- One Mo’ Time, featuring Russ Meyne

Tom Fincher- No Ordinary Lives: The Lives and Times of Chapin area WWII Veterans

Rachel Haynie – Cornfield to Airfield: A History of Columbia Army Air Base

The Literary Salute will be a prequel to a larger public event commemorating CAAB’s 70^th anniversary. On Saturday, Dec. 3, the South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation will host an observance and remembrance at the S.C. Aeronautics Hangar adjacent to Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

December 3, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Displays of WWII memorabilia by collectors/Historical Organizations
Military reenactors (Living History)
Vintage military vehicles
Model aircraft of WWII vintage and demonstrations WWII veterans available to interact with attendees

12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. Reunion of CAAB personnel and families

12:30 pm - 12:55 p.m. Patriotic and ceremonial music

12:55 p.m. Color Guard demonstration and presentation

1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Ceremony of Remembrance and Commemoration and greetings from the SC Military Department

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. WWII USO style dance demo and activities

Location: SC Aeronautics Division Hangar at Columbia Metro Airport Free and Public Invited -- Family Oriented Sponsored by the SC Historic Aviation Foundation www.schistoricaviation.org 803 731 3254

FamilySearch Affiliate

2011-11-10T18:11:00.001-05:00

It seems that I am now ready to announce that the Walker Local History Room is a FamilySearch Affiliate. It is a big deal for us and for any researcher living near the library.

Being an affiliate allows researchers to use the Main Library facilities for viewing their FHC microfilm. Your research hours have just grown exponentially! Most FHC's have limited hours for viewing film. We are open 9-9 Monday-Friday; 9-6 Friday - Saturday; and 2-6 Sunday. This also saves you money because the microfilm machines at the library can scan your images and save them to a USB storage device. No printing costs!

We are very excited to start helping researchers who are studying records for every state in the US and every country in the world. So many of our local researchers don't use the Walker Local History Room because they think we are only "local". Being an affiliate gives us access to millions of records from all over the world through the resources at the FamilySearch library in Utah.

It is very easy to order your microfilm from the online film ordering site. I have posted instructions on an additional page listed on the right.

As always I am thrilled to work with FamilySearch. They are kind and professional all the time. I value their support (as well as your support!).

Dangerous Dead Librarian

2011-10-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

A little knowledge goes a long way with the Dead Librarian. I recently discovered that I can "easily" (Important word!) add pages to a blog. Not only can I add pages I can add documents to the pages. SWEET!

This has completely solved a major sharing problem I was having. We produce great content all the time around here. Most of the time it is just a little inventive indexing but we don't have a good way to share it.

The SC Slave and FPOC database is a perfect example. Brent Holcomb's SC Marriages book includes slave and FPOC marriages but those names are not indexed. A very skilled and devoted librarian (not me!) indexed all those missing names. Brent Holcomb kindly told us about some other resources he published and the next thing I know is we have a nifty new index with almost 400 names for helping African American genealogists.

So keep checking on my "pages"! Who knows what we will come up with to share.

SC Genealogy Discus Trials

2011-09-28T21:39:00.000-04:00

The trials have been extended through October. I don't know why and am afraid to ask. Keep searching and don't forget to review the databases!!!!

SC Discus database trials

2011-09-17T08:26:00.000-04:00

If you have a South Carolina library card in good standing you have an opportunity to have input on this years database selection for Discus. If you haven't heard of SC Discus then I am to blame for not keeping you informed. My only excuse is that up to now they haven't had any genealogy databases. Hopefully that will soon change.

SC Discus is South Carolina’s virtual library. It is the “information place” for all South Carolinians. DISCUS – which stands for Digital Information for South Carolina USers – provides free access to an electronic library that’s available 24/7.

In addition to many other great databases Discus is looking at: Ancestry Library Edition, HeritageQuest, Fold3 (formerly Footnote) and the Sanborn Digital Map Database.

Even if your library carries these databases you should review them. If Discus picks up the cost of one then your library may be able to provide patrons with another database.

Public libraries can only give the password to their customers. So if you live in Kershaw you can get the user id and password from your public library.

Of course, you Richland County folks can call me! But I won't be at work until Monday at 1:00! However, if you are one of my regulars you have my e-mail...

The trials last until the end of September.

Free books at DMK Heritage publishers

2011-08-07T12:55:00.000-04:00

The Genea-Musings blog reports there are a number of genealogy research books available for free download at the DMK Heritage website. Several of the SC books are not available for check out from Richland County Public Library so it may save you a trip to the library to download them from the DMK Heritage website.

Most of the books are from southern states and the SC ones are mostly coastal but there is a nice collection.

Once you are in the site scroll down and look for: FREE SMALL BOOKS

Virginia Meynard lecture notes

2011-08-04T15:34:00.002-04:00

If you missed Virginia Meynard's lecture on the history of Lower Richland County then you missed a real treat. Meynard is the author of a new book "History of Lower Richland County and Its Early Planters". Her previous book "The Venturers: The Hampton, Harrison and Earle Families of Virginia, South Carolina and Texas" is currently out of print but available for check-out at the Richland County Public Library.

For the Lower Richland book Ms. Meynard had access to private genealogy collections from the families of the early white settlers. Meynard sorted through the genealogies and provides clear and easy to read histories of the families in the book.

Lower Richland is a unique community because many of the black and white families have remained in the area for generations. The history of the people are entwined in ways that researchers are just discovering. It is a "hotspot" for historical and family research.

At the request of several attendees to the lecture Virginia has made available her notes for that evenings presentation. We are deeply indebted to her research skills and to her presentation that evening.
For more information on Ms. Meynard's presentation go to Robin Foster's review at the Examiner.
(click the title post to see Ms. Meynard's notes).

Life Records

2011-08-01T08:17:00.000-04:00

South Carolina began issuing statewide birth certificates in 1915 and there is a 100 year delay for public access. We won't see our first birth certificate until 2015!

A significant component has been added to the Richland County Public Library obit index to help address this problem. Yesterday I uploaded 800+ birth records into the index. This is a small portion of an index that has over 500,000 obit records but more records will be added as volunteers input the data.

The records come from birth announcements in the Columbia Record, Columbia's afternoon paper. We started with 1969 because that seems to be when the newspaper regularly published birth announcements. Eventually we will go backwards but now we will be moving forward.

So far we are only seeing announcements from Columbia Hospitals and I am not sure if they include African American births. I will have to do some research to determine when hospitals integrated. Also, we have only seen announcements for husband and wife unions not single mothers. My guess is that most adoptions occurred with single mothers but we will understand the records better as more records are added.

Try searching Waters, D G in the Name Browse search to see how the birth records look.

Bringing down brickwalls on Facebook

2011-07-21T10:10:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time I used Facebook to see what my homepeeps were doing or to check on the antics of my (grown) children. Sometimes I even posted something about what I was doing. I would spend, at most, 15 minutes a day checking the "most recent" posts.

FamilySearch seems determined to change all of that and is keeping Facebook open on my computer all night! New pages have been popping up like the wildfires in Arizona. South Carolina Genealogy Research Community page is a brillant tool for collaborating with researchers and genealogy professionals. If you ask a question on this page I guarantee you will get back more than you bargained for.

Newberry and Union County, SC African American Genealogy is another Facebook page that has popped up. I hope that it will turn into a Facebook page for all Newberry genealogy. What a great way to link county genealogies.

Hot off the press is The South Carolina Genealogical Society Facebook page. Many of the state chapters, including the Columbia chapter, have added their pages, too. The scgen website has a listing of all the chapters with a Facebook connection.

"Like 'em" and expand your resources. This is a hobby that is full of passion, collaboration and success. Facebook taps into all of that and makes it grow exponetially.

Names, Names, Names

2011-07-09T09:58:00.002-04:00

I would only confide this to Dead Librarian readers because it makes me sound very boring (or maybe "weird" is a more honest description) but I love lists of names. The very nature of a long tedious list provides countless opportunities for exploring misspellings, alphabetizing errors and serendipity (which is my very favorite research tool). There is always hope in scrolling through an endless list of names for genealogists.

So...imagine my delight in discovering a new list of South Carolina names thanks to the work of the Old Darlington District Genealogy Chapter of The South Carolina Genealogical Society. They have catalogued and indexed the genealogical collection of John Carroll Skinner. Skinner was a professional genealogist and author with strong ties to Darlington, Lee, and Sumter Counties, SC.

While the surnames and subjects listed on the website represent only a portion of the Skinner Genealogical Collection, the entire collection is available at the Hartsville Genealogical Research Library. If you decide to visit call first as they have limited research hours.

Local History Room book signing

2011-06-14T15:49:00.002-04:00

At Richland County Public Library, Local History Room, Friday, June 17 at 2:30 p.m., Jonna Doolittle Hoppes (see link on post title), granddaughter of the late General Jimmy Doolittle, will greet the public and sign Calculated Risk, The Extraordinary Life of Jimmy Doolittle, her memoir of her grandparents.

Later in the day, the author will be the featured speaker during a ticketed fund-raising dinner at The Hall at Senate's End, 320 Senate Street, Columbia. At 6:30 p.m., prior to the dinner, Ms. Hoppes will sign copies of her books. The author and memoirist will speak about growing up with her revered grandparents, Jimmy and Josephine Doolittle, and her research into their lives. Hosted by the South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation 803-731-3254.

Cigars, Cigarettes, Indexing or I'd walk a mile for indexing

2011-05-02T18:59:00.007-04:00

When I was growing in the 19__'s the popular women magazines were full of articles offering advice for quiting smoking. Smoking had just been declared public enemy #1 and everyone was trying to quit. One article caught my attention, even at that very young age...,it explained that women have a particularly hard time quitting because they use smoking as a reward. Clean the bathrooms - have a cigarette; peel the potatoes - have a cigarette.

That article came back to me years later when I announced to myself that if I cleaned the bathroom I could have a glass of wine. That sure sounded like a reward to me. During the Harry Potter hey days I would promise myself two chapters if I did something distasteful like pay bills or pay attention to my kids...only kidding!

After discovering that Family Search is looking for volunteers to index I have once again fallen into the reward business. If I finish the work schedule I can index a page of the 1930 census. If I do some laundry I can index the NY marriages.

The indexing is so addicting that I have to apply the reward method or I would only index and nothing would get done.

The FamilySearch folks have the process down to a science. The indexing template is easily downloaded to the computer hard drive. Each indexing "batch" takes from 45 - 60 minutes. If I have a problem there is an instant chat feature that gives me easy access to help.

The 1930 census for the Bronx was a "melting pot". Every name had a different nationality. We have all read about immigration but indexing that census felt like I was reliving the time period.

Indexing the NY State marriages 1908 - 1935 has been a personal journey as one of my lines comes from Wyoming County and guess what?! I am indexing the Wyoming County marriages.

This is an addiction that I would highly recommend. It has given me a new insight for search stategies. Just because something is not in the index doesn't mean it is not there. Indexers have a tough job and deciphering the materials is a challenge.
There are several names that I think I might have all wrong but there is a quality control system in place so I hope for the best.

From now on, however, if I can't find someone in an index I will understand that they could very well be in the raw material. Never give up unless you have personally viewed the primary documents. No one knows a name like the family researcher.

South Carolina Genealogy Crash Course: Find Your Palmetto State Ancestors

2011-04-17T10:41:00.005-04:00

Recently I was asked by Family Tree Magazine to be a panelist for their webinar about South Carolina genealogy resources. Being a closet wall flower I excepted right away. :) In addition to the Dead Librarian, Wevonneda Minis from GullahRoots and Christina Shedlock from Charleston Public Library will be available for questions and comments.

While the webinars are available for a fee I was surprised at the number of courses available. If you are working on a state or topic that you are not familiar with the $40.00 seems well worth it to me. There is one on New York State resources and I definitely need that one!

The webinars are all part of the FamilyTree University. Family Tree University is an online education program from the publishers of Family Tree Magazine. They provide online courses, independent study classes and webinars.

"Who do you think you are" has really higlighted the need to deal with state and subject experts when researching. Experts save you from looking for info that isn't there, if it is there where is it and how difficult or easy it is to get the info.

These courses help make you the expert.

The South Carolina class is Weds, April 20, at 7:00pm. Follow the link if you are interested in attending.

Mocavo

2011-04-04T19:01:00.003-04:00

Well have you tried the new Google genealogy re-search engine? Mocavo is being highly touted by popular genealogy blogs like Dick Eastman as a great new tool for family history research.

I love the idea of being able to research "the Library of Congress, National Archives, Ellis Island, Find A Grave, the Internet Archive, various U.S. state archives, and many tens of thousands of genealogy sites built by individuals" all at once.

However, I am ambivalent about searches into paid databases. If you are searching and you hit something you can't access it can be frustrating.

My own searching experiments have had limited success. However, I did find an interesting digitized site for the Charleston 1861 city directory

But, of course, I will keep this search engine high on my list of online resources and keep you up to date about successful search strategies.

RCPL needs your help

2011-03-07T10:12:00.002-05:00

Thank you for your past support of the Richland County Public Library. The Friends of RCPL are asking for your help in communicating to Richland County Council members during the County Council budget process the critical importance of the library to the citizens of Richland County. Please let Sharon McElveen, RCPL Friends Liaison, know if you would be willing to serve as an advocate for RCPL by sending a personal e-mail, writing a personal letter, or making a personal phone call to your County Council representative.

Please reply to Sharon McElveen with your name, address, phone number and e-mail address no later than Friday, March 11, 2011.

I will send you updates via e-mail concerning specific speaking points for you to use to communicate to your representative. It is very important that these communications are consistent with the speaking points that will be outlined in the e-mails that you will receive from me, but you are also encouraged to share your own personal experiences with the Richland County Public Library.

Thank you,

J. P. Lee
Friends of RCPL
Advocacy Committee Chair

New SC newspapers added to Chronicling America.

2011-03-05T15:46:00.002-05:00

Two additional newspapers, The "Sumter Watchman" (1855-1881)and "Watchman and Southron" (1881-1930)are now available in Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

The Chronicling America link is permanately set in the column on the right. The link attached to the post title goes to the South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program blog. A current listing of available titles is listed there.

Ancestry Library Edition update

2011-03-01T01:28:00.002-05:00

It always scares me a bit when databases "improve" their search features but hopefully these changes will result in cheers and not groans. DBloom

Dear Ancestry Library Edition Subscriber:

Ancestry Library Edition provides unprecedented access to family history records through more than 7,000 collections that help individuals from North America, U.K., Europe, Australia, and beyond trace their lineage.

Soon, access to Ancestry Library Edition's wealth of family history records will be even easier!

We are excited to announce the new Ancestry Library Edition search interface will be released this spring, with a clean and crisp design that improves the overall user experience.

The Ancestry Library Edition new search interface is scheduled for release on April 13, 2011.

Ancestry Library Edition new search interface features include:

Improved look and feel for a more intuitive user experience

Map and location filters on the home page

Name filters with Soundex

Type ahead features

Improved country and state pages

Watch for additional information about the new Ancestry Library Edition search interface, updated training materials, and new training webinars.

FamilySearch Helping Preserve and Provide Access to African Records and Family Histories

2011-02-25T14:04:00.001-05:00

I thought this was pretty interesting. DBloom

SALT LAKE CITY—This month, millions of individuals of African descent are celebrating Black History Month by exploring their family history roots. In the U.S., FamilySearch volunteers have been busy helping digitize historic documents and create free, searchable indexes to them online. Throughout Africa, from Accra to Zimbabwe, where irreplaceable family information and traditions are at risk of being lost due to neglect, war, and deterioration, FamilySearch volunteers are also helping preserve this valuable history so Africans can connect with their roots. Researchers can search the millions of African-related records as they are published online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch, a non-profit, volunteer-driven subsidiary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been involved in genealogy since 1894, but the African culture presents a unique set of challenges to family history research. Because most family information is passed down orally, FamilySearch is focused on preserving both African oral traditions and related records that can help people learn about their ancestors.

“In Africa, there is a proverb that states, ‘When an old man dies, it is as if a library has burnt down,’ ” said Ghanaian Osei-Agyemang Bonsu, a FamilySearch manager in Africa. “Unfortunately, due to economic difficulties, many young people are moving from their villages, where they have the chance of obtaining information from the older people. The purpose of the oral genealogy project is to go to these old people and record what they know before they die.”

Most African tribes have a designated “storyteller” who is responsible to memorize the tribe’s oral traditions, including names of ancestors going back six to thirty generations. FamilySearch works with chiefs and local volunteers to visit these storytellers and record the information they have been charged to remember in their heads. Sometimes the interview is audio or video recorded, like the Ghana Oral Genealogy Project. If technology is not available, the information is written down on paper. Once it is recorded, the lineage-linked data is put into a spreadsheet and uploaded into a computer format developed by FamilySearch called GEDCOM. Currently, this GEDCOM file is put into FamilySearch’s Community Trees project, but it will eventually be integrated with the FamilySearch.org website.

FamilySearch is also working with children in South Africa to encourage them to write down their family traditions. FamilySearch volunteer Isebelle Krauss conducts training to help young people know how to interview the elderly people in their village.

“We encourage them [South African youth] to find their roots, to record it and to be proud of who they are,” Krauss said.

Krauss works with the South African Department of Education and Heritage and the Department of Arts and Culture to hold oral tradition storytelling competitions in public schools.

“The children are encouraged to collect as many names as possible and come back to either sing, recite, or give a hard copy of their research,” Krauss said. “The pilot project was in Kwa Zulu Natal, and I was privileged to be one of the judges at the final round between 30 schools. What an experience! The little ones danced and sang their history and an eight-year-old won the competition with 15 generations.”

Although the majority of African heritage is oral, written records such as censuses and birth, marriage, and death certificates can help people verify the names, dates, and places in their family history. FamilySearch has worked with governments, archives, and churches in Ghana, South Africa, Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, Swaziland, Nigeria, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwe to digitize records of genealogical importance. FamilySearch employee Stephen Nickle says some of the irreplaceable records in these countries are in danger of being lost.

“There are various records throughout Africa that are at risk. Some are destroyed through war or deterioration or because there is a lack of room and other records are more important,” Nickle said. “When those records are destroyed, a part of Africa goes away. Preserving those records helps future generations know where they came from, which is an important part of maintaining a culture.”

Many of the records collected by FamilySearch are now available for free on FamilySearch.org. More African records will be posted on the site in the coming months. Following are a few samples of some types of records at FamilySearch.org that may be of interest to those doing African or African-American research. Many of them are works in progress.

· Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Letters, 1865-1872

· U.S. Arkansas Confederate Pensions, 1901 to 1929

· Ghana 1982-1984 Census

· South Africa, Orange Free State, Estate Files, 1951-1973

· U.S. Southern States Births, Marriages, and Deaths

· U.S. Naturalization Petitions

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. It is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

NewspaperCat

2011-02-09T15:20:00.002-05:00

This is a new digital newspaper resource. I didn't see any SC newspapers but it is a new tool and I think I will check back to see if they have updated the records. It looks like it will be a tool that combines all the digital newspapers sites. I found newspapers from Chronicling America and from digital projects nationwide. There are lots of nice search features. Below is the description from their web site:

"The Catalog of Digital Historical Newspapers (NewspaperCat) is a tool that facilitates the discovery of online digitized historical newspaper content from newspapers published in the United States and the Caribbean. NewspaperCat was funded by a grant from the George A. Smathers Libraries.

Search by keyword, newspaper title or by city, county or state to locate titles. From your search result, click on the link(s) to connect to the digital newspaper(s). In many cases, this content is keyword searchable, depending on the hosting organization.

NewspaperCat currently links to over 1000 full-text newspaper titles with a goal to include links to as many US and Caribbean newspapers with archival digital content as possible.. Plans are to expand the Catalog as newly digitized newspaper titles are located."

Twitter Archive

2011-01-22T16:34:00.003-05:00

How easy or difficult will research about you be for your ancestors?

Since Print resources seem to be in a steep decline maybe our ancestors will find information about us through our online connections. Facebook, twitter and blogs are just a few places that might be a wealth of information for future genealogists. So I was very interested in the announcement that Twitter has donated its tweet archive to the Library of Congress.

It made me think about my online presence and what it will tell about me in 100 years. They will know my favorite books and tv shows; what errands I ran on September 5, for example. There will be alot of inane details but, i think, they will know my personality and characteristics. Exactly what I crave to know about my ancestors!

It will be very interesting to follow the development of the Twitter Archive and to watch what it tells about us. It might be a glimpse into the future.

Google News Archive title list

2010-12-29T16:35:00.004-05:00

Recently the genealogy group in Diigo posted a website for all the newspapers digitized in the Google News Archive (see direct link under Online newspapers). The list is alphabetical and doesn't include the location so you need to know the name of the newspaper. My Christmas Day treat was to go through the list and pull out all the SC newspapers I could find.

When Jean, a fellow sufferer, went through the list for the Charleston papers she found alot of errors especially with dates. I found the same problem so search carefully. Fortunately, Google gives a neat looking timeline so you can see what time period your search is covering.

Fairfield Independent: 4/12/1979-2/25/1982
Columbia Daily Register 8/28/1877-7/27/1887
Columbia Register 7/28/1875-12/31/1975
Columbia Star: 11/25/2005-4/17/2009
Spartanburg Herald Journal: 1/19/1790 – 12/28/2008 (goes back to 1890 not 1790)
Herald Independent (Winnsboro): 3/11/1982-12/30/2008
Horry County News & Loris Sentinel: 10/3/1950-12/30/1959
Horry Independent: 6/17/1999-4/16/2009
Island Packet: 11/1/2001 – 6/30/2008
Item (Sumter): 10/15/1894-1/28/2008
Loris Scene: 11/25/1998-4/15/2009
Loris Sentinel: 10/3/1950-12/23/1959
Rock Hill Herald: 1/15/1880-12/31/1989

(Special thanks to Jean for locating all the Charleston newspaper “varietals” below)
The Charleston Mercury 1818 - 1868 (they say through 1957 but they have mis-dated that one)
The Charleston Daily News 1873
The News and Courier Dec 1873 - 1991
The Sunday News Jul 1883 - Jun 1924
Charleston Post & Courier misc. 1981, 1985, 1986, 1991
The Post and Courier 1982 - Jun 2009
The News and Courier/the Evening Post Dec 1984
Sunday Post/Courier misc. 1986 - 1991
Saturday Post-Courier misc. 1987 - 1991
The Evening Post/the News and Courier misc. 1989 - 1991

SC Digital Newspaper Blog

2010-12-22T15:25:00.004-05:00

I just posted a Happy Holiday gift on Twitter so I thought I would give the bloggers a gift, too.

The Library of Congress has updated Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers today. The update includes parts of the Charleston Daily News and the Anderson Intelligencer as well as the completion of the Columbia Phoenix and its related titles.

You can find out more, including the links to the material, by going to the South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program’s blog.

The Chroncling America link is under Newspaper Resources.

Tony Burroughs

2010-11-05T08:49:00.005-04:00

So I haven't posted any news in awhile for two reasons. First, there hasn't been alot of new online data (although there are a couple of unique pieces of online data that I have been meaning to share!). Second, I have been absorbed by my family history research lately. My renewed interest was inspired by an African American genealogy program I recently attended sponsered by the Camden Archives .

Tony Burroughs, author of Black Roots, was the speaker. While all of his program was interesting one thing he said about slave record research really stayed with me. His point was that researchers cannot begin slave research without first going through reconstruction records. His point was that there has to be some order to our research. Jumping from a twentieth century death certificate to slave records is skipping a whole era of records that might provide valuable to slave record research.

Of course I nodded my head and said to myself that I am always telling my african american genealogists that they need to look at records like the Freedmen's Bureau records for clues and now I could throw around Tony's name to back-up my superior research advice. While I was busy patting myself on the back the thought popped into my head that Tony wasn't just talking about african american research. The idea of looking at records in some kind of time order could apply to any type of genealogy research.

Then it hit me like a true bolt of lightening, I was skipping records in my own family research. There is a brick wall on my paternal side that I keep crying about. My great grandmother immigrated from Ireland as a very young child in 1895 with an older sister and lived with a foster family, according to family stories. No one, not even the great grandmother, was sure what her family name was but they passed around a vague recollection that it was Fayee, Faye, Fayhee, etc. Frankly the possibilities are endless. I have spent fruitless hours looking through immigration records but I never tried to look for vital statistics because her early years were so muddled. I took a step back and re-studied what I did know through the 1920 and 1930 census. I looked carefully at all the questions on each census and I made a timeline.

Frankly the results were astounding. So much information was there that I missed. It cleared up my grandmothers parentage and took me in a totally different direction. I haven't answered all my questions but I have renewed hope that if I can find a marriage record, or locate her in the 1910 census I will have some questions answered.

Now I have a research plan and renewed hope for this line. It has meant lots of phone calls to county courthouses and a road trip will be necessary. I am staying completely away from immigration records until I have exhausted searching the possible records she created between 1900-1920. I am having so much fun with the new direction my research taking.

Former Richland County slaves

2010-10-14T09:03:00.002-04:00

This site provides an alphabetical list of former slaves and former slave owners from the "fork" of Lower Richland County in 1870. I have been using it so often that I am including the link on the blog.

Rev. Middleton is an amazing researcher and I have been trying to get this information from him in print to keep in Local History. I am equally happy to have it available online.

However, we do have many books written by Rev. Middleton:

1.Directory and pre-1900 historical survey of South Carolina's Black Baptists
by Middleton, John Allen, 1954- J.A. Middleton and Associates, c1992.
Call #: 286.133 Mid

2. Acton, pincushion and the turn out. Vol. 2
by Middleton, John Allen, 1954- J.A. Middleton, c1998.
Call #: 929.3 Mid

3.An oral history interview with John Allen Middleton
by Middleton, John Allen, 1954-, Hurley, Suzanne Cameron Linder, Richland County Public Library (Columbia, S.C.). Film & Sound Dept.
Richland County Public Library Film & Sound Dept., 1996.
Call #: AUDIO 907.2 Mid

4.The making of the Middletons
by Middleton, John Allen, 1954- J.A. Middleton and Assoc., 2008?]
Call #: 929.2 Mid

Richland County History: New Discoveries

2010-10-06T07:04:00.002-04:00

We are having a big history series at the library and it was brought to my attention by a favorite patron that there wasn't anything on my blog about it...dolt!

The series was developed to bring some attention to the Walker Local History Room. There isn't any history without people and we need the help of Richland County citizens to build the collection. It is "stuff" that people have in their attics or closets that we need to make the room a powerful research facility.

So here is the schedule. I hope you can attend some or all of the sessions:

Richland County History: New Discoveries

*October 6: Dr. Walter Edgar, bestselling author, will discuss his research into the history of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
*October 13: Prized Pieces of Land. USC researchers will tell us how they pieced together information about Lower Richland African-American land owners using reconstruction records and maps.
*October 20: Audrey Dawson from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology will explain what archaeologists have dug
up at Ft. Jackson.
*October 27: Dr. Warner Montgomery will talk about his recently published book, A History of Richland County School District One, 1792–2000.

Main Library - Local History Room - 6:00 929-3402 (Walter Edgar will speak in the auditorium)

Chronicling America - SC

2010-09-22T08:07:00.006-04:00

Below is a huge announcement for SC researchers. The first SC newspaper is now available on Chronicling America. This is the initiative by the Library Of Congress to digitized newspapers nationwide that are in the public domain. Hopefully, the post title link will take you to a Dead Librarian post that describes this project. The link to the Chronicling America homepage is in the links section of the blog.

The Library of Congress announced on Friday the latest update to Chronicling America. Various titles of the Columbia Phoenix are included in the update. See the links below :)

SC Newspapers in Chronicling America

Columbia phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027004/issues/

Columbia phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027006/issues/

The Columbia daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027007/issues/

Tri-weekly phoenix. ([Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1875: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027005/issues/

The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027008/issues/

Cherokee Indians of South Carolina

2010-09-01T16:21:00.002-04:00

The Columbia Chapter, SCGS will meet Sunday, September 12, 2010 at the State Museum at 3:00 P.M. Dr. Will Moreau Goin will speak on the topic, The Cherokee Indians of S.C. This program is sponsored by The Humanities Council SC, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Dr. Goins is a descendant of the Eastern Band Cherokee Indians and Chief of the Cherokee Indian Tribe of South Carolina. He is a folklorist, cultural presenter, storyteller, chanter-singer, dancer, artist, educator, and arts administrator. He holds a BA degree in Communications and Anthropology and a PhD from Penn State University. Dr. Goins has lectured at many colleges and universities. He was the contributing author and editor for South Carolina Native American Cooking and South Carolina Native Pathways: A Visitor’s Resource Guide to American Heritage and Historic Sites in South Carolina.

Looks like a great program.

Interactive Slave Records Collection

2010-07-19T22:57:00.002-04:00

Check out the announcement about Footnote and Low Country Africana. I love to see SC records making the news. There is a link to this site on the Dead Librarian blog. You should consider being a free member to this great SC site.

For My "Lower Richland" peeps

2010-07-03T00:23:00.005-04:00

This photo appeared in The State newspaper 4/9/1957. The text attached to the article follows:

HOPKINS STUDENTS VISIT THE STATE
Eighth grade students of Hopkins High School are shown above during a recent tour of the editorial offices, composing room, and press operations of The State. They include, left to right, first row, Z. Rice, J. Washington, U. Rice, H. Stocker, F. Williams, W. Stocker, J. Wilson, E. Rice, A. Richardson and R. Smith. Second row, S. Story, L. Williams, C. Weston, R. Randolph, D. Weston, O. Wilson, W. Sims, B. Taylor, J. Williams. Third row, J. Gish, teacher, E. Young, P. Pearson, R. Washington, W. Washington, J.C. Weston, E. Goodwin, J. Watson, J. McRant, bus driver, and R.E. Pearson, teacher (Staff Photo)

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

2010-07-01T16:28:00.002-04:00

The Newberry Library in Chicago has created a remarkable tool to visualize county boundary changes over time. The site allows the viewer to use map layers to picture how county boundaries fluctuate. We all know how important it is to know where an ancestor is located in time to determine where needed documents are located. This site gives it to in one visual masterpiece. I have used it about ten times today: Atlas of historical county boundaries the link is also listed under "Contiguous State Online Indexes" (why do I call it that?!!).

IGHR day 2 - Southern Claims Commission

2010-06-16T14:35:00.007-04:00

Sorry i haven't been as reliable as I promised. Yesterday was an interesting day and I want to share with you information about the Southern Claims Commission.

Between 3 March 1871 and 3 March 1873, Southerners filed 22,298 claims before the Southern Claims Commission (SCC) based on the fact they were loyal to the Union during the Civil War and had quartermaster stores or supplies taken by or furnished to the Union Army during the rebellion.

The index of these claims is available on the St Louis Public Library web site. Once you click on the SC list it is divided by county and then by name. There is a claim number next to each name that refers to a file. They files are held by the National Archive.

The index only lists the name on the file but the files are full of additional names of freedmen who testified at the hearings.

IGHR here i am

2010-06-13T17:32:00.002-04:00

After about 5 hours of driving from Columbia to Birmingham I arrived at Samford University for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. My course on Reconstruction and Slave Records starts Monday. Today was registration. Everything went smoothly: found the room, wireless is working and the car is parked.

This week I will be making daily posts focusing on each day's highlights. Today was already auspicious since I met Michael Hait in the "fix my laptop" line. Google Michael he is all over the Internet. I recognized his name right away.

Also, you might take a moment to check the require reading for the courses this week. I thought they were interesting. You might find something you can use for your research. The link is above.

See you tomorrow.

Rapper 50 Cent visits area to trace family history

2010-06-02T21:20:00.003-04:00

It was only a matter of time before someone famous discovered their South Carolina roots. Here is a story from Aiken about a recent family research visit. I thought you all might enjoy reading about it. I am just glad my road trips don't make the paper. I like eating my cheeseburgers in guilty silence.

RCPL Survey

2010-05-27T11:27:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone,

My library is conducting an online survey to determine how you use our library or how you would like to use the library. The title of the post will take you directly to the survey. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and identify yourself as a genealogy or family history researcher. The more the better.

When asked how to make library services better I said we need to have access to more genealogy databases. If you have another opinion please add it. The library is not going to listen to me when I say we need more staff or more indexed family collections. Your opinion counts. If you are from out of town and you visited the library please add your two cents. Think accomodation tax!!

Thanks!
Dead Librarian

Ancestry Library Edition

2010-05-04T13:40:00.002-04:00

The genealib listserv has had an interesting thread about the differences between Ancestry and Ancestry Library Edition. I found the info below, from the Proquest Product Manager for Ancestry, interesting. I thought that the non-population census was not in ALE.

The U.S. Federal Non-Population Census Schedules (1850-1880) are in Ancestry Library Edition. They’re found in the Census & Voter List category.

The following states are included in the Library Edition:

• California
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Nebraska
• New York
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Virginia
• Washington Territory

BTW, the Mortality Schedules are also available in the Ancestry Library Edition within the same Census & Voter List category. See U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880

Specifically these schedules include for SC:
•Agriculture schedules (South Carolina) 1850-1880. Microfilm F 600204, 15 rolls. South Carolina Department of History and Archives, Columbia.
•Industry/manufacturers schedules (South Carolina) 1850-1880. Microfilm F 600206, 2 rolls. South Carolina Department of History and Archives, Columbia.
•Social statistics schedules (South Carolina) 1850-1880. Microfilm F 600207, 2 rolls. South Carolina Department of History and Archives, Columbia.

Netronline

2010-04-21T13:33:00.002-04:00

While the Dead Librarian mostly looks for the South Carolina dead her own ancestors come from upstate NY. It has been a long time since I worked on my own genealogy so last year while attending the NGS conference in Raleigh I decided to join the NEGHS and take advantage of their specialized online databases.

A couple of weeks ago the NEGHS came to Hilton Head, SC and I "forced" myself to attend. Which finally brings me to the point of this post. One of the cool internet sites I learned about is Netronline. Netronline provides links to county real estate public records and is a research information portal for property information, deeds & mortgage copies, tax records, parcel maps, assessment records, and public records nationwide.

It did not list the online marriage license information available in Richland County or the death certifcate index at SCDHEC but I found it to be a very useful tool. Also, the information is not retrospective but I did use it to locate a living relative in Arizona via California.

I think you will find it to be an invaluable resource. Bookmark it!

Family Search Pilot Project

2010-03-27T17:51:00.005-04:00

Recently a patron e-mailed me and asked about free sources for census information. She had searched all the census info by accessing HeritageQuest with her RCPL library card number. However, she wanted to look at the 1850 census which isn't in HeritageQuest. With complete confidence I told her that the only other free site is Ancestry Library Edition which she could access in the library with her library card. Well, well, well....sometimes the Dead Librarian is a dope.

The dedicated folks at Family Search have started a pilot project to make census records available...free. Right now the census images for 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1900 are available for SC. Indexing only is available for 1880 and 1920. Equally remarkable is that they have made available digitized images of the SC Death Certificates (SCDC) from 1915-1943 and SCDC indexing for 1944-1955. These were only available through Ancestry and now they are available to anyone with an internet connection.

Of course, there are images available for other states. Click Browse Our Record Collectionon the main search page for title lists.

This makes me wonder if the library needs to support HeritageQuest anymore. I have been trying to push for Footnote as another genealogy resource but the library is anticipating a possible cut in the budget so I don't expect budgeting approval for that database. However, with this new Family Search resource maybe I could offer a trade. HeritageQuest for Footnote. Many of the resources available on HeritageQuest are now freely available online. Any thoughts?

Google News Archive

2010-03-27T17:14:00.004-04:00

This afternoon the South Carolina Press Associationcelebrated the best of South Carolina journalism with their awards ceremony at the Columbia Hilton. The SCPA also added a distinguised name to their Hall of Fame, Henry Timrod. The Columbia Public Library association also honored Timrod in 1905 by changing the name of the library to the Timrod Library. Even today a portrait of Timrod hangs outside of the Local History Room. Because of RCPL's connection to Timrod I was invited to accept the award for the library in Timrod's honor.

It was a wonderful honor to accept the award for the library. But it also turned out to be an interesting opportunity to be reminded about the Google News Archive. I sat next to the editor of the Sumter Item who told me that Google was digitizing all the issues of the Item. WHAT!!!

Fortunately I found it to be too cold and windy to rake when I got home (did that sound like a good excuse?) and I grabbed the ibook and went to work on Google News Archive (what else are weekends for...). Indeed, the Item is in there from approximately, 1960-1987. The Herald Journal (Rock Hill area) is also there from 1905-2008. I saw a few issues of the Charleston Post and Courier in 1947. There are also newspapers from other states. I found several from Florida and the Times News from Hendersonville, NC.

There isn't a listing of available newspapers and dates available so it is difficult to figure out what exactly is there. The site does not allow printing or downloads but you can share a link to articles. However, it should be a great resource for locating information for those years where we don't have any indexing. I am going to use News Archive to locate articles I haven't been able to find in The State. If I can locate them in another newspaper I can go back to The State with an exact date and hopefully dig up some good research material.

BTW, if you use igoogle there is an app for Newspaper Archive...sweet.

World War II scrapbook of newspaper clippings

2010-03-22T09:59:00.002-04:00

Helen Moody created of Helen's Little Corner site has added valuable new information to her website. We both receive lots of requests for obituary information about veterans and Helen has tried to address these requests by making veteran obituaries available on her web site (besides all the other obits she transcribes).

In addition she has recently indexed the 136 page scrapbook of Paul Brown. Brown collected newspaper articles, mostly from the Dillon Herald, during WWII about local soldiers including articles about awards received, wounded soldiers, visiting soldiers,etc. The post title will take you directly to the scrapbook. Helen's Little Corner is listed in the South Carolina Online Indexes links.

Helen's Little Corner also has indexed Marriages Recorded at the Office of the Judge of Probate from 1911 - 1926.

Actually there's alot of information on the site so I would suggest putting an hour aside to take a look at everything.

Helen is an unsung hero of genealogical research in SC. She indexes and puts information online so it is free and accessible. The Dead Librarian loves free and accessible!

Chesterfield County

2010-03-01T11:48:00.003-05:00

Just when I was despairing that I haven't added any new online SC links I discovered that the Chesterfield County Genealogical Society has been transcribing obits from the Cheraw Chronicle. The transcribing begins with 2003. It sounds like it is a volunteer project so I don't think they are transcribing retrospectively but it is still a great resource for this part of South Carolina. The link has been added to the online indexes list.

The NC State Archive has updated their family bible digitization project. The link is under Contigous State Online Indexes and below is their description:

The State Library of NC and NC State Archives partnership continues, as 249 new family Bible records have been added to the NC Family Records Online collection. This brings the total number of database records to 731.

If you are searching for a family name that starts with “A”-”E,” be sure to search for it in the database, as the State Archives has completed the scanning and transcription of the first portion of their collection.

For those family names that start with letters “F” or later, a large sampling of names from the rest of the alphabet were made available as part of the pilot project. The collection will continue to grow on a bimonthly basis until the 2,200+ records in the State Archives holdings are made full-text searchable through this online resource.

Also added recently by the State Library is a copy of a sketch of the New Garden Quaker Community (Guilford County), as it appeared in March of 1781.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

2010-01-27T08:50:00.005-05:00

Occasionally you might see me mention my colleague and friend Margaret. We are both very geeky about genealogy stuff and belong to the same genealogy listserv. The listserv recently had posts concerning Filby's Passenger and Immigration lists. Genealogy research is still kind of new to this library so we have been chewing each other's ear off about this resource. We recently managed to have these volumes reclassified so they can be in the Local History Room because patrons have been asking questions about this.

Well, the listserv also mentioned this Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild. It is a pretty interesting site so I thought I would pass on the info. The link is through the post title.

Tonight I think I will go home and dig up the info I have on my German ancestors and see if they pop up. Maybe I can add some new faces to my Facebook page. :)

1940 Census

2010-01-16T08:49:00.006-05:00

* The 1940 census has been a hot topic on the Genealib listserv. I am not sure why since the release is still a long way off but I was completely amused by the countdown clock on the National Archive site. This post title links to the site.

* There is a new addition to the digitized newspapers section. North Carolina Archive has recently released several newspapers covering 1750-1890. The link has been added to the Online Newspapers information.

* The Dead Librarian is trying out Twitter so if you are twittering check it out. I am not sure what to do with it but I have been adding information about updates to the obituary index. It is a nice way to let users know right away what has been added.

* Finding and adding new links to the SC Online Indexes section is what this blog is all about and I added a new one for Greenville County Marriages. SC now has online marriage license indexes for Charleston, Greenville, Richland and Lexington. It will only get better!

Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research

2010-01-09T12:05:00.004-05:00

I am very excited to let you all know that I was recently awarded the Jean Thomason Scholarship to attend the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. The week long institute is at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. I elected to take the course "Researching African-American Ancestors: Slave & Reconstruction Era Records."

Hopefully, when I finish the course I will bring back to Columbia new research ideas that we can use to enhance family history research and research into lost African American neighborhoods in Columbia like Ward One.

The Ward One neighborhood was destroyed during the 1960's Urban Renewel projects.It is the area where we now find the Coliseum. However, many of the familes are still in the Columbia area. While there is a certain nostalia associated with the neighborhood there is also interest in the area for historians and family researchers. Dr. Donaldson at USC has been putting together research about the Ward One community.

My head is already swirling with some lower Richland County names that I will take with me. Many of my patrons are researching the deSaussure's and I am determined to write a paper about Dennis Watson whose property, I believe, the Reeder Point neighborhood was built on.

I hope that you will all look forward to my blog posts when I attend the institute in June.

Writing Your Family History

2010-01-02T12:54:00.007-05:00

We are going to try an experimental program at the library. Author and cultural historian Vennie Deas Moore will lead a series of six hands-on workshops beginning in January to assist patrons researching and writing their family history. I will follow Vennie's portion of each workshop with an examination of online resources. The classes are progressive so there will be monthly assignments and a portion of each session will be used to review assignments. The Local History Room, of course, will be available to assist researchers through out the month.

The sessions will be in the Local History Room so space will be limited to 20 participants taking part in the complete program. We can accept additional reservations for participants who would like to attend one or two classes but they will be asked to leave the table seats for full time researchers who may need to spread out their work.

January 25 Simple Facts About Genealogy
February 22 Genetics and DNA
March 22 Finding Your Family Through Land
April 26 Life Experiences Through Oral History
May 24 Capturing History Through Photography
June 28 Turning Memories Into Memoirs

Also, on March 6 I will be collaborating with the Columbia Chapter of SC Genealogical Society to present a Beginning Genealogy class at the library. This presentation will begin at 9:30 in the Bank of America Room at the Main Library.

Call 929-3457 for reservations. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions: dbloom@myrcpl.com

P.S. The Columbia Star published an article about the Dead Librarian. Click the post title if you would like to see it.

Not all SSDI's are the same

2009-12-19T10:48:00.006-05:00

Recently, the genealib listserv included a few posts about the Social Security Death Index at Genealogy Bank. I am pretty much an Ancestry SSDI user so I hadn't given much thought to the Genealogy Bank(GB) index. In fact I don't give much thought to that index at all. I just use it when I need it without any consideration of possible intricacies. But the genealib posts were so intriguing that I had to give it try and now I am hooked on it.

Of course it has the same data as any other SSDI but there are a few "value added" features that make it special. If you want to follow along, my search was for Emery Estep who died November 21, 2009 in SC (the SSDI link is attached to the post title). At a very basic level,the first thing you will notice is that he is in the index. Ancestry has a three month delay so Estep is not in there. Genealogy Bank updates more frequently.

I also like GB because it gives the day of the week that the death occured on. Most of our patrons appreciate that info. But my biggest happy face is that it gives an estimated age at death. Now I don't have to engage the computer calculator to subtract the year of birth from the year of death to get an age. Maybe some of you can do that in your head but my head doesn't work that well.

Users do not have to subscribe to GB to access their SSDI. For Richland County Public Library card holders, however, the GB SSDI is available in Newsbank. Newsbank is a newspaper subscription service available to library card holders. It is our archive to many SC newspaper, including The State, as well as, newspapers nationwide. It is great having the SSDI available in Newsbank. In the past I would open Ancestry and use the SSDI to locate dates of death. Then I would open Newsbank to locate an obituary. Now I can do it all in the one database.

While doing some research about searching the SSDI for this post I came across Stephen Morse's research on searching in the SSDI. The site has not been updated since 2002 but Morse wouldn't leave it up if it wasn't still current information. He has done some amazing research on the differences between the different SSDI search engines. He also provides a search engine that will search at the SSDI's at one time. Here is the link to the FAQ: http://stevemorse.org/ssdi/faqi.htm.

DAR online database and more newspapers

2009-11-23T08:56:00.004-05:00

The other day I received the message below from the genealib listserv about the new DAR database. The link is attached to the post title. I also received a comment about Georgetown County digitized newspapers ranging from the early 1800s until 1899: including the Winyah Observer, the Pee Dee Times, the True Republican, the South Carolinian, the Winyah Intelligencer, the Georgetown American and the Georgetown Union. The Georgetown County Library has certainly been a leader in SC for digitizing. I am going to add a section on digitized newspapers and include the link there.

"After nearly a decade of scanning, indexing, and other behind-the-scenes work by DAR members and employees, the Daughters of the American Revolution is pleased to announce the availability of the DAR Genealogical Research System on our public website. Here are the direct links:

http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm or www.dar.org (and click on the Library button at the top, then the second tab in the left-hand column).

The GRS is a growing collection of databases that provide access to many materials collected by the DAR over the past 119 years. Included in this collection of databases is the GRC National Index which has been available to researchers for the past few years. There are still some kinks we’re working out here and there.

When you go to the link above, you will find several tabs that will enable searching in the various databases:

Ancestor – established DAR Revolutionary War Ancestors and basic information about them with listings of the applications submitted by descendants who joined the DAR [updated daily]

Member – limited access to information on deceased/former DAR members – not current members.

Descendants – index of generations in applications between the DAR member and the Revolutionary War ancestor. There is much eighteenth and nineteenth-century information here. [ongoing indexing project]

GRC – everyname index to 20,000 typescript volumes (some still being indexed) of genealogical records such as cemeteries, Bibles, etc. This index is not limited to the period of the American Revolution at all.

Resources [In particular, the digitized DAR Library Revolutionary Pension Extract Card Index and the Analytical Index Cards. Other information sources will be coming in the near future, mostly relating to Revolutionary War service, bibliographies, Forgotten Patriots (updates), etc. Read the introductions to these to learn why these are both important genealogical indexes. For example, the Rev. War pension index includes the names of people mentioned in those pensions that were abstracted (not just the pensioner or widow)!!!!]

Library Catalog – our book, periodical, and manuscript holdings

Each of these has interrelated content, and a description of each is given more fully on the website. You will notice restricted information in many search results. This is the result of a concerted effort to protect the identity of our members while providing historical genealogical information to researchers.

The national numbers of members (without the names of living members) given in the search results are needed to order copies of applications and supplemental applications. They do not lead online researchers to any other information about the member.

Please pass this information on to your researchers.

Eric

Eric G. Grundset
Library Director
DAR Library
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
1776 D Street, N. W.
Washington, DC 20006-5303
egrundset@dar.org
202-879-3313"

Beaufort Public Library would like your input

2009-11-14T08:34:00.005-05:00

Beaufort Public Library and Spartanburg Public were the first libraries in SC to have online obituary indexes. They set the standard for public libraries to make more research available for genealogists. It was certainly the leadership from Beaufort that motivated the creation of the Obituary Portal hosted by the SC State Library.

Now Beaufort is improving the online access to their obituary portal and they are looking for constructive input about the BETA version. Grace Cordial is the Historical Resources Coordinator at BPL and she says:

"We’re testing a new way of doing our Online Obituary Index. The BETA version is hanging out on our old page: http://www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/htdocs-sirsi/bdc/newobits_xml.html. When you click on the BETA, you will find the dead people. (Please note: we’ve named the file http://beaufortcountylibrary.org/deadpeople.php on purpose!. I insisted). We’ll be soliciting reactions until February 1st. It would be very kind of you to post a note about this on your Dead Librarian blog so we can gather test data from outside our system. Comments can come directly to me."

The link for comments to Grace is listed right under the BETA link on the old page. Just click the post title and it will all become clear.

Digitization Czar?

2009-10-29T12:09:00.004-04:00

Last week, at a conference, I opined that SC should have a Digitization Czar. The idea was immediately and vocally dismissed. It was all in good humor but my point is serious. There are many SC digitization sites coming online in so many different places. We don't have any resource that keeps us up to date on new sites.

Recently, this became very clear to me when I visited the SC Military Museum in Columbia, SC. They have created a searchable database of the Official Roster of South Carolina Servicemen and Servicewomen - World War II. This five volume set includes the names, discharge dates, birthdates, hometown and awards of the 166119 South Carolinaians who served during WWII. Who would know that this valuable resource is online! I was very excited. The link is now on the "Other SC Resources" list.

The site also has digitized all the DOD News Releases during 1966-1969. These news releases provide nationwide casualties lists from the Vietnam War for those years. Granted we can probably get as much information from Ancestry or the Wall. But to see the original document, a primary resource, is a tingling experience.

In lieu of a Digitization Czar the Dead Librarian will continue to publish online resources for SC genealogical research. If the list gets too big I may have to consider a Dead Librarian web site. Can the dead move up in the world? LOL

A Digital Collection Celebrating the Founding of the Historically Black College and University.

2009-10-19T18:00:00.006-04:00

South Carolina State University recently created a new digital collection. The first collection features all the SCSU presidents and is housed on the Historical Black College and University's(HBCU)digital library. If I have counted correctly the are 20 participating HBCU's including Tuskegee, Fisk and Morehouse School of Medicine. This looks like a vaulable tool for African American research.

* Also, for African American research check the Freedmen Bank Records at the Family Search website. I found 6500 hits for South Carolina and 256 just for Columbia. The records are beautifully digitized. I am including the link to the right because we will be using this site alot.

Vote For Your Forty Favorite Blogs

2009-10-12T19:27:00.003-04:00

Thanks everyone for nominating my blog for the 40 best genealogy blogs. You gave me the opportunity to be included in the voting. Now it is time for the voting.

The Dead Librarian Blog is listed in the Local/Regional category. Let's get South Carolina Public Libraries some credit and vote: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/Article/40bestvoting

Voting takes place until November 5th. If you would like to look at the other sites nominated go to the Footnotemaven blog. She has the links listed: http://www.footnotemaven.com/
If you have time check on some of the other blogs. There are many with alot of good information.

You don't have to vote in every category.

Other news:

This weekend is the Descendants Reunion of Prior Property Owners of the Fort Jackson, SC Area

When: October 17th, 2009, Saturday
Time: 9:00 AM ‘till
Where: Post Conference Room, Ft. Jackson, SC
Lunch with the troops will be furnished for a small fee ($4.25), bring $5 bill or exact amount for lunch. They won’t be able to break large bills.

Directions From Forest Dr. Gate:

Enter the Forest Dr. gate and get in visitors’ check point on the right. Prepare to show drivers’ license and proof of insurance. Leave check point and go through first light turning right at the second light on Jackson Blvd. Go through first light and find the post conference room on the right. There are plenty parking spaces. You may park in the museum parking lot also.

Attendees are urged to bring old documents, family histories,stories passed down, and pictures to share with others. There are 26 cemeteries on the Ft. Jackson property. There will be a listing of these cemeteries and maps displaying the area prior to the fort being built.

Let me know if you need more information.

South Carolina Archives Month

2009-09-30T13:02:00.007-04:00

October is the big month for celebrating old stuff in South Carolina. The governor signed a proclamation declaring October South Carolina Archives Month(I checked...there isn't anything about Argentina in the proclamation). In celebration, a beautiful poster was designed for institutions to display.

The best part is that the poster PDF is available for anyone to download from the SC Archives Month web site (click the post title). The site has a calendar of statewide events and a word find game in addition to the poster. Fill out the on-site form to submit information about an historical program you know is happening in South Carolina.

This is a great time to look again at the links to the right to see if there is a site you haven't been to before and check it out. That will give the host institution one more hit to report for their October statistics!

In celebration of Archives Month I am passing on to you a new link. West Virginia Archives and History Library-The Cultural Center has an online database for West Virginia vital statistics. It looks very comprehensive. There has not been a public announcement about it so you have a brand new toy. It is not a South Carolina site but I think someone will find it useful.

The link is under the South Carolina links.

SC Digitized Newspapers

2009-09-25T12:01:00.005-04:00

Here is the final list of newspapers that will be digitized in this first round.

The first round of newspaper digitization will be completed by 2011. However, there will be bulk uploads before then as several items are completed. They will be featured on the Library of Congress site: Chronicling America. Detailed information about the project and a link to Chronicling America is in a previous post.

African-American Newspapers

Orangeburg Free Citizen
Missionary Record/ South Carolina Leader
Peoples Recorder/Southern Indicator
Charleston Advocate
Charleston Afro American Citizen
Charleston Free Press
Georgetown Planet
Rock Hill Messenger

Non African-American Newspapers

Charleston Daily News
Columbia Daily Phoenix (and all of its continuing titles)
Sumter Watchman, Watchman & Southron, Sumter Daily Item
Anderson Daily Intelligencer
Keowee Courier
Yorkville Enquirer
Edgefield Advertiser
Fairfield Herald, Tri-Weekly News, News and Herald
Laurens Advertiser
Orangeburg Times and Democrat
Pickens Sentinel, Pickens Sentinel-Journal, Pickens Sentinel
Greenville Mountaineer
Manning Times
Marlboro Democrat
Newberry Herald & News

The link attached to the title SC Digitized Newspapers goes to a Google map that shows where each title is located in South Carolina.

It is an exciting first step. Yes, there will be a second round of selections in the future.

"This and That" and BIG news from FPL

2009-09-06T12:07:00.006-04:00

Big News: Florence Public Library has recently put their obituary index back on line. The link has been added to the index list to the right. There hasn't been a formal announcement so you all are getting the first chance to use the new system.

You may e-mail the Zeigler South Carolina Room for the full text: scroom@florencelibrary.org

This and That: Genealogy blogging has become a pretty big online resource. If you have a favorite blog you can nominate it for Family Tree Magazine's Forty Best Genealogy Blogs.

Click "This and That" for the link.

Of course I would love to see this blog nominated. It would be so nice to see a South Carolina site on a "best of" list. Public libraries are doing an outstanding job with online resources. It would be great to them featured.

Chronicling America

2009-08-17T19:36:00.009-04:00

Last week we met to decide which early SC newspapers will be digitized in the first round of the SC Digital Newspapers project. This is just the first round and plans are already being made to apply for a second round so whatever papers don't get chosen this time will have another opportunity. They anticipate that 20 newspapers will be digitized in the first round.

At the meeting I learned more about the Chronicling America Project. The Library of Congress would like to digitize every newspaper that is in the public domain and is available on microfilm. While SC is new to the project other states have already digitized their first round selections. We are the only southern state in the project so far but you may want to go and check out the states that are available.

If you are interested in locating online newspapers check this site: http://www.vandeventer.net/main/page_services_newspapers.html. The author has lots of suggestions for locating online newspapers. Warning: It is not an easy process!

Cherokee ancestors

2009-07-25T15:54:00.002-04:00

At the SC Genelaogical conference there was an excellent session on Cherokee ancestor research. Paul Graham presented and he really provided alot of useful and sensible information that I am sharing with all of you.

In 1934 the federal government gave tribes the right to determine their own membership. This web site at the Department of the Interior provides contact information for recognized tribes. Researchers should contact the tribe for requirements: http://www.doi.gov/cheeroke.html

If the Cherokee ancestor chose to assimilate into white culture it will be extremely difficult to document that person. However, if you would like to check and see if an Indian ancestor had any relationship with the federal government there are a few sources to check.

During the period of Indian Removal beginning in 1831 extensive records were generated. These records relate to treaties, trade, land claims, removal to Oklahoma, allotments, military affairs, military service and pensions, trust funds, and other activities. Eastern Cherokee researchers should check the indexes for the Baker Rolls for these records. Western Cherokee should check the Dawes Rolls. The Miller Rolls and Henderson Rolls are also useful.

The indexes to these rolls are available at www.accessgenealogy.com. Footnote.com has digitized the Dawes Enrollment Cards and they also have records for the Cherokee Indian Agency 1801-1835. The full text of these rolls are also available through the National Archive: www.nara.gov.

African American Funeral Home programs

2009-07-16T16:39:00.003-04:00

Sorry to send a new post so soon but this site just went live and I am excited to see it. The East Central Georgia Regional Library has digitized their African American Funeral Home programs. A majority of the programs are from churches in Augusta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. There are many from South Carolina, also. I checked for James Hinton former SCNAACP president and there he was.

Any resource for A/A research is a welcome event. While the programs are digitized the site is not full text searchable. However, you can search by name of the deceased, city, and year. I guess I will have to read them all to see all the names that are available!

More digitized books

2009-07-15T12:33:00.002-04:00

Can it be that I haven't shared my new "toy" with you?!! I looked through the past posts (say that fast)and I don't see any mention of the digitized book project at the Family Search site. It really is neat. There are nearly 40,000 books digitized. It is a work in progress so everytime I go back the number is higher.

There are ten participating libraries including Houston's Clayton Library and, the ever famous, Allen County PL.

I like to work from the advanced search page. You can search the whole collection or chose one collection to start with. I searched all the 'family history" collections for "south carolina" and received lots of hits. You may also search by name but I was looking for a general view of what they had.

There were two in particular that I liked for my library. I downloaded and printed them. Now they are part of this collection. Sure patrons could look on-line for themselves but alot of people like to sit and look at a print copy...imagine that!

Genealogy Blogs and SC updates

2009-06-19T09:22:00.006-04:00

Genealogy blogs can be a great tool for keeping up to date with new materials, digitization and interesting news. There are a few that I check regularly.

Genealogy Books - http://www.genealogyandfamilyhistory.com: I like this site because, for whatever reason, genealogy books are not always reviewed in the main publications we use for collection development. I have to constantly check Ancestry Magazine, Everton's and other magazines to see what new publications are coming out. This site helps.

Genealogy Librarian - http://genlibrarian.blogspot.com/: Of course, I have to visit a site with librarian in the title. No matter what, we are public servants and it is helpful to see what our colleagues are doing but it is good for the general public to see what we are doing, also, so take a look at it.

Genealogy Reference-http://basicsofgenealogyreference.blogspot.com/: This site is from Jack Simpson, Curator of the Newberry Library in Chicago. It is a beautiful facility. I visited it during an American Library Association conference a few years ago. On a lark, I looked for information on some Illinois ancestors and I found a goldmine. There was a book I read, not too long ago, called the Time Travelor's Wife that took place in Newberry Library. It was a fun read, actually great for summertime reading.

NEW NEWS: The University of South Carolina was recently awarded a grant to digitize a selection of South Carolina newspapers from 1860-1922. Here is the link for the press release but i have also linked this post's title to it: http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=315.

Kate Boyd asked me about a year ago to be on the advisory board for this project. I am looking forward to having input on what gets digitized. So more information is on the virtual horizon. Hooray!

Online indexes clean-up

2009-06-04T10:29:00.005-04:00

The barometric pressure is going haywire and there is an 80% chance of rain today so it seemed a good day to do some blog house-cleaning. I went through all the online index links and checked their status. I did make some important changes that I want to share with everyone.

1. I deleted the online obituary index links for Florence and Horry Counties. I talked with Florence Public Library about their status. They told me that the index is down and they are not sure if or when it is going back up. The indexes are still available in-house. Contact them and they can still PDF an obit to you. The link for the SC Room is: http://www.florencelibrary.org/scroom.html. (Between you and I they also said that they will e-mail copies of SC death certificates at no charge.)
While I haven't heard anything officially from Horry County I heard from a patron that there is some sort of dispute over their obituary index. It has been offline for a long time and I am just removing it from the list. If and when I hear something concrete I will let you all know.

2. The links for Greenville have been updated to include their obituary index and news index. They are doing an awesome job with their indexing project.

There...it feels good to have a tidy little blog house.

National Genealogical Conference

2009-05-13T09:37:00.004-04:00

Good morning everyone. Here I am at the National Genealogical Conference in Raleigh, NC. Tuesday, Proquest (our vendor for Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest), sponsored a day long session for librarians (it was great...many thanks). Two of the sessions introduced brand new sites that were put together in time for this conference. I am getting them to you pronto so you can have a heads up. They are very new so expect some quirks.

The first site is a collaboration between the NC State Library and the NC State Archive. They have digitized 200+ family bibles. I believe they said that the first batch of bibles had to cover a span of at least 200 years so they should be awesome. It just went live Friday. Each record has a comment window and a window for tagging. They may be adding more bibles so keep checking back. http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/dimp/digital/ncfamilyrecords/about.html

Next, the North Carolina State University Library at Chapel Hill has digitized the 30 volumes of the NC Colonial State Records. This will be a great site for revolutionary war sources. It is still in the beta phase but they have it going and would appreciate your comments.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/

York County History Search

2009-04-28T08:40:00.002-04:00

A link has been added to a new obituary database from York County Library (Rock Hill area). They have also built a vertical file database that has digitized images. It very impressive and exciting to have a new online database. South Carolina public libraries are doing so much for genealogists. We add new content daily. We really don't get enough credit for being research institutions. We are about access not preservation and honestly, I think, we should the first stop for genealogists is South Carolina.

South Carolina Families Online

2009-04-27T18:43:00.004-04:00

Worrying about South Carolina Family Histories that are online have been a reoccuring problem for me. There is alot online and I can't keep it all in my head. I am resolved to do something about it so I have added a new section to this blog for online family histories. If you want to tell me one to add please do, otherwise, I will add them as I find them or as I remember to add them. :)

That is a simple fix. A much harder fix is to find a place for all the information that researchers are putting in databases on their computers. I personally know patrons with hundreds of thousands pieces of data on their computers. The chances of having these massive amounts of data published in print are slim. We need a website to store and search all these databases. Libraries seem to be unaware or like mine we are aware but don't have enough storage for these databases.

However, if the information is in excel we might be able to put them in our Community Resources database. Let me think (re:worry) about it somemore...

Researching Your Home

2009-04-08T15:57:00.003-04:00

This morning I spent an hour with at the Richland County Register of Deeds (ROD) office learning about the resources they have for patrons researching the history of their homes.

RCPL will have a program on this topic on May 14th so I wanted some background about other resources in the county for patrons.

The ROD is located in the Richland County Courthouse at 1701 Main St. They are right behind the security gates. They have a large facility with lots of microfilm machines. Deeds, mortgages, releases, plats, tax liens, and UCC filings are recorded at this office. If a patron is interested in finding out when additions or improvements were made to the property then they should go to the Hampton Street permit offices.

The first step in locating a deed is to have the Deed Book and Page number. There is a computer at the ROD that can access that information or patrons can go to the online Property Value & Tax Assessment Inquiry at www.richlandonline.com. Copy down the tax number also. That can be used to locate a deed if there is a snafu.

If a property owner has opted out of the online inquiry then a visit to the ROD is necessary. They can opt out of the online search but they can't opt out from having their information publicly available at ROD.

The next step is to locate the deed with the deed number. If the Deed Book/Page number starts with a "R" then the deed is on the computer. If the number starts with a "D" then the deed is on microfilm. With the address I was using I could see the first deed on the computer but the farther back I went the more likely the deed would be on microfilm.

The ROD is a public records office so they take customer service very seriously. They are there to assist. I was very impressed with their public service attitude.

Miscellaneous:
* Copies are fifty cents
* 11/11/1911 is a default date. It means they don't know when the property closed.
* ROD is currently digitizing deeds. They hope to have them available on their website by the end of the summer.
*RCPL Local History Room has tax records for Richland County. The tax records can tell when a house was built. There is cross referencing but if you have the tax number then it is one less hefty tome you have to lift.

Church Histories

2009-03-26T10:54:00.002-04:00

I want them! Do you live in South Carolina? Do you have a favorite South Carolina church? Please send me or e-mail me your churches history. It doesn't have to be a book. A text document is great.

We have many church histories in the Richland County Public Library Local History Room but I know there many we don't have. It would be wonderful to have as many as we can at our library. There is a lot of historical research taking place and SC churches play a big role in many areas.

Richland County Public Library
1043 Assembly St.
Columbia, SC 29201
attn: Local History

or: dbloom@myrcpl.com

Thanks!!!

South Carolina Book Festival

2009-02-20T14:51:00.003-05:00

The South Carolina Book Festival is February 28 and March 1st in Columbia. I hope some of you will be able to be at the panel I will be moderating on Saturday called Making History in Modern SC. from 11:20-12:10. Jack Bass is on my panel and I am very excited about that. He wrote the "bible" about the Orangeburg Massacre. Nick Eugene (When Conscience and Power Meet) and W. Scott Poole (Never Surrender) will round out the panel.

The SC Book Festival is a great opportunity to meet regional authors up close and personal. I have a great time every year. It is a great atmosphere.

Big News about SC Death Certificates

2009-01-08T16:01:00.003-05:00

Okay folks...I bet you thought I really was the Dead Librarian. I haven't posted in a while. There is lots to tell you but I have been very busy at work and the blog just kept getting lower and lower on my to-do list. My news today is too exciting to hold off. Ancestry now has the SC Death Certificates digitized.

It looks like they are all there. I did a search of Shealy's for all of South Carolina. All 500+ hits had a digital image.

The images must have been digitized from the originals because they are clear and as easy to read as penmanship allows.

Remember that if you are a card carrying member of the Richland County Public Library you can access Ancestry for free at any of the branches.

Play away.

Census information

2008-10-29T12:04:00.004-04:00

This morning I attended a workshop on using the U.S. census site. Although family historians use the census it is almost exclusively the historical census. There are a few items on today's census site that you may useful.

Under People & Households there is a link to their Genealogy Page. There isn't alot of info but there is a significant little tidbit. For $65.00 they will do an Age Search: that is, they will search the confidential records from the Federal population censuses of 1910 to 2000 and issue an official transcript of the results.

If you have a missing person and you are waiting every ten years for the next census to come out to see where they were this could be helpful.

Also, they have a gazetteer under Geography. It will list all the places in the census. Select a year and a state.

Even better are the Maps. I had an obit with the place name, Hilda, SC. I wondered where the town was located. Again, under Geography, click Maps; click related sites; click U.S. Gazetteer. At this point search for: Hilda, SC. Do you see the population stats? Now Browse a Tiger Map of the area. Redraw the map adding cities and you find that the little town of Hilda is near Barnwell, SC.

This is better than googling the town because I didn't have to click a zillion sites to find a map I could understand.

While you are on the census site, just for fun, look at the Facts For Features under Newsroom. It is fun, miscellaneous info. It will be amusing!!

abcgenealogy.com

2008-10-21T12:44:00.002-04:00

One of the advantages of using the Blogger program for this blog are the added value of google extras. One of those extras is the analytics program. It tells me how many hits I have, what country they come from and what web site referred this blog. So I know that in the last month I have had 17 hits from the Live Oak Public Library. It is really just intetresting minutiae but it amuses me.

Okay it does more than amuse me. It is also a learning tool. When I see a new referral site I go and check it out. One of the new referrel sites is the abcgenealogy.com site. It is a Cindy's List sort of site but it is organized in several different ways: alphabetically, subject, regionally, etc. It is much cleaner to look at and use. There are curently almost 13,000 links.

The abcgenealogy site also lets users rate a site without registration. Yippee!
If you decide to use the link above it goes to the page with the Dead Librarian site listed. Please consider giving me a rating and check out abcgenealogy while you are there.

Rootsweb Newsletter and Census Marriages

2008-10-13T17:39:00.002-04:00

Do you subcribe to the Rootsweb newsletter? I generally find it very interesting and it doesn't pop into my mailbax so often that it becomes annoying. The last newsletter had some clear and concise information about marriage information in census records. I used it right away to determine that someone we were looking up had two wives (at different times, thank-you very much!). It was quite enlightening. Here is the excerpt from the October 8, 2008 issue:

Marital Status or Civil Condition
Early on, newlyweds were the only ones whose length of marriage was recorded, and the only year the month of marriage was asked was 1870. By 1880, divorces, widowhood, and single status were included.

From 1900–1910, the number of years a couple had been married was enumerated, but in 1920 this was eliminated. Strangely, in 1930, the enumerator determined the age when a person had first married.

That's quite a different issue, and it didn't matter if one was on a second or third marriage—the enumerator just recorded the age at first marriage. So what was the point? From a demographic standpoint, as more women worked or attended college, they were less likely to marry high school sweethearts! Luckily some records show M1 or M2, indicating first or second marriage.

Information enumerated, by census year and column number:

1850 and 1860. Columns 10 and 11, respectively: Whether married within the year
1870. Column14: If married within the year, the month (Jan., etc.)
1880. Column 9: Civil Condition Single; Column 10: Civil Condition Married; Column 11: Civil Condition Widowed, Divorced; Column 12: Whether married during the census year
1890. Column 7: Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced; Column 8: Whether married during the census year (June 1, 1889, to May 31, 1890)
1900. Column 9: Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced; Column 10: Number of years of present marriage
1910. Column 8: Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced; Column 9: Number of years of present marriage
1920. Column 12: Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced
1930. Column 14: Marital condition; Column 15: Age at first marriage
Military
Some abbreviations you will see relating to military information include "UN" for Union Navy; "UA" for Union Army; "CA" for Confederate Army; "CN" for Confederate Navy; "CW" for Civil War; "SP" for Spanish American War; and "WW" for World War I.

In 1910, column 30 recorded whether someone was a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy. In 1920, the question wasn't posed, but in 1930, column 30 noted veterans of the U.S. military or naval forces mobilized for any war or expedition (with a Y or N), and column 31 indicated the war/expedition. Interestingly, a number of Civil War veterans survived, along with veterans of the Spanish American War and the Great War.

In addition, in 1890 a special census was enumerated to assist with pension requests granted to veterans or widows. Only those with disabilities were eligible, and it didn't include confederates. Much of this special census schedule is missing—only records from Kentucky and Wyoming remain. However, if you are lucky enough to have an ancestor recorded, there are a number of important items included.

Information enumerated, by column number:

Columns 1 and 2: The house and family number
Column 3: Name of surviving soldiers, marines, and widows
Columns 4 and 5: Rank and Company
Column 6: Name of regiment or vessel
Columns 7 and 8: Date of enlistment and discharge
Column 9: Length of service
Column 10: Post office address
Column 11: Disability incurred
Citizenship and Naturalization
Over the decades, questions were expanded from place of birth to information about parents and native languages.

Information enumerated, by census year and column number:

1850. Column 9: Place of birth, naming the state, territory, or country
1860. Column 10: Place of birth, naming the state, territory, or country
1870. Column 10: Place of birth, naming the state, territory, or country; Columns 11 and 12: Parentage of father and mother of the foreign born; Column 19: Constitutional Relations—Male citizens of U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards; Column 20: Male citizens of U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards where right to vote is denied on other grounds than rebellion or other crimes
1880. No related information enumerated
1890. Column 33: Number of years in the U.S.; Column 14: Whether naturalized; Column 15: Whether naturalization papers have been taken out
1900. Column 13: Place of birth of this person; Column 14: Father; Column 15: Mother; Column 16: Year of immigration to the U.S.; Column 17: Number of years in the U.S.; Column 18: Naturalization
1910. Same as 1900, but recorded on Columns 12 through14; Column 15: Year of immigration to the U.S.; Column 16: Whether naturalized or alien
1920. Column 13: Year of immigration to the United States; Column 14: Naturalized or alien; Column 15: If naturalized, year of naturalization; Columns 19 and 20: Place of birth/mother tongue of person; Columns 21 through 24: Father and mother
1930. Columns 18 through 20: Place of birth of person, father, and mother; Column 21: Language spoken in home before coming to the United States; Column 22: Year of immigration to the U.S.; Column 23: Naturalized or alien; Column 24: Whether able to speak English
In addition, census records often report addresses, literacy, occupations, and property values. Each decade was different, so do your research carefully.

I recommend RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees Number 9, which details the index system, official dates of enumeration, and pitfalls in interpreting and locating data.

Finding Obituaries at RCPL - part II

2008-10-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

Part I covered finding obituaries from 1962 to the present using Social Secutiry Death Index and Newsbank. This entry will look at finding death dates that occurred prior to 1962.

We have two great resources for deaths prior to 1962. The first is the South Carolina Death Index (SCDI). Currently death certificates are published from 1915-1957. There is a 50 year delay for public accessibilty of death certificates so 1958 will be added to the index in January.

The SCDI is available for public use from DHEC. It has an awkward piece of software that must be downloaded to view the pages of the index. However, Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) has a lovely search engine.

That can be accessed by clicking the Search tab in Ancestry and then clicking South Carolina and then South Carolina Death Index. SCDI is very helpful for African American researchers because it has a non-white search field.

Ancestry and DHEC just have the index. The complete certificate can only be accessed at the SC State Archive (if the patron is calling from out of state they would contact DHEC for the complete certificate).

Remember that just because a death date is located in SCDI it doesn't mean that The State published an obituary. To find an obituary the patron would have to look through the obituary indexes. They will be the focus of the next post.

Finding obituaries part 1

2008-09-10T15:33:00.003-04:00

One of the difficulties I have in the Local History Room is having librarians and staff who work in the room and are unfamiliar with the resources we have at RCPL for genealogy. Individual training is very time consuming and class training is a scheduling nightmare so I am trying to use an intranet blog via Sharepoint to introduce the staff to strategies and use of databases for family history research. I thought you all might be interested in what I telling them. Just remember that I am focusing on RCPL databases so there is other stuff out there but I am not covering that. Below is the first post.

The Periodicals Department is the official public depository for The State newspaper. When The State newspaper is contacted about an obituary or an archived article their policy is to send the request to RCPL. They only handle requests for original photographs.

Perhaps the most common request for archived material from The State is for obituaries. Obituaries are very popular with family historians because they often contain information about parents and survivors.

We have many tools to help patrons find out if the obituary they are looking for has been published in The State. Different tools are used depending on the date of death. So the most important fact needed to locate an obituary is the date of death. Sometimes a patron doesn't know. You can make a stab with just a guesstimate. (Sometimes I ask them if they think the death was before JFK died or after).

If the death occurred from 1962 to present look in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Social Security began in 1939 and there are deaths in the online index from 1939; however, they are few and far between. We have better tools for dates prior to 1962 that we will go over in future posts. The Social Security computerized system began in 1962 so it more reliable from 1962 to present.

Not everyone is included in the SSDI. Many federal employees do not pay into SS. Young people who do not have dependents will not be in the list. Sometimes someone who is elderly and has no benficiaries may not be on the list.

There are many free sites for the SSDI but I like the one in Ancestry. Ancestry is a paid subscription database and is only available to RCPL patrons in-house through Research Tools. Here is my method for getting to the South Carolina resources in Ancestry: 1. once you are in the database click the search tab. 2. Under Browse by location click SC on the map or click the text for South Carolina . Social Security is listed in SC Top databases.

Try searching for someone you know who has died in the last 40 years. If the name is unusual just plug in the name. If you get too many hits try adding information to one field at a time.

Many times SSDI will only provide a month and a year. If the death occured between 1962 and 1997 (approximately)the patron will have to browse through the obituary indexes located in Periodicals to find the exact date of the obituary. The indexing is a work in progress but, I think, we have enough indexed or alphabetized that browsing through a month of death lists will be quick. (I will go through all of the indexing in future posts).

Once they have located the name in the obituary indexes the obit can be located on microfilm.

If the death was after 1997 then work with Newsbank. It has obituary death lists from 1997 to present and the full text of an obituary from 1998 to present (we will go over Newsbank later, also). If the full text is not in Newsbank then the obit can be found on microfilm.

In SSDI, look for the death date of Silas Weaver who died in Columbia. Where would you send a patron to look for his obituary date? Hint-there are two answers. You only have enough info in this post for one answer but put on your thinking caps and see if you can figure out the other answer.

Looking for obituaries is not just for the genealogist. Often patrons need an obit for legal purposes. Sometimes we can use an obituary to help us locate an article in a time period that is not indexed by Newsbank.

One last thing, the SSDI is just an index. The original form that the individual filled out is available for a fee. That form includes the name of the decease's parents. The SSDI at Rootsweb will automatically generate a letter that can be sent to Social Security with a check, of course. I will add the rootsweb SSDI web address to the links section of LH.

South Carolina Department of Archives and History

2008-08-24T15:24:00.002-04:00

Somewhere along the way I have neglected to promote the digitized materials on the State Archives web site. For genealogists the best resources they have are the Confederate Pensions and the South Carolina County Will Transcripts from 1782-1855. Everything is indexed and digitized. The images that I checked were crisp and easy to read.
The images of the Criminal Court records from 1769-1891 are great reading. The early ones all say the "king vs. so and so". very cool!
The link on the title goes directly to the indexes but I will keep one on my list to the right.

Carrie Allen McCray Nickens

2008-08-01T14:12:00.005-04:00

Freedom's Child: The Life of a Confederate Generals Black Daughter is the story of Carrie Nickens' mother. Carrie's grandfather was a white confederate general who acknowledged his african american daughter. The book is also a tribute to the author's mother who was a leader in the NAACP and her fight against lynching. It is a wonderful example of what we all wish we could write for our own family history's. However, most of us our not as talented as Carrie who didn't begin writing until her 70's.

My claim to fame with Ms. McCray (she didn't marry Mr. Nickens until last November when she was 83!)started when she came to my book club meeting as a visiting author. As the "resident" librarian it was my job to round up an author to visit once a year and discuss their book. When I picked up Carrie, at her apartment near Harbison, I had the pleasure to meet her sister Rose who had a busy presence in the book. Carrie, however, became very dear to me as role model and life achiever.

Carrie passed away this week and all of her admirers feel the loss. It is the first time someone of some local prominence has died on my watch as the Walker Local History Room Manager. It has been sad but uplifting to pour through the events of her life and decide what to keep in our files. Which brings me, in a long way, to the purpose of this post.

The State newspaper had strong coverage about Carrie's passing, however, some of it was online. The online stuff is what has been worrying me. We are so busy clipping articles for the vertical file that we are forgetting that there are important items on corporate web sites that are not being indexed or fed to online databases. The online obituary Guest List for Carrie had a note from famed poet Nikky Finney. As of August 27th, 2008 that record will completely disappear from the web site. I did print it for our vertical files but what else am I missing? (I put a link to the guest book in the title. Just click Carrie's name)

It is about 9:00 and the library is about to open so I have to end here but I have more to say about this. It is a problem that is popping up more and more.

SC Gen workshop

2008-07-24T10:18:00.004-04:00

The workshop was July 11 and 12. I was surprised by how many of my Local History Room colleagues were there. Greenville, Laurens County, Florence and Edgefield were represented.

The session on SC Plats was very educationa. I am trying to make the plats a useful tool since we have the Columbia district on microfilm at RCPL. The State Arhive has the index online so they are much easier to use.

The workshop on African American research gave me a new tip. When searching through the Freedman's Bank records don't forget Augusta, GA. The only areas in SC are Beaufort and Charleston but for our upstate and midlands area Augusta makes perfect sense. I just never thought of it. That tip will definitely find its' way to my next workshop. Which, BTW, is October 4th at the Northeast Branch.

Columbia Closings

2008-07-10T11:45:00.002-04:00

A colleague pointed out a blog to me about business closings in Columbia. The author posts pictures he has of businesses that no longer exist and visitors have the opportunity to comment on those pictures.

The Library of Congress does something similar on Flickr. They are posting pictures from their collection. Flickr visitors then have the opportunity to provide comments on the pics. The LOC has identified many people in the pictures from information provided by the comments.

It is such a unique way to make technology connect us with the past and to keep the past alive for the future. Too bad there wasn't something like a blog in 1910 or 1957 or anytime that we are looking for information about.

New Exhibit

2008-06-20T10:21:00.002-04:00

We have put up a new exhibit in the Local History Room called: Hail To The Chief: Columbia's presidential Visits 1791-1938.

The exhibit takes a look at visits from Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, McKinley, Taft, Wilson and FDR to Columbia. Images were scanned from The State and from our Bicentennial Photograph Collection.

Did you know that the difference between a display and an exhibit is that an exhibit teaches you something? I just learned that at one of our South Carolina Archival Association conferences. The next conference is October 8th in case you want to mark your calendars.

South Carolina Genealogical Workshop

2008-06-15T14:05:00.003-04:00

The South Carolina Genealogical Society will be hosting their 2008 workshop July 11 and July 12 at the SC State Archive in Columbia, SC. The link for their web site is listed above. This year I am looking forward to the sessions: Understanding old plats and Newspapers: A pot of gold. See the web site for other sessions.

This workshop is also a great opportunity to see what new publications are available. There are always lots of booths from the state chapters of the organization with their family history books.

Look for me on Friday and Saturday this year.

My news

2008-06-07T16:32:00.002-04:00

Many of my colleagues RSS this blog so I thought I would announce my new position so everyone can share in the good news. I have been promoted to Local History Manager at the Richland County Public Library. The start date will be June 30th and I am, of course, very excited. Alot of my work in Periodicals has "cross referenced" with Local History so I think it will be a good fit.

History and genealogy work very well with technology and I hope I will be able to bring some of the 2.0 stuff to our Local History Room. The blog will continue as usual and long live the Dead Librarian.

New books

2008-05-27T14:10:00.002-04:00

A couple of new books have become available at the Palmetto Roots web site. One is a survey of the Lybrand and Gibson cemeteries in West Columbia, SC. The other one is Abstracts from the Columbia Register newspaper January 1878-December 1885. Both are by Mark Lynne. The Columbia Register abstracts compliments the John Glass book edited by Brent Holcomb. The Record of Deaths covers the years 1859-1877. Most of the obits found in the Glass book can be found in the Columbia Register. I very excited about this book. Indexes are wonderful.

The Columbia Chapter of the SC Genealogical Society has also published a new volume of their cemetery surveys for Lower Richland. I don't see it on their web site but I know it is out: http://www.columbia.scgen.org/

Digitized newspapers

2008-05-04T14:31:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I answered a patron request for more information about Beaufort newspapers online. Of course, I directed her to this blog where there is a link to the Beaufort Public Libray's index to the Beaufort Gazette and the index to the Press and Standard, Walterboro's paper. However, I recently discovered that the University of South Carolina has digitized a Port Royal newspaper called the New South. These 67 issues cover the years March 1862-1866 and are searchable.

With more and more newspapers being digitized it is good to remember to check the digital collections at local universities. These are usually the institutions that currently are conducting the majority of digitization projects. Take the time to check the university in your area to see what projects they are working on.

I will provide the link to the New South newspaper on my lists of links.

Ordering obit etiquette

2008-04-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

It is easy to tell just by the popularity of this blog that many family historians are interested in researching online. Even in South Carolina many of our public libraries have invested time and money in preparing online obituary indexes. Just look at the list the Dead Librarian has compiled - it is impressive. However, this is a relatively new way of doing research and I am noticing a lot of common mistakes people are making when ordering the full text of obituaries. Here are some ways to ensure your obituary request will be completed:

1. Read the guidelines carefully and follow them. Many libraries limit the number of obits you can request. Some libraries prefer requests by mail, some by e-mail. Some charge, some do not.
2.Include the whole citation when making a request. If the person answering a request has to go back and look up page numbers it will take longer to fill the request.
3.DO NOT send in another request until the previous requests have been completed. This is a big problem. It confuses us into thinking we have already completed that request and it will get deleted.
4.A thanks is great. That way we know the obit was received.

Obituary digitization

2008-04-09T08:02:00.003-04:00

Recently, at the Richland County Public Library, we have started to digitize the obituaries found on our online obituary index. We are starting with obituaries, from The State newspaper, of soldiers who died while in service during WWI. We chose the WWI obits for a couple of reasons. First, they are in the public domain. Secondly, we liked the idea of working with a finite collection. Obituaries never end but a collection of these obits will have a beginning and an end. Once we see how the process works we can expand the project.

The other consideration we had was storage. Our Tech Services Manager did not want the library to be in the storage business for the large jpeg files that these images create. He had the idea to put our obit images on Flickr. We were relunctant, at first. However, it turned out to be a brilliant idea.

To take a look at the project go to Flickr and search for "Archie DeShields". It will take you to his obituary and the entire WWI obituary set that we have completed so far. We would love to hear what you think about the project.

South Carolina Archival Association Spring Workshop

2008-03-28T16:16:00.003-04:00

October 2008 will be designated South Carolina Archives Month and now is the time to start planning for this event. The South Carolina Archival Association (SCAA) will be hosting its' spring workshop on April 8th and the theme is planning for archive month. This workshop is always a great opportunity to network with the South Carolina's historical professionals. For more information on the spring conference follow the link I have included.

South Carolina Historical Newspapers

2008-03-11T17:25:00.002-04:00

Richland County Public Library has recently acquired a new database that will be too much fun for our local genealogists. It is from Newsbank. You may also know it as Genealogy Bank. Our library purchased the entire South Carolina collection which includes lots of newspapers from Charleston. The big deal for us, in Columbia, is the digitization of The State newspaper from 1891-1922. The full text is available to Richland County Library card holders. It is also available from home. If you do not have a Richland County Library card you might want consider purchasing one for $65.00 a year. It is well worth it for all the genealogy databases we have been acquiring.

igoogle

2008-03-01T10:35:00.002-05:00

Okay, so this may be an unusual post for a genealogy blog but I love igoogle so much that I have to give it a plug. igoogle allows me to have a personal homepage through google. The site provides tabs for the diffent applications that I want to use. I have a personal tab, a book tab and a genealogy tab. Each site has different applications or gadgets based on the subject of the tab that can be added to the page. It is very similar to facebook. According to Wikipedia: "Desktop gadgets are interactive mini-applications that can be placed anywhere on the user's desktop – or docked in the Sidebar – to show new email, weather, photos, and personalized news." So my personal tab includes applications to my gmail account, running calculators , favorite tv show applications, and wikipedia. My genealogy tab has gadgets to Ancestry, Library of Congress, Eastman's Newsletter, and several others. It is one stop shopping for all the sites that I visit and use.

Palmetto Leader

2008-01-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

Let's talk a little about the Palmetto Leader. This was a Columbia, SC African American newspaper that published from 1925-1966. The paper published news from all around South Carolina and is a good resource for death information.
Generally the death information is little more than a notice of death (Cochran obit)
For more prominent members of black society there were in-depth obituaries (Rev. Bythewood).
Death information also chronicled the migration of blacks to the north as seen in the Ferguson obit.
At Richland County Public Library we are indexing any deaths that are published in this paper. We have completed 1925-1930. The link to this database is listed to the right.
There is an excellent article written about the Palmetto Leader in the October 2006 South Carolina Historical Magazine by Kerstyn M. Haram (volume 107 number 4).

New full-text items

2008-01-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

The Georgia Archives is digitizing death certificate images. Currently available are 1919-1927. It is very nice. http://content.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/gadeaths.php

The New York Times has also opened up their digital vault. Articles are available for free from 1851-1922 and 1987-present. These are PDF's so they look just like the original paper. www.nytimes.com

The Everton's Genealogical editor had an interesting observation in January/February 2008. With so much material being digitized family historians are able to do more and more original research online. I agree whole heartedly! It is very convenient but I sure will miss the surly courthouse employees!

Holidays

2007-12-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

Please have a peaceful and safe holiday everyone. My New Years resolution is to keep the blog up to date with lots of new South Carolina family history information. I am very excited about some of the new indexing projects that are taking place in South Carolina. Pickens and Lexington County Public Libraries are starting new projects. I can tell by all the hits to this blog that there is interest in SC online indexes and genealogy in general.

Thanks so much for all your support!

South Carolina Obituary Resources Page

2007-12-12T14:03:00.001-05:00

Curtis Rogers interviewed me to discuss the new Obituary Resource page sponsored by the State Library.

Adding new records

2007-12-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

We added 1923 and 1960-1963 obituary citations to the our obituary index at Richard County Public Library. That came to 27,000 records! Amazing! The link to that index is on the right.

Genealogy Workshop

2007-11-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

On April 5, 2008 I will be repeating the Family History workshops from 9:30-12:00. This will be one session and will repeat two of the workshops I presented in October 2007.
They are:
1. Black and White and read all over: Using City Directories and Newspapers for research.
2. Online with MYRCPL: Online indexes and RCPL Databases.

Class size is limited call 929-3405 for reservations. Thanks!

Lexington County Online Indexes

2007-11-03T17:08:00.000-04:00

It is very exciting news when a county adds marriage and probate information to their web site. It is even more exciting when it is Lexington County. I just received an e-mail from one of my fellow researchers that the indexes are now available.

The marriage index covers 1911-1987 and is for men and women. The probate index covers 1865-1994 and gives a date but I am not sure if it is a date of death or the date the probate was filed. Either way it will still be helpful. If you know please let us know.

Don't forget that Richland County and Charleston County have similar records online. I will add the links to the list on this blog.

Carolinina and the State Archives visit RCPL

2007-10-17T19:10:00.000-04:00

On October 25th Robin Copp from the Caroliniana and Steve Tuttle from the State Archive will be speaking at the Main Library from 3-4 about the genealogical resources they have at their facilities. They will be demonstrating some of the online features that are available. The program will be in the auditorium so there were be plenty of room to bring a friend. See ya there, Debbie

1923, Benedict Allen football and the DAR

2007-10-01T12:56:00.000-04:00

Richland County Public Library recently added 1923 to the Online Obituary Index to The State. It can be accessed through the link to the right or by going to the library's web site: www.myrcpl.com. Click the catalog link and then the Community Resources tab.

The new exhibit in the library's Local History Room is about Benedict-Allen State Fair classic football games from 1924-1938. It looks great. I hope some of you will check it out.

Bonnie Glasgow came to visit the library today. She is the State Regent for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, South Carolina Society. It was a pleasure to meet her and a pleasure to learn some new things from her. Sharing
information always makes my day.

City Directories

2007-09-10T14:01:00.000-04:00

City Directories are a great tool for genealogical information. We use them all the time to locate someone at a place and time. At the SEptember 9 meeting of the Columbia Genealogy meeting I learned about two new resoureces for Columbia City Ditectories.

Frances Osburn shared with me that the 1859 Columbia City Directory is online at: http://distantcousin.com/Directories/SC/Columbia/1859/A.html

The speaker at the meeting was Warner Montgomery from the Columbia Star. His presentation was about the founding of Columbia. He shared with us the information he transcribed from a book called Random Recollections of a long life: 1806-1876 by Edwin Scott. Scott kept a journal of business and residences in Columbia circa 1812. It is very interesting and a great tool to add to Columbia's City Directories collection. Available to check out at the Richland County Public Library.

Sciway newsletter

2007-08-10T09:39:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Sciway for listing this blog in their newsletter.

I don't have any new news about South Carolina obituaries. There are alot of projects in the works at various libraries and The State library is going to support a web portal with South Carolina obituary searching information. I am working with Dennis Adams and Grace Cordial on that project. I really think it will be up by the end of the year. We have just about completed the info gathering stage.

Your Family History at My RCPL

2007-07-09T17:03:00.000-04:00

Looking for new resources for your family history research? Your RCPL is offering a series of family history research workshops for adults using resources in the RCPL print, microfilm and online collections.

October 4 – Black and White and read all over: Using City Directories and Newspapers for research.
October 18 – Online with MYRCPL: Online indexes and RCPL Databases.
October 25 - Speaking of guests…: Robin Copp from USC’s Caroliniana Library and Steve Tuttle from the South Carolina State Archive will share information about genealogical resources at their facilities.

Thursdays from 3:00-4:00 in the Training Room. Space is limited. Call for reservations: 929-3457.

Ancestry Library Edition - ALE

2007-07-05T14:55:00.000-04:00

Many of you may still be reeling from the news that Ancestry is not providing the Family History Center's with free access to the Ancestry databases.

However, I'm sure, you all know that you have free access to to all the information on Ancestry if you have a Richland County Library card. It is not available remotely but you can access it at any RCPL branch with your library card number.

Other library systems may offer the same access. I know that the Kershaw County Library has Ancestry. Anyone know of other South Carolina libraries that offer this database to their patrons?

RCPL also has HeritageQuest which is available remotely. See our web site www.myrcpl.com