Happy First Birthday, Genealogy Roots Blog!

I've been doing this crazy genealogy blogging thing for a year now. I started this blog a year ago today. The original idea was to list updates to my various directories of online genealogy records. But then I started adding all sorts of unexpected things. And I made some new online friends from this.

So the Genealogy Roots Blog is now a toddler, just learning to walk...

I hope you've found some helpful genealogy sources from reading this blog. And thanks for stopping by.

Newly Added Online Military Records Indexes

Links to the items listed below were recently added to the Directory of Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Revolutionary War
- Sons of the American Revolution - Revolutionary War Patriots Index and Graves Registry
- List of 8000 Prisoners on the Old Jersey Prison Ship
- Georgia: List of Loyalists Banished from Georgia - 1783
- New Jersey: Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War
- New York: Index to New York Revolutionary War Invalid Pension Records 1801-1815
- New York Revolutionary War Pension Lists of 1792-1795

Mexican War
- Pennsylvania Soldiers in the War with Mexico, 1846-1847

Civil War
- Kentucky: Records of Death and Interment at Camp Nelson, KY, 1864-1865
- Michigan Civil War Principals and Substitutes Index
- Mississippi: Beauvoir Soldiers Home Veterans
- Missouri: Index to Descriptive Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri, 1863-1865
- Pennsylvania Civil War Era Newspapers - Digitized and Searchable - a project of Penn State University

World War One
- Colorado: Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado

World War Two
World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, Data File (AAD)

American Merchant Marine Databases:
- Names of WWII Merchant Marine Killed
- Names & Fates of WWII Merchant Marine POWs
- Names of U.S. Naval Armed Guard Killed and Wounded

Vietnam War
- Names of Vietnam War Merchant Marine Killed

Illinois Genealogy: the Musical - Well, Sorta

Come on Feel the Illinoise!
Some thoughts on the great state of Illinois, having Illinois ancestors and an album called Illinois (this is actually a wacky CD review with a bit about genealogy - yeah, sneaky, I know)...

In 2005 a rather obscure musician/songwriter named Sufjan Stevens released an album called Illinois that is slowly making its way toward underground classic status. Apparently Mr. Stevens would like to make 50 such albums, one for each state, but he has quite a ways to go. In 2003 he released one for Michigan. And now just 48 states remain between him and immortality.

The first song on the Illinois album is called "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois." And now you know that Highland is the Roswell of Illinois. My great great grandparents, Frank and Mary Appel, came (separately) from Germany and settled in Highland, Illinois in the middle of the 19th Century. Frank was briefly on the first Highland city council, but he didn't like it that pigs were roaming around everywhere, so he and the other councilmen passed a law banning livestock from the city limits. The local farmers didn't like this at all and Frank was not re-elected to the city council - he received a mere 6 votes in the election. Let this be a lesson to all you politicians out there who do stupid things. Instead he opened a saloon, which was probably frequented by space aliens and drunken pigs.

My favorite song on the Illinois CD is "Chicago" which is about the city where my brother was born. Ok, he was actually born in Cook County, in a place called Des Plaines, which is also where Ray Kroc started building his McDonald's restaurant chain.

The best thing about the album really, aside from all the melancholy songs and quirky arrangements, is the weird song titles. Here's one: "They are Night Zombies!! They are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!" That's really one of the titles. It's an Illinois thing. You'll understand if you once lived there or live there now. Or if you have saloon-keeping great great grandfathers from Highland, Illinois, who were not liked by zombie pig farmers.

And if you're going to rhyme "Decatur" with "alligator" like Mr. Stevens does, well, I'm going to think you're cool. And I'm going to write a non-sensical genealogy blog post that has nothing to do with genealogy, but actually kinda does...

-former Cook County resident, Joe B.

You might be interested in...

• Online Illinois Death Records, Indexes, Obituaries and Cemetery Burials


• Illinois State Archives Online Genealogy Databases


• Illinois CD by Sufjan Stevens

Canadian Border Crossing Records Now Online

Ancestry has added a database of Canadian border crossing records from 1895-1956 to their collection of online genealogy records. (Note that these records are not available prior to 1895.) Sometimes you may find that your immigrant ancestor arrived by ship at a Canadian port and then later crossed over from Canada into the USA at a land port - you might find their arrival details in these records. You can also find U.S. and Canadian citizens who crossed over the border. More than 100 land ports of entry are included in Ancestry's database.

For more details see the Canada Border Crossings section at U.S. Ports of Arrival and their Available Passenger Records

Iowa State Census Records Collection Now Online

Ancestry has launched a collection of indexed and digitized state census records for Iowa. These are censuses that were taken between the federal census years. Coverage in this collection varies by county and year as some records have not survived and some censuses were only taken for specific counties. But the collection does include all counties for 1885, 1905, 1915 and 1925. See the Iowa section at:

Genealogy Research Guide - State Census Records

The 1925 Iowa census, included in Ancestry's collection, asked for the names, ages and birthplaces (state) of the parents of each person, including mother's maiden names. It also asked for the place of marriage for the parents.

Newly Added Online Death Indexes

The links listed below were recently added to the Directory of Online Death Records and Indexes

Arkansas
- Benton County Cemeteries - Index of Burials

Connecticut
- Connecticut Jewish Ledger Obituary Database 1975-2002 (not complete)

Florida
- Broward County, Florida Cemetery Records - ongoing project
- Collier County: Naples Daily News Obituary Index 1927-1936 & 1947-2005

Georgia
- Quitman County Deaths 1919-1930
- Seminole County Death Index 1923-1931 & 1942
- Stewart County Deaths 1919-1930
- Terrell County Deaths 1919-1930
- Twiggs County Deaths 1919-1930

Illinois
- Winnebago County Cemeteries

Indiana
- Jay County, Indiana Cemeteries

Iowa
- Jones County Death Register 1880-1897, and Cemetery Records

Massachusetts
- Middlesex County: Gravemarker Data from the South (Main Street) Burying Ground and the Old Hill Burying Ground, Concord, Mass

Minnesota
- Scott County: Calvary Cemetery Burials, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Jordan, MN

Missouri
- Missouri Death Certificates Index 1910-1956 (udpated: 1956 added to index; more images added)
- St. Louis: Westliche Post Obituaries Index 1880-June 1881 (St. Louis German-language newspaper)

New York
- new webpage introduced for New York City Death Records

- Allegany County Cemeteries
- Orange County: Middletown Thrall Library Obituary Database, Jan. 1983-March 1988
- Schenectady County: Indexes to Vital Records in Newspapers of Schenectady County and the Capital District Area (for assorted years)

Ohio
- Lorain County Cemeteries
- Toledo-Lucas County Public Library - Blade Obituaries Index 1990-present

Tennessee
- Tennessee Death Index for 3 Counties - Jackson County 1914-1946, Putnam County 1908-1946 (except 1913), White County 1926-1946

Texas
- Harris County: Houston Jewish Herald-Voice Database 1908-1992 (updated: 1933-1992 added)

Virginia
- Assorted Virginia Cemeteries -- includes burial databases for some cemeteries in: Augusta County, Bath County, Fairfax County, Highland County, Rockbridge County, and Rockingham County