Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Country Genealogy

Just a bit of humor on a rainy day.






J

Sunday, April 20, 2008

New Jersey Genealogy Links

Many New Jersey Libraries and Historical Societies provide links to both local and general links of valuable to family tree researchers.

I'm providing a few of them here.

New Jersey State Library: Genealogy & Local History Collection

Rutgers University, John Cotton Dana Library: Genealogy

Burlington County Library System - Genealogy Links

Internet Public Library: Genealogy

Monday, March 3, 2008

Historic & Genealogy Society Libraries a Must-Visit


In these days of high-tech research, amateur genealogists sometimes neglect to use one of their most valuable resources -- the library. This includes both the local facility, and also the libraries that are often available in conjunction with a historic or genealogical society.

In most cases, where the ancestor you are seeking lived, is where you should be locating the nearest historical society. Many of these small libraries are just now creating web sites in order to promote their valuable archives. Most do not have their data online.

If their web site has an email address, try writing to see if they will perform research for you. Some charge up front by the hour, and others offer it freely (one historical society send me a huge packet of information on my family, free of charge. Of course I sent them a donation that more than adequately covered the postage).

A Google search, or a USGenWeb site should help you locate these facilities.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Got Library Card and Home Computer?

If you are a New Jersey resident with a local library card, and you own a home computer, you can access HeritageQuest (its online history books and U.S. Census records) from home.

This is good news for genealogy researchers.

The New Jersey State Library is now making HeritageQuest available for FREE to all New Jersey residents with a library card.

For those not familiar with HeritageQuest, it is a service that provides historical books online (family histories, town histories, etc.) and also access to the United States Census records (1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 (partial)

Steps for access...

1) Have your library card handy.

2) Go to URL: http://www.jerseyclicks.org

3) Choose "Custom Search/Choose Your Database" (middle right of screen)

4) On the next screen, enter your library card bar code number to sign in.

5) The next page is the main menu of databases that are available to you.

Scroll to the Genealogy heading; click on "ProQuest HeritageQuest."

It will launch in a new browser window (tab).
It is all the way down and on the left side of the page.