The state of Connecticut was one of the original thirteen colonies. It has a longer history than several other states. Genealogists who are searching for information on ancestors who lived in Connecticut can start with the links to resources that are provided in this blog. Ancestry.com has a page that is filled with links to their many collections of records that are specific to the state of Connecticut. In order to access the majority of the records, a genealogist must have an Ancestry.com membership. Some records are offered for free, (at least for a while). Return to this list often. … Continue reading →

The 1940 United States Census is the biggest, most exciting, set of documents that genealogists will encounter this year. Many have waited a long time to be able to search through this data. Ancestry.com is offering access to the New York 1940 U.S. Census for free right now. To say that the release of the data from the 1940 United States Census was exciting would be an understatement. Genealogists caused 37 million hits on the National Archives website right away. This caused a virtual traffic jam which temporarily made the website crash. Later, when it once again became possible to … Continue reading →

If you live in New England and you have some free time this coming weekend, there is a genealogy event in Franklin, Massachusetts that you may want to attend. The annual New England Family History Conference will take place on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at the Franklin LDS Chapel. The Conference is free, and it is sponsored by the Hingham Stake Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While pre-registration for the conference is closed, walk-ins are welcome to attend classes that are not yet filled. The New England Family History Conference has classes that … Continue reading →

The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation is a free resource for genealogists seeking to find information about ancestors that came to America through what is perhaps the best known point of entry into the United States. The foundation was established in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan asked the Chairman of Chrysler Corporation, Lee Iacocca, to start a private sector effort to raise funds for the restoration and preservation of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The fundraising effort was a huge success, and in 1986 restoration of the Statue of Liberty was complete. The Foundation next turned … Continue reading →

How many different genealogy websites do you go to when you work on your genealogy research? One website might be good to use to look up birthdays of your ancestors, but a different website may be better to use when you want to find a photograph of the grave of an ancestor. Have you ever wished that there was a single website that could connect you to all those resources? Now there is! It’s called Mocavo. Mocavo Inc., is a start up company that is located in Boulder, Colorado. It was founded by Cliff Shaw, who just so happens to … Continue reading →

If you do genealogical research on the internet, you have probably realized that the amount of historical information that is available online increases each day. Today I heard about a wonderful new addition to the Ancestry.com website. As the result of a joint effort of the National Park Service and Ancestry.com, the oral histories of about 1,700 people that passed through Ellis Island beginning in the late 1890’s can now be accessed for free in the “Immigration” section of the Ancestry.com web site. The National Park Service began conducting the interviews some time during the 1970’s and they were available … Continue reading →