Tuesday, November 26, 2013

PERIODICAL SPOTLIGHT: FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE

Family Tree Magazine

Their December 2013 issue features these articles:

Going Home (the new Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium)

Thanksgiving Then and Now (differences in food; utensils; entertainment; and attire)

Typewriter (they used to write using these things!)

Great State Sites (75 outstanding state-specific websites)

Teaming Up (brick walls topple faster if two of you are whacking away at them)

Workbook: Passenger Lists (getting all the info you can from these records)

Trace Your Filipino Roots (a beginner’s guide to tracing ancestors from the Philippines)

Incredible Journeys (tips for making that trip to the ancestral homeland a dream and not a nightmare)

Talk the Talk (genealogists, like other specialists, like to use acronyms and abbreviations)

Holiday HeritageFest (how to include family history in holiday gatherings)

City Directories (tips for efficient use of these resources)

Translation Tools (guide to online translation tools)

Canvas Photo Printing Services (online services that offer printing of photos or family trees on canvas)

Software Review: Storylava (thumbs up—or thumbs down?)

Using NARA’s Online Public Access Search (it will make searching their website much easier—once you get used to it)

You can read this magazine (and other issues of this title) in the Genealogy Room at Central Library (St. Louis).

Genealogy pages on the SLPL website

Monday, November 25, 2013

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART THREE

Places Where Records/Documents/Photographs/Artifacts Can Be Found

Items of potential interest can turn up in many different places:

Antique shops
Archives
Boards of Education
Bookstores
Businesses
Cemeteries
Churches
City halls
Clubs & associations
Colleges & universities
Coroner's office
County courthouses
Courthouses
Department of Corrections
Family History Library
Family reunions
Flea markets
Funeral homes
Genealogical societies
Genealogy workshops & conferences
Government agencies
Highway departments
Historical societies
Houses of relatives
Internet

Friday, November 22, 2013

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART TWO

Records/Documents with Potential Significance for Genealogists (continued)

The following types of record can provide valuable information for the person just beginning his/her genealogical research:

Holiday cards
Homestead land records
Hospital records
Immigration records
Insurance records
Jail/prison records
Labor union records
Land records
Letters
Licensing board records
Lineage societies
Manuscripts
Maps
Marriage records
Medical records
Mental institution records
Military discharge papers
Military enlistment papers
Military service records
Militia records
Mortality schedules
Naturalization records
Newspapers
Obituaries
Orphanage/foundling home records
Passenger records
Passports
Patriotic society records
Pension records
Personal property records
Phone books
Photo albums
Photographs
Plantation records
Poor farm records
Professional association records
Railroad records
Regimental histories
School records
Scrapbooks
Ship photos
Social Security records
Tax records
Trade catalogs
Veterans' organization records
Will and probate records
WPA (Works Progress Administration) records
Yearbooks

Have questions? Ask a Librarian!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART ONE

Records/Documents with Potential Significance for Genealogists

The following types of records can provide valuable information for the person just beginning his/her genealogical research:

Account books
Adoption records
Address books
Animal bounty records
Alien internment records
Alien registration records
Almshouse/asylum records
Apprenticeship/Indenture records
Baby books
Bank records
Bankruptcy records
Baptism records
Bible records
Birth records
Bounty land records
Cattle brands/estray records
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) records
Cemetery & burial records
Census records
Christening records
Church records
City & county directories
Class photos/class reunions
Club records
College & university records
Confirmation records
Coroner's records
County histories
Court records
Deeds & mortgages
Diaries
Divorce records
Dog license records
Draft registration & conscription records
Employment records
Family histories
Family photos
FBI/police records
Financial records
Fraternal organization records
Funeral cards
Government agency records
Graduation records
Guardian records

Have questions? Ask a Librarian!

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG

Historical Background

Lincoln and other Northern politicians wanted General George B. McClellan to follow up the narrow Union victory at Antietam with another, more substantial victory over General Robert E. Lee's army. When McClellan failed to set his army in motion, Lincoln replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside.

Burnside knew he had two choices: strike off for the fertile Shenandoah Valley, and disrupt Lee's food supplies and supply routes, or cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, Virginia and set off towards Richmond. Because a move towards Fredericksburg would keep the bulk of the Union Army between Lee and Washington, D.C., Burnside chose to set off in that direction.

Results of the Battle

CSA- 78,000 troops available for battle
608 men killed in action or mortally wounded
4,116 men wounded
653 men captured or missing in action
5,377 casualties total (7% of total troops engaged)

USA- 117,000 troops available for battle
1,284 men killed in action or mortally wounded
9,600 men wounded
1,769 men captured or missing in action
12,653 casualties total (11% of total troops engaged)

The Battle of Fredericksburg was a clear statistical victory for the CSA, although General Lee regretted not being able to more greatly hinder his opponent's retreat across the Rappahannock River. It was also a clear strategic and tactical triumph for General Lee, whose placement of artillery and infantry made it well-nigh impossible for Burnside to actually take those positions. But it didn't end Union attempts to move towards Richmond- those would resume with a vengeance in the spring of 1863.

Abbreviations

HG—History, Geography, & Travel Room (Central Library)
ST—Stacks (Central Library)

Books about the Fredericksburg Campaign and Battle

Catton, Bruce. Glory Road: The Bloody Route from Fredericksburg to Gettysburg. London: White Lion Publishers, 1977. ST-973.74

Cullen, Joseph P. The Battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House, Where a Hundred Thousand Fell. Washington: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, 1966. ST-973.73

Fredericksburg. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1997. ST-973.733

Goolrick, William K. Rebels Resurgent: Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville. Alexandria, Va: Time-Life Books, 1985. ST-973.733

Henderson, G F. R. The Campaign of Fredericksburg, Nov-Dec., 1862: A Tactical Study for Officers. London: Chatham, Gale & Polden, 1891. ST-973.73

Mackowski, Chris, and Kristopher D. White. Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg. S.l.: s.n., 2012. HG-973.733

Stackpole, Edward J. Drama on the Rappahannock: the Fredericksburg Campaign. Harrisburg, Pa: Military Publishing Co., 1957. ST-973.73

Sutherland, Daniel E. Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville: The Dare Mark Campaign. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. ST-973.733

Whan, Vorin E. Fiasco at Fredericksburg. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1961. ST-973.73

Wren, James, and John M. Priest. From New Bern to Fredericksburg: Captain James Wren's Diary : B Company, 48th Pennsylvania Volunteers, February 20, 1862-December 17, 1862. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Pub. Co, 1990. ST-973.748