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Illuminated Heritage

January 31, 2006

Old World Traditional Trade Routes

The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies in Australia hs made their Old World Traditional Trade Routes (OWTRAD) Project available on-line. As it explains:

This site supports online research in the field of dromography and provides a public-access electronic archive of geo/chrono-referenced data on land, river and maritime trade routes of Eurasia and Africa during the period 10,000 BCE – circa 1820 CE.

I can see uses for this for migrations of your ancestors, as they often followed the trade routes. I also read in a cat book how the different colors of cats followed the trade and migration routes as well. For example, the “Classic” tabby pattern, which is a swirly circular pattern is quite prevalant in the UK but over here you see the “Mackeral” tabby which is more a vertical striped pattern. It ends up that as people left the Old Country, they took the unusual cats with them to their new settlements, leaving the common moggie home. There is a map and a few pages about the trade routes and the prevalence of different colors of cats along it. The book is called The Character of Cats and is by Stephen Budiansky. Check it out, if it interests you.

posted by Kay at 1:09 pm | Comments (0)

BLM & NARA Followup

About 6 days ago, I wrote of my experiences with the BLM and NARA sites with Land Records. Last night I was completely shocked and amazed to find 2 envelopes from the BLM and one from NARA in my mailbox! Remember, NARA said it would 6-8 weeks…folks, this was 6 DAYS.

The BLM GLO Land Patents are nice. I opted for the parchment colored paper so they do look old. They are printed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper and the copies are very crisp and clear. No crummy copies here. These are certified copies and have an embossed seal in the lower left corner. On the back the date ordered with the BLM address above. Below that is the authorization along with the signature of the authorizing agent. Now Mom and I each have a nice copy to keep with our records of our ancestors’ 6 land patents in Wisconsin (Mineral Point area…I told you they were badgers!).

The NARA records are, of course, fairly limited, as they warn on their site, records before a certain date are fairly sketchy. I chose for a sample to get those of great…grandfather, Abraham Mottley. The copies come with a warning upfront that the age and condition of these records the copies aren’t the best. However, I found them quite legible except for one little section where a stain must be on the original document. They sent 3 documents – 2 which appear to be receipts with the same wording but drastically different writing and the 3rd a bit different.

The first two say:

Receiver’s office at Mineral Point on June 26, 1854 received from Abraham Mottley of Iowa County Wisconsin the sum of one hundred dollars and no cents; being in full for the quarter of Section No. 21 in Towship No. 4N of Range No. 3N containing 80 acres and no hundredths at $1.25 per acre. They have numbers (the same for both docs), the $ amount in the lower left and the signature of the receiver.

The third document certifies that on presentation to the Commissoner of the General Land Office, Abraham shall be entitled to receive a patent for the land described above. The information on it is the same as the receipts, so no other great genealogical leads there, but it’s cool to have these documents in hand, no?

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the ease-of-use of both sites, the ease of ordering and the promptness of a reply. It’s true, perhaps I got them in a quiet time, but this turn around is very impressive. The copies are very clear and expectations were clearly stated on the site and with the papers received. I give the BLM GLO and NARA two thumbs up or maybe that should be 5 gold leafs off the family tree? Either way, excellent job all around.

posted by Kay at 11:02 am | Comments (0)

Statue of Egyptian Queen Discovered

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060130153552.htmA team from John Hopkins University recently uncovered a life-sized statue of one of the queens (they are guessing it might be Tiy) of Amenhotep III. It is nearly 3400 years old and it is in amazing shape! If you’d like to follow the team, they have an online diary available.

posted by Kay at 9:47 am | Comments (0)

Seventh-day Adventist Obituary Index

Looking for some Seventh-Day Adventists? Several cultural institutions have gathered together to make the Seventh-day Adventist Obituary Index available for your use! It covers 1850 on and although it isn’t complete, they are constantly adding new things! They offer a photocopy service for specific obituaries.

posted by Kay at 8:36 am | Comments (0)

January 30, 2006

Chartres Cathedral Project

Oh yummy! If you like Gothic Cathedrals like I do, you will love this site! They have digitized a lot of the art and history, as well as just about every inch of Chartres Cathedral, yes, of France. It’s easy to navigate and just gorgeous to look at! Stop by for a peek to see what another digitization project is doing!

posted by Kay at 1:05 pm | Comments (0)

Internet Genealogy Magazine

Perhaps this is old new, but I just heard today about the new magazine coming out called Internet Genealogy. Or was this the magazine we were talking about at our last Genealogy Librarians Networking Group? It’s focus is online research and you can download a preview from their site or subscribe. It’s from the publishers of Family Chronicle and History Magazine.

posted by Kay at 9:22 am | Comments (0)

Korean Royal Family Trees Digitized

According to AsiaNews.it, the family trees of two royal families dating from 918-1910 have been digitized and will soon be made available. The families concerned are the Koryo (918 – 1392) and Choson (1392 – 1910)families and the trees were originally published in the 15th and 16th centuries before so many were fabricated. So, if you or any of your patrons have Korean ancestors, check it out!

posted by Kay at 9:01 am | Comments (0)

January 29, 2006

North Dakota Research

The State Historical Society of North Dakota has made their Cumulative Indexes available on-line. Included are their publications from 1906 through the present. Most are available in both PDF and HTML. Too bad they don’t have all the articles available on-line, but perhaps that’s next! At least you can see if what you’re looking for has been mentioned in their publications and get a copy from interlibrary loan or something!

Unfortunately for me, my relatives were in SOUTH Dakota, oh well, I hope this may help some of those who are more northerly. If anyone knows of a good resource for miners in South Dakota, let me know!

posted by Kay at 11:11 am | Comments (0)

January 28, 2006

Epodunk

Ok, maybe everyone out there already knows about Epodunk, but I just discovered it. This site covers every community in the US with just about any information you care to find. It lists cemeteries in and near the community, population information, some history on the community – including former names, where to write for BMD (birth, marriage, death & divorce) records, and even a special genealogy section! The section includes links to maps, land records, etc. Definitely worth checking out when you don’t know where to turn!

posted by Kay at 10:38 am | Comments (0)

January 27, 2006

Digging Up The Badgers

Really the only family I can research in this country are my Cornish relatives who helped settle Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Fortunately my grandma and her sister had started this research before I was born. In fact, I think their mother and possibly even grandmother had recognized the value of family history long before any of us were on this Earth. Through the internet I have connected with cousins still in the area who had connected with Grandma & my great aunt before and have been kind enough to share their research with me. I haven’t looked for a while, but it’s either the mid-1400s or mid-1500s we have one branch.

Anyway, as I continue the legacy, I have new tools and information at my fingertips. One source I have found invaluable is the Wisconsin Historical Society’s site. They have tons of great stuff for genealogists on there.

I’ve enjoyed Turning Points which is a digitization project like our own Digital Past. However, they have more “exhibits” than we do and I especially found the one on Mining, Lumber, and Agriculture useful. Most of my relatives were miners with some farming on the side. There’s a really good section on lead mining in SW Wisconsin.

There is also the Wisconsin Name Index where you can search through obituaries, personal sketches, and other biographies. On the Civil War Roster, I was actually able to find the one relation (far though it may be) who fought in the Civil War and watched the sinking of some famous boat I can’t recall the name of and marched through Georgia. I could go on and on about all the great information they have on this site. It really is fantastic! If you have any Badgers in your family tree, I suggest you dig really deep into this site!

posted by Kay at 9:33 am | Comments (0)

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