Posts Tagged ‘research’

Erie Canal Locks Upstate New York.

Oct 14: Banquet with keynote speaker Barry J. Ewell, “Ah Ha! I’m a Genealogist and Lovin’ It.”  He is a writer and researcher with extensive genealogical experience in Internet and field research, digital and software resources and mentoring genealogists.  He lives in Utah and is the founder of MyGenShare.com.

Oct. 15:  “Good as Gold” day-long conference with six program topics.  Barry J. Ewell will present “Top 20 Lessons Genealogists Need to Know” offering five at each of his four workshops.  Other presentations are:  “Researching Rural Communities:  Local Government Records and Other Sources” by Suzanne Etherington, Region 6 Advisory Officer, NYS Archives Government Records Services; “Often Overlooked:  Genealogical Records in Colleges and Universities” by Edward L. Galvin, Director of Archives and Records Management of Syracuse University; “Onondaga County Public Library:  One of the Best Kept Genealogical Secrets” by Holly Sammons, Head Librarian of the Local History and Genealogy Department at the Onondaga County Public Library, Syracuse, NY; and “Gadgets for the Traveling Genealogist” by Roger B. Williams, CNYGS member and active in their website development and County Indexing Project.

A vendor room with special resources for genealogists is an added feature.

Come early or stay after the conference to conduct research at local repositories.  Central New York was the earliest major migration route for New Englanders.  Later immigrants traveled west via the Erie Canal.

Detailed information may be found at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycnygs and questions can be addressed though email:  cnygs50th@yahoo.com.

Sounds like a fun filled day.  Put it in your calendar and don’t miss the festivities and great speakers.

“Save these dates – Oct 14-15, 2011.  Central New York Genealogical Society (CNYGS) 50th Year Celebration Banquet and Conference.  Detailed information may be found on their website http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycnygs and email questions to cnygs50th@yahoo.com.”

Related articles

• Wisdom Wednesday – FGS 2011 Conference Sessions (familyhistorytips.wordpress.com)
• Upstate New York Vital Records
• CNYGS “Tree Talks” County Packets

Sources of Genealogical Research Books.

So you’ve been doing the bulk of your genealogical research on-line now right?

You have ready access to images and indexes of census returns, historical documents, maps, huge databases of linked individuals and enough digitized bits and bytes to choke a USB port.

Well don’t forget the OLD methods of research.
There are still a lot of treasures to be dug out of BOOKS! You remember books right?

Some of the best finds that this writer has made through the years is by haunting the lawn and garage sales, thrift stores, used book stores, and the book sales of libraries and historical societies. It’s a win-win situation. The seller is getting rid of items that they no longer need or have a use for, and the buyer gets to rescue a treasure trove of information. They make a little money for the treasury and you have a new friend to explore.

Re-cycling is not only the key here, the fact is, that some of these books were printed in very small quantities and may be considered rare! That does not mean they are necessarily worth a fortune, just that they are hard to come by. Last summer at a genealogical society sale for about $20, I found a set of the Centennial Directory of Patriot Ancestors published by the DAR. OK, so there is a new volume out, but that does not mean all of the information in the previous edition is obsolete.

In Saratoga at the library book sale last year I bought for two dollars, a copy of Guzik’s masterpiece on researching in the New York City areas.

Once at a house sale a friend of mine purchased a copy of Smith’s Syracuse and It’s Surroundings for $35. That book is SO RARE! It was only printed in 200 copies and had actual stereoscopic photo images in it of the 1870′s in Syracuse, NY. This book has a fold out viewer built into the binding so that you can see the images in 3-D, and it now sells in the multi-thousands of dollars, if you can ever find one that is. Oh yes, my good buddy Charlie said, “You will appreciate this more than me, give me the thirty five bucks.”

If you have been a regular reader of this Blog or of the unyg website, you will remember that we have promoted various companies where you may find used historical and genealogical reference books that are available for sale. A couple of these vendors are now advertisers on our websites, those being ABEbooks.com and Amazon.com. You can have confidence in these companies, however do not overlook the chances of finding some goodies on ebay, cragislist, Barnes and Noble, Sam Weller Books, and many other fine companies, oh and ask at your favorite library when their annual sale is going to be.

Here in Upstate New York we have had a spring thaw recently, but there is plenty of winter still to come, so pull a tome off the shelf and enjoy. Some of my best friends are books.

(unyg)

GenealogyBuff provides dozens of unique quick finding aids for all types of genealogy searching. This website compiles data sites from all over the Internet and presents them in a nice easy to find and searchable format.

GenealogyBuff – Links to thousands of on-line sources for items like; Maps, Immigration, Obits, Marriages, Archives, Personal Announcements, Cemetery Inscriptions, School Yearbooks, Church Records, Census, Court, Land, Probate, Military, Newspapers, and let’s see did I miss anything? What else is there?

Oh, try the handy dandy surname search. Does this website miss some links? Sure, but what it does find is absolutely remarkable, and totally Free! (There’s my favorite word again.)

Check out the GenealogyBuff Library for New York State at http://www.genealogybuff.com/ny/

A quick search for New York State Newspapers is at http://www.genealogybuff.com/np/newyork_newspapers.htm.

Upstate New York Genealogy is adding this site to the My Favorites folder, and thought you might like to know about it too.

(unyg)

Notes:
Something new for 2008, if you enjoy the UNYG Blog, you might also like to visit our other Blog site that is meant for genealogists everywhere, at www.genemisc.blogspot.com. Still all free information! Our websites are now supported by advertising. Please leave comments on each of our Blogs by clicking on the word comment right underneath each Blog message. You may subscribe to all future posts of this Blog by scrolling all the way down to the bottom of this website and click on the subscribe tab. If you wish to be added to our email list for announcements and special offerings, just send us your email address to opt in.
Your feedback and comments spur us on!

Please consider using the excellent research facility of the Cortland County Historical Society.

Cortland is within “The Military Tract,” the large chunk of land that the state purchased from the Indians in order to award soldiers that had served in the American Revolution, from New York Regiments.

The county was formed in 1808 from Onondaga County, comprising the original Townships of Virgil, Cincinnatus, Homer, Solon, and the south halves of the Townships of Tully and Fabius. (For your information the term “Township” is no longer correct in modern day terms. Once areas became populated and a local government was organized the correct word became “Town.”)

When you go there to do research a staff person will work right with you and once it is determined just what you are attempting to achieve, they will go right to the files and book cases and start bringing you more items than you can possible imagine. They really know their collection!

Your unyg editor was fortunate to be able to locate some very nice finds for a project that concerned some families of close sounding names and the research assistant located some of the earliest manuscript road books and tax record books, that were most helpful in determining just which branch of which family that the person being researched belonged in.

Here are some of the details on who, what, how, when, etc.:
Cortland County Historical Society (CCHS)
Museum and Research Center
25 Homer Ave.
Cortland, NY 13045

phone: 607-756-6071
website: www.rootsweb.com/~nycortla/chsfe.htm
email: (available on the website.)

Located in the lovely old Suggett House.
Open for research Tuesdays through Saturdays,
1 pm to 5 pm. (Best to call to be sure before making a trip.)

Memberships are extremely reasonable at;
$15 – Senior Citizen.
$20 – Individual
$30 – family
(Better confirm, these numbers do not seem high enough.) Other levels of contributing memberships are explained on the website.

The museum store has some books and other items that they sell to help bring some extra funds in, and to satisfy the patron’s desires.
Some of the items offered for sale:
A Regiment Remembered, 157th NY Volunteers
Cooking Then and Now (local recipes)
Rails Through Cortland – Palmer
Historical Markers in Cortland County
[Harold] Burgess Remembers Cortland
Growing Up in Cortland
Paris Lived in Homer
James Suggett and his Lovely Dwelling Place (the museum’s home)
Cortland Co. Sesquicentennial (1808-1958.)

You will be treated to an extremely well organized collection and the staff people know just where everything is. If you are a non-member there is a charge for the staff person’s assistance (mandatory, see the website.)

If you are a CCHS member, then there is no charge for the research assistance. Telephone research is offered at $15 per hour.

Here is a short list of just some of the items that you will be delighted to locate: Maps, Census, City & County Directories, Genealogies, Histories, Vital Records from Miscellaneous Sources, surname files, military records, photograph files, scrapbooks, newspapers, (and I am sure that there is a whole LOT more!)

You are sure to find some gems in all of the treasures. Tell them unyg sent you.

Notes:
Please leave comments on each of our Blogs by clicking on the word “comment” right underneath this blog message. You may subscribe to all future posts of this Blog by scrolling all the way down to the bottom of this website and click on the “subscribe tab.” If you wish to be added to our email list for announcements and special offerings, just send us your email address to opt in.
Your feedback and comments spur us on!