DNA Clustering is Coming to AncestryDNA

We just heard that DNA Clustering is rolling out for AncestryDNA users who have the extra DNA ProTools subscription. If you already have ProTools you may or may not have clustering added at this time. As we said, it is being rolled out so it may take a little time to get it. [Note: LE who has ProTools at this time does not yet have the clustering feature.]

 

Since it is Ancestry, there are some limitations compared to the clustering available at MyHeritageDNA.

Want to learn more? Watch the new (released today) YouTube video on the Ancestry DNA Clustering presented by Dana Leeds.

Have a great Holiday Weekend!

See you at our favorite library!
LE 

Mount Clemens Public Library's Local History & Genealogy Room is Open

We wanted to make sure that everyone has heard that the Local History & Genealogy Room at Mount Clemens Public Library reopened a couple days ago, on Tuesday, September 3. 

The leak and subsequent damage to the wall (not to the materials or equipment) has been fixed and remediated.

Just before this happened during the summer the room received some new equipment, a new scanning station that is similar to the BookScan Station but with some new capabilities. It is still touch-screen operated. It still has two scanners -- an 11"x17" flatbed scanner (with 600 PPI optical resolution) and a document feeder scanner. But this scanning station uses ScanEZ software. Please be aware that the quick guide sheet next to the station needs to be updated so until it is updated, follow the prompts on the screen and/or ask the room staff for some help.

What new capabilities you ask? Well, there is now Vivid-Pix software to help you restore photos and documents. And, there is text translation to a few different languages. So, enjoy the new equipment!

And, come back to your Local History & Genealogy Room to explore all its resources and dig into your genealogy research.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

Archives of Michigan Releases a New Collection; Making Some Updates Too!

How about some news about the Archives of Michigan?

 
1. Through a partnership with the Daughters of the American Revolution National Headquarters (DAR) of Michigan, the Archives of Michigan is proud to release a new online collection on Michiganology.org -- the Michigan World War I Veteran Service Cards.

These are informational cards created in 1921-1932 about Michigan veterans who served in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marines from 1917-1919. They provide a wealth of information for family historians, including place and date of birth, current residence, rank, assignments, battles, and injuries. Given the near-total loss of federal WWI service records from a 1973 fire in St. Louis, Missouri, state-level collections like this one are an effective alternative! You can search the collection by name, birthplace, army serial number, city, county, state, and birth date. (Note: some cards just have an age or approximate age rather than a birth date.)

As of this time Michiganology's homepage does not reflect the collection's release. But it is there.

2. The Archives of Michigan is and has been updating its Michiganology.org website. Now when you go to preform a search, you are actually taken the Michiganology search interface on the preservica.com site. Besides the tailored search interface for Michigan Death Certificates 1897-1952, there are now somewhat tailored search interfaces for Michigan State Census 1827-1894; Surveyor Field Notebooks 1815-1918; Survey Maps 1816-1860; General Photograph Collection ca. 1860-1990; Archives of Michigan Map Collection ca. 1810-1970; State Government Records; Local Government Records; and the World War I Collection.

From the Michiganology.org homepage if you select Browse Digital Collections, you are taken to a landing page telling you about the changes happening to the search features of the Michiganology website. Essentially, "The Archives of Michigan has recently updated its metadata indexer. These changes will add new metadata fields for upcoming collections, allow for sorting results, and improve overall searchability. A full re-indexing of all digital collections is being complete to ensure every collection is up to date with the new indexer. As collections are being re-indexed, you may experience some irregularities when searching. These should resolve once all collections are fully re-indexed. We appreciate your patience as we work to improve your search experience on Michiganology."

You can then select a specific collection from the icons at the bottom of the page or select Advanced Search and then pick a collection.

Using the World War I Collection Service Cards as an example, we searched using just a surname. (See above.) The results were presented with filters on the left, or you can just scroll the list. 

After selecting a result, the resulting page shows what was abstracted and images of the card's front and back. Use the icon above the abstracted information and image (circled in red in this image below) to download a PDF with the card's images.

3. The Archives of Michigan's second floor Reading Room will be closed to the public starting June 24 for some remodeling updates and will reopen July 15. But the public can access materials from a temporary location.

From the Archives of Michigan website page, "The Archives of Michigan will be closed to the public on Monday, June 24, 2024, due to remodeling. Starting on Tuesday, June 25, the reading room will be temporarily located in the Morris Learning Center on the first floor of the Michigan Library and Historical Center's east wing. Researchers can access books, microfilm, and archival material from this temporary location during the remodel. Please be patient as retrieval times may be longer than usual. The Archives of Michigan's second floor reading room will reopen to the public on Monday, July 15, with new carpet, tables, and chairs."

Have a great summer researching!
 

See you at our favorite library!
LE

MCPL's Local History & Genealogy Room Now Open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Catching up on the news ... Did you know that for 2024 the Mount Clemens Public Library's Local History & Genealogy Room is now open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- no appointment needed.

So, after a long week of working, wrangling kids/grandkids (or doing both) you can carve out some time for yourself to unwind researching your family history in a relatively quiet space devoted to local history and genealogy. (Cheers of triumph have been known to happen.) Bring a family research buddy or, maybe ironically hide away here away from your family to work on your family.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

The 1931 Canada Census is Released!

It is June 1, 2023. It is Release Day for the 1931 Canada Census!

Remember, there is no person index yet. You need to find the location where your people were living in 1931 and search manually to find them.

Good luck.

See you soon at our favorite library!
LE

Just Released: Michiganology.org Now Includes 1947 Death Certificate Images

Did you hear the news?

The Archives of Michigan released the next installment of digitized Michigan Death Certificates at its Michiganology.org website. These newly added certificates cover the year 1947. With each passing year, another year of certificates will be released for viewing.

Have fun searching!

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records at UofMass-Amherst to be Digitized this Year & Access Soon After

Word of a new resource for genealogists as been spotted.

University of Massachusetts Amherst has released information that it will begin digitizing New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records that are in its collection -- 787 bound volumes. The records span from 1633 to 2018.

The current estimate is that the digitization, which begins this month, is expected to be completed near the end of Summer 2023. The Internet Archive scan center, part of the Boston Library's Library for the Commonwealth program, will perform the digitization. When completed the digitized records will be available on the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives and Research Center (SCUA)'s digital repository Credo and through the collaborative Massachusetts digital portal, Digital Commonwealth, of which SCUA is a member.

There is a finding aid created in 1997 that has been digitized which is quite detailed, even pointing out other places where other Quaker records are located such as for Maine, New York and Rhode Island. Only those records in the UofMass collection will be digitized in this project.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

Some Mount Clemens Daily Leader Issues are Digitized Too! See How to Find Them

Here is some additional information on using the Digital Michigan Newspapers Portal to find digitized newspapers for Mount Clemens.

Besides the Mount Clemens Monitor which we told you about yesterday, there is also at present time some issues from one year of the Mount Clemens Daily Leader. You can find this newspaper's summary page under the title, Daily Leader. And, of course the summary page for the Monitor here. Though neither newspaper appears on the website page with the map of Michigan where you can view the newspapers by county, both do appear in the Gold toolbar Titles and Counties tabs, as well as in the Search tab's Advanced options to Limit Search by Title.

 

Want to search both newspaper titles at the same time? In the Search with Advanced Filters showing, in the Limit Search by Title, first click/select Daily Leader then scroll down and control-select Mount Clemens Monitor so both titles are now highlighted. Put in your search word(s) and search both newspapers.

Our long-time MCGG friend shared with us the following method. In the Find entry field, put "Mount Clemens" in the field. Use the filter field in the left-column and select Macomb County from the County list. Now you can change the "Mount Clemens" to your preferred search word(s) such as a surname or person's name in quotes or even a street name or address or business name etc. You can also narrow your results by decades. Because the Mount Clemens newspapers are presently the only digitized newspapers for Macomb County filtering by Macomb County at this time limits the search to just the Mount Clemens newspapers -- both of them.

You can find some basic help by selecting the Help tab from the gold toolbar at the top of the website page. Get some tips on using search terms and what features you get access to if you register for a free account. And, how to use the clip feature including how to save (right-click the clipped image) the resulting jpg file to your device. Besides Save As to JPG you can download a PDF of the issue using the link above the page image.

Back in March 2022 we learned #DigMountClemens was one of two winners of the #DigMichNews Grant Contest so the earliest Mount Clemens Monitor newspaper issues would be digitized. Thank you to all who #DigMountClemens Twitter voted so Mount Clemens Public Library could be one of the winners for 2022.

So yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus ... in June. Again, have fun and good luck but remember to visit the website again at a later date. It appears not all of the newspaper issues are online yet.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

Early Mount Clemens Monitor Digitized Images Now Going Online at Digital Michigan Newspapers Portal Thanks to 2022 #DigMichNews Grant Contest Win

A long-time MCGG friend brought to our attention today that our local newspaper is starting to appear on the Digital Michigan Newspapers Portal. Back in March 2022 we learned #DigMountClemens was one of two winners of the #DigMichNews Grant Contest so the earliest Mount Clemens Monitor newspaper issues would be digitized.

 

While it does not yet appear in the By County List, we did find it by browsing by year and selecting May 1869 and selecting the May 26 issue then selecting Mount Clemens Monitor between the Home Icon and the issue date.

But let's make it easier for you, just click this link to get to the summary page for the Mount Clemens Monitor. This page tells you what years and months have issues digitized so far. Your can view this page two different ways. Click a month to see what dates have issues digitized.

While earlier liquor bonds were not found in the paper to help establish when his bar started,
it seems Charles' sometimes bending of the rules started early in his career.

 

Another route: Select search then the icon for advanced options which is a stack of long to short lines (kind of looks like a tornado or funnel.) Then in the Limit Search by Title scroll until you find Mount Clemens Monitor, select the title to highlight it. Put your search term (like a surname or business name) in the Find box. Press the enter key or select the search icon (the magnifying glass) to perform your search. 

Click the newspaper date or icon to see the page with the result. You can maximize the viewing area by selecting the square icon in the upper-right corner of the medium-yellow toolbar at the top of the newspaper page. Select it again to minimize the viewing area.

Yes, you can download the issue/page. You can also "Clip" an article but it is not very intuitive how to use the feature. You can find some basic help by selecting the Help from the gold toolbar at the top of the website page. If you want, you can register for a free account to access other features.

Have fun and good luck but come back again at a later date. Not all of the newspaper's issues are online yet.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

Ready ... Set ... Tomorrow is Less Than 24 hours Away for the 1950 Census Release

Are you excited for tomorrow?

You do recall that TO-MORR-OW is the release day of the 1950 U.S. Federal Census? No, fooling. The 72-year delayed release of this census enumeration is April 1, 2022.

It is the first census to be released with an index.* * Meaning an Artificial Intelligence / Optical Character Recognition of handwriting generated index.

Will the 1950 census index be perfect? Probably not. But you can provide corrections. So be flexible and have an idea what letters could have been misread as: an a, e, o being read as one of the others. An m, n, w, v not quite read correctly. And even an R read as a K because the ink was very faint on the top. Be creative.

But if you have done your prep work for this census and you know where your people are and the index search is not finding them, then do the search by location or even enumeration district.

Where do I find this census? Keep an eye on the 1950 Census page of the National Archives website. It is there that the link to the new, dedicated 1950 website will be released tomorrow, April 1. Once we see that website URL address is released we will post it here too.

So what do I do tomorrow? After finding the link to the new, dedicated website and going to it, you will decide how to want to search. By name, location or Enumeration District. To get some hints, watch the short presentation the National Archives hosted yesterday, March 30. The recording is already up. However, the chat from the presentation is not available that we can see.

What if ... Yeah, there is a possibility that the new website might crash a bit or a little slow. Be patient. Everyone be patient. Come back later at an odd time of day, or another day, or keep trying.

So get yourself ready for tomorrow. Clear some time from other obligations so you can search for your family in 1950.

Good Luck Everyone!

See you soon someday at our favorite library!
LE

Hell Froze Over: NYC Historical Vital Records are Digitized, Online ... Free !

We are catching up after a few days without internet and a few days of catching up due to the outage.

A few days ago, on the morning of Wednesday, March 16, an event happened equivalent to the likes of "the day hell froze over." An exaggeration? Not much.

That morning, the New York City Department of Records and Information Services launched a new website page ...  The NYC Historical Vital Records Project -- with 70% of an estimated 13.3 million records already online. These are searchable WITH digitized images (some in color) for free! (We did say hell froze over.)

What is included? Check the Digital Vital Records menu tab. Under each record type (Births, Deaths, Marriages) there are breakdowns by borough -- Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Manhattan, Queens, Richmond (Staten Island) -- showing a bar chart of digitized, not digitized and not available covering the time span of years for the full-page certificates in the collection. Note that Registers/Ledger Books for years prior to 1898 are on microfilm viewable in-person. There is less information in the register format than in the certificate format. If your record type/time period is not online yet be patient. (We know how to do that, right?)

Regardless, thank you NYC for finally making these records available. It is a good start. We are still wanting the older records. And thank you to organizations like Reclaim the Records for its efforts with getting government entities around the country to make records available.

So how do you use this new site? Well, try the search.

There are two main ways: by Certificate Number and by Last Name. But remember this is not a fancy site, the surname may not have been read correctly or it may not be spelled on the record the way you know it. You can reach the search either by the right-side of the main blue bar, or by the Search beta tab in the toolbar/menu above the blue bar.

Initially you have to pick a record type and you have to pick a borough to search.

After you get results, you can discard the borough and/or record type and update your results.

 

When you find your desired records, click and it will be presented as a PDF which you can download ... for FREE!

Our chosen example has a local connection to Macomb County. This is the marriage record for the founding couple Adam and Victoria of Olejnik Farms and Greenhouses on 23 Mile Road. The family-owned farm celebrated its 95th year in business last year.

One tip we have is if you are having trouble finding your people and you have Ancestry.com or access to Ancestry Library Edition, use the various data collections for the indexes for New York, New York and Ancestry's soundex and other similar filter capabilities for the names. For example:

New York, New York, U.S., Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948

New York, New York, U.S., Index to Birth Certificates, 1866-1909

New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937

New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018

New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948

New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Birth Index, 1878-1909

There are a few other additional data collections for New York City vital records indexes under the New York collections too. And the webpage for the project has a few additional tips as well.

Have fun and good luck searching!

See you soon someday at our favorite library!
LE

1921 Census for England and Wales Released Today on Find My Past

Did you know the United States is not the only country having a census release this year? Today, access was opened to the 1921 census for England and Wales.

This census is only available digitally through the Find My Past websites, which requires a small fee for record transcripts or record images. Or, this 1921 census can be accessed for free from the internal computers at the National Archives in Southwest London or one of its partner locations: the Manchester Central Library and National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.

At present, Find My Past in the only place you can find the 1921 England and Wales Census. We expect (but do not know for sure) that eventually it will be accessible from other genealogy websites similar to the release of 1939 Register.

For those family researchers in the United States who have a late immigrating family, or a grandma or great grandma who was a war bride, happy searching! And happy searching for everyone else too!

See you soon someday at our favorite library.
LE

#GenealogyTailgating Anyone?

Wireless Internet from MCPL parking lot

We want to let everyone know of a "holiday gift" of sorts for Macomb County Genealogy Group members, Mount Clemens residents and those in the Macomb County area.

Our favorite library, Mount Clemens Public Library, has adjusted its public internet access at its temporary location (300 N. Groesbeck Highway) so that its FamilySearch Affiliate status is now active and accessible again.

Mount Clemens Public Library first received its FamilySearch Affiliate status in October 2019. It was the first and we believe it is still the only library with FamilySearch Affiliate Status in Macomb County. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and later the library renovation began moving the library to a temporary location and more limited internet resources for patrons. It has been a long time without this resource our members quickly learned to value.

From MCPL Parking Lot: Unlocked!

There is now a table for one person to use inside the library for use with the internet connection. Masks are recommended when in the library. But there also is the option for what MCGG is calling, some #GenealogyTailgating if you are up for it. Or if you prefer not to be in a public space for longer periods.

Yes, baby it's cold outside and it will be for awhile. But you can connect to the library's wireless internet and sit in the comfort of your warm vehicle while parked in the parking lot. (Just make sure you have a enough gas in the gas tank if you keep the vehicle running and crack a window for some fresh air.)

We tested this out Sunday afternoon when it was a bright and 30 degree day and Wednesday afternoon when it wasn't so bright and we have these suggestions. 

The signal seems stronger towards the side/rear of the building closer to the dog park. (We didn't try the parking spots facing the baseball field, just the ones facing the building.) 

Internet Connection Options for MCPL

There are a few internet connection options for the library. There is the LibraryPublic-2.4G-ext; the LibraryPublic - parking lot; and LibraryPublic-5G-ext. What you see will depend on your device and likely seem to vary depending on where you park so you may see all or only a couple connection options. Signal strength may vary too.

Don't be impatient! When we tried Sunday the 2.4G connection was very slow and we didn't see the 5G connection option from either the first standard parking spot next to handicap or from a parking spot facing the building closer to the dog park. When we tried Wednesday, both connections were working well though we did have one connection drop briefly. We were fine after that.

Digital Images Accessible

On our Sunday visit the FireFox browser worked better than Chrome but on our Wednesday visit both browsers worked well.

What we are trying to stress is to be patient and try different options. Results will vary by device.

Other suggestions:  Remember to make sure your device is fully-charged before you arrive. 

To save time since the connection can be slower, while at home bookmark the FamilySearch catalog pages for what you want to view so you don't have the lag/wait time while the website tries to load a search query. The drop-down search entries seemed to be really, really slow at loading on our Sunday visit. And again remember your patience and allow the page to load before trying to click on to the next step. 

From Home: Locked Digital Microfilm

On our Sunday visit the library's wireless would not load the library's website. But on our Wednesday visit the library website did load in both the FireFox and Chrome browsers. Once the library website loads you can go to the Major Genealogy Databases page and access the library's Ancestry Library Edition, Detroit Free Press 1831-1999, Fold3.com, and American Ancestors subscriptions.

This re-connection for patrons is just in time because the temporary, remote access to Ancestry Library Edition ends December 31, 2021. Happy Holidays and have fun researching!

Access Major Databases Too!

Regarding a separate matter, at this time the local databases (i.e. the obituary index, etc.) on the library's website are still unavailable. We will let everyone know when the error message is fixed and the databases are working again.

So ... 

#GenealogyTailgating Anyone?

See you soon some day at our favorite library!
LE

Library of Michigan has its own Digital Website: Library of Michigan Digital

As the Library of Michigan and the Archives of Michigan begin their openings with scheduled appointments, we remind everyone it is a good idea to do your prep-work ahead of your visit and make a research plan for your visit to make better use of your appointment time.

Both the facilities utilize the Answer Catalog and it is possible to narrow your search to just one facility or the other that way you do not find yourself wanting something from the facility you did not schedule your appointment with that day. So we strongly suggest starting with the Answer Catalog.

But remember both facilities do have some online digitized materials you can research from home. See our latest post on the Michiganology.org website about how to find more than death certificates there.

Yes, you read that right -- both facilities have online digitized materials.

Did you know that the Library of Michigan has its own website for digitized resources too? It is called Library of Michigan Digital. The link icon is right there on the Answer Catalog homepage along with the Michigan Electronic Library MeL.org link icon (where you go to access the MyHeritage Library Edition database link) and the icon for the combined MSU-Library of Michigan Catalog.

One way to start is to just browse around the Library of Michigan Digital website. The Library of Michigan has created several highlight collections. Some of these collections have more items, some have less like the Michigan Maps which has just one digital image -- an 1840 Wayne County map.

This digital collection website includes older records and newer records. If in trying to view a document/record image you get a message to login do not worry you that are in a wrong place. This site uses the same login account as the WorldCat.org (OCLC Online Computer Library Center) website. There are free WorldCat accounts. If you have a WorldCat account just login, if not just go to WorldCat and create one. You will find the login in the stacked menu (three bars) in the top right-corner of the Library of Michigan Digital website.

Another way to find records on the Library of Michigan Digital website is to use the Answer Catalog. Notice any entries that say "Electronic Resource" and just click the link "Connect to Archived Issues" to be taken to the online records. (The Connect to Resource takes you to the record originator's part of the michigan.gov website.) Now the Connect to Archived Issues link may take you to the OCLC website and if you select a record to view you may get a login and refresh the page (on the Library of Michigan Digital website.)

If so, try logging in and refreshing the page. If that does not work, then using the information that you used to find the subject/record in the Answer Catalog go to the Advanced Search of the Library of Michigan Digital website and search using the term(s) you used. (You should still be logged into the website.)

Here is an example. While researching Eschenburg Bars it was learned through the digitized WWII years of the Mount Clemens Daily Monitor and Daily Monitor-Leader that the owner of the second Eschenburg Bar lost his liquor license from a raid by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission in December 1941. He did get the liquor license back but the article made the researcher think: "I wonder if the MLCC has minutes of its meetings or hearings and if those minutes have been preserved?"

Searching the Answer Catalog for Michigan Liquor Control Commission brought up many hits. Add minutes and it narrowed the result list down. (See the image example above.) Selecting the Connect to Archived Issues takes one to the OCLC results list. Selecting a year of minutes to view resulted in the above login issue mentioned. 

Going to the Library of Michigan Digital home page or finding the advanced search link, the researcher typed in Michigan Liquor Control Commission Minutes and when the results brought up more than the expected results, the filter "minutes of the state liquor control commission" was selected and the results list expanded to show 200 results on one page making just one easy to read page of results.

The years 1941 and 1942 (the year the newspaper article appeared) were searched without success. It appears the list of the hearings (names and reasons) were kept separate from the minutes for an reason unknown to the researcher.

An alternate search was to go back to Advanced Search and add another search parameter with the surname you are seeking. This narrows the results to the MLCC minutes where that surname appears. It did not find the hearing mentioned in the newspaper because the hearings appear to be redacted for that time period. But the search did find one prior and one later for two other Eschenburgs who also owned or ran a bar. Now those have been added to a To-Do list for searches in the Mount Clemens newspapers still not digitized. The researcher only wishes the MLCC minutes started before 1933 so more research could be done on the first Eschenburg Bar.

So that is how you find the Electronic Resources that are mentioned in the Answer Catalog.

Have fun finding your digital treasures!

See you soon someday at our favorite library!
LE

NEW TIP: How to Find Other Digitized Images Besides Death Certificates (psst... State Census!) on Michiganology.org

Remember the days of the Archives of Michigan's SeekingMichigan website and the availability of all those great records and information? Have you been frustrated by its replacement the Michiganology.org website? Yes it is great for the Michigan death certificates, but it has lacked of all those great records like the early Michigan state census along with 1884 and 1894 surviving state census and those numerous finding aids.

One tip given out about six months ago was to use the Internet Archive WayBackMachine to bring up a desired finding aid. It can be hit and miss but it does work if you know what was there to re-locate again. Using Internet Archive we have re-located many finding aids for various Macomb County records at the Archives of Michigan. Remember you are searching the WayBackMachine for the www.seekingmichigan.org website.

While watching a webinar today some multi-tasking was done to find back a list of what 1884 and 1894 state census enumerations survive for which Michigan counties. (Sadly, as most of us know Macomb County is not one of those counties.) While doing so another list was found on the ResearchWiki regarding Michigan Census (last updated in January 2021) that had a bunch of links to Michiganology which seemed useless since only the images of the Michigan Death Certificates have been there since the site's slow start. 

BUT ... clicking on one of those links a discovery was made! (A great example of the tip to go back and re-check a resource or website at a later date to see what has been added since you last searched. Of course, it took some digging to figure out how to find this discovery on the Michiganology site itself. This actual discovery was made via another website.)

Look What We Found ... Michigan State Census!

Apparently buried on the Michiganology website are the various state census images including a simple search engine. When the census images arrived on Michiganology we do not know but likely by January 2021 without any fanfare. For some reason this helpful and valuable collection does not clearly appear on the Research tab not even when you just Browse Collections. This collection does not clearly appear under the Advanced Search tab either. And the Custom Search does not give any clues/indications either.

How do you find them? You have to do some digging.

The first route is to go to the Research tab of the Michiganology.org website. Select the Browse All Collections. (You won't find them if you go straight to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.) THEN on the resulting page select the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Here you will get a table of ten collection results. Select Archives of Michigan. The revised table will give you three sub-collections: Archival Collections on Microfilm; Archival Collections; and Audiovisual Materials. 

Select Archival Collections. It is here you will find two collections: RG 2019-13 Archives of Michigan Legacy Digital Collections, ca. 1845-2018; and RG 81-46 Michigan Statehood Documents, 1797-1836. Select RG 2019-13 Archives of Michigan Legacy Digital Collections, ca. 1845-2018 and the table shows three sub-collections: Michigan State Census Records, 1827-1894; Archives of Michigan Finding Aids; and Archives of Michigan Map Collection. Select the Michigan State Census Records, 1827-1894.

Sidebar: The Archives of Michigan Finding Aids here do not appear to be the various ones from the old SeekingMichigan site and it appears to be only partially done at this time as not all counties seem to be represented.

From this resulting table you can search all the individual census years (1827, 1834, 1845, 1854, 1864, 1874, 1884 and 1894) at one time using the Search Within This Collection located on the left-side blue column. You can then Refine Your Selection by selecting a specific county or counties from the presented results list. Or you could select a specific census year and search just that year.

The search engine here is very simplistic. The search results list simply shows the record image thumbnail, a Title/Last Name which is actually the Year County, Township (City) and image number along with a column for Place. The Description/First Name column is blank. Click the image thumbnail or title to view the record image. Underneath the enlarged record image is an abstract where you will find the abstracted names listed as Lastname, First along with other information.

So we suggest searching either by just a Surname or by Surname, First. The simplistic search appears to read Surname, First as an exact "Surname, First" search. So as with any search engine play around with spelling.

The image viewer appears to be the same as for the Michigan Death Certificates. So if you are familiar with that you are good to go.

The second route is to go to the Advanced Search tab. This route is more direct to the searching. It actually brings you to a specialized search specifically for the Death Records Collection meaning it has search parameters based on what was indexed/abstracted from the death certificates. So from here, select the Custom Search option.

Under the Custom Search in the Matching search parameter type the Surname or Surname, First. Then in the Within search parameter select the radial circle for Specific Collections and type Michigan State Census. A pop-up list will appear from which you can select a specific census year such as "1894 Michigan State Census" or the entire collection with "Michigan State Census Records, 1827-1894." At this time you can also narrow your search to a specific County by using the Add Another Field under Matching. Type the name of the county and change the "Any Field" to "County." Then search to get your results table/list/grid.

Regardless of which route you take to get to the Michigan State Census, for best search results make sure you understand what is actually available for each census enumeration year. What counties and even what townships of those counties are included. You will not find what does not exist so save time and arm yourself with the knowledge you need to search better.

What else is buried on Michiganology? We are not sure. It appears a bit of digging is needed to see if more genealogy treasures have been quietly added to Michiganology. 

Have fun finding your buried treasures!

See you soon someday at our favorite library!
LE

Got Ancestors in 1810 Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts? That Census Enumeration Has Been Found & Digitized!

Did you hear? An original book of "missing" 1810 U.S. Federal Census for the Town of Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, was found among some uncatalogued books at the Peabody Essex Museum.

The town was not included in the microfilming of that census year by the National Archives and Records Administration.

According to the Vita Brevis blog, before the book was handed over to NARA it was digitized and placed on the Internet Archive website. The book was digitized in color -- what a difference that makes!

I think we all know some microfilmed original records that we wish still existed so the originals could be redone using digitization.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library! (Soon we hope.)
LE

Royal Oak Tribune Newspaper Digitized, Free Access from Royal Oak Public Library

The Royal Oak Public Library has announced the completion of a digitization project of Royal Oak Newspapers. The resulting database is accessible from the Royal Oak Public Library's website for free. The Tribune page can also be found through the library's Find an Article (Magazine, Journal, Newspaper) webpage.

The Royal Oak Tribune newspaper digitized and accessible for free.

The library digitized its microfilm holdings of the Royal Oak Tribune newspaper from November 1877 to September 2019. The run of the newspaper is not complete with every issue. There is just one issue for 1877 and just 12 issues for 1879. The surviving issues then pickup with the year 1908.

The database allows users to search in 25 year increments. There is also a Helpful Search Tips PDF and dtSearch Help PDF located on the Find An Article webpage.

From the Royal Oak Library website, "Users can search by name, subject, keyword, or browse by date. It’s an effective tool for finding local obituaries, local news and sports articles, and feature stories about Royal Oak businesses, organizations, local history, and government decisions. And just like the microfilm, users can browse pages as they were laid out in print. This is particularly helpful for users trying to glean a picture of what life was life in Royal Oak in a given month or year when it comes to the prices of goods and real estate, products being showcased in ads, local happenings in social events columns, and feature articles of local interest. For assistance in accessing or searching the databases, contact the Adult Reference Desk at (248) 246-3727."

Have Fun Searching Everyone!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Michiganology.org Website is Up But ... Be Patient While Records are Added to Site

We just checked and the Archives of Michigan's new website, Michiganology.org is up and running. But it is going to take a bit of time to find our way around this "new land" and for everything to be moved to this new site.

You can find a general outline of the moving plan here.

The 1943 death records are there so if you have been waiting ... "patiently," right? ... they are now waiting for you to find them.

You can find a link to view the 1943 collection at the bottom of the home page. (Or by going to Research, Family History Vital Records.) It takes you to a basic search interface. If you search right away (using a surname) it will search all the subcollections aka counties. If you first select/open a particular county folder, then the basic search will only search that county. You can change the results list from listing just 18 to 36 or 54 entries/results. The surname search for this death year picks up a surname from at least the decedent or parental names entered on the certificate.

We tried searching using just a surname. We tried searching a first name and surname. Both worked. However, if you do surname search at this time you can not refine it by then adding/refining a first name. You need to do a New Search and put both the first name and surname in together.

Also, observed is the "New Search" link at the top of the results page did not always work. So one way to go back is to select 1943 from the path listing at the top of the search interface.

Want to browse? Once you select a county you can browse the records, starting by selecting the A-M or N-Z folder. Then use the results pages to scroll thru the surnames (decedents) presented until you find what you seek.

When we figure out the best approach we'll let you know. After poking around some, below are some observations.

We tried starting at browse Collections to see what is currently already there. You will find death certificates under the Disease Control, Records and Statistics Division. Clicking on that takes you to the Death Records Search. But it comes up with "No Results Found." Why? Because the older, previously released digitized death certificates will be moving to the new website during September so until they are moved you need to still use SeekingMichigan.org to look for these earlier death certificates and any other records that have not made the transition yet.

The Advanced Search of this website's search engine interface is a bit different than that at SeekingMichigan. Currently only the collection Main Streets is searchable under Advanced by Collection where you can use collection specific search parameters. When we figure out the best use of the Advanced Custom Search we will let you know but we are going to have to wait for more records to arrive.

Have fun searching the 1943 Michigan Death Certificates!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

September 1, 2019, SeekingMichigan.org Begins Transition to Michiganology.org; Digital Items Move First, Later the Guides

A date has finally been announced — September 1, 2019. That is when the digital collections at Archives of Michigan website, SeekingMichigan.org, will be removed and Michiganology.org the Archives' new website takes over access to the digital collections.

The change in this case is a good thing. It is based on giving the Archives of Michigan website's users — us — a better and more powered experience. Instead of having to search three different collections for death certificates separately the new site will be able to search all three together in one search. A new feature, standard at many other websites, will be the ability to just browse a record collection.

The ability to search on the Michiganology website actually begins August 31, so there will be a day or so of overlap between the websites and on September 1 the digital collections will no longer be at SeekingMichigan. The various guides (county, subject, indexes and general information) will be moved over to Michiganology at a later date. The Archives will send out a notice when that move is complete. It is planned that there will be no loss of record access during the changeover.

According to a Q&A over at the SeekingMichigan website, the current Michiganology.com storefront for Michigan-themed merchandise and the new Michiganology.org websites will be merged. The Research Requests currently found at SeekingMichigan under Services will be found at the new website under Shop and then Research Requests.

One downside to the move is if you have used the URL for an image at the SeekingMichigan website that URL link will be broken. For example, as a link on the FindAGrave website. The Archives tried very hard to come up with a redirect but was unable to do so.

Have you been waiting for the 1943 Michigan death certificate images? From a presentation given at one of our MCGG Friday meetings earlier this year, at the time of this website changeover the images for the 1943 death certificates should be included on the new website. The yearly release of an additional year's worth of death certificate images usually has occurred around February. The new website delayed that release this year.

Hopefully we will find other useful features and options added to the new website!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE