investigate family search for digitized records
brenda kellow
September 29, 2014
One day you can’t go to the library to hunt for a book or record so you can continue with your genealogical search and not be delayed. Is there a quicker search than just turning to the faithful Google? Yes, there is. Moreover, it is easy.
The FamilySearch.org book collection is the place to find many treasures. At http://books.familysearch.org, you can search the full text, a name, place, title, or author of a book. Either search a library, or at the top of the page, just double click “Books.” Further criteria are searchable along the side. You can also use the Advance Search to hunt things like a periodical title.
I searched yesterday using the ‘Books’ tab to confirm whether or not my latest book had been digitized and online. Other books I have written were listed, but not the latest one.
FamilySearch is constantly uploading new material. It is imperative you keep coming back to the site to search for additional books appearing online. Make a schedule for revisiting sites. I try to check back every six weeks. It is on my calendar and my “To Do” list so I do not forget to search and it reminds me of the subjects I am searching.
ILLINOIS GRAVES RELOCATED: While building a home in the Brook Forest subdivision of Oak Brook, Illinois, approximately 27 bodies were found buried where the house is being built. Archaeologists and anthropologists answered the call to relocate the remains of these 19th century settlers. They expect to conclude this project next month when the bodies are relocated to Butler Cemetery and Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook.
The homeowners learned in 2001 that the Thurston Cemetery was on their property. It had been where a family from Broome County, New York, had lived and buried their family. The cemetery had been in use from approximately 1848 to 1903. It was supposed to have been removed in the 1960s prior to the development project, but was not for some reason.
The Chicago Tribune article said, “at Butler’s request the village declared the cemetery a public nuisance. In an ordinance signed September 11, 1962, Oak Brook allowed the cemetery to be vacated on the condition that Butler’s company remove all the headstones, coffins and human remains at its own expense and, under the supervision of licensed undertakers, put them in another cemetery.” Furthermore, it states that the work was not done properly and in some cases Butler’s company just took the arms and the legs. Their shoddy, unconscionable ‘relocation’ was discovered in 2001 when a road was being built. At that time, they discovered coffins were not removed and both remains and headstones had been irreverently buried in a common hole. Any items found with the bodies or at the site will be placed with the bodies in the new cemetery.
It is interesting to note that at one time, the cemetery held 400 graves, but today the archeologists and anthropologists only uncovered 27. The entire story by Annemarie Mannion in much more detail is at the Chicago Tribune’s site at http://goo.gl/5xwVBM.
ILLINOIS COUNTY DEATHS FOR 1878-1939 AND 1959-1995: These death records are available online at the FamilySearch site, https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1463134. This includes the City of Chicago; however, the site warns that records for 1959-1994 are only for Chicago. You can search by first or last name using gender and race, but you can restrict records by film number (if you are lucky enough to know it). You also can search using a life event such as birth, residence or death or by using a spouse or parent.
GERMAN CHURCH BOOKS ONLINE: About 140,000 German protestant church books have been digitized and are online at the subscription site, http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de/. You will have to use Google Translate to transcribe the words unless you read German. Google does a good, but not perfect, job of translating.
OHIO DEATH RECORDS ONLINE: Be aware there are many listings online of Ohio death records from at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ohio_Deaths_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records). This will explain all the records and give a complete record and content description of the browsable documents.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
The FamilySearch.org book collection is the place to find many treasures. At http://books.familysearch.org, you can search the full text, a name, place, title, or author of a book. Either search a library, or at the top of the page, just double click “Books.” Further criteria are searchable along the side. You can also use the Advance Search to hunt things like a periodical title.
I searched yesterday using the ‘Books’ tab to confirm whether or not my latest book had been digitized and online. Other books I have written were listed, but not the latest one.
FamilySearch is constantly uploading new material. It is imperative you keep coming back to the site to search for additional books appearing online. Make a schedule for revisiting sites. I try to check back every six weeks. It is on my calendar and my “To Do” list so I do not forget to search and it reminds me of the subjects I am searching.
ILLINOIS GRAVES RELOCATED: While building a home in the Brook Forest subdivision of Oak Brook, Illinois, approximately 27 bodies were found buried where the house is being built. Archaeologists and anthropologists answered the call to relocate the remains of these 19th century settlers. They expect to conclude this project next month when the bodies are relocated to Butler Cemetery and Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook.
The homeowners learned in 2001 that the Thurston Cemetery was on their property. It had been where a family from Broome County, New York, had lived and buried their family. The cemetery had been in use from approximately 1848 to 1903. It was supposed to have been removed in the 1960s prior to the development project, but was not for some reason.
The Chicago Tribune article said, “at Butler’s request the village declared the cemetery a public nuisance. In an ordinance signed September 11, 1962, Oak Brook allowed the cemetery to be vacated on the condition that Butler’s company remove all the headstones, coffins and human remains at its own expense and, under the supervision of licensed undertakers, put them in another cemetery.” Furthermore, it states that the work was not done properly and in some cases Butler’s company just took the arms and the legs. Their shoddy, unconscionable ‘relocation’ was discovered in 2001 when a road was being built. At that time, they discovered coffins were not removed and both remains and headstones had been irreverently buried in a common hole. Any items found with the bodies or at the site will be placed with the bodies in the new cemetery.
It is interesting to note that at one time, the cemetery held 400 graves, but today the archeologists and anthropologists only uncovered 27. The entire story by Annemarie Mannion in much more detail is at the Chicago Tribune’s site at http://goo.gl/5xwVBM.
ILLINOIS COUNTY DEATHS FOR 1878-1939 AND 1959-1995: These death records are available online at the FamilySearch site, https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1463134. This includes the City of Chicago; however, the site warns that records for 1959-1994 are only for Chicago. You can search by first or last name using gender and race, but you can restrict records by film number (if you are lucky enough to know it). You also can search using a life event such as birth, residence or death or by using a spouse or parent.
GERMAN CHURCH BOOKS ONLINE: About 140,000 German protestant church books have been digitized and are online at the subscription site, http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de/. You will have to use Google Translate to transcribe the words unless you read German. Google does a good, but not perfect, job of translating.
OHIO DEATH RECORDS ONLINE: Be aware there are many listings online of Ohio death records from at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ohio_Deaths_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records). This will explain all the records and give a complete record and content description of the browsable documents.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
