Hundreds of free genealogy and family history videos almost disappeared, perhaps forever, last week when Megan Smolenyak announced that Roots Television would be closing its virtual doors. Luckily, enthusiastic support for the site through emails, tweets, Facebook and messages, has convinced Megan that there is a demand for educational genealogical videos and that Roots Television meets a different need, and even audience, than network reality genealogy shows like Who Do You Think You Are? and Faces of America.

Thank you Megan for continuing to provide us all with such a rich genealogical resource. We're glad Roots Television decided to stick around!

Good News for Roots Television Viewers originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 12:07:39.

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A new free online index of Minnesota marriages from all 87 counties went online last month.The Minnesota Official Marriage System (MOMS) shows the bride and groom's name, the year of marriage, and the county that maintains the record. Marriage certificates can be ordered for a fee. A list of counties with their index dates is available here.

The Minnesota statewide marriage index is a great addition to other wonderful online Minnesota vital records collections and indexes, including the Minnesota Birth Certificates Index and Minnesota Death Certificates Index from the Minnesota Historical Society

Official Minnesota Marriage Index Online originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 11:03:56.

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World-renowned African-American genealogy expert Tony Burroughs is giving a free genealogy seminar for the Ancestry.com webinar series this coming Thursday, March 11, at 8:00 p.m. EST (GMT +5). In his free webinar, "Avoid Traps in African American Genealogy," expert Tony Burroughs will share his unique wisdom and experience to help you in your search for your Black roots. Visit Ancestry Webinars to learn more and to register.

Free Tony Burroughs Genealogy Webinar originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 17:07:36.

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Friday's Who Do You Think You Are? episode touched on a number of interesting research dilemmas - including what to do when you encounter conflicting information. In this case, the conflicting information was an obituary for the son of Sarah Jessica Parker's fourth great grandfather, John S. Hodge, which stated that he died en route to the California gold rush in 1849, while his son, John Eber Hodge, was apparently born in late 1850 or in 1851. How could John S. Hodge be the father of John Eber Hodge?

In this situation, the researchers kept digging. Following the "gold rush" trail brought out in the obituary, they discovered a John S. Hodge from Ohio listed in the 1850 census living in El Dorado, California. From there, I'm not sure of the research path they took, but I encountered a clue to John S. Hodge by searching for "John S. Hodge" and "gold" in Google Books. Read more...

Small Nuggets -The Death of Gold Prospector John S. Hodge originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 08:39:43.

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It's hard to believe it is actually a reality, but genealogy is finally coming to prime time network television in the United States as Who Do You Think You Are? premieres on NBC this Friday, March 5. The media outlets are buzzing which is a very good sign - the more people that watch the show, the greater its success. A win for genealogists everywhere! Look for Who Do You Think You Are? and family history to be highlighed on NBC's Today Show (March 3 and 5), ABC's The View (March 3), Martha Stewart (March 8), Oprah (March 9), The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS (March 9) and Bonnie Hunt (March 19). All dates and times are subject to change.

I welcome the opportunity that Who Do You Think You Are? provides to help show all of America just how fascinating it can be to learn about where you come from. Here's a peek at what you can expect. Excited yet?

Sarah Jessica Parker (March 5) - This Sex in the City star, born to Jewish parents in Ohio in 1965, surprisingly thought of her family as less American than most. "There's no way they let our ancestors on the Mayflower!" she said in conversation with her brother. She was aware of her father's Eastern European roots, and as far as she knew her mother's side was all German. Imagine her surprise to find a branch of the family that connects back to the infamous Salem Witch Trials and other pivotal events in U.S. history! Read more...

Who Do You Think You Are? To Air in U.S. This Friday! originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 10:10:10.

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A record of Charles Dickens' marriage in Chelsea in 1836, William Blake's burial in 1827 at Bunhill Fields, and the baptism of Jane Randolph (the mother of American President Thomas Jefferson) in Shadwell, East London in 1721, are among the one million new London parish records available online at Findmypast.co.uk as part of their new 'London Collection,' launched this past week. The collection includes:

• City of London Burial Index - records from all the churches in the City of London from 1813 to 1890
• West Middlesex Marriage Index - detailing 84,863 marriages in 61 parishes from 1538 to 1837
• London Docklands Baptisms - comprising 407,558 baptisms for London's docklands areas 1712 to 1933
• London and West Kent Probate Indexes - mainly detailing wills and administrations from 1750 - 1858
• The Matchworkers' Strike - listing participants of the strike of over 700 men, women and teenage boys and girls working at the Bryant and May factory in East London in 1888, the same year as the Jack the Ripper murders

If you aren't familiar with Findmypast.co.uk, it is a subscription-based site with over 24 million English baptisms, marriages and burials dating from 1538, in addition the the England & Wales Civil Registration Index, all available British census records, and a wealth of other online records and resources for tracing British ancestors. General searches are free, but results in the form of transcriptions and/or images, are available through pay-per-view and subscription options.

New London Parish Records Available Online originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 10:58:47.

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I can't honestly say that I wasn't disappointed not to find my About Genealogy blog included in Family Tree Magazine's list of 40 Best Genealogy Blogs, but not so disappointed that I'm going to pass up an opportunity to point out all of the delightful genealogy blogs that did make the list! Since I didn't do any self-promotion during the voting process, I can't even remember what category my blog was included in. I think it may have been "News & Resources," while I would have classified it as "How-To" or, possibly, "All-Around."

Disappointment aside, the Fab Forty Genealogy Blogs list really highlights the best of genealogy, covering the gamut from research guidance and news to heritage and heirlooms. Most of my favorite genealogy blogs are on the list, and I personally enjoy reading each and every one of them. Check out all of these very deserving genealogy blogs (including the "runners-up") and feel free to share your favorite genealogy blogs in the comments below.

Fab Forty Genealogy Blogs originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 14:24:20.

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Once I uncovered the name of the author of my mysterious 1874 pocket diary, I of course wanted to learn more about her family and, hopefully, track down a living descendant so that the diary can find a good home.

I began by searching for Ella Burnham in the 1870 Vermont census and quickly found an Ella M. Burnham of about the right age living in the household of Loomis S. and Luthera Pierce in Calais, Washington, Vermont (not far from Barre, Vermont, listed as the place she visited her mother in 1874). Tracing the family back through marriage and census records, I discovered that Luthera was born as Luthera Nelson to Alva Nelson and Millie Ainsworth. She first married Charles Burnham and is found living with him in the 1850 census of Woodbury, Washington, Vermont. According to this post on the Washington Vermont message board hosted by RootsWeb, Charles Burnham and Luthera Nelson married on 16 Oct 1850 in Calais, Washington, Vermont. This is a bit of a conflict with the 1850 census entry which has Luthera listed with the last name of Burnham as of the June 1 census date, so I would pursue further by obtaining the original marriage record (except that this actually isn't the correct family as you'll see below). Charles apparently died prior to the 1860 census, where Luthera is listed as a head of household in Woodbury, Washington, Vermont with children Harriet, Ella and Harry. On 2 Sep 1867, Luthera married her third husband, Louis Pierce - the "Loomis Pierce" she's living with in 1870.

This Ella M. Burnham, however, seemed just a few years too young to be my M. Ella Burnham, so I was not at all confident that I had the right family, despite the coincidence of name, age and location. Good thing, too! Read more...

Who was Ella Burnham? originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 08:23:07.

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