Genealogy Soup Blog

Significant Improvements and Expansion for MyHeritage Genealogy Search Engine

MyHeritage Press Release-

Our latest addition made the MyHeritage Genealogy Search Engine more powerful, as we have expanded our database to include now 1,526 genealogically relevant databases, representing more than 12 billion names.
You can get to it by going to http://www.myheritage.com/research or you can still access it directly from our software Family Tree Builder.

We have expanded our database by 150+ new sources. Some of the new sources are:
· Facebook
· Digg
· Spock people finder
· Michigan Census
· German Emigrants Database
· BMD Registers UK
· USA Gov search
· Western Michigan Newspapers
· Palatines to America
· US Social Security Death Index
· Prague Police Headquarters Conscriptions (1850-1914)
· Consolidated Index of Sephardic Surnames
· Arizona Birth and Death Certificates
· European Patent Office

MyHeritage Research accesses only genealogical resources which helps researchers find those
websites and databases most relevant to their unique family histories. This allows you a much
quicker and efficient search, so you don’t have to wade through volumes of non relevant
records.

You can perform a name search using different spelling options: Exact, Soundex, or our
unique Megadex spelling variations. Megadex allows you to choose from the most commonly
used spelling variations of last names, cutting down on the time needed to research name
variations. Read more about Megadex here:
http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/megadex.php

Using the Advanced Search option, you can add birth and death dates. Based on the
information you enter, our search engine will automatically select the databases most
relevant to your search.

There is a lot more information on the Advanced Search on our genealogy blog!
http://www.myheritage.com/blogs/genealogyblog/2009/02/easy_searching_myheritage_adv
a.html

In addition, MyHeritage allow you to store and annotate your searches for further reference.
These tools allow you to focus on the results of your search, not the mechanics.
We hope those extensions will make it easier for everyone to research their family history
and improve the family tree.

About MyHeritage
MyHeritage was founded by a team of people who combine a passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. It is now one of the world’s leading online networks for families, and the second largest family history website. MyHeritage is available in 34 languages and home to more than 28 million family members and 300 million profiles. The company recently acquired Kindo, a family social network, and is based in Bnei Atarot, near Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit www.myheritage.com.

Filed under: - Vital Records, In the News | genealogy database, genealogy search engine, My heritage|No Comments

New records online for California, Illinois, South Dakota, and West Virginia

Filed under: In the News | california 1920 census, Illinois birth certificates, sout dakota 1915 state census, south dakota 1925 state census, west virginia birth marriage and death records|No Comments

The Resources At The Canadian Genealogy Centre

The Canadian Genealogy Centre is an online resource for anyone in the world who wants to identify their Canadian ancestors and learn more about them. A variety of databases and records are available through the Canadian Genealogy Centre. This guide will help you navigate the site.

What You Can Do

The most popular activity on the Canadian Genealogy Centre is searching for ancestors. By using the Centre’s combined genealogical database search, you can search for a wide variety of government records. Since the records were collected and maintained by the Library and Archives Canada, they have a high degree of reliability and trustworthiness.

Ancestors Search Database

Using the Canadian Genealogy Centre's Ancestors Search database, you can search for all kinds of events like births, marriage bonds made between 1779 and 1865, deaths, and divorces between 1841 and 1968. Researchers can search land records like the Gaspe Land Commission records from 1626 to 1841, Lower Canada land petitions from 1826 to 1865, and Western Land Grants from 1870 to 1930. This is by far the most extensive database available to Canadians researching their genealogy.

Searchable immigration and citizenship registration records at the Canadian Genealogy Centre include records for the Montreal Circuit Courts from 1851 to 1945; Home Children records from 1869 to 1930; the Montreal Emigrant Society Passage Book of 1832; records of immigrants from the Russian Empire and immigrants at Grosse-Ile from 1832 to 1937, and generalized immigration records from 1925 to 1935.

Searchable military records include lists of courts martial and soldiers from the First World War and soldiers from the South African War.

Census Records

Old census records provide a huge wealth of information about your Canadian ancestors. Census returns collected in 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1906, and 1911 list every individual by name and provide each person’s age, sex, birth country or province, racial or ethnic origin, occupation, and marital status. Census records for 1901 and 1911 also include the individual’s birth date, year of immigration, and location of land. Be advised that the 1851 Census is incomplete, as portions of the records were destroyed.

The Newspaper Obituaries

Newspaper obituaries are also available through the Canadian Genealogy Centre’s online databases. If you find a newspaper obituary for one of your ancestors, you could be very fortunate indeed. Many obituaries give details about the deceased's survivors, their military service, their employment, and names of family members – especially spouses – who predeceased the individual.

The Canadian Genealogy Centre is an outstanding research for the amateur genealogy researcher.

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Tracing Arkansas Genealogy To The Days Of De Soto

As the search for family history continues to become popular, many are finding keys to their family roots that may not have been previously understood. For example, for people living in Arkansas, genealogy may show that some of their ancestors aided General Sam Houston plan the war between Texas and Mexico in 1834. They might research their European roots further and discover they are tied to the area's first settler in the late 16th century, Hernando De Soto.

There are many reasons people seem drawn to knowing their genetic heritage and Arkansas genealogy resources can help in many ways. Since De Soto’s appearance in the area, long before Arkansas became a state in 1881, many families remained in the mountainous region with lush plains on the trek westward. Once crossing the Mississippi River, Arkansas genealogy may show that families in the state are descended from those who decided they did not want to continue the quest to the Pacific Ocean.

Since the movie "Roots" in the 1970's there has been a surge in interest for families to have a better understanding of their history. Since the growth of the internet, Arkansas genealogy has been easier to trace and has become a vehicle used to share information with people from around the globe.

Internet Boosts Speed On Road To Family History

Prior to the use of the internet, persons researching their family history would have to physically visit local, state and federal government offices to conduct their research, which could take days and weeks to uncover one small tidbit of information. Libraries were also popular resources for researching Arkansas genealogy, but many times their histories were only what was available in books by local historians.

As more people began using the internet and making the product of their research available to others, it has cast a much wider net for information regarding Arkansas genealogy. Not all ancestors that passed through the state decided to stay with some continuing their journey westward and others returning to other family members that remained in the east. The search for Arkansas genealogy information is not confined to the state, or to the confines of the United States.

While many can quickly determine their Arkansas genealogy for a few generations, a lot of the information may have been lost with the death of descendants. During the trials and tribulations of the westward expansions, keeping records of the journey and all family members on the journey, may not have been the number one priority.

Filed under: Uncategorized | arkansas, genealogu|1 Comment

Cortes Genealogy: Searching Online Should Prove To Be Most Effective

For anyone who answers to the surname Cortes, the need to find out more about Cortes genealogy is sure to be great and it will involve learning where they came from that in turn can prove to be a very rewarding and fun experience, and once you learn how to uncover new leads, your search for Cortes genealogy will also not prove to be very difficult. The crux to it all is in finding out the best place where to begin the search for Cortes genealogy, and in this regard, a good starting point would obviously be to search online.

Alternatives Are Local Libraries And Genealogy Records

However, if you are one who does not like to use the Internet and who in fact likes to spend time manually sifting through various records, you may want to head on down to the local library or try looking up genealogy books that will also prove to be useful for your Cortes genealogy search. Even so, the Internet is still sure to be your best bet in this regard and you just need to search for the term “Cortes genealogy” which will throw up tons of related genealogy sites that you can try out, though you should start with the website that is most popular.

Nevertheless, if you do use various such websites for Cortes genealogy, you should also expect having to pay to use the website’s resources, though of course the fee charged is usually quite small and easily affordable and worth the money spent. In addition, once you start getting the required information, you will be rewarded by the quality and type of information thrown up that will be worth far more than what you paid for to find them. Also, at these websites you can also connect with likeminded Cortes genealogy searchers which may even lead to meeting up with long lost cousins or even distant relatives and that will surely make your search even more fun, exciting and rewarding as well.

If however, you are at the local library or you have exhausted all the online resources, then you can get ahead with Cortes genealogy by sifting through the books in the library that will show you the roots of the surname Cortes, and a few of these books may even throw up useful Cortes genealogy leads that will lead you all the way back to the mother country of Spain and show you where your Spanish ancestral line all began.

If all else fails, you can even do your Cortes genealogy by using a simple though effective manner and that is to ask other family members about information regarding their forefathers, and by tapping into their knowledge regarding family roots learn much information that can further your search for your ancestors. In fact, it is also quite possible that your grandparents as well as great grandparents may possess certain documents or other records that can help you further your search for ancestors answering to the name of Cortes and thus help you complete your Cortes genealogy right from your own home.

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