Pre-dating the immigrant landing station of Ellis Island by nearly forty years is the almost-forgotten Castle Garden of the “Old Immigration.”
Today, Castle Garden swarms with tourists who come to buy ferry tickets for an excursion to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island.
It wasn’t all isolation on the frontier. Many early settlers formed organizations to stay united—and some of these organizations kept valuable genealogical records.
When people moved to a new area on the frontier, they felt a special kinship with others who had endured the same hardships, and they felt a need to maintain contact with one another.
Who are Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, Johnny Appleseed, Annie Oakley, and John Henry? Did they really exist? People consider them to be among the greatest folk heroes in American culture.
My family and I had a wonderful experience a few years ago. We visited one of my ancestral cities–Norwich in Norfolk, England. Among other things, we toured the Norman castle. My son enjoyed driving Boudica’s virtual war chariot complete with reins, simulated motion, and video display. In the castle keep, he found the views down to the spooky dungeons fascinating.
Something about the finality and mystery of death engenders eloquence from the living. The words we take to heart about a person’s life are often written after he or she is gone and no longer able to hear the praise or dispute the acclaim.
Passage to America 1851-1869: The Records of Richard Elliott, Passenger Agent, Detroit, Michigan
By Mary Lou Straith Duncan. The Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, Inc., 1999. 194 pages. Softcover. Order at www.dsgr.org.
Passenger Agent, Richard R. Elliott (1832-1908), ran a foreign exchange and ticketing office in Detroit, Michigan, from 1848 to 1891.
When was the last time the mailman brought you a real letter from some one you care about? Though we still manage to stay in touch through e-mail and newsletters, today’s correspondence hardly compares to good, old-fashioned letters.
I’ve always loved reading letters–even letters that weren’t written to me. My mother must be to blame.
I’m a writer-turned-genealogist. My research has been rewarding but frustrating. I haven’t been looking for law-breakers, but I’ve found some. I wasn’t looking for royalty, either, but it would have been nice to find a court jester. I’ve also found a lot of interesting people about whom I’d really like to know more.
Have you ever wondered why your ancestor isn’t listed among the 66 million people indexed in the SSDI? Here’s why.
The Social Security Death Index (also known among genealogists as the SSDI) is a valuable tool for individuals researching the death information of a recently-deceased (after 1962) family member. Approximately 98 percent of the individuals in the database died after 1962.
Save yourself valuable research time by avoiding the “bad stuff,” both online and off.
We learned the hard way when we started our personal family research some twenty years ago that research time is at a premium. One of the basics of research is to get the most out of your time. And nothing can waste valuable research time like bad data.