TERRE HAUTE — One of my favorite things about the Internet is the genealogy databases that are available to search. You can subscribe to Ancestry or go to almost any library to use it for free. You can use Heritage Quest free from home with your library card, and the Family Search pilot project is also free for the time being. These are databases that contain massive amounts of information, from census, to state and county records, to foreign records. Here are some of my other favorite (free) databases:
The Bureau of Land Management General Land Office (BLM GLO) Web site at www.glorecords.blm.gov/ allows the user to search through original land patents granted by the federal government on public lands. The user can search land patents and surveys and download a copy of the original documents. The site has recently added land status records for Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The site is also currently adding military land warrant information for warrants granted as a result of military service.
The state of Illinois has a similar database called the Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database at www.ilsos.
gov/Genealo
gyMWeb/pub
domsrch.
html. This site can be searched by the legal description of the land (section, range, township), by county, or by the name of the original purchaser. I wish every state had something like this.
The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Land Office Web site at sos.ky.gov/land/ is so wonderful that it deserves an entire column (or two) devoted to it (which I plan to write at some point). At this site, you can search the Virginia and Old Kentucky patent series, Revolutionary War warrants, certificates of settlement and preemption warrants, Virginia treasury warrants, old Lincoln County entries, county court order patents, west of Tennessee River military and non-military patents, and Jackson Purchase patents. Each database contains pictures of your ancestor’s original patent, survey, and deed that can be downloaded and printed. This web site was spotlighted in a Wabash Valley Genealogy Society workshop a couple of years ago, and it will be the featured topic at their September meeting this year.
The Library of Virginia on-line catalog search engine located at ajax.lva.lib.va.us/F/?func=file&file;_name=find-b-clas30&local;_base=CLAS30 allows the user to access the Virginia Land Office patents and grants and the Northern Neck grants and surveys. This is also a wonderful site that allows the user to download and print the original documents.
For vital statistics, Illinois, California, and Michigan have some excellent searchable on-line databases. Check out the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index at www.ilsos.gov/Geneal
ogyMWeb/marrsrch.html and their Statewide Death Index at www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/death.html. The Michigan Genealogical Death Indexing System can be searched at www.mdch.state.mi.us/gendisx/search.htm. California’s death records can now be found on RootsWeb at vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi.
If your ancestry goes back into England or Wales, the Free BMD site, also at RootsWeb at freebmd.rootsweb.com/, is excellent for finding birth, marriage, and deaths starting in 1837 when civil vital statistics began to be recorded. You can download the original record, which is in the form of a quarterly list for a certain county. If your ancestor is listed in that quarter, you would have to order the actual record to get the exact date of the birth, death, or marriage.
History
Genealogy: Internet handy for genealogy research
- History
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
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Traveling Civil War exhibit makes history personal
Civil War history will come alive for visitors to the Sullivan County Public Library who experience “Faces of the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition created and managed by the Indiana Historical Society.
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GENEALOGY: Virginia Historical Society takes on ambitious project
Over the past few months, the Virginia Historical Society has launched an ambitious project to scrutinize more than 8 million 17th, 18th, and 19th century documents in order to identify the enslaved population of those times.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The Legacy of ‘The Old Silkworm House’
In 1837, and for several years thereafter, a gray sandstone obelisk was installed next to a one-story frame residence at the northwest corner of Sixth and Eagle streets.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A blast from valentines past
Valentine’s Day — it brings to mind simple paper valentines and the elaborate, fancy store-bought cards with multiple verses and glittery covers.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Flu outbreak forces Schulte closed
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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Original copy of 13th Amendment at Lincoln Library & Museum
A fully signed and recently restored copy of the Congressional resolution for a 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the official act that would abolish slavery in the United States, will be on display in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum’s Treasures Gallery.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Freedom of religion — beliefs and actions
Because religious faith is, arguably, the quintessential example of our right to privacy, to say nothing of its prominent place in our First Amendment, throughout our history court cases involving the free exercise of religion have been handled with great trepidation and with particular care. One of the milestone “free exercise” religion cases, Davis v. Beason, was decided by the Supreme Court this week (Feb. 3) in 1890.
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GENEALOGY: SoCal Genealogical Jamboree coming up in June
The Southern California Genealogical Society announces its 43rd Annual Jamboree, to be staged for three days on June 8-10, at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, Calif.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: Disco Ernie featured on Maury
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Flashing the mayor's badge
This mayoral badge was presented to the Vigo County Historical Society by Elizabeth K. Schultz, the granddaughter of Samuel E. Beecher Sr., who served as mayor of Terre Haute from 1936 to 1940.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Deadly tornado devastates York in 1907
John T. Staff loved water and, particularly, the Wabash River.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Notorious Western desperado Ellsworth Wyatt captured in Clay County
In October 1892, Terre Haute police received a circular from the State of Kansas containing a description of Ellsworth Wyatt and offering a $1,200 reward for his capture.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: ISU students honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: News letter filled with wonderful local news
We recently received five bound volumes of copies of the “Terre Haute Onizette,” the Owen-Illinois Glass Company news letter for the Terre Haute Plant.
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GENEALOGY: Peyton, Downey, Fifer queries and a plea for help from Scotland
This week, we have several queries.
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Extension plans seminar on land use
The Purdue Extension Land Use Team is hosting a video seminar titled “Welcome to the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals” from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Kennedy, Camelot, and other myths
This week (Jan. 20) in 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as our 35th president, and his tragic death by assassination notwithstanding, his was a mediocre presidency that, undeservedly, became the stuff of legend — in part because of his assassination.
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Actor to portray Lincoln at dinner for historical society
A special program, “And Lincoln Wrote,” is coming to Harlan Hall in Marshall, Ill., with a featured presentation by Dick Benach as Abraham Lincoln and Chuck Hand as the publisher of the Prairie Beacon.
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GENEALOGY: Celebrate MLK Day with the Indiana Historical Society
On Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Indiana Historical Society will offer free admission to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Light Guards savor military and social experiences
Never during the Civil War was there a time when the City of Terre Haute was in danger of hosting an armed conflict involving one or more armies.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: 87 high school hoops teams compete in 47th annual Wabash Valley Tournament
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A bottle of clove oil at the pharmacy
The Historical Treasure for today is a bottle of Clove Oil.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: St. Mary’s Parish congregation celebrates 150th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Fire up the jukebox for a great night
The jukebox existed long before Glenn Miller’s “Juke Box Saturday Night” swing version.
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GENEALOGY: 1752 is one memorable year for genealogists
The year 1752 is one to remember if you have ancestors who lived in areas controlled by Great Britain; and this includes the American colonies.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Terre Haute teenager arrested in Cincinnati brothel
A newspaper headline in the Terre Haute Gazette on Jan. 3, 1895, grabbed your attention: “A Terre Haute Girl Goes to Cincinnati to Lead a Life of Shame.”
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Ford’s five dollar days increase productivity
This week (Jan. 5) in 1914, Henry Ford, the head of the Ford Motor Company, stunned the business world by announcing that, henceforth, Ford employees would not only share in the car company’s profits, they also would be paid the unheard of sum of $5 a day. That doubled their previous wage.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Some events not given adequate attention
On May 25, 2011, a large white oak tree — one of the 2,000 or so numbered trees on 324 platted lots in “Edgewood Grove Beautiful” subdivision — fell on our residence.
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LOOKING BACK: Carty, Skelly, Oxford celebrate with first baby of the year in 1962, 1987, 2002
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
- More History Headlines
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
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Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
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Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
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Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Woman Pleads Guilty in 1987 Newborn Kidnap Case
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
The Pits: Israelis Spit Olives for Glory
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
Skaters Still Hold Hope for Dutch Marathon
Snow Strands Italian Towns
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death
Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Absolute Lin-sanity
Hate to be Rude: Bubba Watson
Peek inside Barbie's closet
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
Halle Wants to Leave the Country
Northern Lights shine above earth
Plane makes perfect belly landing
