This is my first National Genealogy Society Conference. I have been a frequent attendee at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and a speaker at the Iowa Genealogy Society's meeting, but this feels like the "Big Time"! I'm going back through my research making sure I have my sources annotated, finding sources for those I didn't (bad genealogist!) and adding newspaper articles like crazy!
The past few days I have gotten lost in the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative ( http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ ). What an awesome site! They have searchable city directories for Hannibal, Missouri as well as newspaper selections from around the state. My favorite part is the abilty to obtain birth and death certificates in pdf form for the 1800s and early 1900s. It has helped so much! Looking for Historical Postcards of Springfield, Missouri? They have them! Like this postcard of St. Agnes Catholic Church, and it includes a bit of her history as well.
One morbid search (I admit, I like morbid) is in the Coroner's Inquest Database (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/coroners/ ) where you can search for keywords, like "stabbed" and find that among many others, there was a "John Doe" in Andrew County, Missouri, who in 1938 was died from being "Stabbed in the back and By Being Shot". OUCH.
"John Doe" huh....? Never thought about looking for my "missing" ancestors by searching the "John Doe" records.
The past few days I have gotten lost in the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative ( http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ ). What an awesome site! They have searchable city directories for Hannibal, Missouri as well as newspaper selections from around the state. My favorite part is the abilty to obtain birth and death certificates in pdf form for the 1800s and early 1900s. It has helped so much! Looking for Historical Postcards of Springfield, Missouri? They have them! Like this postcard of St. Agnes Catholic Church, and it includes a bit of her history as well.
"John Doe" huh....? Never thought about looking for my "missing" ancestors by searching the "John Doe" records.
Be sure to find all of us Geneabloggers and hang out with us! We are meeting for an activity or two - will be announced soon!
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