Category Archives: Genealogy News

FamilySearch has added six more states/territories to its free 1940 census index, for a total of 37 states indexed here. The additions are Arkansas Missouri Pennsylvania Rhode Island Washington, DC West Virginia Volunteers for the 1940 Census Community Project, a collaboration among FamilySearch, Archives.com and findmypast.com, have finished indexing the 1940 census records. Index data for the remaining 14 states… Read More: FamilySearch 1940 Census Index Grows to 37 States »

We just learned that Oklahoma is the 19th state to be completed and posted on the FamilySearch.org website. It is now fully indexed and searchable. It’s great to see the number of searchable states increase. We have indexed 62.3% of the census and are moving along at a great pace. Let’s keep up the momentum and… Read More: 1940 Census Indexing Progress Report—June 13, 2012 »

Today we got a clearer picture on how the 1940 U.S. Census index publication horse race might play out. It might not be what you expected. Ancestry.com announced earlier this week that they had completed an index for the state of New York. New York was the largest state in 1940, containing about a tenth… Read More: The Ancestry Insider: Census Indexing Horse Race Update for 6… »

FamilySearch Indexing has reached about 50%. FamilySearch has released indexes to six additional states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Vermont. That brings the total to 14. Because these are smaller states, the index represents just about 9% of the total size of the index. The Ancestry.com index is still at about 1.5%. The MyHeritage… Read More: The Ancestry Insider: 1940 Census Update for 28 May 2012 »

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the commencement of the war, Fold3 has made all of its War of 1812 records free to the public during the month of June. To be clear, the majority of these records are always free and the databases are incomplete. According to Ancestry.com spokesperson, Matthew Deighton, “the collection consists… Read More: The Ancestry Insider: War of 1812 Records Free During June »

Next week’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” season finale with Paula Deen has turned into a series finale: NBC opted not to renew the show for a fourth season. We still may be able to catch the show elsewhere on TV. In a statement on the cancellation, Tim Sullivan–president of Ancestry.com, a partner in… Read More: NBC Won’t Renew “Who Do You Think You Are?” »

NEW YORK (AP) — It was a decade when tens of millions of people in the U.S. experienced mass unemployment and social upheaval as the nation clawed its way out of the Great Depression and rumblings of global war were heard from abroad. Now, intimate details of 132 million people who lived through the 1930s… Read More: Census documenting Great Depression to be released »

Pennsylvania has long been considered one of the most difficult states for genealogists trying to access older vital records, but a bill signed into law in December 2011 has finally helped us catch up with the times – at least a little.  As of 14 February 2012 the PA Division of Vital Records has opened… Read More: Genealogy News »