The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region will be hosting a monthly webinar this Monday, July 9th at 7pm: “I Swear Allegiance: Federal Naturalization Records, 1790-1950.” The webinar is free and easy to use and you can sign up here: http://www.friendsnas.org/webinarSch.htm.
by Aspasia Luster
New books have arrived in the Georgia Room today!
History of North Augusta, South Carolina, Volume 2
Oglethorpe County, Georgia Newspaper Clippings, Volume 1, 1874-1876
Laurens County, Georgia Newspaper Clippings, Volume 3, 1910-1911
Plus, the following books were written by local author Ray Rowland:
Is This Your Alma Mater? Name Changes for Your College, University, Institute, Seminary or Manual School in Georgia
Greetings From Augusta, Georgia: A Colorful Presentation of Postcards
The Faculty, Administration and Staff of the Junior College of Augusta and Augusta College, Volumes 1-3
Teachers at Tubman High School, 1874-1950
Tubman High School Graduates, 1874-1950
by Aspasia Luster
Was your ancestor a Rebel or a Loyalist? In recognition of Independence Day, Ancestry.com is allowing non-subscribers free access to records of the 13 original colonies: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Free access begins today, Tuesday, July 3, and ends on Sunday, July 8 at midnight. You can access the records here: http://www.ancestry.com/
by Aspasia Luster
Ancestry has more searchable states for the 1940 census. They are: CO, DE, DC, ME, NV, NY, OH, PA, TN, VT, and VA.
The western states are indexed at FamilySearch. The problem is that each state must be searched individually.
The Funeral Records of Crowe-Fields Funeral Home, Inc. (Formerly Fletcher Funeral Homes) are now in the Georgia Room. This funeral home served Burke, Jenkins, Screven, Emanuel, Richmond and Bulloch counties. The records run from 1937 to 1958 and were copied by Arnold Davis. This is an invaluable genealogical resource. We are delighted that we have it.
Reminder: Beginner’s Class in Genealogy is this Saturday at 2:00 in the Georgia Room.
The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region will be hosting a monthly webinar this Monday, June 11th at 7pm. The topic will be “Railroad Retirement Records & Records of the CCC.” The Friends’ website states “Since scope of each of these record groups is rather limited, this webinar will be divided into two parts each dedicated to distinct sets of records. Individuals will find both subjects very interesting.”
The webinar is free and easy to use and you can sign up here: http://www.friendsnas.org/webinarSch.htm.
by Aspasia Luster
New indexed states have been added to Ancestry’s 1940 Census. Now Nevada, Delaware, Washington D.C., Maine and New York are completed and searchable through Ancestry.
FamilySearch has completed the indexing for more states than Ancestry has. Be sure to check their map!
This past February, Rob Pavey, from the Augusta Chronicle, wrote a story about the correspondence of Cornelia Polhill Miller that had been donated to the Georgia Room by John and Linda Beck. The letters, dated from 1848 to 1909, were written to Mrs. Miller by friends and members of her family.
The newspaper article was published here in Augusta and picked up by a newspaper in Athens, Georgia. Since the publicity, we have received letters and phone calls from members of the Miller and Polhill families. Last week we were visited by Sara Barron and Orlean Castronis, descendants of Cornelia Polhill Miller. They were delighted and surprised by the collection of letters and they showed us several photos of Cornelia Miller and her family that they had brought with them. They graciously allowed us to make copies of their photographs and a handwritten family history.
The February Augusta Chronicle article is here:
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2012-02-26/hephzibah-womans-memoirs-offer-personal-glimpse-life-1800s
The letters and Polhill/Miller family history can be viewed upon request in the Georgia Room.
New books in the Georgia Room arrived today! If you are researching Rabun, Tift, Laurens, and Clarke Counties, Georgia and Newberry and Charleston Counties, South Carolina, you are in luck! Here is a partial list of the books we received:
Let the Hills Hear Thy Voice: A History of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Augusta, Georgia, 1869-1994
Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894-1899
The Heritage of Tift County, Georgia, 1905-2003
Athens, Georgia, Newspaper Clippings (Southern Banner), Volume 7, 1848-1851
Laurens County, Georgia, Newspaper Clippings, Volume 2, 1903-1909
Marriage and Death Notices from the (Charleston) Times, 1800-1821
Winton (Barnwell) County, South Carolina Minutes of the County Court and Will Book 1, 1785-1791
Newberry County, South Carolina, Minutes of the County Court, 1785-1798
by Aspasia Luster
Related to a horse thief? Did your great grand uncle go awol from the army? Every family has skeletons in the closet. On June 7th at 6:30 the Georgia Heritage Room will have a Black Sheep Genealogy Class where you can share your stories.
Come tell us about the Black Sheep in your family and learn how to find and investigate those relatives that past generations swept under the carpet. Earn a Black Sheep Certificate!
