Wednesday, March 27, 2024

New titles added to newspapers.com

 Newspapers. com, which is available to library card holders from the library's website, has added 450 more papers from 15 states and 3 countries. More will be added in the next few months. The database can be found 24/7 at hernandocountylibrary.us under Research Tools, and at the bottom right of this page under Links to Related Websites.

Monday, March 18, 2024

blacksheepancestors.com

 This website is a collection from the U.S., U.K., and Canada of miscellaneous records of prisons, courts, insane asylums, executions, and a brief section with biographies of outlaws. The scope is limited, so the chances of finding an ancestor of yours is slim, and there are a lot of ads on it. Still it worth a look if you're curious.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Gravestone symbolism

 The meaning of symbols on gravestones can be a mystery. This article from gravestonestudies.org
presents some interpretations of some and resources to research others. 

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

New additions to Newspapers.com

newspapers.com has added 150 new papers from 17 states since January 1st. See the list here
Newspapers.com is available 24/7 on the library's website. You can find it under Research Tools
on the library's home page, or on the lower right of this page under links to related websites.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Mc and Mac

This article from todayifoundout.com talks about the Irish and Scot Mc and Mac surnames. 

Friday, February 16, 2024

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

Over the course of U.S. history, county boundaries and names changed, and large counties were broken up into smaller ones. In 1883, for example, Hernando County was broken up into 3 separate entities, and Citrus and Pasco counties were born. An ancestor who shows up in the 1880 census as a resident of Hernando County may have been living in what is now Citrus or Pasco.

The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries  created by the Newberry Library in Chicago, will tell you what county your ancestors lived in. Make sure you look at the "Using the Atlas" section to get the most from the database.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Unclaimed letters

Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the mail moved slowly and some citizens had to travel a good distance to check for mail, letters often accumulated at the post office. The Postmaster would place lists of names from unclaimed letters in the local newspaper. 

These lists may be helpful for genealogical research. You can use your library card to access newspapers.com on the library's website and search "unclaimed letters" or "list of letters", along with a date range and location. 

You will find newspapers.com under Research Tools on the home page. 

New titles added to newspapers.com

 Newspapers. com, which is available to library card holders from the library's website, has added 450 more papers from 15 states and 3...