Thanksgiving

Genealogy and Thanksgiving go together like turkey and cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving genealogy is most associated with the Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, etc. Read the history again here.

Buildings in New York City

If you or your ancestors lived in one of the 5 boroughs in the 1st half of the 20th century, you may be able to find a photo of the home, courtesy of the WPA and NYC tax collectors. The photos were taken between 1939 and 1941, and supposedly include "every single structure". The Municipal Archives of New York have put them online for free. Read all about it here; there is a link to the database in the last paragraph.  Source: ResearchBuzz

Yearbooks

The ancestorhunt.com website has  this list of links to yearbooks from high schools and colleges in  western states. The article includes a link to other yearbooks online(some free, some not).

DNA Testing of Stamps and Envelopes

It's not available to the public right now, and when it is it will cost you, but here is a new development in the use of DNA in genealogical research.

Where to Find Obituaries at Hernando County Public Library

1.       Nov 11 1987- Jun 30 2013 - Bound copies of Hernando Today at BV.

--you  can take a photo of the obituary with a smartphone or camera.

2. 1920’S TO June 17^th, 1992- microfilm at WH  (see the microfilm inventory)

         These are the old Brooksville newspapers, such as the Daily Sun-Journal, Brooksville Sun, etc.

The Train Depot Museum on 70 Russell St in Brooksville has an index of obituaries for the microfilm.

Museum hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday, 12-3  352-799-4766

The microfilm viewer at West is old and kind of difficult to use, but it does work. It does not have a printer. You can:

·         --take the microfilm(up to 3 reels)  to the Homosassa branch of the Citrus County library, where they have a newer machine with a printer

·      4100 S Grandmarch Ave, Homosassa

Phone:(352) 628-5626

Hrs: Mon-Thu 10-7, Fri-Sat 10-5

OR   take a photo of the obituary with a smartphone or camera.

3.       Florida Newspaper Database, in our E-Resources for Adults:

        St. Petersburg Times-  Jan 1 2000 -  Dec 31 2011 (plus a few editions from previous years)

       Tampa Bay Times     -   Jan 1 2012 - present (plus a few editions from previous years)

        Tampa Tribune        Jan 1 1999-June 22, 2011 (plus a few editions from previous years)

        Hernando Today   December 8 2006 - October 30 2009

Obituaries from this database and can be printed, emailed or downloaded to the computer directly from the database.

You can also try the Tampa Bay Times (tampabay.com) website. They sometimes have obits that do not appear in the Florida Newspaper Database. Click on “news”, then “obituaries”.  Go to the box at the right labeled “search obituaries and guest books”. Use the advanced search for older obits.

If you can’t find an obituary, check Ancestry or familysearch.org. Occasionally they will provide information on where to find an obituary. You might also find that the person died somewhere other than Hernando County.

Genealogy Interest Group

The Genealogy Interest Group meets the first Wednesday of each month, 10 am at W. Hernando Branch Library, 6335 Blackbird Ave, near Weeki Wachee.  The next meeting is November 7th, 2018.  For more information, please call Kathleen Marsh, 352-796-1623.

Military Records

Here  is the link to the National Archives page that deals with locating and requesting military records for your ancestors.