Ancestry DNA is on sale until August 26th for $59.00. Click HERE if you’re interested!
Ancestry.com
Fold III Offering Free access to their records until April 15th
To commemorate the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Fold III is offering free access to more than 100 million records from our Civil War Collection until April 15th.
Click here to ACCESS THE RECORD COLLECTION.
Ancestry.com and SundanceTV present..
Railroad Ties
A 24 minute film presenting true stories of courage and resiliance.
Six descendants of fugitive slaves and abolitionists come together in Brooklyn to discover more about their lineage. Documenting each person learning about their ancestors, and featuring renowned historian, Henry Louis Gates Jr., the film interweaves powerful personal moments with contextual historical anecdotes.
The very human story of the Underground Railroad unfolds through Ancestry records, each discovery revealing the dynamic impact our history has on identity, family and legacy. The film takes a personal look at how understanding our family’s past can influence not just who we are, but how we see ourselves.
Watch “Railroad Ties”
US Seamen’s Protection Certificates – from the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society September 2018 Newsletter.
By Michael John Neill
Under a US Congressional act of 1796 (the Act For The Relief and Protection of American Seamen (1 Stat. 477) signed into law on May 28, 1796), American seamen were periodically issued certificates to hopefully prevent them from being illegally impressed by ships from other nations. These documents can appear in one of three formats:
• registers–listing certificates that were issued–not all are extant, some are held by the National Archives and others by local historical societies
• applications–proof and evidence–generally held by the National Archives, available on microfilm or digitally and usually arranged by port
• certificates–usually kept by the sailor himself
The Mystic Seaport Museum has a database of entries from the Custom Houses of Fall River, Gloucester, New Haven, New London, Newport, Marblehead, and Salem.
FamilySearch includes these databases:
• Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Seamen’s Proofs of Citizenship, 1791-1861
• Maine, Bath, Seamen’s Proofs of Citizenship, 1833-1868
• browse items in the FamilySearch catalog that match a keyword search for “seamen certificates”
Selected Ancestry.com databases:
• Applications for Seaman’s Protection Certificates, 1916-1940
• Indexes to Seamen’s Protection Certificate Applications and Proofs of Citizenship
• Register of Seamen’s Protection Certificates from the Providence, Rhode Island Customs District, 1796-1870
National Archives research guide on the “Seamen’s Protection Certificates.” (PDF file)
(c) Michael John Neill, “Genealogy Tip of the Day,” http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com, 23 Aug 2018
