Indexing Projects, Part Two

Last fall I helped index Newark, New Jersey naturalization records for the Italian Genealogical Group.  (That database is not online yet.)  I am now working on a new indexing project for the group:  deaths in New York City 1949-1963.  I have the M surnames for the year 1952.  I am entering the data from a typed index.  The current death index on the site covers New York City (all boroughs) 1898-1948.

Page from the New York City death index, 1952

Morristown and Morris Township Library

Last week I attended a tour of the Morristown and Morris Township Library’s North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, organized by the Morris Area Genealogical Society.  The collections include resources local to Morris County, such as microfilmed church records, as well as resources that cover all of New Jersey and some neighboring states.  Morris County newspapers are digitized and available on the library computers only.  Indexes of these newspapers were compiled over the years and are in book form.  (Palladium of Liberty 1808-1822 and Genius of Liberty 1798-1811 are online and searchable at GenealogyBank.com with a subscription.)  Tens of thousands of photographs are being scanned and are appearing online gradually.

The church collection includes microfilmed records from the First Presbyterian Church of Dover.
Events of the church, such as christenings and marriages, are some of the records you can find.
If a cemetery was attached to the church, burial records may also be included.

Sample page contained in the microfilmed records of the First Presbyterian Church in Dover.
This is a page from the listing of marriages performed by Reverend Burtis C Megee from 1840-1876.

Church recordings of events may provide additional details not contained in an official government record.
In this 1872 marriage record of Andrew Erickson to Mary Halstrom, Rev. Burtis mentions the full names of all four parents and adds that the bride has been "only one month in this country, from Sweden."
Note that Andrew Erickson's last name is not his father's last name, but rather his father's first name followed by "son."

Over the years, authors and researchers sent their genealogical manuscripts to the Library.
You can search for books on a particular surname or family.
This find was not a book, but rather a series of newsletters about the Ayars family, with a catchy title, "Ayars Heirs."

Software: Family Tree Maker 2012

In October I purchased the upgrade for Family Tree Maker 2012 from Ancestry.com for $27.99 plus $5 shipping.  I have been working well with the 2011 version, but the price is fair and genealogy is one area in which I prefer to be up-to-date.  (Ironic, I know.)  I think that the main new feature of the 2012 version is syncing trees with Ancestry.com.  With older versions, once you publish a tree on Ancestry.com, additional changes to the tree must be made on both your computer and on the website, which can be slow and tedious.  With the syncing capabilities of the 2012 version, you can sync a tree from your computer to the website and vice versa.  (I do not recommend copying someone else's tree from a website to your computer.  Your research should be your own.)

Family Tree Maker 2012
Syncing feature