EXPLORE FINDMYPAST FOR FREE THIS WEEKEND

From 6am on Friday, March 6th (CST) to 6am on Monday, March 9th (CST), FindMyPast collections of billions of historical records will be open to everyone, absolutely free. 

 From FindMyPast:
"Findmypast can give you all the tools and resources you need to discover your family history.

• We have hundreds of millions of US census records dating as far back as 1790
• We have military records covering conflicts that include the American Revolutionary War 
• Our newspaper archive contains millions of pages dating back as far as 1710 
• With our Hints feature, also free this weekend, we search our records on your behalf and suggest potential matches to the people you add to your family tree

This weekend you can explore all of these records and many more for free, as well as testing out some of the great features on our site. Bring your past to life today with Findmypast."

It will be necessary to for a free account with your name, email and password.  I have registered and it is FREE!

I used this database two years ago at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and found a gold mine of information on my family from 1930-1960 in the Ruston Daily Reader.  This information is not available any where else that I know.  Give FindMyPast a try this weekend - it may be just what you are searching for.

NEW GENEALOGY WEBSITE

A new website enables genealogists for the first time to have free, easy, and precise searching of family history books.
 More Than 40,000 Digital Genealogy Books Now Fully Searchable and Downloadable for Free at GenGophers.com.  More are planned to be added to the site.

GenGophers.com is the only website that – completely for free – returns genealogy book results only. Results include the publication name and a snippet from the page showing the highlighted search terms:

Above is a screen shot of some of my results from searching today.  Searching for Hugh Jones in Alabama, I found a family history book that gives a complete genealogy of my second great grandmother Gennetta Woolley.  This included detailed information about her family along with a history of the settlement of Bibb and Chilton counties of Alabama.  I can use this information to fine tune the date that Hugh's father moved from Georgia to Alabama.

Quite a find!!!!

Happy ancestor hunting.

ALABAMA PIONEERS WEBSITE

 One of our GENCOM members who has moved to Alabama sent me the link to Alabama Pioneers Website and Blog.  This is a very informative website for anyone having Alabama ancestors and it also has many old time stories of Alabama that I really enjoy.

I also subscribe to their newsletter which delivers updates of all new information on Alabama Pioneers directly to my inbox.

Happy ancestor hunting.

Welcome to Alabama Pioneers

Those who walk in another’s tracks leave no footprints  

Alabama Pioneers is devoted to discovering and sharing the footprints left behind by our ancestors through documents, stories and biographies as we journey through our state’s history. We report the news of the past!

Though we have considerable information for those interested in genealogy, we are not just another genealogy website. In Days Gone By you will find many heart-warming stories and memories from various authors that will touch your heart, inspire you and sometimes make you laugh.

The website is totally FREE! If you find an article you enjoy, pleas comment in the Reply section of the article. Our authors appreciate hearing from you.

We are nearing one thousand biographies of Alabama Pioneers on the site. Some people are notable people you may have read about while others are not-so-notable and a few could be your ancestors.

At Alabama Pioneers, we search through thousands of historical documents to report important news of Alabama’s past. From historical accounts, genealogy queries and wonderful memories from our contributing authors, you will always find something interesting on Alabama Pioneers.

- See more at: http://alabamapioneers.com/about/#sthash.VHHE54xI.dpuf

USING FAMILYSEARCH TO FIND GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL RECORDS

Here is some more detailed information on searching for Genealogical and Historical records on FamilySearch.org.  Remember this is a FREE site, just be sure and get a username and password so you will be able to view all of the digitized records.  They are continually adding new records.  I keep you up to date on which records which are updated or new on my blog gencomgems.blogspot.com.

Just to remind everyone - the Family History Center is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Happy ancestor hunting.