Find-a-Grave Virtual Cemeteries

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Resource Check List

RESOURCES CHECKLIST

Ancestor's Name __________________
Kinship to You ____________________
Soundex code of surname _________

Vital Records Miscellaneous Records
___ Birth ___ Passenger List
___ Baptism/Christening ___ Immigration
___ Marriage Cert/License ___ Naturalization
___ Death ___ Passport Records
___ Divorce/Annulment ___ School Diplomas/Awards
___ Baptism/ ___ School Yearbooks
___ College Records/Yearbook
Census Records ___ Voter Registration Cards
___1790 ___ Drivers License
___1800 ___ Insurance/Auto/Life/Property
___1810 ___ Employee ID Cards
___1820 ___ Tax Lists
___1830 ___ Assessment Rolls
___1840 ___ Doctor/Dentist
___1850 ___ Prison Records
___1860 ___ Military/Retirement Papers
___1870 ___ Pension Applications/Papers
___1880 Soundex ___ Acts/Journals
___1890
___1900 Soundex Land Records
___1910 ___ Deeds
___1920 Soundex ___ Mortgages
___ Leases
State Census Records ___ Recorded Wills
_______________ ___ Power of Attorney
_______________ ___ Maps
_______________ ___ Plats
___ Mortality Schedule ___ Grants
___ Interviews w/ ___ Partition of Property
___ Letters To ___ Foreclosures
___ Homestead Applications
Probate Records ___ Cemetery Records
___ Wills ___ Cemetery/Tombstone
___ Inventories ___ Mortuary Cards
___ Settlement of estates ___ Memorial Books/Cards
___ Guardianships
Library
Home ___ Indexes
___ Family Bible ___ Newspapers/Clippings/Files
___ Scrapbooks ___ City & County Directories, histories
___ Journal/Diaries ___ Occupational histories & record
___ Family Histories ___ Biographical compendia
___ Family Genealogies ___ Manuscript histories
___ Soc Sec.Cards/Info ___ Obituary collections & indexes
___ Newspaper Clippings ___ Cemetery records/grave inscriptions
___ Lodge/Club Records ___ Abstract volumes
___ Employment Records

Monday, September 17, 2018

Thirteen Colonies Jurisdictions


Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British North America in geographical order, from the north to the south.


New England colonies

Province of New Hampshire, later New Hampshire, a crown colony
Province of Massachusetts Bay, later Massachusetts and Maine, a crown colony
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later Rhode Island, a crown colony
Connecticut Colony, later Connecticut, a crown colony

Middle colonies

Province of New York, later New York and Vermont, a crown colony
Province of New Jersey, later New Jersey, a crown colony
Province of Pennsylvania, later Pennsylvania, a proprietary colony
Delaware Colony (before 1776, the Lower Counties on Delaware), later Delaware, a proprietary colony

Southern colonies


Note: Virginia and Maryland comprised the Chesapeake Colonies
Province of Maryland, later Maryland, a proprietary colony
Colony and Dominion of Virginia/Virginia Colony, later Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia, a crown colony
Province of North Carolina, later North Carolina and Tennessee, a crown colony
Province of South Carolina, later South Carolina, a crown colony
Province of Georgia, later Georgia, northern sections of Alabama and Mississippi, a crown colony

Other divisions prior to 1730


Dominion of New England

Created in 1685 by a decree from King James II that consolidated Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Province of New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey into a single larger colony. The experiment collapsed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, and the nine former colonies re-established their separate identities in 1689.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Settled in 1630 by Puritans from England. The colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a new charter establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay was issued in 1691.

Province of Maine

Settled in 1622 (An earlier attempt to settle the Popham Colony in Sagadahoc, Maine (near present-day Phippsburg and Popham Beach State Park) in 1607 was abandoned after only one year). The Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory (then limited to present-day southernmost Maine) in the 1650s. Parts of Maine east of the Kennebec River were also part of New York in the second half of the 17th century. These areas were formally made part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691.

Plymouth Colony

Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims. Plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691.

Saybrook Colony

Founded in 1635 and merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644.

New Haven Colony

Settled in late 1637. New Haven was absorbed by Connecticut Colony with the issuance of the Connecticut Charter in 1662, partly as royal punishment by King Charles II for harboring the regicide judges who sentenced King Charles I to death.

East Jersey and West Jersey

Settled as part of New Netherland in the 1610s, New Jersey was captured (along with New York) by English forces in 1664. New Jersey was divided into two separate colonies in 1674, which were reunited in 1702.

Province of Carolina

Founded in 1663. Carolina colony was divided into two colonies, North Carolina and South Carolina, in 1712. Both colonies became royal colonies in 1729.
(Family Roots & Branches) 


List of U.S. states by date of statehood


This is a list of U.S. states by date of statehood. It has the date when each U.S. state joined the Union. However, Virginia's peoples' convention in May-June 1776 prepared the first Constitution for a State Government, plus a Declaration of Rights. Other Colonies became States in late 1776 and into 1777 and used Virginia's Declaration of Rights as a pattern for their own Declaration. In the 1778 Articles of Confederation, which formed the first national government, it specified the name of the country as "The United States of America", stating "Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated." It also stated "Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States or a Union of State Legislatures. The first 13 States thus were in this Union from 1778 to 1789, when the second national government was established by a Constitution, which, in list of purposes, "in order to form a more perfect Union". This does not make the States enter the Union only when it ratified the U.S. Constitution. 

#   State       Date joined    Colony Founded/What it was called before becoming a state

1   Delaware             Friday, December 7, 1787 ‡       Founded 1638 by New Sweden Company / Province of Delaware
2   Pennsylvania        Wednesday, December 12, 1787 ‡  Founded 1682 by William Penn / Lower Counties on Pensylvania
3   New Jersey          Tuesday, December 18, 1787 ‡   Founded 1664 by Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret / Province of New Jersey
4   Georgia                Wednesday, January 2, 1788 ‡   Founded 1732 by James Oglethorpe / Province of Georgia
5   Connecticut         Wednesday, January 9, 1788 ‡   Founded 1636 by Thomas Hooker / Connecticut Colony
6   Massachusetts      Wednesday, February 6, 1788 ‡ Founded 1620 by Puritans / Province of Massachusetts Bay
7   Maryland             Monday, April 28, 1788 ‡           Founded 1633 by Lord Baltimore / Province of Maryland
8   South Carolina      Friday, May 23, 1788 ‡              Founded 1663 by Nobles with Royal Carhter / Province of South Carolina
9   New Hampshire    Saturday, June 21, 1788 ‡          Founded 1638 by John Mason / Province of New Hampshire
10  Virginia               Wednesday, June 25, 1788 ‡      Founded 1697 by London Company / Virginia Colony
11  New York            Saturday, July 26, 1788 ‡           Founded 1626 by Duke of York / Province of New York
12  North Carolina     Saturday, November 21, 1789 ‡ Founded 1653 by Virginians / Province of North Carolina
13  Rhode Island       Saturday, May 29, 1790 ‡          Founded 1636 by Roger Williams / Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
14  Vermont             Friday, March 4, 1791                Province of New York & New Hampshire Grants (ownership disputed), Vermont Republic
15  Kentucky             Friday, June 1, 1792                  Virginia Colony
16  Tennessee          Wednesday, June 1, 1796          Province of North Carolina, Southwest Territory
17  Ohio                   Tuesday, March 1, 1803*           Northwest Territory
18  Louisiana            Thursday, April 30, 1813            Orleans Territory
19  Indiana                Wednesday, December 11, 1816 Indiana Territory
20  Mississippi          Wednesday, December 10, 1817 Mississippi Territory
21  Illinois                 Thursday, December 3, 1818      Illinois Territory
22  Alabama             Tuesday, December 14, 1819     Alabama Territory
23  Maine                 Wednesday, March 15, 1820      Massachusetts
24  Missouri             Friday, August 10, 1821             Missouri Territory
25  Arkansas             Wednesday, June 15, 1836        Arkansas Territory
26  Michigan            Thursday, January 26, 1837        Michigan Territory
27  Florida                Monday, March 3, 1845            Florida Territory
28  Texas                  Monday, December 29, 1845     Republic of Texas
29  Iowa                   Monday, December 28, 1846     Iowa Territory
30  Wisconsin           Monday, May 29, 1848              Wisconsin Territory
31  California            Monday, September 9, 1850      California Republic, Mexican Cession, Alta California
32  Minnesota          Tuesday, May 11, 1858              Minnesota Territory
33  Oregon                Monday, February 14, 1859       Oregon Territory
34  Kansas                Tuesday, January 29, 1861         Kansas Territory
35  West Virginia       Saturday, June 20, 1863             Virginia
36  Nevada               Monday, October 31, 1864        Nevada Territory
37  Nebraska            Friday, March 1, 1867                Nebraska Territory
38  Colorado             Tuesday, August 1, 1876            Colorado Territory
39  †  North Dakota   Saturday, November 2, 1889      Dakota Territory
40 †  South Dakota    Saturday, November 2, 1889      Dakota Territory
41  Montana             Friday, November 8, 1889          Montana Territory
42 Washington         Monday, November 11, 1889     Part of Oregon Territory, became Washington Territory on March 2, 1853
43  Idaho                  Thursday, July 3, 1890                Idaho Territory
44  Wyoming            Thursday, July 10, 1890             Wyoming Territory
45  Utah                   Saturday, January 4, 1896          Utah Territory
46  Oklahoma           Saturday, November 16, 1907    Oklahoma Territory & Indian Territory
47  New Mexico        Saturday, January 6, 1912          New Mexico Territory
48  Arizona               Wednesday, February 14, 1912  Arizona Territory
49  Alaska                 Saturday, January 3, 1959          Alaska Territory
50  Hawaii                Friday, August 21, 1959             Kingdom of Hawaii

Legend
‡ Date ratified United States Constitution.
*Congress extended federal laws to Ohio on February 19, 1803, but no formal date of statehood was set by the act of admission or a later resolution, as occurred with all other new states. On August 7, 1953, Congress passed a law retroactively making Ohio a state as of March 1, 1803, the date when Ohio's first legislature convened.
† The actual statehood proclamations for North and South Dakota were intentionally shuffled so that no one actually knows which was admitted first. However, North Dakota's was published first in the Statutes at Large (since it is first in the alphabet); hence, it is considered admitted first by most sources (including the US Mint 50 State Quarters program).



State                       Date of Statehood
Alabama                 December 14, 1819
Alaska                     January 03, 1959
Arizona                    February 14, 1912
Arkansas                 June 15, 1836
California                September 09, 1850
Colorado                  August 01, 1876
Connecticut             January 09, 1788
Delaware                December 07, 1787
Florida                     March 03, 1845
Georgia                   January 02, 1788
Hawaii                    August 21, 1959
Idaho                       July 03, 1890
Illinois                     December 03, 1818
Indiana                    December 11, 1816
Iowa                        December 28, 1846
Kansas                     January 29, 1861
Kentucky                  June 01, 1792
Louisiana                 April 30, 1812
Maine                      March 15, 1820
Maryland                 April 28, 1788
Massachusetts        February 06, 1788
Michigan                 January 26, 1837
Minnesota               May 11, 1858
Mississippi              December 10, 1817
Missouri                  August 10, 1821
Montana                 November 08, 1889
Nebraska                 March 01, 1867
Nevada                    October 31, 1864
New Hampshire      June 21, 1788
New Jersey              December 18, 1787
New Mexico            January 06, 1912
New York                 July 26, 1788
North Carolina        November 21, 1789
North Dakota          November 02, 1889
Ohio                        March 01, 1803
Oklahoma               November 16, 1907
Oregon                    February 14, 1859
Pennsylvania           December 12, 1787
Rhode Island           May 29, 1790
South Carolina        May 23, 1788
South Dakota          November 02, 1889
Tennessee               June 01, 1796
Texas                       December 29, 1845
Utah                        January 04, 1896
Vermont                  March 04, 1791
Virginia                   June 25, 1788
Washington            November 11, 1889
West Virginia          June 20, 1863
Wisconsin               May 29, 1848
Wyoming                July 10, 1890
(Family Roots & Branches)

DNA Genealogy Test - five things I've learned


Five Things I've Learned in My Search for My Roots

I admit to more than a casual interest in genealogy shows like PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” and Lifetime’s “Who Do You Think You Are?,” where famous folk find out that they’re descended from Founding Fathers or Scottish Kings. I, too, have been curious about my own genetic makeup, but since I’m not a celebrity, no one’s going to pay for my tests and send a film crew to reveal my results for dramatic effect.
So like more than 12 million people worldwide, I went the DIY route and did a consumer genetic genealogy test — two, in fact.