IAJGS 2021 Annual Conference

 Less than 7 months till the 41st IAJGS Conference, which will be held in Philadelphia, PA.

Virginia Records on FamilySearch

In the last few weeks, FamilySearch has added records to a few different databases that go a long way toward help those with family history in the State of Virginia.

Those databases, Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, County Marriage Registers, 1853-1935 and Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Death Records, 1853-1912, are part of the Historical Record Collections at FamilySearch. Both collections contain records and images from various counties in Virginia. In the case of the marriages, the records were turned over to the county clerks by those who performed the marriages. The clerks then sent the records to the state auditor who preserved them. Both databases are wonderful collections of very informative records. The originals are in the custody of the Virginia State Library in Richmond. 

Below, are examples from the various collections. The first, is the marriage record for the marriage of Sydney S. Cohen and his wife Bessie Flax. The second and third, are the death records of two sons of Meyer Cohen and his wife Esther Michael. Those boys, Maxie and Sidney, both taken by accidental drowning.

 

As more records become available, these collections should continue to grow.

IAJGS 2020 Virtual Conference

As has been well documented, this year the 2020 IAJGS Conference will be virtual. It is now less than 2 weeks away. For more information about the schedule and how to register, visit https://s4.goeshow.com/iajgs/annual/2020/index.cfm. I look forward to another great event.

Estonia Jewish Population Registers, 1921-1940, at FamilySearch

The National Archives of Estonia, Tallinn contain many population registers for the Jewish population living in Estonia. This collection includes the time frame from the Russian Revolution to the end of World War II. While they are written in Estonian, they are very easy to read and can be a great tool for those with ancestry in Estonia. FamilySearch now has the digital images available online for free.

The record above is a great example of these records.
Line # 7 shows Maks Abramson, who was born in Tallinn in 1881. He is married and a merchant by trade. He is married to Zilla.
Line #8 is the record of his wife, Zilla Abramson, maiden surname Goldberg. She was born in 1896 in Latis.
Included on both entries are the names of their two sons, Gabriel, who was born in 1920 and David who was born in 1922.
These records can be accessed through the FamilySearch catalog. The entry is found below.

South Carolina, Charleston Records at FamilySearch

Charleston, South Carolina is one of the oldest Jewish communities in North America, dating to the very late 1600's. The early members of the Jewish community were the Sephardic Jews from London and the Netherlands who had made those cities home since being driven out during the expulsion from Spain and Portugal in 1492.
By the mid-1700's, Charleston was the destination of choice for the Jews leaving London. These Sephardic Jews were for the most part the families of wealthy merchant families. Once in Charleston they used their experience in business as they established their own holdings in Charleston. In the year 1800, so many Jews had made their homes in Charleston that it had the largest Jewish population of any state in the United States.
FamilySearch has been adding many records to its Historical Collections section that will be of help to researchers looking for their Jewish roots in Charleston. The list as of 17 December 2019 is shown below.

These records are constantly updated and should be checked often as the databases continue to grow.

IAJGS 2020

The very successful 2019 IAJGS conference is but a few weeks old and yet its time to begin planning for 2020.

From 9-14 August 2020 the IAJGS conference will return to the west coast, and be held in one of my favorite cities, San Diego, California.

For information will be coming soon and I look forward to seeing everyone there.

IAJGS 2019 Only 3 weeks away

Only 3 weeks till we gather in Cleveland, Ohio for the 39th annual conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and meeting many new ones. I hope to see you there.

Center for Jewish History 28 Apr 2019

On 28 April 2019 I am honored to be speaking at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. My topic will be Using FamilySearch.org for Jewish Research. I look forward to seeing everyone.