Accessing the Knowles Collection through Family Search Community Trees

As the collection continues to grow, the challenge becomes how to make the collection more easily accessible to researchers. The database can be downloaded by GEDCOM into any genealogical program. However, it is a large file that can be a challenge to some computers. Hopefully, that problem can be addressed through FamilySearch Community Trees.

Community Trees is a fully searchable database that gives researchers views of individuals, families, ancestors and descendants. It also allows reserachers to print records, view sources and even download some records. Additionally, researchers can search a particular tree or search across multiple trees. The records below shows, Catherine Gluckstein as the daughter in a family grouping with her parents, Samuel Henry and Hannah (Joseph) Gluckstein, her husband,and children. The record even provides a list of sources that were used to create this family record.

Another advantage of Community Trees is the ability to Print the records, such as the Pedigree Chart here for Catherine. The program can be set to print as many generations as are wanted, or can be saved, by downloaded to any medium, for printing later. Hopefully, Community Trees will allow researchers throughout the world easier access to The Knowles Collection.

To access Community Trees visit
http://histfam.familysearch.org/.

Humor in the American Jewish Archives

The American Jewish Archives, based in Cincinnati, Ohio is an incredible resource for those investigatng their Jewish families. It houses a large collection of records submitted by families around the world. In many cases researchers can find a lot of very usefull information about their families.
In the example at the right, the family of Ben Burgunder can locate his birth, death and even something about his business, Burgunder & Ambach. When the record of his marriage is mentioned however, it may provide future generations with more information than they had hoped for. In the top part of the record it states that he married Carlin Friedman, and "never thereafter opened his mouth".


The records of this family are located in The Jews of the Americas.

1901 and 1911 Ireland Census Records

As of Jun of 2010 those individuals searching for their Jewish ancestors in Ireland have been given a gift. The 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland are now available free online at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/. All counties are included. Up until this time the census of 1911 was the only one included here. This site will be most benefical for anyone looking for their ancestors in turn of the century Ireland.


Even though, the record above is taken from the microfilm collection of The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, it is easy to see what wonderful information is available.

Samuel Levy (Berg)

In the southwest portion of the Salt Lake City Cemetery is found the B'nai Israel Jewish Burial Ground. In amongst the neatly groomed rows of headstones is found the marker of Samuel Levy of London. From the headstone, we find that he was born on 9 Nov 1841 in London. However, upon viewing the death certificate obtained from the Utah State Archives, we find the following.

On the 3rd of October 1904, Samuel Levy, aka Samuel Berg died in Salt Lake City. He was born in London, England on 16 April 1841. His parents, Jacob and Anna Levy were both born in England. This document also raises a few questions. What was Samuel doing in Salt Lake City? His occupation as listed on the death certificate was Cigar Dealer. This could not have been a major occupation in Salt Lake City at the turn of the century.
<>The 1900 Census of Utah raises even more questions. In the household which is listed as the same address as the death certificate, Samuel and his wife Marie and their children are listed. However Samuel is listed as being born in 1846 and his wife 1854. Neither of these dates match up with the previous documents. Further research, hopefully will answer these questions.

The records of this family are in The Jews of the Americas.

The time for change

The last few months have been a very busy time. I had the great opportunity to make a very enjoyable visit to Australia for the Second Conference on Jewish Genealogy. The people I met were great, the country was beautiful and the memories will never be forgotten. I was even able to meet new relatives, a totally unexpected benefit.
In addition to travel, I have been kept very busy with the addition of new records into the Knowles Collection. In January the collection was increased to 75,000 records and now a few short months later the next update will take the total to well over 100,000 individuals. What once began as a way to document some family who were buried at Willesden (photo above) has now streched over the borders of many countries. It is this growth that is forcing changes to be made.
As people have found their families they have also been sending additional records to me for inclusion in the collection. For example, a few hundred individuals, list their birth place as being Frankfort on Main, Germany. Now those records are being transcribed and added. Also some of the early settlers of Charleston, South Carolina were Jewish merchants from London. The burial records of these people have now also been added.
While this has been great for the growth of the collection, it has forced some changes in the collection. The Jews of the British Isles have been and always will be the foundation of the collection, yet as the collection goes worldwide the time has come for The Knowles Collection to reflect that growth. From this day forward the Knowles Collection will now be made up of 5 different databases; The Jews of the British Isles; The Jews of the Americas; The Jews of Europe, The Jews of the Caribbean and The Jews of Africa and the Orient.