UpFront with NGS: Masons

19 December 2016

Holiday Gifts to You -- Genealogy Style -- 15 Free and (Relatively) New Family History Resources -- Part 5

Part 5

The holiday season is a period of gift giving. My gift to you is another series of editions of FREE and (Relatively) New Genealogy and Family History Resources, the 2016 Holiday Version ...

Check out Re-cap – 20 Free and (Relatively) New Genealogy and Family History Resources, 2016 Version – 5 parts post (March 2016) where I did a recap of the 2015 and early 2016 editions.

IRELAND

1. Irish Famine Eviction Map (1845-1852)

FRANCE

2. Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime (select Le Havre Departing Passenger Lists)

SCOTLAND

3. ScotlandsPlaces

SWEDEN

4. Stockholm Police Photographs 1869-1920

UNITED KINGDOM

5. London Picture Map - Think of the map as Google Street View for vintage London. You can click on the map to view historical images of particular buildings, streets or areas, or search the collection by topic to reveal everything from historic coffee houses to buildings associated with different authors or time periods. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tour-london-yore-gigantic-new-photo-map-180959955/#bjTHcgZVseAJhfrf.99)

6. Alien Registration Cards (1918-1957)

UNITED STATES

7. Civil War Governors of Kentucky

8. Interactive Mapping – Digital Collection: Beautiful Buffalo (NY) Homes

9. Episcopal Diocese of Utah Database of Indexed Parish Records (no longer functioning parishes) (.xls file) – covers 1870-1975

10. St. Helena Star (Napa, CA) digitized

11. Colored Conventions – Bringing Nineteenth-Century Black Organizing to Digital Life

12. Staten Island Historical Newspapers

13. Whaling Crew List Database (New Bedford MA)

14. Craighead County (AR) Clerk’s Office – Marriage Records

15. Grand Lodge of Maine – Deceased Members who joined 1820-1995

Editor’s Note: As of today, each of the above links worked. Now, whether the links in any of the identified articles work, I cannot vouch for that. And, armed with the information provided, it should be relatively easy to get to determine where the discussed database currently resides. If you get really stuck, drop me an email and I’ll try to ferret out the recalcitrant link or cross out my entry in the above list!

Editor’s Note: Know of a neat resource that you think might be a hidden gem? Drop an email to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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18 May 2016

Online & FREE Masonic Records -- Are You Using These Wonderful Resources?

As usual, the genesis for this post was “stumbling” across some neat records and then asking, as usual, are there more?

Recently, 18^th Century Minutes Books from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina (St. John’s Lodge No. 3, New Bern, NC) were placed on line. I also discovered that the same website (Digital NC) includes the Book of Marks from Raleigh Chapter No. 10 of Royal Arch Masons amongst other holdings. With a bit more searching, I also discovered Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina for the years 1797-1820 with a few odd later years. Wow!

There is already some useful information online regarding the Grand Lodge of North Carolina including a listing of lodges since its organization in 1787, The Beginnings of Freemasonry in North Carolina and Tennessee, Board of Custodians and Certified Lecturer Historical Overview 1902-2016, and more. Additionally, The Southern Historical Collection at UNC (Chapel Hill) has a Collection – Freemasons. Grand Lodge of North Carolina Records, circa 1790-1951. You can access the entire collection, for FREE, by visiting The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library or, some of the collection, volumes for Lodge 141 (Carolina Lodge, Anson County, Chartered 2 Dec 1851, Surrendered 15 Mar 1935), have been digitized and are available.

As expected, Internet Archive (one of my favorite places to seek out historical information) has many resources for Masonic organizations around the world under “Grand Lodge” + Masons and “Grand Lodge” + Freemasonry. Many many lodge histories are to be found.

Did you know that there is a Masonic Library & Museum Association? The website includes links to Masonic Libraries’ Catalog – it’s a work in progress.

The MLMA was founded in 1995 by a group of Masonic librarians and museum directors to share their common experiences, interests and ideas. MLMA is an international organization of members who are Masonic library and museum professionals and volunteers, sharing a love of Masonic materials, research, libraries, and museums.

I found the website Mason Post.com helpful for identifying active lodges across the U.S.

And, Ancestry.com has the Worldwide Masonic Directory, 1860 where you can search the lodge membership for the stated year.

Obviously, I could go on and on about searching for records of ancestors who might have been members of the Masons.

Do you have ancestors who were Freemasons? What records have you found for them? Is there a real gem of a database that other family historians researching into Freemasonry might find helpful?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter