Tuesday, May 22, 2007

MA Records

Massachusetts records have been open and unrestricted for 365 years. HelpUs to keep it that way by supporting the work of MGC with your letters tothe legislators in this state. Information follows for both residents andNon-residents of Massachusetts. The 1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties states:"Every Inhabitant of the Countrie shall have free libertie to search andveewe any Rooles, Records, or Regesters of any Court or office except theCouncell, And to have a transcript or exemplification thereof writtenexamined, and signed by the hand of the officer of the office paying theappointed fees therefore." The current bills in the legislature call for restricting access to allbirth records since 1910 and all marriage and death records since 1950.These records are currently open public records and are the entry point forgenealogical and medical history research. Closure of these records is indirect opposition to the Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative. Seehttp://www.hhs.gov/ familyhistory for more information. The indexes to these records are restricted in the same manner. This isunprecedented in our state. It will deny use by all non-governmentalindividuals: researchers in genealogy, medical history, probate heirs, banksjournalists, and historians. Contact should be made immediately. We stopped these bills in 2003 – but nowsupport for them in the legislature is formidable. If YOU don’t speak now,these bills will change the face of genealogy in Massachusetts and beyond.MOST EFFECTIVE: a signed letter with your reasons for opposing theseclosures, using your own words. ALSO: telephone calls, face to face meetings, and e-mails. SHARE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT: urge your sympathetic relatives, friends,neighbors, and the professionals listed above to do the same.Contact information for your representatives and senators is available from:http://www.mass.gov/legis/
Your town clerk’s office
The state house at (617) 722-2000
The postal address is:
Representative (or Senator) _______, State House, Room _______, Boston, MA02133.
If you are out of state, please send your letters to:
The Honorable Robert A. DeLeo, Chairman,
House Ways and Means Committee,Room 243, The State House,
Boston, MA 02133; Tel: 6i7-722-2990; Fax:617-722-2998; Email: Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us Sally Rolls Paviasallypavia2001@yahoo.com

LDS Family History Announcement

This is perhaps the most important genealogy announcement of the past fewyears. The following announcement was written by The Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints:FamilySearch Unveils Program to Increase Access to World's Genealogical Records Tidal Wave of Online Databases Will Result
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH-FamilySearch announced today its Records Access programto increase public access to massive genealogy collections worldwide. Forthe first time ever, FamilySearch will provide free services to archives andother records custodians who wish to digitize, index, publish, and preservetheir collections. The program expands FamiliySearch's previously announceddecision to digitize and provide online access to over 2 million rolls ofcopyrighted microfilm preserved in the Granite Mountain Records Vault. A keycomponent of the program allows FamilySearch and archives to team withGenealogy websites to provide unprecedented access to microfilm in the vaultThe combined results ensure a flood of new record indexes and images onlineat www.FamilySearch.org and affiliated websites. The plan combines the assets and experience of the Genealogical Society ofUtah with the state-of-the-art technology resources of FamilySearch-allunder the single brand name of FamilySearch. The Records Access programallows records custodians to publish their data online by themselves or withthe assistance of FamilySearch or affiliate genealogical websites andHistorical societies. "Records custodians worldwide are experiencing growing pressure to provideaccess to their records online while maintaining control and ownership. Atthe same time, websites that provide digitizing and publishing services arestruggling with the staggering costs," said Wayne Metcalfe, director ofRecords Services for FamilySearch. "The new Record Access program takesadvantage of FamilySearch's resources and creates an economical andeffective forum where record custodians and genealogical websites can worktogether to accomplish their respective objectives," added Metcalfe.Working with the records custodians, FamilySearch can leverage its extensivemicrofilm and growing digital image collection to create digital images foraffiliate genealogical websites at a fraction of the cost. The affiliategenealogy organization will create indices of the digital images and thenpublish the images and the indices on its own website, the archive's websiteor a jointly published site. A copy of the index will also be madeavailable for free on the popular FamilySearch website, which will helpdrive traffic to record images on the custodians' or affiliates' sites. Fullfree access to both the indices and images will be provided to familyhistory centers, FamilySearch managed facilities, and the archives. If therecord custodian seeks revenue to sustain operations, a small fee may berequired to access images outside FamilySearch managed facilities or theArchive.For archives and heritage societies, the new program benefits include:Digitally capture, preserve, and publish records onlineIncrease access to records while maintaining control and ownershipIncrease patronage and business viabilityOver 100 years of archival and publishing experienceFor genealogy websites, the new program helps them:· Benefit from the knowledge and relationships of FamilySearch with thearchival community worldwide· Significantly lower costs associated with acquiring, preserving, orproviding access to data· Increase business viability and website traffic· Leverage an open platform that develops value-added services aroundFamilySearch, the world's largest repository of genealogical data.Under the program, FamilySearch will also provide tools and assistance torecords custodians who want to publish parts of their collection usingstate-of-the-art digital cameras, software, and web-based applications.The archive can work with an affiliate, historical society, or FamilySearchto index the images or host a website for the records custodian. The indexof the record collection will be available for free on FamilySearch, and therecords custodian's site will provide access to the images for free or a feedepending on the needs of the archive and those assisting in theDigitization.One example of the tools FamilySearch can provide is FamilySearch Indexing,a web-based application that engages tens of thousands of volunteersworldwide to create searchable indexes linked to the digital images createdby FamilySearch. "Through mere word-of-mouth promotions, literally tens ofthousands of volunteers are already joining this effort to index the world'srecords by registering at FamilySearchIndexing.org and donating a fewminutes a week online to the effort. Over 100,000 volunteers are expected toenlist in the initiative by year end with the numbers increasing as moreprojects-particularly international projects-are added," said Paul Nauta,manager of Public Affairs for FamilySearch.FamilySearch will announce the first collaborative projects of its newRecords Access program during the National Genealogical Society (NGS)Convention in Richmond, Virginia, the week of May 14, 2007. Many moreProject announcements are expected in the following months.Record custodians and archives that would like additional informationregarding the FamilySearch Records Services can contact Wayne Metcalfe(metcalfewj@gensocietyofutah.org) and genealogy web service providers shouldcontact Dave Harding (hardingdp@ldschurch.org).FamilySearch (historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah) is anonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints. FamilySearch maintains the world's largest repository ofgenealogical resources accessed through FamilySearch.org, the Family HistoryLibrary in Salt Lake City, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70countries.
Sally Rolls Pavia

Friday, May 18, 2007

New Research Website

Here's another website for people researching their New England Ancestors. I took a look around but really had nothing to research there because I have no New England Ancestors. But for someone who does you might find some useful information. Let me know how you like it and if you find anything. Here's the link: www.rays-place.com.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Hawkins County, TN Genealogy Meeting

The Hawkins County folks would welcome anyone from Claiborne that would liketo attend. I'd love to see some folks I know and meet some that I only knowvia e-mail.Bobbi EstesDNA and GenealogyRoberta EstesRogersville TNHawkins County7:00 P.M.June 12th 2007955 East McKinney AvenueRogersville, TN 37857The Hawkins County Historical and Genealogy Society in Rogersville Tennesseeinvites you to a presentation by Roberta Estes on "DNA and Genealogy." Itwill be held Tuesday, 7:00 P.M., June 12th, at the Rescue Squad Buildingnext door to the Hawkins County Archives. Roberta Estes is on the speakerslist for ISOGG (International Society for Genetics Genealogy). Robertaspoke at "The Third International Conference on Genetic Genealogy" presentedby Family Tree DNA in Houston Texas, and also on the Voice of America. Sheis the founder of the Cumberland Gap DNA Projects both Y and mtDNA andshe is advisor for the Melungeon_DNA Projects. Roberta has ancestors inHawkins, Hancock, Claiborne and surrounding counties, and other areas ofcentral Appalachia. She will explain about the different DNA tests and howto use them with genealogy, and show the importance of testing mtDNA, thefemale line. Kits will be available. This educational presentation isoffered at no cost to the public. Penny Ferguson

Settling of Jamestown

See site: www.smgf.org
In conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the settling of Jamestown, theSorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation is offering an opportunity todiscover possible ancestors who helped settle the colony. You do need tohave an all-male (Y-chromosome) or an all-female (mtDNA) line of descent toBe able to use this service. The following announcement was written by the Sorenson Molecular GenealogyFoundation: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Invites Curious to Search World’sLargest Genetic-Genealogy Database for Jamestown Ancestors During 400thAnniversary For Anyone Who Ever Wondered Whether They Had Ancestors Living in America’sFirst Permanent European Settlement: Non-Profit Research OrganizationBuilding the World’s Only Genetic Database Specifically for GenealogicalPurposes Offers to Help People Answer That Question for Themselves SALT LAKE CITY--Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), a non-profitscientific organization with the world’s largest correlated genetic andgenealogy catalog of more than 4 million records from 172 countries, isinviting anyone who is curious about their family history to search its freeonline database to learn if they had forebears in Jamestown—Europeancolonists’ first permanent settlement in North America—during itsQuadricentennial celebration. Four hundred years ago, on May 14, 1607, three small, leaky wooden shipscarrying 108 settlers landed on a bank of the James River in what is nowVirginia. These first arrivals were English, but the settlement of Jamestownsoon became a genetic and genealogical crossroads of European, NativeAmerican and African people. Today Jamestown is celebrated as the wellspringof modern America because it had representative government, a freeEnterprise economy and culturally diverse population. “To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, we wouldlike to invite everyone who is interested in their ancestry to search ourdatabase to learn if they are related to any of those early Jamestowninhabitants,” said Scott Woodward, who is executive director of thefoundation and one of the world’s leading researchers in molecular genealogy “We know by reviewing the Register of 17th Century Ancestors provided byThe Jamestown Society that more than two-thirds of the family surnames inthe register are also in our database. Even better, through a combination ofgenetics and genealogy, we have multiple direct paternal lines from some ofthese first settlers, which gives us their exact Y-chromosome geneticProfile.” The free, online SMGF database (www.smgf.org) is unique because it can linkanindividual’s genetic profile to specific ancestors by name going back six toeight generations or further. The non-profit foundation was established bybiotech billionaire James LeVoy Sorenson to foster goodwill and fellowshipamong humankind by showing scientifically how closely related each person isTo every other. Of the settlers’ surnames from the first three groups to arrive in Jamestownin 1607 and 1608—only to face disease, starvation and attacks by localtribes—more than half are found on the SMGF database. Surnames in theY-chromosome, or paternal line, database include Wingfield, Archer, Herd,Love, Emry, Cantrill, Bayley, Bentley, May, Dole, Cotton and Graves.Surnames in the mtDNA, or maternal line, database include Gosnoll, Sands,Sudley, Waler, Midwinter, Wotton, Gore, Martin, Dowse and Hancock.Any individual can query the SMGF database for genetic-genealogy informationfor free by obtaining their DNA profile (usually by a swish of mouthwash)from a commercial genomics laboratory and then entering the results into theWeb site’s database search menu. For those who wish to participate byContributing their records to the foundation’s database, the process is freeconvenient and private. Simply request a kit on the SMGF website and thensubmit a DNA sample and an accompanying four-generation pedigree chart. About Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), a non-profit researchorganization, is the pioneer in the rapidly developing fields of geneticgenealogy and DNA analysis. Combining powerful new DNA research withconventional genealogy, SMGF has created a potent new “Rosetta Stone” ofgenetic understanding that connects individuals throughout the world withtheir ancestors and living relatives. SMGF has created the world’s largestrepository of correlated genetic and genealogical information—more than 4million total ancestors’ names representing linked DNA samples and pedigreecharts from 107 countries, or more than half of the nations of the world. Sally Rolls Paviasallypavia2001@yahoo.comList Owner: GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES-L-request@rootsweb.comArchives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES"All incoming and outgoing email checked by Norton Anti-Virus"

Filles du Roi

Ancestry Daily News Michael John Neill – 4/7/2004
An Introduction to the Filles du Roi
Promises of royal lineage attract the attention of many. There are millions of descendants of the “king's daughters” who arrived in Quebec between 1663 and 1673. Their relationship to the king is purely financial, not genetic.
When I purchased Peter Gagne's book King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi 1663-1673 last year at a conference, my knowledge was minimal. I knew two things: that one of my wife's ancestors was a fille du roi, and that these “king's daughters” were not literally daughters of the king. Over 700 of these women were brought from France to Quebec between 1663 and 1673. King Louis XIV was concerned about the growth of the colony and the subsidized importation of women was seen as a way to strengthen Quebec and increase its independence from France. In 1663 the population of Quebec was only 2,500 and the gender ratio was highly unbalanced. The state importation of women would help to balance the gender ratio and eventually increase the population of the colony through the resulting births of children. These women were called filles du roi as the French crown bore the responsibility for their transportation and settlement expenses, not because they were related to the French nobility. In many cases a dowry was also provided upon their marriage and women were given a chest containing needles, thread, and other supplies to help them begin their households. A quick look at several of my wife's forebears in the book cleared up some unspoken assumptions I had about these women.
Jeanne DenotBorn about 1645 in Paris, Jeanne left for Canada in 1666 after the death of her father. Her first husband in Quebec was actually not a Frenchman, but rather a Spaniard, Andre Robidou. Andre died after ten years of marriage and five children. Within five months of Andre's death in 1678, Jeanne married Jacques Suprenant and subsequently had eight more children. Many widows or widowers with small children would remarry quickly if another suitable spouse could be found--Jeanne was no exception.
Louise LecoutreLouise was born about 1648, but her specific origins in France are unknown. This is somewhat unusual, as the specific French origins are known for the majority of the filles du roi.
Marguerite ArdionMarguerite was born about 1638 into a Protestant family in La Rochelle. I had assumed (incorrectly) that all the filles du roi were Catholic. Marguerite came to Quebec in 1663, but she did not come alone. She was a widow with one child, Laurent Beaudet. In Quebec in October 1663, she married Jean Rabouin. They had several children. Marie ChevreauMarie was born in France about 1652 and came to Canada in 1665 after her father's death. In October of 1665 she married Rene Reaume. The King's Daughters and Founding Mothers includes a transcription and translation into English of the marriage contract between Marie and Rene. The contract was unusual because Governor Courcelles and several other notables signed it. The likely reason is that the Marie was thirteen at the time of her marriage. The couple had several children and Rene had several brushes with the authorities before his death in 1722.
Numerous DescendantsThese women have millions of descendants scattered throughout North America. Those of us with French-Canadian ancestry may be related to many of these early settlers. In fact, my wife descends from Jeanne Denot and both her husbands!
Back to The Introduction After reading about my wife's specific ancestors, I turned my attention to the book's preface and introduction. It was time to learn more before making any conclusions. Reading or photocopying only the portion of the book that “has my name on it” is not a good research practice. Responsibly using any reference text requires that the preface and introduction also be read, not just the information or pages on the desired individual. A book of biographies such as the one I was using should include an introduction to the topic and a discussion of how the individuals were chosen for inclusion in the reference. Additionally, the reader should determine if the book contains bibliographies or citations to specific documents. Introductions may also refer the reader to additional texts and more comprehensive background material. Gagne's book provided an excellent overview of the filles du roi, including why they were sent to Quebec, how they were chosen, what the trip was like, and how they chose their suitor. It was an extremely interesting history lesson.
Who?Not all the “king's daughters” were orphans. According to Gagne, only 11 percent of the women had lost both their parents before their emigration. One interesting distinction of the filles du roi was that only 11 percent of these women had other relatives who immigrated. They are one of the few groups of individuals who did immigrate to a new land as part of a larger chain migration. The women tended to be poor.
How?Women were generally taken from French institutions, recommended by various officials of the Catholic church, or (in a few cases) individuals who volunteered themselves. Most came willingly, but some probably felt they had no real choice and were hoping for a better life in Quebec. Women who wanted to immigrate to Quebec had to be of childbearing age and in good health. The majority of these women were from the northern part of France.
The MatchingThose suitors who were looking for a bride had to do more than simply knock on the door of residences housing the women. They would have to apply to the directress and indicate how they made a living, how much property they owned, and how many possessions they had. The men tried to select women who would adjust to the climate and lifestyle, and the women were also allowed to ask questions of the men. A man who had a suitable residence was at an advantage over those who did not. The majority of the women found suitors, but those who did not typically had to settle for a position as a household servant. Remember that descent from the “king's daughters” does not mean a royal lineage. What it does mean, though, is that genealogy continues to be a never-ending history lesson.
A Few LinksPeter Gagne's book, King's Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi: 1663-1673
Alphabetical List of the King's Daughters
La Société des Filles du Roi et soldats du Carignan, Inc.
Louis Hébert--The Filles du Roi
Those wishing to learn more about researching French-Canadian ancestors (including the “king's daughters”) may also refer to “-French Canadian Sources ” Chapter 25. Les Filles du Roi--The King's Daughters published by Ancestry in 2002.
Michael John Neill is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical Institute of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, Illinois, and is also on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical and computer topics and contributes to several genealogical publications, including Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing. You can e-mail him at mjnrootdig@myfamily.com or visit his website at www.rootdig.com/, but he regrets that he is unable to assist with personal research.
Upcoming Events for Michael John Neill24 April 2004, Moline, IllinoisMichael will be the featured speaker at the annual Quad Cities Genealogy Conference, held in Moline, Illinois. Topics include: “Where did the Farm Go?” “Research on a Tight Budget,” “Researching the Entire Family,” and “Where Do I Go from Here?” For more information, e-mail den@revealed.net .
14 May 2004, St. Peters, MissouriMichael will present an all-day computer workshop on Family Tree Maker at St. Charles Community College in St. Peters, Missouri. For more information visit www.rootdig.com/stcharles.html
15 May 2004, St. Peters MissouriMichael will present an all day computer workshop on Online Genealogy Methods at St. Charles Community College in St. Peters, Missouri. For more information visit www.rootdig.com/stcharles.html
20 May 2004, Dearborn, MichiganAll day computer workshop, “Census Research Online,” at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan. For more information visit: www.rootdig.com/dearbornmay2004.html
21 May 2004, Dearborn, MichiganGenealogy Computer Workshop at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan (online trip preparation, introduction to European research online, using online card catalogs, and more). For more information visit: www.rootdig.com/dearbornmay2004.html
22 May 2004An all day Family Tree Maker computer workshop at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan. For more information visit: /www.rootdig.com/dearbornmay2004.html Copyright 2004, MyFamily.com.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Today in History

Here is an article I received, it explains a little about the creation of militias and the men who were a part of them.

"1792: Militia Act establishes conscription under federal law On this day in 1792, Congress passes the second portion of the Militia Act,requiring that "every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respectiveStates, resident therein, who is or shall be of age eighteen years, andunder the age of forty-five years… be enrolled in the militia." Six days before, Congress had established the president's right to call outthe militia. The outbreak of Shay's Rebellion, a protest against taxationand debt prosecution in western Massachusetts in 1786-87, had firstconvinced many Americans that the federal government should be given thepower to put down rebellions within the states. The inability of theContinental Congress under the Articles of Confederation to respond to thecrisis was a major motivation for the peaceful overthrow of the governmentand the drafting of a new federal Constitution. The Militia Act was tested shortly after its passage, when farmers inwestern Pennsylvania, angered by a federal excise tax on whiskey, attackedthe home of a tax collector and then, with their ranks swollen to 6,000camped outside Pittsburgh, threatened to march on the town. In response,President Washington, under the auspices of the Militia Act, assembled 15000 men from the surrounding states and eastern Pennsylvania as a federalmilitia commanded by Virginia's Henry Lee to march upon the Pittsburghencampment. Upon its arrival, the federal militia found none of the rebelswilling to fight. The mere threat of federal force had quelled the rebellionand established the supremacy of the federal government. 1864: Lee beats Grant to Spotsylvania On this day, Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House to find theRebels already there. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), UlyssesS. Grant's Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond.Grant hoped to control the strategic crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House,so he could draw Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia into open ground. Spotsylvania was important for a number of reasons. The crossroads weresituated between the Wilderness and Hanover Junction, where the tworailroads that supplied Lee's army met. The area also lay past Lee's leftflank, so if Grant beat him there he would not only have a head start towardRichmond, but also the clearest path. Lee would then be forced to attackGrant or race him to Richmond along poor roads. Unbeknownst to Grant, Lee had received reports of Union cavalry movements tothe south of the Wilderness battle lines. On the evening of May 7, Leeordered James Longstreet's corps, which were under the direction of RichardAnderson after Longstreet had been shot the previous day, to march at nightto Spotsylvania. Anderson's men marched the 11 miles entirely in the dark,and won the race to the crossroads, where they took refuge behind hastilyconstructed breastworks and waited. Now it would be up to Grant to force theConfederates from their position. The stage was set for one of the bloodiestengagements of the war. 1919: New celebration of Armistice Day proposed On May 8, 1919, Edward George Honey, a journalist from Melbourne, Australia,living in London at the time, writes a letter to the London Evening Newsproposing that the first anniversary of the armistice ending World WarI-concluded on November 11, 1918-be commemorated by several moments ofsilence. Honey, who briefly served in the British army during World War I beforebeing discharged with a leg injury, had been concerned by the way people inLondon had celebrated on the streets on the actual day of the armistice. Inhis letter to the newspaper the following May, he wrote that a silentcommemoration of the sacrifices made and the lives lost during the war wouldbe a far more appropriate way to mark the first anniversary of its end. "Five little minutes only," Honey wrote. "Five silent minutes of nationalremembrance. A very sacred intercession. Communion with the Glorious Deadwho won us peace, and from the communion new strength, hope and faith in themorrow. Church services, too, if you will, but in the street, the home, thetheatre, anywhere, indeed, where Englishmen and their women chance to be,surely in this five minutes of bitter-sweet silence there will be serviceenough." Though Honey's letter did not immediately bring about a change, a similarsuggestion was made to Sir Percy Fitzpatrick that October and reached KingGeorge V, who on November 17, 1919, made an official proclamation that "atthe hour when the Armistice came into force, the 11th hour of the 11th dayof the 11th month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes acomplete suspension of all our normal activities … so that in perfectstillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverentremembrance of the glorious dead." Though it is not officially recorded thatthe king read and was influenced by Honey's letter, the journalist wasinvited by the king to a palace rehearsal of the two minutes of silence, atradition which is still honored in much of the former British empire. 1945: V-E Day is celebrated in American and Britain On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrateVictory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupiedcities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeatof the Nazi war machine. The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europefinally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Sovietantagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and theGermans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, nearBerlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark--the Germansurrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents weresigned in Berlin and in eastern Germany. The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Sovietforces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempteda mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, butwere stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians tookapproximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after theGerman surrender. Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back toGreat Britain. Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. OnMay 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before theGermans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated untilthe ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: "Theage-long struggle of the Slav nations...has ended in victory. Your couragehas defeated the Nazis. The war is over." 1972: Mining of North Vietnamese harbors is announced President Richard Nixon announces that he has ordered the mining of majorNorth Vietnamese ports, as well as other measures, to prevent the flow ofarms and material to the communist forces that had invaded South Vietnam inMarch. Nixon said that foreign ships in North Vietnamese ports would havethree days to leave before the mines were activated; U.S. Navy ships wouldthen search or seize ships, and Allied forces would bomb rail lines fromChina and take whatever other measures were necessary to stem the flow ofmaterial. Nixon warned that these actions would stop only when all U.S.prisoners of war were returned and an internationally supervised cease-firewas initiated. If these conditions were met, the United States would "stopall acts of force throughout Indochina and proceed with the completewithdrawal of all forces within four months." Nixon's action was in response to the North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive.On March 30, the North Vietnamese had initiated a massive invasion of SouthVietnam. Committing almost their entire army to the offensive, the NorthVietnamese launched a three-pronged attack. In the initial attack, fourNorth Vietnamese divisions attacked directly across the Demilitarized Zoneinto Quang Tri province. Following that assault, the North Vietnameselaunched two more major attacks: at An Loc in Binh Long Province, 60 milesnorth of Saigon; and at Kontum in the Central Highlands. With the threeattacks, the North Vietnamese committed 500 tanks and 150,000 regular troops(as well as thousands of Viet Cong) supported by heavy rocket and artilleryfire. The North Vietnamese, enjoying much success on the battlefield, didnot respond to Nixon's demands. The announcement that North Vietnamese harbors would be mined led to a waveof antiwar demonstrations at home, which resulted in violent clashes withpolice and 1,800 arrests on college campuses and in cities from Boston toSan Jose, California. Police used wooden bullets and tear gas in Berkeley;three police officers were shot in Madison, Wisconsin; and 715 NationalGuardsmen were activated to quell violence in Minneapolis."
Sally Rolls Pavia sallypavia2001@yahoo.com
List Owner: GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES-L-request@rootsweb.com
Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Chronicling America

The Library of Congress and the NationalEndowment for the Humanities have debutedChronicling America, a collection of226,000 digitized newspaper pages datingBetween 1900 and 1910 from publicationsIn California, Florida, Kentucky, NewYork, Utah, Virginia and Washington, DC.Institutions in those states received theFirst grants from the National DigitalNewspaper Program, which eventually willPost historical newspapers from all states. You can search and browse the papers at:http://tinyurl.com/2h54q6Results show the entire page with yourSearch terms highlighted; to zoom, useThe + button or click and drag theMagnifying glass. Click More Options forThis Page to download a high-resolutionPage image or view it in PDF or textFormat (though the latter gives you aBaffling Optical Character RecognitionSoftware translation). The site also offers a directory ofNewspaper titles. Search by place, timePeriod, keyword and type (such as anEthnic publication or one preserved onMicrofilm). Results give you informationAbout the paper and where it's available. Sally Rolls Pavia