Follow Friday - Missouri Digital Heritage

I do not keep it a secret that I hail from the best state in the union: Missouri. It is a wonderful state for so many reasons, but today I highlight the wonders of Missouri genealogy research. A website that has been crucial in the research of my Missouri ancestors is Missouri Digital Heritage, a collaborative initiative led by the Missouri Secretary of State to expand the amount of online information regarding the history of Missouri.

The site has often been lauded in Family Tree Magazine's Top 100 websites and for good reason. It is most often referenced for it's database of Missouri death certificates from 1910-1960, but there are so many other great resources on the site that it is hard to choose some to highlight. I have found many a veteran ancestor in their Missouri Soldier’s Database: War of 1812 - WWI and the site currently explores the history of Missouri in the Civil War with links to collections, research guides and lesson plans. I also found an interesting link to the process behind preserving the Dred Scott papers, a good read for anyone interested in preserving documents.

There are legal documents, maps, newspapers, naturalization records...the list goes on and on. If you have ancestors that even stepped in Missouri at some point, I would hazard a guess that you could find them at the Missouri Digital History site. In short, it's good to be from Missouri.

Thrifty Thursday - FamilySearch Research classes online

I know, I know, I am so behind the times! But I just came across the free online classes at the Family Search website. The classes range from research tips to lessons on conducting research on foreign-born ancestors. I am currently watching "If I'd Only Known," presented by Beth Foulk. She has given some great tips to help beginning genealogists avoid simple mistakes. The courses are easy to navigate and many provide PDF downloads of companion course materials. Classes are presented either as straight videos of a presenter or as a presenter next to a PowerPoint presentation. When a presenter is paired with a PowerPoint you are able to click through the presentation to slides that interest you and the presenter fast forwards to the same location. What a great resource!