Jan, Thank you for these sites. I've spent several hours playing with them, and have turned up some data. The most important is the 1910 census for my grandfather's family, which I hadn't had before. And they were in a different county than I expected. And an index to a newspaper article showing that my great uncle served in WW I. I knew him well in his last 30 years (he lived to be 99), but he never mentioned that! I went to the National Archives once, and found it impossible to use. Perhaps I just didn't know yet what I was looking for. And I didn't get help from the National Archives staff. They would find a reel and thread it, but that was it. They expected people to know what they were looking for. Four years later, I have a better idea. I think. One thing I do know is that using the microfiche machine gives me a major migraine in about five minutes! My other problem is transportation, as I don't drive. I will be moving in the fall, to downtown Seattle. I went to the Fiske Library website, and it will be an easy one-bus ride to get there. I can't tell from the site what they have, though. I was told by the Dutch Colonies list that they have a lot of NY Dutch records, and I have a need to check those out too. I will be within walking distance of the Seattle Public Library. I'll have to check out whether it will be easier to get to the National Archives and the Seattle Genealogy Society by bus. From the latter's website, they have lots of good stuff on my IL and IN ancestors. I really didn't check out their WA data, though I'm sure they are rich in it. The Fiske is on Lake Washington, maybe 3 mile NE of downtown. The National Archives and the Seattle Genealogy Society are across the street from each other, on Sand Point Way, maybe 5-6 mi. NE of downtown and 4 mi N of the Fiske. That's not as the crow flies, but by road, because of Seattle's strange geography. Unless you had just one fact to check and knew what book or what reel it was in, it would be hard to do all in one day. All of them open at 10:00 and close at 3:00 most days. You have to factor in traffic, too! You could check all this out with Mapquest, after checking their websites for addresses. Since I go everywhere on the bus, I'm not very good at guessing distances. I can only tell you how long it takes on the bus! I'd be interested in others you have, as doing a google search gives many, many hits, but almost all of them boil down to Ancestry, which I don't have. Thanks so much for the sites you gave me, Doris -- "jcbuker" <jcbuker@newoutriders.net> wrote: Actually Washington is beginning a really great job of digitizing their archives, below are the website. http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/ http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/ http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/search.aspx http://www.rootsweb.com/~wasgs/wsgsproj.htm Cowlitz County: http://www.rootsweb.com/~walcolgs/cowlitz.htm I have a few others available if you are interested but they are pretty easy to find on a search. Since you are in Seattle you also have the Fiske Library and the National Archives which I understand are very close to each other, I hope to get up there some day to check it out. Jan Buker Castle Rock, WA ----- Original Message ----- From: <doriswaggoner@juno.com> To: <ILROOTS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 1:36 PM Subject: Re: [ILROOTS] Vital Records Available > > I have just started doing research on my ancestors in Washington State. > You can buy records, for $17 each, all certified. But you have to already > know the date and place of the event. There is nothing at all like IRAD, > where you can do a search and winnow things down to find what you want. > There are a few free sites where volunteers have posted their records--for > instance, one rural county has three years of a death index for 1903-1906, > before the state began requiring their collection. But Googling for the > death index brings up nothing but Ancestry and some of these piecemeal > efforts. I was so spoiled when I was researching my Illinois ancestors > and was able to find all kinds of data available free on IRAD. Sometimes > I could even get the papers free from the lists or a kind volunteer who > would go to a courthouse and look things up. Yes, a lot more is needed. > But I was shocked to find that in my own state there is no official index > AT ALL! > > Doris Waggoner > Seattle, Washington > > > > -- "Don Kelly" <donkelly@grovenet.net> wrote: > Thank you Krystal. > > And the drive to put genealogical records on line free for researchers > marches on. > > Now back to finding my IL ancestors who left scant footprints. > > Don Kelly for NC. to keep USGenWeb moving. > To learn more: > > Q&A Page > http://election.temp-site.us/ > > Campaign Page: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~cootero/Kelly/vote4me.htm > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <vital_tree@yahoo.com> > To: <ILROOTS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 11:45 PM > Subject: [ILROOTS] Vital Records Available > > >> This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. >> >> Classification: Query >> >> Message Board URL: >> >> http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Fh.2ADI/5936 >> >> Message Board Post: >> >> Hi, I have recently started a website where people can donated the vital >> records they have so others can view, download and print them for FREE. >> >> There are records avalible for this surname/location if anyone would like >> to view them or if anyone has any documents to submits for others. >> >> The more people who donate what they have, the better the odds are of >> finding a record you need for FREE. >> >> Thank you - Krystal Wilson - Vital Tree >> http://clik.to/vitaltree >> >> >> ==== ILROOTS Mailing List ==== >> Illinois State Archives on-line data bases (marriage, death, military, >> land records, etc.) can be accessed at: >> http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/databases.html >> >> ============================== >> New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your >> ancestors >> at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: >> http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 >> > > > ==== ILROOTS Mailing List ==== > Instructions for UNSUBSCRIBING or changing your mode of subscription can > be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/Illinoismailinglist3.html > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors > at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: > http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 > > > ==== ILROOTS Mailing List ==== > Illinois State Archives on-line data bases (marriage, death, military, > land records, etc.) can be accessed at: > http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/databases.html > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > ==== ILROOTS Mailing List ==== If you don't know where or when, in Illinois, an event in your ancestor's life might have occurred, you might be able to find a clue in how to search for this information at the Illinois GenWeb Project's - Unknown IL Counties Web Site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilunknow/ ============================== Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. New content added every business day. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx