A Look Back at the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company

While doing genealogical research on my great-great grandpa, I discovered that he worked for the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company in the 1920's.  Wanting to know more about the company, I did some more research and came across this wonderful video at the Steel Works Museum web site. I'm one of those people who only wants to know "who" was in our family history, but I also want to know more about these people and their life. The railroad business was booming in the early 1900's and it's not uncommon to see folks working for them on census records. If you have relatives who worked for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (based in Pueblo, Colorado), you might enjoy this information. Here's some more information about the railroad business and Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&IE)...

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Maximize Your Search Efforts on Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is such a huge web site with many different features, that it can be daunting if you're new to it.  The site does have a search button in the top navigation bar, but you have to re-enter information every time you use it.  This is not only tedious, but if you're searching several different people, it can be hard to remember the details (or look them up) each time.  Searching information on Ancestry.com is made much easier if you build a family tree on the site. Building a tree is easy and even free users can do it.  However, you'll have to be a paid member in order to use most of the search features. Once...

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DNA Study on Jews

Newsweek recently printed an interesting story on a DNA study that was done on the Jewish population.   Read it with a grain of salt, however, given the source of the publication. While the article reports to have found more scientific evidence to support Biblical claims, it also states that the European Jews are not descendants of the Turkish Kharzars.  Apparently this last claim is being used as reason why Jews are not entitled to Israeli land.  Anti-Semitic people have been trying to wipe out the state of Israel and take their land for thousands of years.  So it's no surprise that this study is being used as a weapon to that end.   Still, I find the study interesting, but like ALL science wait for corroborating scientific data before believing one one...

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Where to Find Old Obits for Prescott's Daily Courier

I've been trying to find an obituary from 1985 for my great-grandmother and in the process learned a few things and thought I'd share the info. First, the Prescott Library tells me they have old Couriers (our local newspaper) dating back to the 1920's and that I should be able to come in and find the obituary.  I also called the Prescott Valley Library to see I could access those old newspapers through the in-house computer system, and was told they don't have the capability. The Prescott Valley Library also told me that that they only save 2 weeks worth of newspapers anymore since much of the information can be found online now.  Interestingly enough, they do have some old information which they must keep for 56 years ... in case lawyers and genealogical researchers need access...

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Old Records in Dallas May Be Damaged

An underground water main broke under the basement of a Dallas County Office this week, flooding the basement with water. As is the case in most county offices, old records were kept in the basement and are water soaked.  Sadly this situation is all to reminiscent of the flooding of the National Archives building back in 1890 (resulting in the loss of census records).  You think we would have learned to keep important records in more water friendly containers by now - and perhaps off the ground.  Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Similar scenarios can happen at home.  This is why I recommend keeping all important documents and records in a fireproof (& water tight) box (at least the originals).  I like to scan all of my original documents...

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