WorldVitalRecords: Jewish genealogy

WorldVitalRecords.com has included Tracing the Tribe and Jewish genealogy in its newest newsletter here.

Thank you, WorldVitalRecords, for this pointer. Please note that the site includes databases for researchers of Jewish ancestry: Jewish Cemeteries, JewishData and the Heritage Florida Jewish News. See below for details.

Beginning Jewish Genealogy

How do you start a search for Jewish ancestors? As with any genealogy search, the best place to begin is to start with the individuals you know, and the information you currently have. Next, you will want to talk to family members who may be able to fill in some of the blanks. From there you’ll want to expand the search by searching original and derivative sources like census records, vital records, naturalization records, etc. For Jewish ancestors, you will want to try some additional ideas including: join your local Jewish Genealogical Society, attend a Jewish conference, and consult with other individuals who are performing Jewish research.

A great resource for Jewish Genealogy is the Tracing The Tribe blog (http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com). Tracing The Tribe is filled with resources, tools, and insights on Jewish genealogy. The blog is written by Schelly Talalay Dardashti who adds a nice personal touch to her work. ...

Read more at the link above.

WorldVitalRecords.com offers several Jewish databases:

1. Jewish Cemeteries: The Old Jewish Cemeteries, Charleston, South Carolina (1762-1903); 5,209 records

The Old Jewish Cemeteries at Charleston, South Carolina. A Transcript of the Inscriptions on Their Tombstones. 1762 - 1903. With an Introduction and Full Index by Dr. Barnett A. Elzas. Rabbi of K. K. Beth Elohim. (1903). Charleston, SC: The Daggett Print. Co. From the Quintin Publications Collection.

Although the data on Jewish cemeteries at JewishGen and IAJGS was not referenced in the WVR newsletter, there are additional free resources at both sites. For the IAJGS International Cemetery Project's South Carolina resource page, click here. For the JewishGen Jewish Online World Burial Registry, click here. Thanks to Jan Meisels Allen who indicated that my original note here might be a big confusing, and therefore I have elaborated.

2. JewishData: 352,709 Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Jewish Data.com claims to be the word's largest online database (more than a half-million records) of Jewish cemetery images and immigration documents with images from hundreds of entire Jewish cemeteries from many locations in the US, Canada, Germany, and Israel, which are in searchable indexes. It also includes thousands of Declaration of Intention documents rare books, and other records, such as yearbook pages.

A search here located 13 TOLLIN (TALALAY) relatives of the West Springfield, Massachusetts branch, date of death and cemetery name, including the earliest immigrant ancestor (1898) to the US - Max/Mendl - who died in 1958. Additionally, two of the Newark, New Jersey branch (Uncle Sam and his wife Bessie) were listed in Beth Abraham on South Orange Avenue.

3. Heritage Florida Jewish News (Fern Park, Florida): 1,072,275 records

This is from the SmallTownPapers® Collection, a searchable digital archive back to 1846; 1967-2007 are now online, and SmallTownPapers is currently producing 20-million pages of small-town content from across the US.