Geneabloggers: 19 new blogs

Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com has located another 19 newly-discovered genealogy and family-history related blogs, bringing the geneablog total to 1,929 genealogy blogs at the site.

Here are the highlights of the new list. Read more here.

This week's collection offers blogs focused on individual family histories, Australia, UK, professional genealogists, genealogy conferences, African-American, genealogy education, Florida, genealogy society, genealogy industry and surnames.

The list includes a Jewish family history blog:

Everything I Know About Hyman Victor
Individual family (VICTOR), Jewish genealogy

Everything I Know is a repository for information about the life of my late great grandfather Hyman Victor, a Jewish immigrant who came to America in 1913. The exhibits at left tell the story of his life, through the vital records, photos, and oral history he left behind.

The other new blogs are

Claiming Kin
African-American, individual family history

Marlive Taylor-Harris has been hooked on genealogy since her son, now with children of his own, brought home an ancestral chart to complete for his “All About Me” project in third grade.

Diggin for Family
Individual family (SHAW, CANTER, LUCAS, PAKLEDINAZ)

Florida State Genealogical Society Blog
Florida, Genealogy society

Founded in 1977 to promote the study and research of genealogy and local history, the society publishes source materials and family history, encourages seminars, workshops and similar educational meetings and - since 1978 - has held an annual conference with well-known speakers.

Forget-Me-Not Ancestry
Professional genealogist

... I love the detective work ~ the sleuthing ~ involved in genealogy research. I know how to find the sources that provide clues and answers to ancestry questions, and more importantly I know how to analyze the data. I have a gift for seeing relationships and noticing bits of information that many others do not. ...

GenieAusEvents
Australia, Genealogy conferences

Events of interest to Australian genealogists including conferences, excursions, family reunions, lectures, open days and seminars. ... Readers are encouraged to submit details of events for publishing on this blog.

Green Eyed Look-a-Like
Individual family history

Jottings, Journeys and Genealogy
Australia, Individual family history

Online Gen Guy
Genealogy industry

Author Mark Olsen is a genealogist and an online marketer. "As the current affiliate program manager at FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com and the former affiliate manager of Ancestry.com I have some great experience helping people make a lot of money in Genealogy Affiliate Programs. Here I will talk affiliate stuff, blogging, genealogy."

Onwards to Our Past
Individual family history

A genealogy blog focused on Bohemia, Czech community of Cleveland, Cornwall in the UK, Italy and Italian immigration all with a good dose of fun!

Search Tip of the Day
Genealogy education

This is my newest “tip of the day” blog–geared towards online sites, not Ancestry.com, but any online database site (fee and otherwise) that genealogists use. Every day we will have a search tip for using a site or a database.

Reflecting on Genealogy
Genealogy education, Genealogy industry

Steers ONS (One Name Study)
Surname blog (STEERS), UK

For those of you who are not aware of the concept of a One Name Study may I suggest that you head over to the Guild of One Name Studies homepage for a breakdown of what they do. ...

The Heritage Files
Individual family history

Authored by a 30-something daughter of a long-time genealogy researcher, recently bitten by the genealogy bug, who thought it would be fun, and perhaps even helpful, to write about her discoveries, frustrations, insights, and adventures. ...

The Leaves on the Trudgian Tree
Individual family history (TRUDGIAN)

Exploring the lives of one Trudgian family in Galena, Illinois through the eyes of their daughter, Lillian, from 1913-1931. Lillian’s diary entries explore the family, neighbors, what is happening in Galena, national events, the weather and the crops!

Theories of Relativity
Individual family history

Updates Genie
Australia, Genealogy industry

Tips and news from all over the world (Australia, UK, Ireland, NZ, Canada, USA etc), about indexes, Web sites, publications and other resources, discounts, events etc. There are also links to longer articles on ‘Queensland Genealogy’, ‘UK/Australia Genealogy’ and ‘Genealogy Leftovers’.

Weeks Family Research
Individual family history (WEEKS)

Will the real Ursula Wright please stand up!
Individual family history (WRIGHT)

Click on the Geneablogger link above to read Thomas' complete post on the new blogs. You might find something of interest in this week's list.

Looking for a blog covering a specific geographical location or topic? Check out the previous weekly editions of Thomas' discoveries as well as the categories for the nearly 2,000 genealogy blogs at the site.

Geneabloggers: 27 new blogs discovered!

Among the newest 27 genealogy blogs just discovered by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com, Tracing the Tribe readers will be interested to find a Sephardic one.

To read more about each of the new blogs in this post, click here. The new crop includes blogs devoted to Jewish, Portuguese, Sephardic, individual family history, professional genealogists, Massachusetts, New England, West Virginia, crafts, Maine, technology, Indiana, Midwest US, Irish, Canada, southeastern Massachusetts cemeteries, Mississippi, Civil War, Acadian, French Canadian,

Of course, here's my favorite of this bunch:

Maduro Family Branches
Individual family history, Jewish genealogy, Portuguese genealogy

Welcome to my blog about branches on the Maduro family tree. This blog is about the Maduro family and associated families. Some of these include Brandon, Cardoze, de Castro, Delvalle, Fidanque, Halman, de Leon, de Lima, Lindo, Piza, Robles, Sasso, de Sola, and Toledano.

Over the years I’ve collected genealogical information about the Levy Maduro family of Amsterdam, their Portuguese ancestors, and their Maduro descendants around the world. In this blog I’ll describe the Maduro connection to some of those other families.

Click on Thomas' post above to read more about each of the rest. Visit the blogs and welcome them.

A Couple of Whiles
Individual family history

4 Hall Cousins
Individual family history, Massachusetts genealogy, New England genealogy
African-American Genealogy – West Virginia
African-American genealogy, West Virginia genealogy

Ann’s Scraps of Time
Craft blogs, Individual family history

Demarais Fish on Genealogy
Individual family history

Downeast Ancestors
Individual family history, Maine genealogy, New England genealogy

Easter Family Genealogy Blog
Individual family history, UK genealogy

Family History Across the Seas
Australian genealogy, Individual family history

Family Tree Rings: An Ancestral Birthday Blog
Individual family history

GenealogyNext
Technology blog

Gol Gol Girl
Individual family history

Hunting Ancestors
Australian genealogy, Individual family history

Indiana Dillmans
Indiana genealogy, Individual family history, Midwest genealogy

Irish Genealogy News
Irish genealogy

Accompanying blog to the Irish Genealogy Toolkit - a free online guide to Irish family history research, including news about latest record releases, occasional features and interviews with genealogy specialists, along with tips and hints.

Kathryn’s Quest
Individual family history

My interest in family history has spanned almost 30 years and I thought I would share some tips through this medium to my friends of how to enjoy the thrill of the chase of those elusive ancestors.  Starting week one of 2011, I will share ideas and tips of how to start your family history and to record it.  This knowledge is all self-taught by experiencing the journey myself. ...

Leaves of Heritage
Professional genealogist

Letters from Home
Individual family history

No More Wriggling Out of Writing Woman ...
Individual family history, UK genealogy

Norma Jean’s Genealogy
Canadian genealogy, Individual family history (BENOY)

The Genealogy Dude
Professional genealogist

The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit
Cemetery blog, Massachusetts genealogy, New England genealogy

A blog devoted mainly to the cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts with occasional forays elsewhere in New England. A member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

The Sand Creek Sentinel Oktibbeha County Genealogy
African-American genealogy, Mississippi genealogy

The USCT Chronicle
African-American genealogy

Tomorrow’s Memories
Individual family history

Whispers Through the Willows
Acadian genealogy, Canadian genealogy, Cemetery blogs, French-Canadian genealogy, Individual family history, Massachusetts genealogy, New England genealogy; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Massachusetts cemeteries.

Yankee Cousin’s Adventures in Ancestry
Individual family history

If any of these blogs coincide with your own research interests, do visit them.

Thanks, Thomas, for another great list!

Telling African American Civil War Stories, of Soldiers, Civilians, Contrabands, First Days of Freedom, and the Events that led to Freedom.

The Four Hall Cousins blog has been created to present the history of Edward Hall of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, formerly of Henbury, Gloucestershire, England, who arrived in Plymouth about 1636/37. ... We hope that this blog will provide additional information to those researching these families, as well as allied families and other branches and stimulate productive discussions; we hope also that it will attract new cousins who will help add to our information base.

Geneabloggers: 41 new blogs?

As readers know, Tracing the Tribe often lets them know about the new blogs discovered by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers.

Although he recently posted 11 new blogs, he did post another, listing 41 new blogs on December 4.

One never knows how a particular blog might help you in your own quest, so check these out and you might receive some help for some aspect of your search. I've written only smatterings of the blog descriptions, so if you want more, see the link above, or click on each individual blog URL.

All About GEN
Individual family history

Ancestor Search
Australia genealogy, Individual family history

Anderson / Spence / McKenney, 1800’s
Individual family history

Annapolis Royal Heritage
Canadian genealogy

• Author is a museum director in Annapolis Royal, and will try to feature some interesting artifacts and archival resources in the collections.

Are My Roots Showing?
Individual family history

Arkansas Roots: The Stories of My Family
Arkansas genealogy, Individual family history

•  SMITH, SLOAN, HAWKINS & PATTILLO, Dallas County, Arkansas; POOLE, Union & Hemstead Counties.

Barnett Family Genealogy
Individual family history

• Barnetts of Parker County, Texas.

Borreson Cousins
Individual family history

• Norwegian immigrants Emil Borresen and Gina Estensen married in 1899 in Pigeon Falls, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, had 10 children and 29 grandchildren. Author is one of the grandchildren.

Butler Cemetery
African-American genealogy, Cemetery blog, New Jersey genealogy

• Butler Cemetery (established c1867 by Dempsey Daniel Butler, prominent businessman, real estate entrepreneur, and more. When he died in January 1900, he was noted as the wealthiest African American in New Jersey.

Digging Under My Family Tree
Individual family history

Dr D Digs Up Ancestors
Genealogy education

Exile’s Return
Individual family history

Fiji Genealogy
Fiji genealogy,

• Many resources and ideas for tracing your family tree and researching your family’s history in Fiji. Whether your ancestor was a temporary visitor who married or died in Fiji, or whether you are descended from a long line of settlers or natives, you will find something here to help you...lists of websites, books, and repositories of records and microfilmed records to help you...

Genealogie Blog
French genealogy

• Author is professional genealogist Stéphane Cosson.

Genealogy Dragnet
Individual family history

Genealogy of Oldendorf, und Nahrendorf
German genealogy

• Regional villages: Dannenberg area, Uelzen,Elbe region, Goehrde and Bleckede area.

Genealogy Quest
Individual family history

Geoff’s Genealogy
Individual family history, UK genealogy

Glasgow Ancestry
Scottish genealogy

Gregory Fearon’s Family History Blog
Individual family history

Glimpsing the Past
Individual family history, UK genealogy

Grow Your Own Family Tree
Genealogy industry blog, Irish genealogy, UK genealogy

• Author Alan Stewart writes regularly for UK magazines Practical Family History and Family Tree Magazine, and for North American-based Internet Genealogy and Discovering Family History, among others..

In Our Hearts: A Family Tribute & Scrapbook
African-American genealogy, Alabama genealogy, Individual family history

• Ford, Martin, Morton, Green(e)

Jen’s Genealogy Pages
Canadian genealogy, Individual family history

• St. John, Coulman, Fee, Hunter – and other associated families (including Davey, Summerville, Lusty, Salter, Thomas, Ansted, Burton, Doan and Oakley)...Ontario and Quebec in the 1800s...England, Ireland and Palatine Germany in the 1800s and earlier.

Jones Family Matters
Individual family history

• Jones, Ryan, von der Heide, Cronin, Probert, Dailey, Wainright, Reed and Hellmann.

Marilyn’s Family History News
California genealogy, Genealogy industry

Murmurd’s Franco-American and Quebec Genealogy
Canadian genealogy, French-Canadian genealogy

NGS Family History Conference Blog
Genealogy conference blog, Genealogical society blog

• Hello and welcome to the home of the NGS 2011 official conference blog. We are thrilled that you will be joining us in Charleston, South Carolina and hope to make this an interactive and fun experience leading up to the event... Stay tuned for updates on presenters, vendors, sponsors, registration, accommodations, local sites, and much more.

Our Family Quilt
Individual family history

Peter’s Family History Blog
Genealogy education

Pursuits of a Desperate Genie
Individual family history

• Brookyn, NY is exploding with history and the passion I have for preserving our heritage has overwhelmed my life. My family and friends have had their fair share of “Did you know…!” I love researching, googling for hours, visiting cemeteries, learning new technology and connecting with others to share stories and information. Whenever I hit roadblocks I start quizzing the next person I’m with and before you know it I am writing out their family tree!

Roots and Stones: A Canadian Girl’s Genealogy Diary
Canadian genealogy, Individual family history

• A 6th-generation Canadian, who has been hunting for her roots for the past decade-ish.

Seattle Genealogical Society
Genealogical society, Washington genealogy

• Welcome to the SGS President’s blog.

Smiddy Family Genealogy
Surname blog

Tattered Past
Individual family history

The Bowdens of Popes Creek
African-American genealogy, Individual family history, Virginia genealogy

• Four generations of (Mulatto) Indentured Servants to the Monroe & Washington Family.

The Historian’s Family
Individual family history,

• The author is an instructor at a community college in the Midwest, who completed a PhD in history at the University of Glasgow with a specialization in Scottish migration; also interested in the bridging the gap between academic and “armchair” historians.

They Came to Montana
Individual family history, Montana genealogy

TMG Sydney
Australian genealogy, Genealogical society blog, Technology blog

• This blog is authored by Carole Riley, whom I met on my trip to Australia last spring.

Virtual Tombstone Biographer
Cemetery blogs

Yesterday’s Girl
Individual family history (Engand, Ireand, Newfoundand, Boston)

For more information, see Thomas' original post (link above) or click on each blog.

Hong Kong: The Jewish flavor

The Urban Photo blog offered an interesting interview with the new rabbi of Ohel Leah synagogue in Hong Kong.

The post also mentions three of the wonderfully warm and welcoming people whom I met in Hong Kong last spring on my way to and from Melbourne, Australia, to speak at the National Jewish Genealogy Conference. I also spoke at the Hong Kong Jewish Community Center.

While there, I met with Howard Elias, who runs the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival and also handles the Jewish cemetery; with Erica Lyons, an American ex-pat who lives there with her husband and children, publishes the wonderful Asian Jewish Life magazine; and had tea with Judy Green, all mentioned in the post.

In Hong Kong, I attended Shabbat services at Ohel Leah, and at the Reform congregation, celebrated Purim at the JCC and had a fascinating first trip to Asia.

Planning a trip to Hong Kong? Make sure to email, call or write ahead of time to see the JCC and Ohel Leah, and find out what's going on in the community.

The JCC restaurant is also quite good (and kosher)!

By the way, the new issue of Asian Jewish Life is online now (see cover above left), so take a look at what's happening on the other side of the world. This issue has numerous articles on various aspects of Jewish life in India, including felafel in Bangalore.

Geneabloggers: New blogs

So many new blogs! So little time to catch up with them!

Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com frequently posts lists of newly discovered gen blogs. Here's the recent roundup of his discoveries. Find out more about each here.

These new ones focus on personal family history, Australia, surnames, New York, write family history, New Zealand, Midwest, Minnesota, New England and family reunions.

An American Dynasty: The Story of a Dakota Family
Individual family history

Blog, blog, blog
Australian genealogy, Individual family history

Davis Genealogy Project (Fitz-Henry Family History)
Surname blog

• Part of a one-name study and is a collaborative project with individuals in the US, UK and Australia.

From the Shadows to the Page
Writing Your Family History blog

• To share and connect with those interested in writing from life, recording their personal histories, writing a memoir for publication and/or personal use, and all things related to writing one’s story.

Hempstead Family – Bklyn, NY
Individual family history, New York genealogy

Inside History Magazine
Australian genealogy, New Zealand genealogy

Jack and Pauline
Individual family history (SIULINSKI and ALBERT)

Lewisville, Minnesota
Individual family history, Midwest genealogy, Minnesota genealogy

Martha Carrier’s Family
Family reunion blog, Individual family history, New England genealogy

• Accused witch Martha Carrier was hanged in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.

My Mouse Is Broken
Individual family history

To learn more about this batch of new blogs, click here.

Global Day of Jewish Learning, Nov. 7

Did you know that the Global Day of Jewish Learning is Sunday, November 7?

The day honors the achievement of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's five-decades project of translating the Talmud and encouraging people to join together for study.

It brings together Jewish communities around the world in a historic celebration.

Find out more here about Rabbi Steinsaltz, the day, and click here for more than 250 events as well as online opportunities.

Boston: Australian research seminar, Sept. 22

Two programs on Australian genealogy will be presented at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) on Wednesday, September 22.

The seminar, free and open to the public, will run from 10am-noon at the NEHGS, 99-101 Newbury St., Boston.

Australian Helen D. Harris, OAM will offer "Beginning Your Family History Research in Australia," and "Finding your Long Lost Relatives in Australia."

She has lived in Whitehorse for more than 30 years, with the past 13 years in Elgar Ward. Her areas of interest include heritage, health and environmental issues.

Harris is affiliated with the Box Hill Historical Society, ELGAR Contact, Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies and the Whitehorse Branch of the Greens. She holds the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) (1993, for services to community history); MA (History); founder/honorary life member Avoca and District Historical Society; inaugural 2004 Frances Brown Award for Excellence from the Victorian Association of Family History Organizations.

For more information visit AmericanAncestors.org.

Spain: Anti-Jewish riots began today in 1391

On this day, June 6, in 1391, anti-Jewish riots began in Seville, instigated by Ferrand Martiniz, and soon spread across the country, decimating the Jewish populations of major communities and resulting in mass forced conversions to Catholicism and massacres of those who refused.

Some 10,000 Jews are estimated to have been murdered, many more forcibly converted. Some communities were complete destroyed, such as the 400-year-old Barcelona community, others were re-established in some way. While thousands of individuals went underground and maintained secret Jewish lives, other families and individuals left for other geographic areas.

This was a precursor to the later Inquisition and the 1492 exile.

Click here to learn what else happened this day in Jewish history. Here are some important facts - the list goes through 2010!

1242: Two dozen wagonloads of Talmudic volumes and 200 other rabbinic manuscripts were burned at Paris.1247: Pope Innocent IV contacts the king of Navarre. In a dispatch he requested the king compel Christian debtors to pay off their debt to Jewish lenders.

1506: Birthdate of King John III of Portugal. Persecution of Marranos and Conversos intensified during his reign with the arrival of the Inquisition. On the other hand he met with David Reubeini in 1525 and the two negotiated over the possibility of the King supplying this adventurer with as many as eight ships to use in a fight against the Moslem leader, Selim I. Since much of the life of Reubeni is shrouded in myth and half truths, we cannot be sure as to the reason the negotiations failed.1539: The Inquisition was introduced into Mexico.

1808: Birthdate of Jacob Raphael De Cordova, Texas land agent and colonizer. A native of Jamaica, he settled in Philadelphia in the 1820’s with his father before moving to Texas in 1839. Jacob and his brother Phineas De Cordova operated one of the largest land agencies in Texas. Jacob was one of three men who helped lay out Waco in 1848. He passed away in 1868.

1855: Isaac Kaatz, Gottlieb Milhelm and Anton First were arrested today on charges of having been involved in the theft of eight cows from a farm belong to Colonel Lewis Morris. The three carcasses found in the possession of the accused all bore a mark indicating that they were Kosher.

1859: In Australia, Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales. By 1865, there were enough Jews living in the Queensland city of Brisbane that a congregation was formed that held services in a local Masonic hall until 1886 when a sanctuary with a seating capacity of 400. In 1879, the Jews of Toowoomba, Queensland, built a synagogue which, as the community shrunk in size, was only used on the High Holidays.

1875: Birthdate of Novelist Thomas Mann. Mann was not Jewish but in 1905 he married Katia Pringsheim, daughter of prominent family of Jewish intellectuals. They had six children. Mann left Nazi German in 1933, four years after having won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lived in the United States for many years. He died in Switzerland in 1955, never having lived in his native land again.

1894: Governor Davis H. Waite ordered the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike. Famed financier Bernard Baruch was one of those who got his start in the “strike it rich” world of Cripple Creek. Arriving from the east, Baruch bought shares of stock in the San Francisco mine. During the day he worked as a “mucker” and at night he played at the roulette wheel in a local gambling joint where he was so successful that he was barred by the owners. Baruch took his winnings and headed back to New York where he gained fame and fortune. Sam Butcher, a Hungarian Jew, was one of the few Jews who actually made money in industrial mining in Cripple Creek. Because many of his fellow miners were blatant anti-Semites, Butcher “took pains to conceal his identity” until he had gained financial success. Sam and Bertha Flax were one of the first, if not the first Jewish couple to marry in Cripple Creek. They tied the knot in 1909. Sam was not much of a miner but he would prove be a successful restaurant owner in Denver, Colorado.

For more, visit This Day in Jewish History.

Australia: Jewish Museum to receive major funding

The Jewish Museum of Australia, in St. Kilda (Melbourne), will receive major government funding to create a new gallery and online learning portal.

The state of Victoria will provide AU$400,000 to the Museum, according to an article on J-Wire.

Two major museum projects are planned. The Zelman Cowen Gallery will tell the Australian Jewish story, from the First Fleet's Jewish convicts through today. The museum will also develop a new online learning portal which will make the collections and education resources more accessible.

The new museum director, Rebecca Forgasz, said the government contribution will enable work to progress on curating, designing and building the Zelman Cowen Gallery of Australian Jewish History. It is a story that is not well known even within the Australian Jewish community.

Additionally, the new Gallery will create a hub for education and discussion on the issues of community, identity and civics in a multicultural society, and to tell that story to school students using accessible exhibits.

Learn more about the Museum here.

South Africa: Seeking Ochberg Orphan descendants

Genealogists are detectives, so here's a case many of us might be able to help solve.

David Solly Sandler of Australia is seeking 2,000 South Africans - the descendants of 60 Ukrainian war and pogrom orphans, known as Ochberg's Orphans.

Writes David: 

In 1921, Isaac Ochberg, representative of the South African Jewish Community, travelled to Poland and the Ukraine and brought back with him to Cape Town 167 "Russian, Ukraine and Polish War and Pogrom Orphans" plus 14 "attendants and nurses," mainly older siblings.

Half the children were placed in the care of the Cape Jewish Orphanage (later Oranjia) and half went to Johannesburg, under the care of the South African Jewish Orphanage (later Arcadia). Many children were adopted by Jewish community members, who contributed generously to a fund to bring the children to South Africa and care for them.

What's David's connection to Arcadia? Born in 1952, David grew up from age 3-17 at Arcadia, the South African Jewish Orphanage in Sandringham, Johannesburg. Now a semi-retired chartered accountant, he lives in Western Australia and has completed two books on Arcadia (see below for more information). For the history of the orphanage - established in 1899 - click here.

David is now in month 18 of the 27 months he's allocated to record the life stories of the Ochberg Orphans. Of the 181 children, the stories of 90 have been recorded, contact has been made with another 30, but 60 still remain to be contacted.

How did he arrive at this number? David believes - for the so far "missing" 60 - that each child was born around 1910, married and had three children, nine grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren, thus there should be more than the estimated 2,000 descendants cited above. Of course, no one knows for sure.

However, what is really important in this story is that many descendants might not know their connection to the Ochberg Orphans. The children did not often speak about this and many tried to hide the fact from their children because of the stigma of being an orphan.

One descendant wrote, says David:

Today, as for the general South African Jewish community, half  of the 2,000 descendants likely have left South Africa and now live around the world in Israel, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

“The general attitude of the community was that it was a mitzvah to have adopted one of those poor orphans, a good deed in a dark world, but you really wouldn't want one of them to marry into your family, would you? After all, you knew nothing of their parents and extended family, their health history and their genetic background. This is a generalisation that isn't true of all the adopters but it was certainly true of a fair number, nervous, insecure, only to do nothing that would jeopardise their increasing prosperity and emergent social solidity.”

Here's the kicker - here are the names of these orphans. If you have someone with this name in your family tree, born c1910, there's a chance you might be an Ochberg Orphan descendant, so read the list carefully and if you find a name of interest, contact David (email below).

-- BARMATCH Sara, BARUCH Leya, BERNFELD Hersh,
-- CWENGEL Saul,
-- ELMAN Blume, ELMAN Jentl/ Izzy, ELSHTEIN Abo, ENGELMAN Jakob,
-- FREMD/FRIEND Max,
-- GARBUS /GOLDSTEIN Shmul, GAYER Chawa, GEBENCOL/GOLZ Rochel, GERYNSHTEIN Abram, GINSBURG Mintcha, GUBER/GEIBER/GRUBER Tcharna (Charlotte ODES),
-- H/GURWITZ Rosa,
-- ISRAELSON Chaim,
-- JUDES Rubin,
-- KAHAN Channe, KAHAN Golda, KAHAN Morduch/Mordche, KAHAN Shachna, KAILER Rywka, KAUFMAN Cypora, KAUFMAN Soloman/Shlama, KAWERBERG Mayer, KAWERBERG Mees/Moshe, KIGIELMAN Jacob, KNUBOVITZ Zlata, KREINDEL Rejsel, KRUGERr Rejsel, KRUGER Abram, KRUGER Jacob,
-- LIPSHIS Moishe, LIPSHYTZ Perel,
-- MARGOLIN Sara, MILER Braindel, MORDOCHOWITCH Gutro, MORDOCHOWITCH Estel,
-- NUDERMAN Gdalia,
-- OCHSTEIN Salomon, ORLIANSKY Abram,
-- PERRCHODNIK/PERECHODNIK Ussr, PINSKY/PINSKA Faywel, PINSKY/PINSKA Feyga (Birdie GLASER), PINSKY/PINSKA Maisha, PINSKY/PINSKA Zlata,
-- REICHMAN Abram, REICHMAN Chaim, REISENDERRubin, REKLER Leya, RINSLER/RINZLER Chaskiel/Chaykel, ROSENBAUM Leon, ROSENBLIT Gdalia, ROSENBLIT Szamay,
-- Y/J/SAGOTKOWSKY Jacob/Jacov, SCHTERN/SHTERN Szlema/Solomon, SCHWARZ Josef, SHTEINER/STEINER Chaskel, SHTEINER/STEINER Hersh, SHTEINER/SZTEINER/STEINER Isaac, SMITH Morduch/Mordche, SHTRASNER Feyga, STILLERMAN Hersh/Harry,
-- TREPPEL Jacob
-- WEIDMAN Sheindel.

David adds that by the end of 2010, the lifestories of some 130 of the children will have been collected. They will be included in a book to be published and sold internationally with all proceeds going to Arcadia and Oranjia, as are the Arcadian Memory Books.

Readers who recognize names of interest should email David for more information, or if you are a descendant and want your family's story included.

"100 Years of ARC Memories" (March 2006) celebrates the centenary book of Arcadia, formerly the South African Jewish Orphanage.

"More ARC Memories" (December 2008) is the sequel to the first volume, and includes 17 chapters on the Ochberg Children.

Together, the books total 1,100+ pages and hold the memories of more than 250 children. All proceeds go to the Arcadia Children's Home that still exists and looks after children in need. By the end of 2009, some Rand 365,000 had been raised and the target is Rand 1 million. The set of two books costs $100 plus $10 shipping (click here for more information).

Ancestor Approved: 10 things about my ancestors

Tracing the Tribe has received the Ancestor Approved award from Pat and Judy, the GenealogyGals.

Their blog is a joint effort.

Award recipients are supposed to report on 10 things learned about our ancestors that have surprised, humbled, or enlightened us, and then pass along the award to 10 more genealogy bloggers who are doing their ancestors proud.

1. Surprised: At the life of my maternal great-grandmother Riva BANK TALALAY - born in a shtetl outside Kovno - who was ran away to the Gypsies - so the story goes - to avoid a disliked marriage. Along the way, she learned herbal healing, midwifery, reading tarot cards and palmistry. When she did marry Aron Peretz Talalay and moved to his agricultural colony Vorotinschtina, some 12 miles southwest of Mogilev, Belarus, she was known for creating the first closet in the shtetl. In Newark, New Jersey, she was also a midwife and healer and well-known for getting her way to make living better for her family.

2. Surprised: That the generation-to-generation one-liner - "This was our name in Spain" - has been corroborated by archival research in Spain and DNA genetic testing.

3. Enlightened: Our TALALAY family's first immigrant ancestor met an English-speaker on the boat over in 1898 who advised him to change his name as no one would give a job to Mr. Tell-a-lie. Thus TOLLIN, TALLIN, TAYLOR, TOLL, TALL and - of course - those lost Philadelphia FEINSTEINs, came about.

4. Enlightened: My maternal FINK (Suchostaw, Galicia -> Ukraine) grandfather and his brothers had a large building maintenance company in New York City. Once, during a window-cleaners' strike, a worker was quoted as calling his employers, "those rats, the FINKs." According to family story, the term "rat-fink" was born.

5. Surprised: On hearing that my mother, as a teen, used to swim across Kauneonga Lake (Catskills, Sullivan County, about 10 miles from Monticello) frequently. It is a very large lake!

6. Humbled: To have found at least one lost branch of the Dardashti family, and thus fulfilling a request of my husband's eldest aunt Nane-jan - made more than 35 years ago in Teheran - to find the lost branches (descendants of relatives who became Moslem) and tell them that they had cousins who thought about them all the time.

7. Humbled: To think about the difficulties Nane-jan underwent as the first Jewish girl to go to school in Teheran in 1902. The community stopped buying from her father, a butcher, and she endured taunts and attacks on her way to school. All her sisters also went to school, with some of them becoming French teachers. It wasn't easy being a father with such advanced enlightened thinking in those days.

8. Frequently flabbergasted when thinking of our newly-connected TALALAY-KATSNELSON relatives (from Bobruisk, Belarus) in Melbourne, Australia. Their eldest daughter Nelly is a journalist and her daughter is Miliana. I'm Schelly, a journalist and our daughter is Liana. Do you also hear Twilight Zone music?

9. Surprised at how much cousin Leon in Melbourne and I resemble each other. His mother was a Talalay whose father (Gamshei) had moved (reasons still unknown) from Mogilev to Bobruisk.

10. Still shocked: My late cousin Victor Talalay (Toronto) and I both located information about the family branch in Israel at the same time, decades ago, when we separately visited Israel and found the data in the English phone book. We each dutifully copied the info and held onto the scraps of paper with name, address and phone number for decades. I finally wrote and located the granddaughter as her grandfather, who placed the entry every year, had died only a year or so prior. He had placed the info in the English phone book every year hoping that US relatives would find it and contact him. He had arrived from Berlin (after leaving Mogilev in 1902 and going to London and Germany) to Israel in 1933. Moral: Never procrastinate when it comes to following up on all clues to family history.

Since I am coming into this award late - procrastination still runs in our family - and I believe almost all bloggers have already been tagged, I am awarding this coveted prize to everyone who has not already been noted.

Hong Kong: On a clear day....

Doesn't it always happen like this?

You visit a new place and weather conditions are such that you can't see more than a few buildings down the road. Then, on the last day, everything is beautiful and clear.

On both my visits, I could barely see the harbor from the hotel window. Today, I could see the hills on the far side.

At least I have this great shot!

Hong Kong has been a great experience and I am grateful to the Jewish Community Center events committee for making it happen. Mira, Tara, Erica, Howard and everyone else were most gracious and very kind.

This trip afforded many opportunities to talk genealogy with so many diverse individuals and I hope that they may go on searching their own ancestry, whatever it might be.

My visit to Australia was a dream come true as well. Ziva and Sam Fain were very caring hosts and it was hard to tear myself away from them (and the two dogs); the conference was excellent and I thank everyone on the committee who made it possible.

Meeting my Melbourne cousins from Bobruisk (Alex, Jenny, Nelly, Leon, Fleur) was a wonderful experience, and my Sydney cousins Bob and Di were delightful, as usual.

Meeting up with geneablogging colleague Randy Seaver and his wife just added to the overall good memories of Sydney. That's Randy and me on beautiful Manley Beach (right).

It was a great pleasure making in-person connections with gen colleagues Kerry Farmer and Carole Riley in Sydney, and finally meeting Linde Wolters, a member of MyHeritage.com's farflung family.

I will always remember the great people I met on this trip, talking genealogy in two countries and with fellow passengers. I'd like to travel there again for the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival in November. We'll see!

For now, it is back to Tel Aviv tonight, attempt to get ready for Pesach, and to catch up on a huge pile of work for upcoming conferences and other events.

Tracing the Tribe wishes a Happy Pesach to all readers who celebrate this special holiday.

Australia: Visiting Sydney, Day 1

Ziva drove me to the airport, before dawn, to catch an early morning flight to Sydney to see my cousins.

Bob and Di met me at the airport and, since time was so limited, they drove me around to get a feeling for this beautiful city. The weather was sunny and breezy and Bob shared his love for the city where he has lived for more than three decades.

For lunch, we went to the Sydney Fish Market for fish and chips. An amazing building full of fresh everything that can say "glub glub."

Some of them were still speaking!

Name a creature of the water and it is on ice or in a tank somewhere here. There are also other kiosks inside (sushi and more).

At 2pm, Bob and Di dropped me off at the Kent Street site of the Society of Australian Genealogists, where I met the SAG program director Carole Riley, a GenClass.com colleague Kerry Farmer and MyHeritage.com's Linde Wolters (who lives in Sydney). From left, Carole, Kerry and Linde:

We had a quick tour of the excellent facilities, library (there is another archive offsite), talked genealogy - what else? - and went for refreshment to the cafe across the street. First it was 3.20pm and the next time we checked it was 4pm. If I wasn't being picked up by my cousins, we could have gone for several more hours.

For dinner, we went to a Lebanese restaurant with our cousins' friends and had a great time talking genealogy, DNA and much more.

Tomorrow, say my cousins, I'll get to see koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, emus and other unusual animals. Looking forward to that!

Vienna: Searching JASSNIGER

At the Bendigo Famiy History Expo, attendee Margaret Brown told me about her JASSNIGER relatives from Vienna, and even went home to bring me the birth and death certificates.

Click on each image to see them better. Each holds detailed information on various individuas, including maiden names of mother and grandmother, etc.





If you are researching Margaret's father's rare name, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with her. Some dozen burials are in Vienna; she knows there was a US branch but has not yet checked for it.

Australia: Bendigo family history expo

On Sunday, we drove up to Gold Rush country for the Bendigo Family History Expo, visited the famous Hanging Rock, saw my first wallaby, and saw the view from Mt. Macedon (left).

The easy ride from Melbourne went through gently rolling green hills, populated by cows, sheep and horses. There were many wineries, historic towns and mineral springs along the way, but no time, unfortunately, to stop and smell the grapes!

At the expo, there were some 60 experts, local groups and societies filling a large hall at the Bendigo Leisure Center (community center, in the US), but there were no classes or workshops as is usual at similar US events There was a steady stream of visitors all day.

Within 15 minutes of putting up two signs (Jewish Research and MyHeritage.com), and starting a MyHeritage overview looping powerpoint presentation, several people had come over to ask questions about both.

Questions included where to find more information about the families SIMEON (Liverpool, UK) and ISRAELOWITZ (Melbourne), while others shared information about postcards from Israel (pre-state)brought back by fathers and grandfathers who had served in the British and Australian armies.

I learned about Jews who had settled in Avoca, a small area community, and met a man who carried his 13,000-name family tree on his iPhone (using Reunion software).

One young woman stopped by to ask about her great-grandparents named ENGLANDER and MOVRIN (both from Germany). I offered various websites for her to access.

Margaret Brown told me about her JASSNIGER relatives from Vienna (see separate post).

Unfortunately, there was no Internet access at the expo or I could have helped more people directly.

As people came up and asked questions, I wrote down websites for them to access at home, including JewishGen and its many components, Ancestry and others. All public libraries in Victoria carry the Ancestry Library Edition, making it easier for researchers.

Here's my first in-person long-distance wallaby (left). A mob of them were eating grass at the Hanging Rock racecourse.

Melbourne: Meeting the family - at last!

Thirty years ago, Alexander Katsnelson, his wife Jenny and toddler Nelly arrived in Melbourne from Bobruisk, Belarus.

Later on, his father and brother Leon arrived from Bobruisk. Alex and Leon's mother was a TALALAI whose family was from Mogilev.

In the photo below are (from left) Leon, Schelly and Alex.

About seven years ago, members of the Australian Jewish Genealogical Society - notably the late Les Oberman - located Alex and Jenny after information from new-found Moscow cousins indicated they might be in Melbourne.

We communicated for awhile until I experienced a major computer malfunction and lost much data (including emails). Yes, I know. Tracing the Tribe always advocates backing up, backing up, backing up. I goofed and thus our family lost years during which we could have been in contact.

However, as soon as I landed in Melbourne, I told my hostess, Ziva Fain, that we needed to find them. Fortunately, we found L. Katsnelson in the online phone book (cousin Leonid), who gave me Alex's number.

Today was cousin day.

Alex and Jenny came to take me to their home - which is very close to Ziva's - where Alex's younger brother Leon, their older daughter Nelly and granddaughter Miliana, 2, were waiting. Later that day I also met Nelly's son Jordan, 5, and Nelly's sister Fleur.

Nelly has a degree in journalism - is it genetic? - while Fleur is an attorney. Our daughter is Liana, Nelly's is Miliana.

We went over family charts and photographs. Leon told us many anecdotes from his childhood. As the younger brother, he was closer to his grandmother and he remembered a large photo on the wall of his mother's family in Mogilev.

When Alex and Jenny left, they could not take any family photos with them. When Leon left, he took many small photos, but was not permitted to take other family memorabilia. His mother's sister went to Brooklyn later on and took other items, including the photo. She has since died; no one knows where the large photo of the Mogilev family is now, but Alex and Leon said they will try to find who has it (and many other photos) and have them scanned.

After lunch, Jenny showed me a Russian-language site that translates as "classmates" - sort of a Russian Facebook. We checked for TALALAI and were amazed to find so many, although some I knew. This could be a very valuable resource for genealogists. Names can be typed in English, but everything else seems to be in Cyrillic.

I showed Jenny and Nelly how to use both Ancestry and JewishGen. Everyone was surprised to see how many FamilyFinder entries for KATSNELSON from Bobruisk were listed. A few years ago, Leon had been contacted by a US researcher who sent him information and charts but they couldn't see how they were related; he did not hear from that researcher again.

Many of the KATSNELSON researchers in the Family Finder are either deceased or have not logged in since 2004.

Jenny is also looking for her HEIMAN (sometimes written KHAYMAN) family of Bobroisk. Her grandmother lived in Bobruisk, but her family had moved to Riga, Latvia, where she grew up and attended school. How and why they moved to Riga is a story in itself.

Jenny and I later went to dinner and we didn't stop talking all evening. There was an instant connection, as if we had known each other for a lifetime.

There will be more to tell. And this time we won't lose the connection!

Melbourne Conference: Writing Ancestral Stories

Following Ambassador Yuval Rotem's family history journey, Australian author Arnold Zable discussed techniques involved in writing family stories.

His own family is from Bialystok; his books and stories reflect those roots.

At the heart of good writing, he said, is imagination. He clarified this by focusing on the meaning of "image," and the process of creating and seeing the image - of a place.

"If you can 'see' it, you can write it," he said. Walking the streets of that place, talking to people who came from there - all adds to the "image." Newspapers of the time provide more material and photographs. "If I can't 'see' it," he said, "I know more research is needed."

He described a Melbourne place called Cafe Scheherezade, named for the woman who told 1,001 stories. Zable said the place was once - it no longer exists - filled by people, each of whom could tell their own stories - just as many and just as well.

He discussed the scenes that Ambassador Rotem used in his own family history journey, describing vignettes and memoirs, all of which provide missing links in an ancestral chain, and help to explain the mystery of those missing links.

Zable advised researchers to look for their ancestry, to find where they come from and to share their stories.

Melbourne: State Library of Victoria

Tuesday was tour day for conference attendees.

While some visited the National Archives of Australia (NAA) and the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV), others visited the State Library of Victoria (SLV).

SLV genealogy librarian Anne Burrows - who presented her institution's holdings to conference attendees on Monday - was the guide for our group. Her colleague Grant led another group.

The SLV's main reading room is a busy place, offering desks, computers as well as comfortable chairs for visitors. The room was full of people busily working away on their own laptops as well as the library's computers.

Just off the main reading room is the Genealogy Library, which is located in a former outdoor courtyard, now roofed over. Once considered for a restaurant, the space features elegant marble floors and tall stained glass windows of the surrounding buildings' exterior walls. Sunlight streams through the roof's glass panes into the room which holds shelving units, microfilm and microfiche cabinets and readers, as well as computers.

In honor of the Australian Jewish genealogy conference, a dual-sided display of Jewish genealogy books, journals and newsletters was at the entrance to the room.

Standing by the book display (left) is an old genealogy friend - Dr. Albert Braunstein of Melbourne - whose family, like mine, has roots in Mogilev, Belarus.

Anne took us through the room describing holdings in more detail.

In addition to the display at the entrance, there are more Jewish genealogy books on shelves, including many of Avotaynu's publications - even Jeff Malka's "Sephardic Genealogy" - and the Avotaynu journal. Of course, there are extensive general genealogy reference works and materials.

Microfiche includes holdings of the Australian Jewish Historical Society and other resources as indicated on this drawer label.

Computers also hold reference materials for those searching Jewish genealogy, such as databases on this computer in the center. A search for Australian Jewish Historical Society pulled up hits in the manuscript collection.

Patrons and researchers have access to printers for microfilm and microfiche images; digital cameras are allowed or users may download images directly to their own flash drives or memory sticks.

There are numerous GenieGuides covering Australian states and topics, such as convict material. Each binder holds many pages of additional sources of information (including selected microfiche, microfilm, CD and online records in the Genealogy Center. Although now only in hardcopy, future plans include online accessibility to this information.

Although I'm focusing in this post on the specific Jewish resources at the SLV, its extensive holdings include immigration records, vital records and much more, including the Ancestry.com Library Edition, available to all library visitors.

While the SLV's Genealogy Collection focuses on sources from Australia, the UK and New Zealand, it also reflects Victoria's ethnic diversity with an expanding range of Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Jewish material.

Core sources include indexes to civil registration for all Australian states and territories (as they are released), Australian cemetery and immigration records, electoral rolls and directions, and much more, including collective biographies and "how-to" guides.

The SLV's Newspaper Reading Room holds more than 91,000 newspaper volumes in its Newspaper Collection - almost every newspaper published in the state since 1882, as well as earlier papers 1838-1880 (with some gaps).

Mellbourne Conference: Day Two

Although it rained heavily all night, the morning was bright and sunny. Conference sessions began at 8.30am.

I've known Bubbles Segall (right) for many years. She lived in a remote area of Australia for some three decades and recently moved to Melbourne. Her excellent program on "Writing Family Newsletters" inspired several attendees to begin such a venture. (See a separate Tracing the Tribe post on her presentation)

Other concurrent sessions were Czech research and beginning genealogy.

The second plenary session featured three archivists from local and national archives: Kim Burrell (National Australian Archives), Anne Burrows (State Library of Victoria) and James McKinnon (Public Records Office of Victoria). Each provided information on what the institutions hold and what researchers might find. Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will tour both the NAA and the SLV.

The most moving session was with Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem (Frenkel), who described his family history search (see separate Tracing the Tribe post), which all began with his son working on a family tree project, and Australian author Arnold Zable who spoke on "Writing Our Ancestral Stories."

Following lunch, there were concurrent sessions of the Israel SIG (with Sallyann Amdur Sack-Pikus, Ziva Fain and myself), "Caring for Your Family Records" (Shauna Hicks) and "Jewish Naming Traditions" (Lionel Sharpe).

At a combined session, Sallyann presented "Resources for Holocaust Research," covering resources at Yad Vashem, USHMM and ITC-Bad Arolsen.

An "Ask the Experts" closed the second day with some good audience questions on dating photographs, Austrian military uniforms and more.

On Tuesday, we're off to visit archives and libraries.

Melbourne: The conference opens

Although Melbourne suffered from a 100-year rain, with flooded streets, damaged and leaking roofs, hail (from marble-size to much larger!), nothing stopped these intrepid genealogists from arriving at the Beth Weizmann community building in Caulfield South.

Sallyann Amdur Sack-Pikus gave the keynote address and focused on "Jewish Genealogy: Past , Present and Future," as she detailed the history and growth of Jewish genealogy in the US and worldwide.

After a coffee break, I was up next with our "Iberian Ashkenaz DNA Project: So You Think You're Ashkenazi." It generated many questions and people were talking to me all day about their family's stories. The point was to raise awareness of the possibilities and it certainly seemed to do just that.

I hadn't known previously, but I was to lead a Sephardic SIG group next, with another group of interested people with even more interesting stories to tell and questions to be answered.

Following lunch (complete with felafel, potato salad and the rest), I then presented "The New Technology Frontier: Social Networks and Blogging," which also encouraged questions and comments, as I covered Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and genealogy social networking sites. Several people at the session and ater during the day mentioned that their trees had been hijacked at Geni.

There were several concurrent sessions. I attended Jenni Buch's Belarus session and Peter Nash's excellent "China: Resources for Family Research," which offered some rather amazing sources discovered by Peter. Attending Peter's talk was our new friend Helen Bekhor of Melbourne, whose Sephardic family - originally from Baghdad - was interned by the Japanese in Shanghai. Peter attended the Kadoorie School in Shanghai and it sounded like they knew some of the same people way back then. Rieke Nash's session on JRI-Poland was next.

What I missed: Krystyna Duszniak's "Unearthing the Polish Past by Necessity: The Historica Journey to a Poish Passport," Todd Knowles' "British Holldings of the Family History Library," Daniela Torsh's "Finding Hilda: An Austrian Genealogy Story," and Prof. Martin Delatycki's "Genetic Disease Among Jewish People." There were also SIG groups on researching early Australia, German research, Hungary and the Netherlands.

In the evening, a reception was held at the nearby Glen Eira Town Hall, complete with wine, sushi and more. A moving address was given by the young mayor, Steven Tang, who described his trip back to Poland and search for his mother's Jewish roots, as well as his father's Chinese roots. Awards were given to hardworking society members.

The society lost some time ago one of its major movers and shakers - Les Oberman - a good friend of mine. A meeting room was dedicated with a plaque bearing his name.

Ziva Fain and I are now out the door to day two of the conference.

Photos and more will be posted tonight.