Free Genealogy Sites -- Follow Friday

Often, I come across great genealogy sites and don't know where to keep the links, usually, I just store them in a miscellaneous file, where they get forgotten or just hard to locate when I need them. Recently, I've discovered some really good, free blogs or free pages, and decided to make it easy on myself by posting here. These aren't just for me, but for others to see and use as well. Only the areas where I have ancestors will be posted, and I intend to leave comments about them.


From the Weekly Genealogist, New England Historic Genealogical Society's free newsletter of July 11, 2012, two very useful sites:


Genealogy Book Links  http://genealogybooklinks.com/*
Wisconsin County Histories  
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wch/**


Vital Records of Simsbury, CT  Cemetery Records***


A History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York, Volume 2 by William Farley Peck (google book)
-----
*Mollie Lynch of Clarkston, Michigan: 
As a retired librarian, I needed a hobby and wanted to assist people doing genealogical research so I started genealogybooklinks.com. I began locating and providing links to freely available digital books, focusing on American biographies, genealogies, and history books. Today there are over 30,000 links from more than 35 sources (only the top sources are listed on the site). The current focus is on surnames, directories, vital records, and identifying smaller sites with local area-specific books." What a great site!


**Dee Grimsrud, a retired Wisconsin Historical Society archivist from Madison, Wisconsin: 
"The Wisconsin Historical Society has numerous county histories scanned, searchable, and free." My 3rd great-grandfather, Maj. George Anderson died in Madison, Wisconsin.


***"This record has been compiled using the following resources: Simsbury Cemetery Gravestone Inscriptions, Simsbury, CT. 1688-2000 compiled by Joyce Cahill (names and dates only, these are not the exact transcriptions." I used this site quite a bit prior to my visit to this cemetery. I have 151 names who have lived in Simsbury.


****My 2nd great-grandfather, William Frederick Poole was married in Rochester, New York.

Simsbury Cemetery -- Tombstone Tuesday

Photo taken July 8, 2012.

Simsbury Cemetery, Simsbury, Connecticut

Also known as: Center Cemetery, Hop Meadow Cemetery

   HERE LYES
THE BODY OF SARAH CASS WIFE
OF JOHN CASS SENER
WHO DEPARTED THIS
LIFE NOVEMBER 3D 1691
AGED 55 YEARS

Sarah Spencer Cass (Case) was my 8th great-grandmother.

Buried Section B, row 35.

Update: Good Reference website for Simbury research is Vital Records of Simsbury, CT. It includes a list of all those buried in the Simsbury Cemetery.

Want to Read about Executions for Follow Friday?

While looking for some background information on somebody in my family, a google search brought me to an interesting site called An NYCHS Timeline on Executions by Hanging in New York State. The NYCHS stands for New York Correction History Society. Not only did I find information on my guy, but a lot on others who committed crimes. The timeline covers 1779 to 1824, and many listed were convicted for being spies, robbers or murderers. A few of the names will be recognizable by some of you. Sure made for some interesting reading.


The NYCHS also has a webpage New York Correction History Society which is a "resource for NY correction history --- 7000+ files of text & images totaling 460+ Mbs."


Any idea who I am going to write about? His wife was my 4th great-grandaunt.