52 Weeks Challenge Week 10 - Family Search

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy Challenge #10:
Investigate Family Search Pilot (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start), which is part of FamilySearch.org. This is a wonderful collection of records which literally grows every day. In the middle left of the page is a link that says “Browse our record collections.” Click it and pick a region. Search collections outside your research interest. Investigate the types of records collected all over the world and see how they differ from those with which you are familiar. If you are a genealogy blogger, pick a type of record from another country and share your observations about it.


Okay, first of all this was very hard because, as is my way, I got caught up looking in the files that directly relate to my research. Now, I have been using the Cook County Illinois databases quite heavily while researching for the Ruch/Siegler project. What a help those records have been!! Of course, the images make all the difference since I now have copies of original records for collateral relatives for whom I probably wouldn't have expended the funds to get.


However, while browsing through the US records, I found the database Indiana Marriages 1811-1959 and what a find that was!! Even though the index (and it is an index, no images yet:-( ) and is only 12% complete, my Leisure family from Rush county is well represented. Yesterday I made it through (adding new records and citations to my genealogy software) only 2 of the 29 pages! Yikes, I've got a lot of work ahead of me there and that's not the family I'm suppose to be working on! And that's not even counting the Miller, Kennedy, Blue, Stewart... families from Rush county.


But today I did take a look at what might be available for France from with the Ruch/Siegler family originates. Two databases are listed France, Coutances Catholic Diocese 1802-1907 [images only] and France, Protestant church records, 1612-1906. The latter is the one I reviewed since the Ruch family joined the Evangelical Lutheran church once they arrived in the US.This database is only 11% complete so as time goes by it will be more and more useful. So far nothing is online from the Alsace region, in fact most of the records are from the area in and around Paris. However, I did get two pages of results for the Ruch name; not my people but if they were the information would be great. Marriage data includes the event date and location, both spouses names, and their parents names; birth/baptism data includes the event date (probably baptism?) and location, the person's name and the parents' names (including mother's maiden name). I didn't see any death records but according to the FamilySearch Wiki about this database, death records include:

• Date and place where the person died
• Name of the deceased, age or date and place of birth
• Cause of death (illness, accident, senility, etc.)
• Residence of the deceased

That's it for now. I must get back to working with those Indiana records.