Thrifty Thursday: Michigan Collections on FamilySearch

Are you just getting started with your family research?  Not really sure if you are ready to be a "full time" researcher, no mater how easy those fun Ancestry.com Christmas tv commercials make it look?  Worried that if you sign up for one of the many WONDERFUL genealogy websites, you might not have enough time to devote to actual research to make up for the cost of your membership?  Then this blog post is for you.

Today's Thrifty Thursday tip is .... Don't overlook the the state collections at FamilySearch.org.  I have found so many helpful documents in the Michigan collections, that I would be remiss in sharing this valuable information with my many readers..

IMAGE: This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.
Information from its description page there is shown Below.

As of November 27, 2012, FamilySearch offers eleven different Michigan collections available for FREE online, of which six collections include the digital images.

Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995	1,612,291	10 Mar 2012
Michigan, Births, 1867-1902 (with images)	1,409,988	3 Jun 2011
Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935 (with images)	371,310	4 Jan 2012
Michigan, Death Index, 1971-1996	2,052,472	17 Dec 2011
Michigan, Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995	1,372,536	5 Oct 2012
Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897 (with images)	507,342	5 May 2010
Michigan, Detroit Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Detroit, 1906-1954 (with images)	845,964	27 Nov 2012
Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995	1,908,148	5 Mar 2012
Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925 (with images)	1,533,863	5 May 2010
Michigan, Probate Records, 1797-1973 (with images)	Browse Images	28 Jun 2012
Michigan, State Census, 1894	92,831	8 Jul 2011

And don't forget to check out the FREE 1940 Census - Michigan on FamilySearch, complete with images.

Thanks to volunteer indexers, new collections and indexes are being added regularly. Remember that many hands make light work, so if you would like to help index Michigan records, please go to https://familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing and sign up TODAY!

Current Michigan Indexing Projects:

• US, Michigan—County Deaths, 1921-1952 [Part B]
  
• US, Michigan—County Deaths, 1921–1952
  
• US, Michigan—WWI Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [Part 3A]
  
• US, Michigan—WWI Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [Part 3B]
  

Be sure to stop by FamilySearch today, and see what hidden gems are available for you too.

Love & Aloha,
CuznAmy

Maritime Monday - The Jane Wood Boat

The Jane Wood, built by the James Wood Boat Co. in Mt. Clemens, MI in 1909
(L to R - Robert Wood, Herbert Wood, Caroline Wood, Jane Wood and Nelson Wood),
with the John Updagrove fish house in the background.

Who was Phoebe Ann Lymburner?

In addition to researching how historical facts of the past relate to and affected my ancestors, I am equally fascinated by the science behind familial relationships.  Whether it be a study on "nature vs nurture" (especially when it comes to "talents" and other gifts of the spirit), or the recent developments of DNA research and its effects on our genetics, I find a deeper connection to my heritage.

When I first learned about mitochondrial DNA, I was so excited.  To think that a part of my DNA structure has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations with minimal changes (if any) amazes me.  That "mitochondrial Eve" for my own personal family tree would be a woman I only know as "Phoebe Ann Smith Lymburner".  She passed her mtDNA on to her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Lymburner, who then passed the same mtDNA to her daughter, Mabel Ellen Ogle, who then passed the same code on to my grandmother, Elsie Marie Roberts, then on to my mother and myself. And now I have passed the same to my own daughters, and consequently on to my granddaughters.  And this tiny little code buried deep in our cells binds us to each other.

Which brings me to the reason for today's post.  I don't really know much about my 3rd great grandmother.  I am able to take my "Lymburner" lines back further, but Pheobe Ann Smith Lymburner is a bit of a brickwall to me.  So I am going  to devote some effort over the rest of this year to see of I can f ind out more about her.  In the meantime ...

What I currently know:

Phoebe Ann Smith was born in Sep 1826 in Caistorville, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada. When she was 18, she married William Lymburner (son of John Lymburner Jr. and Margaret Swick), about 1845 in Caistorville, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada.  They had nine children: John Milton Lymburner; Culver R Lymburner, Alfred Kirk Lymburner; Alexander Lymburner, George Hamilton Lymburner, Patrick Lymburner, Fralick Lymburner, Mary Elizabeth Lymburner and Rosanah Lymburner.  She died on 02 Oct 1884, and is buried in Dochstader Cemetery at Caistor Township, Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada.


(WARNING:  The above information was gathered from various sources a long time ago, and unfortunately I did not do so well in keeping a record of those sources.  So if you copy any of this information, please be sure to validate my information with your own research.  I sure wouldn't want to pass along incorrect information.)

What I don't know:

1) Who were Phoebe Ann Smith's parents?

2) Was "Smith" her correct maiden name?
3) Does her family have anything to do with "Smithville", the community next to Caistorville?

What documents do I have:

Record of Death: 

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938. MS 935, reels 1-615. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada / Phoebe Ann Lymburner, Reel:  37. (18 July 2012)

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy