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With more and more genealogy material becoming available, 2018 could be a banner year for our region’s family historians.
First up, Luzerne County marriage licenses from Oct. 1, 1885, to Aug. 13, 2004, will be digitized and placed into a data base that may be viewed online, the Times Leader reported recently. The public will be able to search and view them for free, with a fee of $1.50 per page for copying.
Why are the licenses important to genealogists? A sample one provided to a Times Leader reporter “contained the applicants’ ages, occupations, birthplaces and also the names, residences, occupations and birthplaces of their parents,” the paper said. More recent licenses also had “information about the education of both the applicants and their parents.”
The work is to be bid out. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Judicial Service and Records Division Head Joan Hoggarth told the paper.
That’s not all. The county is also planning to digitize and put property deed index records online so that online deeds may be searched by name. The deeds records online go from 1967 back to 1786.
Genealogy Education: Are you in the market for a course or two in your specialized areas of genealogy? If so, FamilySearch might have what you’re looking for.
FamilySearch, the free genealogy service of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, makes available online courses from time to time. They’re free.
In your search engine, go to FamilySearch Newsroom, and click on Library Announcements. There you will find a large collection of free online courses and webinars for January.
“The January schedule includes informative classes for Ireland, Portugal, Germany, United Kingdom, Norway and United States research, using the FamilySearch Family Tree, learning to use the FamilySearch tools more effectively, how to index, and other useful tips and instruction,” according to a press release.
There are 24 courses and webinars in all for the month. While they are all presented live during the day, you will find instructions for viewing recorded versions at other times.
Make your New Year’s resolution a genealogical one. Resolve to check out the great new bodies of information and training that are being made available almost too frequently to keep track of.
Historical Society News: Don’t forget that the Bishop Memorial Library of the Luzerne County Historical Society is now operating under revised hours. Those hours are noon to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday, noon to 6 p.m. on Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The library is at 49 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. It’s closed Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.
Genealogical Society News: The Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society will reopen Jan. 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be open Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and second Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The research library is on the grounds of the Hanover Green Cemetery, Main Road, Hanover Township.
News Notes: January is Mining Heritage Month, and various organizations will mark it with programs — too many to go into here. Check The Guide in your Friday Times Leader for a full schedule. Mining was once the economic engine of Luzerne County, and many people today can trace their families to men who worked in the anthracite coal mines.
An important part of the Luzerne County Genweb is unavailable — at least for the foreseeable future. The collection of day-to-day news summaries from the old Wilkes-Barre Record Almanac (1886 to 1963) is gone. The notice offers no date for their return.