Washington State Digital Archives

I have family members who made their way from West Virginia to Washington state.   Guss Wayson, who was a brother to my great great grandfather, Ernest Wayson, went to Washington in the 1930's.

Not having any research experience in Washington, I cannot tell you how happy I was to have found a great resource for, not only vital records, but land, census, and military records too.   There are also some court records, cemetery directories, and naturalizations that might help you in your hunt for Washington state family members.

Washington State Digital Archives has digitized many archival records of the state.  Some contain actual images that are viewable as jpeg files, while others only provide transcribed data.  For me, I was happy to be able to have access to either form.

The search engine is easy to use.  In my case, I just entered the surname Wayson and found the marriages I was looking for and as an added bonus, found information that I wasn't even expecting!  You can also enter first names to narrow down your search.  There is also a keyword and detailed search which allows the selection of any record series and/or county.

If you have family in Washington, you owe it to  yourself to give this website, Washington Digital Archives, a try.

Brown County Ohio History in Pictures

Greg Haitz, who happens to be a cousin of mine, and his wife, Lisa, wrote a wonderful book that beautifully illustrates  Brown County, Ohio and its history using old photographs, Brown County (OH).  The book, which was published in 2006 by Arcadia Publishing is one of the Images of America series.  

The book covers all areas of the county and includes the citizens' impact and participation in the Underground Railroad.  Other topics include the importance of tobacco and the Ohio River to the livelihood of the people calling the county home.  

I love the book as it gives me a visual idea of the lives that my ancestors lived.  While there is no actual mention of any of my family members, the photographs show me how they lived and what they saw during their every day lives.  If you have family members that spent time in Brown County, Ohio, you will definitely  want this book in your collection! 

More Old Photographs

I love looking at old photographs! I also love finding web sites that feature them. I guess I always have a bit of hope that maybe one of my ancestors will turn up!

While searching the name of a photographer in late 1800's Cincinnati, the web site Slices of Time appeared in the list of Google results. This site has a lot of identified and unidentified photos of people from all over the country. There are even some from European countries.

Conrad Caballero, the site's owner, has organized his collection of photos in an easy to locate manner. Buttons on the home page are designated for Photographer, Name, Location, Schools, and Unnamed which will help you in your search for pictures. There are also buttons for his family name index and a Links page containing various links for other photograph and genealogy related sites.

Pages linked to the photo related buttons are also organized in alphabetical order and easy to read. Be sure to click on the red "Please Read" link located on the very bottom of the home page. This will tell you Mr. Caballero's requirements for obtaining a picture. He does not give his photos to collectors so you must have a legitimate connection to the person or persons in the photograph. He does ask for a $10.00 payment which covers his costs. Copies of photographs that have been reunited with their family are kept on the website and are available for a $5.00 donation.

I hope you visit Slices of Time and are lucky in your pursuit of your ancestors' photographs!