I haven’t been posting here as often as I like/want. Writing my master’s thesis is sucking up the majority of my time and creativity.
But I have, in a few spare moments here and there, found a few new things.
A distant cousin contacted me a few months ago and tipped me about the following websites.
1. italiangen.org
But you’re not Italian? Neither am I. What this site has is an amazing database of New York City records where it has been possible for me to find the certificate numbers of deaths and marriages in my tree.
2. jewishgen.org
I haven’t yet spent a lot of time on this site. But so far it’s helped me locate the shtetl of Delyatitz, which the Robinowitz family hailed from. Now I know that the town was located in modern-day Belarus. I’ve really only used the shtetl finder function, but the rest of the site looks like it will be helpful when I get more information on the Citron branch.
The next thing I’ve found is that it’s much cheaper to order records from New York City than to use VitalCheck.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/archives/geneology.shtml
“The Municipal Archives maintains records of births reported in the five Boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island), prior to 1910; deaths reported prior to 1949; and marriages reported prior to 1930. For a complete description of the vital records collection, please see a list of the Municipal Archives Holdings. Vital record copies are $15.00 each.”
I ordered four death certificates and one marriage certificate. That grand total came to about $88 (including shipping). I would have spent more than that ordering two records through vital check. If you have relatives that lived and died in NYC during the time periods they have listed- you will save a ton of money if you want the documents. I once spent $48 on a single death certificate from Los Angeles that I ordered through VitalCheck.
I want the documents to see: a) cause of death, b) parental information, c) dates.
Right now I’m on the hunt for Fani Citron. She is my 2nd great grandmother. Just last weekend I realized that she came to the US when she was a child. I think I’ve found a ship’s passenger list with her arriving with her mother and three brothers. So far I haven’t been able to figure out who her father was. But I’m assuming the family was coming to join him- so he must be here somewhere.
Two of the records I ordered from NYC are hers- a death certificate and a marriage certificate. Hopefully those will provide some more information.
I’ll be back at some point, when I emerge from the 1918 influenza pandemic (my thesis topic). It’s due alarmingly soon and I need to finish it!!!