On Friday the almighty Gov of our state announced that the State library aka the Library of Michigan will be disbanded. I figured I better check my data base & see exactly who I have that died in Michigan. The library has put up some vital records on its website SeekingMichigan.org - primarily of interest to genealogist are the scanned death certificates from 1897 - 1920. Who knows if those will go away when the library is disbanded?
So I spent yesterday going thru my list of 249 persons who died in Michigan. Out of those 14 that I knew died in the time frame for me to search the Michigan death certificate data base. I found 15, one a child that I didn't know about only because I searched using just the parents names trying to find an older sibling that had died.
Out of the 249, there are 27 I need obituaries for. Those I hope to get before the library closes supposedly around the end of September. The remaining ones I either have the obituaries for or I've searched and they haven't been found. I'm going to do a bit more digging around on SeekingMichigan.org today - see if I can locate any other "unknown" siblings.
For those of you who are not familiar with the website, when you go to SeekingMichigan.org use the SEEK box and make sure the "document" box is checked. You could use the advanced search at the bottom, but make sure you double click the Deaths 1897-1920 group.
My cousins, Carol & Anne have both voiced their thoughts on this closing - Anne's blog today can be viewed here. Carol's thoughts were posted on her blog this weekend. I wholeheartdly agree with both of their sentiments. Two different attitudes reflected in the blogs but both say it so well. Being the WO she is, Anne's blog is right on the money!
Its a sad day when sports teams & special interests groups take presidence over libraries & arts. Its no wonder our kids can't read & write and the US is no longer a top contender in anything that requires the use of their minds! WAKE UP MICHIGAN!
Happy Researching!
Karen
4 comments:
After all the work we did last year to help save this library I thought we had made an impact. I guess I was wrong. The genealogy community in Michigan will keep fighting but I wonder just how many deaf ears are our pleas falling on. After our state library falls, which other state's 'state library' will be next?
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of a great genealogy resource but I also wanted to thank you for the heads-up about the website. I'm not working on the Michigan side right now but, thanks to you, took the time to search for death records I needed that fell into the time period.
Thanks again.
Glad I was able to help Becky! Thanks for taking the time to read & comment on the blog - I really appreciate it!
Karen
It is a good thing, I guess, that I already had a copy of my mother's birth certificate (born in Detroit in 1916) and that I later, on the website you mention, found my grandfather's death certificate (died in Detroit in 1917).
What a boneheaded move, to close a state library and archive. How short-sighted! You are right -- China and other countries are going to kick our bottoms. We're on the way to becoming a third-world country because our leaders haven't got the brains the Good Lord gave a gnat!
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