The Maryland Motherlode is a free resource that is available to anyone who has an internet connection. The records can be accessed on the Reclaim The Records website. The site's search function allows users to easily navigate the vast collection, filtering records by name, date, location, and other criteria.

The Maryland Motherlode includes:

• Birth records (statewide 1898-1922; with some others earlier and later): These records include the name of the child, the date and place of birth, the names of the parents, and other information.
• Marriage records (statewide 1951-2013 and some earlier): These records include the names of the bride and groom, the date and place of the wedding, and the names of the witnesses.
• Death records (statewide 1898-2012; with some additional through 2014): These records include the name of the deceased, the date and place of death, the cause of death, and other information.
• Naturalization records: These records include the name of the person being naturalized, the date of naturalization, and the country of origin.

The birth records provide vital clues about family lineage, including the names of parents, birth dates, and places of birth. Marriage records offer insights into family connections and relationships, revealing the names of spouses, wedding dates, and wedding locations. Death records too, hold valuable genealogical information, detailing the names of the deceased, their dates of passing, and causes of death.

Attorneys can use the information in these records to potentially help locate missing witnesses, heirs, or clients; to quiet title; or to answer other investigative questions.

The post Organization Publishes Massive Database of Maryland Public Records appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

Findagrave.com offers a searchable database of gravesite locations for nearly 160 million people. The website and some of its search features were updated in November 2017.

You now can search with a partial last name and even a partial first name, by a nickname, or by a maiden name. To choose these options, click into the appropriate checkboxes.

In a test search, we entered a partial first name and a partial last name—rob levi. There was a long list of results, but one of them was the result we were seeking—robert levitt. Other search
options remain the same (middle initial, year born, year died, and cemetery location). Results can be sorted by name, death date, birth date, or cemetery name.

The amount of information in each result will vary, but most show the name and location of the cemetery, which could be useful in your search for living relatives. Once you find which city your subject is buried in, you can move on and search for that city’s newspaper database, which might include an obituary for your subject and names of relatives to search for and contact.

Portions of this post update the authors' "The Cybersleuth's Guide to the Internet book."

The post Changes Come to Findagrave.com appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

You can search the database with as little as a partial last name. You can add additional criteria including:

·      First Name

·      Middle Name

·      Month/Year of Birth

·      Month/Year of Death

You can also limit results to just one of the more than 700 cemeteries listed on the search form’s drop-down menu or opt to search All of them.

The VA described the database as including “burial records from many sources. These sources provide varied data; some searches may contain less information than others. Information on veterans buried in private cemeteries was collected for the purpose of furnishing government grave markers…”

The post Searchable Database of Military Cemeteries and Other Veterans’ Graves appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.