U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS is funded almost completely by the fees paid by individuals and organizations for immigration and naturalization services. The agency receives very little taxpayer money.

The remaining authority comes from other fee accounts and annual appropriations by Congress for the E-Verify program. 19,000 government employees and contractors of USCIS work at 223 offices across the world.

DNA: Family History Genealogy and Ancestry Research Through DNA Testing
Martin Arrowsmith

Who am I? That is a question we often ask ourselves but the answer is often not clear or doesn't feel right. Where did we come from? Why do we look different than our parents and siblings? How can we learn the truth about what we are being told about what we are? Much of the answers are held in your DNA.

Mixed reviews on this book, but it does provide access to a summary of key historical events around the world, many of which affected our ancestors and many of which caused/forced us to begin new lives elsewhere. It was written with genealogists in mind: History for Genealogists. Using Chronological Time Lines to Find and Understand Your Ancestors. Accomplished author Judy Jacobson returns with a vast array of historical time lines that are guaranteed to inform your family history.

Ogam: The Celtic Oracle of the Trees: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Druidic Alphabet
Paul Rhys Mountfort.
The ancient Ogam (Ogham) alphabet is an ancient British and Irish alphabet, consisting of twenty characters formed by parallel strokes on either side of or across a continuous line. Ogam is a magical and mysterious script, the Celtic equivalent of the runes that can teach us about our fate and future. Named after woodland trees, Ogam's 20 "tree letters" all have unique wisdom to impart that is linked to figures and themes from Celtic mythology.

Ogham is an alphabet that appears on monumental inscriptions dating from the 4th to the 6th century AD, and in manuscripts dating from the 6th to the 9th century. It was used mainly to write Primitive and Old Irish, and also to write Old Welsh, Pictish and Latin.

Searching For Your Ancestors in Historic Newspapers
Claudia C. Breland

Editor's Note: This site (MaritimeHeritage.org) was greatly developed through researching newspapers of the day, all of which was free when the started, some of which now comes with a fee (generally reasonable). Some information can be found through Ancestry.com, but far more is available through Census Records, Birth/Death Records, Voting Records, all of which are available free through counties and much of which is NOT available through sites such as Ancestry.com

If you're serious about researching family history, you will find this book helpful. Family stories of all kinds, not just obituaries, can be found in newspapers. While major metropolitan newspapers are being digitized and placed online, many more are available for viewing on microfilm. Learn about the free newspaper databases, and discover which newspapers are covered in subscription databases. Also included is the first-ever state-by-state listing of libraries and genealogical societies that have indexed local newspapers, along with state digitized collections not found elsewhere, and microfilm collections for each state.

REPRODUCIBLE pages, timelines, family trees, and simple summaries, this incredible reference book gives a fantastic overview of 30 key people in Jesus' ancestry. Perfect for students, pastors, Bible study teachers, and those interested in seeing God's faithfulness throughout the Old and New Testament.

Below is an interesting publication from a Christian publisher of books.

Historically, Jesus was a Jew, born in Bethlehem in Judea, to the House of Israel, which consisted of 12 tribes, ten of which were lost. His mother, Mary, was either a Levite or from the House of Judah. His father, David, was of the House of Judah. Jesus, therefore was both a king and priest in the Hebrew nation. Christianity is a splinter religion -- out of Judiasm, the destruction of the Temple and the ministry of Paul of Tarsus (Saul of Tarsus).

Jesus' Family Tree: Seeing God's Faithfulness In The Genealogy Of Christ

This will prove to be a fascinating look at the heritage of the 12 tribes, the sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi (this priestly tribe did not receive a territory, and sometimes is not listed when the tribe of Joseph is listed as two separate tribes), Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gas, Asher, Issachar, Zeublun, Joseph and Benjamin.

With this publication comes a "Genealogy of Jesus Diagram: A fold-out family tree from Adam and Eve to Jesus Christ. Shows every person in the Bible who is listed in Jesus' direct ancestry."

REPRODUCIBLE pages, timelines, family trees, and simple summaries, this incredible reference book gives a fantastic overview of 30 key people in Jesus' ancestry. Perfect for students, pastors, Bible study teachers, and those interested in seeing God's faithfulness throughout the Old and New Testament.

Family Tree Memory Keeper: Your Workbook for Family History, Stories and Genealogy
Allison Dolan

From the editors of Family Tree Magazine, this workbook makes it easy to record and organize your family history. Family Tree Memory Keeper helps you keep track of basic genealogy information and special family memories, including traditions, heirloom histories, family records, newsworthy moments, family migrations and immigrations, old recipes, important dates, and much more. This book features:

• Dozens of fill-in pages to record all your essential family information.
• Convenient paperback format for writing and photocopying pages.
• Space for mounting photographs.
• Maps to mark your family's migration routes.
• Tips for researching your family history.
• A comprehensive list of additional resources.

Nearly 20 million immigrants arrived through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924 - roughly 40 percent of Americans descend from these "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Since the Ellis Island website launched in April 2001, there have been more than 60,000 users visiting it every day, trying to find their ancestors. For some researchers, locating their immigrant ancestors in Ellis Island's massive database of passenger arrival lists is a snap. For others, the "Island of Hope, Island of Tears" takes on a new meaning.

Castle Garden, New York City. Currier & Ives

learn what it was like for them to travel across the ocean by steamship, how they processed through Ellis Island, and where to find information and photographs of your ancestor's ship. And for those who had ancestors who arrived right before the Ellis Island years, a special chapter is devoted to Castle Garden and its arrivals.

Search Your Middle Eastern & European Genealogy: In the Former Ottoman Empire's Records and Online
Anne Hart

Here's how to research your Middle Eastern and Eastern European ancestry, including Greek, Armenian, Turkish, Croatian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Assyrian, Lebanese, Syrian, Jewish, and other genealogy/ancestry records in the former Ottoman Empire, online, and beyond.

The Ottoman Empire lasted from 1300 until 1922. In 1924 Kemal Ataturk abolished the Muslim caliphate and founded the Republic of Turkey.So regardless of the language spoken by your ancestors-Slavic, Arabic, Greek, Judezmo, Uralic, Yiddish, Romanian, or Turkish, the Ottoman Empire controlled and kept careful census records in Turkish using Arabic script in the following countries of Europe and the Middle East known today, but not necessarily before 1924 as the following names: Hungary, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, southern Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Kuwait, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Eastern and Western Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, eastern Yemen, Egypt, northern Libya, Tunisia, and northern Algeria.

The Family Tree Problem Solver: Tried-and-True Tactics for Tracing Elusive Ancestors
Marsha Hoffman Rising

Inside you'll find:

• Ideas on how to find vital records before civil registration.
• Tips for finding ''missing'' ancestors on censuses.
• Instructions for investigating collateral kin to further your pedigree.
• A look at advanced court records and how they can help you find answers.
• Work-arounds for lost or destroyed records.
• Techniques for correctly identifying and researching ancestors with common names.
• Methods for finding ancestors who lived before 1850.
• Case studies that show how to apply the author’s advice to real-life research roadblocks.
• Strategies for analyzing your problem and creating a successful research plan

In Search of Your German Roots. Fourth Edition, Updated
Angus Baxter

In Search of Your German Roots is designed to help you trace your German ancestry not only in Germany but in all the German-speaking areas of Europe. First, it explores the resources of the LDS Church, in particular the great International Genealogical Index which contains hundreds of thousands of entries from German parish registers. Then back to the old country, where sources and archives are discussed in detail, especially Evangelical and Catholic church records, and records of state and city archives--wills, censuses, civil records of birth, marriage, and death, passenger lists, military records, etc.

Currier & Ives Chronicles of America
Color plates reproduced from the original hand-colored stone prints by N. Currier and Currier & Ives.

A classic. This volume presents a cross-section of their work: the seasons, moments in history, and nineteenth century America. It is a great way to introduce one into the world of these two newspaper men who were artists in their own right while depicting America during formative growth years.

The Family Tree Historical Maps Book:
A State-by-State Atlas of US History, 1790-1900
Allison Dolan

Hundreds of full-color reproductions of useful eighteenth and nineteenth century maps. The maps illustrate the historical boundaries of each of the U.S. states as they progressed from territories to statehood and show the shifting of county boundaries and names within states over the years. Inside you'll find: Full-color historical maps of the United States from each decade of the nineteenth century. Detailed, full-color historical maps of all 50 U.S. states. Time lines of significant events in each state's history. Charming nineteenth-century panoramic maps of key cities. Special-interest maps, which provide intriguing peeks into American society from average family sizes to taxation per capita to regional industries. This book is perfect for family historians researching their American roots.