FREE eBook, PDFs, and GEDCOM Files
Terjärv Ancestry GEDCOM Download [LAST UPDATED: December 21, 2022]
This file is approximately 33 MB, and contains approximately 55,000 individuals, a few of whom are not direct descendants of Terjärv, Finland, but are extended family members or contributors to this database. To download this GEDCOM file, RIGHT CLICK on the LINK ABOVE and select SAVE LINK AS. Then import the GEDCOM file into your genealogical software. You may share the file or this link with other Terjärv family members. Please help keep this database accurate and current by sending any corrections or additions to me at joellesteele@joellesteeleancestryresearch.com. Thank you!
Steele, Furu, and Forstrom Family History (PDF) [LAST UPDATED: November 11, 2023]
This file is approximately 23 MB. In 1984, I began writing this history of my ancestors in Terjärv, Finland and America. It has been through many updated editions. This one is the most current, and it has been expanded, edited, and proofed by family members over the years. 214 pages, 487+ photographs and illustrations. To download this PDF, CLICK on the LINK ABOVE. You can then read it online, download it, or print it out. You may also share this file or this link with your family members. Please feel free to send any corrections or additional information to me at joellesteele@joellesteeleancestryresearch.com.
Lillian’s Memories-1 – Lillian’s Memories-2 – Lillian’s Memories-3
These three MP3 files are an interview with my late aunt, Lillian Eleanor Steele Anderson (06/28/1920-11/30/1995), recorded by her late daughter Judy Marie Anderson Mohr Bentsen (08/17/1943-08/2005). Lillian talks about her childhood memories of life in Rochester, Washington in the 1920s-30s. RIGHT CLICK on the links above and they will start to play, then you can download them by LEFT CLICKING click on the three dots to the right, and select “download.”
Italian Ancestry GEDCOM Download [LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2022]
This file is very small file, approximately 1.6 KB, and contains only 69 individuals in my family dating back to 1660 in the towns of Bogli, Varni, Trivolzio, Marcignago, Casteggio, Calvignano, San Martino Siccomario, Montu Beccaria, Pissarello, and Broni. To download this GEDCOM file, RIGHT CLICK on the LINK ABOVE and select SAVE LINK AS. Then import the GEDCOM file into your genealogical software. You may share the file or this link with other family members. Please feel free to send any corrections or additions to me at joellesteele@joellesteeleancestryresearch.com.
Bozzini, Crosetti, and Martelli Family History (PDF) [LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2022]
This is a short history of my Italian families dating back to 1660 from the towns of Bogli, Varni, Trivolzio, Marcignago, Casteggio, Calvignano, San Martino Siccomario, Montu Beccaria, Pissarello, and Broni, Italy. They came to America and settled in San Francisco, California and the surrounding areas. 56 pages, 156 photographs and illustrations. To download this PDF, CLICK on the LINK ABOVE. You can then read it online, download it, or print it out. You may also share this file or this link with your family members. Please feel free to send any corrections or additional information to me at joellesteele@joellesteeleancestryresearch.com.
Researching & Writing Your Family History and Memoirs
Are you running up against dead ends in your family research? Are you unsure how to write your family’s history or your own memoirs? This FREE little book contains my tips for helping you get your ancestry researched and written. I based this book on my own genealogical research and lineage tracing experience. In it, you’ll learn how to navigate the often daunting process of researching your ancestry by expanding and refining your Internet searches, and by obtaining a wide variety of historical documents. Then you’ll learn how to interpret your search results, despite discrepancies in dates and the alternative spellings of addresses and names of people and places.
You’ll also learn how to maintain your genealogical records in an appropriate software program; obtain and archive family photos; and get to the true stories behind the simple raw data found in census records, vital statistics forms, and other official documents. And once you have all those great family stories to tell, you’ll learn how to assemble your family history or memoirs and publish them in a format specific to your needs. This handy book also includes kinship terminology, a list of recommended reading, and a detailed questionnaire to help you and your family members through the process of remembering the past.
https://joellesteeleancestryresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/res-and-write-fam-hist.epub
https://joellesteeleancestryresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/res-and-write-fam-hist.mobi
Missing Ancestors
I’m currently looking for information on two of my own family members below. If you have any new information, please contact me at joellesteele@joellesteeleancestryresearch.com.
1) Viktor Herman Mattsson Bredbacka (my maternal great-granduncle who married my maternal great-grandaunt — his first cousin — Emma Helena Andersdotter Furu) b. March 7, 1876, Sandkulla, Terjärv, Finland. Viktor was living in New York City and was declared dead by Finland authorities in 1913. For 20 years, I tried unsuccessfully to find him in the NY area. But in 2020, Carl V. Lillvik found him in Texas, in the state penitentiary records for 1927, when Viktor was incarcerated for one year for possession of alcohol for sale during Prohibition. He was released at age 53. Before serving time, he had been working in Orange, Texas for National Shipbuilding as a carpenter during World War I and afterwards. Now, we need someone who can search the death records in Texas (as NYC has no death records for him) to find out what became of him. He was using the name Viktor Herman Mattsson (no death records for him in NYC for that name or any variation of it, so probably Texas).
2) Pietro Martelli (my paternal great-grandfather) b. April 18, 1859, Trivolzio, Pavia, Italy. Pietro was the son of Carlo Giuseppe Martelli b. March 18, 1810, Trivolzio, Pavia, Italy, d. 1867. Pietro was in the Italian military during WWI, and he is believed to have been an artist and to have married a second time and had two daughters of that marriage. I have been unable to find out anything about him from passenger lists, Ellis Island records, or any other online genealogical databases, so I have no idea what happened to him. His son Basilio (my grandfather) was raised by another family, and left Italy shortly after WWI. He did not know what became of Pietro.
