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| LIFE IN SOLERA | FEBRUARY 2024 | 41 VITAL RECORD'S PLACE NAMES As you build your family tree, you begin to go farther and farther back in time. As a function of this, historical situations begin to effect certain aspects of an ancestors vital (birth, marriage, death) records. Throughout history, there have been changes to the name for a given location, location sizes/area have changed, and lands have changed names based upon war results, realm changes, acquisition of lands, and the like. This has resulted in place names being changed over the years and this is reflected in the place names associated with vital records date. For example, many Americans believe that the 1776 Declaration of Independence was the start of the United States. Officially, in 1776 and through to 1783, the Patriots continued fighting the British for their independence. It was not until the defeat of the British at the Battle of Yorktown (1781) that British rule over the Americas was beginning to change and on Sept. 3, 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris that the Revolutionary War was finally over. So, place names prior to September 1783 ended with British Colonial America (BCA) vice the United States of America (USA) after that date. Many of the states in the U.S. were originally territories or parts of other countries and later became or were divided to form individual states. Overseas, the same type of thing was happening with countries. For example, Northern Ireland was separated from the Republic of Ireland in 1922. So, before 1922 the people of Northern Ireland were just Irish and afterward part of the United Kingdom and were British. These are just some of the examples of how a given place name associated with a given person can change depending on when in history the event occurred. So, when doing genealogical research to support vital records information, you should familiarize yourself with the history of the place and what was happening to the place that the vital record information addresses. This can dictate what source location you may need to look within to get the vital records information for which you are looking. ~ Bill Cramsie ANCESTRY GROUP THE ISRAEL AND PALESTINIAN TWO STATE CHALLENGE, PART 2 • MICHAEL RYAN, LECTURER Last month, we covered from Abraham to the 1917 British Balfour Declaration, four thousand years of Jewish perseverance. The name Israel means "God's Perseverance." This month we will spearhead the final march to statehood and the continuing challenges faced by God's chosen people as they battle to become one of the most successful countries on the planet. "Israel has created a new image of the Jew in the world – the image of a working and of an intellectual people, of a people that can fight with heroism." ~ David Ben-Guion, Israel's first Prime Minister HISTORY GROUP

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