FAMILY HISTORY NEWSLETTER
Volume V, Issue 4
April 2011
______________________________________________________________________________________
“DISCUSSIONS” AND “WATCH”
FEATURES ON NFS
Two relatively new features on new
FamilySearch are the Discussions and Watch
features. “Discussions” replaces the dispute,
which was somewhat of a controversial feature
as it was not viewed as being friendly. When in
the “Pedigree with details” view in new
FamilySearch, if you activate the last button on
the left side, the Discussion boxes will open –
one for the topic and the other for the
information that you want to register. Your
post is then visible to another patron who can
correspond with you through the Discussions
box.
Always be kind, even when you are
upset that the information entered is not
correct. Also, nFS has asked us not to discuss
the sacred temple ordinances in this box as it is
available to the public, and they would have no
reason to receive this information.
There is also a “Watch’ feature that will be
found in the upper left hand corner of the
information window at the bottom half of the
“pedigree with details” page. In the Help
Center, there are a few details about using the
“Watch” button.
Preference Settings for the Watch Feature
In your user profile, you can choose whether to
receive e-mail notifications about the individuals
that you are watching.
Do
you
want
to
receive
e-mail
notifications?
Indicate whether you want the system to send
you a weekly e-mail to tell you what changes
have occurred to the individuals that you are
watching. The e-mail identifies the following
changes:
 Changes to the individual’s summary
 New activity in an individual’s discussions
 Whether the individual’s record was
combined with other records
 Whether the individual was separated from
a record
Un-checking this preference option does not
cause you to stop watching individuals. It
simply stops the notifications. This is useful, for
example, if you want to stop receiving
notifications temporarily while you are on
vacation. When you come home, you change
this preference setting to start receiving
notifications. You do not have to reselect the
individuals to watch.
Both these features – Discussions and Watch –
will give you greater latitude in monitoring your
ancestors’
records.
“Discussions”
foster
collaboration, and “Watch” will allow you to
view the changes that others make. Both
features will help us to achieve more accurate
records.
"...there are many members of the Church who
have only limited access to the temples. They
do the best they can. They pursue family
history research and have the temple ordinance
work done by others. Conversely, there are
some members who engage in temple work but
fail to do family history research on their own
family lines. Although they perform a divine
service in assisting others, they lose a blessing
by not seeking their own kindred dead as
divinely directed by latter-day prophets."
Source: Howard W. Hunter, "A TempleMotivated People", Ensign, Feb. 1995, p. 4
1
Ancestral File, a database of usercontributed data before March 2000,
after which contributions are found
in the Pedigree Resource File
Indexes for the 1880 U.S.,1881
British Isles, and 1881 Canadian
censuses.
The International Genealogical
Index (IGI), a database of usercontributed data and extractions of
original records
Pedigree Resource File, an index
to user-contributed family trees
uploaded to the FamilySearch site
since May 1999
U.S. Social Security Death
Index, a database of information on
the deaths of over 70 million
individuals
Vital Records Index, records of
Denmark, Finland, Mexico, Norway,
and Sweden
Revised: familysearch.org; this
site has recently undergone a
change. The opening page is now
the former beta and pilot
FamilySearch sites. You can switch
to the old version outlined above or
to the new search template. As
volunteers index the records housed
in the Granite Vault, they are posted
on this site. The site contains
millions of free census records as
well as other BMD records. It is a
wonderful addition to computer
research with some original scans.
What’s New on LDS Websites?
By Jack and Sylvia Sonneborn
User Account: A user of the LDS
genealogical websites needs to establish a
Family Search Account or LDS Account in
order to obtain the best results while
searching the sites.
Many of the websites hosted by The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints require
a sign-in procedure. It is suggested you
obtain a single username and password for
ALL sites.
This site will be helpful if you encounter
problems with the sign-in procedures:
https://contact.familysearch.org/acc
ount.htm
Church Members only need to use this site:
https://ldsaccount.lds.org/signin/go/membershipInfo.jsf
I.
Some of the widely used LDS
genealogy websites:
Original version:
familysearch.org, the main LDS
site, where you can search the
catalog of the Family History Library
in Salt Lake City, Utah. The library
holds genealogical records for over
110 countries, territories, and
possessions, including over 2.4
million rolls of microfilmed
genealogical records; 742,000
microfiche; 310,000 books, serials,
and other formats; and 4,500
periodicals. The microfilm and
microfiche can be ordered and
viewed at over 4,000 library
branches (called Family History
Centers) worldwide.
There are other databases available
for you to search on this site as well:
II.
Additional significant sites:
new.familysearch.org is an
extraordinary website that is open
only to members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at
this time, but it is to be open to the
public within the next year. It
contains millions of records.
2
wiki.familysearch.org; the
Research Wiki is a free collection of
family history articles provided by
family history enthusiasts from
around the world. The wiki makes it
easy for people to share research
information and useful tips. Check a
locality to find research sources.
Anyone many contribute through a
FamilySearch or LDS Account.
forums.familysearch.org; the
Forums site is a genealogy message
board. If a patron has a genealogy
problem or question, he can post it
on this website, which is frequented
by many skilled genealogists from
around the world as well as support
missionaries for The Church of Jesus
Christ. Within a short period of time,
a patron generally will find an expert
answer to the query that he posed.
indexing.familysearch.org FamilySearch volunteers have indexed
over 160 million records from the Granite
Vault in SLC, Utah, so far in Dec. 2010,
and more are on the way! Completed
collections that will soon be available
on beta.familysearch.org (now updated
to familysearch.org) include records
from Canada, Germany, England, Russia,
and the United
States
III. Additional Favorites:
Family History Library Favorites This is
a favorite site used by the missionaries who
work in the Family History Center, Salt Lake
City, Utah http://www.fhlfavorites.info/ . It
shows sources for a location you are
searching.
The Family Hart site A website for
Adams, Lancaster, and York County.
Most of the ancestors are of
Pennsylvania Dutch extraction. Some
were "Gay Dutch," i.e. Luthers and
Reformed. Some were "Plain Dutch,"
IV.
i.e. Amish, Mennonite and Brethren.
http://midatlantic.rootsweb.ancestry.
com/familyhart/ , hosted by our
friends Don & Jeanine Hartman.
They have 665,291 Individuals;
234,192 families compiled on this
website.
Affiliated websites to use with
the newFamilySearch for future
use
http://www.familysearch.org/e
ng/affiliates/index.html
Free websites at local Family
History Centers: These are
subscription sites, but they are
available for free to all patrons at
local FH Centers housed in Mormon
churches:
Ancestry.com
19th Century British Library Newspaper
Digital Archives
FamilyHistoryLink
FindMyPast.co.uk
Footnote.com
The Genealogist
Genline.com
Godfrey Memorial Library
Heritage Quest Online
Historic Maps Works Library Edition
World Vital Records
Jack and I were recent presenters at the Mennonite
Family History Conference in Lancaster, PA. Above
is the handout that we gave when we talked about
new sites. The presentation was very well received,
and people were eager to go home and try them.
You may copy and paste this and make any
adjustments to it that you like if you would like to
distribute it to your ward members.
A Research Tip!
Remember that we do not know who reported the
information provided on a census record. Treat
“ages” as approximate. After looking at hundreds of
census entries, only one person had his age
reported in exactly 10 year increments – typically
the ages vary by 1-5 years and I’ve seen ages off as
much as 15 or more years. Diane L. Richard,
Internet Genealogy author
3
REMEMBER, THEY WILL
ASSIST
"There are evidences that the dead are
interested. If we will go forward with the
research work, the way will be opened on the
right and on the left. You will be astonished to
find avenues open. The dead know where their
records are, so you are to search until you have
gone as far as you can.
When you have done all you can do and have
reached the limit, what will happen? As always
in the past, man's extremity is God's
opportunity. The Lord never helps us while we
can help ourselves. This is our day. We don't
expect Him to do miraculous things that we can
do ourselves. When we have done our utmost,
then will come God's opportunity. Don't think
for a moment that the temples will close. They
will go on all through the millennium. Great
hosts of the dead in the Spirit World are waiting
for this work. Should it nor stir us to do
everything to relieve them of their distress? It
surely should. When we have done our utmost,
then will come the day when the authorities
that preside on the other side will come and
make known all who have received the gospel
in the Spirit World, and everyone entitled to
have their temple work done. That is the
simplest thing in the world.
When the Lord is ready, it will be very simple
and very easy. We can speed that day by doing
now the work that we can do."
Source:
Melvin J. Ballard, Council of the
Twelve, Discourse on "The Inspiration of
Temple Work." The Utah Genealogical and
Historical Magazine, Vol. 23, October, 1932, pp.
148-149
Fun Simple Free Ancestry
The FunSimpleFreeAncestry site not only
has links to free sites for genealogical
research, but also explains how to use
them. It is dedicated to making research
fun!
http://sites.google.com/site/funsimplefreea
ncestry/
Family History Internet Sites
Kip Sperry has compiled a list of links to family
history sites that would be very helpful in
researching your ancestors. Check out this
extremely Helpful list of blogs, forums,
libraries, archives, maps, records, technology,
tips, etc.
http://sites.google.com/site/familyhistoryintern
etsites/
Enlarge Text on Web Sites
Can't read a web page because the words
are too small? Here's a quick tip to
increase the font size:




Click the Control (Ctrl) key at the
same time you click the plus (+) sign. Each
click will increase font size.
To decrease font size, click Control
(Ctrl) and the minus (-) sign. Each click will
decrease font size.
You can also enlarge the entire Web
page or document by pressing the Control
key as you turn the scroll wheel on your
mouse. Note that changing font size won't
work for words that are part of images
(such as company logos). Source: Family
Tree Magazine, Genealogy Insider eNewsletter, 14 Apr 2011, submitted by
Barbara DeHart
Hint: If you are using the Temple
Ordinance List on nFS, click on F11 to increase
the page size and click again to return to
normal size.
FamilySearch Indexing
Bishops – Do you have some homebound
members of your Ward? Are there members
who can’t, for whatever reasons, fulfill a
calling? Here is your answer. INDEXING!
Check out this excellent youtube video on Indexing.
It is very well done and a great help to beginners.
FamilySearch
Indexing
Quick
Start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dImIAih
QnY8&feature=related (See other indexing
videos at same location.)
4
Question:
My ancestor was killed in action in the Civil
War. Today bodies are sent home, but where
were the bodies buried back then?
Answer:
Most were buried on or near the battlefield
sites, and many of those sites are now national
cemeteries. Try searching the Department of
Veterans Affairs' GraveLocator site. The Civil
War Soldiers and Sailors System website is
trying to list the Civil War burials in those
cemeteries as well.
Help for Consultants
BYU's Center for Family History and Genealogy
has created a companion to the Member's
Guide to assist SS teachers in their calling. All
of the materials are scriptures, quotes from the
prophets, and materials put out by the Church.
One of the Center's purposes is to support the
Church in this work.
If
you
go
to
the
Center's
site
http://familyhistory.byu.edu/ and scroll down,
the Companion description and link is the fourth
item down in the center column. A great deal of
work went into this site, and we hope
it's helpful to you. While you're there, feel free
to take a look at some of our other projects!
Our Script Tutorials were just recommended in
an email going out to all FamilySearch indexers
as a place to learn more about reading
old handwriting.
Source:
FHCNet
Mailing
List,
Jill
Crandell, Director, Center for Family History and
Genealogy, Brigham Young University
Granite Genealogy Training
The Granite Genealogy Training site has
links to materials on the internet that will
help you learn to do your family history.
You'll find direct links to familysearch
subpages, familysearch affiliates, software
training, research training, etc. Bookmark
this page and you will have a handy place
to access those links you need.
http://granitegenealogytraining.blogspot.co
m/
LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN OBIT
Gena Philibert Ortega wrote, “Recently a
member of my family passed away, and I had
the honor of writing the obituary.
This act made me start thinking of what we as
genealogists should consider as we think of our
own mortality and what future genealogists will
face as they seek evidence of their ancestors’
lives. Placing an obituary in the newspaper can
be an expensive prospect.
Depending on the newspaper, you will be
charged to insert a photo, and then you will be
charged for the text. As future genealogists
search for traces of us, their ancestors, they
will need to use different sources than what we
are used to. In a world where people don't read
a paper newspaper as much and obituaries are
expensive, an obituary may not be the standard
death source a future genealogist will look for.
The time right after a loved one dies can be
difficult. There are matters to take care of for
the funeral as well as the person's affairs...As
genealogists, we care about remembering those
who came before us. We should equally care
about leaving behind our information so that
we will be remembered. In a genealogy society
I once belonged to, one of the member's
favorite topics was to urge people to write their
own obituary.
I'm not sure how many people listened to her,
but she was right. If you want people to
remember you correctly, you may want to write
your own obituary and leave the money behind
to pay for it.
There are actually websites that provide some
guidance in writing Obituaries. They include
ObituaryGuide.com, ObituariesHelp.org., and
eHow.
When my wife and I wrote our personal
histories, we included our Obituary as well as
who we would like to speak at our funerals and
the music we wanted played etc. We wanted to
make it as easy as could for our children.”
5
Find A Grave
From World Vital Records: Who is behind “Find
A Grave”? Well, first of all, you are. Thousands
of contributors submit new listings, updates,
corrections, photographs and virtual flowers
every hour. The site simply wouldn't exist
without the 200,000+ contributors. When it
comes to administrating, building and
maintaining the site, Find A Grave is largely
operated by its founder, Jim Tipton.
To access Naturalization records without going
through such a long and expensive process,
Mr. Trauring has created a chart of NARA's
naturalization paper files which shows all the
states, cities and date ranges. His blog entry
and finding aid are found at: Naturalization
Table.
Source: bloodandfrogs blog, April 12, 2011
Follow Census Clues to New Records
by Kimberly Powell
Every day, contributors from around the world
enter new records, thousands use the site as an
educational reference tool, long-lost loved ones
are located. When searching for departed
relatives, often a researcher has no idea where
to look for information past the Social Security
Death Index (SSDI). Further, for anyone who
died before the 1960's, the SSDI does not help.
A good way to make sure of Find A Grave is to
search WorldVitalRecords.com for a particular
relative and then to see whether or not that
relative is on the list. With almost 16.5 million
people in this database, there is a good chance
of finding the relative you seek, and millions of
lives are fondly remembered.
Naturalization Papers Finding Aid
by Philip Trauring
Finding US Naturalization records can be very
helpful when doing genealogy research, but
they also can frequently be very difficult.
Naturalizations before 1906 could be done in
just about any court in the country, and were
not standardized. After 1906 the federal
government took over the Naturalization
process and all forms became standardized
nationwide. The location of all Naturalization
files post-1906 is generally in set locations
based on where the person naturalized.
Some files will generally be found only if you
do a search through the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services files,
which hold the entire C-File (certificate file) for
naturalized citizens (records from 1906
onwards). Ordering a search online is timeconsuming process and expensive.
"Census enumerators collected many details
beyond just basic names, ages and
relationships. Hidden among the census
columns may be additional clues, from a street
address to the age of a mother at the time of
her first marriage, which could lead you to
research in new records. As with all genealogy
research, look at every single detail on the
target census page (and the pages surrounding
it as well) and ask yourself what it tells you
about your ancestor. Do the marriage age,
occupation, number of children, etc. all make
sense with what you know about him or her? If
you spot an anomaly that makes you pause,
then follow it up - it could just be an error in
the census, or it could be the source of a new
discovery about your ancestor."
Here are some of the more obvious items to
look for in U.S. federal census records. Read
more
at:
Census
Clues.
http://genealogy.about.com/od/census/a/censu
s_clues.htm
Kimberly wrote another article with tips for
searching census records. "We all have
ancestors we would swear were somehow
skipped or overlooked by the census taker. It's
more than likely that some of them were. More
often, however, it's an indexing error that has
us running in circles. When online census
indexes leave you pulling out your hair in
frustration, try these census search tips for
locating your 'misplaced' ancestor:" Census
Tips.
http://www.netplaces.com/onlinegenealogy/check-the-census/census-researchtips-and-caveats.htm
Source: About: Genealogy, April 5, 2011
6
Genealogy "Tips of the Day"
by Michael John Neill
The Rules May Change: When you cross
a political line, county, state, province,
territory, nation, etc., the laws and
recordkeeping system may change, in some
cases significantly. Even when crossing
states/provincial lines, the laws regarding
what is recorded and how it is recorded
may change. Learn about the new area's
records before you assume that Virginia in
1760 is just like Nebraska in 1860.
Coparceners: The word "coparcener,"
generally speaking, means joint heirs.
Siblings, whose father dies without a will,
may be referred to as "coparceners" of his
real estate, meaning that they own it
jointly. They each have a share, just not a
specific part of the real estate. To have
their part clearly marked typically requires
court action, or at least complete
agreement among the heirs.
They Didn't Care How It was Spelled:
In modern society, we are concerned about
how our name gets spelled. Our ancestors
were not so concerned. I'm typing an 1820
era Kentucky court case and the last name
of Bonham is spelled Berham, Benham,
Burham, etc. There are times where the
same last name is spelled several ways in
one document. The key is that the name
should sound the same. When transcribing
documents of this type, transcribe the
name the way it is spelled. Do not
standardize the spelling. One reason is that
the variant spellings give insight into how
the name was pronounced by your
ancestor. Another reason is that if someone
sees you "correcting the spelling" when you
transcribe a document, they might wonder
what else you fixed along the way.
Look at the Act: When viewing anyone's
military pension, regardless of the war, look
at the act under which he was applying.
Look at what types of service qualified
under the act, length of service, etc. If a
widow is applying, look at the act and see if
it mentions length of time married, whether
she could have married him after the war,
etc. There may be clues about your
ancestor hiding in the act under which the
application was made.
Children's Guardian? If your male
ancestor died with even a small amount of
real estate (lot in town or more) or enough
personal property, there might be a
guardianship case for his children. The
mother likely was the guardian of the
child's person, but someone else might
have been appointed guardian of the child's
estate. Pay close attention to the name of
this person. It might have been a male
relative or in some cases a step-father, and
that relationship may never be spelled out
in the documents.
Source: Genealogy Tip of the Day
Kip Sperry's Favorite Genealogy
Websites
Kip is a professional researcher who has
developed a portal of his favorite websites. He
may have one that you are not aware of:
Genealogy Websites
7 Facebook Apps for
Genealogy
The seven apps highlighted here can help
you find resources and family connections:
Click below.
Source: FamilyTree Magazine, April 14, 2011
http://www.familytreemagazine.com
/Article/7-genealogy-facebook-apps
7
An Easy Way to Add Maps to a
Genealogy Project
by Dick Eastman
Would you like to include U.S. maps in
your family history projects, but can't find
what you want? The National Atlas is a
map-making platform sponsored by the
Federal Government that lets you build your
own maps. You can create maps that
capture and depict patterns, conditions,
and trends of American life. You can use
the National Atlas templates to create maps
that cover all of the United States or just
your area of interest. In the National Atlas
Map Maker you can assemble, view, and
print your own maps.
For more information, or to try it yourself,
you can visit the National Atlas at:
nationalatlas.gov/
As an aside, the Library of Congress has an
extensive online map collection: LOC Maps.
Source: Eastman’s Online Genealogy
Newsletter, April 24, 2011
This article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy
Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman.
It is re-published here with the permission of the
author. Information about the newsletter is available
at http://www.eogn.com.
Scottish Research Resources
Civil registration in Scotland began in 1855. Not
all events are registered. Names of fathers and
mothers (including maiden surnames) are
usually listed in the marriage and death
records. Marriage dates and places are also
listed in Scottish birth records with the
exception of 1856-1860.
The State Church of Scotland was the
Presbyterian Church as of 1690. Prior to that
time, control bounced back and forth between
the Presbyterian Church and the Anglican
Church. Marriages in other churches were
recognized (e.g. Catholic), but if a Presbyterian
married outside of the Church, that would not
be recognized as a legal marriage. Hence, that's
why these illegal marriages are mentioned in
Presbyterian Kirk Session Minutes.
To continue read this excellent article and
access the links: Scottish Research Source:
FamilyHistoryExpos.com newsletter, April 4,
2011
http://www.familyhistoryexpos.com/wordpress/
2011/04/corrected-and-updated-weekly-tipscotland/
**************************************
With the inclement weather that we have
been experiencing, this is a VERY timely
article. Please read and heed.
Jack.
Quick-Tip of the Month for
Preservation--Disaster Preparedness
by Curt B. Witcher
All the horrible weather that has plagued such a
large part of the country reminds us again of
how important disaster preparedness is for our
genealogical materials and family heirlooms.
Typically we don’t think about what to do with
these items until it’s too late. When you’re in a
tornado shelter or being evacuated because a
critical dam or levy just broke--that is not the
time to begin your disaster planning.
Many have heard the acronym LOCKSS, which
stands for Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe.
And that is the best way to prepare for a
disaster when it comes to your genealogical
documents. With the ease and low cost of
scanning and digital technology, and the high
quality of the scanned images, think very
seriously about creating a digital archive of your
family photograph albums and other important
family documents. And then don’t store that
digital archive right next to your computer, or
even in the same house! Send it to a relative in
another town, or create a space for your family
history on WeRelate.org and post your digital
documents there. You can also consider what
many thousands of people are doing--using
cloud storage such as Mozy, Dropbox, and
Carbonite. Most provide space at a reasonable
cost.
Prepare to Preserve your Family Treasures
before Disaster Strikes.
http://tornado-info.blogspot.com/
8
FAMILY HISTORY DIRECTOR OFFERS
FIRSTHAND ADVICE ON DISASTERS
I am the FHC director in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
As most of you know by now, we experienced a
horrorific tornado in our city last week. Today, I
was able to view the devastation personally.
Many, many emotions and thoughts entered my
mind while traveling through the area that was
hit. We have members who lost everything, but
no one lost his life in our ward. One thought
that came to mind is that I am the only one in
my family that has our family history on my
computer. I am the only one that has original
documents for our family history. I will now be
mailing a flash drive or CD of all my databases
to other family members who live in different
areas on a regular basis. I will be scanning all
my documents and pictures and also send the
copies to other family members. This is just
something I thought everyone might want to
think about; we never know when a natural
disaster will occur and what we may lose in it.
Kelly Wyatt
Response to Kelly:
We have been following the disasters in the
Southeast quadrant. It has been a destructive
trail for many people and places. We are glad
your database was safe and that many other
ancestral documents have been saved for
everyone.
Just a thought: If you happen to be using
RootsMagic4, you can create a CD to share
following the instructions that will allow others
to view it without having to install RootsMagic4
on their computer. I would think it would work
with a flash drive too. Either media would be
easy and safe to send by mail or hand deliver
too. I would rather be safe than sorry.
I send our prayers and encouragement to you,
your Ward members and your community.
Kate Redford
Salem, Oregon, USA
Fort Wayne Ancestry Day
2011
**********************
The Genealogy Center is pleased to announce
that the experts at Ancestry.com are coming to
Fort Wayne July 22 and 23, 2011, to share their
knowledge and expertise with you! The fun and
learning will start Friday night, July 22, 2011,
from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., when you can
pick up your name tag and handout materials,
and chat with the experts at the Fort Wayne
Hilton Atrium. The actual classes will start
Saturday morning, July 23, 2011, at the Grand
Wayne Center, which is connected to the Fort
Wayne Hilton. The schedule for that Saturday
includes the following classes:
9 a.m.--Insider Search Tips for Ancestry.com
10:15 a.m.--How to Find Civil War Roots at
Ancestry.com.
11:15 a.m.--Lunch break: Catch a bite at
restaurants nearby and/or talk with the experts
1 p.m.--Hidden Treasures of The Genealogy
Center in Fort Wayne
2:15 p.m.--A Dozen Ways to Jumpstart Your
Family History Project
3:30 p.m.--Ask The Experts Panel
The cost for the full day's classes, held at the
Grand Wayne Center, right across from the
library, is just $20. For more information and to
register, click
http://fortwayneancestryday.eventbrite.com/.
Register for this event today! Don't miss this
wonderful opportunity to join us for Ancestry
Day!
Message from Jack:
This looks like a great event to plan a trip
to Ft. Wayne. I have an aunt living there.
ANCERSTRY POSTS ENGLISH RECORDS
Ancestry.com has just posted records of Liverpool
Catholic baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials,
as well as post-1812 Church of England baptisms,
confirmations, marriages and banns, and burials. Church
of England baptisms, marriages and burials, 1659-1812
have also been added. By Juliana Smith, May 1,
Ancestry.com Weekly Discovery
9
LOOKING FOR GERMAN RECORDS
What is Ahnenpass?
Perhaps the Ahnenstammkartai would be of
some help to you? I haven't used it personally
but you can read about it here. Perhaps
someone on the list knows more about it. Hope
this helps.
Carrie Taylor in VA
http://www.feefhs.org/links/Germany/ahnstam
m.html
http://wikien.genealogy.net/Ahnenstammkartei_des_deut
schen_Volkes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Front page of an Ahnenpass
Nazi Germany. It was one of the forms of the
Aryan certificate (Ariernachweis).
The term "Aryan" in this context was used in a
sense widely accepted in scientific racism of the
time, which assumed a Caucasian race which
was sub-divided into Semitic, Hamitic and Aryan
(Japhetic) subraces, the latter corresponding to
the Indo-European ethno-linguistic phylum.
Nevertheless, the de facto primary objective
was to create extensive profiling based on racial
data. Posted at Wikipedia.
Google “Ahnenpass” and you will find images of
the actual document.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahnenpass
Some German families that I'm in contact with
are embarrassed by the existence of those
records and have hidden them away. They are
reluctant to get them out because they'd have
to explain to their children. Others are willing
to share. Nominally, I believe each family is its
own repository.
Jerry, Boise
DON’T FORGET TO TRY
THIS NEW GENEALOGY
WEBSITE:
MOCAVO.COM
Genealogy Search
Pages of an Ahnenpass
The Ahnenpass (literally, "ancestor passport")
documented the Aryan lineage of citizens of
10
LEARNING ABOUT THE
DECEASED WITH SMARTPHONES
IN THE GRAVEYARD
FAMILY HISTORY CENTER
RESOURCES for DIRECTORS

Where do family history center
directors, staff, consultants, and
priesthood leaders get training?
A listing of FHC resources including
guidelines,
policies,
operations,
memoranda,
training,
websites,
new
director, and so on, can be found in new
FamilySearch in the Help Center. Search
for this knowledge Document:
Document ID: 102132
Locating Resources for Family History Centers:
Under this heading, there are 26 suggestions to help
Family History Center Directors. Just log into
new.familysearch.org and click on the Help Center
and use the search box to find the document by
number.
Quiring Monuments, Inc. has introduced a
new twist in cemetery memorials: a code
affixed to gravestones that can be scanned
with a smartphone to give more information
about the deceased. Company President
Dave Quiring said he’s been exploring
interactive gravestone technologies for
years, but prior attempts were too
expensive and the technologies were too
temperamental and limited. Now he thinks
he has found the right combination.
Read the rest at Dick Eastman’s Blog 5/1/11
http://www.eogn.com/wp/
1940 CENSUS UPDATE
The 1940 census is already digitized and will be
released on April 1, 2012.
Sue Maxwell
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/20
10/winter/1940-census.html
ONLINE FILM
CENTERS
ORDERING
IN
FH
If you want to learn a little more how the online
film ordering process works, read the following
document available on www. familysearch.org
under "Help"; type document "12358"
or maybe type the name of the doc if that
doesn't work for you. Good resource for training
staff for when it becomes available in our
states. It is not available in all states.
Order a microfilm or microfiche using the
Online
Film
Ordering
website
<https://help.familysearch.org/help/viewdocume
nt?documentId=112358&slice\
Id=SAL_Public&userQuery=112358>
Lorraine
GOOD FREE RESEARCHING SITES
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
http://linkpendium.com/
http://www.progenealogists.com/ Click on green
sleuthing box
11
Family History Centers
Family history centers help members identify
their ancestors and provide temple ordinances
for them. Family history center directors and
family history consultants who serve in centers
should
register
now
at
consultant.familysearch.org to receive access
to family history consultant training and other
resources.
Priesthood Leadership of
Family History
Priesthood leaders who oversee temple and
family history work are encouraged to register
now
at
priesthood.familysearch.org.
By
registering, they will receive access to online
training for family history consultants and the
information the Family and Church History
Department sends to consultants.
FamilySearch Indexing and
Family Record Extraction
Through
family
record
extraction
and
FamilySearch
indexing,
workers
create
automated indexes to records from around the
world. Volunteer to help index and preserve
such
records
by
registering
at
indexing.familysearch.org. At that same Web
address, lessons are also available to train
stake family record extraction directors and
extraction workers.
Family History Consultants
Information is available online to assist family
history
consultants.
Consultants
are
encouraged
to
register
now
at
consultant.familysearch.org. By registering,
they can receive access to online training,
regular family history updates, and early access
to new systems so they are prepared to help
members.
AFFILIATES
If you have not tried the affiliates to use
with new.familysearch.org, go to the
opening page of new FamilySearch and
click on the link “More Great Products.”
Besides
programs
that
sync,
like
RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest, Legacy, and
FamilyInsight, there are some other great
programs. Get My Ancestors will download
a few generations of your ancestors in nFS.
Mac Family Tree works with a Mac.
Ordinance Tracker keeps track of your
ancestors. Tree Seek creates unique
genealogy charts. Names in Stone is a
repository of cemetery records with a
geographical location. These are just a few.
Also, go directly to the list at
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/i
ndex.html to check it out.
USING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS TO
SYNCHRONIZE DATA BETWEEN NEW
FAMILYSEARCH AND YOUR DATABASE
Opposed to using an affiliate:
Because of my missionary responsibilities, I
need to know something about all of the
most
prominent
genealogy
data
management programs for both Windows
and Mac. I have worked with them all, and
they all have their strong points and their
weaknesses.
The sync options in them still scare me,
because no matter how fancy they are,
they filter the new FamilySearch data
through their own programming. I,
personally, will not use any of them to
update the data in my personal files. I will
use the default way of comparing the data open nFS and my personal files in two
separate windows and compare what I see
with my own eyes and brain. Sometimes I
need to see not only an individual's data in
nFS, but also his parents', siblings',
12
spouse's, and children's data, not only as
individuals, but as family groups before I
can make a determination. That nearly
always reveals records combined in error,
munged records, and misc. other screwy
things. I want to know all I can about what
I see in nFS before I put it into my own
data. I don't want to bring anything in that
will compromise what I already have.
Just my two cents worth - take it or leave
it.
Venita
In Favor:
I, too, served as a support missionary, and
I know that many were opposed to the
affiliate programs. For a while RootsMagic
was adding Unknown in place of spouse’s
names, but you can correct that or override it if it happens. As for me, I use
RootsMagic, and I love using it. I have also
used Ancestral Quest, and that is also an
excellent program. I have not tried Legacy
or Family Insight. Anyone who has advised
against them apparently has never used an
affiliate program to send information back
and forth between the repository and new
FamilySearch.
You can download free trials. I suggest that
you do that and try one. I have about
70,000 names in my database (years of
research by my family), and I would not
want to try to handle my database without
one of these programs that allow a user to
synch data.
Sylvia
WEBSITE FOR FH LESSONS
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/F
amilySearch_Online_Family_Hist
ory_Research_Lessons
FamilySearch Online Family History
Research Lessons
FamilySearch offers 140 free online
courses. Check out this site at the URL
above.
Latest Course Additions:
Australia
·
Australia BDM Civil Registration Index
·
New South Wales Early Church Records 1788–
1886
·
Using the New South Wales Birth, Death,
Marriage Index
England
·
Getting the Most from the National Archives
Website
·
Researching in the British Isles
·
What Is Britain?
Germany
·
My Experiences in German Family Research
Research Principles and Tools
·
Cemetery Art
·
Finding Your Way: Locating and Using Maps in
Your Research
·
How to Find More at a Genealogy Library
·
If I’d Only Known: Beginner Genealogy
Mistakes
·
Managing Your Family Records on the Internet
United States of America
·
Basic U.S. Military Records with Tiff
·
Beginning Census Research and Record
Keeping
·
Colonial Immigration
·
Colonial Land
·
County Histories and Your Family
·
Finding the Slave Generation
·
Locating Ancestors on the Final Rolls of the
Five Civilized Tribes
·
See You on Sunday! Church Records in
Genealogy
·
Some Underused Online Resources
·
U.S. Courthouse Research
·
Welcome to the World of Periodicals
ICAPGen The International Commission for the
Accreditation of Professional Genealogists
·
Mentoring Class: Introduction to ICAPGen
·
Mentoring Class: Research Binder
·
Mentoring Class: Evidence Analysis Part II
·
Mentoring Class: Written Exam and Oral
Review
13
HOW CAN WE GET MORE PEOPLE TO
COME TO THE FAMILY HISTORY
CENTER
Here's an idea to make a visit to the local
Family History Center by members of the
Church more "special."
In the packets for the members (whether they
are coming to Church regularly or not), enclose
an attractive coupon for a visit to the family
history center with a consultant's assistance.
This coupon would set off the visit as
something special. The coupon could have the
operating hours, address, phone number, and
maybe basic directions to the FHC. (I know in
St George there is a large regional FHC, but still
people might need the contact info if that is the
local FHC.) The coupon could also have the
names and telephone numbers of family history
consultants so the person could make an
appointment with one of them.
List some of the tasks that the consultant will
help the person accomplish at the FHC. For
instance, teach them to use New FamilySearch
or
look
up
actual
records
on
www.FamilySearch.org. Teach them to use
some of the free portal sites at the FHC -Ancestry.com, Genline, etc. The coupon would
let the person know that the consultant really
wants to participate and go to the FHC.
Most genealogy software will print off blank
forms. PAF will allow us to print both LDS and
non-LDS forms. I wouldn't bother ordering
forms from a distributor. Make copies off the
genealogy software and print them up on a
church printer.
What I wouldn't want to happen is for the
consultant to produce the family tree for the
person or family. The spirit of Elijah is most
successful when a person accepts it and doesn't
want someone else to complete the tree. If you
have different packets for non-LDS and LDS
people or families, it might be good to
distinguish the packets somehow.
The simplest way to keep the non-LDS and LDS
packets separate is to color code the pocket
folders or envelopes. For instance, blue
(baptized
members)
and
gold/yellow
(investigators) could work nicely.
An article or poem from the October 2010 issue
on temples might be included in the packets. It
could explain why we do family history,
importance of families, etc., from President
Monson or another general authority.
Let us know how this project works for you. It
would be very interesting to learn how it is
received. I would be interested to do something
similar in our ward and/or stake, plus our area's
mission.
Mary Scott
Northville Ward
Westland Michigan Stake
Detroit Michigan Temple
"The Mirror Is Too Small. Sometimes it's
hard to see the whole picture. When we
look into a pocket mirror, what do we see?
We see an eye perhaps, but not the whole
face. By looking at just a person's eye, can
we then envision the whole face
accurately? We may be able to deduce that
the other eye looks the same, but that may
not even be true in all cases. We have to
take separate looks at all the parts of the
face and piece them together to get a true
view of the face. With our family history,
the same holds true. One document only
gives us that small look at a little piece of
our ancestor. For this reason, it's critical
that we gather as many records on the
individual as we can. Only by putting
together all the pieces can we get a more
realistic impression of our forebears."
14
CEMETERY NEWS
Cemetery Disk #40 has be posted
1. Hamm Burial Ground, North Codorus
Township, York, Pennsylvania
2. Susquehanna Memorial Gardens, York
Twp, York, Pennsylvania
3. United Brethren Cemetery, Jefferson,
York, Pennsylvania (Redone)
used to do this great cemetery project for York
County. I think if he applied to Guinness Book
of World Records, he would be included for
photographing the most tombstones in the
world! Thanks for a job well done, Harry.]
HARRY E SENFT, 3048 SOLAR DR.,DOVER, PA
17315 (717) 792-9253
BLOG ON HARRY SENFT’S PROJECT
http://midatlantic.rootsweb.ancestry.co
m/familyhart/pictures/HarrySenft/
I have completed writing the blog about Harry's
project and am supplying the following links
(one is the full URL; the other is a shortened
version:
All pictures I took are indexed, on the
next two links
http://stauchistory.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/
documenting-area-cemeteries/
York County Cemeteries, indexed, (mostly
done by Harry Senft)
http://bit.ly/f7lI4a
Web link:
Check out Greenmount Cemetery over
15,000 pictures
Prospect Hill Cemetery, (in progress,
30,000 pictures)
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/y
ccemeteries.htm
Adams County Cemeteries all indexed,
(some done by Harry Senft)
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/adams
/accemeteries.htm
http://midatlantic.rootsweb.ancestry.com/family
hart/pictures/HarrySenft/
Mount Rose cemetery, disk #41 is has been
posted
19,000
pictures.
[Congratulations, Harry. At first Harry was not
permitted to photograph the headstones at
Mount Rose Cemetery, but after his cemetery
fans rallied and wrote letters to the cemetery,
he was granted permission. Note that he has
taken 19,000 photos of tombstones at Mount
Rose. I cannot praise him enough for all the
volunteer time, money, and energy that he has
Hope this is to your satisfaction. Just be nice,
I'm not a professional writer!!! Thanks again for
all that you both do.
Blake Stough
Tombstone Project Addressed by
Hartmans
Cemetery Site: This is hosted at FamilyHart and
not at the York County USGenWeb site that we
also administrate. This is part of the family
database project and is different from what
Kathy Francis is doing in the York County
USGenWeb Archives.
Harry started sending us cemetery disks in July
of 2005. We chatted briefly on one of our York
trip before he started sending them.
We encouraged him to do this. Harry will need
to answer what gave him the idea, but it was
indeed a phenomenal idea that has helped
thousands of researchers. Many are in his
debt.
The purpose of the project from our
perspective, which is probably different from
Harry's, is to tie all of the families in York and
Adams County together into one big family
database as they are related. We are doing the
15
indexing for this purpose, and tying them to our
family database, as we can. That is the reason
that it takes so long to complete the indexing,
as we are researching every name on every
headstone, cross-checking with church, civil,
and census records, etc. We process about
1000 names per week in the family database
(net). A majority currently are coming from the
cemetery project searches, including those
found on other records as a result of
establishing connections to the database.
Our count as of March 2011 is 255 cemeteries
in York, Adams, and Cumberland counties that
Harry has sent us. This does not include Mount
Rose, which is not yet completed and sent as
you know.[It now is.]
We are down to the last few in York County,
more in Adams County, and even more if Harry
can take doing more. I am sure that he is very
very tired. His full work has yet to be indexed
and linked, and will take several more years on
our part, if he were to stop today.
From our perspective: The photographs are
mailed to us in digital format by Harry on CDs
or DVDs. They are immediately copied to our
project server. If there are any damaged or
corrupted files, they are resent via email to us
by Harry. We then go through them and bring
the names of the files into a format standard
for ease of handling on the web. They are
loaded onto the web initially in raw format in
directories that can be accessed by the public.
The cemetery name and location indices are
then updated in Excel and then converted to
html. Anchors are added to each cemetery as
they are added on the main page that are
linked by these indices.
We then load the pictures into a slideshow
program that we have written for ease of our
initial indexers, whom are volunteer resources.
The Java Script has to be customized for each
cemetery slide show. To some extent, we have
automated some steps in the coding effort but
still have several manual steps to make it
smooth. The indexer indexes the cemetery
from the slide show in a standard format that
we developed in Excel. As this initial pass is
completed they are loaded in a queue on our
project server for further processing.
A second pass by us is then made to
make corrections as needed. We also use
imaging enhancement techniques to pull names
and dates off of hard-to-read headstones as we
can. This can be very tedious, especially with
the older and damaged headstones.
A third pass is made to add FamilyHart
database numbers as can be found. We often
add several families to the database to make
that one connection to an individual in a
cemetery through research in civil, church,
census, and other online records. A forth pass
is also done by another, other than the thirdpass individual, to check work and add more
database numbers as can be done. Sometimes
a fifth pass takes place.
The Excel sheet is then formatted for hyperlinks
for the photos and database links, converted to
html and xml, and loaded online. Any
necessary link additions and changes are made
at that time. In addition, we develop custom
Google maps for each cemetery location as
time allows.
As time goes by, we are also adding to and
changing formats to make it easier for
searching. This is something that is continually
evolving. It has grown bigger than we ever
had anticipated. Thanks!
Don & Jeanine Hartman
FamilyHart
http://familyhart.info
Rootsweb List Admins for:
Pennsylvania, PADutchGenONLY, Penna-Dutch,
PAYork, PA-York-Gen, MD-Fred-Gen, MDWashin,
Burket, Dierdorff, Gotshall, Glattfelder, Hartman,
Kohr, Kaufman, Shirk, Sturm
USGENWEB CCs for: Adams Co., PA; Franklin Co.,
PA: Lancaster Co., PA; York Co., PA; Frederick Co.,
MD; Washington Co., MD
Any genealogical information sent to
FamilyHart grants permission to use that information
for any genealogical purposes by FamilyHart.
16
WASHINGTON DC FAMILY
HISTORY CENTER
Washington DC Family History Center Almost Here! Our Annual Conference
Saturday, May 7, 9:00 - 3:15
Don't delay - May 7 is just around the
corner! There are 22 classes on a variety of
terrific topics - something for everyone. The
keynote speaker is James Sweany, Head of
the Library of Congress Local History &
Genealogy
Reading
Room.For
further
information and registration, please visit our
Conference
Home
Page
at:
http://www.wdcfhc.org/conf2011/
Hamburg, German, Passenger Departure
List – Read Article at
http://blog.progenealogists.com/2011/03/fin
ding-ancestors-in-the-hamburg-germanypassenger-departure-records/
IRELAND ARCHIVE COLLECTION
Ireland's archive collections have found a new
central home online. The website www.iar.ie
allows the public to search a wide range of
Irish archives online.
Genealogy Blog Finder
With blogs leaping in popularity, surely there
must be one that addresses your area of
interest. Find it at:
http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/
1911 Scottish Census Available on April
5, 2011
If you are tracing Scottish ancestry, you will
want to check this website on April 5:
http://www.1911census.org.uk/scotland.htm
OLD PHOTOS
Upload and look at old LOCALITY photos at
whatwasthere.com
Also don’t forget deadfred.com
and familyoldphotos.com Sylvia
Generations Newsletter,info@wdcfhc.org
Carol Petranek, Newsletter Editor; Terry
Willard; Gary Petranek
MICROFICHE PROJECT
When these microfiche reference sources were
distributed to FHCs in 1986 (part I) and 1988 (part
II), they were called Microfiche Reference Collection.
The first collection was "a set of about 100
reference sources frequently used by Family History
Library patrons." After the second collection was
available, we called them "the 200 most-used
books."
When I give a quick tour to new patrons, I mention
that inside these boring gray file drawers are some
of the 200 most-used reference books...on
microfiche.
They include a number of early gazetteers, vital
records, church and court records. Just to be clear,
these are the entire books, not indexes or
abstracts. For Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia,
Denmark, England & Wales,
France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, LDS, Norway,
Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Yugoslavia, United States. For the U.S., at least one
book for almost every state.
About 1,200 fiche in each collection. Examples, to
pique your curiosity:
_Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles_, 1952, on 8
fiche.
_Abstracts of wills on file in the Surrogate's Office,
City of New York,
1665-1801_, 94 fiche
_Meyers Orts- und Verkehrslexikon des Deutschen
Reiches_, 29 fiche
_Virginia Historical Index_ (Earl Gregg Swem), 27
fiche
I'm sorry to hear from Elder Walworth that these
collections are no longer available. I consider them
great resources, and they are included in the
Baltimore Maryland FHC's printout listing of all
microfiche we hold. As technology has progressed,
perhaps many of the books are available online now.
The collection listings were previously available on
two FHCnet files that I cannot locate:
<http://users.sisna.com/ileenj/fiche.html> and <
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FHCNET>
Perhaps the listings are available elsewhere on
FHCnet files? Apparently a Yahoo! membership is
needed, and I have not wanted to do that. If there's
another way, I'd like to learn about it (please).
Cheers, Dolly in Maryland
17
HOW TO CREATE A FAMILY
HISTORY CENTER WEBSITE
In the last few days, a person with the
Family History Department has developed a
quick and easy way to create a page on
FamilySearch Wiki for your FHC. A few were
online before, but they have made it easy
to put up a page, then edit it to your
center's individual needs & circumstances.
First, go to this page.
http://film.familysearch.org/ Online ordering of
microfilms and microfiche, at a small cost.
http://indexing.familysearch.org/ is the site for
creating computer-searchable indexes of family
history records.
http://pilot.familysearch.org/ records from
FamilySearch Indexing, but are being moved to
http://beta.familysearch.org/ holds the records
from FamilySearch Indexing, including the
latest.
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Template:F
HC_page_outline
https://wiki.familysearch.org/ Free family
history research advice for the community, by
the community. Type in a locality.
You'll see a sample showing the various
parts of the page and its layout. The
instructions on how to set up the page are
below in the gray box. Note, a few centers
have pages, and others have been created
using the center's official name to help get
some started already. You can search for
your center's name to see if there is an
article already.
http://forums.familysearch.org/ browse any
topic listed for helpful family history research
and FamilySearch product information provided
by experienced FamilySearch patrons.
It may take a little bit to get the hang of
editing in the wiki, but we have user group
meetings; one is for new users, Click on the
community meetings tab on the far right of
any page to find the meetings and their
times and call-in phone numbers. Most
meetings are for specific projects, or are
more technical, but some are for the
newest and otherwise novice users of the
Wiki when it comes to editing.
*FamilySearch Websites as of
December 2010*
http://familysearch.org/ FamilySearch is the
main family history site of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among other things,
this is where you access the Family History
Library Catalog of microfilms and microfiche
that you can borrow.
http://histfam.familysearch.org/ FamilySearch
Community Trees are primarily lineage-linked,
sourced genealogies contributed by partners.
http://maps.familysearch.org/ England 1851
Jurisdictions maps, including parishes.
http://new.familysearch.org/ It features
graphical family trees that can be edited online
in real time. An account is needed to access it.
It is currently only available to LDS but will be
made public sometime within the next year,
excluding the temple information.
http://training.familysearch.org/ is a "sandbox"
site for learning to use
http://new.familysearch.org/ with sample data.
http://consultant.familysearch.org/ is the
registration site for LDS Family History
Consultants and leaders with family history
responsibilities.
http://lds.org/ > Serving in the Church >
Family History > Temple and Family History
Course Materials > Training Videos for Family
History Leaders
Bill Buchanan
18
FamilySearch News,
Information, and Updates
visit the FamilySearch Help Forum, or call
FamilySearch Support.
April 12, 2011
Important Milestone for
New.FamilySearch.org
In March 2011 the new.familysearch.org
website registered its one-millionth user.
Recently a limited number of members of
the general public have been given access to
the Family Tree. This number will
gradually grow until access to the Family
Tree is open to everyone. Free access to the
Family Tree site will bless the lives of
millions of people.
New Records Added to
FamilySearch.org
Over 30 million new records have been
added
to
familysearch.org
through
indexing efforts in the last few months.
Records from the following countries have
been included: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil,
Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, El Salvador,
England, France, Germany, Guatemala,
India,
Italy,
Mexico,
Netherlands,
Nicaragua, Philippines, Poland, Portugal,
Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, United States,
Venezuela, Wales, and Zimbabwe. In
addition, the 1881 England and Wales
Census index has received significant
enhancements.
Exciting Developments in
FamilySearch Forums
We are excited to announce that beginning
on April 12, you will be able to log into the
FamilySearch Forums with your LDS
Account. This is the last FamilySearch
website in English to switch to the new user
account system, so with this change, all of
your English language FamilySearch
websites and programs are accessible with
this single user name and password. If you
are a current Forums user, there will be a
“merging” process so that the information
in your old account can be merged into
your new account, similar to how it has
been done for other programs. If you have
any questions or problems, there will be
prompts on the website to help you know
what to do. If you need more information,
RootsTech Update
If you missed the popular inaugural
RootsTech 2011 conference, you can now
get a sampling of what all the excitement
was about. The wildly popular new
technology and family history conference
held last month in Salt Lake City, Utah,
made its keynote addresses and a few other
popular presentations available online, free
of charge. The six free presentations can be
viewed at RootsTech.org. The RootsTech
keynote videos are now available online
through the RootsTech.org home page, or
you can go directly to the video page:
http://rootstech.familysearch.org/video.php
.
Important Indexing News Update
Since 2006, volunteers have indexed 548
million records! It has truly become a
volunteer phenomenon and is the largest
initiative of its kind. The records can be
searched free of charge at familysearch.org.
Additionally,
FamilySearch
indexing
recently added its first project in
Hungarian, which means projects now
cover 12 languages. The new Hungarian
19
project is for Magyarország, Szabolcs—
polgári anyakönyvi adatok, 1895–1978 [1.
Rész] records. If you can read Hungarian,
or know others who can, please help rally
the much-needed support for this project.
Additional projects will be added as the
active volunteer base grows. Register or
find
out
more
information
at
indexing.familysearch.org.
In 2010, FamilySearch indexing posted the
following milestones:
 100+ projects in 11 languages
 Addition of Portuguese and Polish
languages
 40,000 new active indexers
(completed a batch of work), for a
total of 127,000 active indexers
 Volunteer indexers averaged 2,169
records each
 Arbitrators averaged 17,803 records
each
 186 million records were double
keyed and arbitrated
New Online Course
A new course on finding and using
courthouse records, featuring professional
genealogist Christine Rose, is now available
under the Learn tab in familysearch.org.
Courthouses are places where you can find
answers to genealogical problems. They are
a rich source of written records created as a
result of the laws then in use, the time
period, and the personal activities of your
ancestors. The steps delineated throughout
this course will assist you to be more
effective as you visit courthouses in your
search for genealogical information. Click
here to see the new course, or view a list of
other courses.
Tips and Tricks
FamilySearch Research Wiki hint: Every
page on the Research Wiki has a link that
allows you to “Watch” the page. If you are
looking for research hints in a certain place
and the information is not complete enough
to help you, you can click on “watch,” and
you will then automatically receive an email notifying you whenever anything
changes on that page or when new
information is added.
FamilySearch hint: If you would like to see
what new collections have been added,
click on the link on the bottom left of the
home page called “All Record Collections.”
Then just look for the asterisk (*) next to the
dates in the “Last Updated” column. All of
the newest record sets are flagged with an
asterisk like this.
Sharing family names for the temple hint:
If you want an easy way to instantly share
family names with friends and family,
don’t mail them the cards—instead, e-mail
the FOR (Family Ordinance Request). It’s
simple. As one of the last steps in
new.familysearch.org for printing the FOR
(part of the name clearing process), you
have the option to save the document as a
PDF. If you pick that option, you can then
send the PDF file you created as an e-mail
attachment. If this explanation is confusing
or the process seems difficult, just ask a
computer savvy youth, family member or
friend to walk you through it. By e-mailing
the FOR, you can get it to the people
instantly, and with the new system they
don’t even have to send the cards back if
you don’t want them to. The completed
ordinance information will show up
immediately on new.familysearch.org.
Sincerely, FamilySearch
20
EXPERIENCE TEACHING INDEXING
Tuesday night, for the first time, I was asked to
teach indexing to a group of about 30 people
(youth and their leaders) with about 15 laptop
computers.
While much went right, we had our share of
snags. I thought that a posting here might help
things to go more smoothly for any of you
planning to do the same thing.
Give participants a handout with the name of
the wireless network and its password, as well
as the URL for indexing.
(indexing.familysearch.org or
https://indexing.familysearch.org/newuser/nuh
ome.jsf?3.7.11)
The leaders need the names and membership
numbers of the youth to help them register.
(Minimum age is 13 for indexing.) (This was
provided by the ward membership clerk and
returned to him afterwards.)
The Indexing "test drive" is best run from a
computer
with
a
3:4
(rather
than a 9:16) aspect-ratio monitor to eliminate
constant scrolling up and down the screen. A
projector will allow everyone to see the test
drive or a 3-minute PowerPoint presentation for
orientation.
Make it clear that members who already have
an LDS online account should use it without
registering again. If it doesn't work, then
register.
Registering has the usual confusion over
acceptable sign-in names and passwords. Ask
everyone to write down their sign-name and
password and take it home with them.
Downloading the software and installing it put a
strain on the Wi-Fi network, as several people
were doing this simultaneously. Download
times increased to about 8 minutes.
Make it clear that once the software is installed,
they look on the computer Desktop for the
FamilySearch Indexing icon, and double-click it.
Once they run the software, they can sign-in
for indexing
Make sure that they select a Beginner batch.
(usually a draft card registration or other simple
document.) Some of my students didn't accept
the Beginner batch suggested to them, and
were overwhelmed by a more advanced-level
batch.
Beginner batches do not need to have records
added, so when that box pops-up, they should
just close it.
Have enough leaders to help them complete
the
batch
and
the
Quality
Check
(which mostly looks for fields that have been
left blank). I noticed that some youth and
leaders were reading "County" as "Country", so
maybe watch for that.
If the box to transmit the batch fails to pop-up,
they can use the icon (second from the left
above the data entry table).
Actually, if you include all of this info in the
hand-out, it should eliminate most of the
problems. (I wish I had had it.)
Still, maybe 1/4 of the youth were able to
complete batches. Some did 3 or 4 batches.
The YW leaders plan to do a follow-up indexing
session next Tuesday without my help. If I am
asked again, I will be better prepared.
Bill Buchanan
website: http://billbuchanan.byethost17.com
blog: http://billbuchanan.blogspot.com
The Church has already produced an excellent
ppt on Indexing.
A presentation, in Adobe PDF format,
introducing the FamilySearch indexing program
is available online at
https://fch.ldschurch.org/fsinformation/Resourc
e_Guide/Introduction_to_Indexing.pdf.
Carol Everett
Stake Indexing Administrator
Apex NC Stake
At present there are three wonderful youtube
videos on Indexing. (Con’t on next page)
21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dImIAihQnY
8 beginning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEB-...eature=related
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEB-Vy8NH0&feature=related> intermediate
time saving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUPg4...eat
ure=related
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUPg45By
iH8&feature=related> I am sharing
these 3 at one time with people that are
interested in indexing.
I haven't seen them yet, but they were
recommended on the FamilySearch Wiki.
Shanna Jones
Here's how to access the ppt:
Go to Indexing.FamilySearch.org
Click on the HELP tab
Click on the Ask a Question tab
In dialog box type in PowerPoint (all one word)
and this will give you four different ppt
presentations. The most recent one is probably
the one you want: Introduction to FamilySearch
Indexing - Group
Presentation.
Carol Everett
Cary, NC
Teaching the Family History
Class during Sunday School –
Manuals
http://classic.lds.org/pa/display/0,1788
4,6684-1,00.html
Family History Companion
Website - Handouts
http://familyhistory.byu.edu/companion/ If you
are teaching the family history class, this site is
a must for you! See p. 5, “Help for
Consultants” for more information.
Sylvia
FORUMS UPDATED
Forums is a site to ask your family history
questions and get help from others.
http://forums.familysearch.org, is updated;
they did this overnight. You can now login
using your LDS Account. If you had an
account with the forums site before, it will
prompt you to merge your account from
earlier so you can keep your posts linked to
your account. Your old user name, when
clicked on, will forward to your new user
name profile.
For new users from today on, that will not
be necessary.
Those that had accounts before today will
need to merge their accounts using the
above process, which happens upon
logging in, by May 11 to keep the linkage to
their old posts.
The forums are very useful; in fact they
have an FHC Support forum near the
bottom of the page showing all the
categories as well when you first open up
the site.
James W. Anderson
TUTORIAL ON USING
GENEALOGYBANK
Would you take a look at this 3 minute
tutorial on how to search the 5,000
newspapers at www.GenealogyBank.com
Let me know what you think - does it
explain how-to effectively?
Give beginners a sense of how-to etc.?
Please send your input to
slysyl@verizon.net to send to Tom Kemp.
Watch this: http://bit.ly/eghYw0 Tom K.
22
JDC Archives with over
500,000 Names now Online
Today is Yom HaShoah in Israel, Israel's
Holocaust remembrance day. Coinciding with
this fact, the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (usually just called the
JDC or the Joint) has released a new section
of their website called Our Shared Legacy
which contains two large databases of
interest to Jewish genealogists.
Child Refugees in Bolivia helped by the JDC
The first database is their Photo Galleries,
which contains photographs from all the
countries where the Joint operated when
helping Jewish refugees from the Nazis to
flee, and to resettle after the war. The Joint
also assisted Jews to flee Eastern European
countries affected by the Communist takeover
in the post-war years. Countries which have
photo galleries include, Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Cyprus,
Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and
Uruguay.
http://www.bloodandfrogs.com/2011/05/jdcarchives-with-over-500000-names-now.html
YOU MUST TRY
FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
FOR FH RESEARCH ~
SYLVIA’S GENEALOGY CORNER
The Tale of a Teacher, a Top Hat,
and a Tintype
I suppose that my family had never taken a
photo of my second-great-grandfather, who
was born in 1804. That’s why when he died in
1877, they propped him up, added a top hat,
and took a cherished ~ if not eerie ~ tintype of
the recently departed Samuel Krise. Here is his
photo, much cherished by me.
While I no longer have the tintype, this is a
copy that my mother made many years ago,
and it is Jack’s favorite family history photo to
generate interest in my family tree when we
present to the public.
As many of you know, I was a secondary
English teacher for almost 39 years, but to me
teaching came naturally. This dear Grandfather
Samuel was also a teacher, as was his son, my
Great-Grandfather William Krise (and also a
superintendent of schools), as was his son, my
Grandfather Warren Samuel Padget Krise (also
a principal) and his wife, my Grandmother Ella
Hammer Krise (who had to quit teaching once
they got married), as was their daughter - my
mother Elizabeth Krise Hott (middle school
teacher). Is it any wonder that that was my
occupation, which had run for 5 generations?
Samuel was born in Lebanon, PA, to Phillip
Krise, [son of Martin Kreis], and Anna Catherine
Bruch Krise [daughter of David Bruch]. Phillip
and Anna Catherine left Lebanon and moved to
Centre Hall, Centre County, Pennsylvania.
ALL NEWLY INDEXED RECORDS ARE BEING
UPLOADED TO THIS SITE.
23
In Centre Hall lived the George Padget Family
with 5 daughters. There Samuel met and
married one of the girls - Dorothy Padget - and
acquired the responsibility to look after her 4
sisters, none of whom ever married – Jane,
Elizabeth,
Hannah,
and
Mary
Gregg
Padget/Paget. Jane died young. Some of the
others were school teachers. Samuel seems to
have looked after his wife and 4 sisters all of
his life. Here are tintypes of Hannah and Mary
Gregg Padget.
of hymns in a small hymnal, and the tintypes, I
have been able to piece together some
information about this family.
While it seems morbid to see a photo of my
deceased
Great-great-grandfather
Samuel
Krise, I am so thankful that I can put a face to
a name. Also, the tintypes of these aunts and
their samplers have endeared them to me.
The poet Emily Dickinson describes death as a
gentleman in “Because I Could Not Stop for
Death…
These girls were from the “old school” and
learned to sit long hours and embroider. I am
fortunate to have inherited two of their
samplers:
Because I could not stop for Death,
He
kindly
stopped
for
me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
So with his top hat on and probably his best
suit, Samuel Krise was ready to step onto the
carriage that drove him to the eternities.
Newsletter published by Jack & Sylvia
Sonneborn for York 2nd Ward, York, PA
The Padget/Paget Sisters - Hannah’s and Elizabeth’s
Samplers, the smaller one dated 1830.
Jack and I took a trip to Centre County to the
Centre Hall Presbyterian Cemetery, where we
found the tombstones for Samuel (died in
1877) and his wife and sisters.
There is not a lot of information that exists on
this family, but I do have all of their birth and
death records, thanks to my mother, and
through the samplers and my Great-Great
Grandmother Dorothy Padget Krise’s collection
Contact: jsonneborn@verizon.net – Jack or
slysyl@verizon.net – Sylvia for questions or
to Unsubscribe
Thanks to Don and Jeanine Hartman for
posting our newsletter.
www.Familyhart.info York County, PA
That’s All, Folks!
24
FamilySearch Records Update: Milestone 600 Free Historic Collections Now Online
The following is from FamilySearch.
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Collections—600 to Be Exact!
Latest Additions Reach New Milestone in Free Online Historic Record Collections
The latest additions to FamilySearch's online collection of free historic record collections pushes it to 600!
That's right, 600 free, original source record collections online from all over the world. The tally of
insomniacs will certainly expand as the numbers of family history researchers enjoy the latest updates.
This week there are new international records from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Italy,
Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Poland, and Spain. Now take a seat while the list of updates for the U.S. collections
are noted—California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington State, Wisconsin, and the Virgin Islands.
Whew! See the table below for details. You can search all of the record collections now for free at
FamilySearch.org.
If you are enjoying the steady stream of free records added weekly, please consider "giving back" as a
FamilySearch volunteer. You can start and stop volunteering at any time. Find out more at
indexing.familysearch.org.
Collection
Argentina, Catholic Church
Records
Brazil, Catholic Church
Records
Canada, Quebec Notarial
Records, 1800-1900
Colombia, Catholic Church
Records
France, Coutances, Catholic
Diocese, 1802-1907
France, Protestant Church
Records, 1612-1906
Records
Images
Comment
360,671
347
Added images and index to existing collection.
0
147,511
Added browsable images to existing collection.
0
19,974
Added browsable images to existing collection.
41,672
0
Added index records to existing collection.
133,771
0
Added index records to existing collection.
45,305
14,155
Added images and index to existing collection.
Italy, Civil Registration, 180647,588
1940
37,439
Added index records and images for
Castellammare di Stabia, Catania, Teramo, and
Trieste to existing collection.
275,358
308,905
Added images and index to existing collection.
1,063,750
0
Added the state of Oaxaca.
0
218,722
Added browsable images to existing collection.
0
47,203
Added browsable images to existing collection.
0
51,249
New browsable image collection.
0
592,054
New browsable image collection.
0
216,211
Added browsable images to existing collection.
0
8,573
New browsable image collection.
123,230
0
Added Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino,
San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Sierra,
Solano, Stanislaus, and Sutter Counties to existing
Jamaica, Civil Birth
Registration
Mexico Census, 1930
Mexico, Chiapas, Catholic
Church Records, 1558-1978
Mexico, Nayarit, Catholic
Church Records, 1596-1967
Mexico, San Luis Potosí,
Catholic Church Records,
1586-1970
Peru, Catholic Church Records
Poland, Roman Catholic
Church Books, 1600-1950
Spain, Cádiz, Passports, 18101866
U.S., California, County
Marriages, 1850-1952
25
collection.
U.S., California, San Mateo
County Records, 1856-1967
U.S., District of Columbia
Marriages, 1811-1950
0
17,569
Added browsable images to existing collection.
377,681
127,190
New index collection, first part.
0
Added Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown,
Champaign, Christian, Clark, and Clay Counties to
existing collection.
0
Added Elkhart County to existing collection.
0
New index collection.
1,469
Added browsable images to existing collection.
80,509
New browsable image collection.
0
New index collection.
U.S., Illinois County Marriages,
323,712
1810-1934
U.S., Indiana, Marriages, 1811114,658
1959
U.S., Kentucky, Death
1,384,241
Records, 1911-1955
U.S., Louisiana Confederate
0
Pensions, 1898-1950
U.S., Massachusetts, Boston
0
Passenger Lists, 1820-1891
U.S., Massachusetts,
Springfield Vital Records,
68,176
1638-1887
U.S., Minnesota, County
Marriages, 1860-1949
156,395
88,640
New collection. Counties published: Anoka, Blue
Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dodge,
Fillmore, Freeborn, and Goodhue.
U.S., Mississippi, Tippah
County Records, 1836-1923
0
55,910
New browsable image collection.
1,051,915
5,175
Added Madison, Warren, Greene, Albany,
Hamilton, Ontario, Broome, Herkimer, Cayuga,
Oswego, Onondaga, Essex, Lewis, and Queens
Counties to existing collection.
850,465
New browsable image collection.
60,096
New browsable image collection.
58,940
New browsable image collection.
38,070
Added browsable images to existing collection.
15,653
Added browsable images to existing collection.
2,184
Added browsable images to existing collection.
5,363
New browsable image collection.
U.S., New York State Census,
1892
U.S., New York, Northern
0
Arrival Manifests, 1902-1956
U.S., Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia Case Files of
0
Chinese Immigrants, 19001923
U.S., Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 0
1800-1882
U.S., Texas, Eastland County
Records, 1868-1949
U.S., Washington State County
Records; King, Kitsap and
0
Pierce Counties, 1854-1950
U.S., Wisconsin, Probate
0
Estate Files, 1848-1933
Virgin Islands US, Church
0
Records
26
27