FAMILY HISTORY NEWSLETTER
Volume V, Issue 5
May 2011
_____________________________________________________
PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE IS
STILL PROMOTED BY THE
CHURCH
HELPFUL PROGRAMS ENDORSED
BY THE CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Ancestor Split
Ancestral Quest
Ancestral Quest Basics
Branches
Charting Companion
Family Insight
Gaia Family Tree
Get My Ancestors
Legacy Family Tree
MagiKey Family Tree
Ordinance Tracker
Personal Ancestral File
RootsMagic
RootsMagic Essentials
Personal Ancestral File
(PAF)
Version 5.2, Windows
PAF is a free desktop genealogy and family
history program for Windows. It allows you to
quickly and easily collect, organize and share
your family history and genealogy information.
Get started today:
Again, if you go to the welcome page
of New FamilySearch, click on this
statement: Click here for free, trial,
and other products for the new
FamilySearch.
Download
Genealogy News is a monthly
publication of Family History
Consultants of the York 2nd Ward, York,
Pennsylvania
Jack and Sylvia Sonneborn.
You may contact the editors at
jsonneborn@verizon.net
slysyl@verizon.net
This information is available on the Welcome
page of new.familysearch.org. While the
Church is not continuing to upgrade the
program, it is still a very user friendly
program. It is still a good idea to keep a
personal record of your family history in
addition to nFS. New FamilySearch is for
deceased ancestors. So if you want to keep
a record of the births of children,
grandchildren, nephews and nieces, etc., you
should keep this information in another
program, and the FREE PAF will work for
that.
This is not an official publication of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1
USING CEMETERIES
TO DO FAMILY
HISTORY RESEARCH
Because we have just honored our
deceased on Memorial Day, this is a
month to consider ways that we can
use cemetery stones to learn more of
the details of our deceased ancestors
or friends. The Susquehanna Trail
Genealogy Club used this topic to
explore some of the many websites
that are available for family history
information.
BERNADETTE LIVINGSTON TOLD
ABOUT FINDAGRAVE.COM
Bernadette Livingston featured Find a
Grave, which
is available
at
findagrave.com. She encouraged club
members to check out the site and to
do a search for some of their
ancestors. They can either use a first
and last name or just a last name to
find everyone in the website with that
last name. She explained that this is
a nice way to honor our deceased
ancestors and to contribute to the
site with information and photos of
our own loved ones. She mentioned
that this can be a controversial idea
because some people do not want to
post private details on this website.
SOME SITES THAT FEATURE
CEMETERY PHOTOS AND
OBITUARIES
Sylvia Sonneborn compiled a list of
websites to check to look for
tombstones and obituaries:
 1. http://www.findagrave.com
 2. interment.net
 3. www.usgwtombstones.org
(US
GenWeb
Tombstone
Transcription Program)
 4. funeralnet.com
(To find
obituaries)
 5.
http://www.ancestorhunt.com/
(To find obituaries)
 6.
http://www.accessgenealogy.c
om/cemetery/
 (Lots of good cemetery
records)
 7.
http://www.archives.com/GA.a
spx?_act=Obituaries&klp=5obi
t&cam=1300&KW2=Online&gc
lid=CNKahYzt6qgCFQTe4AodG
Rm0Dg (Charge)
 8. military.com (Find veterans
and
veterans
cemetery
records)
 9. Obituaries.Archives.com
 10.
www.FamilyLink.com/Genealo
gy (Indiana cemetery records)
 11.
http://www.cyndislist.com/dea
ths.htm#States
 12.
http://genealogy.about.com/sit
esearch.htm?q=cemetery+pho
tos&SUName=genealogy
[Excellent site for cemetery
information]
 13. www.billiongraves.com
HARRY SENFT DISCUSSED HIS
PROJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH ALL
YORK COUNTY CEMETERIES
Since we are from York County,
Pennsylvania, we next asked Harry
Senft of Dover to present information
on the work he has been doing in the
local cemeteries. His goal has been
to digitize all cemeteries in York
2
County, and many in Adams County,
with special emphasis on York.
He presented information
photographing cemeteries.
about
What motivated you to begin to
photograph tombstones? One day I was
copying information from a headstone,
and I remembered that I have a digital
camera. At first I only took photos of
the families that I was interested in.
Then I noted that I was missing other
family members in the cemetery. After
my first disk, I decided to do all of the
headstones in the cemetery. Since then I
have redone every cemetery that was on
the Disk # 1 except Mummert’s
Cemetery in Adams County, because
Kathy Francis has been working on that
one.
What camera setting do you use? – I
always use the landscape mode, and I
adjust the settings for light and dark.
How long does it take you to photograph
a cemetery? – It depends. I can take
over 1,000 pictures within 3 hours.
Have you ever had any problems getting
into a cemetery to photograph it? – Only
one, but because of e-mail from family
history friends, the cemetery manager
changed his mind.
What is the largest cemetery that you
have ever photographed? - Prospect Hill,
30,000 pictures.
How many cemeteries have you
photographed? 265 cemeteries, about
216,000 photos.
What are some of the tricks that you
have learned to get the best
photographs?
How much longer are you going to
photograph cemeteries? – At least until
all are done in York County.
Time of Day – It depends on where the
sun is shining; sometimes if the sun is
shining on the back of the stone, the
quality of the photo isn’t as good as it is
if the sun was shining on it or not at all.
I like the morning and the late afternoon
the best for the flat stones.
Where can we find your cemeteries
posted online? -
Season – I like early spring because I do
not have to worry about the grass
growing over the stones.
How do you photograph old, mosscovered tombstones? – Sometimes I
clean them off with a wire brush, but
that is not the best thing to use because
it can damage the stone.
What kind of camera do you use and
how can you protect a camera to extend
its life? - The first couple of years I used
a digital HP camera, and then two years
ago, I changed to a Canon. I just
extended my warranty for three more
years (because he has worn out a
number of cameras.)
PLACES TO ACCESS HARRY
SENFT’S CEMETERY
PHOTOGRAPHS
 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.
com/~payork/ (Posted by Don
and Jeanine Hartman)
 http://midatlantic.rootsweb.an
cestry.com/familyhart/pictures
/HarrySenft/ (Harry Senft’s site
by Hartmans)
 http://www.usgwarchives.org/
pa/york/yccemeteries.htm
(Kathy Francis)
 http://www.usgwarchives.net/
pa/adams/accemeteries.htm
Adams County Cemeteries all
indexed by Kathy (Mummert)
3
Francis, (some taken by Harry
Senft)
 http://theotherdisneys.com/pe
nnsylvaniaheadstones.htm
Harry Senft Photos Index by
Carmeron Darby of Barrens
Salem Union Cemetery (Now
United Lutheran Cemetery)
and Dillsburg Cemetery that
goes to the Hartmans’ web
page
 http://stauchistory.wordpress.c
om/2011/04/15/documentingarea-cemeteries/ A blog by
Blake Stough
SYLVIA SONNEBORN
INTRODUCED THE NATIONAL
TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION
PROJECT
 1. Access the US GenWeb
national tombstone
transcription project at this
address:
http://www.usgwtombstones.o
rg/
 2. Click on State Projects
 3. Click on a state, such as
Virginia; then click on a
county, like Frederick; and
then a cemetery, like the
George Hott Cemetery. She
and Jack have submitted
photos for 3 cemeteries.
 What information will you find
on most tombstones?
 1. Name of the departed
 2. Usually the death date
 3. Often the birth date
 4. Or the age at which the
person died, like 56 y 2 m 3 d
 In addition, there are other
valuable pieces of information
that you can glean from
tombstones.
“Cemeteries are living lessons in
history. People who buried their
dead said much about themselves
and the ones who had died. While
not
considered
a
primary
information source, gravestones
are an excellent source of dates,
birthplaces,
maiden
names,
spouses' names and parents'
names. They can also provide
evidence of military service,
membership
in
a
fraternal
organization
and
religious
affiliations.” about.com
Sylvia encouraged the members to
check this site by state, county, and
cemetery to see if their cemetery of
interest has been digitized/indexed.
She encouraged the members to
submit tombstone photos, even if
they represent incomplete listings.
Sylvia advised that if you are going to
visit a cemetery, there are some
things that you should consider
taking and doing:
Take these items - Paper, pencil,
charcoal, material to make rubbings
A map of the location; also take
paper to make a map of the cemetery
if a map is not available
4
Electronic
equipment
–
digital
camera, tape recorder, hand-held
computer, sufficient batteries
Water and small pail, a soft nylon
brush, old rags
Reflectors – aluminum foil, collapsible
light reflector, black light
Water to wet stone, shaving cream
(banned in some cemeteries because
of the acid)
Do not use bleach on a stone, a wire
brush, or a power washer because of
damaging a stone
Photo-Flo
or
Orvis
recommended cleaners
are
Sturdy shoes, clippers to cut
brush or grass, long pants and
if there is poison ivy in
cemeteries that are not
maintained
two
back
shirts
older
being
Find more information at these sites:
http://genealogy.about.com/sitesearc
h.htm?q=cemetery+photos&SUName
=genealogy
[Excellent site
for
cemetery information]
http://www.progenealogists.com/tom
bstonecare.htm>
The last part of the program involved
tombstone symbolism and acronyms.
Often you can discover a fraternal
organization that your ancestor
belonged to or information about his
religion based on symbols on the
tombstone. Go to this site for a list
of the meaning of symbols and the
acronyms for fraternal organizations
as well as funereal definitions.
http://history.org/HISTORY/TEACHING/G
LOSSARY2.CFM
In looking at Victorian tombstones, a
lamb usually represents a baby, a
hand with one finger pointing into the
heavens shows the individual’s faith
that he will be going to heaven.
Clasped hands represent a farewell
from a loved one. A broken column
represents a life cut short. Roses,
depending on their stage of
development, represent the age of
the deceased – a bud for a child, a
rose in bloom for an adult. We can
learn a lot from tombstones, and the
Internet has more information on the
symbolism if you just google
“tombstone symbolism.”
Heber J. Grant overcame many of his
weaknesses and turned them into talents. He
had as a motto these words: “That which
we persist in doing becomes easier for
us to do; not that the nature of the
thing is changed, but that our power to
do is increased” (in Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant
[2002], 35).
Submitted by Elder William Paul
FAMILYSEARCH.org PROBLEM
OF BLOCKED IMAGES
"Thank
you
for
contacting
FamilySearch regarding your user
name changing to "null" when you try
to access images. Sometimes images
are blocked by temporary internet
files and cookies on your browser
history. Deleting these files often
gives you access to the images. See
instructions at:
https://help.familysearch.org/help/vie
wdocument?documentId=105483&sli
ceId=SAL_Public&userQuery=clear+c
ookies
If this does not work, try clicking on
the "back to search results" link, then
clear the files and cookies again and
then click on the name for the image
5
you need. You may need to close the
browser and open familysearch.org
again to access the images.
If the above solutions do not work,
try opening familysearch.org in a
different browser, like Mozilla Firefox
or Google Chrome. You can find free
downloads for these browsers online.
We are trying to pinpoint the cause of
your problem for the engineers. We
would appreciate your sending the
name, event, location, and date of
the person you are searching. We
also need to know the name of the
collection
you
are
searching.
Sincerely
Family Search support@familysearch.org
COURSES FOR ROOTSMAGIC USERS

RootsMagic To-Go: Running
RootsMagic on a Flash Drive

Sources, Citations, and
Documentation with RootsMagic

Working with Files and Folders in
RootsMagic

Cleaning Your Family Tree in
RootsMagic

Personal Historian: Bringing Life
to Your Life Stories

Creating Custom Reports with
RootsMagic

Map and Explore Your Family
Tree with Family Atlas

Adding and Editing Information in
RootsMagic
Pictures and Media in RootsMagic
They say a picture's worth a thousand

Lists and Reports in RootsMagic
words but pictures of your family

Writing Your Personal History
(and Living to Tell About it)
history are priceless! Join us for a
look at how to scan and add pictures

Places and Mapping in
RootsMagic
into RootsMagic of people, places,
and sources to really bring your family

Ask the RootsMagician
tree to life!

Google Search Tips and Tricks
with Lisa Louise Cooke
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
5pm MST See In Your Time Zone
90 minutes
Here are the recorded webinars already
available for you to view or download:

Getting Started with RootsMagic

Publishing a Family History with
RootsMagic

FamilySearch Made Easy with
RootsMagic

Creating and Printing Wallcharts
with RootsMagic
SPANISH VERSION OF
ANCESTRAL QUEST IS
AVAILABLE
A leader in a Spanish Branch was inquiring
about a Spanish version of a repository for
family history. The owner of Ancestral
Quest replied. Go to
www.ancquest.com/LangList.htm to
download a complete Spanish translation
of Ancestral Quest.
Gaylon Findlay
6
QUESTIONS ABOUT FAMILY
HISTORY EQUIPMENT
Would someone be so kind as to help me
locate where it would state OFFICIALLY
whether the Director is or is not supposed
to have Administrative codes for the
computers in a Family Search Centers, or
whether or not only the techs can have
them. And secondly, again officially if it
states that FSC's HAVE to use Open Office
and cannot have other programs on the
computers such as Word/Word Perfect/
Excel etc.
A Frustrated Director
ANSWER:
I think that all of the official policies on
computer use can be found in the
document "Policy and Guidelines for
Computers in Family History Centers"
found at
https://www.familysearch.org/consultant/tr
aining by clicking "Other Resources.” I
encourage you to print this document.
Page 3 answers your software questions.
Donated or purchased software may be
loaded on computers in the family history
center if it does not interfere with Church
software and Church Internet-based tools.
FamilySearch Support Offices do not
provide support for software that has not
been developed by the Church. License
documentation must be maintained for all
software.
Family history centers are encouraged to
use OpenOffice. It includes word
processing, presentation, and spreadsheet
tools. OpenOffice is available for download
at www.openoffice.org. Support for
OpenOffice is available on the following
Web site: www.openoffice.org
So the use of OpenOffice is a suggestion
(there are no licensing issues), but other
software can be installed if the above rules
are followed. My FHC has OpenOffice on 6
computers, and MS Office on one
computer.
QUESTION ABOUT USING AN
IPAD AND ROOTSMAGIC
QUESTION:
Is it possible to do Family History using
RootsMagic on an Ipad?
ANSWER: "Currently" there is no way to
run any of the major software packages
on the ipad with one exception (Legacy
has one called "Families.” There is an
app called "Gedview" that would let you
upload a gedcom of your RootsMagic
software to your ipad. I only use it as a
lookup; I don't make changes.
Ancestry has an app that lets you view
your family tree if you have created one.
It's called simply "Ancestry.”
FamilySearch has one called "Mobile Family
Tree" that lets you access your tree on
FamilySearch.
There are a very few other apps that can
help but not full database organizers. The
National Archives has one, and there is one
called "History Maps" that is very helpful.
For those who use "Reunion" on the MAC,
there is an app for it.
Be patient. I would imagine that
RootsMagic as well as a few others will
eventually have an ipad app.
Sue Maxwell
http://granitegenealogy.blogspot.com/
Vice President - Utah Genealogical
Association
LEGACY USERS AND NFS GROUP
There is a mailing list for Legacy users:
LegacyFS@LegacyUsers.com
This is primarily a list for Legacy AND NFS
users.
Often it is users answering. But if users are
not able the tech-personnel come in.
Helle
Bill Buchanan
7
QUESTION ABOUT THE RELEASE
OF NFS TO THE PUBLIC
I attended a RM Users meeting
yesterday and was asked by several
members when/how nFS is being
released to the public. I could only tell
them that it was being released to some
public members by some unknown
means currently. Does anyone have
better information to give than that?
Nancy Scott
The public release of nFS is actually a
planned one of several steps with
controls put in place to throttle the
number of registrants. There has been a
new internal service added to nFS called
an "invite" service that allows an
invitation to certain groups of those
without access to nFS for a specified
time and up to a certain amount. Those
"campaigns" will be ongoing throughout
the year and beyond and are managed
by the Family History Dept management
on the timing and amounts allowed to
register.
There have been a couple of campaigns
already. One, to all those serving in
Family History Centers that did not have
access (community volunteers) and one
just recently to friends and family of
Family History Department associates
and missionaries. There are more coming
through this year and likely into next.
These are private announcements from
the department to the groups that will
have the opportunity to "invite" the
groups targeted. These groups will be
increasingly broader and broader until
they reach the point where it will be
open to all who want access. This needs
to be a controlled rollout due to the
potential of overwhelming the system.
So there is more method to the madness
than perhaps has been evident.
Best regards,
Randy Bryson
Area Family History Adviser
Utah South Area
UPDATE OF HARRY SENFT’S
CEMETERY PHOTOS IN YORK
AND ADAMS COUNTIES
Disk #42 has been posted
1. Biglerville Cemetery, Biglerville, Adams, PA
2. Christ Lutheran Cemetery, York, York, PA
3. Deardorff Cemetery, Washington Twp, York, PA
4. Fairview Cemetery, Wrightsville, York, PA.
(Completely Redone)
5. Hampton Brethren Cemetery, Reading Twp,
Adams, PA
6. Zion Lutheran Cemetery, York, York, PA
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/
yccemeteries.htm
HARRY E SENFT
3048 SOLAR DR
DOVER, PA 17315
717) 792-9253
“BILLION GRAVES” TO COMPETE
WITH “FIND A GRAVE”
The affiliate is AppTime. They built
MobileTree. You can try out Billion
Graves at www.billiongraves.com
and http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/b
illiongraves/id437939495?mt=8&ls=1.
Tim Cross
Now that Billion Graves is up,
someone went in and shot the entire
Provo City Cemetery. I just did one
and it's very easy. The site shows an
image plus some fields to fill, and
given it’s an iPhone photo, it's very
good; the difference may be on some
old stones that are weathered. And
the images are still good given that
most older iPhone cameras are only 3
megapixels. iPhone 4's and some
iPads are 5 megapixels
8
All you have to do is do a simple
registration and wait for the
confirmation email; then once you
get that log in and look for the
transcription link. They will also tell
you how many more are left to do
once you have done your first stone.
All they need is the names and dates,
and if more than one person is on a
stone, you just add lines by way of a
button on the far left near the fields
for transcription.
It may take a little time for the
confirmation email to reach your
inbox, which is odd given how fast
most places that require that step
arrive. Click the link; then sign in and
the rest is ready to go whether you
have things to upload or you want to
transcribe stones already photographed.
James Anderson
INVITATION FROM ANCESTRY
TO SEARCH MILITARY RECORDS
U.S. Navy Cruise Books Index, 19182009 Similar to yearbooks for naval ships,
these records include photographs, officer
biographies and more.
U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls,
1938-1949 This collection of over 33 million
records gives facts about WWII enlisted
personnel, like occupational specialty and
service number.
"We renew our appeal for the keeping of
individual journals and records and compiling
family histories.... Some families possess
some spiritual treasures because ancestors
have recorded the events surrounding their
conversion to the gospel and other
happenings of interest, including many
miraculous
blessings
and
spiritual
experiences.... I promise you that if you will
keep your journals and records they will
indeed be a source of great inspiration to
your families, to your children, your
grandchildren, and others, on through
generations." President Spencer W. Kimball,
General Conference, Oct, 1978
INFORMATION ABOUT
TEACHING FAMILY HISTORY
CLASSES
We hold an Open House semiannually
and publicize them through the ward
bulletins, the stake web site,
community newspapers and radio
stations. This year we held an Open
House in April and will offer a
seminar in the fall, offering six
classes, repeated in four hour-long
sessions. We're inviting D.A.R. to
participate with us in putting on this
seminar.
Consultants have been making
presentations at service clubs and
other organizations within the stake
boundaries, making the public aware
of our presence and resources. We've
provided
tours
and
research
assistance to local adult school family
history classes.
We're working with the Stake YM and
YW Presidencies to provide research
training to our youth. We've had
opportunities to teach several ward
youth groups how to log onto New
FamilySearch and to find names that
they can personally take to the
Temple. We've been a "lifesaver" on
several occasions when youth groups
don't have an activity planned one
week or when the activity needs to
be canceled.
We're also working with the Stake YM
President
to
identify
Scouting
Genealogy Merit Badge Counselors to
teach the merit badge at the FHC.
We will encourage parents to attend
these classes with their sons. These
classes will also be promoted through
district Scout training venues, inviting
nonmember Scouts to attend with
their parents.
9
We also have a Consultant assigned
to teach classes to all consultants and
volunteers on a monthly basis. Thus
far we've learned about New
FamilySearch, the portal sites,
Hispanic and Portuguese resources.
In the coming months we will hold
classes on microfilms and fiche,
military records, updates in New
FamilySearch and research basics.
Ron
Turlock, CA
NOTES FROM DICK EASTMAN
Modern Man Has
Grown 4 Inches Taller
than his Ancestors in
100 Years
Nobel Prize-winning US economist Robert
Fogel and his colleagues have found that
the height of the average man has
increased by four inches in the last
century due to improvements in diet and
public health. In 1900, a typical male
was 5ft 6in tall, but by 2000 that had
gone up to 5ft 10in. Over the same time
women have grown by one-and-a-half
inches, from just under 5ft 3in to just
over 5ft 4in, according to their data.
Posted by Dick Eastman, May 2, 2011
WikiTree.com
is
seeking
an
experienced genealogist to be its
official "Cousin Connector." This
person will work from home
approximately five hours a week
introducing distant cousins to each
other, helping them merge their
ancestors, and facilitating their
enjoyable, productive collaborations.
African Origins Project
Hopes to Identify
Origins of Africans
Transported in the
Transatlantic Slave
Trade
For more information, please look at
the
full
description
at
http://goo.gl/3avKw. Position has
been filled. Posted May 27, 2011
You can sign up for Dick Eastman’s
very informative blog at this site.
http://www.eogn.com/wp/
There is a free version that
shows only a paragraph of
information and then a plus
edition to read all entries, but
there is a charge.
Thomas MacEntee's list at
http://goo.gl/4fR5A now lists more
than 1,900 genealogy blogs
African Origins contains information about
the migration histories of Africans forcibly
carried on slave ships into the Atlantic. Using
detailed information on 9,453 Africans
liberated by Courts of Mixed Commission,
this resource presents geographic, ethnic,
and linguistic data on peoples captured in
Africa and pulled into the slave trade.
10
Through contributions to the website by
Africans, members of the African Diaspora,
and others, the hope is to realize the history
of the millions of Africans captured and sold
into
slavery
during
suppression
of
transatlantic slave trading in the 19th
century.
Historical information in the African-Origins
database comes from Havana, Cuba, and
Freetown, Sierra Leone, Courts of Mixed
Commission registers, created between 1819
and 1845. The data describes individual
Africans who were liberated from slaving
vessels in the era of the suppression of the
transatlantic slave trade. Such information as
name, age, and in some cases place of origin
was provided by the Africans themselves,
with the help of a translator, to a Spanish- or
English-speaking
Court
registrar
who
recorded these descriptions as a way of
helping to prevent these Africans from being
re-enslaved.
The African Origins Project invites members
of the public to assist in identifying the
historical origins of Africans transported in
the transatlantic slave trade. The project
organizers seek assistance from those with
knowledge of African languages, cultural
naming practices, and ethnic groups. Perhaps
you can assist in identifying these Africans'
origins by drawing on your own expertise to
identify the likely ethno-linguistic origin of an
individual's
name.
You can learn more at the African Origins
web site at http://www.african-origins.org/
Posted by Dick Eastman on May 2, 2011
FamilySearch Reports
New Historic Brazil
and Honduras Records
Online
The following announcement was written by
FamilySearch:
Six Additional Country Collections Also
Updated
More digital images poured out of the
FamilySearch pipeline this week—over 2
million, in fact. Historic record collections for
8 countries were updated: Brazil, Chile, El
Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Switzerland,
U.S., and Wales. The biggest winners were
Brazil and Honduras. More than 1.7 million
images were added to the Brazil Civil
Registration collection, with records from
1870 to 2009. And 346,000 church records
were added for Honduras. These birth,
marriage, death, and church records are very
valuable because they usually include
multiple generations in a single document.
See the table below for details of all the
updates this week. 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. Posted by Dick
Eastman on May 3, 2011
IRELAND GENEALOGY
If you belong to a Family History Society or
similar organization, your members can take
advantage of a 20% discount on all Ireland
Genealogy
research.
However,
the
organization must apply in advance for the
discount.
Details
may
be
found
at http://goo.gl/K319e
Again, the searches are free but you do need
to pay to view the records that are found.
You can find the Ireland Genealogy web site
at http://www.ireland-genealogy.com/
Posted by Dick Eastman on May 5, 2011
New Web Site:
findmypast Ireland
A new web site went live today: findmypast
Ireland. The site is the result of a partnership
between Eneclann, a research and
publishing house in Ireland, and findmypast,
a family history website, initially launched in
the UK.You can find findmypast Ireland today
at http://www.findmypast.ie/
Posted by
DickEastman on May 7, 2011
Nearly 19,000 records commencing 1869 for
Constitution Hill Cemetery in Peterhead,
Aberdeenshire are immediately available on
www.deceasedonline.com.
Posted by Dick Eastman May 22, 2011
11
Announcing the
Genealogical Research
Institute of Pittsburgh
May 6, 2011 - Pittsburgh, PA – GRIP – The
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh
– a new genealogical institute of learning
announces
a
genealogy
educational
opportunity planned for July 2012. Consisting
of four courses, it will be held Monday, July
23 through Friday, July 27, 2012, at LaRoche
College,
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
Courses:




~Intermediate Genealogy: Tools
for Digging Deeper
~Advanced Research Methods
~Beneath the Home Page:
Problem Solving with Online
Repositories
~German Genealogical Research
Posted by Dick Eastman on May 9, 2011
INVITATION FROM OHANA
SOFTWARE
Dear Sylvia Sonneborn,
We know you want to get working on your
family history, so we thought you might
enjoy some help:
FamilyInsight Tutorial Videos:
http://www.OhanaSoftware.com/VideoTut
orials
Free Live Webinar Trainings- Sign up,
watch, & ask questions...all from home.
These cover both FamilyInsight and other
general family history topics:
http://www.OhanaSoftware.com/Webinars
Click on the "Guide me" button
in FamilyInsight. This gives help based on
where you are in the program.
See the video at:
http://www.OhanaSoftware.com/GuideMeV
ideo
If you need further assistance please don't
hesitate to email us at
support@ohanasoftware.com.
We hope you enjoy your new tool as much
as we've enjoyed making it.
Aloha,
The Ohana Software Team
Susan Gates Young once asker her
Father, the Prophet Brigham Young:
“HOW WILL WE EVER FIND THE
TIME TO DO TEMPLE WORK AND
GENEALOGICAL WORK?”
Brigham Young responded: “THE
LORD WILL PROVIDE MANY TIME
SAVING DEVICES.” (YW Journal, Vol.
2, p. 231) [Thanks to Sister Cogdell}
SYLVIA’S GENEALOGY CORNER
I have to give credit to Bernadette
Livingston as my inspiration for a new
task I began this week. Bernadette is
a member of our genealogy club, and
she and Harry Senft and I were
presenting a class on how to use
tombstones to find pertinent family
history information.
Bernadette came into the family
history center a few weeks before the
presentation to discuss her part,
which was to feature the Find a
Grave site. She showed me some of
her family’s memorials, and I thought
it looked like a wonderful tribute to
the deceased. I decided in the next
week to begin with my parents Coy
and Elizabeth Hott to record
information about their lives as well
as some photos. Then I continued
with my grandparents. I worked for
about a week and was able to post
15 memorials. True, my biographies
are longer than suggested, but that’s
just the way I am – verbose.
12
The night of the presentation could
have been more successful for
Bernadette.
Unfortunately,
our
church’s connection to the Internet is
not very good, and it took forever for
a page to load. Nonetheless, we did
get to see one of her pages, and she
passed some others around for club
members to see. She also told us
about Find A Grave and explained
how to get started. We appreciate
her enthusiasm and are sorry the
Internet was not working well that
night.
So, I thought I would talk to you
about the process of creating a
memorial in Find a Grave, and
perhaps you, too, might get curious
enough to go online and post
information about your ancestors.
Type findagrave.com into your
browser box and hit Go. Then click
on
• Search 62 million grave records
A “Find A Grave Search Form”
template will open up, and you can
either type in your ancestor’s first
and last name, or you can put in a
last name to find all individuals in the
database by that name. I typed in
my maiden name “Hott,” only to find
that there are hundreds of Hotts that
have been added to the site.
The reason for the search is to see if
your ancestor is already there. If so,
you can add to the site. But if you do
not find your ancestor, then the fun
begins. You can use the commands
along the left hand side to “Add
Burial Records.” I clicked on “Family
and Friends (Old version)” to begin
the memorial to my parents and
others.
A template appears for your text
information – mainly the ancestor’s
name, birth and death dates and
locations. Fill that in and also write a
short biography on a word processor
and paste it into the largest white
block on the page. If you paste in the
obituary, then you need to tell which
newspaper published it and what
date. Preview and proofread it. Then
click on “Add this person to Find a
Grave.”
Next I added photos. If Find A Grave
has a photo of the cemetery, it will
automatically insert it, and you can
add 5 additional photos of the person
and/or tombstone.
Anyway, the
maximum free amount to add is 5
[you are allowed 6 photos if Find A
Grave has posted the cemetery’s
photo]. You can upgrade by paying if
you want to add more photos.
How can you add photos? First you
need to have scanned them. You will
need to scan as a TIF but then save a
second time as a Jpg and make sure
the photo is saved under 800 pixels.
Know where you have stored the
scan on your computer, and then go
back to the memorial page which has
the name and biography, and click
“Add a Photo” and browse back to
your photo storage site. Select the
type of photo – person, gravestone,
etc. Choose the file and let it upload.
Then click on “Add this photo.”
Maximum size is 500 KB, or 300-1200
pixels. Find A Grave asks you to crop
your photo of excess white space
before you store it for their site. If
you did not add the photo yourself,
but you find interesting photos of
your ancestors that you would like to
have, you can “Request a Photo.” It
will also copy and paste into another
site.
13
Last you can “Leave flowers and a
note.” There are other symbols to
leave, like religious icons. You can
have your name attached, someone
else’s, or “anonymous.”
There are a few other things that you
can do, such as create memorials for
spouses, children, or parents and
then use the ID number to link
relatives. Also, if the tombstone is
difficult to read, you can transcribe
the writing on the tombstone and
post it on Find A Grave.
SPOTLIGHT ON GENI
Geni.com is one of the world’s
largest free family trees. You can get
a free account and with that account
you can:




The site is controversial because you
are putting a lot of personal
information on the Internet if you
include the obituary. It generally
names the family members that
survive the deceased.
That
information is generally available on
online obituaries too.
If you want to look at some of my
sites, you can go to Find a Grave and
find a particular cemetery or person.
I added Elga Rufus Hott and Hilda
Ona Haines Hott in the Salem
Cemetery, Hampshire County, West
Virginia, also Verlie Hott Conn. I
have made memorials for my parents
Coy Elga Hott and Elizabeth Mae
Krise Hott in Grandview Cemetery,
Cambria County, Pennsylvania, as
well as my mother’s sister Ruth Krise.
You can search for the contributor,
the deceased, or the cemetery.
Personally, I think this is a nice site to
contribute a lasting remembrance of
your deceased ancestor. If you find
an ancestor already posted that you
need information about, it is also a
wonderful boon to your family
history. Give it a try.

Upload your family tree (there
is no size limit)
Store unlimited documents,
photos and videos.
Collaborate with other
genealogists that share your
family lines.
Invites your relatives to share
your tree.
Merge your tree with other
family trees. Posted by Ohana
Software
BYU Conference on Family
History and Genealogy
"Strengthening Ties that
Bind Families Together"
July 26-29, 2011
BYU Conference Center
Provo, Utah
John Vilburn will be teaching a
class
Click here for more information
HOW TO ACCESS THE MAJOR
FAMILY HISTORY
REPOSITORIES
The Latest Version of FamilyInsight
is 2011.3.22.0 for Windows. This
version will work with Ancestral Quest
12, Family Tree Maker 2010 and
2011, RootsMagic 4 as well as our
previous file formats of PAF (Personal
Ancestral File) and GEDCOMs from
other programs. You can update by
going to the FamilyInsight download
page
on
our
Website
and
downloading the latest version. A
new Mac version of FamilyInsight will
14
be released in the next few days. We
are
beta
testing
FamilyInsight
with Legacy 7 files. If you are
interested in helping and have not
already received an email with the
beta instructions, please send an
email
beta@ohanasoftware.com
SharingTime continues to offer a
FREE 30 day trial and has extended
the special $9.95 yearly rate
discount. Click here to watch the
SharingTime video to learn more.
Latest version of RootsMagic
version 4.1.1.4 can be downloaded
here
Latest version of Ancestral Quest
version 12.1.30 can be downloaded
here
Latest version of Legacy 7.5 can be
downloaded here
Latest version of Charting
Companion for FamilySearch is
now available for download on our
website. Charting Companion for
FamilySearch version 2.2.2
download here Posted by Ohana
Software
Upcoming Webinars
1. FamilyInsight: Beyond
the Basics
Presenter: Cina Johnson
If you are comfortable using
FamilyInsight but want to better
utilize its features, this class is for
you! Learn how to link people, add
other data, and fix "places" that
contain
descriptive
information
instead of a place name and much
more. Join this class to take your use
of FamilyInsight to the next level!
· Wednesday, June 8, 2011
· 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM MDT
To sign up for this webinar, click here
2. Increasing Productivity
on the FamilySearch Website
Presenter: Andrea
Schnakenburg
Learn
how
to
increase
your
TM
productivity using Sharing Time . a
new tool that integrates into the
FamilySearch TM website. Quickly link
to and auto-search dozens of internet
resources, e-mail collaborators in
seconds, and focus your research on
ancestors that are closest to being
ready for temple work.
· Tuesday, June 21, 2011
· 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM MDT
To sign up for this webinar, click here
Visit our Webinar page for any
additions to our schedule.
Join the Ohana Software
Facebook fans page
Posted by Ohana Software
FAMILY SEARCH ANNOUNCES THAT
MILLIONS OF CIVIL WAR RECORDS
HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED ON
FAMILYSEARCH.ORG
May 11, 2011 SALT LAKE CITY—As the
United States marks the 150th anniversary of
the Civil War, people who had ancestors
involved in the conflict can access millions of
historical records recently published on the
familysearch.org website. And millions more
records are coming, as Civil War volunteers
enlist in an epoch online campaign over the
next five years to provide access to the
highly desirable historic documents.
FamilySearch announced the release today of
hundreds of millions of online records at the
National Genealogical Society conference in
15
Charleston, South Carolina. The collections
include service records for both the Confederate and Union armies, pension records, and
more. Some of these records have been
available for some time but are now being
added to familysearch.org/civilwar as part of
this project. Here is just a sampling of what
is available:

















Arizona, Service Records of
Confederate Soldiers of the Civil War,
1861-1863
Arkansas Confederate Pensions,
1901-1929
Civil War Pension Index
Louisiana Confederate Pensions
1898-1950
Missouri Confederate Pension
Applications and Soldiers' Home
Admission Applications
South Carolina Compiled Service
Records of Confederate Soldiers
(NARA M267)
South Carolina Probate 1671-1977
South Carolina Probate Records,
Files, and Loose Papers, 1732-1964
United States, 1890 Census of
Union Veterans and Widows
United States, Index to General
Correspondence of the Pension
Office, 1889-1904
United States, Union Provost
Marshall Files of Papers Relating to
Two or More Civilians, 1861-1866
United States, Union Provost
Marshall's File of Papers Relating to
Individual Civilians, 1861-1866
U.S. Civil War Soldiers Index
1855-1865
U.S. Navy Widows' Certificates,
1861-1910 (NARA M1279)
U.S., Registers of Enlistments in
the U.S. Army, 1798-1914
U.S., Veterans Administration
Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933
Vermont Enrolled Militia, 18611867
"These records are significant because nearly
every family in the United States at that time
was impacted either directly or indirectly by
the war," FamilySearch project manager Ken
Nelson said. "Each soldier has a story to tell
based on what his unique experience was
during the war. Each family has their own
story to tell. This is the paper trail that tells
the stories about that period in our nation's
history," Nelson said.
FOOTNOTE ANNOUNCES THE
AVAILABILITY OF WAR OF 1812
RECORDS
Footnote.com is pleased to announce the first
online publishing of the War of 1812 Pension and
Bounty Land Warrant Applications. In cooperation
with the Federation of Genealogical Societies
(FGS) and the National Archives, Footnote.com is
currently digitizing millions of War of 1812 records
and making them available on its site free of
charge. The initial 1,400 images are available
today.
Introducing
GenDetective™
The following announcement was written by
RumbleSoft Incorporated:
GenDetective™
tells you what you DON’T KNOW and what
you need to FIND!
Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania (May 10, 2011)
– RumbleSoft Incorporated, supplier of
innovative solutions for genealogists will
introduce GenDetective™ Wednesday May
11, 2011 at NGS in Charleston, South
Carolina.
GenDetective™ is the first genealogy utility
that can truly analyze your genealogy data
today
to
help
you
discover
your
past.GenDetective™ is a software tool that
analyzes your genealogical data to produce
research recommendations based on missing
or incomplete data. Up until now genealogy
programs only told you what information you
have. GenDetective's powerful reporting
features will tell you what you DON'T KNOW,
and what you need to FIND, using criteria
you select for easy, organized research.
Posted by Dick Eastman May 10, 2011,
written by Rumble Soft
16
AncestorSync
To Bridge The Gap Between
Desktop and Online Family
History
Real-Time Collaboration, Inc. Unveils
AncestorSync™ To Bridge The Gap Between
Desktop and Online Family History
AncestorSync™ enables
you
to
synchronize your family tree, source
documents, citations, and notes
across all of your computers and a
web pedigree of your choice.
Orem,
Utah
(Real-Time
Collaboration) May 10, 2011 –
Real-Time
Collaboration
has
announced the release of their latest
offering, AncestorSync™,
which
allows you to seamlessly download,
upload, or synchronize your family
tree from your online pedigree to
your personal computer, and back
again. AncestorSync™ is the first
service on the market that allows you
to easily move all of your family
history work from a desktop
genealogy program to an online
pedigree without anyone or anything
getting lost in the process.
AncestorSync™ has
partnerships
with FamilySearch, Geni,
Inc.,
and ourFamilyology, Inc. and is a
joint venture of Ohana Software,
LLC. and SharingTime, LLC., wholly
owned subsidiaries of Real-Time
Collaboration. Information from Real-
Time Collaboration.
The following announcement was written by
Deceased Online regarding English
cemeteries: 11 cemeteries across Wiltshire,
Dorset and Devon now on
www.deceasedonline.
Other Sites to look at
http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/
http://www.civil-war.net/
whatwasthere.com
http://www.1911census.org.uk/scotlan
d.htm
www.iar.ie
IMPORTANCE OF MIND SET IN
FAMILY HISTORY INTERPRETATION
It may be difficult, but remember
when reading or analyzing any
document that unless it was created
during your lifetime, there might be
some cultural, historical, economic, or
legal events impacting that document
or causing it to be created. Don't
interpret a 19th century document
with a 21st century mind. Source:
Michael John Neill, Genealogy Tip of
the Day, posted 9 May 2011.
Social Networking
I have a Family History Facebook
page. I also started a Family History
Blog thanks to your class I attended.
From these two ways of sharing my
Family History, I have been contacted
by quite a few distant cousins. One
cousin has his own Facebook page of
Family History. From his page I have
gathered about 150 more names than
I had. Another cousin has her own
blog and has been adding what I
have to her blog. What a difference
the computer makes! I remember
my mom and her cousins gathering
around the kitchen table to share
Family History. Now I share with
cousins from around the world with
just a click of a button.
Submitted by: Shauna Wheelwright.
Question:
What does "EASy" mean in the System
Origin field in many FamilySearch
historical records entries? For example,
Samuel Dill baptized 14 Oct 1748 in
Eutingen, Baden, Germany has GermanyEASy in the System Origin field.
Answer:
According to FamilySearch, EASy stands
for Extraction Administration System, the
system used prior to FamilySearch
Indexing.
17
Genealogy's Star
Check out this blog, Genealogy's Star,
for information on the latest
developments
in
genealogical
research tools and methods.
Virginia Family Histories - Links
to the Past
This site has a collection of links to
family histories and genealogy sites
related to the history of families in
Lynchburg and Central Virginia
including
the
counties
of
Appomattox, Amherst, Bedford and
Campbell.
Label Your Flash drive
Please label your flash drives if you
are going to bring them to the
Center. They are so easy to leave in
the computers. If we knew who they
belonged to, we could call and let you
know. One suggestion is to use a
small mailing label. Another is to
rename the actual drive. (Right-click
the drive and select rename.) One of
our staff members can assist you
with this.
An Easy Way to Add Maps to a
Genealogy Project
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.
Source: Eastman's Online Genealogy
Newsletter, April 24, 2011, as reported in
"Generations", Washington DC Family History
Center Newsletter, Vol V, No 5, May 1022.
Question:
How do I get the handouts for
classes taught at the various Family
Centers located throughout the USA?
Answer:
Our website is now on the
FamilySearch Wiki. Click here for the
Schedule/Handouts page OR go to
FamilySearch.org, click the Learn tab,
and enter Logan FHC in the search
box. From the results list select the
Logan Utah Family History
Center/Classes and Handouts
page.
Ancient Faces
Ancient Faces contains free photos of
faces and places in history. You can
search over 50,000 vintage photos.
Search by surname or topic. You
can also share your ancestral photos
and help build the site for others.
"The Lord expects of us all that we do
what we can for ourselves and for our
dead. He wants us to make the search for
our ancestry because he does not do for
us what we can do for ourselves. And
after we have done all we can, then
means will be furnished, or the way will
be opened for the finishing of the
information which we are unable to
discover."
Source: Joseph Fielding Smith,
Doctrines of Salvation, Vol 2, p. 149
18
Finding Your Ancestor's Grave
INDEXING PRESENTATION
Finding where an ancestor is buried is
not always easy. Obstacles to finding
that information can exist, including
not knowing where the person died,
knowing where they died but not
finding them in local cemeteries and
a lack of information available about
local cemeteries. The following ideas
are meant to help you carefully
survey the information available and
find where your ancestor is buried."
Read Gena Ortega’s article, which
includes many links to helpful
websites including links to states with
digitized death certificates.
Source: World Vital Records
Newsletter, Oct 28, 2010,
Access this complete article at
Document ID: 106682 Introduction to
FamilySearch indexing--Group presentation
A presentation, in Adobe PDF format,
introducing the FamilySearch indexing
program is available online at
https://fch.ldschurch.org/fsinformation/Res
ource_Guide/Introduction_to_Indexing.pdf
To save the file to your computer:
Right-click the link above.
Click Save Target As... or Save Link As....
Select a location where you can save the
file that is easy to remember, such as your
desktop.
Type a name for the file. Click Save.
To present this file as a slideshow, open
the saved file, and then change the view to
Full Screen Mode. To do this:
Click the View menu.
Click Full Screen Mode.
To exit Full Screen Mode, press Esc key.
Note: You will need Adobe Reader or an
equivalent to open the file. If you do not
currently have the required utility installed
on your computer, Adobe Reader is
available for free at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/r
eadstep2.html.
Bill Buchanan website:
http://billbuchanan.byethost17.com
blog: http://billbuchanan.blogspot.com
http://www.worldvitalrecords.co
m/news/volume4issue34/ [Nice
newsletter]
Question:
Is it possible to find a pension record
for my ancestor, a confederate in the
Civil War?
Answer:
Pension records for Confederates
were issued by the state where the
veteran lived when he applied for it.
There are many indexes and even
digital images online. Check some of
the following sites for more
information:
NARA - Confederate Pension Records
Genealogy Branches - Ordering Civil
War Pension Records
Military Indexes - Online Civil
Indexes, Records & Rosters
Genealogy Branches - Civil War
Service Records Research Guide
BREAKING DOWN BRICK WALLS
http://genealogy.about.com/od/search_tip
s/tp/database_search.htm?nl=1
"We are a covenant-making people.
These eternal blessings are for all who
wish to worthily receive of them, both the
living and the dead. In the mercy of God
we are privileged to receive these
blessings by proxy for our deceased
ancestors who did not have this privilege
in life. They, of course, may choose
whether to accept these blessings. Our
duty is to search out our forebears and
give them the opportunity to accept and
receive these blessings. As the Prophet
Joseph Smith said, 'The greatest
responsibility in this world that God has
laid upon us is to seek after our dead.'"
Source: James E. Faust, "Eternity Lies
before Us," April 1997 General
Conference
19
Microsoft is Buying
Skype for $8.5 Billion
Until Jack and I served our mission,
we were not familiar with Skype, but
it is a computer to computer
communication system that we used
with other missionaries. It is free to
call anywhere in the world. We used
headsets so that our hands would be
free. If your computer has a camera,
you can talk on the phone and see
the person at the same time. We
used it to instant message other
missionaries when we needed help,
but we also used it to chat. If you
have not used Skype, find someone
who has a child at BYU or somewhere
else that he can call and IM without
charge to discover the benefits.
There is also a paid version, but for
my purposes, this one was good
enough.
Ancestry.com
Announces New Web
Search
The following announcement was written by
Ancestry.com.
Last October we launched Ancestry Labs to
test a few new ideas, and we’d like to thank
all those members who contributed a lot of
great feedback and discussion around these.
Today we’re excited to announce the
introduction of one of the ideas, Web Search,
into the main Ancestry.com search.
Why are we launching Web Search?
We’ve heard from many members that
although Ancestry.com has the broadest
collections of historical records available, it
certainly isn’t completely comprehensive.
Every day, digital records are being published
on sites across the web, many of which are
free to access.
These sites can be a great resource in
helping break through brick walls; however,
it can be hard to know where to find sites
that are relevant to your ancestors, and it
also takes time to work out the best way to
search them once you do manage to track
them down.
To help solve this, we are launching a new
feature that searches select websites and
brings back any matching results we find,
along with a link to the site to enable you to
go straight to the original record. Where
relevant, we will include these results into
your main search results. We will also list
each collection we have within our card
catalog, which will allow you to search those
collections directly from within Ancestry.com.
Posted by Dick Eastman on May 13, 2011
NEWSLETTER FOR BEGINNERS
Tentatively
titled Casefile
Clues
for
Beginners, this new newsletter will be biweekly and feature beginning level material
written by a variety of genealogists, not just
me. We'll have a question and answer
section, interpret the handwriting section,
one or two articles every issue, and more.
This new periodical will be written in a downto-earth, practical format. Casefile Clues for
Beginners will concentrate on those who are
starting or have just started their search for
their ancestors.
There is more information about Casefile
Clues for Beginners on our blog:
http://goo.gl/EnXUj
Posted by Dick Eastman May 15, 2011
May 16, 2011
Free Online File
Converter
Bookmark this site. It converts files from
hundreds of formats to any of hundreds of
other formats. Want to convert a DOC file to
a PDF file? Online-Convert will do that. Want
to convert an audio MP3 file to WAV format?
Online-Convert will do that. The site has
many, many other formats available as well.
If you can’t find the conversion you need,
you can contact the site owners and they will
try to help you. Best of all, the service is
available free of charge.
You can find
convert.com/
it
at http://www.online-
Posted by Dick Eastman May 17, 2011
20
Fully Searchable Death
Records now Online at
findmypast.co.uk
Announcing GeneaSpeak - A
Genealogy Speakers Bureau
The following announcement was written by
findmypast.co.uk: Leading UK family history
website www.findmypast.co.uk has today
launched a quicker way to find the deaths of
your ancestors, completing a two-year
project to make the birth, marriage and
death records of England and Wales easier to
use. Over 1,000 people have worked on this
project, rescanning 170 years of records and
transcribing the quarter of a billion names
they contain.
The following announcement was
written by GeneaBloggers:
This final installment means that over 85
million death records can now be searched
with as little as a surname. This will return a
list of individual names, so you’ll no longer
need to search through pages of results to
spot your ancestor. Finding a death record
will take a fraction of the time that it used to.
For more information log on
to www.findmypast.co.uk
Posted by Dick Eastman May 21, 2011
Filming is Underway for
Ireland's "Genealogy
Roadshow" Television
Program
Production is currently underway on
"The Genealogy Roadshow," a new 4
x 52 minute format from Big
Mountain Productions which aims to
uncover the extraordinary family
histories of ordinary people. The
series is set to shoot in Kildare,
Meath, Limerick and Galway in May
and June and is presented by Derek
Mooney. You can read more in an
article
in
IFTN's
web
site
at http://goo.gl/Ipjfd.
Posted by Dick Eastman May 27, 2011
BROKEN LINK IN APRIL NEWSLETTER
Kip Sperry's List of Family History
Internet Sites may be found at
https://sites.google.com/site/familyhistor
yinternetsites/
Kip's bio can be found at
http://www.kipsperry.com/
May 31, 2011 - Chicago, Illinois:
GeneaBloggers,
the
genealogy
community's resource for blogging,
announces
the
creation
of
GeneaSpeak.
GeneaSpeak is a community-driven
resource that allows genealogy
speakers to post their own profiles
and speaking engagements in order
to publicize their presentations.
GeneaSpeak
replaces
the
GeneaBloggers Speakers Bureau
which resided at the GeneaBloggers
website since 2009.
Posted by Dick Eastman June 1, 2011
FamilySearch News: Free Online Records
Cast Historic Light on South Carolina
11 May 2011
Free Online Records Cast Historic
Light on South Carolina
SALT
LAKE
CITY—FamilySearch,
a
nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization in
charge of the world’s largest genealogy
repository, announced today rich new
online resources that will certainly be of
interest to South Carolina residents, Civil
War buffs, and family historians with
Southern roots. FamilySearch’s free
resources consist of new historic records
and image collections and anin-depth
online help center (wiki) for South Carolina
genealogy resources. The information can
be
found
at FamilySearch.org.
The
announcement coincides with the National
Genealogical Society’s 33rd annual family
history conference in Charleston this week.
FamilySearch’s newest South Carolina
collections are South Carolina Probate
Records, Files and Loose Papers, 17321964, and South Carolina Probate Records,
Bound Volumes, 1671-1977. Probate and
21
estate records typically include wills,
bonds, property inventory, and court
petitions.
“These types of records are extremely
valuable to genealogists because they may
be the only known source of an ancestor’s
death date, name of a spouse, children,
parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors,
associates, relatives, and their place of
residence,” said Mary Lynn Sharpe,
FamilySearch project manager.
The new collections include hundreds of
thousands of digital images of the original
historic documents that can be browsed
online at FamilySearch.org using a digital
viewer.
“For example, let’s say your ancestor was
Jasper Crooks, and you knew he lived in
Oconee County South Carolina,” said
Sharpe. “A review of the historic probate
records online will reveal that his wife,
Sallie Crooks, petitioned the court for
permission to divvy up his estate. The
records show Jasper Crooks’ death date
was November 1, 1897, and personal
property deemed most valuable at the
time—right down to the mouse grey mule,
old two horse wagon, 4 rocking chairs, 3
padlocks, wash pot, and a corn sheller.”
Also in FamilySearch’s free online collection
of South Carolina records are South
Carolina Deaths (1915–1955) and Civil War
Confederate
Service
Records (1861–
1865)—the two collections comprise
millions of searchable records.
FamilySearch has also introduced a South
Carolina section to its free online research
wiki. Using the information from the wiki,
patrons can quickly find out what other
historical records exist by county and
where. There are also links to free online
genealogy courses and a free forum for
asking personal research questions. The
help services are supported by volunteers.
IRISH RECORDS
FINDMYPAST.IE
DEATH OF GOOGLE NEWS ARCHIVE
here is a link to check out.
http://www.genealogyintime.com/NewsSto
ries/2011/Q2/the_death_of_Google_News_
Archive.html
"Now let me say something to all who
can worthily go to the house of the
Lord. When you attend the temple
and
perform
the
ordinances
that pertain to the house of the Lord,
certain blessings will come to you:
You will receive the spirit of Elijah,
which will turn your hearts to
your spouse, to your children, and to
your forebears. You will love your
family with a deeper love than you
have loved before. You will be
endowed with power from on high as
the Lord has promised."
Source: Ezra Taft
Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft
Benson, p. 254
New Tricks and Ol' Tips
Irfanview
Irfanview is one program that can be used
with graphics, saving images to your
computer and then opening them up to crop
as you want and make copies. It downloads
for free at Irfanview.com and is on the
computers at the Family History Library in
SLC. (The desktop icon is a squashed red cat
with a black mask.)
Family History Expos Newsletter May
2011 http://www.fhexpos.com/
For copies of Genealogy News, go to
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~payork/York
2Ward/
Thanks to Don and Jeanine Hartman of
Utah for posting the newsletter online for
us. You can contribute your family history
of original York County ancestors at
http://familyhart.info
That’s All, Folks!
22
Several new printable family tree designs have been added to the
website FamilyTreeTemplates.net, ranging from colorful
illustrated tree designs to detailed ancestor charts.
Complete 1930 Mexico Census Now Available
The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:
May 23, 2011
25 Million New Records and Images for 19 U.S. States and 16 Countries
The FamilySearch volunteers did it! With the completion of the state of Veracruz, they indexed the
entire 1930 Mexico Census—almost 13 million records. Add the census to the millions of Mexico
church records FamilySearch also has online for free, and FamilySearch patrons now have a
phenomenal, fundamental asset for their Mexico ancestral research. There were 59 collections
updated in this release, comprising 25 million new images and records for 19 U.S. states and 16
countries. See the table below for more details. You can search all of these updated 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
Records Images
Comment
Austria, Vienna, Population
36,823
Cards, 1850-1895
37,409
Brazil, Catholic Church
Records
0
211,410 Added images to existing collection.
Canada, Lower Canada
Census, 1831
0
3,259
New browsable image collection.
Canada, New Brunswick
Provincial Deaths, 1815–
1938
92,009
96,135
Added images and index to existing collection.
Canada, Quebec Notarial
Records, 1800-1900
0
54,920
Added browsable images to existing collection.
Chinese Genealogies
0
750,021 Added browsable images to existing collection.
Czech Republic Church
Books, 1552-1935
0
20,237
Added images and index to existing collection.
Added images to existing collection.
Germany Church Records,
0
1544-1945
140,265 New browsable image collection.
Germany, Baden, Church
43,560
Book Duplicates, 1810-1869
0
Germany, MecklenburgSchwerin Census, 1867
0
253,140 New browsable image collection.
Germany, Miscellaneous
City Records
0
7,102
Added records to existing index collection.
Added browsable images to existing collection.
Guatemala Civil
Registration, 1877-1934
0
978
Italy, Civil Registration,
1806-1940
0
Added browsable images to existing collection for
985,543 several provinces, including new images for
Bologna and Genova.
Mexico Census, 1930
1,126,587538
Mexico, Jalisco, Catholic
Church Records
0
Added browsable images to existing collection.
Added the state of Veracruz. This completes the
1930 Mexico Census!
5,772,188New browsable image collection.
Mexico, Morelos, Catholic
0
Church Records, 1598-1969
914
Mexico, State of Mexico,
Catholic Church Records
0
269,871 New browsable image collection.
Mexico, Tabasco, Catholic
Church Records
0
121,419 New browsable image collection.
Added browsable images to existing collection.
Netherlands, Passenger
Lists Holland-America Line, 0
1900-1974
New browsable image collection. Includes
passenger lists for the Holland-America Line
113,050 (Holland Amerika Lijn), which transported
numerous refugees from war-torn Europe to the
United States prior to 1941.
New Zealand, Immigration
85,349
Passenger Lists, 1855-1973
152
Added images and index to existing collection.
Peru, Civil Registration,
1874-1978
0
15,354
Added browsable images to existing collection.
Philippines Civil
Registration, 1945-1996
0
1,809,282New browsable image collection.
Poland, Roman Catholic
Church Books, 1600-1950
0
843,095 Added browsable images to existing collection.
Poland, Roman Catholic
Church Books, 1600-1950
1,002,15581,805
Added index records and images to existing
collection (indexes for Tarnow; browsable images
for Lódz and Kielce).
Portugal, Braga Catholic
0
Church Records, 1530-1890
520,913 New browsable image collection.
Puerto Rico Civil
Registration, 1836-2001
8,712
3,599
Added images and index to existing collection.
Russia, Samara Church
Books, 1869-1917
0
52,170
New browsable image collection.
Spain, Cádiz, Passports,
1810-1866
0
19,802
Added browsable images to existing collection.
24
Spain, Municipal Records
0
U.S., Alabama, County
Marriages, 1809-1950
216,021 128,241 New index collection.
U.S., Alabama, County
Probate Records
0
56,738
New browsable image collection.
U.S., Arkansas, Draft
Registration Cards,
compiled 1948-1959
0
31,882
New browsable image collection.
U.S., California, San Mateo
0
County Records, 1856-1967
53,404
Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., District of Columbia
Deaths, 1874-1959
98,118
Added browsable images (Leon and Lugo).
103,160 106,382 New index collection.
U.S., Georgia Headright and
Bounty Land Records, 1783- 0
1909
35,881
U.S., Illinois, Probate
Records, 1819-1970
0
126,521 Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., Louisiana, First
Registration Draft Cards,
compiled 1940-1945
0
26,821
New browsable image collection.
U.S., Maine, State Archive
Collections
0
73,678
Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., Maryland, Probate
Estate and Guardianship
Files, 1796-1940
6,488
151,200 Added records to existing index collection.
New browsable image collection.
U.S., Maryland, Register of
0
Wills Books, 1792-1983
5,137
U.S., Michigan, County
Marriages, 1820-1935
0
292,239 New browsable image collection.
U.S., Minnesota, Death
Records, 1866-1916
383,230 173,016 New index collection.
Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., Mississippi, Tippah
0
County Records, 1836-1923
38,645
Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., New York Passenger
0
Lists, 1820-1891
6,399
Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., New York State
Census, 1865
21,307
Added browsable images to existing collection.
0
25
U.S., New York, Orange
County Probate Records,
1787-1938
0
59,885
New browsable image collection.
U.S., New York, Queens
County Probate Records,
1899-1921
0
34,382
New browsable image collection.
U.S., Ohio, Stark County
Court Records, 1809-1917
0
37,995
Added browsable images to existing collection.
U.S., South Carolina
Probate Records, Bound
Volumes, 1671-1977
0
222,728 New browsable image collection.
U.S., South Carolina
Probate Records, Files and 0
Loose Papers, 1732-1964
652,423 New browsable image collection.
U.S., Tennessee County
Marriages, 1790-1950
219,217 198,208 Added images and index to existing collection.
U.S., Texas, Daughters of
the Republic of Texas,
Membership Applications,
1892-2010
0
26,147
New browsable image collection.
U.S., Texas, Gonzalez de la
0
Garza Genealogy Collection
98,801
New browsable image collection.
U.S., Vermont Enrolled
4,350
Militia Records, 1861-1867
0
Added records to existing collection.
U.S., Virginia Births and
Christenings, 1853-1917
1,422,8550
U.S., Virginia, Danville City
Cemetery Records, 1833- 0
2006
4,093
New index collection.
New browsable image collection.
United States, Civil War
Soldiers Index
6,282,3600
New index collection.
United States, Naval
Enlistment Rendezvous,
1855-1891
262,742 34,965
New index collection.
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a
nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about
their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering,
preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access
FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family
history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
26