FAMILY HISTORY NEWSLETTER
Volume III, Issue 4
April 2009
______________________________________________________________________________________
In the book House of Glory by Michael
Wilcox, he said we frequently say we're
"getting a name to take to the temple." But
we're not taking a name - we're taking a
person. He says if someone was our ancestor,
"would it not be a glorious thing to enter a
temple and say to them: "Here are my eyes;
together we will look upon the beauty of the
Lord's house. Here are my ears; let us hear the
words of eternal life. Here are my lips; we will
make sacred covenants. Here are my hands;
together we will receive the gifts of life
everlasting. Here are my knees; kneel with me
at the altars of salvation, there to become one
with all those we both love. I will remember
you."
This photo has recently surfaced on a site for
family history consultants. It brings home the
important message that all of us should be
working on our family history. If you want to
know how to get started, please contact a
family history consultant in your ward.
ATTENDING THE TEMPLE
Scripture tells us that Abraham "sought for the
blessings of the fathers, and the right to be
ordained to administer the same" (Abraham
1:2). He was not seeking land, and he was not
seeking priesthood office, as we sometimes
hear. He was seeking, as President Ezra Taft
Benson says, priesthood blessings, meaning
temple blessings. The most important part of
the Abrahamic covenant, both for Abraham
and for us, is the gift of temple covenants and
blessings.
We must never forget that we do the work
for real people who had joys and sorrows just
as we do. They faced the challenges of their
lives with courage and dignity. They loved
their families and made sacrifices for their
God. We do not do the work for names but for
lives, and in doing it our souls are bound to
them and theirs to ours. That is why it is so
glorious.
They are dead to this world but are alive in
the world of spirits, alive to God, and alive in
our hearts. "The spirits of the just," Joseph
Smith taught, "are...enveloped in flaming
fire,...are not far from us, and know and
understand our thoughts, feelings and
motions.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, p. 326)
Newsletter published by Jack & Sylvia
Sonneborn for York 2nd Ward, York, PA
Contact: klompen@verizon.net – Jack or
slysyl@verizon.net – Sylvia for questions
or to Unsubscribe
1
INTERNET GENEALOGY –Our Faves
By Jack and Sylvia Sonneborn
Forms to Do Genealogy
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/download.html#
************************
Cyndi’s List http://www.cyndislist.comCreated
in 1996 as a card catalog for the genealogical collection in the
library known as the Internet. 264,000 links. Search by word
or browse by topic alphabetically. Hosted by Ancestry
****************************
Ancestry http://ancestry.com Paid subscription to
family trees, vital statistics, censuses, immigration,
newspapers, military records, obituaries, directories,
biographies, photographs, wills, court and land records, and
more.
Ancestry Message Board and One World Tree
http://boards.ancestry.com Use message board free.
Also do a search free to see if there is information available.
Try a 14-day free trial.
*****************************
Ellis Island Records
http://Ellisislandrecords.org
1892-1924 over 20 million immigrants were processed
through Ellis Island. Free site. Original records online.
*****************************
Family Search
http://familysearch.org Free site of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Census, SSI, family trees,
free download of PAF software to store family history.
Family History Catalog.
*****************************
Rootsweb and World Connect
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Oldest and largest free genealogy website. Ability to search
for ancestors. Free Message board. Now maintained by
Ancestry
************************
USGenWeb
http://usgenweb.com
Started in 1996 as Kentucky database. Volunteers and county
administrator input info. Special projects are tombstone,
obituaries, and census. State information.
***********************
Family Tree Searcher
http://familytreesearcher.com
Surname searcher that puts your ancestor’s name into 9
surname search engines at one time.
************************
Linkpendium
************************
GenForum
http://genforum.com
Originally forum for Genealogy.com. Surname and topic
message boards searchable free. Subscription rate.
Find a Grave
http://findagrave.com
Founded since 1995. Largest compilation of burial
information on the web
************************
Funeral Net
http://funeralnet.com
************************
Interment http://www.interment.net/
Find tombstones
Note: This site also has a listing of PA German Ancestors.
Click on United States, then Pennsylvania, and then look at
the PA Sponsored Links for PA German Ancestors.
************************
York County Cemeteries with Photos
http://www.usgwarchives.org/pa/york/ycceme
teries.htm
Click on Yes to open cemetery.
************************
USGenWeb “The Tombstone Transcription
Program”
http://www.usgwtombstones.org/index.html Begin at “State
Projects” to find indexed cemeteries.
************************
Keeping Journals
http://www.personalhistorian.com/
**********************
Hiring Genealogists http://ancestorseekers.com
Access Genealogy
http://www.accessgenealogy.com
Free. Cemetery databases and thousands of records.
************************
Genealogy Bank
http://genealogybank.com
Free Social Security Death Index
New Family Search Labs
http://www.linkpendium.com/
A collection by state of many genealogy records. Also able
to do a surname search of many sites.
http://labs.familysearch.org
As the LDS Church indexes the census and other
records, they are being posted at “Records Search”
************************
GenCircles
http://GenCircles.com
Looking for indexing volunteers:
Family Search Indexing Project
Upload you family history. Search for surnames. Free. Does
smart matching with other databases.
http://www.familysearchindexing.org/home.jsf
Volunteer to help index the census and other information in project
being done by LDS Church
2
Ancestor Hunt
http://ancestorhunt.com
Hundreds of records to sort through. Free. Has obituary
portal among other things. Can search by state.
************************************
Surname Helper
http://surhelp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/srchall.h
tml?cj=1&o_xid=0001177077&o_lid=000117
7077
http://onegreatfamily.com Paid subscription. Search for your
surname and get an accounting of records of that name.
Connect with DNA
familybuilder.com
*************************************
Kindred Konnections
http://www.kindredkonnections.com/
Subscription surname. Free at Family History
Center
Search for a surname.
World Vital Records
Ancestral Findings
http://ancestralfindings.com
Lots of records. Click on “first time user” to begin.
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com
Fee. FHC Free. Family Trees and other information.
FamilyLink.com
*************************************
Footnote
http://go.footnote.com/freetrial-family-history/?xid=18
Dead Fred http://deadfred.com Post old photos and
Footnote is a history/family history website that features
searchable original historical documents, from the National
Archives and other content providers. FHC-Free
search for old photos. Site is free. Solicitation for donations.
*****************************
Flicker
http://www.flickr.com/commons
3 billion images and videos on a community website for
sharing
Old Family Photos
http://familyoldphotos.com
Upload your old photos, or search by surname for old
photos.
************************
Distant Cousin
http://distantcousin.com
Free database of thousands of genealogy records. Alternate
http://genealogy.com
************************
Genealogy Blog Finder
RootsMagic Blog
http://blog.rootsmagic.com/
http://blogfinder.genealogue.com
Sharing Genealogy http://www.mygenshare.com/
My Heritage
http://myheritage.com A site that is just
beginning. Ross website.
************************
Publish to Website
http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php
One Great Family
Godfrey Memorial Library
http://www.godfrey.org A genealogy and
history library. Fee. Free at FHC.
************************
Heritage Quest
http://www.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/index
Digitized books, newspapers, and other records. Fee. Free at
FHC
*****************************
Preserve Newspapers
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/newspap.html
Allen Public Library
http://www.acpl.lib.in.us Said to have a lot of
family history records.
Look for books ~ http://books.google.com
Government by State
http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/referen
ce/state-archives.html
************************
West Virginia
http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_dcsearch.aspx
Sample of how many states are making their vital
statistics available to the public via the Internet
Black History
http://go.footnote.com/blackhistory/
Dutch http://www.genlias.nl/ Mexico
www.mexicanfhr.com
***********************
Genes Reunited – UK
http://genesreunited.co.uk ~ The United
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Kingdom’s favorite site with 9 million names.
http://www.genuki.org.uk/
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
Ireland http://www.ancestryireland.com/database.php
*****************************
Canadian Genealogy
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy
/index-e.html
*****************************
French
http://www.archivesdepartementales.cg59.fr
German
www.progenealogists.com/germany/schleswig
/schlparish.htm
**********************
Publishing
blurb.com mypublisher.com ; iPhoto Books;
cherishbound.com; familylearn.com; treasuredink.com; http://lulu.com
***********************
5,000 + digitized Family Histories can be
accessed at BYU online http://261.byu.edu/
www.familyhistoryarchive.byu.edu
http://www.archive.org/details/texts - out of
print
Naturalizations
http://naturalizationrecords.com/
Passenger Lists – Immigration
http://home.att.net/~weeonster/onlinelists.html
Family Search Wiki
Genealogists contribute the information to
create an entry
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Category:Fa
milySearch_Wiki
ENGLAND BARN RAISING
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/England_Barn_Raising_Task
s
FRANCE BARN RAISING
http://www.francegenweborg/~archives/archivesgenweb/?id=
carte ************************
Family History Favorites
http://www.fhlfavorites.info/
Click on map to find favorites of the staff of
the Family History Library, Salt Lake City,
Utah
Susquehanna Trail Genealogy Club - website
http://www.rootsweb.com/~pastgc/index.html
Local club for PAF Users and other
researchers
Genealogy News
Newsletter published by Sonneborns for
genealogists
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~payork/Y
ork2Ward/
***********************
GENEALOGY.COM
http://genealogy.com
************************
JACK’S FAVORITE
http://genealogy.about.com/
Lots of things to do.
************************
www.Genesreunited.com
Another well-liked site
************************
GOOGLE SEARCHER
http://www.searchforancestors.com/google/se
archer.html
************************
USING GOOGLE
Type an ancestor’s name in the Google search
box with parentheses:
“John Smith” Family History
SEEK GOOGLE BOOKS
Type into your search box http://Google.com
Click on”more” (down-arrow) and then
“books” and then the name of a book or
person.
************************
YORK COUNTY FAMILY HISTORY SITE,
maintained by Don & Jeanine Hartman –
http://midatlantic.rootsweb.ancestry.com/famil
yhart/
************************
OUT OF PRINT BOOKS
http://www.alibris.com/
Out of print books
Over 60,000,000 books
Find genealogies and location histories
4
Other good sites:
www.werelate.org/wiki/Main-Page
www.ngsgenealogy.org
http://www.newenglandancestors.org
http://www.afrigeneas.com/
www.themayflowersociety.com
http://www.ogs.org/
www.dar.org
http://stevemorse.org
www.mapquest.com
Genealogy Class
Jack and Sylvia are teaching a class of 20
called “Seeking Your Ancestors” at Penn
State – York Campus for 6 weeks, one day a
week for the OLLI program (Life-long
Learning).
The information above was
prepared as some of our favorites. We also
found an excellent site for reviews
highlighting another person’s favorites. The
address is below and is a really nice site to
consult for additional places to research:
Top Genealogy Sites
http://genealogywebsites.no1reviews.com/
Top 5 Genealogy Magazines for
Family History Enthusiasts
By Kimberly Powell
About.com
Keep up with the latest genealogy news, tips and
techniques with these five wonderful genealogy
magazines - perfect for keeping you enthusiastic
about family history year-round. Many are
available for international subscription or on CDROM.
1. Heritage Quest
First published in 1985, this publication's
enormous content "sets it apart from other
genealogy magazines." This full-color bimonthly
publication is an excellent reference tool for
beginners as well as advanced genealogists.
2. Ancestry Magazine
Expert guidance for the beginner to advanced
historian is available in this colorful bimonthly
magazine packed full of expert articles, regular
columns, book reviews, case studies and more.
3. Family Tree Magazine
Chock full of tips and info in a fun, easy-to-read
format, Family Tree Magazine reaches beyond
genealogy research to also encompass ethnic
heritage, family reunions, scrapbooking and
historic travel. This is a U.S. magazine, not to be
confused with Family Tree Magazine in the UK.
4. Everton's Genealogical
Helper
Back to its original black and white format,
Everton's Genealogical Helper still packs in all of
the great genealogy articles, news, tips, Web
sites, queries and reviews that genealogists have
come to rely on since the first issue was
published in 1947.
5. Family Chronicle
Published six times per year, this excellent family
history magazine offers a variety of topics of
interest to genealogists from beginner through
advanced in full-glossy color. Written by
genealogy enthusiasts for genealogy enthusiasts.
NEWSLETTERS AND
BLOGS:
Ted Eastman’s Online Genealogy
Newsletter
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Su
b=48932
Renae Zamora’s Genealogy Blog http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Su
b=232603
HOW TO MAKE A BLOG:
http://familytree.co.uk/familyblogs/index.php
Nina Miles will be presenting a lesson on how
to make genealogy blogs at the May 28
meeting of the Susquehanna Trail Genealogy
Club, LDS Church 2100 Holly Drive, 7:00
p.m. Stop by and see what we’re all about.
Jack Sonneborn is president of the club.
Contact him at 717-757-2331 for more
information about the club.
5
CORE ONLINE GENEALOGY
RESOURCES
Tom Kemp spoke to the Manasota
Genealogical Society (FL) – on Core Online
Genealogy Resources - The Ones you will
actually use and rely on! . Here are the
accompanying slides - See:
http://tinyurl.com/dxafuu
Tom Kemp
LESSON MANUALS FOR NFS
I have added two new lesson manuals to my
website.
(http://milesmeyer.googlepages.com/lessonma
nuals). These manuals are part 1 & 2 of using
nFS. I will be adding a third document soon
on using FamilyTree. I have already used the
first part to teach my family history class, and
it will fit into a Sunday School class time
period. I will be using part 2 this week for my
class. These manuals are revisions to my
original Introduction to nFS that I developed
in 2007. They have new screen shots and the
additional screens that have been added since
nFS first came out. These are in draft format. I
would appreciate any comments.
Miles Meyer
Jacksonville, FL
WHEN TO USE A DISPUTE ON NFS
If you go into "help center" in nFS, on the first
page under search, put in "when should I
dispute?" and click search. You will get 117
answers dealing with disputes. Most on the
first page are what I recommend. The 3,5,6,7
are very helpful. This feature of nFS is little
known by most new users of nFS. It is great;
use it, as well as commonly asked questions
that are further down on "find answers" page.
These are not opinions; they are knowledge
documents from the church on the subject.
Marian
MORE ON DISPUTING ON NFS
Disputes do not prevent the original submitter
from correcting the data UNLESS the dispute
is on a relationship. If you dispute an event
such as birth or death, the original submitter
can make the change. If the dispute is still
showing after the change has been made, it
simply means that there are more submitters
who have submitted the same incorrect
information. If all of the original incorrect
submissions get changed, then the dispute
does not show anymore. But it is still in the
system. If someone subsequently comes along
and adds the incorrect information again, the
dispute will immediately reappear - thus
letting the new submitter know that the
information they just added is incorrect.
Having said that, even disputes on regular
events should not be the first step. I think the
first step should be to try separating records. It
is possible that the incorrect information is
there because someone incorrectly combined
records from two different people. Once you
have separated any incorrectly combined
records, if the error is still there, the next step
should be to attempt to contact the original
submitter and discuss the data with him.
Perhaps he has conflicting sources. Perhaps he
will convince you that your data is incorrect.
Perhaps both pieces of data are correct, given
the source from which they came. Names are
notorious for changing over time. We should
not presume that because we have one
"correct" spelling of our name that the same
was true in the past. Historically spelling of
names was not nearly as rigid as it is today. As
a last resort, dispute the event.
If the problem is a relationship, look again for
incorrectly combined records, try to contact
the submitter again, contact FamilySearch
support, do anything you can to get it
resolved. Finally, as a last last last resort,
dispute the relationship, making sure to
provide good contact information so that when
someone comes forward to fix it, he will be
able to contact you and ask you to remove the
dispute on the relationship.
Aloha, John
6
ROOTSMAGIC NOW COMPATIBLE
WITH NEW FAMILY SEARCH
RootsMagic 4 just became the first and only
desktop genealogy software certified to
reserve and print LDS Temple ordinances
using new FamilySearch.
This is really fantastic! I can link the people in
my database to the people in nFS and then
share data back and forth between the
programs. I can now reserve any incomplete
ordinances, and then when I'm ready to go
to the temple, I can select those that I want to
print on a FOR.
RootsMagic prints the FOR and keeps track of
my temple work. For the most part, I never
have to use nFS directly unless I want to add
notes or something.
Family Tree Now Includes Temple
Submission Functions
FamilySearch product management is pleased to
announce that the Family Tree at FamilySearch
Labs was recently updated. The latest updates now
include all of the functionality required to prepare
names for temple ordinances and print Family
Ordinance Request (FOR) forms—the full “temple
experience!”
Individuals with access to nFS can access the
Family Tree through labs.familysearch.org. It
requires the same login and password as
new.familysearch.org.
To try out the new functionality in the Family
Tree, go to Folders, then the Summary tab. Under
the new Temple Ordinances section, you can:

The other great thing about RootsMagic 4 is
that it has what is called FamilySearch
Central. It keeps track of all my people and it
tells me when something has changed on nFS
and I need to check it out. It also keeps track
of any people that I add to my database that I
haven't linked to nFS yet.
I understand that it will be downloadable to
the FHC's through LanDesk shortly. This
makes it really easy to install in your centers.
http://www.rootsmagic.com/upgrade/
Sue M
ANCESTRAL QUEST SYNCS WITH NFS
Jack has been trying out Rootsmagic while
Sylvia stays with Ancestral Quest. Jack likes
the syncing feature of RM better, but Sylvia
likes the fact that any changes in Ancestral
Quest automatically go into her PAF. If Jack
wants to open up his records in PAF after
syncing in RootsMagic, he must make
a GEDCOM to put it into PAF. RootsMagic
also allows doing temple work, whereas AQ
allows you to virw the person in nFS and
proceed. Both software products have
advantages. We suggest that you try the trial
offer made by the manufacturers and
determine what is best for you.




Check for and resolve duplicates with
ordinances (Always check this before
clicking SUBMIT).
Enter Ordinances Manually. If no
ordinances appear yet you know when the
work has been performed, click this link to
report the ordinances.
Submit the ordinances to your Temple
Tracking Page. This simply reserves the
name and ordinances on the Temple
tab. You will need to click on the Temple
tab at the top of the page to continue the
temple process and print FOR forms, etc.
In the Temple tab you can:

Print temple cards (Family Ordinance
Request - FOR) if you want to perform the
ordinances yourself.

Assign names to the temple if you want
the temple to allow someone else to
perform the ordinances.
Remember that the Family Tree is operating off of
the same database as new.FamilySearch.org. Any
work done through the Family Tree application is
recorded in the new.familysearch.org database.
7
FUTURE OF FAMILY TREE
Gems from the Teachings of Church Leaders
Neal A. Maxwell on Blessings of Temples
----------------------------------------"Temple attendance is not a guarantee that we will
become better, but it provides a powerful and
pointed invitation to become better. The ways of the
world receive constant reinforcement - should not
the ways of heaven?
"Temple work is not an escape from the world but a
reinforcing of our need to better the world while
preparing ourselves for another and far better world.
Thus, being in the Lord's house can help us to be
different from the world in order to make more
difference in the world.
"Temple work builds within us the spirit of gratitude
for our past blessings even while preparing us to
receive further blessings now and in the future."
(Neal A. Maxwell, Not My Will, But Thine, p. 133)
[Teachings Archive:
http://www.ldsworld.com/gems/teachings/ ]
NEW GENEALLY SITE
Recommended by Ted Eastman in his newsletter:
“Geneally.com is a new dedicated genealogy
and family search engine, built from the
ground up to create a useful resource for
anyone researching their ancestry. It is so new
that it isn't fully operational just yet. Hundreds
of new links are added each day.
In November 2008 Geneally acquired the
former news site www.rssgenealogy.com,
making Geneally.com a starting point for all
matters of interest to family historians. The
company plans a full launch in April…”
THE IMPORTANCE OF SEALINGS
There is a good article about the importance of
the sealing ordinance on this week's Meridian
Magazine.
Here is the link if any of you are interested.
www.ldsmag.com/rescue/090408seal.html
Mary Scott, Westland Michigan Stake
There is a desire to provide new FamilySearch
to members in Utah and Idaho as soon as
possible; consequently some temples are
beginning to receive new FamilySearch
accounts. Since the Family Tree is still a labs
project and is not released as the interface for
new FamilySearch, these members will be
using the current new FamilySearch interface.
When the Family Tree labs project has
sufficient features to support what is necessary
for members using new FamilySearch, its
features will be moved over to become the
interface for new FamilySearch. When that
happens, of course, everyone will be using
new FamilySearch with the look and feel of
what is experienced through the Family Tree
labs project today.
Family Tree (like Life Browser) is only the
name of a labs project and not the name of an
internet site or product. Anyone with an
account to new FamilySearch can use this labs
project as an experimental way to work with
data in new FamilySearch. The site new
FamilySearch is the only site that will provide
tree creation, temple reservation and
ordinance duplication checking. This site will
never be called Family Tree even when it's
interface is modified to look and behave like
the Family Tree project. I hope this clears up
any confusion between the labs project Family
Tree and the website new FamilySearch.
Ron Tanner
HARRY SENFT POSTS PHOTOS
OF ADDITIONAL CEMETERIES
Saint Paul Lutheran Church (Hametown)
Cemetery Shrewsbury Township, York
County, Pennsylvania is posted:
http://usgwarchives.net/pa/york/1picts/cemete
ries/st-pauls-hametown/stpaul.htm
For all York County cemeteries web link:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/yccemet
eries.htm
8
QUICKSTART NEW FAMILY
SEARCH BROCHURE
Almost everyone in nFS that is from three
areas has temple work somewhere on it.
Found this by accident on the ldscatalog.com
page. It's a brochure-style 'quick-start' sort of
brochure.
1. Mayflower/New England Ancestry, 16001800
Tells how to get started with nFS, and gives
the support information too.
2. Nauvoo period/Pioneer ancestry,
http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores
/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10151&sto
reId=10151&productId=14351&langId=1&cg1=13602&cg2=&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=&so
rtId=1&sortOr=1&retURLtext=Back%20to%
20%27New%20Items%27&retURL=http%3A
%2F%2Fwww.ldscatalog.com%2Fwebapp%
2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FCategoryDis
play%3FcatalogId%3D10151%26amp%3Bsto
reId%3D10151%26amp%3BcategoryId%3D1
3602%26amp%3BlangId%3D1%26amp%3Bcg1%3D%26amp%3Bcg2%3D
%26amp%3Bcg3%3D%26amp%3Bcg4%3D
%26amp%3Bcg5%3D%26pageId%3D1%26p
ageCt%3D50%26sortId%3D1%26sortOr%3D
1
Sorry for the long URL; that seems to come
with this site.
James Anderson
PEDIGREE RESOURCES FILES
UPDATE
3. A few other pockets of concentrations of
descendants who had a lot of data for a given
ancestor or locality.
I've seen IOUS files for a few names in
England and found one in Germany (Sachsen)
last night while working with an individual.
Typical time periods will be 1550-1800 on
those, a few later depending on whether they
had LDS pioneer descendants or not also. If
it's an IOUS file/name, and you can't combine,
the chances are very good the temple work has
already been done even if the temple symbol
says 'Ready.'
The PRF is still being actively marketed to the
non-LDS community because it still has
value; we don't know how long it really is
going to take to get nFS out to the world.
They are at DVD 142 now. That means there
are the equivalent of another 125 CDs of data
(a DVD holds five times the data as one CD).
They switched from CD to DVD at disc 126.
James Anderson
INTERESTING PROGRAM
The Family Search Department has put the
first 85 CDs in nFS, but nothing after that.
There was at that time a lot of discussion
about the matter of adding the data, as in some
cases there is all kinds of duplicate data which
for some would only add to the aggravation of
combining large files, and add to the number
of 'IOUS' files.
The current thinking for the Wasatch Front
rollout is this on those; combine until you see
the temple work, even if it's a duplicate of
earlier work. Then stop on that name until
they can come up with the solution on the
matter.
I saw something on BYU TV that caught my
eye. It's an interesting series with various
"experts" in the field.
Website:
http://www.byub.org/questionsandancestors/
Program Archives:
http://www.byub.org/questionsandancestors/e
pisodes.asp
By Alber Rico
Thanks to Don and Jeanine Hartman for
posting our newsletter.
www.Familyhart.info York County, PA
9
INTERESTING FAMILY
HISTORY ARTICLE ABOUT
FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS
You'll want to read this story about Paula
Todd - genealogist, volunteer librarian at the
John McIntire Library in Zanesville, Ohio.
She tells her experiences in genealogy at the
Zanesville (OH) FHC:
I was at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints at their family center. That's the
Mormon Church on Kearns Drive. They are
tied into the world's largest genealogy center
out in Utah. I walked in not knowing what I
wanted to find out, except I wanted to find out
about the Ethell family. I heard some woman
in the back of the room say, 'I have Ethells in
my family.' And I thought, 'Oh, sure, that's
probably no relations of mine at all.' But
whoever was at the desk put me on a reader of
some kind - a census reader to start with. And
pretty soon the woman in the back came and
laid this Ethell book beside me. I copied it off
just to be nice to her if nothing else because
she was going to such great lengths. And I got
home and looked at that and there was my
family laid out in front of me. Right in front of
me!
Read the entire article at:
Kearns, Charlie. Genealogist Looks Back. 12
April 2009 Zanesville (OH) Times-Recorder.
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/articl
e/20090412/NEWS01/904120337
or:
http://blog.genealogybank.com/2009/04/paula
-todd-genealogist-librarian.html
Tom Kemp
DISCUSSION OF TIME LIMIT
FOR ORDINANCE CARDS
In regards to the recent discussion about a
time limit for names, I attended a Family
History Conference Saturday, March 7th, in
Bountiful. The keynote speaker was Don R
Anderson, who is the head of the Family
History Library and Family History Support.
I also took 2 other classes taught by him. In
one of the classes, he was asked this very
question, if the church would ever set a time
limit when temple cards people hold would
"expire" and become available for someone
else to do. He answered that this had been
discussed at length by the church, that they are
aware of the problem, and that they knew that
something had to be done to solve it. He said
that the problem of what a reasonable time
limit might be is very different in different
areas of the world. On the Wasatch Front, it
might be a year or two, but in the Philippines,
if a member saved all his income that was not
essential to sustain life, he could only expect
to get to the temple every six years.
He said that they had pretty much decided to
have a time limit and that it would be set by
the temple involved according to the needs of
the members in that district; but it would be a
while before we hear more about it, as this is
not the top priority right now; the rollout
problems are the top priority.
Note: At this point Utah and Idaho have been
rolled out on New Family Search, meaning
that all LDS temple districts now have access
to it. The next big step would be to roll it out
to the world, but we think that will not take
place for a year or more.
The Ancestry Insider's blog this morning has a
widget he has created which lists all the
records the church has put online through the
FamilySearch Indexing program; and links
right to them. It’s much easier than going
through Labs or FamilySearch.org.
http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/2009/04/la
test-record-searchcollections.html<http://ancestryinsider.blogsp
ot.com/2009/04/latest-record-searchcollections.html>
It also has a similar list of all the records at
ancestry.com. I really enjoy the blog. If you
don't subscribe, you might want to check it
out.
Doris Bateman
10
As a consultant who is in the process of
starting members, old and new, off onto nFS,
it would be a wise thing, when the moment
arises, to suggest to patrons that they limit the
number of their requests for doing the
ordinance work.
o The people who help you with ordinances
live in a temple district where FamilySearch is
not yet available.
o People will help you with ordinances only if
you give them cards.
o If you reserve ordinances and then find that
you cannot do them, please use FamilySearch
to request that the temple provide the proxies
for you.
Following are the current instructions in New
FamilySearch:
Hope this is helpful,
Jill Crandell
RESERVING ORDINANCES FOR
TEMPLE WORK – GUIDELINES
Guidelines for Reserving Ordinances
As you reserve ordinances, be aware of a few
guidelines.
* Reserve ordinances only if you feel
reasonably sure that you can get them done. It
is recommended that you reserve only enough
ordinances for a few trips to the temple.
* Before you reserve ordinances for
individuals who were born in the last 95 years,
please get permission from the closest living
relative. The closest living relatives are, in this
order: spouse, then children, then parents, then
siblings.
* There is no limit on the amount of time that
ordinances can be on your reserved list, but try
to get them done in a timely manner.
* If you have many ancestors who need
ordinances, we recommend that you do not
print large numbers of family ordinance cards
to give to others. It is very easy for cards to be
lost. And even though you can reprint lost
cards, there is a risk that the ordinances will
be done again if the original cards are found.
Instead, we recommend that you add your
ancestors to FamilySearch. Do not reserve the
ordinances. Encourage your relatives to use
FamilySearch to select and reserve the
ordinances that they would like to do.
Note: You can still print cards and give
them to others, but we recommend that you
print only small numbers to use in situations
like these:
o The people who help you with ordinances
do not use the Internet.
DATABASES FOR CHINESE
I can think of three databases that can store
any characters, including Chinese (and
Hebrew, and Russian, etc.):
1) The Ancestral Quest database – Use
Ancestral Quest to edit this and add
information to a file of this type.
2) The PAF 5 database -- Use PAF 5 or
Ancestral Quest to edit this and add
information to a file of this type.
3) The Family Tree database of New
FamilySearch -- Use the New FamilySearch
screens to edit and add information to this
public file, or after entering Chinese
characters into the AQ or PAF 5 data files, use
the Ancestral Quest program to transfer the
information to the Family Tree.
I believe that all of these might depend on the
fonts you select. An "Arial" font, for example,
may not give you a selection of the Chinese
characters. You may have to install a Chinese
font; then select that font in whichever
program you are using.
Gaylon
They are dead to this world but are alive in the
world of spirits, alive to God, and alive in our
hearts. "The spirits of the just," Joseph Smith
taught, "are...enveloped in flaming fire, are not far
from us, and know and understand our thoughts,
feelings and motions."
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 326)
11
To: Family History Consultants in
North America
As we prepare to release the new
FamilySearch Web site to Church members in
Utah and Idaho, we have a need for more
Church Service missionaries to serve part-time
in answering family history questions from the
convenience of their own home.
FamilySearch Support missionaries assist with
any of the following family history products
and resources:

The new
FamilySearch

Familysearch.org

Internet Indexing and Name
Extraction

Record Search

Family History Center Support

Research Support and the Research
Wiki
In addition, missionaries may help test new
family history programs and provide
important feedback. There is a real need for
service missionaries who are fluent in
Spanish, Portuguese, French, German,
Japanese, Korean, or Chinese.
Family History Lessons
Surprisingly, Youtube carries some excellent
family history instruction. Just click on the
link, and it will take you to a 3-5 minute
informational presentation on some aspect of
doing research.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_cfGoOaXR8
“Family History Made Simple”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vazUEBuPbA
U&feature=related “New Family Search
Overview”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btLhcTwVdD
M&feature=related “Genealogy and Family
History: Use this Wonderful Tool / Service to
FINALLY Write Your Life Story”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz7nlUJnIis&f
eature=related “Family History: An Easy Way to
Create Genealogy "Family Books" that You Can
Share with Your Family”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qefdagiK38&
feature=related “Genealogy and Family Tree
Researchers - The Google Toolbar”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVQXrKDt_D
k&feature=related “Genealogy Search Basics”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuk3Q9CSiys
&feature=related “How to Bring the Genealogy
Goodies TO You – Starting Page – Getting a
Google Account”
Please invite individuals who have a strong
family history background and some computer
experience and who may be interested in this
service mission opportunity to contact
FamilySearch Support for more information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ynoQXdjFw&feature=related “Part 2 of Online
Genealogy Information Gathering Method”
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb6amn_4frQ
&feature=related “Get Original Genealogy and
Family History Records with FamilySearch New
Record Search Pilot Site”
FamilySearch Support
support@familysearch.org
1-866-406-1830
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btjPbRFaK24&
feature=related “The Joy of Genealogy and Family
History” Plus you can look for additional
videos.
12
CITING SOURCES
RE: What do you think about Mark Tucker's
video on citing online sources? View the
video and send us your opinion. (Sonneborns)
http://www.thinkgenealogy.com/better-onlinecitations/
Tim Cross
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SYLVIA’S GENEALOGY CORNER
Recently I connected with another person in
my great-grandmother Nancy Hunt’s line.
This has been a really nice adventure. As
some of you may remember, my great-grandAunt Sylvia’s husband took off with her
younger sister, and they went to Australia,
where they were married after Sylvia divorced
him. Isabella and William had 12 children in
Australia. Through new Family Search and
the e-mail address I posted on the site, a
church-member-relative
named
Marie
contacted me last week, and she even sent me
a GEDCOM of her portion of Isabella’s line to
complete other sketchy work that another
Australian non-member had shared. It has
been exciting to find that I have distant
cousins in Australia. When my mother did
genealogy the old-fashioned way, she had no
idea what had ever happened to her GreatAunt Isabella. Through modern technology, I
have been able to interact with both cousins
Marie and Mandy from Australia and learn the
stories of these aunts.
Both sent me
photographs of Isabella and the family, and I
have been able to share photos of some of
Isabella’s American sisters with them as well
as my own line of descendants from Joseph
and Elizabeth Hunt, parents of Nancy, Sylvia,
and Isabella.
Isabella must have pined for America. She had
moved to Baltimore with Sylvia and her
husband William, probably to help Sylvia take
care of their 5 children. In 1864 when she
found herself with child, she and her brotherin-law William moved to Australia. She
named children Millard Filmore Hamill,
Benjamin Franklin Hamill, Henry Clay
Hamill, and George Washington Hamill. In
1881 she had a daughter who died shortly
after birth, and she named her Daisy Garfield
Hamill. In checking history, I discovered that
President James A. Garfield was assassinated
in 1881, so I only surmise that Isabella kept up
with the history of the United States and used
the names of famous men to give her children
some American connection.
Sadly, William, her husband, died in 1897,
and she lived until 1936. Her descendants
said that every year on the anniversary of his
death, she would go to his grave in Australia
and place an American flag on the gravesite.
They said that Isabella always said that when
she met William, it was love at first sight, and
she loved him all her life.
Meanwhile, Sylvia was back in Baltimore
with her 5 living children, and she took over
her ex-husband’s coal oil business after he left
for Australia. Right before William left,
Sylvia had just had a new baby, and her oldest
was 12, so she had many challenges in her life
starting in 1864 as a mother and a woman
running a business in a man’s world. The
heartbreak of losing a husband to her sister
and having a divorce during this time period
must have been a crushing blow, but she
would not allow herself to wallow in her
sorrows. Instead, she pulled herself up by her
bootstraps, went to work, took over as head of
the house, and listed herself as “widowed,” as
she surely felt that William had died. Her first
son became a noted physician. His name also
was George Washington Hamill, the same as
his Australian half-brother. Another son
became a lawyer. Her daughters married and
along with her son George, gave her numerous
grandchildren and other descendants.
We are asked not just to do temple work for
our ancestors but also to try to get to know
them. Through this collaboration with
numerous Hunt and Hamill family members, I
feel very close to these women relatives of the
19th century, and I look forward to meeting
them one day.
13
Spring Cleaning
As spring approaches, do some "spring
cleaning" with your genealogical research
files. Go through your files or research
binders. Purge extra copies (shred or toss), and
file loose papers, make labels, etc. And, don't
forget your computer desktop. Reorganize
those electronic files into folders for easy
access, organize those browser bookmarks and
favorites, delete duplicates, etc.
Source: Micha Reisel, The Genclass
Newsletter, MARCH 2009
Treasures in "Old Stuff"
I found some "old stuff" nobody seemed to
want in my mother-in-law's belongings after
she died. My father-in-law didn't want it, so I
took it. In it I found ledgers that people signed
at the funeral home during visitation, listing
their names and addresses from the 1950s.
When I asked current relatives, they knew
very little about these people. Among the
pages were cards from the flowers received;
one was from "Your niece Ella Eppley." Ella
was a lost relative. No one knew whom she
married, just that she had gone as a child to
live with "Aunt Ann" in Zanesville, Ohio,
after her mother died. After I found the card, I
was able to find (through Ancestry.com) Ella
Eppley in Ohio in the 30s. I'm still looking
through the "old stuff" for bits and pieces of
family information. - --Joyce Brunson
Source: Your Quick Tips, 26 January 2009,
24-7 Family History Circle, Ancestry.com
Linkpendium
Linkpendium is fast becoming one of the most
widely used websites, and is a great resource
for vital statistics, along with journals, diaries
and other personal writings.” --by Sharon
Haddock, Deseret News, Thursday, March 19,
2009
Linkpendium has links to over 7 million
websites to help you in your research. Go to
www.linkpendium.com/ It is divided into
locality links (USA) and surname (worldwide)
links. For a locality, simply click on a state;
then select a county. The links are grouped by
the topics of the websites. For surname links,
select a letter of the alphabet, then the
beginning letters of your surname. The links
are then grouped by topics.
We Will NEVER Be Done
"I have heard some members say, “But our
family names are all done.” It is all right to
say such a thing as long as you realize you are
only joking. Of this, Elder W. Grant Bangerter
of the First Quorum of the Seventy, has said:
“Your genealogy has not all been done. My
own grandparents performed ‘all’ the temple
work for their deceased relatives fifty-five
years ago. Since that time our family has
discovered sixteen thousand others.” (General
Conference, April 1982.)"
ALSO ... Keep in mind what the prophet Joseph F
Smith stated. Even IF .. and it's a big IF ... all of our
ancestors’ work is done, and there is nothing more
we can find to do, we are STILL responsible to
LEARN about our ancestors lives. The Lord
requires that.. So, if you are in fact one of those
"unfortunate" souls (I say unfortunate or unlucky
because if all your ancestors work is done and there
is no more to do, you won't have or continue to have
the satisfaction of performing those ordinances for
them) then you should STUDY their lives and
continue trying to find things out about their lives.
I think this is a great principle because I think it will
make our meeting with them on the other side all the
more enjoyable if we have learned enough about
them to feel that we could have known each other in
life.
Google Tours
Google has an additional tool that is pretty
cool. Using Google Maps, you can type in
an address (or even just a town or street
and town) and if you see a small orange
"person" on the left navigation bar - click
it - and then you can use Street View. This
allows you to "drive" down the streets as
if you were driving in a car sightseeing.
You can even turn 360 degrees to see all
the buildings on either side and turn
corners to keep exploring. I found my
great- grandparents’ house in Newton,
Kansas, and my grandparents' house there,
as well. I took a screen shot and cropped it
and now have pictures to include that I
probably couldn't have gotten otherwise.
Source: Jana, Your Quick Tips, 24-7
Family History Circle Blog, 6 Feb 2009
14
Record your History
Did your spouse, father, or grandfather
propose marriage in a romantic location or in a
unique way? Is there a funny story of how
grandpa finally won grandma's heart? Or vice
versa? How did you meet your sweetheart?
These are the stories that typically can't be
found in records. Take a few moments to
document them so that future generations will
know the story too.
Source: Juliana, Weekly Planner: Preserve a
Romantic Family Story, 24-7 Family History
Circle Blog
Save a Tradition
Every family develops a set of traditions
around certain holidays and family events. Are
certain foods served? Is there a special series
of events that occur at the same time each
year? The next time you see a tradition being
reenacted, step back and ask a series of
questions. Find out why it is a tradition and
who started it. Capture the memories on film
or video as they are happening so that you can
continue the practice. These traditions are
clues to the history of your family.
Source: Gathering Family Memories, by
Maureen Taylor
Question:
When using the Google search engine, is there
a way to search for a surname and just get
family history related sites?
Answer:
Along with your surname, add ~genealogy.
That is the word genealogy preceded by a
tilde. This will yield results including terms
such as ancestry, family, family history,
family tree, genealogical, genealogists, roots,
surname, tree, vital records, and others. If,
when you do a search, you get several sites
that you can identify a common term, such as
president along with Lincoln, you can add president to your search terms. This will
eliminate any sites with the word president.
BOOK DROP
by Patricia Nichols
My husband was raised as a foster child, thus
little was known of his family beyond his
parents' names. His father had an unusual
middle name; a name which I believed was a
surname at one time. However, nothing could
be found of his father. I had almost given up,
but I knew my husband wanted to find a
family for his children, so I kept searching.
I pored over the ADJUTANT GENERAL'S
REPORT FOR VETERANS OF THE CIVIL
WAR FROM ILLINOIS -- a nine-volume
work with no index -- in search of the name
NICHOLAS. One day, while at the local
genealogical library, I had a volume in my
hand ready to search when I turned from the
table to make a comment to the librarian. I
dropped the book. When I turned back to start
my search, the book had fallen open and right
there in front of me was the name for which I
had been searching -- Evermont NICHOLAS.
From that information I was able to obtain a
copy of his military record, discover the name
of his wife, and find when and where he had
died.
Unfortunately, my husband passed away
before I was able to do more than obtain the
military record. However, I persisted for I
knew he wanted that for our children. I found
when and where his grandfather had died.
Thus, the marriage license was found for
Evermont and his wife which gave her maiden
name, WHITLOCK. From this bit of
phenomenal luck, the dropping of a book, I
have been able to find the family he never
knew -- both maternal and paternal
grandparents and great-grandparents. In fact, I
have been able to trace his maternal family
back six generations and I was contacted by
his cousin, thanks to the Internet.
Source: Great Genealogy Stories, Previously
published by Julia M. Case and Myra
Vanderpool Gormley
15
Family History Books Online
Family History Books Online
Published family and local histories offer a
potential rich source of information about
your personal family history. Even if a family
genealogy has not been published for your
ancestors, local and family histories can offer
insight into the places your ancestors lived and
the people they may have encountered during
their lifetime. Literally hundreds of thousands
of genealogies, local histories and other items
of genealogical interest can be search, viewed
and downloaded online for free!
Five of the most popular websites are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
BYU Family History Archives
Google Books
Heritage Quest Online
Internet Text Archive
Canadian Local Histories Online
To read descriptions of these websites and
access links to them: Books Online
Source: Kimberly Powell, "About.com:
Genealogy" March 3, 2009
New Program Quickly Resizes
Photo Images
The Image Resizer Powertoy Clone was
reviewed by professional genealogist, Dick
Eastman and received his enthusiastic support.
This program will, in a matter of seconds,
reduce image sizes for email and web usage.
This program is free of charge but only for
Windows.
To read Dick's article, go to: Eastman article
To access the Powertoy Clone website
directly, go to:
http://www.codeplex.com/PhotoToysClone
Millions of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Civil
Registration Records Now Digitally
Searchable on the Web
SALT LAKE CITY—FamilySearch added the
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Civil Registration to its
online collection—about 4.5 million new digital
images. The free collection contains searchable
digital images of the original birth, marriage, and
death records from all of the municipalities in the
state of Rio de Janeiro from 1889 to 2006. The
new digital images can be searched for free at
FamilySearch.org (click Search Records, and
then click Record Search pilot).
The published records cover births up to 1930,
marriages to 1950, and deaths up to 2006. There
are an estimated 18 million names in the free
online digital collection. FamilySearch continues to
film civil registration records in Rio de Janeiro and
will update the collection as applicable.
Prior to now, the Rio de Janeiro Civil Registration
records were only available in archive offices in
Brazil or on microfilm through one of
FamilySearch’s family history centers worldwide.
FamilySearch digitized the collection—over 2,500
microfilms, spanning 117 years of vital records—
and published them online for free public access.
“Now instead of ordering some of the films and
traveling to a local family history center to use it,
researchers worldwide can search any of the
2,500 films digitally and freely online from the
comfort of their home,” said Paul Nauta,
FamilySearch public affairs manager. “Family
history enthusiasts with Rio de Janeiro ancestors
have just been handed a big-time free gift,” added
Nauta.
GenealogyLinks.net
This site consists of 4,500 pages of more than
50,000 Free Genealogy Links; for US, UK,
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Europe,
Canada, Australia & New Zealand. The types
of records you can find include parish
registers, censuses, cemeteries, marriages,
passenger lists, city directories, military
records,
obituaries
and
more.
http://www.genealogylinks.net/
16
Volunteers Transcribe 250
Million Historical Records
23 April 2009
Incredible Effort Speeds Up Access to Online
Genealogical Information
SALT LAKE CITY—FamilySearch volunteers
reached a monumental milestone this week,
transcribing their 250 millionth historical record.
The incredible online initiative started in January
2006 with a few thousand volunteers and has now
grown to be the largest Web-based initiative of its
kind with over 100,000 volunteers worldwide. The
250 millionth record was part of the current
Nicaragua Civil Registration indexing project
online at indexing.familysearch.org—one of 45
projects being indexed by online volunteers. It was
extracted by three different online indexers from
Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras.
FamilySearch manages the largest collection of
genealogical collections in the world—2.5 million
rolls of microfilm and millions of additional digital
images from over 100 countries worldwide.
For decades, FamilySearch has allowed the public
to use its collection for free through 4,500 family
history centers throughout the world. In 2005, it
began to improve access to its collection by
converting microfilm to digital images that could be
searched online. The next step was to create an
online tool that volunteers around the world could
use to look at the digital images and extract
relevant data that could then be published online
in searchable indexes linked to the digital images.
FamilySearch Indexing is that tool.
“What makes the 250 million record milestone
even more impressive is the fact that each record
was actually indexed at least twice to ensure
accuracy,” reported Paul Nauta, FamilySearch
public affairs manager. “The result is an amazing
searchable online index for people around the
world,” Nauta added.
The unique quality control process means each
document is transcribed by two different indexers.
In the case of the 250 millionth record, the two
indexers were from Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Any discrepancies in their two transcriptions were
then forwarded to a third volunteer—an
arbitrator—who would have made any needed
corrections between the two transcriptions. In this
case, that arbitrator was from Honduras. “Three
volunteers, three countries, one common goal—to
provide access to the world’s genealogical records
quicker and more economically,” said Nauta.
In 2006, FamilySearch volunteers indexed a total
of 11 million records. “Today, thanks to the growth
in our volunteer numbers, FamilySearch
volunteers are now transcribing about a million
names per day. At that rate, we expect to hit the
500 million milestone much quicker than the 250
million marker,” added Nauta.
Today, tens of thousands of volunteers, young
and old, log on to indexing.familysearch.org 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, from all over the
world to help with the ongoing goal to transcribe
the world’s genealogical records. Some donate a
few minutes a month, others hours a day. Some
do it as a sort of “pay it forward” activity because
they have personally benefited in their family
history research by using FamilySearch’s
collections over the years. Others help because
they like the idea that just a little bit of donated
time can help preserve historic information and
make it more available for public access.
Completed indexes are ultimately made available
online for public access through FamilySearch.org
or through one of FamilySearch’s family history
centers.
FamilySearch, at any given time, has over 35
online indexing projects underway—many of them
international projects. “Volunteers usually have a
preference for one type of indexing project over
another,” said Paul Starkey, FamilySearch
Indexing project manager. “For example, if you
have ancestors from Spain, you might be very
motivated to help index the Spain Catholic Church
records because it could facilitate your personal
research once the completed indexes are
published online.”
Anyone interested in volunteering or seeing what
projects are being indexed can do so at
indexing.familysearch.org.
SOME BEAUTIFUL WEBSITES
“Son of Man” project ~ an artistic witness of
Jesus Christ’s life with music by Kenneth
Cope, writings by Susan Easton-Black, and
artwork by Liz Lemon Swindle:
http://www.sonofmanproject.com/
Another video on temples of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
http://ldsmediatalk.com/2009/03/29/mormontemples-a-refuge-from-the-storm/
17
Popular British Jewish
Genealogy Database Grows to
40,000 Records
20 April 2009
Salt Lake City, Utah—FamilySearch expanded its
Knowles Collection—a free popular database of
Jewish records hailing from the British Isles. The
collection builds upon work commenced by the
late Isobel Mordy—a well-known historian of the
Jews of the British Isles.
Mordy was a retired mathematician and used a
complex code to link Jewish United Kingdom
families in her research. Her work yielded 8,000
names and has been very popular for Jewish
family history researchers with British ancestry.
“The complexity of the code Mordy used to index
her research is daunting even to the most
experienced researcher,” said Todd Knowles,
author and manager of the Knowles Collection
and a British Reference consultant for the famous
Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. It
took Knowles a few years, but he ultimately
managed to transcribe the records from Mordy’s
work into a more easily searchable genealogy
database.
The great advantage of the Knowles Collection is
that it links together electronically tens of
thousands of individual Jews into family groups.
Knowles has since expanded Mordy’s collection of
8,000 names to a collection of over 40,000.
“The records come from over 100 individual
sources,” noted Knowles. “That saves the
researcher a lot of time and travel.”
Some of the record sources were actively
maintained until the mid 1980s, so many people
living today will be able to find their relatives from
recent memory in the collection. The newly added
names come from many types of records—
censuses; probate records; synagogue birth,
marriage, and death records; biographies; and
more.
Perhaps the most interesting records added
recently include over 200 Jewish Welsh marriages
from a community in the city of Cardiff, original
synagogue records, and patron-submitted
records. Some of the families tie into the work of
Malcolm Stern’s The First American Jewish
Families, which includes families who had English
ancestry.
The collection can be accessed at
FamilySearch.org on the Jewish Family History
Resources page. It is available to download for
free as either a GEDCOM or PAF file. Individuals
can add their own records to the collection by
contacting the collection’s author, Todd Knowles,
directly at knowleswt@familysearch.org.
You Are Invited to the Temple…..
...to spend a half day (or even a full day) in the
temple each month Here is what monthly
temple participation will do for you:
1. If a man, you will become mighty; if a
woman, powerful. (D&C 109:22)
2. It will serve as great "insurance protection"
for your marriage. (D&C 132:19)
3. The blessings of the Eternal Gods will be
called down upon you, and great spiritual
growth will be yours. (D&C 109: 12&14)
4. Unseen angels will watch over your loved
ones when Satanic forces tempt them. (Acts
27:23)
5. Your families will draw close to the Lord
and there will be no empty chairs in the
Celestial Kingdom. (Hymn #301)
6. Your children will all go on missions.
(D&C 109:58)
7. You children will get married in the
temple. (Conference Talks)
8. The veil will be thin, you will have great
spiritual growth, and many spiritual
experiences will distill upon you.
(D&C
138)
9. You will be prepared for exaltation--with a
celestial body, a celestial mind, and a celestial
personality.
(3 Nephi 12-20, 3 )
10. You will become receptive to divine
guidance, and you will receive spiritual
perception to help you grapple with your
problems and cares. (D&C 38:30) (D& C
3:1-3)
11. You will see clearly how to make critical
decisions that weigh heavily on your
mind. (D&C (109:42)
12. You will become Christlike. (D&C
109:22-25)
John H. Groberg and a Temple Recommend
Stories from LDS Church History
David Kenison
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