There were 34 in attendance for the CVGS program meeting on 31 January at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
The speaker was Marti Lewis who discussed "Exploring Your DNA Test Results."
Marti said there were many ways to use DNA to trace your Family History. The main question most people have is "what do we do with it?"
Each person receives 23 pair of chromosomes from their biological parents - 22 pair are autosomal chromosomes, and 1 pair of sex chromosomes: Males receive a Y-chromosome from their father and an X chromosome from their mother; Females receive an X-chromosome from each parent.
There are three types of DNA testing that deal with your 23 pairs of chromosomes:
* Y chromosome: A sex chromosome transmitted from fathers to sons. This follows the paternal line (e.g., 1 of your 32 3rd great-grandparents).
* Mitochondrial DNA: Matter outside the cell nucleus, transmitted from females to children. This follows a maternal line (but males don't pass it on) (e.g., 1 of your 32 3rd great-grandparents).
* Autosomal DNA: The DNA on 22 chromosomes that are passed from all of your ancestors through your parents (e.g., all 32 of your 32 3rd great-grandparents).
With Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA tests, you can determine the haplogroup of the paternal and maternal lines - where did they originate, where did they migrate to in ancient times. The Y-DNA haplogroups differ from the mtDNA haplogroups. For instance, Marti's mtDNA haplogroup is L3e, which came from Mozambique.
AncestryDNA, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritageDNA offer autosomal testing, but only FamilyTreeDNA provides Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA tests. 23andMe does provide haplogroup definition as part of their service.
What can you learn from your Autosomal DNA test?
* Ancestry Composition - your ethnicity, according to how your DNA matches the test company's reference groups. Marti's ethnicity estimate shows that she is 65% Sub-Saharan African, 32.2% European and 1.8% East Asian/Native American.
* Compare your DNA to your matches - the percentage of DNA you share helps determine the possible relationships to your matches. Each DNA match on your list will tell you how much you share with that person. Typically, you share 50% with a parent, 25% with a grandparent, 12.5% with a great-grandparent, etc. A first cousin will share about 12.5% with you, a 2nd cousin about 3%, a 3rd cousin about 0.8%.
* Find common ancestors with your DNA matches. She explained the concept of cousins and removed cousins - a 3rd cousin shares 2nd great-grandparents, and a 3rd cousin once removed would share common ancestors 4 generations back for one person, and 5 generations back on the other line, in other words one generation different from a common ancestor.
Marti described one of her autosomal DNA matches - William Paxson Gordon (a white man), with whom she shares 26 cM in 2 segments, meaning he is probably a 3rd cousin 1x removed, with common second great-grandparents. One of Marti's second great-grandmothers is Cynthia Jane Paxson (1825-1886) whose father had one of William Gordon's Paxson ancestors.
She said that it helps to have an online Family Tree that your family and cousins can find and use - Marti's is on the Tribal Pages website. The site is free, although there is an annual fee for image storage.
Marti has found that DNA testing and analysis has helped unravel some of her family history mysteries. In some cases, DNA test analysis can strengthen your research paper trail, and help you avoid false connections.
This was a good introduction to DNA testing and analysis for CVGS members.
Showing posts with label Family Trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family Trees. Show all posts
Monday, February 5, 2018
Sunday, February 19, 2017
CVGS Annual Meeting and Sharing on Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Wednesday, 22 February 2017, 12 noon To 2 p.m.
General Meeting
CVGS ANNUAL MEETING AND SHARING
Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library
(365 F Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910)
The February general meeting on 22 February will be our Annual Meeting. At this time, the 2017 budget will be presented to the membership for a vote of approval. The membership will also receive a synopsis of the activities for the last year.
Gary Brock will present a slide show of many of our activities in 2016, courtesy of photos by Patricia Diane Godinez. Come and see yourself on the big screen.
At the end of the formal meeting we will share our 5-generation pedigree charts with each other. See how many people you can find who share your surnames and had ancestors in the same areas as yours. The sharing will be while we enjoy refreshments. I wonder how many new cousins we can find?
Be sure you bring a copy of your 5-generation pedigree chart so you can leave it with a board member to be included in a notebook which will be kept in the library for future reference. There will be extra copies of the chart at the meeting (or email Randy Seaver for one at randy.seaver@gmail.com).
This meeting is free for all persons to attend. CVGS welcomes enquirers and is very happy to help persons interested in finding their ancestors and learning their family history.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Family History Day is 22 October 2016 at the Chula Vista Civic Center Library
CVGS and the Chula Vista Library are sponsoring a FREE Family History Day at the Chula Vista Civic Center Library on Saturday, 22 October, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Randy Seaver will give the keynote address, "Be An Ancestor Detective," at 10:30 a.m. in the Auditorium.
At 12 noon, Ceasar Castro will present "Who Is Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas?" in the Auditorium, a "Who Do You Think You Are?" style program which will explore the family history of our Mayor with her in attendance.
There are also workshops throughout the day for:
* How to Build a Family Tree
* How to Search for Ancestors for Free
* How to Interest Your Family In Its History
* Crafts for Children
* See Your Library's Genealogical Resources
The flyer for this event is:
There is more information on the CVGS website, www.CVGenealogy.org.
Randy Seaver will give the keynote address, "Be An Ancestor Detective," at 10:30 a.m. in the Auditorium.
At 12 noon, Ceasar Castro will present "Who Is Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas?" in the Auditorium, a "Who Do You Think You Are?" style program which will explore the family history of our Mayor with her in attendance.
There are also workshops throughout the day for:
* How to Build a Family Tree
* How to Search for Ancestors for Free
* How to Interest Your Family In Its History
* Crafts for Children
* See Your Library's Genealogical Resources
The flyer for this event is:
There is more information on the CVGS website, www.CVGenealogy.org.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
CVGS Saturday Workshop (3 September 2016) is "Family Tree Maker Review"
The September 3rd Chula Vista Genealogical Society Saturday Workshop at Bonita-Sunnyside Library Community Room (4375 Bonita Road, Bonita, CA 91902) starts at 1 p.m. PDT.
The workshop will be "Family Tree Maker Review" Presented by CVGS member Ken Robison.
If you use Family Tree Maker. or want to learn more about this awesome program, it is highly suggested you attend this event.
Please bring your laptops with Family Tree Maker installed so you can follow along. If you have a specific question on FTM or want a specific topic covered, please let Ken know at:
kenrobison66@gmail.com
Please register for this event if you plan to attend so we may better prepare the venue. More information and online registration: Chula Vista Genealogical Society Saturday Workshop
The workshop will be "Family Tree Maker Review" Presented by CVGS member Ken Robison.
If you use Family Tree Maker. or want to learn more about this awesome program, it is highly suggested you attend this event.
Please bring your laptops with Family Tree Maker installed so you can follow along. If you have a specific question on FTM or want a specific topic covered, please let Ken know at:
kenrobison66@gmail.com
Please register for this event if you plan to attend so we may better prepare the venue. More information and online registration: Chula Vista Genealogical Society Saturday Workshop
Thursday, May 5, 2016
April 30th MyHeritage Presentation Review
Mark Olsen, the Business Development Manager at MyHeritage presented “MyHeritage – Amazing Technology Changing the World of Genealogy” to about 40 members and guests on Saturday, April 30th, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library Auditorium (365 F Street in Chula Vista).
Mark briefly described the history of MyHeritage from the 2003 start in Gilad Japhet's garage in Israel to the second largest commercial genealogy family tree and records website today. In 2011, they acquired WorldVitalRecords, and in 2012 they acquired Geni.com.
MyHeritage has developed several amazing technologies for facial recognition, matching users to other users, matching family tree persons with records, newspaper articles and book, etc. The amazing thing is that the Matching technology is 97.6% accurate.
Mark played one of the MyHeritage videos, this one made in Norway, where people on the street walked up to a computer screen, entered their name, their parents and grandparents names, and were presented with more family names , photos and stories.
On the MyHeritage website, a new user can do the same thing - enter self, parents and grandparents, and immediately receive Smart Matches (matches your tree persons to tree persons in other user trees), Record Matches (records for persons in your family tree), and Instant Discoveries (more persons, photos and records from other user trees). Mark walked us through creating a new family tree on MyHeritage.
Other technologies developed in recent years include:
* Newspaper Matching -- provides Record Matches for your tree persons from digitized Newspapers.
* Record Detective - Finds other records for the person you found a record for
* SearchConnect - finds other users who searched for the same persons you are searching for.
* Global Name Translation - searches across 42 languages for similar names, especially when searching for Jewish and Eastern European records.
* Book Matching - finding matches with your tree persons in over 447,000 genealogy and family history books in "Compilation of Public sources." Anyone can search this collection for FREE (without a subscription).
* Community - Users can ask for help for translation, for record interpretation, etc. from other MyHeritage community members.
Mark said that MyHeritage has partnerships with FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe for DNA testing, with NewspaperARCHIVE for newspaper content, with ArkivDigital in Sweden for records, with Billion Graves for cemetery records, with RootsMagic for WebHints, and with FamilySearch for sharing records and technology.
In addition, MyHeritage provides free desktop genealogy software called Family Tree Builder now in Version 8 for Windows and Mac computers. Family Tree Builder 8 can synchronize your software family tree with your MyHeritage tree.
MyHeritage also has a MyHeritage Library Edition for free use at libraries and FamilySearch Centers. There are MyHeritage mobile apps for iOS and Android smart devices, including audio recording of memories that can be attached to a person.
MyHeritage retail yearly costs are $119 for a no-limit family tree subscription, and $119 for a Data subscription. There is a Premium Plus yearly subscription for $238, but often there are special offers available.
This was an interactive, informative and entertaining presentation - our thanks to Mark Olsen for visiting Chula Vista while he was in San Diego on business.
(photo courtesy of J. Paul Hawthorne)
Mark briefly described the history of MyHeritage from the 2003 start in Gilad Japhet's garage in Israel to the second largest commercial genealogy family tree and records website today. In 2011, they acquired WorldVitalRecords, and in 2012 they acquired Geni.com.
MyHeritage has developed several amazing technologies for facial recognition, matching users to other users, matching family tree persons with records, newspaper articles and book, etc. The amazing thing is that the Matching technology is 97.6% accurate.
Mark played one of the MyHeritage videos, this one made in Norway, where people on the street walked up to a computer screen, entered their name, their parents and grandparents names, and were presented with more family names , photos and stories.
On the MyHeritage website, a new user can do the same thing - enter self, parents and grandparents, and immediately receive Smart Matches (matches your tree persons to tree persons in other user trees), Record Matches (records for persons in your family tree), and Instant Discoveries (more persons, photos and records from other user trees). Mark walked us through creating a new family tree on MyHeritage.
Other technologies developed in recent years include:
* Newspaper Matching -- provides Record Matches for your tree persons from digitized Newspapers.
* Record Detective - Finds other records for the person you found a record for
* SearchConnect - finds other users who searched for the same persons you are searching for.
* Global Name Translation - searches across 42 languages for similar names, especially when searching for Jewish and Eastern European records.
* Book Matching - finding matches with your tree persons in over 447,000 genealogy and family history books in "Compilation of Public sources." Anyone can search this collection for FREE (without a subscription).
* Community - Users can ask for help for translation, for record interpretation, etc. from other MyHeritage community members.
Mark said that MyHeritage has partnerships with FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe for DNA testing, with NewspaperARCHIVE for newspaper content, with ArkivDigital in Sweden for records, with Billion Graves for cemetery records, with RootsMagic for WebHints, and with FamilySearch for sharing records and technology.
In addition, MyHeritage provides free desktop genealogy software called Family Tree Builder now in Version 8 for Windows and Mac computers. Family Tree Builder 8 can synchronize your software family tree with your MyHeritage tree.
MyHeritage also has a MyHeritage Library Edition for free use at libraries and FamilySearch Centers. There are MyHeritage mobile apps for iOS and Android smart devices, including audio recording of memories that can be attached to a person.
MyHeritage retail yearly costs are $119 for a no-limit family tree subscription, and $119 for a Data subscription. There is a Premium Plus yearly subscription for $238, but often there are special offers available.
This was an interactive, informative and entertaining presentation - our thanks to Mark Olsen for visiting Chula Vista while he was in San Diego on business.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
December 5th Saturday Workshop is on MyHeritage Website and Mobile App
The December 5th Saturday workshop is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bonita-Sunnyside County Library (4375 Bonita Road) in the Community Room.
The workshop will be a discussion and demonstration of the MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) family tree system, research databases, and mobile app, led by Shirley Becker and Randy Seaver. Smart Matches, Record Matches and Instant Discoveries will be discussed.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops (logged into MyHeritage if possible) and mobile devices (with the free app installed) so they can follow along.
The workshop will be a discussion and demonstration of the MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) family tree system, research databases, and mobile app, led by Shirley Becker and Randy Seaver. Smart Matches, Record Matches and Instant Discoveries will be discussed.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops (logged into MyHeritage if possible) and mobile devices (with the free app installed) so they can follow along.
Friday, October 3, 2014
CVGS October 4th Workshop: "Engaging Your Family in Your Family History"
FREE October 4th Workshop
“Engaging Your Family in Your Family’s History”
10 a.m. to 4 p.m, in the Community Room
at the Bonita-Sunnyside Library, 4375 Bonita Road
The first of five sessions, “Create a Keepsake” will show you how to have your family help create an heirloom that’s fun and practical. You will laugh when you see what it is.
The second session is titled “Storytelling.” Bring a short episode to share with the group - just a minute or two. It can be funny or dramatic, from your life or a distant relative’s. You’ll learn how the sharing of stories around the dinner table will get your family to open up. And how the children love to hear of their parents’ misadventures! Family history can be fun!
Bring a sack lunch, and we’ll eat picnic-style on the patio (weather permitting). Coffee, tea and water will be provided.
After lunch you can try your hand at an artistic project in “Design a Family Crest.” We will offer a brief overview of heraldry and show how you can get your family to design their own coat of arms. If your ancestors had a family crest, please bring it; perhaps you will learn something about its symbolism. And, here’s more fun for the kids – you’ll get some good tips on getting them to design their own personal coat of arms. What little boy wouldn’t want a crest with a T-Rex on it?
The fourth session, “Pictures with Captions,” will show how old family photos can provide a fun family activity. Bring copies of old photos (the ones from the 1950’s can be a hoot!). We will show you how comic-style ‘speech bubbles’ will get the family giggling and trying to top each other with funny captions.
We will cover “Family Genealogy Charts” in the final hour. You will receive a packet of useful charts with instructions on how to use them. If you’re a genealogy beginner, bring information on your parents and grandparents and our member experts will assist you. For the more advanced, we will offer useful information; and everyone will take home a large family tree chart to impress your family.
We will provide materials. This will be a great interactive event, so don’t forget to bring a short family story, copies of old photos, a sack lunch, a family coat of arms if you have one, and information to fill out a family tree.
All this, and a great Door Prize, too, supplied by Janet Hovorka (the “Chart Chick” and owner of www.FamilyChartMasters.com), who is providing the large family tree charts! And it's FREE!!
This is a FREE workshop for all persons to attend, intended to help beginners and seasoned
researchers engage with their family members in learning about their family history.
For more information, contact Susi Pentico at susicp@cox.net or (619) 623-5250. Thank you to Karen Yarger for writing this article!
Friday, April 11, 2014
April 9th Research Group Meeting Review
The April Research Group Meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society had 21 in attendance at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
In the first hour, Karen Yarger and Diane Godinez made several announcements, and then Randy Seaver discussed how to access and use the FamilySearch record collections, since only some of them are indexed, and some are not indexed. The latter must be browsed, and there are many "genealogy gems" hiding in those unindexed collections, including probate and land records for several states. He used New York Probate Records as an example, and demonstrated finding the "waypoints" and locating a specific record in a digitized book of Estate papers for one of his ancestors. He also highlighted the www.CreateFan.com website to create a number of colorful and useful family tree charts based on information from the FamilySearch Family Tree.
In the second hour, research questions and problems were posed and addressed by group members. For instance:
* Laura asked how she should try to find her ancestor, James Craft (1810-1880), who moved from Maryland to Pennsylvania to Illinois to Iowa during his lifetime. She has only census records for 1850 to 1870, and cannot find his parents. The group suggested identifying the places that he lived and looking for military, land, church, cemetery, tax and probate records on microfilm or on FamilySearch.
* Sally is just starting her research, and a family story is that James Russell was a Revolutionary War soldier, and she wanted to know how to prove that. The group recommended that she confirm her ancestral line back to him by working backwards, using vital, census, military and other records, family by family. For Revolutionary War soldiers, the DAR has a useful database, there should be a Compiled Military Service Record for the soldier, and there may be a pension file for him.
* Jane is also starting her research, and has been working on FamilySearch. She wondered if she should invest in subscriptions for Ancestry.com and Archives.com. The group suggested that she should use the free sites, including Rootsweb.com, USGenWeb.org, FindaGrave.com and the Rootsweb WorldConnect family tree database, to find more leads before investing in a subscription site. She also asked about immigration sites, and the group suggested EllisIsland.org, CastleGarden.org and FamilySearch, and that Ancestry.com had passenger lists for all ports in their collection.
* Shirley bought some of the Rhode Island Roots periodicals at the book sale at the CVGS seminar and has found some helpful items for her ancestor, Samuel Tillinghast.
* Helen asked if some one with the first names of "Ayres Marie" could be an "Iris Marie" in other records. The group thought so. She said that autosomal DNA tests show a possible cousin has an "Iris" in their tree.
* Hazel wondered how accurate FamilySearch Family Tree data is. The group thought that form any families in the 19th and 20th century, the information was accurate since it was based on family papers and genealogical research. When you get back into the 18th century and before, the information may not be as accurate because of the lack of records and duplicate entries for persons and events.
* Bobbie displayed the 150th Anniversary book for her local church in Lake County, Illinois, which has articles submitted by descendants and members, including her own. This is an example of what you might find at local libraries and historical societies when you visit an ancestral location.
The next meeting of the CVGS Research Group will be on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 at 12 noon in the Conference Room at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
In the first hour, Karen Yarger and Diane Godinez made several announcements, and then Randy Seaver discussed how to access and use the FamilySearch record collections, since only some of them are indexed, and some are not indexed. The latter must be browsed, and there are many "genealogy gems" hiding in those unindexed collections, including probate and land records for several states. He used New York Probate Records as an example, and demonstrated finding the "waypoints" and locating a specific record in a digitized book of Estate papers for one of his ancestors. He also highlighted the www.CreateFan.com website to create a number of colorful and useful family tree charts based on information from the FamilySearch Family Tree.
In the second hour, research questions and problems were posed and addressed by group members. For instance:
* Laura asked how she should try to find her ancestor, James Craft (1810-1880), who moved from Maryland to Pennsylvania to Illinois to Iowa during his lifetime. She has only census records for 1850 to 1870, and cannot find his parents. The group suggested identifying the places that he lived and looking for military, land, church, cemetery, tax and probate records on microfilm or on FamilySearch.
* Sally is just starting her research, and a family story is that James Russell was a Revolutionary War soldier, and she wanted to know how to prove that. The group recommended that she confirm her ancestral line back to him by working backwards, using vital, census, military and other records, family by family. For Revolutionary War soldiers, the DAR has a useful database, there should be a Compiled Military Service Record for the soldier, and there may be a pension file for him.
* Jane is also starting her research, and has been working on FamilySearch. She wondered if she should invest in subscriptions for Ancestry.com and Archives.com. The group suggested that she should use the free sites, including Rootsweb.com, USGenWeb.org, FindaGrave.com and the Rootsweb WorldConnect family tree database, to find more leads before investing in a subscription site. She also asked about immigration sites, and the group suggested EllisIsland.org, CastleGarden.org and FamilySearch, and that Ancestry.com had passenger lists for all ports in their collection.
* Shirley bought some of the Rhode Island Roots periodicals at the book sale at the CVGS seminar and has found some helpful items for her ancestor, Samuel Tillinghast.
* Helen asked if some one with the first names of "Ayres Marie" could be an "Iris Marie" in other records. The group thought so. She said that autosomal DNA tests show a possible cousin has an "Iris" in their tree.
* Hazel wondered how accurate FamilySearch Family Tree data is. The group thought that form any families in the 19th and 20th century, the information was accurate since it was based on family papers and genealogical research. When you get back into the 18th century and before, the information may not be as accurate because of the lack of records and duplicate entries for persons and events.
* Bobbie displayed the 150th Anniversary book for her local church in Lake County, Illinois, which has articles submitted by descendants and members, including her own. This is an example of what you might find at local libraries and historical societies when you visit an ancestral location.
The next meeting of the CVGS Research Group will be on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 at 12 noon in the Conference Room at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
Monday, November 4, 2013
CVGS Research Trip to FamilySearch Center - Learned About FamilySearch Family Tree
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society research trip on Wednesday, 30 October, to the FamilySearch Center in Mission Valley (4195 Camino del Rio South in San Diego) was educational for 12 attendees. This event was planned and led by CVGS Member John Finch.
The focus was on learning about FamilySearch Family Tree, the relatively new "universal" family tree - everyone can be in it, and the goal is to have each historical person have a profile with vital records, life events, a biography, photos, stories, sources, etc.
The morning started with a greeting from Donna Jones, one of the center directors in the Media Room. The Media Room has a presentation setup and about 20 Windows 8 computers for learners to use. Here is Donna making her presentation:
And some of the learners trying to follow along with Donna:
FamilySearch Family tree was new for most of the attendees, and they had to register on FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, and click on Sign In and then Register). That requires a Validation sent to your email to be clicked on, and then the user can start working in FamilySearch Family Tree.
Donna encouraged everyone to add their own name, noting that all information about living persons is seen only by that registered person. Then their parents and earlier generations if known. Users should see if there are matching persons already in the Family Tree - and link to those persons rather than create a new person.
After the two hours learning about the Family Tree, the attendees took a guided tour of the FamilySearch Center seeing the classroom, the oral history video room, the microfilm collection and machines, book collection, and the computers available for free searching of many commercial databases.
Most of the attendees headed back to Chula Vista and met at the Marie Callender's for lunch and pie.
There will be another Research Trip to the FamilySearch Center in January.
The focus was on learning about FamilySearch Family Tree, the relatively new "universal" family tree - everyone can be in it, and the goal is to have each historical person have a profile with vital records, life events, a biography, photos, stories, sources, etc.
The morning started with a greeting from Donna Jones, one of the center directors in the Media Room. The Media Room has a presentation setup and about 20 Windows 8 computers for learners to use. Here is Donna making her presentation:
And some of the learners trying to follow along with Donna:
FamilySearch Family tree was new for most of the attendees, and they had to register on FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, and click on Sign In and then Register). That requires a Validation sent to your email to be clicked on, and then the user can start working in FamilySearch Family Tree.
Donna encouraged everyone to add their own name, noting that all information about living persons is seen only by that registered person. Then their parents and earlier generations if known. Users should see if there are matching persons already in the Family Tree - and link to those persons rather than create a new person.
After the two hours learning about the Family Tree, the attendees took a guided tour of the FamilySearch Center seeing the classroom, the oral history video room, the microfilm collection and machines, book collection, and the computers available for free searching of many commercial databases.
Most of the attendees headed back to Chula Vista and met at the Marie Callender's for lunch and pie.
There will be another Research Trip to the FamilySearch Center in January.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
CVGS Research Group Review - 9 October 2013
The October meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Research Group was on Wednesday, 9 October at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library. There were 14 in attendance.
In the first hour, there were announcements about the SDGS bus trip to the Los Angeles Public Library on Saturday, 2 November; the SDGS Seminar in January featuring Lisa Louise Cooke; and the CVGS Field Trips scheduled to the FamilySearch Center on 30 October and in January, and to Carlsbad Library in November. Randy showed some photos from his Legacy Family Tree 2013 Cruise through the Panama Canal, and discussed the Ancestry acquisition of Find A Grave, the release of and update to Family Tree Maker 2014, and the improved Ethnicity Estimate in AncestryDNA's autosomal test results. Karen visited the new San Diego Central Library and provided some pointers for what to expect getting there and accessing records there. She will write a newsletter article about her experiences.
In the second hour, we went around the table to share research problems and successes, including:
* Karen found a 1985 book on Sketches of the Maryland Eastern Shore at the San Diego library, and found information about her LeCompte ancestors.
* Berdella and John reviewed their trip to Ohio and Maryland researching her father's genealogy. They found lots of information at the Frederick, Maryland library and courthouse, and found an 1840 map showing land owners.
* Dawn found her ancestors' marriage record in 1827 in Washington County, Tennessee marriages, which had her grandfather's surname and her own middle name as the wife's maiden name.
* Arline found her 3rd great-grandmother, Rozella Salmon on Find A Grave in the Salmon-Tway Cemetery in Fayette County, Ohio. There were lots of family members and relatives in that cemetery! Several of the contributor comments were her cousins and should be contacted.
* Virginia had another new contact through a MyHeritage tree - a woman in Los Angeles shares Virginia's grandfather but is two generations younger. She also found a more distant cousin in a FamilyTreeDNA match.
* Helen's brother did a Y-DNA test on FamilyTreeDNA and is related to the Dill family in Maryland.
* Gary found new information on his Philip Roff while using the Ancestry suggested records feature - in an online Albany N.Y. militia book. He also showed how to use Google Earth to find Wanda's family land in Wisconsin.
* Susi was contacted by two more Jones cousins, and she and Mary are looking for John Pentico's father in central Pennsylvania.
* Mary noted that Shirley had found her grandfather's passenger list record online.
* Shirley had a Wright (in New York) contact through her online tree who is related by marriage. She also found her ancestor Daniel Miller in an 1869 directory for Oneida County, N.Y., but her is not in the 1870 U.S. Census.
* Bethel found evidence of an ancestor marriage on a USGenWeb County page, but the date conflicts with other available evidence and family trees.
The next CVGS Research Group meeting will be on Wednesday, 13 November at 12 noon in the Chulas Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) in the Conference Room.
In the first hour, there were announcements about the SDGS bus trip to the Los Angeles Public Library on Saturday, 2 November; the SDGS Seminar in January featuring Lisa Louise Cooke; and the CVGS Field Trips scheduled to the FamilySearch Center on 30 October and in January, and to Carlsbad Library in November. Randy showed some photos from his Legacy Family Tree 2013 Cruise through the Panama Canal, and discussed the Ancestry acquisition of Find A Grave, the release of and update to Family Tree Maker 2014, and the improved Ethnicity Estimate in AncestryDNA's autosomal test results. Karen visited the new San Diego Central Library and provided some pointers for what to expect getting there and accessing records there. She will write a newsletter article about her experiences.
In the second hour, we went around the table to share research problems and successes, including:
* Karen found a 1985 book on Sketches of the Maryland Eastern Shore at the San Diego library, and found information about her LeCompte ancestors.
* Berdella and John reviewed their trip to Ohio and Maryland researching her father's genealogy. They found lots of information at the Frederick, Maryland library and courthouse, and found an 1840 map showing land owners.
* Dawn found her ancestors' marriage record in 1827 in Washington County, Tennessee marriages, which had her grandfather's surname and her own middle name as the wife's maiden name.
* Arline found her 3rd great-grandmother, Rozella Salmon on Find A Grave in the Salmon-Tway Cemetery in Fayette County, Ohio. There were lots of family members and relatives in that cemetery! Several of the contributor comments were her cousins and should be contacted.
* Virginia had another new contact through a MyHeritage tree - a woman in Los Angeles shares Virginia's grandfather but is two generations younger. She also found a more distant cousin in a FamilyTreeDNA match.
* Helen's brother did a Y-DNA test on FamilyTreeDNA and is related to the Dill family in Maryland.
* Gary found new information on his Philip Roff while using the Ancestry suggested records feature - in an online Albany N.Y. militia book. He also showed how to use Google Earth to find Wanda's family land in Wisconsin.
* Susi was contacted by two more Jones cousins, and she and Mary are looking for John Pentico's father in central Pennsylvania.
* Mary noted that Shirley had found her grandfather's passenger list record online.
* Shirley had a Wright (in New York) contact through her online tree who is related by marriage. She also found her ancestor Daniel Miller in an 1869 directory for Oneida County, N.Y., but her is not in the 1870 U.S. Census.
* Bethel found evidence of an ancestor marriage on a USGenWeb County page, but the date conflicts with other available evidence and family trees.
The next CVGS Research Group meeting will be on Wednesday, 13 November at 12 noon in the Chulas Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) in the Conference Room.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Family Tree Maker 2012 Workshop on Saturday, 5 January
There will be a "Family Tree Maker 2012 Workshop" led by Randy Seaver, sponsored by the Chula Vista Genealogical Society, on Saturday, 5 January from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road) in the Community Room.
If you have Family Tree Maker genealogy software, then please bring your laptop or netbook (if you have one) to the workshop and work along with Randy, ask questions, and learn more about using the program. If you don't have Family Tree Maker, but are interested in the subject of genealogy software, please attend to see what a typical program can do to help you with your genealogy organization and research.
The plan for the workshop is to:
1) Provide an overview of Family Tree Maker 2012 menus and the Help function using my own database.
2) Start a new family tree from the beginning.
3) Import a GEDCOM file created from another program or online tree.
4) Demonstrate the items on the list below.
** Using the Help function
5) Answer questions from the group.
If you have Family Tree Maker genealogy software, then please bring your laptop or netbook (if you have one) to the workshop and work along with Randy, ask questions, and learn more about using the program. If you don't have Family Tree Maker, but are interested in the subject of genealogy software, please attend to see what a typical program can do to help you with your genealogy organization and research.
The plan for the workshop is to:
1) Provide an overview of Family Tree Maker 2012 menus and the Help function using my own database.
2) Start a new family tree from the beginning.
3) Import a GEDCOM file created from another program or online tree.
4) Demonstrate the items on the list below.
** Using the Help function
** Using Tools > Options
**
Workspaces (Plan, People, Places, Media, Sources, Publish, Web
Search)
** Importing a GEDCOM file
** Exporting a GEDCOM file
** Importing a GEDCOM file
** Exporting a GEDCOM file
**
Syncing with an Ancestry Member Tree
** Starting a New File
** Starting a New File
**
Adding persons to the Family Tree
** Adding Facts to a Person
** Adding Media to a Person
** Adding Source Citations to Persons or Facts
** Adding Notes to a Person
** Merging Persons Manually
** Deleting a Person or Family
** Attaching or Unlinking a Person from Parents or Spouse
** Rearranging Children or Spouses
** Creating Charts
** Creating Person and Relationship Reports
** Creating Genealogy Reports
** Creating Place, Source and Media Reports
** Adding Facts to a Person
** Adding Media to a Person
** Adding Source Citations to Persons or Facts
** Adding Notes to a Person
** Merging Persons Manually
** Deleting a Person or Family
** Attaching or Unlinking a Person from Parents or Spouse
** Rearranging Children or Spouses
** Creating Charts
** Creating Person and Relationship Reports
** Creating Genealogy Reports
** Creating Place, Source and Media Reports
**
Creating Books
Sunday, July 15, 2012
CVGS Research Group Summary - 11 July 2012
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society Research Group meeting on 11 July had 14 enthusiastic attendees.
Randy did not have a presentation, but highlighted some of the local educational opportunities at CVGS and SDGS in the next two months. He also passed around samples of Michael John Neill's Casefile Clues newsletters if people wanted to subscribe.
A question was asked whether it would be better to enter your family tree data into a software program, like RootsMagic, or to enter it into an online family tree, like an Ancestry Member Tree. Randy pointed out that folks can create a free Ancestry Member Tree, and sync it to Family Tree Maker 2012, or download a GEDCOM file of it and import it to their desktop software. A GEDCOM file can be exported from software and imported to many online tree systems. The major difference, in Randy's opinion, is that software does a much better job of creating reports and charts and is easier to navigate.
Diane received a GEDCOM file from her aunt, and merged it into her own tree in RootsMagic, and now has some duplicate people that she is merging. She asked how to make relationships show up in the Family View, and the group said to use Tools > Set Relationships to set the key person. She also asked how she can create a report for the family. The group said to go to Reports > Narrative Reports to create ancestral or descendant reports.
Ralph visited Salt Lake City and the Family History Library on his vacation, and enjoyed two days of research there. He said that his research was "wide but not deep." Ralph recommended asking for help at the FHC immediately to optimize your research time there. He asked about finding the local FamilySearch Centers and using microfilms there. The group discussed the holdings at the Mission Valley FSC and the information available there.
Jaye made some progress on her Robert Murphy problem on a Murphy message board,a local history book, and online Missouri vital records. She asked how to find out about newspaper and probate records for a county, and the group suggested the USGenWeb site for the county and to contact a local genealogical or historical society.
Sue is a new member, overwhelmed by all of the information offered over the past few months. She asked about the 1752 calendar change from Julian to Gregorian in the USA and other places, and the group described the reason and effect of the addition of 11 days to the calendar. Doing online research, she found her great-grandfather on her father's side. She has asked her brother to take a DNA test.
Kitty is stuck on two grandfathers in the 20th century. The group suggested obtaining vital records, and writing to local genealogical or historical societies to see if there is information in local files. She had a hard time registering for the beta trial at MyGenShare.
Dan is a new member, born in Puerto Rico, and has lived in California for 33 years. He has written a book on California's First Puerto Ricans, 1850-1910, and published it as an e-book, but would like a hard copy publisher. The group suggested Tom Underhill's Creative Continuum company.
Pam has been watching the PBS series"History of England" online and enjoying it. She's had success finding her families in the 1940 U.S. Census by finding their address in City Directories on Ancestry.com. Pam donated a book on Indian Abductions and Captures to CVGS recently. She posed a challenge to identify the relationship of the great-grandchild of her first cousin's wife, who was also her great-grandfather's second wife. The group suggested that she listen to I Am My Own Grandpa for guidance. Seriously, we charted it out and she's not blood related to the wife of her cousin, but is a first-cousin once removed to her great-grandchild.
Karen Karen's photo mystery was solved. She found a mailing tube with a large photograph that had no information. She also found a 1992 letter from a relative that provides information about the picture and the family history from Norway to Quebec to Wisconsin to Iowa. Her warning: If you have family photographs, please date it, identify people and places.
Virginia won one hour of research from SCGS at the Jamboree, and during the time they found a living cousin in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania that had information on her Dunlop family.
Sam has found lots of shaky leaf hints on his Ancestry Member Tree and has been busy accepting them and adding the information to his database. He asked how he could create a migration map using Family Tree Maker 2012. The group suggested he read the blog post on the subject on Russ Worthington's Family Tree Maker User blog (http://ftmuser.blogspot.com). Sam is preparing for trips to Tennessee and Europe.
Mary Lou discussed her New York "black hole" and asked how to find probate, land and cemetery records. The group suggested the New York Probate Records that were added by FamilySearch, and are also on microfilm from the Family History Library. For cemetery records, the group suggested using Find-A-Grave online, to look on the USGenWeb county websites, and to contact local libraries or societies in the area.
This was a very full two hours of nonstop discussion and interaction. The next Research Group meeting will be Wednesday, 8 August in the Conference Room in the Chula Vista Civic center Branch Library, hosted by Randy Seaver.
Randy did not have a presentation, but highlighted some of the local educational opportunities at CVGS and SDGS in the next two months. He also passed around samples of Michael John Neill's Casefile Clues newsletters if people wanted to subscribe.
A question was asked whether it would be better to enter your family tree data into a software program, like RootsMagic, or to enter it into an online family tree, like an Ancestry Member Tree. Randy pointed out that folks can create a free Ancestry Member Tree, and sync it to Family Tree Maker 2012, or download a GEDCOM file of it and import it to their desktop software. A GEDCOM file can be exported from software and imported to many online tree systems. The major difference, in Randy's opinion, is that software does a much better job of creating reports and charts and is easier to navigate.
Diane received a GEDCOM file from her aunt, and merged it into her own tree in RootsMagic, and now has some duplicate people that she is merging. She asked how to make relationships show up in the Family View, and the group said to use Tools > Set Relationships to set the key person. She also asked how she can create a report for the family. The group said to go to Reports > Narrative Reports to create ancestral or descendant reports.
Ralph visited Salt Lake City and the Family History Library on his vacation, and enjoyed two days of research there. He said that his research was "wide but not deep." Ralph recommended asking for help at the FHC immediately to optimize your research time there. He asked about finding the local FamilySearch Centers and using microfilms there. The group discussed the holdings at the Mission Valley FSC and the information available there.
Jaye made some progress on her Robert Murphy problem on a Murphy message board,a local history book, and online Missouri vital records. She asked how to find out about newspaper and probate records for a county, and the group suggested the USGenWeb site for the county and to contact a local genealogical or historical society.
Sue is a new member, overwhelmed by all of the information offered over the past few months. She asked about the 1752 calendar change from Julian to Gregorian in the USA and other places, and the group described the reason and effect of the addition of 11 days to the calendar. Doing online research, she found her great-grandfather on her father's side. She has asked her brother to take a DNA test.
Kitty is stuck on two grandfathers in the 20th century. The group suggested obtaining vital records, and writing to local genealogical or historical societies to see if there is information in local files. She had a hard time registering for the beta trial at MyGenShare.
Dan is a new member, born in Puerto Rico, and has lived in California for 33 years. He has written a book on California's First Puerto Ricans, 1850-1910, and published it as an e-book, but would like a hard copy publisher. The group suggested Tom Underhill's Creative Continuum company.
Pam has been watching the PBS series"History of England" online and enjoying it. She's had success finding her families in the 1940 U.S. Census by finding their address in City Directories on Ancestry.com. Pam donated a book on Indian Abductions and Captures to CVGS recently. She posed a challenge to identify the relationship of the great-grandchild of her first cousin's wife, who was also her great-grandfather's second wife. The group suggested that she listen to I Am My Own Grandpa for guidance. Seriously, we charted it out and she's not blood related to the wife of her cousin, but is a first-cousin once removed to her great-grandchild.
Karen Karen's photo mystery was solved. She found a mailing tube with a large photograph that had no information. She also found a 1992 letter from a relative that provides information about the picture and the family history from Norway to Quebec to Wisconsin to Iowa. Her warning: If you have family photographs, please date it, identify people and places.
Virginia won one hour of research from SCGS at the Jamboree, and during the time they found a living cousin in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania that had information on her Dunlop family.
Sam has found lots of shaky leaf hints on his Ancestry Member Tree and has been busy accepting them and adding the information to his database. He asked how he could create a migration map using Family Tree Maker 2012. The group suggested he read the blog post on the subject on Russ Worthington's Family Tree Maker User blog (http://ftmuser.blogspot.com). Sam is preparing for trips to Tennessee and Europe.
Mary Lou discussed her New York "black hole" and asked how to find probate, land and cemetery records. The group suggested the New York Probate Records that were added by FamilySearch, and are also on microfilm from the Family History Library. For cemetery records, the group suggested using Find-A-Grave online, to look on the USGenWeb county websites, and to contact local libraries or societies in the area.
This was a very full two hours of nonstop discussion and interaction. The next Research Group meeting will be Wednesday, 8 August in the Conference Room in the Chula Vista Civic center Branch Library, hosted by Randy Seaver.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
CVGS Research Group Review - 11 January
...
We had a record 18 attendees at the CVGS Research Group meeting on Wednesday, 11 January at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
Randy started the meeting by discussing coming programs, the Spring Seminar, and the Family History Fair. He also asked for topic suggestions for an Intermediate Genealogy class (Genealogy 201). Three topics stood out - Citing Sources, DNA Tests, and Online Research. Randy passed out a handout with his "Best Of..." research tips by record types. There was also discussion of education via radio shows, webinars, seminars, conferences, and learning institutes.
Next on the agenda was each attendee highlighting one or two of their 2012 Goals. The goals described included (without names!):
* Citing sources better
* Research the next generation on my tree, and research the "dashes" (family history events)
* Become better organized - my paper collection and computer files
* Learn how to use my genealogy software program (Family Tree Maker, Reunion, RootsMagic, Family Tree Builder mentioned)
* Publish my research to a DVD
* Put my research on paper into genealogy software
* Research a specific line (e.g., maternal grandfather's line)
* Scan, label and organize my pictures.
* Get my computer working again
* Dedicate one day a week on genealogy efforts.
* Use my Ancestry.com subscription to find records of ancestors
* Prove the line so I can join "Daughters of the King"
* Take the Genealogy 101 class
* Increase my involvement in CVGS
* Attack and knock down my brick wall challenge
* Pick and use only one genealogy program
* Do research at the FHL in Salt Lake City
* Add content and sources to my genealogy database
Questions asked included:
* What's the scoop on the 1940 U.S. Census? Answer: See January newsletter; images available on 2 April, FamilySearch/Archives and Ancestry will create separate every-name indexes, perhaps completed by the end of 2012.
* For photo scanning, what resolution should I use? Answer: For printing, 300 dpi as a JPG is satisfactory. For archival purposes, 600 dpi saved in a TIF format is recommended.
* How do I import a GEDCOM file into FTM 2011? Answer: The Help button is your friend, and there's a book to help you. Friends can help also.
* Do programs have Research Logs? Answer: Yes, FTM 2012, RootsMagic and Legacy do - use the Help button. Or use a word processor for each surname or ancestor.
In the sharing time, the attendees said:
* Virginia found a shaky leaf on Ancestry.com for her grandmother's marriage
* Kevin's cousin sent information for two more generations, and Kevin found a third.
* Mary Lou noted that members of some genealogical societies are permitted to go into their county records to research questions.
* Ann went to Wisconsin to research, and shared research with an elderly cousin. She also found a 1906 divorce notice on a Clark county WI website.
* Bobbie shared three books that have helped her research, one on DNA research, another on Acadia, and the third on Lake County IL resources.
* Randy had success with the San Diego historical newspapers just added to GenealogyBank. He also discussed autosomal DNA tests and results.
This was a very fast and information-packed meeting.
The next Research Group meeting will be the second Wednesday of February, 8 February, at 12 noon in the Chula Vista Civic Center Library Computer Lab (note the location change, due to AARP income tax help).
We had a record 18 attendees at the CVGS Research Group meeting on Wednesday, 11 January at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
Randy started the meeting by discussing coming programs, the Spring Seminar, and the Family History Fair. He also asked for topic suggestions for an Intermediate Genealogy class (Genealogy 201). Three topics stood out - Citing Sources, DNA Tests, and Online Research. Randy passed out a handout with his "Best Of..." research tips by record types. There was also discussion of education via radio shows, webinars, seminars, conferences, and learning institutes.
Next on the agenda was each attendee highlighting one or two of their 2012 Goals. The goals described included (without names!):
* Citing sources better
* Research the next generation on my tree, and research the "dashes" (family history events)
* Become better organized - my paper collection and computer files
* Learn how to use my genealogy software program (Family Tree Maker, Reunion, RootsMagic, Family Tree Builder mentioned)
* Publish my research to a DVD
* Put my research on paper into genealogy software
* Research a specific line (e.g., maternal grandfather's line)
* Scan, label and organize my pictures.
* Get my computer working again
* Dedicate one day a week on genealogy efforts.
* Use my Ancestry.com subscription to find records of ancestors
* Prove the line so I can join "Daughters of the King"
* Take the Genealogy 101 class
* Increase my involvement in CVGS
* Attack and knock down my brick wall challenge
* Pick and use only one genealogy program
* Do research at the FHL in Salt Lake City
* Add content and sources to my genealogy database
Questions asked included:
* What's the scoop on the 1940 U.S. Census? Answer: See January newsletter; images available on 2 April, FamilySearch/Archives and Ancestry will create separate every-name indexes, perhaps completed by the end of 2012.
* For photo scanning, what resolution should I use? Answer: For printing, 300 dpi as a JPG is satisfactory. For archival purposes, 600 dpi saved in a TIF format is recommended.
* How do I import a GEDCOM file into FTM 2011? Answer: The Help button is your friend, and there's a book to help you. Friends can help also.
* Do programs have Research Logs? Answer: Yes, FTM 2012, RootsMagic and Legacy do - use the Help button. Or use a word processor for each surname or ancestor.
In the sharing time, the attendees said:
* Virginia found a shaky leaf on Ancestry.com for her grandmother's marriage
* Kevin's cousin sent information for two more generations, and Kevin found a third.
* Mary Lou noted that members of some genealogical societies are permitted to go into their county records to research questions.
* Ann went to Wisconsin to research, and shared research with an elderly cousin. She also found a 1906 divorce notice on a Clark county WI website.
* Bobbie shared three books that have helped her research, one on DNA research, another on Acadia, and the third on Lake County IL resources.
* Randy had success with the San Diego historical newspapers just added to GenealogyBank. He also discussed autosomal DNA tests and results.
This was a very fast and information-packed meeting.
The next Research Group meeting will be the second Wednesday of February, 8 February, at 12 noon in the Chula Vista Civic Center Library Computer Lab (note the location change, due to AARP income tax help).
Saturday, July 11, 2009
CVGS Member Ahnentafels
Once in awhile, a researcher in another place does a search for an ancestor and finds one or more names in the Ahnentafel reports submitted by CVGS members. There are at least 15 ahnentafels on the CVGS website at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacvgs2/Ahnentafels/snindex.html. That is the surname index list - click on a letter and then on a surname to see an ahnentafel.
We had an email come in today from a person who is a third cousin of one of our members. She also happens to be a matrilineal descendant of a purported Native American ancestor of my member colleague. They are already in contact as a result of the CVGS Ahnentafels and will, hopefully, help each other out. If they have the mitochondrial DNA test done, it will benefit both of them, and several other cousins too.
We don't get many matches from these ahnentafels, probably because we have so few. They are not difficult to make with genealogy software (except for Family Tree Maker, which won't make a clean ahnentafel list!), and they are text files so they are easy to add to the web site. Gary, our Webmaster, has a neat indexing program to create the Surname index that leads to a given Ahnentafel. Just think how many people we could connect if we had 100 ahnentafels, or a thousand online.
It's great to see our web site, and our effort to create and publish the ahnentafels online, pay off with cousin connections.
We had an email come in today from a person who is a third cousin of one of our members. She also happens to be a matrilineal descendant of a purported Native American ancestor of my member colleague. They are already in contact as a result of the CVGS Ahnentafels and will, hopefully, help each other out. If they have the mitochondrial DNA test done, it will benefit both of them, and several other cousins too.
We don't get many matches from these ahnentafels, probably because we have so few. They are not difficult to make with genealogy software (except for Family Tree Maker, which won't make a clean ahnentafel list!), and they are text files so they are easy to add to the web site. Gary, our Webmaster, has a neat indexing program to create the Surname index that leads to a given Ahnentafel. Just think how many people we could connect if we had 100 ahnentafels, or a thousand online.
It's great to see our web site, and our effort to create and publish the ahnentafels online, pay off with cousin connections.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Genealogy News Summary for January 2009
....
Here's the genealogy news for late December and early November:
1. INTERESTING GENEALOGY WEB SITES
* http://wardepartmentpapers.org/ - Papers of the U.S. War Department 1784-1800 are in this collection of more than 55,000 documents in a free, online format with extensive and searchable metadata linked to digitized images of each document, thereby insuring free access for a wide range of users.
* http://www.itrunsinmyfamily.com/ - The online Family Health History Tool allows people to create a comprehensive family health history report that can be used by a healthcare professional. It is capable of charting complex family relationships and storing pertinent family health information in standardized pedigree nomenclature. It will reduce the amount of time that doctors and other health professionals spend in collecting data, thereby allowing for more time to be spent in evaluation and defining treatment.
* http://askolivetree.blogspot.com/ - Ask Olive Tree Genealogy a Question. Do you need help finding an ancestor? Do you have a genealogy question you would like to ask Lorine Schulze McGinnis? Do you want to know where to find certain genealogy records?
* http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/services/questionoftheday.asp - David Allen Lambert has started a Question of the Day feature on the http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ web site of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGS).
* http://www.famouscensus.com/ - Michael John Neill's Find Famous People in the Census features contests (you can win valuable prizes) and examples of famous people found in the census records.
* http://www.identifinders.com/ - Sharon E. Sergeant and Colleen Fitzpatrick have a web site dedicated to describing forensic genealogy efforts to uncover fraudulent genealogy and family history claims.
* http://www.researchguides.net/census/state.htm - State census records finder (not a complete list).
2. NEW GENEALOGY DATABASES
a) at www.Ancestry.com - subscription site (US = $155.40, World = $299.40) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC (Institution with World databases) or San Diego City or County Public Libraries (Ancestry Library Edition). Ancestry has over 7 billion names in over 27,100 databases. See new content at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx. New databases this month include:
* 1900 U.S. Federal Census updated - includes revised index prepared by FamilySearch Indexing.
* US Naturalization Records 1791-1992 (World Archives Project) - This collection is currently being indexed by World Archives Project contributors. It contains images of paper indexes to naturalization records (primarily Declarations and Petitions) for various courts (primarily U.S. District and Circuit courts) and years.
* Wisconsin Divorce Records, 1965-1984
* Delaware Marriage Records, 1744-1912
* Florida State Census, 1867-1945
* Sweden Births from Sweden Death Index, 1947-2006 (in Swedish, need World subscription).
* U.K. City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s - This database is a collection of directories (street, commercial, trade, court, post office, etc.) for various areas of the United Kingdom from the 1600s to the 1900s. (need UK or World subscription)
* Netherlands Births and Christenings, 1608-1882; Netherlands Marriages 1637-1892 (in Dutch, need World subscription)
* Denmark Births and Christenings, 1631-1900s; Denmark Marriages, 1631-1900s (in Danish, need World subscription)
What's coming soon at Ancestry? Check out http://landing.ancestry.com/comingsoon/.
b) www.WorldVitalRecords.com - subscription site (US = $39.95 for 1 year, World = $119.95 for 1 year) -- now available for FREE at the San Diego FHC. Over 11,000 databases, over 1.35 billion names. Recently added content is at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/recentcontentlisting.aspx. New US items are FREE at WVR for 10 days. New databases include:
* 25 titles of United Kingdom vital records from the Anguline Research Archives (ARA). Many of the databases in this collection contain parish registers.
* Abstracts of Wills and Inventories, Fairfax County, Virginia, 1742–1801
Forks of Elkhorn Church: With Genealogies of Early Members Reprinted with Numerous Additions and Corrections
* Early New York Naturalizations: Abstracts of Naturalizations Records from Federal, State, and Local Courts, 1792–1840
* Families of Ancient New Haven, Volumes 1 and 2
* Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records, 27 volumes of the 55-volume-set that covers 137 towns and includes 14,333 typed pages.
c) www.Footnote.com - subscription site ($69.96 annual retail, $11.95 monthly) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC. They offer 7-day FREE trial. 455 Titles, over 48 million images, over 1 million free. Content list at http://www.footnote.com/documents.php. Information added this month includes:
* US City Directories for Newark, San Francisco, Pittsburgh
* World War II Collection - Interactive USS Arizona Memorial; WWII Hero Pages (over 8.8 million created); WWII Photos; WWII Documents
d) www.GenealogyBank.com - subscription site (trial $9.95 for 30 days, $69.95 for 12 months). It has archives for over 2,500 U.S. historical newspapers in all 50 states, from the 1600s to the present day, with over 224 million family history records, over 29 million obituaries from more than 1,140 newspapers in more than 130 million historical newspaper articles, and more than 11,700 historical books.
* Added 63 titles from 24 states
e) http://pilot.familysearch.org/ - the LDS FREE site for indexed and browsable databases -- new content includes:
* Arizona Death Certificates
* Hungary Obituaries, 1840-1990
* 1870 US Census 99% complete
f) http://www.1911census.co.uk/ - 1911 England and Wales census is online. The index is free. You have to register and pay, using pay-as-you-go credits, to view, download or print the actual records.
3. GENEALOGY EDUCATION
* http://www.pharostutors.com/ - The Guild of One-Name Studies and Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd are pleased to announce a brand new five week introductory course on One-Name Studies, starting 27th April 2009. The course covers surnames and their history; core records needed for one-name studies; the analyses of one-name data and all the practical aspects of running a one-name study. The price of the course is £42.99.
* http://professional.bu.edu/cpe/Genealogy.asp - Outstanding faculty at Boston University teaches the Genealogical Proof Standard® in the new Ancestral Research and Genealogy Certificate Program. Classes will be held on Saturdays over a 14-week period starting January 17, 2009.
* National Genealogical Society Conference in the States is in Raleigh, North Carolina from 13 May to 16 May 2009. Registration forms are on Conference web page here. The Family History Conference program is listed here. The Program has tracks for BCG, Migration, Carolinas, GenTech, Working with Records, States, Ethnic, Methodology, NARA, Military, Workshops, Land, Libraries, Basics, etc.
* http://www.zroots.com/tutorials1.htm - two new Searching at Ancestry.com tutorials by Barbara Renick, a noted Southern California genealogist and conference/seminar lecturer.
4. SOFTWARE
* http://myblood-line.com/ - MyBlood is a brand new genealogy program from Belgium. It is currently in Alpha test. It is available in two versions: Windows and Macintosh. English, French, and Dutch versions are available today and the program includes a Translator Tool to help you translate everything in the application. MyBlood is a visual program: almost everything is oriented around pictures, graphs and historical timelines. It can import GEDCOM files so that you do not have to re-enter all your data into this new program. The Alpha version of MyBlood is free, but to be able to save changes, you need to register for a free license key. The program will be a commercial product once the regular version is released. Pricing has not yet been announced.
* Family Tree Builder 3 - MyHeritage, one of the world’s most popular family Web sites, today announced the launch of Family Tree Builder 3, a powerful software program that MyHeritage members can download and use to build family trees, research family history and add content like photos and videos. It is freely available on www.MyHeritage.com.
* http://www.tamurajones.net/ - Modern Software Experience: Tamura Jones' web site is comprised of original articles dealing with genealogy, browser, office and other software packages. In each article, he analyzes the program components and features, tests them with his own databases, and constructively criticizes the package - what does it do well, what could it do better, where is it dangerous, etc.
5. ANNOUNCEMENTS
* www.MyHeritage.com has limited free family tree databases to 500 persons. They offer a Premium ($3.95/month, up to 2,500 persons) or a Premium Plus ($9.95/month, unlimited database) plans.
* www.Geni.com has a Pro plan ($4.95/month) for additional benefits over basic account.
Here's the genealogy news for late December and early November:
1. INTERESTING GENEALOGY WEB SITES
* http://wardepartmentpapers.org/ - Papers of the U.S. War Department 1784-1800 are in this collection of more than 55,000 documents in a free, online format with extensive and searchable metadata linked to digitized images of each document, thereby insuring free access for a wide range of users.
* http://www.itrunsinmyfamily.com/ - The online Family Health History Tool allows people to create a comprehensive family health history report that can be used by a healthcare professional. It is capable of charting complex family relationships and storing pertinent family health information in standardized pedigree nomenclature. It will reduce the amount of time that doctors and other health professionals spend in collecting data, thereby allowing for more time to be spent in evaluation and defining treatment.
* http://askolivetree.blogspot.com/ - Ask Olive Tree Genealogy a Question. Do you need help finding an ancestor? Do you have a genealogy question you would like to ask Lorine Schulze McGinnis? Do you want to know where to find certain genealogy records?
* http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/services/questionoftheday.asp - David Allen Lambert has started a Question of the Day feature on the http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ web site of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGS).
* http://www.famouscensus.com/ - Michael John Neill's Find Famous People in the Census features contests (you can win valuable prizes) and examples of famous people found in the census records.
* http://www.identifinders.com/ - Sharon E. Sergeant and Colleen Fitzpatrick have a web site dedicated to describing forensic genealogy efforts to uncover fraudulent genealogy and family history claims.
* http://www.researchguides.net/census/state.htm - State census records finder (not a complete list).
2. NEW GENEALOGY DATABASES
a) at www.Ancestry.com - subscription site (US = $155.40, World = $299.40) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC (Institution with World databases) or San Diego City or County Public Libraries (Ancestry Library Edition). Ancestry has over 7 billion names in over 27,100 databases. See new content at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx. New databases this month include:
* 1900 U.S. Federal Census updated - includes revised index prepared by FamilySearch Indexing.
* US Naturalization Records 1791-1992 (World Archives Project) - This collection is currently being indexed by World Archives Project contributors. It contains images of paper indexes to naturalization records (primarily Declarations and Petitions) for various courts (primarily U.S. District and Circuit courts) and years.
* Wisconsin Divorce Records, 1965-1984
* Delaware Marriage Records, 1744-1912
* Florida State Census, 1867-1945
* Sweden Births from Sweden Death Index, 1947-2006 (in Swedish, need World subscription).
* U.K. City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s - This database is a collection of directories (street, commercial, trade, court, post office, etc.) for various areas of the United Kingdom from the 1600s to the 1900s. (need UK or World subscription)
* Netherlands Births and Christenings, 1608-1882; Netherlands Marriages 1637-1892 (in Dutch, need World subscription)
* Denmark Births and Christenings, 1631-1900s; Denmark Marriages, 1631-1900s (in Danish, need World subscription)
What's coming soon at Ancestry? Check out http://landing.ancestry.com/comingsoon/.
b) www.WorldVitalRecords.com - subscription site (US = $39.95 for 1 year, World = $119.95 for 1 year) -- now available for FREE at the San Diego FHC. Over 11,000 databases, over 1.35 billion names. Recently added content is at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/recentcontentlisting.aspx. New US items are FREE at WVR for 10 days. New databases include:
* 25 titles of United Kingdom vital records from the Anguline Research Archives (ARA). Many of the databases in this collection contain parish registers.
* Abstracts of Wills and Inventories, Fairfax County, Virginia, 1742–1801
Forks of Elkhorn Church: With Genealogies of Early Members Reprinted with Numerous Additions and Corrections
* Early New York Naturalizations: Abstracts of Naturalizations Records from Federal, State, and Local Courts, 1792–1840
* Families of Ancient New Haven, Volumes 1 and 2
* Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records, 27 volumes of the 55-volume-set that covers 137 towns and includes 14,333 typed pages.
c) www.Footnote.com - subscription site ($69.96 annual retail, $11.95 monthly) - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC. They offer 7-day FREE trial. 455 Titles, over 48 million images, over 1 million free. Content list at http://www.footnote.com/documents.php. Information added this month includes:
* US City Directories for Newark, San Francisco, Pittsburgh
* World War II Collection - Interactive USS Arizona Memorial; WWII Hero Pages (over 8.8 million created); WWII Photos; WWII Documents
d) www.GenealogyBank.com - subscription site (trial $9.95 for 30 days, $69.95 for 12 months). It has archives for over 2,500 U.S. historical newspapers in all 50 states, from the 1600s to the present day, with over 224 million family history records, over 29 million obituaries from more than 1,140 newspapers in more than 130 million historical newspaper articles, and more than 11,700 historical books.
* Added 63 titles from 24 states
e) http://pilot.familysearch.org/ - the LDS FREE site for indexed and browsable databases -- new content includes:
* Arizona Death Certificates
* Hungary Obituaries, 1840-1990
* 1870 US Census 99% complete
f) http://www.1911census.co.uk/ - 1911 England and Wales census is online. The index is free. You have to register and pay, using pay-as-you-go credits, to view, download or print the actual records.
3. GENEALOGY EDUCATION
* http://www.pharostutors.com/ - The Guild of One-Name Studies and Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd are pleased to announce a brand new five week introductory course on One-Name Studies, starting 27th April 2009. The course covers surnames and their history; core records needed for one-name studies; the analyses of one-name data and all the practical aspects of running a one-name study. The price of the course is £42.99.
* http://professional.bu.edu/cpe/Genealogy.asp - Outstanding faculty at Boston University teaches the Genealogical Proof Standard® in the new Ancestral Research and Genealogy Certificate Program. Classes will be held on Saturdays over a 14-week period starting January 17, 2009.
* National Genealogical Society Conference in the States is in Raleigh, North Carolina from 13 May to 16 May 2009. Registration forms are on Conference web page here. The Family History Conference program is listed here. The Program has tracks for BCG, Migration, Carolinas, GenTech, Working with Records, States, Ethnic, Methodology, NARA, Military, Workshops, Land, Libraries, Basics, etc.
* http://www.zroots.com/tutorials1.htm - two new Searching at Ancestry.com tutorials by Barbara Renick, a noted Southern California genealogist and conference/seminar lecturer.
4. SOFTWARE
* http://myblood-line.com/ - MyBlood is a brand new genealogy program from Belgium. It is currently in Alpha test. It is available in two versions: Windows and Macintosh. English, French, and Dutch versions are available today and the program includes a Translator Tool to help you translate everything in the application. MyBlood is a visual program: almost everything is oriented around pictures, graphs and historical timelines. It can import GEDCOM files so that you do not have to re-enter all your data into this new program. The Alpha version of MyBlood is free, but to be able to save changes, you need to register for a free license key. The program will be a commercial product once the regular version is released. Pricing has not yet been announced.
* Family Tree Builder 3 - MyHeritage, one of the world’s most popular family Web sites, today announced the launch of Family Tree Builder 3, a powerful software program that MyHeritage members can download and use to build family trees, research family history and add content like photos and videos. It is freely available on www.MyHeritage.com.
* http://www.tamurajones.net/ - Modern Software Experience: Tamura Jones' web site is comprised of original articles dealing with genealogy, browser, office and other software packages. In each article, he analyzes the program components and features, tests them with his own databases, and constructively criticizes the package - what does it do well, what could it do better, where is it dangerous, etc.
5. ANNOUNCEMENTS
* www.MyHeritage.com has limited free family tree databases to 500 persons. They offer a Premium ($3.95/month, up to 2,500 persons) or a Premium Plus ($9.95/month, unlimited database) plans.
* www.Geni.com has a Pro plan ($4.95/month) for additional benefits over basic account.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008
I am posting a series of articles about Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 on my personal genealogy research blog, Genea-Musings. Here are the posts to date:
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 1: Loading. Installing the program and uploading an existing database file.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 2: Exploring. Looking around the uploaded database file to see what the different views look like.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 3: The Menus. Most of the menus were itemized and described.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 4: Starting a New Tree. I started a new tree and added some people demonstrating the program options to do this.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 5: Adding a Source. I added sources to the Facts that I previously entered.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 6: Adding Children to a Family. I added children to a family in my new tree.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 7: The Person Menu. I defined the person menu items and demonstrated adding a spouse.
I will update this post periodically as I add more posts in this series.
If you have specific questions you want answered in this series, please make a comment to this post or email me at rjseaver@cox.net.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 1: Loading. Installing the program and uploading an existing database file.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 2: Exploring. Looking around the uploaded database file to see what the different views look like.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 3: The Menus. Most of the menus were itemized and described.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 4: Starting a New Tree. I started a new tree and added some people demonstrating the program options to do this.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 5: Adding a Source. I added sources to the Facts that I previously entered.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 6: Adding Children to a Family. I added children to a family in my new tree.
* Using FamilyTreeMaker 2008 - Post 7: The Person Menu. I defined the person menu items and demonstrated adding a spouse.
I will update this post periodically as I add more posts in this series.
If you have specific questions you want answered in this series, please make a comment to this post or email me at rjseaver@cox.net.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Online Family Trees
There are a number of web sites - free and subscription based - that have online family trees submitted by genealogy researchers. These web sites include:
1) Ancestry - One World Tree (subscription)- OneWorldTree gathers family trees and family history records for millions of people, analyzes the birth, death and marriage data and then displays the most probable matches for your ancestors. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
2) Ancestry - Public Member Trees and Personal Member Trees (subscription) - Public Member Trees contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by all Ancestry members, while Personal Member Trees can be viewed only by Ancestry members who have been granted permission to see the tree. These trees can change over time as users edit, remove, or otherwise modify the data in their trees. You can contact the owner of the tree to get more information. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
3) Ancestry World Tree and Rootsweb WorldConnect (free) - These databases contain the same information submitted by users to either Ancestry World Tree or the Rootsweb WorldConnect database. The data can be viewed for free by all researchers. The data can change over time as users edit, remove or add data in their trees. You can contact the owner of the tree to get more information. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
4) World Family Tree (subscription) - The world's largest collection of family trees --- just waiting for you to research online anytime. Add an average of 600 names to your family tree with just one successful search result. The opportunity to explore more by contacting the person who contributed a tree. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
5) Kindred Konnections (subscription) - The Ancestry Archive is a database that contains information from GEDCOM files that have been submitted to us, as well as information from files that we have indexed from the internet. With a paid subscription you can view the pedigree, notes, and submitter information, and download the family trees of your choice. The MyTrees PLUS Search will take every name in your file and compare it to every name in our database. With a paid subscription you will have access to a list of all the matches, saving you hours of research time.
6) One Great Family (subscription) - OneGreatFamily is a single, shared familytree built by people all over the world.The OneGreatFamily Tree is a powerful genealogy database that is shared and built by people like you from all over the world. Everyone's genealogy ties into the OneGreatFamily Tree.
7) WeRelate (free) - WeRelate is a free public-service wiki for genealogy sponsored by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy, Inc. in partnership with the Allen County Public Library. We are the world's largest genealogy wiki with pages for over 350,000 people and growing. Our goal is to be the number one community website for genealogy. At WeRelate you can connect with other researchers and cooperatively work on web pages for your ancestors. Your research can be documented completely online. You can upload GEDCOM files, upload and annotate scanned documents and photos, include family stories and biographies, and generate maps of your ancestors' life events.
8) Geni (free) - Geni is a tool for understanding and staying in touch with your family. Geni lets you create a family tree through our fun simple interface. You can expand your tree by adding relatives' email addresses. They will be invited to join your tree and can add other relatives. Your tree will continue to grow as relatives invite other relatives. Users have to input all data by typing it into the forms on the web site.
9) FamilyLink (free) - FamilyLink is a social network Web site that provides an innovative platform to connect with individuals, research family history, and preserve memories. At FamilyLink, users set up a unique personal profile that can be viewed by individuals throughout the world. Users have to input all data by typing it into the forms on the web site.
I did not include the LDS online databases (the IGI, Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File) since you cannot get "Family Tree" information from them directly. FamilySearch Inc. will be providing a user-contributed family tree database, similar to the Ancestry Member Trees, in the future - perhaps in late 2007.
The purpose of each of these sites is to provide a means for genealogy researchers to share their genealogy data with other researchers. The "social networking" sites want the users to network with their family members and other researchers in order to share information and obtain more information through the network.
I know that there are additional online genealogy databases similar to the ones above - if you know of one, please make a comment here, or email me at CVGenealogy@gmail.com, and I will add it to the list.
1) Ancestry - One World Tree (subscription)- OneWorldTree gathers family trees and family history records for millions of people, analyzes the birth, death and marriage data and then displays the most probable matches for your ancestors. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
2) Ancestry - Public Member Trees and Personal Member Trees (subscription) - Public Member Trees contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by all Ancestry members, while Personal Member Trees can be viewed only by Ancestry members who have been granted permission to see the tree. These trees can change over time as users edit, remove, or otherwise modify the data in their trees. You can contact the owner of the tree to get more information. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
3) Ancestry World Tree and Rootsweb WorldConnect (free) - These databases contain the same information submitted by users to either Ancestry World Tree or the Rootsweb WorldConnect database. The data can be viewed for free by all researchers. The data can change over time as users edit, remove or add data in their trees. You can contact the owner of the tree to get more information. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
4) World Family Tree (subscription) - The world's largest collection of family trees --- just waiting for you to research online anytime. Add an average of 600 names to your family tree with just one successful search result. The opportunity to explore more by contacting the person who contributed a tree. Users can upload a GEDCOM file with their research data.
5) Kindred Konnections (subscription) - The Ancestry Archive is a database that contains information from GEDCOM files that have been submitted to us, as well as information from files that we have indexed from the internet. With a paid subscription you can view the pedigree, notes, and submitter information, and download the family trees of your choice. The MyTrees PLUS Search will take every name in your file and compare it to every name in our database. With a paid subscription you will have access to a list of all the matches, saving you hours of research time.
6) One Great Family (subscription) - OneGreatFamily is a single, shared familytree built by people all over the world.The OneGreatFamily Tree is a powerful genealogy database that is shared and built by people like you from all over the world. Everyone's genealogy ties into the OneGreatFamily Tree.
7) WeRelate (free) - WeRelate is a free public-service wiki for genealogy sponsored by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy, Inc. in partnership with the Allen County Public Library. We are the world's largest genealogy wiki with pages for over 350,000 people and growing. Our goal is to be the number one community website for genealogy. At WeRelate you can connect with other researchers and cooperatively work on web pages for your ancestors. Your research can be documented completely online. You can upload GEDCOM files, upload and annotate scanned documents and photos, include family stories and biographies, and generate maps of your ancestors' life events.
8) Geni (free) - Geni is a tool for understanding and staying in touch with your family. Geni lets you create a family tree through our fun simple interface. You can expand your tree by adding relatives' email addresses. They will be invited to join your tree and can add other relatives. Your tree will continue to grow as relatives invite other relatives. Users have to input all data by typing it into the forms on the web site.
9) FamilyLink (free) - FamilyLink is a social network Web site that provides an innovative platform to connect with individuals, research family history, and preserve memories. At FamilyLink, users set up a unique personal profile that can be viewed by individuals throughout the world. Users have to input all data by typing it into the forms on the web site.
I did not include the LDS online databases (the IGI, Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource File) since you cannot get "Family Tree" information from them directly. FamilySearch Inc. will be providing a user-contributed family tree database, similar to the Ancestry Member Trees, in the future - perhaps in late 2007.
The purpose of each of these sites is to provide a means for genealogy researchers to share their genealogy data with other researchers. The "social networking" sites want the users to network with their family members and other researchers in order to share information and obtain more information through the network.
I know that there are additional online genealogy databases similar to the ones above - if you know of one, please make a comment here, or email me at CVGenealogy@gmail.com, and I will add it to the list.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)