The Chula Vista Genealogical Society program on 30 July was on "Researching Hispanic Family History" by Diane Godinez. Diane's biography and talk summary are posted here. I was really looking forward to her presentation because it provides an opportunity to better understand this area of genealogy research which applies to about 50% of our local population.
Perhaps the most useful information she passed on was the naming system used for many centuries in Hispanic families. A person has a first given name, perhaps a second given name, and then two surnames - the first is the father's father's surname and the second is the mother's father's surname. The wife retains her father's surname in her identity. The children of the family are called by the father's surname. For instance, Maria Barragan Gutierrez has a given name of Maria, her father's surname was Barragan, her mother's surname was Gutierrez, and she was known in public as Maria Barragan. If she married Jose Garcia Ramirez and they had a child Pablo, the child's name would have been Pablo Garcia Barragan. It's a really simple and useful system, but confusing to English speaking Americans who often use the "last name" when referring to people of Hispanic heritage.
Diane works at the Bonita FHC and has compiled a list of Mexican church records available at the Center on microfilm, which we will soon post on the CVGS web site. She noted that Mexican church records were the most useful documents available for pre-1900 records, and many church records are available on microfilm from the LDS Family History Library Catalog. The church records contain baptisms (often immediately after birth, with godparents who are usually family members), marriages (they usually list the birth places and birth parents of each person), and deaths (which list the parents for a child, the spouse for a married adult). Since many Mexican church records have been extracted into the LDS IGI, once you find an event in a certain church, you can usually use the Batch Number to find the entire set of extracted records and find other family members.
She said that the 1930 census for Mexico is the only useful census data, and provided an example of the information enumerated. She also mentioned Civil Registration, which is a more recent birth, marriage or death record filed with the state.
Diane was asked about the coverage of Mexican church records in the LDS microfilms, and said that very many churches had their records microfilmed, but that they were not complete. Her example for a small village church in Jalisco had records from 1699 to 1958. You really have to consult the Family History Library Catalog for a specific village or city.
She provided a number of references, including:
* "Spanish Records Extraction - An Instructional Guide" available online for download at http://immigrants.byu.edu/Downloads/Spanish_Extraction_Guide/Default.htm.* Al's Genealogy at http://alsgenealogy.com/ - an excellent introduction to Hispanic Family History Research.
* http://www.somosprimos.com/ - provides information on many research areas and different countries. There are links to 8 years of Society of Hispanic Historic and Ancestral Research (SHHAR) monthly publications with significant genealogy content.
* http://nuestrosranchos.com/ - for researchers of Jalisco, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes families.
Diane's talk was a great eye-opener for our members, interesting and intriguing, and fun. At the very least, now our CVGS members know a bit more about Hispanic research and have someone that we can direct local Hispanic families to for expert help.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
"Researching Hispanic Family History" program at CVGS on 7/30
The next program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society is Monday, July 30 at 10 AM in the Chula Vista Civic Center Library auditorium.
The speaker will be Patricia Diane Godinez on "Researching Hispanic Family History." Diane will discuss the following topics:
* locations in the Hispanic world,
* filling out a pedigree chart and family group sheet using family sources,
* citing sources,
* using www.familysearch.org,
* ordering the correct microfilm for use at a family history center,
* Parish records (Birth, Marriage, Marriage Petitions, Death),
* Civil Registration,
* the 1930 Mexican Census.
Diane's resume includes:
"She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and educated in the United States. Diane has been researching her family tree in Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Bessarabia, and Russia. She has been researching her husband's Hispanic family tree for 30 years and has traveled to Mexico and Canada numerous times. Spanish is her second language. She has been a paraeducator in Special Education at Nestor Elementary School for 16 years. She is secretary of the Evergreen HOA board of directors. Diane has been a Family History Worker at the Bonita Family History Center of the LDS Church for 10 years. Plus, she is affiliated with the Family History Center of the LDS Church in Estaca Central, of Tijuana, Mexico."
Chula Vista's population is about 50% Hispanic, and Tijuana in Mexico is only five miles south of the city. We hope that this presentation by Diane will draw attendees with Hispanic heritage from the entire San Diego/Tijuana area and spark interest in family history research among those attendees. CVGS receives an occasional query about Hispanic research, and Diane's talk should inform our current members about Hispanic research opportunities and techniques.
CVGS invites all San Diego area genealogy and family history researchers to attend our meetings. There is no charge.
Cross-posted to Genea-Musings Randy Seaver's genealogy blog.
The speaker will be Patricia Diane Godinez on "Researching Hispanic Family History." Diane will discuss the following topics:
* locations in the Hispanic world,
* filling out a pedigree chart and family group sheet using family sources,
* citing sources,
* using www.familysearch.org,
* ordering the correct microfilm for use at a family history center,
* Parish records (Birth, Marriage, Marriage Petitions, Death),
* Civil Registration,
* the 1930 Mexican Census.
Diane's resume includes:
"She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and educated in the United States. Diane has been researching her family tree in Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Bessarabia, and Russia. She has been researching her husband's Hispanic family tree for 30 years and has traveled to Mexico and Canada numerous times. Spanish is her second language. She has been a paraeducator in Special Education at Nestor Elementary School for 16 years. She is secretary of the Evergreen HOA board of directors. Diane has been a Family History Worker at the Bonita Family History Center of the LDS Church for 10 years. Plus, she is affiliated with the Family History Center of the LDS Church in Estaca Central, of Tijuana, Mexico."
Chula Vista's population is about 50% Hispanic, and Tijuana in Mexico is only five miles south of the city. We hope that this presentation by Diane will draw attendees with Hispanic heritage from the entire San Diego/Tijuana area and spark interest in family history research among those attendees. CVGS receives an occasional query about Hispanic research, and Diane's talk should inform our current members about Hispanic research opportunities and techniques.
CVGS invites all San Diego area genealogy and family history researchers to attend our meetings. There is no charge.
Cross-posted to Genea-Musings Randy Seaver's genealogy blog.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
7/25 CVGS Research Group notes
We had our Chula Vista Genealogical Society Research Group meeting on Wednesday at the Library, with 15 genealogy devotees in attendance, including two visitors and a new member. We had to meet in the Computer Lab but the projector didn't come to the meeting so we couldn't project on the wall.
I reviewed the genealogy news highlights for July 2007 (posted here) - covering web sites, online databases and software. Then I passed around the latest issue of the NGS Quarterly and noted that the article about using cluster genealogy might be useful to some of our attendees.
Bill is trying to find records for his great-grandfather and family from Bohemia and wondered if the GGF had to notify someone if he changed the spelling of his surname. We didn't think so, but warned him to look out for spelling variations in the US and overseas records. If he can find a US record of the GGF's birth date/place in a naturalization record or a death record, then he can try to find church records in Bohemia and see how they spelled it there. He also wondered about residency data in Chicago around 1880 - we recommended finding city directories (online, FHLC microfilm, library), tax records, voting records, court records and Sanborn maps.
Bobbie told us about her planned trip to northern Illinois to visit the local historical societies, libraries and cemeteries. She wondered about the best way to do gravestone rubbings. There was no group consensus. We recommended that she find message boards, ask about the different methods and also determine what the cemeteries will allow. Bobbie also commented on some of Bill's questions since she has recently done similar research.
Lillie (a visitor) had just done some research on her ancestry, and with the help of her daughter had made a large family tree chart for a recent family reunion. It was about 3 feet square with a large tree in the background. She was concerned that her family was in the One World Tree database on Ancestry.com, and wondered how that had happened. We told her that someone submitted it, and since it didn't have birth or death dates in the submitted database, Ancestry posted the information about living people. She wondered how to contact the submitter. Lillie has traced her ancestry back to slaves in Alabama around 1820, so we recommended that she contact the San Diego African-American Research Group in order to get more help on her specific research problems.
Rita was frustrated because New York would not send her death certificates of her mother and father, even though she sent them her driver's license data and her own birth certificate showing her parents names. They say that she is not named on the death certificate, and therefore cannot obtain one. The group talked a bit about other the policies of other states, and the recent limiting of access to many records due to identity theft concerns.
I showed my Union Case photo of Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver, and the plat maps I made from the Ontario (Canada) Digital Atlas. Bobbie showed some census data with close family on adjacent pages. Elsie told about phoning the second cousin and getting information about the French church in Haverhill MA in the 1890's.
The next CVGS Research Group meeting will be on Wednesday, August 22 in the library conference room.
I reviewed the genealogy news highlights for July 2007 (posted here) - covering web sites, online databases and software. Then I passed around the latest issue of the NGS Quarterly and noted that the article about using cluster genealogy might be useful to some of our attendees.
Bill is trying to find records for his great-grandfather and family from Bohemia and wondered if the GGF had to notify someone if he changed the spelling of his surname. We didn't think so, but warned him to look out for spelling variations in the US and overseas records. If he can find a US record of the GGF's birth date/place in a naturalization record or a death record, then he can try to find church records in Bohemia and see how they spelled it there. He also wondered about residency data in Chicago around 1880 - we recommended finding city directories (online, FHLC microfilm, library), tax records, voting records, court records and Sanborn maps.
Bobbie told us about her planned trip to northern Illinois to visit the local historical societies, libraries and cemeteries. She wondered about the best way to do gravestone rubbings. There was no group consensus. We recommended that she find message boards, ask about the different methods and also determine what the cemeteries will allow. Bobbie also commented on some of Bill's questions since she has recently done similar research.
Lillie (a visitor) had just done some research on her ancestry, and with the help of her daughter had made a large family tree chart for a recent family reunion. It was about 3 feet square with a large tree in the background. She was concerned that her family was in the One World Tree database on Ancestry.com, and wondered how that had happened. We told her that someone submitted it, and since it didn't have birth or death dates in the submitted database, Ancestry posted the information about living people. She wondered how to contact the submitter. Lillie has traced her ancestry back to slaves in Alabama around 1820, so we recommended that she contact the San Diego African-American Research Group in order to get more help on her specific research problems.
Rita was frustrated because New York would not send her death certificates of her mother and father, even though she sent them her driver's license data and her own birth certificate showing her parents names. They say that she is not named on the death certificate, and therefore cannot obtain one. The group talked a bit about other the policies of other states, and the recent limiting of access to many records due to identity theft concerns.
I showed my Union Case photo of Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver, and the plat maps I made from the Ontario (Canada) Digital Atlas. Bobbie showed some census data with close family on adjacent pages. Elsie told about phoning the second cousin and getting information about the French church in Haverhill MA in the 1890's.
The next CVGS Research Group meeting will be on Wednesday, August 22 in the library conference room.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Genealogy News for July 2007
Here is the July 2007 edition of the monthly Genealogy News discussed at the Research Group meeting on Wednesday.
A) GENEALOGY WEB SITES OF INTEREST
1. US Census mortality schedules for 1850 to 1880 - at http://www.mortalityschedules.com/
2. California State Archives Collections online at http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/archives_e.htm
3. 1930 Census Occupation codes are at http://stevemorse.org/census/ocodes.htm
B) NEW GENEALOGY DATABASES ONLINE
1. www.ancestry.com new databases (see http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx)
* Irish Emigration Lists, 1833-1839
* Australian (NSW and Tasmania) Lists - 1787 to 1859.
* California Marriage Index, 1960-1985
* California Divorce Index, 1966-1984
* US War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1858
* 1200 US County Plat (Land Ownership) Maps, 1864-1918
* Many out-of-copyright books about colonial ancestry.
To receive notices of new databases and read genealogy articles, sign up for the Ancestry Weekly News or visit the 24/7 Family History Circle blog at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/
Ancestry has added a neat popup tool to show some details of a record without clicking to see the record summary (you need to be an Ancestry subscriber to see this information).
Ancestry has also added France (www.ancestry.fr) and Italy (www.ancestry.it) to its specialized database collections (in addition to the USA, Canada, the UK, and Germany.
2. www.worldvitalrecords.com new databases - 10 day free access to each new database.
* Gazetteers for MA, WV, TX, MD, DE, England, Wales
* Baptism and Marriage Records from Quebec for 110 Towns
* Pioneer Ghosts of Kentucky: Name Index for dickey Diary Series
Note that www.WorldVitalRecords.com is a commercial service, but will eventually be available at the LDS FHC sometime in the future. To get notices of the new databases, sign up for their free email newsletter.
3. www.footnote.com databases in work (partially available) - see http://www.footnote.com/documents.php for all databases available. Footnote offers a 7 day free trial for all databases.
* Civil War Pension files
* Revolutionary War Pension Files
* Revolutionary War Service Records
* Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts Naturalization Records
Note that www.Footnote.com is a commercial service, but will eventually be available at the LDS FHC sometime in the future. To get notices of the new databases, sign up for their free email newsletter.
4. ProQuest partnering with American Antiquarian Society (AAS, Worcester MA) to put original documents and records online - perhaps on the HeritageQuestOnline site.
C) GENEALOGY SOFTWARE
1. FamilyTreeMaker 2008 software will be available in August 2007. FTM released a Beta version at http://beta.familytreemaker.com/ to be tried and tested by researchers. The look and feel of FTM2008 is completely different from earlier versions. The test period closes on August 24th - so don't use your existing database names unless you buy the software (on sale for $29.95 presently) - make a GEDCOM and change the database name if you use it. Most people wait to buy a new piece of software until the bugs are worked out of the initial release.
2. www.FindMyPast.com has added Family Tree Builder software (derived from PedigreeSoft's software?) for free upload of genealogy data to their web site. You do have to register with a password. Note that www.FindMyPast.com is a pay-per-view web site for UK records, but use of this software and uploading data to their site is free. You can sign up for their free email newsletter.
3. www.MyHeritage.com also has FREE software called Family Tree Builder that you can download to and install on your computer. If you wish, you can create Family Pages using the software and save them on the My Heritage site. But you don't have to!
A) GENEALOGY WEB SITES OF INTEREST
1. US Census mortality schedules for 1850 to 1880 - at http://www.mortalityschedules.com/
2. California State Archives Collections online at http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/archives_e.htm
3. 1930 Census Occupation codes are at http://stevemorse.org/census/ocodes.htm
B) NEW GENEALOGY DATABASES ONLINE
1. www.ancestry.com new databases (see http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx)
* Irish Emigration Lists, 1833-1839
* Australian (NSW and Tasmania) Lists - 1787 to 1859.
* California Marriage Index, 1960-1985
* California Divorce Index, 1966-1984
* US War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1858
* 1200 US County Plat (Land Ownership) Maps, 1864-1918
* Many out-of-copyright books about colonial ancestry.
To receive notices of new databases and read genealogy articles, sign up for the Ancestry Weekly News or visit the 24/7 Family History Circle blog at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/
Ancestry has added a neat popup tool to show some details of a record without clicking to see the record summary (you need to be an Ancestry subscriber to see this information).
Ancestry has also added France (www.ancestry.fr) and Italy (www.ancestry.it) to its specialized database collections (in addition to the USA, Canada, the UK, and Germany.
2. www.worldvitalrecords.com new databases - 10 day free access to each new database.
* Gazetteers for MA, WV, TX, MD, DE, England, Wales
* Baptism and Marriage Records from Quebec for 110 Towns
* Pioneer Ghosts of Kentucky: Name Index for dickey Diary Series
Note that www.WorldVitalRecords.com is a commercial service, but will eventually be available at the LDS FHC sometime in the future. To get notices of the new databases, sign up for their free email newsletter.
3. www.footnote.com databases in work (partially available) - see http://www.footnote.com/documents.php for all databases available. Footnote offers a 7 day free trial for all databases.
* Civil War Pension files
* Revolutionary War Pension Files
* Revolutionary War Service Records
* Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts Naturalization Records
Note that www.Footnote.com is a commercial service, but will eventually be available at the LDS FHC sometime in the future. To get notices of the new databases, sign up for their free email newsletter.
4. ProQuest partnering with American Antiquarian Society (AAS, Worcester MA) to put original documents and records online - perhaps on the HeritageQuestOnline site.
C) GENEALOGY SOFTWARE
1. FamilyTreeMaker 2008 software will be available in August 2007. FTM released a Beta version at http://beta.familytreemaker.com/ to be tried and tested by researchers. The look and feel of FTM2008 is completely different from earlier versions. The test period closes on August 24th - so don't use your existing database names unless you buy the software (on sale for $29.95 presently) - make a GEDCOM and change the database name if you use it. Most people wait to buy a new piece of software until the bugs are worked out of the initial release.
2. www.FindMyPast.com has added Family Tree Builder software (derived from PedigreeSoft's software?) for free upload of genealogy data to their web site. You do have to register with a password. Note that www.FindMyPast.com is a pay-per-view web site for UK records, but use of this software and uploading data to their site is free. You can sign up for their free email newsletter.
3. www.MyHeritage.com also has FREE software called Family Tree Builder that you can download to and install on your computer. If you wish, you can create Family Pages using the software and save them on the My Heritage site. But you don't have to!
Monday, July 23, 2007
3rd FTM Class Notes
We had our third and final session of the FamilyTreeMaker class today for our CVGS members at the library on Monday, with 20 in attendance. The first meeting was summarized here, and the second meeting here.
Today we covered merging persons, fixing relationships, importing and exporting GEDCOM files, adding scrapbook items, and doing a Web Search. We didn't have time to cover creating books.
Merging two duplicate persons can be complicated. The key is to be in the Family or Pedigree View of the person with the most correct information - name, dates, places, etc. We also discussed that you should rarely if ever Merge ALL Duplicate Individuals. It can really mess up your database! If you do that, there is no Undo button! Several heads nodded in agreement when we discussed this!
The process for importing and exporting GEDCOM files is difficult to remember because most people don't do it very often, and it wasn't in the FTM2005 tutorial that we passed to the attendees. The best thing to do is to use the Help menu button to define the processes, and print them out so you do it right.
Many of our members have added photos to the scrapbook but struggle to get them to show up in the charts and reports. Other members have not done this at all, but would like to. Gary demonstrated how to add a record, in JPG format, to the scrapbook for a person. Then we struggled making it show up in a chart or report. We finally figured out that it would not show up in a genealogy report, but probably could be added to a genealogy book. It seemed like you had to add it to every chart one-by-one - there is no switching from a pedigree chart with a picture to a family group sheet without adding the object/photo to the FGS manually. You can save each chart if you wish.
Doing a Web Search is a task that some members have done, but many have not performed it. Since we didn't have Internet access in the conference room, I had made a Powerpoint presentation from screen shots documenting the Search process using my Ancestry subscription. I saved it to a PDF file, put it on my flash drive, and then accessed the PDF file on Gary's computer. The starting point was my grandfather with a birth year and birth place, and I documented how to capture his birth/death date/location, his marriage date/location, his parents, his spouse and children, all from a One World Tree database on http://www.ancestry.com/. This was the only 5-star item on the list of 25 or so matches. This worked pretty well, and some of the attendees really liked the result. This also provided the opportunity to discuss Sources and how to make a Preferred Source again, and how to change it on the Edit button screens.
My opinion is that this 6 hours of class on FamilyTreeMaker 2006 helped our members understand many of the techniques used by FTM for data input, fact and source addition, and how the program can be used to produce pedigree charts, family group sheets, ahnentafel and descendant reports, etc. This is a very complex software program (and they all are!), and it takes a lot of time to work with it effectively.
My concluding comment to the group was that the Help menu is your friend, and they should use it frequently to figure out the correct process to do any specific task.
Today we covered merging persons, fixing relationships, importing and exporting GEDCOM files, adding scrapbook items, and doing a Web Search. We didn't have time to cover creating books.
Merging two duplicate persons can be complicated. The key is to be in the Family or Pedigree View of the person with the most correct information - name, dates, places, etc. We also discussed that you should rarely if ever Merge ALL Duplicate Individuals. It can really mess up your database! If you do that, there is no Undo button! Several heads nodded in agreement when we discussed this!
The process for importing and exporting GEDCOM files is difficult to remember because most people don't do it very often, and it wasn't in the FTM2005 tutorial that we passed to the attendees. The best thing to do is to use the Help menu button to define the processes, and print them out so you do it right.
Many of our members have added photos to the scrapbook but struggle to get them to show up in the charts and reports. Other members have not done this at all, but would like to. Gary demonstrated how to add a record, in JPG format, to the scrapbook for a person. Then we struggled making it show up in a chart or report. We finally figured out that it would not show up in a genealogy report, but probably could be added to a genealogy book. It seemed like you had to add it to every chart one-by-one - there is no switching from a pedigree chart with a picture to a family group sheet without adding the object/photo to the FGS manually. You can save each chart if you wish.
Doing a Web Search is a task that some members have done, but many have not performed it. Since we didn't have Internet access in the conference room, I had made a Powerpoint presentation from screen shots documenting the Search process using my Ancestry subscription. I saved it to a PDF file, put it on my flash drive, and then accessed the PDF file on Gary's computer. The starting point was my grandfather with a birth year and birth place, and I documented how to capture his birth/death date/location, his marriage date/location, his parents, his spouse and children, all from a One World Tree database on http://www.ancestry.com/. This was the only 5-star item on the list of 25 or so matches. This worked pretty well, and some of the attendees really liked the result. This also provided the opportunity to discuss Sources and how to make a Preferred Source again, and how to change it on the Edit button screens.
My opinion is that this 6 hours of class on FamilyTreeMaker 2006 helped our members understand many of the techniques used by FTM for data input, fact and source addition, and how the program can be used to produce pedigree charts, family group sheets, ahnentafel and descendant reports, etc. This is a very complex software program (and they all are!), and it takes a lot of time to work with it effectively.
My concluding comment to the group was that the Help menu is your friend, and they should use it frequently to figure out the correct process to do any specific task.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Neat Ancestry Popup Tool
I was trolling through the 1930 census records tonight looking for the very elusive Robert Leroy Thompson family (see earlier posts here, here and here) and was surprised to see a pretty neat tool that http://www.ancestry.com/ has added.
When you get the list of matches to your search query, you can put your cursor over the "View Record" link (but don't press the mouse button!). A box pops up that lists the person's name, birth year, location, relationship to head of household, father's name, mother's name, and all the family members with their ages. This popup box works for all of the census records from 1930 back to 1850, with the appropriate list items.
This tool provides a peek at the family group that was enumerated - you don't have to click the link to see the family group.
This is a wonderful tool that will save quite a bit of time when doing searches that result in many matches. Unfortunately, I didn't find the elusive Thompson people even with the super Ancestry popup tool.
When did http://www.ancestry.com/ add this tool? It must have been today.
UPDATE 7/23, 9 PM: All (or most) of the Ancestry databases that link to record images seem to have this popup tool. I tested it on Vital Records, Military Records, Immigration Records and other collections.
When you get the list of matches to your search query, you can put your cursor over the "View Record" link (but don't press the mouse button!). A box pops up that lists the person's name, birth year, location, relationship to head of household, father's name, mother's name, and all the family members with their ages. This popup box works for all of the census records from 1930 back to 1850, with the appropriate list items.
This tool provides a peek at the family group that was enumerated - you don't have to click the link to see the family group.
This is a wonderful tool that will save quite a bit of time when doing searches that result in many matches. Unfortunately, I didn't find the elusive Thompson people even with the super Ancestry popup tool.
When did http://www.ancestry.com/ add this tool? It must have been today.
UPDATE 7/23, 9 PM: All (or most) of the Ancestry databases that link to record images seem to have this popup tool. I tested it on Vital Records, Military Records, Immigration Records and other collections.
Family History Live Online - Saturday, 7/28
Family History Live Online, www.familyhistoryliveonline, will present an online family history fair on Saturday, July 28th from 7:00am to 1:00pm Pacific Daylight Time). This free event will include 6 presentations by genealogists.
Scheduled to present are:
8:00 AM: Welcome by moderator Gena Philibert Ortega
8:10 AM: Jonathan Walker presentation on “Using Catholic Records”
8:45 AM Presentation on "Generation Maps" by the Vendor
9:00 AM: Gena Philibert Ortega presentation on “Needle in the Haystack: Finding Female Ancestors”
10:00 AM Peter Barrie presentation on “A Transatlantic Case Study”
11:00 AM: Barry Ewell presentation on “Effectively Tapping into Local, County, and Historical Societies.”
12 noon: Break for lunch
1:00 PM: Welcome by moderator Gena Philibert Ortega
1:05 PM: Barry Ewell presentation on “Effective Strategies for Researching Newspapers”.
2:00 PM: Closing by moderator Gena-Philibert Ortega
This online fair is free. To participate you will need a computer with an internet connection and a free membership to Family History Live Online. Once you have signed up for a free membership you will be able to download our free software viewer that will allow you to hear and see the presentation.
For more information, please see Family History Live Online’s website at www.familyhistoryliveonline.com or email the Fair Director, Gena Philibert Ortega at gena@fhsupport.com.
Scheduled to present are:
8:00 AM: Welcome by moderator Gena Philibert Ortega
8:10 AM: Jonathan Walker presentation on “Using Catholic Records”
8:45 AM Presentation on "Generation Maps" by the Vendor
9:00 AM: Gena Philibert Ortega presentation on “Needle in the Haystack: Finding Female Ancestors”
10:00 AM Peter Barrie presentation on “A Transatlantic Case Study”
11:00 AM: Barry Ewell presentation on “Effectively Tapping into Local, County, and Historical Societies.”
12 noon: Break for lunch
1:00 PM: Welcome by moderator Gena Philibert Ortega
1:05 PM: Barry Ewell presentation on “Effective Strategies for Researching Newspapers”.
2:00 PM: Closing by moderator Gena-Philibert Ortega
This online fair is free. To participate you will need a computer with an internet connection and a free membership to Family History Live Online. Once you have signed up for a free membership you will be able to download our free software viewer that will allow you to hear and see the presentation.
For more information, please see Family History Live Online’s website at www.familyhistoryliveonline.com or email the Fair Director, Gena Philibert Ortega at gena@fhsupport.com.
1930 Census occupation codes
Have you noticed the code numbers next to the occupation listings on the census records? Have you been unable to read what the enumerator wrote down? Luckily, there is a way to figure out what you can't read for the 1930 census.
On the APG mailing list, Richard Pence wondered what the codes meant, and Drew Smith provided a link to Steven Morse's One-Step 1930 Occupation Codes page at http://stevemorse.org:80/census/ocodes.htm.
Richard was asking about occupation code 8885 - which is "insurance agent."
There are two sets of numbers - one with two inputs of two numbers each (number beings with 0 to 7, or V), and the second with one input of four numbers (number begins with 8 or 9). The first group seems to be people who work in an industry, and the second group are people who are self-employed.
OK, here's a test. What are:
1) 63 X2
2) 6V 0V
3) 927V
While looking through these occupations, it struck me just how few of them are still in existence today in this country. A 2007 list of occupations would be nearly completely different.
I'm glad that Richard asked the question, Drew was able to answer it, and Steve has a web page for it. Steve's page points out that the really hard work of listing these occupations was done by C. Marie Taylor of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
On the APG mailing list, Richard Pence wondered what the codes meant, and Drew Smith provided a link to Steven Morse's One-Step 1930 Occupation Codes page at http://stevemorse.org:80/census/ocodes.htm.
Richard was asking about occupation code 8885 - which is "insurance agent."
There are two sets of numbers - one with two inputs of two numbers each (number beings with 0 to 7, or V), and the second with one input of four numbers (number begins with 8 or 9). The first group seems to be people who work in an industry, and the second group are people who are self-employed.
OK, here's a test. What are:
1) 63 X2
2) 6V 0V
3) 927V
While looking through these occupations, it struck me just how few of them are still in existence today in this country. A 2007 list of occupations would be nearly completely different.
I'm glad that Richard asked the question, Drew was able to answer it, and Steve has a web page for it. Steve's page points out that the really hard work of listing these occupations was done by C. Marie Taylor of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
7/18 Computer Group Notes
We had our monthly CVGS Computer Group meeting today at the Library. We use the Library Computer Lab with 15 computer terminals. We filled every seat! Gary hooked the projector up to one of the computers so we are able to show the screen on the wall. Shirley was unable to attend, so Randy drove the screen on the wall to demonstrate sites and techniques.
Almost everybody works in Ancestry Library Edition at these meetings, since most attendees do not have an Ancestry home subscription. Many of the members are still learning about the myriad databases on Ancestry. Today, we showed how to find recently added or updated databases and away we went on some of them. We also showed how to get to the search box to input keywords to find location-specific databases. That worked well for many attendees - they searched on a state or county and found resources.
Several attendees wanted to be able to "Share" the images they found on Ancestry by sending a link to themselves at their home email address. That works pretty well - you can open the email at home, click on the link to the image, view the image on screen, save it to your hard drive (right click on Windows, select "Save Picture As"), print it out, include it in your software database, etc. But what about the screens that are not images - but a summary from a database? These often have useful information. You can go to the File menu and select Send and send the page or ta link to the page to your home email.
One member found a listing of an ancestor in the War of 1812 pension application index and wanted to know how to find the actual record. We went to the LDS www.familysearch.org site and into the Family History Library Catalog - the actual pension files and bounty land warrants were listed. She would have to go order the film at the FHC (or go to a National Archives branch). We also visited the www.militaryindexes.com site and checked the War of 1812 listings, which includes all of the available Ancestry databases and the state-specific databases that are online. Finally, we recommended that she check the Virgil D. White book on War of 1812 Pension File Abstracts - it is on the shelf at the Chula Vista library. If her ancestor received a pension, then the abstract would provide more information about the soldier and a pension file number. This episode was instructive to everyone - it pointed out (again!) that not everything is on the Internet -not by a longshot - and won't be ever! I did point out that many of the LDS films will be imaged and indexed in the next 10 years or so.
The 90 minutes go by real fast at this meeting - we've had Ancestry Library Edition available for about 9 months now, so the regular attendees are doing their own searches and having success without much help.
Almost everybody works in Ancestry Library Edition at these meetings, since most attendees do not have an Ancestry home subscription. Many of the members are still learning about the myriad databases on Ancestry. Today, we showed how to find recently added or updated databases and away we went on some of them. We also showed how to get to the search box to input keywords to find location-specific databases. That worked well for many attendees - they searched on a state or county and found resources.
Several attendees wanted to be able to "Share" the images they found on Ancestry by sending a link to themselves at their home email address. That works pretty well - you can open the email at home, click on the link to the image, view the image on screen, save it to your hard drive (right click on Windows, select "Save Picture As"), print it out, include it in your software database, etc. But what about the screens that are not images - but a summary from a database? These often have useful information. You can go to the File menu and select Send and send the page or ta link to the page to your home email.
One member found a listing of an ancestor in the War of 1812 pension application index and wanted to know how to find the actual record. We went to the LDS www.familysearch.org site and into the Family History Library Catalog - the actual pension files and bounty land warrants were listed. She would have to go order the film at the FHC (or go to a National Archives branch). We also visited the www.militaryindexes.com site and checked the War of 1812 listings, which includes all of the available Ancestry databases and the state-specific databases that are online. Finally, we recommended that she check the Virgil D. White book on War of 1812 Pension File Abstracts - it is on the shelf at the Chula Vista library. If her ancestor received a pension, then the abstract would provide more information about the soldier and a pension file number. This episode was instructive to everyone - it pointed out (again!) that not everything is on the Internet -not by a longshot - and won't be ever! I did point out that many of the LDS films will be imaged and indexed in the next 10 years or so.
The 90 minutes go by real fast at this meeting - we've had Ancestry Library Edition available for about 9 months now, so the regular attendees are doing their own searches and having success without much help.
2nd FTM Class Notes
We had our second FamilyTreeMaker class for our Chula Vista Genealogical Society on Monday - with 22 in attendance. The first meeting was summarized here.
Today we tried to cover all of the inputting, editing, and moving between generations in the Family View and the Pedigree View. We opened a new file, put several families in with children, added and edited facts, sources and notes, and then got into making genealogy ahnentafel and descendant reports. The basic teaching method we're using is to show the FTM screens on the wall using the projector and demonstrating techniques by adding data, clicking buttons, etc, while trying to make suitable witty comments. It seems to work for us.
Most of the attendees with FTM know how to add people to the database - children, parents, spouses, etc. We showed how to add a spouse and how the reports reflect those spouses and their children. There was a spirited discussion and demonstration about AKA names, nicknames, titles and post-nomials. We ended up with one fellow named Elder John Sweet the Younger, MD. There was also a question about how to treat a "one night stand" relationship that results in a child - in the Marriage Facts you can choose the type of relationship and the present status of it.
Most of the attendees with FTM did not know how to create facts and sources, and how to make them show up in genealogy reports. We demonstrated adding facts, adding a fact category, creating a source for the facts, marking a fact as Preferred. We noticed that the source function for FTM 2006 is different from earlier versions, with a "fill-in" box for the different source elements. We showed how to make the Facts and Sources show up in the genealogy reports by using the Contents menu item. We also discussed the different types of reports and how to use the right-side buttons or Contents and Format menu items to improve the look, feel and content of the reports.
Only a few of the attendees had seen the Pedigree View, and so they learned about the way to move forward or back on the pedigree chart, clicking on a person to open their Edit section, using the Alphabetical list to find a person and see their pedigree, clicking the buttons to see children and spouses of a person, and using a Filter to limit the alphabetical list as desired.
Even though we worked for about 90 minutes, we did not cover importing and exporting a GEDCOM, although we talked about it a bit. We also didn't deal with merging data, fixing relationships, or correcting errors. Those topics, plus adding scrapbook items, doing a Web Search, and creating books will be covered next week.
Our attendees are coming to class prepared - most of them read the FTM Tutorial handout that I sent them last week in email, some of them visited the FTM Help menu and the online FAQ pages and message board, and many explored their version of FTM more fully during the week. Hopefully, this second class has improved their knowledge and will help them make full use of the software.
Today we tried to cover all of the inputting, editing, and moving between generations in the Family View and the Pedigree View. We opened a new file, put several families in with children, added and edited facts, sources and notes, and then got into making genealogy ahnentafel and descendant reports. The basic teaching method we're using is to show the FTM screens on the wall using the projector and demonstrating techniques by adding data, clicking buttons, etc, while trying to make suitable witty comments. It seems to work for us.
Most of the attendees with FTM know how to add people to the database - children, parents, spouses, etc. We showed how to add a spouse and how the reports reflect those spouses and their children. There was a spirited discussion and demonstration about AKA names, nicknames, titles and post-nomials. We ended up with one fellow named Elder John Sweet the Younger, MD. There was also a question about how to treat a "one night stand" relationship that results in a child - in the Marriage Facts you can choose the type of relationship and the present status of it.
Most of the attendees with FTM did not know how to create facts and sources, and how to make them show up in genealogy reports. We demonstrated adding facts, adding a fact category, creating a source for the facts, marking a fact as Preferred. We noticed that the source function for FTM 2006 is different from earlier versions, with a "fill-in" box for the different source elements. We showed how to make the Facts and Sources show up in the genealogy reports by using the Contents menu item. We also discussed the different types of reports and how to use the right-side buttons or Contents and Format menu items to improve the look, feel and content of the reports.
Only a few of the attendees had seen the Pedigree View, and so they learned about the way to move forward or back on the pedigree chart, clicking on a person to open their Edit section, using the Alphabetical list to find a person and see their pedigree, clicking the buttons to see children and spouses of a person, and using a Filter to limit the alphabetical list as desired.
Even though we worked for about 90 minutes, we did not cover importing and exporting a GEDCOM, although we talked about it a bit. We also didn't deal with merging data, fixing relationships, or correcting errors. Those topics, plus adding scrapbook items, doing a Web Search, and creating books will be covered next week.
Our attendees are coming to class prepared - most of them read the FTM Tutorial handout that I sent them last week in email, some of them visited the FTM Help menu and the online FAQ pages and message board, and many explored their version of FTM more fully during the week. Hopefully, this second class has improved their knowledge and will help them make full use of the software.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Online Public Records
Many states have placed public records online - vital records, deeds, probate records, licenses, legal transactions, etc. The web site http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/ collects links to these records by state.
For instance, I checked California - they have links for corporations, teacher credentials, alcohol board licenses, professional licenses, state employee directory, vital records, campaign finance, inmate locator, toxic sites, newspaper lists, unclaimed property, missing children, and more. Many of these links provide only an index listing, and you have to pay the public office offering the records to get the actual public record.
Under Professional Licenses, there are listings for accountants, architects, acupuncturists, automotive, barbers, cemetery and funeral, chiropractors, medical doctors, dentists, professional engineers, and many more. I found that the license for my dentist expires on 1 July 2008.
At the bottom of the state page, there are links to each county in the state and a page for their public records. Under San Diego County, there are links for land assessor records, superior court records, fictitious names, jail and inmate records, sex offender records, county library, property sales, warrants and many more.
I checked several other states, and the categories are different for each state, but similar in content.
If you are curious about your neighbors, your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, your friends, etc., you can use this resource to see public records.
For genealogists, the gold mine here is probably the land deeds, assessments, licenses, court records, vital records, etc.
For instance, I checked California - they have links for corporations, teacher credentials, alcohol board licenses, professional licenses, state employee directory, vital records, campaign finance, inmate locator, toxic sites, newspaper lists, unclaimed property, missing children, and more. Many of these links provide only an index listing, and you have to pay the public office offering the records to get the actual public record.
Under Professional Licenses, there are listings for accountants, architects, acupuncturists, automotive, barbers, cemetery and funeral, chiropractors, medical doctors, dentists, professional engineers, and many more. I found that the license for my dentist expires on 1 July 2008.
At the bottom of the state page, there are links to each county in the state and a page for their public records. Under San Diego County, there are links for land assessor records, superior court records, fictitious names, jail and inmate records, sex offender records, county library, property sales, warrants and many more.
I checked several other states, and the categories are different for each state, but similar in content.
If you are curious about your neighbors, your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, your friends, etc., you can use this resource to see public records.
For genealogists, the gold mine here is probably the land deeds, assessments, licenses, court records, vital records, etc.
First FTM Class Highlights
We had our first two-hour class on FamilyTreeMaker (FTM) for our CVGS members on Monday. 23 members sign up for the class, plus the two instructors (Gary and I) - remember, CVGS has about 80 members (so we had over 30%). The experience level ranged from none on FTM to fairly knowledgeable on FTM. We have two more classes scheduled.
Our plan was to go through the FTM tutorial showing the features of the software, eliciting questions along the way, and then demonstrating the solutions to the questions. I prepared a handout with URLs for the FTM web site, FTM16 features, the Knowledge Base, the FTM message board, etc. We didn't exactly follow the plan.
Gary has FTM 2006 and his genealogy database on his laptop, and we used that. The attendees use everything from FTM version 5 to 2006/16. 13 of the 25 have FTM 2005/15 or 2006/16. One person just bought FTM 2006 and installed it on her Mac (with Windows XP). Two other attendees have old software (not FTM) and want to transfer their data.
During the presentation, Gary visited each of the items on the FTM Menu bar and then on the FTM Button bar. In this process, the capabilities of the FTM software was revealed. He spent a lot of time on the Charts and Reports menus and not much time on the File and Edit menus. Gary showed the Family View and Pedigree View formats. Everyone learned something new.
We had asked the attendees to give us their questions about FTM and their problems. Gary found answers to these questions on the Knowledge Base and demonstrated the solutions.
Next week, we will go into the basic functionality of the program - importing and exporting a GEDCOM, adding children and spouses to the Family View, moving forward and backward through generations, correcting errors, making notes, adding facts and sources, adding Scrapbook items, etc.
This was a very lively two hour session - it's amazing how varied the experience of each researcher is - each is a bit different from everybody else's experience.
Our plan was to go through the FTM tutorial showing the features of the software, eliciting questions along the way, and then demonstrating the solutions to the questions. I prepared a handout with URLs for the FTM web site, FTM16 features, the Knowledge Base, the FTM message board, etc. We didn't exactly follow the plan.
Gary has FTM 2006 and his genealogy database on his laptop, and we used that. The attendees use everything from FTM version 5 to 2006/16. 13 of the 25 have FTM 2005/15 or 2006/16. One person just bought FTM 2006 and installed it on her Mac (with Windows XP). Two other attendees have old software (not FTM) and want to transfer their data.
During the presentation, Gary visited each of the items on the FTM Menu bar and then on the FTM Button bar. In this process, the capabilities of the FTM software was revealed. He spent a lot of time on the Charts and Reports menus and not much time on the File and Edit menus. Gary showed the Family View and Pedigree View formats. Everyone learned something new.
We had asked the attendees to give us their questions about FTM and their problems. Gary found answers to these questions on the Knowledge Base and demonstrated the solutions.
Next week, we will go into the basic functionality of the program - importing and exporting a GEDCOM, adding children and spouses to the Family View, moving forward and backward through generations, correcting errors, making notes, adding facts and sources, adding Scrapbook items, etc.
This was a very lively two hour session - it's amazing how varied the experience of each researcher is - each is a bit different from everybody else's experience.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Colonial Probate Records - Estate Distributions
While working in the Rhode Island colonial probate records over the past months, I've noticed that very few estate inventories mentioned real estate - they all dealt with the personal estate. The wills did mention the real estate, and most of it went to the oldest son.
I was reading the book "The Family Tree Solver" by Marsha Hoffman Rising (Cincinnati, Family Tree Books, 2005) the other night, and she has included a table of the different types of estate distribution for each colony (which she obtained from the book "Inheritance in America: From Colonial Times to the Present." by Carole Shammas et al, New Brunswick, Rutgers University, 1987).
The table indicates that:Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia distributed estates according to "Primogeniture - the eldest son inherited all real property." All eliminated Primogeniture by 1791 (the book gives the exact years).
Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania distributed estates according to "Equal Distribution with a double portion to the eldest son."
Marsha's section on this subject noted that many individuals did not follow the practice of Primogeniture and distributed land to all sons, or even to all children, especially in New York, in German families, in areas that did not like English common law, and in times closer to the American Revolution.
So - there is my answer! Rhode Island was a Primogeniture state until 1770 (except for between 1718 and 1728). I did not know that.
Let me plug Marsha's book also - this book is one my five favorite genealogy resource books - because she uses real examples from her research to illustrate her points.
I was reading the book "The Family Tree Solver" by Marsha Hoffman Rising (Cincinnati, Family Tree Books, 2005) the other night, and she has included a table of the different types of estate distribution for each colony (which she obtained from the book "Inheritance in America: From Colonial Times to the Present." by Carole Shammas et al, New Brunswick, Rutgers University, 1987).
The table indicates that:Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia distributed estates according to "Primogeniture - the eldest son inherited all real property." All eliminated Primogeniture by 1791 (the book gives the exact years).
Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania distributed estates according to "Equal Distribution with a double portion to the eldest son."
Marsha's section on this subject noted that many individuals did not follow the practice of Primogeniture and distributed land to all sons, or even to all children, especially in New York, in German families, in areas that did not like English common law, and in times closer to the American Revolution.
So - there is my answer! Rhode Island was a Primogeniture state until 1770 (except for between 1718 and 1728). I did not know that.
Let me plug Marsha's book also - this book is one my five favorite genealogy resource books - because she uses real examples from her research to illustrate her points.
CVGS Research Trip on 7 July
The next Chula Vista Genealogical Society Research Trip is to the Carlsbad Cole Library on Saturday 7 July.
We will carpool from the Chula Vista parking structure (on the second level, midway between the two entrances - go up one level and look for a group of familiar faces). The carpool will leave no sooner than 8:15 AM so we can be there at the 9 AM opening.
We plan to leave the library at 2 PM so we can be back to CV by 3 PM. If you want a lunch, be sure to bring it - there are tables outside the entrance.
Xerox copies at the library require use of a copy card, which you can purchase at the library. The machine takes change and dollar bills - you load up the card with money on the card machine and unload it on the copy machine.
This library is the best genealogy library in San Diego County. The entire second floor is genealogy. One side is surname books, locality books and periodicals. The other side has microfilms and microfiches - with readers and printers (they use the copy card!). The microfiche holdings require you to check them out at the genealogy desk. There are also a number of computers with access to Ancestry Library Edition, HeritageQuestOnline and New England Ancestors, in addition to the Internet.
The Carlsbad library catalog is online at http://cbcl.sirsi.net/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/49/. If you are searching for a surname or locality book, you might want to check the catalog before you go. When you are at the library, they have computers with the catalog on it. Some of the books listed are on microfiche - they have a format of G0123 - the G means a microfiche and the 0123 is a certain book. They have about 25,000 microfiches of surname books and locality books (many of which are now available on HQO and Ancestry).
You can sign up for a Carlsbad library card at the front desk for free. That will permit home online access to HeritageQuestOnline and other databases (but not Ancestry or NEA). Many of us have these cards - you have to renew them every so often, so I take my card, check out a book at lunch time, and turn it in right away just to ensure my card works at home.
If you want to go on this trip, please email me at rjseaver(at)cox.net.
We will carpool from the Chula Vista parking structure (on the second level, midway between the two entrances - go up one level and look for a group of familiar faces). The carpool will leave no sooner than 8:15 AM so we can be there at the 9 AM opening.
We plan to leave the library at 2 PM so we can be back to CV by 3 PM. If you want a lunch, be sure to bring it - there are tables outside the entrance.
Xerox copies at the library require use of a copy card, which you can purchase at the library. The machine takes change and dollar bills - you load up the card with money on the card machine and unload it on the copy machine.
This library is the best genealogy library in San Diego County. The entire second floor is genealogy. One side is surname books, locality books and periodicals. The other side has microfilms and microfiches - with readers and printers (they use the copy card!). The microfiche holdings require you to check them out at the genealogy desk. There are also a number of computers with access to Ancestry Library Edition, HeritageQuestOnline and New England Ancestors, in addition to the Internet.
The Carlsbad library catalog is online at http://cbcl.sirsi.net/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/49/. If you are searching for a surname or locality book, you might want to check the catalog before you go. When you are at the library, they have computers with the catalog on it. Some of the books listed are on microfiche - they have a format of G0123 - the G means a microfiche and the 0123 is a certain book. They have about 25,000 microfiches of surname books and locality books (many of which are now available on HQO and Ancestry).
You can sign up for a Carlsbad library card at the front desk for free. That will permit home online access to HeritageQuestOnline and other databases (but not Ancestry or NEA). Many of us have these cards - you have to renew them every so often, so I take my card, check out a book at lunch time, and turn it in right away just to ensure my card works at home.
If you want to go on this trip, please email me at rjseaver(at)cox.net.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
CVGS Program: "The Magic of Rootsweb" by Alan Jones
We had our special 5th Saturday program today, with 30 in attendance. After my welcome and a short summary of the upcoming CVGS programs and events for the next two months, Connie introduced our speaker - Alan Jones on "The Magic of Rootsweb."
Alan used a Powerpoint presentation, consisting mainly of screen captures, to lead us through the many web pages, search engines, databases and other features on the www.rootsweb.com site. He effectively highlighted the features he wanted to discuss with arrows and text boxes with big letters inside.
He covered the following Rootsweb features in considerable detail:
1) Mailing Lists - how to find a list (he recommended using the index list), subscribe to it, post on it, and find the list archives, with examples of success stories from his own research.
2) Message Boards - how to find a board, access it and post to it, with success stories from his own research.
3) WorldConnect database - how to access it, search for people (he recommended not using too much information unless it is a common name), and move around on the results pages. He talked about how to contact the contributor, see all of the names in the database using the Index link, how to download the GEDCOM database, and how to add a Post-em note.
4) Social Security Death Index - how to access it, search for people on the index using Advanced Search, how to make a Post-em note and how to download a pre-written letter to send to the Social Security Administration in order to get the SS-5 application.
5) UK Free BMD Index - what it is, how to access it, how to search with it, and how to use it to see the actual entry in the index.
6) The US Town/County Search - what it is, how to use it, how to search with it, and how to find information on Rootsweb concerning that county (click on the highlighted county name on the results list).
7) Web Pages at Rootsweb - there are many surname sites, locality sites, genealogy society sites, transcription sites, etc. at Rootsweb.
Needless to say, this was a quick tour through only some of the free information, contributed by researchers, available on the Rootsweb site. The 75 minutes went by real fast! Alan has a friendly style and uses some humor and research examples in his presentations.
Many attendees thought that this was one of the best presentations we have had - and it opened a lot of eyes as to what the Rootsweb team has been doing over the last 15 years!
Thank you, Alan, for a wonderful talk!
Alan used a Powerpoint presentation, consisting mainly of screen captures, to lead us through the many web pages, search engines, databases and other features on the www.rootsweb.com site. He effectively highlighted the features he wanted to discuss with arrows and text boxes with big letters inside.
He covered the following Rootsweb features in considerable detail:
1) Mailing Lists - how to find a list (he recommended using the index list), subscribe to it, post on it, and find the list archives, with examples of success stories from his own research.
2) Message Boards - how to find a board, access it and post to it, with success stories from his own research.
3) WorldConnect database - how to access it, search for people (he recommended not using too much information unless it is a common name), and move around on the results pages. He talked about how to contact the contributor, see all of the names in the database using the Index link, how to download the GEDCOM database, and how to add a Post-em note.
4) Social Security Death Index - how to access it, search for people on the index using Advanced Search, how to make a Post-em note and how to download a pre-written letter to send to the Social Security Administration in order to get the SS-5 application.
5) UK Free BMD Index - what it is, how to access it, how to search with it, and how to use it to see the actual entry in the index.
6) The US Town/County Search - what it is, how to use it, how to search with it, and how to find information on Rootsweb concerning that county (click on the highlighted county name on the results list).
7) Web Pages at Rootsweb - there are many surname sites, locality sites, genealogy society sites, transcription sites, etc. at Rootsweb.
Needless to say, this was a quick tour through only some of the free information, contributed by researchers, available on the Rootsweb site. The 75 minutes went by real fast! Alan has a friendly style and uses some humor and research examples in his presentations.
Many attendees thought that this was one of the best presentations we have had - and it opened a lot of eyes as to what the Rootsweb team has been doing over the last 15 years!
Thank you, Alan, for a wonderful talk!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
CVGS Research Group highlights
Our CVGS monthly Research Group meetings are always lively affairs, with members hoping to get help to solve their research problems, and some brimming with enthusiasm over research successes. Today's meeting had 10 researchers in attendance.
After introductions (we had two visitors and a new member), the meeting started with my presentation of the Genealogy News for June. We then moved onto the research problems and successes.
Martha is having trouble finding Hampshire County VA (now WV) records from the 1790 time frame. We suggested that, if she knows the town(s) where her ancestor lived, she figure out the progression of counties that the town(s) were in over the time frame 1750 to 1900. Then look for records for her ancestor in those counties for the time period that the town was in the county. The county USGenWeb site may have the information, and the LDS Family History Library Catalog may have records on microfilm available for rent.
Next up was new member Shirley, who came well-prepared and provided a two-page handout describing her research problem. She, and other family members, have done years of work trying to identify the parents of Evan Harer (born ca 1790 in VA (?), died 1873 in CA) and his siblings - family stories say they were John and Sarah (Watkins) Harer. They have exhaustively searched records in the places where the Harer children lived, but have been unable to find more information on their parentage. We suggested that she read some of the available books (e.g., here) and online articles (e.g., here and here) about "Cluster Genealogy" and review articles in the NGS Quarterly for examples. By identifying and following the people the Harer's associated with, she may find clues that identify the parents.
Dick regaled us with stories about his Uncle Jim, who was a postal thief and safecracker in the 1920's. He has received information about his uncle from newspaper articles and prison records through the National Archives in Kansas City MO, Laguna Niguel CA and Seattle WA. He submitted a request to the "Get Grandpa's FBI File" web site and got a response, but thinks most of it will duplicate the 400 pages he already has received. He passed the fascinating newspaper article around the group - Uncle Jim was quite a guy, and Dick remembers him from his childhood.
Bobbie described their trip to the Seattle area, where they found a gold mine of info on the Gottlieb Wolter family, who emigrated from Baden to North Dakota to Sultan in Washington state (northeast of Seattle). They found his grave, a history booklet with a plat map, an aerial picture of the farm, and visited the farmstead. In the process, they met the town mayor, the current farm resident, and the museum director, all of whom helped them immensely. Bobbie passed around the pictures, the map, and told stories of the serendipitous events on the trip - for instance, the museum was open only two days a month, and they were there on one of the days!
I really appreciate the sharing of research problems by our attendees, and the helpful suggestions made by the group. This is one of the monthly meetings that sets CVGS apart from other San Diego area societies.
After introductions (we had two visitors and a new member), the meeting started with my presentation of the Genealogy News for June. We then moved onto the research problems and successes.
Martha is having trouble finding Hampshire County VA (now WV) records from the 1790 time frame. We suggested that, if she knows the town(s) where her ancestor lived, she figure out the progression of counties that the town(s) were in over the time frame 1750 to 1900. Then look for records for her ancestor in those counties for the time period that the town was in the county. The county USGenWeb site may have the information, and the LDS Family History Library Catalog may have records on microfilm available for rent.
Next up was new member Shirley, who came well-prepared and provided a two-page handout describing her research problem. She, and other family members, have done years of work trying to identify the parents of Evan Harer (born ca 1790 in VA (?), died 1873 in CA) and his siblings - family stories say they were John and Sarah (Watkins) Harer. They have exhaustively searched records in the places where the Harer children lived, but have been unable to find more information on their parentage. We suggested that she read some of the available books (e.g., here) and online articles (e.g., here and here) about "Cluster Genealogy" and review articles in the NGS Quarterly for examples. By identifying and following the people the Harer's associated with, she may find clues that identify the parents.
Dick regaled us with stories about his Uncle Jim, who was a postal thief and safecracker in the 1920's. He has received information about his uncle from newspaper articles and prison records through the National Archives in Kansas City MO, Laguna Niguel CA and Seattle WA. He submitted a request to the "Get Grandpa's FBI File" web site and got a response, but thinks most of it will duplicate the 400 pages he already has received. He passed the fascinating newspaper article around the group - Uncle Jim was quite a guy, and Dick remembers him from his childhood.
Bobbie described their trip to the Seattle area, where they found a gold mine of info on the Gottlieb Wolter family, who emigrated from Baden to North Dakota to Sultan in Washington state (northeast of Seattle). They found his grave, a history booklet with a plat map, an aerial picture of the farm, and visited the farmstead. In the process, they met the town mayor, the current farm resident, and the museum director, all of whom helped them immensely. Bobbie passed around the pictures, the map, and told stories of the serendipitous events on the trip - for instance, the museum was open only two days a month, and they were there on one of the days!
I really appreciate the sharing of research problems by our attendees, and the helpful suggestions made by the group. This is one of the monthly meetings that sets CVGS apart from other San Diego area societies.
CVGS Program - Saturday June 30 - Alan Jones on "The Magic of Rootsweb"
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) has quarterly programs on the 5th Saturday in an effort to serve working genealogists and include other San Diego area researchers. The next "Special Saturday" is June 30th, at 10 AM in the Chula Vista Civic Center Library (365 F Street in CV) auditorium.
Our program speaker is Alan Jones on "The Magic of Rootsweb." Some of our members heard this talk at the Escondido Family History Fair in March and eight of us attended Alan's talk on USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb in April at the CGSSD meeting.
Alan's biography is:
"Alan Jones, a native Californian, holds degrees in business and computer science and is an IT Senior Consultant currently with Southern California Edison. He has enjoyed blending his computer career with genealogy. He pilot tests genealogy software programs and systems that we use today and some that are coming soon. He volunteers in various record extraction programs, and gives presentations on genealogy using computer programs and the Internet.
"As a teenager his dog, Mugs, had a bigger pedigree than he did, which started Alan's journey. He and his wife live in Mission Viejo and their 3 children also live in Orange County."
The presentation summary is:
"Rootsweb is the largest free unaffiliated genealogy resource on the internet. It is growing every day! Even if you know and use Rootsweb regularly, please come and see what features you are missing out on. Walk with us on the paths to the wonderful features waiting for you. We will cover the email lists, finding resources just for the county you want, various tools to help give your family tree those finishing touches, see actual documents online, censuses, share your genealogy, collaborate with others, search massive databases of genealogy and so much more."
If you missed this talk before, join us for an informative meeting on Saturday, June 30th. CVGS welcomes guests and visitors - please come!
Our program speaker is Alan Jones on "The Magic of Rootsweb." Some of our members heard this talk at the Escondido Family History Fair in March and eight of us attended Alan's talk on USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb in April at the CGSSD meeting.
Alan's biography is:
"Alan Jones, a native Californian, holds degrees in business and computer science and is an IT Senior Consultant currently with Southern California Edison. He has enjoyed blending his computer career with genealogy. He pilot tests genealogy software programs and systems that we use today and some that are coming soon. He volunteers in various record extraction programs, and gives presentations on genealogy using computer programs and the Internet.
"As a teenager his dog, Mugs, had a bigger pedigree than he did, which started Alan's journey. He and his wife live in Mission Viejo and their 3 children also live in Orange County."
The presentation summary is:
"Rootsweb is the largest free unaffiliated genealogy resource on the internet. It is growing every day! Even if you know and use Rootsweb regularly, please come and see what features you are missing out on. Walk with us on the paths to the wonderful features waiting for you. We will cover the email lists, finding resources just for the county you want, various tools to help give your family tree those finishing touches, see actual documents online, censuses, share your genealogy, collaborate with others, search massive databases of genealogy and so much more."
If you missed this talk before, join us for an informative meeting on Saturday, June 30th. CVGS welcomes guests and visitors - please come!
Genealogy News - June 2007
In our CVGS Research Group meeting, we discuss what has happened in the genealogy world over the past month. Today, we discussed the following:
1) New and useful databases at http://www.ancestry.com/ (not a complete list! See http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx):
* Native American Family History Databases - Indian census records from 1885 to 1940.
* Library of Congress Photo Collection - 1840 to 1900.
* U.S. County Land Ownership Atlases, ca 1864-1918.
4) New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has added 500,000 names to their databases, plus years 2000 to 2002 of the NEHG Register journal, and updated the SSDI. The new records include many in the Mass VRs for 1841 to 1910.
5) Online Database of US World War II MIA and POWs - go to http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/INDEX.HTM
6) LDS FamilySearch "Record Search Pilot" announced - you can sign up, evaluate the available databases and comment on them - at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html
7) Useful and interesting web sites:
* http://www.genealogybranches.com/ - collections of links
* http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/ - archaic medical terms, diseases and causes of death
* http://www.myheritage.com/ - a super genealogy database search engine
* http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/. - Canadian County Atlas Digital Project - only has Ontario so far - maps of towns showing plots from ca 1880.
* http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/form.php - Get Grandpa's FBI File.
* http://olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml - online databases for US and Canadian immigration, naturalization, VRs and more.
* http://www.geonames.org/ - Geographic names, linked to Google type satellite maps.
* http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1 - Veterans Administration National Gravesite Locator.
1) New and useful databases at http://www.ancestry.com/ (not a complete list! See http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/recent.aspx):
* Native American Family History Databases - Indian census records from 1885 to 1940.
* Library of Congress Photo Collection - 1840 to 1900.
* U.S. County Land Ownership Atlases, ca 1864-1918.
2) Ancestry.com -- announced partnership with Sorenson Genomics to put some DNA data online. Note that this is only what Sorenson has, not what all DNA services have.
3) ProQuest Databases
* Partnership with American Antiquarian Society (in Worcester MA) to provide online access to part of the AAS collection, apparently through HeritageQuestOnline (home access with library subscription).
* Partnership with the UK The National Archives to provide access to selections from the UK Colonial State Papers. These hand-written materials offer new insight into British trade, history and overseas expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries. It is not clear how access will be provided.
4) New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has added 500,000 names to their databases, plus years 2000 to 2002 of the NEHG Register journal, and updated the SSDI. The new records include many in the Mass VRs for 1841 to 1910.
5) Online Database of US World War II MIA and POWs - go to http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/INDEX.HTM
6) LDS FamilySearch "Record Search Pilot" announced - you can sign up, evaluate the available databases and comment on them - at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html
7) Useful and interesting web sites:
* http://www.genealogybranches.com/ - collections of links
* http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/ - archaic medical terms, diseases and causes of death
* http://www.myheritage.com/ - a super genealogy database search engine
* http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/. - Canadian County Atlas Digital Project - only has Ontario so far - maps of towns showing plots from ca 1880.
* http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/form.php - Get Grandpa's FBI File.
* http://olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml - online databases for US and Canadian immigration, naturalization, VRs and more.
* http://www.geonames.org/ - Geographic names, linked to Google type satellite maps.
* http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1 - Veterans Administration National Gravesite Locator.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
US County Land Ownership Atlases on Ancestry
While reviewing the list of new databases available on www.Ancestry.com, I found the US County Land Ownership Atlases database.
These are map books of counties, usually by town, that show residence and land ownership. In other words, they show where certain people lived in relation to others, the roads, the physical features, etc.
For instance, I chose to look in Worcester County, Massachusetts. There are two map books available - for 1870 and for 1898. I chose the 1870 one, because I wanted to see if my ancestors, Edward Hildreth and Isaac Smith, owned the land in Leominster at that time.
Each county map book has an index, but the page numbers shown for the towns do not match the image numbers in the database. Leominster was listed on page 28, but actually was on images 30, 31 and 32.
On the image for the central part of Leominster, there were E. Hildreth on the west side of Lancaster Street and across the street was I. Seaver. Now I know how how Hattie Hildreth and Frank Seaver probably met - they were close neighbors!
This is a phenomenal asset for genealogy researchers. County USGenWeb sites have had some of these maps available, but there was not a central source for them.
You will probably have to search page-by-page for the township you are looking for. It seems that the order of the images doesn't correspond to the page numbers in the index, at least in the three counties I checked (in MA, IA and IN).
Unfortunately, there are no names in cities and towns with small lots. These maps are great for large plots but not so good for small lots.
There are few maps for some states - e.g., California has only Alameda (1878), Kern (1901) and Los Angeles (1903) available. There are no maps listed for NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN, MS, NM, AZ, WY, UT, AK and HI.
These are map books of counties, usually by town, that show residence and land ownership. In other words, they show where certain people lived in relation to others, the roads, the physical features, etc.
For instance, I chose to look in Worcester County, Massachusetts. There are two map books available - for 1870 and for 1898. I chose the 1870 one, because I wanted to see if my ancestors, Edward Hildreth and Isaac Smith, owned the land in Leominster at that time.
Each county map book has an index, but the page numbers shown for the towns do not match the image numbers in the database. Leominster was listed on page 28, but actually was on images 30, 31 and 32.
On the image for the central part of Leominster, there were E. Hildreth on the west side of Lancaster Street and across the street was I. Seaver. Now I know how how Hattie Hildreth and Frank Seaver probably met - they were close neighbors!
This is a phenomenal asset for genealogy researchers. County USGenWeb sites have had some of these maps available, but there was not a central source for them.
You will probably have to search page-by-page for the township you are looking for. It seems that the order of the images doesn't correspond to the page numbers in the index, at least in the three counties I checked (in MA, IA and IN).
Unfortunately, there are no names in cities and towns with small lots. These maps are great for large plots but not so good for small lots.
There are few maps for some states - e.g., California has only Alameda (1878), Kern (1901) and Los Angeles (1903) available. There are no maps listed for NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN, MS, NM, AZ, WY, UT, AK and HI.
Monday, June 25, 2007
CVGS Research Group on Wednesday, June 27
The next CVGS Research Group meeting will be on Wednesday, June 27, at 10 AM in the Chula Vista Civic Center Library conference room, hosted by Randy Seaver. We will try again to connect to and use the library's wireless system.
The meeting will have the following segments:
1) Genealogy news for June - and there is a lot of it!
2) Research problems that the attendees want discussed. The group will analyze the problems and suggest further research opportunities.
3) Research successes that the attendees want to tell about - what they found, how they found it, suggestions, etc.
4) Questions about areas of traditional or online research. The group will share what they know about the issue.
If you have a research problem, or a research success, please come and share them with the group.
The meeting will have the following segments:
1) Genealogy news for June - and there is a lot of it!
2) Research problems that the attendees want discussed. The group will analyze the problems and suggest further research opportunities.
3) Research successes that the attendees want to tell about - what they found, how they found it, suggestions, etc.
4) Questions about areas of traditional or online research. The group will share what they know about the issue.
If you have a research problem, or a research success, please come and share them with the group.
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