Roots Tech 2013

Last week I attended the Roots Tech conference in Salt Lake. It was amazing and the Expo area was fantastic! I wanted to make sure and share the video classes that are located at the RootsTech.org site. There are a variety of classes for the beginner and advanced genealogist. Some of the classes are focused on how to search the internet effectively, other classes are about gathering and preserving family stories. Take a minute to check out the great resources at this site.   

ICAPGen Conference 2012

Presented by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists and the BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy

October 19-20, 2012

Ernest L. Wilkinson Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Featuring 60 different classes in six tracks:

Preparing for Accreditation

Resources for Professionals

Skills and Methodology

International

U.S. Regional

Technology and the Internet

Special guest speaker at the Friday ICAPGen Annual Meeting and Luncheon:

Don Anderson, "FamilySearch and Family History Communities"

Full conference registration includes two full days of conference classes, vendor booth access, lunch both days, and time for networking.

The early-bird price for the full two-day conference is $80 for AG Professionals and $90 for general registration. This price includes a nice luncheon both days. One-day registration is also available, and the early-bird price for a one-day registration is $50.

Register at: icapgen.org, then chose ICAPGen Store

I hope to see you there!

ICAPGen Conference 2010

The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists also known as ICAPGen will hold their annual conference this week, October 22 & 23, at the Downtown Radisson Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. Registration and class schedule is available online at: www.icapgen.org

Genealogists from the beginner to the advanced will find classes that are appealing. In conjunction with this event the Salt Lake Family History Library will extending their hours until 11pm on Friday night. I hope to see you there!

Wiki: A Collection of Research Knowledge

The FamilySearch Wiki located at: Wiki.FamilySearch.org, is a great resource for anyone interested in family history and genealogical research. I regularly use this tool before I begin actual research. The wiki is a collection of articles and weblinks that can be searched by location or by topic. An example: I can search the wiki for "Ohio" and the wiki will send me to the "Ohio" home page, where I will find articles about every topic pertaining to genealogical research in Ohio. Topics generally covered for every state include the topics found in the old printed "Research Outlines". These topics include: Archives & Libriries, Bible Records, Biographies, Cemeteries, Census, Church, Court, Directories, Emigration & Immigration, Ethnic Groups, Gazetteers, Genealogy, History, Land & Property, Maps, Military, Naturalization & Citizenship, Newspapers, Occupations, Probate, Societies, Tax, Vital Records and more. If websites are available that contain either digital images, indexes or other resources specific to the location searched, the wiki will lead to these pages. The Wiki can also be searched for international countries and foreign language genealogical word lists. In addition, FamilySearch Wiki will lead to any of the many online classes it has filmed, addressing genealogical research.

In summary the Wiki can be searched by locality - State or Country. It can also be searched by topic - Military, LDS Research. The Wiki also contains research helps - Articles and Word Lists. And finally the Wiki contains links to online resources - digital images, indexes and online lessons. I suggest using Wiki at the beginning of every research project.

Free Paleography Tutorials

As genealogists we regularly work in original records. The old handwriting can be a bit difficult to read at times. Especially if we are not familiar with the abbreviations, numbers or legal terms found in the documents. I have found that the best help for reading old documents is practice, practice and more practice. I have found a couple of free resources that may also help.

FamilySearch has created a lesson series called, Reading Handwritten Records. The series is geared toward the beginner. These lessons are found for the following languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Scandinavian and Spanish. Lessons are located at: FamilySearch.org

The Center for Family History & Genealogy at Brigham Young University has created Script Tutorials - Resources for Old Handwriting and Documents. Tutorials for English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese are found at: http://script.byu.edu/

The National Archive in England has also developed an online tutorial for reading English records written between 1500-1800. Found at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/

Another resource is found at Wiki.FamilySearch.org search for the word handwriting and many helps will be listed not only for American handwriting but English, German, Scottish, Latin, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Czech, Swedish, Russian, and Danish handwriting. Don't forget to print off the genealogical word lists also available at this site.

One last resource for improving paleography skills. Practice! One of the best places to practice your skills is at: indexing. FamilySearch.org IndexingIndexing projects are currently posted in the following languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Swedish, Czech, French, Norwegian and German.

Now you have the tools to improve your paleography skills.

Thanksgiving is a Time for Memories

Thanksgiving is a great time to add material to our family history collection. As we create new memories we also reflect on the memories of the past. Take time this holiday season to record in some fashion your memories of the past and present. As family gathers I repeatedly hear, "Remember when we ..." or "Remember the time when ...". After the meal when we sit and relax, before anybody dozes off, is a great time to bring out the digital recorder. Visit and enjoy the closeness of each other and the memories of the past.

Free Genealogy Educational Opportunities

I want to share several free online courses for the beginning genealogists. Education is the key to keeping up with the times in the ever changing field of genealogy and family history. Now, education does not have to be expensive, in fact today I will mention only online classes that are free.

BYU offers free enrichment courses through their Independent Study Program. The courses offered here fall under the categories of Introduction to Family History & Genealogy, Record Types in Family History & Genealogy and Regional & Ethnic Research in Family History & Genealogy. Under each of these topics are listed the classes themselves. Under Introduction into Family History is found: Providing Temple Ordinances for Your Ancestors, Introduction to Family History Research and Helping Children Love Your Family History. Under Record Types in Family History is found; Family Records, Vital records and Military Records. Under Regional & Ethnic research is found seven classes pertaining to research in France, six classes for research in Germany, one class for research of Huguenots and five classes for research in Scandinavia.

More free online classes are located at: FamilySearch.org. There are seven classes in the Family History Lesson Series they are: Perform Descendancy Research, Conduct Family History Interviews, Involve Children and Youth in Family History, Write a Personal History, Create a Famiy History, Involve your Extended Family in Family History and Use the Internet for Family History Research. The great thing about these lessons is that they can be printed out or downloaded onto your computer.

Another great spot it the website for The Center for Family History & Genealogy. The Center is located on the BYU campus and provides free online tutorials to students. There are 8 lessons associated with the Religion 261 class and they are: Gather Information, PAF, FamilySearch.org, GEDCOMs, Family History Centers, Temple Ready and Sharing. Also offered from this website are Script tutorials. These tutorials will help you learn to read old documents. The lessons are available for the following languages: English, German, Dutch, Itilian, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

For those who have access to New Family Search can also find free lessons at the new site. On the main welcome page is a list of options, the last option is "Help Center". Click on "Help Center" and a new window will open. Next look at the tabs located at the top of the new window. Click on the tab that says, "Training & Resources". The top selection that appears will be E Learning Courses. There are 9 courses offered entitled: Overview, Registration, View & Add Information, Make Corrections, Organize Information, GEDCOM Files, The Temple Process, Available Help and The Helper Function.

Great Blogs to Follow

General Genealogy Blogs:
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
About.com Genealogy
Creative Gene
Genealogy Insider
Dear Myrtle
Ancestry Insider
Genealogy Tip Of The Day

Genealogy Technology Blogs:
Think Genealogy
The Genetic Genealogist
Family Oral History Using Digital Tools
The Family Curator
Genealem's Genetic Genealogy
Family Matters
The Photo Detective
Internet Genealogy

Genealogy Research Blogs:
Og Blog Roots Television
Midwestern Microhistory
Historical Town Maps Blog
Free Genealogy Resources
Hispanic Genealogy

History Blogs:
Civil War Women
History of American Women
The Virtual Dime Museum
The History Blog

Writing Genealogy:
The Heart & Craft of Life Writing
Passing It On
AnceStories2
Your Story Counts

Have fun finding the blogs that are right for you!

Probate Records

Probate records are court records that are created due to a death. Probate records include wills, letters of administration, inventories, bonds, guardianship and estate records. Most often the subject of the probate record has a valuable estate or minor children at the time of death. Probate records are good for proving relationships.

The probate process begins first with a death. At this point a will is presented to the court with an application to process. If no will was left an application is filed usually by the widow, to process the estate. Living heirs are recognized, a public announcement is made, debts are recognized, assets totaled by way of an inventory and accounts are administered. The heirs are again recognized, married daughters will be listed with their spouse representing them and minor children will be assigned a male guardian. If the wife of the deceased is still living she is by law entitled to 1/3 of the estate. The remainder of the estate to be divided equally between the living children.

Land Records

Land records are a good source for genealogists. Land records will contain information about your ancestor's residence and the amount of property he owned. You can see when your ancestor first purchased land as he arrived to a new area and when he last sold land as he left to move another area.These dates and places can be used to establish the the specific birth place of children born during the years the family lived at a certain location. Census records are helpful in identifying the place of birth, but are limited to giving only the state or country where the birth occurred. Land records are also helpful in learning about your ancestor's wealth. A wealthy man is likely to need a will at the time of his death in order to distribute his property to his heirs. Land records will also list the name of the wife in transactions where the property is being sold.

Land records can be found in the county court house where your ancestor lived. Many land records have been microfilmed and are listed in the Family History Library Catalog. To find land records in the catalog do a place search for the county and state. A list of records available for for your area will appear. One of the topics will be "land and property". Look at the indexes first and remember to look in both the grantor and grantee indexes. One is indexed by the surname of the grantor and the other is indexed by the surname of the buyer.

Record Keepers

Family historians and genealogists are the record keepers of our generation. It is our responsibility to gather, organize and accurately record our family history. What does this mean? It means that as we gather and record our family's history it is of prime importance to document our facts and conclusions. At the risk of repeating myself, I will say again that every fact on a family group record or every fact in our genealogical database must be attached to a complete source citation.

It is not enough to simply state that the information came from grandma. Every citation must be complete with meaningful details. A simple test of completeness is to ask yourself this question: "If I show someone this citation, will they be able to get back to the record or person from which the original information was recorded?".

Basic citations include a title, author, publisher and location, date of publication, page number. I would also suggest that you add where you examined the record, or the location of the repository (The repository is where the record resides).

What if your source is a person? How is that information recorded? Follow the same outline and make sure to include the title, which may be a phone interview. The person giving the information, full name. Include the date of the conversation. Contact information for the interviewee. You may also want to include your relationship and other pertinent information such as age or condition of the interviewee.

Preserve & Share - Photographs

Many of us are lucky to have some old photographs. Or maybe we know older family members who have these images hanging on their walls. Now is the time to preserve and share these images. Light, moisture, heat, oil and acid are all enemies of photographs.

Every photograph should be preserved digitally by scanning at a high resolution or by digital photography. Take care not to disturb or damage the original.

It is also important to identify individuals within each photo and label it. I use a black pigma pen, which will not bleed or smear once it is dry. Store original photographs in acid free sleeves.

Make a commitment now to organize, display and preserve your photos.

The 5 Generation Ancestor Book

Several years ago I taught a genealogy class to a group of seniors (the over 65 variety). They were all very interested in genealogy and many of them were responsible for collecting and compiling their family's genealogical records. Most had written and published their own personal histories. I secretly wondered why these students wanted to come to my class when I would teach them how to do things they had already done. I decided to try a new approach which I found very successful. We focused on creating a book geared towards the youth in their families.

On the second day of class each student brought with them a 5 generation pedigree chart, showing themselves as the first person. I then introduced my plan of making a 5 generation ancestor book. This book would really be a 3 ring binder which included, 1 - their 5 generation pedigree chart, 2 - family group records for every couple on the chart and 3 - a biographical sketch and photo of each individual listed on the pedigree chart.

Now the first part of creating the book was fairly simple. All that was needed were printouts of information that could be found in a personal genealogy database. The difficult part was writing the ONE page biographical sketch for each person. Let me explain. We determined that one page would give the reader an idea of who this ancestor was and that one page is not too long for a youthful read to actually read.

The first writing assignment was to write a ONE page biographical sketch about ourselves. The instructions were that the biographical sketch was to be only ONE page. The purpose was to share something that the youth could relate to, it could include personal interests or a short experience, something that would help the youth make connections with this older generation. We left that day to write our own ONE page, we all were very excited.

As we returned to the next class everyone brought their ONE page biographical sketch. I had to smile as each student shared their experience. Most had changed the margins, then the font to try to include more on their one page. We all found that it was necessary to eliminate facts that could be found on the accompanying forms and focus on one experience or just sharing our interests.

We repeated this experience every week adding the parents, then grandparents, then great grandparents. Each time we had less information to work with and had to rely on memories, or research. When completed, this book was a treasure to each of us. My students, these seniors, gave copies of their books to their grandchildren hoping to bride the generations and spark an interest in family history.

Newspapers

What can be found in newspapers? Birth announcements, marriage announcements, obituaries, and more can be found. Newspapers, especially small town newspapers are a great resource for biographical information. A small town newspaper may only publish an edition once a week, but it will include details not found elsewhere. Everything is news in a small town.The newspaper may have an article mentioning a family gathering and naming every person in attendance. I found a newspaper article that describes in detail the bride's dress and gives a brief background of both the bride and groom.

Where can newspapers be found? Many newspapers are located in public & university libraries and historical & genealogical societies. Contact the libraries or societies nearest to where your ancestors lived to get access.

Some newspapers are being digitized. Many are accessible through subscription websites. However there are a few free websites that have digitized newspapers. Chronicling America is a project under the Library of Congress and has newspapers from 1818-1910. Currently this site has newspapers from: California, District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Another website is the U.S. Newspaper Program, this site contains a list of all the states and directs you to the website where digitized newspapers for that state can be found. Both of these websites are adding content regularly, if you don't have success now try again later.

County & Local Histories

A great source that is often overlooked are published County Histories. As a general rule when ever you are researching in the U.S., find the county histories for the areas where your ancestors lived. County Histories contain a wealth of information about the area, history, economy, politics and more. The first part of these books contains topical chapters including chapters for each township within the county. The last part of the book will contain biographical sketches of county residents. Residents had to pay to be included in the publication. If there is an index check it for your surname and any other surnames of those who married in and out of the family. Do not be disappointed if your ancestor did not have a sketch included. The real treasure is found in the text of early chapters. Using the history found in a county history can help to flesh out the lives of your ancestors.

The Family History Library has filmed many county histories and these are available on microfilm. BYU has a collection of digitized county histories located in the Family History Archive. Another resource for county histories is the local Historical or Genealogical Society, where your family lived.

U.S Census Basics

The first U.S. census was taken in 1790 and thereafter every 10 years. The first census records listed the name of the head of household and had columns where tally marks were entered representing other family members. It wasn't until the 1850 census that the names of every member in the household were listed. Also included were columns for age and birthplace. Every census after added more columns and more questions. Occupation, value of personal and real property, are also among the questions asked. The 1880 census includes the relationship of every person in the household to the head of household. The 1900 census asks the birth month and year, years married, and children born to the woman. This census also include naturalization and citizenship information. Census records are publicly available up through 1930.

Now the most important advice about census records is to find every census during your ancestor's life time. This method of research will help you get a complete look at your ancestors life.

Church Records

Church records consist of records recorded by a church. In many foreign counties there is a state religion. For example if you are researching in Scandinavia the state religion is Lutheran, in Spain and Italy it is Catholic. In the United States however we do not have a state religion. Church records are kept by many different faiths. The most common religious records found in the United States are: Baptists & Episcopalians, Congregational, Roman Catholic, Methodists, Quakers and Lutherans. Of these religious records the most helpful will be those religions that recorded a christening or baptism shortly after birth.

Baptism or Christening records will include information about the child's name, parents names, residence, date of event and godparents or witnesses.

Marriage records will include the names of both the bride and groom, residence, date of event and witnesses.

Burial records will include a name, age and possibly the cause of death.

Church records are a great source! These are especially valuable for locating key information about an ancestor before vital records and civil registration were kept.

Vital Records

Vital records are a key source when researching in the U.S. These are records created by the government and include Birth, Marriage and Death records. In the U.S. generally these records were kept on a state level beginning about 1900. Vital records kept before that time will be found on the county level and in some few cases on the City level. The vital records most commonly found recorded before 1900 are marriage records. Marriage records were typically kept side by side with the land records from the beginning of a county's creation.

There are at least 2 ways to find vital records. The first is to search the Family History Library Catalog. Do a "Place" search for the state and county where the event took place. This search will bring up a long list of available record types, find Vital Records and click on the blue link. This will bring up all the vital records that the Family History Library has for your location. You may be lucky and find that they have the film you need.

Another means of locating a vital record is to request one from the state or county where the record resides. A courthouse address can easily be found in The Handybook for Genealogists, Ancestry's Red Book or online.

The foreign equivalent of Vital Records is Civil Registration.

Evidence

We use evidence to prove facts. Providing reliable evidence is especially important when documenting family history. Good evidence helps us to avoid duplication, resolve conflicts and provide the most accurate information in our records.

Direct Evidence - Addresses a particular matter, clearly answers the question and stands alone.
Indirect Evidence - Circumstantial information, requires us to come to conclusions and does not stand alone.
Primary Source - An original record that contains first-hand testimony of an eyewitness.
Secondary Source - All evidence which is inferior to primary evidence.

Reliable conclusions are made based on the weight of the evidence not the quantity of evidence.

The Big Family Reunion

Have you ever sat for a large multi-generation family photo? I think we all have had the experience of waiting for everybody to get into place, sit still and look at the camera. Years ago my mother-in-law planned such an event. She had six married children and 28 grandchildren. The oldest grandchild was preparing to leave on a mission and my mother-in-law was sure the family would never be complete again. It was vitally important that every grandchild be present. So we all gathered together in an wilderness area in Cache county and spent hours waiting and taking photos. By the time each person was in place for the large family photo I was distressed trying to keep my 8 children out of the trees and clean was wearing on me. I faked a smile as the photographer took at least 20 or more shots. When the proofs finally came I was again distressed to find that of my 8 children 2 or more were always making clown faces in the photos. My mother-in-law selected one photo to enlarge and proudly displays this picture in her home.

I have often reflected on the importance that this photo has to my mother-in-law. It represents her posterity and includes her dearest relationships. I think that parallels can be drawn as we think about our ancestors. Our ancestors, each couple found on our pedigree charts had children and their children had children. As we gather and research our family history we need to remember that grandparents want all their grandchildren present, not just some. As I research I make sure that I have gathered all children for every couple found on my pedigree chart. Then I take it another step and find all the grandchildren for every couple on my pedigree chart.