3 February 2012 by Libbi.

This is a press release from Fold3:

Celebrate Black History Month with Free Access to Black History Records

In 1976, President Ford designated February as Black History Month to highlight the achievements of African Americans in U.S. history. He encouraged the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

In honor of Black History Month, we invite you to enjoy free* access to Fold3’s Black History Collection. This collection includes many enlightening historical records documenting African American achievements since the earliest days of our nation. Of particular interest are those from the Civil War era as we continue to observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

As soon as black soldiers were recruited to serve the Union in 1863, records were generated to document their service including Compiled Service Records for the U.S. Colored Troops and, ultimately, pension files. The pension file index cards, like this one for Joel Bedenbaugh, include a soldier’s rank, company, and regiment within the U.S.C. Infantry, his pension numbers, and sometimes a death date, 24 August 1913, in this case. Private Bedenbaugh’s 16-page service record also includes his enlistment record from when he joined up in Dayton, Ohio, in 1864.

Southern Claims Commission files are petitions by southerners who lost property to Union troops during the Civil War, including many blacks, like William and Louisa Ferguson. Though freeborn, Louisa was not only the wife of a slave, but also the daughter of George Washington’s carpenter, also a slave. Their claim for compensation of $150 for the loss of a horse was denied, but Louisa’s tales of Union and Confederate troops in the vicinity includes her encounters with the rebels and her service to the Union hospital nearby. A transcription of her file is here.

Explore these and thousands of other records documenting the history of African Americans in the U.S., from before the Civil War to the War in Vietnam. Join us as we recognize Black History Month and provide free* access to the Black History Collection on Fold3.

*  Free Access ends February 29, 2012 at Midnight

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30 January 2012 by Libbi.

RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a leading family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012, announced today that fourteen of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The second-year conference has attracted over 3,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the fourteen broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST):

Thursday, February 2

8:30-10:00 am, Inventing the Future, as a Community (Keynote Address) by Jay L. Verkler

11:00 am-12:00 pm, Do I Trust the Cloud? by D. Joshua Taylor

1:45-2:45 pm, Effective Database Search Tactics by Kory Meyerink

3:00-4:00 pm, Twitter – It’s Not Just “What I Had for Breakfast” Anymore by Thomas MacEntee

4:15-5:15 pm, Eleven Layers of Online Searches by Barbara Renick

Friday, February 3

8:30-9:30 am, Exabyte Social Clouds and Other Monstrosities (Keynote Address) by Josh Coates

9:45-10:45 am, Publish Your Genealogy Online by Laura G. Prescott

11:00 am-12:00 pm, Optimize Your Site for Search Engines by Robert Gardner

1:45-2:45 pm, Genealogists “Go Mobile” by Sandra Crowly

3:00-4:00 pm, Google’s Toolbar and Genealogy by Dave Barney

Saturday, February 4

8:30-9:30 am, Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry (Keynote Address) by Tim Sullivan and Ancestry.com Panel

9:45-10:45 am Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 by Lisa Louise Cooke

11:00 am-12:00 pm, Future of FamilySearch Family Tree by Ron Tanner

1:45-2:45 pm, Privacy in a Collaborative Environment by Noah Tatuk

For more information:
Jim Ericson,
RootsTech Marketing,
jericson@familysearch.org,
801-592-2520
Paul Nauta,
RootsTech Media Relations,
nautapg@familysearch.org,
801-240-6498

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12 January 2012 by Libbi.

Of course, things like this happened back in my mother’s day, when you did your genealogy queries and research by sending letters and reading magazines, but still:

Looking for my grandmother’s genealogy, I came across Looking4Roots.com, which had Flora Beeman Powell’s family. I emailed the owner, who is my third cousin. Her name is Carol Ann. She answered, but that was right around the holidays and we both lost track….

So this week, Carol Ann  found ME again, this time on WikiTree. (I hope to blog about this site next week). AND she found me on Ancestry as well!

Carol Ann wrote:

I bought Family Tree Maker 2012 so I could supposedly merge the tree on my computer with the one on Ancestry.com. It turned into a huge mess making kids married to their parents, duplicating entries, etc. Thank goodness I did back up what was on my computer. I started over on the Ancestry.com tree and have a lot of living people from the one on my computer so I made it private. I don’t exactly how the program determines who to make “Living” when you put living people in your tree.

 I’m still not sure how much data is being synchronized because I get error messages every time I do it. I don’t have nearly as many photos on Ancestry as I did. I don’t believe I have any photos of your John Wesley Beeman but I do have other Beeman photos if you are interested in seeing them. And I’d love to see any you might have of the Beemans.

 A small part of the Beemans left the South and came to Texas. I never knew I had Beeman relatives in Texas other than my grandmother and her sisters Carrie & Sudie. When I got old enough to care about the family history, every time I would ask my Daddy to tell me about the family he would just say he didn’t know anyone or anything. I have no idea what the story was there but I know good and well he knew more about the family than he wanted to fool with telling me. I only have the one cousin who found the photos on the Downs/Beeman side of the family and she never had an interest in genealogy until I shared what I had with her a couple of years ago, so she’s not helpful either.

So I am sorting through what I have, and hoping to send Carol Ann some pictures of my grandmother and her sisters.

Isn’t online genealogy cool?

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6 December 2011 by Libbi.

The West Florida Genealogical Society was kind enough to ask me to speak last Saturday at their regular December meeting. I had a blast!My topic was What’s New in Online Genealogy.  I talked about blogs, and Twitter and social networks like Google+ and more!
For example, I pointed out that   Twitter is where you will find people discussing news and techniques about genealogy. Several sites such as Ancestry.com have regular Twitter sessions where you can pepper professional genealogists with questions using the @ and handle, and receive directed replies.

Another topic was social networking.  Google+ has less traffic and less garbage about Fill-In-The-Blank Awareness and Appreciate Your Dog Week than Facebook. Although Google+ works much like Facebook, the way you sort the postings is called “circles” and works much better at filtering the stream of the social network. So I advised one questioner to try that, as he had found Facebook left him cold.

Another questioner asked me about finding African American genealogy in one little town in Louisiana. I showed her quickly how to search Google in my iPhone and there it was, a site about the history of the place where her grandparents had lived!
I also found some folks that had Kentucky genealogy, and had a good time swapping facts with them.

During my talk, promised the group that I would get back to blogging myself. 2011 has been such a busy year, that I have not posted much. My new year’s resolution is to fix that. So this is an early attempt to keep that promise!

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16 September 2011 by Libbi.

Thomas H. Shawker, MD, is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of DNA and family health history. He is the author of the NGS publication, Unlocking Your Genetic History: A Step-by-Step Guide to Discovering Your Family’s Medical and Genetic Heritage.

This brief conversation provides an introduction to how DNA analysis can support genealogical research as well as some basic guidelines for studying your family health history.

Log in at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org, click on the Members Only tab, and then click on NGS Videos in the sidebar menu.

Film by Kate Geis and Allen Moore.

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15 July 2011 by Libbi.

When we were in Kentucky for my husband’s grandmother’s 100th Birthday, my mother-in-law gave me her scroll of genealogy.

This is a six foot long handwritten document with  the names, dates and some of the places of the living family members and ancestors she knew about in 1973. She asked me to get it reproduced, but I have yet to find a place that can scan this 2 foot by 6 foot scroll on a flat surface, and it is too delicate to feed through a sheet feeder.

It should be noted that she does not have the documentation to go with it. It comes from some interviews with people living at the time, some information from printed genealogies, some personal knowledge (e. g. she was at some of the funerals, so she remembers those dates), and a little bit of hands-on, 1970’s style research in libraries and courthouses. I don’t know how much of this data is provable, in other words.  Maybe all, maybe some, maybe just from the people she and I know or knew personally.  It’s all right with me if she doesn’t need any more evidence, but I’d like to find some just for myself.

The solution I have come up with is to try to type all this data into Ancestry.com, and then find a way to output it. As I type, I am looking for the little leaf hint that says some form of documentation may exist  for that person, hoping to fill in the gaps with census records and so on. I am also searching the Web for the names of the 19th, 18th and 17th century people on the scroll. I hope to come up with something!

Then, Russ Worthington suggested for output I try GenealogyPrinters.co.uk . They offer a variety of styles and as much or as little details as you like, from about $50US and up. He has had one project completed by this company and was very pleased with it.

So that’s what I’m doing this summer!

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13 July 2011 by Libbi.

So I’ve been trying Google+ ever since my son Matthew sent me the invitation July 8 and I’m ready to give a few thoughts about it on my blog.

1. The “circles” feature is much like “groups” in Facebook, but easier to use. The list of your circles (e. g. Family, Friends, Acquaintances, etc.) is always on the left, so filtering the “stream” is much easier. Creating circles is also much, much easier than creating groups in Facebook. Instead of pawing through each and every friend, you just drag and drop, or when someone adds you, you can put them in a circle with one click.

2. With the installation of StartGoogle+, a Google Chrome browser plug in specifically designed to help make the process of transitioning from Facebook to Google+ as smooth as possible, the new social network is is easy to use. You can also track Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ all at once with this plug in. The StartGoogle+ instructions also say that if you use it to log into Twitter and Facebook using the plugin,  your Google+ posts will appear on the two others.  I have not yet gotten that feature to work, but I’m sure that is operator error.

3. It can be useful for genealogy if you create a circle just for your genealogy buds, and post your genealogy  queries to that circle only.

4. I am in love with the “Hangout” feature. I just had a really fun hangout with +Russ Worthington about Google+, the video features, EfM, printing genealogies, and more! I want to use that with my kids, siblings, cousins, etc!

5. Posting your pictures, especially your profile pictures, from Picasa on your desktop to Google+ is not as easy and intuitive as it should be. I expect they will tweak that in future.

6. Like Twitter, someone can follow you but you don’t have to follow them (see their posts) back. In Facebook, it must be mutual.

7.  With all of that said, Google+ still does not feel quite so friendly as Facebook. The interface is clean and open, but not “cozy.”  Once I get more used to it, perhaps that will change.

I shall keep experimenting with this new tool and put some observations on a later blog.

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12 July 2011 by Libbi.

1930 US Census Project Concludes

Volunteers Consider Options for Next Projects

The 1930 U.S. Census indexing project will be completed this month. This enhanced index will be a great benefit to online patrons. We will now start many new U.S. projects for volunteers to consider. We are working toward building a nationwide marriage index. There are several already underway, and many new marriage projects are coming. We also started a Civil War era initiative recently that will include record collections expanding before and after the Civil War that will help researchers identify their Civil War era ancestors. We’re also adding some fun emigration projects (passenger lists, naturalization records).

See the lists below for the newest additions and status of other projects and invite friends, family, and colleagues to help out on projects of interest. Of course completed projects will be searchable for free at FamilySearch.org.

New Projects Added

• Argentina, Córdoba, Bell Ville—Registros Parroquiales, 1759–1946(Argentina, Cordoba, Bell Ville—Parish Registers, 1759–1946)
• Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Part C](Brazil, Rio de Janeiro—Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [Part C])
• Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Parte D](Brazil, Rio de Janeiro—Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [Part D])
• Canada, Ontario—Births, 1869–1912 [Part B]
• Chile, Concepción—Registros Civiles, 1885–1920 [Parte 3](Chile, Concepción—Civil Registration, 1885–1920 [Part 3])
• Deutschland, Baden-Württemberg, Emmendingen—Kirchenbücher, 1810–1869(Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Emmendingen—Church Books, 1810–1869)
• Deutschland, Brandenburg, Posen—Kirchenbücher, 1794–1874(Germany, Brandenburg, Posen—Church Books, 1794–1874)
• Deutschland, Mecklenburg, Schwerin—1867 Volkszählung(Germany, Mecklenburg, Schwerin—1867 Census)
• España, Sevilla—Nacimientos Civiles, 1844–1874(Spain, Sevilla—Civil Births, 1844–1874)

  In partnership with GenSevilla

• Estonia—Lutheran Church Books, 1603–1940 [Part B]
• France, Coutances—Registres Paroissiaux, 1802–1907 [Part 2](France, Coutances—Parish Registers, 1802–1907 [Part 2])
• France, Quimper et Leon, Brest, Notre Dame des Carmes—Registres Paroissiaux, 1771– 1909(France, Quimper et Leon, Brest, Notre Dame des Carmes—Parish Registers, 1771–1909)

  In partnership with Cercle Généalogique du Finistere

• Guatemala—Registros Civiles, 1800–1900 [Parte B](Guatemala—Civil Registration, 1800–1900 [Part B])
• Honduras, Tegucigalpa—Registros Parroquiales, 1684–1930(Honduras, Tegucigalpa—Parish Registers, 1684–1930)
• Italia, Mantova—Registri Civili, 1806-1815(Italy, Mantova—Civil Registration, 1806–1815)
• Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Atti di Nascita, 1809–1885 [Part 1](Italy, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Birth Records, 1809–1885 [Part 1])
• Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Atti di Morte, 1889–1924 [Part 2](Italy, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Death Records, 1809–1885 [Part 2])
• Italia, Torino, Torre Pellice—Atti di sepoltura, 1692–1969(Italy, Torina, Torre Pellice—Burial records, 1692–1969)
• Italie, Turin, Torre Pellice—Registres paroissiaux 1692–1969 [Partie1A](Italy, Turin, Torre Pellice—Parish Registers, 1692–1969 [Part 1A])

  In partnership with Cercle Généalogique du Finistere

• Mexico, Aguascalientes—Nacimientos 1860-1921(Mexico, Aguascalientes—Birth Records, 1860–1921)
• Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupanâ—Registros Parroquiales, 1615–1982 [Part 2](Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupanâ—Parish Registers, 1615–1982 [Part 2])
• Polska, Diecezja Lublin—Księgi Metrykalne, 1864–1948 [Część 2](Poland, Diocese of Lublin—Church Books, 1864–1948 [Część 2])

  In partnership with Lubelskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne

• Sverige, Södermanland—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2] (Sweden, Sodermanland—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])
• Sverige, Uppsala—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2] (Sweden, Uppsala—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])
• Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2](Sweden, Örebro—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])
• U.S., Alabama—County Marriages, 1809–1950 [Part B]
• U.S., Alaska—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., American Samoa and Guam—1930 Federal Census
• US, Illinois—Northern District Naturalization Index Cards, 1840–1950
• U.S., Indiana, Fountain County—Marriages, 1811–1959In partnership with Indiana Genealogical Society
• U.S., Indiana, Fulton County—Marriages 1811–1959In partnership with Indiana Genealogical Society
• U.S., Iowa—County Marriages, 1838–1992 [Part B]
• U.S., Nevada—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., North Carolina—County Marriages, 1762–1959 [Part C]
• U.S., Ohio, Franklin County—Marriage Records, 1929–1951
• U.S., Oregon—County Marriages, 1851–1975 [Part A]
• U.S., Vermont—Vital Records, 1760–1954 [Part C]
• U.S., Virgin Islands—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., West Virginia—Naturalization Records, 1814–1991In partnership with West Virginia State Archives
• U.S.—Registers of Enlistment in the U.S. Army, 1798–1913
• Česká Republika (Tschechien), Litoměřice—Matriky, 1552–1905 [část 1C](Czech Republic, Litomerice—Church Books, 1552–1905 [Part 1C])
• Österreich, Oberösterreich, Steyr—Kirchenbücher, 1601–1906(Austria, Upper Austria, Steyr—Church Books, 1601–1906)

(See the chart below for a complete list and current status of all indexing projects.)

Recently Completed Projects

(Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process. They will be published at familysearch.org in the near future.)

• Argentina, Cordoba, Rio Segundo—Registros Parroquiales, 1888–1926
• Argentina, Santa Fe—Registros Parroquiales, 1634–1926 [Parte A]
• Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Imigração Cartões, 1900–1965 [Parte A]
• Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Imigração Cartões, 1900–1965 [Parte B]
• Chile, Concepción—Registros Civiles, 1885–1903 [Parte 2B]
• España, Avila, Barroman—Registros Parroquiales, 1550–1930
• Jamaica—Church of England Parish Baptisms, 1664–1880
• Mexico, Veracruz—1930 Federal Censo
• Norway—1875 Federal Census [Part B]
• Polska, Diecezja Lublin—Księgi Metrykalne, 1902–1945
• Sverige, Uppsala—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 1]
• Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 1]
• U.K., Yorkshire—Parish Registers, 1845–1930
• U.S.—Index to War of 1812 Pension Application Files, 1812–1905
• U.S., Arizona—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., California—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Hawaii—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Idaho—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Illinois—1865 State Census
• U.S., Indiana—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Indiana, Floyd County—Marriages, 1811–1959
• U.S., Iowa—County Births, 1880–1935 [Part A]
• U.S., Iowa—County Marriages, 1838–1992 [Part A]
• U.S., Michigan—1894 State Census
• U.S., Missouri—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., New Hampshire—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., New Jersey—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., New Mexico—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., New York—1930 Federal Census [Part B]
• U.S., North Carolina—County Marriages, 1762–1959 [Part B]
• U.S., Ohio—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Oklahoma—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Oregon—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Pennsylvania—1930 Federal Census [Part A]
• U.S., Pennsylvania—1930 Federal Census [Part B]
• U.S., Tennessee—County Marriages, 1790–1950 [Part D]
• U.S., Utah—1930 Federal Census
• U.S., Vermont—Vital Records, 1760–1954 [Part C]
• U.S., Virginia, Winchester—Evening Star Obituaries, 1899–1909
• U.S., Washington—1930 Federal Census

Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Current FamilySearch Partner Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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11 July 2011 by Libbi.

On my way to volunteer at the Panhandle Butterfly House this morning, I stopped for coffee at a little cafe that I have been meaning to try out for some time, Higher Ground Coffee and Tea Co.  It’s on US 98, on the north side just before the exit to SR 87.  As I walked in I saw on the white board menu for breakfast and lunch: HOT BROWN Sandwiches! Hot Browns! In Florida!!

Of course I had to ask how they knew about Hot Browns…and it turns out that though they grew up in Fort Walton and Navarre, the owner and his wife both have family in Kentucky & both went to Berea College! And the wife’s brother, who also works in the cafe, is a newly minted and highly enthusiastic genealogist!! We spent the next 30 minutes happily discussing genealogy, my book, Genealogy Online 9/E, Ancestry.com, military records, and on and on and on. Oh, and the University of Kentucky!

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7 February 2011 by Libbi.

RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a new family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 10-12, 2011, announced February 4 that six of its popular sessions will be broadcast live and free over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The first-year conference has attracted over 2,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include some of the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations.  Following are the six broadcasts, speakers, and times of the presentations. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST):

Thursday, February 10, 2011

·       8:30-9:00 a.m., A world of Information, Shane Robison, chief technology officer, Hewlett Packard

·       9-9:30 a.m., Turning Roots, Branches, Trees into Nodes, Links, Graphs, Jay L. Verkler, chief executive officer, FamilySearch International

·       3-4:00 p.m., Digitally Preserving Your Family Heritage, Barry Ewell, founder of MyGenShare.com

Friday, February 11, 2011

·       8:30-9:30 a.m., The Changing Face of Genealogy, by Curt Witcher, manager of the Historical Genealogy Department, Allen County Public Library

·       9:45-10:45 a.m., Cloud Computing: What is it and how it has been used to create the next familysearch.org, by Brian Pugh, senior engineer, FamilySearch International               

Saturday, February 12, 2011

·       8:30-9:30 a.m. Personal Archiving and Primary Documents, Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archives

·       1:45-2:45 p.m., Virtual Presentations Round Table and Collaborative Panel Discussion, Thomas MacEntee, professional genealogist and technology specialist

·       3:00-4:00 p.m., The Power of PDF: Tools for Every Genealogist ,  D. Josh Taylor, Director of Education and Programs at New England Historical Genealogical Society.  

About RootsTech

RootsTech is a new conference designed to bring technologists together with genealogists to learn from each other and find solutions to the challenges faced in family history research today. The conference’s activities and offerings are focused on content that will help genealogists and family historians discover exciting new research tools while enabling technology creators to learn the latest development techniques from industry leaders and pioneers.

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