Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Genealogy Club Workshops Begin

Our genealogy season begins next Tuesday, November 5. Workshops are scheduled for each Tuesday through December 17 at 7 PM in the San Tan room. We will have a router and internet available, so bring your computer!

These early workshops are a great time to get extra help if you are a beginner. We can also assist with online searching, using your software programs, and brainstorming ideas for brick wall solutions.

Our regular meetings will start January 7, 2014.

Welcome back to everyone who has returned.  Bring a friend or neighbor; we hope to see you Tuesday!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Legacy Webinar, November 1, 2013

Friday, November 1, "Dear Myrtle," who has been around as a blogger for quite some time, will discuss how "Ancestry Trees Can Jump Start Your Research."

Legacy's description of the presentation: "Find out why Ol' Myrt gave up the notion to avoid sharing her family tree online. Secret: It's all about collaboration. This webinar guides participants through the process of creating a GEDCOM file in the Legacy Family Tree software, uploading the file to Ancestry.com, and looking for 'reasonable' matches using Ancestry's shaking leaf. We then focus on deeper searches using the 'magnifying glass' and analysis of reliability of matches."

If you have Family Tree Maker, you can upload your tree automatically to Ancestry. This webinar will show you how to share your information if you are using Legacy software.

The decision to share your information online is personal, of course. There are advantages and drawbacks, and it seems that the webinar will discuss some of those concerns.

 

Legacy Webinar, October 30, 2013

Wednesday, October 30, Judy Russell will present "Using Court Records to tell the Story of our Ancestors' Lives."

Here's Legacy's description of the class: "Early court records give us evidence to prove who our ancestors were. But they’re even more wonderful in helping us understand how our ancestors lived. Learn how to use court records to add richness and depth to help tell your family’s story."

www.familytreewebinars.com for more information or to register.





 

Friday, October 25, 2013

Polish-American Genealogy

This week I finally read one of the books I purchased at the National Conference in May. It is a 100-page Guide to Chicago and Midwestern Polish-American Genealogy. The book focuses on the years 1860-1945. Jason Kruski begins with an overview of United States records that might be useful if you do not know the village where your ancestors originated. The author discusses the resources available in Illinois, particularly the Chicago/Cook County area. He then explains the difficulties of research in Poland and suggests possible ways to overcome them.

The book is well-written and would be useful to anyone with Polish ancestry or who has ancestors who were in Cook County during the late 1800s and early 1900s. I will be happy to lend this book to club members who are interested.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Legacy Webinar: October 23, 2013

From the Legacy website:

Using Church Records to Identify Ancestors

Church records contain a wealth of family history information. Learn what types of records different churches kept, how to determine your ancestor’s denomination, and where to locate these important records.

Remember, you can register to watch in "real time" or the presentation is usually available for about a week afterward.

For more info or to register:  www.familytreewebinars.com

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Pinal County Genealogy Workshop

Planning is in the works for the 11th annual Pinal County Genealogy Workshop to be held Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the LDS Church in Casa Grande.

Classes include sessions on beginning research, intermediate research, brick wall problems, early census records, migration trails, Irish research, and writing your life story. Land records, immigration, organizing files, Google resources, and the Family Search website and indexing are some of the other interesting offerings.

Mark your calendar and watch for upcoming announcements regarding registration and class descriptions.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Message from our President

Received today from Rick Wood:
 
As posted on the blog August 9, Ancestry has put the 1921 Canada Census on their site for browsing only. I see on the Ancestry.ca website today, a little flag saying "12 days until 1921" so I presume that means that the indexing will be done by October 29. Happy Halloween for us Canadians and others searching the records! The flag is not on the Ancestry.com site but I assume that the 1921 census will also appear there as well once the indexing is complete.

Did you know that if you have a World Explorer membership on Ancestry.com that on the bottom of the page there is a box that you can open to access other country records? If you select Canada English, it takes you to Ancestry.ca for the Canadian records such as the 1921 Canada Census.

Looking forward to seeing everyone next month and talking with Ken Doane about his family history book. 

I hope you all had a wonderful and successful summer.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Casa Grande Family History Center

Good news from our local Family History Center! They are now able to access Ancestry and several other subscription websites, including Find My Past, 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive, Fold3, Godfrey Memorial Library, Heritage Quest, Historic Map Works Library Edition, World Vital Records and others. These are available on all five of the center's computers. The only drawback is that at present the center is only open twice a week--Thursdays and Saturdays from 9-1.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Legacy Webinar: October 16, 2013

"Get the Scoop on Your Ancestors With Newspapers"

The following is the description of Lisa Louise Cooke's presentation on newspaper research scheduled for this week.

"Newspapers are a fantastic source of research leads, information and historical context for your family history. Learn the specialized approach that is required to achieve success in locating the news on your ancestors. Includes 3 Cool Tech Tools that will get you started."

For more information or to register visit www.familytreewebinars.com.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Ancestry has purchased Find A Grave

Ancestry.com Acquires Find A Grave

The following announcement was posted on Ancestry's blog September 30, 2013.

"Ancestry.com has acquired Find A Grave, Inc., the leading online cemetery database. 

With over 100 million memorials and 75 million photos, Find A Grave has amassed an unparalleled collection of burial information. Over the past 18 years, it has grown to become an invaluable resource for genealogists, history buffs and cemetery preservationists. Find A Grave will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ancestry.com, and will continue to be managed by its founder, Jim Tipton.

Ancestry.com plans to bolster the resources dedicated to Find A Grave to launch a new mobile app, improve customer support, introduce an enhanced edit system for submitting updates to memorials, foreign-language support, and other site improvements."


There were "Q and As" posted on another site--the most important question being whether Find A Grave would continue to be a free resource. The response there indicated that YES, Ancestry will provide free access to Find A Grave.