February's Legacy Webinars

Legacy has a beginner DNA webinar next week for those of us who still need the kindergarten version  Visit www.familytreewebinars.com for more information or to register for sessions.


Tuesday, February 4 - "Organizing Your DNA Results (updated!)" by Diahan Southard.  Intermediate

Wednesday, February 5 - "Developing a DNA Testing Plan: a Guide for Beginners" by Debra Renard.  Beginner

Tuesday, February 11 - "Tune Up Your Family Tree with the MyHeritage Consistency Checker" by James Tanner.  Beginner    (MyHeritage is a subscription site.)

Wednesday, February 12 - "Best Practices for Success in Facebook Groups for Genealogy" by Cyndi Ingle.  Intermediate

Tuesday, February 18 - "A Convincing Argument or a Convoluted Mess" by Barbara Vines Little.  Intermediate

Wednesday, February 19 - "Newspapers for People of Color Genealogy Research" by Nicka Smith.  Beginner, Intermediate

Wednesday, February 26 - "Using Snagit for Genealogy Visual Storytelling and Instruction" by Colleen Greene.  Beginner, Intermediate

January 28 Workshop

BEGINNING RESEARCH IN SCOTLAND

Will John Spiers born about 1825 stand up? One of Susan's main points this week was the difficulty of determining who your ancestor was when so many Scots were given the same forename.

Susan teaching Scottish research

We learned that we need to use Scottish history, maps, occupations, record and record locations. Learning about the naming patterns for the family is extremely important for researching Scottish ancestors.

Another good crowd this week

2020 Pinal County Genealogy Workshop

We can report about another successful workshop, as there were 228 total registrations. Most evaluations were positive, except for complaints about the temperature of the building! It seems unlikely that anything can be done about it; we may need to advise wearing layers in future years.

Registration began at 8:00 A.M.

Nearly 50 door prizes were awarded, including a DNA kit and a six-month Ancestry subscription.

Some of the available door prizes.

The local DAR organization had a booth.

Beginning genealogy, FamilySearch WIKI, DNA kindergarten, newspaper research, Canadian research, upstate New York, and Swedish genealogy were some of the popular classes.

Here are some photos of our members who are now much more knowledgeable than they were last week! Do you recognize any faces?

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective

The Family History Society of Arizona is holding a seminar and its annual meeting on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Maureen Taylor, the recognized expert for identifying old photographs, will be the featured speaker. The seminar will be held at the LDS Inter-Stake Center, 830 E. Second Avenue, Mesa, AZ.

Original post had incorrect date. The Friday session is March 20; Saturday session is March 21.

There is a special Friday evening session titled "Buns, Beards, Bodices and Bustles: Understanding Ancestors Through Clothing" from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Friday, March 20, 2020.

Saturday sessions include: "Identifying and Dating Family Photographs," "Eight Steps to Preserving Your Family Photographs" and "No Language Barrier: Immigrant Clues in Photographs." The Saturday session runs from 8:45-3:00.

Find more information and online registration forms at www.fhsa.org.

Genealogy Meeting - January 21

Using Cemeteries for Family History Research

Duane Roen demonstrated a variety of websites that can be used for researching cemeteries, death records and obituaries. The handout was extensive, and we'll make an effort to attach it to an email so that members can click directly to each site.

Looking at cemetery sites

Suggestions: start with Google! Proceed to FamilySearch and/or Ancestry and then consider the cemetery sites such as Find a Grave, Billion Graves or Interment. Cyndi's List is also useful with links to various subject and location areas.

We had a great crowd this week.

FindMyPast Subscription

FindMyPast is offering 25% off a one-month subscription this week. If you have some extra time during the next month, you might think about taking advantage of the discount. The offer is good through January 25.

January 14 Workshop

This week's workshop was a busy one. Annie gave a brief overview of the census, pointing out the important information to be found in the columns beyond the name, age and birthplace.

We broke up into focus groups for the remainder of the time. Members chose among U. S. beginning research, Canadian research, Legacy software, Family Tree Maker software and FamilySearch Family Tree. Except for the annoying internet service in the room this week, it seemed that this experiment was a success. Feedback would be welcome!

Irish Cultural Center Workshop

The Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix has scheduled a workshop for 10:30 AM February 8, 2020. The cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Details follow.

Level I: Introductory

This workshop will provide information for efficiently using the McClelland Library Genealogy printed collection in your Irish family research.

Level I: Introductory, topics include:

Why you will not find Online all you need to develop a comprehensive Family History
The current status of Genealogical Record Digitization
The McClelland Library Genealogy Collection, what is available and how to locate and utilize its reference materials
Print resources frequently used in finding ancestral places of origin and jurisdictional details
Examples where printed resources revealed additional details or helped to overcome roadblocks

https://www.azirish.org/genealogyprinted/


Jim reported at our meeting last night that this class is, unfortunately, filled. They only have room for about 20-25 people, so it is important to register early.

The next class will be March 7 (we think: check their website), and will discuss beginning Irish research. Registration opens JANUARY 22.

Club Expo

Palm Creek's first Club Expo seems to have been a great success. It looked as if every club had a table and attendance was excellent. The only drawback was difficulty hearing everyone who stopped at our table.

Karen and Susan were two of our volunteers

It will be interesting to see how many new members we gather on Tuesday from this effort. Thanks to Diane, Annie, Susan, Karen and Nancy for taking time to volunteer.

January 7 Genealogy Club

Our speaker this week presented a very useful class on how to organize genealogy research. Larry began the session by discussing how to keep your paper files in order and continued with demonstrations of his genealogy files on the computer. He suggested two methods of organization: by generation and birth order or alphabetically by surname.

Larry getting us organized

Larry also provided a comprehensive handout that should be simple to follow for those of us who need direction in organization! Thanks, Larry.

Members who will now be better organized

Vista Grande Genealogy Presentations

Vista Grande Public Library (on Cottonwood) has a program on the second Friday of each month called "Journey to Your Past." The classes are all related to some facet of genealogy. The topic this coming Friday, January 10, is "German Ancestry" by Steve Packer.

Steve has spoken to our club on several occasions and always provides interesting and useful information.

The sessions are held at 10:00 a.m. No registration is necessary, and you can bring a laptop or tablet. The presentation lasts about an hour with a second hour for questions and/or genealogy research.

January Plans

Happy New Year!

We have a busy month planned for the club. Let's get started!

January 7: We'll begin the year properly by getting organized. Our speaker will address both paper piles and computer files, so the presentation should apply to everyone.

January 11: Palm Creek Club Expo. We'll be participating at our genealogy club table. Here's your chance to introduce Bone-Apart to the residents while encouraging them to join our club. Volunteers welcome.

January 14: Maureen will be talking about using Legacy software. Many similarities exist among the software programs, so the topic will be of interest to all of us.

January 21: Our speaker will cover "Using Cemeteries for Family History Research." The handout includes many useful websites.

January 25: Pinal County Genealogy Workshop

January 28: Susan will discuss how to begin researching ancestors who came from Scotland.