Happy Family History Month

 

Legacy's October Webinars

It's time to think about the October webinars produced by Legacy at www.familytreewebinars.com. You can register to watch in real time or view for seven days following each presentation.


Tuesday, October 1:  "The Stories Behind the Segments" by Blaine Bettinger.  Intermediate, Advanced


Wednesday, October 2: "A Day Out With Your DNA" by Diahan Southard.  Beginner, Intermediate


Wednesday, October 9: "50 Records that Document Female Ancestors" by Gena Philibert-Ortega.  Intermediate


Tuesday, October 15: "Civil Law Records in Genealogical Research: Notarial Records" by Claire Bettag.  Intermediate, Advanced


Wednesday, October 16: "Italian Civil Registration (Stato Civile): Going Beyond the Basics" by Melanie D. Holtz.  Intermediate, Advanced


Tuesday, October 22: "Privacy: How to Protect Your Information Online" by Judy G. Russell.  Beginner, Intermediate


Wednesday, October 23: "Top Tech Tips for the Technologist and the Genealogist: 2019 edition" by Geoff Rasmussen.  Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced


Friday, October 25: "Decoding Secret Societies: Finding Your Female Fraternal Ancestors" by Michael L. Strauss.  Beginner, Intermediate


Wednesday, October 30: "Seven Steps to Manage Digital Files" by Denise May Levenick.  Intermediate

Waupaca Genealogy Revisited

I enjoyed volunteering again at my local genealogy society on two Saturdays

in June and August. One of the most useful resources at our Waupaca Genealogy Center are the cemetery and obituary records available (and indexed!) at the center.

Waupaca Historical Society and Genealogy Center

Here is part of an article written by Paula Vaughan for the Wisconsin GenWeb page:

"Many Waupaca area researchers have used the cemetery records compiled by Wayne and Alta Guyant and this article is to give a little insight into the work of this very dedicated couple.

Wayne and Alta's research began with the shared interest of the area history and they worked side by side gleaning information not only from headstones and cemetery records, but also clipping obituaries, birth announcements, marriage announcements, courthouse records and etc. Although a great share of their research encompassed the Waupaca County area, they also compiled information in Waushara, Portage, Langlade and Florence counties. They have also compiled information from many of the other counties in Wisconsin.

Wayne and Alta have played a very important roll in preserving the information from many Wisconsin cemeteries. In some instances the Guyant records may be the only known record for certain graves. When preserving this information they spent hour upon hour at the cemetery, contacting individuals, combing through courthouse records, etc. The Guyants personally copied 350 cemeteries."

If you have not visited a local history center, library or museum, you might be missing a valuable resource such as the Guyant books.

September Webinars

Here's the list of webinars available on Legacy for this month. Visit www.familytreewebinars.com to register to watch or find out more about the topics. Remember that they are free to view for a week following the presentation.  Note that there are six (!) different webinars scheduled for September 6. They are being presented live at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City as part of the Joy Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series, and sponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Be sure to check the time schedules if you interested in watching in real time.

Tuesday, September 3 - "Are You Lost? Using Maps, Gazetteers and Directories for the British Isles" by Paul Milner.  (I would listen to him reading the phone book.)  Intermediate

Wednesday, September 4 - "Combining DNA and Traditional Research - In-Depth Case Studies" by Michelle Leonard.  Intermediate

Friday, September 6 - "Reasonably Exhaustive Research: The First Criteria for Genealogical Proof" by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  (One of the most popular speakers at any genealogy conference.)  Intermediate, Advanced

Friday, September 6 - "Finding Immigrants Who 'Disappeared': A Research Approach Based on Recognizing and Challenging Assumptions" by Martha Garrett.  Intermediate

Friday, September 6 - "Share and Share Alike: The Rules of Genealogical Privacy" by Judy Russell.  Beginner, Intermediate

Friday, September 6 - "Details of New and Modified DNA-Related Standards" by Karen Stanbary.  Intermediate, Advanced

Friday, September 6 - "How to Write a Case Study that Meets the New Standards for DNA: As Codified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists" by Melinda Henningfield.  Intermediate

Friday, September 6 - "Reconstructing an Entrepreneurial Woman’s Life: From Family Intrigue to Water Rents" by Rick Sayre.  Intermediate

Wednesday, September 11 - "Advanced DNA Techniques: Using Phasing to Test DNA Segments" by Blaine Bettinger.  Intermediate, Advanced

Tuesday, September 17 - "Civil Law Concepts and Genealogy" by Claire Bettag. (Live webinar only - no recording will be available.)  Intermediate, Advanced

Wednesday, September 18 - "Research Latin America Genealogical Resources on the Internet" by Daniel Horowitz.  Beginner

Tuesday, September 24 - "Unlocking English & Welsh Civil Registration Records" by Mike Mansfield.  Beginner

Wednesday, September 25 - "Meaningful Tables and Graphs for Correlation in Family History" by Ruth Wilson Craig.  Intermediate

Friday, September 27 - "The Home Archivist: Preserving Family Records Like a Pro!" by Melissa Barker.  Beginner, Intermediate

Report from the FGS Conference

Maureen E. attended the FGS conference in Washington D.C. this month. Here's her report on the week.  Thanks for sharing, Maureen!

I attended the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Washington, D.C., August 20-24.

The FGS has joined with the National Genealogical Society so in the future there will only be a single national meeting of the two. The FGS does have one more meeting scheduled for September 2020 in Kansas City.

I thoroughly enjoyed this conference. There was a pre-conference day in which one could try guided research at one of DC's main repositories--NARA, LOC or DAR. I went to the Library of Congress--the ambience alone is a reason to visit. Having a LOC research card allows one access to all of Hathi Trust on line--another benefit if your visit is short.

Because the meeting itself was in DC, there was a Mid-Atlantic track that suited my interests very well. I learned about additional small repositories in the area as well as more obscure records in the main repositories, as well as historical perspectives of the area. Also, since this was the FGS there was a track for genealogy societies and their special issues. DNA, African American and other cultural issues were well covered.

I was able to get some additional input from Maureen Taylor regarding a photograph of my elusive Frederick, a promise of a final revolutionary war pension payment from a NARA archivist and a plan ($) for further DNA analysis for my Crittenden line.

All in all it was a very worthwhile experience.

National Genealogical Society 2020 Conference

Something to consider as you plan your travels home next spring!


 

Reserve your accommodations starting 15 August 2019 for the National Genealogical Society’s forty-second annual Family History Conference, Echoes of Our Ancestors.

The conference will be held 20-23 May 2020 at the Salt Palace Convention Center (SPCC), 100 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah. It will feature more than 150 genealogy lectures on a wide variety of topics including DNA, ethnic sources, historical migrations, immigration, research techniques, specialized collections at the Family History Library, and more.

NGS offers attendees a choice of several hotels with discounted rates. All are convenient to the convention center. The official conference hotel, the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, is just a short walk from the convention center. The Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown is located adjacent to the convention center, and the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel is only half a block away. The three hotels offer complimentary wireless internet.

1918 Newspaper Article

Waupaca County Post - June 13, 1918

I noticed this article when we were searching for obituaries at the Wisconsin Historical Society last month. How many of our maternal German ancestors were frightened by a similar notice? I found it interesting that only women were required to register, although men may have had to do the same at a previous time.

The article explains the notice I found many years ago placed by Katherine Schmidt Nickel, my great-great-grandfather's sister, explaining that she would now be writing her name "Nicol, as that was the original spelling and would seem more American." Interestingly, her announcement appeared in the same issue of the paper as this article. And the Schmidt family did come from Germany.

Not only was that NOT the original spelling, her husband was from Ireland, even though the surname could be seen as "German." Why was she concerned? When I rechecked the 1910 census, it states that her husband was not a citizen; therefore, neither was she. He had passed away in 1912 without becoming naturalized; she would have been a citizen if he had completed that process.

Free Irish Websites

Rick sent a note the other day with a link to IrelandXO which has published a list of the "Top FREE Irish Genealogy Resources for 2019." You will find links to websites for names, places, vital records, church records, etc.

The categories include Irish Vital Records, Irish Census Records, and Irish Census Record Substitutes. Give the website a try and good luck to our Irish researchers!

https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/news/irelandxo-insight-top-free-irish-genealogy-resources-2019

Thanks for the tip, Rick.