October: Family History Month

October is Family History Month! (I'm missing fall foliage this year.) I would imagine many of you have been working on family history while in isolation. There are a few choices available while maintaining a social distance.

Online Research

Visiting Cemeteries

Solo Appointments at Research Libraries and Archives

Contacting Relatives

Labeling Photographs

Genealogy on Facebook

I first posted about Katherine Willson's list of Facebook genealogy sites in September of 2014. At that time she maintained a list of about 4,000 different groups or pages. Last week we watched her presentation on that subject via the NGS's virtual conference. She now has a list of 13,000+ genealogy and history links! You can take a look at the list at https://socialmediagenealogy.com/

The session was very informative; she began by explaining the difference between a "group" and a "page." Groups can be public or private and then can be visible or hidden. She also talked about managing notifications and posting a query.  

October Webinars

Legacy has another selection of free webinars for our education this month. Check it out at www.familytreewebinars.com.

Tuesday, October 6 - "Advanced DNA Techniques: Deductive Chromosome Mapping" by Blaine Bettinger.  Advanced

Wednesday, October 7 - "Wringing Every Drop out of Y DNA" by Roberta Estes.  Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Thursday, October 8 - "From Generation to Generation: An Updated Look at Kinship Determination" by Judy Russell.  Intermediate

Thursday, October 8 - "Geo-Genealogy as a Problem-Solving Tool: The Case of a 19th-Century Female Teenage Immigrant" by J. H. (Jay) Fonkert.  Intermediate

Thursday, October 8 - "Spanning 150 Years of Record Loss: A Methodological Approach to Identifying Parents in Sweden" by Jill Morelli.  Intermediate

Wednesday, October 15 - "Dealing with endogamy" by Paul Woodbury.  Intermediate, Advanced

Tuesday, October 20 - "Using DNA Test Results to Confirm a Pedigree" by Angela Packer McGhie. Intermediate

Wednesday, October 21 - "Comparing the Genealogy Giants 2020: Ancestry, FamilySearch, Findmypast, and MyHeritage by Sunny Morton.  Beginner, Intermediate

Friday, October 23 - "How Old Did He Have To Be…?" by Judy Russell.  Intermediate

Wednesday, October 28 - "In Black and White: Finding Historical Newspapers From Around the World" by Gena Philibert-Ortega.  Intermediate

Roots Tech Conference

Those of you who use FamilySearch regularly have probably seen this exciting news. You can sign up already to be included in the audience when you visit the website. www.familysearch.org

25 - 27 FEBRUARY, 2021

Introducing RootsTech Connect: A Free Online Conference Experience

For the first time ever, the world’s largest family celebration event will be entirely virtual and completely free. Get ready to celebrate shared connections with people from around the world. Connect with friends, your family, your past, and your heritage and homelands—all from the comfort of your home and in your browser.

Free Legacy Webinars

Legacy Family Tree Webinars is celebrating a 10-year anniversary! As part of the celebration, they are providing free viewing of the favorite webinar from each year. The list follows, as well as the link.  The webinars are FREE through September 24. Get busy!


We're unlocking the top webinar from each year and making them free for 10 days. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/top10 to watch.



2010 - Mapping Software for Genealogists by Geoff Rasmussen
2011 - Organizing for Success by Karen Clifford
2012 - Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners by Marian Pierre-Louis
2013 - Digital Research Guidance, Research Logs and To Do Lists by Geoff Rasmussen
2014 - Sources and Citations Made Simple, Standard, and Powerful by Geoff Rasmussen
2015 - Genealogy 101, a 3-Session Course in Beginning Genealogy - Part 1 by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG
2016 - Foundations in DNA 1 of 5: Genealogy and DNA by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D
2017 - 50 Websites Every Genealogist Should Know by Gena Philibert-Ortega
2018 - Quality, Time and Completion: Developing a Research Plan (Part One) by J. Mark Lowe, CG FUGA
2019 - Case Studies in Gray: Identifying Shared Ancestries Through DNA and Genealogy by Nicka Smith
2020 - Organizing Your DNA Results (updated!) by Diahan Southard

Irish Genealogy Research

The Irish Cultural Center is holding a virtual class Saturday, September 12. The description follows. Use this link to register:  https://www.azirish.org/education-and-classes/genealogy-classes/ 

Thanks, Jim, for providing the information!

“19th Century Irish Genealogy Research: What’s Available and How to Use It”

with
Miles Davenport

When: 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 12th, 2020
Where: Class will be held virtually through Zoom

Workshop Summary:

This workshop will provide participants with an in-depth look at Irish records created during the 1800s. The Irish Civil Registration process will be explored, including the time period covered and their limitations. The workshop will demonstrate how to use church parish records, Griffith's Valuation, Tithe Applotment Books, and other early 19th Century sources to uncover your Irish ancestors prior to the start of Civil Registrations. Participants will also develop an understanding of Ireland's civil and religious jurisdictions and why this knowledge is essential in locating your Irish ancestors. A case study will be used to illustrate the various ways to determine family relationships prior to the start of the Civil Registration process.

Ontario Land Records

FROM A RECENT ISSUE OF DICK EASTMAN'S NEWSLETTER:


All 54 Land Registry Offices (LRO) in Ontario are closing their in-person counter services to the public effective Tuesday, October 13th, right after the (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend. The last day you can visit a Land Registry Office in person is October 9th.

Normally, you might think the closure of the offices would be bad news. However, in this case, there is a silver lining: Traveling to one of the offices and looking up records on microfilm is being replaced by online images of the same microfilms. You can now search for and find the same records and even print them out, all without leaving home.

What's New at FamilySearch?

We watched another virtual session yesterday and learned about some changes they have made at FamilySearch recently.

Books: Under the search button, choose the "books" option. You will find several libraries listed where you can search for digital books available in those facilities.


Images: This seems to be a new choice. Once you have clicked on "images" under the search button you can narrow a search to a specific location--and then to a particular time period. The results will be microfilms, but narrowing the search to a certain year or years will let you begin to browse the film at that entry point rather than reading the entire film.


FamilyTree: Have you tried "enable relationship viewing?" Click on your name in the upper right and choose "contact" in the resulting field. Then you can opt to make your relationship public. If other folks have done the same, it's possible to learn how you are related to people who are adding sources and other information to your ancestors' pages.

FamilySearch is also adding other "helps" that can assist you in making decisions when you are thinking about merging ancestors in FamilyTree. This is an ongoing process.

Use the handy link to FamilySearch in the menu list on the right.