Looking for a software program?

We purchased several copies of Legacy Software for club members at the Expo two weeks ago. We still have one package available for the bargain price of $20. If you've been thinking about getting your information into the computer, this might be a good time to start!

Contact Dick Rietz at 6544.

Grand Prize Winner

There were 10 grand prizes awarded at the Arizona Expo in Mesa. Our president, Rick Wood, was the recipient of one of them. He won a year's premium subscription to MyHeritage, which includes the World Vital Records site.

Congratulations, Rick!

Workshop Reminder

Remember that Tuesday's workshop will begin with an overview of how to get started in genealogy. We will cover some basic forms, census research and briefly touch on vital records and other sources.

Hope to see all our beginners along with members who have already begun their research. Following the presentation you can plan to make use of the router for internet access for research, uploading to Find a Grave or working on your family trees. Our library and other resources will be available to everyone, and we'll try to provide assistance to anyone needing it.

Pinal County Workshop

Just returned from a day of classes at the annual Pinal County Genealogy Workshop. Great to see several of our members in attendance. One of my favorite speakers taught the beginner class, so I listened to her lecture and picked up a few ideas. This afternoon I learned more about German research at Steve Packer's presentation. He'll be speaking to our club on that topic next month.

Friday Fact

Visit the Mesa FamilySearch Library (name change last year) and click MFSL Newsletter on the home page.   www.mesarfhc.org

They produce an excellent monthly newsletter that you can read on the site each month OR request that they email it to you. Last month's newsletter specialized in German research, and January's focus is research in England.

It's well worth a look.

Irish Research Correction

JUST REALIZED: The article about free research on the Ireland version of Find My Past was dated yesterday, Jan. 23.

This means your research opportunity is TODAY, January 24. There are still a few hours left for exploring the site.

My apologies...

For Members Researching in Ireland

Researching ancestors in Ireland? Flex those typing muscles: Tomorrow, Jan. 24, Irish genealogy website findmypast.ie will let you access 21 million Irish vital records free in honor of its first Irish Family History Day.
 

This according to the Irish news websites IrishCentral and siliconrepublic.

The vital records, new on the site, range from the 1800s to 1958.  

Findmypast.ie is a website from brightsolid publishing, which also operates findmypast.com (US),findmypast .com.au (Australia and New Zealand) and findmypast.co.uk (England, Wales and Scotland), among other genealogy websites. When you visit from the United States, you may get a pop-up suggesting you use the American site, but you can just close it and carry on.

Also, if you're in the United States, be mindful of time zone differences when you plan your search session(s). Findmypast.ie is based in Dublin, which is five hours ahead of the US East Coast.

 

 

 

Thanks to Ken Doane for this tip, who read his Family Tree Internet Newsletter earlier than I did this morning!

Wednesday Website

Many of us have used Find A Grave, which has 90 million grave records, to locate ancestors' tombstones. (Note the link on our menu.)

If you have been unsuccessful on that site, you might try www.billiongraves.com

Billion Graves is a relatively new project that has over 2,000,000 names and counting. You can search by surname or browse by cemetery and location. So the name is a bit misleading, but they have a lofty goal! Billion Graves has also partnered with Family Search, so the records will appear if you are doing a search there.