Legacy Webinars for March

Visit www.familytreewebinars.com to take advantage of these free presentations. All can be viewed without subscribing for one week after each class. Be sure to note the time for each.

March 1 - "Exploring the new 1921 UK Census" by Paul Milner.

March 2 - "Using WikiTree’s DNA Features in Your Family History Research" by Max Gaulden.

March 4 - "Documenting, Organizing, and Analyzing Plantation Enslaved Persons" by Ari Wilkins.

March 8 - "RootsTech Roundup from MyHeritage" by Daniel Horowitz.

March 9 - "‘Hidden Treasures’: Discovering Local Sources in Your Irish Research" by David Ryan.

March 15 - "Identifying Unnamed Free Born African Americans – A DNA Case Study" by David Rencher.

March 16 - "Stump Craig!" by Craig R. Scott.

March 18 - "Mexican Catholic Parish Records, Part II: Pre-Marital Investigations, Marriages & Dispensations" by Henrietta Martinez Christmas.

March 22 - "A Deep Dive into Deep Nostalgia™" by Masha Novak.

March 23 - "Get ‘Grammin’! How to Instagram Your Family History" by Elizabeth M. O'Neal.

March 30 - "Family Stories in 30 Minutes or Less" by Brenda Hudson.

March Meetings

March is Women's History Month, so we'll begin with a presentation celebrating all of the research necessary to trace the women in our ancestry. Our workshops will concentrate on assisting members in furthering their research. Mid-March, we will take a look at Irish research.

March 1 - Remembering the Women  👩

March 8 - Hints for the FamilySearch Family Tree  🌳

March 15 - Irish Research ☘️

March 22 - 1950 U. S. Census  

Comparing Websites - Workshop - February 22

We looked at the four major websites used for research and family trees: Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindMyPast and MyHeritage. We compared the types and locations of records available, their interest in DNA, family trees on the sites and cost of membership.

Ancestry: has 11 billion names and enough records to provide individual memberships for several countries, has the largest DNA database, and claims 100 million trees (although we know many are duplicates).

FamilySearch: has 7.2 billion names from world-wide records (but probably double that with unindexed records), has no DNA presence, and one global family tree with collaborative input.

FindMyPast: concentrates on United Kingdom records, has an unknown number of DNA customers and also keeps family trees private.

MyHeritage: claims over 7 billion names with a concentration on European and Jewish records, contains several useful DNA tools, and has 50 million trees with an ability to import Gedcoms from other sites.

FamilySearch is free, while the other sites have various levels of subscription costs. Each, however, allows a 14-day free trial. The subscription sites can be accessed at any Family History Center and may be available at public libraries.

Top Libraries for Genealogy Research

According to Family Tree Magazine, these are the top libraries for genealogy research in the United States. Do you live near one of these cities? Or do you pass by on your way home?

Allen County Public Library - Fort Wayne, IN

Family History Library - Salt Lake City, UT

Mid-Continent Public Library - Independence, MO

Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research - Houston, TX

Birmingham Public Library - Birmingham, AL

Denver Public Library - Denver, CO

New England Historic Genealogical Society Library - Boston, MA

Detroit Public Library - Detroit, MI

Library of Congress - Washington, D.C.

Dallas Public Library - Dallas, TX

Los Angeles Public Library - Los Angeles, CA

National DAR Library - Washington, D.C.

New York Public Library - New York, NY

Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, Cincinnati, OH

Newspapers: Read All About It!

 

Melanie Sturgeon, retired Arizona State Archivist, joined us this week to show us how newspapers can be extremely valuable in providing background information about our ancestors. Newspapers have much more than obituaries and marriages!

Some of her examples included bankruptcy notices, civil and criminal case reports, legal notices, natural disasters and weather events, sheriff's sales, personal advertisements, school events, and society columns.

You can access microfilm copies of local newspapers at your public library, state archive or historical society.

Three websites of note that Melanie mentioned are:

Chronicling America - http://www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Elephind - www.elephind.com

The Ancestor Hunt - www.theancestorhunt.com

Thanks, Melanie, for a very interesting presentation!

PERSI UPDATE

We are often warned that things can change in a hurry in the genealogy world. This was proven again by an announcement about PERSI that I saw yesterday.

It was only last week that we learned about locating genealogy-related articles by using PERSI on FindMyPast. Yesterday's Legacy newsletter says PERSI is moving back to the Allen County Public Library website. The library has the search page broken down into the following categories:

Surnames

United States

Canada

British Isles

Other Counties

Research Techniques

Article Title Keyword

Once you click on the country you're interested in, you will come to a page that asks for, in the case of the United States, state, and county. Once you click the search button, you’ll receive a results page that includes categories and how many articles match that category for your location.

We'll be updating and exploring this new way of searching at a future workshop.

PERSI

During this past week's workshop we learned about the Periodical Source Index and how it can be used for genealogy. PERSI is an index of the 11,000 periodicals that are housed at the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, IN. It began in 1986 and has been available at various sites since then.

Articles fall under twenty-two different subject headings or record types. These include biography, cemeteries, census records, church records, court records, deeds, institutions, land records, maps, military records, naturalization records, obituaries, passenger lists, probate records, school records, tax records, vital records, voter records, and wills. Articles about three or fewer specific families are arranged by surname.

At present PERSI can be accessed (FREE) at FindMyPast. With a subscription you can also view the articles that have been digitized by many libraries and archives. Otherwise you may find the periodicals at their place of publication or at local libraries. The Allen County Library has an order form for use especially if you have located at least six articles of interest.

20 Years of Patience

 

When Diane gave her talk about DNA research last month, she mentioned that her brick wall of twenty years involved Gavin John Ritchie, her great grandfather. However, she has persisted in her research and it finally paid off!

Several years ago another researcher had looked for any census with a grandson living with a grandmother, as Gavin John's mother and father had both passed away when he was very young. Diane decided to revisit those census pages and found a match with a family named Rennie. When she followed up in the next census, he was there with the name Ritchie included, as well as other family names that were familiar. 

Through a DNA contact Diane was able to correspond with a "cousin" in Scotland who provided photos of the area where Gavin was born and verification of other pieces of information that relatives had shared.

Diane will continue to search for more information about Gavin Ritchie's parents in the future. Congratulations on a successful solution, Diane, and for telling us "the rest of the story!"

Two Members are Related!

We learned at last night's meeting that two of our members are 9th cousins once removed! Dave was searching through his family members on the FamilySearch Family Tree when he noticed that a source had been added by Dick. Further research found that their ancestral lines traced back to two siblings--one born in 1664 and the other in 1668. 

This was possible because FamilySearch allows you to activate a tab that will show your relationship to anyone else who has also activated their tab. 

Do they resemble each other?

RootsTech Reminder

Have you registered for RootsTech yet? Free genealogy topics will be presented March 3-5 and are accessible for the next year. It is easy to sign up at FamilySearch. www.familysearch.org

United Empire Loyalists

Our speaker this week was Rick Wood, who spent the past several months gathering information and records to prove his connection to an ancestor who was a United Empire Loyalist. Loyalists were people who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War. 

Rick presented a timeline of events surrounding the war. He spoke about several leaders of the Loyalists, including Butler and his Rangers and Brant and his Volunteers. We also learned about when many of the Loyalists left the colonies and where they went.

Rick discussed the certificate application process and provided examples of the primary sources that he used for his proof, including probate and land records. Several websites were suggested for anyone who might want to attempt a similar project.

Thanks, Rick, for an educational as well as entertaining presentation! 

Family History Center

Susan reminded us this week that the local Family History Center is open for genealogy research. The Casa Grande center is at the corner of Cottonwood and Colorado. Hours are Wednesday 6:30 to 8:30 PM, Thursday 9:00-1:00 and Saturday 9:00-1:00. Below is a list of the subscription websites available at the center. Find out more at:

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Casa_Grande_Arizona_Family_History_Center#Databases_and_Software