Thursday, August 9, 2012

FamilySearch.org/Learn


Here is a list of new online courses that have been added to FamilySearch.org.  All of these classes are accessible on FamilySearch.org under the Learn tab and Research Courses.


New courses in July









New courses in June:
Descendancy Research
French Beginning Research Series: Lesson 1
England Beginning Research Series: Lesson 4
Ireland Census and Census Substitutes
My Ancestors are From Germany, and I Don’t Speak German!
German Church book Analysis—Reconstructing a German Immigration Area
Using Online Czech Records: State Regional Archives in Prague
Using Online Czech Records: State Regional Archives in Plzen
Using Online Czech Records: Brno Moravian Land Archives
Civil War Research: Learning About Your Union Veteran Ancestor
Surname Search in the Treasures of the Society of Genealogists
Finding Maximilian Parker
Name Rich Sources for the "Long 18th Century" 1688-1837
How Do I Research Before 1837
Using Excel to Create Timelines
Understanding and Deciphering Catholic Records From North America and Europe
What is a Census Tracking?
What is a Census?
Tips and Tricks for Indexing the 1940 Census
How to Search the 1940 Census
How to Find Your Ancestors 1940 Street Address
How to Convert a 1940 Street Address to an Enumeration District Number
Converting a 1930 to a 1940 Census Enumeration District Number
Búsqueda de antepasados en Geneanet - Parte 1
Búsqueda de antepasados en Geneanet - Parte 2
Búsqueda de antepasados en Geneanet - Parte 3La Investigación Genealógica en Guatemala: Elementos Básicos
How to Index the 1940 Census
How to Arbitrate the 1940 Census
Intro to Indexing
Access to Records on FamilySearch
Record Search Tips on FamilySearch
FamilySearch IGI, Searching Historical Records, Source Boxes


Monday, April 30, 2012

Former Oxford couple create database of Massachusetts history

By Ellie Oleson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF Sunday, March 25, 2012
For 30 years, an Oxford couple spent most days in the seldom-seen corners of town hall vaults, searching for information as far back as nearly four centuries ago.
Nine million of the resulting 17 million records they found, cataloged and preserved on microfiche are now digitized and available online through Ancestry.com, with more to come.
Jay M. Holbrook and his wife, Delene C. Holbrook, both 75, formerly of Oxford, live in Provo, Utah, where the mountain air allows Mrs. Holbrook to breathe. While living in Massachusetts, she developed such strong allergies that she had to wear a mask whenever she went outside.

“Perhaps I spent too much time in the dust and mold in town hall basements,” she said.

Today, the couple is difficult to reach, since they are involved in dancing, hiking and Silver Sneakers exercise classes in Utah's dry climate and high-altitude, clear air.

“It is beautiful, but we get homesick. We love Massachusetts,” Mr. Holbrook said.

The Holbrooks' deep fascination with history led them to create a huge database that is now easily searchable by the public through Ancestry.com.

R. Todd Godfrey, senior director of U.S. content acquisition for Ancestry.com, said, “We are so excited. The Holbrooks' 300-year collection is a unique and detailed find for us.”

Ancestry.com has collected approximately 8 billion records over the past 15 years.

Massachusetts history is particularly important, since many of this country's earliest settlers immigrated through this historically important region, Mr. Godfrey said.

Thanks to the Holbrooks and Ancestry.com, records are available for the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth and the start of the Revolutionary War in Concord and Lexington.

There are digitized original records of Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and many more famous Massachusetts historical figures, as well as personal family members and ancestors.

Brenton Simons, president and CEO of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, said, “What the Holbrooks have done is wonderful for family historians. As is said, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.' We work closely with Ancestry.com and may be making announcements soon regarding a partnership with them.”

Founded in 1845, his organization is the largest and first genealogical society in the country.

Available since Tuesday at Ancestry.com are digitized photographs of original vital records, including dates of birth, parents' names, marriages, deaths and courthouse records from 315 of the state's 351 cities and towns from 1620 through 1988.

The Holbrooks' intention was to document all 351 cities and towns, but Mrs. Holbrook's health problems precluded that.

Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook met at a dance held at their church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Washington, D.C. where they both lived.

“She was the smartest, prettiest girl there. Every day is still a romance for us,” Mr. Holbrok said.

They have spent a lifetime involved in history. Their first date was to the Library of Congress; their next two dates were at the National Archives.

In studying their ancestors, Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook learned they were 9th cousins, with shared ancestors in the 1700s, and 13th cousins, with shared ancestry in the 1600s.

The couple married, and moved to Massachusetts in 1971, when Mr. Holbrook accepted a job teaching sociology at Nichols College. He holds master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Georgetown University.

He said he was studying “how an agrarian society became an industrial society,” and had written books on population studies, when, in 1982, he started his own business, the Holbrook Research Institute, which later became archivepublishing.com, publishing demographic studies with genealogical information.

“Our daughters helped us with the old key punch machines, earning five cents an hour. They loved the confetti they made,” Mr. Holbrook said.

The Holbrooks noticed that many vital records of many Eastern Massachusetts communities were documented to 1850 in books, with little done since or outside that area.

They decided to document and microfiche vital records from all the state's communities.

“We would get permission from town clerks and city clerks to do an inventory of their records, and offered them a free copy of all records on microfiche. We could not have done this without them,” Mr. Holbrook said.

“It was a challenge. Clerks are overworked, and most didn't know what historical records they had.”

They found many decaying records on the floor of some vaults, and often noticed missing pages.

Their research was limited to1920, due to privacy laws that restricted use of later documents.

“We found chattel mortgages, which listed all property, from the number of chairs to the number of sheep or cattle owned. So much can be learned from something like that,” Mr. Holbrook said.

Former Auburn Town Clerk Elizabeth L. Prouty said she remembers the Holbrooks first coming into Town Hall when Doris M. Hill was still town clerk more than 20 years ago.

“They were very respectful of the documents, which we made available from our climate-controlled vault.”

When they returned after Mrs. Prouty was elected town clerk, “I called the state, and they encouraged town clerks to make records available. No fee was paid by them, but a microfiche copy of our records was given to us.”

Jean M. O'Reilly, chairman of the Oxford Historical Commission, said the Holbrooks went further in their town, creating a detailed record of South Cemetery, the town's oldest burying ground.

“The Holbrooks gave us a wonderful historical record of the early settlers, almost a living history book of Oxford. They turned over four volumes with significant information on 1,208 people with a connection to that cemetery,” Ms. O'Reilly said.

They also turned over 17 million records to Ancestry.com.

The sale of their 30 years of work to Ancestry.com for an undisclosed amount has not been without controversy, Mrs. Holbrook said.

“We have taken some criticism, but we simply could not afford to give our life's work away,” she said.

Mr. Godfrey said, “Thanks to the Holbrooks, there will be millions of discoveries made this week alone.”

Monday, February 13, 2012

Legacy User Group

There has been interest in forming a Legacy User Group where we can get answers to questions on features of Legacy and to exchange ideas on researching our ancestors.

A organization meeting is being scheduled for February 28, 2012 at 7:30pm in the FHC to discuss to discuss what the next step is and to get input on items of greatest concern and interest this group should cover.

All are invited to attend as we get organized so that members concerns are covered.
To sign up for this user group simply click here 



Monday, January 30, 2012

RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online.

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a leading family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012, announced today that fourteen of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The second-year conference has attracted over 3,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the fourteen broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST):

Thursday, February 2
8:30-10:00 am, Inventing the Future, as a Community (Keynote Address) by Jay L. Verkler
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Do I Trust the Cloud? by D. Joshua Taylor  
1:45-2:45 pm, Effective Database Search Tactics by Kory Meyerink     
3:00-4:00 pm, Twitter – It’s Not Just “What I Had for Breakfast” Anymore by Thomas MacEntee  
4:15-5:15 pm, Eleven Layers of Online Searches by Barbara Renick     

Friday, February 3
8:30-9:30 am, Exabyte Social Clouds and Other Monstrosities (Keynote Address) by Josh Coates
9:45-10:45 am, Publish Your Genealogy Online by Laura G. Prescott     
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Optimize Your Site for Search Engines by Robert Gardner    
1:45-2:45 pm, Genealogists “Go Mobile” by Sandra Crowly  
3:00-4:00 pm, Google’s Toolbar and Genealogy by Dave Barney      

Saturday, February 4
8:30-9:30 am, Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry (Keynote Address) by Tim Sullivan and Ancestry.com Panel
9:45-10:45 am Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 by Lisa Louise Cooke    
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Future of FamilySearch Family Tree by Ron Tanner
1:45-2:45 pm, Privacy in a Collaborative Environment by Noah Tatuk    


About RootsTech

RootsTech is a new conference designed to bring technologists together with genealogists to learn from each other and find solutions to the challenges faced in family history research today. The conference’s activities and offerings are focused on content that will help genealogists and family historians discover exciting new research tools while enabling technology creators to learn the latest development techniques from industry leaders and pioneers.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Notes Family History Consultant training 1/27/2012

Premium Web Site changes
Genline is no longer available. The content it provided has been replaced and enhanced by ArkivDigital Online.

Fold3.com (Previously known as Footnote.com)
Have you created your FAN? Goto CreateFan.com
1940 US Census coming in April. About 1940 Census

Meridian Idaho Amity Youth Trek

The youth of the Meridian Idaho Amity are participating in a Trek in June 2012.  They will each be trekking on behalf of a pioneer who was in a hand cart company with the Saints going to Utah.  In preparation of the trek they will be using the Family History Center wednesday nights to learn how to research the history of the person as well as doing their own family history research.

The following schedule has been created and will be updated when necessary.

Young Men’s FH Library dates
Dates are:
Jan 18 - Riva Ridge Ward
Jan 25 - Blue Meadows Ward
Feb 8 - 6th Ward
Feb 22 - Open for 14th or 11th
Feb 29 - Open for 14th or 11th

Apr 18 - Amity Ward
Apr 25 - Charter Pointe Ward
May 2 - Desert Ward


 Young Women
Feb 1 ---- Blue Meadows & Amity Ward Mia Maids
Feb. 29 --- Amity Ward Laurels
Mar 14 --- 14th Ward
Mar 21 --- 6th Ward
Mar 28 --- Spring Break
Apr 4 --- Desert Ward & Amity Ward Beehives
Apr 11 --- 11th Ward
May 16 --- Charter Pointe
May 23 --- Riva Ridge