I wish, but my PC memory is full of photos and music, and even GenyWise is running slow. Then there was the Ning shutdown today.
What do you think of the Ancestors series overall?

Thank you Paul, Debbie and others for the free on-line search for genealogy study.

Don't forget to look for other letters at the beginning of surnames. For example, I am researching the Large family, I have found the name indexed as "Sarge" because the cursive "L" appeared to look more like an "S".
Taken from http://www.genealogy.com/48_donna.html :
Handwriting and Spelling
In handwritten records the letters may be hard to distinguish. An I may look like a J. It is easy to confuse a W with an M or a T with an F. If you are unsure of where you are in an index, look at the next group of names. If the next group is G, then you know the previous one is F and not T. If the name you are looking for begins with a letter that sounds like another, C and K, for example, you should consider looking under both letters. A, D, and G can be mixed up when someone is transcribing from the spoken word rather than written. This is especially prevalent in census records. While an F can be mistaken for a T in written records, it can be confused with an S when spoken.

There doesn't exist a name that can't be spelled at least two different ways. Be sure to check all variant spellings — Gardiner, Gardner, Gardener, Gardinier and even Garner. If the index is strictly alphabetical, each spelling will appear in a different place with a name like Gardman in the middle.

Thank you Debbie for giving us the helpful tips in family visit for ancestry study. Also letting me know about the site to get help on my ancestry study "Look-Up Angel Volunteers" Emiko

After you and the relative have become at ease with the discussion and you have seen or know of their mementosm always ask those folks if they have any mementos or old letters that "have not been spoken for". I have donwe so for many years and you will be pleasantly surprised with what they give you for your collection. As illustrations, by simply asking, I was given the War of 1812 pension of a double Great-Gamother, a Civil War medallion of a Great G-Father and many old letters and photos.

Paul

just wanting to say thankyou to debbie for inviting me to join this group i have accepted with pleasure and i will say that if i can i will try to help anyone if i can and when my head stops spinning from discovering genealogy wise i will think up some tips and links and offer them up

I am a novice researcher, so I might not be that helpful in this group. I do have full membership at ancestry.com and a member of NEGHS, so I am willing to use those memberships to help anyone I can. If there are any Newcomb researchers out there, I have the Andrew Newcomb book, also have Stephen Hopkins Mayflower book, and Francis Cooke, and partial on Elder William Brewster.

The Google News Archives search is wonderful.You can narrow your search by name,location,and decade. New York Times articles which are free if they are before a certain date are indexed ,and so are Chicago papers.I haven't had time to see what they might have from other parts of the country.I found this site at
http://freenewspaperarchives.us/default.aspx

How can you make a decision as to which sites would be most beneficial to you and to others who are responding to you? My head is swirling with so many sites available to me just because I am researching my ancestors. They are all wonderful and the people who mastermind them are as well. I haven't been able to develop a system to help me decide what will be the most rewarding so I just bumble along. Barbara

Anyone know a good site to research Mexican-American War and the people involved?

On the conversation of Debbie and Paul on saving those old letters... that is themost important thing to be saved. ( pictures, too) A lot of people save their pictures but throw out the rest, and when that happens a family's history is destroyed as oral history rarely survives past a couple of generations. I have tried to get old letters from family members and they were happy to give them to me, only to find out their wives, etc had thrown them out years ago. These letters are the primary sources on which history is based and without them, our histories fail to exist once we pass on or the memories fade. So I would encourage everyone, if you don't feel like looking at them right now ( and I know how that feels, too) just put them in a box somewhere for later use. I have heard of houses being cleaned out before the person who died is even in the ground. I am always telling people to throw things in a rubbermaid box and take it home to look through some snowy day. There was even a WWI uniform with a letter in the pocket thrown away in our town, that made it to a donation box, and somehow made it to our museum.

You are more than correct, Colleen. Even though, just as are headstones, such letters and loose papers are hearsay in its most classical form, we certainly do not consider such mementos as without value. It makes NO difference, whatever, which of those silly labels some folks might attach to old family items, you will learn MUCH there. Shall I throw away my family Bible dating to 1849 because it too is hearsay?? Of course NOT!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure most people on here are saving these things, but the message needs to be sent out to those who are not genealogists, etc as to saving those old letters, etc. I am actually more of a historian than genealogist, and in that field, we call these things primary sources and artifacts, and without them history does not exist. From both historical and a genealogy perspectives, they are irreplaceable. I try to get the message out to save, save, save when I can.

If you cannot find a marriage for someone you can try: checking the newspapers for 25th and 50th 60th etc.. anniversary articles. Time consuming if you only know a year but many now days have indexes to newspapers.

In response to Susan Turner's question about a source for the Mexican War.Try the Aztec Club of 1847. You can search their records for your ancestor.My 3rd great grandfather was a surgeon who served in that war,and I found him listed.

http://www.aztecclub.com/search1.htm

Thanks Sue Geiger, appreciate the website, I will check it out!

Marilyn, if you need help with Googling, check out the Genealogy Gems podcast at genealogygems.tv, Lisa does a fantastic job on Googling as well as alot of other things. GL in your search.

Busy working Debbie! Plan to check them out this weekend and see what goodies I may find.

My favorite tip is to write down where you are searching on the internet so if you wander off site you can get back to where you were. It's easy to get caught up in exploring and forget where you looked.

Hi Norma:
You can also return to the earlier sites by pulling down your Browser's History list. It is usually a down pointing triangle next to your Browser's URL input box.

Sometimes I just open a blank document and Copy/Paste the URL from the browser into the document. Then I add a wee note reminding me WHY l liked that site and WHEN I visited it.

Happy Dae·
ShoeString Genealogy

"How do you discipline yourself to keep that log?" The question contains the answer, doesn't it? LOL. It is conditioning through constant practice until it becomes second nature, like blinking. It doesn't have to be complicated to be effective. You can do it in NotePad or any editor. You can make a more formalized template, then copy it to a blank file, and fill it as needed.

The main thing is that you use it. Develop the habit and you'll see how much more productive your time becomes.

Happy Dae·

Using a research log is definitely something I must train myself to do! I know without a doubt that I've done duplicate (or probably triplicate or more!) work more times than I'd like to admit.

Another tip is to file documentation consitently and promptly. That act in itself should help prevent some of the duplicate work.

Blessings,
Joann

There seems to be a legal problem regarding the Drouin Quebec Church records and Ancestry's authority to offer those records. As a result Ancestry has pulled those records for the time being. This may or may not be permanent. Ancestry has not given any information out to its subscribers.

In the mean-time here is a link to the LDS Drouin Quebec Church records. Access is free; however, the years covered seem to end at 1899. I haven't checked out ever Church but those that I have end at 1899.

Also, these records are not digitally indexed. Most of the Church records do have their own index either at the beginning of the year or, more commonly, at the end of the year. I guess it is better than having no access. Here is that link...

http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#c=1321742;s=waypointsOnly;w=0;p=waypoint

Marilyn,

I found a nice little free utility, which allows you ten clipboards instead of one. Without belabouring the advantages, I'll simply mention that you can use them for different citations, searches, ancestors, etc. You can download it here. It is highly useful for researcher's purposes. Don't worry, the download immediately begins after you click the link. It is safe.

Hi Marilyn,
You can find the review and instructions at dotTech.org.

Did you hear about the "International Black Genealogy Summit"?
http://blackgenealogysummit.com/

MyHeritage is going to be present and every attendee will receive a copy of the Family Tree Builder 4.0 free software.

This seems a very good opportunity to do research at the "Allen County Public Library" as they will have special extended hours to research, the list of speakers is very impressive and really looks like a well organized event. Kudos to all the people involved.

I didn't realize admins got paid. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do Debbie!

Debbie,
So many of us understand about layoffs and RIFs. It isn't easy, even if it isn't your fault. We have a wonderful network here, thanks to you, so use it and we'll try to keep you solvent.

Happy Dae·ShoeString Genealogy

All are well advised to make every effort to determine where an ancestor lived when the new record found was originally made. Then, as you search continues, make careful notes of everyplace else he/she lived. Genealogy is about "WHERE", because, just as you have, the greatest percentage of records anyone made any time was at the place of residence, especially the counties. If you are not searching that location in depth, you are not doing good research.

Paul

I'm sorry to hear about your job Debbie. You have been very helpful to me since the beginning.Best of Luck to you! I hate to hear this information. You will be missed!

Debbie
Im sorry to hear that sweetie. I wondered what had happen to you and why you were not around as much. Im glad you stucking with us though..

Hello folks. I've just joined the Group. I'm a member of the Wiltshire Group and lead a Genealogy Wise Group for descendants of the GURD family. There are instances of GURD noted back to the 13th century in Wiltshire. I'm looking forward to picking up useful tips, but in the meantime, for those of you with ancestors in the south of England I suggest you take a look at the Wiltshire Wills project. Wills held in the County Archives are listed on this site and can either be downloaded or hard copies can be ordered. http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/heritage/index.php
The website is continually updated, so if you have no luck now, try again later. Names cannot be searched phonetically, so you should try varied spellings of the name. You can also search each parish by name as this might turn up Wills of other families who intermarried with yours. I have found a great deal about the early Gurds by reading the Wills of other folk in the village. I hope some of you have luck there. Dot

I am looking for help on the Pemberton Surname, by the way i have a group on FB called The Genealogy Cottage that helps people find their ancestors and became a member of another FB Group called, one Brick at a time, or OBAT, that is helping people find their ancestors free of charge.

MyHeritage.com acquires major family network OSN (Verwandt.de) to accelerate building the world’s family graph

With 13 million family trees, 47 million members and 530 million profiles, MyHeritage.com becomes the largest international site dedicated to families on the web.

Read more...

Genealogy Tip of the Day http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com is free and features a new tip each and every day.

Great site Michael, Thanks! I am a follower! I am going to check out Casefile Clues also.

I was a Beta tester on the Family Finder DNA test from Family Tree DNA. Today I see they opened the test to everyone. The joint press release they issued with their chip supplier has some interesting details. See this page then click on the 05/03/10 release under Family Tree DNA News.

Oops. The link I included in my prior comment went to the Family Finder intro page. It's still a good page to read. But if you want to find today's news release, you need to go to the Family Tree DNA home page.

Everyday I post a new signature or name for blog viewers to try and transcribe at Daily Genealogy Transcriber http://genealogytranscriber.blogspot.com

Give it a try...

this site is free to search but copies u have to buy https://countygovernmentrecords.com/texas/web/

I'm having a problem and would love someone to help me with this. Right now I'm trying to obtain my ancestor's obituaries through newspapersarchive.com and then put them on ancestry.com. First I work on a Mac. The obituary comes from newspaper in a pdf file. I then covert it to a jpg file and put it into iPhoto to edit and cut down to just the obit from the newspaper page. The problem is I can't read it...it is such small print. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to increase the size.
Can someone please help me with my limited knowledge of this?

I am new to this group, I am 50 years old and native Dane. I am a pro Genealogist with more than 20 years of experience.

MY WEB

If any one is interested this Australian site has become accessible called:

Obituaries Australia

at OA

 

How we helped Bob finding his Relatives in Denmark

http://video.visitdenmark.com/video/3495646/denmark-on-demand-american

Slaegtens

How interesting that must have been for you to pursue such a task!

Wayne

to: Patty Wimpsett Killion regarding cropping a news article.  I don't know Mac that well but what you need is the largest size to work from before you crop.  If you can download it into a Tiff file which saves the original file and resolution size that is best. If you cannot do Tiff then, increase the pixels to at least 400-800 pixels  before you save it as a jpeg from the pdf file.  When the entire page is huge then adjust color, fading, brightness, etc for the section you will crop only. Then you are ready to crop.

to Patty Wimpsett Killion, I forgot to ask you what photo editing software do you use?  If it isn't Corel or Adobe, you probably won't be able to make the adjustments you need.  If you want, I will do it for you.  Please contact me on my Genealogy Wise page.

Check out this website if you're looking for help with your War of 1812 ancestor.

www.usdaughters1812.org 

They also have started a database. If you know your ancestor served during the War of 1812(1812-1815) please let them know.

To Daphne Goodman, Yes I can convert the file into Tiff.  I have never done it before so it makes for an excellent idea to try along with the pixel size increase.

I truly appreciate your help.  I'll contact you if it doesn't work for me.

Patty

Hi All I have just been sent a new site from "Brightsolid" in the US it is:

Censusrecords.com

it covers census's ( but not all ) in the US, it is free but registering does help a little better and if you subscribe for a fee it enables you to down load the original document. It is new and in Beta form.

Wayne