Insights Into Our Future And Our Past

Yesterday a friend of mine, Sharon, told me a great family history research story. Sharon’s  research goal was to document the death dates for her ancestors who either died or were buried in Utah. My friend discovered that FamilySearch Record Search had a collection of death certificates, so she wanted to use the resource to improve her documentation. She started by creating a focused list of individuals who either died or were buried in Utah between 1850 and 1957. With the list in hand, Sharon began her search for the death certificates.

Finding the certificates in Record Search was simple. She typed in the names on her list and browsed through the possible matches. When she found a match she quickly entered the details on the certificate as documentation.

During the process of reviewing the list of possible matches, Sharon noticed that her grandfather’s name was listed as the father of a female child whose name she didn’t recognized. “Who was this child?” she thought because the name was not one that she had in her records. Sharon’s interest was piqued because the child had died when she was eight months old and her father never mentioned that he had a sibling.

Sharon printed the little girls death certificate and studied the details in comparision to her own records. The details on the record made the conclusion easy: There was no question that this little girl was her father’s half-sister. The little girl was never mentioned by her father in his life-time and never recorded on any other family records. Thanks to the Utah death certificates on Record Search, a lost and forgotten little girl was linked into her Family Tree.

I love to hear stories like this one. Stories like this one encourage me to keep searching and never give up. Now it’s time to go check Record Search again…

The FamilySearch indexing application is available in three new languages: Italian, Portuguese, and Russian. These languages are in addition to English, French, German, and Spanish.

We have current indexing projects in all of these languages except Portuguese. We will be introducing a Portuguese project in the near future.

Volunteers can help with any of this projects by registering online at FamilySearchIndexing.org.

Recently Completed Projects

(Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process in preparation for future publication.)

• UK - Cheshire - Church Records
• District of Columbia - 1920 US Census
• Florida 1885 Census
• Florida 1935 Census
• Massachusetts 1865 State Census

Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

(*This percentage refers to a specific portion of a larger project.)

Current FamilySearch Affiliate Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

I will admit that Zamzar is an interesting title for this post. You are probably wondering what it means. The title is actually the name of a website I discovered a few days ago. I’m actually jumping for joy because this site is going to help me with a big project I’ve had on my list of things to do for several years. With the help of the services offered on this website, I will finally be able to complete my project, and at no cost to me!

My project is to convert all my old WordPerfect documents to the Word format so I can preserve all my family history projects that I’ve worked on for the past fifteen years. I haven’t used WP for the past five years or so, and my files just sit on the hard drive. I’ve tried to open several of the files in Word, but the success rate is very low and mostly zero.

The services offered on Zamzar are file conversions, many different types of file conversions. And converting files from WP to Word is what I need. I sent a single file for conversion as a test case. I chose the free option, so the conversion didn’t cost a dime. I expected the file would be converted and made available to me in a day or so. To my surprise, less than two hours later I had the converted file. I don’t use a PC at home, but opening the new Word file on my Mac in Word for Mac was a breeze.

The next test I conducted was sending five files. This is the maximum you can send in a single request when using the free service. Of course you can send more if you pay for the service. Plus you can have a secured site where your converted files are sent after conversion when you have the paid service option.

All five files were converted and sent to me via e-mail notification in less than two hours. I figured if I sent five files every day that in a week or two I would have all my WordPerfect files converted to Word … just like magic!

A lot of blogs related to family history include news items about the new and improved resources available online for family history work. Some family history blogs are used for entirely different purposes. Over a year ago I discovered a Blog that was a transcription of an English soldier’s letters he wrote during World War I. (See WWI: Experiences of an English Soldier.) The letters were being transcribed exactly 90 years after they were written and posted to the blog. I was impressed with the project and started thinking about different ways that I could use a blog for my own family history efforts. I decided to blog about the research I had done for two different ancestors:

1. Benjamin Kingman Curtis
2. Chauncey Walker West

In both blogs I’ve started to add a history of all the research that has been done for both the Curtis and West families. My hope was to take all my research notes and add them to the blog so that children and grandchildren wouldn’t have to conduct the research all over again. I’ve also added a lot of pictures to the blog that I’ve collected over the years. Three reasons for adding pictures: to preserve them, to share them, and to provide a way for others to identify the unknowns. The West blog has multiple authors because other distant cousins wanted to share the research they have done as well.

In the future I will have a book printed directly from the contents in the blog - and I won’t have to retype anything!!! There are print-on-demand publishing companies online that can automatically generate a book from your blog (cool, huh!!!). Producing a book with my research notes will be a lot better than having my children sort through six filing cabinet drawers, don’t you think?

I’ve learned a lot about Blogs during the past year. And when I think about what got me started, it was the WWI: Experiences of an English Soldier blog that I discovered one day while surfing the web.

Folks who hear about the new family history research advice wiki at wiki.familysearch.org want to know two things. First, What is a wiki? And second, How will the wiki deliver more of the research advice I need?

What is a wiki?

Wiki. A short, sweet, strange word whose form matches its meaning — a Web site you can edit without being a programmer. A site where average people like you and me can write things to help other people. A place where we can share information and even collaborate on articles that make us each look smarter than we are alone. A paradise for people who seek information. A wiki community can deliver and revise more research advice information for more users in more languages. (more…)

During a recorded telephone interview with my grandmother, I learned that her Christmas favorite gift was a tiny cupboard that her carpenter father made for her to store her tiny dishes. During the depression, her family lived on foods grown in their own garden, including corn, blanched, and spread on sheets in the attic to dry. As a child living in Arizona, she played “Run Sheepy Run,” where one child chased the others like a flock of sheep, scattering here and there. She recalled the smell of cut wood, and standing next to the wood stove to stay warm during cold winters.

Dusty books and papers are not the best place to begin gathering family history. Take advantage of family gatherings this holiday season (more…)

Family History isn’t just about the past. It is very much about the present, and planning for the future! As a child, my parents took the time to make our hunt for a Christmas tree a memorable experience. Mom planned ahead so that the day before we left to hunt for our Christmas tree, we baked and decorated Christmas cookies.

The next day, bundled in warm clothes, three little children wandered waist-deep through the snow, close behind my father. (more…)

My grandfather told me that for Christmas each year, he and his siblings each received a fragrant, sweet orange, and a bright shiny penny. It certainly added some perspective at a time when the Atari 2600 was the hottest item on the market, along with Cabbage Patch dolls and later, pricey Transformer toys. Simple gifts of the past like an extra bit of sugar on one’s breakfast oatmeal can bring a greater appreciation for the original purpose of the holiday season.

In addition to attending events held at the Family History Library to learn more about ancestral holiday traditions, there are many other ways to learn about ancestral holiday traditions.

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Deciding which ancestor to search for can be as easy as looking at a family tree. First, look at the names, and birthplaces. Sometimes we feel a connection with a particular culture, like Scotland, Brazil, or Russia, and have a curiosity to learn more. Second, ask a family members stories about an ancestor, or for family legends. Sometimes playing detective to prove a family legend true or false can be just as exciting as discovering a new ancestor! Finally, examine your family tree for empty spaces. You may want to explore uncharted territory to find an unknown ancestor.

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Feelings toward family can, and should be an amazing thing! Despite good intentions, however, we all know someone who has difficulty bonding with immediate family members. The reasons may vary from minor misunderstandings, or a feeling of being different, to circumstances beyond anyone’s immediate control. Despite these exceptions, everyone can benefit from feeling a closeness with family members, whether those family members are living, or deceased. (more…)