Watching Find My Past Television episodes

I received an email on Monday fromElizabeth at FindMyPast.com (I am a subscriber) that said:

"I wanted to let you know you that Find My Past, the hit UK television show, is now available to view via findmypast.com. Find My Past, now entering its second season, links living individuals to real historical events found in their family tree and now Findmypast.com is the only place in the US where you can watch the show!

"Register on findmypast.com for free and watch Find My Past episodes that aired in the last 30 days at no cost. Missed an episode or want to watch your favorites again? Findmypast subscribers can watch all episodes for an unlimited time. Every episode will be available to watch on findmypast.com a week after it airs.

"Find My Past the TV show is an exciting series which unites ordinary members of the public with their ancestors. Each week in the new 10-part series, we reveal how three people are related to someone from a significant historical event by searching the ancestry records on findmypast. We follow their journey as each person discovers which of their ancestors played a role in modern history.

"At the end of every episode, we unite the participants and reveal how each person's family history is connected to monumental world history– such as the sinking of the Titanic, the WWI Christmas Truce, and the Great Fire of London. Hosted by Chris Hollins of BBC Breakfast, Watchdog and winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2009, the hit UK Television series is now available for the first time to watch online, exclusive to findmypast registered users. The remaining five episodes will be shown after Christmas." 

That sounded interesting, and since the U.S. version of Who Do You Think You Are? was cancelled, I feel deserted by genealogy television...so why not watch a show or two?  After all, I paid for a FindMyPast subscription so I should get my money's worth!

If you are not a subscriber to FindMyPast.com already, you will need to register (for free) to watch the recent television show episodes. 

The home page for http://www.findmypast.com looks like this (two screens):

In the middle of the second screen above is the link to the television show episodes - with a "Watch now" button.  I clicked on it and saw:

There were ten episodes in Series One of the Find My Past shows, and there are currently seven episodes in Series Two (this year).  With a free registration, you should be able to watch the more recent ones in Series Two.  With a subscription, you can watch any of them.

I chose to watch Episode two in Series One - the Titanic:

I watched this in full screen mode on my computer last night - it's 45 minutes with only a few short interruptions for advertising Find My Past.  

It was apparent to me that the show did the genealogical research before hand - picking persons on the Titanic who survived and had their story told, and then they did research in order to find relatives/descendants who were asked to be on the television episode, and then told the story of their relative/ancestor.  When they presented the research to the relative/descendant, they did it as a researcher would - working back in time, showing an ancestral chart, then surprising them with the news about their relative/ancestor on the Titanic, etc.  It was interesting to see the records found in the search, but the fascinating thing for me was seeing the newspaper stories found telling the stories of the survivors.  Many were from the New York Times, and can be found in their archives today.

Watching this television episode was great fun - I got my genealogy TV fix - and I learned a lot.  They used film footage from sailing on one of the sister ships to provide vintage context.  Now I'm wondering where they obtained the pictures of the Titanic as it was sinking.  Perhaps from the film?  

I will try to watch an episode a week just to take a break from my research and normal activities.  

Thank you to FindMyPast for providing these television episodes for their subscribers who are not in the U.K. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/watching-find-my-past-television.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 241: Randy, Stan and Dad in 1948

I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't Wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here is a photograph from the Seaver/Carringer family photograph collection passed to me by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:

This photograph shows me (on the left, with clothes on, thank goodness!  It looks like I was about to take it off, doesn't it?), my brother Stanley (in his diaper), and our father, Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983).  It was taken in about 1948 or 1949, based on the perceived ages of myself and my brother in this picture, probably by my mother or my grandfather.    

I don't recognize the setting.  There is playground equipment in the background, so it may be a local schoolyard in San Diego.  It was probably taken in the summer or early fall, because two of us don't have shirts on.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-241.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Janet Hovorka's "Zap the Grandma Gap" Book Released

I received this press release today from my friend and colleague, Janet Hovorka:

------------------------------------------

Are the youth in your family more attached to their iPod or laptop screen than they are to you?

How do you connect to your family members and form the kind of close relationships that will support and strengthen them as they grow into successful and grounded adults? Teaching your children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and even your brothers and sisters about their family history can create strong bonds in your family and become a framework that protects and empowers your relationships. Family history connects family members in a way that is personal and unique to your family. It especially gives children the power to identify with personal heroes, learn life lessons and gain a broad, wise perspective on life.

You may be thinking, sure but my family’s eyes roll back in their heads and they suddenly have pressing engagements they have to attend to when we start to talk about family history. Super Grandma comes to the rescue. In the new book Zap the Grandma Gap : Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History, you’ll find specific ideas, examples and step by step instructions to take your family history from snoring and boring to exciting and inviting. Super Grandma will teach you all the tips and tricks to connect you and your family back to your own super grandmas and grandpas in simple and easy ways that will bind your family together and strengthen your relationships.

You’ll find specific tips on ideas such as:

• Applying your family history to your current family member’s interests
• Utilizing social networking to teach your family about their past
• Honoring past family members through the plants inside and landscaping around your home
• Exploring your ancestor’s skills and talents by creating a project or taking a class together
• Establishing traditional food heritage such as historic family recipes or even a gingerbread house of the family home
• Collecting and archiving the jewels in your family history to ensure future curiosity
• Navigating the rough spots in your family history

Along with the launch of the book, a new website has been created full of resources to help families connect with their family history. The website ZaptheGrandmaGap.com establishes a gathering place where people can submit their best ideas and learn from each other how to strengthen the coming generation. Included in the site are a multitude of free resources including:

• A FREE 28 page excerpt of the book including table of contents.
• A FREE 35 page workbook for children to begin to record their own lives and explore their family history
• A FREE weekly newsletter with 52 additional ways to engage your family with their family history
• FREE 8.5x11 pedigree charts and resources for other genealogy charts
• A comprehensive list of resources collected from all over the web
• Links to the FREE Zap the Grandma Gap blog, facebook and twitter feeds with additional ideas for connecting your family with their past.

Early reviews include:

• "If you are looking for concrete ideas for sharing your family history and inspiring the next generation, look no further than this book. The personal stories and worthwhile activities make this an enjoyable read, and an ongoing resource to every genealogist. Janet's passion for the power of family history in the lives of today's busy families shines throughout the pages!" Lisa Louise Cooke, Author and host of The Genealogy Gems Podcast.
• “Janet Hovorka has provided a book overflowing with valuable ideas and suggestions for involving the "younger" generation in genealogy, perhaps without them even knowing about what you are trying to do. This book succeeds in being both entertaining and informative in a way that makes sense rather than preaches.” James Tanner, author of The Guide to FamilySearch Online and genealogysstar.blogspot.com.
• “Zap the Grandma Gap is a handy toolbox brimming with inspiration and ideas for getting the “family” into family history. You’ll be grateful for the guidance as well as the casual and supportive way in which it is delivered.” Amy Coffin, author of wetree.blogspot.com and The Big Genealogy Blog Book.
• “This book is a must-read for everyone who treasures family history and wants to make it come alive for future generations." Suzanne Curley Director, Riverton FamilySearch Library
• “Zap The Grandma Gap is not only a good read but a great reference book for creating fun family centered activities that treasures and builds firm family values.” Holly T. Hansen, President Family History Expos Inc.

Zap the Grandma Gap : Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka is available now at www.zapthegrandmagap.com, at bookstores and by calling 801-872-4278. For it’s initial release, the book will be on sale for $19.95 until February 8th at which time the book will return to its regular price of $23.95.

About the Author: Janet Hovorka received a B.A. in Ancient Near Eastern History and a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from BYU. She helped people at the BYU library with their family history research but was completely uninterested in her own. Now, she and her husband Kim Hovorka own Family ChartMasters (www.familychartmasters.com) —official, award winning printers for most of the genealogy software and database companies. She is currently serving as President of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches courses in library skills and genealogy at Salt Lake Community College. Janet inherited a large amount of genealogy from her mother and grandmother, both wonderful genealogists who lived family history in a way that was attractive and inviting.  Eventually Janet woke up to the soul satisfaction of learning about her past. Most recently she has found great joy in encouraging her teenage children's genealogical interests. Understanding the good and the bad in her own family history has helped her deal with her children and husband, and even her extended family in a more healthy way. Janet writes The Chart Chick blog (www.thechartchick.com), has written for numerous genealogy publications, and has presented 100s of lectures all over the world to help people learn more about their past.

Media kit available upon request.

Zap the Grandma Gap : Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka. Published by Family ChartMasters: Cedar Hills, Utah, 2013. Paperback, $23.95 194pp. ISBN 978-0-9888548-0-2.

This sounds like a wonderful book for getting your children and grandchildren interested and involved in genealogy and family history.  Check out the FREE 35 page workbook for children in PDF format.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/janet-hovorkas-zap-grandma-gap-book.html

Mining Ancestry.com Records for Persons in Your Ancestry Member Tree

I've been having great success mining the available historical records using MyHeritage Record Matches (see my series of posts listed in Finished Using MyHeritage Record Matching for SSDI Matches).  I really like being able to concentrate on one specific record collection to find records for persons in my family tree, as opposed to searching a record provider one name at a time.  I find it much easier to add content and source citations using one record collection at a time.  

In my post Ancestry Matches Death, Burial, Cemetery, Obituary Records with Family Tree People, Except it Doesn't on 17 October 2012, I wished that Ancestry.com had a similar capability.  

Ancestry.com offers their green "shaky leaf" Hints for persons in Ancestry Member Trees and in a Family Tree Maker 2012 database (if connected to the Internet with an Ancestry membership).  But that feature depends on selecting a specific person in your tree.  

Is there a way to search an Ancestry Member Tree to find all of the "Hints" that were found for one specific Ancestry.com record collection?  YES, there is, and it takes a little work around, but it is very doable.

 Kristi Hancock commented on the October post, saying:

"I have had the same dreams of this "Ideal Ancestry World"! I have found a little bit of a work around that I figured out when Ancestry started the link on the 1940 Census page to see your hints from that database only.

"When I go to that link for my tree, this is what is in the address bar:http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/37639567/hints?src=hw&hf=record&hs=last&hdbid=2442

"The last four digits (2442) is the code for the 1940 Census database. Now, go to another database and look in the address bar for its "code". For example, the code for the Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 is 8781.

"If you go back to that original link and change the 2442 to 8781, you will see the hints for your tree in that database."

You can't just copy Kristi's link to your address bar and find the 1940 Census entries for YOUR tree.  Kristi's Ancestry Member Tree number is "37639567."  Do you see it in them iddle of the URL?  You HAVE TO put your own Ancestry Member Tree number into the eddress.  

1)  One of my AMT numbers is 33123910 (obtained by opening the AMT and looking at the URL).  If I substitute that number into Kristi's URL, I get an URL to find the persons in my AMT in the 1940 U.S. Census:

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/33123910/hints?src=hw&hf=record&hs=last&hdbid=2442

I copied that into the address bar, and saw this screen on Ancestry.com:

That worked, and I received a list of 60 persons in my Ancestry Member Tree with Hints for the 1940 U.S. Census that I had not accepted or rejected.  I can review each Hint, and accept or reject the Hint.  If I do that, it is removed from the "People With Hints" list.  If I want to capture the record image, I can save it to my computer "Ancestor Files" folders.

2)  What if I want to change to another Ancestry Record Collection?  I need to find the Ancestry assigned database number for the collection.  In a separate window tab, I went to Ancestry's Card Catalog and selected the Social Security Death Index:

The Ancestry-assigned database number for the Social Security Death Index is 3693.  Do you see it on the screen above in the URL on address bar?  It is the last part of the URL.

Note:  It is important that you use the Ancestry Card Catalog to obtain the database number.  You can use the Search or Keyword fields to find the database of interest.

I copied my URL above and substituted "3693" for "2442" and saw:

There are 100 unreviewed Hints for persons in this tree in the SSDI.

This method of "organized searching" or "mining" a specific database is much easier for me to perform than randomly picking a set of Hints for a specific person on my Ancestry Member Tree.  This way, I don't have to go through the list of Hints for a specific person, most of which I don't accept because of the nature of the sources.  

3)  My next target database is the Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.  The database number is 2495:

Yikes, 819 record matches!!!  That should keep me busy for a week or two!  

4)  How can I remember the URL for my Ancestry Member Tree?  Easy - I added it to my list of Bookmarks in my Chrome browser!  

Of course, there is no guarantee that Ancestry has found the "right" record for a specific person - the spelling in the record may have been wrong, or there may be persons with the same name.  

My thanks to Kristi Hancock for providing a great finding aid and work around for all of the "Ancestry.com data miners" to use.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/mining-ancestrycom-records-for-persons.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Attend RootsTech 2013 Conference (Live or Virtually)

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Make your plans now to attend the RootsTech 2013 Conference on March 21-23 in Salt Lake City (either live in person, or online watching selected presentations via streaming video).

The RootsTech 2013 conference promises to be one of the largest genealogy conferences in American history - will you be there?  It will be March 21-23, 2013 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.  The official website is at http://rootstech.org.  Early bird registration is $149 for the full conference until 15 February, and $219 after February 15.

Features at RootsTech 2013 include:

*  Over 250 Speaker presentations and workshops (12 sessions in three days)
*  Expo Hall with over 100 exhibitors
*  Story@Home conference
*  Getting Started Track
*   Developer Day (March 22)

The presentation schedules for each day are at http://www.rootstech.org/schedule/sessions.  Click on each day to see the list.

So you can't attend RootsTech 2013 in person?  Then plan on attending the Livestream video of selected presentations on all three days!  For FREE!  It's just like being there, except you can't walk around the Expo Hall and see all of the geneabloggers in the Media Center.  I couldn't find a list of sessions that would be livestreamed - I'm sure that the three Keynote talks and most presentations held in Hall 1 will be livestreamed.  Stay tuned for this schedule.

I will be there live, in person, ready to attend presentations, visit every vendor in the Expo Hall, schmooze with my geneablogger colleagues in the Media Center, and have a great time in Salt Lake City.  Oh, I'll visit the Family History Library too!

Did I mention that I have a contest going for a FREE registration for RootsTech 2013?  Enter at Win a FREE Registration to RootsTech (21-23 March 2013).

Do you want to relive RootsTech 2012, or get warmed up for 2013?  Check out the videos available at http://www.rootstech.org/videos.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/tuesdays-tip-attend-rootstech-2013.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Genealogy Software Versions 10 Years Ago...

My friend and colleague, J. Paul Hawthorne, is President of the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD), and I'm a member of this group.

Paul was perusing past issues of the CGSSD newsletter and found this list of genealogy software from early 2003:

In 2003, RootsMagic was a new product - Version 1.0 - replacing Family Origins 10.0.  Legacy Family Tree was on Version 4 (just released), and Family Tree Maker for Windows was in Version 10.

Ten years later, the capabilities of the genealogy software programs are greatly improved with features that not many of us foresaw in 2003.

Thank you, Paul, for the trip down memory lane.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/software-versions-10-years-ago.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

The Interactive Viewer on Ancestry.com is Great!

I know that I looked at the Interactive Viewer used for some of Ancestry.com's record collections since it was released last year (see Ancestry.com's New Interactive Image Viewer, 23 February 2012), but I keep discovering new features on it.  There are two Ancestry.com blog posts that describe the Interactive Viewer:

*  Interactive Image Viewer - Coming Soon to More Collections (23 January 2013)

*  Interactive Image Viewer (Beta) (31 January 2012)

After reading those posts (again!), I went crawling around the 1940 U.S. Census and noted these features that I really like:

1)  I found the Lyle Carringer family (my mother's birth family) in the 1940 U.S. Census residing in San Diego, California:

As you can see, the person searched for is highlighted in yellow, and the family is highlighted in light green.

There is a zoom bar on the right side of the screen.  The user can use the + and - keyboard keys to zoom in and out also.  The user can use the left and right arrow keys to pan left and right.  There is a green "Index" button at the bottom of the screen.

2)  I zoomed the image up a bit so that the names were easily readable, and dragged/dropped the image so I could see the Carringer names:

Once the census page heading information disappeared from the image, a strip appeared at the top of the image that listed the column headings.  That is really helpful!  Also, putting the mouse over any field entry (line and column) results in a description of the entry in the column for the person on the line.  That is useful.

3)  I dragged/dropped to the right-hand side of the census page, and saw:

Once I moved to the right so that the Name field disappeared on the left, the indexed names appeared on the left-hand side with the yellow/green background colors.  That is very useful.

4)  If you can't figure out the field entries on the census page, you can see the indexed values by clicking on the green "Index" button at the bottom of the screen:

That also is very helpful.

5)  Now where did the Source information go?  I found the "View Source" link in the "More?" link at the top right of the page:

Clicking on the "View Source" link opened a small window in the middle of the screen:

The "Source" window has the information about the source citation (but only year, place, Roll number, page number, and Enumeration District number).  The user still has to add the address, family number, family identification, etc.  The window also provides a description of the Enumeration District, Source Information, and Source Description.

6)  There are more print options also.  Using the "Print" link on the top right of the screen:

The user has these options:

*  Print the entire image (in landscape mode)
*  Print the zoomed image (landscape mode)

*  Include index and source (in portrait mode)
*  Print the index on a separate page (in landscape mode, two pages)

Those options are also very useful.

8)  Now I'm wondering if there is a list of the record collections that use this Interactive Viewer.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/the-interactive-viewer-on-ancestrycom.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Martin Carringer's Revolutionary War Pension File: Post 8: 1849 Declaration of Molly Carringer

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme several years ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is a document from the Revolutionary War Pension File of Martin Carringer (1758-1835) of Mercer County, Pennsylvania (accessed on and digital image obtained from www.Fold3.com):

The transcription of this paper (image 37 on the Fold3 filmstrip) is:

Declaration

In order to obtain the benefits of the Act of Congress of 2d February 1848 Entitled an Act Making Further Provisions for Surviving Widows of Soldiers of the Revolution

State of Pennsylvania }
County of Mercer } SS

On this twenty ninth day of March 1849, personally appeared before the Subscriber a Justice of the Peace Molly Carringer a resident of Sandy Creek township in the County of Mercer aged Eighty years who being first duly sworn according to law doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provissions made by the act of Congress passed on the 2d February 1848 granting pensions to widows of persons who served during the Revolutionary War.  That she is the widow of Martin Carringer who was a private in the Revolutionary War under the act of Congress of the 18th March 1818 and the annual amount of the Pension which she received under the act of 17th June 1844 was Eighty dollars per annum.  She further declared that she is still a widow.

Sworn and subscribed on the day and year above written before 
Adam Seiple J.P. .................................................. her
....................................................................... Molly X Carringer
................................................................................ mark

State of Pennsylvania }
County of Mercer } SS  March the 29th 1849

I Adam Seiple a Magistrate in the County above named do hereby certify that I have the most satisfactory Evidence viz. my own personal knowledge that Molly Carringer who this day appeared before Me and made oath to the truth of the foregoing declaration is the identical person she represents herself to be.  Given under my hand at West Greenville on the day and year above written. 
.................................................................. Adam Seiple

It seems that every time that Congress changed the law, Mary/Molly Carringer had to make another declaration.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/amanuensis-monday-martin-carringers_28.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

"Creating Your Life's Story" at CVGS Meeting on 30 January

The January program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society is on Wednesday, 30 January, at 12 noon in the Auditorium of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in Chula Vista).  

The program speaker is L. A. (Butch) Hibben presenting “Creating Your Life's Story.”

How can you preserve your family (and personal) memories and photos for future generations, making them accessible to only those you choose? Learn about this, along with specifics on interviewing and hints to get information from relatives, from a Certified Legacy Advisor.

L. A. (Butch) Hibben, Certified Legacy Advisor, has been involved in the field of family history from his youth. Knowing about his ancestry has been as much a part of his life as knowing basic life skills. Butch has remembered the stories and the roles his family played in the history of the states of Utah and Arizona.

Butch, like his ancestor pioneers, was a trailblazer in the field of computers, having become involved in the field in the late 1950s while serving in the U.S. Navy. After his discharge, he continued in the field as a computer technician for many years until his retirement in 2008. It is no wonder that he was inspired to assist others in preserving their heritage when he was introduced to the Living Legacy Project in 2011.

He has his own legacy to pass along, having sired five children, four of which have gone on to make him grandfather to twenty-four and great-grandfather to twelve. He serves as Assistant Director in the Corona Family History Center and is married to its Director and Corona Genealogical Society President, Jean Wilcox Hibben. They make their home in the Lake Mathews area of Western Riverside County, California. Butch, a former square dance caller, is an audio technician and plays saw and spoons. He can be reached through the website www.circlemending.org/LLP.html.

There will be a short business meeting before the speaker, and refreshments before and after the meeting at the back of the Auditorium.

The URL for this post is:

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 20 to 26 January 2013

Hundreds of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

*  Seeking Death Records Isn't always Easy by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  Lorine received two vital records by mail, at significant expense, and was not happy with the experience.  She got some help from genealogy folks afterwards.  Lorine received an explanation from Michigan - see Michigan Vital Records Responds to My Complaint.

*  The Pinball Approach to Genealogical Research and Principles of the "Pinball Approach to Genealogical Research" by Pat Richley-Erickson on DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog.  Pat
defined the terms - are you a pinball genealogist like I am?

*  If Not Now, When? by Lynn Palermo on The In-Depth Genealogist blog.  Lynn describes her feelings after presenting her family history book at a family reunion.

*  Family History Through the Alphabet -- Books by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.  Julie provides a list of her must-have books, plus links to online book providers.

*  Are Sources Necessary for Genealogical Data? by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James describes his own sourcing journey, and decides that beginners need more education on sources.

*  When You Find a Document That May Be About One of Your Ancestors... by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog.  Michael answers Nancy's question, describing how a professional genealogist would solve a specific problem.

*  RootsTech 2013: What Might FamilySearch Reveal by Michael W. McCormick on the Enduring Legacy Genealogy blog.  Michael has background and some thoughts about several FamilySearch features coming soon, perhaps at RootsTech 2013.

*  My Excellent Adventure to the Middlesex Registry of Probate and Registry of Deeds , Cambridge, Massachusetts by Linda on the Passage to the Past's Blog.  Linda did well coping with the staff...I love probate office visits, don't you?

*  Looking for Baby Marie by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Judy visited the FHL to find a German church record, and is mad at her grandparents.  She gets an A for effort.

*  The Books They Leave Behind: Preserving Family Bibles and Religious Books by Denise Levenick on The Catholic Gene blog.  Denise shares information from her new book about how to archive these treasures.

*  Executive Corner: FamilySearch 2012 Accomplishments by Steve Anderson on the FamilySearch Blog.  Here's a snapshot of what FamilySearch did last year, and has available for genealogists.

These genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week: 

*  Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.

*  Monday Recap for January 21, 2013 by Amanda on the Geni Blog.

*  Follow Friday -- Fab Finds for January 25, 2013 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Genealogy Blogs, News & Tidbits, #4 by Deb Ruth on the Adventures in Genealogy blog.

*  Genealogy News Corral, Jan. 21-25 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.

*  Murder! Name Dropping! Reinventing Genealogy? It's Follow Friday by Anne Gillespie Mitchell on the Finding forgotten Stories blog.

*  Follow Friday - Favorites for January 15, 2013 by Heather Kuhn Roelker on the Leaves for Trees blog.

*  Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.

*  Friday Finds - 01/25/13 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.

*  From the Blogs, January 25 by Michael Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.

*  Weekly Genealogy Picks, January 20-26 by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

*  A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs by the writer of the Digging in the Roots blog.

I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, RSS feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 1300 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/best-of-genea-blogs-20-to-26-january.html

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver