...
I just returned from the monthly San Diego Genealogical Society meeting where these announcements were made:
* Some of the book collection of the South Orange County, California Genealogical Society (SOCCGS) at the public library in Mission Viejo, California will be transferred to the San Diego Genealogical Society Library. The Mission Viejo library needed the space.
* The book and periodical collection of the now-defunct British Isles Genealogical Research Association (BIGRA) in San Diego will be transferred from the San Diego Family History Center in Mission Valley to the San Diego Genealogical Society Library.
* There is a proposal to combine the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) with the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) effective 1 January 2011. The CGSSD board and membership need to approve the combination. One of the major problems for CGSSD after 1 August 2010 will be the parking fees at the University of California San Diego. Heretofore, Saturday parking on-campus has been free; effective 1 August, the parking fees go up to $9 per car, which is really untenable.
* SDGS has created a committee to search for a larger and more technological venue for the monthly meetings. The current venue has limited seating (about 150) and some classrooms, but does not have Wireless Internet. This becomes more important if the CGSSD and SDGS merger goes through, growing SDGS from about 450 members to about 600 members.
* The SDGS Seminar on Saturday, 9 October will feature speakers from the National Archives branch in Perris CA and form Footnote.com on "What's Hiding in the National Archives - Learn How to Find It!" That sounds like a great marriage of classical resources and online resources.
My opinion is that the parking problem at UCSD is a crippling blow to CGSSD, unless they can find another venue that has sufficient web-enabled space for the monthly meeting. The UCSD venue is outstanding - free parking and free use of the lecture halls, all with wireless Internet and ceiling-mounted LCD projectors. A replacement free venue will be difficult to find.
My opinion is that merging the two societies can be a positive thing. It will bring a significant number of new members to SDGS, including many younger members. However, there is the possibility that those of us that are members of both societies will have our educational options reduced. Let me explain (and I did to Marna Clemons, SDGS President, and Del Ritchhart, CGSSD President, today):
CGSSD has had 2.5 hours of programming each month on the third Saturday of each month. This is usually an hour-long user group or class, and an hour-long speaker presentation. SDGS has had 4.0 hours of programming each month on the second Saturday of each month. This is a 1.5 hour class or user group meeting, and two hour-long speaker presentations (either two different speakers, or one speaker on one or more topics). Both societies have short business meetings each month. A member of both societies can have 6.5 hours of education and networking each month, and receives two newsletters (the SDGS newsletter is a monthly 8 pages, the CGSSD newsletter is a 24 page quarterly). There is some overlap in the software user groups also. If the combined society keeps only the SDGS schedule, then there will be only 4.0 hours each month.
The ideal situation might be to have two program meetings each month - but that might incur additional costs for the society program venue and speaker honorariums. The SDGS Library might be able to be used for more special interest classes and user groups. They already have classes every Wednesday on different topics.
On the other hand, the membership cost to a member of both societies would be reduced.
We will have to see what shakes out of the CGSSD and SDGS merger. I have a lot of admiration and confidence in the leadership of both societies.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Write A Genealogy Clerihew
...
Hello genea-poets - it's Saturday Night, are you ready to rumble and have some Genealogy Fun?
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Write a Genealogy Clerihew (and what is a "clerihew" you ask? See Jim Smith's post today for more details and his clerihew (briefly, a clerihew is a four-line irregular poem or verse that follows an AABB rhyme scheme. It is named for the birthday of Edmund Clerihew Bentley the inventor, aka writer, aka poet."). If you're feeling especially creative, write two or more!
2) Show us your genealogy clerihew in a blog post of your own, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook comment or update. C'mon, dazzle your readers and friends with your poetry and creativeness.
Here's mine:
Pondering the Randy Seaver ancestral chart
Twenty two years after an enthusiastic start,
The encouraging thought dawned on me,
That I will never finish my family tree.
Randall J. Seaver (c) 2010
Thank you, Jim Smith, for the poetry lesson for the day! By the way, have you seen what Jim is doing with his transcriptions of Grenada records on his blog? Fascinating work! What a collection of records to sort through for the right James Smith.
Hello genea-poets - it's Saturday Night, are you ready to rumble and have some Genealogy Fun?
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Write a Genealogy Clerihew (and what is a "clerihew" you ask? See Jim Smith's post today for more details and his clerihew (briefly, a clerihew is a four-line irregular poem or verse that follows an AABB rhyme scheme. It is named for the birthday of Edmund Clerihew Bentley the inventor, aka writer, aka poet."). If you're feeling especially creative, write two or more!
2) Show us your genealogy clerihew in a blog post of your own, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook comment or update. C'mon, dazzle your readers and friends with your poetry and creativeness.
Here's mine:
Pondering the Randy Seaver ancestral chart
Twenty two years after an enthusiastic start,
The encouraging thought dawned on me,
That I will never finish my family tree.
Randall J. Seaver (c) 2010
Thank you, Jim Smith, for the poetry lesson for the day! By the way, have you seen what Jim is doing with his transcriptions of Grenada records on his blog? Fascinating work! What a collection of records to sort through for the right James Smith.
Surname Saturday - SMITH (NH > MA)
It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I'm up to number 75, who is Hannah Smith (1768-1827), one of my 4th-great-grandparents.
My ancestral line back through, um, one generation of SMITH is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)
4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
8. Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Harriet Hildreth (1857-1920)
18. Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19. Sophia Newton (1834-1923)
36. Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857)
37. Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)
74. Josiah Sawtell, born 24 January 1768 in Groton, Middlesex, MA, died 7 December 1847 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA. He was the son of 148. Ephraim Sawtell and 149. Abigiail Stone. He married 5 February 1789 in probably Raby, Hillsborough, NH.
75. Hannah Smith, born about 1767 in probably Raby, Hillsborough, NH, died 8 February 1827 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA.
Josiah Sawtell and Hannah Smith had 9 children: Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857); Josiah Sawtell (1791-????); Mary Sawtell (1793-1831); Chester Sawtell (1795-1875); Esther Sawtell (1797-1852); Horace Sawtell (1799-1825); Neuma Sawtell (1803-1826); Walter Sawtell (1805-1857); Price Sawtell (1810-1891).
I don't know the parents of Hannah Smith. I suspect that they are Joshua Smith and Hannah Baldwin, who were the only Smith family in Raby (now Brookline NH) in the 1760 to 1780 time frame. I have uncovered quite a bit of information about Joshua Smith, but have found no records to date that name Hannah (Smith) Sawtell as his daughter. Joshua Smith resided in the southeast part of Raby on the road towards what is now Pepperrell, Massachusetts. There are many town records for Joshua Smith, and the town history names his two wives, but he apparently left no probate record. I wrote up joshua smith - in raby/brookline 1769-? several years ago with what I knew about Joshua Smith.
Most of the data about the Josiah Sawtell family comes from a Boston Transcript query that reads (Boston Transcript (4th Series, entry #3534):
"(3534) 1. SMITH, SARTELL, BISHOP. Hannah Smith, born Jan. 1 1768, at Amherst, Mass., married Feb. 5, 1789, at Amherst, Josiah Sartell of Hollis, Mass. I wonder if her parents were Noah Smith and Mary, daughter of Edward Elmer, who were married in Amherst in 1766 at Amherst (probably). If this is true, who were Noah Smith's ancestors? The children of Hannah Smith and Josiah Sartell were:
(1) Josiah, Jr. born Brookline, N.H. Nov. 26, 1791 (I believe married Rebecca Manning).
(2) Hannah, born Brookline N.H. Nov. 6, 1789, married Zachariah Hildreth, who was born Townsend Mass.and died at Townsend Jan. 22, 1857; Hannah died at Townsend Jan. 13, 1851, children: Aaron, Clarissa, James, Clarissa 2d, Elizabeth, Milo, Moses, Edward, Harriet and Moses.
(3) Mary (Lee), born Townsend April 11, 1793, and died at Pelham, May 26, 1831, children Enos, Edwin, Samantha.
(4) Chester, born Townsend Aug. 6, 1795, died April 19, 1875; children Sophia and Mrs. Bizel.
(5) Esther, born Townsend May 13, 1797, died Amherst Mass. March 5, 1859.
(6) Horace, born Ashburnham, Mass. July 9, 1799, died Mason, N.H. May 21, 1825, married Sally Saunders, had daughter Elizabeth.
(7) Neuma, born Townsend June 6, 1802, and died Mason, N.H. Aug. 11, 1826.
(8) Walter, born Townsend, March 21, 1806, and died Townsend, Aug. 26, 1857, married Louisa Adams; had a son Perry.
(9) Price, born Townsend, Feb. 2, 1810, married Eliza Bishop at Watertown, N.Y., Feb. 21, 1831, who was born Dec. 12, 1806 at Westmoreland, Vt., and died Feb. 14, 1875 at Milwaukee; Price died Milwaukee, June 5, 1891. (Who were the parents of Eliza Bishop?)."
The writer of this query probably confused Amherst, Massachusetts (in western Massachusetts) and Amherst, New Hampshire (just north of Brookline, New Hampshire), and Hollis, Massachusetts (is there one?) with Hollis, New Hampshire (also near Brookline in New Hampshire). Noah Smith and Mary Elmer resided in Amherst, Massachusetts and had a daughter named Hannah Smith born 1 January 1768, but this family remained in Amherst, Massachusetts and that Hannah Smith did not marry Josiah Sartell.
There were several other Smith families in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire in the 1760 to 1800 time frame, but I cannot find my Smith/NH notebook or folder in the piles in the Genealogy Cave. Maybe it's time to start working on the Cave "archives" .... another significant task that's taken a backseat to blogging and speaking.
If there are any SMITH descendants from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, I would really appreciate hearing from you, especially if you can identify the parents of my Hannah Smith.
My ancestral line back through, um, one generation of SMITH is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)
4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
8. Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Harriet Hildreth (1857-1920)
18. Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19. Sophia Newton (1834-1923)
36. Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857)
37. Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)
74. Josiah Sawtell, born 24 January 1768 in Groton, Middlesex, MA, died 7 December 1847 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA. He was the son of 148. Ephraim Sawtell and 149. Abigiail Stone. He married 5 February 1789 in probably Raby, Hillsborough, NH.
75. Hannah Smith, born about 1767 in probably Raby, Hillsborough, NH, died 8 February 1827 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA.
Josiah Sawtell and Hannah Smith had 9 children: Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857); Josiah Sawtell (1791-????); Mary Sawtell (1793-1831); Chester Sawtell (1795-1875); Esther Sawtell (1797-1852); Horace Sawtell (1799-1825); Neuma Sawtell (1803-1826); Walter Sawtell (1805-1857); Price Sawtell (1810-1891).
I don't know the parents of Hannah Smith. I suspect that they are Joshua Smith and Hannah Baldwin, who were the only Smith family in Raby (now Brookline NH) in the 1760 to 1780 time frame. I have uncovered quite a bit of information about Joshua Smith, but have found no records to date that name Hannah (Smith) Sawtell as his daughter. Joshua Smith resided in the southeast part of Raby on the road towards what is now Pepperrell, Massachusetts. There are many town records for Joshua Smith, and the town history names his two wives, but he apparently left no probate record. I wrote up joshua smith - in raby/brookline 1769-? several years ago with what I knew about Joshua Smith.
Most of the data about the Josiah Sawtell family comes from a Boston Transcript query that reads (Boston Transcript (4th Series, entry #3534):
"(3534) 1. SMITH, SARTELL, BISHOP. Hannah Smith, born Jan. 1 1768, at Amherst, Mass., married Feb. 5, 1789, at Amherst, Josiah Sartell of Hollis, Mass. I wonder if her parents were Noah Smith and Mary, daughter of Edward Elmer, who were married in Amherst in 1766 at Amherst (probably). If this is true, who were Noah Smith's ancestors? The children of Hannah Smith and Josiah Sartell were:
(1) Josiah, Jr. born Brookline, N.H. Nov. 26, 1791 (I believe married Rebecca Manning).
(2) Hannah, born Brookline N.H. Nov. 6, 1789, married Zachariah Hildreth, who was born Townsend Mass.and died at Townsend Jan. 22, 1857; Hannah died at Townsend Jan. 13, 1851, children: Aaron, Clarissa, James, Clarissa 2d, Elizabeth, Milo, Moses, Edward, Harriet and Moses.
(3) Mary (Lee), born Townsend April 11, 1793, and died at Pelham, May 26, 1831, children Enos, Edwin, Samantha.
(4) Chester, born Townsend Aug. 6, 1795, died April 19, 1875; children Sophia and Mrs. Bizel.
(5) Esther, born Townsend May 13, 1797, died Amherst Mass. March 5, 1859.
(6) Horace, born Ashburnham, Mass. July 9, 1799, died Mason, N.H. May 21, 1825, married Sally Saunders, had daughter Elizabeth.
(7) Neuma, born Townsend June 6, 1802, and died Mason, N.H. Aug. 11, 1826.
(8) Walter, born Townsend, March 21, 1806, and died Townsend, Aug. 26, 1857, married Louisa Adams; had a son Perry.
(9) Price, born Townsend, Feb. 2, 1810, married Eliza Bishop at Watertown, N.Y., Feb. 21, 1831, who was born Dec. 12, 1806 at Westmoreland, Vt., and died Feb. 14, 1875 at Milwaukee; Price died Milwaukee, June 5, 1891. (Who were the parents of Eliza Bishop?)."
The writer of this query probably confused Amherst, Massachusetts (in western Massachusetts) and Amherst, New Hampshire (just north of Brookline, New Hampshire), and Hollis, Massachusetts (is there one?) with Hollis, New Hampshire (also near Brookline in New Hampshire). Noah Smith and Mary Elmer resided in Amherst, Massachusetts and had a daughter named Hannah Smith born 1 January 1768, but this family remained in Amherst, Massachusetts and that Hannah Smith did not marry Josiah Sartell.
There were several other Smith families in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire in the 1760 to 1800 time frame, but I cannot find my Smith/NH notebook or folder in the piles in the Genealogy Cave. Maybe it's time to start working on the Cave "archives" .... another significant task that's taken a backseat to blogging and speaking.
If there are any SMITH descendants from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, I would really appreciate hearing from you, especially if you can identify the parents of my Hannah Smith.
Friday, July 9, 2010
"Using Ancestry.com Effectively" Presentation at Corona CA on Monday, 12 July
...
Genea-Musings is taking a short road trip on Monday, 12 July - visiting the Corona Genealogical Society in Riverside County. The meeting is in the Community Room of the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St., Corona CA 92882. The doors open at 6:00 p.m., and the program at 6:30 p.m.
I will be presenting my 90-minute "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" talk, highlighting the Member Trees, Database Searching and the other Ancestry.com features.
Jean Wilcox Hibben, who writes the wonderful Circlemending blog and presents programs all over the country, is President of Corona Genealogical Society, and sent this invitation to her members yesterday:
Have you ever gotten on line with Ancestry.com, looked at all the options available, and either shook your head or just ignored them. What do they all mean? How can they help with your family history? Yes, most of us are familiar with the census, military, and immigration records, but there is so much more! What about the family trees? All those other data bases? The resources they boast about?
How can one learn about all these things? Simple! Attend this Monday evening's Corona Genealogical Society meeting in the Community Room of the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St., Corona (92882). Doors open at 6pm to allow time for networking, getting your name tag, finding a good seat, etc. Then the meeting will begin at 6:30pm with a short business portion (very short - everything will be available on the printed agenda so we can keep our remarks to a minimum). We want to have that part of the meeting completed within about 20 minutes so that, after a short recess, we can launch right into our very special program with our esteemed speaker -- RANDY SEAVER!
Randy is past president and board member of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (that's south of San Diego, so he's coming a long way just to educate us). He maintains a marvelous blog (http://www.geneamusings.com/) and is on top of virtually everything in the genealogy community (and, especially, the virtual portion). This man has stayed up to date on the changes at Ancestry.com and comes with the most current information. We are so fortunate that he has agreed to make the trek north to educate us, so we hope he is rewarded with a large crowd! Bring your genealogy-minded friends & family!
My thanks to Jean for the invitation to speak, the wonderful presentation summary - she really raised expectations, didn't she? Linda and I look forward to meeting new friends at Corona and enjoying their hospitality.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of Ancestry.com, and have received no remuneration for this article. I am a fully paid US Deluxe subscriber to Ancestry.com.
Genea-Musings is taking a short road trip on Monday, 12 July - visiting the Corona Genealogical Society in Riverside County. The meeting is in the Community Room of the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St., Corona CA 92882. The doors open at 6:00 p.m., and the program at 6:30 p.m.
I will be presenting my 90-minute "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" talk, highlighting the Member Trees, Database Searching and the other Ancestry.com features.
Jean Wilcox Hibben, who writes the wonderful Circlemending blog and presents programs all over the country, is President of Corona Genealogical Society, and sent this invitation to her members yesterday:
Have you ever gotten on line with Ancestry.com, looked at all the options available, and either shook your head or just ignored them. What do they all mean? How can they help with your family history? Yes, most of us are familiar with the census, military, and immigration records, but there is so much more! What about the family trees? All those other data bases? The resources they boast about?
How can one learn about all these things? Simple! Attend this Monday evening's Corona Genealogical Society meeting in the Community Room of the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St., Corona (92882). Doors open at 6pm to allow time for networking, getting your name tag, finding a good seat, etc. Then the meeting will begin at 6:30pm with a short business portion (very short - everything will be available on the printed agenda so we can keep our remarks to a minimum). We want to have that part of the meeting completed within about 20 minutes so that, after a short recess, we can launch right into our very special program with our esteemed speaker -- RANDY SEAVER!
Randy is past president and board member of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (that's south of San Diego, so he's coming a long way just to educate us). He maintains a marvelous blog (http://www.geneamusings.com/) and is on top of virtually everything in the genealogy community (and, especially, the virtual portion). This man has stayed up to date on the changes at Ancestry.com and comes with the most current information. We are so fortunate that he has agreed to make the trek north to educate us, so we hope he is rewarded with a large crowd! Bring your genealogy-minded friends & family!
My thanks to Jean for the invitation to speak, the wonderful presentation summary - she really raised expectations, didn't she? Linda and I look forward to meeting new friends at Corona and enjoying their hospitality.
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of Ancestry.com, and have received no remuneration for this article. I am a fully paid US Deluxe subscriber to Ancestry.com.
Follow Friday - Greta's Genealogy Bog
...
It's Follow Friday - and my choice this week is Greta's Genealogy Bog blog, written by Greta Koehl, who lives in northern Virginia. [I would post an image of the blog page, but Blogger is acting up for me this morning.]
Greta's blog description is:
"A place to share information on the families and areas we are researching, tips on useful research techniques, tools, and websites, and the joys, problems, and pitfalls of family research."
Her "About Me" section says:
"After spending my formative years paying no heed to all the family stories, I got hooked on genealogy later in life and am now trying to catch up. My husband and I had long ago developed an interest in graveyards and have enjoyed visiting them while on vacation. I have started two Graveyard Rabbit blogs as a way, in addition to my participation in Findagrave, to help make information to other people who are researching their family history. "
Greta participates in several of the weekly blog memes, and posts about her own research frequently. The posts that I like best are her Follow Friday posts - Greta highlights one blog, lists her favorite genealogy blog posts for the past week, and then lists the new blogs that she is following. This is a wonderful use of the Follow Friday meme!
Why did Greta name her blog "Greta's Genealogy Bog?" You'll have to ask her - I can't find the explanatory post now!
I encourage my readers to add Greta's Genealogy Bog to their blog readers and enjoy Greta's posts.
It's Follow Friday - and my choice this week is Greta's Genealogy Bog blog, written by Greta Koehl, who lives in northern Virginia. [I would post an image of the blog page, but Blogger is acting up for me this morning.]
Greta's blog description is:
"A place to share information on the families and areas we are researching, tips on useful research techniques, tools, and websites, and the joys, problems, and pitfalls of family research."
Her "About Me" section says:
"After spending my formative years paying no heed to all the family stories, I got hooked on genealogy later in life and am now trying to catch up. My husband and I had long ago developed an interest in graveyards and have enjoyed visiting them while on vacation. I have started two Graveyard Rabbit blogs as a way, in addition to my participation in Findagrave, to help make information to other people who are researching their family history. "
Greta participates in several of the weekly blog memes, and posts about her own research frequently. The posts that I like best are her Follow Friday posts - Greta highlights one blog, lists her favorite genealogy blog posts for the past week, and then lists the new blogs that she is following. This is a wonderful use of the Follow Friday meme!
Why did Greta name her blog "Greta's Genealogy Bog?" You'll have to ask her - I can't find the explanatory post now!
I encourage my readers to add Greta's Genealogy Bog to their blog readers and enjoy Greta's posts.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
What I Do... Technosaurus?
...
Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog has started a blog meme titled What I Do. You basically list what you use in terms of technology to either run your genealogy business or pursue your family history as a hobby." Click here to see what other GeneaBloggers Do.
Here is my list, such as it is:
* Hardware: Dell D3000 Desktop Computer, Pentium 4, 2.8 ghz, 1.6 gb RAM, 64 gb hard drive, 22-inch monitor. Dell Inspiron laptop computer. Netgear wireless router
* External storage: 256 gb external drive, 16 gb USB drive, 4 gb USB Drive
* Online storage: Google Docs, Picasa photos, no online file storage
* Backup: external hard drive, laptop computer, USB drives, Google Docs
* Firewall: McAfee Security Suite
* Virus protection: McAfee
* Spyware: McAfee
* File cleaner: none
* Printer: HP Photosmart C6350 All-in-One printer, scanner, copier
* Phone: Land line; Motorola cell phone with Verizon service
* Mobile media: none
* Music player: iPod 30 gb (with photos too)
* Car audio: AM/FM radio
* eBook Reader: none
* Browser: Internet Explorer 7, Firefox Mozilla occasionally
* Blog: Blogger
* RSS: Bloglines
* FTP: none
* Text editor: MS Word 2002, MS Notepad, Open Office Write, email
* Graphics: Microsoft Digital Image Editor, MS Paint
* Screen capture: PrintScreen + paste into Open Office Impress
* Social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
* Social bookmarking: none
* Social profile: none
* URL shortener: TinyURL
* Office suite: OpenOffice 3.2
* E-mail: Outlook Express, Gmail
* Calendar: wall
* Accounting: MS Money
* PDF generator: CutePDF, OpenOffice
* Genealogy database: Family Tree Maker 16, RootsMagic 4, Legacy Family Tree 7, Family Tree Maker 2010, Ancestry Member Tree, MyHeritage, WeRelate.org, other online services
* Genealogy tools: GenSmarts, Google Maps, books, periodicals, journals, magnifying glass
* Genealogy website subscriptions: http://www.ancestry.com/, http://www.footnote.com/, http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/, http://www.archives.com/, www.NewEnglandAncestors.org
* Periodical Subscriptions: NGS Magazine, NGS Quarterly, NEHGS American Ancestors, NEHGS Register, Internet Genealogy, FGS FORUM, Family Tree Magazine.
* Other tech stuff: Olympus Voice Recorder, Nikon Coolpix S3000 Digital Camera, Flip Video Camera, Magellan RoadMate GPS
So am I a technical dinosaur? Not really, I guess - I just don't have the need for, or expense of, a mobile media device or a lot of fancy software programs.
Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog has started a blog meme titled What I Do. You basically list what you use in terms of technology to either run your genealogy business or pursue your family history as a hobby." Click here to see what other GeneaBloggers Do.
Here is my list, such as it is:
* Hardware: Dell D3000 Desktop Computer, Pentium 4, 2.8 ghz, 1.6 gb RAM, 64 gb hard drive, 22-inch monitor. Dell Inspiron laptop computer. Netgear wireless router
* External storage: 256 gb external drive, 16 gb USB drive, 4 gb USB Drive
* Online storage: Google Docs, Picasa photos, no online file storage
* Backup: external hard drive, laptop computer, USB drives, Google Docs
* Firewall: McAfee Security Suite
* Virus protection: McAfee
* Spyware: McAfee
* File cleaner: none
* Printer: HP Photosmart C6350 All-in-One printer, scanner, copier
* Phone: Land line; Motorola cell phone with Verizon service
* Mobile media: none
* Music player: iPod 30 gb (with photos too)
* Car audio: AM/FM radio
* eBook Reader: none
* Browser: Internet Explorer 7, Firefox Mozilla occasionally
* Blog: Blogger
* RSS: Bloglines
* FTP: none
* Text editor: MS Word 2002, MS Notepad, Open Office Write, email
* Graphics: Microsoft Digital Image Editor, MS Paint
* Screen capture: PrintScreen + paste into Open Office Impress
* Social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
* Social bookmarking: none
* Social profile: none
* URL shortener: TinyURL
* Office suite: OpenOffice 3.2
* E-mail: Outlook Express, Gmail
* Calendar: wall
* Accounting: MS Money
* PDF generator: CutePDF, OpenOffice
* Genealogy database: Family Tree Maker 16, RootsMagic 4, Legacy Family Tree 7, Family Tree Maker 2010, Ancestry Member Tree, MyHeritage, WeRelate.org, other online services
* Genealogy tools: GenSmarts, Google Maps, books, periodicals, journals, magnifying glass
* Genealogy website subscriptions: http://www.ancestry.com/, http://www.footnote.com/, http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/, http://www.archives.com/, www.NewEnglandAncestors.org
* Periodical Subscriptions: NGS Magazine, NGS Quarterly, NEHGS American Ancestors, NEHGS Register, Internet Genealogy, FGS FORUM, Family Tree Magazine.
* Other tech stuff: Olympus Voice Recorder, Nikon Coolpix S3000 Digital Camera, Flip Video Camera, Magellan RoadMate GPS
So am I a technical dinosaur? Not really, I guess - I just don't have the need for, or expense of, a mobile media device or a lot of fancy software programs.
Is the IGI on the FamilySearch Beta Site?
I've read two genealogy articles recently that claimed that portions of the International Genealogical Index are now available on the LDS FamilySearch Beta website.
However, I can find no databases in the FamilySearch Beta (or Record Search Pilot site) that are taken from the International Genealogical Index. Are there any, yet? If so, which and where?
The International Genealogical Index is still available on the "old" or "classic" LDS FamilySearch site, included in the "Advanced Search" list of collections. The FamilySearch Wiki describes the IGI as:
"The International Genealogical Index is a computer file that lists several hundred million names of deceased persons from throughout the world. It also lists some vital information from a single event, such as a birth or marriage date and place. Many names in the index come from vital records from the early 1500s to 1885. Others have been submitted by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With the variety of sources, duplicate information for a single individual is common."
The extracted vital records were indexed from microfilms of original source vital records. Unfortunately, the submitted vital records include many duplicate entries and many erroneous entries. It is nearly impossible to separate the wheat (the extracted records) from the chaff (the submitted records) in results from the current IGI database on the http://www.familysearch.org/ site.
My understanding was that the extracted vital records (from the 1500s to 1885) would be in one or more databases on the FamilySearch Beta site and that the submitted vital records (mainly submitted by LDS church members) would be included in the New FamilySearch Family Tree, attached to specific persons.
The extracted vital records are extremely useful - they are one of the significant online database for records in many states (e.g., Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and New Jersey town records before 1850, New York church records before 1850) and countries (e.g., English parish records before 1837!). While the IGI extracted records are not original source records, they are often reliable derivative source records obtained from an original source. As such, the IGI extracted records are excellent finding aids for the original records in the original sources. I look forward to using them when they are available on the FamilySearch Beta site.
Does any reader or LDS church member know if, or when, these extracted IGI Records will be available on the FamilySearch Beta site? Will they be provided by US state and/or country?
Treasure Chest Thursday - James Richman Passenger List
...
It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to open the treasure chest of family history records.
My latest immigrants to the United States are James Richman (1821-1912) and Hannah (Rich) Richman (1824-1911) of Hilperton, Wiltshire, England.
James Richman came first, on the ship Calhoun, departing from Liverpool in England, arriving in New York City on 22 October 1855. The record summary from Ancestry.com is shown here:
Here is the first page of the ship manifest of the Calhoun (captured and shown in order to document the ship's name, the departure and arrival ports, and the column headings):
James Richman is on page 4 of 4 of the ship's manifest:
James Richman is listed as age 34, male, a laborer, a citizen of England, he wishes to be an inhabitant of the USA, and he came in Steerage.
It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to open the treasure chest of family history records.
My latest immigrants to the United States are James Richman (1821-1912) and Hannah (Rich) Richman (1824-1911) of Hilperton, Wiltshire, England.
James Richman came first, on the ship Calhoun, departing from Liverpool in England, arriving in New York City on 22 October 1855. The record summary from Ancestry.com is shown here:
Here is the first page of the ship manifest of the Calhoun (captured and shown in order to document the ship's name, the departure and arrival ports, and the column headings):
James Richman is on page 4 of 4 of the ship's manifest:
James Richman is listed as age 34, male, a laborer, a citizen of England, he wishes to be an inhabitant of the USA, and he came in Steerage.
Listed immediately after James Richman is Samuel Richman (age 22, male, an engineer) - this is actually his brother-in-law, Samuel Rich, son of John and Rebecca (Hill) Rich, and brother of Hannah (Rich) Richman.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
SDGS Meeting on Saturday, 10 July, Features Gena Ortega
...
The July meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society is Saturday, 10 July. The meeting is at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 8350 Lake Murray Blvd, corner of Jackson Dr., in the San Carlos area. Park in the south lot, enter the south door. Contact: Sue Aprea, saprea@cox.net.
The program includes:
* 10 a..m. - User group for RootsMagic, and Class 1, "Genealogy Basics," of the Beginning Genealogy series
* 12 noon - Speaker: Gena Philibert Ortega on “Understanding Copyright and Plagiarism”
* 1 p.m. - Ice Cream Social
* 1:30 p.m. - Speaker: Gena Philibert Ortega on “Privacy Concerns: What you Can & Cannot Disclose"
What privacy issues should genealogists be aware of as they publish and share family history
information on the internet and in print? We will look at copyright and what information will need a copyright, why it is important for the family historian and being alert to this as you conduct research and find resources on the Internet. Learn the impact of citing sources, the most important aspect of finding, storing and sharing information.
Gena Philibert Ortega is Genealogy Community Director for FamilyLink. She is newsletter editor for WorldVitalRecords and manages GenealogyWise. She holds a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Religion. She presents on genealogy topics in the US and Europe. Gena publishes in GenWeekly, WorldVitalRecords and GenealogyWise newsletters. See
Gena’s Genealogy blog.
A published author, Gena is Vice-President for Southern California Chapter of Association of Professional Genealogists. She is a Regional Director for the California State Genealogical Alliance.
July 10th will also be the ever-popular ‘Ice Cream Social’ meeting where you can order up your own ice cream sundae with all the toppings. They will serve up different flavors of ice cream for $1 a scoop and 25¢ per topping. The big decision will be whether to have 1, 2 (or is that 3?) scoops -- and is that with sprinkles, fudge or caramel? It’s a great way to cool down and kick off the summer.
Gena, genealogy and ice cream? It's a no-brainer, folks! All you San Diego area genealogists - come on down and enjoy Gena's talks and the ice cream to boot. Do I dare go for 3 scoops and all of the toppings?
The July meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society is Saturday, 10 July. The meeting is at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 8350 Lake Murray Blvd, corner of Jackson Dr., in the San Carlos area. Park in the south lot, enter the south door. Contact: Sue Aprea, saprea@cox.net.
The program includes:
* 10 a..m. - User group for RootsMagic, and Class 1, "Genealogy Basics," of the Beginning Genealogy series
* 12 noon - Speaker: Gena Philibert Ortega on “Understanding Copyright and Plagiarism”
* 1 p.m. - Ice Cream Social
* 1:30 p.m. - Speaker: Gena Philibert Ortega on “Privacy Concerns: What you Can & Cannot Disclose"
What privacy issues should genealogists be aware of as they publish and share family history
information on the internet and in print? We will look at copyright and what information will need a copyright, why it is important for the family historian and being alert to this as you conduct research and find resources on the Internet. Learn the impact of citing sources, the most important aspect of finding, storing and sharing information.
Gena Philibert Ortega is Genealogy Community Director for FamilyLink. She is newsletter editor for WorldVitalRecords and manages GenealogyWise. She holds a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Religion. She presents on genealogy topics in the US and Europe. Gena publishes in GenWeekly, WorldVitalRecords and GenealogyWise newsletters. See
Gena’s Genealogy blog.
A published author, Gena is Vice-President for Southern California Chapter of Association of Professional Genealogists. She is a Regional Director for the California State Genealogical Alliance.
July 10th will also be the ever-popular ‘Ice Cream Social’ meeting where you can order up your own ice cream sundae with all the toppings. They will serve up different flavors of ice cream for $1 a scoop and 25¢ per topping. The big decision will be whether to have 1, 2 (or is that 3?) scoops -- and is that with sprinkles, fudge or caramel? It’s a great way to cool down and kick off the summer.
Gena, genealogy and ice cream? It's a no-brainer, folks! All you San Diego area genealogists - come on down and enjoy Gena's talks and the ice cream to boot. Do I dare go for 3 scoops and all of the toppings?
101 Best Genealogy Sites for 2010 - from Family Tree Magazine
...
The September 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine contains the 2010 list of the 101 Best FREE Genealogy Websites. The site says:
"In a bumpy economy, is there any more welcome word than free? When we took a break from checking our credit-card balances and 401(k) accounts to consider this year’s 101 Best Websites, the theme was as obvious as the lint in our wallets: the best free genealogy sites."
The websites are listed by category:
* The Big Picture: Big, free genealogy sites
* Records Resources: Great sources of free online records
* Uncle Sam's Best Sites: Research resources from the US Government
* East of the Rockies: Sites for finding Eastern ancestors
* Western Research Roundup: Help researching in the Western United States
* O Canada: Great places to find Canadian roots
* African-American Roots: Resources for tracing African-American ancestry
* History Lessons: Where to learn about social history
* A Nation of Immigrants: Sites for researching immigrant ancestors
* Great Britain Expectations: Help for genealogists with UK and Irish roots
* European Ops: Sites for researching in Continental Europe
* High-Tech Tools: Online tools that make genealogy easier
* Share and Share Alike: Places for genealogists to gather and share online
Within each category, the top websites are listed alphabetically. There is no list from 1 to 101 - only a number of websites in each of the 13 categories.
My observations:
The emphasis seems to be on websites that provide databases and information about specific topics, although there are some purely social networking and family tree sites (like www.Geni.com, www.SharedTree.com and www.TribalPages.com that don't have "databases") on the list. I didn't see www.MyHeritage.com on the list, and it offers a super surname search engine plus free family tree features.
There is at least one links site - www.CyndisList.com - but I didn't see any of Joe Beine's sites on the list (which are indispensable to me). Likewise, there are no podcast (Genealogy Gems, Genealogy Guys) or videocast (Roots Television) sites on the list.
I saw only one blog - The Ancestry Insider - on the list (and why in the High-Tech Tools section?), since there was no category for news and opinion. Of course, Family Tree Magazine provided a list of the Top 40 Genealogy Blogs earlier this year.
There are several websites that are not specifically for genealogy research on the list (e.g., Facebook, Diigo, Evernote), but are used extensively by genealogists to pursue their research.
What other FREE genealogy website wasn't listed that you think should have been listed, and why? Which website was listed that you think should not have been included on the list?
The September 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine contains the 2010 list of the 101 Best FREE Genealogy Websites. The site says:
"In a bumpy economy, is there any more welcome word than free? When we took a break from checking our credit-card balances and 401(k) accounts to consider this year’s 101 Best Websites, the theme was as obvious as the lint in our wallets: the best free genealogy sites."
The websites are listed by category:
* The Big Picture: Big, free genealogy sites
* Records Resources: Great sources of free online records
* Uncle Sam's Best Sites: Research resources from the US Government
* East of the Rockies: Sites for finding Eastern ancestors
* Western Research Roundup: Help researching in the Western United States
* O Canada: Great places to find Canadian roots
* African-American Roots: Resources for tracing African-American ancestry
* History Lessons: Where to learn about social history
* A Nation of Immigrants: Sites for researching immigrant ancestors
* Great Britain Expectations: Help for genealogists with UK and Irish roots
* European Ops: Sites for researching in Continental Europe
* High-Tech Tools: Online tools that make genealogy easier
* Share and Share Alike: Places for genealogists to gather and share online
Within each category, the top websites are listed alphabetically. There is no list from 1 to 101 - only a number of websites in each of the 13 categories.
My observations:
The emphasis seems to be on websites that provide databases and information about specific topics, although there are some purely social networking and family tree sites (like www.Geni.com, www.SharedTree.com and www.TribalPages.com that don't have "databases") on the list. I didn't see www.MyHeritage.com on the list, and it offers a super surname search engine plus free family tree features.
There is at least one links site - www.CyndisList.com - but I didn't see any of Joe Beine's sites on the list (which are indispensable to me). Likewise, there are no podcast (Genealogy Gems, Genealogy Guys) or videocast (Roots Television) sites on the list.
I saw only one blog - The Ancestry Insider - on the list (and why in the High-Tech Tools section?), since there was no category for news and opinion. Of course, Family Tree Magazine provided a list of the Top 40 Genealogy Blogs earlier this year.
There are several websites that are not specifically for genealogy research on the list (e.g., Facebook, Diigo, Evernote), but are used extensively by genealogists to pursue their research.
What other FREE genealogy website wasn't listed that you think should have been listed, and why? Which website was listed that you think should not have been included on the list?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)