The Genealogy & Family History Social Network

December 2009 Blog Posts (89)

Top Ten Genealogy Software Programs

Genealogy software is a hot topic amongst family historians. Many have opinions and they are often based on personal experience. I am not going to pretend to know all the ins and outs of all the genealogy software on the market. However, if you are in the market for genealogy software and don’t know where to begin then may I suggest the website Top Ten Reviews. If you have narrowed it down to a few then this website maybe able to help… Continue

Added by Lynn Palermo on December 17, 2009 at 8:16am — No Comments

Genealogy Software

Just read an article on "Utilizing Genealogy Software"...I couldn't agree more. I often teach beginner genealogy classes and I do demonstrate how to use a pedigree chart and family group sheet but I always add the comment, "Using the computer to record your genealogy is the best way to go, it has a lot more memory and is much more organized!". Wouldn't you agree?…

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Added by Deanna Ramsey on December 17, 2009 at 8:15am — No Comments

A Lesson in Writing a Narrative Family History

If you are ready to start writing your family history book but not sure how to turn your research into an interesting life story then I have some tips to get you started. How do you write a descriptive, creative, narrative story about your relatives when all you have is a list of dry facts and documents to draw on? How do you turn your facts into a story about an individual you never met?

Believe or not before you begin writing your family history, I am going to suggest more… Continue

Added by Lynn Palermo on December 16, 2009 at 8:54am — 2 Comments

New Records from Argentina, Guatemala, Georgia and Germany

FamilySearch's Record Search has added another round of new records. December 14, 2009 shows records from Argentina, Guatemala, Georgia (USA) and Germany. Here are brief descriptions of the new records:
Read more...

Added by James Tanner on December 15, 2009 at 10:16pm — No Comments

Astronaut Alan Shepard, of Derry, New Hampshire

The first American in space was born in Derry, New Hampshire in 1923. Alan Bartlett Shepard grew up on the family farm, which is now just a house on East Derry Road. He ran errands at Grenier Field (now Manchester Airport) when he was still just a Pinkerton high school student. The Shepard family attended the First Parish church in East Derry, and his father was the organist. He graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis and served during the… Continue

Added by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on December 15, 2009 at 6:30pm — 2 Comments

Revisiting Stadardized Place Names

The latest revisions to New FamilySearch contain some disturbing developments. In the release notes for the New FamilySearch Web Site of December 2009, it states: "In addition to the other information that is required for temple ordinances to be performed, an individual’s record must now have at least the country for birth, christening, marriage, death, or burial. The place-name must be standardized." There are actually two problems with this requirement; first, place names change over time and… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 15, 2009 at 8:53am — 2 Comments

Update on Family History Expo in Mesa, Arizona

January 22nd and 23rd will find me at the Family History Expo at the Mesa Convention Center. I mentioned previously that I have been asked to attend as a Blogger of Honor. I don't mind giving free publicity to the Family History Expo because I thought the one last year was very well done. I put the Blogger of Honor button and the Family History Expo button on my site and you can find them off to the right. Feel free to copy the Family History… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 14, 2009 at 10:04pm — No Comments

My Great Grandmother

Lastnight while in a genie chat me and another chatter goto talking about our family and how the women affected them. This made me remember that my mother had told me about her grandmother Phylis Erke who just passed away in September at 101.

When her husband would take the boys out hunting for deer she'd wait for them to leave and then put some feed out on the porch and then watch from inside the living room and when they'd come up for feed she'd shoot them. Great gramps and the… Continue

Added by Leeann Boone on December 14, 2009 at 5:55pm — No Comments

Insight into Family History Centers

It is commonly reported that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has more than 3,500 Family History Centers around the world. What does this actually mean to those interested in genealogical research? First of all, the main repository for genealogical information collected by the Church is located at the Family History Library and other storage facilities in and around Salt Lake City, Utah. The local Family History Centers are branch facilities of the Family History Library.… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 14, 2009 at 7:54am — No Comments

Another Poem

Genealogist's Dilemma

While looking up my family tree

A horrid sight there I did see

This horse thief stared right down at me

I turned around and tried to flee

Please stop he called I'm Great Gramp Bob

And horses just my side line job

Don't be too quick to be a snob

With the elite I did hob nob

Please do not hide this sad research

I was a pillar of the church

Until I did our name besmirch

And toppled from my lofty… Continue

Added by Leeann Boone on December 13, 2009 at 11:26pm — No Comments

What I Found On Einar HELDAHL Thanks Just M On Looking4kin.com

1930 WI state census for Sina: 1930 wife of head of household lived in Milwaukee,Milwaukee,WI wife of Henry S. Heldahl mother Einar who was 6 in 1930. Approximate DOB 1899. She was the first mother in law of my great aunt Helen.

Added by Leeann Boone on December 13, 2009 at 7:28pm — No Comments

Fletchers of Northfield Minnesota

My GG Grandfather was William Fletcher wife Alsemena Waffle married in New York 1850 moved to Northfield in 1855. Had 5 children one was my G Grandfather Wilard Jay Fletcher b:1861 Northfield m: Calista Sommers had 2 boys Clifford and Russel Jay b:1898 Northfield my Grandfather. Looking to find any of his cousins and fill in a lot of the blank spaces and brick walls. Look forward to any replys and hope I can be of some help to others as well.
Valerie ;-)

Added by Valerie Schweers on December 13, 2009 at 5:48pm — No Comments

Major changes to New FamilySearch

After two consecutive Beta test runs, FamilySearch has introduced some more major changes to the New FamilySearch program. Anyone, even if you cannot register yet for New FamilySearch, can see the changes. Just click on the News and Updates link from the home screen.

Chief among the many changes is the introduction of the Family Tree interface, long available on the Labs.FamilySearch.org Website. By clicking a Change View button from the familiar Family Pedigree (3 generation) view… Continue

Added by James Tanner on December 13, 2009 at 4:45pm — No Comments

Samuel Eliot Morison’s Nutfield Connection

My daughter lives in Back Bay, Boston. It’s a lovely neighborhood for walking, and my favorite section has always been the Commonwealth Mall. It’s a green oasis in the city, a long avenue divided by a green park dotted with statuary of famous Bostonians. I had never examined these statues up close until recently, when I noticed that all the statues seemed to be literary figures. One of my favorite statues is that of Samuel Eliot Morison.

Morison… Continue

Added by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on December 12, 2009 at 6:15pm — No Comments

Mrs. SOULE Oliver Lee Henderson, b1899 W-S NC, b CLT NC

What is her Soule lineage? She was born after the book "Lee Family of Virginia" by Edm. Jennings Lee, Esq., was published listing her older siblings; Charles Carter Lee, of Rocky Mount, N.C., LtCol Robert Henry "Marse" Lee b1890, West Point classs of 1912; and Mrs. Lillian Virgina Woollen Lee. Their youngest sister, Mrs. Lillim Elizabeth "Muttie" Woollen Lee, reared her twenty years younger sister, Ruby Valerie "Tee" Woollen (Miller), b1885, my grandmotherr. Lillian's Husband was book salesman… Continue

Added by James Alfred Locke Miller Jr. on December 12, 2009 at 1:38am — No Comments

Interesting Facts about the 1881 British Census

Interesting details discovered during the process of indexing the British 1881 Census. (Found in the Ensign magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, March 1996, p. 58.)

* The wife, mother, and daughter of James Christmas were all named Mary Christmas

* Frank Guest was listed as a visitor

* Harriet Goodhand was listed as a domestic servant

* The families of William Lovegrove, Henry Dearlove, and William Darling all lived on the same… Continue

Added by Leeann Boone on December 11, 2009 at 7:45pm — No Comments

More Poems

BEETHOVEN'S NINTH

A tourist in Vienna is going through a graveyard and all of a sudden he hears some music. No one is around, so he starts searching for the source.

He finally locates the origin and finds it is coming from a grave with a headstone that reads: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770- 1827. Then he realizes that the music is the Ninth Symphony and it is being played backward! Puzzled, he leaves the graveyard and persuades a friend to return with him. By the time they arrive back at… Continue

Added by Leeann Boone on December 11, 2009 at 7:43pm — No Comments

Genealogy Poems

Found these while surfing the web. I'll posting in multiple entries since I found alot I'd like to share.

"From those women and men

of great spirit, intelligence, and strength

who came before us and said 'yes' to life,

may we embody the best of their qualities.

In gratitude for their lives lived,

let us now continue to build a world

based on love, and on our inherited wisdom

about the oneness of the Creator and of the Creation

in all its… Continue

Added by Leeann Boone on December 11, 2009 at 7:15pm — No Comments

Need Translation

For this memorial in Belgium: http://www.schoonselhof.be/2bfredegandus/boon.html

Added by Leeann Boone on December 11, 2009 at 3:07pm — 3 Comments

Technology Tip: How to create a font of your own handwriting

Writing a letter or typing an email just got personal again.

Reading a hand-typed letter from a loved one just does not have the personal touch of a handwritten letter. I have some beautifully-written love notes that my great-grandparents wrote to each other before they were married. Imagine if these notes were typed by a computer?

With this new technology, you can (almost) have the best of both worlds. FontCapture will turn your own handwriting into your personal font… Continue

Added by Geoff Rasmussen on December 11, 2009 at 11:56am — No Comments