25 years since the unthinkable. 9/11 is in our hearts.

Paula Stuart-Warren  9/11, Federation of Genealogical Societies  , , , ,  Leave a comment

As I write this, the clock shows we have entered 11 September 2026. Twenty-five years ago this morning, the unthinkable happened in our beloved country. Terrorists under Osama bin Laden attacked the U.S. The World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania were the places the terrorists and their planes caused many deaths and much destruction. A loss of almost 3,000 lives.

For many genealogists, it was also the beginning of the 2001 Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. The convention center in Dubuque, Iowa was the site. I was a co-chair of this carefully planned event. We were expecting almost 2,000 people. The local genealogists were our hosts.

Then came the news of the attacks. A hush fell over those already at the pre-conference events and meetings. I will never forget the hush and then the crying of so many friends. I will never forget everyone who pitched in to help. We decided to still hold whatever educational sessions and meals that we could. Those who pitched in to help were among the many who could not return home because all U.S. planes were grounded.

We were protected by city, county, and federal officials. They were not noticeable by their choice. The conference went on, more people arrived by car, speakers drove across the country, hugs and tears were everywhere. About 1,600 genealogists, librarians, historians, vendors, and others ended up taking care of each other, learning from the experts, sharing meals, celebrating FGS, and we were a big caring and saddened family.

I am still close to many of those who pitched in above and beyond anything I have ever experienced. I never want the horror to be repeated, but the goodness that also came out of that week still brings tears to my eyes. Many special friendships were begun or strengthened. I visited Ground Zero in NYC back in 2004 with one of these friends and, of course, more tears for all those who were lost. The loss continues to many families due to so many issues caused by the after effects. I will watch the Commemoration Ceremony later this morning. Check out the website: https://www.911memorial.org/

Next time you meet up with any fellow genealogists, please share a hug.

Almost here: Research Plans: A Hands-On Workshop.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Classes, Minnesota Genealogical Society  , , ,  Leave a comment

An in-person class on research planning is only a few days away in Minnesota. Working on your family history? Not sure about the next steps to take in genealogy research? Not sure what clues some records are giving you and where to go next? Join my in-person class on “Research Plans: A Hands-On Workshop.” Saturday, September 12, 10-11:30 a.m. at the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s Minnesota Genealogy Center in the Twin Cities area. Plus a 5-page handout with reminders of the thinking, analysis, and steps. Some interesting documents for the class, You will truly be surprised at what you already know and what knowledge others in the class know. To Register: https://mngs.org/event-6736162

Webtember is here? A month of Wednesdays featuring free genealogy webinars.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Legacy Family Tree Webinars, Webinars  , , ,  Leave a comment

Webtember happens every Wednesday in September and includes 19 FREE genealogy related webinars. Legacy Family Tree Webinars is offering varied topics by a variety of excellent presenters. Watch all 19, most, or some of them on the Wednesday each is presented. Recordings will also be available through September. I’d appreciate it if you’d register via my affiliate links to help keep this blog running.

Register for any or all webinars: https://familytreewebinars.com/upcoming-webinars?ref=566036&language=english

Subscribe to watch them after September or any of the 2,810 already recorded webinars and the syllabus material for September and the past ones. Only 11, 578 pages already in the syllabus for those 2,810 recordings: https://familytreewebinars.com/checkout?ref=566036

To learn a bit more about Webtember: https://familytreewebinars.com/lp/webtember?ref=566036

Deathindexes dot com updates

Paula Stuart-Warren  Genealogy  , , ,  Leave a comment

One of the several genealogists who keep track of online research material for us is Joe Beine. His Online Death Indexes website (USA) has some newly added or updated death related records links for: AL, AK, AR, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NYS, NYC, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, and WY.

You can find a list of the latest additions and updates on his blog:
https://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/online-indexes-for-death-records.html

Joe has links to these and other types of records state by state (and Washington, DC):  https://www.deathindexes.com/


MyHeritage offering free U.S. and Canadian Census access 2-7 September

Paula Stuart-Warren  census  , , , ,  Leave a comment

Press Release from Daniel Horowitz at https://www.myheritage.com/

“I wanted to give you a heads up that in honor of Labor Day, MyHeritage is offering free access to 928.4 million U.S. and Canadian census records from September 2–7, 2026. This includes 876.1 million records across 54 U.S. collections and 52.3 million records across 15 Canadian collections.

Search U.S. Census records on MyHeritage

Search Canadian Census records on MyHeritage 

The records include every U.S. federal census from 1790 to 1950, along with U.S. state censuses and Canadian national censuses. Your audience can search these records for details about their ancestors’ occupations, households, residences, and more.”

Photo Negatives Of Cheyenne’s Early History Landed In The Dump — tragically

Paula Stuart-Warren  history, Photograph, Uncategorized  , , , ,  Leave a comment

The Cowboy State Daily out of Cheyenne, Wyoming had a recent article that saddened me. It’s another case of history lost. I have been in Cheyenne many times on my way driving to Salt Lake City and the FamilySearch Library and have also researched at the state archives in Cheyenne. One of the most beautiful drives along I-80 through the state is just west of Cheyenne on the way to Laramie. The Curt Gowdy State Forest is beautiful any time of the year. The snow on the trees is especially breathtaking in January but bad weather conditions are not fun. Then there are the mountains through much of the state.

Back to the sad news. The article is probably what could be said of missing history in most states. In this case, I am bugged that the man who last had the photo negatives who ultimately tossed that out like old garbage rather than lower the price. Someone really ticked him off? More reason(s) for the loss? Whatever the reason, the article is interesting and elightening.

Read the full article here.

The importance of digital preservation for churches, historical societies, libraries, organizations, and other entities

Paula Stuart-Warren  Genealogy  , , ,  Leave a comment

What happens when a flood, wind storm, blizzard, fire, or other disaster hits a place with one of a kind records. Think about your own records at home. None of these can be replaced. No one way exists to protect records. The infamous “cloud” can fail you. The place you choose for a backup of records could burn down. We all need to save one of a kind documents in multiple ways. I cringe when I hear of a broken pipe in a library, a fire at a church, or the failure of a backup hard drive. U.S. National Public Radio Station WCBU in Illinois recently shared an article that highlighted the issue and how social media can fail us, too. It may not be a human that determines to delete your records, data, indexes, publications, etc. The full article is online. Susan Kaufman, a good friend and local history genealogy librarian in Peoria, Illinois, is featured in the article. It’s worth a read for everyone.

The Minnesota State Fair and Minnesota Genealogical Society

Paula Stuart-Warren  Genealogy, Minnesota, Minnesota Genealogical Society  , , ,  Leave a comment

Interested in genealogy? Combine that with attending the world-famous Minnesota State Fair. The Minnesota Genealogical Society is sponsoring a booth in the Education Building from August 27 – September 7, 2026. It’s in Falcon Heights, adjacent to Saint Paul.
Stop and see the volunteers from MGS and its partners. Ask questions, learn about additional help, get info about the Minnesota Genealogy Center and the extensive library, and find out about the big North Star Genealogy Conference held on Halloween Weekend. You don’t want to miss that!
I am volunteering in the booth on the afternoon of September 2d. I’d be please to offer lots of free advice as will the other volunteers each day of the fair. We know a lot about Minnesota ancestors, other states, and many countries. All the advice is FREE! MGS https://mngs.org/

Genealogy research plans a bit mystifying? Join this class in Minnesota for a path to understanding and creating them.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Classes, Education, Minnesota Genealogical Society, Research  , , , ,  Leave a comment

Join me at an in-person class on 12 September 2026 at the Minnesota Genealogy Center in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. It’s a suburb outside of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Free parking, too! Research Plans: A “Hands-On” Workshop is hosted by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.

It’s not as simple as opening the refrigerator and seeing that the milk jug is almost empty. Then you simply add it to the shopping list. Planning our shopping list for genealogical research is more involved but not beyond reach. In our research, success improves with planning, discussion, and techniques that develop step-by-step research plans. We need to add the who, what, when, where, and why. Analyzing information, recognizing detail gaps, and creating research goals are key. No need to stare at a census, story, obituary, will, deed, or other item and stress about what’s next in the search.

Learn steps to create a solid step-by-step research plan, including some audience participation. Tips and examples for creating such plan will be included in the presentation and handout. During this session we will work on some specific documents together and compile step-by-step research plans. These group exercises may show that you know more than you think! A short introduction to the use of Artificial Intelligence in research plans adds to our understanding of the analysis, compilation, and then the research. Registration:https://mngs.org/Classes-and-Webinars