Basic Genealogy Class in St. Paul

Paula Stuart-Warren  Classes, Lectures  Leave a comment

On Saturday, September 22nd, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., I will be teaching Tracing Your Family History Online and Off. This class is held at the Minnesota Historical Society. The full class description is:

Do you need a refresher on research basics or are you just catching the genealogy bug? This session assists you in beginning to research your family history or updates what you already have learned. The extensive handout includes an abundance of useful Internet addresses and locations of places to do additional research. The class covers steps to take no matter what your ethnic origins happen to be. (I have at least seven in my background.) The importance of researching the greater family including the siblings of your great grandparents is demonstrated. You never know what surprises their records might hold.

Extensive PowerPoint visuals will show you the wealth of ancestral information found in censuses (1790–1930), records related to births, deaths, marriages, churches, probate, cemeteries, citizenship, and more. You will learn where to find these records both online and off. Some information is wonderfully close to home and – no matter where your family lived. Hear about the ever-changing face of genealogy research and have the opportunity to ask questions. It is never too late to too early to learn more about your family.

Visit the Minnesota Historical Society’s website for cost and registration details. Click on Library and then on Library Classes.

Genealogy TV Show — Top Ratings

Paula Stuart-Warren  TV shows  Leave a comment

How popular is tracing family history? An article in today’s Guardian Unlimited http://www.guardian.co.uk/ tells that the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? drew a 30% audience share that translated to 6.5 million viewers last night.

I never thought I would see such a headline! Not that I didn’t believe it could happen — but to see it prominently placed in a newspaper is what I never thought could happen. To view the entire article, type “genealogy” in the newspaper’s online search box.

Street Name & Numbering Changes

Paula Stuart-Warren  ancestral homes, Ancestry, census  Leave a comment

I recently wrote a column for Ancestry’s Weekly Journal about the difficulty in finding ancestral homes due to street name and numbering changes. It is also posted on Ancestry’s 24-7 Family History Circle at: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1769

When I wrote, I asked for additional comments and thought that you might like to read the reader contributions at the above URL.

Back from Fort Wayne plus future conference dates

Paula Stuart-Warren  Allen County Public Library, Conferences, FGS, NGS  Leave a comment

I arrived back in Minnesota on Wednesday evening. I stayed after the FGS conference ended to research at the Allen County Public Library’s “new” Genealogy Center. What a great place. At the conference, I ran into a lot of genealogy friends from all over — including some fellow Minnesotans. I talked with 3 women who were from Illinois and Indiana — had not seen them in years and years.

This is an update on the 2008 and 2009 national level conferences so that you can add the dates to your future planning calendar.

Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) http://www.fgs.org/
2008: September 3-6, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2009: September 2-5, Little Rock, Arkansas

National Genealogical Society (NGS) http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
2008: May 14-17, Kansas City, Missouri
2009: May 13-16, Raleigh, North Carolina

Slow Blog Week

Paula Stuart-Warren  iT  Leave a comment

It is very possible that I won’t be doing many blog posts this week. I am in Fort Wayne at the Federation of Genealogical Societies/Allen County Public Library genealogical conference. Between presenting lectures, volunteering at the booths of several organizations in the Exhibit Hall, and attending meetings, I may be on overload!

Lectures begin on Wednesday and the Exhibit Hall opens on Thursday after the keynote speaker. There are genealogists everywhere. The Grand Wayne Center has a huge blue banner hanging over one door that simply says “Welcome Genealogists” and the latter word is spelled correctly.

Many of us have already spent hours in the library doing some research. It is really a special research facility. I think I need to spend several weeks here!

Newspaper Indexes and Images Online

Paula Stuart-Warren  Databases, Newspaper Indexes  Leave a comment

A wide variety of newspapers are indexed online and many have a link to the associated images. The majority require a subscription, but some are available at no charge in libraries. These are the links to several from the long list I will discuss over the next few weeks in greater detail:

http://www.ancestry.com/
http://www.genealogybank.com/
Google News Archive Search: http://news.google.com/archivesearch?ned=
http://www.highbeamresearch.com/
National Digital Newspaper Program: www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica
http://www.newspaperarchive.com/
Utah Digital Newspapers: http://www.lib.utah.edu/digital/unews/

In upcoming blog posts I will discuss the contents of each and share comments on the usefulness, search capabilities, and breadth of them.

Everything is all moved

Paula Stuart-Warren  Memorabilia, Moving  Leave a comment

As of Tuesday afternoon, I am all moved. Notice I did not say unpacked! I just know that one of these boxes contains the pen and pencil cup for my desk. The movers were a fantastic group of guys. I did enjoy the look on their faces when they walked into my apartment and saw the multiple rows (stacked 3 high) of boxes. Then I explained that many of them contained my “library.” With all the boxes of reference books, periodicals, electronic equipment, 25 years of client files, lecture files, and stationery items, and all the personal mementos a genealogist saves, they gave their muscles a workout. Of course, I had to browse through boxes of things that were in the back of the closet. I saved many things way before I caught that genealogy bug. I found ticket stubs from date movies, a ticket from a play that was more boring than boring, drawings from my own children and grandchildren, a dried corsage from a prom, poetry written for me, greeting cards, “things” from family vacations, baby books, and a lot of other fun stuff. A couple boxes of old love letters and cards have been taped shut with packing tape — taped around and around. Too many of the grandchildren know how to read. I won’t toss them, but they are not ready to read them quite yet!

More Free Blogs and Electronic Newsletters

Paula Stuart-Warren  Blogs, Free, Newsletters  Leave a comment

A few more free blogs that you can check online and some electronic newsletter that you may choose to be emailed directly to you:

http://www.genealogue.com/ Chris Dunham’s blog that he self described: “Genealogy News You Can’t Possibly Use.” Some of the posts are humorous, others ironic. Is there good genealogical news on this too — YES. I love to read this for both humor and education.

http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/ Randy Seaver’s blog that combines info on his own family digging and pertinent general genealogy info. The right side of the main page contains a lengthy list of other blogs, electronic newsletters, and helpful websites. I have enjoyed reading this one for a while.

http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ Both members and non-members can subscribe to the informative eNews, the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s electronic newsletter. The news is about more than just New England research.