A FamilySearch press release from today tells the story. I highly recommend that the FamilySearch Research Wiki becomes an integral part of your research plan.
“The FamilySearch Wiki published its 100,000th genealogical research article. The free online reference tool helps answer many common questions you might have when searching for ancestors in historical records worldwide. Each wiki article is written and updated by research specialists at the FamilySearch Family History Library and from the global genealogical community. The FamilySearch Wiki content continues to grow by about 100 articles per day. Check it out now at FamilySearch.org/wiki.”
I make use of it most days in my work. It’s a great way to learn more about records in FamilySearch and other places that deal with cities, counties, states, provinces, and countries. Then there are the pages for topics like naturalization, passenger records, vital records, and tons of others. It’s not merely a recitation of available records but also includes learning about the process.
From Daniel Horowitz at MyHeritage “on the eve of the release of the 1950 U.S. Census, MyHeritage launched a super useful tool to help get you started with your census research: Census Helper™. . . It now includes censuses from all over the world, not just from the U.S.; its algorithms got smarter, providing more precise results; and its interface was improved, including the addition of sorting and filtering capabilities — making it easier and more convenient than ever to methodically research your family in census records from across the globe. Census Helper™ now includes nationwide censuses from the United States, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Denmark, and Norway.”
All these aids to finding our families in censuses are amazing and this one is free! I have some more people to find!
Have you heard of DeadFred? It’s a cool website and Facebook page for searching our lost family history in photos. We can contribute photos and also search for what others have contributed. We might find a missing photo of a relative. Even better, it is free. I have known about DeadFred for many years because the man who spearheads this site is located in beautiful Northwest Arkansas which is the birthplace of my late father-in-law. The wonderful creator of DeadFred, Joe Bott, shared this history:
“Once upon a time” actually the seeds were planted in 1965 when I was in the Navy I started collecting vintage photos , fast forward to now and I have accumulated over 27,000 vintage photos mostly through donations, some from yard sales, junk shops, antique stores and the trash that people find and send. DeadFred began in 1998 and since then has reunited over 3,000 ancestors photos to relatives. There is no cost. DeadFred is a free website and sends the found photos (that are owned by DeadFred) home free. Anyone can copy photos to their hard drive for private use. We run DeadFred on donations and google ads. Volunteer/Associates Amanda Shertzer, Daniel Lawson, & Jeannette Balleza Collins help maintain the site while I do the scanning, correspondence and speak at genealogy societies meetings. Presently we are recruiting volunteers to help scan photos as we have over 14,000 in queue waiting to be scanned and posted to the Archive.
Our soul mission is to reunite ancestors’ photos with their families, we do not focus on profits which we have not had since we started. Although keeping enough in the piggy bank to ward off problems would be a welcome new event, DeadFred spreads awareness via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.”
Did you note the word donations? Scroll down on every page for the donate button.
MEET THE FREDS! We had our quarterly get together at a local eatery in Fayetteville Arkansas. Coming up with mind bending great things for you in the future. Daniel our Digital & Design guru is on the left, Jeannette our Brilliant Scribe/PR /Person who keeps all of us front & center on his right, Amanda Our Cornerstone Code Poet, and Framer of Dead Fred’s original database Joe (aka Deadfred) Shaggy bearded guy behind Amanda. Just wanted to know who’s who on Fred. But last and not least there’s YOU who tell us how wonderful we are which causes us to go out to buy new bigger sized hats for our heads expanding. Thank you.
Summertime for me means The Celtic Connections Conference that is offered every two years. In 2022 I can learn virtually as I sit in my air-conditioned office. I am also doing one presentation.
The following paragraphs are from the CCC website. The Celtic Connections Conference (CCC) was founded in 2014 by The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA) and the Irish Genealogical Society International (IGSI). Held every two years, the conference brings together well-known international and domestic speakers who present on Irish, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and Welsh topics.
The conference tracks:
Researching the Celtic Diaspora: Learn about the scattering of Celtic peoples across the globe
Emigration and Immigration Patterns: Explore where ancestors came from and where they went
Unique Research Resources: Look into distinctive and often overlooked resources
DNA: Identify new strategies for using DNA
Methodologies: Explore approaches to help you on your journey home
Case Studies:
Discover how to apply new developments and techniques in Irish genealogy
This announcement from FamilySearch is three days old. I am catching up after spending most of the last couple of weeks working on the syllabus for two courses at GRIP. When I needed something else for my brain to do, I would do some of the reviewing in the 1950 census for places and surnames in Minnesota. I find this addicting and don’t know why! I suggest you do the same via FamilySearch and Ancestry. To participate on https://www.familysearch.org/ click on the 1950 census banner on the opening page or click on the Get Involved tab at the top.
New! Nevada is now published! Census records for 7 states are now available for searching on FamilySearch and Ancestry!
· Delaware
· Nevada—New!
· New Hampshire
· Rhode Island
· South Dakota
· Vermont
· Wyoming
New! You can now find and review families at the city or county level! Select the state, and then click on the option below the selected state to find families within a county or city. This also works with a specified surname, so finding specific families to review is easier than ever.
Indexed by computers, reviewed by people
States Available for Review: All states other than those published are now available for review. The following states are above 66% reviewed:
· Utah (87%)
· Idaho (73%)
· Arizona (69%)
· New Mexico (67%)
· Oregon (67%)
· Florida (67%)
“Review Families” is the most valuable task to complete for each state because of the grouping of households and detailed fields included. This task takes more time to complete but needs to be done prior to the publication of each state.
Today through April 30th, Newmembers are eligible to save 50% off the regular price for a one-year subscription to the Legacy Family Tree Webinars. What does this mean? The regular price is $49.95. It also means anytime access to the 1,762 webinars covering many topics, ethnic groups, states, provinces, and countries. It gives access to 6,496 syllabus pages. Members get access to the syllabus for each new webinar. Join today via my affiliate link to help support this blog. http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=6984
From a press release received today. It’s a nudge to me to work on my connections to Australia and those are on both of my parents’ lines.
“To make Anzac Day even more meaningful, MyHeritage is pleased to offer free access to our collections of 95 million records from Australia and New Zealand, between 20 April and 26 April 2022 (inclusive).
MyHeritage can help you discover and preserve the stories of your Australian and New Zealander relatives who fought for freedom, or any of your relatives from the region – so seize this excellent research opportunity when the records are free of charge.”
Please join me and these great host organizations for these free presentations. Click on the highlighted link for registration information.
April 19, 2022. Free Webinar Wisconsin State Genealogical Society, Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. CDT. I will be presenting “Did Your Ancestors Join Ethnic Organizations? Finding the Excellent Records” accompanied by an extensive handout.
April 23, 2022. Minnesota Genealogical Society Spring Conference. Saturday. I will be presenting “The Changing World of Genealogy: Things Past, Present, and Future.”
April 28, 2022. Free Webinar on Thursday morning. “Researching Native American Ancestors, Part 2.” I will be presenting “Researching Native American Ancestors” This 2-part seminar will cover the basic methods and sources available for research. The discussion will include the most useful record types both print and online, the importance of historical context, and where these materials can be located in major repositories and online databases. This is being offered by the Fort Myers Regional Library of the Lee County [FL] Library System.
May 3, 2022. Evening Webinar. Boulder Genealogical Society [Colorado] Tuesday evening, 7:00 p.m. MDT, 8:00 CDT. I will be presenting “The WPA Era: A Free Boon for Research.” Limited to 100 registrants.
A 24-hour marathon of webinars is taking place NOW through Legacy Family Tree Webinars. The presentations are free when first given and after a couple days, will be available for 1-week for free.
Most presentations include a handout but those are only available to those who have a Legacy Family Tree Webinars. What does a $49.95 membership do for you?
Access at any time to the library of 1,700+ past webinars
Access at any time to the 6,400+ pages of handouts
5% discount on items in the store
Access to chat logs from webinars
First door prize chance during live webinars
More details at https://familytreewebinars.com/
This makes sense education-wise and budget-wise. Consider joining today and please use my affiliate membership link to help support my own blog. http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1739
At the end of my Native American research webinar for the Boston Public Library, a question was asked about French Canadian and Native research. These are a few links that may be helpful. It’s not my area of expertise but I welcome comments on additional resources to assist researchers.
Faux, David K. Understanding Ontario First Nations Genealogical Records. Ontario Genealogical Society. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 2002.
Russell, Bill. Records of the Department of Indian Affairs at Library and Archives Canada: A Source for Genealogical Research. 2d ed. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 2004.
