Use your Smartphone to Aid your Family History Research

When our bishop,Jason Frazier, has a few minutes to spare, he takes out his smartphone and goes to his Ancestry.com app and does a little family history research. I think that is way cool.

In the old days, when you went to a library or repository to do research, you might have to lug a whole briefcase full of information. In the electronic age, that has mostly changed. Although it is still a good idea to have a pencil and a pad of paper, the up to date researcher will more likely carry a camera, a digital audio recorder, a laptop computer and perhaps a scanner. What happens if you find yourself with some extra time near a research location and don't have all of your equipment with you? Today's smartphone just might save the research opportunity.

The average smartphone is really a sophisticated computer. Most smartphones (and most cell phones for that matter) also have audio recording capabilities and a camera. Some even have high definition video recording capabilities. There are apps for smartphones that let you take all of your genealogical data with you so you can conveniently ckeck your existing file to find out if there is something that can be found in a particular library. Some smartphones have become so powerful, they are taking the place of a laptop for some applications.

Let's go on a hypothetical research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. You didn't plan on having any time in Salt Lake, but a snowstorm has cancelled your flight and you have a couple of extra hours to spend. You quickly go to the Family History Library, but realize that you have none of your normal research equipment or notes. What can you Do? If you have used your smartphone for genealogy in the past, you just might find that you have all the equipment you need to make your unplanned visit a success. First, you search the Family History Library Catalog for information about your ancestors in New York. You find a book in the library that looks interesting and go and pull it from the shelf and start reading. Here is a whole page of information about your ancestory's family. In the old days, you would grab your pencil and start taking notes. With your smartphone you simply pull out your camera and take a picture of the page. Then I suggest that you also take a picture of the books's title page showing the publication information. Now you can either copy those pictures to your computer when you get home, or you can load the pictures directly into a program such as DropBox, and the photos are already on your computer at home. But what about microfilm? You spend some time searching church records in New York and find some interesting information on the microfilm. To record the information, you pull out your smartphone and take a picture of the projected microfilm image.

How about another example. You are on a trip out of state and realize that your trip will take you right by a town where your ancestors lived. You realize you have left all of your research equipment at home. But you also realize that you have your entire genealogy file with all of the references and sources right on your smartphone. You know there is supposed to be a cemetery in this town, and in fact, you had recorded the coordinatges for the location of the cemetery in your genealogy notes. You read through you notes and find the coordinates for the cemetery. You use a GPS app to enter in the coordinates on your smartphone and in a few seconds the program has drawn you a map to the cemetery location. You drive to the cemetery and then use the smartphone's camera, this time to take pictures of the grave markers. You realize that you can upload the burial information directly from your smartphone to an online cemetery database. You can also share the photo with friends and relatives on a number of social networking sites.

On you way out of town, you see a familiar surname on a mailbox. On a whim, you stop to ask if you are related. You find a long lost cousin. You use your smartphone to record the contact information and even record a short video interview with your cousin about your great grandfather.

The Familysearch Center

The FamilySearch Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, is located east of Temple Square in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. This facility is an extension of the Family History Library and is an excellent place for beginning genealogists to start their family research.

The center's 100 computer terminals provide access to several easy to use genealogical programs and databases. Visitors can type in known names and dates of their ancestors and then press a button to see what information has already been compiled on their family.

They may search:

The internet at www.familysearch.org for information and related sites. Compiled databases on compact disc, including Vital Records Indexes with birth, death, and marriage information from various regions of the world.

The Family History Library Catalog for descriptions of records in the Family History Library collection.

Admission to the FamilySearch Center and use of the computers and microfilm workstations are free.

Research supplies such as photocopies, disks, and computer printouts can be purchased for a nominal fee.

Helpful staff and volunteers are trained to give computer assistance and research tips.

The Family Search Center is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The facility is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Groups can be accommodated. To arrance group visits, call 801-240-4673 or fax 801-240-3718.

Hidden Resources on FamilySearch.org

Over the past year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made some grand changes to the classic FamilySearch site located at the following website, www.familysearch.org.

The website has many many courses to teach you how to do research on your own ancestors from the comfort of your own home. When you are on the home page of FamilySearch, click on the LEARN tab at the top. You have three different areas of learning that you can spend hours on; Research Wiki, Resource Courses and Get Started.

If you click on Resources Course, you will be able to view over 140 online videos that have been divided by categories. Whether you are a beginner in family history research or a long time researcher, you will find valuable information. Some of the classes include everything from Beginning Genealogy: 5 Minutes Genealogy, to Russian History, Geography, Records, and Resources and everything in between. There are even several lessons in Spanish. I would take the time to see what is available and to check back often as additional resources are being added all the time. Keep an eye on the category list on the right side of the page so you can jump to a category for quick navigation. This page will also tell you how long each video is so you can plan you time around your busy schedule. The best part of the video series is that once you start viewing the video of the presenter, you will also view the slide show pesentation which is similar to a PowerPoint Presentation to the right. Such a huge amount of information and all of this is provided free of charge and not just to LDS Church members, but to the community as well.

FamilySearch is on Facebook and YouTube. Both can be found at www.facebook.com/familysearch and www.youtube.com/familysearch. Both sites will give you additional nuggets of information to keep you research techniques fresh and up to date.

Birth Announcements in Newspapers

The following article was written by Stacie Duce for the Deseret News and appeared on Thursday, November 17, 2011.

I've been working on a research project that's led me to wander through newspaper archives from the 1920s. The front page articles and writing styles have distracted more than I care to admit and I've found a few things our modern newspapers are tragically missing-birth announcements.

As important as our current obituaries, in the past, birth announcements received just as much ink. The birth of babies of prominent and regular families alike were celebrated with hundreds of words, or sometimes, just a few endearing ones.

Today, we are hard pressed to find birth announcements at all. Parents at our local hospital can chose whether or not to have their baby's birth announcement in the paper and many are declining for the sake of privacy, I assume. One OB nurse I interviewed estimated that only one in five new mothers are choosing to have the vitals of their baby submitted to our hometown paper. Even then, if printed, the information is not archived online.

So for the sake of our posterity and those invested in family history, genealogy or any research project, let's up the importance of publishing and digitally archiving birth announcements along with obituaries and everthing else on the front page on a newspaper.

Another revelation I've had while researching this year is the importance of safe, yet accessible space for historical documents and especially personal histories that memorialize history like no other.

Last summer, I visited several small town libraries in Utah and was impressed to find a treasure trove of personal histories written by hand, photocopied in rudimentary books or professionally bound like novels that were all protected with white gloves and glass walls. Most volumes seemed to be a retirement project or holiday gift to extended family with an extra copy donated to the local library. Even as an outsider, history came alive in colorful fashion when written by the hand of one who lived it.

Recently, a friend let me borrow an original typewritten family history where one of seven sisters with writing talents wrote 200 pages on her family's adventures. Each long chapter was from the perspective of each sibling.

Her writing was vivid enough that I could imagine the details of baby births, house burnings, road building, weekend dances and marriage ceremonies from the early 1900s. Her tales were more telling than any textbook and helped me appreciate the past and present. I wish the stories were available to others, especially school age children. But sady, the solitary version of the book with duct tape as binding sits gathering dust on my friend's shelf.

So, here are a few suggestions for those needing a project while the snow flies:

Record your family's history or create an electronic copy of one previously written.

Put the text on a family website or blog so that the stories will be digitally accessible. (Your middle school aged granddaughter can help you with that, if you have one.)Submit a copy of your work to your local library, the LDS Church's Family History Library, museum or to the Daughter's of Utah Pioneers or Sons of Utah Pioneers.

Do the same with photographs. Buy a scanner for Christmas and have techno-savvy relatives help you scan family photos and publish them online. Or if you don't know what to do with family photographs of local importance, label each one the best you can and donate them to a local organization with safe storage.

Family History Seminar Nov 19th in Riverton

Thousands of local moviegoers have been moved to tears while watching the popular movie 17 Miracles. At this month's Saturday Seminar series at the Riverton FamilySearch Library, keynote speaker and filmmaker T.C. Christensen will share his unique prospectives gleaned from writing, directing, and filming the movie. In his presentation, "17 Miracles in Retrospect," T. C. will share the story of the Willie and Martin handcart companies, their struggles, and the miracles they witnessed as they crossed the plains.
T.C. Christensen has also made several films about the Prophet Joseph Smith. Among these are Joseph Smith: Prophet at the Restoration and Emma Smith: My Story. He also made A Giant Among Men on the life of President Gordon B Hinckley. Other LDS films include Testaments and The Work and the Glory.
T. C has also been involved in many feature films including Rigoletto and Forever Strong as well as IMAX films including Lewis and Clark for National Geographic and Roving Mars for Disney. His short films include The Touch of the Master's Hand, The Pump, Only a Stonecutter, and The John Tanner Story.

Following the 9:00 a.m. keynote presentation, there will be two blocks of four classes that will cover topics of interest to both beginning and advanced family history enthusiasts.
Classes to be held from 10:00 a.m. are:

Searching for Ancestors Step by Step: FamilySearch Wiki Goldmine"-Sheri Lynn Lemon

"Sharing Time: Increasing Productivity on the New FamilySearch Website"-Andrea Schnakenburg

"Archives.com: A Simple Tool for Online Genealogy Rewsearch"Craig Bullough

"Families and the War between the States: Getting to Know Your Civil War Era Ancestors"-Yvonne Curry

The classes available from 11:00 a.m. to noon are:
"Certified Genealogy Software that Makes New Familysearch Easier"-Janet Hovorka

"Hansel and Gretel: Finding and Following Our German Ancestors' Trail Home"-Tammy Stansfield

"The Tired, the Poor, the Huddled Masses, and the Wretched Refuse: U.S. Immigration from 1820 to 1854"-Beth Taylor

"Introduction to legacy 7.5 Tree maker and Legacy Family Search, Part 2"-Carl Holland

Registration is not required for this free seminar. The Riverton FamilySearch Library is located in the LDS Riverton Office Building at 3740 Market Center Drive. The facility is near the intersection of Bangerter Highway and 13400 South, just east of The Home Depot.

Learn More on the Research WiKi

FamilySearch has over 2.5 billion records online, but did you know that by clicking the "Learn More" button feature with each record set, you can connect to additional information about the record sets on the FamilySearch Research WiKi? By clicking on the "Learn More" button you are instantly accessing a wealth of information on the FamilySearch Research WiKi that can add depth and insight to the records you are using for your family history research. While the information provided can vary slightly, there are 10 types of basic information that are provided for each record group including:

COLLECTION TIME PERIOD-This indicates the time period the collection encompasses.
RECORD DISCRIPTION-The description tells the kinds of records a collection contains. If a record collection contains only baptisms and marriages and you are looking for a death record, for example, then looking in this record collection may not be the best place to start.
HOW TO USE THIS RECORD-Have you ever wanted or needed instructions on how to use a record collection? It may sound silly, but it is important to know how to use a particular record collection. FamilySearch Research WiKi provides detailed instrucitons on how to use each collection in an easy to understand format.
RECORD HISTORY-Knowing the historical context in which the records were created as well as the reliability of the records contained in the collection can help in evaluating the records.
RELATED WEBSITES-Familysearch Research WiKi provides links to additonal information for the collection.
RELATED WIKI ARTICLES-If there are volunteer-contributed articles that pertain to a record collection, then the links to those articles are listed here.
KNOWN ISSUES WITH THE COLLECTION-Record collections can have issues and concerns that come up from time to time, and knowing these can help in evaluating records.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS ARTICLE-This is where users can add any information they have on the particular record collection, adding more insight to the records.
CITING FAMILYSEARACH HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS-No more worries on how to cite a record-examples are provided here.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR THIS COLLECTION-knowing the sources of a collection can affect users' decisions about records.

As you can see, FamilySearch.org provides vast collections of records, but the FamilySearch Research WiKi provides added value to those collections by providing more information about them. Click the "Learn More" button while you research, and let the Research WiKi add depth to you family history records.

DID YOU KNOW THAT FAMILYSEARCH.ORG HAS A NEW LEARNING CENTER WITH OVER 300 ONLINE COURSES? From right in your own home, you can learn from the world's best genealogical experts about a variety of family history topics targeted to beginning, intermediate, and advanced genealogist. The "5 Minute Genealogy" videos are infomative and entertaining and are a great way to get a friend who is new to genealogy involved with family history. Share the "5 Minute Genealogy" video series with a friend today to get him or her started with family history reearch.

You may do most of your genealogy work at a computer or by studying in a quiet library, but that doesn't mean that you have to do genealogy alone. Join our new online research communites on Facebook and Skype to ask questions, help others, and learn about all the new activities going on as you research your ancestors in specific regions all over the world.

Camp Floyd State Park

Camp Floyd State Park in conjunction with the Town of Fairfield and the Friends of Camp Floyd will be conducting a re-dedication ceremony of the Camp Floyd Cemetery on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2011, at 5 p.m.

Established in 1858, Camp Floyd housed the largest concentration of United States troops then in the United States. The troops were sent to Utah to suppress a rumored Mormon rebellion which never took place. The army was recalled back east in 1861 for the Civil War emergency.

In the 1960's efforts were made to research death records and restore the cemetery. As original grave markers had been lost to age, the exact location of the graves were unknown. Markers installed in the 1960's were simply placed symmetrically throughout the cemetery. Due to limited research access at that time, many of the markers contained incorrect information.

A detailed research was comiled in 2003 of those buried at Camp Floyd. With new technologies the correct information on the Camp Floyd burials was obtained and documented. A ground penetrating radar was completed in 2008, which located the actual site of the graves. The 1960's grave markers were removed and replaced with up right white headstones to reflect the period of the cemetery.

The re-dedication of the cemetery will commemorate the history of Camp Floyd and honor those veterans buried there. The event will conclude with the Utah Civil War Association performing drills and a fire squad salute. The dedication will be followed by a fireworks show provided by Lantis Fireworks & Laser of Fairfield, Utah. Hot drinks will be provided with bon fires to keep warm. Those attending are asked to bring two non-perishable food items to be donated to the local food bank.

Camp Floyd State Park is located in the town of Fairfield, 22 miles southwest of Lehi on State Highway 73. For more information about the event or park, please contact the park at 801-768-8932.

Finding Pioneer Cemeteries in Winter Quarters

Several noted historians will discuss pioneers who lived in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and the surrounding Iowa settlements at the upcoming "A Prairie Pioneer Legacy: A Family History Conference."

The focus will be on the period of 1846-1853 and the genealogical research for those pioneers. The conference will be at the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters, 3215 State Street in Omaha, on October 29 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Among the speakers will be local historian Bob Sharp.Sharp's specialty is rather unusual-he looks for Mormon pioneer cemeteries.

Bob and his wife, Martha, are members of the Historical Pioneer Research Group, which is sponsoring the conference, and have been among those responsible for finding more than 100 early settlements in the Middle Missouri Valley belonging to the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In each of those settlements people were born, got married and died. To find out more about them, Bob Sharp has been hunting for the graves of those who died to help piece together the puzzle of those family histories.

As the cemetery specialist for the Historic Pioneer Research Group Inc, Sharp directs field work using ground penetrating radar and has found several cemetery sites. One of his recent finds was the gravesite of the Abel Galland family in the community of Falland's Grove.

Galland, a veteran of the War of 1812, founded this small settlement in 1848, the first in Shelby County. He found a place where honey was produced in large amounts. He became a successful merchant selling honey to California gold seekers and other pioneers passing through. His large farm included acres of black walnut, a hard wood that was highly valued and sought after for railroad ties and rifle stocks.

It was purely by chance that sharp found the graves of Galland and his family. He was vititing the site of the church Abel had built, and a woman also visiting the site mentioned she had a journal of a family member married in that church. When he read her account he noted the young newlyweds left the church walking "by the graves." Sharp then used ground penetrating radar to find the Galland family.

Members of the Historical Pioneer Research Group, Western Iowa Pioneer Cemetery Association and the Harrison County Genealogical Society along with two Scout troops worked to build a 100 foot brick walkway from a monument at the site where early LDS pioneers built meetinghouses. Behind that was the Galland's Grove Cemetery where Abel and his wife and cildren are buried.

Sharp will have many such finds to share at the Family History Conference. It is free and open to the public. Other speaker include noted pioneer historians Susan Easton Black from brigham Young University, William Harley who has retired from BYU, Mormon Battalion Trek expert Kevin Henson from Michigan, and a host of local historians and genealogist who can help provide answers about family history.

New Family History Website for Youth

You can go to the new family history website for youth by going to the website www.lds.org/fhy or www.lds.org/familyhistoryyouth. This is a website developed by the church to aid the youth of the church in learning and doing family history for their own ancestors. The websites teaches youth how to do family history in five easy steps.

In the October 2011 general conference, Elder David A. BEdnar told us that our youth were prepared to be on earth at this time. He said, "Your fingers hve been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord-not just to communicaste quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are a preparation to contribute to the work of salvation." He invited children and youth of the Church "to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah and to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead and to help other people indentify their family histories." Elder Bednar promised that through participation in family history efforts, young people would "be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives."

Ward councils can strengthen children and youth by encouraging them to discover their ancestors, serve others by taking part in family history and temple work, and experince the blessing that result from particpation in this great endeavor. Ward leaders can encourage youth to act on Elder Bednar's invitation by using the resources found on the new youth family history websites.

Seven Million Records Added to Family Search

More than seven million records and images have been added to FamilySearch this week. The largest collection includes more than five million images added to the Philippine, Civil Registration, 1945-1980.

Thousands of images were also added to collections from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Spain and the U.S. states of California, Florida, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon and Utah. New records were added for collections from Arkansas, Indiana and North Carolina. To search these collections or to volunteer to index, please go to the familysearch website at www.FamilySearch.org.

Inside the Utah State historical Society

When it comes to photos and artifacts of Utah's history, the Utah State Historical Society has it. Located at the historic Rio Grande Depot at 300 South and 400 West in downtown Salt Lake City, the state has preserved hundreds of thousands of photos and historic items. Doug Misner and michele Elnicky of the Sociey shared some of the hisoric treasures held within this treasure chest. They brought out one photo of LDS Church President Brigham Young, his tow counselors in the First Presidency, and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve. This photo was taken in 1868 by Charles Savage. The glass negative was found in the home of George M Ottinger's son at 273 F Street. Ottinger was a Utah painter who was an early partner of Savage between 1862 and 1867. Many recognize this historic photo, but it us usually cropped to only show about a third of the image. The parts of the photograph that are usually cut out give interesting glimpses into that moment when the photograph was taken. In the background is Brigham Young's schoolhouse. A young man and young women peak from behind the tent backdrop set up for the photo. The Ottinger family, back in 1964, gave nine boxes of photos and negatives to the state.

Another treasure at the Utah State Historical Society is the Savage Portrait Collection. If you are looking for a photo of a relative that lived in Salt Lake in the 1920's, this collection has over 19,000 photos with names of the individual portraits. An index can be found on line at history. utah.gove/research and collections/index. If you want to see photos of building, people and events, you can look at the Shipler Collection of over 100,000 images, or Clifford Bray, City Engineers Office, or peoples of Utah photo collections. Some 50,000 plus images are currently on line. The Utah State Historical Society is more than just photographs. It houses historically significant objects as well. For example, if you were ever wondering what happened to early Utah attorney, legislator, and later, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, George Sutherland's desk, it is in the basement at the Rio Grande. It keeps company with Kennecott mining giant Daniel C. Jackling's World War 1 uniform. Early Utah films of river rafting, skiing and parades are also there.

One of the most well used resources in the collection is the city directories, which goes from the late 1850's to present. The directories show the names, addresses and occupations of the residents of the city. Later, after people began to get telephones, these directories included phone numbers. They also have other major Utah cities in the collection. Not many people know about the Sanborn maps that started in the mid 1860's and ran into the late 20th century. The maps show every street and every building or home, including what they were made of and their dimentions. The maps were used by insurance companies to define individual insurance rates.

If you want to see a few thousand photos of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, they are on their website. Another well used section is the yearbooks of Utah's high schools and universities. Many of them go back to 1900. If you can't find a printed item you want you can check the State Archives that shares the research center with the Hisorical Society at the Rio Grande. Both organizatins are happy to assist with your search for early documents and records.

Real Neat Information on Family History Research

It was done already. That's why Sean Sullivan, 57, never did much family history, until the Provo resident discoverd he was related to Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Sean Sullivan made the connection on Relative Finder, a free Facebook application that uses data from FamilySearch.org to show how users are related to friends and famous people Since then, he has spent hours, logging 40 hours in one week, digesting ancestor research online. This year family history viewers have topped 149 million, based on website statistics from Compete.com, as users, typically aged 45 and older, seek out connections to relatives.

More than 100 million records will be made available this year via companies like Salt Lake City based FamilySearch International, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Provo based Ancestry.com Inc and Palo Alto, California based Archives.com. Part time ancestral sleuths are turning to the internet to find their progenitors, with companies trying to keep up with a growing market. "Stuff keeps changing on FamilySearch almost daily, "Sullivan said. "You go back today and look at a family line, you may find it goes back deeper than it was last week, or even yesterday. For some reason I hadn't tapped into it before." With more interest in the market, there is a scramble to gather content in order to keep up with the growth. This has even led to major partnerships, including FamilySearch partnering with Ancestry to digitize the content in the LDS church's Granite Mountain Records Vault, where only 20 percent of the 4 billion records have been digitized.

FamilySearch's total searchable names have risen 15 percent to 2.3 billion this year, after a 54 percent jump in 2010. FamilySearch will open its third data center in Kansas City. The 63,000 square foot building will house computer servers that contain digitized documents. The site also allows users to share findings, adding a social aspect that enhances the searching experience and ensure the names in their family tree are accurate. Only 10 percent of the site's visitors are members of the LDS church. The vast mahority of the records of the world are still offline and are not searchable by computers as yet. Familysearch's name indexing uses 125,000 volunteers which are able to do the indexing 40 times faster than previously was done.

Riverton and Salt Lake Family History Classes

"Marriages, Death, Divorce and Munchkins: Grandma Poff's Legacy of Love and Family History" is the title of Dan Poffenburger's keynote address at 9:a.m. on September 17 at the Riverton FamilySearch Library. Pottenburger, a senior content strategist for the patron services division of the LDS Church's Family History Department, credits his Grandma "Poff" for his love of family History.

She was a devout Baptist, the daughter of parents with seven marriages between them. She was also an orphan, who turned tragedy into triumph, and the lessons she taught have inspired young and old for generations. He has been researching professionally for 23 years and is accredited in England research by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). After his presentation, there will be two blocks of one-hour classes. At 10 a.m., the classes include: "Lassie! Go for Free Genealogy Help!" by Robert Raymond; "City Directories: More Than Names and Addresses" by Jason Harrison; "Using State Archives and Local Libraries Online" by Luana Darby and "Everything You wanted to Know about Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com), by Bret Petersen. At 11 a.m., the classes include: "Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.Com" by Chista Cowan; "U.S. Land Research" by Beth Taylor: and "Research Strategies and Websites" by Diana Toland: and "Everything You Wanted to Know about Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com" by Bret Petersen. The seminar is fee and registration is not required. The Riverton FamilySearch Library is at LDS Riverton Office Building at 3740 Market Center Drive at the intersection of Bangerter Highway and 13400 South, just east of The Home Depot

A seminar on Enland intermediate research will be held on September 17 at the Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake City. Classes include: " Records of the Poor" at 9 a.m.; "Probate Records & Indexes" at 10 a.m.; "Practice Time" at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; "Nonconformist Church Records" at 1 p.m.; and "Pre-1837 Research Strategies" at 2 p.m. Other mid-week classes include "English Census Records and Indexes" at 1 p.m. on September 15; "Church of England Records and Indexes" at 2 p.m. on September 22; and "Finding English Pre-1837 Marriages" on September 29 at 1 p.m. To view the class schedule online, go to www.familysearch.org. The library is located west of Temple Square on West Temple between North Temple and South Temple Streets in downtown Salt Lake City. On Saturdays, parking is free to library patrons and is located behind the Church History Museum. To register for these free classes, send an email to FHLClassReg@familysearch.org or call 1-801-240-4950.

Ancestry.Com Releases the 1930 Mexico National Census

Ancestry. Com, the world's largest online family history resource, announced a significant addition to its growing collection of online Mexican and Hispanic historical records. With nearly 13 million records, the newly available 1930 Mexico National Census (El Quinto Censo General de Poblacion y Vivienda 1930 Mexico) is the most comprehensive historical Mixican census available online., It is estimated that this census counted approximately 90 percent of the population, therefore for nearly 30 million Americans who can trace their families to Mexico, it provides a valuable gateway to begin researching Mexican family history, especially if family, vital or religious records are lost.

Mexico's first formally recognized federal or national census was taken in 1895. Starting in 1900, censuses were taken every 10 years, making the 1930 Mexico Census the fifth official government census, or formally the Fifth General Census of Housing and Population. This particular census is significant in Mexican history as federal officials sought to make it a vehicle for national unity. A successful campaign urging citizens to take part as a civic duty resulted in an extremely high participation rate-primary reason why the 1930 Mexican Census is considered the best Mexican census conducted in the 20th century. The 1930 Mexico National Census provides a wide spectrum of details about individuals and families and can offer valuable insight into their lives. In addition to demographic data such as name, age, gender, birthplace, address and marital status, the census form also recorded nationality, religion, occupation, real estate holdings, literacy and any physical or mental defects. The millions of records in the collection reveal some interesting statistics about life in Mexico in 1930: 1. The most common given female name was Maria and the most common given male name was Juan. 2. The three most common surnames were Hernandez, Garcia and Martinez. 3. Nearly 18 percent of the population were recorded as single, 11 percent were civil and church marriage, 10 percent were church marriage and 8 percent were living together without marriage. 4. The four most populous Mexican states were Puebla, Veracruz, Jalisco and Oaxaca. 5. Famous Mexicans found in the collection include Maria Felix (1914-2002), who was among the best known Mixican actresses and Carmello Torres Fregoso (1927-2003), a renowned bullfighter who later became a successful businessman. "As the United States is home to the second largest Mexican community in the world, Mexican-Americans comprise 10 percent of the total U.S. population therefore it is fitting that the world's largest online family history resource now has an expansive collection to serve this important demographic," said Josh Hanna, Ancestry.Com Executive Vice President. While the 1930 Mexico Census is the newest and largest collection of Mexican records on Ancestry.Com, there are a number of other collections that may be helpful when conducting Mexican family history research, including Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1957; Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico, Selected Parish Records, 1751-1880; and the Spanish-American Family History Guide. To start researching the 1930 Mexico Census for free, please visit www.ancestry.com/Mexico.

How to Read Old English Handwriting

One of the best websites to learn how to read old English handwriting is www.NationalArchives.gov.uk/paleography. The use of the website is free and has many tutorials that will help you learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in English between 1500 and 1800.

At first glance, many documents written at this time look illegible to the modern reader. By reading the practical tips and working through the documents in the tutorials in order of difficulty, you will find that it becomes much easier to read old handwriting. This website has many many documents to practice on to improve your reading skills of old English handwriting.

You will be able to practice your reading skills of old English handwriting for the 16th century, the 17th century and the 18th century. To the surprise of some, after 1733 official documents were written in English. Before that time, official documents were written in Latin. The website has tutorials to teach you to read Latin.

The website also teaches your about dates. 1752 was the first year in England to officially begin on 1 January. Until the Calendar Act of 1752, the year in England began officially on 25 March (Lady Day), and not 1 January (even though this was when New Year's Day was celebrated). Arabic numbers were not used in England until the 16th century, and even after then Roman numerals continued to be used.

Millions of Records Added to FamilySearch Collection

More than six million images were added to five Mexico collections on FamilySearch.org in August 2011.

Additions were also made to collections from six other counries, including more than 500,000 parish register records from England and more than 250,000 images from Belgium, Oost-Vlaanderen, parish Registers, 15988-1799.

More than 1.8 million images were added as part of a new collection from the Russia Tver Church Books, 1722-1918.

New records and images are also available from Peru, Nicaragua and eight U.S. states: Maryland, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.

Relative Finder is a New App for Facebook

BYU computer science students have developed a new app for Facebook called Relative Finder. This app downloads your family tree from New FamilySearch and then combs it for ancestors you have in common with famous people or your facebook friends who have also installed the app.

This is a real fun app to use and it helps you to do your family history at the same time. It can also become a bit addictive.

On another note, Peggy Sorenson has come up with a neat way to use Google Translate which is a free Google app. She has a relative in Sweden who wants to correspond with her but only speaks Swedish and Peggy speaks English. Peggy writes a letter in English and then uses Google Translate to translate the letter into Swedish. When she gets a letter from her relative in Swedish she uses Google Translate to change the letter into English.

When we think about this idea for a minute, we can come up with many ways to use it to do research in family history. For example, if we are looking at records in German or Spanish for example, we can type the record into Google Translate to get the text into English.

FamilySearch Research Wiki

The great power of a Wiki especially if it is about family history:

What if you could have available at your fingertips an online guide, like an encyclopedia, for genealogy that covered almost every aspect of family history, from German church records to delayed birth records to Social Security applications?

What if that guide was free to use and you knew that members of the genealogy community--those who do research day in and day out--were those who had contributed to the guide?

What if this guide allowed your genealogy society to have an instant internet presence and allowed your members to contibute information and articles based on you own areas of expertise and research experience?

What if you could add valuable information that you've discovered, such as where to find archived newspapers for Lewis County, New York, or what substitute records exist for Chicago vital records destroyed by the Great Fire of 1871?

What if this guide constantly grew with new content and continually became better and more accurae as a result of frequent updates?

Focusing on concepts such as collaboration and sharing pushes the worry of using a wiki out of the picture and demonstrates how the Family Search Research Wiki can be a useful tool in family history research.

We live in a time in which we are blessed to have tools and technology that make collaboration and sharing easier. With wikis like the FamilySearch Research Wiki, delivery and sharing of information is faster and the ability to reach thousands if not millions of researchers is much greater.

Utah Genealogical Association Summer Conference

The Theme for the Summer Conference of the Utah Genealogical Association is Our Family-Our heritage. The conference will be held August 19-20 at the Larry h Miller Campus of the Salt Lake Community College at 9750 South 300 West, Sandy, Utah. The UGA conference will combine excellent presenters and classes with technology training and hands on classes in the computer labs. There will be a total of 144 classes over the two days at beginning and advanced levels. The vendor drawing will be exciting with two notebook computers and 6 Ancestry.com memberships as well as may other wonderful prizes.

PRICING:

$10 each day

$15 for both days for UGA members

$45 for both days and a UGA membership

$40 for both days and a UGA membership extension

A few voluntgeers are still needed. Come for free by signing up on the website. Limited quantities of the printed syllabi will be available on a first come first served basis. To register go to www.ugagenealogy.org

Riverton FamilySearch Library Saturday Seminar August 20th

FREE SEMINAR ON FINDING YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE USING A THREE-WORD JOURNAL

The Riverton FamilySearch Library Hosts Event on August 20th from
9:00 a.m. to Noon

RIVERTON, UTAH have you wanted to keep a journal of important life events, but just don't have the time? Family history enthusiasts will want to take advantge of a free seminar to be held on Saturday, August 20th at the Riverton FamilySearch Library to learn creative ways to accomplish this goal in record time. Keynote speader Randal Wright will be speaking on "The Three-Word Journal:Finding Your Purpose in Life." His presentation teaches you how to recall the meaningful experiences in your life by summarizing each into three well-chosen words in approximately 10 seconds. These three words can later be expanded into a full journal entry that becomes part of your life history.

Randall A. Wright obtained a Ph.D. in Family Studies from Brigham Young University. He has worked with the LDS Church Educational System for many years and also taught in the religion department of BYU. He is the author of several books including: The Three Word Journal; Achieving Your Life Mission; 25 Mistakes LDS parents Make; Protecting Your Family in an X-rated World and The Case for Chastity. He has been a frequent speaker at Education Week and Esecially for Youth. He and his wife, Wendy, live in Austin, Texas, and are the parents of five married children and have 14 grandchildren.

Following the keynote presentation, there will be two blocks of four classes that will cover topics of interest to both beginning and advanced family history enthusiasts.

CLASSES TO BE HELD FROM 10:00 TO 11:00 A.M. ARE:

New FamilySearch Advanced Issues: Part 1 by Cathy Anderegg

Pennsylvania Research, An Overview by Tim Bingaman

The Google Genealogist by Devin Ashby

You sNEWS, You Lose: Using Newspapers in Research by Bret Petersen

CLASSES AVAILABLE FROM 11;00 a.m. TO NOON ARE:

New Family Search Advanced Issues: Part 2 by Cathy Anderegg

Synchronizing PAF 5 Data with New FamilySearch using Ancestral Quest, the Program which PAF was derived by Paul Johnson

Research Strategies and Websites by Diana Toland

FamilySearch and Billion Graves:Family History Sources Right at your Feet by Tim Cross

Rigistration is not required for this free seminar. The Riverton FamilySearach Library is located in the LDS Riverton Office Building at 3740 Market Center Drive. The facility is near the intersection of Bangerter Highway and 13400 South, just east of the Home Depot.

FamilySearch Launches Updated YouTube Channel

FamilySearch has unveiled a newly updated YouTube channel giving viewers an informative, fun and fascinating look at several different aspects of genealogy through a growing number of videos in five playlists.

High-quality videos are available for the rookie genealogist and the seasoned veteran alike. The Genealogy in 5 minutes playlist demonstrates how, in just a few minutes, individuals with little or no genealogy experience can make some headway on their family's history.

The Woven Generations playlist features powerful, personal experiences from those who have found success or inspiraion through family history work.

Additionally, FamilySearch sent camera crews to Virginia, Ohio, California, Indiana and other locations for a closer look at how FamilySearch works with societies and archives to provide access to more records online and to further mutual interests in family history. These vieos can be found in the Societies and Archives playlist.

These videos and others are available at YouTube.com/FamilySearch and can be powerful tools in introducing the excitment of family history to a friend or family member. They will also enrich the life of a veteran genalogist. Check out the videos today and share them with your family and friends!

Indexing in the Ward and around the World

The Highland Park Ward is one of the top wards in the church in indexing thanks to Shirley Harmond and those in the ward who help her. Mary Fox has in the past done over a million names in indexing and there are several in the ward who have done several hundred thousand names.

What is indexing? It is simply making all the records the church has searchable by computer. So, a member working at home on their own computer can go to the internet to the church's website "New Family Search.org", type in a name and some personal information and in SECONDS a search engine will search BILLIONS OF NAMES for the one they are looking for. They can find in SIX SECONDS what would have taken SIX MONTHS several years ago.

How does indexing work? An Indexer goes to the internet to the church's website, "Family Search.org", clicks on indexing at the top of the page and downloads a "batch" (one to fifty names). The indexer types the information from the batch into the form on their computer screen. When the batch is completed it is uploaded back to the church's website. Each batch takes an hour or less to complete. You don't have to finish a batch all at once, but can work on it a few minutes at a time until it is done. You have a full week
to complete a batch.

Even a busy young mother can find a few minutes now and then when the little ones are taking a nap to spend a few minutes indexing. Ask Lois Haraguchi how she feels indexing and making it possible for others to find their ancestors so they can provide the temples blessing for their ancestors.

How to Use New FamilySearch Correctly

George W Scott of Orem, Utah, has just completed a 81 page manuel on how to use New Family Search correctly. This manuel can be downloaded for FREE from his website, www.usingfamilysearch.com. It can also be purchased from Stevenson's Genealogy Center in Provo for $4.25. This is a manual in a spiral binder and is sold at their photocopying cost. Their phone number is 1-800-374-9600, extention 2.