Day 2 of the Midwest Family History Expos:
First I attended James Tanner's "Family Tree has replaced the New Family Search. Are You Ready?". I wasn't quite sure what Family Tree was so this was good and I learned quite a bit. Family Tree is a "program" on FamilySearch's web site where there can be unified individual data, photos and stories, and sources from web sites. So Family Tree is a wiki. It is NOT YOUR family tree; it is EVERYONE's family tree. Everyone can make changes, but you get notified about people who makes changes on your people. You need a login and email to use this, but otherwise it is free. This was introduced in February 2012.
After that I attended two sessions on New York Research by Arlene Eakle. Since I am stuck on my client's New York ancestors, I thought I might get some help. Apparently New York is the hardest state to research as they appear not to have much online. And apparently Irish is the second hardest demographic to research (after African-American), and guess what? There are A LOT of Irish who immigrated to New York, including my client's! The first session focused on early 1700's Western New York research which didn't help me at all. The second session helped slightly more as she gave a couple of web sites that might help, as well as some Family History Center microfilms that might help. No revelations, and no huge New York web site I've been missing so that was a bit of a bummer. But maybe that means I'm thorough.
The last session I attended was James Tanner's Family Search Wiki. Those of us on #genchat had talked about the Family Search Wiki some time ago so I was already somewhat familiar with it. At that time, I had even made some small contributions to it. So I didn't learn as much at this one, but again this was not the presenter's fault. This was a packed room, so maybe I was the only one who didn't learn much. I did learn that Mr. Tanner is a moderator of the Wiki so if you make changes to Arizona and Utah, he is probably going to look at them. Of course, he says almost no one does research in Arizona, which makes sense when you think of the population that retire there.
So overall it was a good conference. I may not have always made the best choices in sessions I attended. There were 5 or 6 choices each time. Family History Expos gives you a CD of the syllabus for EVERY class when you register, which is worth it. About 300 pages of genealogy information on a CD is worth the registration fee, and if you want a printed copy then you pay extra. And I didn't win any prizes but maybe next time! It sounds like they are coming back to central Nebraska next year! Contact me if you have questions about this.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Review of Midwest Family History Expos
This last weekend I went to the Midwest Family History Expos. It seemed like a smaller crowd this year, and maybe a few less presenters, and a few less displays. No one was selling shirts or bags. I wore my "I seek dead people; I'm a genealogist" shirt on Friday and several people commented on it. I could've ordered these from the company and sold several! Note to Fun Stuff for Genealogists (.com), please come next year.
Okay so here is what I picked and attended. At least my genealogy friend from my town who also attended only picked one of the same ones I did!
1. Friday afternoon: Since I have a Flip-Pal Scanner, I started with Philipp Mayer's presentation "How to use the Flip-Pal Scanner to Document your family in 5 easy steps". This course was marked "all levels" but should've been marked as beginner. Anyone who has owned and used their Flip-Pal pretty much knew what was in this presentation. So I didn't learn much, other than I need to update my software and what one accessory does. I don't think this is the fault of the presenter; he did a fine job.
2. Next was James Tanner's "Exploring the Resources of MyHeritage and WorldVitalRecords.com". I went to many of James' presentations as I liked them and I usually learned a lot or at least something. Last year I went to his library presentation which was very informative so I thought I would learn a lot from this one. I was right, as I didn't know much about MyHeritage. MyHeritage has family trees from all over the world in 40 languages, and it has things like smart match, super search and record matches. It sounded like full access costs about $200 a year but it might be worth it if it finds ALL your Findagrave matches in your tree, etc. I think it could be better than Ancestry. I'm going to have to check out MyHeritage. I did download the app while in the class but need to use it.
3. After supper, I took in another of James Tanner's presentations "Setting Goals to Focus Your Research". This was marked as "Experienced" and I'm nearly positive I was the youngest one there, so the others probably wondered HOW I could be "experienced". Well I never got lost, so I think I was in the right place. Some of these tips were familiar, but some were new. The main one I have trouble with is "work on one family at a time". I tend to bounce around, but sometimes I work on one family line one day and another the next so I think that's what he meant.
4. Last on Friday I went to Arlene Eakle's "Basic Sources 1775-1815" class. She mentioned how this is the toughest time period and gave some helpful hints on the order to find records and strategies. For the most part I agreed, other than she says try marriage records first and census records second. I nearly always start with census records as access to them is usually easier (less expensive too). Maybe she can find a lot of marriage records online but states I research usually require ordering them. I enjoyed her class too, although some of this was probably familiar to me.
That was day one. Hopefully I will blog about day two tomorrow. If you want to know more about the presenters, Arlene Eakle has a web site arleneeakle.com with her blogs, and James Tanner blogs and is on Twitter (@genealogysstar).
Okay so here is what I picked and attended. At least my genealogy friend from my town who also attended only picked one of the same ones I did!
1. Friday afternoon: Since I have a Flip-Pal Scanner, I started with Philipp Mayer's presentation "How to use the Flip-Pal Scanner to Document your family in 5 easy steps". This course was marked "all levels" but should've been marked as beginner. Anyone who has owned and used their Flip-Pal pretty much knew what was in this presentation. So I didn't learn much, other than I need to update my software and what one accessory does. I don't think this is the fault of the presenter; he did a fine job.
2. Next was James Tanner's "Exploring the Resources of MyHeritage and WorldVitalRecords.com". I went to many of James' presentations as I liked them and I usually learned a lot or at least something. Last year I went to his library presentation which was very informative so I thought I would learn a lot from this one. I was right, as I didn't know much about MyHeritage. MyHeritage has family trees from all over the world in 40 languages, and it has things like smart match, super search and record matches. It sounded like full access costs about $200 a year but it might be worth it if it finds ALL your Findagrave matches in your tree, etc. I think it could be better than Ancestry. I'm going to have to check out MyHeritage. I did download the app while in the class but need to use it.
3. After supper, I took in another of James Tanner's presentations "Setting Goals to Focus Your Research". This was marked as "Experienced" and I'm nearly positive I was the youngest one there, so the others probably wondered HOW I could be "experienced". Well I never got lost, so I think I was in the right place. Some of these tips were familiar, but some were new. The main one I have trouble with is "work on one family at a time". I tend to bounce around, but sometimes I work on one family line one day and another the next so I think that's what he meant.
4. Last on Friday I went to Arlene Eakle's "Basic Sources 1775-1815" class. She mentioned how this is the toughest time period and gave some helpful hints on the order to find records and strategies. For the most part I agreed, other than she says try marriage records first and census records second. I nearly always start with census records as access to them is usually easier (less expensive too). Maybe she can find a lot of marriage records online but states I research usually require ordering them. I enjoyed her class too, although some of this was probably familiar to me.
That was day one. Hopefully I will blog about day two tomorrow. If you want to know more about the presenters, Arlene Eakle has a web site arleneeakle.com with her blogs, and James Tanner blogs and is on Twitter (@genealogysstar).
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Matrilineal line
Found this idea from a Saturday Night Fun post of Randy Seaver's here: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/10/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-list-your.html
So I thought I would do this today. Yes it's Thursday, not Saturday, oh well. And I have not had my mitochondrial DNA tested; I've just had a total DNA test on Ancestry. There is more on that on another of my blog posts.
My matrilineal line:
a) Beth E. (Jorgensen) Sparrow -- me
b) Betty -- my mom who is still alive
c) Pamelia Julia Regnier (1913 Baca Co. CO -- 2008 Jefferson Co. NE) married Lester Seggerman
d) Katherine "Katie" Dacy (1878 prob. St. Louis MO -- 1949 Jefferson Co. NE) married Roy Regnier
e) Lucy Bridget Crahan/Crane (1838 Ireland -- 1890 prob in NM) married James Dacy
And that's as far as I can go, because then I hit Ireland. And Irish is the second hardest demographics group to research (the hardest is African-American), as per Megan Smolenyak.
My father's matrilineal line:
a) Francis E. Jorgensen (1943 Sidney NE -- 2004 Omaha NE)
b) Mabel L. Foster (1908 Tilden, NE -- 1998 Cambridge NE) married Alfred Jorgensen
c) Edith Adel Hanks (1875 Dodge Co, WI -- 1951 Sidney, NE) married Charles A. Foster
d) Martha E. Fields (1853 New York -- 1933 Tilden, NE) married Charles William Hanks
e) Caroline Cealey (1830 England -- 1914 Tilden, NE) married Jesse Fields
And that's as far as I can go there.
So I have some more work to do on the ladies in my line but it is hard to do that overseas research with limited funds and time and small children.
Please contact me if you are related, especially if we haven't communicated back and forth before.
So I thought I would do this today. Yes it's Thursday, not Saturday, oh well. And I have not had my mitochondrial DNA tested; I've just had a total DNA test on Ancestry. There is more on that on another of my blog posts.
My matrilineal line:
a) Beth E. (Jorgensen) Sparrow -- me
b) Betty -- my mom who is still alive
c) Pamelia Julia Regnier (1913 Baca Co. CO -- 2008 Jefferson Co. NE) married Lester Seggerman
d) Katherine "Katie" Dacy (1878 prob. St. Louis MO -- 1949 Jefferson Co. NE) married Roy Regnier
e) Lucy Bridget Crahan/Crane (1838 Ireland -- 1890 prob in NM) married James Dacy
And that's as far as I can go, because then I hit Ireland. And Irish is the second hardest demographics group to research (the hardest is African-American), as per Megan Smolenyak.
My father's matrilineal line:
a) Francis E. Jorgensen (1943 Sidney NE -- 2004 Omaha NE)
b) Mabel L. Foster (1908 Tilden, NE -- 1998 Cambridge NE) married Alfred Jorgensen
c) Edith Adel Hanks (1875 Dodge Co, WI -- 1951 Sidney, NE) married Charles A. Foster
d) Martha E. Fields (1853 New York -- 1933 Tilden, NE) married Charles William Hanks
e) Caroline Cealey (1830 England -- 1914 Tilden, NE) married Jesse Fields
And that's as far as I can go there.
So I have some more work to do on the ladies in my line but it is hard to do that overseas research with limited funds and time and small children.
Please contact me if you are related, especially if we haven't communicated back and forth before.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Tuesday's Tip: Tools You're Probably Not Using....and Maybe Should Be
Today is Two for Tuesday. Okay that's what it was for me growing up, on the radio they would play two songs by the same artist ALL day in a row.
So Tuesday's Tip: Tools You're Probably Not Using....and Maybe Should Be. These are tools you probably already have, either on your computer or on a web site. Now by computer, I mean the PC/IBM version; you Mac people are on your own.
1. Snipping Tool: These application comes standard on Windows 7 (Vista and 8 also). I hear it's under Accessories; okay I checked it is there. Mine is in my top 10 applications I use so I don't have to find it there. This will take a screen shot and save it to your computer. I first used it for gaming. Now I have found it's also useful for genealogy. Don't want the whole census page? Open Snipping Tool, make a box around the part you want and save to your computer. Will save some paper too.
2. Sticky Notes: Also an application that comes with Windows under Accessories. Tired of writing things on sticky notes and sticking them to your desk or screen? Yep this is the app for that.
3. To Do List on Ancestry.com: I use this instead of the Sticky Note app. Ancestry.com has a To-Do List on the home page. Did you get to researching late at night, and want to note where you left off? Use Ancestry's To-Do List to note which family lines you need to continue working on. Currently mine has about 20 tasks to do on it; I hear you're supposed to delete these (cross them off) when you're done. I don't get to do that very often, if I ever have.
4. Virtual Cemeteries on Findagrave.com: Do you have a hard time remembering where your 3 times great-grandparents are buried? Wouldn't it be great if you could organize them by families? YOU CAN! You can make virtual cemeteries on Findagrave.com so you can save ANYONE'S memorial to your surname group, or your war group or whatever group you want to make. These can also be private or public.
5. Password saver on your browser: As genealogists we probably have hundreds of log-ins. We can't remember all those, but your computer can! Any time I log in with a password to a web site, Google Chrome asks me if I want to save it. If it's a web site I go to daily or weekly, I usually say "no" because I know those. If I go to the site less frequently, I say "yes" because I'm not going to remember it. Better than sticky notes on your screen, in your drawer or a book of passwords. Back when I had a PRN/substitute job, I could NEVER remember my work password, so I wrote it down on a sticky note each time I changed it and stuck it to the back of my ID badge. My badge always went home with me each time so it wasn't the securest form, but I didn't leave it out for anyone to copy either.
I think that's all I can think of now. Next would be applications that are helpful such as Dropbox and Evernote, but maybe that will have to be for NEXT Tuesday. Can you think of any tools? Comment below. I'd be glad to hear them. That's how we learn, by sharing.
So Tuesday's Tip: Tools You're Probably Not Using....and Maybe Should Be. These are tools you probably already have, either on your computer or on a web site. Now by computer, I mean the PC/IBM version; you Mac people are on your own.
1. Snipping Tool: These application comes standard on Windows 7 (Vista and 8 also). I hear it's under Accessories; okay I checked it is there. Mine is in my top 10 applications I use so I don't have to find it there. This will take a screen shot and save it to your computer. I first used it for gaming. Now I have found it's also useful for genealogy. Don't want the whole census page? Open Snipping Tool, make a box around the part you want and save to your computer. Will save some paper too.
2. Sticky Notes: Also an application that comes with Windows under Accessories. Tired of writing things on sticky notes and sticking them to your desk or screen? Yep this is the app for that.
3. To Do List on Ancestry.com: I use this instead of the Sticky Note app. Ancestry.com has a To-Do List on the home page. Did you get to researching late at night, and want to note where you left off? Use Ancestry's To-Do List to note which family lines you need to continue working on. Currently mine has about 20 tasks to do on it; I hear you're supposed to delete these (cross them off) when you're done. I don't get to do that very often, if I ever have.
4. Virtual Cemeteries on Findagrave.com: Do you have a hard time remembering where your 3 times great-grandparents are buried? Wouldn't it be great if you could organize them by families? YOU CAN! You can make virtual cemeteries on Findagrave.com so you can save ANYONE'S memorial to your surname group, or your war group or whatever group you want to make. These can also be private or public.
5. Password saver on your browser: As genealogists we probably have hundreds of log-ins. We can't remember all those, but your computer can! Any time I log in with a password to a web site, Google Chrome asks me if I want to save it. If it's a web site I go to daily or weekly, I usually say "no" because I know those. If I go to the site less frequently, I say "yes" because I'm not going to remember it. Better than sticky notes on your screen, in your drawer or a book of passwords. Back when I had a PRN/substitute job, I could NEVER remember my work password, so I wrote it down on a sticky note each time I changed it and stuck it to the back of my ID badge. My badge always went home with me each time so it wasn't the securest form, but I didn't leave it out for anyone to copy either.
I think that's all I can think of now. Next would be applications that are helpful such as Dropbox and Evernote, but maybe that will have to be for NEXT Tuesday. Can you think of any tools? Comment below. I'd be glad to hear them. That's how we learn, by sharing.
Monday, May 6, 2013
What I learned at NeSGS from an UNofficial blogger
This last weekend I attended NeSGS (Nebraska State Genealogical Society) annual conference with featured speaker Beth Foulk. Beth is from the Kansas City area and volunteers at the Midwest Genealogy Center, which I visited in March.
I enjoyed Beth's presentations; she is fun, provides great outlines and informative. All great to have in a speaker. Plus we share the same first name. I'm not sure if she is an Elizabeth though, as I am not, so we may not share the same given name (which was a small part of her talk).
Beth talked about timelines, beginner mistakes, genealogy book web sites, sourcing and Nebraska settlers. I enjoyed ALL of her topics, but my favorite was probably the genealogy book sites. I also learned a lot about the NEW NESGS.org web site presented by Floyd Smith III.
Check out the all new nesgs.org web site. New features include a calendar where anyone can add events. Beware though, if you try to add a quilting event, Floyd will delete it. Only genealogy events should be added. This should help us have a place where all Nebraska genealogy events can be located online.
Members have special benefits on nesgs.org. Why should I be a member you ask? Well for a mere $20, you can see applications of first family, pioneer family and others. Some of these include much genealogy for a family, as much as 12 pages for one family! Plus you get the Nebraska Ancestree mailed to you. Also you get access to ALL past issues of the Ancestree on nesgs.org so you can search them. Past issues of the New Brass Key will also be online for members. Members can rent microfilm and library books.
What I learned from the genealogy book web sites topic: Well I'm sure you knew (as I did) that there are online books on books.google.com and also Heritage Quest (available through your library). Also Family Search has about 80,000 books on books.familysearch.org and these are all genealogy and history.
BUT the new and big one for me was www.hathitrust.org. They have 16,000 genealogy releated books drawing from about 40 universities. Hathi Trust has over 10 MILLION books online. No need for a Kindle now, just pull up this web site, do a search and pull up the PDF file of what you want to read. Plus on Hathi Trust you can make a list of books, so if you want to save your genealogy books to find later, you can. Note that this list is public so John Doe can see what genealogy books you have saved.
Well I'm sure I have gone on long enough. I always enjoy genealogy conferences, getting to know others who enjoy what I do, learn new web sites and techniques, and having fun. No losing weight though, as there is a lot of eating and sitting. Good food at the Midtown Holiday Inn in Grand Island, highly recommend their mashed potatoes. Yum yum!
I enjoyed Beth's presentations; she is fun, provides great outlines and informative. All great to have in a speaker. Plus we share the same first name. I'm not sure if she is an Elizabeth though, as I am not, so we may not share the same given name (which was a small part of her talk).
Beth talked about timelines, beginner mistakes, genealogy book web sites, sourcing and Nebraska settlers. I enjoyed ALL of her topics, but my favorite was probably the genealogy book sites. I also learned a lot about the NEW NESGS.org web site presented by Floyd Smith III.
Check out the all new nesgs.org web site. New features include a calendar where anyone can add events. Beware though, if you try to add a quilting event, Floyd will delete it. Only genealogy events should be added. This should help us have a place where all Nebraska genealogy events can be located online.
Members have special benefits on nesgs.org. Why should I be a member you ask? Well for a mere $20, you can see applications of first family, pioneer family and others. Some of these include much genealogy for a family, as much as 12 pages for one family! Plus you get the Nebraska Ancestree mailed to you. Also you get access to ALL past issues of the Ancestree on nesgs.org so you can search them. Past issues of the New Brass Key will also be online for members. Members can rent microfilm and library books.
What I learned from the genealogy book web sites topic: Well I'm sure you knew (as I did) that there are online books on books.google.com and also Heritage Quest (available through your library). Also Family Search has about 80,000 books on books.familysearch.org and these are all genealogy and history.
BUT the new and big one for me was www.hathitrust.org. They have 16,000 genealogy releated books drawing from about 40 universities. Hathi Trust has over 10 MILLION books online. No need for a Kindle now, just pull up this web site, do a search and pull up the PDF file of what you want to read. Plus on Hathi Trust you can make a list of books, so if you want to save your genealogy books to find later, you can. Note that this list is public so John Doe can see what genealogy books you have saved.
Well I'm sure I have gone on long enough. I always enjoy genealogy conferences, getting to know others who enjoy what I do, learn new web sites and techniques, and having fun. No losing weight though, as there is a lot of eating and sitting. Good food at the Midtown Holiday Inn in Grand Island, highly recommend their mashed potatoes. Yum yum!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Funeral Card Friday: great uncle Paul
My grandmother's family seemed to be blessed by living long lives. Sure, she had two brothers die in infancy and one sister die as a teenager. But once her and her siblings made it to adulthood, they seemed to live a long life.
front of funeral card
Here is the funeral card from my great-uncle Paul P. Regnier. He was my grandmother's brother. Uncle Paul and Aunt Laura never had any children, so I think they enjoyed seeing their nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. They lived in the same town as my grandparents, so often when the family gathered, Uncle Paul and Aunt Laura would stop by.
Uncle Paul was born in 1906 and lived to 2005, until he was 98 years old. The last years of his life were spent in the nursing home. His younger sister never married or had children, and she was particularly close to him especially late in his life. This great-aunt of mine is the last sibling of my grandmother who is still living, at the age of 94. My great-aunt is in the nursing home and my mom takes care of her finances.
I particularly like the front of this funeral card with the pretty scenery. I think perhaps this is a Thomas Kincaid photo but I'm not sure.
Rest in peace Great Uncle Paul; you led a good long life.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Treasure Chest Thursday: Marriage momentos
Well I am months behind on blogging but I found a couple subjects on Geneabloggers I thought I might blog about, so hopefully a post today and tomorrow.
My "treasure chest Thursday" post is not from a treasure chest at all, but they are special momentos to me. They come from my walls. I have my great-grandparents' marriage license framed with photos, and my grandparents' marriage license framed with a photo and their rings. Plus I have my own marriage momentos framed.
First here is my great-grandparents' marriage license framed with photos: Chris (Jorgen Christian) Jorgensen and his wife Katie Nelson. This is written in Danish.
Okay I had that image rotated and now it rotated back when I added it.
Next is my grandparents' marriage license with photo and rings: Mable L. Foster and Lars Alfred Jorgensen
Last is a collection of my wedding momentos that I put in a shadow box:
Everyone took pictures of my wedding cake so I had lots of extra photos of that.
These are very special to me.
If you have wedding licenses and photos, I'd advise framing them so you can treasure them, rather than have to sift through papers or folders to find them.
My "treasure chest Thursday" post is not from a treasure chest at all, but they are special momentos to me. They come from my walls. I have my great-grandparents' marriage license framed with photos, and my grandparents' marriage license framed with a photo and their rings. Plus I have my own marriage momentos framed.
First here is my great-grandparents' marriage license framed with photos: Chris (Jorgen Christian) Jorgensen and his wife Katie Nelson. This is written in Danish.
Okay I had that image rotated and now it rotated back when I added it.
Next is my grandparents' marriage license with photo and rings: Mable L. Foster and Lars Alfred Jorgensen
Last is a collection of my wedding momentos that I put in a shadow box:
Everyone took pictures of my wedding cake so I had lots of extra photos of that.
These are very special to me.
If you have wedding licenses and photos, I'd advise framing them so you can treasure them, rather than have to sift through papers or folders to find them.
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