Pursuing Our Roots

I have some good and bad news this month. One of our freebies is apparently no longer available. I have touted the virtues of www.familysearch.org for some time and the site is still one of the most valuable sites for free genealogy data that is indexed and searchable. However, due to contractual restrictions, they are no longer able to post the Chicago Birth, Marriage and Death certificates on FamilySearch. The Cook County Clerk is selling those certificates for $15 apiece and has withdrawn the ability for us to see the certificates directly on FamilySearch. However, please keep in mind that …

My Dad just turned 80 years old. In the process of getting ready for his party, I had to put together a bunch of digital pictures of him. I put a bunch of regular ones in digital picture frames, and a “special” few I saved for a slide show. (Remember the old Dean Martin roasts? I was Don Rickles.) At any rate, I learned a lot during the process that I thought would be useful for any of you who are putting something like this together. One thing I learned is that my photos are a complete shambles. They are …

Since last month’s column on FamilySearch.org and the method to submit your family tree, I have learned a few things. When you go into the site, you have to start by creating yourself on your tree. Then you add your parents. Then you add your grandparents, and so on. Each time you add a name, there is a button that reads “check for duplicates.” Click that, just to be sure that the person is not already in the tree. It is possible that another relative started with their grandparents and is adding all the descendants, and might have entered a …

I have told you in several recent columns about the amazing data available for free at familysearch.org. Now I have more information about ways to share the family tree you already have. You need to have an account at familysearch.org in order to use the new features. All you need is to enter your name, and create a user name and password. There are a few more questions, but “credit card number” is NOT among them. Whew! The new feature is quite thorough and could be extremely helpful. It allows you to upload your family tree to the web site, …

Happy 2013! I hope your holidays were filled with laughter, joy, cool presents, warm memories and a few genealogical discoveries! Did you make your New Year’s resolutions yet? I resolved to lose 40 pounds, and even though I lost it, I ended up finding it again! Please keep your genealogical resolutions separate from your regular goals for the new year. For one thing, you want to actually try to accomplish the genealogical ones! I don’t want you all to give up too easily. So what should be your goal this year? That is a complicated question. I have written a …

In a number of columns, I have mentioned the massive project by the Mormons (Latter Day Saints or LDS) to take the 2.5 million microfilms they have created over the decades, and to digitize and index them. Digitizing is just the process of converting a film image to a digital image for the internet. They have to do that project on their own because the film is in their possession. Indexing the records is another matter. Each microfilm has about 1500-2000 images. Each image may have 1 record or many. For example, a register is a list of 50 names …

It’s almost holiday time and it’s getting colder out. Time to cut back on visits to cemeteries and libraries and think about the future. As active as I am in the genealogy community, I fall behind on some basic genealogy duties. It’s time to update the photos in my collection, and specifically on my family tree charts. Most of the time, I forget to get new pictures of people, and I think about it only when relatives call me up and ask me for a copy of the family tree. They usually want a copy because the 9-year-old grandson has …

It took four months, but the 1940 U.S. Census is finally fully indexed! I don’t remember how long it took for them to index the 1930 census, but that was released 10 years ago. Frankly, I don’t remember what I ate for lunch today! Now that the census is fully indexed, you no longer have to use the old method of trying to find people based on their address. This method is still valid, but now that all names are online, you can search by name and skip the middle man. Even though the census is now completely done, it …

Last month we saw just how much new data has been made available for free at familysearch.org. The competition, so to speak, is Ancestry.com. Ancestry is a pay site, and I don’t have any connections to them, but it is time to review the newest additions to Ancestry and you can decide for yourself if you want to pay for access, or try it for free at a local public library or family history center. Ancestry charges based on the scope of the collection you want. They have simplified the packages to two major choices. The US Discovery package gives …

Lately I have been mentioning the same web site in a number of columns on diverse subjects. “What is this ‘familysearch’ thing you keep talking about?” Some people confuse this with Ancestry.com, which is advertised on TV. Familysearch is something quite different. The web site is www.familysearch.org and it is owned and operated by the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the formal name). They are trying to gather as much genealogical data from around the world in order for their church members to discover their ancestors. However, they allow anyone to use their resources and …