Edgewood New Mexico FamilySearch Center/Class Notes

Class Notes for 2023
''All of the classes for 2023 are being recorded. To see the videos, please contact Craig Noorlander at the FamilySearch Center.''

Maneuvering Through the New Person Page in FamilySearch (January 25, 2023)
Marjorie Kraus alerted us that the Person Page in FamilySearch was changing its format effective the end of February 2023. Here are some of the changes.

Old "Timeline" is now on the "About" tab.

"About" page is not directly editable. Select the actual item to edit. This includes the following:


 * Brief Life History (Used to be Brief Life Story)
 * Computer will generate or you can edit it by clicking "Details" which takes you to Person page.
 * Photos and Memories
 * Timeline
 * Have to add Details to add to Timeline.
 * Click on items under "Show" to customize.
 * Can add "View on Map." "Show Route" is a toggle.
 * Parents, Siblings, Spouse, Children
 * Sources
 * Name Meaning

Details View


 * Print is under Tools.
 * Add Other Relationship: apprenticeship, enslavement, etc.

Collaborate: Can add one alert note per person.

Vitals: Double columns are a new feature.

Details Tab


 * Old list was too much. Now 3 sections: Information, Facts, Research Helps.
 * Latest Changes section has dates when changed and who you can email and ask about. If no email listed, FamilySearch can contact person for you.


 * Tools: You can change your layout settings. Doesn't affect anyone else's settings.


 * Will note "Possible Missing Child" if gap of more than 3 years between children.

Merging: It will move info on left to right, but you can edit.

Duplicate Sources: Don't be too quick to dismiss. There might be slight differences. If you dismiss, computer will stop giving you new hints.

Memories Tab


 * You can record an audio memory.
 * Has a filter now to select photos, stories, documents, and audios. Can also sort by date, title, private, and newest added.

Record Seek


 * Attaches a source from one place to another.
 * Go to website recordseek.com. On top bar, click and drag green button and it will add to your favorites bar in your internet browser.
 * If you're trying to figure out who is contributing to a Person page, change your personal settings by going to Your Name, then Settings, and then Permissions. Select Enable Relationship Viewing. If the person is related to you, their relationship should now show up.

For more details on this class, visit the FamilySearch Center where there should be copies of the handout for this class.

How to Index (February 22, 2023)
Craig Noorlander taught this class. He admitted he was not an expert on the topic, but he got a good overview from visiting the RootsTech 2023 website and searching on Indexing. He found a video from a previous RootsTech presentation titled "Tips and Tricks for Indexing" particularly useful. There were 64 results to investigate for more information.

Indexing is just looking at a handwritten record and deciphering enough information (usually names and addresses) so that handwritten record is now searchable with a computer. Then whoever searches for information on that name will find the record you indexed and will have to decipher the rest of it for themselves.

To get started, go to the FamilySearch website, log in, and on the top horizontal menu bar, select Get Involved and then Indexing. A page with your personal progress on indexing pops up. Under the My Batches section, notice the Guided Tour section. Click on the gray Open Batch button to get a guided tour.

To start indexing, go back to the My Batches section and click the blue Find A Project button. You can select Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced. If you click on Beginning, there won't be any projects except a few in Italian because so many of the youth are working on indexing. The available number of records available for indexing resets every Sunday. So click on Intermediate. Don't worry, if you feel like you have bitten off more than you can chew, you can always back out. Also, there are Reviewers who review every record that is Indexed, so you really can't screw anything up. So back to Indexing. If you have selected English, as of this writing, this will bring up some Bureau of Land Management tract records.

Projects are checked out in Batches. The default number of batches to check out is one. Batches have an expiration date, but don't fret if you don't finish by that date--your work will still be saved. Leave the number of batches to check out at (1) for now, and click the Index button. You will be presented with a popup titled Project Instructions which describes what you need to do. There will also be examples in this popup. This popup has most of the information you need to know to index the selected batch. When you click on an example in this popup, a new web browser page will pop up, so just close this page when you are finished. Or keep it up to quickly refer to it while you are indexing.

Noorlander mentioned a number of useful tips and tricks.


 * Handwriting guide: click the pen icon.
 * Add a ruler: under Data Entry
 * Change the color and transparency of the ruler: under Batch
 * Need diacritical marks: click the ñ icon.

A Batch is a collection of Entries that makes up a scanned image. An Entry is a collection of individual Fields.

You can change the order of the entries to match the order of the data in the image. Just drag and drop.

It is helpful to mark all fields in an entry blank before you begin completing the fields. This saves you the effort of marking every field which has no information blank. Click on the completely black rectangle icon.  - B is a shortcut for marking a single field blank.

If a batch has more entries than the default, you will click the icon that adds entries. If there are fewer entries than the default, go to the first entry with no information and click the icon that deletes entries.

Don't assume the sex of an individual, even if they are identified as Bachelor or Spinster.

Regarding veterans and benefits records, if a veteran was still alive when he applied for benefits, he is considered a Living Veteran even though he is probably dead by now.

If a page looks too hard to read, don't mark it as "No" or "No, it can't be indexed." Just go to your batches and check it to be sent to someone else to process.

Write Your Life Story and Theirs (March 22, 2023)
Handouts [[Media:20230322Handout1.pdf|1]] [[Media:20230322Handout2.pdf|2]] [[Media:20230322Handout3.pdf|3]] [[Media:20230322Handout4.pdf|4]] [[Media:20230322Handout5.pdf|5]] (Note: Handout 3 is a handout from a presentation given at RootsTech 2018 and is used here with permission from the author. Handouts 4 and 5 were written for the St. Croix Valley Genealogical Society newsletter, the PIPOST, and are included here with permission from the authors.)

William Barrett, the instructor for this class, wrote his own personal life story in 2019. He found it difficult yet extremely useful and said "It brought great calm to my life. The bad wasn't so bad, and the good was better." He didn't publish his story to the world, but he gave copies to his children and grandchildren. Although it is just a story to him, to his descendants, it is HISTORY.

Much of Barrett's presentation draws from the book Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History by Janice T. Dixon.

Barrett's entire slide presentation with notes is in Handout 1, but below are a few standout items.


 * Don't sit down in front of a blank screen or pad of paper expecting to write your entire history. Start like eating an elephant: one chunk at a time.
 * Don't worry about organization. That will come later. Just keep things in chronological order at first to facilitate finding things.
 * Write about turning points in your life first which will help you remember more things. A turning point can be either a sad or happy thing, like a death or a marriage.
 * Make it interesting. This shouldn't be a recitation of genealogical events or a resume. Include compelling details, but be concise. Don't bore with mundane details. Don't be afraid to let your feelings show. Put humor into it.
 * How should you end your story? If writing your story hasn't caused you to expire, you may be tempted to continue writing. Just end it. You can always put out a second edition or a sequel.

The next part of the class focused on writing your family history. The previous tips will be helpful, but there is more to consider.


 * Why write your family history? Children need to know more about their ancestors than just their unsmiling faces and stiff poses. They need to know their ancestors as warm, real people.
 * How do you write it? First, gather up all the stories, documents, and photographs that you can. This is critical. Start with one person, one incident, and go from there.
 * Decide on the scope. Should you write about one or multiple generations? A multi-generational book can turn into more of a genealogical reference. You want to make sure you are writing more human stories than just a collection of facts.
 * Set the scene by giving background, otherwise family stories can become sterile. Investigate historical newspapers, especially small-town weeklies for background information.

Some more suggestions (which also apply to your own story) are as follows:


 * Write an outline to organize your story. A timeline is a good thing to base your outline on.
 * Sift out important points.
 * Document your sources. Use RecordSeek (recordseek.com) to facilitate this.
 * Try to walk in your ancestors' shoes.


 * Pull it all together. Be accurate and objective. Give the source and location for quotes.

What if you find a surprising, disturbing, or embarrassing fact? As yourself the following questions and then decide for yourself if you should include it:


 * Is it relevant?
 * Will it make your story sound like gossip?

How should you prepare your material for presentation?


 * Run spell check and grammar check
 * Ask someone, like a spouse or friend, to proofread your book.

How should you distribute your book?


 * Digital: memory cards, flash drives, CDs, DVDs, Google Drive, website
 * Desktop Publishing: Print copies yourself on acid-free bond paper and take to a copy shop for binding. If the copy shop makes the copies, make sure they use acid-free paper.
 * Self-Publishing: Arrange with others to print, copy photos, and bind the book.
 * Vanity Press: They will happily do everything for you and charge you for it all.
 * Royalty Publishing: If you anticipate a best-seller, a publisher will pay all of your expenses and will pay YOU royalties based on book sales.

As a final thought, Barrett included a quote from Janice Dixon's book:

“A family is a very special organization. It is the basic unit of all human life. It is more than Biological. It embraces the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual training of every person on earth. Some parents ignore these obligations, and the family pieces scatter and become lost. A family history gathers up those pieces and places them where they belong. Guard it well, for a family history is not only your past, but your future.”

Saving Your Recent Family History Before It Gets Lost, Destroyed, or Forgotten (May 24, 2023)
Handout

Fred Turner, the instructor for this class, identifies himself as a "History Scrounge," meaning he finds old bits of minutia from the past not only fascinating but useful in family history. He reminded us that before the internet, the only forms of communication were telephone, telegraph, and postal service. This may include love letters from your parents, V-Mail, ration books, old magazines, cancelled checks, and postcards.

Turner described how he found an old wooden boxcar in Moriarty owned by the Crossley family and got their permission to go through it. The current owners said that the contents were a bunch of junk from their mother dating back to 1914. Turner showed photos of many of the items he found and explained how they are useful in family history research. Because many of these photos are copyrighted, they can't be posted on this website. Instead, below are descriptions of some of the images that include tips on how they are useful in your family history research. Turner's handout also describes even more pieces of memorabilia he found useful.

Turner showed images from old magazines including hand drawn and hand painted covers, old advertisements, and articles about what was going on during the time. These publications help you better understand what life was like for your ancestors. Some of the magazines he showed us were Capper's Farmer (practical DIY advice--Turner's cover was Vol 46 July 1935), The Delineator (an American women's magazine from 1873-1937), Ladies' Home Journal (1883-2016), and The Saturday Evening Post (issues back to 1821). Some of these websites have online archives of back issues that you can view, although some may charge a fee.

Turner had some postcards that were also hand drawn and hand painted. Besides the lovely artwork, you can glean information from the written messages, names, addresses, stamps, and postmarks on the reverse sides. One of the postcards Turner showed was the N & W Coal Piers in Norfolk, Va., which you can see an image of here. Another postcard was postmarked June 2, 1953, from Sussex England and had a photo of Queen Elizabeth II commemorating her coronation. Turner told us that his parents made him watch the entire coronation on an itty bitty black and white TV when he was a child.

Turner also showed the cover of an Estancia NM Drug Store calendar from 1966 that included recipes, household hints, tips on entertaining, first aid, a fishing guide, astronomical data, farm information, food facts, and coupons. Other images of local interest included a sheep grazing permit, mortuary receipts, photos of the Crossley gas station from mid-1900s, and an ad for the first Moriarty Balloon Race.

An 1898 copy of Child Stories as Related By Dwight Lyman Moody in His Revival Work in Europe and America was another treasure Turner found. Moody was a 19th-century evangelist.

More items of interest were several issues of The Railroad Telegrapher, a monthly magazine of the Order of Railroad Telegraph Operators first published in the late 1800s. Turner reminded us that back then communication was by telegraph using Morse Code.

Another item of interest was an old invoice for a yearbook of the new Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia. The invoice was an old computer punch card that was to be returned with payment. Turner told us how he worked with old style computers in his early career, and communication with these computers were by punch cards.

Turner wrapped up by noting that although much of the stuff we have laying around today may seem inconsequential, it may well be fascinating to your descendants 100-200 years down the road. So organize what you think will be interesting and archive it for posterity.

Reviewing and Attaching Record Hints in FamilySearch (June 28, 2023)
Marjorie Kraus taught this class. Her focus today was how to attach sources from an indexed image. She will address working with unindexed images later in the year.

When reviewing a source, it is important to read the entire source. Whenever possible, look at the original document since indexing only includes parts of an original document. Some sources have multiple documents associated with them. Be sure to examine all of the documents associated with a particular source.

When looking at a record for a person in Family Tree, a little blue document icon will show up on the right side of the person's record if there is a hint for this person. Click on the blue icon to see the source.

Sometimes you will see what appears to be duplicate sources. It is important to not click "not a match" on any of these items because you will never get a hint on that person again. Kraus says it is better to have duplicate sources.

What if a source you want to attach to a person is attached to a different person's record? This will be indicated by an icon of a triangle with "!" inside. Under the icon will be "Detach?". DO NOT PRESS Detach until you research this thoroughly! Clicking Detach? will remove the source from another person's record. You will not be able to attach this source to your person's record unless you detach it from the other person's record.

Begin researching sources by looking for any inconsistencies or other problems. Kraus showed an example of two people who appeared to be twins, but after examining the original document, she discovered that although they had the same name and birthdate, they were born in different places and had different parents. Another example was an original document that listed births, and one entry listed two children born to the same parents on the same date and location, yet only one of the twin's names had been indexed.

Once you determine that the source you want to attach to your person really should be attached, document in the "Reason" box the exact reasons why you are doing so. Then message the person who originally attached the source incorrectly and explain why you have detached their source. Otherwise, you may end up in a war with the other person. Click "Latest Changes" to display a list of everyone who has recently changed something related to the records you are working with.

Some attachments are classified as "unfinished." You have four options to deal with these:


 * 1) Attach the record to people already in Family Tree
 * 2) Add an individual and attach the record to them
 * 3) Do nothing--no relationship--do more research
 * 4) Dismiss unfinished attachments--duplicate or other

When using the source linker, it may be helpful to change your view to a different focus person. The source linker lists people according to their relationship to a focus person. The focus person is listed with his or her spouse. Parents appear in a section above, and children and siblings are in the sections below. To change the focus person, just click the button that says "Change X" where X is an icon of a person. A menu will pop up with a list of people that you can choose as a new focus person.

Kraus reiterated that sources are very important. Without sources, anything you have in a person's record is really just a guess. Make sure you back up everything with sources.

Class notes for 2022
''All of the classes for 2022 were recorded. To see any of these videos, please contact Craig Noorlander at the FamilySearch Center.''

How to Navigate RootsTech (February 23, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodNM FHC RootsTech 2022 handout.pdf|Handout]]

Marjorie Kraus spoke to a group of eighteen attendees including eight participating via Zoom about RootsTech 2022, an online conference hosted by FamilySearch that is a collection of over 1000 presentations/sessions about genealogy-related topics, all available online and on demand.

After a quick overview, Kraus demonstrated an interesting feature where you can find out if anyone related to you is registered. What a great way to possibly find more branches on your family tree. She also pointed out that there were over 165,000 people registered for RootsTech from all over the world. She also said that while you are browsing what is available, you can add interesting classes to a Playlist so you can go back later and watch them. This is especially nice since there are always three years' worth of RootsTech classes available, and it is easy to lose track if you don't have a playlist. To see presentations from previous years of RootsTech, do an Internet search on "2021 RootsTech" and "2020 RootsTech".

If I Had Known: Wrong Assumptions About Your Family History (March 23, 2022)
[[Media:Services Portal EdgewoodNM FHC Mar23 2022 .pdf|Handout]]

Edgewood FamilySearch Center Director Craig Noorlander spoke to a group of twelve attendees including six virtual participants about wrong assumptions that people have about family history. The two most common wrong assumptions are


 * 1) “I’ve located all my ancestors and have no more work to do,” and
 * 2) “Why do we need the FamilySearch Center (FSC)? I can do everything on my home computer.”

Noorlander demonstrated many things that can be added to existing ancestors such as adding events to an individual’s timeline and searching through newspaper articles on newspapers.com (available for free only at the FSC). In the course of searching through these sources, clues to more ancestors will inevitably show up, so one’s family tree is always sprouting new leaves. A class handout showing all of the premium family history websites that can be accessed for free only at the FSC is posted on the FSC website.

Using Censuses to Your Advantage (April 27, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC CensusHandout.pdf|Handout]]

Fred Turner presented an interesting class on U.S. Censuses to a group of ten attendees including five participating via Zoom.

An important point about censuses is that each one had different questions, so it is important to look at every census to get all the possible information about a family. Before the 1800 census, there was no standard format—only a list of fields. Beginning with the 1800 census, Turner recommended that you print out the blank forms for every census which you can get from www.archives.gov. This will let you see the different questions that were asked as well as help you keep track of what a particular column is if you have scrolled down the page too far to see the column headings. He gave an overview of how the questions have changed over the years. For example, censuses from around the time of the Civil War had questions about slaves owned. From 1790 to 1840, only the name of the head of household was listed. In 1850, names of all people present were recorded. By 1880 the family’s physical address was listed. Regarding the 1890 census, www.census.gov states “Most of the 1890 census’ population schedules were badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department Building in January 1921.” In 1940, two random individuals per page were asked a lot of supplementary questions. Also, there used to be separate schedules for veterans with an incredible amount of information on them.

Some general tips: look at the person completing the census, known as the enumerator, because they could be a relative; enumerators originally from Britain labeled all people in school as scholars without differentiating college students from primary or secondary school students; some people from Britain “barred” the letter “T,” causing transcribers to record it is an “F.”

Turner also demonstrated how to add census records to an individual on FamilySearch. You select the individual, then click on “Search.” This pulls up all the resources available for that individual. Then you click on the census record you want and click “Attach.” Other methods for doing this as well as more details about the class will be on a handout that will be posted to the FSC website.

How to Use Google to Your Advantage in Your Family History (May 25, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC Handout Google.pdf|Handout 1]], [[Media:EdgewoodFHC GoogleHandout2.pdf|Handout 2]]

On Wednesday, May 25th, Tamne Robinson from the Tijeras Ward presented an interesting class on how to use Google to our advantage in family history searches. There were in-person attendees as well as some participating via Zoom.

Robinson jumped right into an example. She was helping someone who was trying to find more information on a woman. They had a photograph of her with her first husband, and their names were on the back. They also knew the woman’s maiden name and that she may have died in Utah. After much fruitless searching in FamilySearch, Robinson tried searching her husband and found lots of information. In the husband’s obituary, his first wife’s name was listed with a different first name and her new married name. They searched on this name and still could find nothing. Then Melva Jenkins thought that the woman was young enough to have died recently, so now they tried a Google search with the woman’s latest name along with “obituary Utah”. BINGO, they found her obituary which listed her parents with the name that matched her maiden name and some of her children’s last names that matched her first husband’s name. It turns out that after she was divorced, she stopped going by her middle name and switched to her first name. So Robinson suggests switching first and middle names in searches if you are having trouble locating someone.

The rest of the class included examples of different ways to use Google, including how to place quotes and parentheses around words and the use of “OR” and “AND” to selectively search. Her [[Media:EdgewoodFHC Handout Google.pdf|handout]] includes articles that explain in detail how to do this along with many other helpful tips. Robinson also pointed out that there are other Google classifications to search. We are probably used to just searching All, but to narrow your search, try searching under Images, Books, News, Videos, and Maps. Books include any book that has been uploaded. For example, Books include phone directories, and the book The Appraisal Journal lists appraisals of estates and can lead to a will. Maps may include property records. You can also click on Tools, and under Any time you can select a different time range. You can also set up a Google Alert where you will be emailed anytime something is uploaded that meets your parameters.

Robinson also mentioned that she is currently digitizing the Hanlon-Harris cemetery records which will be a significant addition to searches for us East Mountain folks.

Following Your Ancestors Through U.S. Military Records: An Introduction (June 8, 2022)
[[Media:Edgewood FHC HO1 MilitaryRecordsSlides1-27.pdf|Slides 1-27]], [[Media:Edgewood FHC HO1 MilitaryRecordsSlides28-56.pdf|Slides 28-56]], [[Media:Edgewood FHC HO2 MilitaryRecordsNotes.pdf|Slide Notes]], [[Media:EdgewoodFHC Handout3 MilitaryRecords.pdf|Handout]]

Bill Barrett presented the first of two classes this month on how to use military records in genealogy.

Barrett began by saying that most of us will have at least one ancestor who served in the military, and several types of military records will have an abundance of information. For example, pension records include the application for a pension which often includes narratives of events during service, marriage certificates, birth records, death certificates, pages from family Bibles, family letters, depositions of witnesses, affidavits, discharge, and other supporting papers.

For more information on using military records, Barrett recommended the Family History Guide website: www.thefhguide.com. He considers this website the best-in-class learning resource for family history in general, but to learn more about military records, follow these steps: From the homepage, select Countries, then United States, and finally ''E. Military 1. Records''.

Newsreels are another source of information, but not always joyful. Barrett told a story about his first cousin who served during World War II. During an amphibious assault at Salerno, his cousin was injured on the beach with what was probably a broken ankle. The event was filmed and featured in one of the many popular newsreels that were shown in movie theaters prior to the main feature. Imagine his mother’s surprise when up on the big screen she suddenly saw her own son lying on a cot on the beach—even before she had been notified that he had been injured!

Fold3: Military and Other Records for Genealogical Research (June 22, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC Fold3 HO2.pdf|Slides]], [[Media:EdgewoodFHC Fold3 HO3.pdf|Slide Notes]], [[Media:EdgewoodFHC Fold3 HO1.pdf|Fold3 Training Center]]

Bill Barrett began this class by explaining the unusual term Fold 3: “Traditionally, the third fold in some flag-folding ceremonies honors and remembers veterans for their sacrifice in defending their country and promoting peace in the world.” The Fold3 website was acquired by Ancestry and has a major focus on U.S. military records. Non-military records include Native American records, African-American records, city directories, Social Security Death Index (free), passport applications (1795-1905), and many other types of records. This is a premium website that is free at the FamilySearch Center.

One thing that was popular with the audience was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall feature. Fold3 lets you search by name or zoom in on the wall itself to a name. Selecting a name brings up the person’s military records including when and where they served and how they were killed. Below is a screen shot from the class illustrating this feature.

Barrett explained why Fold3 is such a useful site. “Several websites have good access to military records. FamilySearch and Ancestry, for example, are very good. However, Fold3, with its major focus on military records is, in my opinion, the best single source for military records. The search engine used to be a little difficult to use, but recent improvements make the search feature easy and powerful. You can also browse by war or conflict. A major feature is that you can set up a memorial to honor your veteran ancestor. And many documents and records are exclusively on Fold3. In my own experience, I have found records on Fold3 that I had not found on any other website.”

Make FamilySearch Research Wiki Your Best Friend (July 27, 2022)
Marjorie Kraus presented a fascinating class on July 27th on making the FamilySearch Research Wiki your best friend. There were twelve attendees including three on Zoom. Kraus began by saying that the FamilySearch Research Wiki is often overlooked as a tool in family history research, noting that people even roll their eyes when she mentions it. To convince us of its usefulness, she first listed the following four common research obstacles:


 * being unaware of what records are available
 * being unaware of how to access records
 * missing records or data
 * limitations on coverage of collections.

Kraus then asserted that the FamilySearch Research Wiki can be your “secret weapon” to help you tackle these obstacles.

To get to the FamilySearch research wiki, go to the FamilySearch website and look for Search on the top menu bar. (If you don’t see it, try selecting Try new homepage features at the top right of the window.) Under the Search menu, click on Research Wiki at the bottom of the list.

The opening screen shows a map of the world labeled by continent. Clicking on a continent brings up a list of countries where you can continue clicking into smaller geographical units such as states or counties. Kraus clicked on Ireland for her example and, instead of selecting a specific county, clicked on Ireland at the top of the list.

The Ireland page listed all the records available including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records. It also listed some general country and county information. There were also links to guides on how to get started with research, how to find various types of records, and lists of research tools that were available outside the Wiki. Websites followed by ($) cost money to access, although they may be free at your local FamilySearch Center. She switched to other country pages to illustrate the different types of information available specific to that location. Some had general history sections and links to relevant wars and military records. She also clicked the Online Genealogy Records button that listed all the types of records available online by dates.

If you can’t figure out how to access what you’re looking for, Kraus suggested using the Search box. For example, type in “Mayflower” to get a wealth of information on that topic. If you want to start over, click Wiki Home in the left menu bar. You can also click on the Ask the Community button to get help from others or to help others that may have questions you can answer. Kraus then talked about the problem of missing records. She told a story about her brother who was searching some records and found two pages missing that would have had the information he was looking for. He discovered that when the books were originally scanned, those two pages had been stuck together and subsequently not scanned. He was able to go to the archives and recover those pages. For missing records in general, the Research Wiki pages have entries that alert you if records are missing due to fires, water damage, or even deliberate destruction so you won’t waste time looking for records that don’t exist. You can even get a list of all counties that experienced record losses. She singled out Texas as having a dearth of death records for unknown reasons. For example, in the Coverage Table to the right, notice the low to nonexistent deaths in many counties between 1903–1973.

Kraus offered up the following additional bits of information:


 * Be aware that land boundaries can change over time. If you can’t find records in one county, search all the adjoining counties.
 * Look in census records for marriage, death, and birth records.
 * Look into gazetteers for information. These were originally geographical indexes but can vary with the types of information they contain. They were sometimes the forerunners of newspapers that may contain notices of births, marriages, and deaths.

This presentation really opened some eyes about the genealogical records that are available online. One audience member who was new to family history said that she often brings up her Family Tree and just sits in front of the screen not knowing what to do next. She was now fired up after learning about the FamilySearch Research Wiki. To quote Kraus, “It’s amazing! You don’t know what you’re missing!”

Making Corrections in Your Family Tree (August 10, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC FamilyTreeCorrectionsHandout.pdf|Handout]]

Marjorie Kraus presented “Making Corrections in Your Family Tree,” with emphasis on “Your,” which was a warning to avoid correcting another person’s tree because you are more apt to make a mistake in a tree you are unfamiliar with. Kraus had several more warnings based on the many cases she has encountered where people have carelessly merged, added, or deleted people from a tree or changed birth, marriage, and death information to make it fit the person they thought it was. She gave the following advice:


 * Be a good detective.
 * Think outside the box.
 * Don’t look at two similar names and assume they are the same.

When viewing a person on FamilySearch’s Family Tree, Kraus pointed out a very important feature. Next to the person’s name, there will be a box on the upper right labeled “Research Help” where you may find some research suggestions. She recommended that you look at every one of those items. If an item is preceded with a red box with an exclamation point, it is an inconsistency that definitely needs addressing.

Kraus gave examples of different problems she has encountered including the following:

Two Different People Merged into One. Kraus was helping someone who had a relative who they knew had never married, but the relative was listed on her family tree as married with a number of children. After viewing all of the sources attached to that relative, Kraus noticed two different 1880 census records were attached, each showing a child with the relative’s name, but each census record indicated different parents. Each family was living in different areas of the same state. The person she was helping confirmed which parents were her ancestors. Kraus then created a new son under the correct parents and added all the correct information. Then she unlinked the original son from the wrong parents and corrected his information. Lastly, she included detailed reasons why she made the corrections.

Possible Duplicate. This was a case of two different first names, Betsey and Elisabeth, with no other conflicting information. Knowing that Betsey is a common nickname for Elisabeth, and after examining all of the items under the Research Help for both names, Kraus determined that there was enough supporting evidence that the two people were the same. She merged the two names and, instead of typing out a detailed reason why she made the merge, she was able to select one of the “canned” reasons because it was a straightforward case.

Standardized Place and Possible Duplicate. The standardized place problem is an easy fix. Select the location that has the red exclamation point before it, place your cursor at the end of the location listed, and press the spacebar. A dropdown menu will show up where you can select the standardized form of the location. This also works for standardized dates. The possible duplicate was not as easy to fix. One name had the person’s title “Major” as their first name. One entry had only the year for the birth date whereas the other entry had the date, month, and year. The birthplace for one had only the state whereas the other entry had the town, county, and state. Then the residence addresses were quite different. After reviewing all the Research Help items, Kraus felt like this was an issue that needed more research, so she didn’t merge the two persons. Children born the same year. This family had two children with somewhat similar names born in the same year. Kraus looked at the birth records and found that these two children were born 18 days apart and had different parents. Because all the information on the indexed birth record for these two children indicated the two girls had the same parents, Kraus located the original birth record image which showed each girl with the correct parents. Because the records were side-by-side and probably because the names were similar, the Indexer had not recorded the correct parents for the first child. Kraus searched Family Tree for the correct parents and found them. Their list of children did not include the child in question. She unlinked this child from the wrong parents and linked her to the correct parents, solving the problem. She also linked the birth record sources to the correct children.

Do sources make sense? Kraus received an email from FamilySearch indicating they had found a possible hint for one of her relatives, Carl Alfred Larsson. As she checked the Research Help hint for Carl Alfred Larson, there was a source suggestion for Carl Alfred Carlsson.

This child was born in Sweden where patronomics was a common practice. With patronomics, a child’s surname was made up of the father’s first name plus son or “dotter” depending on the sex of the child. In the case of Carl Alfred Larsson, his father’s given name would likely have been Lars, thus the child’s surname would be Larsson or Larsdotter. Since the suggested source name was Carl Alfred Carlsson, that would suggest that the father’s given name was Carl, not Lars.

On checking birth record images, Kraus found a birth record for Carl Alfred Carlsson showing that his father’s name was Carl Andersson. This meant that the possible hint did not belong to her ancestor, Carl Alfred Larsson. After checking the attached sources for Carl Alfred Larsson, all of which were from the United States, she was able to find an immigration record for Carl Alfred Larsson which also listed his birthplace in Sweden. From this information, she was able to find his birth record which indicated that his father was Lars Peter Larsson. The record also gave the name of Carl’s mother. From this information, she was then able to find the family on several different Swedish census records and add the entire family to Family Tree.

Kraus gave the following tips when researching and correcting entries:


 * Compile a checklist of all the steps you need to take to make the correction. Print it out and check it off as you complete the steps.
 * Always add a thorough explanation in Family Tree to justify why you are making a correction. It is helpful to type this up in another program so you can copy and paste the text each time you need to give that particular reason in Family Tree.
 * If you have extensive corrections to make to an entry, it is best to wait until you can make them all at once, especially if you are aware someone is “watching” the person you are working on. This is because Family Tree will notify any “watchers” of changes made to people they are watching. If a watcher sees just a part of your corrections, it may be confusing, and they may undo your work. Family Tree usually emails these alerts on the weekend, so start making your corrections early in the week and be finished before the weekend.
 * Census records are sometimes incorrectly indexed. Check this by going to the original scanned page to verify that the information was indexed correctly. A link to the original scanned page should be in a box with the link labeled “Browse the film.” It is a good idea to notify FamilySearch of the mistake.
 * If someone calculates a birth year based solely on a census record, it could be off by a year or more. Censuses only list a person’s age in years as of the date the census is taken, although younger children’s ages are sometimes broken down into years and months. For example, if a person was 20 years old when the 1900 census was taken, you might assume they were born in 1880. But if their birthday occurred a month after the census was taken, this would make their birth year 1879.

Kraus closed with demonstrating FamilySearch’s Source Box, a great place to store sources, especially if you are waiting to create a person until you have enough information. You get to this by signing into FamilySearch and then clicking on your name in the upper righthand corner. On the drop-down list, click on “Source Box.” The Source Box stores every source you have ever used. You can organize them by folder to make them more manageable or you can delete them once you have attached them to your tree or have determined that they are no longer relative to your research.

Syncing Ancestry and FamilySearch (August 31, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC AncestryFamilySearchSyncHandout1.pdf|Handout 1]]     [[Media:EdgewoodFHC AncestryFamilySearchSyncHandout2.pdf|Handout 2]]

Tamne Robinson presented this class on how to sync individuals in your FamilySearch tree with individuals in your Ancestry tree. The process of syncing an individual depends on the type of Ancestry account you have. If you have a free Ancestry account from the church, follow the procedure found in Handout 1. Otherwise, use Handout 2. Both sets of instructions begin with you being logged into your Ancestry account.

Free Ancestry Account Steps

Open your family tree and click on the individual you want to sync with FamilySearch. You will see the logo for FamilySearch (a tree) in the upper right-hand corner of the individual's page.


 * Click on the logo.
 * Follow the steps in Handout 1.

Paid Ancestry Account Steps


 * Follow the steps in Handout 2.

General Notes Regarding Both Types of Accounts


 * When you select "Connect Persons," compare the two to make sure all the information is the same. If not, click boxes on FamilySearch to move to Ancestry and vice versa.
 * This process won't eliminate duplicates. You have to do that yourself. Don't assume they are duplicates.
 * Don't move Ancestry Family Trees. Sources don't transfer. Only Memories. Only source links are brought over, not the actual pictures. You have to download to your computer and move over to FamilySearch. Look in the Downloads folder on your computer for items that you download.

This class was complicated, but since it was recorded, you can watch the video and follow along with the handouts. See Craig Noorlander for the location of the video.

How to Use Find a Grave (September 14, 2022)
Fred Turner taught this class. Please see him for a copy of the handout.

Find A Grave is a service that lists information about people based on their tombstone/headstone information. Find A Grave was purchased by Ancestry and is completely free for viewing purposes. However, if you want to add or change something, you will have to register for a free account. You will then be assigned a contributor number which also allows you to add flowers, a memory, or request a headstone photo.

Find A Grave is one of the largest services out there, and you get more for free. Billion Graves is a similar service, but it doesn't have as many free things.

Every entry in Find A Grave has a unique memorial ID. Note that a memorial headstone is not a burial headstone. For example, Turner's ancestor Luther Hatfield is actually buried in Tennessee, but most folks knew him in Virginia, so he has a memorial headstone in a Virginia cemetery.

If you are ever taking photographs for inclusion on Find A Grave, please take a brush with you to brush the dirt out of the engraved text, take some clippers to clip any overgrown vegetation, and don't let your shadow fall on the stone or anything else otherwise detract from the proper lighting of your image.

Turner said that he likes to include information that he finds on Find A Grave in an individual's entry on FamilySearch. Just note that the source was from Find A Grave. If you are working in Ancestry, on the right side of an entry will be a link to add records from other Ancestry sites, like Find A Grave.

If he finds discrepancies between FamilySearch and Find A Grave, he notes that in the "Other" section of FamilySearch.

Turner says you can use Find A Grave to help you find hints on finding more relatives. For example, in Find A Grave, look for others with the same last name in the same cemetery, county, state, etc.

Contributors to an individual's Find A Grave page are usually not related to you. However, a direct relative can be set up as a manager of a page. This privilege expires within a year of the individual's death.

Turner recommends you examine every piece of information on an individual in Find A Grave. Obituaries may list children and spouses that you may not have been aware of. Obituaries frequently list burial dates as a day of the week, so to get the actual date, use a day-of-the-week calculator, such as dayoftheweek.org.

Also pay attention to people who have left flowers. Turner found a granddaughter and a great grandniece who had both left flowers on a relative's Find A Grave entry.

Lastly, be aware that symbols and icons carved on headstones or placed on a stick next to a headstone may be meaningful to your family history research on an individual. This website is an example of many websites you can find that will explain the meaning of these symbols. The handout for Turner's next class has links to more websites that explain symbols.

How to Use Find a Grave Advanced (September 28, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC AdvFindAGraveHandout.pdf|Handout]]

Fred Turner continued his class on Find A Grave with some more advanced topics. He told a story about someone who was a prisoner at a Confederate POW camp. This person noticed that some prisoners were getting fed better than the rest of the prisoners. When he mentioned this to someone, this guy took him aside and said, "We don't care who you fought for--Masons take care of Masons." So finding a masonic symbol on someone's headstone is another piece of information that should be noted in your FamilySearch entry on an individual.

Finding an unusual headstone is something worthy of mention in an individual's FamilySearch entry. Turner says to check all the sources mentioned in Find A Grave as this can lead to more information to put into FamilySearch. Be sure to cite these sources.

The handout for this class has many links to interesting examples in Find A Grave as well as links explaining many different symbols.

How to Use Land Records in Family History Research (October 26, 2022)
[[Media:EdgewoodFHC LandRecordsSlides.pdf|Slides]]   [[Media:EdgewoodFHC LandRecordsNotes.pdf|Slides with Notes]]

Bill Barrett presented this class. His slides and notes will convey most everything that was presented in this class. Below are some of the highlights.

Land records are so important because many places kept these records before they kept vital records. Land records were important because they were used for tax revenues.

Barrett's class covered the following five types of records:


 * 1) Land Deeds. Contain heirs, other info
 * 2) Land Grants and Patents
 * 3) Mortgages. Deed books; also alphabetical index
 * 4) Tax Records (Property). Shows inheritance
 * 5) Probate Records

Some tips to remember:


 * County boundaries can change, so look around surrounding counties.
 * Not all deeds were recorded promptly, so look several years after.

Land Records

 * Surveying in Early America
 * Public Land Survey System
 * Metes and Bounds
 * Plat

Helpful websites for your Family History Research

 * Search Bureau of Land Management Records to find your ancestors Land Patents We provide live access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including image access to more than five million Federal land title records issued between 1788 and the present. We also have images of survey plats and field notes, land status records, and control document index records.
 * Library of Virginia Online Catalog The LVA Catalog combines the "Books & Journals" catalog, the "Archives & Manuscripts" catalog, and the "Images & Indexes" databases. You can search these catalogs to find your Virginia ancestors land records, photos etc.
 * Atlas of historical County Boundaries This web site allows you to see the historical development of county lines. This may clarify what county records you should be searching to find your ancestors.
 * David Rumsey Map Collection Database The historical map collection has over 45,000 maps and images online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of theWorld, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.
 * Find a Grave Find the graves of ancestors, create virtual memorials, add 'virtual flowers' and a note to a loved one's grave, etc.
 * Dead Fred's Genealogy Photo Archive A free, fun photo genealogy research web site devoted to helping you find photos to visualize your heritage!
 * Soldiers and Sailors Database National Park Service The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, which will be amended over time.
 * Minnesota Historical Society Use Minnesota People Records Search to exclusively research birth, death, and state census records, as well as Veterans Graves Registration and World War I Gold Star Rolls.
 * Minnesota Historical Society Search If you'd like to search people records together with the rest of the MNHS collection, use the search engine.