Tuesday Travel - RootsTech Conference & Salt Lake City

RootsTech. ARE YOU GOING?  I am. Will I be seeing you there? I hope so.

RootsTech Conference, March 21-24, 2013, Salt Palace Convention Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah.

I am getting my Legacy Software Program updated and more organized.I will update my Families App on my iPhone and iPad. Then I will have all my research at my findertips all the time.  I am in the process of  updating my timelines for my major lines and some not so major. Looking for the holes and writing out the information I am missing. After that I will be pulling up the Family History Library catalogue in Salt Lake City for research while I am there next week.

Oh, did I tell you that I am driving there on Sunday, so I will have Monday through Wednesday for uninerupted researching before the conference actually begins. On Friday the library will also be open into the late evening for more time to research. My biggest fear is that I will fall asleep turning the wheel of the micofilm reader, go right past my ancestor and never know it!!!  YIKES!! Can that really happen?

There are lots of new offerings in 2013 at RootsTech  See for yourself.  Alot of us feel that a technology conference is way over our heads or just who cares, you don't want to learn one more thing. There are classes for all levels so it is not over your head. You don't want to learn, I don't believe that, it is just overwhelming and so much new going on every day that you don't understand. Take the beginner/introductory classes, make it easy on yourself and learn. This is the way technology is going in all different fields, not just genealogy. The more you know, the more you understand the better and more confident you will feel. I am trying very hard to embrace technology and use it to further my research and use it other areas of my life.

I have not seen any offerings yet for those of you that want to come but are not able too. Sometimes online live classes are offered, but not yet. I will keep you updated on that.


posted by Sandra Gardner Benward

 

Monday Mobile - Families App for Legacy Software

I wrote about this "Families App" for my iPhone and iPad several months ago. I am able to use my PC based Legacy Genealogy Software on my iPad/iPhone. I have been using it whenever I have been researching and need to look something up. It has been wonderful to have this information at my finger tips....  instead of having to wait till I get home or to my laptop to look it up.

They say that it is simple to update the app from your computer through iTunes and it is simple.Thank goodness. You would find the app at the App Store. Go to the Families website to d/l an auxilliary Families Sync program that will help to transfer your data from your computer to the App on your iPhone/iPad.

Since I am traveling next week to the mecca for all research - Salt Lake City - I am in the process of updating my program, entering new data, cleaning up files, and really updating my timelines. Then I will update my app on my iPhone/iPad.

Isn't techonology wonderful? Sometimes! But I am trying very hard to embrace it.

I wonder what else is out there that will help us further our research and make our lives so much easier.!!  I am looking for suggestions.

posted by Sandra Gardner Benward

Sunday Church Records - a good substitute

I have been looking for my Paternal Grandparents Marriage Certificate, Record, Announcement etc of  John P. and Margaret Branfield Gardner .......  and with no luck so when I found their announcement and description of their 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebrations in the Alliance Newspaper I sent a letter to the First Christian Church, 114 E Main, Alliance, Stark Co. OH 44601 attention Secretary. This church was named in the article. I received a very nice letter back letting me know that they had no official records of the marriage - fires and water damage had destroyed alot of their early records. BUT she sent a copy of an article in the September 22, 1911 Christian Messenger Newsletter that told about their wedding. Needless to say I was thrilled..................

So you may not find the marriage license or record but you may find something that can be substituted for it. Look for the clues.

(Transcription reads...........  heading first............ )

Rally Day Next Sunday -- 600present. Bring Your Friends "THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER" Preach the Word --Paul vol 1 Alliance, Ohio, Friday, September 22, 1911 no# 51

"A Pretty Wedding" One of the prettiest weddings of the season was that witnessed by a large number of friends and relatives when Miss Margaret E Branfield became the bride of Mr John P Gardner. The marriage was solemnized at the home of the bride's parents, 76 East Cambridge Street by Mr Reynolds, Wednesday afternoon at 4 o'clock. After an elegant supper was served the newly weds left for Michigan on their wedding trip. They will be at home after October 15th in their new home, 283 West Broadway.

#The Christian Messenger extends congratulations and best wishes for a long, happy and prosperous life.

posted by Sandra Gardner Benward

The GenWeb Movement

All of us have heard of the huge well-known genealogical websites such as FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. Ditto for a host of speciality websites frequently profiled in genealogy publications. And we likely visit the websites of many local organizations (genealogical societies, historical societies, libraries, museums).

But some of you may not have heard of an all-volunteer effort whose objective is provide local genealogical websites with free access for everyone. During the mid 1990s, the GenWeb movement began and culminated in creation of three independent organizations – one for the United States, one for Canada and one for the rest of the world. The core of these GenWeb organizations is not their national or international website. That is the starting point of a hierarchy that allows you to navigate to local-jurisdiction websites. For example, The USGenWeb Project's website points to state websites which, in turn, point to websites for each county within the state.

While valuable information is posted at the higher-level websites, the real treasure is the local websites created by and contributed to by volunteers with extensive knowledge of those little areas. At the very least, the local website points you to where genealogical information can be found. Also present may be some posted records, look-up volunteers, list of local organizations, mailing lists, message boards, history, boundary changes over time and important local research tips. Of course the content of such websites greatly varies according to the expertise and knowledge the volunteers.

Links to GenWeb organizations:

Sacramento County CAGenWeb (part of The USGenWeb Project)

The USGenWeb Project

Canada GenWeb

The World GenWeb Project

If you ever wanted to run an informational website beyond one for your personal family history, there are aways local-website vacancies. There are a few rules as to style and content to be followed. But its hosting server, content, organization, appearance are up to the creating volunteer. Most new volunteers will recreate the old website using an HTML editor of their own choosing. It is very motivational to select a county that is a major part of your family history. I run the Sierra County USGenWeb website.

Submitted and posted by Richard Hanson

Friday's Faces from the Past – Downieville Ski Race

From the late 1800s through the first half of the 20th Century, winter cross-county ski races were very popular in the Sierra Nevada gold mining towns. Mountain Messenger newspaper articles described the  action and identified both winners and losers.

Pictured above are Downieville (Sierra County, California) ski race participants plus
some audience members. The photo was likely taken around 1920. Mabel Rutishauser
is standing at the far left. The woman standing (top row) to the left of the woman in the
feathered hat is probably Amelia Rutishauser. Ruth Rutishauser's head can be seen just
to the left of Amelia. All three of the Rutishausers were sisters. Amelia was my
grandmother.

Do you have any ancestors in the vicinity of Downieville around 1920? If so, they may very well have attended the ski races and perhaps participated. If you recognize anyone in this photo, please post a comment to that effect.

Submitted and posted by Richard Hanson

Those Places Thursday – Root Cellar

Wikipedia defines a root cellar as as structure built underground or partially underground and used to store vegetables, fruits, nuts or other foods. But as the posted photo clearly indicates, my Olson relatives living on a large farm in remote northern Minnesota during the 1920s had an additional use for it. The federal government banned the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. I suspect that those bottles contained something other than soda. 

Edward Olson (left) and an unknown person sitting in front of a root cellar

located on the Olson family farm in Kanabec County, Minnesota. Photo was

likely taken somewhere from mid-1920s through 1935.

If you have any root cellars in your family history then post a comment telling us about it and what was stored there.

Submitted and posted by Richard Hanson

Tourism during the War against Vandals and Looters of Historical Sites

Many of us have ancestors who lived in now-abandoned rural towns that have since become part of national forest or BLM lands. Most family history researchers are motivated by curiosity and there are few activities providing a greater sense of discovery than visiting the old family homeland. But if your ancestral hometown is a Gold Rush era ghost town, finding it has gotten a bit more difficult.

During the past decade vandalism and looting of rural historic sites have skyrocketed. In response, the Forest Service and BLM have reportedly installed battery-powered surveillance cameras in certain high-value locations. But for most places, the strategy has been to make them more difficult to find. To that end they removed signs intended to guide the tourist through the confusing network of logging and fire roads found in the Sierra back country. For example, the sign pictured below has been removed.

A sign located in the middle of my Gold Rush ancestors’ stomping
ground (photo taken in 1989). The sign has since been removed.

The best solution is to go on a group tour sponsored by a local historical society, genealogy society or museum. A more expensive option is to hire a local guide recommended by those organizations. It is not a matter of just getting to the town site. You want to know what was where. And if you’re lucky, one of the identified building ruins or locations pertains to your ancestors. When I was on a group tour to some northern Sierra County ghost towns the guide pointed out two house sites owned by my ancestors. In this case there was no luck involved since I previously purchased the tour guide’s book containing a town map identifying those homes. The guide took note of what everyone was looking for and made an effort on each person’s behalf.

Tour group to northern Sierra County ghost towns led by guide Jann E. Garvis
(holding the sign). The photo was taken in 2009 at the town site of St. Louis.

Submitted and posted by Richard Hanson