| FHC Info | |
Hours of Operation:
Mon: Closed
Fri: 9:30 am-1:00 pm
Saturday:
9:30 am-4:30 pm
Tues, Wed, Thurs:
9:30am-4:30pm, & 7-9:30 pm
Directors: Linda & Kurt Christensen Washington DC Stake Carol & Gary Petranek, Silver Spring MDStake |
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WDC FHC News
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Upcoming Classes
May 18 - 9:30 a.m. Learn the FamilySearch Family Tree
Presenter: Linda MacLachlan
The updated FamilySearch FamilyTree is an innovative way to maintain and research genealogy online, link to sources and collaborate with others. Important note: this class is intended primarily for people who have not begun to enter information on their family tree -- it will not address features specific to LDS church members. After class, attendees can remain to receive personal assistance in getting their own tree operational (please bring a bag lunch if desired). Patrons intending to stay for personal help should bring their own laptops if possible, and pre-register for a FamilySearch account.
June 15 - 9:30-10:30 a.m. Using Chronologies to Enhance Your Family History Narrative
Presenter: Sue Mortensen
Learn how to use this invaluable tool to chronicle events in the life of your ancestor, identify the gaps in your research, and construct a comprehensive narrative of your ancestor's life.
July 20 - 9:30-10:30 Research in Cajun Country
Presenter: Cheryl Singhal
The deep south is an area rich in genealogical resources. This class will focus on research specific to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and western Florida.
* * Join a Focus Group to Enhance Your Research Skills * *
DNA Group: meetings on May 15 & 22 at 7:00 p.m.
RootsMagic Users Group: monthly meetings on the 2nd Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
Irish Group: bi-weekly meetings on the 1st, 3rd & 5th Tuesday evenings at 7:00.
African-American Group: weekly on Monday mornings, 9:30 a.m.
Reminders:
We have a Flip-Pal scanner for patron use (no charge). This is an excellent tool to scan oversized documents and photos.
Our Oral History Room is available to record interviews. Don't miss the opportunity to capture the stories of a family member, using professional audio and video equipment. You will leave the session with a DVD. Cost is $5.00. Contact our FHC to schedule an appointment.
Thank you to all of our presenters who volunteer their time to teach!
All classes are free of charge, but registration is requested.
Email info@wdcfhc.org, or call 301-587-0042
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FamilySearch and Family Tree Training Sessions
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Fan Charts - Photos - Stories - Wiki - Online Classes - Blogs - Social Media sites: Are you a bit overwhelmed with all the new features of the redesigned FamilySearch.org website? And, how to navigate the FamilyTree?
Help is on the way. Every Thursday evening through June, we will hold classes to teach how to navigate the FamilyTree and all features of FamilySearch.org. Learn how to upload and tag photos, attach a story to a person in your tree, and use a colorful fan chart to see pedigree lines from a entirely new perspective.
Classes will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the WDCFHC. Classes are repeated so you can attend multiple times if desired: FamilySearch.org: May 16, June 6, June 20 FamilyTree: May 30, June 13, June 27 (There will not be a class on May 23)
No registration is required. However, you are urged to bring your FamilySearch user name and password. If you do not have one, you can obtain one here. All that is required is a user name and password. This enables you to customize and personalize the FamilyTree with your ancestors, and to access additional information at FamilySearch.
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Researching Old Railroad Records
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by Kimberly Powell
From the mid-1820s through the 20th century, railroads touched millions of Americans lives. During the "Golden Age of Railroads" (1900-1945) railroads were the major mode of transportation for millions of Americans. By 1920, one in every 50 Americans was employed by the railroads. Railroad construction also attracted thousands of immigrants, including the Chinese, Irish and even members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Kimberly's article links to 11 websites and other resources to assist you with researching ancestors who may have been railroad employees. Click here.
Source: About.com: Genealogy, April 23, 2013
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Find the Parents
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 | | Five Minute Friday: Find the Parents |
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Names: A Blessing or a Curse
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by James Tanner
Some researchers create their own brick walls when they insist on a specific spelling of a surname. This article describes eight very helpful spelling "rules."
- Many of your ancestors may not have known how to spell their own names.
- Many people were known only by a nickname and never used the name they were given at birth.
- They wrote what they heard.
- The use of a family name or surname varies from culture to culture.
- The pool of names used by any given family or culture may have been very small.
- The way a name was spelled was unimportant until industrialization.
- Changes in governments sometimes changed names.
- Immigrants often changed either the spelling of their name or their name entirely.
Read further explanations of each of these facts here.
Source: Genealogy's Star, April 13, 2013
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Kinship Terminology: What is Consanguinity?
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In English-speaking societies, we classify based on gender, generation, and consideration of consanguinity (direct descendants) and immediate affinal (in-law) relationships. Our common familiarity is with immediate family and direct lines - brother, sister, cousins, aunts/uncles and the (great) grandparents. It starts to get confusing when differentiating between the "degrees" and "removals" of cousins.
When the cousins are not in your same generation then they are "removed. "First cousins once removed" declares that either one of you are one generation away from being first cousins.
To further understand kinship relationships and this chart, read the full article here.
Source: FindMyPast Blog, April 8, 2013
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Get to Know the Sexton
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A sexton is a person who is in charge of a cemetery. The term can also refer to someone who has responsibility for the maintenance of the church building and/or the surrounding graveyard. In many cases, the sexton is the gravedigger. But more important for genealogists is his responsibility for keeping records of those buried in the cemeteries and those who have been moved to other cemeteries.
A sexton records details about the number of lots and plots, the owners of each, and the details about people interred in the plots. As the sexton does the maintenance for the cemetery, he becomes an expert on who is buried there, and he may have information about them that would be useful to a researcher.
Sexton records can contain a multitude of details that would help a genealogist who is looking for his family. These records shouldn't be overlooked, especially when researchers have reached the awful "brick wall" that keeps them from finding what they're looking for". In some cases, the records for cemeteries that are no longer active may have been given to a local genealogical society or historical society.
Source: FamilySearch Blog, March 7, 2013
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How to Find Family Bibles
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by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
Of course, assuming your ancestors kept a family Bible and it still exists, finding it is your biggest challenge. Here are some places and sources to check, but remember to also look for allied family lines-those who married into your family. Perhaps none of your ancestors kept a Bible, but a relative who married into the family did and recorded some of your family's events.
- Ask your relatives-all of 'em.
- Place queries in magazines and on genealogy Internet sites.
- Search the Internet.
- Look on eBay.
- Check research repositories in the locality where your ancestors lived.
- Check research repositories known for collecting Bible records. Some research repositories are known for their collection of Bible records, such as the library of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, DC, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston.
- Search for military pension files.
- Consult genealogical periodicals.
- Check the Genealogical Library Master Catalog.
This article details each of these tips, and includes as links to websites where Bibles can be searched or found.
Source: FamilyTree Magazine, March 4, 2013
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FamilySearch to Digitize Maryland Archives Records
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A new joint venture between FamilySearch and the Maryland Archives will result in the digitization of all Will and Probate Records located at the Archives building in Annapolis. The purpose of this project is to preserve these historic records and make them more readily available to the public.
Digitization will begin in early June. Records from Baltimore, Caroline, & Carroll counties will be imaged. Some of these county records span from the mid-1800's to mid 1900's.
The Volunteer Coordinator of this project is now actively seeking volunteers to help prepare the records for imaging. Training for volunteers will be the first week in June, or possibly earlier, depending on the facility arrangements at the Archives.
Volunteers are needed each weekday between the hours of 8:30 & 4:30 to work a four-hour shift on a day of their choice at the Archives building in Annapolis.
This is an exciting opportunity to join with others to give service within the genealogy community, and to personally assistance in the preservation of historic documents. For further information, see the FamilySearch Maryland Archive Volunteer website or email fsmdvol@gmail.com.
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Genealogy "Tips of the Day"
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by Michael John Neill
Finances Dictate Records. The more money a person had, the more records they tend to leave. An ancestor of mine appeared in several lawsuits, land records, and other dealings in Kentucky and Virginia between roughly 1790 and 1825. Then nothing. Nothing at all. A closer reading of one of the later court cases in which he was involved indicated that he was "nearly insolvent." That might explain why there was no probate for him upon his death. Sometimes a close reading of what documents you are able to obtain explains why more aren't available.
There May Not Be Records. Occasionally I get emails from readers telling me that there simply "have to be records" and comments indicating that "someone, somewhere has 'them.'" While a church might have kept records sometimes pastors keep the records of their church and they eventually end up lost or destroyed. The records of some cemeteries, particularly smaller ones, end up in private hands and sometimes those too end up being accidentally destroyed. This does not mean that one should not look for records. What it does mean is that one cannot always insist that they "have to be around somewhere." Sometimes they are--but sometimes they are not.
How Far for a Spouse? In the time period in which your ancestor married, how far were they likely to travel to find a spouse? It might not be as far as you think. Travelling 5 miles in 1830 was not as easy as it is today--your ancestor's "pool of potential mates" is geographically pretty small.
I've Got Three. Some researchers will "believe" something when they have three sources that provide the same piece of information. One has to be careful using this approach. Sources may all contain information from the same person or "original source," which does not really mean that three "sources" agree. It could only mean that the same person gave the information three times. And there is always the chance that the second two "sources" got their information from the first. Think about who provided the information, why it is in the record, and how reasonably the informant would have known the information. That's a good way to get started with information analysis.
A Work Around. In his early 19th century will, a Maryland ancestor appears to disinherit a daughter when he leaves everything to her two children and appoints a guardian for them. The man writing the will might have not so much been disinheriting the daughter as he was avoiding a son-in-law. In the very early 1800s, when this will was written, a man would be able to exercise control over real property that his wife inherited. By leaving the real estate to his daughter's children, and appointing a guardian, the testator was providing for the children while circumventing the son-in-law.
Surety. A surety is one serves as a guarantor on bond or other obligation such as a debt. If the person signing the bond performs their obligation, the surety does not have to "do anything." If the person pays their debt, the surety does not have to pay it. If the person signing the bond does not perform as indicated on the bond, the surety is at financial or legal risk. The the person who is supposed to pay the debt does not pay, the surety becomes obligated.
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Research Tips & Resources
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Jewish Genealogy
This article is packed with information about beginning Jewish Research, and searching Jewish surnames.
French Genealogy
This blog focuses on research tips and resources in France.
Genealogy in Galicia
Gesher Galicia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that promotes and conducts Jewish genealogical and historical research for Galicia, a province of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is today part of eastern Poland and southwestern Ukraine.
Paleography
Methodist Ministers
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Thank you for subscribing to Generations. We hope this publication will motivate you to successfully begin or continue your family history research. We would like to hear from you! Please submit your questions, research tips, and favorite websites to us at info@wdcfhc.org
Sincerely,
Carol Petranek, Newsletter Editor
Linda & Kurt Christensen
Gary Petranek
Co-Directors, Washington DC Family History Center
10000 Stoneybrook Drive, PO Box 49
Kensington, MD 20895
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