| 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
Saturday, January 18, 9:30-10:30
Social Media and Genealogy
Presenter: Carol Petranek
Today's genealogist can use today's technology to collect, connect, and share with other researchers. This class will focus on using social media to further your genealogy research.
Saturday, February 22, 10:00-noon
Seminar to Commemorate Black History Month
Presenters: African-American Focus Group
This seminar is being held in conjunction with the Temple Visitors' Center commemoration of Black History Month. Please note that these topics are inclusive and pertinent to all researchers:
Session 1: "I'm Not Who I Think I Am!" - How DNA testing has changed my research strategies and my understanding of my heritage.
Session 2: "Sharing My History" - Presentations on how to share what we learn in our research.
Session 3: "Gathering My History" - Research tips.
NOTE: This seminar will be held at the Temple Visitors' Center at 9900 Stoneybrook Drive, Kensington, MD 20895 (2 driveways away from our FHC).
Saturday, March 15, 9:30-10:30
Birth, Marriages, Deaths, and Alternative Records
Presenter: Rebecca Koford
What to do when the vital record doesn't exist? Join Rebecca Koford to explore alternative sources which may hold the information you are seeking.
Saturday, April 18, 9:30-10:30
DAR Library: Research in Person and Online
Presenter: Julia Coldren-Walker
The DAR Library is a treasure trove of genealogical information,and it is in our backyard! This informative session will explain what resources are available at the Library, those which can be accessed online and those available at the library.
All classes are free of charge, but registration is requested.
* Join a Focus Group to Enhance Your Research Skills *
Beginning Genealogy: weekly on Tuesday mornings at 10:00. Contact Lorraine Minor at ldgene@verizon.net for further information.
DNA Group: Next meeting on December 11.
RootsMagic Users Group: Meetings are monthly, 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.
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Nicknames: Family History Research Tips
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Ever faced an obstacle in your family research as you look for an ancestors' name?
When viewing census records, for example, it's not uncommon to find a relative listed with their formal birth name in one record, and then listed under a nickname in another.
Nicknames are usually familiar or humorous and used as an appropriate replacement or addition to a given name. They can be a form of endearment, refer to a personal character trait or just be a shortened version.
When you stumble upon these new listings, you might think your family research has hit a brick wall. Searching for records can be difficult if you don't have all the information, but don't despair, here are some tips to help in your family history research: click here.
Source: MyHeritage Blog, November 25, 2013
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USCSIS: A Little-Known Government Genealogy Service
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A little-known program of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides genealogy information that may be difficult or impossible to obtain elsewhere.
The records include naturalization files, visa applications, and citizenship tests, and may reveal family secrets and mysteries. In addition to relatives, historians or researchers can also request files.
Under the USCIS Genealogy Program, which started in 2008, requests are usually completed within 90 days. The government will run a search of the name, as long as the person is deceased. If there are records available, the government charges additional fees for the files.
To read more about USCSIS in Dick Eastman's column, click here. To access the USCSIS website, click here.
Source: Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, November 24, 2013
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RootsMagic TV
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Many of our patrons know that we encourage researchers to use RootsMagic as a personal computer genealogy database. It has many powerful features, yet is easy to use.
RootsMagic TV is a YouTube site where you can access full one-hour webinars and brief how-to tutorials. Below is a sample of a short tutorial. We encourage you to check out RootsMagic TV and to learn the many features of this software.
 | | Using Drag and Drop in RootsMagic |
Our RootsMagic users group meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month at 9:30, at the WDCFHC. All are welcome to join us as we explore hands-on the many features of RootsMagic.
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Bring Our Your Dead: A Look at Mortality Schedules
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The "regular" part of the census - the one that genealogists tend to focus on - is known as the population schedules. Mortality schedules are one of several different "supplements" to the Federal census known as non-population schedules. These schedules focus on specific topics.
Between 1810 and 1900, the United States census included supplemental schedules covering agriculture, manufacturing, veterans, slaves and mortality. Not every census covered every topic, and earlier non-population schedules usually collected less information than those in later years.
The key is to know where to find the valuable information contained in these schedules, like the mortality schedules, and how to incorporate it into your genealogy research.
For each Federal census taken in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1885, you can access the related Mortality Schedule and its wealth of information. These schedules list those who died in the twelve months before the official census day, which, for the years containing mortality schedules, was June 1st. This means you'll find those who died from 1 June 1849 through 31 May 1850 in the 1850 mortality schedule; 1 June 1859 through 31 May 1860 in the 1860 mortality schedule, etc.
Here is a listing of available information found in each set of mortality schedules: click here to read the full artice.
Source: Archives.com, October 31, 2013
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Changing County Boundaries
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by Amy Crow
It probably doesn't come as a surprise that maps today don't reflect accurately the areas where our ancestors lived long ago. Roads have changed. New towns have appeared (and some have disappeared). What you might not realize is that the counties themselves might have changed. Those changes can have a huge impact on your research.
Most states didn't become states with their current number of counties. Ohio, which has 88 counties today, had only nine counties when it became a state in 1803. So how do you add more counties? You take the counties you have and chop them into smaller pieces. With each new county that is created comes a new place for records to be created.
So what does this mean for our research? Let's say you have a family who shows up in Noble County, Ohio in the 1860 census. You look for them in 1850, but you can't find that family listed in Noble County. Turns out you're not going to find them in there in 1850, because Noble County wasn't formed until 1851. It might have been the county line that moved, giving your ancestors a different county of residence without ever leaving home.
It's not just the census that is impacted by changes in county boundaries. Records stay where they were created. That means vital records, land records, court records - any records created by the county government - are going to stay in that county. When a new county was formed, they didn't go through the marriage records, for example, and say, "Ok, which of these weddings were performed in townships that moved over to the new county?" (Occasionally, you will find "new" counties that copied over land records from parent counties, but those are by far the exception.) The records stayed in the county where they were first created.
Learning when a county was formed and what county (or counties) was its "parent" will help you find the records.
To read more, click here. Note: this article has links to, and teaches how to use, the Red Book which is online and free at ancestry.com wiki.
Source: Ancestry.com Blog, November 19, 2013
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Archaic Abbreviations
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One of the most baffling things about trying to read old handwritten documents is the liberal use of abbreviations. A few of these have survived to the present day, but many have dropped out of use and are difficult to decipher. In some cases, the person who wrote the original document used their own personal set of abbreviations. In this case, without a large sample of that individual's writing, it may be nearly impossible to figure out the meaning of the personally designed abbreviation. In most cases, the abbreviations, although archaic, are still known.
Fortunately, there are extensive lists of different abbreviations available on the Web. The first source is RootsWeb.Ancestry.com's Abbreviations Found in Genealogy. Another English-based list is found on Geni at Abbreviations & Acronyms for Genealogy - The Accepted.
James Tanner's article continues with additional sources for abbreviations in both English and foreign languages. Click here.
Source: Genealogy's Star, October 12, 2013
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75 Best State Genealogy Websites
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State historical societies and archives are taking the lead in preserving and providing access to records kept on the state and county levels....you now can access a lot of these materials online-many for free. In some cases, you can search online indexes and then order copies of the original records for a fee. Sites increasingly are providing searchers with digital images of original records for free. We commend these state organizations-and a few very ambitious individuals-for making valuable genealogical information easily accessible online.
To read more, click here.
Source: FamilyTree Magazine, October 26, 2013
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Genealogy "Tips of the Day"
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by Michael John Neill
Record Copies are Handwritten, Usually. Most of the local copies of records used by genealogists are not originals but are record copies. While it is always possible the local courthouse will have the "original," most likely the material you are using from the courthouse is a manual transcription of the original item. Because of this, the copy you are using does not contain the original signature, could contain transcription errors, may have been made from an original which was occasionally difficult to read. If you are not certain whether the item you have is a "record copy," ask.
Bits and Pieces of Truth. It sometimes is tempting to completely ignore a document that contains some information that is clearly incorrect. Avoid this temptation. It is possible that the informant was only confused (or lying) about some of the details they provided for the record. There may be other details that are entirely correct. That may be because the informant actually had first hand knowledge of those details or those details were not a part of the lie. Any document can contain pieces of information that are true, pieces of information that are false and pieces of information that are somewhere in between. Don't remove a document from consideration only because a few parts of it are known to be incorrect.
Did They Lose Part of the Last Name? Did your ancestor, either intentionally or on accident, lose part of his last name? Did some of your DeMoss ancestor's records get recorded with the last name of Moss? Did your VonDeHeide ancestor become DeHeide or just Heide? It is always possible that the clerk only bothered to use part of your ancestor's last name.
Were They in the Poor Farm? If you can't "find" your ancestor for a few years, have you considered the possibility that they fell on hard times and spent a while in the local poor farm or almshouse? Records of the county poor farm may be at the local county courthouse, county seat library, a county historical society, or elsewhere.
Was the Nearest Church Close Enough? If your migrating ancestor settled where there was no church of the "right" denomination, he may have attended the nearest church with religious practices fairly close to his own. Don't get stuck in the mindset that "all members of my family were members of only one denomination." Your Methodist may have attended Lutheran services if that was the nearest church. Or your Baptist may have attended a Methodist church if that was the closest option. Of course this also depends upon how "strong" your ancestor's convictions were.
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Research Tips & Resources
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Elizabeth Shown Mills in The New York Times
The New York Times has created a four-part series featuring Ms. Mills, a well-known and highly respected genealogist. You can access this column here. (Thanks to our patron, Betty Beard, for submitting this information.)
Iowa Maps
The University of Iowa has put a collection of historic maps online; click here.
Tracing Indian Ancestry
This is a collection of articles on Native American Genealogy: click here.
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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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