| 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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Thursday Night & Saturday Classes
During May, the topic of our Thursday night sessions will be Photo workshops. Sessions begin at 7:30 p.m.
Our instructor, Gary Petranek, will be out of town for a week; therefore, there will not be workshops on Thursday, May 21 and there will not be a Saturday class on Saturday, May 23.
Thursday night mini-classes will end in June, but Skill Workshops will continue on Thursday nights at 7:30 with one-on-one assistance in using genealogy tools (i.e., websites, databases).
Saturday, June 20, 9:30 a.m.
Linda White, Co-Author: Back There, Then, a Historical and Genealogical Memoir
Linda will share her insights into composing a family narrative and organizing the myriads of pieces of information into a meaningful and well-written memoir.
Saturday, July 18, 9:30 a.m.
Rebecca Koford: Land Records: Rich Resources for your Research
Rebecca will explain indepth the type information in land records, where to find them, and how to use the data to further your research.
We invite you to join us! No registration is required. For further information, call the FHC at 301-587-0042 or email: info@wdcfhc.org.
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WDC FHC Focus Group Schedule
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Join a Focus Group to Enhance Your Research Skills
African-American: weekly on Monday mornings at 10:00.
Beginning Genealogy: weekly on Tuesday mornings at 10:00. Contact Lorraine Minor at ldgene@verizon.net for further information.
DNA Group: bi-weeky the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at 7:00. Next meetings: May 13, May 27, June 10. There will be a summer break with meetings resuming September 9 and 23.
Eastern European Group: Meetings are monthly on the 4th Saturday at noon; focus countries: Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
Irish Group: bi-weekly meetings on the 1st, 3rd & 5th Tuesday evenings at 7:00.
RootsMagic Users Group: Monthly meetings on the 2nd Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
All are welcome - no registration needed.
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An Appealing Notion
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by Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist
One of the most powerful sources of genealogical information on the face of the earth is the military pension file. Chock full of detail on everything from the military service of the soldier or sailor himself to the details of his family, military pensions often give us insights into family history that just can't be found anywhere else....not everybody who applied for a pension got it. And the records created when someone didn't get a pension are still well worth the effort of tracking them down.
Here's one clue to getting into those records that you might not have thought of before: the Decisions of the Department of the Interior in Appealed Pension and Bounty-Land Claims. Up until 1930, administration of the military pension program was in the Department of the Interior. It was only in 1930 that the Bureau of Pensions was transferred to the Veterans Administration. And - starting in 1887 and running through to 1930 - the Department of the Interior prepared and published its decisions in appealed cases involving military pensions.
There were 22 volumes of decisions published and a quick online search turns up all of them, digitized, online, free. The best collection is at HathiTrust Digital Library, an online partnership of academic and research institutions, where you can find all but volumes 19 and 21-22 in full text in this collection from the University of Michigan. Volume 19 is at HathiTrust as well, in the collection from Harvard University, and the last two volumes (21-22) can be found here in the collection from the University of California.
You can also find some of these volumes digitized online at Google Books and at Internet Archive.
So... what might you find in one of these volumes? Click here to read the full article.
Source: The Legal Genealogist, April 15, 2015
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8 Vital Record Alternatives
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by Lindsay Fulton, NEHGS
...what do you do when a vital record simply does not exist? It's a common problem, especially when documenting older generations, as each state legislated its own vital record compliance. Luckily you can consult several vital record alternatives that can be used to prove birth, marriage, or death. (Most will be accepted as proof by a lineage society.)
Here are a few examples:
- Probate Records
- Deeds
- Military Records
- Cemetery, tombstone, burial records
- Church records
- Bible records
- Published genealogies and local histories
To read the full article which includes links, click here. |
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Don't Search Just Surnames
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by Kenneth Marks
Historical Newspapers Research - Lesson 7
[Searching for surnames only] can be a trap. Because, especially for newspapers, there is a lot of other information in articles that are helpful in finding one of your ancestors. [Newspapers may have] poor quality original newsprint, an unsatisfactory scanning or OCR process, or even misspellings by journalists and typesetters. Surnames are often not exactly the right spelling in the search index. Furthermore, the addition of non-surname criteria can help us focus in the right ancestor's articles.
Some examples that may led to better results in newspaper searches:
- Search for an address
- Search for a business name
- Search for a lodge or club
- Search for an occupation
- Search for the name of a sports team or school
It is recommended to limit the search to a specific newspaper or town/city.
To read the full article, click here.
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GPS: Complete and Accurate Source Citations
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| | Genealogical Proof Standard: Complete and Accurate Citation of Sources |
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| 7 Basic Rules for Identifying Sources | | |
by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained
If you ever felt like source citation involves too many rules, this list is for you. Yes, in every style guide for every field, each "rule" is there for a purpose; but if you're able to remember them all, you're likely to be an editor or a fuss-pot. For everyone else-normal people who have learned to look up "particulars" in one of those style guides but would prefer to mentally tote around just a short list-here's EE's 7 Basic Rules.
- If a 'fact' is not public knowledge, provide a specific citation to reliable evidence.
- Use words carefully.
- Remember that citations exist in two stages: working notes and final form.
- Never use ibid. in working notes.
- Always distinguish between published and unpublished materials.
- Give credit where due.
- Identify sources fully-avoiding personal and regional shorthand, informal names, abbreviations, creative codes, and jargon that may confuse or mislead users of our work.
To read the full article, click here.
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Discovering the Occupations of Your Ancestors
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by Kimberly Powell
Do you know what your ancestors did for a living? Researching ancestral jobs and occupations can teach you a great deal about the people who make up your family tree, and what life was like for them. An individual's occupation may give insight into their social status or to their place of origin. Occupations can also be used to distinguish between two individuals of the same name, often an essential requirement in genealogy research.
Certain skilled occupations or trades may have been passed down from father to son, providing indirect evidence of a family relationship. It's even possible that your surname derives from the occupation of a distant ancestor.
Records with Clues to Occupations
- Vital Records
- Census Records
- Voter Registration Lists
- Tax Records
- Obituaries
- City Directories
- Social Security Administration - SS-5 Applications
- Military Records
To read the full article and a supplementary article detailing occupation terminology, with links to online records, click here.
Source: About.com: Genealogy
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Your Immigrant Ancestor's Arrival in U.S. Ports
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by Juliana Szucs, Ancestry.com
Our immigrant ancestors' journey to America is an important part of the family story. Your ancestor probably entered through any of the more than 70 federal immigrant stations located along the country's shores, the most famous of which was New York.
In our latest free research guide, we've gathered interesting details you might not know about 6 major U.S. immigration ports:
- New York - Quarantine
- Philadelphia - Geography
- Baltimore - Transportation Network
- Galveston - Immigrants
- New Orleans - Return Trip Immigration
- San Francisco - Gold Rush Immigration Sea Routes
To read the full article, click here.
To download Ancestry's free immigration guide, Major U.S. Immigration Ports, click here
Source: Ancestry.com Blog
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April 6
, 2015
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| Civil War Confederate Pension Indexes Online | | by Michael John Neill
 Michael Neill has compiled links to Confederate Pension Records online indexes for the following states: - Alabama
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
To access the post with links, click here.
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Irish Catholic Records to Go Online
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The entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms held by the National Library of Ireland - 400,000 films amounting to the most important source of Irish family history - is to be made available online this July. The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has been working to digitise the microfilms for more than three years under its most ambitious digitisation programme to date.
Announced in December, the archive of parish register microfilms will go live on 8 July.
The parish register records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 Census. Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,091 parishes throughout the island of Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records.
To read the full article, click here.
Source: SiliconRepublic, April 29, 2015
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Genealogy Tip of the Day
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Died Where They Were Buried?
Never assume that someone died in the city or county where they are buried. It's always possible that the person died in another city, county, or perhaps even another state. And sometimes they are not even buried with their tombstone. Sometimes.
Your Ancestor May Have Been Unaware...
Your ancestor may have had no idea of the "right" way to spell his last name. Correct spellings are a somewhat recent affectation for a variety of modern reasons. Even your literate ancestor may have been inconsistent in spelling his name--if the name "sounded" like his name it was his.
For whatever reason, one branch of your family may choose to change the spelling of their name. Sometimes changes were done to hide ethnic background, to distinguish from connections with "unsavory" family members, or simply to avoid confusion.
Do Communion Records Hold Clues for You?
Researchers often utilize records of baptisms, marriages, and funerals when accessing church records. Some churches may keep records of which members took communion. Appearing on that list can tell you dates when a person was alive and attending church-even if sporadically. Your relative may even appear on a list of sick individuals who received communion, giving you another clue as well.
Do You Know One Pitfall?
Every database, index, finding aid, etc. has one "pitfall." There may be a small portion of records that are missing. There may be a location whose name is spelled wrong in the database. The search screen may not work quite like other search screens you use. Every name listed on every record may not be in the index.
Being aware of pitfalls does not mean you are focusing on the negative. It means you are aware of the limitations of the finding aid.
Recorded Late?
Documents are not necessarily recorded immediately after they are created. Deeds may be recorded decades after they were signed when it was realized they had not been recorded. Births may be filed in a series of "delayed" records. Wills are admitted to probate after the testator dies, not after the will is signed.
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Research Tips & Resources
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Segmentology, a new blog by Jim Bartlett
WDCFHC DNA specialist and focus group leader, Jim Bartlett, has started a new blog: segmentology.org
Tips for Finding Stories of Women in Your Tree
This guide by Ancestry.com has excellent hints; click here
Hispanic Research Articles
Mexico Genealogy 101; Researching Hispanic Heritage
Online Indexes or Birth and Marriage Records, USA
Links for each state: click here.
Commonly Used Nicknames
Ancestry is publishing a very helpful series of posts reviewing commonly-used nicknames.
A-C is here
D-F is here
G-K is here
New posts are added regularly; the entire list, when completed, will be a document in the Ancestry Learning Center.
Source: Ancestry.com Blog
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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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