Monthly Archives: May 2016

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 

TIP OF THE WEEK – WRITTEN IN STONE

Anyone who has tried to glean information from an ancestor’s centuries old gravestone realizes while “written in stone” by definition means permanent, in reality weathering of the stone renders many inscriptions impossible or difficult to read.  Applying chalk, flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, shaving cream, or doing crayon rubbings  to make inscriptions more legible were once popular techniques.  Please do not use these substances. They may seem benign, but they are harmful.   Here’s a couple of tips using aluminum foil that are not harmful to the stone.

Aluminum foil impression  – this works best with the thinnest, cheapest foil you can find and a damp sponge or clean, soft brush such as a makeup brush. Apply the foil shiny side down on the gravestone and gently press the foil against the stone with a damp sponge or soft brush. Carefully remove the foil from the stone and almost magically things that had not been discernible to your naked eye appear imprinted in the foil.

Remember if you find it necessary to secure the foil to the gravestone, do not apply any tape directly to the stone. Instead encircle the gravestone with the foil, overlapping the ends, and only tape foil to foil. Some cemeteries don’t allow visitors to touch the gravestones at all so check that out before taking a foil impression.

Aluminum foil mirror –  cloudy overcast and shadows make older stones more difficult to read so try visiting cemeteries on bright, sunny days when the sun is high in the sky.  It’s also suggested you bring a large mirror to cast light diagonally across the face of a difficult to read gravestone like a professional photographer would use a silver reflector board.  The mirror should be taller than the headstone.   In place of a cumbersome and breakable full length mirror, cover a large piece of cardboard with aluminum foil, shiny side out.  Use this as your full length mirror. This technique will require two people; one to direct the light with the foil mirror and another person to do the reading and/or photography   Try adding a powerful flashlight to your arsenal of equipment.  Experiment with the angles and reflecting light back onto the gravestone.

Happy headstone hunting to you and here are two links as examples of what you might expect from an aluminum foil impression.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33059891

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38952943

Seattle Genealogical Society News

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 

SGS NEEDS 40 VOLUNTEERS
 for the 2016
  PACIFIC NORTHWEST SCOTTISH HIGHLAND GAMES
Saturday, July 30 & Sunday, July 31
Enumclaw Expo Center

– COME LISTEN TO THE BAGPIPES – WATCH THE DANCERS –
– VISIT THE CLANS – HELP SGS PROMOTE GENEALOGY –

We need volunteers to help at the Seattle Genealogical Society and Library booth during the Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games in Enumclaw. We have been participating for many years and it is a great way to let the public know about SGS and to promote membership. Our participation also gives us valuable community outreach credit for our grant applications with 4Culture which has resulted in thousands of dollars for our equipment and projects. Game attendance is about 30,000 for the weekend. Most of the people who come to the SGS booth don’t have an understanding of their Scottish or Irish heritage and have not done any research. They primarily want to know two things:

1. “What clan do I belong to?”
2. “What tartan can I use?”

We will have a number of reference books available at the booth that help answer those questions. You will receive an e-mail attachment prior to the games that will give you a refresher course on Scottish and Celtic genealogy. There will also be a handout about SGS and other information. Highland Games material, maps and instructions will be sent out about 10 days before the games after we receive confirmation of our location and tickets.

We need twenty volunteers for each day;  two volunteers for each two hour session and three people during  the peak afternoon hours. We will supply you with a free ticket for the games. This will entitle you to enjoy a full day at the Games for your own enjoyment. It’s a lot of fun. Parking will be at your own expense at $7.00 per day. We encourage carpooling.

Please contact me before June 19th.  Send along your name, email address, phone contact,  age if you are over 62 and a time preference, if you have one.

Thanks so much.

JEAN A. ROTH, SGS Outgoing Director of Education and Outreach Coordinator
Email: jeanaroth@juno.com
Ph: (206) 782-2629

THANK YOU, DONORS!

We are delighted to report that this year we received over $3,700 in donations through the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBig 2016 program.  This represents an increase of more than 70% over giving in each of the past two years.

Over 50 donations were made to SGS, most from current members.  Three donations were anonymous, and two were from non-members; one of those was for $500, a very generous and welcome contribution!

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed and made this year’s GiveBig campaign such a big success!

HELP WANTED

We need a volunteer who can contribute a few hours a week to type bibliographies for the Archives Committee. Work can be done at SGS on Thursdays when the committee is on the job (bring your laptop) or at any time from your home. A template for the listings will be provided. No salary, but an unlimited amount of gratitude is offered. If you can help, please leave word at the SGS front desk – (206) 522-8658 or email to : sgslibrary@seattlegenealogicalsociety.org

The Archives Committee sorts, organizes and assembles documents, correspondence, family group sheets, and other materials that make up the valuable family histories on the shelves of the SGS library and includes a bibliography. Our bibliography backlog is growing and to continue its work, the Archives Committee needs help.

CALENDAR

Unless otherwise indicated all programs will be at the SGS Library, 6200 Sand Point Way NE.  Please check the SGS Web Site for additions, changes, and corrections.  Programs may be canceled or postponed due to inclement weather.  The German Interest Group and the  Irish Interest Group will not meet during the summer; regular meetings will be resumed in the fall.

JUNE

Saturday, June 4, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Canadian Interest Group, Leader: David Robert, Last meeting until fall.

Saturday, June 4, 1:00PM – 3:00 pm, Annual Membership Meeting, meet the new board of directors. Lisa Chan, Director of Technology will speak on how new technology will aid the Society.  The meeting will be chaired by retiring SGS President, Marilyn Rose.  Stay on for coffee, tea, cookies and socializing after the meeting.

Tuesday, June 7, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology, Bring your laptop or mobile device, visit with other members and learn from each other while working on your family history. Discuss current projects, hardware, software, organizing data, and technology trends in genealogy.

Wednesday, June 8,   7:00pm – 9:00pm ,  MAC Computer Interest Group, Fiske Genealogical Library, 1644 43rd Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112,  Leaders: Diane Heddrick and Lou Daly

Sunday, June 12, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Scandinavian Interest Group, Problem Solving Workshop! Jill Morelli will be filling in for Karen; bring your Scandinavian research problem and submit it for crowd-solving by the SSIG. We will answer as many questions as we can. Everyone will learn new techniques and record sets. Remember to bring your data with you.

Tuesday, June 14, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

Wednesday, June 15,   12:00pm – 3:00pm ,  Beginning Genealogy, New to genealogy? Come and learn the basics and more. Instructor: Jean A Roth, outgoing Director of Education

Tuesday, June 21, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

Tuesday, June 28, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

 

REMEMBER TO RENEW

It’s time to renew your Seattle Genealogical Society membership. Membership forms along with a return envelope were sent out earlier this month.  You can renew in person, on-line,  or by mail. The Annual Membership Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 4th at 1 pm.  Hope to see you there.  Refer to the Calendar section below for more details.

Innovative Grant applications due today!

by Roxanne Lowe

Innovative Grant applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, 2016. Late applications will not be accepted.

The grants, up to $100, are designed to support the inventive and creative efforts of WSGS-member societies and organizations. Up to five grants will be awarded in 2016.

The simple application is only ONE page and is available here. Additional guidance on the program is here.

For more information, contact Roxanne Lowe, WSGS Recognition Chair.

Twin River Genealogical Society Walking With Ancestors

by Charles Hansen
TwinRiverGS
Hello,  I would like to get the word out about “Walking with Ancestors”, July 4th, starting at 9a.m and the last group will go through at 10:30a.m, at the Normal Hill Cemetery.   We will be portraying: John R. Wadsworth, Louis Jay Perkins, Charles H. Wiggin, Joseph Alexander, Henry K. Fountain, and John C. Addison.  They will be portrayed by members of our Twin River Genealogy Society members.  There is no cost and there will be a registration table at the site. Most of these Ancestors are close to the road so it should be easy walking for people.
Thank you, Sue Gehrke

Eastside Genealogical Society German Interest Group June Meeting

by Roxanne Lowe

The June meeting of the Eastside Genealogical Society’s German Interest Group (GIG) will take place Friday, June 3, 2016, from 1-3 p.m. at the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20th St, Bellevue, WA 98004.

This is their last meeting before summer break.  Please note that the GIG doesn’t have monthly meetings over the summer in July or August.  Their meetings will resume monthly beginning in September 2016.

The June meeting topic will be: “What Are Your Summer Genealogy Plans & How Might We Help You.”

Will you be going on a research trip, attending/hosting a family reunion, doing a genealogy project (like organizing your research and documents or writing a book or breaking down a brickwall or learning about DNA), or share what your summer genealogical plans or hopes may be!

Come share your plans & ask any questions that might help you be successful!

GIG members have experience and are willing to share what they have learned. We will all learn something new!

You’ll end your summer with the wonderful feeling of accomplishment and, at our September 2016 meeting, we hope you’ll share what you did over the summer!

Continue reading →

Oregon Trail An American Journey June 25th

by Charles Hansen

Do you ever wonder what The Oregon Trail looks like today? How much do you know about the experiences of those who crossed it in hopes of starting a new and better life?
Rinker Buck, author of The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey, will be visiting Fort Vancouver National Historic Site on Saturday, June 25th from 1-5pm to talk about The Oregon Trail & his recent travels along the route as it exists today.

For more information click below

buck flyer

Serendipity Day

by Charles Hansen

Good Reason to Connect with Cousins

MyHeritage Releases Book Matching Technology

Genealogy Road Show, New Season on PBS

Accessing American Ancestors for Free

How Many of You Are There? Try Find My Name

**************************

Last week, I drove from Spokane down to Kennewick to spend time with hubby’s cousin, Cathy. We spent a delightful afternoon talking family and working on our common Ancestry tree. She showed me all the “stuff” (read: family artifacts) around her house that belonged to her and John’s common grandmother. That was wonderful enough, but the “frosting on the cupcake” was that she gave me a start of the flowering plant that Grandma Ethel had brought all the way from Illinois when she was married in 1911 and came to Spokane. Now we have it growing in our garden and I will share with my children. It’s important to pass along more than facts and photos. (Anybody tell me what it is? She didn’t know.)

20160526_092115

**********************

Maybe we all ought to consider exploring/using MyHeritage….. This website has risen to be right up there with Ancestry and FamilySearch.

MyHeritage Releases Exclusive Book Matching Technology for Family History

MyHeritage users to automatically receive relevant excerpts from digitized books that reveal information about their ancestors and relatives

MyHeritage

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah, April 7, 2016 — MyHeritage, the fastest-growing destination for discovering, preserving and sharing family history, has launched today a revolutionary addition to its suite of technologies: Book Matching. This innovation automatically researches users’ family trees in historical books with high precision.

 

In April 2012 MyHeritage launched SuperSearch™, a search engine for historical records, which has since then grown to include 6.6 billion historical records, including birth, marriage, death and census records. By implementing its vision of enhancing genealogy with technology, MyHeritage then developed a line of unique and sophisticated technologies that automatically match the records from the search engine to the 32 million family trees uploaded by its users.

In December 2015, MyHeritage expanded its data collections to include digitized historical books, with an initial corpus of 150,000 books of high genealogical value. This collection was tripled last week to 450,000 books with 91 million pages. With a team of more than 50 dedicated curators, MyHeritage aims to add hundreds of millions of pages of digitized books to the collection each year.

As of today, MyHeritage users will receive matches between profiles in their family trees and the books from this collection. The Book Matching technology analyzes the book texts semantically, understanding complex narrative that describes people, and matches it to the 2 billion individuals in MyHeritage family trees with extremely high accuracy. This breakthrough technology is the first of its kind, and is exclusive to MyHeritage.

Book Matching has produced more than 80 million matches, and this number will continue to grow as the collection grows and as the family trees on MyHeritage continue to expand. Book Matching is currently available for English books, and the technology is being enhanced to cover additional languages. In addition, de-duplication technology is being added in the next few weeks to remove duplicate books that have been scanned and OCRed more than once by different sources.

Continue reading →

Seattle Genealogical Society Annual Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 

SGS Annual Membership Meeting

Saturday, 4 June 2016 at 1 p.m.

6200 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

This is an open invitation to all interested genealogists to attend the Annual Meeting of the Seattle Genealogical Society, to meet the members of the recently elected SGS Board of Directors, and to see the changes that have occurred at SGS during the past year.

More importantly, this will be an opportunity to learn of the exciting changes ahead for the society in the area of technology. Lisa Chan, the Director of Technology, will share with you her vision of how using technology can aid you as you move ahead with your research, and what SGS is, and will be doing to further advance into the digital age.

After the meeting, coffee, tea and cookies will be available. We would love to have you stay and enjoy a cup of coffee and a conversation about how you became interested in your family research and what your recent successes have been. I hope to see you at this important meeting on Saturday, the 4th of June, at 1 p.m. at the SGS Library!

Marilyn Rose,
Retiring President of the Seattle Genealogical Society

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM Wednesday Evening E-News

by Charles Hansen

GFO1

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM Wednesday Evening E-News 25 May 2016

For more information visit www.gfo.org, contact us at info@gfo.org, or call our library at 503-963-1932. We love hearing from you!

For a complete GFO CALENDAR go to www.gfo.org/calendar.htm.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy at http://www.gfo.org/insider/16-May.pdf.

***

Who’s the GFO Star this month?! That’s right, it’s our very own Liz Porter!

Liz

Liz Porter has taken on the HUGE task of updating the OPALS system by entering all our periodicals into the database, making the system more user friendly – Liz has become our periodicals expert! She learned the catalog and task so quickly! While Sarah and Laurel were unavailable, she learned to create labels to keep things moving. Her work is very accurate – and she has such a sweet disposition.

Thank you, Liz!

Note from the Editor: GFO Stars can be nominated by any of our patrons, visitors, or members. Simply fill out a nomination slip by the front door of the Library and add your nominee to the box on the wall above the donations jar.

***

Goin’ for the Gold! Help us reach 100 Reviews on Facebook…

Rate

We need your input and we need your love!
And it only takes a couple of clicks…honest.
Step One Log into your Facebook page.

Step Two Go to the GFO’s Facebook page from your Facebook page.

Step Three Click the “Tell People What You Think” link at the top of the feed.

Step Four Click on the star rating of your choice (five! oh please pick five stars!!).

Step Five Type a review in the pop-up box.

It’s that easy. This is a great way to help others find out about the GFO, which will let us continue providing all the great genealogical programs and services you already enjoy so much!

***

What’s Hot This Week in Genealogy??

New1

In Case You Missed It – The U.S. MIDWEST edition:
Almost 1,000 (983) new and updated Free Historic newspaper Links have been added to the 12 Midwest States’ free “newspaper link lists”:

Check out the whole list of states available HERE. And don’t forget to check out the free tutorials at the top of the same page!

William

Digital Library? Prince William, is that really you??
FREE ONLINE ACCESS TO PRE-1918
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY DEEDS is now available at this LINK.

You can retrieve PDF images of documents as early as 1731. Please remember that there are a number of significant gaps in Prince William deeds prior to 1865, as a result of the Civil War.

Those gaps may be overcome by using rent rolls, land tax lists, loose papers, court orders, and an old index. The latter item, Prince William County Deeds Index, 1731-1827, compiled by Charlotte Cain, is available at http://eservice.pwcgov.org/library/digitalLibrary/ in addition to several early tax lists transcribed by Greg Mason.

Ron Turner’s website contains many collections of Prince William loose papers, including documents from lost deed books. http://www.pwcvirginia.com/pwcvabookspublishedworks.htm.

***

Interviewing for Oral Histories Class – June 5th

Jewish3

Family history is often about gathering oral histories and stories from family members, and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon is here to help!
Description: The Oral History Project is a key part of the OJMCHE’s mission to preserve and present the history of Oregon’s Jewish community The central goal is to develop a community oral history archive that provides a chronicle of the experiences of the Jews of Oregon. The project began by documenting the lives of the former residents of South Portland in the 1970s. Efforts have also included the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and liberators of death camps. Several focused efforts are currently underway to collect multiple histories from within particular geographic or communal areas throughout the state.

Bio: Anne LeVant Prahl, the Curator of Collections at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, has been working in collections management since 1987. She began doing oral history by interviewing former members of Texas’ Black gospel quartets for the Texas Music Museum as part of her masters work in anthropology at the University of Texas. In Oregon, as part of her position of curator, she runs the oral history program for the museum, training interviewers, identifying interview subjects, and maintaining the collection of nearly 700 oral histories.

The meeting starts at 11 AM, June 5th.

SPECIAL VENUE
Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education
1953 NW Kearney St.
Portland OR 97209
Phone: 503.226.3600

There is no cost for this program. A donation to the JGSO or OJMCHE would be appreciated.

***

Ireland

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!  
The GFO’s Irish Interest Group is in need of a brave new soul to lead the researching ranks of our Irish descendants beyond the terrors of seemingly insurmountable brick walls and through swamps of information overloads in our modern researching age.

Could this be you? If destiny’s calling, please give the library a call at 503-963-1932 or email volunteer@gfo.org to help out in this very vital way!

Visit the Irish Interest Group website for a peek at what they’ve been up to, and what we’ll all be missing with the upcoming retirement of their fearless leader, Suzanne Lemon, after September 17, 2016.

***

What’s Happening this Week at the GFO?

SATURDAY, MAY 28th
DNA Basics 9am – 11am

As this session is a little shorter than normal, no formal presentation will be given, although we can explore the websites for each of the three main DNA companies (Family Tree DNA, AncestryDNA, and 23andMe). Regardless, we will focus on your questions and problems so everyone is more confident on what the three types of testing can and cannot do for your genealogy. Don’t forget your handouts HERE!

Please send your questions and problems to Emily at aulicino@hevanet.com before class.

Facilitators: Emily Aulicino and possibly Lisa McCullough

Website: http://gfo.org/intgrp/dna.htm

Italian Group (Monthly Program) 11am – 1pm

Ciao to everyone interested in Italian genealogy research. This is a great opportunity to learn, share, and enjoy others with a common interest. Italian genealogy research in the Portland area now has a home. Come join our group. Facilitated by Keith Pyeatt

British Group 1pm – 3pm

Focus: Researching in the British Isles: England, Wales, Scotland, and Scots-Irish. We try to have speakers who provide interesting experiences or online databases for research in these countries. One hour of the two hour meeting is devoted to Brick Wall questions. Questions may be directed to: Duane Funk at duanefunk@comcast.net.
MONDAY, MAY 30th – THE LIBRARY WILL BE CLOSED IN HONOR OF MEMORIAL DAY WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1st
Learn & Chat 10am – noon

Join us to talk about your genealogy questions and help provide support to others. Facilitated by Connie Lenzen.

DNA Q&A 1pm – 2pm

Lisa McCullough will be available to help answer your DNA questions, whether you are new and just getting started or have more involved questions.