Category Archives: Tip of the Week

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Tip of the Week – DNA Help

Have you read the latest DNA book by Blaine Bettinger and Debbie Wayne Parker, “Genetic Genealogy in Practice”? This is a workbook that provides step-by-step help in working with you DNA results. Each chapter includes exercises with answer keys for hands-on practice.

Another good resource  is “Watch Geoff Live: DNA”, a Legacy Software Webinar by Diahan Southard and Geoff Rasmussen. Diahan previously spoke on DNA at SGS.

Tag along as Diahan and Geoff look for the first time at Geoff’s DNA results and use it to solve a brick wall problem. It’s elementary and very useful in (a) what to look for and (b) how much information you can actually extract from the data. While not free, you will find it for a small fee at http://familytreewebinars.com/download.php?webinar_id=447

Soundex Codes and the Washington State Death Index

by Charles Hansen

Recently received a Tip Sheet from kinhunters@gmail.com about problems with finding people in the Washington State Death index on microfilm. The problem she talked about was with names that started with Mc. Was the “c” included in the soundex code or not for the name? I actually used that index so much that I don’t even go to the cheat sheet to see how the letters were coded anymore. I had read that you need to look both ways on names like Mc or Mac. Names that start with O’ or Van or Von may have been coded with or without the O’, Van or Von. So O’Connor may be soundexed  as O256 or C560! Van Dorn may have been soundexed as V536 or D650.

Ancestry bought those same microfilms and with OCR posted the Washington Death Index in Ancestry, but they missed bunches of people. Was it a problem with the soundex code? I don’t think so, as they used the actual names of people. I know they missed one whole microfilm and I guess because the 1920-1929 microfilm is very hard to read. Ancestry also missed bunches of people in the 1950s. Why? This is my theory, if you look at the microfilms the earlier years used a two column field for the death month, so 01, 02, …, 11,12. But in the 1950s they switched to a single column, so 1,2,3,…,9,O,N,D. Now any person reading that can see October, November and December, but did the OCR software looking for a number in that field see a number or did it skip those people?

Years ago the Washington State Digital archives was looking for some Washington  databases to index and I suggested that Family Search had the Washington State death certificates on microfilm from 1907 through 1960, and that would be a great database to index. Family Search sent the archives a copy of those death certificates and volunteers indexed those death certificates from the actual death certificates, not by copying the soundex index the state had done. When the death certificate index was done the death certificates went online at the digital archives. A few days later they disappeared and a note on how to get a certified copy from the state appeared on each entry in the index. That same index done by Washington State volunteers is on Family Search now and Family Search added the film  and image number for everyone in that index, so you could order the correct microfilm from Salt Lake City to get a copy of a death certificate.  That was great as Spokane and Spokane County, Yakima and Yakima county death certificates were on different microfilms, so which one to order was hard to figure out.

In the August 2016 Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week they show how to find that death certificate online in the Family Search Catalog.

( http://wp.wasgs.org/2016/08/01/seattle-genealogical-society-tip-of-the-week-28/ )

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Tip of the Week – Legacy Family Tree Webinars 2017

A webinar is an online seminar/class that you watch from your computer. All you need is an internet connection and speakers. If you are watching a live presentation, you may also be able to type in questions for the presenter.

What is the cost? Here’s the great thing at Legacy Family Tree Webinars, there is no charge to register and view a live webinar! If you cannot make the live event, recordings are usually available to watch for free during the 7 days immediately following the live event!

After that time period, webinars are available to download for $9.95 each, or as part of a monthly or annual membership. At the beginning of 2017, there will be more than 450 classes in their webinar library.

Check out the list of upcoming Legacy Family Tree Webinars or the titles in their webinar library at :

Homepage

Tip of the Week Digitized Washington State Records

by Charles Hansen

I was asked to help with updating the Spokane County WIKI on Family Search, and I found an interesting record group which is not indexed, but in poking around I found an index to the Washington County Records that have been digitized by Family Search already

as of December 18, 2016

( https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1910364 ) The one I was interested in is not indexed and since it is not indexed probably very hard to use.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

 

TIP OF THE WEEK –   Courthouse Research, Trial Run

Never been to a county courthouse to do research? Think it may be in your future? Why not practice in your local county seat?  Even if your ancestors and their county courthouse are quite distant from where you live, your experience and knowledge of your local courthouse and the whole research process will make you more comfortable and efficient when it comes time to making that trip to the courthouse of your ancestor’s home county.

Interview the archivist (big city),  talk to the Recorder (small town), or the Tax Assessor. In your particular locale, their titles may differ from these.  Find out who posted the earliest probate packet (recorder) or ask where the tax records are for 1939. Then go look at them! Happy hunting.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle
 TIP OF THE WEEK –   Family Tree DNA Tests on Sale

During the entire month of December, Family Tree DNA (FTDNA.COM), is having a substantial sale on their most popular DNA tests. Family Finder, the autosomal DNA test, is on sale for $59; this is a $40 savings from the regular $99 price.  The mtDNA Full Sequence test is marked down to $179, a $20 savings,  and the Y-DNA37 test is marked down $30 to $139.  Some of the combination tests for male or female lines are also on sale. The Family Finder + mtfullSequence has been reduced to $228, a $70 savings, and the Family Finder + Y37 is now $188, an $80 savings. Sale prices will be in effect until 12/31/2016.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of The Week

by Charles Hansen

TIP OF THE WEEK –
 Do you know about GEDmatch.com?
 

GEDmatch is a free repository website for people who already have taken tests at any of the DNA testing sites such as Family Tree DNA, Ancestry, and 23andMe. While free, donations are appreciated.

Testers first register on GEDmatch with their email and create a password, then download a copy of their autosomal DNA raw data file from their testing sight such as Ancestry or FTDNA, then upload that file to GEDmatch where it is processed and added to the large database.

The best two reasons for uploading to GEDmatch is you’ll find additional matches with folks who tested at sites other than the one you did and GEDmatch has a number of data analysis tools.

For plenty of detail on the site, watch the “GEDMatch Basics” video at Youtube

When you’re ready to try your hand at the download and upload of your raw data file to GEDmatch, you can find a short video on that at YouTube also.  If you feel uneasy or intimidated by the process, stop by the SGS library on Technology Tuesday and talk to Lisa Chan.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 

TIP OF THE WEEK –
 No Such Thing as a Free Lunch, but …

If you’re not familiar with the LDS annual Washington Family History Fair, it’s an entire day of free classes taught by qualified instructors.  The day consists of five one-hour sessions. You have several classes to choose from for each session. There are approximately 40 classes in all, plus an Exhibitor Gallery. Classes run the gamut from beginner to advanced. Registration, classes, and parking are all free!  Sounds almost too good to be true, but I attended last year and was impressed.

Pre-registration is encouraged and available on-line. If you want a printed syllabus or a boxed lunch, those are available for a nominal fee and you order those during pre-registration. Classes are on a first come, first served basis. Pre-registering will help them plan for the size of the room they need for each class as well as the number of syllabuses to print.

Our new SGS President, Jill Morelli,  and SGS members, Jean Roth, Mary Kircher Roddy, and Steve Morrison will be presenting.  Refer to the “Agenda and Schedule” on the website to check out the class descriptions and/or information on any of the numerous instructors.

This year the Family History Fair 2016 is at the Bellevue South Stake Center, behind the temple at 15205 SE 28th Street, Bellevue, WA 98007, on Saturday, November 12, from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm.  Doors open at 8:00 am for check-in or day-of-event registration.

Full details are available on the website for :

•Registration
•Agenda and Schedule
•Instructor Biographies
•Class Descriptions
•Exhibits
•FAQ

Here’s the link to the website :

wafamilyhistory.com/2016/index.html

**  note that LDS members abstain from coffee use and out of respect for that belief, coffee will not be served at the event

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 TIP OF THE WEEK – HeinOnLine Wants to Give Back
 

Since it’s launch in 2000, HeinOnLine,  an internet database service by William S. Hein & Co., Inc., a Buffalo, NY publisher specializing in legal materials, has won award after award.  Now they just got a huge shout out from Judy G Russell, the Legal Genealogist.

William S. Hein & Co., Inc. describes their newly launched collection,  Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law,   as “monumental, unique, (and) culturally significant,”. Judy concurs.  She calls it “fabulous”. This collection is all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world.  And it’s free to everyone! You will need to register for access, but that’s a simple process.

To read more about William S. Hein & Co.  and the collection, check out Judy’s latest blog entitled “Shining a Light” at :

www.legalgenealogist.com/2016/10/13/shining-a-light/

If you are interested in using the collection, you can register for access at :

https://home.heinonline.org/slavery/