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

Tip of the Week – DNA LECTURES

Each spring one of the world’s largest family history events “Who Do You Think You Are? Live” is held in Birmingham, England.  Also known as “WDYTYAL” the principal sponsor is Ancestry.co.uk.

One of the major exhibitors at “WDYTYAL” is FamilyTree DNA who presents their ever popular DNA lecture series.   They have recorded some of these presentations and made them available on YouTube.  There are over 30 lectures in all; not only from this year, but also some from 2014 and 2015.

A few of the titles available to you from this year’s show are :

DNA demystified – A Beginner’s Guide to genetic genealogy, with Debbie Kennett, 55 mins
Finding Family with DNA testing: a genetic detective story, with Richard Hill, 37 mins
Genetic genealogy in the 21st century, with Katherine Borges. 27 mins
Autosomal DNA – how to use it in practice, with Maurice Gleeson, 55 mins

To see all the titles,  go to www.youtube.com  and search for “DNA Lectures – Who Do You Think You Are?”  or use this link :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HQSiSkiy7ujlkgQER1FYw

Tip of the Week – Ravenstein Atlas of Germany  

Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin an on-line version of Ludwig Ravenstein’s important “Atlas des Deutschen Reichs” published in 1883 is available to all and absolutely free.  In addition to Germany, the maps of this atlas also cover the bordering portions of present-day Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, and Switzerland. Even small towns can be located in this very detailed atlas.

There are 30 pages of index/gazetteer (namen-register) pp i-xxx, followed by 4 pages of statistics pp xxxi-xxxiv ,  and finally 11 map sections Ia, Ib, IIIa, IIIb through map section IX. Once you locate your town in the gazetteer portion, proceed to the map and quadrants cited in the gazetteer entry.

Navigating at this site is a little cumbersome and less than intuitive so here’s an example using a search for the town of Offenburg.    Proceed to the site:

https://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/german/ravenstein/

•Click on the   BROWSE THE ATLAS
•Search for word or phrase within this work   Offenburg          Search

That returns 2 matches :
• “Namen-Register Page xix”   and
• “Statistische Page xxxiv”

Click on Page xix ; that displays a useless thumbnail of page 19 in the gazetteer, but above that you’ll see a PDF (154.8B) ; clicking on that opens the 30 page PDF of the gazetteer (takes a little while). Using the arrow, proceed to page 19 and find the Offenburg entry which cites map VII F6.  Back out of this PDF.

Click on the top line “Ravenstein, Ludwig Atlas des Deutschen Reichs”  which will take you to the contents page; find [Map section VII] and click on it. Again it opens a useless thumbnail of the map, but above that is the PDF(14.4MB) you need to click on. Voila, that displays a very detailed map you can Zoom In and Zoom Out at will.  This should keep you entertained for a while.

Tip of the Week – Info Added to the American Ancestors Database at SGS

The following Family Search Collections are only some of the U.S. records recently added to the American Ancestors database that you can access from our computers at the SGS Library.

United States Vital Records collections (#of records in parentheses):

Illinois, Cook County, Birth certificates, 1871-1940, (2,400,900)
Indiana, Births and Christenings, 1773-1933  (103,680)
Indiana Marriages, 1790-1992  (5,951,441)
Iowa, Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990  (693,974)
Iowa, Marriages, 1860-1992  (7,661,803)
Georgia, Confederate Home Records, 1901-1930  (1,282)
New Jersey, Births, 1670-1980,  ( 1,107,159)
New Jersey, Deaths, 1670-1988  (654,798)
Utah, Birth Certificates, 1903-1914  (53,183)
Missouri, Civil Marriages, 1820-1874  (5,668)
Tennessee, Church Marriages, 1810-1965  (1,533)
Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936  (90,841)
Montana, Chouteau County Records, 1876-2011  (8,857)
Montana, Granite County Records, 1865-2009  (4,960)
Georgia, Deaths, 1928-1940  (485,669)
New Jersey, Births and Christenings, 1660-1980  (1,148,023)
New Jersey, Marriages, 1670-1980  (581,963)
New Jersey, Marriages, 1678-1985  (324,149)
Minnesota, Marriages, 1849-1950  (438,331)
Texas, Laredo Arrival Manifests, 1903-1985  (866,687)
Montana, Mineral County Obituaries, 1870-1910  (5,266)
Massachusetts, Births, 1841-1915  (3,831,485)
United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925  (2,528,371)
United States War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815  (1,130,851)

This is a sampling of the over 2,100 collections from all over the world that have been added to Family Search in the last six years. It may be worth your time to look at what is now available to you without having to drive to Salt Lake City!

To access the list go to FamilySearch.org, click on “Records”, on that page click on “Browse All Public Collections” which will show you “Historical Records Collections”; click on “Last Updated” which will reorganize the records, showing you the most recent additions first.

Happy Hunting!

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Tip of the Week – RootsTech 2016 Video Archive

If you missed RootsTech 2016, the family history and technology conference, in Salt Lake City this year, don’t worry.  They have posted over 25 videos encompassing more than 20 hours of the conference.  Binge watch or choose the session you are interested in here:

https://www.rootstech.org/?lang=eng

Tip of the Week – 25 New FamilySearch Collections  

As reported by Dick Eastman in his blog yesterday, there are 25 new collections available at FamilySearch.  These collections encompass about 3 million digital records and about 2 million indexed records.  A few of the larger collections are “Denmark Deeds and Mortgages 1572-1928”, “Indiana Marriages 1811-2007”, “Maryland Church Records 1668-1995”,  and “United States Freedmen’s Bureau Marriages 1861-1872”.

If you’re not familiar with or registered with FamilySearch.org , remember it’s totally free and hassle free, too.  You won’t be bombarded with spam emails after registering nor will you be bombarded with ads as you’re using the site.

For a complete list of the 25 new collections available, follow the link below to Dick Eastman’s blog.  From there you can also click on the blue ink to link to the collection without registering.

http://blog.eogn.com/2016/03/15/new-familysearch-collections-update-march-14-2016/

TIP OF THE WEEK – FAMILY TREE MAKER NOT GETTING AXED

FTM users are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Due to the outrage of Ancestry.com clients and Family Tree Maker users, Ancestry entered into an agreement where Software MacKiev will purchase FTM and  users will receive software updates and new versions from MacKiev.  With a reprieve for Family Tree Maker, a promise of future features and benefits, plus Ancestry says there are plans to connect Ancestry with the RootMagic software by the end of 2016, things are looking up.

Read more of what Ancestry has to say and more about the agreements via Dick Eastman’s blog.  You’ll also find links to Software MacKiev and RootsMagic from his page.

http://blog.eogn.com/2016/02/02/family-tree-maker-to-be-continued-and-with-more-options-than-ever-before/

TIP of the WEEK –  CHRONICLING AMERICA

Launched by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in 2007, Chronicling America provides enhanced and permanent access to historically significant newspapers published in the United States between 1836 and 1922. It is part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a joint effort between the two agencies and partners in 40 states and territories.

Chronicling America is worth frequent visits as more newspapers are added to the project. Newspapers have traditionally been underused as a genealogical resource because it if often difficult to access them. Chronicling America has changed that.

If you’ve never used the site or haven’t been there recently, be sure to check it out.  They posted their 10 millionth page in October 2015! As of today, there’s 10,366,488 pages. These are lesser known newspapers; the ones you will not find digitized somewhere else.  Imagine the thrill of finding your 3xgreat-grandmother’s death notice in the Dakota Territory and learning she left behind 63 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.

There’s a basic search at “Search Pages”, or to narrow your results try the “Advanced Search”, and finally under “All Digitized Newspapers 1836-1922” there is a search by State or Ethnicity or Language, where you are provided a drop-down menu.  Cool.

Thirty-two newspapers in French are digitized, not surprisingly mostly from Louisiana.  Under Ethnicity for African American, there are 50 newspaper titles, spread out from Washington, DC’s  “The Washington Bee” (1886-1912) to Seattle, Washington’s  “Cayton’s Weekly”  (1917-1921).  For the state of Ohio,  there are 129 titles ranging from “Anti-Slavery Bugle” (1845-1861, New-Lisbon, OH) to “The Western Reserve Chronicle” (1855-1873, Warren, OH) and “The Xenia Sentinel” (1863-1865, in where else, Xenia, OH).

Enjoy; this is a site for genealogists and history buffs alike ; here’s the url:   http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/

TIP OF THE WEEK

Here’s a simple tip.  If your ancestor’s name does not sound like it is spelled then uncheck the “Soundex” and “Sounds Like” options on the search forms you are using.