2019 Northwest Florida Family History Fair

Baby, it's cold outside!  But Almost Spring is coming on March 9th, 2019!  If you are digging some genealogical excitement, please plan on attending the FAMILY HISTORY FAIR AT the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 339 Lake Drive NW, Fort Walton Beach, FL  32548.  

• FREE, EVERYONE WELCOME
• GAIN NEW SKILLS AND HELPFUL INFORMATION
• KNOWLEDGEABLE AND EXPERIENCED INSTRUCTORS

 MORE INFO COMING SOON.  WATCH THIS SITE.

1.  

 

 

YouTube Goodies

YouTube, are you watching it?!! It is invaluable for genealogists.  Here are some that caught my eye for their nonsensical approach.  (We need reminders!)

• https://youtu.be/iNAXGgtlLBY

  8 Reasons You Can't Find Squat About Your Ancestors Online 

  What are some youtube things that you have watched that you found interesting, edifying, helpful---in your genealogy?  Send those links!
  
  
  Where can you find recommendations for youtube videos for genealogy?  Read a blog!  In this case: Geneal-Musings 

Another version of the newsletter: these are all open to editing.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xJmIalBaDFDjatR7oYvkbnrH_DyW2LkCdpv0PSF7XKQ/edit?usp=sharing

Slightly revised version for 2nd Edition of Genealogy Newsletter

 Anyone with this link should be able to see this newsletter.  Let me know if it "ain't" so!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nRmWbO_W4nxNV6_hSEcVT-BgDUszKwGIrLzrtBWLBdg/edit?usp=sharing

Family History Center in Fort Walton Beach

The Family History Center is located at 339 Lake Drive, just off Memorial Pkwy., 

It is open to the public on Thursdays and Saturdays.  

Here are the hours: Thursdays 10a.m.-4p.m.; Saturdays 10a.m.-1p.m.

Contact: George Legge, Director at 850-678-8430  
OR Margaret Harris (Staff) at 850-533-6710.

There are other Family History Centers in the Panhandle (Florida).  Niceville, Sandestin area, DeFuniak Springs, Pensacola, etc.  Look for them on the Location Map.

Introduction and Information on Family History Centers

Squeezing an Obituary of all Pertinent Information

Finding a relative's obituary in the newspaper can be a bitter-sweet experience. 

Even if you never knew this person, personally, you can feel empathy for the deceased and his or her survivors.  As genealogists, we know, though, that reading the obituary can often bring understanding as to how the family tree fits together.  

What are the major points we should look for?  Everyone's story is worth telling; what clues in the obituary can help us to know this person better?  What indicators will help us to unravel family history mysteries?  

I have tried in the past to create a template of questions or facts that will help us to lift from the obituary the relevant information.  You may want to create your own template.  

You may want to remember that the obituary was most likely prepared by family members who were in mourning or composed quickly on account of time constraints.  Any information that is presented should be verified by a second or third source.

Help from Genealogy's Star Blog

I've touted, before, the interesting and advancing articles at this website.  To get the full benefit, one must follow the topic from blog post to blog post, as James Tanner unrolls and expands his point.  In this case, his point is that there is a wealth of online information about, not just our family tree folks, but also the folks who were related to the lineal ancestors.

I look forward to following this series of articles.  "In Depth" genealogy is indeed an exploration of the familial relationships as well as the family tree structure.  The information we gain will only serve to strengthen our roots!

Experimenting at Internet Archive.  I was only two years old in 1948, but Eglin Field is a part of my history: I was born there!!

So whether it is relevant, earthshaking, or whatever...History is under the umbrella we call "Family History".

Without it, we wouldn't have such pretty flowers in May! Mid-month (almost) and April Showers (goodies)

• Found at USGenWeb:  Census Templates
• Recipe for Georgia Peaches Sweet Cobbler 
• Best Peaches in Alabama
• What does Genealogy have to do with creating a Wordle?  Create one and send it along to margaret.harris at gmail.com and I will feature it in a coming newsletter!  And if you do create one, what will you do with it?  What should you do with it?
• bits and pieces of info may be found online if you just Google: here's one I located:  http://data.genealogytoday.com/search/Southern_Tier_Masonic_Relief_Association_1882-1883_Assessments.html (be sure to click on the left hand nav bar, "Records", etc.)
•  Where is a great genealogy conference coming up this summer?  BYU, that's where! 
• In depth, always, extended discussions of genealogical interest and education: Genealogy's Star
• Have you seen this?!!
• Finding timelines for your city of birth (or of your ancestors' births) might be interesting.  Check this out: http://hattiesburgmemory.org/wiki/Years
•  Your suggestion for another website that will work as an excuse to stay in out of the rain:? 
•  

Addendum to previous post on Sharing with Your Family your family history treasures

I am attaching a copy, here, for the Notes on the Webinar, previously posted with a link.  Rough though it is, you will want some of these links.

Webinar Notes Lisa Louise Cook

Projects You can Share with Your Non-Genealogist Family

1. Your Goal: two concepts (I’m the only one that can pass along my genealogy).

a. Grandchildren are nevertoo young.. They are never too young to pass it on.

Things that matter most, we build on these ideas. They are never too early. 8 years old! Shoebox. Start looking at our kids/grandkids. Exposing them to genealogy. Its an investment.

2. Visit to Family History Center—etc. Pics on the wall. We hold this dear. Catch their interests. Stories, Sharing. Not an instant payoff. Get them interested in family history...not genealogy.

Varying degrees of interest. Skip generation?

The passer-on-ers.

Shift our focus: Talk their language. 3-D Movie glasses. Give them New glasses with which to see the information.

I am here to inspire you to inspire them.

Turning our junk into projects that will capture their interest.

Newspaper, mugs, table, etc. Tell BRIEF story. Make your home a showcase. Decooupage plates. Needlepoint. Photo editing. Do Something!

Decoupage Plate. ModPodge—make copies of photos. Clear plates. Seal it. Vehicles for telling your story. Black and White Photos.

Family History Christmas Wreath: Holidays are busy times. What really matters. Telling a story. Craft pieces of wood...buttons from old clothing can be a frame. An earring. Trinkets and buttons are tucked onto wreath. Bows made out of scraps of material. We are tying to instill interest.. Sepia colored frames. Black and white or sepia tone. Adobe photoshop. Restoring old photo. (Genealogy Gems)...little pieces of jewelry. Buttons, earrings, jewelry. Get them to buy in! Step by step instructions at Genealogy Gems. Subscribe to YouTube Channel. Youtube.com/GenealogyGems. Projects.

Family History Wall Display. Corner cabinet. Old Dresser. Table cloth. Section of fence. Jars, canning. Baking. Pic of grandma and her, plus grandparents. Ribbons, etc. Relics. E-bay.

Bale of cotton. E-bay. Match cover. Search e-bay. Matchbooks. Shadowboxes. Label pics. Real objects from that place and that time. Search names and places. Sell on E-bay?

Hands on quilt. Madden family from Illinois Hands quilt. Branches of family involved. A Genealogy Gem. Someone else’s “trash” could be your treasure.

I hope I live long enough and well enough to do some of this stuff. Jan in my class will enjoy some of these ideas. Wrappers on chocolate bar with old photo (copy). “Sweet Memories”. On backside: ingredients would be family motto or whatever. “Gifts are Family, Attention. Record when you give the candy bar label . Make stockings out of old material. Make copy of quilt at Kinko’s.

Cake decorating, using silhouettes. Theme cakes for fiftieh birthday. Crushed oreos. Tractor cake. Instagram.com/gnealogygems or pitnerest.com/lisaluise

Digital Diversions. Face Book. Blog? To reach millenials===why is this relevant. Shape Collage and makes it any shape. Shape Collage app.

Photo Apps (Retype)

Its about the journey and the people.

Familytreewebinars store

Video—Animoto app. Mobile app videos

Download at HD qualities.

Make a video. Line up photos and maps. Dropbox folder. Put images in dropbox and app will combine. Www.GenealogyGems.com/animoto

We can still have videos. To convey stories. Use little short videos for gifts. How to engage millenials. Click, drag, and drop.

Google Earth Pro “Family History Tour”

Google Earth Pro software is free! Tell the story. (doesn’t have to be the entire story). Use street view. Make it interactive. Time Travel. Online multi media Family History Tour. Google Earth has pics of old map.

Share genealogy research and creative ways and ensures that it will be valued and preserved.

You find your passion and your way to share. How to Save Your Research from Destruction (Episode #4 Podcast)

$9.95 month webinar

FamilyTreeWebinars.com

Georgia Ancestors Wed. April 11

Premium eLearning 1 year membership: Code Legacysave20

$49.95

www.genealogygems.com

Get proficient with your smart phones! Make videos.

$29.95: printed book elearning companion guide book by Lisa Louise Cooke

www.genealogygems.com

Projects that will captivate the Non-Genealogists in Your Life: Sharing the Joy

joy10 =code for free something!

Creator Studio Free Music

for videos

Get You Tube Channel!

Lisa Louise Cooke "Genealogy Gems"

My granddaughter, Kaylee, is getting first hand knowledge about "babysitting" her new brother.  Or should I say, she is getting experience in "lapsitting"!?

I "attended" a webinar today, a genealogy/"family history" webinar.  So excited about the message that I've decided to share my notes with you.   I take notes because as an unpaid viewer, a non-subscriber to Legacy Webinars, I don't have the option to download the "hand-out".  My notes are rough, but perhaps you would like to check out some of the links.

From time to time, I do subscribe on a monthly basis.  I never follow one of these webinars, but that I get re-excited about family history.  I always learn something!  I can't always write my notes fast enough, but perhaps you will get something out of them, anyway.  If you can't open the PDF format, let me know and I will send you a word document.

Today's webinar featured one of my favorite people in all of the genealogy community.  Lisa Louise Cooke!

Here is a link to those Notes I took during the Webinar:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/18FeQ9N0YMDRj_-VHkBRtWvwqZYWM8D-L/view

 

A little newsletter for genealogists in Northwest Florida or other areas.

If the links do not open, please search on Google the items below.  I will check this as soon as I post this and try to do some editing so that will not happen often.

 

The goal of this twice monthly communication is to bring to your attention the most important updates that you need to know­, with links to further information, and to reduce the amount of updates via one-off emails.

FEATURED

• Family History News, Events, Education and Motivation info and links

ACTIONS NEEDED

• Support your local genealogical society.

• Visit your local Family History Center

• Plan vacations to correlate with your family history locations.

KNOWLEDGE BASE HIGHLIGHTS

Popular new pages:

• page 1:  The New York Times

• page 2: The Wall Street Journal

NEWS & NOTEWORTHY RESOURCES

• What's New or Noteworthy at Family Search

•  Family History Daily 

• Family Tree Magazine                                

TOP PRODUCT UPDATES

Check out FindMyPast.com.  They recently posted a Guide Finding Your Female Ancestors.  They also have the largest collection of Irish newspapers, anywhere!

What was released recently and what's coming up:

Feature 1:  Genealogy Cruise with Ancestry

Feature 2:  Search Irish Church Records, Here

Feature 3:  Needing a Step-by-Step Guide for discovering your Irish Ancestor?

Coming Soon

Feature 1:  Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County, Florida offers a presentation, Saturday, 24 March, 10:30 a.m. (No fee) - Location is The Fort Walton Beach Public Library

March’s Speaker  for the Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County is Dr. Thomas Sajwaj

 Presenting:  “Ethics in Genealogy: Case Studies”

 Dr. Sajwaj is a popular GSOC guest speaker always giving us a new perspective on our research and it's possible impact on others.  For more information, please contact Val Moreland at  850 582 8202 or check out the GSOC Facebook Group.

..

Feature 2:  Family History Night: Friday, Mar 23, 2018, 6-8 pm; Fort Walton Beach L.D.S. Church 339 Lake Drive.  The program will feature a Presentation by the Price couple; following that presentation, one-on-one help is available for those in attendance.  Questions?  Contact Margaret Harris if you have questions.  (850-533-6710)

Feature 3:  GSOC SIG Meeting, Fort Walton Beach, Florida Public Library-Open to any genealogy enthusiasts who have "Brick Walls" in their research or who have specific difficulties in their research.  Saturday, 4/7/2018 at 10:30 a.m.  You don't have to belong to the genealogy society to participate in this meeting.  It's also FREE!

Ongoing Programs

UPCOMING Genealogy EVENTS

We support and encourage any events that will assist or promote Family History.

Date/Time	Upcoming Event	Location + Additional Details
March 23rd, 2018/ 6 p.m.-8p.m.	Family History Nite	339 Lake Drive, Fort Walton Beach (off Memorial Pkwy. at LDS Church.  All are welcome; No fee.  Personal one-on-one Help and Presentation by the Price's.
March 24th 2018/10:30a.m.	Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County, Florida	Fort Walton Beach Public Library Fort Walton Beach, Florida All are welcome!  No admission fee to Meeting.
Saturday 7th April, 2018/10:30a.m.	GSOC Special Interest Group	Fort Walton Beach Public Library - All are invited. No Fee.  Bring your genealogy questions!  Contact  Cindy Barber2@gmail.com
14th April 2018/4p.m.-5:30p.m.	Organization of NWFL  GENETIC GENEALOGY SOCIETY	Niceville L.D.S. Meetinghouse Contact MarcStrickland5@gmail.com

Presentation Slides Shareable Link
Just click and enjoy.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cmV8DPfFdphMpqwcNjwLEAtWJNKUKUaKZl_eg2lpzt4/edit?usp=sharing

The First Annual NWFL Family History Fair Has Happened.

Well!  The First Annual NWFL Family History Fair was, in my humble opinion, a wonderful success.  Let me know if you attended and what your take was.  I'm sure that improvements can be made and your suggestions can help.

The reason I liked it so much:  I found a dozen cousins or more as those who have put their family trees on FamilySearch.com as those of us sitting in the room, loaded the app "Relatives Around Us".  I sure feel happy to know so many of us connected!

I will be posting my presentation and all the websites I recommend; my launch point was this...before  you get on the internet, write down or chart what you know about your ancestor, already.  Then, set as your goal to obtain the information online for the stuff you don't already know.  Construct a profile and a timeline for your ancestor.  Then, use those question marks to drive your online search.

Thanks to the committee and all the volunteers for the wonderful job done today and thanks to all of you who attended.

 

What do you want from an online tree?

Using your Brain Lately? 

Have you thought about it?  What do you want from an online tree?

1)  Option to have a private tree?
2)  Ability to interact with other online genealogy sites?
3)  Tutorials or videos in case you have questions?
4)  Good tech support?
5)  Reasonable price for all of the goodies?
6)  Add-On's that really work?

Enter (drumroll)!  ROOTSFINDER!!!!!

Okay, your list may be even longer; I was reading all the reviews and in particular, the Genea-Musings guy, Randy Seaver, says he likes the printed reports.  

Let's take a look at Rootsfinder and talk about its features---CLL Students, this is your discussion (or part of it) for Friday, February 21st.

Check back here for other developing....dare I say BREAKING!! news that is relevant to our class,  Family History on the Internet.

Watch segments of RootsTech

This is an article that lets you know the schedule for broadcasted sessions of the 2018 RootsTech event.

I'm sending this to all the members of my current CLL class, but feel free to share the link with others that you believe might be interested.  

From the article, regarding the 19 Streaming Sessions: 

 In 2017, streaming sessions garnered more than 50,000 views, and that number continues to grow each year.
The streamed sessions will include the popular general sessions and a sampling of technology and family history presentations appealing to varied interests.

 Prominent vendors who will be attending the event, include representatives from Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, and others.  Watch the newsletters you get from these companies; some of them have posted promotionals in conjunction with the RootsTech event.
This event is the largest genealogical conference in this hemisphere, if not in the world.  

Webinars from the BYU Family History Center

02-2018.pdf

The Official Guide for FamilySearch

Were you wondering if there was one?  

An official guide to FamilySearch?  Well, there is!

Of course there are lot of websites that talk about FamilySearch.org and there is plenty of help on the FamilySearch Wiki, but if you
want a workbook online, a project manager, then use this FamilySearch Official Guide.

Many of us have learned by trial and error, but some of us like to study the "rule book" at the beginning of a new endeavor.  

Still others have a specific question about using FamilySearch; well check out the guidebook and let me know how or whether you plan to utilize it for that purpose.

P.S.  When I want to find a specific page at FamilySearch.org, I Google what I'm looking for and Google usually takes me there!  Another great way to find a specific topic at FamilySearch is WorldCat.org.

And then, there is the Unofficial guide as well.  I found it easily, the information for the book, at WorldCat! 

Blaine T. Bettinger posted on Facebook about a story of a man who gives lots and lots of his time to digitizing old newspapers.  

The story was just too good to pass up, So "Dear Myrtle" shared Blaine's post in her public group on Facebook.  

Now, I'm falling in line with others who realize that Tom Tryniski is an amazing person!  Here is the link to the orginal article at Columbia Journalism Review.

It's this type of individual that moves the rest of us to do a little more in the area of Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.

Tom's website, Fulton History, has little surprises here and there as he steps outside of the state of New York with his newspaper scanning project.

 

If you are researching your Alabama folks, then you will want to subscribe to a free newsletter, Alabama Pioneers.

I don't always read all of it, but it is helpful to my research because there are days when you read something and a light bulb is turned on in your head!

For example, today's item, (I opened up my email account and there it was), has a header "Free Links to Some Early Alabama Marriages by County".  Free is the best!  Unless I know that I already have all the marriage information for Bibb County Alabama relatives, (which I probably don't), then you will click on that link, first thing!

It makes sense that if you are looking for genealogy information in any state or county, that you will want to subscribe to a blog, newsletter, or whatever, that has that place in its title.  

One of the links in this article brought me to this Site, where marriage info for the period, "Before 1825", resided.  http://www.censusdiggins.com/alabama_marriages.html
has, in turn, links to other sites for related research!  

Attention CLL students: Outline for Friday Class (Link)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wqv9ZfnC1nk3jVib4Hiq1ef5Pj93nEFzunH6yTSGlOk/edit?usp=sharing

Newsletters, Websites, Blogs, and Twitter!

Imagine my delight when I discovered this gal over at Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedheadGenealog!

Not only do I have a redhead granddaughter, but my best friend in high school was a red head!  At the Center for Lifelong Learning, we've been learning about genealogical newsletters, websites, and blogs.  

I get to start on a new track, now: no, not redheaded genealogists, but genealogy on twitter!

 Four other tweets you'll want to check out are:

1. NEHGS Tweeter, Mr. Lambert 
2. Memes and Inspiration at This URL: https://twitter.com/FTCircles 
3.  Interment.net (for those who just love a good cemetery read)!
4. Kenneth Marks, Ancestor Hunter:  This guy loves newspapers!

Now, if you want to know more or you want to see more like this, Please send a comment OR subscribe me to your email box!