Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts

Genealogy with Lisa Marker: Genealogy nerd eager for the 1940 census

Friday, March 30, 2012

By Lisa Marker

I admit it – I’m a genealogy nerd. “The 1940 census!” These words have been causing excitement and anticipation in my house for at least a year. Now we have just a few days to go until that year’s census is released to the public.

In the U.S., there is a legal restriction of 72 years before a census can be released to the public. On April 2nd (since the 1st falls on a Sunday), we get our first look.

This is the first census that will not initially have an index of names. This is somewhat disappointing, but of course will be remedied fairly quickly. Within a several month period, it is expected that an index will be available due to the efforts of volunteers. In the meantime, you can still utilize the census, especially if you know where your relatives lived in 1930 (which is indexed), and better still, if they lived in a big city. 

Go to Steve Morse's website and scroll down to US Census. You will find several helpful articles and sites. If you know the address at which they lived, or if you look up the census record and record the citation, including county and “ED” or Enumeration District number, you should be able to use the information at Steve Morse’s site to narrow down where to look on the 1940 census.

There is help in person as well. Go to your local library, genealogy society, historical archives, or Family History Center. Or look online. On Cyndislist alone the articles would probably answer most of your questions.

If you have yet to delve into your family history, this is a chance to find your more recent relatives, and maybe to show your children where their grandparents or great grandparents were, just before World War II.

If you would like to help with the indexing of the 1940 census, they would love your help. Go to this site, create a user name and password, and that should get you started! 

Good luck, and happy discovering!



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Genealogy with Lisa Marker: Saving yourself

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

By Lisa Marker

You can put your memories together!

Don’t wait to start labeling your photos, or to start telling your story (writing it down).

I just spent several weeks preparing to go to a weekend reunion of the camp that I attended for several years as a kid.

Part of the preparation was scanning photos from my camp days, and trying to figure out the Who-When-Where of each photo. I got lucky in that I uncovered some memory books made at the time that contained some fellow campers names, as well the counselors’ names. I also found the camp alumni page on FaceBook, and through some sharing there, managed to come up with some other names.

However, thirty plus years later, I did manage to screw some things up - like reversing a couple of years and mislabeling photos (which did get corrected, but only after I’d put a lot of work into it already). I wish I’d done it the moment I got them home after camp.

The moral of the story is: now is the time to start recording your life. It does not have to be all at once. And don’t worry about your skill as a writer. Just write. Your life is interesting now. Your descendants will love you for doing it!

If you have trouble coming up with topics, there are tons of oral interview questions on the web. Another resource with lots of questions to kick-start your memory is a book called “To Our Children’s Children,” by Bob Greene.

Write about certain times in your life (school years, summers, holidays), or choose topics, like your favorite music, movies or vacation spots. Give the reader a sense of who you were, where you grew up, why you chose to do something (or had to).

Use photos as memory prompts too - you might be reminded of a certain event, and be able to describe it in detail.

If you are overwhelmed by this right now, get out some photos of people you recognize. Label them with full descriptions - full names, and as much detail as you can put in about when and where the photo was taken.

Although I won’t go into the details of preserving photos here, please don’t use ball point pen on photos. You will ruin them in the long run. Obtain a photo labeling pencil (search for this online) to write descriptions on the back. Be gentle with your photographs.

Start recording your stories now - you remember more now than you will later (trust me!), and you might even have some fun!


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Genealogy with Lisa Marker: #4 It doesn't have to be expensive

Monday, June 27, 2011

Genealogy doesn’t have to be expensive - where to find free information
by Lisa Marker

It is a whole new world. You can sit in front of the computer at any time of day (or night) and find your ancestors.

Two things to remember, though: first, not all information is on the internet. You may still have to contact a county clerk, or archive, for example, to obtain a certificate of marriage or death. Many organizations just do not have the budget or staff to digitize their collections. Second: just because you find information on the internet does not mean that it is necessarily true! Particularly when looking at family trees that are user-submitted on various commercial sites, or on a website that is created by a person and is obviously their research, be cautious unless the information is well documented.

Given those two cautions, you can find a lot of information on the internet, much of it for free, and this is growing all the time.

One place to start is with a list that just came out (and no, they did not pay me to mention it). Search online for “101 Best Family History Sites.” This will bring up the very-recently published Family Tree Magazine list for 2011. In that case, some that they list are pay databases, but more are listed there, overall, than I will list here.

My favorite free sites (in no particular order):


The best starting point. You will find links for just about every topic related to genealogy. If you are just beginning, definitely take a look but don’t get overwhelmed. This is a fantastic site!


This is a large site, so it is easy to miss things within it. I suggest spending a bit of time clicking on the various links and seeing what is there. Some suggestions: Click on World Connect Project, and start your search from there. This searches user-submitted family trees. Also, try this site within Rootsweb

This will allow you to search by location. This is again, user-submitted information, but I found it hard to find from the home page, initially.


The home page for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints family research site. Too long an explanation to go into here, but anyone can use their site. I suggest looking under “Browse by Location” and choosing your location. This allows you to see what information they have for specific eras.


Click on the first link under “Find Graves.” Narrow down your search if you are able, especially if the name is common.


If you are researching anyone who lived in Washington in the last 130 years or so, give it a try.


A place to find others searching for the same people or places that you are.


Click on the state, then the county you are interested in. You may find transcribed information that leads you to an ancestor, or photos of tombstones, just as examples.

And for fun:


Unidentified photos looking for a home. Do you recognize anyone?

Do not forget to take advantage of your local library for help. Many databases that would cost you a lot for an annual subscription are free through the library online site. Also, those librarians are full of information and good advice!

So, go take a look, and remember, cite your sources!

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Free Genealogy “boot camp” to be held June 2, 9, 16, & 23 in Mountlake Terrace

Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Sno-Isle Genealogical Society, working together with the Shoreline Stake Family History Center, will host a free boot camp featuring Mrs. Margaret Robe Summitt, president of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society. 

Each Thursday night at 7pm, for four weeks, June 2, 9, 16, 23, Margaret will present a training session that will be immediately followed by an optional opportunity to implement the training right there at the family history center.

Genealogy is a very popular activity among Americans. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million people are actively looking for their family heritage. Have you been wondering how to get started?

Margaret’s four topics are:
  1. Principles of genealogy and the initial steps,
  2. Using family group sheets and pedigree charts to define your research, 
  3. Picking the low-hanging fruit first and,
  4. Miscellaneous help for attendees along with using local archives and the internet.
These boot camp experiences will be held in a classroom adjacent to the family history center hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 22015 48th Avenue West in Mountlake Terrace. 

While the presentations will be sequential and attending all four will be most helpful, it is not required to attend all four sessions. Seating is limited and each presentation will be limited to the first 50 people to register. 

Adult members of the public may register themselves and family members by sending an email with the name(s) and which session(s) they wish to attend to the Sno-Isle society.  Attendees must be 12 or older.

About Mrs. Margaret Robe Summitt
Margaret Robe Summitt is President of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society and editor of its research quarterly, The Sounder. Margaret leads a monthly genealogy workshop at the Lynnwood Senior Center and has lectured on genealogy topics around the Puget Sound. She has lectured on: DNA and genealogy, using the U.S. Federal Census, breaking through brick walls, and writing your family history.

About the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society
The Sno-Isle Genealogical Society is a not-for-profit organization devoted to furthering genealogical research and education, housing genealogical materials and promoting interest in Family History. The Society is committed to recording and publishing genealogical data concerning Snohomish and Island Counties, in the State of Washington. For additional information about the society see their website.  

About the Seattle Washington Shoreline Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Seattle Washington Shoreline Stake (similar to a diocese) is one of 2865 similar stakes around the world and oversees approximately 3,000 members in seven different congregations in northern King and southern Snohomish counties. One of the congregations provides services in American Sign Language. For additional information about the church see the LDS Newsroom site or the Mormon site.

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Genealogy with Lisa Marker: #3 Find your family on the internet

Friday, December 17, 2010

Genealogy on the internet - where to go first? This is such a large topic that at least one genealogy magazine has a “top 100 websites” list each year.

The first rule of using the internet as a research tool is to understand that it is only that: a tool. Just because you find information on the web does not necessarily make that information true. You must still verify it using primary and secondary sources. This is particularly important regarding user-submitted family trees that are abundantly available on many websites. Unless the site has citations galore regarding where the user got their information, it is wise to use the information for leads only. Even then, you will probably want to verify for yourself any part of the information you are interested in.

That being said, it is now possible to find information on the web that qualifies as a primary or secondary source. You may find scans of birth or death certificates, or of government land grants. It is very feasible to find obituaries from old newspapers online, and know exactly what newspaper they came from. You may also find marriage records or military pension paperwork. These have been, and continue to be, scanned in to be available to use as sources. Record exactly where you saw them (the URL name next to the http), and even the date you found them (websites do have a way of disappearing or changing names).

Some of my faves:
  • Cyndislist.com (free)
  • Ancestry.com (pay, but most libraries have a free version)
  • RootsWeb.com (free)
  • FamilySearch.com (free) - this is the LDS church website. They are in the process of digitizing their records, and many are currently available online in the Beta portion of their website)
  • The Washington State Digital Archives (free)
  • SteveMorse.org - (free) Web pages by Stephen Morse. You will be able to do searches of EllisIsland.org, as well as other comprehensive searches, using his templates.
  • GenForum - (Free) This has message board sites for surnames as well as locations. You may find others researching the same names, locations or topics.
  • USGenWeb (free) - information posted by location. Each county within a state has its own site.
  • Newspaper websites available using your library card (and you can access them from home, most likely - America’s GenealogyBank, and NewspaperArchive).
Have fun looking at some of these, and remember to Cite Your Sources


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Genealogy with Lisa Marker: #3 Documenting Your Sources

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

For me, the fun of genealogy comes in getting to play detective. I love being presented with a new challenge or mystery to solve. When I first began gathering information, I decided it was just for fun, no big deal whether I knew what my source for a particular fact was. I did not consistently record where that information came from. Bad idea. 20 years later, I still look at my genealogy database and wonder why I know what my fourth great grandparents’ marriage date was.

You need to record the source of information for each fact you find. Yeah, you just do.
 
Here are a few reasons. First, if you put down your genealogy research for a while and then pick it up again, you may not remember where you left off. Second, if you share information with other researchers or family, your credibility as a good researcher goes up hugely if you have citations attached to your work. Third, if you ever decide to publish what you find, you will need to have the citations in your work.
 
There are two basic kinds of sources, primary and secondary. 
  • Primary records are created at the time of the event, by someone who witnessed it or had personal knowledge of the event. Examples are birth certificates, marriage certificates or a university diploma. 
  • A secondary source was created a time other than when an event occurred. This could include books of compiled primary records, a letter mentioning the grandparents’ marriage date, a military pension stating a birth date. Even the birth date on a death certificate can be a secondary source, depending on the informant.
Regardless of where you obtain your information, document your sources. I like to document it so that a stranger could look at my citation and go right to the source. 
  • Check CyndisList under "Citing Sources" for help. 
  • Also, one slim, but extremely helpful book is Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian. This book was published before the internet was a real factor in research, but you will find it immensely helpful.

Previous articles from Lisa:
Genealogy with Lisa Marker
2-Genealogy - are you nuts?

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Genealogy with Lisa Marker: #1 Introduction

Sunday, October 24, 2010


Just in time for the dark days of winter, your ShorelineAreaNews is starting a new feature to keep you entertained and engaged until the sun comes out again. Shoreline resident and experienced researcher Lisa Marker will be contributing regular columns to help you learn how to research your family history - horse thieves and all.

About herself and genealogy, Lisa says:

By way of introduction, I’ve been doing genealogy for about 20 years. And no, the relatives never run out. It’s not done.

10 years ago, I was just starting class in the UW’s Genealogy and Family History Certificate Program, which is 9 months long. Fantastic, I highly recommend it. Once finished with that class, I visited my ancestral town in Germany, where I was welcomed with open arms - really an amazing experience.

I’ve gotten to do some fun things as a result of this hobby. I helped a friend find out some information about a relative she’d never met. I got to help with some research that located people to get permission to publish their old letters in a book. I have helped to get a few people interested in the hobby, including making several presentations about one kind of Mac genealogy software for an interest group.

I have discovered many previously unknown relatives, most of whom have been great to get to know.

So, I hope I am able to help you and get you excited about finding your family.

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Genealogy with Lisa Marker: #2 Are you Nuts?


Are you nuts? Why would anyone want to do genealogy?

Reasons include wanting to join an organization such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, religious reasons, or curiosity about medical history, Maybe it’s just plain old curiosity to find out who your ancestors were, what they were like, and whether the family lore is true. Finding this out for your children, and with them, can be lots of fun! Your ancestors are just waiting to be discovered.

Any of these goals can be met, and it is easy to get started.

First, gather information. You know a lot about yourself. Ask your family members - parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents - what they know and what documents they have. What you are looking for is information to help you pinpoint vital statistics for people, such as birth, marriage and death dates and places. You may also want to ask for information that brings these people to life - this is where it can get very interesting - obituaries, deeds, photos (wow, look at Aunt Margaret’s hairstyle!), school information, marriage records, military records, land records. These are but a few of what you might find. If you find that someone else in the family is already researching, definitely talk to them. Genealogy is all about sharing.

To find out more about methodology, I will recommend this incredible website: Cyndi's List.  There are thousands of links about all sorts of topics here. Peruse it, but don’t get overwhelmed if you are new to the hobby.

In the meantime, think about whether you would want to record your information on paper or on a computer, using a software program. 

Paper has been used for decades, so it is do-able. A computer program will connect everyone properly. You will be able to tell how every person is related and to create charts and reports very easily. You will also be able to communicate that information electronically to other genealogists much more easily.

Now go gather that information!

Oh, and the answer to that very first question - yes, most genealogists would confess to being a bit nuts!!


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