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NEW FAMILY SEARCH NEWS

From the news that we heard when we were in the West, when the Family History Department put the Mesa temple district onto New Family Search, the servers became overloaded. The engineers are now working out problems and will announce new dates for the rollout. Meanwhile our family history directors have access to new Family Search, and the consultants will get access 90 days before the rollout. Then the members will be trained to use it at home.

Jack and I had a day of training on New Family Search at the Family History Training Center in Provo, Utah. There were several other people from our temple district attending the training. We were logged on by a helper, and we were able to learn a lot about nFS. From our first session, there were some guidelines that we were given:

  1. New Family Search is a replacement for Temple Ready, and its purpose is to avoid and then eliminate duplication.
  2. New Family Search is to simplify submission, increase participation in family history and temple work, and increase collaboration to make a correct record for the Lord.
  3. The Church has compiled these records in nFS:
  4. Membership Records
  5. Church Temple Records, including IGI information
  6. Four-generation submissions
  7. Ancestral File Submissions
  8. Pedigree Resource

Submissions

  1. Extraction Programs
  1. First of all, you will see only your direct line and only deceased persons connected to you. You can add live persons to your pedigree, but no one else can see them.
  2. You can keep your records on nFS, but it is advisable to have a software program for personal use.
  3. Each person has a folder. We need to begin by checking for duplications and combining the same person’s records into one folder. Even if there is erroneous information about a person, you are still to combine records if it is the same individual because that is how someone else will find him – with the wrong date (or other mistaken information submitted). If you would be able to delete it, the submitter would probably resubmit it erroneously again. If you have proof of correct information, you can collaborate with him to correct it.
  4. We are to think of this as “our” family history, not “my” family data.
  5. The only person who can change data on a record is the submitter. If a relative submitter has died, you can petition for legacy of that record, which you can then amend. Documentation is important.
  6. You can “dispute” information, or you can “add an opinion.” If you dispute the information, the other party cannot change it until you remove your dispute, so it may be better just to add an opinion.
  7. Contact information appears so that you can contact submitters to discuss family history.
  8. You can make selections so that the best (most accurate information) comes to the top and shows on your pedigree.
  9. You should not GEDCOM hundreds of names into new Family Search. The FHD suggests that you add a person or a family at a time.
  10. Research adequately to make sure a person is not in the nFS with a name spelled differently, a nickname, or some other reference, before you add him.
  11. nFS will be available to all church members by the end of the year, but it will not be opened to the public until at least a year after all members have access. Members will need their member- ship number and confirmation date to access nFS once it is available.
  12. Exact dates for a rollout will not be announced until the Family History Department is ready for the rollout, so we are told to be patient until our leaders receive the announcement.

“Experts told us that much like a rumor, when bad data or a myth is allowed to propagate, there is never a way to completely eliminate it; it is already out there, and cannot be removed. If we delete it, someone will inevitably resubmit it. The experts also told us that there is really no such thing as ‘absolute fact,’ only what we know here and now, based on what evidence we currently hold. Therefore, all data must be considered – even that which some would call inaccurate or sloppy research. The key is to find a way to have good data rise to the top.” Quote from Jim Greene, Team Leader of the research and definition phase of the new Family Search project.

Jack Sonneborn following aperformance of Music and The Spoken Word. Salt Lake City, 16 Mar 2008.

TRIP TO UTAH IN MARCH

Jack and Sylvia Sonneborn had an enjoyable trip to Utah in mid-March. The first week they went to the Family History Library for aday and headed to Provo for aday of training on New Family Search at the Family History Training Center. Following that were two days of computerized family history conference at Brigham Young University. Here they took additional training in New Family Search as well as avariety of other helpful courses.

Saturday evening they drove through asnow storm in Sandy but arrived at their friend Jayne Bremser’s home in Layton for the next 5 days. Sunday they were able to attend the performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the newly renovated tabernacle. On Monday the highlight was to meet returned missionary Elder Aaron Glade at Taffytown and go to aMexican restaurant for lunch. Following that, they went with Jayne to pay their respects to President Hinckley’s gravesite. Jayne had attended his funeral and had saved afuneral program for Sylvia. The next two days the Sonneborns researched in the Family History Library and taught Jayne how to use PAF for her own history. It was then time to return to Pennsylvania in time for Easter with the Landises, Sylvia’s son Patshal, wife Lisa, and grandson William.

Sylvia looks down at the flowers and gifts that members have left in memory of their beloved Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. Note cane tribute.

THE MORMON TABER’SNACK’LE CHOIR WINS SECOND PLACE

Sylvia Sonneborn returned to York from vacationing in Utah to learn that she had won second place in the York Daily Record’s Newborn Peep Show. She received a $50.00 gift certificate to Brown’s Orchards in York. Her entry was the Mormon Taber-snack-le Choir made out of marshmallow Easter peeps.

Complete with open mouths and miniature song books, the peeps chirp out an Easter hymn as an enthusiastic conductor directs them. Thanks to all who voted for her entry.

FAMILY TREE MAPPER

This is asite we learned about at the BYU FH Conference. It allows you to map the places where your ancestors lived. It’s aneat site. Take alook at an article posted on LDS Tech:

Family Tree Mapper Beta - Maybe people will be interested in this. Family Tree Mapper is a tool, now in Beta, which plots your family tree with data from the New Family Search. You
can then interact with your family tree to find out
more about the places your ancestors lived.
This is a senior capstone project for me (Michael Moore) and 6 other students in BYU's Infor- mation Technology major. It's not done yet, but it's at the point that we want to let people who are interested to take a look at it and give us feedback.

After clicking on a place, you can then display
different types of information about the place or
person you have clicked. For example, we currently have a 'Family History Centers' plugin which will (usually!) plot the 25 family history centers closest to the last place you clicked on the map. Other information could include the nearest churches, nearby courthouses, cemeteries, etc.

We've developed an API which lets plugins be created easily in JavaScript, and can make calls to PHP or Perl files on the server for heavier processing.
Our site is completely free to use, but presently you do need a New Family Search account in order to plot your family. Eventually, we're told, there will be anonymous access; when that happens, we'll allow lookups without logging in.
We never do any “writes” to the family search data, so it's completely safe to use.

When you try it, please leave feedback by clicking on the "Leave Feedback" link on the left side of the page, or by emailing
Try it :

Development (API and updates):


Thanks,
Michael Moore

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

REGISTER NOW FOR THE

FAMILY HISTORY CONFERENCE

TO BE HELD APRIL 26 AT THE YORK CHAPEL FROM 7:30 A.M. TO 4:00 P.M.

GO TO

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS APRIL 12, 2008

IF YOU WANT LUNCH, YOU MUST ORDER AND PAY BY THAT DATE.

Co-editors and Compilers of Genealogy News are Jackson And Sylvia Sonneborn, Family History Consultants of York 2nd Ward, PA.

Contact us at or .

This is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

SOME INTERESTING SITES FROM THE BYU COMPUTERIZED FAMILY HISTORY CONFERENCE 2008

I. How to open two screens:

Open the first file, like PAF. Minimize by clicking on the minus in the upper right hand corner

Open the second file, like the IGI. Minimize.

Put cursor on the blue taskbar at bottom, right-click and the menu will pop up. Then click on “Tile vertically.” You can put your cursor on the vertical lines till it turns into >-< and drag the lines to increase or decrease window.

  1. Geographical studies of ancestors

(See article above. Use Flickr on right side to find pictures of places.)

(Ani-Map online free instead of buying Ani-Map on CD Rom) or

- modern maps

Chart Service

  1. Biographies

- Contribute biographies of your family

- Look for biographies or contribute your ancestor’s biographical information.

  1. Some new LDS church sites:

Family Tree -

Record Search -

FamilySearch Wiki -

familysearchindexing.com. - announcements about new features, record search, etc.

or labs.familysearch.org

Not working – for LDS only

  1. Cemetery Research
  1. Important subscription sites (Most have a charge)

(Formerly World Vital Records) or

- Civil War, pension, naturalization, Revolutionary War pension files, PA archives series (free)

(free trial for 7 days)

- historical newspapers, 1690-1977; obituaries 1977-present; historical books, charts, and biographies; historical documents

- newspapers, digitized books

World Collection at – UK Census, 600 books of early immigrants to Am, archive CD Australian books, German and Hungarian land census, Spanish vital records, Moravian records from Czech Republic

– Mass vital records, cemeteries of New England

- Mid Atlantic states county histories, magazines, histories, women in 1800’s

- family bibles, death and marriage notices, digitized ancestry charts

- military land bounty warrants, state & territorial census records

- Ohio family history records

- US Federal census indexes and images, PERSI, Rev. War pensions, Freedman Bank

- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1867- 1970; histories of Civil War, heraldic manuscripts, Irish biographies 1840-1945

  1. Publishing:

;

Book publishing:

Highly recommended for publishing. Download templates. Pay $99 for one ISBN and $250 for 10 ISBN’s. Calculator to determine cost of book.

  1. Some basic sites to use: These are familiar sites but are some of the basics

($) Ancestry

Family Search

Genforum

Rootsweb surname and Click under World Connect also

US Genweb

or - On Google, click on “Images” and look for photos, and also click on “More” and find a FH book

PERSI – surname periodical list $

- largest listing of books in the world

- LDS family history library catalogue

(Pennsylvania)

X. Use search tools and directories, such as

Linkpendium

Search Systems

Genealogy Sleuth

State Archive site list _state_archives/default.htm

Cyndi’s list – one of the most comprehensive sites for family history links

Genealogy Links

Other Search Engines:

- use binoculars to find things

Clustered searching –

- limited to genealogy

  1. Allen County Public Library and other combined library genealogical records
  1. Links and websites maintained by BYU professors

- a good source for what is new in family history research

by Kip Sperry

  1. Blogs –

- Dick Eastman

- Renee’s genealogy blog

Virginia blog – had a chance to hear her at a fireside in Maryland

  1. Some Ethnic and specific country sites

Denmark

Eastern Europe

Finland

Germans from Russia and

Germany from SW Germany

Breman Passenger Lists 1920-39

German Emigrants Database

German-Bohemian

Palatine Project

PA German Pioneers - Arriving in Philadelphia between 1727-1808

PA – Ships from Germany to Philadelphia carrying Palatines

Great Britain

Passenger lists leaving UK

Iceland

Japan

Norway and

The conference gave us a lot of new ideas and reminded us of old sites that we have used but forgotten about. Alan Mann was able to teach us about different ways to use Google and lots of other good information which we have passed along. We learned a lot about New Family Search, and we took a course from John Vilburn about Ohana software and the new Family Insight. Because of all the vendors present, we were able to compare software and get copies of Roots Magic and Ancestral Quest. Jack will be teaching a class at the family history conference April 26 on comparing software.

TIPS FOR FINDING FEMALE SURNAMES

On one of the websites that we visit, the members have compiled a list of various tricks they have used to try to find a female ancestor’s surname when it is not given. This occurs when there is just a census record, and the wife is listed with her husband’s last name. If you cannot find the surname but want to go ahead with the temple work for the family, you can either list her by her given name: Mary // or you can use her husband’s surname like this: Mrs. Mary /Smith/. That is a better choice if there are two wives. If you find her surname later, you do not have to redo the work. You will simply add the surname to New Family Search, but the former temple work will be valid.

Here is the compilation by the family history consultants –

Military Pension records or other pension records

Death Certificates (Church and civil)

Marriage Records of parents or children (church and civil)

Census (mother-in-law living with family)

You can also do a census search by writing in just the female’s first name if it is the least bit unusual and trying to find that name in the same locality in an earlier census when she is single. Sometimes she is a neighbor. You can look at neighbors on an earlier census too to spot a woman with the first name of the right age. Then to confirm if you think you have found her, research that new line on another site, and sometimes her spouse will be named.

Published histories

Newspaper record of marriages

Obituaries of the individual (or of relatives that may list the names of married daughters)

Birth records of the children

Wills of parents listing the married names of daughters as beneficiaries

School records of the children

Google the husband’s name.One of my results was from the 1800s. My male ancestor's name was mentioned as a "local news" item. His house had burned and his wife (first name only) was
mentioned as "the daughter of another area resident by the name of," giving not only her maiden name but also her parents' names. Once I had names, it was easy to look in public records to verify birth dates and marriage dates.

PAF Insight - check for sealing

Christenings of the children - look atsponsors (possible relatives)

“It Is Thy House, a Place of Thy Holiness”

Gwen B. Goaslind

Wife of General Authority emeritus;
mother; matron of Manti Utah Temple.

A couple of years ago a friend of ours was invited to serve as a volunteer at a temple open house. One of her assignments was to guide people from the receiving doors to enter the temple. Her duty station positioned her near a larger-than-life art print of the Savior, in which He appeared to be reaching towards those in the waiting line. In his extended hands were visible the imprints of the nail wounds.

The people were coming to see the completion of the beautiful temple, and she noticed as the people approached, the many facial expressions and excited conversation. She said it was interesting to watch as each person eventually made eye contact with the picture of the Savior on the wall. There was a marked change of countenance, and their voices took on a hushed tone when needing to speak. Each visitor seemed to absorb "the message" of the moment and the out-stretched hands offering, "come unto me."

Temples are houses of the Lord wherein He may dwell and where He may pour out His blessings. The Savior said that ordinances performed therein "bear record of me, even Jesus Christ" (D&C 68:6). When Solomon's temple was completed, virtually the whole Israelite nation came together to celebrate the dedication (2 Chronicles 5-7). So, too, in our day, each temple dedication is a time of rejoicing for the Church.

Why is a temple dedication such a joyous occasion? President Boyd K. Packer explained, "All roads lead to the temple, for it is there that we are prepared in all things to qualify us to enter the presence of the Lord."

All things in the temple do bear record of Him and of His atonement. "It is thy house, a place of thy holiness" (D&C 109:13).

Elder Lionel Kendrick reminded us, "The temple is a place of holiness. It is the most sacred and holy place on earth and should be treated with the greatest degree of reverence and respect. Reverence in the temple is an expression to the Lord that we consider it to be sacred and that we recognize it to be, indeed, His holy house."