Pioneer Ancestry?

"Can we somehow find the courage and steadfastness of purpose that characterized pioneers of a former generation? Can you and I, in actual fact, be pioneers today?"

~President Thomas S. Monson

Do you have pioneer ancestry, or are you the pioneer of today? Here is a new piece of  FamilySearch that links pioneer history to the records of the Mormon Pioneer companies. The program looks at your tree and culls your pioneer ancestors, lists the company they were in, and also lists records from those particular handcart companies. Give it a look, as you may find that your ancestor was written about in the company records... or if you are really lucky, you ancestor may have written a diary themselves! One can only hope! This site is not totally finished, but it is a really great start! 

Indexing, Anyone?

Join the Worldwide Indexing Event

On July 2, 2012, a total of 49,025 FamilySearch indexers and arbitrators joined together to set the all-time record for the most indexing participants in a single day. That lofty record is about to be broken—by you!

Join volunteers from around the world on July 20 and 21 for an international history-making event! The goal? For 50,000 indexers and arbitrators to submit at least one batch in a 24-hour period! Do more if you would like, but one batch is all that is required to be counted in the record!

This remarkable goal will require help from every current indexer and arbitrator out there, plus many new volunteers,*but it can be achieved if generous volunteers like you commit to participate. So mark your calendar and spread the word! Invite friends and family to join you. Organize an indexing party; create a fun family challenge or a society or church service project. Everyone is needed. Everyone can make a difference!

No matter where you live or what language you speak, you can participate and add to this historic worldwide achievement. You may choose to work on any project you prefer. However, we suggest that you work on the following projects in your native language:

• US—Obituaries, 1980–2014
• US—Passport Applications, 1795-1925
• US, New Orleans—Passenger Lists, 1820-1902
• UK, Manchester—Parish Registers, 1787-1999

The record-setting begins at 00:00 coordinated universal time (UTC) on July 21, which is 6:00 p.m. mountain daylight time (MDT or Utah time) on Sunday, July 20. It ends 24 hours later, at 23:59 UTC (or 5:59 p.m. MDT) on Monday, July 21. Through the selfless efforts of worldwide volunteers like you, millions of people have found their ancestors. At the end of this exciting 24-hour event, millions more records will be available and ancestors will be found!

One batch is all it takes. Don’t miss your chance on July 20 and 21 to be part of this history-making event! Plan now to get involved and add your name to the record-setting legacy!

*New indexers can visit https://familysearch.org/indexing/ to learn more about how to join the FamilySearch indexing effort.

Do I Still Need a Desktop Genealogy Program (whine, whine)?

Wikipedia Commons Public Domain

This question comes up over and over again in my service as a family history consultant and as an LDS Church Family History missionary. My explanations have fallen on deaf ears most of the time. As consultants and missionaries, we try to provide the very best of our knowledge to our patrons. We want to help them be successful. However, many people don't really want to be successful because it takes effort. GENEALOGY TAKES EFFORT! Effort means giving it more than five minutes in a rush to other things or tick it off of your to-do list!

The reasons for using a desktop genealogy program (in addition to the FamilySearch Family Tree) are many. Since I have never been able to give a satisfactory explanation, I am pointing you to my friend Renee Zamora. Her article here explains, in depth, much better than I ever could. Yeah, you may have to work at little, but the effort is worth it!

FamilySearch Records Growing by Leaps and Bounds!

FamilySearch has added 122 million images and records to their website in the last three months. This is so exciting. I love finding family history information at 3:00 am in my jammies! Click here to read the latest!

If you are interested in joining the armies of indexers accomplishing this work, please click here for more information. I tell you, try it...you'll like it!

Do You Have Eastern European Ancestors?

If so, this conference is for you. I attended last year and what I learned has propelled me forward this year in my research. Each area of the world has it's quirks and Eastern Europe is no exception. The #1 thing that I learned is that you have to know your HISTORY or you get nowhere in finding your ancestors. If you want to jump start your Eastern European research but don't know where to start...START HERE! Register for this conference and come pick the brains of the experts!

Natural Disasters Happen!

Photo: Jemma Johnston-Creative Commons License

I found this great article in the Deseret News while I was catching up on all of the mail that piled up during my trip. I have worried about the safety of my family history, but this article reminded me of what could really happen! After all, I live on a fault line and I know that the "big one" is in the future! Might be a good time to renew YOUR FAMILY plans!

Family Tree Rhapsody

A little light-hearted take on family history. I love to admire someone else's creativity, because I don't have a creative bone in my body. Anyway, I do love family history and apparently, this family does too!
 

RootsTech 2014 Videos Online

If you weren't able to attend RootsTech 2014, here are main presentations that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home!

Innovator Summit Keynote Speaker (Business and Developer track)

• Chris Dancy: The Most Quantified Human (48)

Thursday Speakers

• Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, and Annelies van den Belt, CEO of DC Thomson Family History, as keynote speakers. & Josh Taylor: Opening Keynote Speakers (90)
• Tammy Hepps: Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch (60)
• Ancestry Insider: Do It Yourself Photo Restoration (60)
• Ron Tanner: FamilySearch Family Tree: What’s New and What’s Next (60)
• James Rader: Introduction to DNA for Genealogists (60)
• Randy Hoffman: Genealogy in the Cloud (60)
• Michael LeClerc: Sharing Your Family History with Multimedia (60)

Friday Speakers

• Dr. Spencer Wells and Judy Russell: Friday Keynote Speakers (70)
• David Adelman: Storytelling Super Powers: How to Come Off as Your Family’s Genealogy Hero (40)
• Lisa Alzo: Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media (45)
• Deborah Gamble: 5 Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep (40)
• Daniel Horowitz: Finding family and ancestors outside the USA with new technologies (60)
• Christa Cowen: Getting the Most Out of Ancestry (60)
• Tom Taylor: How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History (60)

Saturday Speakers

• Stephanie Nielson, Todd Hansen: Saturday Keynote Speakers (60)
• Lisa Louise Cooke: Become an iPad Power User (60)
• Josh Taylor: Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results (60)
• Randy Whited: A Beginners Guide to Going Paperless (52)

Grove Creek/Timpanogos Stakes Family History Fair

Here is the schedule for the Grove Creek/Timpanogos Stakes Family History Fair to be held on March 22, 2014 in the Pleasant Grove Grove Creek Stake Center. We welcome all who would like to attend. We have a great schedule, will be providing a light lunch to class attendees and have a YOUTH TRACK scheduled as well. If you are local, please pass the word along!

Please pre-register here

Talking Pictures!

This is another great video from FamilySearch. Can't you just feel the excitement coming from the kids? Let's generate that excitement in our kids! The older I get, the more I realize that I don't want to be forgotten, even if I am a very ordinary person! :)

RootsTech 2014

RootsTech 2014 started out with this video.



It reminded me of this article from the New York Times that I had read a few months ago. Families are important and worth putting in our best efforts.

New Views on FamilySearch!

A new portrait view has been added to the Family Tree by FamilySearch. Below is a peak at it. To navigate to the portrait view, go to the options bar in the top left corner and click the down arrow. The three options available will be View Portrait, Traditional, Fan Chart. 

Did you know that you can see a seven generation fan chart of your family tree in addition to the standard five generation fan chart? Here is what the five generation fan chart looks like. Forgive me for chopping off the live children at the bottom!

If you want the seven generation fan chart, click on the printer icon right underneath the bar that says "view fan chart." This is what you will see. As you can see, I have a lot of research to do! My dad's family continues to be elusive!

Save the Date!

SAVE THE DATE!

Family History Fair

When: March 22, 2014

Time: 9:00 am-4:00 pm

Where: Grove Creek Stake Center 

1176 N. 730 E.

Pleasant Grove, Utah

Amazing speakers and instruction for all ages!

More details to follow!
To register, click here and follow the instructions. 

Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Meeting (UVTAGG)

Press Release: 3 January 3014

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING - UVTAGG

The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 11 Jan 2014, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.  Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvtagg.org .

The main presentation this month will be by Diane C. Loosle on DISCOVER THE FUTURE OF THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY AND FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS.  What does the future experience in the Family History Library and Centers look like? What are the future plans for the Family History Library and Centers? How will things change in the next few years with more records and books being available online? How do the new partnerships between FamilySearch and Ancestry, MyHeritage and DC Thomson Family History change things? What is the “discovery center” we keep hearing about? These and other questions you may have about the Family History Library and Family History Centers will be addressed.  Diane C. Loosle is the new Director of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, as well as the Family History Centers worldwide, so this will be a chance to hear what is really happening, not just rumors.  She is an Accredited Genealogist^® and a Certified Genealogist^SM  with a Bachelors degree in History from BYU with an emphasis in Family History and Genealogy and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Utah.   She has worked for FamilySearch for the past twenty years as a British Reference Consultant, British Reference Unit Supervisor, Customer Experience Manager, FamilySearch Genealogical Community Services Manager and now as Director of the Family History Library and Family History Centers worldwide. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors and traveling with her husband Mike.  Of additional interest to Utah County people is that she was in the BYU Cougar Marching Band while a student at the "Y"!  Information on her appointment as Director of the Family History Library is at https://familysearch.org/blog/en/diane-loosle-named-director-world-renowned-family-history-library/ 

After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled.  Check the meetings page at http://uvtagg.org/ for last minute changes or additions.  
(1)  Evernote:  Your Virtual Genealogy Assistant, by Sue Maxwell;
(2)  Q&A: Discover the Future of the Family History Library and Family History Centers, by Diane C. Loosle;
(3)  Making Your Trip to the Family History Center More Productive, by Ron Snowden;
(4)  Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen;
 (5)  Video of November's main presentation: The Latest and Greatest in FamilySearch Photos and Stories, by Tim Cross;
 (6)  Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay;
 (7)  Legacy: New Features in 8.0, by Dean Bennett;  and
(8)  RootsMagic, by Renee Zamora.

All meetings of UVTAGG are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually about 100 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays, most of whom are Family History Consultants. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Kay Baker, Don Engstrom, and Rayanne Melick working with membership and finances, Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library, and Chris Stevenson as the Webmaster.  Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out and sell DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group.  Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but belong by paying the $10 per year dues to receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships are wonderful presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants.  See more information on the websites mentioned above about the presentations, classes, and class notes, or to join the Group.  You can also contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Roots Tech 2014

Roots Tech 2014 is approaching rapidly! The dates are February 6-8, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This year the organizers have moved to the bigger side of the Salt Palace Convention Center. Hopefully this means a little more breathing room! This IS a big deal. For more information, click here. If you look on the schedule, you will see that Saturday, February 8th is a Family Discovery Day. What does that mean? It means that there will be content for the whole family. Check it out here. 

Changes, Changes!

As of a few days ago (December 18, 2013), new.familysearch.org is read only. Here is the screen that you get when you go to new.familysearch.org.

FamilySearch.org is a really amazing program. Spend a few hours with it and you will never even miss new.familysearch.org!

RootsTech 2014 Keynote Speakers

The keynote speakers for RootsTech 2014 were just announced. This is going to be an exciting conference! Read more about them by clicking on their link.

Ree Drummond- The Pioneer Woman

Annelies van den Belt-CEO of DC Thomson Family History (formerly brightsolid)

Dr. Spencer Wells-Serves as director of the Genographic Project

. 

Judy Russell- The Legal Genealogist

Stephanie Nielson-The NieNie Dialogues

Todd Hansen-The Story Trek

Legacy Family Tree 8.0 is Now Available!

legacyfamilytree.com

Finally, the moment that I have been waiting for! Legacy Family Tree 8.0 was released TODAY! This makes my heart sing! Here is the press release.

SURPRISE, Arizona, November 26, 2013. Millennia Corporation, a leader in family history software, today announced the release of Legacy Family Tree 8.0. The new release contains dozens of significant new features and enhancements, including migration mapping, instant duplicate checking, origins and migration reports, potential problem alerts, and shared events.

In one software package, Legacy Family Tree 8.0 provides tools to help users record their family's history, organize their pictures, perform their research, and share their findings.

"Legacy Family Tree 8.0 continues to raise the bar of family history software," said David Berdan, president of Millennia Corporation. "Its new source quality tool, source labels, citations on Pedigree Charts and shared events give serious researchers the tools they need, while the new reports, charts, and family statistics get the entire family excited about their history."

The following new and updated features add to Legacy's list of robust capabilities:

• Origins Report - See where you came from and the percentage of "blood" you have from your countries of origin with the new Origins Report.
• Migration Report - See how far and wide a person's descendants spread out in the world with the new Migration Report.
• Migration Mapping - Legacy animates the ancestor's movement through time. Watch how they migrated from place to place. View their migration in street, aerial, or 3D modes. Hover over the balloon to see what happened in each location.
• Instant Duplicate Checking - As you are adding new individuals to your tree, Legacy instantly checks to see if perhaps they are already in your family file, helping you avoid inadvertently adding duplicates.
• Potential Problem Alerts and Gaps - Typos and accidental misinterpretation of data are now a thing of the past. The warning symbol is displayed immediately next to info that contains a potential problem. Unusual gaps of time are detected that you may have not previously noticed (like too many years between the births of the children).
• Shared Events - Save time and avoid errors by sharing an event amongst all the individuals who participated in the event. You can specify each person's role in the event.
• Family Bow Tie Chart - Displays the ancestors of both the husband and wife, as well as their children.
• Descendant Chart - Now available in left-to-right formatting.
• Source Quality - Now record the quality (original vs derivative, primary vs secondary, etc., direct vs indirect) of each source as you attempt to prove your conclusions.
• Source Labels - Now print Source Labels to attach to the top of your documents. You will never again lose the citation when making a photocopy for someone else.
• Source Clipboard - The Source Clipboard has been expanded to load up to five different citations that can be assigned at the click of a button.
• Pedigree Citations - Add source citations to your Pedigree Charts, and attach the complete bibliography.
• FamilySearch Integration - Share, discuss, download and interact with FamilySearch's Family Tree (optional).
• Wall Charts - Duplicate lines can now be suppressed, saving room for more photographs and captions.
• Chronology View - Now view the parent's, grandparent's, children's, and grandchildren's vital events in your ancestor's timeline.
• User Interface - Enjoy Legacy's modernized look-and-feel, new color schemes, and new ribbon menu bar. Add two additional custom buttons on the new My Toolbar.
• Tagging - View up to 9 tags at once. Advanced Tagging now shows the counts of each tag.
• Automatic Sorting - Children, marriages, and events are now automatically chronologically sorted as they are added. New global sorting tools are also now available.
• Statistics - Understand your family in new ways with dozens of new statistics: births by era, longest living individuals, average lifespan, longest marriages, families with the most children, most popular given names, most popular surnames, most popular locations and more.
• Media Relinker - It is easier than ever to locate missing or unlinked pictures. Moving from one computer to another is simpler to do.
• Media Gatherer - Got pictures all over your computer? The new Media Gatherer will help you copy or move your genealogy pictures to one common folder, making it easier to share your family file with another computer or family member.
• Web Links - Found evidence of your ancestor online? Easily add a web link to their media gallery to organize a list of their online presence.
• Color Coding - You can now color code from two starting points (one for you and one for your spouse, for example) and track the eight great-grandparents' lines.

Watch the What's New Video here.

Pricing and Availability

Legacy 8.0 is now available at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com, for just US $29.95 for the download-only version or US $39.95 version which includes the 336-page printed user’s guide, installation CD, and beginner’s training video. Discounted upgrade pricing is also available for users of previous editions of Legacy Deluxe. The free, Standard edition can also be downloaded from www.LegacyFamilyTree.com.

 

Legacy Family Tree - Unlocked! a new book by Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen, is based on the brand new Legacy 8.0. In its 236 pages, you will learn how to better utilize some of Legacy’s best features by shadowing the research process of a professional genealogist, Legacy Family Tree developer, and host of FamilyTreeWebinars.com's webinar series. Be sure to add it to your cart at checkout!

About Millennia Corporation

Millennia Corporation is located in Surprise, Arizona. The company strives to provide top-quality genealogy software so people can record and track their family history. It is also the publisher of the award-winning FamilyTreeWebinars.com webinar series, now with more than 200 hours of quality genealogy education. For additional information on Millennia or the products they offer visit http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com.

Are Family History Efforts Landing on Deaf Ears?

Public Domain

Do you ever feel that your family history efforts in the ward are landing on deaf ears? Are you interested in a couple of new ideas? Penney Devey from FamilySearch has a couple of great ideas to try out in your ward! Check them out here!

Who Will Carry on Your Legacy?

Christian IX Denmark
Georg Emil Hansen [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Have you ever wondered where all of your hard family history work will go when you are gone? I have, and because it is such a labor of love for me, I don't want any of it to go to the dumpster! There is a great article here by Deborah S. Gurtler that brings up some great points on this topic! We all want our history to survive, so we need to reach out to our children and grandchilden. They are the future.