Ellis Island

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dc9m4vlll7b7rqr/Ellis%20Island%20Questions.docx?



http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2015/11/12/the-closing-of-ellis-island

Editing Family Relationships Made Easier On Family Tree

Once again we have some changes on Family Tree.  I am grateful for the FS bloggers who keep us up to date and don't mind sharing with us to we can learn and improve our skills.  Thank you, Cliff Bergmann for your help with this new feature.


New Features in the Family Members Section Make Correcting Relationships Easier

October 20, 2015 By Clif Bergmann

"Have you clicked an edit icon lately in the Family Members section? You’ll find the icons on the Person page in Family Tree. You may have thought, “Wow. That’s different.” Well, you’re right.

There’s a new feature attached to the edit icons that makes it easier to see and correct family relationships and add sources. For example, if the wrong mother is listed for a large family, you can now change the wife and mother in a single operation!

What’s New?

In a nutshell, when you click an edit icon, you’ll now see a fly-out (it’s similar to a pop-up). The fly-out gives you more information and makes it easier for you to modify relationships and add sources—without going to another page! You’ll still see the other family members, which will make it easier to see how your changes impact the family.

 What You Can Do

When you click an edit icon, here are some of the changes you can make using the fly-out:

• Add or modify marriage information for the parents.
• Change the parents for a child. (Hint: To change a parent for all the children listed, use the edit relationship icon for the husband and wife.)
• Change an incorrect spouse.
• Add or change the relationship type (such as biological, step, or adopted).
• Add sources that show that the relationship is correct.

When you click a Wrong Person or Wrong Parents link, you’ll have the option to remove or replace the incorrect person.

 If you use touch devices (like iPads), you’ll always see the link to open the relationship fly-outs. And all members of the family will be displayed with their default portrait!

The new editing fly-out is being released to a few patrons at a time. If your family or friends haven’t seen it yet, tell them they’ll see it soon.

So try it out. We think you’ll enjoy the new possibilities!"

James Tanner's post on  this enhanced feature:

http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com/2015/10/editing-family-relationships-now-easier.html

James Tanner on The Family History Guide

Did you know that the BYU Family History Library has a YouTube Channel that you can subscribe to with all kinds of Family History video tutorials?  Did you know that James Tanner is one of the most knowledgeable and prolific writers and trainers around and that he has worked there for over a year now.  Lucky BYU Library!  Lucky us!

James L. Tanner

What makes James Tanner so amazing is that he is on top of the latest news on the major sites, he has incomparable experience in genealogy, training, researching and technology.  He speaks with authority and credibility and in a language easy for all of us to understand.  So that is my shout out for him and here is his video from YouTube on The Family History Guide (found at
www.thefhguide.com)


www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VSowb8Ny6k

He authors two blogs daily also.

http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com   

http://rejoiceandbeexceedingglad.blogspot.com
A little more church related.

It's All About Families

This September was to be a very special one for me and of course for Jim too.   Not only would I be able to see my beloved cousins again but we would be meeting  our "new" cousin, William and his wife Rita, also for the first time. 

William was adopted at birth.  Through nothing short of a major miracle, he found his siblings in December of 2013 due to a series of very fortunate events.  Those included his great desire to press on for 35 years to find his birth mother after he learned he was adopted.  His friend, Nancy, who does genealogy took an interest in his story.  She also persuaded him to do DNA testing.  That produced a trail to his father.  I had written a blog piece on my sweet Aunt Grace when she died and posted it on my family blog in 2008.  It contained pictures of her both at a young age and when she was older and of all the kids and her obituary.

 You can read about it here:

http://bonsblogbydesign.blogspot.com/2008/09/she-belongs-to-ages.html   

Nancy found the blog post via searching the Internet.  As a result of that Google find and the steps that preceded it, William discovered not only his father but his mother and five full siblings! I'll never forget the joy of that Christmas in 2013. When we all found out we rejoiced.  Every one of my cousins welcomed Bill with open arms and unconditional love from the onset!  What a precious gift!  It was overwhelming and wonderful to all of us.  It was a spiritual time, an emotional time and has been an ongoing celebration.  It is the miracle story that never grows old.

You can read about it here:

http://bonsblogbydesign.blogspot.com/2014/06/by-grace-of-god.html

Last week we went to Washington to meet William..Hot off the Press... The journey that took some years but was worth it!  You can read about it here.

http://bonsblogbydesign.blogspot.com/2015/10/seven-septembers-our-cousin-reunion.html

I finally Met William!

Their Parents!

Together~This Time Forever!
My cousins are so happy
This is a powerful motivator
To keep looking for our families!
Unspeakable joy!

Relative Finder - Using Groups

Southern Oak Trees

You can find a lot of fun things in the Family Search Blog.  To access it go to the very bottom of the FS home page.  You will see some tiny links and one of them says Blog.  Double click and you'll find some treasures.  Lisa Mc Bride has done a great one on Relative Finder.  Wouldn't it be fun to start a group of our staff members to see if we are related to one another and how?  Would anyone like to set it up?

I love relative finder for a number of reasons but the most compelling is to find out if you are related to any famous people.  I don't seek to know these things as a kind of "feather in my cap" but because there is so much more information available on people that were famous.  As an example if you are related to Thomas Jefferson it would be wonderful to know that before visiting Monticello, or studying early American History, Presidents of the United States, or the swivel chairs we all sit on while using our computers that were invented by him.

That did not happened to me.  If I had known then that I was related to Thomas Jefferson when we visited Monticello it would have sparked a greater interest, a familial interest and a more fervent desire to know him thought the things I learned about him, including stories about his personal life, etc.

Another reason I love Relative Finder is that it is a fun way to engage people in developing a desire to pursue their family history.  The genealogy of a president of the church or the country is well researched and accurate.  If you find you're related to George Washington through Relative Finder and you also know that is only accurate so far as your own genealogy is accurate, it might engender a desire to source and research what is on your tree in  different way than just knowing you should do this.

Pursuing this as a special group might also create new interest and more synergy as we collaborate with co-workers, friends and neighbors.  The following blog post by Lisa Mc Bride of Family Search explains how to do just that!  Again I ask, Anyone want to volunteer to set up our group?  B

"Relative Finder: New Ways to Connect with Cousins

September 2, 2015 By Lisa McBride

RelativeFinder.org is a fun family history experience for families, adults, and youth. The software program helps users find how they are related to famous people in the United States and the LDS Church and to European royalty. That’s not all! The program also allows you to set up groups to see how members of the group are inter-related. You can even set yourself up with your own deceased ancestor group. Within your own group you can see how you are related to each cousin and how you may be related through more than one ancestor. You will need an Internet connection and a FamilySearch Account for the website to work with FamilySearch Family Tree.

There is one caveat to keep in mind. All relationships depend on accurate information in FamilySearch Family Tree. The computer connects what it sees in FamilySearch Family Tree—good or bad. Sometimes finding errors is not such a bad thing. It may motivate users to make corrections.

The primary use of Relative Finder is to see how the user is related to famous historical figures. Family history centers can use this to hold a special historical-themed event to help engage people. For example, you could hold an event connected with a famous date in history, such as July 4, and invite people to come see if they are related to signers of the American Declaration of Independence.

Ward Accounts

Several family history center directors have found success setting up ward accounts. To do this, choose the heading Groups. To form and name your ward group, click Create. As a side note, it is helpful to use your town and state along with your ward name, since some wards have very similar names.

Use a simple password that will be easy to remember. Anyone in your ward with a FamilySearch Account can join your ward group by going to http://www.relativefinder.org, logging in, choosing a group, and then joining. In the search box, enter the name of your ward, and join using the shared password. Or invitations can be sent by sharing the invite URL displayed on the Manage groups screen. Remember to send the password with the invitation.

Once they are in the program, ward members can see how they are related to one another. Directors are finding that this activity encourages members to set up accounts and to get excited to learn about their ancestors and how they are related to friends and neighbors. Send out an invitation to ward members through your ward Sunday bulletin or your ward online newsletter. Include the group name and password, or include the URL invitation and password. Members needing extra help to get started can come into the center for assistance.

Relative Relationships

Have you ever wondered how you are related to a distant descendant for whom you are doing temple work? Relative Finder has a solution. Set up a group of your own. To do this, follow the steps below.

1. Go to the heading labeled Groups.
2. Click Create, and form a group named something like “Sally Jones’s Cousins,” using your own name.
3. Once you’ve created your group, go to the Groups link.
4. Click Manage.
5. Choose the cousin group you recently created.
6. Find the heading labeled “Add a Deceased Person.”
7. Add the descendant’s Personal Identification number (PID) from Family Tree. This will add the person to your group.
8. Click View All Relations.
9. From the headings, click Relation to Friend.
10. If you want to see how the descendant is related to famous Americans, famous members of the Church, or European royalty, click View Ancestors.

This same cousin group could be shared with family members working on common lines. After family members join the group, similar to joining a ward group, they can add deceased cousins for whom they are completing temple work or research. Shared temple work information could be added to the group so that everyone could see how that particular cousin is related to the group creator or to a common ancestor.

Friend Connect

Another option is for two friends to connect immediately with a temporary session using the Connect tab. Help screens are also available for each option.

Relative Finder is an engaging activity for all ages to enjoy.  Spend some time this month setting up a group and experimenting with how you can share your love for your ancestors with someone in your ward or family. This program can inspire a new beginner to find an ancestor, taking that ancestor’s name to the temple, and then teaching someone else to do the same."

Family Tree-New Feature-Search Multiple Data Bases-From Person Details Page

Coastal Redwoods near Mendocino, CA

There are more new things on Family Search-Family Tree as always.  What a viable site, there is never a static moment.  This will be the most useful to people that have subscriptions to all or some of the Partner sites.  If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you can access all of the websites listed below for free when you sign up through Family Search. Search Partners in the Get Help section of the Family Search home page for more information.  

A word of caution about this new feature:  The accuracy of what you get is only as good as the information you have added into Family Tree.  This new feature is like one stop shopping on the Person Details Page.  I think this will work best when you are familiar enough with your person being researched.  Starting from what you know and going to what you don't know yet is the key.  The other thing is you still need to learn to search by filtering your hits on all on these cites.  This is very important to researching.  Be accurate in your attaching records to your tree.

The following is the FS blog post on this new feature.  Enjoy.  And thank you to Matt Wright!

"New Feature: Search Genealogy Records on the Web’s Largest Sites"

September 28, 2015 By Matt Wright

We have taken a step closer to the elusive genealogy “easy button.”

On the Person Page of each of your ancestors in FamilySearch Family Tree there are now three additional genealogy sites you can access for a genealogy records search.

In addition to FamilySearch (naturally) you will find logos for three of the largest family history websites. A simple click on any of the logos takes you to that site and initiates a global search of that site’s records. When you arrive at the site, you are already looking at the results of your search. Search results are based on whatever information you have for that person in FamilySearch Family Tree, so names, birth date, spouse name, etc. It is a simple and efficient way to search vast databases of genealogically relevant information with a single click.

Go to FamilySearch Family Tree and try it out on our own person page. From there you can jump around to ancestors and try searching genealogy records on the other sites to see what you can find. This is bound to speed up your research, and you just might discover records you have never seen before.

It's All About That Base (Not The Song) Your Resources!

Don't write it down on a scrap of paper- 

think source box or toolbox.

I've noticed over the last year that there has been a greater emphasis on capturing resources.  I'm not sure if it's just what my own understanding has morphed into or if there has been a general evolving awareness of this?  This age of information is just progressing at warp speed ahead.  If you are having the same issues with remembering it all that I am, how about adding something new to your source box a few times a week that might be helpful in the future?  This can help our patrons as well as ourselves.

I thought in the spirit of that I might add a few links to this blog as examples from time to time.

See if you think this might be helpful in the future.

http://www.ancestry.com/cs/Satellite?childpagename=USLearningCenter%2FLearning_C%2FPageDefault&pagename=LearningWrapper&cid=1265125565120