21 July 2014

Newest Edition of NGS Magazine (July/Aug/Sept 2014) Available to NGS Members Now!

The July/Aug/Sept 2014 issue of the NGS Magazine (PDF 5.3MB) is now online in the Members Only section of the website.

Features

NGS awards, competitions, and recognition, by Charles S. Mason Jr., CG

NGS Hall of Fame Inductee

New Corps of Discovery: NGS 2015 Family History Conference, by Janet L Powell

No federal pension file for a Pennsylvania Revolutionary War soldier?, by Sharon Cook MacInnes, PhD

The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (and Navies), by Diane Florence Gravel, CG

Border state divided families during the Civil War, by Rebecca Rector, MLS

Rich, poor, and all the rest: Why class matters to genealogists, by Stefani Evans, CG

Black sheep ancestors and their records, by C. Ann Staley, CG, CGL

Columns
National Archives, by Marie Varrelman Melchiori, CG, CGL, and Claire Prechtel-Kluskens

Reference desk, by Kathy Petlewski, MSLS

DNA basics, by Debbie Parke Wayne, CG, CGL

Technology, by Jordan Jones

Departments
President’s message, by Jordan Jones

Editor’s corner, by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG

NGS/Genealogy news

Editor’s Note: Please note that online access to the NGS Quarterly and NGS Magazine are available only as long as your membership is active. NGS Members can access the NGS Magazine archives (2005-present).

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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18 July 2014

Now Available -- June 2014 Edition of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly

Volume 102, Number 2 of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly is now available online in the Members Only section of the website.

Feature Articles

+ Why and How did Philippina Kicherer Immigrate to Jefferson County, Pennsylvania?, by Judy Kellar Fox, CG

+ Jane Fife’s Mother: Elizabeth (Sowersby) Stather Fife Hought, by Arlene V. Jennings, CG

+ Testing Family Lore to Determine the Parentage of Samuel W. Boren of Pittsburgh, by Harold Henderson, CG

+ Using Networks to Backtrack the Migration and Identify the Parents of Jacob Wynkoop of Morgan County, Ohio, by Stephen B. Hatton

+ Testing the FAN Principle against DNA: Zilphy (Watts) Price Cooksey Cooksey of Georgia and Mississippi, by Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FNGS, FASG

and other regular features ...

Editor’s Note: Please note that online access to the NGS Quarterly (NGSQ) and NGS Magazine are available only as long as your membership is active. You can access the NGSQ archive – the index is available for FREE and as a member you can access archives encompassing 1970, 1972–74, 1976, 1978–current.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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17 July 2014

FREE Access to Fold3 Revolutionary War Collections Through End of Month

If you are researching Revolutionary War era ancestors, you can check out the Revolutionary War collections at Fold3 for FREE through the end of this month (31 July 2014). Read more at Access the Revolutionary War Collection

If you have Revolutionary War ancestors, you might find them in the Revolutionary War pension files, service records, war rolls, or payment vouchers, or in the Revolutionary War Manuscript File. If you’re interested in the historical aspects of the war, you can explore the captured vessels prize cases, Revolutionary War milestone documents, Pennsylvania Archives, Constitutional Convention records, and the papers and letters of the Continental Congress, among others.

If you make an exciting find, please share !

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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16 July 2014

Plank Roads and Wagon Roads -- many of the roads our ancestors used have disappeared ...

Roads now are quite different than they were when our ancestors lived – think relatively narrow dirt paths! This came to mind since a couple of weeks ago I read two articles. The first was: Forging West; The Western Turnpike and the Western North Carolina Railroad Company

As droves of Tar Heels take to the road this summer in search of cool North Carolina mountain air, we are thinking about what this trip would have been like 150 years ago. As it turns out, it would have likely meant traveling on a plank road. Think of a plank road as a wooden highway for wagons and coaches. In the mid 1800s, North Carolina had a proliferation of plank road building.

This rang a bell for me since on Sunday as I drove along I-85 in southern VA, I came across Boydton Plank Road. It took many trips and seeing its name before I realized that this meant that historically this road had literally been constructed of planks.

Of course, this got me interested in Plank Roads in NC, where I live. I came across these articles that tell us about a type of road which really no longer exists as we travel modern roads.

+ Fayetteville and Western Plank Road (NC)

+ Plank Roads (NC)

+ Back in Time, Plank Roads (US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration)

+ Plank Roads (Beaufort County)

To see how popular plank roads were in NC, just check out The Laws of North-Carolina, Enacted in the Year 1853 which lists almost 2 pages of incorporations by plank road companies such as the Ashboro’ and Salisbury Plank Road Company, Caswell Plank Road Company, Concord and Anson Plank Road Company, Duplin Plank Road Company, Haywood and Pittsboro Plank Road Company, and many more.

Do you know of any plank roads still in existence and used?

The second article I read was: The Great Wagon Road: North Carolina’s First Interstate Highway Disappears.

The Great Wagon Road served as the backbone to mold the history of North Carolina. What began as a hunting trail used by Native Americans expanded into one of the most widely used colonial highways in the nation. Taverns were also built along the primitive road to serve as rest stops for weary travelers and to provide food and shelter from the exhausting trip. The Great Wagon Road played a major role in the economic development of NC and paved the way for many modern towns and cities now known as Winston-Salem, Salisbury, & Charlotte.

Most of this road has been buried under concrete or disappeared from the landscape and yet it was such a critical pathway of travel into NC and beyond. As is often said, many of our current roads are based on historic Native American hunting trails which themselves were based on animal paths. We’ve just changed these small paths into large, wide, noisy and fast highways.

Both of these articles talked about key modes of travel for our ancestors that have all but disappeared today. Understanding “how” our ancestors got from place to place, helps give us perspective on their lives.

As you see travel the roads this summer, think of how your ancestors traveled. When you see a descriptive road name, make a note to yourself to learn more about its history. We know there has to be a story behind these interesting road names!

Editor’s Note: Not directly related and on the same trip along I-85, I always see Squirrel Level Road in Colonial Heights VA. I always wonder if the road was placed at “squirrel” level or what?!?! Weird image and what else does one think of when driving! On a more serious note, I do wonder at the “history” of the name as that has relevance to the history of the area and to those who lived there. Without knowing history, we genealogists would often be “up a creek without a paddle,” in terms of correctly understanding records or even knowing where to look for them.

BTW, if you happen to know the history of Squirrel Level Road, I would love to hear from you.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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15 July 2014

Two New FREE FamilySearch Apps To Become Available Sometime Today!

Familysearch previewed two new mobile apps (Family Tree Viewer (in both iOS and Android), and Memories (iOS only for the first release)) on the 11^th, you can watch the video here, http://broadcast.lds.org/ICS/techtalk2014/2014-07-11.html. Do note that the first 5 minutes of the video deal with LDS matters and so if that is not of interest to you, jump to the 5 minute mark to catch the actual preview.

In the video, Jesh Barlow demonstrates the two apps, explaining target audiences, best-case user intents, and how each app serves to complement the work that can be done on FamilySearch.org . Both apps are free. They will sync with FamilySearch.org, so information can be accessible from any device.

These apps are supposed to become available in the respective stores (iTunes and Google Play) sometime today.

I hope to include live links as they become available. If you “find” them first, please do let me know!

FamilySearch Tree (Android)

FamilySearch Tree (iTunes)
FamilySearch Memories (iTunes)

Once you’ve accessed the apps, please do let us know what you think? Will you use? What is the best feature? What did you struggle with? What do you recommend to users?

Editor's Note: 15 July 2014, 5:40PM EST -- Links added

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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11 July 2014

Search WWI Records for Free at MyHeritage through the end of the month

Many of us ramp up our family history research during the summer as our lives are a bit less structured and we are often visiting and/or celebrating with family throughout the warmer months.

It doesn't hurt that FREE database access has been and continues to be offered by several genealogical subscription services, the most recent one to do this is MyHeritage. You can have FREE access to the MyHertiage WWI collection. Read below for the press release and details!

Happy Hunting! Let us know if you find a special record for one of your ancestors.

2014 marks a century since the outbreak of World War I. On July 28 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire invaded Serbia, beginning a world war that would last four years and result in millions of casualties.

Were your ancestors among the brave men who fought? How did they serve their country? Learn more about them by searching hundreds of thousands of WWI military records.

Enjoy FREE access to the following record collections from now through the end of July:

Silver War Badge Recipients, 1914 - 1918

British Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914 - 1919

The National Roll of the Great War, 1914 - 1918

Tennessee WWI Veterans

Ireland's Memorial Records, 1914 - 1918

Royal Navy and Royal Marine Casualties, 1914 - 1919

De Ruvigny's Roll Of Honour 1914-1924

Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations 1914 - 1920

British Officers Taken as Prisoners of War, 1914 - 1918

British Military Officers

Victoria Cross Recipients, 1854 - 2006

You can also search all our military collections in one go.

Discover the wartime roles your relatives played in our online record database of WWI military records. This free offer ends July 31, so hurry and start your search today!

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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10 July 2014

Issuu still going strong in providing free access to some helpful genealogical journals!

We first talked by Issuu in February 2013, Issuu has some neat genealogical magazines including the "new" In-Depth Genealogist one. I thought it time (and I received a reminder about a new edition of Irish Lives becoming available ) to see if at least the same genealogy publications are still available and if maybe some new ones have cropped up.

The publications listed last time are (√ means still in publication):

+ √ Going In-Depth

+ √ Irish Lives Remembered (George Cloony is on the cover of the most recent edition)

+ √ Inside History (NZ and

Australia

)

+ [not seeing this one] Dutch (the magazine – regular column digging for roots)

I also explored whether there are any “new” publications (or pages) that might interest our community:

+ Thomas MacEntee (High-Definition Genealogy) has some “help” sheets

+ Lisa Louise Cooke (Genealogy Gems) has Everything You Need to Know About How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers

+ GenealogyBank

+ Canada’s History

+ White House Historical Association

and many more neat places to check out

Did any particular publication or page catch your eye with regards to researching your family?

Do you know of other similar platforms where we can access genealogy and family history journals?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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09 July 2014

Obsolete Tech -- what genealogists and family historians need to know!

Thanks to a post on the Technology for Genealogy Facebook page, I just read When Irreplaceable History Lives on Obsolete Tech (Popular Mechanics). Make sure to read the full article – it has 2 pages. This is very very important to genealogists as many move towards paperless systems and also are the “family archive” for kept stuff in various media formats.

We have seen so much “new tech” that has come, conquered, and then become obsolete in our lifetimes! Ask me about the 8mm film that I converted to VHS and which I now need to convert to ??? Or, ask me about that old “deck” of my family history created on an old Apple computer of who knows what generation back in the 1980s. I know that I have some floppy disks stored somewhere, slides somewhere else, memory cartridges in another place, mini cassette tapes, and so on. Is the same true at your house?

As someone who is cleaning out her attic, I cannot tell you how much obsolete (and typically unuseable) tech I have thrown out this past week.

Now imagine that your responsibility is to make sure that priceless history (stored on long ago and now obsolete tech) for an archive, institution, or nation, is preserved. Doesn’t that sound like a headache? It is.

The article talks about various media formats, software challenges, copyright, and other issues; all extremely important to family historians. It also mentions Marion Stokes and her collection mentioned in a recent edition of Upfront Mini Bytes and reminds us that the Internet Archive can be a wonderful home for media (video, music, audio, and texts).

And, they are telling us now that CDs and DVDs do degrade over time and that their format is facing obsolescence. Fortunately, I back up all my “stuff” on a hard-drive and on DVDs. I also keep paper files for many things, though as I clean out the attic, I am shredding a lot of old paper. After all, how many boxes of bills, paper stubs, tax records, medical records, and more, does one really need to retain? Non-sequitor and this reminds me that I probably should create a “retention policy” for my personal papers. Have you done that?

Now let’s go back to obsolete tech and what to do about that issue. You can learn a lot on this topic and keep informed about current practices via the Digital Preservation webpage from The Library of Congress and The Signal: Digital Preservation, the blog about Digital Preservation from The Library of Congress.

Another resource is a series of articles published on the FamilySearch Blog, Preserving Your Family History Records Digitally—Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

It’s important for us to be aware of what we are creating using what technology. It’s important to realize that in 5, 10, or more years, those formats may become obsolete and/or inaccessible. We need to try, as much a possible, to “future proof” any items of historical significance that we store in a particular media.

After all, we do want our descendants to be able to share in the rich history that we have archived and are actively creating right now.

If you have found a resource that’s really helped you as you navigate the world of preserving now obsolete media, please do share that with us!

Editor's Note: after 1st posting without a title -- one has now been added

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Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.