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Welcome to the May Family History Expos Newsletter!

May has been a busy month for us at Family History Expos as we get ready for our summer Expos and the unveiling of our new website.  June will mark our Loveland,  Colorado Expo which features presentations from genealogical experts, an exhibit hall and a special event called Friday Night at the Movies with Family History Expos.  This special event will include a screening of  Forgotten Ellis Island by filmmaker Laurie Conway.  Join us as we network, learn new techniques, see the latest in genealogical gadgets and have some fun.

Plan now for a summer of genealogy research.  To learn more about this summer’s Expos, please see our website .

See you at the Expo!

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Announcements

Join us for the Colorado Family History Expo!

Join us June 25-26 for the Colorado Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado.  We have a great lineup of speakers and exhibitors to help you with your genealogical research.  For more information, check out our website.

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Feature Article

Tracing the Genealogy of Women in 2010:  A Fresh Look

By Arlene H. Eakle, PhD   http://arleneeakle.com

© 2010

Tracing women successfully in 2010 requires an examination of women within their every day lives: women’s work, women’s skills, women’s duties, women’s contacts, women’s responsibilities when they become ancestors.  Most historical treatments in the past overlooked or ignored the role women played, except peripherally and we have developed certain stereotypes about women—especially the idea that they did not work outside the home.  Even the census takers messed us up—recording almost all women as housekeepers—which they were—and ignoring what else they did during their lives.

A woman approached me at the conclusion of a recent conference to exclaim, “You are so right!  I gave my autobiography to my grandchildren for Christmas—and I never said one word about the jobs I held.  The work I did.  Or even my special services classification with the US government.”

Since surviving historical sources do include the ladies on your pedigree, you now can go back and identify their lives: in the family, in the workplace, in social reform, and in the military.

1.   Begin your study of the ladies on your pedigree in family records and traditions.  Who are they?  When did they live?  Who did they know?  What did they do?  This fresh look can be charted in a chronological profile of timeline with comments.

2.   Then expand your research into local sources especially censuses, cemetery records, probates, newspapers, and vital records.  These can be accessed online through major “library” and query/genealogy sites or at nearby genealogy libraries in book and microform.

3.   Add the new facts you discover to your profile.

4.   Consider why a genealogist reads a history book, and why you will want to do so too:

__Learn the context in which your ladies lived–their work, their skills, their duties, their contacts, their responsibilities.  For example, military events, traditionally thought to be reserved for men alone, often disclose intimate details of your women and their family ties.  From these details you can prepare a life profile for your ancestor and double your research success.

__Gain basic facts about your pedigree ladies–names, dates of birth-marriage-death, places of residence, kinship and naming patterns, migrations–both for your ancestor’s origins and for her own lifetime.

__Study specific local jurisdictions your ladies were subject to.  Learn about those special authorities that apply to only to them.

__Discover records and sources with their locations–previously unknown to you or, not yet consulted by other researchers tracing your ladies.

Document Your Pedigree Ladies

A Checklist of Sources for Women

Death

Military Pension

Soldier

Widow

Historical Marker

(Early Settlers)

Social Security Death Index

Probate Register (death date)

Will/Administration

Estate Settlement

herself

husband

father

Tombstone Inscription

Tombstone Plate

Funeral Sermon

Obituary

Funeral Notice

Burial Register

Death Certificate

-within city limits

-outside city limits

City Directory (death date)

Family Bible

Mortuary File

Biographical Sketch

(Over 8 million in print)

herself

husband

son or daughter

father

brother

other family members

Newspaper Vital Records

Newspaper Gossip Column

final illness

birth of child

injury on job

Birth

Birth Announcement

Birth Certificate

Birth Register

civil

midwife

physician daybook

Christening Record

Family Bible

Sampler/Fraktur

Baby Book

Guardianship

Military Pension Record

father

brother

mother (as widow)

Family History/Genealogy

Passport

Vaccination Certificate

Court Verification of Age

Work Permit

Female Settler’s Questionnaire

Voter Registration

after 1918 – except NJ, UT, WY

School Matriculations

Police Court Files

Police Gazette

Churchbook Family Register

Tombstone Inscription

Funeral Sermon

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

Marriage: More than 16 official marriage documents may be created for each marriage:

Before:

Consent Affidavit

Declaration of Intent

Banns

Intentions

Allegations

Pre-Nuptial Documents

(to protect individual property rights)

Marriage Contract

Agreement

Marriage Permits

Applications

License

Bonds

INTENT TO MARRY

After:

Marriage Certificate

Registration of Marriage

Marriage Register

Churchbook

Civil

Justice of the Peace Annual Report

Endorsement on License

Stub

Return

Justice of the Peace

Minister

Mayor/Judge

Captain/Commander

Missionary

Affirmations

Acknowledgments

Post-Nuptial Contract

(to avoid messy divorce proceedings)

PROOF OF MARRIAGE

See also Afton Reintjes, “How to Document a Marriage,” Family History for Fun and Profit, 1997 edition.  Family History World, P.O. Box 129, Tremonton, UT   84337, for a checklist of auxiliary sources.

Divorce:

Newspaper Legal Notices

Annulments

Church

Civil

Court Files and Decree

Name Changes

Based on How to Trace Your Pedigree Ladies,  c2008, Arlene H. Eakle. PhD. Available Family History World, P.O. Box 129, Tremonton, UT  84337.

Of the many sources on the Checklist, we will examine only three in detail here. These three record categories, with their specific supporting documents, are among the most significant sources for women in my opinion.  And when you search these carefully, you can expect to learn facts about your ladies and the circumstances of their lives you will usually find in no other place.

Cemetery Records

It is normal in America, Canada, Europe, and the British Isles for the wife to be buried on the left of the husband.  In older sections of the cemetery, extended family members are often buried in proximity to each other–children, grandchildren, aunt and uncles and their spouses, etc.  In newer sections, husband and wife are together; extended families will be found in their own plots scattered through the cemetery or buried elsewhere.  Small children are frequently buried at the foot of a grandparent’s grave or in a small grave between grandmother and grandfather. Watch carefully for these graves that almost seem out of place. When a child dies, the whole extended family grieves–and the  positioning of these small burials is the KEY and proof of missing maiden surnames for your pedigree ladies.

Allied burial sources: especially for burials where no stone is found–

__Stone-carvers ledgers or card file (many are now deposited in libraries and archives for preservation—see FHL film #383063 for example, Reading, Berks, PA.

__Carpenters account books—these men build the coffins, especially for burials in cities

__Sextons records

__Society or business memorials and monuments, with names of members

__Eulogies, printed and distributed to attendees at the funeral with place of burial stated

__Local funeral directors–they always have a cemetery Map of their area.  And some will

index local maps to each nearby cemetery showing where people and families are located

__Military markers and memorials placed on battlefields

__Eagle Scout project files, often deposited at local public library or historical society

__Newspaper notices and obituaries

__Black-bordered funeral cards, with details on place of burial added

As you search the census and other genealogical records, note the names of stone-carvers, carpenters, sextons, and other officials associated with death and burial.  Then you have a beginning list of allied resources you can check into.

Google Book Search

Google wants to provide online access to every book ever printed—those with expired copyrghts or no copyright, those being published currently, and those still covered by copyright.  For genealogy purposes, many of the old printed volumes of record extracts, local historical society proceedings, family and local histories, collections and anthologies of useful information, government published indexes and documents, etc. are now available.  http://books.google.com.  Read the introduction and description of the service.  Then give it a try.  Especially valuable for pre-1600 research.  http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/google.shtml has “Some Notes on Medieval English Genealogy:  Google Book Search—Hints and Tips.”

When publishing was a less costly proposition, books included the most amazing stuff.  And many facts about your ladies and their family origins are awaiting you.  Portraits,  not just husband and wife, many whole families with all the married children and their spouses were included.  And stories galore!

Military Records:  especially Pensions and Claims

Perhaps the most valuable genealogy source for tracing ladies is the military pension records:

1. Proof of marrige—especially widow’s claims with sworn affdavits, marriage certificates, eyewitness accounts, acceptance of the marriage relationship by government officials, lists of children with ages and even birthdates.
2. Birth and death dates—with family Bible pages, sorn affadavits, and other personal papers.
3. Migration patterns—personal statements of migration, places of residence, place of marriage, place of application, and place of death and burial.
4. Records that survive—these sources are not in the courthouse and therefore, do not burn.  They can fill in the gaps of other records that are lost or were never recorded in the first place.
5. Changes of name—other marriages, maiden surnames, married surnames.  Adoptions and divorces may also be recorded.
6. Actual military service—women did serve in early wars and many women are documented in later ones.
7. 2-5 generations of pedigree ancestors, not just women, with personal statements of relationship.

The good news—many record categories and sources of genealogy evidence are either now available online, indexed online with digital images to follow, or easily ordered online from archives and libraries.  Cemetery tombstones and memorials are listed with a growing number of photographs already available online.

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GenTeacher for Kids

Remembering the Women in our Lives

By Gena Philibert Ortega

May is the month that we remember our mothers. What a perfect time to introduce children to the life stories of their female relatives.  To help my children learn more about their aunt, who was born in the Azores, one night after a family dinner I asked her questions that I thought would be of interest to the kids.  Questions included, What was it like to grow up in a different country?  What did you eat in the Azores?  What toys did you play with?  Describe your school.  What was it like to come to the United States?  How did you become a U.S. citizen? These questions led to the kids asking her additional questions.

By asking her questions, the kids were able to learn more about their aunt and her life; a life that they knew little about.  This kind of exercise can also be useful in helping the kids write a history essay for school or earn a merit badge or cub scout belt loop for Genealogy/Heritage.

Kids can conduct interviews of their female relatives easily.  It doesn’t have to be a complicated task.  Help them to ask questions that would interest them and then listen.  Generally, people love to talk about themselves and are flattered that you are interested.  The other plus of helping kids talk to female relatives is that you get them use to having meaningful conversations with adults which allows them to communicate with others in their everyday world. Plus, what better way to learn about history than learning your own family history.

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Expo Highlights

Bell Printing

Bell Printing is the printer who helps us print our Expo Syllabi and Schedules.  They have done a great job for us over the years.

Bell Printing and Design is owned and operated by Bell Photographers, Inc. a leader in school photography throughout the Rocky Mountain area for over 50 years.  Bell Printing produces yearbooks for the school photography company and is one of the leading commercial printers in the northern Utah area.

In 2007, Bell Printing acquired its most state of the art digital printing press, an  HP Indigo 5000, allowing them to print as few as a single book at reasonable prices.  They offer binding options including saddle stitching, coil, perfect, and hard case binding.  Contact Dan Thomson at 801-920-1762 or dan@bellprinting.com for information and pricing for your family history or any other publication.  Bell Printing has been the sole outside provider of printing for Family History Expos since their inception.  Let them become your print provider as well.

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Tech Tip

Twitter Your Genealogy

Sometimes half the battle of finding distant cousins is getting the word out about your family history research.  The more information your get out and the easier you make it to find you, the more likely you are to make a connection with other researchers.

Twitter is a microblogging site that allows you to express yourself in 140 characters or less.  How can this help you?  You can post surnames that you are researching, questions you have about family heirlooms and share  information about your own research findings. You can set up a free account at Twitter.  Geneabloggers has a Twitter Cheat Sheet that can help you learn more about the service.

Prezi

Do you lecture to audiences? Looking for a way to make your PowerPoint slides seem more exciting?  Prezi is a new way to put together slides that look like no slide presentation you have ever seen.  Prezi is a presenting and publishing tool that allows you to create presentations that zoom in and move much differently than standards presentation slides.

While this is a subscription service, it does have a free component that allows you to create and download presentations you create.  Dick Eastman blogged about his use of Prezi for his presentation at NGS and has provided a link so that you can view his slides and get a feel for what a Prezi presentation looks like.  To learn more about Prezi see their website.  To view Dick Eastman’s presentation using Prezi, check out his blog.

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Janie’s Jenealogy Joke of the Month

Genealogists never die, they just lose their roots.

(From Family Tree Quotes, http://www.familytreequotes.com/)

Do you have a genealogy joke to share?  Email Janie at Janie@fhexpos.com

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Upcoming Events

For more information, please see the Expos tab on our website.

June 25-26,2010. Colorado Family History Expo

July 30-31, 2010. Midwest Family History Expo

August 27-28, 2010. Salt Lake Family History Expo

October 8-9, 2010. California Family History Expo

October 25-30, 2010. Family History Library Research Retreat

November 12-13, 2010. Atlanta Family History Expo

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Family History Expos, Inc.

PO Box 187

Morgan, UT 84050

expos@fhexpos.com

http://www.fhexpos.com/

Main Office: 801-829-3295

435-213-8483

© Family History Expos, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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