Illinois Family History Expo

The Illinois Family History Expo will be held August 3-4 in Springfield, Illinois.  If you have never attended a Family History Expo, now is your opportunity to sign up.  It is a great place to enhance your research skills, shop for genealogy items, visit with the professionals and make new friends.  The event will be held at the Crowne Plaza Springfield, 3000 South Dirksen Parkway.

The events begin at 1 p.m. on August 3rd and end at 4:30 p.m. on August 4th.  Keynote speaker will be Bernard E. Gracy, Jr. who is the External CTO and VP Business Development, Volly at Pitney Bowes.  Gracy is also an accomplished amateur genealogist.

Some of the topics presented will include vital records, photo retouching, online library catalogs, civil war research and naturalization research.  Throughout the day the attendees can select from various tracts.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about what thrills you the most ... GENEALOGY!

Preserving Your Food Heritage

Gena Philibert-Ortega's new book

My friend, Gena Philibert-Ortega, has written a book on food and heritage.  When I heard that she was writing and collecting for the book, I thought of all the recipes in my family that have been passed down.  Maybe we all need to preserve them for our descendants.  Do you have a treasure trove of family recipes?

Are you one of the lucky genealogists?  Are you  the one person  who inherited the family heirlooms? Maybe you have the family recipe cards, community cookbooks or even the silverware and table linen.  How can you preserve the stories behind these items so that future generations will understand their significance? 

The following are just a few ideas for preserving the stories and names of the owners of these items so they can be enjoyed by all family members.

Scrapbook

One way to gather and share in a family’s heritage is through a scrapbook that includes recipes and photos of your family in the kitchen, eating meals, and celebrating. You can create a paper scrapbook that includes copies of photos and recipes along with notes. 

An alternative to a physical scrapbook is a digital scrapbook. Several websites exist for helping you create a digital scrapbook or you can create one using a scrapbook or design software program.

A Family History Book

Consider creating a short family history that includes only a generation or two, complete with narratives telling the story of your female ancestors. In addition to the dates and places important to their lives, add stories of your family and their food traditions. You can also add interest by including photos of you re-creating the dishes with step-by-step instructions. 

Once you create the family history you can print it or provide a digital copy to share with family members. Most office supply and photocopy stores can print out copies of your book and provide various binding options. Family history books don’t need to be complex or costly. There are options available for a variety of family history books. If you are looking to create a book that will be professionally published, look towards a printer that specializes in family history books. Another printing option is to use a print on demand publisher who will only print copies when they are ordered by you or your family. This saves money over traditional publishing methods.

A Family Cookbook

Buttermilk Soup from the Collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega.

What better way to share family recipes and traditions than by creating a family cookbook that combines recipes passed down from earlier generations with the recipes of present-day family members? You can print the book using a cookbook printing company or you can create the book on your own and take it down to your local printer to be duplicated. The benefit of using a specialized cookbook printing company is that they can assist you with the formatting including adding sections, formatting recipes, adding recipes, uploading content online and other considerations. 

Family cookbooks don’t need to be limited to recipes alone. Include the name and photos of the recipe’s contributors, stories about the recipe and other relevant family history photos. Also consider including a pedigree chart or family group sheets as part of the book. If the cookbook is presented in some type of three-ring binder, recipes can be added to the volume at a later date, allowing for additions as they are discovered or written down. 

Blog

Technology has provided us with great ways to share information with others. Many family historians use a website to post their research and their family trees. Another way to share family food history is by writing a blog. Within a matter of minutes, you can start a blog that shares family food memories, photos of family kitchens, dishes, linens, and other food related items. Want to invite others to contribute to your blog? No problem, you can invite other relatives to be co-authors of your blog and share what they have found. One benefit of a blog is that if the blog is made public, rather than private, search engines will include your blog in their hit results, making it easier for other family members to find you and share what they have as well. 

Family Food History Archive

Catalog and preserve cookbooks, recipe cards, kitchen tools, linens, aprons, china, and silver to create a family food history archive. This archive can include photographs and written observations that document food traditions and food-related heirloom and artifacts. Prepare a page for each item that includes the following information: 

• The name of the item 
• A physical description of the item (size, weight, color, markings, condition)
• Where it came from  (any story related to how it was obtained)
• The chain of ownership (who originally owned it, other owners, who owns it now)
• Any special stories attached to the item (how it was/is used)
• Where the item is located now (whose home it is stored in, how it is displayed)

• Any condition concerns (holes, damage)
• Photograph of the item

The final product can be in the form of a scrapbook (digital or physical), notebook, album, or electronic document sent to other family members. Include heirlooms that you own but also ask to collect information on heirlooms owned by other family members. The final product will provide a nice history for family members as well as a practical guide to what family heirlooms exist and descriptions should a disaster occur.

These are just a few ideas for preserving the stories behind your family’s food history. For more ideas check out Gena's new book From the Family Kitchen.  You can also find the book on Google Books and look at some of the pages.  Be sure to check out Gena's food blog, Food.Family.Ephemera and her Virtual Book Tour. 

How have you preserved your family’s food history?

Three Cheers for Reunion 10

As an avid Mac user, I have anxiously awaited a major upgrade of Leister Pro's Reunion software.  At last it is available.  I am not disappointed in the least.  There are some things they could have added, such as conformity to Elizabeth Shown Mills' sourcing in Evidence Explained.  Some researchers use her sourcing and some do not.  However, most of the commercial genealogy software, if not all, have the benefit of using her methods an styles.

Reunion 10 - Family View

Tree View Pedigree - Reunion 10

There are so many new features in Reunion 10 that your head will be spinning.  After downloading Reunion 10, I began converting my existing Reunion 9 family files.  This appeared to go without a hitch, but took some time since I have many family files.  Once I opened a file, I was greeted with photographs and photographs.  If you have a photograph for a person, whether the parents, grandparents or children, it will appear on the Family View.  The Tree View allows you to see the information in a pedigree or hour glass format.  It is great for understanding the pedigree of a person.

What used to be a menu bar across the top is now the Sidebar on the left of the Family View.  Clicking on any of the features, such as Tree View, Charts, Find, Change, etc. will bring up a more extensive menu.  In addition, you can navigate to other important menu items such as Multimedia, Relatives, Places, Bookmarks and Clipboard, all of which appear to the right of the Family View.  You can open and close that area as needed.

Reunion 10 - Places 

Two features I enjoy are Places and Web Searching.  After clicking on Places in the sidebar, all of the places you have entered will pop up to the right.  You can then locate them or GEO code them.  Reunion uses either Google Maps or Bing to show the location.  You can correct locations directly from the Place list.  In addition by clicking on one of the locations, you will learn who has that location within your family file.

Where relatives lived - Aylesford, Kent, England.

In the rectangle showing your ancestor there is a small inverted triangle on the top right side.  Opening that produces a number of options, such a showing all of the places for that individual and locating the map.  Under Search the Web you van determine the areas you wish to search.  Some of those listed are Ancestry.com, FindAGrave, World Connect, World Vital Records and Fold3.  Experimenting with this produced some records I did not have, probably because I had not gotten around to checking Fold3.

If you have used Reunion in the past, this should not produce a learning curve.  However, it does take time to explore all of the option and features, then put them to use.  It is helpful to watch the three videos available on their web page.  They are The Top 10 New Features in Reunion 10, Changes in Reunion 10 and Installing Reunion 10.  If you also have an iPad, you do not need to upgrade the software as it will continue to upload from either Reunion 9 or Reunion 10.

Thanks Leister Pro for upgrading Reunion!

Do Yourself A Good Deed ... Use Deeds

1750 Survey

As a genealogy volunteer, I am copying hundreds of family files which amounts to thousands of pages.  For the most part the files consist of family group sheets, notes, sometimes photographs and family stories.  Fortunately for somebody interested in the file, some also contain copies of documents such a funeral home record, marriage certificate and probate record.

I have made over 5,000 copies of papers and have yet to find a deed.  Why is that?  For the most part people don't understand the value of using deeds in their research.  Apparently for some people, they can be scary.  Deeds are not boring pieces of paper.  If used properly and understood, they carry a lot of weight for the genealogist who is searching for information and clues.

The purchase and sale of land can provide the researcher of a clear picture of their ancestor's lives.  The first ownership of land is made either by grant or purchase from a government, proprietor or crown.  Second land ownership of land is through the sale of land by a company or individual.  Your ancestor may have never experienced first ownership of land.  Even so, the records should be checked.

When checking land records in a courthouse or on microfilm (such as at the Family History Library or a Family Search Center), look first at indexes.  These come in a variety of forms, but basically you will want to look at the indexes by grantee and grantor.  The grantee is the person buying the land and the grantor is the seller.  Land indexes can also be found in numerical books.  While a good deal can be said about using land records, to further understand metes and bounds, rectangular survey, state-land states, public-domain states, bounty land, as well as terms in deeds, researchers should read one or more excellent books.  I would suggest:

The Source, A Guidebook in American Genealogy, ed. Loretto Dennis Szucs & Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, published by Ancestry

Locating Your Roots, Discover Your Ancestor Using Land Records by Patricia Law Hatcher, published by Betterway Books

Courthouse Research for Family Historians by Christine Rose, published by CR Publications

Books such as these can be found in libraries with genealogy collections and can also be purchased from genealogy book sellers, many of which have web pages.  Any or all would be a great addition to a genealogist's library.

By tracking ancestors through deeds, you will determine where and when they were living at given times.  When a man purchased land, if married, the wife will not be named as a grantee.  He may be shown as a single person.  However, when he sells the land he will be shown with his wife's name, if he is married.  Should he be shown as single as a grantee and with a wife as a grantor, start searching for a marriage in that area.

Quite often I have seen a deed where the grantee is shown living somewhere other than the location of the property.  In that case you have a better idea where to look for him in "further back" records.  In the case of
state-land states there may be detailed information about the acquisition of the property, taking the sale back to the original grantee.  The state-land states consist of the original thirteen colonies plus Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii.  All the rest are called public-land states.

You may locate a dower release attached to the deed.  This is the wife's acknowledgment that she agrees to the sale and terms.  She went to the courthouse to have the deed registered and was interviewed separately as to her wishes.  The purpose of the dower release was to release her from a lifetime interest in the property, also referred to as the "widow's third."   A few years ago I read a letter a man wrote to his father stating that the only way his wife would agree was if he agreed to buy her a new dress!

So you go to the courthouse or crank up a reel of microfilm of deeds and find all the good information.  What you are seeing is a copy of the actual deed.  That record went to the party or parties involved.  Scout through family treasures and you may find an original deed.

Try looking at deeds ... read every bit of them and add the information to your notes and records.  You will be surprised at what you will find.

A Trip to Salt Lake City

Join me for a fun-filled week in October at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City.  You will arrive on Sunday, 14 October and depart on Sunday, 21 October.  Each participant makes their own travel arrangements, either flying, taking the train (Amtrak) or driving.  A block of rooms are reserved at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel next door to the library.  Participants will receive discount rates on their rooms.

As your tour director, I will provide you with a pre-consultation on Sunday afternoon or evening (for late comers Monday morning) and I will be available throughout the week for advise, help and consultation.  The cost for the consultation service is $150.  If you book the tour prior to 1 August 2012, you will receive a $50 discount.  The discount is good only until the trip fills up or for registrations postmarked by 1 August 2012, whichever comes first.  There is a minimum of 15 persons and a maximum of 20 persons for the trip.

With over 45 years of genealogical research experience in professional research, I can guide you through a week of research to achieve success.

Find your ancestors in Salt Lake City, join your friends and make new friends.  For the Nebraska Genealogy Tours brochure and registration form, e-mail at rvcole@charter.net.  Check out my web page, Genealogy Works.

Kansas Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Carbondale, KS 1892

In the late 1860s the Sanborn Map Company of Pelham, New York began surveying the business districts n towns and cities of the United States.  This would provide insurance underwriters with detailed information that would be necessary to assess their liability for insurance purposes.  The survey included the size, shape and construction of homes, commercial buildings and factories.  Property boundaries, names of streets, the use and buildings, along with house and block numbers was included.  This makes the use of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps very appealing to the genealogists.

The University of Kansas houses and provides access to a collection of Sanborn maps for 241 towns and cities in Kansas ranging from 1883 through the 1930s.  The maps from 1883-1922 have been digitized and can be viewed at their website.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Beloit, KS 1911

While it may take some time to search through the maps, it is worth the time if you have Kansas ancestors.  Once you locate a map of interest, it can be adjusted for viewing, making it smaller or larger.  You can also select a size for exporting the map, or make a printer friendly copy of the map.  In a small thumbnail group at the top of the screen you will see other maps in the set for the same location.

If you do not have Kansas ancestry, be sure to check for other Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps in a search on Internet.  You may be surprised at what turns up!

Christmas Past

The years go by, pages of the calendar are torn off, holidays come and go and our lives progress minute by minute to what we call the future.  As a genealogist, I leap backward into the past, sometimes forgetting the day and time as well as the future.  With that leap comes memories of Christmas past.  The ghost of Christmas Past has never visited me, but in my mind I travel back in time.

One of my fond memories is of the enormous Christmas tree that my family decorated when I was five years old.  It was larger than life and seemed to fill the entire room.  As I grew older the trees grew smaller and shorter.  It wasn't a larger than life tree, I was just a small girl looking up at a large, tall tree.  But what a precious memory that has been.  I can still see the angel on the top and have never seen one like her.

As I decorate my Christmas tree of 2011, memories are conjured up about decorating trees in years past.  There was the thrill of seeing the lights on the tree and hoping that none would burn out.  The ornaments that students gave me still remain precious to me.  There are fragile ornaments that my children made in school.  Rounded out with home made ornaments, they make my tree festive and special.  If only I could find the angel that topped the tree over sixty years ago.

Terry .. Christmas at age 2

On my bookcase I have a collection of Santas.  There is one made of paper that my husband gave me years ago.  Another is an old ceramic Santa.  Then there is the large Santa in regal splendor.   It was a gift I gave to my Mother when she lived in assisted living.  She wanted her room decorated immediately after Thanksgiving.  The next day was not too soon.  I can still see her gently touching the garment of her Santa.  Little did I know that she would pass away less than two weeks later.

Christmas is for all ages.  I love the sights, smells and sounds of Christmas.  It is seeing awe in the eyes of children which we can than return in love through our eyes.  One of my favorite Christmas photographs is of my nephew, Terry.  He was two years ago.  Terry passed from us too soon at the age of 46.

Perhaps conjuring up memories brings moments of sadness, but we can always find love through sadness.  Merry Christmas to all of you ... and to all of you best memories.

Ruby