VGS News & Events: May 30 through June 5, 2021

 

UPCOMING SIG MEETINGS
Monday, May 31
Italian SIG
Zoom Meeting – 1:00pm
Coordinator: Mary Frances Gerace

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST

Southern California Genealogical Society: GENETIC GENEALOGY 2021

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE  – Friday & Saturday, June 4th & 5th

A world-class DNA conference! Get in on the latest discoveries through sessions from 20 genetic genealogy experts including keynote speaker Roberta Estes, MBA. Other notable presenters include Maurice J. Gleeson (MD of Genetic Genealogy, Ireland), Leah La Perle Larkin, PhD (creator of WATO), and DNA authors Emily Aulicino, MEd, and Richard Hill, MBA. Complete details and registration links can be found on the SCGS Jamboree website.

WEBINARS

Solving Family Mysteries with mtDNA Projects

Wednesday, June 2 @ 2:00pm (EDT)
Presenter:  Mags Gaulden

Working your mother's mother's mother's line. We will work a case study of how adoption was disproven in this family from the dark recesses of Appalachia. We will follow the maternal line of a family from the mountains of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, to solve this family mystery. This is a free webinar – advance registration is required – click HERE.

African Americans in the U.S. Revolutionary War

Fridayday, June 4 @ 2:00pm (EDT)

Presenter:  Janice Lovelace

Nearly 10,000 people (mostly men) of African ancestry fought in the Revolutionary War on both sides of the conflict – hoping that freedom from slavery would come with the end of the eight year war. What records exist and how can genealogists discover them? This is a free webinar – advance registration is required – click HERE.

TECHNOLOGY

How to Install Windows 10’s May 2021 Update (21H1)

howtogeek.com

Windows 10’s May 2021 Update was released on May 18, 2021. As always, Microsoft is slowly rolling this update out to Windows 10 PCs, bit by bit. Windows Update should automatically install the 21H1 update on your PC, but it may take a few weeks. Here’s how to get it right now … continue reading

RESEARCHING

New English and Welsh Parish Records Are Ready to Search

findmypast.com

Another Findmypast Friday, another fresh batch of family history records and newspaper pages for you to enjoy. Take a look at what’s new … continue reading 

Transcribing History

legalgenealogist.com

The Citizen Archivist Program

There can be no better time than the Memorial Day weekend to join the ranks of the transcription warriors. No better time than this to add the brainpower of the genealogical community to the Citizen Archivist program of the U.S. National Archives (NARA).

The program offers all of us — The Legal Genealogist included — a chance to add to the findability and usefulness of records held by NARA. All it takes is a little bit of time, a little bit of effort and an interest in history.

History like, for example, one set of records particularly apt for this Memorial Day Weekend: the Escape and Evasion Reports from World War II, now featured as a Citizen Archivist Mission. This is a project where any of us can transcribe “reports that typically include typed or handwritten narrative …” continue reading

It’s time to say good-bye to the VGS Blog.

Due to low subscriber and readership levels, and the discontinuation of the free email subscription service provided through Blogger,

this edition of the Blog will be our last.

VGS News & Events: May 23 through May 29, 2021

UPCOMING VGS EVENT

Wednesday, May 26

General Monthly Meeting:  10:00am – 12:445pm

Live Zoom Meeting

Guest Speaker:  Thomas MacEntee

Session 1:  10:00 to 11:15am

Topic:  Genealogy Do-Over: A Year of Learning from Mistakes

Session 2:  11:30 to 12:45pm

Topic:  The Coded Census – Deciphering US Census Codes

You must register for each session you want to attend. Please see complete details & registration links on the “Coming Events” page on our website.

UPCOMING SIG MEETINGS

Monday, May 24

Italian SIG

Zoom Meeting – 1:00pm

Coordinator:  Mary Frances Gerace

Tuesday, May 25

Midwest SIG

Zoom Meeting:  2:00pm – 3:50pm

Topic:  Researching Your Midwestern Civil War Ancestors

Coordinators:  Dona Black & Lynn Hall

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST

National Archives Foundation

Live Webinar  – Wednesday, May 26 @ 5:00 p.m. (ET)

Black Wall Street: The Hidden Economy

After Reconstruction, the Black community built its own financial engine to give each other much-needed economic support and opportunity. This effort faced political and legal intimidation as well as violent and deadly attacks, like the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. Join us as we explore the development of Black wall streets, how Black businesses found success and struggled throughout the 1900s, and what inequality looks like for Black entrepreneurs today. This is a free event but you must register to attend – click HERE

National Archives Foundation

Live Webinar  – Thursday, May 27 @ 12:00 p.m. (ET)

Brainstorms and Mindfarts: The Best and Brightest, Dumbest and Dimmest Inventions in American History

Innovation and entrepreneurism appear inextricably woven into the American DNA. Throughout American history, the great inventors and innovators gazed into the future and saw the products and services that would transform the world. As of 2018, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office had granted its 10 millionth patent. In Brainstorms and Mindfarts, author Jim Downey presents a collection of the brightest and most innovative American inventions along with the frivolous and utterly useless ones lost to history. This is a free event but you must register to attend – click HERE.

Florida State Genealogical Society:  Poolside Chats

Live Webinar  – Thursday, May 27 @ 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (ET)

Probate Records:  Wills and a Whole Lot More

Presenter:  Annette Burke-Lyttle

Registration is required; visit the FSGS website for details and registration link.

WEBINARS

Advanced DNA Features on MyHeritage

Tuesday, May 25 @ 2:00pm (EDT)
Presenter:  Ofer Karp

MyHeritage offers an impressive suite of features to help you trace your relationship to your DNA Matches. In this webinar, Ofer Karp will give an overview of the different tools including the Chromosome Browser and AutoClusters, tips for using them, and walk you through recommended next steps when reviewing a Theory of Family Relativity. This is a free webinar – advance registration is required – click HERE.

How Testing Multiple Relatives Can Turbocharge Your DNA Research

Wednesday, May 26 @ 2:00pm (EDT)

Presenter:  Michelle Leonard

Testing yourself is a great first step into DNA testing waters but how could testing other relatives help you? Testing multiple relatives can massively boost your success with DNA research and this webinar will talk you through the whole process. This is a free webinar – advance registration is required – click HERE.

TECHNOLOGY

How to Change the Owner of a File in Google Drive

howtogeek.com

By default, you’re the owner of any file you upload or create on Google Drive. However, if you want to transfer ownership of a file to someone else, it’s an easy process. Here’s how. Continue reading …

RESEARCH

Birth Certificates: A Closer Look

ancestralfindings.com

Birth records are some of the first types of records you may look for when beginning your genealogy research. After all, most people in the western world have had some sort of documentation of their birth for the past thousand years. Modern birth certificates began being …continue reading

VGS News & Events: March 21 through March 27, 2021

UPCOMING VGS EVENT

Wednesday, March 24
March General Monthly Meeting (Virtual)
Guest Speaker:  Karen Stanbary

Session 1:  10:00am – 11:15pm
Topic:  It’s All about Respect – Clinical Tips for the Management of Unexpected DNA Results

Session 2:  11:30am – 12:45pm
Topic:  A Giant Logic Puzzle: An Overview of Visual Phasing:
You must register for each session you want to attend. Please see complete details and registration links on our Coming Events page.

UPCOMING SIG MEETINGS

Monday, March 22

FamilyTree Maker / Technology SIG

Zoom Meeting:  10:00am – 11:50am

Coordinator:  Gene Clark

Monday, March 22

Best Practices SIG

Zoom Meeting:  1:00pm

Topic:  Analyze Your Sources

Coordinators:  Annette Burke-Lyttle & Pat Adams

Tuesday, March 23

Midwest SIG

Zoom Meeting:  2:00pm – 3:50pm

Topic:  Using National Archives Records   Presenter:  Karen Pickelsimer

Coordinators:  Dona Black & Laurie Sarauer

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

United States Census Bureau

Residents with Irish Ancestry are in all 3,142 U.S. Counties and make up 20% of the population in some. For more interesting facts and data on the 31.5 million residents who claim Irish ancestry and to explore the interactive U.S. map of Irish ancestry, click HERE.

10 Irish American Surnames Explained

ancestry.com blog

Over four million Irish immigrants came to the United States between 1820 and 1930. Their surnames are still common around the country, especially in historic enclaves in the Northeast. Many originally had a tell-tale “O” before the name, which meant . . . continue reading

WEBINARS
Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
Date:  Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Time:  2:30pm – 3:30pm (EDT)
FREE Virtual Program – Advance Registration Required
Struggling with your Polish ancestry? Join us March 23rd to learn about the history of the Partitions of Poland, how to identify the town/village your ancestors came from, polish vital records and how to access them, as well as research beyond the records such as how to find living relatives in Poland/Ukraine or the graves of your ancestors. Presenter: Tom Szymkowiak . . . continue reading

20th Century Immigrants to the West Coast

Wednesday, March 24 @ 2:00pm (EDT)   Presenter:  Linda Harms Okazaki

20th-century immigrants to the west arrived by ship through Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, and overland through Canada and Mexico. Vast numbers of these immigrants were Asian. This lecture will examine the ports of entry, the records generated, and the laws which impacted those immigrants. This is a free FamilyTree webinar – advance registration required – click HERE.

TECHNOLOGY

howtogeek.com

How to Securely Shop Online: 8 Tips to Protect Yourself

Cybercrime is an epidemic. In the U.S. alone, nearly half a million complaints are filed about it each year, according to the FBI––and that’s just what’s reported. Here’s how you can stay safe and avoid becoming a statistic. Continue reading . . . 

SandwichPDF.com

Create Searchable PDFs from Scanned Documents

Have you ever opened a PDF file only to find that none of the information is searchable? Or you cannot copy and paste the text? With this free online tool you can convert a scanned document into a fully searchable PDF. The PDF will be OCRed (Optical Character Recognition) and the resulting text will be included as searchable text in the PDF. Continue to site . . .

VGS Latest News & Tips: 25 May 2016

Today: Wednesday: May 25, 2016

Brick Wall SIG Meeting

8:30 AM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center

Today: Wednesday: May 25, 2016

General Monthly Meeting

10:00 AM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center

3 Ways to Share Photos with Family Often and Easily:
FamilySearch
"Remember, the most enjoyable part of having so many great pictures in your life is sharing them with loved ones."
Continue reading...

Convert media free, fast and online. No software installation needed.
Online-Convert.com
"This free online file converter lets you convert media easy and fast from one format to another. We support a lot of different source formats, just try. If you can't find the conversion you need, please let us know and write us an e-mail. We probably can help you...
Try It....

DNA Testing Verifies Fact And Fiction Of Family Lore For One Triad Man:

WFMY News

"GREENSBORO, NC -- Who would you like to find in your family tree? A king? A Revolutionary war hero? Maybe a Viking? That's further back than a lot of us can trace our family history. But now with DNA, you can look back across the pond."

Continue reading...

How to Reduce the Size of Microsoft Office Documents That Contain Images:
How-to-Geek
"Even in these times of fast internet connections, huge hard drives, and loads of free cloud storage, file size sometimes matters. You might have a limit to the size of files you can send or receive via email, or you might be running low on thumb drive space. Whatever the reason, if you have Office documents that include images, you might be able to significantly reduce the size of those files."
Continue reading...

This Day In History: 25 May
1787: The Constitutional convention opens at Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.
1810: Argentina declares independence from Napoleonic Spain.
1914: The British House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.
1889 Birthday: Igor Sikorsky, American aviation engineer who developed the first successful helicopter.

VGS Latest News & Tips:11 February 2016

Today: Thursday: February 11, 2016

German Genealogy SIG Meeting

9:30 AM in the Reliance Room at the Late Miona Recreation Center

Tomorrow: Friday: February 12, 2016

Genetic Genealogy SIG Meeting

10:00 AM in the Rhett Butler Room at the Savannah Center

Check your Google Security, Receive an Additional 2 Gigabytes of Storage Space on Google Drive for FREE:
Dick Eastman: eogn.com
"If you use Google Docs, Gmail, and/or Google Search (and who doesn’t?), Google wants you to check your security settings on the service. If you do, you will receive an additional 2 gigabytes of storage space on Google Drive free of charge."
You can check your Google security settings at https://goo.gl/7KmDBk.

New Collection: Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records (1870-1930)
Ancestry
"This valuable land record collection includes the names of approximately 200,000 people who applied for homesteads in Alberta under the Dominion Lands Act – an 1872 law aimed to encourage the settlement of the Canadian Prairies."
Continue reading...

Time Capsule From 1905 Found In Mayo Hotel:

The Irish Times

"When Dominick Sidney Browne placed a time capsule into a wall in south Mayo in February 1905, the world was in turmoil with the Russo-Japanese war in its second year."

Continue reading...

Human Evolution Is More A Muddy Delta Than A Branching Tree:
aeon
"Until recently, anthropologists drew the human family tree in the same way that my 10-year-old son solves a maze. He finds it much easier to work from the end to the beginning, because blind alleys lead with depressing sameness away from the start. In just this way, scientists once traced our own lineage from the present into the past, moving backward through a thicket of fossil relatives, each perched upon its own special branch to extinction."
Continue reading...

Upgrade Now or Upgrade Tonight: How Microsoft Has Aggressively Pushed Windows 10 to Everyone:

How-to-Geek

"This week, Microsoft made Windows 10 a “recommended update” that will automatically download for many Windows 7 and 8.1 users. This is just Microsoft’s latest move in aggressively pushing Windows 10–here’s how we got to this point."

Continue reading...

This Day In History: 11 February

1531: Henry VIII is recognized as the supreme head of the Church of England.

1805: Sixteen-year-old Sacajawea, the Shoshoni guide for Lewis & Clark, gives birth to a son, with Meriwether Lewis serving as midwife.

1910: Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and Eleanor Alexander announce their wedding date–June 20, 1910.

1847 Birthday: Thomas Alva Edison, prolific American inventor who jointly or singly held over 1,300 patents.