VGS News & Events: 9 June through 15 June 2019

Coming Events:

Monday: June 10, 2019
Finding WWII Ancestors in the Archives of the Air Force Historical Research Agency (Live Webinar)
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Online Webinar
Our guest speaker will be: K B Barcomb

Registered to attend HERE...

Thursday: June 13, 2019

German Genealogy SIG Meeting

9:30 AM in the Reliance Room at the Late Miona Recreation Center
Topic: "Problem Solving, New Findings & Conquering Brick Walls"

Gen News and Announcements:

News: Facebook Live Genealogy Q&A:

NYG&B

"Join us on Thursday, June 13 at 3:00 pm ET for another New York Genealogy Q&A with D. Joshua Taylor, President of the NYG&B, and Susan R. Miller, the NYG&B's Director of Programs and Outreach.

We'll be answering as many of your submitted research questions as possible, and providing some great tips along the way.

Even if you don't have a question you want Josh or Sue's opinion on, join us and you'll certainly pick up a few valuable pointers about New York research.

Click here to sign up...

New Records on FamilySearch from May 2019

FamilySearch
"FamilySearch expanded its free online archives in May of 2019 with almost 14 million new indexed family history records from all over the world. Over 387,000 new digital images were added as well."
Continue reading...

See Historical Events Your Ancestors Lived Through and More:

FamilySearch
"A recently-released feature on FamilySearch.org helps you see historical events your relatives lived through. An additional update to the person page lets you toggle details on and off, giving you extra insight about who has added or changed information."
Continue reading...

Please Opt In at GEDmatch:

Kitty Cooper
"In these modern divisive times, even the genetic genealogy community has been torn into two camps. Is it modern nature to react with emotion rather than thought? With the “are you with us or them”? Is this what overuse of social media has done to us? I can see both sides of the issue. Some of you may wonder what I am even talking about …."
Continue reading...

Finders Keepers?

Genealogy's Star
"Did the pot hunters that raided the ancient abandoned cities of the native population of America own the things they acquired? Does this question have anything to do with genealogical research? Do you automatically "own" the information and documents you discover as a genealogical researcher (or genealogical pot hunter)?"
Continue reading...

How a Family Group Sheet Could Become Your Secret Research Weapon:

Family History Daily
"If you’re not sure what a family group sheet is, or you’ve never gotten around to using one in your genealogy research, you’re not alone. While the concept of a family group sheet is about as basic as it gets, not every family historian out there has had the chance to embrace this clever method of research and organization."
Continue reading...

Using Mortality Schedules: An Overlooked Source for Genealogy

Amy Johnson Crow
"The census forms the foundation of much of our genealogy research. But there is a section of it that is often overlooked. Here is how to use mortality schedules to find even more about your ancestors."
Continue reading...

Technology:

The Best Video Editing Software for Beginners

Review Geek
"Video editing isn’t an easy skill, even for the technically-inclined. It doesn’t help that the software to do it is generally expensive. If you’re hoping to get into video editing without spending a bundle, we have a few suggestions."
Continue reading...

Education:

How to Use Old Newspaper Advertisements to Research the Childhood Lives of Your Ancestors:

Ancestral Findings 250
"Did you know that old newspaper advertisements can tell you a wealth of information about what your ancestors’ childhoods were probably like, or what they may have been like as parents? This is valuable information you won’t find anywhere else. Join me today to find out what old advertisements can reveal."
Listen now... 7:43 minutes

Webinars:

MyHeritage Mobile App: New Features:

Legacy Family Tree
"Check out the new features and improvements to the MyHeritage mobile app."
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: MyHeritage Webinars
Learn more or Register for this webinar...

Tracking Your Digital Bread Crumbs: Bookmarks, Toolbars, Notes, and Other Applications:

Legacy Family Tree
"Clicking links means you can start off on a web site for one specific topic and end up dozens of web sites away on many different topics. It’s easy to get lost and lose focus on what you were trying to find in the first place. And with so many web sites to use in your research, how do you keep track of them all? How do you organize what you use regularly? How can you get back to a site at some point in the future? We have several ways to help you gain control of your digital bread crumbs."
Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: Cyndi Ingle
Learn more or Register for this webinar...

VGS Latest News and Tips: June 8, 2017

Reminders:

Today: June 8, 2017

German Genealogy SIG Meeting

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

Topic: "Open Discussion" Member success stories & brick walls plus updates on genealogical sites and methods.

Tomorrow: June 9, 2017

Genetic Genealogy SIG Meeting

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

Topic: "DNA News"

Gen News:

Uncover The Heroines In Your History:

Ancestry
"When doing family research you’ll find that many records focus on the men of the family. But the lives of women were filled with details that are equally as compelling and enriching, and they can unlock key pieces of the past. Institutions and archives are a valuable place to start. Read our guide for insight on this important side of your family history."
Get the guide...

Getting to Know Our Ancestors Through a Record Timeline:

ancestorcloud
"What do I already know about my ancestors? It sounds kind of silly, but with information from various sources stored in different places, it’s easy for bits and pieces to fall through the cracks until we don’t really know what we already know. In order to remedy this and further focus my research I’ve introduced a simple tool into my research arsenal – a chronological records timeline."
Continue reading...

Beginners Guide To DNA And Genealogy:

FamilyHistory.Link
"There’s no doubt that DNA and genealogy is huge, with millions of people all around the world having tested already and using it as a new tool in the genealogy research toolbox. But there are still millions more who haven’t."
Continue reading...

Tech:

The Complete Guide to Speeding Up Your Virtual Machines:

How-to-Geek
"Virtual machines are demanding beasts, providing virtual hardware and running multiple operating systems on your computer at once. As a result, they can sometimes be a little slow. Here are some tips to help you squeeze every last drop of performance out of your virtual machine, whether you’re using VirtualBox, VMware, Parallels, or something else."
Continue reading...

How to Improve Handwriting Recognition on Your Windows 10 PC:

How-to-Geek
"Windows 10 lets you use handwriting input in any application, and many applications include full support for inking. Windows automatically attempts to learn your unique handwriting style when you write with a pen, but you can also train it manually to improve the system’s handwriting recognition."
Continue reading...

Education:

Tips for Researching British Ancestors:

Ancestral Findings
"Do you have British ancestors in your family tree? You’re in good company. As a former part of the British Empire, the vast majority of Americans whose families have been here for more than a generation have at least a little bit of British ancestry."
Listen now... 7.58 minutes

VGS Latest News & Tips: 28 December 2015

MAN WANTED---Male Descendant of Jan Cornelisen Van Hoorn:
"I am seeking a direct line male descendant of Jan Cornelisen Van Hoorn.
This gentleman must have the Van Horne surname and be a descendant of Jan Cornelisen in the paternal line, In other words, the line cannot have been broken by a female birth.
I manage the Van Horne Surname DNA Project at Family Tree DNA. We have one male line descendant of Jan Cornelisen in the project. I would like to confirm that we have established the correct genetic pedigree for this family. To do that the project needs another direct line male Jan Cornelisen descendant to be tested and hopefully match the first project member for this family.
If you think you qualify or know someone who does, please write to me at msvnhrn@jps.net and include a list of your male line back to Jan Cornelisen.
Thanks, Marleen Van Horne

2015 top posts: DNA
Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist
"Here we are, in the last days of 2015, so it’s time to stop for a moment, and reflect as part of a year-end review."
Continue reading...

For the 12 Days of Christmas: 12 Types of Newspaper Articles for Genealogy Research, Part I
Genealogy Bank
"On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Well if you’re like most of us your family history gift would be finding more mentions (or perhaps just one mention) of your ancestry. Instead of geese a-laying or the partridge in a pear tree, you want to go straight to the genealogy happy dance where you celebrate finding that newspaper article about your family."
Part 1: Continue reading   Part 2: Continue reading...

Reuniting Taken Children With Their Biological Families:DNA TestingAdvisor.com
"New DNA databases are making it possible for taken children and their biological families to find each other.
Every year thousands of children are taken. Strangers kidnap some of them. Others disappear through parental abduction in custody disputes."
Continue reading...

More than 250,000 books on family history scanned through LDS Church:
Idaho State Journal
"POCATELLO — Jane Garner had been told several years ago that there was a book written about her elusive great-grandfather; however, she learned it was available only through interlibrary loan from a library in the Midwest.
Fast forward to today: The exciting news is that thousands upon thousands of books from around the world dealing with family history are just a finger touch away on your personal computer
Continue reading...

Cleaning house?!?! Soon to disappear Genealogy Tools and Services:
NGS
"It’s always hard to say “goodbye” to tools that one has used for a long time, and, on the other hand, change is inevitable."
Continue reading...

Add Events to Timelines...
Geni
"As relatives are added to the family tree, we will often enter the usual basic information, such as names, birth and death dates and location, etc. But did you know you can enhance your relatives’ profiles even further by adding life events to their Timelines? The Timeline is a great way to visualize the events that occur throughout a person’s life."
Continue reading...

Preserving the War of 1812 Pensions: An Update 
Ancestry
The Preserve the Pensions project is raising funds to digitize and preserve the 7.2 million pages of War of 1812 pension files. These files had never even been microfilmed. Each time someone requested a file from the National Archives, it required handling the paper file. All of that processing over the years has been hard…
Continue reading...

This Day In History: December 28
1846: Iowa is admitted as the 29th State of the Union.
1904: Farmers in Georgia burn two million bales of cotton to prop up falling prices.
1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt states, "The definite policy of the United States, from now on, is one opposed to armed intervention."
1856 Birthday: Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States.