VGS Latest News & Tips: 15 November 2016

Today: November 15, 2016

Board of Directors Meeting

9:00 AM at the Pinellas Library

Today: November 15, 2016

Italian Genealogy SIG Meeting

1:00 PM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center

Tomorrow: November 16, 2016

Brick Wall SIG Meeting

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

Tomorrow: November 16, 2016

Mid-Atlantic States SIG Meeting has been cancelled
Tomorrow: November 16, 2016

General Monthly Meeting

9:30 AM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center
Note time change due to our election for VGS President & Vice-President

Guest Speaker: Michael Lacopo

Topic: "More than the Census - Our Families Did Exist Within Those 10 Year Intervals."
Tomorrow: November 16, 2016

Special Event

2:00 PM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center

Guest Speaker: Michael Lacopo

Topic: "How to Overcome Brick Walls in German Records"

Note: You must be registered with the German SIG Coordinator for this event. There are no seats available.

Tomorrow: November 16, 2016

New to Genealogy SIG Meeting

2:30 PM in the Chateaugay Room at the Chatham Recreation Center

Topic: "Using the Internet for Research"

An Elusive 2nd Cousin Match At Ancestry DNA:

Kitty Cooper
"When you are a genealogist with an extensive family tree and you get a 2nd cousin match at Ancestry DNA, you expect to be able to find the relationship fairly easily. Never mind that this is my 2nd cousin’s once removed MM’s kit and that the new match has no tree, surely such a close match will want be in touch and know more?"
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Introducing BillionGraves’ Veteran Finder:

BillionGraves
"BillionGraves is proud to announce the addition of the Veteran Finder tool on BillionGraves! This unique feature utilizes the power of GPS to locate Veterans in cemeteries all over the world!"
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Virginia Civil War Records Online:

Virginia Online
"The James I. Robertson Jr. Civil War Sesquicentennial Legacy Collection documents the people of our nation and commonwealth during the Civil War era as told through letters, diaries, photographs, and other manuscripts held in private collections."
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The Archive Lady: Framing Photographs:

The Archive Lady
"Judi from Tennessee sent in this question after reading the last installment of The Archive Lady: “I recently found this old family picture. I’d like to frame it (it is currently in an archival sleeve), but I am not sure what is needed to protect and preserve the photo!”
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How T-Mobile’s Free Music and Video Streaming Works:

How-to-Geek
"Data is data…except when it’s not. T-Mobile makes things a little confusing by giving you a certain amount of data, then offering unlimited music and video streaming that doesn’t count against the allowance–but only for certain services."
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This Day In History: 15 November

1626 The Pilgrim Fathers, who have settled in New Plymouth, buy out their London investors.
1777: The Articles of Confederation, instituting perpetual union of the United States of America, are adopted by Congress.
1805: Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party reach the mouth of the Columbia River, completing their trek to the Pacific.
1906 Birthday: Curtis LeMay, general in US Army Air Corps and later US Air Force; vice presidential running mate of George Wallace in 1968; credited with planning the strategic bombing campaign against Imperial Japan during WWII.

State Timelines:

Even though it is hard to tell what made people move or disappear, these are just a few possibilities.
Kansas:
1854: Kansas Territory established
1861: Admitted to the Union
1871: Kansas Pacific Railroad sole 47,000 acres in Dickinson County to the Scots, 32,000 in Clay County to the English and 19,000 in Riley County to the Welsh

VGS Latest News & Tips: 5 January 2016

Tomorrow: Wednesday, January 6, 2016:

French Canadian Genealogy SIG Meeting:

9:00 AM in the Julio Iglesias Room at the La Hacienda Recreation Center

Did You Register for the Windows 10 Demo? It's Tomorrow
Are you thinking of upgrading to Windows 10? See the Windows 10 operating system in action.
Pinellas Plaza Library
Jan 6 at 2pm in Rm 102

REPLACING FAMILY TREE MAKER
The Willard's
I have received the following information that the Willard's have decided to stop teaching Family Tree Maker at The Life Long Learning College. They are going to replace the FTM class and have provided the following information.

"Ancestry announced in early December, 2015, that they would no longer support Family Tree Maker. This announcement left many FTM users wondering what their options were to replace the program. This class will focus on the options available for those who wish to replace FTM with the intent of letting each student decide which option is best. Topics to be covered include exporting FTM data to GEDCOM, transferring media files, and demonstrating the pros and cons of the following software programs: Legacy 8.0, Family Historian 6.0, RootsMagic 7, and Ancestral Quest 14."
4 days TVLLC, Lab 136
GEN09101 F: Feb. 5- Feb.26 10-11:30am
GEN09102 F: March 4- March 25 1-2:30pm
GEN09103 F: Apr. 1- Apr. 22 1-2:30pm

An Auschwitz Survivor Searches for His Twin on Facebook:
The Daily Beast
Menachem Bodner last saw his twin brother at age 4, when he was liberated from the infamous Auschwitz laboratory of Dr. Josef Mengele. Now, armed with proof that his brother also survived, he’s watching his search go viral online.
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Finding Your Roots Looks to Find Its Footing, Again, After Misstep on Affleck's Slave-Owning Ancestor:
The Blog
"One of the last TV shows you'd expect to find dusting itself off from a small, but embarrassing content-suppression scandal would be Finding Your Roots, Professor Henry L. Gates's genealogy program on PBS.
But the show's third season, which premieres Jan. 5 (tonight) at 8 p.m., will have to explore the roots of several dozen new subjects in the mildly uncomfortable shadow of previous guest Ben Affleck."
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New Year's Resolutions for Family History Research:
Free Guest Membership through January 2016
NEHGS
"Register free as a Guest User to get access to three of our most popular vital records databases for the month of January 2016.

• Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910
• Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008
• New Hampshire Births to 1901, Deaths and Marriages to 1937

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WWII Marine Robert E. Bishop – A Case Study:
Ancestry: Posted by Jennifer Holik 
"When we begin World War II research, we often search as many online indexes and databases as possible, usually beginning with Ancestry. And while there, we usually see if there is a family tree that has records attached to it. If there is a photograph of the individual, that is a huge bonus."
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Citizen Historians Expanding Access to Virginia’s Past:
Community Idea Stations 
"At the Library of Virginia, about a dozen people sit in front of computers, some typing rapidly, others looking intently at their screens. This is one of the institution’s regular “Transcribe-A-Thons.”
Sonya Coleman: We have a vast collection full of a million wonderful documents and we’re just never going to have enough staff to fully transcribe all of them and really do justice for each story."
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This Day In History: 5 January
1815: Federalists from all over New England, angered over the War of 1812, draw up the Hartford Convention, demanding several important changes in the U.S. Constitution.
1914: Henry Ford astounds the world as he announces that he will pay a minimum wage of $5 a day and will share with employees $10 million in the previous year’s profits.
1920: GOP women demand equal representation at the Republican National Convention in June.
1779 Birthday: Stephen Decatur, American naval hero during actions against the Barbay pirates and the War of 1812.

VGS Latest News & Tips: 6 October 2015

Tomorrow: Wednesday, October 7, 2015:

French Canadian Genealogy SIG Meeting:

9:00 AM in the Julio Iglesias Room at the La Hacienda Recreation Center

A New-To-Me Feature on FamilySearch:
Jana's Genealogy Blog
"I thought I'd pass on this new-to-me feature on FamilySearch Family Tree. See the red box above? In the not-too-distant past, I used to only see FamilySearch listed as an option for searching records. Now Ancestry, Findmypast, and MyHeritage are listed as well."
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Our German SIG now has a Facebook Group:
Our latest Facebook addition is the fourth group to be created joining the Genetic Genealogy SIG, Italian SIG and the Scandinavian SIG on Facebook. This is a closed group so only members of the VGS can join.
Visit us on Facebook...

Virginia Vital Records Are Here!
Ancestry
"Do you have Virginia ancestors?  Wouldn’t it be great if you could have access to Birth, Marriage, Death and Divorce certificates? Can you imagine the goodies that you might find in there? Parents names and birth places, birth, marriage, and death dates and places, possible other relatives, burial places.  Sounds like a recipe to break down a brick wall or two." Now you can...
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Genealogy Tips & Tricks: Learn to Analyze Your Data:
Barry Ewell
"What exactly is analysis? It’s the dividing of information into its six parts: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Each of the six parts can be applied to every document or source that you acquire."
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A Personal Publishing Primer:
MCG
"We are in the middle of the Information Revolution where technology is generating opportunities for individuals to share information with few restrictions. One element of this revolution – self-publishing – has had a significant impact on the genealogy community. Not only are we scanning and sharing photos, letters and other documents from our personal archives, but a growing number of family historians are publishing their family histories."
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Legacy Tips and Tricks
Legacy Family Tree
Many users do no know that this section of the LFT software help system exists. There are several features that you might not figure out by just entering data. However there are little shortcuts and tricks that may make you happier researcher.
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This Day In History: 6 October
1801: Napoleon Bonaparte imposes a new constitution on Holland.
1927: The first "talkie," The Jazz Singer, opens with popular entertainer Al Jolson singing and dancing in black-face. By 1930, silent movies were a thing of the past.
1995: Astronomers discover 51 Pegasi is the second star known to have a planet orbiting it.
1846 Birthday: George Westinghouse, prolific inventor, held over 100 patents on creations including air brakes for trains.