Monday Mailbox: Meredith Is Not Going to RootsTech

Dear Ancestry Insider,

I went to RootsTechs 1, 2, and 3.  I won't be going again.  The bigger it gets, the less interesting and useful it gets.  The keynotes are usually entertaining, but are rarely learning experiences.

The classes are always aimed either at the lowest common denominator (beginner genealogists; therefore I don't learn anything) or at the highest common denominator (app developers; therefore I don't learn anything).  The people staffing the exhibitor booths are there to help people who are rank beginners, not to listen to the experienced, advanced user give feedback about how to improve their sites.  That is, they should have their developers there in the booths to listen and interact, not just the salespeople.

Somehow, the genealogy part of "roots" has gotten lost; "RootsTech" has become about documenting family history of living people—today's families—not the past's.  My interest is in building the best stories I can about my deceased ancestors. There are no "roots" in RootsTech anymore.  To be truthful in advertising, it ought to be called "LivingFamilyDocumentingTech" or some such, not "Roots" Tech.

Sincerely,
Meredith A. Lane

Dear Meredith,

First, apologies for editing your letter (for length). I’ve picked the main points that I wish to address. You raise some valid concerns, not all of which with I agree.

I agree that RootsTech keynotes are more entertaining than instructing. Other than Judy Russell’s recent, fabulous presentation, there haven’t been any about hard-core genealogy. Most have been very interesting, feel-good, “I have a story to tell and so do you” presentations. I believe FamilySearch is trying to draw the non-genealogists who are most likely to catch the bug if they attend.

An original goal of RootsTech was to get “Roots”—genealogists—together with “Tech”—the technical people able to improve their products. I agree that that is not always happening in the exhibit booths. If I’m not mistaken, Ancestry.com has done some behind the scenes. FamilySearch tries to have a product manager present at their booth. “Product manager” is the magic words. They decide what improvements go into FamilySearch.org. Go to the FamilySearch welcome desk and ask when a product manager will be present. FamilySearch also tries to make at least one presentation at the Innovators Summit, giving techies some ideas as to how they might make their products better serve the needs of experienced genealogists. For smaller vendors like RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest, etc., the owner is often both product manager and programmer and is in his/her booth most of the time.

I agree that much of RootsTech is for beginners and for gathering photos and stories. I haven’t counted, but I can believe that you are right in the sense that the number of classes for beginners is increasing. I believe that is partly because FamilySearch is trying to catch the interest of those non-genealogists they attracted with the non-genealogist keynotes. But it is also partly because RootsTech is growing so large, there are just plain more classes of all types.

Where we differ is that I believe RootsTech is increasingly useful to intermediate and advanced genealogists. Look at the number of nationally acclaimed and equally qualified regional lecturers here this year: Tom Jones, Judy Russell, Josh Taylor, Thomas MacEntee, David Rencher, Pam Sayre, Rick Sayre, Audrey Collins, John Grenham, Kip Sperry, Warren Bittner, David Ouimette, Korey Meyerink, Peggy Lauritzen, Loretta Evans, Sunny Morton, and more I’ve overlooked or don’t know.

My greatest concern is the sheer size of the thing. Will Saturday be a madhouse? Will we be able to move from classroom to classroom in a timely fashion? Will everyone be able to get into the classes they desire (which, to be fair, is a problem at most conferences)? Will vendors in the exhibit hall be able to talk to everyone who wants to talk with them? Will lines in the restrooms be awful during class breaks? Will lines at the food vendors be terrible during the lunch break?

One thing is for certain. RootsTech 2016 will be charged with energy! And you don’t have to be present to participate. Read on…

Signed,
---The Ancestry Insider

---

Dear Ancestry Insider,

Is there a way for genealogy fans to see, watch the talks on TV or our computers, kindles, or cell phones? I would pay to watch and download handouts on these talks. Even sometime after the convention is over.

Advice welcome,
Ellen Thorne Morris

Dear Ellen,

There is, indeed. Select sessions will be broadcast live. These typically start with the morning’s keynote at 8:30 AM MST, 7:30 PST, and then continue throughout the day. In past years the broadcast has been on the home page, www.rootstech.org. The schedule is scheduled to be announced this week.

The broadcasted sessions and more (totaling about 30 last year) will also be made available for viewing after the conference. It seems like last year it took a couple of weeks before they were posted. Handouts were not available. Last year’s videos were available on the RootsTech website for several months.

There is no cost for either of these options.

Throughout the year, FamilySearch family history centers throughout the world will organize local events utilizing a mixture of local presenters and RootsTech videos. I’ll post a URL where you can search for one near you. Handouts are available to program organizers who, hopefully, make copies for attendees.

For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Family Discovery Day broadcast schedule has already been published. I’m not certain what the URL will be, but it might be https://www.lds.org/topics/family-history/familydiscoveryday.

Signed,
---The Ancestry Insider

---

Dear Ancestry Insider,

Less than two weeks to go and still NO syllabus which is what I often use to decide what classes to attend.

And, it would have been nice if we could mark the map for the vendors we would like to visit. On the phone, the map is so small, it is impossible to read the vendor booth numbers without blowing it up and losing all geographic perspective.

Margie

Dear Margie,

I understand the expo hall map is a known problem that is being worked on. I’ll ask about the syllabus.

Signed,
---The Ancestry Insider

Ancestry Insider No Longer On Facebook

I’m sorry to report that you can no longer receive my newsletter via Facebook. They have shut down the Ancestry Insider account. I have been informed that they don’t allow anonymous newsletters. If you subscribe to the Insider via Facebook, you’ll need to switch to good ol’ fashion email. To subscribe, click here or copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1087176&loc=en_US

Or you can follow me on Twitter: @AncestryInsider

Of course, I don’t know why I’m telling you this. If you are reading this message, then you weren’t using Facebook to follow me. It’s like the sermon at church that you wish your neighbor were there to hear. (Don’t you feel some are more applicable to those not in attendance? Preachin’ to the choir. But I digress…) If you think your Facebook friends were subscribed via Facebook, you might want to inform them.

By the way, if an article doesn’t display correctly in your email, click on the article title to read it on the web.

Darned Divorcee’s Deposition

Lise Embley submitted this darned document to my RootsTech 2016 Darned Record contest.

We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about the past. Yet sometimes records have anomalies. Some are amusing or humorous. Some are interesting or weird. Some are peculiar or suspicious. Some are infuriating, or downright laughable.

A Truer Lie Had Never Been Spoken

by Lise Embley

In an April 1883 affidavit in Holt County, Nebraska, Delia Hooker provided details of her marriage to Ambrose Hooker, Civil War veteran. She was applying for a Civil War Widow's Pension.

Delia, then surnamed Bird, married Ambrose Hooker in August of 1867. In her affidavit, Delia swore that her previous husband, Byron B. Bird, died of a fever in Independence mining camp in December 1866. She attached a newspaper death notice to prove her point, and stated that “she knows no person now living who was present at the death of her said first husband Byron Bird.”

That no person then living was present at his death was absolutely true. That Byron died in 1866 was certainly not true. He was still alive when she had divorced him in July of 1867.

The closing comment of her deposition sums up the situation nicely:

“Deponent farther says that she believes that any farther search or inquiry for farther proof of the death of her first husband the said Byron Bird would be useless.”

So true!

Yes, records say the darnedest things!

Sources

    

Affidavit of Delia A. Hooker, 24 April 1883, State of Nebraska, Holt County, 3 pages; in Widow’s Application no. 302,112; Soldier’s Certificate No. 201,692, Ambrose E. Hooker, Captain, Unassigned Company, Regiment 9, Cavalry; Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1900, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

“Court Proceedings,” Daily Alta California, 30 July 1867, p. 1, col. 5; digital images, California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside (http://cdnc.ucr.edu : accessed 29 November 2015).

#RootsTech 2016: Plan to Go and Plan Your Time

With RootsTech 2016 just two weeks away, it’s time to start planning.

• If you’re planning on deciding to come to RootsTech or not, now’s the time to decide. Looking through the class list is a great way to decide.
• If you’re already registered, now’s the time to look through the class schedule and make some tentative decisions.

To see what sessions are available, visit https://rootstech2016.smarteventscloud.com/connect/search.ww. Using this list, you can decide to come to RootsTech or not.

To see what time each session is offered is considerably more difficult. It can be done in one of two ways. (Thanks, Clytee for this information.)

• Download the RootsTech 2016 app and tap Schedule. Be forewarned. Judging from Wednesday, it is apparent not every class is listed in the app.
• Before looking at the schedule on the web, login (using the link in the upper-right corner) and select Browse and Search. Then filter by day. The class times magically appear in the right column.

While you can not reserve classes, you can use RootsTech website or the app to create a calendar for yourself, showing the classes you’d like to attend during each session time. I recommend you use the web to begin with. Scroll through all the classes for the day and select the star for every class that interests you. Once you’ve marked all classes of interest, go back through and look at the classes for each session time. Decide the class of greatest interest. Select the blue plus sign above the star to add the class to your schedule.. (Leave the stars selected in case circumstances change.)

Once you’ve completed this, you can look at your schedule on either the website or the app. On the web you can print your schedule or export it to your regular calendaring system.

The calendar on the app is synchronized to your calendar on the web. Changes you make on one will appear on the other. However, I wasn’t able to find a way to view a list of the collections I had starred. You’ll have to find another way of equiping your phone with a list of alternate classes to attend if your first choice is full when you arrive. Remember, putting a class on your schedule does not reserve a seat for you in the class. Classes are still fist come, first seated.

Now, plan to go to RootsTech 2016 and plan what to do when you get there.

Keynote Speakers and Performers Announced

In other news, RootsTech has finished announcing the keynote speakers and the special event entertainers for RootsTech 2016.

Hope to see you there!

Monday Mailbox: Millions, not Billions

Dear Ancestry Insider,

I do not believe that Ancestry has 2 billion paid subscribers as you indicated. I would like to know your source for that information. I don't believe they actually have 2 billion subscribers (paid or unpaid)

Signed,
Nancy

Dear Everybody,

Yikes! My typo. Millions, not billions. At one out of two million paid subscribers, your cancellation affects Ancestry.com by 1,000 times what I stated.

Kevin provided the source for the two million subscriber number: http://corporate.ancestry.com/press/press-releases/2012/07/ancestry.com-reaches-two-million-subscriber-mark-/

I have fixed the error in the posted article, as well as a couple of spelling errors. (I think I warned you that my favorite blog software discontinued its spell checker.) The error effects the meaning of the sentence, and for some readers, the entire article. See “The Insider’s Take on the New Ancestry” if you wish to reread the article with the change.

Thank you for calling this to my attention.

Signed,
--The Ancestry Insider

Dear Ancestry Insider,

I like your new profile picture. Does this mean you are no longer staying incognito?

Signed,
Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

While the caricature looks a lot more like me, I still wish to remain “anonymous.” Please do not post photos of me without redacting most of my face. I changed the picture because I wanted to distance myself from the Simpsons and I wanted to freshen up my branding.

And I’m glad you like it.

Signed,
The Ancestry Insider

A Darned Part of the Whole Story

Linda Bailey submitted this document to my RootsTech 2016 Darned Record contest.

We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about the past. Yet sometimes records have anomalies. Some are amusing or humorous. Some are interesting or weird. Some are peculiar or suspicious. Some are infuriating, or downright laughable.

The Whole Story

by Linda Bailey

I used this document to encourage our Oakland family history library staff to learn how to research the story.  I've seen too many times when a “researcher” used an indexed record and never bothered to actually look at the document image to cull all the details.  i gave them this one and challenged them to research as much of the backstory as possible. They gave me everything from a video of a corn shredder in action to where the rest of Herman was buried to burial customs of different religious groups. It was a fun exercise. 

Yes, records say the darnedest things!

The Insider’s Take on the New Ancestry

Several of you have asked what I thought about the “New Ancestry.” I promised I would talk about it after my holiday break. So, here it is. First, let me say that my opinions on the matter don’t count. Why? Because Ancestry provides me with a complimentary subscription and a complimentary copy of Family Tree Maker. I don’t have the same skin in the game as you. So take my comments with that in mind.

I’ve heard some talk about cancelling their subscriptions because of the extensive changes to Ancestry Member Trees. Saying so is a nice way to blow stream, and a nice way to communicate to Ancestry the number of dissatisfied users. But at this point it looks to me like the number of dissatisfied customers is in the thousands—maybe tens of thousands. Even if all of them cancel (which won’t happen), they are still a drop in the two million [not billion, as previous reported,] subscriber bucket. If the records are worth the subscription cost to you and yet you cancel anyway, you’re hurting yourself more than Ancestry. If the value was marginal and this is the last straw, go ahead and cancel. But don’t cancel thinking you’re somehow punishing Ancestry. You’re not.

I’ve heard some people saying Ancestry has ruined Member Trees by adding superfluous historical events.

Rebecca Lewis was living in Richmond, Utah when the Great Flood of 1862 inundated the region.¹

Really? According to Wikipedia those floods were mostly in coastal states and the affected region in Utah was 400 miles away from Rebecca.² 

I’ve heard some people saying Ancestry has ruined Member Trees by inventing fictional, erroneous narratives.

When Percy Alexander Hope Johnstone was born on August 13, 1845, in Moffat County, Colorado, his father, William, was 26 and his mother, Octavia, was 26. He married Evelyn Ann on March 28, 1878, in London, London. They had three children during their marriage. He died on August 7, 1899, in Meath, Ireland, at the age of 53.³

Really? Born in 1845 in Colorado? And then marries in London and dies in Ireland?

It’s unfortunate if these are the reasons they are giving up Ancestry Member Trees. It makes me think they don’t know how to get around them: Don’t use Lifestory view! Switch to Facts view and turn off historical insights. In fairness, there is still a reason to not like Lifestory view. Others may still be using it to look at your ancestors and thinking you are at fault.

I’ve heard some people say that despite the ugly, depressing colors and a host of other problems in the Facts View, they intend to continue to use Ancestry Member Trees. That’s where I am at.

Further, I tend to think of things in black and white. In my opinion, Ancestry’s records and Ancestry’s Member Trees are independent value propositions. Why? Ancestry Member Trees are free. If Ancestry’s records, all by themselves, are not worth what you are paying, cancel your subscription. You can make the decision to use their trees independently. I realize the world is not totally black and white. There is synergy between Ancestry’s records and their trees that can’t be discounted. There are also alternatives to being a 100% subscriber 100% of the time. But still, the records by themselves are either worth the cost or they are not.

P.S. When I set out to verify that the Great Flood of 1862 couldn’t possibly have affected Richmond, Utah, I learned that “in 1862 flood waters plagued much of Utah from February to June, sweeping away almost every bridge in the region and demolishing roads, fields, and homes.”⁴ Wikipedia was wrong. Who knew.

---

SOURCES

     1.  Ancestry.com, historical insight found in the author’s public member tree, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 December 2015), Rebecca Alvira Lewis, born 1 November 1859 in Richmond, Cache, Utah. Sorry; I don’t believe you can see historical insights in other people’s trees.
     2.  Various contributors, “Great Flood of 1862,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1862 : accessed 19 December 2015).
     3.  Ancestry.com, machine generated text (Lifestory) derived from Levittland (username), “Tydesley Family Tree,” public member tree, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 December 2015), Percy Alexander Hope Johnstone, 1845-1899.
     4.  Andrew M. Honker, “’Been Grazing Almost to Extinction’: The Environment, Human Action, and Utah Flooding, 1900-1940,” Utah Historical Quarterly 67 (1999), 25.

Family History Library Construction During #RootsTech

The Salt Lake City FamilySearch Family History Library is undergoing remodeling, which is expected to continue through RootsTech 2016. “The main floor and lobby of the Family History Library will be undergoing renovation lasting until March 1, 2016,” said FamilySearch’s Ray Naisbitt. FamilySearch is attempting to limit the effect on patrons. “There will still be access into the library and all of the other floors will still be available for use.”

A comparison of the before and after floor plans (below), shows that the wall is being removed that separates the lobby from the rest of the main floor. The book shelves on the floor will be replaced by additional classroom space which can seat a class of 120, or be divided into two classes of 60 each. And the library orientation room will be no more.

The switch from book shelves to additional classrooms is consistent with my experience in my own family history center. Patron usage in the center is shifting from accessing physical resources to learning. The books that were available on the first floor (family histories, I think) are still available from high density storage, according to a private Facebook post by Valerie Brown Elkins, a volunteer at the library. These can be pulled from storage by requesting the book at the service desk on floor B1. Many family histories have been digitized and moved to offsite storage. These are not only available via the computers at the library, but at local FamilySearch family history centers. The library orientation room has been replaced by the addition of an online library orientation.

My guess is that the effect of the remodeling on RootsTech 2016 attendees will be minimal. There were about 50 computer workstations on the main floor. This will increase competition for available workstations on other floors. You can bet the army of volunteer missionaries have been deployed to help patrons on other floors. The classes that were held on the first floor have been temporarily moved, most to the lab on the second floor. The break room has been moved temporarily to the third floor. The biggest effect on RootsTech attendees will be RootsTech itself. It may bring hundreds of more library patrons during the conference.

View time-lapse videos of the construction from the point of view of the lobby or the main floor on YouTube.

The changes are being made in preparation for addition of a FamilySearch Discovery Center, said Ray. FamilySearch first started talking publicly about discovery centers back at the 2013 conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies. (See “Über Cool Family History Center of the Future Shown at #FGS2013.”) The artist depiction of a transformed Family History Library (above) shown at that time was quite dramatic. I don’t know what is currently envisioned. This discovery center will be FamilySearch’s flagship. FamilySearch debuted a smaller, test center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building FamilySearch Center at last year’s RootsTech. (See “FamilySearch Opens First Discovery Center at #RootsTech/#FGS2015.”) Another is located in Bellevue, Washington. FamilySearch has also announced one will be housed at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. (See “FamilySearch Donates $1.5 Million to MoAR.”)

Before floor plan

Afterwards floor plan

Visits to the current discovery center should be scheduled in advance at https://familysearch.org/discoverycenter/.

Monday Mailbox: Best Kept Genealogy Search Secret

Dear Readers,

In response to last week’s post, “Monday Mailbox: One Click Search of Acom, FMP, MH from Family Tree,” reader “Ann” left a comment worth repeating:

Dear Ancestry Insider,

While I use these logos for searching on FamilySearch, I also use a Chrome extension called RootsSearch, which can search, not only from FamilySearch, but also from:

* Ancestry
* BillionGraves
* FamilySearch
* Find A Grave
* findmypast
* Genealogie Online
* Open Archives
* WeRelate

The sites it will search are:

* American Ancestors
* Ancestry
* Archives
* BillionGraves
* Chronicling America
* FamilySearch
* Find A Grave
* findmypast.co.uk
* findmypast.com
* Fold3
* Genealogie Online
* Genealogy Bank
* Geneanet.org
* Genealogy Gophers
* Geni
* Google
* Mocavo
* MyHeritage
* Newspapers
* NLA Trove
* Open Archives
* USGenWeb
* WeRelate
* WikiTree
* World Vital Records

This is a best kept secret that needs to be shared!! It is not in the FamilySearch App Gallery. For more information, see https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rootssearch/aolcffalbhpnojekmimmelebjchjmmgn?hl=en-US

Signed,
Ann

Thanks for sharing, Ann!

Signed,
---The Ancestry Insider

Darned Records: Flush Out Your Family Tree

Findmypast has a pretty low opinion of my records. They recently told me to flush out my family history.

I suppose we could all be reminded to use high-quality records to document our family trees. Still, this felt a little extreme.

(My apologies to Findmypast. I live in a constant state of anxiety because I have soo many errors in my writing! My blog writing software just lost its spell checker, so expect even more. I just hope they don’t spotlight my next doozy in their blog!)

Yes, records say the darnedest things!

FamilySearch Infographic: 2015 Year in Review

FamilySearch recently shared this infographic highlighting these 2015 accomplishments:

FAMILY TREE

• 1.1 billion people in the tree.
• 120,000 new contributers this year
• 2.47 million total contributers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RECORDS

• 5.31 billion searchable records
• 19 million non-English records indexed
• 110 million total records indexed
• 158 new historic records collections
• 2,049 total collections
• 122 million records images published

 

 

HELP VOLUNTEERS

• 12 million volunteer service hours
• 9 million hours contributed by
• 304,000 volunteer indexers
• 3 million hours contributed by
• 3,850 service missionaries

FAMILYSEARCH CENTERS

• 4,891 FamilySearch centers
• 77 new this year
• 2,864 outside of U.S.
• 2,027 in the U.S.

REACH

• 300,000 RootsTech Attendees (includes in-person, online, and local family discovery day events).
• 1,505 Local Family Discovery Day Events
• 291,000 Site Visits per Day

 

 

 

 

MEMORIES

• 10.3 million memories (total)
• 9 million photos
• 276,000 documents
• 747,000 stories
• 38,000 audio recordings

Monday Mailbox: One Click Search of Acom, FMP, MH from Family Tree

Dear Ancestry Insider,

A post at lds.org stated:

Through partnerships with other major online genealogy sites, patrons can now use a single click to search ancestry.com, findmypast.com, and myheritage.com for the person they are viewing in FamilySearch’s Family Tree.

When did this happen?

Signed,
Tom,

Dear Tom,

There are really two things being talked about here. Partnerships between FamilySearch and these three companies have existed for many months allowing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to get free subscriptions to much of the content of these websites.

What has occurred in recent weeks is the addition of icons on the person pages of Family Tree. Where once there was a link to search FamilySearch.org historical record collections, there now appears logos for FamilySearch and the other three organizations. Clicking a logo opens a new window or tab for the respective website and performs a search for the current Family Tree person. The search is a basic one by name, birth date, and birth place. No subscription is required to click the logo or to see a list of matches, but you will need a subscription to see details of a result.

Signed,
The Ancestry Insider

Why Buy Family Tree Maker While You Can?

I’m interupting my vacation again for a post that can’t wait.

When I heard that Ancestry.com would no longer sell Family Tree Maker after 31 December 2015 (yes, this Thursday), I went right out and got a copy. Mind you, I don’t have to pay the $69.99 to download the product, but let me tell you why you may wish to consider buying a copy for yourself.

If you keep your genealogy in an Ancestry Member Tree and you plan on keeping it there, you should rush out and buy Family Tree Maker while you can. If you keep your genealogy in an Ancestry Member Tree and you plan on abandoning Ancestry’s trees because of the recent changes, you should rush out and buy Family Tree Maker while you can. Why?

I had bunches of valuable, digital photos on ofoto.com, a photo storage website. When my external harddrive failed, I lost my local copies. I knew of no way to get the photos back from ofoto. When ofoto sold out to Kodak, Kodak implemented a policy of deleting your photos if you didn’t continuously purchase stuff. That I didn’t know about this policy until after they deleted my photos is tragic.

There was a day when the MyFamily.com website was so important to Ancestry, they changed their name to MyFamily.com. It was inconceivable that MyFamily.com wouldn’t live in inperpetuity. There was discussion, I imagine, about shutting down Ancestry.com, but not MyFamily.com. When they shut down MyFamily.com, many people lost lots of important stuff.

So whether you are planning on getting off or staying on, it is important that you have a local copy of your tree and all the source documents. And you can’t do the source documents by downloading a GEDCOM. If you have attached records from Ancestry.com and records and photos uploaded by other users, then it may well be worth $69.99 to download your sources to your local computer. Can you imagine manually downloading all those census images for each family in your tree? That alone overwhelms me.

So if you have an Ancestry Member Tree, you should strongly consider buying Family Tree Maker. But do it no later than Thursday.

If you decide to buy Family Tree Maker, don’t bother going to the FamilyTreeMaker.com website. Ancestry seems to have removed all the purchase links from that website. Instead, go to http://www.ancestry.com/cs/apps/products. Or use the links provided on Ancestry.com: Click “Extras” on the navigation bar, then “Family Tree Maker Software.”

Now, I’m back to my vacation. Happy News Years, everyone.

Merry Christmas - #ASaviorIsBorn

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all of you!

As is my tradition, I offer as a gift a short (2 minute) video from my church. Click on the photo to the right, or go to http://christmas.mormon.org.

If you’d also enjoy some secular Christmas carols, check out these videos with the Morman Tabernacle Choir:

Sesame Street’s Count von Count enjoys “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the choir’s organist.

”We Need a Little Christmas” - Angela Lansbury and the choir.

”Jingle Bells” – the choir

Merry Christmas - #ASaviorIsBorn

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all of you!

As is my tradition, I offer as a gift a short (2 minute) video from my church. Click on the photo to the right, or go to http://christmas.mormon.org.

If you’d also enjoy some secular Christmas carols, check out these videos with the Morman Tabernacle Choir:

Sesame Street’s Count von Count enjoys “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the choir’s organist.

”We Need a Little Christmas” - Angela Lansbury and the choir.

”Jingle Bells” – the choir

Ancestry.com Announces Retirement of Family Tree Maker

Each year I take December off. Each year without fail Ancestry.com or FamilySearch makes a major announcement that needs to be covered. It’s like clockwork. I wonder if they do this because of the seasonal drop off in site usage?

Ancestry is discontinuing sales of its popular Family Tree Maker desktop tree management software. Ancestry will discontinue sales at the end of the month (31 December 2015). It will continue to support the software for one year (31 December 2016). That includes the ability to synch your New Ancestry online tree with your Family Tree Maker offline tree. “You will be able to use the software, exactly as you do now, including TreeSync, for at least the next year,” said Ancestry’s Kendall Hulet. Family Tree Maker will continue to function to some degree past that date.

Ancestry is exploring the possibility of letting other desktop tree software integrate with Ancestry.com Member Trees. This has been a major strength that FamilySearch has had over Ancestry. Ancestry is not looking to sell off Family Tree Maker to another company. They are just letting it die. They are looking at adding report functionality to Member Trees. Users will lose substantial report capability with Ancestry’s abandonment of Family Tree Maker.

The timing of the announcement is interesting. The days leading up to Christmas have the lowest usage rate of online genealogy websites. And the announcement was made just days before the shutdown of the Old Ancestry online tree user interface. (That happens tomorrow, by the way.)

Why should you care that Family Tree Maker is going away? How is that bad news? Why did I immediately go out to procure a copy? What do I think about the New Ancestry online tree interface? I’ll try to answer these questions and more in January when I return from my hiatus.

In the meantime, for more information:

• See “Ancestry to Retire Family Tree Maker Software” on the Ancestry Blog for the initial announcement.
• See “More Information on Family Tree Maker Desktop Software” on the Ancestry Blog for a follow up.
• See “FTM Users: Join MyHeritage and get Family Tree Builder with an Unlimited Size Family Site for Free” on the MyHeritage Blog for a special offer for Family Tree Maker owners looking for an alternative.
• See the Family Tree Maker website to order a copy and to see Ancestry’s claim that Family Tree Maker is “the #1-selling family history software.”

Jo Duffy's Darned Confusing Birth

We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about the past. Yet sometimes records have anomalies. Some are amusing or humorous. Some are interesting or weird. Some are peculiar or suspicious. Some are infuriating, or downright laughable.

Records are the darnedest things!

(This article is based an Larry Martin’s winning entry to my RootsTech 2016 contest. Congratulations, Larry!)

Josephine Demerris Duffy is Larry’s wife’s late mother who has a darned confusing birth. She and her family always celebrated her birthday on May 17th. But birth records disagree as to the date and place of the birth.

Chicago, Cook County recorded her birth as 17 June 1912, on East Oak Street in Chicago, of Irish parents.

Josephine Demerris Duffy birth certificate¹

According to published abstracts, Cook County recorded her birth a second time, specifying the same date and parents, but with a different birthplace and ethnicity: Cullom and Canadian.

Josephine D Duffy birth record on Ancestry.com²

There is no town named Cullom in Cook County but there is a Cullom Avenue in Chicago. The 1910 Census shows Josephine’s parents lived on East Oak Street (above their grocery store), however, and not on Cullom Avenue.

John Duffy in 1910 United States Census³

Like any good genealogist, Larry used the Ancestry.com database as a finding aid. He has ordered the cited microfilm. When it arrives he will see this:

Josephine D Duffy in birth register⁴

It is apparent the indexer took “Cullom Avenue” from the wrong line, but where he got “Canadian” from is anyone’s guess. The information in the register matches the certificate. I haven’t shown enough to see, but all surnames on the page start with the letter D and the entries are not strictly chronological. While the opposite page contains additional information, the certificate contains even more.

The Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, recorded her baptism of 2 June 1912, noting her birthdate as 17 May 1912, with her parents listed properly.

Josephine Duffy in baptismal register⁵

The baptismal dates are in strict chronological order for several pages before and after this page.

What do you think? When was Josephine born?

Yes, records are the darnedest things!

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Sources

     1.  Cook County, Illinois, birth certificate no. 3659 (1912), Josephine Demerris Duffy, County Clerk, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,288,245. Birth year is not specified, but determined by previous certificate.
     2. Detail from screen image, “Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922,” database, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=try&db=FSCookILBirth&h=2061451 : accessed 27 November 2015), Josephine D Duffy, 1912; from "Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7XY-4HV : accessed 27 November 2015); citing p. 75, no. 3659, County Clerk, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,287,756.
     3. Clips assembled from "United States Census, 1910," image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-23041-3426-94 : accessed 26 November 2015), path: Illinois > Cook > Chicago Ward 21 > ED 913 > image 24 of 57; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). Don’t snip up your images in real life. It is a violation of Board for Certification of Genealogists, Genealogy Standards: 50th Anniversary Edition, Kindle Edition (Nashville, Tennessee: Ancestry.com, 2014), no. 28.
     4. Clips from an image of Cook County, Illinois, “Apr – July 1912, Register of Births, A to Z,” 66:75, no. 3659, Josephine D Duffy, County Clerk, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,287,756.
     5. Holy Name Cathedral (Chicago, Illinois), baptisms, 1908-1915, Josephine Duffy, Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago; digital image,"Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11395-27252-84 : accessed 27 November 2015), path: Holy Name Cathedral Parish (Chicago: State St) > Baptisms 1908-1915 > image 150 of 246; FHL microfilm 1,578,586.

Pre-Holiday Ketchup

Each year I try to take off the month of December (from blogging). You’re busy. I’m busy. We’re both busy. But before I go, it’s time to catch up.

RootsTech 2016 has announced to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Family Discovery Day 2016 will feature newly called apostle, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Ruth. Other speakers include Rosemary M. Wixom, Primary general president and Stephen W. Owen, Young Men general president.

To speed the publication of newly scanned microfilm, FamilySearch has released a new feature. Soon after scanning a roll of microfilm, FamilySearch will show a camera icon next to the film number in the catalog. Click the icon to see the images from the film. Since films will be published before FamilySearch has added waypoints to facilitate browsing the images, FamilySearch has also implemented a thumbnail view. This allows quick visual identification of volume covers, indexes, probate packets, and the like. Catalog icons also allow searching a single film (once indexed) and ordering the roll for viewing in a local FamilySearch center. Digitized films will not appear in the list of historical record collections until after they have been waypointed, so be certain to check the catalog if you don’t find a collection you need in the collection list. (I’m a big proponent of the catalog. The collection list can’t scale to tens of thousands of collections.)

As before, some images are restricted. Restrictions vary. At their simplest, you must sign in before being granted access. However, many restricted images are viewable only at a FamilySearch family history center unless you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For more information, see “News Flash! Digitized Microfilm: From the Drawer to Your Computer” on the FamilySearch blog.

FamilySearch recently announced they are revamping the Memories section of their website. They are adding a Gallery that enhances the ability to add, organize, and view photos, stories, documents, and audio recordings. For more information, see “Coming to FamilySearch! A Memories Gallery to Enrich Your Family Tree” on the FamilySearch blog.

Ancestry announced the results of their annual Find a Grave Community Weekend. Hundreds of volunteers worked in upwards of 70 cemeteries. They

• Added 320,935 new photos
• Fulfilled 10,899 photos requests
• Added 242,793 new memorials
• Grew the number of registered users by 3,308

Congratulations and thank you, everyone. For more information, see “Members Fulfill 10,000 Photo Requests During Find a Grave Community Weekend” on the Ancestry Blog.

You know I needed to write a catch-up article when you see news items that are weeks old. I don’t recall ever pointing out the user-to-user messaging system FamilySearch introduced back in August. One of the most frustrating aspects of a collaborative tree such as FamilySearch Family Tree has been the inability to collaborate with users who chose not to make their email addresses accessible. There’s nothing like someone messing up your tree and having no way to discuss with them their changes. Now users can send messages to other users without using email. For more information, see “FamilySearch Messaging on FamilySearch.org” on the FamilySearch blog. To read about features released in October, see “What’s New on FamilySearch—November, 2015.”

RootsTech has announced that Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kerns Goodwin will be the keynote speaker at RootsTech 2016 on Saturday, 6 February at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Steven Spielberg based the movie Lincoln, in part on her book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. She received her Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. She’s also authored biographies of several other U.S. presidents.

“Goodwin will share her insights into the personal and family lives of past presidential leaders and the influence their ancestors had on their personalities, behavior, decisions, and careers,” said Paul Nauta, FamilySearch spokesperson. “She will also share anecdotes about her own family and experiences which have shaped and influenced her life.” For more information, see “Pulitzer Prize Winning Biographer, Historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin, to Keynote RootsTech 2016” on the FamilySearch blog.

That’s all the time I have. See you in January!