Cloud Genealogy Presentation

Here's a link to Gary Hoffman's presentation at the October Mini-Fair on the topic of Cloud Genealogy. This link will open a Google Presentation in your browser.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14NyUWUc5_BW7vjHdzT-pL5NMpBWIHPOR_VEjaBkVpmM/edit?usp=sharing

CGSSD Meeting Notice

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except December) from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the campus of UCSD, University of California, San Diego. See our web page www.cgssd.org  for directions.

The next meeting will be held on 20 September 2014 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

 9:00 AM  User groups: Ancestry.com with Del Ritchhart and DNA with Corlee Morris

10:00 AM Break, refreshments
10:20 AM Announcements followed up program: 

Dr. Joel Weintraub

"Crowdsourcing The Path To The 1950 U.S. Census"

The 1940 U.S. Census opened in 2012 without a name index.  A FamilySearch led consortium used 160,000 volunteers to name index that census in 4 months.  In addition, Joel and Steve Morse, over seven years with about 125 volunteers, developed free utilities to find which of 150,000 census districts someone was in, when a location or address is known.  These projects are examples of crowdsourcing.  Steve and Joel are now doing a similar project for the 1950 Census.  Joel will discuss differences between the 1940 and 1950 censuses that impacted their planning and project design.  The film scanning, publicity, volunteer response, Yahoo Group site, cloud storage, software, One-Step utilities, and project phases will be discussed.  All 233,800 1950 enumeration district definitions have now been transcribed.  Street indexes will also be completed for over 2,000 communities to help find 1950 census district numbers.

Joel Weintraub was born and raised in Manhattan. He is an emeritus Biology Professor at California State University, Fullerton and has won awards for his science teaching. He became interested in genealogy about 15 years ago, and volunteered for 9 years at the National Archives and Records Administration in southern California. Joel started transcribing streets within census districts in 2001 to help researchers search the 1930 U.S. Census (released in 2002). He was joined in the venture by David Kehs and Stephen Morse in 2002, and together, they have produced a number of online census searching utilities for both the federal and the New York State censuses on the Morse One Step Website. Joel produced locational finder aids for the 1940 census, and has given many talks on that census since 2006.  He now has the 1950 Census in his sights, scheduled to be released in 2022!  If you want to help with the 1950 project, email Joel at censusfiles@cox.net.

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pines Road, turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any space other than those specifically reserved for UCSD vehicles. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website (click here) for driving directions and a map.

Linda Brady

CGSSD VP-Admin

cgssdemail@gmail.com

CGSSD Meeting Notice

The next meeting will be held on 16 Aug 2014 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

9:00: User groups: Roots Magic, with Chris Christensen; Macintosh, with Dona Ritchie.

10:00: Break, refreshments.

10:20: Announcements followed by program:

"Crafting Great Source Citations"
by Randy Seaver
    We all know that we should cite our sources, but it's hard to remember what goes first, what to include, punctuation, and more. Then the Internet came along and it's really complicated now. This presentation will cover source citation guides for genealogy, using content provider source citations, and using source citation templates in genealogy software programs to cite our sources.

    Randy Seaver is a native San Diegan. His ancestry is mainly colonial New England and Upper Atlantic, with some colonial German, French and Dutch forebears, and several 19th-century English immigrants. He has been pursuing his elusive ancestors since 1988, and has been online since 1992.
    Randy is a former President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society and is currently the newsletter editor and research chair. He speaks to southern California societies, libraries and groups, and teaches "Beginning Computer Genealogy" adult classes at OASIS. He is a member of NGS, NEHGS, SCGS, SDGS, CGSSD and CVGS. Randy blogs daily about genealogy subjects at Genea-Musings (www.geneamusings.com) and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe (http://CVGenCafe.blogspot.com).

"Living on the Prairie" by Jamie Lee McManus Mayhew

[Jamie will be at CGSSD this Saturday to present "Across the Prairie: Land Records in the Public Land States".]

Living on the Prairie

By Jamie Lee McManus Mayhew

Hot summers, cold winters, dirt, bugs, mice, and snakes were an everyday part of living on the prairie during the expansion of our United States. Pioneers moving to the Great Plains soon realized that a log cabin was not going to be built on their homestead. Buffalo grass, a thick grass with heavily matted roots was to the prairie as trees were to the forest. Buffalo grass was the raw material available to build shelters for the new settlers. 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house 

Many pioneers began their life on the prairie in a dugout cut into a hillside later to be expanded on several sides with sod to create a “cozy,” if not very clean, home. As time went on, the settlers would build an actual sod house with a door and windows. The laborious job of cutting sod with a spade was soon replaced with the use of the grasshopper plow which greatly eased the work of building a soddy. Strips cut approximately six inches deep and one foot wide by two feet long were used to build the walls. Laying the sod, grass side down and two to three rows wide, created a wall about three feet thick. A space was left for the door and windows were framed. Every few rows, the direction of the sod was changed to increase the strength of the wall. The roof was made in several ways most commonly by creating a wooden frame, sometimes covered with tar paper or straw, with a thinner layer of sod on top. Eventually, the roof might sprout a spring flower garden. Inside the house, the homeowner might hang cheese cloth from the ceiling to catch the bugs and grass that would drop down on the evening meal.

Library of Congress photo

The sod house was cool in the summer and warm in the winter although susceptible to heavy rain, they lasted a long time, frequently becoming a storage room or barn when a newer home was built. Wood was sparse so most of the soddies were heated with buffalo or cow chips. Eventually the family got used to the smell. Water was precious and hard to come by. Fortunate settlers settled near a spring or stream otherwise it was necessary to dig a well, a chancy and dangerous activity. Winter brought long days of loneliness with the nearest neighbor miles away.

We might think that this life was unimaginable and wonder why anyone would choose to live in this way but, although failure was high, the sodbusters brought settlement to the Great Plains by the early twentieth century thereby helping to expand the United States.

Sources:

“There are no renters here,” Homesteading a Sod House.  Women of the West Museum. http://theautry.org/explore/exhibit/sod/daily.html. (accessed 15 June 2014)

Vick Fite and Nancy Hendrickson, Frontier Traveler, The Kansas Soddy, http://www.frontiertraveler.com/kansas/the-kansas-soddy/. (accessed 15 June 014)

Sod house. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house (accessed 15 June 2014)

Homestead Act: The Challenges of Living on the Plains. Nebraskastudies.org, , http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0500/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0500/stories/0501_0108.html (accessed 15 June 2014)

Homestead National Monument of America. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm (accessed 15 June 2014)

Family Tree Maker User Group Meeting 17 May 2014

Submitted by Ken Robison / FTM Group Leader

Here are the notes from our most recent meeting

 Together we know more than any of us alone.

FTM Users Group May 17 2014 

Getting into and out of trouble 

“Anyone can make a mistake to really mess things up you need a computer.” 

1. Open discussion              Questions, Problems, Issues or New Discoveries? 

2. Prepared discussion         Do you have two of the Same Tree?
    The Robison Taylor Family Tree.ftm
    The Robison Taylor Family Tree1.ftm

Step one Make a backup of both or all trees and name files so you can distinguish between/among them

Create Reports (In Publish)

1. Select “List of individuals Report”

                Review available reports

                        Click Create Report

                   Under List of Individual Report Options Individuals to include: All Individuals

             Set Report Title to File Name ( Robison Taylor Tree 1 Listing)

         Print out or save report to review and compare details to see if all individuals are in both trees

Note: To Switch between Reports Click on Collections to display available reports

2. Select “Media Usage Report”

Click Create Report

Under Media Usage Report Options Individuals to include: All Individuals 

There are many choices for Items to include and Filtering. Review the options and test 

effect by generating reports and see if anything is missing when items are selected or 

de-selected. 

Note: Like in Individuals Report above Use Report Title to Identify the File (RobTay_FT1)

If you find that one file has different information or individuals you can merge those individual records into the tree you want to be your master or complete file.

Once you are confident that you have all the information in one file you can rename that file, back it up and if you are brave (or foolhardy?) delete the unwanted file. Hover over file name and select option. If you select Delete you will be prompted for your Ancestry password before deletion.
Once deleted the file cannot be recovered! 

Resources: FTM Help Menu/Tutorials, Online videos–You-tube FTM, google The Barefoot Genealogist great short topics

Discussion:
Beyond the Basics A Guide for Advanced Users of Family Tree Maker 2011 Pgs. 74-80
1. Creating a file from a PC for use on a Mac
        Knowledge Base on www.familytreemaker.com
              Click on Technical Support, enter “5313” in search to get Mac Migration Utility
2. Moving Tree to a new Computer
3. Maintaining a tree on Two Computers (e.g. Desktop and Laptop..Husband & Wife or Cousin on different computers.

See you next time at the FTM meeting...

Found photos

While perusing an antique shop in South Park on Mother's Day weekend, I discovered many old photos for sale as "ephemera." They were once someone's family photos and now they are just curiosities. I flipped over a few of them and was not surprised to find most had no legends at all.

However, I did find a great old photo that had some IDs on the back. It told the name of the man in the photo and listed his children. I knew I had to buy it and try to get it back to his family.

Here's the photo:

As you can see from the front and back of this photo, there is lots of good genealogy information here. When I got home, I searched in FamilySearch to see if I could find this John Rhodes in Wisconsin.

Sure enough, I found census records for him and his family in 1870 and 1880. John was born in England and married Mary Wiltze from Oneida, New York apparently after coming to America. They were in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, in the 1870s. He is clearly enumerated in both censuses.

However, someone had given his Family Tree profile an estimated death date of 1869.

 I uploaded this photo to FamilySearch and tagged his image so that it appears on the Family Tree. Now the photo is no longer lost. I'm contemplating other places to post the photo so that descendants might find it.

 Where do you think I should post it?

DNA Genealogy by Corlee Ann Morris

For the first DNA Genealogy contribution to our new COMPU.GEN Blog, I would like to cover three topics.

First Topic:  Family Finder DNA Projects.  The original DNA Projects when testing became available were focused on Surname Projects.  Now that Autosomal DNA testing is available, the structure of a Surname Project is not a good fit.  So now Projects based on the Family Finder results are being developed.  FTDNA just came out with some guidelines for Group Administrators on Family Finder Groups.

Second Topic: In the twentieth Century we have had an amazing increase of technological development.  Computer electronics have been constantly getting more powerful and cheaper.  Now the things we study with computers have been speeding along at a faster and faster pace as well.  Beyond traditional genealogy research, many tools have become available to assist in our quest for knowing all we can know about our family connections.  Genetic Genealogy has advance so far that CeCe Moore says that we can build a family tree based on DNA testing.  The Autosomal DNA testing is adding to our ability to make connections where paper trails quit.  There is a movement in the genealogy world that parallels much of the Citizen science currently in vogue.  Citizen science is research conducted by interested amateurs. People have become so fascinated by what our genes can tell about ourselves that they are creating innovative tools to analyze DNA testing results.  I hope to share these with you as I learn how to use them.   

Third Topic:  A new area of exploration involves what is called the “x” Chromosomes.  The males have only one “x” while the female has two (one from her father and one from her mother).   The “x” chromosomes are not the same things as the mtDNA.  An “x” Chromosome is a chromosome, while the mtDNA is/are DNA material(s) found with in each cell. Mitocondria¹  is a specific organelle in the cell that helps it to produce energy. The mtDNA² is the genetic material found in mitochondria.  How the males “x” chromosome manifests itself and how the female “x” chromosomes manifests themselves yields some surprising information.  I am doing more research on this subject. More to be explored later.   

^{1 &2}(From the Glossary at www.familytreedna.com)

Corlee Ann Morris

CGSSD Board Member and past President.

Scottish Research Comes To CGSSD in April

Professional Genealogist Judy Brooks will be presenting a one hour session on Researching Your Scottish Ancestors at the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego on April 19th, 2014. Ms. Brooks will be discussing some lesser known internet websites for use in your Scottish and Scots-Irish research.

Bio for Judith Brooks
Find Dem Bones  
finddembones@aol.com

 Judy is the wife of North County Scots Chaplain Bill Brooks and has been researching both her own and her husband's ancestry since 1995 when he began looking for his tartan and proof of his Scottish heritage.
As both families were in the United States in Colonial times, she has done extensive research in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and Nebraska which has led her to additional research in Ireland and Scotland.

 She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society, Southern California Genealogical Society, Nebraska Genealogical Society and an active member of the Carlsbad San Diego North County Genealogical Society.

 Judy has experience researching various libraries, county court houses, cemeteries, historical societies, the National Archives, DAR, and the Library of Congress for her own family research as well as for clients.
Her philosophy is that there is so much more to our ancestry than just the historical dates and places.

 Finding the history of the time and place and information about the life and times of our ancestors brings full meaning to our heritage.

RootsTech 2014 Is Here!

Can't make it to Salt Lake City this year to attend RootsTech? No worries. The organizers at FamilySearch have graciously allowed 15 of it's presentations to be viewed "live" online starting tomorrow at 8:30 am pacific time. For the next 3 days you can hear some of the top genealogists in the world give their presentations like your right there in the classroom with them.

To view the live online stream simply go to RootsTech and follow the instructions.

What about the syllabi? Well, for a short time you can download all the syllabi or just the sessions you want by clicking here. It's like getting a whole book on genealogy for free! You can't beat that.

Following are the broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in pacific standard time (PST):

Thursday, February 6

8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch by Tammy Hepps

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., FamilySearch Family Tree: What's New and What's Next by Ron Tanner

1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Intro to DNA for Genealogists by James Rader

3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Genealogy in the Cloud by Randy Hoffman

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sharing Your Family with Multimedia by Michael LeClerc

Friday, February 7

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Storytelling Super Powers: How to Come Off as Your Family's Genealogy Hero by David Adelman

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media by Lisa Alzo

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.comby Crista Cowen

3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Finding Family and Ancestors Outside the USA with New Technologies by Daniel Horowitz

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Do It Yourself Photo Restoration by Ancestry Insider

Saturday, February 8

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Become an iPad Power User by Lisa Louise Cooke

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results by D. Josh Taylor

1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., A Beginner’s Guide to Going Paperless by Randy Whited

3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History by Tom Taylor

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep by Deborah Gamble

Meeting Notice - November 15th.

MEETING NOTICE

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except December) from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the campus of UCSD, University of California, San Diego. See our web page www.cgssd.org  for directions.

The next meeting will be held on 15 Feb 2014 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

Two Presentations by Barbara Renick

 9:00 AM  Presentation 1:  Eleven Layers of Searches at FamilySearch 

10:00 AM Break
10:20 AM Announcements 

10:30 AM  Presentation 2:   Think You Know How to Search Library Catalogs? Think Again!

Note:  No User Groups or SIGs this month

Presentation 1: Eleven Layers of Searches at FamilySearch

No one search method works all the time. Both online and classic search methods have their advantages and limitations. Knowing when to switch from one type of online search to another and from detailed online searches to more classic media (such as books and microfilms) brings greater success. Often overlooked ways to search online (from No Name searches to refined Alphabetical Browsing techniques) are combined here with examples of the success achieved by adding these layered Internet search results to classic searches.

Presentation 2: Think You Know How to Search Library Catalogs? Think Again! 

Most genealogists go to library Web sites, find the online catalog, make a search using that catalog's basic search features, and assume they have found everything. Not only are there many ways to use online library catalogs for genealogical research, but such sites often provide access to a wide variety of additional resources and databases.I will demonstrate how to use the FamilySearch Catalog to go to WorldCat and how to search WorldCat for entries exclusively from the FamilySearch Catalog.

Barbara Renick teaches at national genealogy conferences and the regional Family History Center in Orange California; was a contributing editor for the National Genealogical Society computer magazine for eleven years; authored Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family’s History and Heritage sponsored by NGS for their 100th Anniversary; and currently serves on the NGS Board of Directors as secretary. The ‘Z’ Links page at her ZRoots.com Web site is also very popular among genealogists who use it as their browser home page.

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pines Road, turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any space other than those specifically reserved for UCSD vehicles. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website (click here) for driving directions and a map.

Linda Brady

CGSSD VP-Admin.

cgssdemail@gmail.com

2013 Speaker Recap

This past year we had many of the top genealogists in the world speak at our meetings. Our list included Certified Genealogists, researchers from the PBS show "Genealogy Roadshow", world renowned genealogy bloggers, and technologists. We even had a "live" webinar by GeneaBloggers.com founder, Thomas MacEntee, all the way from Chicago. I am so excited about 2014 that I can't wait!

Meetings are our bread and butter, this is where we shine. We are so fortunate to have our meetings in the best genealogical meeting space in all of San Diego. We meet at the beautiful campus of UCSD, where our webmaster and past president Gary Hoffman is Chief Technology Officer at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies.

Tour of the Geisel Library, within walking distance of our building on the campus of UCSD.









 I hope you'll join us this year as we bring you another spectacular lineup of some of the worlds best and brightest genealogists and technologists. Just think, for your $20 renewal membership, it only costs you $1.81 for a presentation. I think that's worth the money to hear the best.