RootsTech 2016 Live Stream Schedule and Syllabus Handouts Released

I ran across it by accident ... The RootsTech 2016 Live Stream Schedule and the 2016 Class Syllabus Handouts have been released.

Like last year, you need to down load the syllabus for each class individually.

Remember class times are listed in Mountain Time at the RootsTech website. We are Eastern Time which is 2 hours ahead. So 8:30 am Mountain is 10:30 am Eastern.

Here's the Live Stream list according to Eastern Time.

Thursday, February 4th
10:30 am to 12 pm
Thursday General Session
Steve Rockwood, Paula Madison, Bruce Feiler
1 pm  to 2 pm
7 Unique Technologies for Genealogy Discoveries presented by Mike Mansfield
3:30 pm to 4:20 pm
Best Websites and Apps for Local History presented by Amy Crow
5 pm to 6 pm
What's New in Family Tree in 2016 presented by Ron Tanner
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Virtual Family Reunions presented by Joseph Richardson

Friday, February 5th
10:30 am to 12 pm
Friday General Session
Josh and Naomi Davis (Love Taza), David Islay
12:30 am to 1:30 pm
RootsTech Innovator Showdown Finals
3:30 pm  to 4:30 pm
Proven Methodology for Using Google for Genealogy presented by Lisa Louise Cooke
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Finding Elusive Records on FamilySearch.org presented by Robert Kehrer
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
My Ancestors are from Britain -- What Do I Do Next? presented by Myko Clelland

Saturday, February 6th
10:30 am to 12 pm
Saturday General Session
Michael Leavitt
1 pm  to 2 pm
Photos -- Emerging Technologies in Photography presented by Jens Nielsen
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Become a Master Searcher on Ancestry presented by Anne Mitchell
5 pm to 6 pm
Homespun and Calico: Researching our Foremothers presented by Peggy Lauritzen
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Using the Genealogical Proof Standard for Success presented by James Ison

If it is like prior years, the Live Stream will be right on the homepage starting on Thursday.

See You Soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!

LE

Get those Keyboards and Mice Ready!* Free Access Weekend at Find My Past

Make some time this weekend for your genealogy!

Find My Past is having a free unlimited access weekend from 7 a.m. EST January 22 (today) until 7 a.m. EST January 25. Over 8 billion records are available for everyone to search for free.

This is a great opportunity to investigate what the Find My Past website has to offer to help you with your research.

There are two caveats however to the unlimited free access. The recently released 1939 Register is not included in the access and pay as you go credits will be required to unlock 1939 Register household records. Also, free access is subject to Find My Past's fair use policy so each account may view a maximum of 1,000 records per day. That's a lot of documents. We think the majority of the users will not come near that maximum.

Current Find My Past subscribers will be comped. Current Local Access subscribers will receive World Access during the weekend while current World Access subscribers will receive three days added to their accounts.

As usual, Find My Past has created dedicated webpages for the free access weekend at its United States and Canada site, United Kingdom site, Australia and New Zealand site and its Ireland site. so head there to start. More than likely you will need to have a login to participate, the page should tell you what is needed once the free access time period has begun.

So stay warm this weekend -- Stay inside to research your family history and perhaps enjoy some ancestral-themed meals or snacks while you are researching. 

*For those using touchpads or touchscreens, get your fingers ready too.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

New Database: Dutchess County, New York, Ancient Documents in Color!

Got ancestors living in Dutchess County, New York, in the 1700s?

The Ancient Documents Search and a Document for Ellis Bullock

The website of the Dutchess County Clerk's Office now has an online searchable database with images of 12,000 of the oldest Ancient Documents. The images are PDF files in color.

The Ancient Documents consist of eighteenth-century legal documents from the Dutchess County Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions which began in 1721. There are 38,917 numbered documents in total.

This three-phase project was helped by the New York State Archives Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund. Phase I digitally imaged the first 12,000 pages; Phase II imaged another 25,000 pages; and Phase III which will commence in 2016 will image another 25,000 pages. 

So expect more documents to be added to this searchable database in the future once they are indexed.

In 1973, the Ancient Documents and its partial index were microfilmed by the Latter Day Saints for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and were available for rental to local Family History Centers. A couple years ago, these microfilms were digitized and made available on the familysearch.org website for free under the probate records for Dutchess County, New York. All 38,917 documents are now browseable online at FamilySearch. (There is no digital search for the collection, the images are browse only.) The microfilmed partial index book to the Ancient Documents only covers documents numbered 1 through 15,181.

Once the previously non-indexed, later Ancient Documents are added to this searchable database it will bring light to documents that only a very, very determined researcher has probably seen. We can not wait!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

RootsTech 2016 is Almost Here!

It is getting closer ... RootsTech 2016 is happening February 3 - 6, 2016, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Not going? That is okay. Soon the live streaming schedule will be revealed and soon the class syllabus handouts will be released.

So stay tuned. We will let you know when the live stream schedule and syllabus handouts become available.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Records from the Past "Found" Recently

Tuesday's Tip
See we told you so ... records from the past can still be "found" today so Don't Give Up.

We spotted a mention of this on Dick Eastman's blog this morning and I think it is a good follow up to our Tuesday's Tip post from December 29, 2015.

An archivist at the clerk's office for Vanderburgh County, Indiana, recently discovered by accident records from the county's formation in 1818. The earliest records the clerk's office has handled prior to this were from 1819. The varied documents were stored in metal boxes labeled "Miscellaneous." Here's the link to the original story over at Tristate.

So again our Tuesday's Tip is to review what you already have ... and don't judge a book (or box in this case) by its label -- LOOK INSIDE!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

This Wednesday's Let's Talk...Genelaogy topic is Where Do I Go From Here?

This Wednesday, January 13, at 7 p.m. in the Genealogy/Local History Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library is MCGG's Let's Talk...Genealogy meeting. The discussion topic of the night is Where Do I Go From Here?

Bring your research questions, brick walls, or new finds to share with the group. We'll give everyone a turn.

At this time of year weather can cause problems. If the library closes on one of our meeting dates due to weather or we ourselves cancel a meeting due to weather, we will announce it by email to those on our mailing lists and at this blog. If in doubt, call the library's information desk to double check before you venture out. At this point, we don't expect any weather problems for this Wednesday's meeting.

See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library! 
LE

Grant Awarded to Digitize Manuscripts of New England's First Churches

NEHGS press release

Several days ago the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) announced the project New England's Hidden Histories: Providing Public Access to the Manuscripts of New England's First Churches, Incubators of American Democracy had received a $210,000 grant from the Council on Library Information Services (CLIS) in support of the program.

Partnering in this endeavor are the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), the Congregational Library and Archives (CAL), the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ.

The grant will enable the digitzation of 28,000 pages of manuscript church records, personal papers of pastors and deacons, and ministerial conference records, dating from 1641 to the mid-1800s.

Items contributed by NEHGS will also be available on its AmericanAncestors.org website.

Some items are already up at the Congregational Library and Archives website, under Digital Collections and then New England's Hidden Histories: Colonial Era Church Records. Items in the collection are divided into two categories: Church Records and Personal Papers and Documents. Some items are digitized in color and some appear to be digitized microfilm.

The image viewer comes up as a split panel with the image in the left panel and information in the right panel. You can close that right panel to view the images full-screen. (Note: I experienced a slight problem with the viewer not showing the bottom portion of an image while in split-screen mode. This problem occurs less when viewing the image full screen.)

Those of us with early New England ancestors await to learn what other treasures will be made more accessible.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Kind Words Said; Volunteers can Help You

Tuesday's Tip
Our favorite library, Mount Clemens Public Library, has bestowed some kind words upon our volunteers. You can read what was said at the library's website.

Thank you MCPL.

Our volunteers look forward to helping everyone in 2016 with their genealogy and local history inquiries. So if you have a question or want help getting started, our Tuesday Tip is to visit the Local History and Genealogy room at Mount Clemens Public Library when a volunteer is available. Also consider joining us at one of our Friday afternoon or Wednesday night meetings.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Join Us for this Friday's Meeting: Let's Talk Friday Style Roundtable Meeting

On Friday, January 8, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Mount Clemens Public Library, join us for Let's Talk Friday Style. This is a group participation roundtable meeting where you have the opportunity to ask questions about just about anything genealogy-related. That means (just to name a few) research problems, MCGG project questions, speakers/topics, resources, etc.

Like at our Wednesday night Let's Talk...Genealogy meeting, we will have a computer connected to the big screen projector and the internet just in case we need to show or explain something.

If you are in the Mt. Clemens area, PLEASE JOIN US. 

See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Church Book Records Scanning Project Adds A Second Church: Trinity Lutheran

Local Database Computer

 In case you did not catch it on our Face Book page, a few weeks ago the Macomb County Genealogy Group added the records of a second local church to our Church Book Records Scanning Project.

Now the records of Trinity Lutheran Church in Clinton Township have been added to our project and are currently available to researchers. The first church in the project was St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Eastpointe. 

Records in the Church Book Records Scanning Project can be viewed on the Local Database Computer (non-internet) in the Local History/Genealogy Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Please note that you can view and print a record or page but you can not download it.

Records for Trinity Lutheran Church in Clinton Township (known to old-timers as Trinity Lutheran Church Mt. Clemens) include baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals. Please note that certain records like baptisms and confirmations for people who could potentially still be living have been withheld to comply with privacy concerns. The records start in 1885 when the church was founded. The earliest records are in German and the later records are in English.

At this time the records in the Church Book Scanning Project are still being indexed. But the PDF files have been named and organized so the user can easily identify the church, event type and time frame.

Currently, our bulletin board (located on the wall just behind the local database computer) features a some aids to read German words and handwriting ... and what they mean in English.

Remember a few of our genealogy room volunteers read German and can provide help if needed.

Thank you to the volunteers who contributed to this project.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Finding Your Roots TV Show Returns to PBS Tomorrow, January 5, 2016 at 8 p.m.

Season Three of Finding Your Roots will premiere tomorrow, Tuesday, January 5, 2016, on your local PBS station at 8 p.m. EST. This is the hour-long genealogy television show headed by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The season will spotlight 28 new guests including: Maya Rudolph, Richard Branson, Bill Hader, Julianne Moore, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Senator John McCain, Norman Lear, Shondra Rhimes and more. 

Tomorrow's first episode features democratic strategist Donna Brazile, actor Ty Burrell, and artist Kara Walker. Episode two next week features Soledad O'Brien, Bill O'Reilly and Bill Maher.

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system or PBS Detroit's schedule system to find the PBS channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again. (On PBS Detroit's schedule system you can customize the listing to your service provider by edit or change provider so the schedule generated reflects your television provider's channels and schedule.)

See You Soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!

LE

Happy New Year! Say Hello to year 2016 ... and Hello to the Year's First Snow

Hello 2016 and Snow

We hope your holidays were merry and bright and that this year is a good one.

As far as genealogy goes this will be a year of ... something ... for Family Tree Maker users. The last year of support and perhaps a year of transition for some.

Whatever your genealogy project(s) for the year -- be it preparing to switch genealogy programs; organizing; scanning; interviewing; working on a new line or break wall; preparing for and taking a research trip; or hunkering down to finally write that book -- good luck!

Whether you are "hibernating" for the winter or escaping to warmer climates for a short while, don't forget to keep an eye out for savings and free access offers. (Don't we all like a deal.)

AncestryDNA is on sale for $79 (reg. $99) for the new year until January 6, 2015, at 11:59 p..m ET. Shipping and handling are extra.

Over at the New England Historic Genealogical Society's AmericanAncestors.org website, registered guest users (it's free) will have free unlimited access to three of its popular vital records databases for the month of January 2016 to "make headway on their 2016 genealogy project." These three databases are: Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910; Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008; and New Hampshire Births to 1901 and Marriages and Deaths to 1937. Did you know that guest users also get free access to every new database for the first 30 days that database is online? Another great reason among many to register as a guest user or become a member of the NEGHS society.

Remember, other sales of various sorts can be found listed over at GeneaBloggers.

We're just a week away from our first genealogy meeting of the season so get ready to learn with, share with, and enjoy the camaraderie of our fellow MCGG members.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE