Blog
New classes scheduled at the Odenton Regional Library
Two new talks have been scheduled for the Odenton Regional Library in the Spring. In response to your requests, the first class will focus on beginning genealogy, for those wanting to learn or review the basics. The second class will be a new one about using electronic and online Family Trees. The details of these and other presentations are posted at: https://aweekofgenealogy.com/upcoming/
read moreFive Questions with Artist Barbara Talbott
You might recognize these images from A Week of Genealogy’s Facebook page. They were so interesting that I asked the artist, Barbara Talbot to share some information about them. Images ©2015 Barbara Talbott, used with permission 1. Your photography is a great way to display family heirlooms. How did you come to take these photos? I was working on my body of work, Tarnish, and a friend mentioned she had some pieces of vintage silver I could shoot for my show. When I went to her house to shoot the pieces, they were too...
read moreUsing Ancestry.com’s Ancestor Profile Options
Ancestry.com has some new options with in an ancestor’s profile In your Family Tree, decide which ancestor’s profile you will be investigating. Click on an ancestor. Click on the Profile button. If it is not already selected, click on Lifestory. Click on the Settings (Gear icon) if you would like to: Show/Hide Family Events Show/Hide Historical Events From the Profile, you can also Resize Profile Image to crop the image that you use. This comes in handy when all you have is a...
read moreUsing FamilySearch.org
Thanks to all the people who came on Tuesday night to learn more about FamilySearch.org. As you know the website is provided for the public to use for free by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is much more to the website than searching or browsing for Historical Records. Records were microfilmed records beginning in 1938. There are records from more than 110 countries, territories, and possessions. Currently the 2.4 million filmstrips, containing 3.5 billion images, are being digitized. Of course, these images are more...
read moreResearching the Merchant Marine
During my talk about military archives at the Howard County Genealogical Society, the question came up about researching Merchant Marines. Some brief research was educational. I learned that the U.S. Merchant Marine has no official historians and researchers. The Merchant Marine predates the U.S. Navy (13 October 1775), the U.S. Marines (10 November 1775) and the U.S. Coast Guard (formerly the Revenue Cutter Service was founded on (4 August 1790)). On 12 June 1775, a party of Maine mariners in an unarmed lumber schooner captured the HMS...
read moreRemembering during a time of loss
As I sat in a hotel room trying to prepare myself for the viewing (wake) and funeral of both of my Son’s Grandparents, it was comforting to turn to genealogy. They left this world after full lives, but sadly for us, within days of each other. Of course, repeating the caveats of capturing information while family members are still alive came to mind. But enough has been written about finding out the stories, the details, and who those people are in the pictures. And enough has been said about reminding to people to make those phone calls and...
read moreIn Memoriam – Linda Jarczewski
Like so many of my research friends, Linda is someone I worked with over the Internet. She was so giving of her talent and her warmth. She always had ideas or a new way to look at facts. I could pick up a phone and call even though I had never met her in person. Linda entered our lives through a clever genealogist’s move. She noticed that an ancestor’s grave was well tended and decided to leave a letter on the tombstone introducing herself. Through it she met her cousin Buddy, who was also my cousin, when he discovered the letter and...
read moreGoogle Searches
Without a doubt, Google search is one of my go-to genealogical tools. Google is always changing its tools to increase their effectiveness. The addition of tools and features is exciting. The elimination of tools can be frustrating. Google search is not immune from such changes. Over time, Google has removed some of the search operators. Since “A Weekend of Genealogy” was published, Google has dropped one of its operators. The tilde (~) operator was described on pages 54-55 of the book. The tilde operator was used to return web...
read moreUsing the USAHEC Tutorials
If you have had ancestors in the military, using military archives can be a research destination. You may find information about your ancestor, but it is more that your ancestor’s name will not be indexed. It is more likely you will locate collections and documents that contain information about the time and unit that where your ancestor served. In turn, these may contain references to your ancestor. At there very least, they will provide insights into the times and places your ancestor inhabited. After a visit to the U.S. Army Heritage...
read moreFinding Joseph McMahon and the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment (NY), Company B
My Grandfather, Joseph F. McMahon, was born on 29 August 1894 in Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland. He arrived in the U.S. on 6 October 1907 with his widowed Mother and the youngest siblings. Sadly, he died when my Father was a young child. Through this research into his military service, I am trying to learn about him and the stories that he might have told. As I have researched his life, I found out that many of my preconceived notions were incorrect. Most notably, he became a citizen before his military service in WWI. Also significant was...
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