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Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) – 3 – NY State Archives
This post is the third in a series of posts is about how to locate record the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The first post contains information about the GAR. The New York State Archives holds the organizational records of the GAR in New York State. There are fourteen categories of records that a post might have, but the Archives are cautioned that all categories are rarely available for each chapter. We are also told that the focus of these records is the disbandment of posts from the 1920s to 1940s. Since there is no name index, you...
read moreGrand Army of the Republic (GAR) – 2 – The GAR Museum
This post is the second in a series of posts is about how to locate record the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The first post contains information about the GAR. The Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library is located in Philadelphia, PA, and has limited hours of operation. There is a research and archives library available at the museum that advertises over 6,000 books, magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, and original source documents. You must make an appointment to view them. There are Finding aids for the...
read moreGrand Army of the Republic (GAR) – 1 – Background
In this series of blog posts, you will learn where to look for Grand Army of the Republic records. The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization founded in Founded in Decatur, Illinois on April 6, 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson. It was open to Union veterans of the Civil War. The veterans served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (became the Coast Guard). There were hundreds of posts across the U.S., numbered in sequential order of as they were admitted. The GAR grew powerful politically....
read moreGenealogy Education: BYU Independent Study Courses
Education is a key part of genealogical research. There are many online opportunities. This post will cover the BYU Independent Study Courses. They can be found at: http://is.byu.edu/site/courses/free.cfm. Look for the offerings in the categories within: Family History / Genealogy Some of the courses are several years old, but the information in them is relevant, Succinct, and useful. Because of the changing nature of the Internet, the links may not work. Remember that the records that were difficult to find might now be digitized, and...
read moreAfter Ancestry.com retires Family Tree Maker
By now you may have heard that Ancestry.com is retiring the Family Tree Maker (FTM) software line. Ancestry.com cites the diminishing desktop application market as the reason to retire the software. That can be translated as the software group is not profitable enough for them. If you are like me, you have seen the usefulness of having an online tree at Ancestry.com. You might have searched for new records from the tree. You might have followed the hint leaves. You also might have attached the records and other media (e.g. pictures and...
read moreNew 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...
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