OneGreatFamily Newsletter

How To Date Old Family Photographs

heather.matthews — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:27:35 GMT

Basic Techniques Of Dating Pictures

Great-Grandma's family collection of antique pictures can be a treasure trove for you, the genealogy researcher, especially if you can establish when an antique picture was taken.
Dating a photograph can help you identify the subject(s) (in early photography the subjects were referred to as sitters) and can provide additional information as you piece together your family tree.

There are some basic techniques to begin the process of dating an antique picture:

What is the print made of? Is the image printed on metal, glass, card stock, or paper? Daguerreotype (early tintypes) and ambrotypes (printed on glass) were often mounted in double wooden frames that opened like a book. These were the most common types of early photographs and date back to around 1839. By 1870, almost all antique pictures were printed on heavy paper or card stock. The heavier stock was much more common in early photographs; by the 1930s even studio portraits were printed on thin paper.

Is the antique picture printed in black and white or color? Some images were being hand-tinted as early as the 1850s. Although color still photography was introduced in 1906, it was an expensive process that only professionals could afford to use. Color antique pictures did not become common for home use until the late 1950's and early 1960's.

How are the people in the photograph posed? Very early antique pictures showed people in rigid poses and usually without smiles, partly because exposure times could be as long as twenty seconds. Many portrait photographers even used braces to help sitters stay in position during the process. Candid pictures and then snapshots became more common in the 1920s.

How are the sitters dressed? The straight tunic dresses and bobbed hair of the 1920's are easy to distinguish from the cinched waists and luxuriant chignons of the late 1890's.

What other objects are visible in the antique picture? A Model T car is absolute proof that the picture was not taken before 1908. Furniture, toys, brands names, logos - all these things can provide clues, and thus, invaluable assistance in identifying previously unidentified photographs.

Additional information on dating family antique pictures is available from this list of links.
Tracing a family resemblance through the generations with antique pictures can give you a warm sense of connection to your family's past.

Store your pictures and other media in OneGreatFamily - it's a safe place to keep your treasures (see next article for instructions on how to add photos to your OneGreatFamily tree).

OneGreatFamily Tip: Store Treasures About Your Ancestors Or See What Other Treasures Can Be Found At OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:26:47 GMT

Add More Than Dates And Places To Your OneGreatFamily Tree

OneGreatFamily goes beyond names and events to allow members to share treasures like biographies, notes, citations, photos, scanned documents, videos, and more about your ancestors.�

Genealogy is more than simply identifying ancestors and their vital information. Genealogy research means learning everything you can about your ancestors. This information can include photos, key documents, written descriptions and biographies. The information can also include significant religious events that go beyond birth and death information.

All of these information and file types are supported and viewable within OneGreatFamily. When using Genealogy BrowserT, simply double-click on any individual in your Starfield or Handprint view to see what details are available for your ancestors.

Several icons appear on the right side of the "Individual Details" screen that provide access to more information related to that individual. These icons, which appear below the icons for hints and conflicts, include notes, biographies, a research log, citations, and multimedia files.

Clicking on any of these icons will display what others have shared relating to the individual. You can also add your own information after clicking on an icon to make your insights available to others.

If you have selected religious preferences (Catholic, Jewish, LDS or Protestant), you will also see corresponding tabs for the preferences you have selected on the "Individual Details" screen.

Clicking on the "Family Info" box in the handprint view will provide these same options for your selected family. The "Family Details" screen also lets you see available marriage information for the selected family.

OneGreatFamily has been designed for more than simply holding the names of everyone who has ever lived in one family tree. The service is also intended to let people share all of the important information that helps others understand who these ancestors were, how they lived, and what made them unique.

As always, we are happy to help if you have additional questions, so don't hesitate to call 1-877-643-8733 or email if you need assistance.

Published Family Histories

heather.matthews — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:25:36 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Wouldn't you hate to spend hours of research time, making visits to libraries and carefully typing all the information that you found into your OneGreatFamily tree, only to find that someone had already done all the work? If there was already a book of your family history out there, wouldn't you want to just copy the information into your family tree?

Actually, there are thousands of published genealogies out there in the genealogical world, and there very well may be one written for your family. These books are compiled by genealogical societies, family committees, or just regular family researchers like yourself who decided to share their research so that all their hard work didn't go to waste.

Where can you find these kinds of books? It's much easier than you think. There are three main sites you should definitely search:

FamilySearch. This site contains the online library catalog for the largest genealogical library in the world! The best part? All the records of the Family History can be accessed for free. Just go http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp. Click on Surname Search and type in the surname for your family. All the matching books and microfilms will pop up, along with their descriptions. Some books are not available online, but the websites gives you the information you need to have the book send to a Family History Library near you.

Allen County Public Library. Another one of the nation's greatest genealogical resources, the Allen County Public Library, has more than 350,000 genealogy books and 513,000 microfilms. Go to http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/index.html. Then, in the Search section on the left side, click on Catalog. In the screen that pops up, type in the surname of your family. Then change the search to Title in the drop-down menu and click Search. All books for your surname will be listed. You can get access through these titles through Interlibrary Loan at your local public library.

WorldCat. This site is a search engine for libraries all over the world. Instead of searching one library catalog at a time, this website does the searching for you. Go to http://www.worldcat.org/ and type in the family name you're looking for. Then the site will bring up lists of all the books it finds for that surname, and where they can be found in libraries near you.

Save yourself research time and hassle by utilizing the work that others have already done. Like Sir Isaac Newton wrote, "If I have seen farther than others it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants."

Genealogy Research Associates

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:14:38 GMT

Since 1985, Genealogy Research Associates has helped people trace, compile, and publish their family histories. Their mission is to simplify the research process, provide practical educational training, preserve primary original documents, and create innovative information technologies. They educate on how to complete your genealogy, help find records, locate professional researchers, and help you get organized.

�� Visit Genealogy Research Associates

OneGreatFamily Tip: How to View an Ancestor's Descendancy

heather.matthews — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:32:00 GMT

How Do I View an Ancestor's Descendancy?

The ability to view the descendants of an ancestor is a powerful and valuable feature of OneGreatFamily. A descendancy view can help researchers identify collateral lines to research or can lead to the discovery of living relatives who have descended from a common ancestor.

Viewing the descendants of any ancestor is easy using Genealogy BrowserT:

1.�� Launch Genealogy Browser and find the desired ancestor in the pedigree (Starfield View)

2.�� Select the desired ancestor within the pedigree (Starfield View) by double clicking on the box with the individual's name to put them into the selected individual box in the handprint view.

3.�� Click on the descendancy icon in the toolbar OR select Starfield-Show Descendancy from the View menu within Genealogy Browser (see images below).

4.�� The descendants of the selected ancestor will now appear to the left of the pedigree (Starfield View). Navigating and viewing collateral lines in the Starfield View may be slower depending on the number of descendants shown.

When you choose to view the Descendancy of an ancestor, the Starfield view will look like this:

To no longer view the Descendancy, just click the Descendants View button on the Tool Bar:

We hope you will find OneGreatFamily a useful tool to trace the descendants of your ancestors.

As always, we are happy to help if you have additional questions, so don't hesitate to call 1-877-643-8733 or email if you need assistance.

Your Family Bible: A Treasure Trove

heather.matthews — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:31:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Before the times of digitized records, microfilms, and family history programs used to store genealogical data, families recorded their births, marriages, deaths, and baptisms in the family bible. Family bibles are priceless to genealogists because they may contain primary source information about family events.

A primary source record was written at the time that an incident occurred, or shortly thereafter, by someone who was involved. Unlike secondary source material, which was recorded at a later time, primary source information is not hearsay. Most of the events you will find recorded in a family bible were written down by the family record-keeper, often the matriarch of the family, shortly after they happened.

Where can you find family bibles? They can be in the possession of antique dealers or collectors, or they can be part of a family bible record collection. Bible record collections aim to transcribe the information in family bibles and make them available to researchers. Some bible collections with online indexes are: The Bible Archives, Bible Records Online, and Family Bible Records.

It is most likely, however, that your family bible is still in your family's possession. Talk to living relatives like your aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents. Even if they don't have the bible, they may know the distant cousin who does. Once you track down the current owner of the family bible, you can ask him or her for the genealogical information it contains. He or she probably won't want to part with the bible to loan it to you, but you can ask for a transcription or a photocopy. Get a photocopy of the pages if you can, because you can learn a lot by evaluating the ink and handwriting.

Family information is usually recorded in the front of the bible, but ask if you can check the other pages as well. Sometimes documents, photos, or other mementos are tucked in between the pages. Some recorded the information between the Old and New Testament.

Most, but not all, information in a family bible is primary source material. There are a few simple ways to tell if the information in the bible was written down at the time that the events happened. Check the publication date of the bible, advises genealogist George Morgan (Morgan 1998). If the bible was published after the events on the family record page occurred, they were all written down much later, and this information is not primary.

You should also pay attention to variations in ink and handwriting. If the handwriting changes, that means that information was recorded at different times or by different people. If some of the ink looks especially faded, that text was probably written down earlier than the rest. On the other hand, if the ink and handwriting all looks the same, the information must have all been written down at the same time, after the events occurred. This kind of secondary information is not necessarily incorrect, but it needs to be evaluated carefully. It is also important to be aware that family record-keepers may have altered information that they didn't want future generations to know. A wedding date may have been "fudged" to hide the fact that a child was born less than nine months after marriage, for instance.

As long as you carefully evaluate the information from a family bible, it is one of the greatest genealogical sources you'll ever encounter. Only in a family bible will you find the births of children who died young, in between censuses, who were not recorded anywhere else. And only in a family bible will you find your family's genealogical events, recorded in your ancestor's own hand.

Morgan, George G. 1998. Questioning the Bible.
"Along those Lines."
www.ancestry.com (accessed August 4, 2007).

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Donald Trump

heather.matthews — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:29:00 GMT

Donald Trump

Donald Trump was born in 1946 to parents Fred Trump and Mary MacLeod, the fourth of five children. Mary had immigrated from Scotland before marrying Fred; Fred was the son of two German immigrants. Donald Trump pursued higher education at Fordham University; after two years there, he transferred to the Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a BS in economics in 1968. After graduation, he went to work for his father's lucrative real estate company, the Trump Organization. Though his high-risk investments led to bankruptcy in the 1990s, Donald Trump is now one of America's wealthiest businessmen, with a net worth of approximately two billion dollars.

You can see whether or not you are related to Donald Trump by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

EllisIsland.org

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:13:00 GMT

Four out of ten Americans have an ancestor who came through Ellis Island - that is a lot of people! More than 22 million passengers and members of ships' crews entered the United States through Ellis Island and the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924. Information about each person was written down in ships' passenger lists, known as "manifests." Manifests were used to examine immigrants upon arrival in the United States. Now you can search these millions of records for information on individual Ellis Island passengers by visiting ellisisland.org.

�� Visit EllisIsland.org

OneGreatFamily Tip: Sharing Your Family Tree

heather.matthews — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:20:00 GMT

Get Your Family Excited About Your Ancestors

Sharing your family tree is a fun way to educate and involve your relatives in family history. This can be done in two ways. The first way is to click on the "Email My Family Tree" button on your Family Dashboard. This will bring up a page where you can enter email addresses and a personalized message. The second way is to click on the "Generate a Link to My Family Tree". This will produce some links that you can post in your own webpage that others can click on to view your tree. Sharing your tree will allow others to view your tree but they will not be able to make any changes.

To view a video demonstration, click on this link http://www.screencast.com/t/fSp26nf0

As always, we are happy to help if you have additional questions, so don't hesitate to call 1-877-643-8733 or email if you need assistance.

Attending Genealogical Conferences and Events

heather.matthews — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:19:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

If you've never attended a genealogical conference or event before, it may be because you've been intimidated by the prospect. After all, aren't genealogical conferences for professionals, or people who make genealogy their life's work? Actually, that's not accurate. There are genealogy conferences, expos, retreats, seminars, and workshops for every skill level and every interest level. Whether you're a beginner or an expert (or somewhere in between), you can find an event to suit your needs.

So what can you gain from attending a genealogical event? You can hone your research skills; you can try out new genealogy software programs; you can network with other family historians; you can learn about the latest and greatest innovations in the field of family history. Another bonus of attending conferences and events is that you often get free stuff. Once I got a free copy of Legacy Family Tree by attending the ICAPGen conference. Most events also provide a conference syllabus at no extra charge. These are packed with useful charts, outlines, and articles from the conference speakers. This way, instead of furiously scribbling down notes you can just absorb what the speakers are saying, because the information you need is already in the syllabus.

Many conferences are hosted by genealogical societies; others are hosted by archives or libraries. Some events have become very well-known in the genealogical world, and are attended by hundreds. The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, held every year in January and sponsored by the Utah Genealogical Association, is one of these. Classes at the week-long institute cover all kinds of topics: source-citation and documentation; organization; American land and court records; U.S. military records; successfully finding immigrant ancestors' origins; illegitimacy in Europe; and Scottish research, just to name a few. The annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies is also a prominent genealogical event; it is held in a different American city every fall. The National Genealogical Society Conference, one of the most prestigious because of its backing organization, also moves around every year. NGSC workshops cover everything from Italian to Scandinavian ancestry, and there are also "consult-an-expert" sessions where you can collaborate with others and get research guidance on difficult projects.

If you prefer something more low-key, however, you don't have to travel across the country to attend a high-profile conference. You can learn new things by attending your local genealogical society's conference, or by attending the conference of your nearest genealogical library or archive. Get online and find a genealogical event that will serve you.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Eli Manning

heather.matthews — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:18:00 GMT

Eli Manning was born 3 January 1981 in New Orleans. He is the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and the younger brother of NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.

He played college football at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) after being invited there to play by offensive coach David Cutliffe, who had previously worked with Eli's older brother Peyton at the University of Tennessee. Eli graduated from the University of Mississippi with a marketing degree and a 3.44 GPA.

In 2004 he was drafted as the first overall pick by the San Diego Chargers, but was then traded to the New York Giants. He has played for the Giants ever since that time. In February of 2008, the Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17 to 14 and won the Super Bowl. In April of 2008 Eli married his college sweetheart Abby McGrew. They live in Hoboken, New Jersey.

You can see whether or not you are related to Eli Manning by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Nationwide Gravesite Locator

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:12:00 GMT

Nationwide Gravesite Locator (Sponsored by the US Department of Veterans Affiars) is a website where you can search for burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker.

The Nationwide Gravesite Locator includes burial records from many sources. These sources provide varied data; some searches may contain less information than others. Information on veterans buried in private cemeteries was collected for the purpose of furnishing government grave markers, and we do not have information available for burials prior to 1997.

�� Visit Nationwide Gravesite Locator

Family Dashboard Survey

heather.matthews — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:17:00 GMT

We Need Your Input About Family Dashboard

Family Dashboard has been available now for several years, and we would like to get some feedback from you, our users, on what you think.

Take the Family Dashboard Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CJRXDKH

We are very excited to offer Family Dashboard, and feel that it represents both unique functionality not available elsewhere as well as a significant functionality improvement in our site.

But what matters most is what you think. Please give us your input, good and bad, so we can look at ways to make Family Dashboard the most useful genealogy tool on the internet.

We made every effort to keep this survey brief, but we do want a complete picture of your thoughts about Family Dashboard.

Thank You, and good luck in finding your ancestors.

Rob Armstrong
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales

How Much Do You Enjoy Family Dashboard?

heather.matthews — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:17:00 GMT

Family Fashboard is Exlusive to OneGreatFamily

Three years ago this month we launched our exclusive genealogy tool known as Family Dashboard. This tool has become the future of online genealogy in making your family tree more meaningful to you.

Family Dashboard includes these widgets:

Relationship Calculator - See how two people are related.
Migration Calculator - Map the birth locations between two people.
View General Statistics about your Family Tree - Generations in your family tree, how many generations are in your family tree, number of ancestors OneGreatFamily has added to your family tree, ancestors found in a week, and more!
See important events right out of your family tree that took place on any day of the year
Time Capsule - Enter a date and see important information in history about that date
View the top Birth and Death Countries in your family tree
Average Lifespan in your Family Tree
Last name popularity - see how many people in the U.S. have your ancestors' last name.
Much, much more!

Over the past couple of years we have featured each of these widgets in our newsletter so you can better understand all the Family Dashboard has to offer.

For those who have not experienced Family Dashboard, we encourage you to login to OneGreatFamily and click on the "Family Dashboard" tab at the top. It will open your eyes to interesting pieces of your family tree.

For those of you familiar with Family Dashboard, we would really appreciate if you would take a survey. Details are in the article below.

Occupations

heather.matthews — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:16:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Have you ever found yourself staring at a census record, puzzled by the occupation that was listed there, wondering what on earth your ancestor did for a living? Have you ever wondered what a tide waiter, wainwright, or baxter was? You're not alone. In this article, we'll define some of these perplexing olden-day occupations.

. barker- a tanner, someone who tans animal hides to make leather
. baxter- a female baker
. brewster- a female brewer
. chandler- a candlemaker
. clark- a clerk
. confectionary- one who makes sweets
. cooper- one who makes and repairs wooden casks or tubs
. crocker- a potter
. crowner- a coroner
. dowser- a water finder (finds a good site for a well, for instance)
. forger- a blacksmith
. fuller- one who cleaned and washed wool to prepare to spin it into thread
. glazier- someone who makes glass for windows
. haberdasher- someone who sells men's clothing (including hats, shirts, ties, and gloves)
. hackman- in the linen industry, one who prepared flax or hemp for spinning using an instrument called a hackle
. hackneyman- someone who drives a hackney, or coach
. hostler or ostler- a groom who cares for horses
. nailor- a nail maker
. ripper- a fishmonger
. skinner- someone who prepares animal skins and hides or someone who drives animals like mules or oxen (a mule skinner, for instance)
. spinster- a female spinner
. turner- one who turns wood on a lathe into spindles for spinning
. thatcher- a roofer
. tide waiter- a customs inspector
. tucker- someone who cleaned cloth goods
. wainwright- a wagon maker
. wheelwright- someone who makes and repairs wagon wheels and carriages
. webster- someone who operated a loom; a weaver

Learning these occupations makes your genealogy research more fun-it's interesting to know what your ancestors did for work every day of their lives. Many of these occupation names also evolved into surnames, so understanding what these occupations are can better help you understand your family's history.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Billy Ray Cyrus

heather.matthews — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:15:00 GMT

William Ray Cyrus was born 25 August 1961 in Flatwoods, Greenup, Kentucky. His grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher and his father was a politician. As a child, he wanted to learn to play his father's guitar but was unable to do so because he was left-handed and his father was right-handed. He was determined to make music a part of his life, however; he attended Georgetown College on a baseball scholarship but then gave it up to focus on his music.

He signed a deal with Mercury Nashville Records and launched his musical career; he is best known for his 1992 single, "Achy Breaky Heart." In 2005, he began co-starring with his daughter Miley on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.

You can see whether or not you are related to Billy Ray Cyrus by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Family Tree University

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:11:00 GMT

Family Tree University, brought to you by the publishers of Family Tree Magazine, makes learning how to trace your family tree fun and rewarding. You can complete lessons on your own schedule within your class session (usually four weeks). In each class, you'll get guidance from an experienced instructor and be able to interact with other students. You'll complete exercises that will help you make new discoveries about your family's past. And you'll have access to a library of resources and how-to material to expand your knowledge during and after the class.

�� For More Information, visit FamilyTreeUniversity.com

You've Submitted Your Family Tree To OneGreatFamily - Now What?

heather.matthews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:28:00 GMT

OneGreatFamily Has So Much To Help You Find Your Ancestors

Here is a list of things you can do at OneGreatFamily that will increase your chances of success at OneGreatFamily. We hope that as a member you have come to appreciate the unique service provided by OneGreatFamily.

1. Discover what has been done on your family tree already
The OneGreatFamily Tree is a powerful genealogy database that is shared and built by people like you all over the world. Every single name, date, place, picture, biography and video clip has been submitted by people like you. In fact, the OneGreatFamily Tree started without a single name. Users in over 80 countries have submitted millions of names . . . and we've only just begun! So what does a "shared" worldwide database mean to you? It means someone else may have already entered dozens or even hundreds of your ancestors!

2. Start researching where others left off
Spend some time searching for your ancestors at OneGreatFamily and pay special attention to new information that is added to your family tree over time. This will help you know what research others have already done or are doing on your family tree. You can then spend your time conducting new research or simply verifying information that others have provided.

3. Meet and collaborate with family
OneGreatFamily allows people around the world to work on one common family tree. This means others can be researching and improving information on your ancestors. Wouldn't you like to meet and collaborate with these genealogical cousins? You can! OneGreatFamily provides collaboration features that allow you to work with other researchers and family members.

4. Search millions of names
At OneGreatFamily, you can search millions of names in the OneGreatFamily Tree and in the Social Security Death Index. When you find an individual that you would like to learn more about, simply click on him or her to view detailed information that we store in our databases.

With OneGreatFamily, you have the flexibility to choose when to work on your genealogy and when to focus on other needs in your life, knowing that work on your family tree continues.

5. Visit your Family Dashboard
Your Family Dashboard is the first page you see when you login to OneGreatFamily. This very unique page allows you to learn interesting facts about your ancestors and family tree. This is also a great place to get ideas of where you can do addition research.

OneGreatFamily has much to offer that cannot be found on any other genealogy site or within any other genealogy program! If you have other questions or need further assistance, please contact us.

OneGreatFamily Tip: Genealogy Browser Toolbar

heather.matthews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:27:00 GMT

What Do The Various Buttons On The Toolbar Do?

Genealogy Browser has very unique buttons that we would like to feature.

Common Ancestors -Common Ancestors are indicated by individuals (stars) that are colored blue. Common Ancestors are individuals who show up multiple times in your genealogy because they are connected to you in more than one genealogical line. If you mouse over a Common Ancestor, a line will appear connecting you to the other place in your genealogy where the same person exists. You will also find a button of a blue tilted line in the toolbar of Genealogy BrowserT. By clicking on this button, all of the lines between your common ancestors will appear in your StarfieldTM. Here is what a common ancestor will look like:

Hints -OneGreatFamily continually works for you as we try to find possible matches to your genealogy. When new information for your ancestors is found, a Gen-BulbT icon will appear next tothe name of the individual in your pedigree. Simply click on the Gen-Bulb, verify the new information, and your pedigree will automatically be updated.�

Conflicts -This feature makes the verification of genealogical information possible by notifying you with the image of a yellow lightning bolt, called a Gen-Bolt, when another OneGreatFamily user has information that conflicts with your data. You can then collaborate with the source and work out your differences. If, in the end, you can't resolve the conflict, you agree to disagree and each view the data as you believe it to be correct.

Tracer -This feature allows you to see how you are related to anyone in your pedigree. The trace to anchor displays a blue line from you to the ancestor, highlighting each individual in the direct lineage in between.

View Descendants -Allows you to view siblings, spouses, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc., of any individual in your genealogy.

Census Terminology

heather.matthews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:26:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Knowing the "ins and outs" of census research is essential to researching ancestors in the United States. And even though sites like Ancestry have good and self-explanatory search engines for the U.S. federal census, there are still some basic terms you should be familiar with when working with census records. Some of these are:

. enumerator- the person who goes door-to-door taking down census information
. Soundex- a system used to code surnames according to their consonant sounds so that you can search a database to find variations of a surname (Smythe and Smith are coded as the same surname, for instance)
. population schedule- the typical census records that record the names and ages of individuals
. non-population schedule- any census enumeration that was not taken for the purpose of calibrating population (like a mortality schedule, agricultural schedule, or industrial schedule)
. mortality schedule- along with the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 census, enumerators had to take information on all the people who had died during the previous twelve months
. agricultural schedule- these schedules, taken in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 list the owners of farms and the value of their equipment, livestock, crops, and land
. slave schedule- taken up to 1860, these schedules list only the age and gender of a slave and the name of the slave owner
. enumeration district, or ED- for the purpose of taking the census, towns were divided up into areas known as enumeration districts; one district was assigned to each enumerator
. township- before a city had been officially incorporated as a city, it was part of an unincorporated area known as a township

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the census and with census terminology so that census research is not difficult for you or confusing. Your ancestors will thank you!

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Mae West

heather.matthews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:25:00 GMT

Mae West

Racy actress and playwright Mae West was born 17 August 1893 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York as "Mary Jane West." Her father was a prizefighter and later ran a private investigation agency; her mother was a corset model. Her Irish Catholic paternal grandmother strongly disapproved of the family's Protestantism and the laissez-faire way in which the West household was run.

At age fourteen, Mae began acting in Vaudeville shows for the Hal Clarendon Stock Company. In 1911 she appeared in her first Broadway show, and in 1918 she began writing her own shows. One was so offensive that it was shut down and cast and crew were arrested.

In 1932 she began acting in movies and performing in radio skits. In 1933 she was the second-highest paid individual in the U.S. (after newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst). Because of their provocative content, her radio skits were banned from many stations. She died on 22 November 1980.

You can see whether or not you are related to Mae West by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Genealogy Tip of the Day

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:00:00 GMT

One of the best Genealogy Blogs I've seen lately is GenealogyTipoftheDay.blogspot.com which is written by Michael John Neill who is also known for his website Casefile Clues.

His blog gives you short but very informative and interesting tips each day. The tips give you something to think about, maybe something you have not thought about before.

�� Visit Genealogy Tip of the Day (genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com)

There's No Other Genealogy Program Like OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:24:00 GMT

How is OneGreatFamily Different From Other Genealogy Websites?

OneGreatFamily is a cooperative effort between you and the rest of the world. It is an online genealogical service which allows everyone to combine their knowledge and data to build one huge, shared database.

OneGreatFamily is more than a simple collection of different family trees. Using breakthrough technology, OneGreatFamily is actually linking all of the family trees together into one great family.

What This Means To You:

With the world working together on one family tree, each individual is able to leverage the effort and research of all OneGreatFamily users rather than wasting time duplicating research that others have already done.

How It Works:

After you enter what you already know about your ancestors, we begin searching for more of your ancestors. Once our search process starts, it never stops.

A genealogist can only search for information about one ancestor at a time. The OneGreatFamily automated search engine continually looks for additional information and relatives for every one of your ancestors at the same time.

As OneGreatFamily members add new individuals, our search process checks to see if any of them are your ancestors. Even if we find some of your ancestors today, we may find more in a week, a month, or a year.

Once we find new information about your ancestors, we notify you by email and when you login to OneGreatFamily. You can see the new information about your ancestors in your family tree.

As we continue to search for your ancestors, you can review the ancestors we added, add new ancestors yourself, and collaborate with others who are looking for your ancestors too. OneGreatFamily offers a unique genealogy experience that will help you enjoy the journey and the results.

OneGreatFamily Tip: How to Share Your Family Dashboard

heather.matthews — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:24:00 GMT

Sharing OneGreatFamily's Unique Family Dashboard Is Easy To Do

There is a way to share your Family Dashboard with others. It is simple to do. Here are the steps:

1. Log into your One Great Family account and select the Family Dashboard tab.

2. Scroll down the page until you see where it says "Information about ______ Family Tree."

3. There will be four options that you can select. Select the one that says :

4. Once you have selected this, another window will pop up. This screen will ask you to enter in the person's email that you want to share your Dashboard with. Enter in their full email address and their name. You can then personalize the email message by typing in their name.

5. You can select a box at the bottom of the page that will send the same email to you as well.

6. Click submit.

7. Next it will say that it has been sent. It will then give you the option to send another email, or to be done.

Sharing your dashboard is that easy and it will allow other people to see what you have been working on. They can view your family tree and all the other features of your Family Dashboard. Don't worry though, they are not able to make changes on your Dashboard.

Old-Fashioned Nicknames

heather.matthews — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:23:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

One challenge of searching for your ancestors' names in old records is that they commonly used nicknames. Some of these nicknames-like Jim for James and Bob for Robert-are probably already familiar to you. Others, however, are no longer in use and therefore may seem strange and unexpected. Let's go through some of these unfamiliar nicknames:

. Millie is a nickname for Amelia
. Chet is a derivation of Chester
. Women named Christina or Christine or Ernestine were frequently nicknamed Tina
. Connie was a common nickname for Constance
. Nellie was a common nickname for Cornelia
. You're probably familiar with Liz, Betsy, Beth, Betty, and Lizzie as nicknames for Elizabeth. But don't forget Eliza and Bertha
. Flo is a common nickname for Florence
. Women named Frances were nicknamed Fanny
. Men named Henry were commonly nicknamed Hal or Hank
. The nickname Hal applied to men named Harold or Henry
. Girls named Harriet were sometimes nicknames Hattie.
. Hettie was a nickname applied to women named Esther, Hester, and Henrietta
. Ike was a nickname for Isaac
. The name Lois was derived as a nickname for Eloise
. Mabel is a derivation of Mehitabel
. The name Margaret-a very common nineteenth century name-had all kinds of nicknames associated with it. Women named Margaret could be called Madge, Maggie, Meg, Megan, Meggie, Peggy, or Daisy (think of Little Wives, the sequel to Little Women, in which Meg names her baby after herself but calls her Daisy). Margretha, the German form of Margaret, was commonly nicknamed Greta
. Mary, another very common name for women historically, had various nicknames, including Mae and Polly
. Pat, Patsy, and Pattie are all nicknames for Martha, believe it or not
. Nat was a nickname for men named Nathan or Nathaniel
. Rita comes from the name Margarita, a form of Margaret
. Sally was a common nickname for Sarah
. Tillie was a nickname for the name Matilda

Knowing what historical nicknames were can help you identify your ancestors in records where they did not use their full names.

Encyclopedia of Genealogy

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:58:00 GMT

The Encyclopedia of Genealogy is a free-content encyclopedia created by its readers and it available to everyone, free of charge. The Encyclopedia of Genealogy serves as a compedium of genealogical tools and techniques. It provides reference information about everything in genealogy except people. The encyclopedia provides explanations of terms found in genealogy research, including obsolete medical and legal terms. It will describe locations where records may be found. It will also describe how to research Italian, German, Polish, French-Canadian, Jewish, Black, Indian and other ancestors.

The Encyclopedia of Genealogy will serve as your standard genealogy reference manual. The Encycopedia of Genealogy is sponsored by Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (www.eogn.com).

�� Visit The Encyclopedia of Genealogy (www.eogen.com)

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Bill Clinton

heather.matthews — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:22:00 GMT

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on 19 August 1946 in Hope, Hempstead, Arkansas. His father William Jefferson Blythe, Jr. was killed three months before his son's birth in an auto accident. When Bill was fourteen years old, he adopted the surname of his stepfather, Roger Clinton.

He graduated with a law degree from Yale University in 1973 and married fellow Yale law classmate Hillary Rodham in 1975. Their only daughter Chelsea was born in 1980. Clinton served two terms as governor of Arkansas.

In 1992 Clinton was elected as the 42nd president of the U.S. Despite a scandal with a Washington intern that led to impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate and left office at the end of his second term with the highest end-of-approval rating since WWII.

You can see whether or not you are related to Bill Clinton by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

How Can You Be Sure The Information At OneGreatFamily Is Correct?

heather.matthews — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:21:00 GMT

Adding Documentation To OneGreatFamily Is Vital To Your Record Keeping

One of our subscribers recently asked us, "If all of the information on OneGreatFamily.com is submitted by other users, how can I be sure that it is correct?"

As experienced genealogists know, you should never take anyone else's work as being correct. Instead, you need to verify the information using sound genealogical techniques.
That is why we like to think of OneGreatFamily as a great source for research leads. It is almost always easier to substantiate a lead then it is to discover missing data. OneGreatFamily can be a rich source of research leads based on the submissions of other genealogists.

Perhaps you are at a brick wall on a great-, great-, great-grandfather. In OneGreatFamily a user has entered a name for that ancestor. Fantastic -now you have a lead to substantiate. You can collaborate with that submitter. Or you can go research the provided name.

Many genealogists use OneGreatFamily primarily for the research leads it provides.
Another question we often get is, "How can you be sure your automated match/merge technology won't mess up my genealogy research?" There are two parts to the answer to that question. First, our automated merging technology never changes your data. Our technology is sophisticated enough to keep everybody's data unchanged even when we merge ancestors together. We could merge 50 people into one and it wouldn't change your data.

Second, we have patent-pending software that merges the right ancestors into your family tree. OneGreatFamily's software ensures that only high-quality matches are combined to your family tree. In one test, we pitted OneGreatFamily's merging process against a panel of genealogists. OneGreatFamily was less likely to match people incorrectly than the panel of professional genealogists.

Because we are merging ancestors together, we encourage all of our subscribers to use the citation and collaboration features in Genealogy BrowserT.

You can help improve the quality of the database by citing your sources for the data that you submit to OneGreatFamily. When you include citations in your family tree, you improve the credibility of your family history, and you can help others find their genealogy as well. When you take the time to find sources for your genealogy, you are less likely to jump to wrong conclusions. You can ensure that you are passing along accurate information.

Documenting your sources also saves you time because you don't get lost researching the wrong line, and you don't have to go back again to find things that you have already researched.

In Genealogy Browser, you can include sources and citations for any ancestor or family on your tree. The citations you include with your ancestors' records become available to other OneGreatFamily subscribers to help with the collaborative effort.

When another user has not included citations with the ancestors that he or she submitted, you can still find out where that user obtained the information by using OneGreatFamily's Collaborate feature. Collaborating with other users allows you to see who else is working on your genealogy. For every family and individual, you can find out who submitted the information and contact that user. Collaboration at OneGreatFamily allows you to contact the individual with the common ancestor and ask where the information came from. With this unique OneGreatFamily feature, you can find sources to support your genealogical data.

Our program's one-of-a-kind merging feature, combined with the power of citation and collaboration, gives you access to easy, fun, and accurate genealogy.

OneGreatFamily Tip: Meet & Communicate With Distant Cousins

heather.matthews — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:20:00 GMT

How To Find Other Members Working On Your Family Lines

One key feature of OneGreatFamily is the ability for members to meet and communicate with other members who share common ancestors. Collaboration is a very powerful tool to your genealogy work.

Here are instructions on how to find and collaborate with your distant cousins.
First you will need to login to OneGreatFamily, then follow these steps:

1. Go to the Family Tree tab.

2. On the Family Tree tab, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Advanced Tree Editor" button.

3. The Genealogy Browser will automatically launch or you'll be prompted to install the Genealogy Browser.

4. Once the Genealogy Browser is open and displaying your tree, click on the Selected Individual you wish to collaborate about.

5. The Individual Details box will open showing the information for the person you clicked on.

6. Click the "Collaborate" button in the bottom left.

7. The "Collaborate with others" window will open with the Owners tab selected by default.

8. Notice the white box on the Owners tab. This box lists all the other OneGreatFamily users who are also working on this individual.

9. Click the little plus sign next to a group in the white box. The group will expand to show the usernames of everyone in that group. These are the actual people working on this individual. (A group is just a way of organizing users.)

10. Click on one of the usernames in the group.

11.The User Info fields will now automatically fill with the Name and Email of that OneGreatFamily user.

12. You can either click the send button or copy and paste the email address into your email program of choice to contact this person.

Genealogy Terminology, Second Edition

heather.matthews — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:19:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

This week we're continuing our explanations of basic genealogy terms and abbreviations, so you'll finally know what on earth an ahnentafel is!

. ahnentafel - a German word that translates to "ancestor table," and is a kind of pedigree chart with a specific numbering system
. FHL - the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the largest genealogical library in the world; all the records, resources, and services there are available free of charge
. descendancy - instead of making a chart that begins with yourself and moves backward to your ancestors, you can start with an ancestor and work forward in time, displaying all his children and descendants on a descendancy chart
. SSDI stands for Social Security Death Index. Available on many genealogy sites, including FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com, the index lists the names of individuals whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration (meaning that they were receiving Social Security benefits when they died)
. land patent - the original land grant from a sovereign (whether it be a monarch or the federal government) to an individual
. deed - legal document used to transfer ownership of property
. marriage bond - a bond deposited to the court by a groom when he intended to marry to ensure that he didn't change his mind; if he did, he forfeited the bond
. compiled lineage - a report describing the life and vital events of your ancestral family, written as a narrative
. research report - a report describing the genealogical research process and how a genealogist conducted his or her research on a particular family
. family group record - unlike a pedigree chart, which shows multiple generations of a family, a family group record shows a nuclear family: husband, wife, and children
. DAR stands for Daughters of the American Revolution, a lineage society for women who can prove direct descent from an American Revolutionary War soldier.
. metes and bounds - the way land was surveyed in early America, using natural markers like trees, rivers, and rocks (this system has since been replaced by the more modern method of rectangular survey)

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Kirk Douglas

heather.matthews — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:19:00 GMT

Kirk Douglas

The famed actor of Paths of Glory and Spartacus fame was born Issur Herschelovich Danielovitch on 9 December 1916 in Amsterdam, Montgomery, New York. His parents, Herschel and Bryna Danielovitch, were Russian Jewish immigrants who adopted the names Harry and Bertha Demsky upon coming to the United States; they had come from the Belarusian city of Gomel. Douglas grew up being called "Izzy Demsky," and was one of seven children (he had six sisters).

He attended St. Lawrence University on student loans before getting into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City on scholarship. It was during this time that he began using the stage name Kirk Douglas.

In 1941 he enlisted in the Navy. In 1943, he married former AADA classmate Diana Dill. (They would have two sons, including future Hollywood actor Michael Douglas, before divorcing in 1954.) After the war another AADA classmate, Lauren Bacall, would help launch Douglas' acting career.

He married Anne Buydens in 1954, and they had two sons. In 1991 Douglas was in a nearly-fatal helicopter crash and subsequently returned to his Russian Jewish roots, embracing the Judaism of his childhood.

You can see whether or not you are related to Kirk Douglas by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

DeathIndexes.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:58:00 GMT

DeathIndexes.com is a directory of online death indexes listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices & registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery & burial records. You can also find information here about searching the Social Security Death Index online.

�� Visit DeathIndexes.com

Six Different Methods To Finding Your Ancestors

heather.matthews — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:18:00 GMT

Adding More Information To Your Family Tree Will Increase Your Success At OneGreatFamily

We want to share some ideas about where you can find additional information about your family tree to enter into OneGreatFamily. If you've entered everything you know but haven't had any merges, hints, or conflicts, you have two options. You can choose to wait while others do their work and see if they tie into yours or you can take matters into your own hands by doing a little more outside research, entering the information into OneGreatFamily, and seeing if you can tie into someone else's work.

There are six circles of genealogy information available to you to assist you in finding out more about your family tree.

The Six Circles of Genealogy Information

Notice that the six circles in the diagram only partially overlap. Each will contain information that can be found in other circles, but each often has some information not found in other circles. For this reason, the most complete genealogy reach involves examining all six of the circles.

Notice that three of the six circles are shown in shades of green and three are shown in shades of blue. There are two general categories of people who get involved in researching their genealogy; those who only want to focus on the blue circles (information gatherers) and those who want to explore the information available in all the circles (researchers).

The Information Gatherers like interacting with family members, recalling old family stories, discovering more about their families, and preserving this information for future generations. They enjoy finding out more about their family trees, but aren't interested in searching through microfilm or tens of thousands of computer generated leads to find the information.

The Researchers love the thrill of the hunt. They relish searching for that piece of information about an ancestor and love the thrill that comes with tracking down a lead no one else has been able to find. Researchers enjoy crafting searches and sifting through the results, looking for that long lost ancestor.

The Genealogy Community consists of thousands of people in both groups, and OneGreatFamily is a great tool for all. Information Gatherers record and document valuable information often unavailable elsewhere and make it available to Researchers. Researchers find information not available to Information Gatherers to augment their knowledge. Everyone benefits from OneGreatFamily because everyone works on the same single global human family tree.

Each Circle of Knowledge Is Described Here In More Detail:

1. Your Own Knowledge
People usually know a lot more about their family tree than they realize because they have separate memories of many people. For example, you may have a clear memory of the family members that attended a family function from your youth - a wedding, a confirmation, or a bar mitzvah. You may also remember stories told by your parents or grandparents about their parents, brothers, sisters, and other relatives. All these memories serve to get you started in recording your family tree. You may also want to write them down and preserve them in OneGreatFamily for future generations.

2. Knowledgeable Relatives
Every family seems to have one relative that is really into genealogy. This person might even have hand-written genealogy records. Give that person a phone call. Ask about family stories and the family members who were participants. You'll have an enjoyable conversation and glean a lot of information about your family tree. Next, turn to your oldest living relatives, perhaps a grandparent or a great-uncle. Pick up the phone or hop in the car. Most elderly people enjoy talking about their memories and reliving "the good old days." You might even consider using audio or video tape to record the conversation. What a treasure for future generations!

3. Family Documents
People are often surprised to realize how much information they have around their homes. Books of remembrance, memory boxes, and old trunks are often full of certificates, licenses, newspaper articles, and even simple birthday cards that can shed light on your family tree. Once you find these documents, it's a good idea to consider scanning them electronically. Often these documents are one-of-a-kind, so getting them digitized now may be their last chance at preservation.

Many People Are Happy With Just Doing This Much. They have gathered quite a bit of family information and have recorded it. They don't enjoy the idea of doing research, which inevitably involves hunting down data collections and then sifting through results; however, if those green circles call to you, read on.

4. Free Internet Websites
The Internet is full of web sites offering free genealogy information. Often, this information is made available online by State or local governments, local genealogical or historical societies, or genealogy enthusiasts. Available information can run the gamut; from tombstone transcriptions to indices of marriage records to war casualty lists. Search engines like Google or Yahoo can be effective tools for tracking down information on your family members. Three extremely useful websites are Cyndislist.com, Rootsweb.com, and USGenWeb.com.

5. Paid Internet Websites
Like free Internet websites, these usually offer indices or transcribed records, sometimes even displaying an image of the original record. These are usually run by commercial, for-profit organizations that have paid to have records transcribed. Often, you can search the collection for free, but accessing the actual data will require signing up for a free trial or paying outright for access. Most operate on an annual subscription basis and can run hundreds of dollars.

6. Public Document Repositories
This circle encompasses everything from Courthouses to Libraries to Archives (National and State). A few of these organizations have put some of their material online, but the vast majority of their records are available on either microfilm or paper format. Some accept written, mailed requests for information; others require you to appear in person to research and copy records. Examples include County Courthouses, the Social Security Administration, and the National Archives.

Remember, one of the great strengths of OneGreatFamily is that you always have the choice to wait and see if others tie into your material or to do a little more research, enter any new information into OneGreatFamily, and see if you can tie into someone else's work.

OneGreatFamily Tip: Forgot Your Username or Password?

heather.matthews — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:17:00 GMT

How Do I Recover My Login Information?

When you first subscribed or signed up as a guest, it was required that you enter an email address and password. Previous we had members pick a username but last year we changed your login to be your email address since that is easier for members to remember. Even though your email addresses can be easier to remember, it may be possible that you have forgotten the email address you used to sign up or your password.

Check your email account to see if you still have our welcome letter containing your registration information. If not, we can send your password to you again. If you have forgotten the email associated with your OGF account or password, use the Remind Me! feature. If the information you submit matches the information associated with your OneGreatFamily account, an email will be sent to you with your login information.

If you have changed your email address since you created your OneGreatFamily account or do not receive your login information by email within a few minutes (when using the "Remind Me!" feature above), you may contact OneGreatFamily Customer Service by filling out the Contact Form. OneGreatFamily Customer Support will ask you a few questions to verify you are the owner of the account, and then supply you with your login information.

Basic Genealogy Terms

heather.matthews — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:16:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

PERSI, GEDCOM, consanguinity, enumerator.let's be honest, the sea of genealogical terms and abbreviations can be overwhelming, especially if you're a novice. For the next few weeks we'll define and explain these unfamiliar and confusing terms, starting with some of the basics:

. CyndisList is a categorized and cross-referenced list of genealogy links online, found at www.cyndislist.com
. GEDCOM stands for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, and it is a file format that you can use to save your family tree and then open it with any genealogy software program
. Consanguinity is blood relation. In Catholic law, if a man and woman shared the same great-great-grandparent, they were consanguineous within the fourth degree and could not marry in the Church without obtaining a marriage dispensation.
. marriage dispensation - in Catholicism, special permission granted by the bishop allowing a couple to marry
. AG stands for Accredited Genealogist, one who has earned his or her credentials as a professional genealogist through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen)
. CG stands for Certified Genealogist, one who has earned his or her credentials as a professional genealogist through the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG)
. PERSI stands for PERiodical Source Index, and PERSI is the largest index to historical and genealogical periodicals in the world; it was created by the staff of the Allen County Public Library, one of the best genealogical libraries in the United States
. A lineage society or heritage society is a group that you cannot join without proving descent from an individual or group. For instance, there are lineage societies for descendants of the original Mayflower passengers.
. grantor - in a deed or land transaction, the one selling or giving property
. grantee - in a deed or land transaction, the one buying or receiving property
. FamilySearch Wiki - at wiki.familysearch.org, you can learn about any genealogy topic under the sun by reading what other researchers have contributed; you can also contribute your own genealogy knowledge

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Bill Gates

heather.matthews — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:15:00 GMT

Bill Gates

Bill Gates was born William Henry Gates III on 28 October 1955 in Seattle, King, Washington. He was actually the fourth William Henry Gates in his family, but because his father had given up the "III" suffix to his name, he was called William Henry Gates III. He came from English, German, and Scotch-Irish descent. He came from a wealthy family; his father was a prominent lawyer and his grandfather a national bank president. He attended an elite private school, where he wrote his first computer program-a tic-tac-toe game that allowed you to play against the computer-in eighth grade. Along with Paul Allen and two other students, he was later banned from the school for manipulating the school's operating system to get free computer time.

After founding Microsoft with Paul Allen and becoming a software engineering magnate, he became a billionaire in 1987. He was the wealthiest individual in the world from 1995 to 2007, despite antitrust litigation that ensued in 1998 (a judge ruled that Microsoft had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act). He stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 to focus on philanthropic work through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He and his wife Melinda are the second-most generous philanthropists in American, having given $27 billion to charity. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 2005.

You can see whether or not you are related to Bill Gates by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Cinnamon Toast Genealogy

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:57:00 GMT

Research your surname or find records by region, record type, or religion at CinnamonToast Genealogy. This site is an excellent resource for genealogy records and information available online.

The site provides visitors with 9921 links to other sites and contains links or information on more than 153,000 surnames.

Take some time to enjoy the site's genealogy explorer search functionality or submit your own genealogy website to its growing index.

�� Visit MyCinnamonToast.com

Find Your Famous Relatives At OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:13:00 GMT

Are You Related To Anyone Famous?

Are you a descendant of a notable character in history? Many families tell stories of a famous ancestor - a king or explorer, an actor or rogue - and a surprising number of these family legends turn out to be true. So how can you find out about your own ancestral celebrities?

The first step in finding out if you're the descendant of a famous person is to find the relevant genealogy. For many historical figures, a great deal of family history research has been done already. If your own family tree leads back to one of these individuals, then verifying the story can be simple. At OneGreatFamily, we have the genealogies of some famous people. You can find their genealogies by visiting: http://onegreatfamily.com/General/famous_ancestors.aspx

You can also use the Relationship Calculator available on your Family Dashboard to see if you are related to any famous person. Keep in mind that OneGreatFamily is only using the information from the OneGreatFamily database. If you are sure there is a relationship, it probably means more information needs to be added.

The Relationship Calculator actually allows you to see whether or not a relationship exists between any two people in the OneGreatFamily database and will display a chart showing both people's relationship to their common ancestor.

If a famous ancestor's family tree is not well documented, you can do the research yourself to establish the line of descent. Such work will be simpler if you have access to a research library, collections of private papers, or the help of a known descendant.

If your family tree doesn't seem to link up, but you still believe you are a descendant, you may have other ways to discover if the claim is true. Family papers and documents may tell the story of an illicit relationship - one not formally acknowledged by the official records, but factual nonetheless. Some claims of being a descendant can be verified or disproved by DNA analysis, but that requires the cooperation of the acknowledged family.

The simplest way to discover your famous ancestors is to share the research done by other descendants. Collaborate with others through OneGreatFamily to learn more about your ancestors.

Login to OneGreatFamily today and see how you are related to famous people. Finding out this information can make your genealogy exciting!

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OneGreatFamily Tip: Where Can I Store Multimedia In Genealogy BrowserT?

heather.matthews — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:12:00 GMT

Share & Store Photos, Video, And More About Your Ancestors

OneGreatFamily allows you to go beyond just names and events and allows you to share photos, scanned documents, videos, and more. Finding a picture of a distant ancestor can sometimes feel like discovering gold. Pictures, audio clips, and movies make for a very rich family history experience.

Instructions for Uploading Multimedia:

From the Individual Details window, open the Multimedia window by clicking the Multimedia icon (). You will be presented with a list of media (or a blank list if media has not yet been added for this individual). You can upload, view, rename, or remove media associated with individuals.

The buttons in the upper-right corner of the Multimedia window (shown below) allows you to add, display, rename, or remove multimedia files.

Media List
Multimedia files can include pictures, audio, text, and movies in the following formats:

Images: .jpg, .bmp, .tif, .gif
Audio: .mp3, .wav, .au, .rm
Video: .avi, .asf, .mpe, .mpeg
Text: .rtf, .html, .txt

View
View the selected media file in the associated program. This requires that you have software on your computer capable of viewing the file type. Most files can be viewed by software included with your operating system, though you may need to update to the latest version of the software (Windows Media Player, for example), depending on how the media was created by the person uploading the file.

Add Media File
Add a new media file associated with the individual. This option will open a window for finding the file on your computer. Once this file is chosen and uploaded, a copy of the file resides on OneGreatFamily and does not affect the file on your computer.

Rename
Change the title of the selected media file.

Delete
Remove the selected media file from OneGreatFamily. (This will not affect a media file on your own computer.)

We hope you will find OneGreatFamily's Multimedia section to be useful. Sharing photos, documents and scanned videos is one of the best ways to collaborate on OneGreatFamily with Distant Cousins. Upload and share today!

Probate Terminology

heather.matthews — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:11:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Probate records are a genealogical gold mine. If you're researching early American ancestors, probate records may be the only records that specify family relationships! That being said, some of the terminology associated with probate records can be unfamiliar and intimidating. Probate records seem to have their own language! For that reason, let's take some of the fear factor out of probate records by introducing some basic concepts and terms:

. testator - the one who leaves a will (a woman leaving a will is referred to as a testatrix)
. When someone dies intestate, they die without having left a will.
. executor - the person named by the testator to carry out the instructions in the will (a female executor is called an executrix)
. administrator - when someone dies intestate, the probate court appoints an administrator to divide up his or her estate (a female administrator is called an administratrix)
. A probate court or surrogate court handles probate cases and administrations of estates, supervising the administering of property to heirs, judging the validity of wills, etc.
. In some counties when someone dies intestate their case is handled by the orphans court or court of ordinary.
. inventory - a list of property that is made by people with no claim to the property; the list is used to divide up property among heirs (or in preparation for sale)
. real property - also called real estate, real property is all non-moveable property such as land and buildings
. personal property - moveable property such as household goods, livestock, etc. (in early slave-owning America, slaves were listed in probate records as personal property)
. A will is made while someone is still living, and it is proved after his or her death. This means that a will can be made many years before it is proved.
. codicil - an addition or amendment made to a will that overrules the previous terms of the will

FamilyHistoryExpos.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:57:00 GMT

If you are looking for news and genealogy events, visit FamilyHistoryExpos.com. They have a calendar of Family History Expos all around the United Sates as well as a Blog, Podcast and Videos taken at previous FamilyExpos.

The website also has many tools, information and links to help you with your genealogy. The owners of FamilyHistoryExpos.com are dedicated to helping you find your ancestors.

�� Visit FHExpos.com Today!

How OneGreatFamily Is Different From Other Genealogy Services

heather.matthews — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:11:00 GMT

3 Concepts That Explain How OneGreatFamily Is Different From Other Genealogy Services

There are some key differences between OneGreatFamily and other genealogy services that you need to understand to take full advantage of what we have to offer. Though OneGreatFamily is not a new service, it is quite revolutionary to the genealogy community. We have come up with 3 main principles that explain what exactly makes us so unique and how our�cutting-edge, yet simple,�approach to genealogy can greatly help you in building your family tree.

Concept 1 - OneGreatFamily is a Single Family Tree
OneGreatFamily is a single, global family tree which everyone helps to build. It's not just a collection of individual trees that people work on alone. This means that when ANYONE works on OneGreatFamily, they are also working on your tree, and when you work on your tree, you are collaborating with others to explore their family trees.

As OneGreatFamily members add to the global family tree, the system searches to see if any of the names submitted could be your ancestors. Even if we find some of your ancestors today, we may find more in a week, a month, or a year. Just think; while you're concentrating on a maternal line, OneGreatFamily may identify a breakthrough on your paternal side! Your next step forward could come when you are sleeping, making dinner, or enjoying an evening out with friends, all thanks to the efforts of tens of thousands of OneGreatFamily members.

Concept 2 - OneGreatFamily Searches and Sifts For You
OneGreatFamily automatically does all the "search and sift" work for you. Let's face it, most traditional genealogy websites are based on "search and sift", where you initiate a search and then have to start sifting through the tens of thousands of matches you get back. Obviously, most of these possible matches will be wrong and a few may clearly be right. The rest have to be sorted and checked.

OneGreatFamily does all this tedious work for you. We compare all the people you enter against every person entered in the OneGreatFamily database. Then, we sift the results and alert you of possible matches. These are referred to as "Hints". Instead of endlessly sifting through obviously incorrect search results, OneGreatFamily focuses your attention and effort on likely matches.

Concept 3 - OneGreatFamily Handles Different Opinions
OneGreatFamily easily handles differences of opinion. Sometimes genealogists disagree. Perhaps there is documentation supporting multiple dates for the same event or even regarding parentage.

Because of its collaborative foundation, OneGreatFamily is built to handle these situations. These discrepancies are called "conflicts". OneGreatFamily will never force you to accept someone else's information, nor someone else to accept yours.

There are two primary types of conflicts: informational and relational. Informational conflicts occur when a fact is in dispute, perhaps a birth date or a marriage location. Relational conflicts occur when a family relationship is in question. In resolving both types of conflicts, you will be presented with your information and the conflicting information. You will then be given a choice to 1) accept the alternate information presented, 2) clear the conflict, which means you are satisfied with your information and no longer want to consider any alternative information, or 3) cancel for now, which will allow you to postpone making a choice until you can find more information.

Dive into OneGreatFamily and see what we can do for your family tree.

OneGreatFamily Tip: How to Change Your Dashboard Font Size

heather.matthews — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:10:00 GMT

Family Dashboard Feature

Do you have a difficult time reading your Family Dashboard? There is a way to change the size of your font to make it bigger (or smaller) so that it is easier to read. The following steps will help you to change the font size:

1. Go to your Family Dashboard tab when you are logged in.
2. Under the heading that says "Information about ____________ family tree" there are four links that you can click on.

3. Select the link that has five letter A's

4. The size of the letter indicates the size that the font will be when it is selected. If you would like a larger font then choose the largest 'A'.

5. Once you have selected a size it will take a moment to refresh your page and then the font size will be changed.

Finding Jewish Ancestors at the Family History Library and in Online Records

heather.matthews — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:09:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

To trace your Jewish ancestors, the first step is finding out the specific place they came from in the old world. You can do this in one of the following records:

. passenger arrival list for a U.S. port
. U.S. naturalization record
. passenger departure list for a European port
. a record in a Jewish record collection

Once you know where your ancestors came from, you can use the Family History Library Catalog to find records. Search for the locality you want and then select "Jewish Records," or you can do a subject search and type in "Jewish history" or "Jewish records." You can also do a keyword search for "Jew" or "Jews."

An excellent resource is Jewish Records in the Family History Library Catalog, compiled by the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). Begun in 2000, and expanded since that time, it is an inventory of Jewish records at the Family History Library.

One good FHL resource that you should be aware of is the Mordy Collection, compiled by Isobel Mordy of Middlesex, England, and microfilmed for the Family History Library in 1984; they contain birth, marriage, and death information on the Jews of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Information is arranged on pedigree slips; to find your pedigree slip on microfilm, you must first consult the Name Index.

To find the Mordy Collection, do a search place for England in the Family History Library Catalog. Then go to England - Jewish Resources. Then click on Collections of Jewish records. The Mordy Collection is included in an even larger collection known as the Knowles Collection. It links together over 75,000 Jews into family groups. To find out more about accessing the Knowles collection, visit the FamilySearch Jewish Genealogy page.

The Family Tree of the Jewish People, found at http://www.jewishgen.org/gedcom, is a wiki-genealogy site where you can contribute your genealogy, search submitted genealogies, and discover how you're linked in to the global Jewish family tree.

What is the best part about all these resources, online and otherwise? They're completely free. Take advantage of what the Family History Library-and the internet-has to offer, and start researching your Jewish ancestors.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Margaret Thatcher

heather.matthews — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:08:00 GMT

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher was the leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990 and was therefore prime minister while her party was in power, from 1979 to 1990.

She was the first female prime minister of Britain, and was in office longer than any prime minister in more than a century. During the Cold War she took a hard line against the Soviet Union and the encroachment of communism, working closely with U.S. president Ronald Reagan. She holds the title of Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which means she can sit in the House of Lords.

She was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire in 1925. She studied chemistry at Oxford and did post-graduate work in crystallography. She took the Bar in 1953, specializing in tax law. Under Edward Heath of the Conservative Party, she became Secretary of State for Education and Science in 1970. She espoused the conservative economic ideals of Friedrich von Hayek and worked to control the power of trade unions. Her unbending determination-and conservative politics in a time when Britain was dominated by conservativism-won her the position of prime minister in 1979.

You can see whether or not you are related to Margaret Thatcher by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Blue Monocle Photos

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:56:00 GMT

Blue Monocle Photos specializes in producing high-quality modern photographic prints of histrocial photographs of cities, towns, landscapres, and more. Most of our prints mainly come from the period of 1860-1930.

Old photographs are a wonderful window into our history showing those places most important and interesting to us: our towns, our ancestry, and our common heritage. Visit Blue Monocle Photos to see historical photographs of the places where you live and learn about what life was like for your ancestors.

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How To Make The Most Out Of Your Family Reunion

heather.matthews — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:08:00 GMT

Make Your Family Reunion A Genealogy Success

Summer is a popular time for family reunions. This year at your family reunion make it mean so much more by working together on a gift for future generations: your family tree. Enrich your family gatherings by sharing your family history. Here are a few suggestions:

BEFORE YOU GET TOGETHER:

1. Collaborate with OneGreatFamily members: You probably have ancestors in your family tree that you know nothing about but names and dates. Other members of OneGreatFamily might have stories or other interesting facts about your ancestors. Collaborate with other members to find more details to share when your family gets together.

2. Work on Your Family Tree: Try to find information on an ancestor that is a brick wall in your genealogy. Visit other websites to see if you can take a line back to the next generation. Adding more information will increase your success at OneGreatFamily and give you interesting information to share with your family when you get together.

3. Email Your Family Tree to Family Members: Get other family members excited about genealogy by emailing all the hard work you have done.

WHEN YOU GET TOGETHER:

1. Collaborate with Your Family: Talk to your family members about your family tree. Get them to open up and share stories and facts about your ancestors. Be sure to write down the information your gather or, better yet, with their permission you might video or audio tape the discussions.

2. Invite Other Family Members to Join Your Group: Personally invite other family members to join your group. The more the merrier! Having their help will accelerate your genealogy quest. When other family members join your group, each will see the family tree from their own perspective. This means that each group member can see their own individual efforts to the family tree. It also means that each member has the ability to accept hints and conflicts on behalf of the entire group. Working within a group is an excellent idea for any small circle of people who are sharing the same genealogy records. Group work is ideal for family organizations who want to assign different family members to work on different parts of the family tree.

** If any of the individuals you invite choose to become subscribers, you will get a free month added to your subscription as our way of saying "thanks" for spreading the word about our great service. Those you invite only need to enter your username in the space provided when signing up for their own subscriptions

AFTER THE GET TOGETHER:

1. Enter the information you gained into OneGreatFamily. That way the information is available for access by distant family members around the world. Also, it will be safe and secure and available to future generations as well.

At OneGreatFamily we have strong feelings about the joy and family unity that can come from working together on your family tree. Invite your family and friends to join you as well at OneGreatFamily to get excited about their genealogy.

OneGreatFamily Tip: 'Did You Know?' Sidebar Tells You More About Your Ancestors

heather.matthews — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:07:00 GMT

Learn More About Your Ancestors At OneGreatFamily

For most of our ancestors we know only names, dates, and places of important events. OneGreatFamily has created a way to expand your knowledge of your ancestors life. When you login to OneGreatFamily and come to the Family Dashboard page, click on the "Family Tree" tab:

A pedigree chart showing 3 generations will be shown on the page. You can also select a different anchor by clicking on the "Change Anchor" link under the tab.

If you click "Edit" on any ancestor, a box will pop up:

The gray "Did you Know?" sidebar will give you several very interesting facts about your ancestor and what life was like while they were alive.
Information will include:

Popularity of their name
Worldwide events that occurred on their birthday and death date
Famous people born on their birthday and death date
Average cost of gas, home, car, milk, income, etc. the year they were born and also the year they died
Entertainment news (movies, music, sports, etc.)
And much more!

We hope by providing this information it will help you to see what life was like for your ancestor. The more we can learn about our ancestors the more connected we will feel to them. Explore the "Did You Know?" sidebar today to learn more about your ancestors.

Outlaws By Kimberly Brown

heather.matthews — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:06:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Train robbers, horse thieves, and colorful characters of all kinds made up the composition of the bandits and outlaws of the Wild West. Who were these men? What kinds of families did they come from, and did they leave any descendants behind?

Butch Cassidy, born Robert LeRoy Parker, was the leader of the train- and bank-robbing Wild Bunch. He was born in 1866 to Mormon immigrant parents and grew up on his parents' ranch in Circleville, Piute, Utah. His father Maximillian Parker and his mother Ann Campbell Gillies had both come to Utah from the British Isles. He was the oldest of thirteen children, and left home as a youth to work on a dairy farm, where he became friends with a cattle rustler named Mike Cassidy. He took his false last name from his friend Mike; later in life he worked briefly as a butcher in Rock Springs, earning the nickname of Butch. He has no known children or descendants.

Billy the Kid was born Henry McCarty in 1859 in New York City. His parents were poor Irish immigrants. He moved with his mother to Silver City, Grant, New Mexico, where she died shortly thereafter. He had one half-brother, and no known descendants.

Harry Alonzo Longabaugh was born in Mont Clare, Montgomery, Pennsylvania. After spending a year and a half in a jail in Sundance, Crook, Wyoming, he acquired the nickname of the Sundance Kid. Along with Butch Cassidy and the rest of the Wild Bunch, he was a train and bank robber. He spent many years traveling the U.S. and South America with his girlfriend, Ethel "Etta" Place, whose origins are unknown.

Notorious train robber, bank robber, and murderer Jesse Woodson James was born in Kearney, Clay, Missouri to parents Robert S. James and Zerelda Cole. Robert was a farmer and Baptist minister; he left his family for the California Gold Rush and died in California when Jesse was only three years old. Jesse's mother Zerelda re-married twice. Jesse married his first cousin, Zerelda "Zee" Amanda Mimms, in 1874. Together they had four children, two of whom survived to adulthood. Jesse James, Jr. and Mary Susan James (later Barr) both married, and each had four children. Thus Jesse James still has many descendants in America today.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Clara Barton

heather.matthews — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:05:00 GMT

Clara Barton (1821-1912) organized the American Red Cross. Her name was actually Clarissa, but she went by Clara throughout her life. She was born in Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts. Her great-aunt was the midwife Martha Ballard, of A Midwife's Tale fame. Clara became interested in nursing early in her life.

In 1862 she got permission to go behind enemy lines to care for Union soldiers wounded in the Civil War. In 1864 Union General Benjamin Butler appointed her as the head of hospitals for the Army of the James, a Union army composed of regiments from Virginia and North Carolina. In 1865, President Lincoln commissioned her to search for missing Union soldiers. With the help of Dorence Atwater, a list of 13,000 Union soldiers killed in action was published.

After lobbying for years to create an American charter for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Barton succeeded in 1881. She became the first president of the American Red Cross.

You can see whether or not you are related to Clara Barton by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

DeadFred.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:55:00 GMT

A picture is worth a thousand words. DeadFred.com is a free, searchable database containing over 90,000 Genealogy Photo Records for you to search for FREE. Post your own family photos to share and help solve photo mysteries. DeadFred.com is a web site devoted to helping you visualize your heritage!

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How To Evaluate Conflicts At OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:04:00 GMT

Information To Read Before You Evaluate Conflicts in Your OneGreatFamily Tree

"I have three different birth dates for my grandfather. He told me when he was born; I have a delayed birth certificate; and a baptismal record for him. Each has a different birth year-now what?"

Conflicting sources are a continual problem when doing genealogical research. How do you know which one is accurate? Sometimes an error is so blatant that you can immediately determine which is the more accurate document. But often it is not that cut and dried. When we do find conflicting information, we should evaluate the sources by using a scientific approach.

Each document should be evaluated on the following criteria:

1. Is the document an original or a copy?

An original is the first copy of any document. A photocopy of the original is usually considered an original. Each time a document is hand copied the chance of error is greater. Be especially aware of compiled indexes. Historically these were hand-created, and often error prone.

2. Is the information primary evidence or secondary evidence?

Primary evidence is the testimony (oral or written) given by an eyewitness or recorded by mechanical device present at the event. Secondary evidence is information that is either not the result of personal observation or is collected significantly after the fact. A vital record, such as a birth certificate, would usually be considered a primary source. The parent giving you information about their children would usually be a primary source. There are always exceptions that you need to consider. Is the parent elderly and is his/her memory questionable? In this case they might need to be considered a secondary source. Other examples of secondary sources are tombstones and census records.

3. Does the document contain direct or circumstantial evidence of the information you are seeking?

Direct evidence is information that directly answers a question. Circumstantial evidence gives a logical inference from which an answer might be derived. For example, if you are looking for the birth date of your ancestor, Ohso Elusive - and you find a church baptismal record that says he was born on January 12, 1876, the document directly answers your question. Ohso was born on Jan. 12, 1876. If, on the other hand, you find a death certificate that says Ohso Elusive died March 15, 1948 at the age of 72, you have a document that gives you direct evidence of his death date but circumstantial evidence of his birth date

Naturally, the ideal document would be an original record from a primary source with direct evidence, but genealogists usually are not that lucky. After evaluating each of the conflicting documents using the scientific approach, the document that comes closest to the ideal is probably your most accurate. Of course we could still have erroneous information, so if and when you locate additional records, you should always compare it to your current information and evaluate the information once more.

Using a scientific approach to our research gives us the greatest chance of accuracy, which should be the goal of every genealogist.

OneGreatFamily makes it easy to find differences between your information and that entered by others. The system marks differences in information as conflicts. You can turn on or off the identification of conflicts in the Genealogy Browser by toggling the appropriate button in the tool bar: The first () shows conflicts in information, like perhaps a difference in a birth place or a death date. The second () shows conflicts in relationships, like perhaps not showing a 2nd wife or listing an additional child. When trying to decide between the alternatives, you can now apply these principles of documentation quality in deciding which you believe to be correct.

OneGreatFamily Tip: The General Statistics Widget On Family Dashboard

heather.matthews — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:03:00 GMT

Information About Your Family Tree In One Easy Place

On Family Dashboard there is a box that has General Statistics about your family tree at OneGreatFamily. As you enter information about your ancestors and you gain access to information through OneGreatFamily, this box will tell you some very interesting information.

Some of the information it will update you on is: number of generations, total individuals, ancestors that OneGreatFamily has found for you, individuals with no names, merges on your tree, and hints for possible new ancestors found though OneGreatFamily. You can click on each category to get more information and specific names.

As always, we are happy to help if you have additional questions, so don't hesitate to call 1-877-643-8733 or email if you need assistance.

Spain

heather.matthews — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:54:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Last week Spain defeated the Netherlands and became the 2010 World Cup championship team. To honor Spain's World Cup victory, this article is dedicated to the history of Spain and Spanish genealogy.

Spain became the world's first real superpower when Fernando of Aragon and Ysavel of Castile married in 1469 and united their kingdoms. Upon her death, Ysavel willed her kingdom to her husband Fernando, making the unification permanent. The kingdoms of Navarre, Asturias, Catalunya and others were later added to the united nation, which became known as Hispania or Espa�a. The official language of the united kingdom became Castilian, and that is the version of Spanish that was carried to Latin America and the rest of the world.

Spain has been a predominantly Catholic country throughout its history; there is even a Spanish saying that goes, "The Spaniard is more Catholic than the pope." For that reason, Catholic parish records are the backbone of Spanish genealogical research. Many Spanish parish records have been microfilmed or digitized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can see what records are available on microfilm by using the library catalog at FamilySearch.org. To see digitized parish records, use the Record Search beta site or Record Search pilot site.

How do you search parish records? Start with what you know-the most recent generation-and work backwards to the unknown. Keep in mind that unlike Mexico and Latin America, where most people married in their teens and it was common for girls to marry when they were as young as thirteen, people in Spain married in their late teens or twenties.

One difficulty of old Spanish parish records can be the handwriting and abbreviations. One site that can help with this is Brigham Young University's Spanish script tutorial, where you can look up abbreviations, given names, and first names, as well as reading through the tutorial on Spanish paleography. You can also learn more about different Spanish genealogical documents, including: parish records, census records, diocesan records, emigration records, notarial records, military records, and municipal records.

Of course, all of your research hinges upon knowing where in Spain your ancestors came from. If all the information you have is the country of Spain listed on a U.S. census record, that won't be enough. To get help finding out where in Spain your ancestors came from, try the Immigrant Ancestors Project.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Emilio Estevez

heather.matthews — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:53:00 GMT

Emilio Est�vez

Emilio Est�vez was born in 1962 in Staten Island, New York. His ancestors were from the region of Galicia in northern Spain, and Ireland. Unlike his brother Charlie Sheen (born Carlos Est�vez), he did not take the stage name of his father Martin Sheen. At the age of six, his family moved to Malibu, California, where he grew up.

His first major film role was in The Outsiders, in which he played as Two-Bit Matthews. He appeared in The Breakfast Club, Young Guns, and St. Elmo's Fire. He also starred as Coach Gordon Bombay in The Mighty Ducks, which was so popular that two sequels were made.

Emilio Est�vez has two children with his former girlfriend Carey Salley. He was married briefly to Paula Abdul, from 1992 and 1994.

Son of actor Martin Sheen and brother of actor Charlie Sheen.

You can see whether or not you are related to Emilio Est�vez by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

My Ancestry Guide: The Complete Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:55:00 GMT

New genealogy e-book that will teach you the secrets to successful genealogy research!

Readers of this e-book will find the information and the resources that are needed to begin your family tree or for the seasoned genealogist to provide the guidance needed to find even the allusive ancestor. Genealogy is the research of ancestors and included in that research should be how they lived, what their religious views were, what they did for a living and other information about this person that was a member of your family so far in the past.

My Ancestry Guide: The Complete Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry is filed with the information to help the genealogist find the places they might have missed when looking for the allusive ancestor, such as ancestors that went west in search of gold or the child that was left an orphan and is under the radar for the normal census research.

Even experienced genealogists need to refresh their research knowledge from time to time and this is an e-book that will do just that. My Ancesry Guide: The Complete Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry has the topics that are easily forgotten by the experienced genealogist and ones that will provide the person new to researching their family tree with the tips to get them off to a great beginning.

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OneGreatFamily Tip: Protect Yourself From Genealogy Fraud On The Internet

heather.matthews — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:52:00 GMT

Avoiding Online Genealogy Fraud

You should be aware of at least two forms of fraud while you research your family tree online. This article will help you avoid falling prey to phony websites and fraudulent genealogical information.

Phony Websites

Greed has motivated some people to "capitalize" on the desire of genealogists who possess the drive and passion to find their ancestors. Genealogy and technology expert Dick Eastman helped expose Elias Abodeely of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as one such scam artist. Through a number of "genealogy websites," most notably GenSeekers, Abodeely allegedly bilked genealogists by getting them to subscribe to a site that simply linked to other websites.

Beware of websites that charge fees to access links or pieces of information that are freely available elsewhere on the Internet. These sites often make people pay twice to access the record they are looking for. A fooled consumer may pay the fraudulent website and then pay separate subscription fees to the legitimate websites that provide the real value.

The best way to avoid such frauds is to make sure you know what you are paying for and can try the website before you are billed for the service. Another way to protect yourself is to ask fellow researchers if they have used the site and what their experience has been. You may also want to look for a means of contacting the site's owner or administrator. Fraudulent websites seldom provide any means of contact.

The rise of fraudulent websites is one reason OneGreatFamily allows new guests to take advantage of a 7-day free trial. Registered guests who have taken time to become familiar with OneGreatFamily understand what they are paying for when they decide to subscribe to the service.

Fraudulent Genealogy Information

The first form of fraud is motivated by greed. The perpetuation of fraudulent genealogy information, on the other hand, is typically more benign. The root of this fraud, however, typically stems from the same greed.

Much of the false genealogical information that has been published is also the result of greed. Several incidents of this sort of fraud have been documented as being done by hired researchers who wanted to embellish the research they were providing. Other false information has been perpetuated by researchers who have tried to "prove" relationships with little supporting evidence. In many cases, when a well-meaning researcher is given a choice between two possible alternatives, the more convenient or glamorous alternative is chosen without first looking for more evidence.

Several of these genealogies were "created" by Gustave Anjou, who repeatedly ensured his clients had genealogies that included several high-profile ancestors.

Unfortunately, much of this "research" has found its way into the databases of sincere researchers who were happy to quickly claim these high-profile (albeit false) ancestors as their own.

This information has also made its way online. In most cases, this information has been shared and promulgated unknowingly. The only way to identify and correct the result of this fraud is by carefully examining and documenting each piece of evidence.

Even in cases where sources are given, you may need to consult with the original source to verify that information is correct.

OneGreatFamily can help. OneGreatFamily lets you see alternatives for information in your family tree and lets you collaborate with people who can help identify false information that may have crept into your tree. You can also share your discoveries and documentation with others to correct false information they may have unwittingly accepted from another source.

OneGreatFamily Helps Genealogists On A Budget

heather.matthews — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:52:00 GMT

Save Time And Money With OneGreatFamily

Most of us today seem to be constantly strapped for time and money. We all know that searching for our ancestors is really important, but the costs and time involved can seem overwhelming. We at OneGreatFamily can help!

OneGreatFamily is a service that can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars with your genealogy - not to mention saving you hours and hours of time as well.

Researching one ancestor alone can take years and cost a lot of money! Now, you can get a start on your genealogy from the comfort of your home. Here are a few costs to consider when researching your family tree:

Family Tree Software
Travel Expenses
Photocopies, Mail, etc.
Professional Assistance
Backup hardware
Data Access on CD-ROM or Online

Right away, OneGreatFamily saves you money on Family Tree Software. The included, downloadable Genealogy BrowserT is a full-fledged family tree software package with several unique features that you cannot find anywhere else. Our Family DashboardT, also free, provides powerful analytics to help you identify research needs quickly.

Next, OneGreatFamily saves you money by automatically backing up your family tree to our servers, providing you with the peace of mind that your work is not in jeopardy of being lost from accidents.

Finally, OneGreatFamily can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in travel, photocopies, professional assistance and data access fees. With most of us watching where our money goes, keep in mind an annual subscription to OneGreatFamily can cost less than one roundtrip drive to a family history library.

Here are more examples of how OneGreatFamily saves you money:

OneGreatFamily.com efficiently eliminates duplicate family trees and relationships by creating ONE FAMILY TREE. Elsewhere, the internet has spawned a data duplication floodgate, which wastes your time as you wade through thousands of duplicate records.

OneGreatFamily.com provides you with access to the largest collective family tree available.

Collaborate with people from all around the world from the comfort of home . . . or wherever you have access to the Internet. Spend some time on OneGreatFamily before you take that trip to your ancestral homeland!

Online collaboration can help you save hundreds of dollars on correspondence, photocopies, and other expenses. Documents, photos, and other information can be stored electronically on OneGreatFamily or sent to distant family members you meet on OneGreatFamily via email.

Gather as much information as possible on OneGreatFamily.com to make sure your money is well spent if you decide to hire a professional researcher for further assistance.

OneGreatFamily includes access to MILLIONS OF NAMES; many with corresponding events, sources, notes, photos, biographies, and other supporting data. More data is being added every day.

Why spend hundreds of hours searching for information that others have already found? Instead of duplicating research that is already done, you can now spend your time conducting new research or simply verifying information others have provided.

Smith, Johnson, and Jones: Researching Very Common Surnames

heather.matthews — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:50:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

If you have a rare and unusual surname, searching census records, vital records, and online databases is fairly easy. You'll be able to easily trace your family back without having to worry that you've gotten the wrong person with your ancestor's same name.

My last name, however, is Brown. Brown was the fifth most-common American surname in the 1990 federal census. So this article is dedicated to all of you who are in the same boat: those of us with extremely common surnames. How do you search your genealogy and make sure you've got the right family members with a surname like Johnson, Williams, Miller, Davis, or Brown? Here are a few ideas:

. Since you have a common surname, pay special attention to first names. When you're doing census searches, choose the least common first name in the family group and search for that individual. Once you've found him or her, you'll be able to find the rest of the family.

. Location, location, location. Locality is everything when searching for common surnames. There are a lot of Brown families in Indiana, for example. But because I know that my ancestors came from a little town called French Lick in Orange County, Indiana, I've been able to find and identify them even though they have a very common surname. If you don't know what county or town your ancestors came from, interview living relatives to get the most specific information you can.

. If you're searching within a large city, you'll find dozens of families with your same surname. To figure out which Tom Jones is your ancestor, map out each Tom Jones family. Print out a map of the city from GoogleMaps and use the address as given in the census to map each family that could potentially be yours. Then compare addresses listed on other documents-civil registration of births and deaths, military files, etc.-to narrow them down.

. Most importantly, don't jump to any conclusions. Don't assume that just because someone has the same name as your ancestor that they're the same person. With common surnames, be sure to check the names of all the family members to be sure you've got the right family. Check birthdates, too. If you found more than one family that could be yours, don't jump to hasty conclusions. Print out the information for each family, and then narrow it down later when you have more information.

Doing research on these kinds of family lines isn't the same as researching uncommon surnames. But by paying careful attention to first names and localities, by mapping out your ancestors' places of residence within large cities, and by double-checking every match, you can successfully find your ancestors-even if they have a surname like Wilson or Jones.

GraveMatter.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:54:00 GMT

The heart of the history of any New England town can be found in its cemeteries. GraveMatter.com is a collection of photographs and historical information of colonial cemeteries and gravestones of New England in southern Maine, southern New Hampshire and northeast Massachusetts.

�� Visit GraveMatter.com Today

Accreditation and Certification

heather.matthews — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:49:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Do you want to hire a professional genealogist to help you research your family tree? Are you a budding researcher who is considering becoming a professional genealogist yourself? Either way, you'll need to know about the two organizations that offer professional credentials in genealogy: the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) and the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).

BCG CERTIFICATION

The BCG was established in 1964. Becoming a professional genealogist through the BCG means becoming a CG, or Certified Genealogist. To apply for this credential, you must submit an application outlining your genealogical experience, a research report you've written for a client, a case study, and a three-generation kinship determination project. Your entire application will be evaluated by three or four judges, and everything in your application must hold up to the genealogical proof standard. The genealogical proof standard means that:

. You have conducted a reasonably exhaustive search
. You have complete and accurate source citations
. You have analyzed and correlated all your findings
. You have resolved any conflicting evidence
. You have a well-written, coherent conclusion (whether in the form of a research report or compiled lineage)

Once you have passed the application process and been awarded the credential of CG, you will appear on the BCG's roster of professional genealogists. Potential clients can search for a genealogist by name, area of specialty, or area of residence. Your profile will appear there, along with what language skills you have, so that clients can hire the genealogist best-suited to their research needs.

ICAPGen ACCREDITATION

Becoming an Accredited Genealogist, or AG, means that you are credentialed by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). To become an AG, you must first choose the geographic area that you want to accredit in (New England, the Gulf South, Norway, Mexico, etc.). There are currently thirty areas of accreditation and testing offered, and more are being developed. Once you know what geographic area you want to work in, you must select a family in that area to research; you must trace that family back four generations prior to 1900.

Once you have solidly researched four generations of your selected family, and once you have at least 1,000 hours of research experience in your selected geographic area, you're ready to apply. You'll turn in your research and a log of your hours. If this part of your application passes, you'll take an eight-hour written exam. If you pass the written exam, you'll have a one- to three-hour oral exam. If you pass that, you're an Accredited Genealogist!

ICAPGen maintains a list of all the professionals that are credentialed through their organization. Potential clients can search this list by accreditation region, name, or place of residence (that way if they need research done in a particular archive, they can choose a researcher who lives in that area). Like the BCG, ICAPGen requires their professionals to renew their credentials every five years to ensure that their genealogists are keeping current with digital resources and new technologies.

Is Your OneGreatFamily Tree Growing?

heather.matthews — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:49:00 GMT

Two Ways To Increase Your Success At OneGreatFamily

OneGreatFamily is a remarkable service that continues to help people identify tens of thousands of previously unknown ancestors each week. Nearly 205,000 individuals in the OneGreatFamily database were merged together within the last week, and nearly 140,000 were identified as potential merges (or hints). What does this mean?

This means OneGreatFamily is growing and the information included at OneGreatFamily is becoming more accurate. This activity also means that people whose genealogies are included as part of OneGreatFamily are seeing their family trees continue to grow.

How can you make sure you are one of the people who benefits from this amazing growth and collaboration? We'd like to suggest two ways:

1. Submit your entire known family tree!

The more information you provide to OneGreatFamily, the greater the chance of tying into other ancestral lines. OneGreatFamily allows people to enter information directly into Genealogy BrowserT, enter information through Family Dashboard, or to submit a GEDCOM file to start or expand their family tree. With each additional generation you enter of your own family tree, you are increasing your ability to know if another member of OneGreatFamily is already working on your family tree. Identifying ONE common ancestor can result in finding a whole new ancestral line.

Many people have been able find new matching data and meet distant relatives after entering only a few generations of their family trees . . . or even just a few ancestors; however, others with "less common" ancestors may need to supply OneGreatFamily with more information to get started. You are guaranteed further success over time as OneGreatFamily continues to enjoy phenomenal growth.

2. See your family tree to the end of each line

Genealogy BrowserT only shows the first seven generations of your family tree as its default setting; however, you may actually have more than seven generations of data available at OneGreatFamily.

You can identify whether or not you are seeing your entire family tree by recognizing "end of line" individuals. An "end of line" individual is someone in the OneGreatFamily family tree with no known ancestors. You can find them quickly because they are in red boxes as shown in the example below.

If you see a line in your family tree that doesn't end with an individual in a red box, you are not seeing your entire family tree. The following instructions will help you change the preference for how many generations can be viewed in Genealogy Browser. You can then expand the Starfield View (pedigree) to see your entire family tree at OneGreatFamily.

Number of Generations Display on the Toolbar

You will notice this drop down menu in the toolbar section at the top of Genealogy Browser. This convenient menu lets you quickly and easily set the number of generations to be displayed in the Starfield area.

Many users have never changed this setting and so have never actually seen their entire family tree on OneGreatFamily. If you have never changed this setting, we strongly encourage you to play around with it. You can select a value off the drop down menu or just enter a value into the box. If you are on a high-speed internet connection, we would suggest you try starting with at least 50 generations. Dial-up users might want to start with 20 generations.

Remember, the higher the number, the longer it may take to load your pedigree. Still, you could be surprised to see how far back your family tree goes, and it will be worth the wait!

Family DashboardT End of Line Widget

Another way to view your "End of Line" ancestors is on Family Dashboard with the "End of Line" widget:

This widget shows you a list of 3 random people from your family tree that have neither parent listed in OneGreatFamily. These people can be excellent choices for focusing further research into your family tree.

If you click on the "more" button on the widget, a window will pop up with the Details Page that lists all ancestors in your family tree that are the end of their line in OneGreatFamily. This Details Page allows you to sort by Surname, First Name, Birth Date, Birth Place, Death Date, or Death Place. You can click a button to view an ancestor in Genealogy Browser, see how they are related to you with use of the relationship calculator, or view the migration calculator.

By looking at your end of line ancestors, you can see where to begin to work on extending the reach of your genealogy.

You can view any and all information you have contributed to OneGreatFamily without subscribing; however, the ability to view details on individuals who have been added to your tree through the OneGreatFamily service is reserved for subscribers only.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week : Harry Truman

heather.matthews — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:43:00 GMT

Harry Truman

When Franklin D. Roosevelt died on 12 April 1945, three months into his fourth term, his vice president Harry Truman succeeded him as the 33rd president of the United States. He later won re-election in 1948, defeating Thomas E. Dewey thanks to his Whistle Stop Tour across rural America.

During his presidency, Truman made many crucial decisions that continue to affect U.S. foreign policy today. He authorized the use of atomic bombs against Japan in 1945. The first bomb was dropped by the plane Enola Gay on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later; Japan surrendered on 14 August.

When the state of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948, Truman officially recognized the new state only eleven minutes after it was declared, citing the Holocaust as the reason for his support of the political Zionist movement.

During Truman's presidency, the United States joined NATO. Truman was also the propagator of the "Truman Doctrine," taking an active stance against Soviet expansion during the early years of the Cold War.

You can see whether or not you are related to Harry Truman by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

ProGenealogists.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:34:00 GMT

A team of professional genealogists with experience, knowledge and access to billions of records is ready to assist you in United States, Canadian and European research! We conduct family history and genealogy research in archives across the world, including the famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Our staff of full-time specialists is well-versed in the record collections of archives across the world. We know which records are readily available and which will best meet your research goals. ProGenealogists specializes in researching and documenting family histories, including: immigration, European origins, Canadian origins, lineage societies, United States colonial research, and Medieval British research. We can also help with detailed and thorough genealogy record searches, too.

�� Visit ProGenealogists.com Today

We Hope To See You In Colorado On Friday

heather.matthews — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:42:00 GMT

Stop By Our Booth For A Members Only Free Gift

We are packing and heading to the next Family History Expo in Colorado!

Colorado Family History Expo.�
Date: June 25th and 26th �At the Embassy Suites Loveland Hotel & Conference Center
4705 Clydesdale Parkway
Loveland, CO 80538�
Website: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2tqirvq7bc1d166

We will have a booth in the General Exhibit Hall
A special gift for Current OGF subscribers
Free Records Search of OneGreatFamily's Database
Will be offering Special @Show pricing on both OGF and AncestorsWaiting.com, plus DVD Video Tutorials.
We will also be giving away free subscriptions to OGF and AncestorsWaiting (Door Prizes)
We will be presenting a number of 10 minute presentations between sessions. Some of the topics will include:
An Overview of OneGreatFamily.com
- An Overview of AncestorsWaiting.com
- Using Genealogy Browser to get the most of your OneGreatFamily Subscription
- Using OGF with your favorite Records Manager - How to import and export data to and from OneGreatFamily
- Using the power of automated Merge and Match to extend family lines
- Genealogee.com - the DIGG for Genealogy News and Information

We hope to see many of you there!

Would You Help Us With Our Script?

heather.matthews — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:41:00 GMT

We Are Seeking Feedback on Our Brief Overview Script

We at OneGreatFamily are always looking for ways to better explain the value OneGreatFamily provides.� In that spirit, we want to produce a video that provides a quick and easy high level overview of the value of OneGreatFamily.

Would you be willing to provide us feedback on the script?� You can read it here:
�http://www.onegreatfamily.com/Libraries/newsletter/ogf_overview_script_v07.sflb.ashx

The survey to provide feedback is here: �http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GTJCKFJ

The more people we can get involved in OneGreatFamily, the more we all benefit.� �Thank you for your time and your feedback.

As always, we are happy to help if you have additional questions, so don't hesitate to call 1-877-643-8733 or email if you need assistance.

South Africa

heather.matthews — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:40:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Last Friday kicked off the 2010 FIFA World Cup, hosted in South Africa. South Africa today is one of the most diverse nations in the world, with eleven official languages and many ethnic and ancestral groups.

In 1587, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to land at the southern tip of Africa; he named it the Cape of Good Hope. In 1652 Jan van Riebeek established an outpost there for the Dutch East India Company; this would later become the booming city of Cape Town. Slaves were imported there from Indonesia, India, and Madagascar. The discovery of diamonds in the area led to the Boer Wars between the British colonists and the Boers, settlers of Dutch, Flemish, French, and German descent. The British took over Cape Town in 1806.

Today about 80 percent of South Africa's population is black, about ten percent is white, and about ten percent is "colored;" the term colored is used to refer to those of mixed origin, descendants of whites, Indians, and slaves from east Africa. The white population of South Africa is decreasing; more than a million white South Africans have emigrated in the last fifteen years, most citing the high crime rate as the reason.

South Africa has a substantial Jewish population, most of whom came from Lithuania at the turn of the 20th century. The majority of the population, however, is Christian; denominations include Zion Christian, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Dutch Reformed, and Anglican. Records of these churches-especially the Dutch Reformed Church-can be used to conduct genealogical research.

South African census records are routinely destroyed after the statistical data is extracted, so census records cannot be used as a resource by genealogists. There are civil registers of births, marriages, and deaths, however. The records began in the following years:

For the Cape Colony: marriages 1700, births and deaths 1895
For the Natal Colony: marriages 1845, births 1868, deaths 1888
For Transvaal: marriages 1870, births and deaths 1901
For the Orange Free State: marriages 1848, births and deaths 1903

To research ancestors before the inception of civil registration, try church records. The Dutch Reformed Church records date back to 1665; since this was the only official church in South Africa until 1778, any ancestors-not just Dutch-may have been baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church. You can find these church records, as well as civil registration and other records, on the Family History Library Catalog. These records can be borrowed at your local family history center. Other good resources include the Genealogical Society of South Africa, and www.genealogyworld.net, where South Africa passenger lists are being added all the time.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Barack Obama

heather.matthews — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:39:00 GMT

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama was born 4 August 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, six months after the marriage of his parents Barack Obama, Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham. His parents later divorced, and from ages six to ten Obama lived with his mother in Indonesia. At age ten he was sent to attend school in Hawaii while his mother remained in Indonesia. He graduated from high school in Hawaii. After attending Occidental College in Los Angeles for a time, he transferred to Columbia University and graduated with a degree in political science in 1983. He began law school at Harvard in 1988; there he served as president of Harvard Law Review. After graduation, he worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago. From 2005 to 2008 he served as an Illinois senator, and in November of 2008 he was elected as the 44th president of the United States of America.

You can see whether or not you are related to Barack Obama by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Family-Reunion.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:34:00 GMT

Summer is a perfect time to get together for a fun family reunion. Visit the web's most popular family reunion planning website - Family-Reunion.com. They offer such resources as planning software, a FREE newsletter, links to other reunion sites, and books that offer planning ideas. If you are planning a reunion, you can also announce it in their FREE reunion registry, or you can check to see if your family has already announced a reunion. Family-reunions are a great way to communicate with your family about your genealogy, so start planning your family reunion today with Family-Reunion.com!

�� Visit Family-Reunion.com Today

Success At OneGreatFamily: A Member Connects With Two Distant Cousins

heather.matthews — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:37:00 GMT

We Are Looking For More Success Stories

We received a wonderful success story from Eileen who shared with us how OneGreatFamily has helped her to become a member of the D.A.R.:

I cannot express how delighted I am with your genealogy service. Because of the provided information on my Ancestry I have been able to locate�back to the MAYFLOWER and go back 18 generations. I am in the process of becoming a member of the D.A.R. thanks to OGF. That is not easy to do - it takes much research and documents. Thank you for that.

OGF was a great help to me to be able to obtain the necessary papers. I just keep going further and further back through OGF.

Because of my tree being on OneGreatFamily I was contacted by two very distant�cousins each from two different sides of my family and was able to help them�- that in itself was wonderful.

I have recommended you to a number of people, when I show them what I have been able to do.

Thank You
Sincerely
Eileen Hutzel Johnson�

We really appreciate Eileen sharing her enthusiasm for OneGreatFamily!

We are looking for OneGreatFamily members who have had success using OneGreatFamily in finding their ancestors and expanding their family trees. If you have had success, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at ogfmarketing@onegreatfamily.com or click here for our contact page.

You can view more success stories by visiting:
http://www.onegreatfamily.com/LearnMore/SuccessStories.aspx

Chicago

heather.matthews — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:36:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Ernest Hemingway, deep-dish pizza, Wrigley Field, Frank Lloyd Wright...just a sample of all that Chicago has to offer. Chicago's population has been more than a million since 1890, and today it is the third-largest city in the United States. Thus many people find themselves conducting genealogical research in Chicago.

Historically, Chicago has been a city heavily populated by people of Irish descent, so Catholic parish records are indispensable when it comes to finding your Chicago ancestors. Fortunately, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City has microfilmed all of the parish records for the Archdiocese of Chicago up to 1915. You can borrow these microfilms at your local Family History Center. At ChicagoAncestors.com, which is a division of the Newberry Library, you can enter your ancestors' address (from a census record or city directory) to learn which Catholic parish was the closest to their home. Then you'll know which parish records to search for them.

Chicago is located in Cook County, so you can use county vital records to research your ancestors. Keep in mind, however, that most of them were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871. Thus finding your ancestors before 1871 can be difficult. Post-1871 vital records, however, can easily be accessed online. You can find an index to Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922 on pilot.familysearch.org. On beta.familysearch.org, you can find Cook County records collections with digitized images! The collections include: Birth Certificates, 1787-1922; Birth Registers, 1871-1915; and Marriages, 1871-1920. All collections are available for free. Just go to the beta site, click on "All Collections," and scroll down until you see the listings for "Illinois, Cook County."

Another great resource is the Chicago Delayed Birth Index, 1871-1948. Many people registered their own births in the 1940s to qualify for social security benefits; thus the index, created in the 1940s, includes births from as early as 1871. This index is on microfilm at the Family History Library, so you can view it at your local Family History Center. The index has only limited information: name, date of birth, and certificate number. To get the actual delayed birth certificate that was registered, you'll have to order it (for a fee) from the Cook County Clerk's Office.

The Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900, is an ongoing project of the Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society. You can search it online through the Illinois State Archives. You can search by groom's name, by bride's name, or both. The project also includes instructions on obtaining original marriage records.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Elvis Presley

heather.matthews — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:35:00 GMT

Elvis Presley

The "king of rock and roll" was born 8 January 1935 to Vernon Elvis and Gladys Love Presley in Tupelo, Lee, Mississippi. He had an identical twin brother who was delivered stillborn; he was an only child. At age ten he received his first guitar and began playing it. When he was thirteen, his family moved to Memphis. Always very poor, his family lived in an African American neighborhood in Memphis. Exposure to African American rhythm and blues would greatly influence his musical style.

In 1954 he began his career with Sun Records in Memphis; the following year his contract was sold to RCA Victor. His first single hit with them, "Heartbreak Hotel," was a number one hit. The prolific musical career of Elvis Presley had begun.

You can see whether or not you are related to Elvis Presley by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Yesteryear Memories

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:33:00 GMT

A photograph captures a special moment in your family history. Don't let it fade away. As experts in our field of digital photo restoration, photo retouching and photo enhancement services our main focus is to ensure that those special memories or moments preserved in time, remain more than just paper and chemicals.

When you place your trust - and your photographs - into our hands, you can rest assured that we will treat your memories with the same care and attention to detail that we would apply to our own. At Yesteryear Memories, our clients benefit from our industry expertise, personalized attention, and the sense of ownership we apply to each enhancement, photo restoration, or digital retouching project. Click here for a free, no-obligation price quote.

�� Visit Yesteryear Memories Today

Going To The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree?

heather.matthews — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:34:00 GMT

It's Time For Jamboree 2010

OneGreatFamily is heading south next week to sunny Southern California to attend the 41st Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, which will be held Friday through Sunday, June 11-13th at the Marriott Los Angeles Burbank Airport Hotel and Convention Center in Burbank, California.

One again we would like to invite all of our OneGreatFamily members to come stop by and visit us. We will have a free gift to give to you as an appreciation to our members. Our exhit table will be just outside the main hall.

You can find more details about the conference by visiting: �http://scgsgenealogy.com/2010jam-home.htm

We hope you will join us in sunny California next week!

The National Genealogical Society

heather.matthews — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:33:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

The National Genealogical Society (NGS), based in Arlington, Virginia, was founded in 1903. It is a society dedicated to genealogy research and records for American families of any ethnic background. The NGS remains a membership organization to this day. Members receive a subscription to the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, a subscription to the NGS Magazine, opportunities for conferences and research trips, and a searchable index of the Quarterly from 1912 to 2008.

The National Genealogical Society Quarterly, commonly referred to as the NGSQ, has been published quarterly since 1912. Issues are sent out each March, June, September, and December. The NGSQ publishes case studies, compiled genealogies, previously unpublished sources, and essays on new methodologies.

The NGSQ accepts case studies from genealogists and historians. To be published in the NGSQ, a case must demonstrate advanced research and analysis skills. These research cases demonstrate to readers how to overcome "brick walls" like burned courthouses, name changes, and illegitimate ancestors. The submission process for the NGSQ is very rigorous and competitive; thus publishing a piece in the NGSQ is a badge of honor for the few elite genealogists that have proved that they are true experts in their field.

All case studies that are submitted to the NGSQ are peer-reviewed, and revised, before they are published. Every statement of fact and every source in an article must be well-documented according to the citation style given in Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained. Also, for any article published in the NGSQ, more than three words taken from a source must be properly identified with quotes and a footnote with a source citation. If more than three paragraphs are taken from a source, written permission must be obtained from the author of the source.

Aside from the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, members of the organization also receive a subscription to the NGS Magazine. Unlike the NGSQ, this magazine is geared toward amateur genealogists. It discusses beginning to intermediate genealogy research techniques and methodology, and it covers topics like immigration, software programs, and courthouse records.

Aside from printed publications, the National Genealogical Society also maintains a blog of current events and news for members and non-members alike. The blog, called Upfront with NGS, can be found at upfront.ngsgenealogy.org.

The National Genealogical Society also sponsors an annual conference, the NGS Family History Conference. This week-long conference is one of the most popular and well-attended genealogical conferences in the country, held in a different location every year. The 2011 conference will be held 11-14 May in Charleston, South Carolina. Go to http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/conference_info to register.

OneGreatFamily Tip: How Do I Start My Family Tree At OneGreatFamily?

heather.matthews — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:33:00 GMT

Starting Your Family Tree At OneGreatFamily Is Easy

There are three main ways that you can get started with entering information into OneGreatFamily.

1. Submitting what research you have already done as a GEDCOM file
You can upload a GEDCOM containing your ancestral information. A GEDCOM is a file that stores genealogical information in a particular format, which allows researchers to share and work together on their information. We not only allow you to add your GEDCOM to the collection of others that have been submitted, but once your GEDCOM has been added, it will begin to connect with others as family links are found! This allows you to save time by uploading the information that you have already collected and entered using a different program and not have to start from scratch.

You can upload your GEDCOM into OneGreatFamily by selecting "Import GEDCOM File to View" from the File menu in Genealogy Browser or by selecting the second option on the "Organize Family Trees" box that appears each time you launch the Genealogy Browser after logging in. There is also a link to Upload a GEDCOM on Family Dashboard when you login to OneGreatFamily in the "View or Edit Your Family Tree" box at the top by the picture of the family.

2. Entering your family tree directly into OneGreatFamily
If you are new to OneGreatFamily, you may not realize that you have access to a complete family tree program for free! It is called Genealogy BrowserT, and you can get access to it simply by logging in to your OneGreatFamily account and clicking on the Advanced Tree Editor (Genealogy BrowserT button"). In Genealogy Browser, you can begin to create records for yourself, your parents, children, and siblings, as well as your extended relatives. As soon as you enter the information for a person, OneGreatFamily begins to search your information against what others have entered to find matches.

You can visit the following link to view a tutorial video that walks you through the process of entering your family tree directly into OneGreatFamily:
http://www.onegreatfamily.com/2005/LearnMore/Default.aspx?demo=1

3. Starting with what someone else has submitted
Because new names are constantly being added to OneGreatFamily, many members find that others have already submitted some of their ancestors. This allows members to pick up where others have left off. Do a search of our database and see which of your ancestors have already been added. Instructions on how to Search are in the Customer Service article below. If you have additional information to add, just type it right in as if you were the original submitter. The information is automatically updated! It's that easy!

To start your family tree by using an ancestor already added to OneGreatFamily, choose the third options on the "Organize Family Trees" box. Enter the ancestor's OGFN (OneGreatFamily Number) in the field. (Each person added to OneGreatFamily is given a number. On all of our search results, it will list your ancestor's OGFN)

All of these techniques allow members to add information to their trees, and together, they are working to create the largest single family tree available. No matter which method you choose to upload your information, OneGreatFamily offers technology that can match and merge it with the information that has been submitted by others.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Donald Trump

heather.matthews — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:32:00 GMT

Donald Trump

Donald Trump was born in 1946 to parents Fred Trump and Mary MacLeod, the fourth of five children. Mary had immigrated from Scotland before marrying Fred; Fred was the son of two German immigrants. Donald Trump pursued higher education at Fordham University; after two years there, he transferred to the Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a BS in economics in 1968. After graduation, he went to work for his father's lucrative real estate company, the Trump Organization. Though his high-risk investments led to bankruptcy in the 1909s, Donald Trump is now one of America's wealthiest businessmen, with a net worth of approximately two billion dollars.

You can see whether or not you are related to Donald Trump by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

ProGenealogists.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:32:00 GMT

50 Most Popular Genealogy Website for 2010

ProGenealogists.com recently announced its annual list which identified 50 of the most popular genealogy websites, creating an important and useful tool for everyone interested in their family and heritage. We are extremely honored they listed OneGreatFamily.com as #9 (up from #11 last year) on their list.

To see the complete list of 2010's 50 most popular genealogy sites, go to http://www.progenealogists.com/top50genealogy2010.htm.

Thank You ProGenealogists.com for acknowledging the contribution we are providing to genealogists around the world.

�� Visit ProGenealogists.com Today

Earn A Free Month At OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:31:00 GMT

Refer Your Family And Friends To OneGreatFamily

You can receive one FREE month for every subscriber you refer to OneGreatFamily!
Doing genealogy without cooperating with your family is like being the only player in a team sport. Genealogy goes so much faster and is more fulfilling when it is a team effort. Now you can use the most advanced "team" tools for doing genealogy AND be rewarded for it!

OneGreatFamily Rewards is our way to say "Thank You" for something you are already doing.sharing!

HERE ARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR REFERRING A FRIEND:

�When you refer family or friends to OneGreatFamily, simply tell them to enter YOUR username (created at sign-up) into the "Rewards Program" field when they subscribe.

� After they subscribe, you will receive an email to confirm your free month.

� Check your account to see your new expiration date. After you login, click on "My Account " to view your account. One of the boxes provides you with your Subscription Information. You will see below the space that will inform you whether or not you have received credit for a referral.

Send an invitation to your friends and family NOW using:
Invite Others in Bulk! (You can send up to 10 emails at once)

Frequently Asked Questions about OneGreatFamily Rewards:

1.Is there a limit to how many FREE months I can receive? No! Your number of months is unlimited!

2. Do I get a free month if I refer someone who signs up as a Guest or provides an email address only? No. The person you refer must be a paying subscriber, even if it's only for one month.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society Today

heather.matthews — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:30:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Last week's article examined the life of John Farmer and the history of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. This time, we'll learn about the society today: the records, resources, and services that they offer.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest genealogical society in America. The organization is still a membership-based society; members receive the NEHGS publications and discounts on research services.

Their online resources, however, are available to members and non-members alike. Originally launched as www.nehgs.org in 1996, and now found at NewEnglandAncestors.org, their site has more than 2,400 searchable databases containing more than 110 million names.

The society is also headquartered at their eight-story research library in Boston, where they have a staff of more than fifty librarians, archivists, genealogists, and historians. The library's collection includes more than 200,000 books, 100,000 rolls of microfilm, and 5,000 feet of original manuscripts.

The society has published The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, the oldest publication of its kind, quarterly since 1847. It is considered the most prestigious journal of American genealogy. NEHGS also publishes American Ancestors Journal, an annual supplement to the Register, and The American Genealogist, another scholarly genealogical journal. Their other quarterly publication is The Great Migration Newsletter, a report on the Great Migration Study Project.

The society supports other websites that provide access to their collection and services, including www.GreatMigration.org and www.PlymouthAncestors.org. The Great Migration Study Project is a compilation of the genealogies of the English Puritans who settled in New England between 1620 and 1640. The Plymouth Ancestors project aims to provide accurate genealogical information on the Plymouth colonists in 1627.

NEHGS also publishes histories and genealogies of individual families. The Newbury Street Press is America's leading publisher of family histories.

If you're curious, go to NewEnglandAncestors.org to check it out yourself. Whether you're interested in publishing your family history, subscribing to flagship genealogical journals, searching online databases, or utilizing library records, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has your back.

OneGreatFamily Tip: Success at OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:30:00 GMT

Your Service Is Excellent And Your Price is Right

We enjoy hearing about the success our members have in building their family trees at OneGreatFamily. We appreciate Carol for sharing her success with us.

Dear OneGreatFamily,

I can't believe the good success I've had with OneGreatFamily.com. I've found 13 generations on my grandmother's side of the family, and now have found a cousin in Utah who had 6 generations on my father's side. I didn't even know my grandfather's name until I started this exciting research. I now have found cemeteries here in Rhode Island with ancestors I didn't even know about.

My 2 nieces are caught up in this wonderful program and recently signed up to continue finding more family in Ireland and Scotland. Thank you so much for setting up an excellent search engine. This is my second year paying $74 as a member. Your service is excellent and your price is right. Thank you.

Carol DelRoss

You can view more success stories by visiting:
http://www.onegreatfamily.com/LearnMore/SuccessStories.aspx

If you have had success using OneGreatFamily, please let us know. We would love to hear from you. Please contact us either by visit our Contact Page or by emailing ogfmarketing@onegreatfamily.com.

As always, we are happy to help if you have additional questions, so don't hesitate to call 1-877-643-8733 or email if you need assistance.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week : Michelle Obama

heather.matthews — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:29:00 GMT

Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born in 1964 in Chicago. Her father was a city water plant employee, and her mother was a stay-at-home mom until Michelle was in high school, when she took a job as a secretary for a clothing company. She has one brother, Craig Robinson, two years older than herself.

Michelle graduated from high school in 1981 as salutatorian of her class. Like her older brother, she received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She majored in sociology, with a minor in African American studies. After graduating from Princeton, she went on Harvard Law School. After completing law school in 1988, she returned to Chicago to work at Sidley Austin law firm, where she met her future husband Barack Obama. They were married in 1992. Michelle Obama and her husband have two daughters: Malia, born in 1998, and Sasha, born in 2001.

You can see whether or not you are related to Michelle Obama by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Interment.net

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:32:00 GMT

If you're a passionate genealogist, chances are that you've visited a cemetery or two. Interment.net is of tremendous value to genealogists because it's a website devoted to publishing cemetery records and materials.

These vast resources are compiled from government agencies or submitted by site visitors, and can help to locate burial grounds all over the globe. If you need help tracing your family history, or just want to learn something about cemeteries in general, we highly recommend Interment.net.

�� Visit Interment.net Today

OneGreatFamily Tip: Merging Children Together

heather.matthews — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:28:00 GMT

What To Do When You Have Duplicate Children Records

Recently we received the following question from a OneGreatFamily member that we would like to share with you:

I've noticed on some of my ancestors that someone or somehow they end up with 102 to 130 children. Is there an easier way to correct this besides merging all the different names? On one of mine the husband and spouse seems to be almost the same but the children dates and place of birth really differ. What should you do?

This issue arises because OneGreatFamily's matching and merging process is strongly cautious about merging siblings. This stems from two realities unique to siblings: 1) Twins will share much identical information: mother, father, birth date and place, etc, especially if they died in childbirth. 2) Historically parents that lost a very young child tended to give a subsequent child the same name. Again, much identical information would be shared.

Because of these reasons, our system historically was very cautious in automatically merging duplicate children together, even if their information is the same.

Over the past year we have made several advancements to improve our algorithm that allows us to merge many of these cases safely. Even so, when you do encounter this issue, you can manually merge the individuals yourself.� This improves the data for everyone who sees that family.

In the second case, where a husband and spouse seem to be almost the same but the children dates and place of birth really differ I would not merge those records, but leave them separate. Continue to use the husband and wife you believe to be correct, as well as the children, dates and birthplaces that you accept, and leave the other records alone.

How to merge duplicate children

You can merge two siblings by doing the following. Click on the Family Info button between the two parents' names so that the Family Information box opens.

Highlight both children's names. Click on merge on the right and it will have you compare records to see if they should be merged.

A box will pop up asking if you are sure you want to merge the records as one. If you want to merge the records, click on "Yes."

Why Should You Subscribe To OneGreatFamily?

heather.matthews — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:28:00 GMT

What is the difference between a Guest (Free Basic) and a Subscriber account at OneGreatFamily?

Some customers have a hard time understanding what OneGreatFamily is and what is included in a subscription to OneGreatFamily. Some people erroneously believe OneGreatFamily is in the business of selling family tree data.

Some of this confusion is created by competitors that charge fees to access their family tree collections or that sell family tree data that has been freely submitted back to customers on CD-ROMs. OneGreatFamily does not engage in either practice.
If OneGreatFamily doesn't sell data, then what is included in a subscription?

First, every subscription includes access to the only single shared collaborative online family tree in the world. Everyone who works on OneGreatFamily is working on the same shared family tree, so when one member adds to the tree, that material is immediately available to all other members.

Still, OneGreatFamily also has the unique ability to preserve each member's view of the single shared collaborative online family tree. If one member believes that an ancestor had a 2nd wife and another member believes that ancestor did not have that 2nd wife, they will both see the tree they want.

Second, OneGreatFamily spent years developing technology that automatically searches every name in your family tree with every name in our single shared collaborative online family tree. When we believe your family tree matches ancestors from another member's family tree, a hint (yellow light bulb) will alert you of the match. This means that OneGreatFamily eliminates duplication in research. If 100 people submit the same family line, all 100 will be de-duplicated, or merged, down to one single family line while still preserving everybody's view.

Third, merges in OneGreatFamily create opportunities for people to collaborate on their genealogies, identify new ancestors, and discover conflicting information. OneGreatFamily has collaboration built in, with the ability to easily reach out to others working on your same family lines.

Fourth, subscribers receive the added benefit of being able to view the names and information for individuals who have been added to their family trees through accepted hints and automated merges.

Fifth, OneGreatFamily allows users to upload and preserve up to 3 gigabytes of your multimedia objects. In addition to making it easy to share these with other relatives around the world, this storage represents a secure backup in case of accident or natural disaster that destroys your originals.

OneGreatFamily is not in the business of selling user-submitted data. However, OneGreatFamily has invested millions of dollars in the development of all the capabilities mentioned above. Further, these capabilities are unique-no other company in the world offers all these capabilities. We believe you will find a OneGreatFamily subscription to be some of the best money you have ever spent on genealogy.

OneGreatFamily's business is focused on facilitating genealogy growth and discoveries by providing personalized access to the shared human family tree.

John Farmer and the Origins of the New England Historic Genealogical Society

heather.matthews — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:27:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

In times past, the study of family history was the arena of the upper class. Heraldry and genealogy were means to an end: to prove claims to land, titles, and offices. Therefore in America after the Revolution, genealogy was suspect-along with anything else that reeked of British class division and aristocracy.

All of that changed with John Farmer, who Americanized the study of genealogy. Born in Massachusetts in 1789, John Farmer was an antiquarian like many other New Englanders. He collected antiquities and books, and studied local history and the achievements of early Americans. He was also interested in genealogy. He corresponded with other antiquarians all over New England, and he led a new movement in which the study of genealogy was used to learn about and honor one's American ancestors. He was the first to make genealogy systematic; instead of relying on a coat of arms, genealogy for him meant researching one's ancestors in family Bibles and church records. Other New Englanders began to follow his lead.

He published histories of Billerica, Massachusetts and Amherst, Hew Hampshire; he also published A Gazetteer of New Hampshire. He also published the essential Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England; having since been revised and expanded, this work is still in use today. He published more than twenty genealogical books in all.

He died in 1839, but the other antiquarians with whom he corresponded and who had adopted his methods of systematic genealogical research founded the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the first genealogical society in America. The society was founded 1845 by five Bostonians: Charles Ewer, Lemuel Shattuck, Samuel Gardner Drake, John Wingate Thornton, and William Henry Montague. The original name proposed was "the New England Historical and Genealogical Society," but the Massachusetts Historical Society protested the use of the word "historical" in their name and so the society was called the New England Historic Genealogical Society instead. The journal of the society, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, has been published quarterly since 1847.

Today the society's library in Boston is home to more than 12 million records, and has a staff of more than fifty people. Every week, the society scans and digitizes one new database to be made available online. Its website has more than 100 million names in its databases. The legacy of John Farmer and those other early antiquarians is far-reaching, and their contribution should be appreciated by all who use the records of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and all Americans who enjoy learning more about their genealogy.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Lady Diana

heather.matthews — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:26:00 GMT

Lady Diana

Known as Lady Diana or Diana, Princess of Wales, Diana Frances Spencer was the youngest daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the eighth earl Spencer. Her father was a descendant of King Charles II through several generations of illegitimate sons, and a descendant of King James II through an illegitimate daughter. The Spencer family had long been close to the royal family; Diana's grandmother was a friend and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth.

Prince Charles was romantically involved with Diana's older sister Lady Sarah before he began courting nineteen-year-old Diana in the summer of 1980. Charles and Diana were married in July of 1981 in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Their first son William was born less than a year later; Harry was born two years after that.

As well as remaining a devoted mother, Diana became involved in humanitarian work. She was a proponent of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and from 1989 onward she was the president of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

Charles and Diana divorced in 1996 as a result of extramarital affairs. She died in a car crash in Paris in August of 1997. After her death, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel Peace Prize.

To learn more about Diana's genealogy, read Richard K. Evans's The Ancestry of Diana, Princess of Wales, for Twelve Generations published in 2009 by the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

You can see whether or not you are related to Lady Diana by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

Genealogy Today

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:31:00 GMT

Genealogy Today has been publishing unique information and offering innovative services since 1999. The regular columns and articles provide free guidance for those just getting started, and the newsletter and databases offer value to more experienced visitors.

Genealogy Today has been committed to keeping genealogists informed of the latest resources and research techniques. Year after year, the site has expanded the information in its searchable databases and local genealogy directory.

�� Visit GenealogyToday.com

What's Going On At OneGreatFamily?

heather.matthews — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:26:00 GMT

How to Keep Up with New Developments at OneGreatFamily

Do you want to keep up with the latest news and developments at OneGreatFamily? At OneGreatFamily we are always working on updating and improving our services for the genealogy community, and looking for new features and ideas to help you find your ancestors.

Here are two ways our members can keep current on what is going on at OneGreatFamily:

1. OneGreatFamily Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/OneGreatFamily)

You connect to other Facebook users who have chosen to be fans of OneGreatFamily.
You can read and contribute to the Wall and Discussion Boards.
Find and talk to other fans of OneGreatFamily
See pictures and other information about the company that is working to help your find your ancestors

2. Join OneGreatFamily on Twitter: (http://twitter.com/OneGreatFamily)

Twitter is a great, free service that allows people and companies to easily keep in touch and provide feedback to each other. You can sign up to "follow" OneGreatFamily which means you will quickly get updates when we post what's going on at OneGreatFamily. We also want to use Twitter as a quick feedback loop.� So if a question arises on which we want some quick feedback, we would like to be able to reach out to our OGF users for some input.Just follow or use the hashtag, #OGF, for a quick response.

3. Subscribe to OneGreatFamily's RSS feeds:

Pressroom: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ogfpr
Newsletter: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ogfnewsletter
Blog: http://feeds.feedburner.com/onegreatfamily

It's important to us to let our members know what we are working on and listening to your feedback on how we can improve. We encourage all our members to read our blog or join Twitter so we can easily communicate the exciting changes coming soon.

OneGreatFamily Tip: Are There New Ancestors in Your Family Tree?

heather.matthews — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:25:00 GMT

How Can I Tell Which Ancestors Have Been Added to My Family Tree?

A question we receive from members of OneGreatFamily is how they can distinguish between the ancestors they added themselves, and the ancestors added because of OneGreatFamily's unique matching and merging system.

There are four different ways OneGreatFamily alerts you when new ancestors have been added to your family tree. When new individuals are added to your family tree the following indicators will occur:

1. New individuals in your StarfieldT are in dark gray boxes
In your Starfield, you will notice there are 3 different colored boxes; light gray, dark gray, and red. Any individuals who are added to your family tree by OneGreatFamily will appear in a dark gray box. Here is a diagram that shows you what each color indicates in the Starfield. The description is written in red:

2. Seeing a message while in Genealogy BrowserT, indicating that "new ancestors " have been added to your family tree

When you work on your family tree in OneGreatFamily, you will notice that a box will appear indicating you have new ancestors. You will also see this box appear if you hit the refresh button on the toolbar. Here is what the indicator looks like:

3. Seeing merge indicators in your family tree.

When two duplicate (or very similar) records are found, they are merged. A yellow exclamation mark in the Starfield indicates a merged record. You can tell which ancestors have been merged with other OneGreatFamily members by clicking the merge indicator button in the toolbar (as seen above). You will then see in the Starfield your merged ancestors. This will allow you to see other members of OneGreatFamily that have the same ancestors in their family tree.� You can then collaborate with them if you wish. Here is an image that shows the merge indicators circled in black as they appear in the Starfield:

4. Genmail

GenMail is a free service provided by OneGreatFamily to let you know the results of our ongoing efforts to grow your personal family tree. Each week, OneGreatFamily members receive an email that tells them how many merges occurred and the number of potential matches.

If you have not seen any new ancestors being added to your family tree, you may need to enter more information to your family tree. You may be able to get that additional information by talking to other family members or going through old family documents or photographs. Adding information to your family tree provides more potential links within the OneGreatFamily database.

Matching and Merging family tree data is a feature only avilable to subscribers. Upgrade your account today to see if we can add ancestors to your family tree and connect with your distant cousins.

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

heather.matthews — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:24:00 GMT

By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Have you ever needed to look up a marriage record at a courthouse in another state? Have you ever wanted to see your great-grandfather's grave marker that was hundreds of miles away? Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK), found at www.raogk.org, is a website that functions entirely on the service of volunteers. You can go online and request a small genealogical service-the copy of an obituary from a local newspaper, for instance-and a volunteer will do it for you for free.

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is administered by Dale and Bridgette Schneider in Lincoln, Nebraska. It went online in March of 1999; it started out as an Iowa-wide service but has since been expanded to include every state in the U.S. as well as many other countries. Today there are more than 4000 RAOGK volunteers, each committed to do at least one act of genealogical kindness per month. In 2007 there were 71,000 research requests filled.

RAOGK is not a professional research service, so you can't contact a volunteer and ask them to do in-depth genealogical research for you. (If you want in-depth genealogical research done, hire a professional.) But if you have one or two research requests for one or two records, a volunteer can help you. RAOGK volunteers look up birth, marriage, and death records from county courthouses; obituaries from local newspapers; grave markers; and many other genealogical records.

How do you make a research request? First, look up a volunteer in the area where you need a lookup. Don't ask a volunteer to do something outside of their specified area, and don't ask someone else to look something up for you if you live within travelling distance (75 miles or so). Remember, a volunteer is donating their time for you. Pay them for expenses like parking fees, gas, postage, and copying fees.

Only ask for one or two items regarding one or two ancestors. Be very specific in your request, and remember that the more information you give the more easily they will be able to find your ancestor. Don't send the same request to two volunteers; they don't want to waste their time duplicating work. Volunteers will not look up any living individuals or birth parents for adoptees; no birth information will be searched after 1930 without proof of death being provided first.

If you decide to take advantage of the great resource that is RAOGK, you may want to consider giving back by volunteering. It's not a huge time commitment-you're only committed to do one lookup per month, and more if you have the time. See the frequently asked questions on volunteering for more information.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Thomas Jefferson

heather.matthews — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:23:00 GMT

Activist for Independence: Thomas Jefferson

After attending the College of William and Mary, Thomas Jefferson practiced law and was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. As a Burgess, he was an agitator for revolution. In 1774 he published a pamphlet, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, in which he argued that sovereignty was inherent in the people and they could throw off any government that subverted their rights. Previous pamphleteers and revolutionaries had just decried the evils of Parliament but not the king; some had even appealed to George III to protect them from the abuses of Parliament. Thomas Jefferson was one of the first to accuse George III of tyranny, and he encouraged the American people to throw off his rule. In 1774 when the Summary View pamphlet was published, Jefferson's views were too radical for most of the American populace and were not adopted by the First Continental Congress. But this pamphlet represented the direction that American thought would take over the next several months. Only two years later in 1776 most Americans agreed with Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence, asserting American rights and rejecting the rule of George III, was passed.

At the Continental Congress in 1776, Jefferson was one of five men chosen to form a committee to create a resolution for independence (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman were the other four). Jefferson was the one who actually drafted the declaration; it was signed by the Congressional delegates on 4 July 1776. Thomas Jefferson served his country in many capacities: as the minister of France from 1785 to 1789; as the founder of the Democratic-Republican party; as vice president from 1796 to 1800; as the third president of the United States from 1800 to 1804; and as the negotiator of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. But the Declaration of Independence is what he is most remembered for and was perhaps his most lasting contribution.

Click Here To See Thomas Jefferson's Family Tree

You can also see whether or not you are related to Thomas Jefferson by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

GenerationMaps.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:30:00 GMT

GenerationMaps.com is designed to provide consumers with an easily accessible marketplace for large-format wall hangings, placing special emphasis on personalized genealogy charts and photos reproduced on canvas. You can accent your home decor with stunning, full-color, genealogy charts filled with family photos, or showcase your professionally printed genealogy charts and make copies for your family members for family reunions.

�� Visit GenerationMaps.com

NGS Conference A Great Success

heather.matthews — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:22:00 GMT

We Enjoyed Getting To Know Some OneGreatFamily Members

If you attended the NGS conferences this past week, I'm sure you would agree that we were treated to one of the best Genealogy conferences this year.�The conference offered great presentations, tips�and suggestions from some of the leading genealogists from all over the world. Over 2,500 family history enthusiasts participated in the varied activities provided at the conference.

We would like to thank all of you that stopped by our booths and gave us great feedback on how we are doing! We loved hearing how OneGreatFamily has helped you to build your family tree and provided you with promising research leads. And we also heard some great feedback on how we can make OneGreatFamily better for our members.

If you missed us at NGS there are many more genealogy and family history conferences this year that we will be attending throughout the country.�Next month we will have booths�and presentations at the following conferences:

Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, June 11 through 13th in Burbank California. For more information check out their website: http://scgsgenealogy.com/2010jam-home.htm

Colorado Family History Expo, June 25th and 26th, in Loveland Colorado. Visit their website for more information: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2tqirvq7bc1d166

We encourage any OneGreatFamily members to visit our booths to pick up your free gift as a thank you for being a current subscriber to OneGreatFamily.com. Hope to see you soon!

OneGreatFamily Tip: Genealogy Browser Takes Forever To Load

heather.matthews — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:21:00 GMT

Learn How To Change The Number Of Generations In Your Family Tree

Some people have noticed that it takes a long time for their family tree to load. Usually it is because Genealogy Browser is trying to retrieve a large number of generations. To make your tree come up faster we suggest changing how many generations you have selected to view in the Starfield.

Above the Starfield view towards the left you will see a number that has a drop down arrow next to it. It is located to the left of the yellow question mark. Click on the down arrow and select fewer generations.

If you would like to see more generations but do not want to wait for it to load, we recommend that you choose an individual further back in the line you wish to view as an anchor.

A History of the Month of May

heather.matthews — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:20:00 GMT

A History of the Month of May
By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian

Get up, get up for shame, the blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colours through the air.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

-"Corinna's Going A-Maying," Robert Herrick

The month of May marks the season of springtime and the real beginning of summer. After a long cold winter, nothing is more exciting than the bright and cheery month of May. In ancient times, May was the third month of the Roman calendar. The Roman poet Ovid wrote that the origin of the month's name comes from maiores, Latin for "elders," while the month of June is named for iuniores, or "young people." Whether that is the true origin of the month's name or not, the month of May marks many important events. Throughout the ages in Europe, the first of May was celebrated as "May Day," and the people went "maying" and held their festivities around the Maypole accordingly. On the first Saturday in May the famed American horse race, the Kentucky Derby, is held. The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day. The last Monday in May is always Memorial Day (and on the Sunday before that, the Indianapolis 500 is held).

There are many other historical events of great import that occurred in May:

2 May: In 1994, Nelson Mandela won the presidency of South Africa in the country's first multiracial election.
3 May: In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of England.
5 May: The Mexican army conquered the occupying French forces in the Batalla de Puebla; this is now commemorated as the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo.
8 May: On "Victory in Europe Day," the military forces of Nazi Germany surrendered, ending Hitler's Third Reich, and victory was proclaimed by the Allied Forces.
10 May: In 1869, America's first transcontinental railroad was completed; both sides of the railroad were joined in northern Utah.
14 May: In 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed.
16 May: In 1770, Marie Antoinette married Louis XVI of France.
20 May: American actor James Stewart was born in 1908.
23 May: In 1967 Egypt blocked Israel's port of Eilat and closed the Straits of Tiran, a move that would contribute to the outbreak of the Six Day War.
30 May: In 1431 on this day Joan of Arc was burned at the stake as a heretic.

Famous Ancestor Of The Week: Ulysses S. Grant

heather.matthews — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:19:00 GMT

Ulysses S. Grant

This week we are featuring the famed general and U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant. He was born 27 April 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio and given the name of Hiram Ulysses Grant. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he acquired the name "Ulysses S." or "U.S. Grant." He fought in the Mexican American War. In 1861 he joined the Civil War effort on the side of the Union. As brigadier general and major general, he earned a reputation as a formidable commander. In 1863 he captured the key city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, thus gaining control of the Mississippi River for the Union. President Lincoln then gave him command of all the Union armies. From 1864 to 1865 he waged the Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee, resulting in a long siege at Petersburg. Finally Grant broke through Confederate lines, captured Richmond, and forced Lee to surrender at Appomattox.

To view Ulysses S. Grant's Family Tree, login to OneGreatFamily, launch Genealogy Browser, and enter OGFN#588971691. You can also see whether or not you are related to Ulysses S. Grant by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily. . You can also see whether or not you are related to by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you .

Old-Yearbooks.com

OneGreatFamily.com — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:28:00 GMT

Old-Yearbooks.com is a site where you can search High School & College Yearbooks, Graduation Programs, Reunion Booklets, Class Rolls, Alumni Lists, School Photos & Memorabilia. Browse the collection by state or type the surname you're looking for into the search box at top right.

�� Visit Old-Yearbooks.com Today!

Announcing GenealoGee.com - Dedicated Genealogy News Site

heather.matthews — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:27:00 GMT

Gee, Sharing Genealogy Just Got Easier

GenealoGee.com is a new genealogy bookmarking site for genealogists and hobbyists to share blog posts, articles, news and other information with each other. The site has a similar purpose as the popular online news site "Digg," but it is focused exclusively on family history and genealogy. As the site grows in popularity and more people contribute articles, GenealoGee.com will become an increasingly valuable resource for locating online information about genealogy. The site is entirely free for users.

Two Functions of GenealoGee.com: Submit Articles for Others' Benefit and Read Articles Deemed Helpful

Articles are published at GenealoGee.com by members of the "GenealoGee" community who read a useful article and "Submit" it to the site for others to see. At launch time, the content also comes in through RSS feeds of top-rated genealogy blogs. As articles are submitted, users see them and vote for the stories they like best. Stories with the most votes are moved from "Upcoming News" to "Published News" on the home page.

To read the posts that are popular in the genealogy world, visit the home page to see the stories with the most votes. However, all submitted articles are categorized as well. If you're looking for Genealogy News, Help for Beginners, Genealogy Blog posts, information about Conferences, or other topics, select your desired Category from the home page to read relevant information.

To find other genealogy enthusiasts and discuss a specific area of interest, visit the Groups page and select your desired topic or create your own.

Why Build GenealoGee.com

There are thousands of blogs and web sites dedicated to genealogy. The sheer volume can be overwhelming for most people. GenealoGee.com simplifies the process of finding helpful articles. When you visit the site, you can read what you choose: scan the top-ranking articles (as voted on by other genealogy enthusiasts), or read all the current news.

GenealoGee.com also helps readers find blogs with relevant information. At GenealoGee.com, you'll see a snapshot of each article. To read the full content, link to the story itself. You'll then be able to navigate through the writer's own site and see other information they've published.

Visit GenealoGee.com and register for a FREE account.

Encourage Family and Friends to Plant Their Family Trees At OneGreatFamily

heather.matthews — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:26:00 GMT

Gee, Sharing Genealogy Just Got Easier

OneGreatFamily encourages those who are enjoying our services to tell others about OneGreatFamily and its mission to create a common family tree for the world to enjoy.

Our Springtime Promotion will be ending today so we encourage you to invite others to take advantage of OneGreatFamily for only $5 a month.

Your friends and family won't be the only ones to save - you can earn additional free time by referring others to OneGreatFamily.com. When anyone you refer to OneGreatFamily subscribes to our service and enters your username, you get an additional free month.

Let those around you know how much they can save:

1 Year (billed annually) ~~$79.95~~ ��Now only $59.95! (only $5 a month)
3 Months (billed quarterly) ~~$29.95~~��Now only $19.95!
1 Month (billed monthly) ~~$14.95~~��Now only $9.95!

This promotion ends tomorrow (April 30th)! Send an invitation now.

We hope you enjoy OneGreatFamily and that you will want to share your experience with others.

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