Ocala Macintosh Users Group (OMUG) Family History: Genealogy Basics Ocala, FL 13 MAR 2019 Ronald J. Niebo President 2018: OTOW Genealogical Society DNA Tested Individual ∫ Novice Genealogist [email protected] PRESENTATION OVERVIEW ❖FREE ❖FREE / FEE ➢ Helpful Forms ➢ Sources ➢ Family Records ➢ Major 4 Genealogy ➢ Friends / Neighbors Software Programs ➢ Social & Religious ➢ Training Sources ➢ Conferences ➢ Government Sources ➢ FREE On-Line ❖ WHAT DOES Genealogy ➢ Paper / USB Files RON DO ??? 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 2 WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? ❖ How thorough do you want to be? ➢ Names and dates? ➢ Places? ➢ How far back? ➢ Your direct line or others also? 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 3 WHERE TO START? ❖ Start with YOU and work backwards ❖ Focus on MAGIC 7 of GENEALOGY ➢ You (1) ➢ Parents (2) ➢ Grandparents (4) ❖ Start using pencil and paper ➢ Name, birth place & other vital information ➢ Where they lived & occupation ➢ Parents and their information ❖ Where did they come from? When? Why? 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 4 Pre-CLASS GENEALOGY CHART: 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 5 INDIVIDUAL ANCESTOR VITALS TABLE: 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 6 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 7 FORM SOURCES: ❖ Forms available from MANY genealogy sources ❖ Two preferred site for FREE forms / templates: ➢ https://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy/resources/ family-history-forms ✓ Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, MO ✓ FREE PDF format forms capable of data entry. ➢ https://www.familytreetemplates.net/ ✓ Family Tree Magazine ✓ FREE PDF format forms…printable. ✓ The $4 versions are Microsoft Word x.DOC files you can edit to your specifications. 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 8 START AT HOME: ❖ Interview relatives ❖ Study/Share family documents ➢ Journals or Diaries ➢ Letters ➢ Legal Records ➢ Newspaper Clippings ➢ Remembrance Cards & Bibles ➢ Photo Albums ➢ Travel Memorabilia ➢ Personal Articles 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 9 GENEALOGY COLLECTIONS: ❖ Vital records (birth, marriage, death, etc…life events kept under governmental authority) ❖ National archives & libraries ❖ State archives & libraries ❖ City & industry directories ❖ Religious records ❖ Courthouses ❖ County & family histories ❖ Military service & pensions ❖ Cemetery transcriptions ❖ Land purchase & survey records ❖ Maps & atlases ❖ Newspapers & periodicals ❖ Professional & society newsletters 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 10 ORGANIZING WHAT YOU KNOW: ❖ Work where YOU are comfortable ❖ Choose an organization style that works best for YOU ❖ Be consistent ❖ Write it down on paper ❖ Learn what is needed by using and adapting proven genealogy forms 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 11 BECOME ORDERLY : ❖ Organize your research and make timely and clear notes…this will AVOID… ➢ multiple searches of the SAME document, ➢ missed documents, ➢ overlooked facts and clues, ➢ poor correlation & analysis of findings, ➢ incorrect conclusions ➢ dead ends & false connection. ❖ KEEP UP WITH THE DETAIL! 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 12 FREE “UNDERUSED” RESOURCES: ❖ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) ➢ http://aad.archives.gov/aad/index.jsp ❖ Library of Congress (LOC) ➢ http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html ❖ Bureau of Land Management─General Land Office Records (BLM─GLO) ➢ https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx ❖ Internet Archives: https://archive.org/index.php ❖ Family History Books ➢ https://books.familysearch.org/primo_library/lib web/action/search.do?vid=FHD_PUBLIC 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 13 FREE “UNDERUSED” RESOURCES: ❖ City Directories: https://archive.org/index.php ❖ State Censuses: United States Census Bureau ➢ https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/ other_resources/state_censuses.html ❖ Historical Map Collections ➢ The Atlas of Historical Boundaries ➢ http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/ ➢ The Darlington Digital Library ➢ http://digital.library.pitt.edu/ ➢ Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection ➢ https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 14 GENEALOGY STANDARDS: ❖ Consistency / Uniformity ❖ Clarity of meaning ❖ Compatible with On-line Search Criteria ❖ Recognized by ALL ‘Family Tree’ Developers ❖ Suitable with Mapping & DNA Developers Standards for: ❖ NAMES, DATES, PLACES & CITATIONS 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 15 GENEALOGY STANDARDS: NAMES ❖ Only use ACTUAL names in name fields ➢ First, Middle, LAST (surname in UPPER CASE) ➢ NOT awarded titles ✓ may enter in fact, description, or note field ➢ NOT random characters of interest to only you ❖ Always list women by their MAIDEN name ➢ REGARDLESS of multiple-marriages ❖ IF name UNKNOWN leave it BLANK or enter 5 underscores (preferred) ❖ Utilize aka for nicknames enter in notes area along with any descriptive material ➢ Ronald Joseph NIEBO [aka NIEBOJEWSKI] 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 16 GENEALOGY STANDARDS: DATES ❖ dd◊MMM◊yyyy [where ◊ is a space] ➢ Where dd ≡ 01, 02…31 ➢ Where MMM ≡ JAN, FEB,…JUL,…,DEC ➢ Where yyyy ≡ 1776…1940 ❖ These DATE abbreviations may be used: ➢ abt…where abt or Abt ≡ about ➢ bef…where bef or Bef ≡ before ➢ aft…where aft or Aft ≡ after ❖ DATE Estimates are OK (incl. abt or other abbreviation) ➢ Enter in notes WHY you made the estimate ❖ Alternate─DATES ➢ Enter ‘preferred’ record date and the alternate date(s) in BRACKETS: 18 FEB 1946 [alt 19 FEB 1946] 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 17 GENEALOGY STANDARDS: PLACES ❖ City,◊County,◊State,◊Country [where ◊ is a space] ➢ Country is ABBREVIATED ✓ CA=Canada, MX=Mexico, US=United States ✓ An upper-case two-letter codes defined by ISO-3166 ➢ SPELLOUT all other entries ❖ Use CURRENT place names BUT do record HISTORICAL place names in the notes or descriptive field. ❖ Address of hospitals, churches, cemeteries, as well as names of these facilities belong in the notes or descriptive fields. 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 18 GENEALOGY STANDARDS: CITATIONS ❖ Citation style guides show source information necessary for you and others to… ➢ Locate a source ➢ Evaluate a source ➢ Find other sources from which your ‘evidence’ was derived ❖ What to record… ➢ Who ➢ What ➢ Where & Wherein ➢ Why Descriptive info of ➢ Whatever specific interest to you 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 19 ! 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 20 TYPES of EVIDENCE: ❖ DIRECT (stands alone) ❖ PRIMARY (direct/original or firsthand) ❖ SECONDARY (recorded documents, reports of events that occurred a long-time before, reports by persons who were not at the original event) ❖ HEARSAY (spoken records related to an event) ❑ RELEVANCE & WEIGHT (value / credibility) Certainty…Probably…Likely…Possibly…Apparently…Perhaps 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 21 EVIDENCE EXCEPTIONS… ❖ Sources may be considered either primary or secondary, depending on certain factors… ✓ Family Bible is primary source if events recorded at/about times they actually occurred. ✓ Family Bible started in 1800’s that lists birth dates from 1700’s is a secondary source. ✓ Death Date on a death certificate is a primary source. ✓ Birth Date on a death certificate is a secondary source. 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 22 GENEALOGY PROOF STANDARD: ❖ Your genealogy research should demonstrate: ➢ Reasonably Exhaustive Research ➢ Cite ALL Sources, Track to their Origin ➢ Analyze / Evaluate ALL Data / Findings ➢ Correlate All the Details ➢ Resolve Conflicts ➢ Draft / Reach a Sound Conclusion ➢ Keep an Open Mind to Alternatives 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 23 AVOID PROBLEMS: DO NOT… ❖ Copy other Family Trees UNLESS you researched and validated it ❖ Blindly accept Family myths, validate ❖ Accept that your family name will always be entered as currently spelled ❖ Make conclusions without sufficient evidence 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 24 GENEALOGY RESEARCH PLAN: Don’t research without one! ❖ UNDERSTAND: What do you know? ❖ UNDERSTAND: What do you want to know? ❖ Write down what you already know. ❖ Have a broad focus but a specific goal(s)… ➢ Broad: Document my (paternal) father’s grandfather ➢ Goal: Identify father of my (paternal) grandfather ➢ Goal: Immigrated or born in US ─ where? ➢ Goal: Identify Great-grandmother & children ❖ ASK: Where might you find this info? ❖ Prioritize the resources you want to use. CAREFUL: Work on one goal at a time. 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 25 AREA GENEALOGY RESOURCE: ❖ Available @ Marion County Library System ─ Ocala ➢ FREE access to premium databases: ✓ Heritage Quest ✓ Florida State Historical Books ✓ State Historical Books (for select states) ✓ Passenger List Reference Books (limited) ✓ Historic Marion County Digital Collection ✓ Marion County Newspapers ─ Microfiche & On-Line ✓ Marion County Maps/Survey ➢ 2720 E. Silvers Springs Blvd., Ocala, FL 34470 Wednesday 12:30 ─ 3:30 PM Terminals, printers, maps, text resources & support staff (library & MC Genealogical Society) available in MCLS Genealogy Help Center 13 MAR 2019 OMUG: Ocala Macintosh User Group 26 AREA GENEALOGY RESOURCE: ❖ Available @ LDS Family History Center ─ Lecanto ➢ FREE access to premium databases: ✓ World ─ Ancestry ✓ Fold3 ─ Military Records PLUS: LDS FHC in Ocala ✓ War of 1812 1831 SE 18th Ave, Ocala, ✓ Find My Past ✓ My Heritage FL 34471 ✓ World ─ Family Search 352-351-4163 ✓ ArkivDigital (Scandinavian ancestors) ✓ British and US Newspapers ✓ Obituary listings