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The Family History Guide – Resource for Beginners

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On 24 September 2016

In Conferences and Education, Organization, Research, Resources

family-history-guide-front-page

Back in July, while I was still in the long process of moving, I was contacted by Bob Taylor, CEO of the Family History Guide (see image above). He was looking to include information about my blog onto his website as well as interview me on genealogy. In exchange, he wanted me to let my readers know about his website.

Months later, I finally have the chance to type up my review! It took a while to actually go through the website because there is SO MUCH to it! Really, it’s quite an amazing place for beginners in genealogy or anyone who wishes to know more about how to use FamilySearch.org to the best of their ability!

About the Family History Guide

Bob Taylor, the CEO of The Family History Guide (FHG) along with Bob Ives, created this guide for those who feel overwhelmed with all the information out there. With all the websites that offer this and that, many people aren’t sure where to go next. The FHG is there to help guide them. It was presented at RootsTech in 2016 and that introduction helped to place the guide on the portal of the FamilySearch.org website. Although, it is not endorsed or sponsored by the LDS church, it is geared to those using the FamilySearch website for the majority of their genealogy research.

Here is their promotional video to help explain the basic purpose of the FHG:

So a brief run-down of what The Family History Guide has to offer both new and experienced genealogists:

  1. It’s FREE
  2. Step-by-step instructions for several projects (like creating a family tree on FamilySearch, using specific record sets, etc.)
  3. Videos explaining the website and how to use it
  4. Resources for training, children, and other genealogical endeavors
  5. It’s pretty much a site created to help guide a new genealogist on where to go next in their research

In Depth Review

To Begin

Probably one of my favorite items that the FHG offers is a guide on basic computer skills, which I feel may be one of the most overlooked items for those beginning in genealogy. The items covered here are what you would expect really: using the mouse, using the keyboard, keyboard shortcuts, finding things on your desktop, internet basics, etc. It does include information for both a Mac and a PC as well as information on Windows 10.

Then of course, are the Family History Basics. This includes items like: genealogy definitions/terms, genealogy online, family myths, interviewing relatives, building a family tree online, information on several websites including FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindMyPast, MyHeritage, and American Ancestors. It’s a great place for anyone just beginning to start out.

Projects

Once the basics are covered, you can move on to the projects.

fhg-projects

There are eight projects on the Family History Guide and to me it’s the bulk of what the website has to offer everyone. It begins with the project you see above: the family tree. This specifically has to do with building a family tree on FamilySearch.org and the little nuances the site offers.

On the left hand side of the project page, you’ll find several resources. There is a tracking sheet (so you can go as slow or as fast as you wish), topics, the vault, and training (I’ll get into those last three a bit later).

The project is chopped into goals. In the first project there are 14 goals, and they really are a simple, step-by-step process for everything you can do with building a family tree on FamilySearch. It covers navigation, views, finding people on the tree, adding information, adding ancestors, changing information, adding notes, duplicate ancestors, and more.

The rest of the projects follow the same guidelines with goals for each project, a tracker, and resources, etc. The projects are as follows:

  • Project 2: Memories: This involves organizing and managing the several different kinds of documents (including photos) you already have and will eventually get. It covers gathering them, safeguarding them, organizing them, interviewing relatives, and adding the information in the Memory section on your family tree on FamilySearch.
  • Project 3: Descendants/Ordinances: If you aren’t an LDS member, then the Descendants part of the project is for you. That part of the project focuses on descendancy research. The Ordinances section focuses more on LDS items, which I am very unfamiliar with.
  • Project 4: Discover: This is the basics of family history research, which includes creating a focus and a strategy – key things in genealogy research!
  • Project 5: Indexing: Indexing on FamilySearch is probably one of my favorite things to do! This has all the information you need to get started on helping to index information onto FamilySearch.
  • Project 6: Help: This includes information on how to get help if you need it as well as how to help others with their genealogy. It also has information on publishing a family history.
  • Project 7: Tech: This covers several technological items that can help you in genealogy including social media, software, and webinars.
  • Project 8: DNA: The title says it all! It’s about DNA basics and using it in your research.

Training and Children 

Besides all the wonderful information in the projects, the FHG also includes information on getting children involved. It’s a question I hear often in societies, how do we entice younger people to get involved in genealogy, and the site has some wonderful ideas and information for not just younger children but older ones as well.

The Training Section is for use in classroom settings, presentation settings, or one-on-one settings. It includes PowerPoints on using the FHG as well as just good information on how to create and prepare a presentation. It includes resources for tracking your progress, tips and tricks, and an evaluation form you can download.

Topics

The Topics area is really quite vast. It’s listed alphabetically for any topic that you may want to know more about in genealogy. It includes items like adoption, record sets, researching in specific countries/states, immigration, specific ethnic questions (like Jewish genealogy or African American genealogy), and more.

The Vault

Here is where you can find anything discussed in the website. It has all the resources and documents mentioned throughout as well as extra items. A highlight here is to check out the sections dedicated to research in other countries. It’s a great place to look if you’re going into a new area of research!

The Family History Guide Explorer

The Family History Guide Explorer is a newsletter published twice a month. It’s free and goes right to your email as a very colorful and clickable pdf. It holds some great information on what is happening on the website as well as other genealogical news.

The September 1st issue, the fourth one, includes an interview with me! You can find that issue here.

Overview

Overall, this website is large, but very well put-together. You can easily go from project to project, learning more and more about genealogy without being overwhelmed. It has a LOT to offer anyone, no matter the level, but is particularly wonderful for those just beginning. Although the focus is on using the FamilySearch website for the majority of items, because FamilySearch is free, it is likely the most accessible website to anyone wishing to know more about genealogy.

I highly recommend checking out the website and adding it to your genealogy toolbox!

the-family-history-guide

Educational Opportunity – FutureLearn: Online and FREE!

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On 11 May 2016

In Conferences and Education, Method, Research, Resources, Review

 Future Learn is an online educational site that offers a selection of courses from several different universities. They offer language courses, historical courses, writing courses, and pretty much anything you can imagine. The best part? They have FREE courses! If you choose, you can buy a Certificate of Achievement at the end of the course but that’s optional.

I have taken historical courses from them and recently took a six week genealogy course that was done by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. If you are unfamiliar with that university, you should check out the link for some of their amazing courses they offer. Although pricey, they offer certificates and degrees in genealogical studies. Of course, their research is more UK based but you can take it online, which is a nice choice (although really, I wouldn’t mind if I had to go to Scotland!).

The course from FutureLearn is called Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree. It starts 18 July and runs for six weeks. FutureLearn estimates the time per week to be about 4 hours and I’d say that’s at the maximum. You’ll likely spend less time than that per week depending on how much interaction you do.

Here is a rundown of the course:

  • Ideal for beginners who are just getting into genealogy
  • Great refresher for those who aren’t beginners – it’s always great to go back to the basics and be sure you haven’t missed anything. Not to mention, new ideas come out all the time!
  • Ideal for those with UK ancestors as it discusses many of UK resources
  • Shows how DNA can work into your genealogy
  • Allows for discussion among classmates

The course is something that can easily fit into your schedule. You can take your time and do a bit each day, or spend a few hours on the weekend going through all the week’s lessons. Either way, it is easy to work in.

After taking the course just recently, here are my thoughts:

Pros

  • Nicely paced – very easy to follow along
  • All videos have a transcription – this is wonderful when they begin to discuss DNA. You can download the transcription for further study as it can be complex at times.
  • Solid methodology
  • Includes how to do citations (always a pro for me!)
  • Includes resources for UK research

Cons

  • Includes resources for UK research – this is both a pro and a con. If you don’t have UK ancestors, then a lot of the resources may not be useful to you. The instructor does mention US resources too, but as the course is done by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, it makes sense it would focus on records available there. Just something to be aware of.
  • Really, this isn’t a con, but more of something to keep in mind – this course is taught by University of Strathclyde, as already mentioned, which means that they use different terms than genealogists in the United States will. In the first week, you’ll discuss source types and this is where the US and the UK differ quite a bit:
    • US: Original source = UK: Primary Source – this is the first form of something and normally created close to the event – historical fields in the US also call these primary sources
    • US: Secondary = UK: Derived Primary Source – these are normally a step away from the original. So an index, a transcription, an abstract, etc. Someone used the original to create those and since it goes through another person, there’s more room for error.
    • US: Authored = UK: Secondary Source – the US description is self-explanatory really. These are resources where someone else has looked through research and put together an analysis or interpretation. Historical fields in the US also call these secondary sources.

Why does the US differ on this? Because when genealogists in the US analyze the source, we identify the information in it as primary or secondary. For example, a death certificate is an original source. The death information is primary, meaning it comes from a person who was there at the time of the event, like the doctor who attended the death (normally – I’m sure there could be an exception to this). However, the birth information can be secondary, meaning it comes from a person who was not there at the time of birth, like the spouse or child of the deceased.

This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just something to keep in mind if you are in the US doing research as you’ll notice the change in these terms. For more information, and a good website to book mark, see Evidence Explained QuickLesson 17: The Evidence Analysis Process Map.

Overall Response

I do recommend this course for beginners to experienced genealogists. It’s a lot of fun, has great information, included new (to me) research resources, and I always enjoy interacting with other genealogists. The six weeks flew by for me and I had no problem fitting it into my schedule and found the website very easy to use.

So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up! 🙂

FutureLearn

 

Minnesota Death Records

By

On 19 April 2016

In Research, Resources, Vital Records

MHS

Not that long ago, I posted about Ostrom Witherell, my 2x great-grandfather’s brother and what could have happened to him. I mentioned that Ostrom’s father died in 1915 and the obituary mentioned that Ostrom was in Grand Rapids. Now, me being me, assumed that meant Grand Rapids Michigan. However, an astute reader noted that it was Grand Rapids, Minnesota!

And that led me to a new-to-me resource: Minnesota Death Records!

These records are held at the Minnesota Historical Society website where they actually have a number of great sounding indexes, but I stuck with the death certificates for the time being.

The Minnesota Death Records go from 1904-2001 and can be searched by using two search engines: either PeopleFinder or the MNHS Research Materials. Either one uses the same kind of search technique. First I narrowed down by collection:

 

MHS Death Records Collection

Then used the search term Witherall as well as narrowed down the year:

MHS Death Records Collection Search

And there were two very sad results:

MHS Death Records Collection Results

*Mabel’s last name was spelled differently, obviously, and took narrowing down the years and her first name to find her.*

Ostrom’s death certificate said he was a widower and his wife had been Mable Sheehan – could this be the same? And was that baby boy his? So I ordered the records to see what they could say. Each cost $9.00 and they arrived in about 10 days.

The result – Mabel Sheehan was the wife of Ostrom Witherell and that baby boy was their child. Mabel was born around 1892 in Canada, which is also where she was removed for burial in Toronto. She died of eclampsia after the birth of said baby boy. ((Minnesota Historical Society, death certificate no. 1913-MN0005468 (1913), Mable Weatherell; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. )) Are any of you fans of the TV show Downtown Abbey? Remember the horrific death scene of Sybil? Mabel died from the same thing. I can’t imagine Ostrom’s grief over losing his baby boy AND his wife in one day.

For Ostrom’s story, this does give me some other clues. Next I’ll check for marriage certificates in Toronto as well as Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Ostrom’s mother was from around Toronto as well (another brick wall of mine) so perhaps there could be a link there?

His story aside – this is a great resource for those with Minnesota relatives! The index was easy to use and the ordered copies came within two weeks, which is always a plus!

Long Lost Sibling: Ostrom Witherell

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On 30 March 2016

In Discovery, Personal, Research

I’ve been focusing a bit more on my Witherell line than others of late. I mentioned in a previous post a few specific people I wanted to know more about, and one of them is Ostrom Witherell, my 3rd great uncle.

My specific part of the Witherell surname has narrowed considerably over the last few generations. Passing on the surname is now left to my two nephews and my cousin’s son as the last remaining males in my known line. At least, as far as I can confirm anyway. My 4x great-grandfather likely had siblings as well but I haven’t been able to confirm who they are yet. So from my 4x great-grandfather on, that line has became quite small when it comes to carrying on the name. This is why I wanted to find out more about my 3rd great uncle and see if he had children as well.

The search for him has not been easy as he eventually immigrates to Canada and from there, records are harder for me to follow.

The Early Years

Ostrom Curtis Witherell was born 27 March 1885 in Saginaw, Michigan to parents Gard and Lillian (McLeod) Witherell.((Saginaw County, Michigan, Record of Births Book F (1885-1886):58, 1885 entry for Ostrom C. Witheral, record dated 22 June 1926; Saginaw County Clerk’s Office, Saginaw.))

He was the second son for Gard and Lillian and this is one of those cases where I wish the 1890 census existed, as it is the only census where he was enumerated with his complete family. In 1895, his mother, Lillian, died from stricture of the bowels, which sounds absolutely awful.((Saginaw County, Michigan, Death book D (1895-1898): 921, entry for Lily Witherell 1895; Saginaw County Clerk’s Office, Saginaw.))

There was still plenty of family around to help though. In 1900, Ostrom was living with his father, brother, and grandmother.((1900 U.S. Census, Saginaw, Michigan, population schedule, Saginaw City Ward 15, ED 71, page 4A, dwelling 68, family 71, Gard Witherell Household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 December 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 740.)). At the age of 15, he was already a laborer at a tooth pick factory.

Adult Life

Ostrom did live with his family for a few more years and worked various jobs.((R.L. Polk, compiler, Polk’s Saginaw City Directory (Detroit, Michigan: R.L. Polk & Co., 1901), 873; also subsequent years by the same title: (1902) 924, (1903) 938, (1904) 886.)) However, in 1905, he is no longer listed in the city directories and I cannot find him in the 1910 census.

Gard Witherell (the elder), Ostrom’s father, dies in 1915. Gard’s obituary says that Ostrom was living in Grand Rapids, however, it seems if this was true, it was such a short period of time that no city directory or census caught him there.((“Second Brother Dies in City Park,” Saginaw Courier Herald (Saginaw, Michigan), 2 September 1915, p. 7.)) I am not even sure that Ostrom attended his father’s funeral, or his brother for that matter. Simply because Gard’s pall bearers were all nephews or husbands of his nieces. I found that to be interesting that it wasn’t his sons; however that doesn’t mean they didn’t attend.

Ostrom is a unique name, which means identifying him in records is somewhat easier. In 1918, he filled out his World War 1 draft card in Duluth, Minnesota. His nearest relative on that card was his wife, Pearl Witherell.((“U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 March 2016), card for Ostrom Curtis Witherell, serial no. 3174, Local Draft Board 3, Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota; citing “World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” NARA microfilm M1509, roll 1675463.))

In 1920, Ostrom Witherell was in Hill Lake, Aitkin County, Minnesota with the same wife, Pearl.((1920 U.S. Census, Aitkin County, Minnesota, population schedule, Hill Lake Township, ED 13, page 9A, dwelling 185, family 188, Ostrom Witherell; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 March 2016), citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 822.)) He worked as a turner in a paint factory. His wife, Pearl, was born in Wisconsin to French-Canadian parents. I haven’t yet been able to find her maiden name or find marriage information for the two of them. I’ve looked into Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota marriage records for possible matches, but have yet to find anything. I need more identifiers for Pearl and a better range for marriage dates, which could help narrow down possibilities. It’s also possible that they went to Canada to marry seeing as her parents were from there, as was Ostrom’s mother.

By Anastasia Shesterinina (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Anastasia Shesterinina (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Death

From 1920 until 1962 I have no idea where Ostrom went. In 1962, Ostrom was in Vancouver and retired. ((Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Elections Act: Urban Preliminary List of Electors, 1962, stamped 71646:1, Ostrum Witherell; “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980,” image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 March 2016), citing Vancouver Centre, Vancouver, Urban Polling Division No. 88.))

In between 1920 and 1962, his brother, Gard, died in 1952. I happen to have Gard’s funeral visitors list. Much to my surprise, Ostrom is not listed on there. This could be because Ostrom was already in Vancouver, and the travel cost was liekly too much. There wasn’t much of an obituary for Gard, just a note of his death so no other family was mentioned there, which could have been helpful in identifying where Ostrom was at that time. I do wonder if Ostrom even knew of his brother’s death. Did something happen between the brothers? Was there an argument? Did they just not get along? Did they keep in touch?

It was another 16 years after Gard’s death before Ostrom died. He died in Vancouver on 30 May 1965 in what I believe was a home for the elderly (The Taylor Manor in Vancouver). ((British Columbia Archives, Death Registrations, 1872-1986, Ostrom Curtis Witherell, registration no. 68-09-007734 (1968); FHL microfilm 2, 033,943.))

His death certificate does give lots of good information. It gives how long Ostrom had lived in Canada and the Province. Both of which were 50 years, which means he likely moved after the 1920 census. Ostrom also lived in the municipality of Vancouver for the last 20 years. He was a widower at the time of his death and his wife had been Mabel Sheean. Lots of good hints but I haven’t yet found marriage information for Mabel and Ostrom (and whatever happened to Pearl?), nor any other record to indicate where he lived in those 50 years. However, Ostrom was a Canadian citizen, but I’ve not had much luck on finding naturalization records for him (anyone know of some help there?).

Burial

Ostrom was cremated and then interred at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.((Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 March 2016), memorial 26428692, Ostrom Curtis Witherell, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.)) I contacted the cemetery to see what further records there could be. I received the saddest reply: his remains were never claimed and were therefore brought to the cemetery for a mass internment with other unclaimed remains and put into a communal grave.

No one came for him. That statement feels so lonely.

Did anyone know? Did my great-grandfather even know his father had a brother? I would like to believe my great-grandfather would have tried his best to have gone to Canada to claim the remains if he did know. Or maybe, if he was aware of his uncle, was there some reason why he wouldn’t have gone to claim the remains? Some deep family wound?

I have no idea.

I’m waiting to hear if the crematorium has more information on him and I’m hoping the Vancouver library can find an obituary for him as well. I am doubtful about that though, considering his internment.

So far, there is no indication that Ostrom had any children, and at the moment, I get the impression that Ostrom lost complete touch with his family in Michigan. I haven’t finished researching his story and I’m hopeful to find some silver lining with more research. Stay tuned!

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