10/31/2010 Family History Lession

Sister Absher gave a review of the Links in Wiki.Familysearch. There are some great links, including Meyers Gazetteer of Germany online, German archives on the Internet and much more. It is worth your time to understand these links.

Here is a link to the Family History Library to view "Meyers Gazetteer" on line.

We also reviewed the first 16 slides of "German Town of Origin" by Teresa S. McMillin. The following are some German words she provided that will help a beginning genealogist:

10/24/2010 Family History Class

This was the second week that we have been learning about Germany.

Last week Sister Johnson shared with the class many of the things that she learned at California Family History Expo 2010. She provide several maps, Gothic Alphabet Samples, a review of Meyers Gazetteer and much more. Contact Sister Johnson if you would like copies of the handouts.

This week Sister Polich gave a very interesting presentation on the history of Germany. A history of the country you are researching is a must. Keep it close as you do research. Many times the history will give you a clue as to what records are available and where they are located.

Before you begin researching in Germany do the following:

•Find a good collection of maps
•Have historical time-line available
•Understand how transportation works
•Find a German translation site
•Listen to German Town of Origin by Teresa Steinkamp McMillin

For those of you that are working on lines in Germany, the link to the German Town of Origin is a must .

Viel Glück erforscht!

Family Search News

The follow is from an email to Family History Consultants sent on October 19, 2010. I thought that you might find some of the information useful and interesting.
                                                                           
Celebration DVD Now Available

One of the highlights of the NGS 2010 Family History Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, was the much talked about Thursday evening spectacular, A Celebration of Family History, hosted by FamilySearch. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event that will not be forgotten by those in attendance.

The event took place on April 29, 2010, at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City. During this event, award-winning author and historian David McCullough and President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to an audience of thousands interested in family history. The program included musical numbers by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square and several inspiring video presentations showing the impact that family history can have on individual lives.

Due to the positive response to A Celebration of Family History, FamilySearch has made a DVD of the event available. The talks, music, and films can be played as a single program, or the segments can be viewed individually. These presentations will inspire those looking for additional insights into family history. To learn more and to get your own copy of the DVD, click on the link below.

http://celebration.familysearch.org

Whether or not you attended the conference, we know you will enjoy this DVD!
 
 
Family History Online Training Resources for Members

FamilySearch has over 100 online courses available to help you, and the members whom you serve, learn basic methods and resources to start your family history. These courses provide training on:
· Researching records in various countries
· Reading handwritten records
· Using research principles and tools

These courses can be accessed directly from the beta FamilySearch website at https://learning.beta.familysearch.org/researchcourses. You can also access these courses in the Help Center from the Training and Resources tab of the new FamilySearch.

New FamilySearch Reference Manual

The New FamilySearch Reference Manual has been created to use with the new.familysearch.org website. The reference manual is a training resource that can be used to teach members, either through one-on-one training or in a classroom, how to use the new FamilySearch. This manual provides:
·         Step-by-step instructions for using the new FamilySearch.
·         Learning activities.
·         A chart to mark a person’s progress in completing the training.

You can access the manual from the Help Center of the new FamilySearch by clicking the Training and Resources tab. After reviewing the manual, we encourage you to give us your feedback using the link provided in the manual.

FamilySearch Interactive Guide

The FamilySearch website will change to a new version by the end of 2010. The new version of the FamilySearch website still contains most of the features that you used on the previous site. However, for many of the features, how you access them has changed.

This interactive guide can be used as a resource to help you and others learn the following about the new site:
• Where features are found on the new site
• How functionality has changed for some features
• Which features are no longer available
• What features will be added in the future
 You will find the interactive guide in the Help Center of the new FamilySearch, on the Training and Resources tab.
 
Recent FamilySearch-Certified Products

Various companies and organizations develop products with features that support FamilySearch’s key offerings. Certification indicates the company’s declaration of compliance with FamilySearch requirements. Note, however, that these products and services are independently developed and supported by their respective organizations (not by FamilySearch). 

Since new.familysearch.org (FamilySearch Family Tree) is currently available only to LDS Church members, products certified to be compatible with it are also available only to LDS Church members.

Current details of all FamilySearch-certified products can be found at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html or by clicking on the More Great Products link found near the bottom right of the new.familysearch.org home page. Some of these certified products are highlighted below:

AGES-Online.com (Web): FamilySearch Family Tree Access Certified.
 
Gaia Family Tree (Windows): FamilySearch Family Tree Access Certified.
 





Mac Family Tree (Mac): FamilySearch Family Tree Access, Print, Sync, and Update Certified.
 


NamesInStone.com (Web): FamilySearch Family Tree Access Certified.

 
OurFamilyOlogy.com (Web): FamilySearch Family Tree Access and Update Certified.


SharingTime.com (Web): FamilySearch Family Tree Access Certified.

Variety

My father has been extra busy the last few weeks, so please excuse his lack of posts. To add a little variety to his posts (nothing bad, we just all like some change, right?) I have a couple reminders.

Firstly, this past week we traveled to Germany. There was lots of interesting information, and we learned a lot. I will badger him to post more about this, as well as another website preview.

Secondly, there are a lot of names that are either temple ready, or waiting to be finished. That is wonderful! I believe I heard that there are 300+ names ready for baptisms. Wow!

Thirdly, remember that there is a temple trip this coming Saturday. Anyone and everyone is invited to come participate in baptisms. There will also be endowments and sealings to be done. If you would like to come, just make sure to let Bro. Dahle know before Saturday.

What's new with Familysearch

The future is almost here! The following link will allow you to learn what Family Search is going to look and act like:

http://blog.beta.familysearch.org/whats_new

You can learn about (and try) the new & improved "Search", "Share & Collaborate" and the new "Single Sign In". It appears that wiki.familysearch.org, pilot.familysearch.org and several of the features in "old" www.familysearch.org are being combined and better organized.

"Beta" will continue to evolve until it is eventually combined with and replaces the "Search Records" tab in the "old" familysearch and "pilot". I plan to start using "beta" now because I can access my favorite parts of "wiki", "pilot" and "old" familysearch on one site. It may not be perfect but it will allow me to access all my favorite tools from a single site.

Some of these tools are found in the "Learning and How-To's" tab :

• The Search function allows you to access research articles by topic. You can also access individual country portals directly. This is the best tool I have found for novice family history researchers and it is getting better every week!

• Using the Add function you can add or edit research articles. Yes, even you, can contribute to the collective knowledge contained in "wiki".

• Forums lets you pose that research question that has you stumped. There is a good chance that your question has already been asked and answered.

• Genealogy Learning Online includes many of those wonderful links and classes that have been buried deep in the Library Tab in "old" familysearch. They will now see the light of day. Guess what? There are even more now! If you want to learn about a specific topic in genealogical research this is the place to start.

Take a tour of the site and see the future.

Decisions

"New Family Search" has broken many of our individual work-flows for managing data collected during research. Everyone who is doing family history is doing research. You might be talking to a relative who shares some family information such as a birth date of a child or you are at Ancestry.com reviewing a census. What do you do with the this new information? In the past you would of entered the information in PAF (Personal Ancestral File) or some similar software. You might have printed a hard copy of the census information and filed for later reference. Then a couple of years ago New Family Search came on the scene. If you are like me, I didn't want to double enter the data in both PAF and New Family Search. So I quite using PAF for a while. This was a mistake. There is a lot of information that I didn't agree with on New Family Search. It didn't invalidate the ordinance but seemed messy. Also New Family Search was not a place to archive my research notes, digital document, photos or correspondences. It was not unusual for me to have New Family Search, Ancestry.Com, Rootsweb, cyndislist.com, and PAF all open at one time. I would be cutting and pasting information from one program or site to another. The data is always in fields and is not efficient for cutting and pasting. New Family Search was helping me to not redo ordinances that were already completed but had bogged down my data entry and broken my work-flow for organizing my collected data.

I think the pain that New Family Search created in my life might just be worth it with the recent announcement of Certified Products for new.FamilySearch.org. These products are revolutionizing my work-flow for saving, updating and synchronizing my data with New Family Search and other data repositories. Many of my frustrations have or are disappearing. Go to the link below to view the latest Certified products. It includes programs, services, and utilities that are compatible with new.FamilySearch.org (Family Tree) and conform to FamilySearch standards and systems.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/affiliates/index.html

Over the weeks to come I will be posting reviews of some of the software listed. Mike Dahle and I have been trying them and we will share our findings. The reviews will be in the tab above called "Software Review".

Below is a hand out from today's Family History Class. It is a simplistic view of a work-flow that that goes from research to completing an ordinance. I have also started an "Issues" column that contains questions that I ponder. Please review and give me you comments or additions. I plan on expanding and modifying this work-flow and I would enjoy your input. If it is too small for you to read just double click on the image and it will open in a new window and you can enlarge or print it. I will begin to share the answers that I have discovered during my search for a better work-flow over the coming weeks.

"To you who are worthy and able to attend the temple, I would admonish you to go often. The temple is a place where we can find peace. There we receive a renewed dedication to the gospel and a strengthened resolve to keep the commandments."
—Thomas S. Monson



The last seven days has been a spiritual feast for the Nevada City Ward. We have reached 25% of our ward goal and performed many ordinances for our kindred dead. (see "Counting UP" sidebar on the right)

On the August 27th 10 people from our ward and about the same number from the Penn Valley Ward attended our assigned sealing session. There were so many of us that the Temple split us into two sealing rooms with two sealers. We did many sealings for relatives of members of our ward. Additionally we did many more sealings for others. Those attending felt that spirits were pleased with our efforts.

On September 3rd we attended a baptism session at the temple that Mike Dahle arranged. Those in attendance were Bishop Emery, Ken Farnsworth, Ken & Roxanne Eslick, Jon DeMartini, Larry Gray, Bess Russ, Pat Wadatz, Laura Warren and Ben Warren, Amber, Jeremiah, Garret and Hunter Newman, Tom, Marika, and Anna Conley, Kathy, Brianna and Jared Stephensen.

President William W. Parmley welcomed us and told about an experience that he had the previous week. When he was walking across the parking lot at 5:00 am in the morning to open the Temple he felt a large crowd of spirits following him to the Temple. He realized that these were the spirits that would have ordinances preformed for them that day. Not only did they know what was happening but wanted to attend. I'm sure that Friday morning that the 161 spirits that we performed the baptisms for were among the spirits that were waiting for the Temple to open. All were relatives of ward members and are thankful for our efforts.

The next major event is a ward Temple day scheduled for October 23rd. We have two hours in baptistery reserved. Also we should have 200 names ready for endowments and several hundred names for sealings. Please mark your calendars, prepare your family names and encourage others to participate. It will be a day of peace, a day of gratitude for those in the spirit world and a day to share the joy of service with our children.

Sacrifice (a Saturday at the Temple)

In the past couple of months a sister in the Nevada City Ward approached Chuck Hemmert and asked if he and his sons would be willing to do four baptisms at the Temple for her. Apparently there was a timing issue and she needed these ordinances done by a certain date.

Chuck agreed and called to identify a Saturday that this could happen. Several things became apparent:

1) The Sacramento Temple is very busy on Saturdays
2) If they could fit him in, he would need 4 Melchizedek Priesthood holders (due to the busy nature of Saturday mornings there are no Temples Workers available).
3) During weekdays this is not an issue. Temple Workers are able to assist families in the baptistery.

Initially Chuck was able to schedule the trip by tagging onto another ward's Saturday baptism trips. Then shortly before the scheduled date, the ward had to cancel their trip. Tapping into his unconquerable attitude, he called around the Nevada City Ward and found that Ken Fransworth and Wendell Clove could go along with Wendel's son, Grant. Chuck then called the Temple again and asked if he could still come if he only had three Melchizedek Priesthood holders. After some discussions, including talking to the supervisor of the baptistery, the Temple agreed.

The Saturday arrived, Chuck Hemmert and his two sons, Quinn and Logan; Wendel Clove and his son Grant and Ken Farnsworth loaded into a car and drove to the Temple together. Another family in the ward provided additional names and the Temple added the balance so that each young man were able to do 15 baptisms.

The six of them along with a "recorder" provided by the Temple spent over an hour performing the saving ordinance of baptism for these 45 people. Something that they couldn't do for themselves. In addition the young men involved, rubbed shoulders with Melchizedek Priesthood holders in action.

Quinn, Logan and Grant received the following for sacrificing 5 hours of their time (15 combined hours) on a Saturday morning :
•Providing service for someone else
•Working arm-in-arm with their Fathers
•Observing Temple Workers assist patrons of the Temple
•Eating at "Mel's Diner" on the way home and discussing what they had done at the Temple

I think that these young men are learning patterns that will affect the rest of their lives. As always, the Lord has a way of paying us for our sacrifices.

Great Grandfather

My Great Grandfather, Charles Cooper, was the only father that my Dad knew.

Dad joined the Church shortly after my parents were married and they were sealed in the Temple before I was born. We attended church as a family until I reached junior high school when our family became holiday Mormons, no longer participating as members of the church.

When I was sixteen (almost seventeen) I developed an interest in religion, seeking to fill a void in my life. Through a miraculous conversion, I became active in church. Afterwards, my Dad asked me to get my Great Grandfather’s temple work done. He told me of a vision he had shortly after he was baptized, in which he saw his grandfather and knew exactly why his grandfather had come; he wanted to be baptized. The responsibility was passed on to me, since I was going to church.

This turned out to be a difficult responsibility. Great Grandpa Cooper’s birth information varied depending on which of his children you talked to. Most believed he was born and raised in Germany. While attending medical school he had a “falling out” with his family, boarded a ship for New York, never to see them again. Upon arriving in New York, he got drunk and joined the Cavalry. He was sent to Wyoming where he met his Scottish immigrant wife. They eventually ended up in Southern California where he ran a drug store and was a pharmacist, or chemist. When WWI was commencing Great Grandpa Cooper got into fights, probably brawls, defending the German position. Eventually he told people he was born in New York. He also decided to become five years younger. I know this because I tracked his whereabouts through census data. He became younger between 1910 and 1920. Maybe he had a secret chemical he never shared!

When I first submitted Great Grandpa Cooper’s information for Temple Ready it was rejected because I couldn’t prove the birth date or the location. Things changed; I no longer needed to prove all the details. In the meantime, some of his relatives provided a different last name. They claimed the original name was Cowper, spelling it to make sure I got it right. Cowper is an English name, not German. So we had him baptized as Charles William Cooper and Karl Wilhelm Cowper just to cover all the bases. (Sister Fulmer informed me that there is a German version of Cowper, it’s Kauper. So maybe that’ll give me a leg up on finding his parents.)

I complained about how hard Great Grandpa Cooper had made it to do his temple work. I said, on many occasions, “When I get to the other side I’m going to give him a real tongue lashing for making this so difficult, and making it impossible to find his parents.” More recently, as I’ve spent some time trying to do family history, I took a moment to complain once again that Great Grandpa Cooper had made things difficult and I was going to lecture him first chance I got. Then I felt the presence of Great Grandpa Cooper, standing right next to me, and he said, not audibly, but in pure thought, “Loretta, I didn’t know, I didn’t know.” My heart melted. I can’t be mad at him. I’ll just work harder. And maybe Heavenly Father will give him permission to help, after all He already let Great Grandpa Cooper talk to me.

Submitted by:
Loretta Farnsworth
Nevada City Ward

What to do on a Sunday afternoon?

Sunday, 11 July 2010, Waskish, Minnesota

We got up in the morning and went to church at the "Big Bog Ecumenical Service" which was held in the park. There were about 100 in attendance if you don't count the mosquitoes (maybe 2,500 counting them). With 20-30 Olsons included there was a real family feeling. The Lutheran Minister read a scripture and discussed it- I can't remember it now, but at the time I thought "Great Scripture!", it would seem that a Lutheran Minister has no more effect on me than do our High Counselors. The Baptist congregation was responsible for the sermon. They currently have no minister, so one of the members gave a wonderful sermon on Challenges. It was on target for our times and taught correct principals. The congregation was well fed, as were the mosquitoes. I have to say that the highlight of the meeting was the Ecumenical Five singing numerous old-time gospel songs. David Leonhardt played "I come to the Garden" on the saw (yes, the tool). There was not a dry eye in the congregation.

We went to Uncle Peter's house after-wards for lunch. It was a family potluck and there must have been 50 people there. Holiday started asking questions about her grandparents and others. We were regaled with many stories that Sunday. As the meal wound down we needed to find something to do that was in harmony with the sabbath. Many of the cousins were either going swimming, fishing, or boating. I asked Uncle Peter where the cemetery was in Kelliher (about 30 min away), and Peter replied that we should go see Ole Admunson's (Holiday's great- grandfather) grave in Shotley- but we would need a four wheel drive. He would be happy to drive us. As it turned out, the grave-site was on an old, abandoned road many miles into a swampy area. Her grandfather John Olson and uncle John Olson had made the headstone. John was a little boy when this happened but remembers that "birth" and "death" were in Swedish. It is a very nice headstone made of actual rock with one surface plastered for the name and dates. Before the day was over we were able to enjoy many stories about the family including one about a great uncle who had drown returning to Waskish with the mail. We got to see the actual creek and hear all about his drinking problem. We also visited the Kelliher cemetery and took photos of many headstones. It was a special day. You should know that because of all the stories we were able to identify several more names to take to the temple.

When you have the opportunity to ask, take it!!

Celestial Realizations

This week I participated in two significant events.

Event #1 was Camp Lazy Dog, which is a an annual family "get-together". Due to some scheduling conflicts, several members of our immediate family couldn't make it; however, there were 15 people in attendance. We all had a great time! Lots of sun, food, and playing with cousins whom we only see once or twice a year. I realized that while we were goofing off with each other, we were also shaping eternal relationships. Over the past several days, I have pondered the feelings that I had during this week. The feelings which I was aware of were as close to the feelings that we must have in the eternal worlds. At least as close to them as is possible in this mortal existence. The other thoughts that I had were how sad I would be if those who missed Camp Lazy Dog this year wouldn't or couldn't come in the future. I think that I will do everything possible to make sure that they come in the future so that they too might enjoy those wonderful feelings that I felt.

In a way, Camp Lazy Dog represents the Celestial Kingdom. Just like we missed those who couldn't make it to the camp, we will miss those who won't make it to the Celestial Kingdom. Our kindred dead can't progress from the spirit world without our help. It is our job, here and now, to do all you can to help them move on.

Event #2 was helping Holiday do Family History today. We agreed to spend 30 minutes working on the Olsen line. 1 1/2 hours later we had to stop and spend time with our living children. During the time that we were doing family history, I could hear the Olsen clan cheering for Holiday as she labored in their behalf. The vale was thin, the spirits were interested in what we were doing.The Lord opened doors for both Holiday and the Olsens who have been waiting in the spirit world.

Please let me know of your experiences doing family history so that I can post them on this site. The ward members need to hear about each others' work- successes and challenges!

Keys

The following is a quote on the landing page at new.familysearch.org :

"I testify that when we do all we can to accomplish the work that is before us, the Lord will make available to us the sacred key needed to unlock the treasure which we so much seek."
-President Thomas S. Monson

At the High Priest Group's "Redeem the Dead" Committee Meeting, held in July, Roger Foulk said that he would try to do 100 names. He told me later that he wondered how in the world he was going to accomplish it. Shortly after making the commitment, he was told by his daughter that a distant relative was visiting the area from Australia and had done lots of research on the Lewis family line. Roger, his brother, and his mother visited with the their distant relative; guess what, they were given over 700 new family names.

Trust in the words of the Prophets...the Lord will do the rest.

Today I am sending an email out to ward members to announce this Blog. Feel free to give the address to other Nevada City Ward members. The more the merrier.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Nevada City Ward Family History blog!

Both Sister Farnsworth and Brother Dahle gave great talks in Sacrament Meeting today. I love the concept of "Genealogy by Accident", I've been practicing it for years. Thank you Sister Farnsworth, I feel much better. As mentioned by Brother Dahle, the ward's goal is to have 2500 names temple ready by 31 Dec, 2010. We haven't officially started yet and we already have over 120 names on our list to get Temple Ready. It is exciting to be part of this ward!

There are three committees that are available to assist you in this project. Feel free to give them a call:

• research - chairman: Tom Conley 277-9715
  
• temple ready - chairman: Mike Dahle 272-4405 Email Address
  
• communications - chairman: Loretta Farnsworth 264-7042 Email Address
  

Please note there are permanent links across the top to these three committees. They will be there until this project is complete.