This is What I Have Been Waiting For!

I have been given a wonderful gift!

This past Saturday, I was a presenter at a Family History Day at Cleveland Public Library.

My genealogy colleague and friend, Sunny Jane Morton also happened to be speaking, and pulled me aside to show me something.

I was gobsmacked!

Sunny had been updating me on a book that she was co-authoring with Harold A. Henderson, and told me it would be released this summer.

And, it is a book that is definitely needed in the genealogy community!

That's right!

It's a book on finding your family's history using Church Records.

Now, why would this be so needed, especially when current polls point to a downward turn in religion?

Because, our families relied on churches to anchor them and their families, and to turn to for comfort when times became bad for them.

I have taught a Church Records course with the Rev. David McDonald at GRIP, and I wish there had been something like this to help me as I put together my presentations. There have been so many divisions and break-offs from core religions that it can be difficult to trace what you may need back to its original beginnings.

This book can help you do that.

It covers the major American religions, and what you may expect to find as you search their records. To quote from Chapter 1, "What's In Church Records?", just look at what you may find when you delve into denominational records?

• Births
• Relative's names
• National origin or ethnicity
• Baptisms
• Confirmations
• Marriages
• Memberships and migrations
• Deaths, funerals, and burials

And, these are just snippets of what you will find throughout the book.

This is a one-stop place for researching all of these religious denominations that would have you going from place to place on the internet.

I commend Sunny and Harold for writing this book. And, I am really grateful for the advance copy Sunny presented to me as a surprise. I had classes ahead of me to teach that day, and the only thing I wanted to do was go into a corner and peruse this book.

This book belongs in any serious researcher's toolkit, and will be kept within arm's reach at my own desk.

If you would like to order this book, which was released yesterday, here is the link: https://library.genealogical.com/printpurchase/3Rg6l
AND
It's on Amazon, too!
https://www.amazon.com/Find-Family-History-Church-Records/dp/0806320958/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RS66RPI64S4Q&keywords=how+to+find+your+family+history+in+u.s.+church+records&qid=1562113467&s=gateway&sprefix=how+to+find+your+family+history+in+u%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1

Book Scanning at RootsTech

FamilySearch has such a wonderful book collection, because of the many people who have titles that they own and have copyright of.

Once again, RootsTech will have a large section of the Vendor Hall set aside for book scanning.

I know first-hand how valuable this service is, for a few years ago at our Family History Center, a man came in with a large volume of family history that he had done himself.  He was so grateful to the LDS Church, and for the records of FamilySearch, for usage of their microfilm and microfiche had enabled him to compile a beautiful genealogy of his family's history.

He wanted his sons to have a copy, and was prepared to copy the entire book so each of them could have one.

He also wanted FamilySearch to have a copy, but he was unsure if he had the funds to make another copy.  

I contacted the Acquisitions Department, and they said to have him fill out a "Permission to Duplicate Form" slip, and send it out to them.  We did just that, and I used labels and a box from the Center to send it on.

We received it back a short time later, along with a free roll of the microfilm it was put onto.  It would become part of the collection, and people around the world would be able to view it.

Consider what you have at home that could benefit others.  If you find there is something, fill out a "Permission to Duplicate Form", and bring it with you.

Your generosity could be the answer to someone else's dilemma.

The "Permission to Duplicate Form" can be found here.

Gratitude Day #27 - Books - 27 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for books.

Growing up as an only child, books were my friends. Like my parents, I always had my nose in a book. On our weekend trips to Kentucky, I would be reading in the back seat with a flashlight.

On our cross-country trips, I was buried in my storybooks.

Heading up through Michigan and on around the shores of Lake Superior, I missed a great amount of scenery because I was caught up in finishing a book and moving on to the next one.

I married a man who is much like me. We counted up our bookcases in our house a couple of days ago, and they number 27. And, we actually need a couple of more.

Once, we invited some friends over for dinner. As they looked at the books in our dining room, the woman asked, "Have you actually read all of these?"

You bet we have. Some more than once.

We raised our children to immerse themselves in books, for they could take you back in time and fly you into the future. I enrolled them in every reading program I was aware of. And, some of our favorite memories are the rainy days when we would head off to the library. We would each nestle ourselves into a corner and read away.

Upon checkout, each of the kids were allowed to check out ten books. I had bags and a milk crate, for on the way to the van we were lugging over 40 new books.

When I have volunteered to take someone to a medical appointment, or help in some other way, they may be hesitant to make me wait.

Are you kidding me? I always have a book with me. As we waited for kids at piano lessons, swim meets, track practice, etc., we always had a book.

I still do. I have tablets which hold 400 books at this point. I am in a constant state of learning.

But, there is still something about the feel and smell of a book that I love. I can recall holding "The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley, and all of the books in that series in my hands wherever I went. "Christy", by Catherine Marshall became one of my all-time favorites. I still have my original copies of both of those books, which I secretly ordered from Doubleday Books behind my mom's back.

I'm grateful for the literacy I have to read and comprehend good writings. I'm grateful for the diversity of subjects that have expanded the capacity of my mind -- everything from religious books of scripture to tombstone epitaphs to migration trails to political genre.

My sponge-like mind is far from being filled.

And Yet, Another Reason for Family History Centers!

Can you tell I love Family History Centers?

A few days ago, I wrote a blogpost about the ongoing need for Family History Center.

You may read it here.

Well, there is even a greater opportunity for these centers of which

Mr. Kerry and I are Co-Directors of the one here in Mansfield, Ohio.

It has its own Facebook page:

Friends of the Mansfield Ohio Family Family History Center 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has partnered with many institutions and is digitizing selected books that are housed in their collections.

Just look at all of these fine institutions that are willing to share their collections!

So, how do we use this?

Perhaps we hear that there may be a book written about our family.

Or, about an area our family lived in.

In the above case, you would want to sign in to FamilySearch.

On the top tabs, click "Search".

Then, click on "Books", wither from the drop-down menu, or the above screen.

You will again see the institutions involved, and a blank space where you may fill in 

a family name...

a geographic area...

the name of a church...

You get the idea.  

In this case, I filled in the name "Tinkling Spring"

Tinkling Spring is the name of a Presbyterian Church 

established in 1740 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Many of my people lived in the surrounding area.

There is a website for it here.

The first two are the ones I am interested in. 

I clicked on the first one, which included "Cemetery Records".

I love cemeteries!

And, this old book tells me all about the people buried in the graveyard next to the church.

Could it get any better than that?

Well...

yes, and no.

The second book was about Reverend John Craig, who established the church in 1740.

That's right...1740!

When I clicked on the link to that book, this is the message that came up.

Excuse me?

I do not have sufficient rights?

But read it carefully.

It says that it must be viewed at... 

The Family History Library.

A partner library.

Or a Family Center.

So, I simply went to the Family History Center, thumb drive in hand.

I went through the process again, and it appeared right on the computer screen.

Up in the right-hand corner, you can see where you may print it or save it.

I saved portions of it to a thumb drive, and brought it home where I can read it from here.

So, we see yet another reason why Family History Centers 

located throughout the world can still serve us well.

There may be restrictions that were placed there when the initial agreements were drawn up,

or as it says in the "sufficient rights" screen,

only so many at a time can view the object.

Aren't we fortunate to have this available to us?