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Premium Episode 24 – Location Based Genealogy
Date Published: May 17, 2009
[display_podcast]Click here to download the Show Notes pdf
n this episode we are going to continue exploring geographic genealogy, or what is also sometimes referred to as location-based genealogy. No matter what you call it, it’s all about analyzing the locations and movements of the folks in your family tree.
“Location is what drives pedigree. Pedigree is nothing but an echo of decisions that were made at a particular time and place.” Bernie Gracy, www.historicaltownmaps.com (link no longer available)
In this episode I’m going to share some great tools and websites with you that you can use to help you explore those decisions that were made so long ago. And perhaps even convert some of your brick walls from a needle in a haystack, to perhaps a pushpin on a map.
GEM: Profile America – The New York Stock Exchange
May 17, 2009
GEM: Location Based Genealogy Research
The song “The Wee Little House That You Live In (It’s The Best Place of All)” was recorded by Glen Ellison in 1915 for Edison Records.
Lisa shares the story of the little blue house on Arcade street that “seemed like the center of the world to me. And in many ways it was for our family. No matter where my family, or the aunts, and uncles went, in the end we all regularly made the pilgrimage back to that house.”
Even though our ancestors did occasionally relocate – sometimes in very BIG ways – they tended to create what I think of as hubs of influence. We can often identify a family that has taken the lead, and often their decisio
Bernie Gracy likened it to dropping a pebble in a calm water and watching the waves radiate out from it. Or in the case of our ancestors it was often the church bell in a village. The majority of the activity – the living and dying, marrying and working, happened within earshot of that church bell.
Acme Mapper 2.0 www.acme.com/mapper
To get started, go to the bottom right hand corner and type a location name in the search box.
Look in the upper right corner of the screen and you’ll find 8 buttons and this is where the magic really begins:
MAP
SATELLITE
HYBRID
TERRAIN
TOPO
DOQ
NEXRAD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEXRAD
MAPNIKK
GEM: Family Atlas
Since Rootsmagic is one of my current sponsors for my podcast series Family History: Genealogy Made Easy I’ve spent more time recently looking at the other genealogy products they offer in addition to the Rootsmagic genealogy database program. One that immediately caught my eye was the Family Atlas program which is for Windows computers, and it certainly fits right in with our discussion of geographic genealogy! I LOVE this program!
Once I fired it up I was amazed to see what it could do. With Family Atlas it’s even easier to map your family history because it can interact with your genealogy database. You can download data from several popular genealogy software programs or just export your data as a gedcom and import the gedcom.
Premium Episode 25 – Geo-Tagging with Ken Watson
Date Published: June 1, 2009
[display_podcast]Click here to download the Show Notes pdf
MAILBOX:
Premium member Tim Cox wrote in recently about digital cameras…
“Ken Watson, who has written a comprehensive overview of digital cameras and GPS technology says it’s important for genealogists to embrace geo-tagging because they, of all people, should realize how crucial it is to label, or tag, photographs.
To quote Ken “We spend a lot of time poring over old photographs, wishing someone would have written something on the back, or maybe a little more than just someone’s first name. Technology has made it easy for us to embed that information for our own descendents.”
I went to his website and was amazed with his information.”
GEM: Geo-Tagging with Ken Watson
Digital Cameras and Genealogy
GEM: Profile America
John Krohn’s walk around the perimeter of the U.S. with his wheelbarrow!
GEM: A Story About a Dog, a Cottage, and a Mystery
Here are some ideas for how to track down the locals where you are researching:
– US Genweb www.usgenweb.org
Google searches for:
– The local genealogical society
– City hall
– Public library reference librarian
– The Local Newspaper – see if anyone writes a “Days Gone By” type column, or write the social editor
– Contact the local High School or Junior College – talk to the local history teacher
– Message boards: www.Ancestry.com
– Better yet go for a visit and just chat with the local store keepers, the barber, or even visit the retirement home.
– Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website http://www.RAOGK.org
“Bill Moore (below) was a tough marshal. In those days you had to be tough.” – The Old Timer
Video of my interview with Fergal O’Donnell of the Irish Family History Foundation and Roots Ireland website mentioned in this episode: Part I and Part II
Do you have a method for locating locals that has worked for you? Email Lisa and share your story and she’ll share it on an upcoming episode. OR better yet, call the voice mail line at (925) 272-4021.
Premium Episode 26 – Virginia Genealogy with Dr. Arlene Eakle, and More on Maps
Date Published: June 21, 2009
[display_podcast]Click here to download the Show Notes pdf
NEWS:
Lisa discusses new records at FamilySearch and World Vital Records.
FamilySearch:
– Louisiana and Idaho death records
– Delaware, District of Columbia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Mexico
were added to the 1920 U.S. Census collection.
– Digital images of church records for Mexico.
World Vital Records:
They have a new collection of college yearbooks coming from E-Yearbook. E-Yearbook houses the largest collection of old college yearbooks on the Internet. This includes:
The University of Kentucky-Kentuckian Yearbook
Database covers various years between 1897 – 1949
The University of Wyoming-WYO Yearbook
Various years between 1923 – 1958.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Technique Yearbook
Various years between 1894 – 1957
University of Wisconsin-Badger Yearbook
The Badger Yearbook database
Various years between 1892 – 1953
Shorter College-Argo Yearbook
Various years between 1898 – 1953
Pets Added to familylink’s We’re Related Facebook application:
So what do you think? Why or why should we not include the family’s pet boa constrictor in our family tree?
We’re Related at Facebook
Genealogy Gems News Blog Post about the new feature
Become a fan of Genealogy Gems on Facebook
GEM: Virginia Genealogy with Dr. Arlene Eakle Ph.D.
The song ‘Mid the green fields of Virginia was Sung by Frank Stanley and Henry Burr in 1911
Courtesy of the University of California at Santa Barbara
Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast
Birth Records with Arlene Eakle
Episode 25 – Civil Birth Records
Episode 26 – Church Birth Records
Arlene’s Virginia Genealogy Blog
http://virginiagenealogyblog.com/
GEM: More on Maps
Maps To Look For:
– Sandborn Maps
– Land Ownership Maps
– Real Estate Deed Maps (found at county courthouses, in probate court)
Pat’s Tip: Use maps in conjunction with the the special census’. For example the agricultural census isn’t alphabetically indexed, so a land ownership map can help you make quick work of locating your ancestor.
Family History: Genealogy Made Easy…
Episode 34 – Genealogy Research at Public Libraries Part 1
Episode 35 – Genealogy Research at Public Libraries Part 2 (To be published June 26, 2009)
US Historical County Lines Interactive Maps
Pick a state and view the formation of counties by year. Linked to Interactive maps at The Newberry Library
Click on the state, then select the time frame.
The Immigration Explorer Map of the U.S. provided by the New York Times
It shows the predominant foreign-born populations in each county. The county name and current population pops up when your cursor hovers over it.
Google map My Maps
