"Mac PAF" has not been available for several years but there are still a few users. Last night at the FHC we had a lessson on MacFamilyTree, and afterwards a patron asked for help in importing his Mac PAF gedcom into his new Family Tree Maker for Mac software.
I told him to create a new (empty) file and import the gedcom. I watched as he tried unsuccessfully to import the gedcom. I suspected that the gedcom file might be corrupted, so I inspected it in a text editor (Notetab Light), and the gedcom seemed to be normal.
I tried importing the gedcom into PAF and PAF couldn't see it. Note to self: a file name extension of .GEDCOM is not normal. Change it to .GED so it is recognized.
I imported the gedcom successfully into a PAF 4 file, reasoning that PAF 4 was in use at the same time as Mac PAF, so there would be a better chance of a smooth import.
Feeling that the problem was solved, I exported a new PAF 4 gedcom and asked the patron to import this into FTM. FTM now recognized it as a gedcom but rejected it because it did not conform to gedcom standard 5.5.
Now I knew what to do. Back on the Windows computer, I opened the PAF 4 file in PAF 5, allowed PAF 5 to convert it to PAF 5 format, and then exported the data in gedcom 5.5 format.
This gedcom file was imported by FTM with no complaints. SUCCESS!!!
My patron was relieved and very happy. He was not looking forward to re-entering the data for 2000 people!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Reviving a Stake Family History Center
If I were trying to revive a stake FHC, here are some ideas I would try:
1. Create a schedule of fairly basic lessons. We have more patrons when we have lessons to offer.
2. Phone each ward to get the name, phone number and email address of the bulletin editor and HPGL.
3. Contact each bulletin editor to verify their email address.
4. Send each editor and HPGL a copy of the schedule of lessons and ask to have it included in their bulletin for the next two weeks. Ask them to include the hours of operation as a standing item in each weekly bulletin.
5. Make sure that your hours of operation and phone number are listed in the stake directory, and maybe the FamilySearch wiki.
6. Get a list of all the ward consultants with their contact information.
7. Schedule a monthly training meeting for constultants and other staff.
8. Make sure your stake president and your high councillor over genealogy know who you are and what you are doing.
9. Find out who your area FH advisor is, and what suggestions they have. Their support can be a tremendous benefit.
10. Try to recruit staff that are comfortable with technology. Maybe that recently released YW president or High Councillor? That young man that needs to wait a year before serving a mission? Or that couple who just returned from a mission where they used Skype for a weekly visit with their families? If you are the director, a few strong assistants can help to move the work forward.
11. Delegate these tasks as necessary.
12. Always pray for guidance and help.
--
Bill Buchanan
1. Create a schedule of fairly basic lessons. We have more patrons when we have lessons to offer.
2. Phone each ward to get the name, phone number and email address of the bulletin editor and HPGL.
3. Contact each bulletin editor to verify their email address.
4. Send each editor and HPGL a copy of the schedule of lessons and ask to have it included in their bulletin for the next two weeks. Ask them to include the hours of operation as a standing item in each weekly bulletin.
5. Make sure that your hours of operation and phone number are listed in the stake directory, and maybe the FamilySearch wiki.
6. Get a list of all the ward consultants with their contact information.
7. Schedule a monthly training meeting for constultants and other staff.
8. Make sure your stake president and your high councillor over genealogy know who you are and what you are doing.
9. Find out who your area FH advisor is, and what suggestions they have. Their support can be a tremendous benefit.
10. Try to recruit staff that are comfortable with technology. Maybe that recently released YW president or High Councillor? That young man that needs to wait a year before serving a mission? Or that couple who just returned from a mission where they used Skype for a weekly visit with their families? If you are the director, a few strong assistants can help to move the work forward.
11. Delegate these tasks as necessary.
12. Always pray for guidance and help.
--
Bill Buchanan
Sunday, September 25, 2011
1916 Census of Canada's Prairie Provinces - Coming soon
I remember when this was briefly available on pilot.familysearch.org a few years ago. I searched it diligently, day after day. Then suddenly it disappeared. In its place was a notice saying that due to contractual obligations this census was not currently available.
Guess what! This past week I saw a FamilySearch knowledge document saying that after 19 December 2011 this census would be available on FamilySearch.org. So on December 19th or sometime soon after, we will have access to this census again.
Guess what! This past week I saw a FamilySearch knowledge document saying that after 19 December 2011 this census would be available on FamilySearch.org. So on December 19th or sometime soon after, we will have access to this census again.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Free Getting Started Videos
While looking at videos on the FamilySearch YouTube channel, I found four short Getting Started videos, sort of like the 5-Minute Genealogy series but slightly more basic. I think I will use them to introduce some of my up-coming lessons at the FHC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free Family History Classes!
At the Riverbend Stake Family History Centre
Tuesdays 7-9 p.m. repeated Thursdays, 7-9 p.m.
- Sept 20/22 Starting your family history, with paper or computer, for beginners!
- Sept 27/29 5-minute genealogy! How to find your ancestors online for free with FamilySearch.org
- New.FamilySearch - How to prepare names
- Oct 4/6 part 1: Adding missing people
- Oct 11/13 part 2: Combining duplicate records to clean up your family tree
- Oct 18/20 part 3: Reserving ordinances and printing Requests.
- Oct 25/27 Accessing USA records online for free at the Family History Center
- Nov 1/3 Accessing British records online for free at the Family History Center
- Nov 8/10 Accessing Canadian records online for free at the Family History Center
- Nov 15/17 New LDS sites – Wiki, FamilySearch Forums, Labs, Indexing
- Nov 22/24 When and how to use the classic (old) FamilySearch.org
- Nov 29/Dec 1 Connecting software to new FamilySearch – PAF and certified affiliates, GEDCOM
- Dec 6/8 Especially for Mac users - FamilySearch affiliated software, other software and website usage.
- Learn how to use the Internet to find your ancestors for FREE!
North-east entrance 14325 53rd Ave
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
(Take the 53 Ave exit off the Whitemud Freeway.)
Phone: 780-436-0136 (FHC) or 780-435-8141 (director)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
1871 Census of Canada is now Free
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter had big news today (link to article http://goo.gl/VkCT7)
1871 Canadian Census now Available Online
Library and Archives Canada has placed the 1871 census online. 1871 marked the first regularly scheduled collection of national statistics. The information covers the four provinces that were part of the Dominion of Canada in 1871: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.
The online database provides digitized images of original census returns featuring the name, age, country or province of birth, nationality, religion, and occupation of Canada's residents at the time. The database is searchable by nominal information such as Name, Given Name (s) and Age, and/or geographical information such as Province, District Name, District Number, and Sub-district Number.
The 1871 Canadian Census is available free of charge at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/index-e.html
You can learn more about the 1871 census at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/001101-2000-e.html
[Until now this census was only fully available through Ancestry.com/AncestryInstitution.com/Ancestry.ca by subscription and at Family History Centers and some public libraries. EOGN article is quoted by permission.]
1871 Canadian Census now Available Online
Library and Archives Canada has placed the 1871 census online. 1871 marked the first regularly scheduled collection of national statistics. The information covers the four provinces that were part of the Dominion of Canada in 1871: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.
The online database provides digitized images of original census returns featuring the name, age, country or province of birth, nationality, religion, and occupation of Canada's residents at the time. The database is searchable by nominal information such as Name, Given Name (s) and Age, and/or geographical information such as Province, District Name, District Number, and Sub-district Number.
The 1871 Canadian Census is available free of charge at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/index-e.html
You can learn more about the 1871 census at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/001101-2000-e.html
[Until now this census was only fully available through Ancestry.com/AncestryInstitution.com/Ancestry.ca by subscription and at Family History Centers and some public libraries. EOGN article is quoted by permission.]
Friday, July 29, 2011
New Genealogy Online Forum
I received an invitation to join this forum, so I will give it a try:
"Ancestry purchased Rootsweb and renamed the boards. And thanks for reminding me about GenForum at http://www.genforum.com/ which is also owned by Ancestry. If the genealogy community wants their own Q&A genealogy site independent from any vendor, then here is our opportunity. And thanks for signing up there. Since I committed 3 hours ago, there's now 4 more of us. If we all let others know, we might be able to get our 200 needed fairly quickly." - Louis Kessler
http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2553/genealogy?referrer=CS0JNkio5BdUZvrx04eTvg2
I encourage you to try it out. It is free.
Personally, I will also continue to use RootsWeb message boards and GenForum. FamilySearch also has forums. A Google search should find postings on all of these forums, so it may not be necessary to do separate searches on each of them.
"Ancestry purchased Rootsweb and renamed the boards. And thanks for reminding me about GenForum at http://www.genforum.com/ which is also owned by Ancestry. If the genealogy community wants their own Q&A genealogy site independent from any vendor, then here is our opportunity. And thanks for signing up there. Since I committed 3 hours ago, there's now 4 more of us. If we all let others know, we might be able to get our 200 needed fairly quickly." - Louis Kessler
http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2553/genealogy?referrer=CS0JNkio5BdUZvrx04eTvg2
I encourage you to try it out. It is free.
Personally, I will also continue to use RootsWeb message boards and GenForum. FamilySearch also has forums. A Google search should find postings on all of these forums, so it may not be necessary to do separate searches on each of them.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Finding the maiden names of females in England and Wales.
Attendance at our Thursday night classes has dropped drastically with the arrival of spring, but this past week I had 5 students. To see the contents of the class click this link. http://billbuchanan.byethost17.com/ Then click the link to England and Wales below my photo.
We ran into a technical glitch. We lost our internet connection for about 10 minutes, but we perservered and it returned.
Finding the maiden names of females is relatively easy in England and Wales. The census will show you approximately when the marriage occurred. Then use http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ to look for the marriage. If you are lucky there is only one person with the name you are looking for getting married in that locality in that time period. In marriages after 1900, it will actually give the spouse's surname. For example, searching for the wife of William Shipgood in 1900-1920, we find:
Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Sep 1913 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forsbury Mary A Shipgood Camberwell 1d 1947
Holliday Robert V Smith Camberwell 1d 1947
Shipgood William Forsbury Camberwell 1d 1947
Smith Florence Holliday Camberwell 1d 1947
William's wife's surname is shown as Forsbury, so we know he married Mary A. Forsbury.
Prior to that date you need to do a little more detective work, by finding the husband in the next census and seeing which wife he is with.
For example, looking for the marriage of Thomas George Ing in London, about 1865, we find:
Marriages Dec 1862 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ing Thomas Luton 3b 9_1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1865 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ing Thomas George Bethnal Gn 1c 691
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Sep 1866 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ING Thomas Berkhampstead 3a 519
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The one in Bethnal Green is the only one in London. Clicking the link to the page number, finds these people's marriages on that page.
Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1865 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Batt Thomas Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Boulton Eliza Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Forsbury Martha Jane Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Ing Thomas George Bethnal Gn 1c 691
So who did Thomas marry, Eliza Boulton or Martha Jane Forsbury? The 1871 census has the answer!
1871 Census of EnglandName Age in 1871 Birthplace Relationship Civil Parish County/Island
Thomas Ing 34 Paddington, Middlesex, England Head Paddington London [Coster monger]
Martha Ing 22 Paddington, Middlesex, England Wife Paddington London
Thomas Ing 5 Marylebone, Middlesex, England Son Paddington London
William Ing 4 Marylebone, Middlesex, England Son Paddington London
Location in 1871 Paddington Kensington, St Mary Paddington
Obviously Thomas married Martha Jane Forsbury, and Thomas Batt married Eliza Boulton.
What work did a coster monger do? He sold fresh fruits and vegetables, usually from a portable stand or a wheelbarrow. (Sort of like Molly Mallone in the old song. "She was a fish monger, ... She pushed her wheelbarrow down streets dark and narrow, crying "Cockels and mussels! Alive, alive! Oh!") Some coster mongers were fortunate to work along busy streets with lots of hungry pedestrians; they were the equivalent of today's fast food outlets. McDonalds, Wendy's and so forth, didn't arrive in England until a century later.
Enjoy your English research!
We ran into a technical glitch. We lost our internet connection for about 10 minutes, but we perservered and it returned.
Finding the maiden names of females is relatively easy in England and Wales. The census will show you approximately when the marriage occurred. Then use http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ to look for the marriage. If you are lucky there is only one person with the name you are looking for getting married in that locality in that time period. In marriages after 1900, it will actually give the spouse's surname. For example, searching for the wife of William Shipgood in 1900-1920, we find:
Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Sep 1913 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forsbury Mary A Shipgood Camberwell 1d 1947
Holliday Robert V Smith Camberwell 1d 1947
Shipgood William Forsbury Camberwell 1d 1947
Smith Florence Holliday Camberwell 1d 1947
William's wife's surname is shown as Forsbury, so we know he married Mary A. Forsbury.
Prior to that date you need to do a little more detective work, by finding the husband in the next census and seeing which wife he is with.
For example, looking for the marriage of Thomas George Ing in London, about 1865, we find:
Marriages Dec 1862 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ing Thomas Luton 3b 9_1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1865 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ing Thomas George Bethnal Gn 1c 691
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Sep 1866 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ING Thomas Berkhampstead 3a 519
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The one in Bethnal Green is the only one in London. Clicking the link to the page number, finds these people's marriages on that page.
Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1865 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Batt Thomas Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Boulton Eliza Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Forsbury Martha Jane Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Ing Thomas George Bethnal Gn 1c 691
So who did Thomas marry, Eliza Boulton or Martha Jane Forsbury? The 1871 census has the answer!
1871 Census of EnglandName Age in 1871 Birthplace Relationship Civil Parish County/Island
Thomas Ing 34 Paddington, Middlesex, England Head Paddington London [Coster monger]
Martha Ing 22 Paddington, Middlesex, England Wife Paddington London
Thomas Ing 5 Marylebone, Middlesex, England Son Paddington London
William Ing 4 Marylebone, Middlesex, England Son Paddington London
Location in 1871 Paddington Kensington, St Mary Paddington
Obviously Thomas married Martha Jane Forsbury, and Thomas Batt married Eliza Boulton.
What work did a coster monger do? He sold fresh fruits and vegetables, usually from a portable stand or a wheelbarrow. (Sort of like Molly Mallone in the old song. "She was a fish monger, ... She pushed her wheelbarrow down streets dark and narrow, crying "Cockels and mussels! Alive, alive! Oh!") Some coster mongers were fortunate to work along busy streets with lots of hungry pedestrians; they were the equivalent of today's fast food outlets. McDonalds, Wendy's and so forth, didn't arrive in England until a century later.
Enjoy your English research!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Keeping your data in sych automatically
If you are using the same data file on multiple computers, you might want to look at having DropBox installed on both computers and keeping your data file there.
For me, it has been the solution to the problem of adding data at the FHC or archives without throwing my database at home into confusion. I love being able to update my PAF file from either computer, and from any location. I have had to train myself to close PAF and wait a minute when shutting off my computer for the night, to give DropBox a chance to save all of the latest changes. A 2 GB account is free from https://www.dropbox.com/
You may never need to Restore another backup. DropBox will automatically keep your data file in sych across multiple computers and smart phones.
For me, it has been the solution to the problem of adding data at the FHC or archives without throwing my database at home into confusion. I love being able to update my PAF file from either computer, and from any location. I have had to train myself to close PAF and wait a minute when shutting off my computer for the night, to give DropBox a chance to save all of the latest changes. A 2 GB account is free from https://www.dropbox.com/
You may never need to Restore another backup. DropBox will automatically keep your data file in sych across multiple computers and smart phones.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Certificates no longer viewable in FamilySearch?
On FHCNET@yahoogroups.com the question was asked "Is anyone else still having trouble view images on FS, i. e. Ohio death certificates. It has been well over a month since I have been able to view one"
Someone else replied that you could see the certificates if you were signed-in.
I decided to give it a try.
I tried viewing an Ohio death certificate, signing in, then doing the search for the death certificate of:
Name: Nellie Watson
Death Date: 13 Dec 1926
Death Place: Toledo, Lucas, Ohio
As previously, I found the transcription, but this time I received the message "Image is not available online." Fortunately I had saved the image of her death certificate a few months ago, when it was viewable online.
So the certificates (at least some of them) are not viewable on FamilySearch.org at the present time, and it makes no difference whether you are signed in or not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lois Casson sent this reply she received from FamilySearch Support:
Sometimes images are blocked by temporary internet files and cookies on your browser history. Deleting these files often gives you access to the images. See instructions at: https://help.familysearch.org/help/viewdocument?documentId=105483&sliceId=SAL_Public&userQuery=clear+cookies
If this does not work, try clicking on the "back to search results" link, then clear the files and cookies again and then click on the name for the image you need.
You may need to close the browser and open familysearch.org again to access the images.
If the above solutions do not work, try opening familysearch.org in a different browser, like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. You can find free downloads for these browsers online.
We are trying to pinpoint the cause of your problem for the engineers. We would appreciate your sending the name, event, location, and date of the person you are searching. We also need to know the name of the collection you are searching.
Sincerely
Family Search
support@familysearch.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting!!!
I tried it with Firefox and the image is present! But it was unavailable in Internet Explorer.
Someone else replied that you could see the certificates if you were signed-in.
I decided to give it a try.
I tried viewing an Ohio death certificate, signing in, then doing the search for the death certificate of:
Name: Nellie Watson
Death Date: 13 Dec 1926
Death Place: Toledo, Lucas, Ohio
As previously, I found the transcription, but this time I received the message "Image is not available online." Fortunately I had saved the image of her death certificate a few months ago, when it was viewable online.
So the certificates (at least some of them) are not viewable on FamilySearch.org at the present time, and it makes no difference whether you are signed in or not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lois Casson sent this reply she received from FamilySearch Support:
Sometimes images are blocked by temporary internet files and cookies on your browser history. Deleting these files often gives you access to the images. See instructions at: https://help.familysearch.org/help/viewdocument?documentId=105483&sliceId=SAL_Public&userQuery=clear+cookies
If this does not work, try clicking on the "back to search results" link, then clear the files and cookies again and then click on the name for the image you need.
You may need to close the browser and open familysearch.org again to access the images.
If the above solutions do not work, try opening familysearch.org in a different browser, like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. You can find free downloads for these browsers online.
We are trying to pinpoint the cause of your problem for the engineers. We would appreciate your sending the name, event, location, and date of the person you are searching. We also need to know the name of the collection you are searching.
Sincerely
Family Search
support@familysearch.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting!!!
I tried it with Firefox and the image is present! But it was unavailable in Internet Explorer.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What do you do when nobody comes?
On last Thursday's shift we had no classes scheduled and no patrons came. But it was still a productive evening. My partner on the shift that night had replaced his dead desktop computer with a new laptop a few weeks previously, and was unable to sign in new.FamilySearch.org. His daughter had registered him in nFS and had used her own email address, so the sign-in/password recovery system didn't work the last time I had spoken to him about it. In the interval he had phoned to change the email address. It seemed that things should be very simple.
Not quite! I guided him through the process of having his sign-in name emailed to him automatically by FamilySearch. He then phoned his wife and asked her to check for the email message. She told him that she had never been able to access email on the new computer. At this point he decided to go home and fetch the laptop. When he got back I checked Windows Mail and sure enough, he needed a password to access his email. I helped him find the phone number for his ISP, and after verifying his identity, they reset his password. Now he could open his email from FamilySearch and get his sign-in name. I was going to guide him through the steps of recovering his FamilySearch password, but he remembered it, so that was unnecessary. When he signed in, Internet Explorer said that it was not the password that was saved for that sign-in name. I asked him to ignore the warning, and in a few seconds he was happily looking at his family pedigree.
Later I even helped him with some research on his wife's family line.
So it was a nice productive evening ... even if no patrons came. But this week we have a class on German genealogy research, and I hope we get a good turn-out.
Not quite! I guided him through the process of having his sign-in name emailed to him automatically by FamilySearch. He then phoned his wife and asked her to check for the email message. She told him that she had never been able to access email on the new computer. At this point he decided to go home and fetch the laptop. When he got back I checked Windows Mail and sure enough, he needed a password to access his email. I helped him find the phone number for his ISP, and after verifying his identity, they reset his password. Now he could open his email from FamilySearch and get his sign-in name. I was going to guide him through the steps of recovering his FamilySearch password, but he remembered it, so that was unnecessary. When he signed in, Internet Explorer said that it was not the password that was saved for that sign-in name. I asked him to ignore the warning, and in a few seconds he was happily looking at his family pedigree.
Later I even helped him with some research on his wife's family line.
So it was a nice productive evening ... even if no patrons came. But this week we have a class on German genealogy research, and I hope we get a good turn-out.
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