More discoveries all the time

The ongoing projects of the LDS-managed FamilySearchLabs.org are proving so useful in my research! I have written before about finding the exact date of death of an Ohio woman in their files, which enabled me to write for her obituary. More recently I came across a transcription of the death record for a Florida relative, which gave his father’s birthplace -- something I had despaired of ever finding.

One of the best aspects of these indexes is that the Mormons check and double-check their work, whether it is done in-house or by volunteers. Another is that everything is free! You don’t even need to sign in to look at the files they have produced.

The discovery of the Florida death records (1877-1939), prompted me to go back to a line I had set aside years ago. The Tanners were a prolific bunch and there were many, many descendants of my great-great grandfather, John Tanner, about whom I had very little information.

After finding several more names, I decided it would be wisest to view members of each generation in a more organized fashion, looking at all of John’s children and grandchildren, and determining what data I might be able to fill in from this website.

To do this I needed to set up a simple chart showing more than one generation on a single sheet (or screen display). So I chose to go with a family group sheet, omitting the notes, but showing the ancestral parents, their nine children, and the children’s children (a nice option in Reunion for the Mac).

From this display it was easy to see the blank spaces and create a basic list of questions for research, from the general “what became of ... “ to the more specific: “did Thomas and May have any children?”

Although I may not pursue this line as doggedly as I have some others, it would be interesting to have more complete information about this ancestor’s descendants, and the FamilySearchLabs databases have given me a real boost.

By the way, the information I found on my great-great-grandfather came from one of his children who is NOT my direct ancestor. Another reason to look at whole families and not simply the direct lines. Pedigree charts are well and good, but they don’t tell the whole story.

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Next time: Confederate pensioners -- on another website

ID, please

The family photo sorting and scanning went smoothly until I turned to the bankers’ box labelled “misc.” It is so daunting I think I will put the project aside for a while. Maybe going back later with a fresh eye will yield better results. Meanwhile, the point of the undertaking was to preserve the most important images by putting them on CDs or DVDs and storing them away from home -- easily accomplished by giving copies to family members.

At the same time I was bringing together these top priority photographs, I was revising and supplementing the physical (hard copy) albums, and making sure they were archivally “correct.” And it strikes me -- belatedly -- that the collection of real (non-digital) photos ends with the purchase of my first digital camera. All the more reason to get everything copied onto CDs.

Of course it is possible to order prints from digital photos -- most photo management programs enable this if the computer has an internet connection. But it is important to remember such photos are available only in standard sizes, so a picture which has been cropped to non-conforming proportions (like square, or tall and narrow) may come out looking rather odd.

One thing this project has reminded me of is the importance of identifying people in photos! Fortunately I had an aunt who was able to put names and places to many of the group pictures from that side of the family, and my mother did the same for her line. But there are a few which need further work. One photo is of a lovely young woman with two small children. Sadly, she was killed in an accident at the age of 26. I know her name, and that of her surviving spouse, but not the children’s names. However, with the date of death, it should not be too difficult to find an obituary.

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In other news, you should know about the extraordinary work going on through the auspices of the LDS Church (which also sponsors the Family History Library). The Mormons are supervising the indexing of immense numbers of documents and posting the results online. As with their Family History Library data, use of these is FREE. To take a look, go to familysearchlabs.org, click on “record search,” then “search ancestors,” then select your preferred region from the world map. I was thrilled to find Ohio death records, 1908-1953, allowing me to pinpoint the death date for the young mother mentioned above, and an actual image of her death certificate. New material is being posted regularly, so it is worthwhile to check the site periodically. (You can also volunteer to help, from home.)

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Hope you like my photo of scarlet flax. It is just a reminder that while we are embroiled in genealogy or the demands of daily life, it is important to stop and smell the flowers. (OK, so linum grandiflorum var. rubrum isn’t fragrant -- you get the idea.)