Genealogy Gems - Your Family History Channel

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 172 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com In this episode I've got some exciting news, a cool free online tool, advice on translation, stories of inspirational finds, DNA for genealogy, and a Star Trek take on the innovations of yesteryear! NEWS: FamilySearch's free interactive mapClick here to see the FamilySearch England Wales 1851 Parish map. WWI-Era Orphaned Heirloom Looking for Its Family What Has Replaced Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness?Facebook is the new RAOGK. And the upside is that Facebook expands the resources to folks who may be in a position to help through a shared interest while not necessarily being a genealogist. If you don't see a group that meets your needs, create one! From your Facebook account: 1. on the left side of the page under GROUPS click Find New Groups 2. Here you can join groups (Facebook will likely recommend some based on your profile interests) 3. In the upper right corner click the green + CREATE GROUP button 4. Give your group a name and select whether it is public or private 5. Start posting content to your group page 6. Start promoting the page on your profile page while also friending other genealogists and soon you will likely have a vibrant group that can assist each other based on a shared interest. RAOGK U.S.A. RAOGK Interntational Read the full article MAILBOX: From Dot: Australian Newspapers - I had to let you know how grateful I am to you and your podcasts. Thank you so much for helping our family put flesh on the bones of our ancestors. In Episode 167 of Genealogy Gems you mentioned Paul Nauta at FamilySearch let you know that the National Library of Australia has added an additional 35 historic newspapers to their online collection at http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper. In the last couple of weeks we have found over twenty articles referring to our great grandparents and family, Charles and Margaret McIntosh. Charles McIntosh came to Australia from Scotland in 1856 and worked for the NSW Railways in various locations before settling in a Gate House Cottage in Moss Vale As well as finding obituaries for family members including our Great grandmother, we have found other interesting articles. I have included a few examples: Charles lost two sovereigns between the pub and the house , about $300. An unwelcome visitor was found in the house a big black snake, A cousin in California sent a description of the Golden Gate Bridge. From Kathy Needs Help Translating Swedish Gems - I just returned from an amazing trip to Sweden. Through the help of the local genealogical societies I was able to locate the descendants of an older sibling who did not emigrate to America. My new found Swedish cousins were so delighted to meet my husband and myself. They knew they had American cousins, but had no idea where we lived. They had pictures and letters sent from California in the 1890's, describing my great grandparents' experience. My grandfather even wrote inquiring about a nice Swedish girl who might like to come to California. Priceless. (He did find a nice Swedish girl in California). During this trip I picked up brochures, books etc....all in Swedish. I remember that you had a question from one of your listeners about how to translate a book in another language. You talked about scanning the pages and then what? I would appreciate any ideas, thoughts you might have on this subject. Be sure to remind your listeners about the local genealogical societies. Swedish genealogists spent 5 days with me looking for churches, graves and farms. They were absolutely wonderful! Lisa's Answer: Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 96 covers translation tools. Google Translate Check out the chapter on Google Translate in my bookThe Genealogist's Google Toolbox Amy and Jillian's recorded comments Jillian's genealogy blog: www.burgessgenealogy.wordpress.com Win a free PDF article! If you would like to receive a copy of the article I wrote for Family Tree Magazine called Technology RX which includes 10 of my top favorite tools for managing technology, a 5 page pdf article. All you need to do is call and leave a voice mail comment or question at 925-272-4021 Be sure to clearly leave your email address too and if we use it on the podcast you will receive the Technology RX pdf. GEM: The Genealogy Gems Book Club Do you love to read? Then you'll be happy to hear that we are launching the new Genealogy Gems Book Club! This is an idea we've been percolating on for quite a while, and many of you have sent in recommendations for riveting books to dig into.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 173 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com We all need a little inspiration now and then, and in this episode I hope to bring you some through good books, inspiring comments from other listeners, and some new ideas to try. Once I got past the organization of my new office, what I've really enjoyed doing is devoting time to display family photos and artifacts, and just decorating the room. It may seem frivolous, but I don't this it is. We spend a lot of time in our offices, and you may have a home office, or corner of a room where you work on your genealogy. Considering the importance of the work and the time you spend doing it, I think it's time and effort well spent to put effort in to inspiring decorations and displays. (Lisa's new office display) Europeana for Genealogy: WWI Digital Archive and More MORE German Genealogy Records at Ancestry.com Indiana Genealogy Records to be Digitized by Ancestry.com 1865 New York State Census Now on FamilySearch MAILBOX: Feedback on the Lizzie interview from AlvieI am thoroughly enjoying the podcasts and videos. Recently I drove to South Florida and listened to the episode about Lizzie Milligan. It sure brought back lots of memories. Many years before I got heavy into genealogy a co-worker of mine gave me a large box of post cards which was passed to him by his grandmother. These cards were mailed during the digging of the Panama Canal and these were cards sent to his grandmother by her future husband from Panama. They were so very interesting reading but I had no use for them so I turned them over to our local museum in Lakeland, FL. I don't know what became of them. Kay loves MyHeritage too "Loved this podcast today - I listened while I walked my 3-mile loop. Just want to share a MyHeritage story. I had uploaded a small GEDCOM at least a couple of years ago and never done much with it. They had no record matching to speak of in the beginning and all the family matches were to persons who had much less information about the families than I did. However, at RootsTech last winter, I talked to one of their reps - told him I would probably just let my subscription run out. He convince me to try uploading a larger file, get the data subscription, and in fact offered me a free three months to try again - so I really couldn't say no. Now a bit of background. I lived in Alabama for several years - and probably about 15 years ago the newspaper had published an extended article about the Sultanadisaster, the steamboat that exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis on 27 Apr 1865 with the loss of some 1600 lives - the Cahaba prison where so many of those unfortunate men on the Sultana had come from was only about 50 miles from us. At that point I'd never heard of it but I became quite fascinated and interested in the story and read everything I could find - I discovered that most of the released Union prisoners who died on the Sultana were from Indiana, Illinois & Ohio and knew that I had family in Indiana during that War, but didn't think there was any personal connection. After I began to work with MyHeritage again, up popped a Kokomo Daily Tribunenewspaper obituary of the brother-in-law of one of my paternal great-grandfathers, who had died in 1925 in Howard County, IN. And there it was - he had been on theSultana and had suffered serious burns the result of which remained problematic for the rest of his long life. It was thought that infection from the old burn wounds were the ultimate cause of his death. In fact, he had been reported as dead to his family, because of the unbelievable chaos that surrounded the rescues. What joy there must have been when he did return home! I always wonder when this sort of serendipity happens. Was I always fascinated by this saga because I knew that somehow there was a family story involved? Anyway, I, too have become a believer in MyHeritage! The brother-in-law never applied for a pension, or otherwise mentioned his service and I had the information about where he was buried. As a collateral relative, he wasn't really a person I spent much research time on. I probably never would have done a thorough newspaper search. But there it was - nicely found for me and connecting to another bit of history!" GEM: BOOK CLUB conversation with Sunny Morton When [your] parent dies your relationship with their history changes almost overnight. It suddenly becomes much more relevant to you because you feel like you are the only one left who is in a position to remember it. So having never wanted to know anything about my mother's life, suddenly after her death it seemed imperative to me to find out absolutely...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 171 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Do you have enough time to work on your family history the way you would like to? How about taking on someone else's family history? In this episode I've invited someone who has jumped over his own family history to diligently working on a perfect strangers or did he jump over it? It's a very interesting story! We'll also be talking later about coping and in fact excelling even in the face of technological change. I'm home for a week before I head back out on the road. And the next stop is Naperville Illinois and the Fox Valley Genealogical Society where I'll be presenting a full day seminar on Sept. 27, 2014. The following week I'll be at the Pima County Genealogical Society in Tucson AZ and then in October the Heritage Quest Library in Sumner Washington. I hope you'll check out my full schedule at http://lisalouisecooke.com/lisas-schedule/ and perhaps join me at one of the upcoming events. Improvements at Genealogy GemsWe have a new easier way to get exactly the content you want from the Genealogy Gems website! We've added a new feature to the bottom left hand corner of the Genealogy Gems homepage: Select Content by Topic. Now finding the content you want, whether a podcast episode, blog article or video, is as simple as selecting the topic from the drop down menu. For example: Looking to learn more about DNA? Select "DNA" in the list. Are you new to family history? Click "Beginner." You can also access our complete archive of blog articles in the "Blog Archive by Date" drop down list just below Topics. We are really striving to make the website something you can turn to every day not only for the latest in genealogy, but for the topics and content you need when you need them. This is your website! Family History JewelryAlso new to the Genealogy Gems website has been so new items in the store including some exclusive genealogy research quick sheet bundles, and a beautiful line of customizable jewelry, perfect for showing off your family history. You can select from rings, pendants, and a charm bracelet each one customizable with family photos creating true heirlooms. In fact Marlene was so excited about how her customized jewelry turned out she called in to tell us about it. You are a genius. I just received my bracelet from Lisa Lisson. I did a generation picture of my Mother and 4 Mothers going back to my 3rd Great Grandmother. It is beautiful, and sacred. Thank you for hooking up with this website, I am thrilled. You really care about me and my needs. Marlane You can find the jewelry created by Esther's Place at our store. You'll be amazed how quickly they will create your jewelry and affordable it can be. I've got them working on a bracelet right now that features the women in my family tree. Silver Surfers: Internet Use by Older Adults We reported on a very interesting info graphic recently on the Genealogy Gems blog called Silver Surfers: Internet Use by Older Adults Interesting Stats: In 2012 Baby Boomers aged 47-65 spent an average of 27 hours a week on the Internet Of the seniors that are online, one in three are using social media. A big change from just back in 2009 when only 13% of seniors online were using social media. In fact 1 in 5 Twitter users are over 50 49% of online seniors have a Facebook account Seniors aren't just socializing, they are shopping too. 59% of seniors online have made a purchase online in the last 3 months Here's what you had to say on the Genealogy Gems Facebook page: From Sheri: "Lisa, My sister and I met you at RootsTech this year. We're already planning next year's trip! I read the article about silver surfers and just wanted to say that when I was a kid (Fairbanks, Alaska) we had party-line phones, one TV station! My mother wrote letters to her family in Idaho regularly and long distance phone calls were very rare! I'm a baby boomer and have always been interested in technology. I do most research online with Ancestry, Fold3, FamilySearch, etc. I haven't jumped into the blogging pool but who knows! I'm currently starting to work on suggestions from your Google Earth CDs, putting together family tours. Love your podcasts. You are my favorite "source". Sheri" From Diane: "Thanks for the article about the silver surfers. I saw you when you spoke to the San Diego Genealogical Society and learned a lot. I am a major social media user. I am on many FB groups, use Twitter, Pinterest and have my own genealogy blog. I am a baby boomer. Party lines were in use when I was a kid and for parts of my growing up our household didn't even have a phone. Here is a link to my blog." From Sandee: "When I was a kid, we communicated mostly by letter -- which soon fell by the wayside because they...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 177 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com This episode features our interview with Christina Baker Kline, the author of our Genealogy Gems Book Club featured book Orphan Train. The book spent five weeks at the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestselling list as well as time at the top of The Bestsellers List in Canada, and by now after reading the book you know why. Christina will share how the book came in to being. And why she first hesitated to write it. And how, although this is a novel, in fact the details of Vivian's story are true thanks to her extensive research. And Christina sheds light on the effect that being an orphan had on the children of yesterday and the children of today. Download the show notes NEWS and I want to kick off this episode with something new here at Genealogy Gems. You know, a lot of announcements and press releases about new record groups constantly cross our desks some large and some for niche. Well we are now going to round these up for you in a blog post at genealogygems.com every Friday. Watch for the genealogy records that your ancestors might appear in but also watch for the kinds of records that may be out there for your kin, which might help you break down your family history brick walls. PRISON RECORDS. Kingston, Canada, Penitentiary Inmate Ledgers, 1913-1916, are now available on Flickr. According to GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com, The ledger includes frontal and profile mug shots, the inmate's name, alias, age, place of birth, height, weight, complexion, eye colour, hair colour, distinctive physical marks, occupation, sentence, date of sentence, place of sentence, crime committed, and remarks of authorities. And speaking of FlickrIf you're interested in historical photos, there has never been a better time to try the Flickr Creative Commons. Flickr is a popular photo-sharing site that's keeping up well with the times: its new app was on the Best of 2014″ App Store list for iPad apps. It's a great platform for sharing your favorite photos with family and friends. But wait, there's more! An important part of the Flickr world is Flickr Creative Commons, which describes itself as part of a worldwide movement for sharing historical and out-of-copyright images. Groups and individuals alike upload old images, tag and source them, and make them available to others. Like what kinds of groups? Well, there's the British Library photostream, with over a million images in its photostream! And how about the (U.S.) Library of Congress, with over 23,000 photos? Look for your favorite libraries and historical societies and check back often. New additions post frequently. For example, as of December 2014, The Netherlands Institute of Military History now has a photostream. According to a blog announcement, The Institute exists to serve all those with an interest in the military past of the Netherlands. Its sphere of activities covers the Dutch armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, from the sixteenth century until now. The staff of the NIMH administer a unique military history collection containing approximately 2 million images, of which they will be uploading many to the site. At this posting, only a couple dozen images show up so far, like the one shown here. Check back or check with the Institute to see what they'll be posting soon for more images. Here's a tip: Those who post images to Flickr Creative Commons offer different rights to those who want to download and use their images. Described here (and searchable here by the kinds of rights you want), those rights may include the ability to use a photo as long as it's for noncommercial purposes and proper credit is given. Perfect for a responsible, source-citing genealogist! CEMETERY HEADSTONES. The Canadian Headstone Photo Project is now also searchable at FamilySearch.org. The original site with over a million headstone photos isn't new. But some people don't know about the site, and its search interface isn't as pretty or flexible. So we think it's nice that FamilySearch is hosting that data, too. According to FamilySearch, the collection is still growing. This collection will include records from 1790-2013. The records include a name index of headstone inscriptions, courtesy of CanadianHeadstones.com, which is a family history database of records and images from Canada's cemeteries. HISTORICAL PROPERTIES MAP INTERFACE. The state of Delaware in the United States has launched an updated version of its CHRIS (Cultural and Historical Resource Information System) GIS tool. Use this interface to explore houses, districts and National Historic Landmarks in your ancestor's Delaware neighborhoods. Maybe a place they lived, worked, shopped, worshiped or attended is still...

Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Episode #113 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Who Do You Think You Are? has become a worldwide television phenomenon, starting in the UK and making its way around the world, telling the stories of well-known celebrities in search of their family history. July 23, 2014 marks the debut of season 5 of the series here in the U.S. and the show's Executive Producer Dan Bucatinsky is here to tell us more about it. We hope you enjoy the free access to this Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode! Click here to subscribe today Benefits of Membership: 110+ Exclusive PremiumPodcast episodes Video recordings of Lisa's most popular classes New video & audio content each month All for just $29.95 a year. Don't miss another day BONUS: For a limited time new members will receive the exclusive digital PDF ebook of a collection of Lisa's most popular articles from Family Tree Magazine! (the ebook will be emailed to you within 24 hours of purchase) About Dan Bucatinsky Dan Bucatinsky won the 2013 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category for his portrayal of James Novack on the hit Shonda Rhimes series, Scandal. Bucatinsky wrote, produced, and starred in the 2001 indie romantic comedy All Over the Guy (Lionsgate). In 2003 he and partner Lisa Kudrow founded Is Or Isn't Entertainment, which produced the cult, Emmy-nominated HBO comedy The Comeback co-starring Bucatinsky as publicist, Billy Stanton. Thanks in part to their rabid fanbase, The Comeback is returning to HBO for six episodes beginning this November. Dan and Lisa's acclaimed docu-series Who Do You Think You Are? recently received its second Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Structured Reality Program. The show returns for a fifth season on TLC this month. Who Do You Think You Are? Season five (and the second season on TLC) will feature six popular celebrities from TV and film: Valerie Bertinelli (One Day At a Time, Hot in Cleveland) Jesse Tyler Ferguson (ABC's Modern Family) Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls, and currently starring in NBC's Parenthood) Kelsey Grammer (Cheers and Frasier ) Rachel McAdams (movies like Mean Girls, The Notebook) and her sister, Kayleen McAdams. Cynthia Nixon (HBO's Sex in the City) Tune in to Who Do You Think You Are? Season 5 on the TLC channel on Wednesday, July 23 at 9/8c. The 5th season opener features actress Cynthia Nixon (of Sex in the City) Watch the trailer here We hope you enjoyed this special episode of the Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast. Become a Premium Member

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 116 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published August 20, 2011 This special episode of the Genealogy Gems Podcast was recorded in front of a live audience at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree held in June 2011 in Burbank, CA. My special guests are Allison Stacy, publisher of Family Tree Magazine, and Paula Sassi, Certified Graphologist. (left to right: Allison Stacy, Lisa Louise Cooke, Paula Sassi) Paula analyzed the handwriting of Allison's ancestor Amelia Essel. View the handwriting sample here. She also interpreted the handwriting of John Owen Dominis, the ancestor of our contest winner Heather Wilkinson Rojo.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 175 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Download the show notes here www.GenealogyGems.com I'm pretty excited about this episode because it's just jammed back with all kinds of fun stuff! (image right: my Grandson Joey excited about his new wagon!) First, Genealogy Gems Contributing Editor Sunny Morton will be here to announce our new Book Club read for this first quarter of 2015. And it is fantastic! Even better, the nationally acclaimed author who wrote it will be joining us on a future episode to give us the back story. Then, since it is January that means that a lot of television shows are ramping back up, and one of those is the Genealogy Roadshow on PBS. And not only will it be back with new episodes, it will also feature a new addition to the panel of hosts. Professional genealogist Mary Tedesco is joining Genealogy Roadshow and she will join me a little later in this episode to talk about her experience on the show and also about her specialty which is Italian research, which I couldn't be happier about since we haven't had a chance to delve into Italian genealogy until now. Our Genealogy Gems DNA Guide will also be here. And I have a very special announcement for you at the end of the show. MAILBOX: Read: Merry Cemetery Displays Dirty Little Secrets of the Dead Epitaphs from Genealogy Gems listeners on Facebook: From Cindy:"One of the most fascinating epitaphs I've ever seen is in Monticello, Florida. It reads, "Remember reader as you pass by, as you are now so once was I, as I am now so you shall be, prepare for death and come with me." The date of death was in the 1880s. The tombstone is made of metal instead of stone." From Jan: "Most memorable epitaph to date: In Memory of Elizabeth Palmer who should have been the wife of Simeon Palmer who died Aug 1776. This in the Old Commons Cemetery, Rhode Island." Jillian writes in about the story of Mary Ann Munns Cooke's untimely death "What an amazing, heartbreaking - yet somewhat uplifting - story. I feel compelled to share a similar struggle on my family tree - it is a bit long (for all of the details, I would advise reading my blog at www.burgessgenealogy.wordpress.com), but the shorthand version involves my great-great grandmother being widowed by the Spanish Influenza, and her children being taken from her by a corrupt politician, who uses his connections to incarcerate her in an insane asylum to gain control of her late husband's property and mineral rights. She survived it, miraculously, and went on to live a happy life, even getting to see her great grandchildren being born. My grandmother told me that her father was forever changed by what his mother endured, but he was the most forgiving man she'd ever met. It reaffirms your statement that bad things may happen, but you don't have to let it determine your outlook, your path. Much love to you and your family for overcoming and living out a legacy that recognizes the struggle, and the acts involved in overcoming." GEM: Book Club with Lisa and Sunny Morton Our last featured book, She Left Me the Gun, was a memoir by a woman raised in England who researched her South African past. This time, we fly across the pond to the new world, to a bestselling U.S. novel, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (image right). Orphan Train is one of my favorite books. I've read it twice and recommended it more times than I can count. I thought a lot about whether a genealogy book club, which is based on researching real history, should incorporate novels. But genealogists are three dimensional people; we're not all fact and no fun, right? I have loved historical fiction from the time I read A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by EL Konisburg. It's a kid's chapter book about the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine told from her point of view as she and the cast of characters from her life were sitting on a cloud in heaven waiting for her husband King Henry II to get into heaven. That novel bred in me this love for re-imagined history, in which the stories and lessons from past lives are repackaged in a way that's meaningful to us, in a way that we're willing to listen to. But back to Orphan Train. I'm guessing that many of you have already read it and loved it if you have, raise your hands on the Genealogy Gems Facebook page and tell us so! If not, here's a teaser for you. Orphan Train follows the story of Vivian, who as an Irish girl immigrant with another name entirely loses her family and is forced to ride the orphan train. What was the orphan train? It was an early, special urban brand of foster care in which homeless or neglected children were gathered up and put on trains out to the country. They advertised ahead of time their stops in little rural railroad depots, where essentially the children were lined up and local residents could come pick up kids...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 67 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com For more info on next year's Jamboree:Southern California Genealogical Society My Table Mates at the Friday Night Jamboree Banquet Read Lisa's Blog Posts about this year's Jamboree: Tukufu Zuberi Wows Researchers at Jamboree Listen to Lisa's one on one interview with Tukufu in Episode 63 How My Mom Prepared Me For The Geneablogger SummitPhoto Above: With Dick Eastman Top 10 Things I Noticed At The Geneablogger Dinner NEWS: Family Tree Magazine WebinarFinding Your Family In Old Newspapers Lisa's article called Grave Transformations appears in the September 2009 issue of Family Tree Magazine on news stands now. Watch the Grave Transformations video for step-by-step instructions. GEM: Interview with Randy Seaver, Genealogy Blogger Randy's Blogs: The Geneaholic Blog The Genea-Musings Blog To purchase an "Iceberg" poster that Randy refers to in the interview, email the California Genealogical Society and Library at calgen1898@calgensoc.org or call 510-663-1358.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 128 with Lisa Louise Cooke Published March 9, 2011 In this episode we'll talk to Chris van der Kuyl, CEO of brightsolid. Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012 By Andrew Martin of the History Repeating Blog Mark Olsen of MyHeritage / World Vital Records WDYTYA recap at the MyHeritage blog WDYTYA Live 2012: MyHeritage Highlights Else Churchill and her team from the Society of Genealogists in the UK really do a brilliant job organizing the classes for Who Do You Think You Are? A Day Just for Me South Davis Family History Fair NEWS: Watch recorded presentations from RootsTech 2012 I'm honored that my Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 class is included in the group. I really enjoyed introducing more people to podcasts and blogs I've heard from a lot of folks that this really opened their eyes to a medium they didn't realize was out there for them to enjoy for free. Debbie writes: Wow. All I can say is Wow. I am a 52 year old mother of 4 in Bountiful, Utah. I have been watching the RootsTech Live presentations online and have just finished watching yours. It was amazing and inspiring. I consider myself somewhat tech savvy but have veered away from Blogs. (Just the sound of the word Blog infers something that will weigh you down.) But after your presentation I am anxious to try iGoogle and add blogs and podcasts tailored to my interests. I had no idea. And thanks for pointing out the Google blog search option. All the genealogy-focused search options now available through Google are exciting. I am hopeful you will add all your RootsTech presentations to your podcasts. They sound fascinating. And during that presentation I encouraged viewers to get their own genealogy blog started so that they can get information out there that might help them connect with other genealogists researching the same family line. And Carol wrote me shortly after the conference to let me know that she did just that! She writes: Skeletons in the Closet Marlene also wrote in about RootsTech. She says: The Rootstech Conference was so awesome. I learned so much about podcasts, I am willing to try it out. But first I am the craft queen, especially when it comes to crafting my family history. The last day of the Rootstech I had to leave early. I didn't get to your last class that I had waited so long for. Do you have a podcast of the steps for creating the crafts you make with your family history?? I see the instructions, but I wanted to watch you in action. p.s. Thanks so much for your signed book on find family through newspapers. I can't wait to get started. Marlene. Genealogy Gems YouTube channel: Family History Christmas Stocking Project Part 1 Part 2 And the 4 part Family History Christmas Wreath series Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Also, several projects discussed in class are featured in my book "Genealogy Gems" available at my Lulu Store. MAILBOX: Name That Tune - Family History Mystery Solved! Hi Lisa, I love your podcasts, but I'm still catching up!! Back in 2009. you ran a series of "Name that Tune" challenges, which I absolutely loved, I think I have old time music in my DNA. It took me a day to recognize the "Missouri Waltz," I knew "The Dark Town Strutters Ball" right away; when I was little I named my doll "Honey" and always thought of those first lines "I'll be down to get you in a taxi, Honey...", I knew "I'll see you in my dreams" don't know if you are old enough to recall "Sing along with Mitch" when it was on TV, but we had all Mitch Miller's Sing Along albums and "I'll See you in my dreams" was among them. Okay, so that brings me to the reason for this email. In Episode 56, you celebrated "I'll See you in my dreams" and then played a brief 30 seconds of another tune, it was a violin instrumental. Well as I said I've listened up to 59 and I've never heard the result for that last tune. I think it may be "Thine Alone" by Victor Herbert. It was from the operetta "Eileen". Herbert was born in Ireland and emigrated to America, his more famous songs include "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" and "The March of the Toys" from "Babes in Toyland" but he seems to have written hundreds of songs. You had a loyal listener named "Jeannie" who called you with the names of the first 4 songs, I laughed at the similarity in our names, but anyway, I'm going crazy, did anyone else ever recognize that song? If you go to iTunes, there is a good instrumental version of "Thine Alone" on the Album "The Music of Victor Herbert & Sigmund Romberg" performed by George Melchrino. It is a lovely song. I can't tell you how many wonderful memories those songs gave me!! Yes, I am working on my Family History and really enjoy all your podcasts, videos, blogs and...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 125 with Lisa Louise Cooke Published Jan 24, 2012 In this episode Genealogist Shirley Gage Hodges will share her genealogical wisdom with you as well as talk about her status as "perennial student." NEWS Marilyn attended my class called Inspiring Ways to Captivate the Non-Genealogist in Your Life and wrote in I attended your class during the Arizona Family History Expo. I enjoyed it very much! Hear Me in Person go to the Genealogy Gems Website at www.genealogygems.com and Seminars in the menu. That's what I do to be sure I'm in the right place at the right time! Jamboree The 43rd Annual Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree is now officially open for registration Burbank, CA June 8 through the 10 of 2012.My Brand New Book is Available for Pre-Order Everything You Need to Know About How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers is now available for pre-order. And for a limited time I will be signing the pre-order copies of the book. Here's what Steve Luxenberg, Washington Post associate editor and author of Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret said about the book: Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret "Read it. Study it. Absorb it. But above all, use Lisa Louise Cooke's new book as the guide and instructional tool that it is meant to be. As a veteran of research and libraries, I found all sorts of nuggets and new resources. Beginners will find an embarrassment of riches, including an impressive appendix with a comprehensive list of online routes to national, international and local newspapers. This is as close as you'll get to one-stop shopping for learning about historical newspaper research." And that's really what I wanted it to be One stop shopping for everything you need to know about finding your family history in newspapers. There are some incredible stories out there waiting to be found, and this book is going to get you there! MAILBOX: Myron from Iowa writes: I have a Genealogical Gem that I think you would like to hear about. I have a recording of my Great Grandma's voice. My father served in the army 1946-1950, sometime while he was in the service his family took a trip from Nebraska to New York City. While visiting the Empire State Building, at the top there was this coin operated machine that would cut your own record, recording your voice, that you could mail to your friends. My mom has that record. I recorded the record to a wav file and it sounds really bad. I don't understand German so I hope they aren't saying anything bad. Enclosed are some photos of it and the wav files from it. Is there anyone out there who speaks German who could translate this recording for Myron? If that's something you can help with, that would be amazing. Please email the written translation to me. I'll share the results here on the show. there was definitely genealogically serendipity involved in this email from Myron because just before receiving it I had come across a video on YouTube that I thought was absolutely wonderful, and right along the same lines. Story Corps at Vimeo Video: No More Questions! GEM: Interview with Genealogist Shirley Gage Hodges, The Perennial Student. Everyone has something to learn. You can read Shirley's articles on genealogy at the Global Gazette The Genealogical Speakers Guild The Immigration ExperienceGenealogy Gems App users check the Bonus Content for this episode for additional Immigration notes from Shirley! What keeps Shirley motivated: Finding the stories of her ancestors Learning more about ancestor's connection with our country The lesson Shirley learned after her search for Grandpa Larkin: We do have to be so careful! He was a grand old gentleman, and I would have loved to have him as a Grandfather. Alas it turned out the he was someone else's Grandpa! Shirley Has Her Eye on the Future with These Historical Projects: The Harvey Girls Amazing Women of the West Creating a Family History Christmas Wreath. Learn how to make one for yourself! Watch all 4 episodes of Family History Christmas Wreath at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. CLOSING: Thanks for the Shout Out I want to say thank you to some bloggers who have given me a shout out lately: The Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Posted the blog article Searching for Common Surnames about my recent speaking engagement at the Sacramento Central...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 117 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published Sept 6, 2011 Are you having a Picnic? Problem In Chair Not In Computer! Google self-driving car crash was caused by human error - says Google They had a recent failure but Google says it wasn't the car it was a PICNIC! See the photos at Jalopnik Genealogy Gems YouTube channel Kiera posted on my Facebook wall after the webinar saying I listened to your Webinar on Google Tools today. I wanted to hit myself over the head for not having those tips sooner. I've put them to use today, and already, they're helping me immensely! A million thanks!!!!!!!! Book Lisa to Speak If your genealogy society doesn't have the budget to fly out speakers in person, webinars are a fantastic alternative. Find out more about how to book for to speak to your group. NEWS: AppList for Hobbies has finally been released! We also had some exciting news around here recently. Appadvice.com published their AppList for Hobbies and named the Genealogy Gems Podcast app as a must have for family history. In other genealogy news, Ancestry made an interesting move recently. They decided to put out a press release about the fact that the images and indexes to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be made free to search in the United States when it becomes available in mid-April 2012. Interestingly it was just before Archives.com made their big announcement that they are going to be addint the entire US Federal Census to their website. I blogged about this at length in an article on my website called Archives.com Makes their Big Move. It really is going to be interesting to see Archives approach to challenging the Big Fish, and Ancestry's response to being challenged. Footnote.com has decided to focus primarily on military records, and they have a new name for it that reflects that. Footenote.com will now be known as Fold3 which comes from the third fold in a traditional military flag folding ceremony. Ancestry has also explanded their U.S. School Yearbook Collection. MAILBOX: I caught by surprise the other day when Ruth replied back to that email and she said: I owe you a Thank You! I have learned so much about Google in just the first 50 pages! Wow! Do to time constraints, most of my genealogical research is conducted online and Google is certainly my favorite search engine. You book is a fantastic guide to the Google universe! P. S. I've been listening to The Genealogy Gems Podcast for a long time. Also a great help to my research! Aisha wrote: I grew up away from my extended family and my grandparents died before I got to know them. So, genealogy is helping me to connect and learn about my relatives. Thanks for the tips and gems. To learn more about vital records check out my Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Podcast series. Episode 3 focuses on the search process and specifically death records. Maria asked What should my next research step be? I've been googling his name, as well as searching on Ancestry.com. My MIL may have half-siblings, and a biological father who could still be alive somewhere! I would love to further my research...Any suggestions would be appreciated! I love your podcast! In addition to standard genealogical searching methods, focus on unique identifiers about the man. A name of one of the boyfriends siblings? His father's occupation? One of their neighbors? How far he lived from her? Something that can be used to narrow down the right man in the census. When things look the same on the surface, we need to find what is unique about them and follow that lead. Good luck Maria! Randy in Nebraska wrote in with a question just about everyone faces at some point. He says: "My questiion is: how do you cite information from someone else's work while they have great citations themselves? How much should a person retrace sources when the information is 'published' on the internet or in family histories? Published family histories are wonderful finds, and yet they can have errors or omissions. First I would spot check a number of the sources to see if they are verifiable and accurately recorded. Ideally you would verify all of them, but realistically that is difficult to do with lengthy published works. Also published and properly cited family histories are in a different category than a family tree published online, which can be notoriously inaccurate and not properly sourced. It's very easy for errors to get picked up and added to an online family tree. I would recommend that you read the article Using Published Family Histories from the Mar-Apr 2002 issue of Ancestry magazine, page 46 free on Google Books. And as for proper citations, the go-to book is Evidence!

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 129 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published March 22, 2012 Genealogy Gems Book Club: Our featured book is Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson. In this book, Jennifer takes us on a once and a lifetime genealogical journey where she walked in her ancestors shoes and lived among their descendants. Get the Book at Amazon: and help support the free Genealogy Gems Podcast. Thank You! Visit Jennifer Wilson's website: http://www.jennifer-wilson.com About Jennifer: Jennifer Wilson has been writing for 15 years for folks like Esquire, National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens, Traditional Home, Budget Travel, AAA Living, Parents, Midwest Living, Iowa Outdoors, the Chicago Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, (the dearly departed) Gourmet and many others. SPECIAL VIDEO CONTENT: watch on The Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel Genealogy Gems App Users will find a special video about the interview as bonus content for episode 129. Get the app for iPhone / iPad Get the Android App at Amazon (Search "Genealogy Gems") If you enjoyed this episode and the video, please do me a favor and click the thumbs up button for the video at YouTube, you'll find it right under the video. And you'll also find ways there on Youtube to share the video through Facebook and Twitter for all you Tweeters out there. Thank you for sharing! Special announcement Plan on attending the Southern California Genealogical Writer's Conference June 7, and Genealogy Jamboree June 8-10, 2012. On June 7 Steve Luxenberg and I will be kicking off the Writer's Conference with a very special Conversation with the Author session. Steve will join me on stage to sit down for an in depth discussion about Annie's Ghosts and the job of crafting such a compelling family history story. Then throughout the writer's conference Steve will be teaching a variety of classes to help genealogist's write their family's stories. It's an incredible opportunity to learn from the best! I will also be teaching 4 additional classes throughout the conference weekend, so I certainly hope that you will join us there for an amazing weekend at Jamboree! Click here for more information on Jamboree.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 119 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published Oct 5, 2011 When you were little did you play in card table tents or forts? I sure did. When I was wandering around the house complaining of being bored on a rainy day, my mom would pull out the old folding table used for card games, throw an old blanket over it, pull out some old pots and pans and hand them to me and tell me to go play house. Something magical seemed to happen when I crawled under the fabric walls. My imagination would let loose and I could happily play for hours. So I've decided to create a special card table house fort for my grandson Davy. Davy loves the old TV show "Blue's Clues" which was hugely popular here in the U.S. when my kids were little. Nowadays the only place I seem to be able to find it is on Netflix and YouTube. Blue is a dog and she lives in an adorable little yellow house with a red roof with her friend Steve who follows her clues. Last week I headed to the fabric store with my trusty iPad full of photos I found online of the inside and outside of the Blue's Clues house, and I spent two hours up and down the aisles looking for the closest matching fabrics I could find. Each side of the house is double sided the outside fabric is the bright yellow and the inside is one that looks like the wall paper in blue's house. And of course it will have the windows and curtains, and flowers and lizards and frogs on the outside and I even found a little unfinished wooden mailbox at the fabric store that will be transformed into the purple mailbox outside Blue's house. If Davy has half the fun playing in his Blue's Clues house as I am having making it then it will be a big success! In addition to creating The Blue's Clues fort for Davy's birthday which is in December, I also still need to come up with Christmas present for the family. Last year I did calendars for everyone in the Cooke family that sported images for events related to each month. This year I'm thinking about framing charts. It's amazing I haven't gotten around to this already, but I think it's about time. My friend Janet Hovorka just happens to own the company Family ChartMasters and she's going to be here in a day or two for the Family History Expo being held in my area (Northern California) this weekend. So I will be picking her brain and spending a good deal of time on their website. She told me that I have there are loads of new styles of charts to choose from. If you're looking for Christmas present ideas for the family this year, why not consider a family tree chart? Hopefully you've got your genealogy data in a database so you can just export your gedcom and make it gorgeous for a gift they can enjoy for years to come. If you decide you'd like to check out Family ChartMasters which of course I highly recommend I'd really appreciate it if you would click the image above to visit their website because when you do you are also supporting this podcast and making it possible for me to keep the free podcast episodes coming. So thank you very much! And by the way, many of you have asked what happened to our Amazon links on the website which were another way that you were helping to support the podcast. Well, Amazon dropped their California affiliate producers because of some recent tax law changes. But I just got an email saying they are reversing that. This is awesome news because I just can't get through all my Christmas shopping without Amazon, and I know that many of you shop online too. So I'm going to get that reinstated asap keep an eye out for the Amazon links on the homepage at genealogygems.com and I will also return it to the toolbar. (UPDATE: The Genealogy Gems Toolbar has been discontinued) Thanks for being patient and being such incredible supporters of this little old podcast! NEWS: WDYTYA Entertainment Weekly website is reporting that Marisa Tomei has just been added to the roster of celebrities who will be featured on the new season of Who Do You Think You Are? here in the US. Joining here are Martin Sheen and actor Blair Underwood. FamilySearch has added records for China, Hungary, Mexico and U.S. Records Include Illinois, Maryland, New York and Washington. Ancestry.com announced the release of the 1930 Mexico National Census and it's free to the public. Ancestry.uk also recently added some new records. Two million railway employment records from the UK National Archives are now available on the...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 115 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published August 6, 2011 In this episode you're going to learn the details that go into planning a trip to your ancestor's homeland. NEWS:Read Jenna's blog post called Monday Midwest Family history Expo posted on 8/1/11. GEM: FTU DISCOUNT Coupon Code gemsFTUIf you missed the Early Bird registration pricing for the upcoming Family tree University Virtual Conference no worries! Because Genealogy Gems listeners can still get 20% off with our special coupon code. This conferenece is really the first one of it's kind. No matter where you live you can take part, attend every class if you want to, and all from the comfort of your own home. It's going to be an exciting weekend from Friday August 19 to Sunday August 21, of 2011. You're going to get three full days of unlimited access to watch the 15 pre-recorded video classes. Lisa will be debuting her brand new Common Surname Search Strategies class and hosting a chat on Sunday. The special coupon code we have just for Genealogy Gems listeners is gemsFTU and that will you get 20% off the registration fee. And in fact you can use it to 20% off ANY of the Family Tree University classes. GEM: More Online Newspapers This week the Library of Congress updated Chronicling America to include newspapers from 3 new states added to the program in 2010 and additional coverage for 1836-1859. New Mexico, Tennessee and Vermont are now included with 22 other states and the District of Columbia in Chronicling America's almost 4 million pages of historic newspaper pages, published between 1836 and 1922. So you can start searching at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Swedish Genealogical Society of Colorado is going to host the SwedGenTour 2011 September 17, 20118:30 am to 4:30 pm, Aurora, Colorado. You can register at the SGSC website. Genealogy Gems Podcast App Users are getting a special bonus with this episode. Swedish Researcher Yvonne Hendrickson has graciously provided a a terrific pdf file called How to Find Your Swedish Roots. Get the app for the iPhone & iPadGet the app for the Android GEM: Railway RecordsAncestry.ca has partnered with the UK's National Archives to launch the Railway Employment Records, 1833 & 1963, an online collection containing the employment-related records of British railway workers dating back to the invention of the locomotive in the early 19th century. The records date from 1833 and by the middle of the 20th century. FamilySearchFamilySearch recently announced that they have digitized historic records from eight countries and added them to FamilySearch.org. In addition to 1.8 million new U.S. records, collections from seven other countries were added including Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, and Poland. NewspapersThe National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced on July 27, 2011 awards totaling $3.8 million to 13 institutions representing their states in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). These means there will be new digitized historic newspapers coming to the free Chronicling America section of the Library of Congress website in mid-2012. Your chance to help bring the 1812 recordsIndiana Genealogical Society - You can find out more about the IGS $10,000 Match Challenge.Thanks for a wonderful podcast and all your genealogy gems! Visit Tina's Blog: http://genwishlist.blogspot.com New Video Cast on YouTube on UK NewsGenealogy Gems video channel at YouTube packed with over 50 family history related videos. Nick Barratt and Laura Berry of Your Family History magazine out of the UK at www.your-familyhistory.com. They have created a new YouTube video channel called appopriately enough Family History Show. MAILBOX:RootsMagic questions so I went right to the source Bruce Buzbee, founder of RootsMagic and he's got the answers. Would I create a "land" fact in the entry for my great-grandfather, and just describe the land in it? Thanks again for your terrific podcasts. I just started listening to the Family Tree podcasts, and am excited to start using the tips shared in those episodes as well. Bruce recommends adding a "Property" fact type (which is one of the fact typesbuilt into RM and which is officially supported in GEDCOM). You can use the date field to show the time period the land was owned, and can use the note to enter any description of the land. Then he recommends using the various documents as sources for that fact type. When you are adding a new source to RM, you can type "land" into the "Search for source type" field on the "Select Source Type" screen to filter the list of source types down to ones relating to land...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 127 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE app www.genealogygems.com Published Feb 21, 2012 In this episode you'll hear from UK presenter and historian Nick Barratt. GEM: The Story@Home Conference Organizer Carol Rice tells us about the first ever Story@Home conference being held March 9, 10, 2012 in Salt Lake City at Temple Square GEM: Listener Betty Wynn Betty talks about how she uses my book The Genealogist's Google Toolbox. The RootsTech app The Genealogy Gems Podcast app GEM: Interview with Nick Barratt http://www.nickbarratt.co.uk/ Dr Nick Barratt obtained a PhD in history from King's College London in 1996, editing the 1225 Exchequer pipe roll and several Exchequer receipt rolls from the 1220s when the National Archives: Public Record Office maintained a site at Chancery Lane. On joining the National Archives: Public Record Office at Kew later the same year as a reader adviser. Nick started work in television whilst working at the BBC as a specialist archive researcher for a number of programmes. His valuable links to the largest archival institutions in the country and expertise helped lay the foundation of the network he has in place today. This network allows Nick and his team of researchers to effectively complete projects in any archive across the country.

Published Nov 18, 2007 EPISODE 34 SHOW NOTES: Genealogy Gems News Blog New videos for you at the Genealogy Gems website:Genealogy for the next generation: "Family History Research - Child Detectives"Genealogy JunctionGetting started documents for free download "Family Tree" & "Circle of Life" by Venice. A very moving video highlighting a collection of photographs at the Library of Congress' American Memory collection taken by Lewis Hines of child labor in the early 19th century.    MAILBOX: Wreath by creative podcast listener Linda Kvist, Sweden              "The Emigrants" movie review  Create your own Family History Christmas Wreath by watching the 4 part video how-to series An email from Beverly Shaw :(my apology to Beverly - I mistakenly credited her email to Barbara Murphy in the show & didn't catch the error in time)"I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your Candy Bar idea.  Last month my husband's family had a reunion to honor his mother who passed away last year.  I created candy bars for the reunion using your idea.  Since Momma was an avid crocheter, I found a background of a crocheted doily and added 2 different photos that fit the theme.  I designed it so that I could fit 2 on each 8 1/2 x 11 sheet and printed a master copy.  I then took my master to Office Max and had them make 50 copies.  After wrapping a mixture of Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars and Hershey Milk Chocolate with Almond Bars, I filled a basket with the 100 Candy Bars, tied a bow on the basket handle and they were given out as mementos.  I am attaching a picture of the filled basket.  Thank you again. I received many complements." If you're looking for stocking stuffer ideas, there's still plenty of time to make the Sweet Memories candy bars which I described in detail in Episode 20  and in my book "Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies" Beverly Shaw's beautiful Swee Memories candy bars From Barbara Murphy:The German, Irish and Italian groups of the genealogy societies on Long Island have put together new genealogy databases online. www.theggg.org and www.italiangen.org Follow up on Google Gadgets:Email from Meg Baker who developed the wonderful American Memory google gadget that I told you about in Episode 33. Meg Baker's Google Gadgets GEM:  A Thanksgiving Celebration Thanksgiving at the Library of Congress What Shall the Harvest Be? Sowing the seed by the daylight fair,Sowing the seed by the noonday glare,Sowing the seed by the fading light,Sowing the seed in the solemn night:O what shall the harvest be?RefrainSown in the darkness or sown in the light,Sown in our weakness or sown in our might,Gathered in time or eternity,Sure, ah, sure will the harvest be.Sowing the seed by the wayside high,Sowing the seed on the rocks to die.Sowing the seed where the thorns will spoil,Sowing the seed in the fertile soil:O what shall the harvest be?courtesy of the University of California, Santa Barbara Sarah Josepha Hale "OUR NATIONAL THANKSGIVING by Sarah Josepha HaleWe are most happy to agree with the large majority of the governors of the different States -- as shown in their unanimity of action for several past years, and which, we hope, will this year be adopted by all -- that the LAST THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER shall be the DAY Of NATIONAL THANKSGIVING for the American people." Contact Lisa Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems E-mail Newletter

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 62 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com March 28, 2008 Lisa's interview on the Change Nation podcast. The show is all about making improvements and changes in your life and I got a chance to share what genealogy has meant in my life and how it can be a positive journey for everyone regardless of their background. Jim Mowatt over at the Historyzine podcast invited Lisa to be a part of the show. Jim has always been a macro history guy, but he has finally caught the genealogy bug and he invited me to come on and give a pitch to his listeners about why researching their own family history can be fascinating and actually dove tail into their love of world history. Historyzine Episode 14. Genealogy Gems was featured in the March 20, 2009 World Vital Records Newsletter. I recently interviewed Steve Nickle the President and Chief Operating Officer for familylink about their brand new website that will be launched here in the next few months called GenSeek. Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #61. In today's episode it's time to shake off Winter and we're going to do some Genealogical Channel Surfing! GEM: Part 3 of Lisa's Interview with Darby Hinton, Actor and Producer Grab your surf board and get ready to ride the wave of the final segment of my interview with Darby Hinton who played Fess Parker's son for 6 years on the old Daniel Boone series. In today's episode Darby is going to tell us all about his brand new television series that he's working on called Hintons Living History. In Episode 60 Darby Hinton shared what it was like growing up in Hollywood the son of an actor, and a child actor himself. Above: Darby Hinton as Israel Boone on "Daniel Boone" In Episode 61 I got a chance to share the research that I did on the Hinton Family Tree with Darby & his wife Shan. In this final interview, Darby explains how his background in Hollywood and his interest in his family history have merged together in an exciting new television series that he's producing called Hintons Living History. GEM: Hang Ten with Ken Marks, Executive Producer of Legend Seekers. We spent Episode 22 of my Family History Genealogy Made Easy podcast talking to Ken about this new show that features the discovery and portrayal of real life family history stories. In today's interview, Ken is going to give us a personal look at their brand new website that just launched this week, and how YOU can submit your own family stories for inclusion in the series! So grab your remote and get ready to channel surf the genealogy wave! GEM: Profile AmericaA Favorite Drink Goes on Sale March 30, 2009 GEM: Who Do You Think You Are TV Series Scheduled Bloggers are reporting that the new Who Do You Think You Are TV series which is coming to America from the UK has won it's spot back on the Spring calendar. It's great to see this wave of genealogy shows hitting the airwaves, and my hope is that it will bring genealogy to the forefront of the television viewers minds as a fun and challenging endeavor. Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems e-Newsletter

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 68 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com NEWS: The Genealogy Guys are going to be at the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Little Rock, AR Sept 2-5 2009 recording their show before a live audience on Sept 3 at 3:30 pm. Listen to Drew Smith interview Lisa on the Genealogy Guys Podcast Episode 177 The Library of Congress has launched "The Library of Congress on iTunes U, featuring historic video and sound recordings. Download iTunes Lisa discusses the start up and rocky road of the new social networking website for genealogists called Genealogy Wise by familylink.com Paul Allen's Apology to Terry Thornton So where do we go from here? Well, I still wholeheartedly encourage genealogists to network Friend Lisa on Facebook Join the Genealogy Gems Podcast facebook group Friend Lisa on GenealogyWise Join the Genealogy Gems Podcast group on GenealogyWise Where Are Paper of Record's Records? It"s all still pretty murky. But it seems to be a pretty unanimous decision that Paper of Record was really a terrific newspaper website and though Google and WVR so far are not offering the same kind of search capabilities, they both seem to have some of the content. So my recommendation is to check Google News Archive first - which is free, and then check to see if WVR has the newspaper you're looking for. Lisa's Video on the Google News Timeline Premium Members can watch the Premium Video Using The Google News Archive for Genealogy. Become a Premium Member Today. If you have information about the progress being made with the paper of records content I'd love to hear from you so I can update everyone here on the show. Email me or call the voice mail line at 925-272-4021 to leave a message that I can play on the show. GEM: Profile America40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing - July 20 Visit NASA's website's Apollo 40th Anniversary pages Watch the Launch-as you would have seen it on July 16, 1969, at 9:26 AM EDT T-minus 00:5:59 and counting GEM: Interview with Geneablogger Thomas MacEnteeThomas talks about how to do genealogy blogging, his own numerous blogs, and some tips for you to get started blogging about your own family history. Watch the video version of this interview at the Genealogy Gems TV Channel at YouTube Thomas MacEntee's Blogroll: Geneabloggers Grandma Austin's Diaries Bootcamp for Genea-Bloggers Destination: Austin Family And I Helped! Lowville Obituaries Lowville Long Ago The Graveyard Rabbit of New York Rural Cemeteries A Catskill Christmas GEM: The July 2009 Family Tree Magazine Podcast EpisodeSnippet of my interview with Eric Grundset, Library Director at the DAR Library Eric's fave collection:GRC National Index2 Volume - Vital Records of Americans in China and Korea Mark your calendars: Join Lisa at the Family History Expo in Sandy, Utah just outside Salt Lake City August 28 & 29, 2009. Sign up for the Family Tree Webinar...Finding Your Family in Old Newspapers:Top Web Sites for Getting the Scoop on Your RelativesWhen: Wednesday, July 29th at 7:00 pm Eastern / 4:00 pm PacificDuration: 1 HourCost: $29.99Presenter: Lisa Louise Cooke, Be aware: SPACE IS LIMITED!

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 118 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published Sept 17, 2011 Everyone has a special name for grandparents in their family. In ours we have Nanna, Grandma, and even Pat-Pat. I look forward to the day my grandson Davy calls me Grandma. While I wait, tell me the unusual terms of endearment used in your family for grandparents. Email or leave a voice mail and be included on the show: (925) 272-4021 Listen to the episode: Here's my Grandson Davy checking out tractors at the state fair with his Bumpa (AKA Superman / Indiana Jones) NEWS: FamilySearch FamilySearch has added millions of new records of both Confederate and Union soldiers who served in the American Civil War. Also now available for viewing are newly added notarial records from Canada, church records and civil registrations from Mexico, and records from England. www.familysearch.org From the UK National Archives The UK National Archives announced that findmypast.co.uk has just released 1 million Merchant Navy seamen records, dating from 1918 to 1941. Useful guides at the UK National Archives website to help with your research into merchant seamen. My Ancestor was a Merchant Seaman is available from their bookshop. Apprenticeship records Over half a million records of apprentices have been added to the Ancestry.co.uk site. They cover Scotland, England Wales during the years 1710-1811. To learn more about apprenticeship records, check out the TNA Research Guide to Apprenticeship Records Australian military records You can now access the records of Australian soldiers who fought in the Great War free at the National Archives of Australia website. If your relative was an Australian soldier, the Office of Australian War Graves at the Australian Government Department of Veteran's Affairs website offers free photographs of Australian solder's graves. Our wonderful sponsor RootsMagic is offering 2 new webinars absolutely free. What's New in Personal Historian 2 Wednesday, September 28, 2011, 6pm Mountain time, 90 minutes Creating a Shareable CD with RootsMagic Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 5pm MDT, 60 minutes. If the webinars don't fit your schedule they will be posting a recording of the class on their website at www.rootsmagic.com/webinar that you can watch at your convenience absolutely free! And it stays free it doesn't disappear in a month. I love that about the RootsMagic webinars! Lisa's Upcoming Speaking Engagements 9/25/11 - Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, CA 10/7 8/11 - Northern California Family History Expo, San Mateo, CA 10/21/11 - Waterloo Iowa Public Library Webinar 10/22/11 - Webinar for the Hayden Idaho Family History Center Fall Family History Seminar 10/29/11 - Victoria Genealogical Society Seminar, Victoria, British Columbia 11/11 & 12/11 - Georgia Family History Expo, Duluth, GA Feb 2 & 4, 2012 & RootsTech, Salt Lake City, UT MAILBOX: As you'll remember I had an interesting conversation with DearMYRTLE in Episode 117 about the abbreviation FL that showed up in podcast listener Dot's family history research. She was wondering what it stood for, and DearMYRTLE was intrigued as well so she did a bit of investigation on it which we discussed in the show. Well several of you wrote in with your thoughts on the subject: Sean writes: My first thought was that the abbreviation would stand for "found living" and it sort of makes sense based on the discussion. Finding this abbreviation in research could provide an important clue to narrow down when and where a person lived. And Dot chimed in with: Rob and I do however think there is a time when it is handy for genealogists to use it. If you don't have birth and death dates, we think that instead of having nothing, fl. gives you dates as a rough guide as to when the ancestor lived and you can always extend the dates once more information is found. Dave wrote in with a different take: It does refer to someone's productive time, but typically it refers the time that someone is known to have practiced their profession. Usually, it is used when no biographical information exists In genealogy, it is less likely that this kind of sourcing is useful, since the person is tied, biologically, to a time and place. We know the age ranges for life events, so we can guess better. That said, it is very useful to be able to interpret...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 61 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Published March 14, 2009 I am just back from attending the Family History Expo in St. George Utah. And once again my Google classes were packed! In fact I got word that both my Google: A Goldmine of Genealogy Gems Parts 1 and 2 classes broke attendance records. Here are some of the folks you're going to hear from on today's show- We talked about how to set up a genealogy iGoogle page, Google Alerts, Site Search and a wide range of brand new Google tools that can be used to move your research forward. MAILBOX: I got an email from Tina Kelly who lives in the United Kingdom and she has a question about obtaining vital records here in the U.S. and since I have lots of listeners outside the U.S. I thought this would be worth sharing. GEM: Interview with Steve Nickle, President of Familylink.com Steve Nickle, President of Familylink.com shares some exciting news about a new website they are preparing to launch called GenSeek. Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member Today Use the Coupon code: SAVE20 to save 20% on the annual membership. GEM: Part 2 Interview with Darby Hinton of Daniel Boone Fame In our last episode #60 we got to spend some time with Darby Hinton who was a child star back in the 1960s, and for six of those years he played Isreal the son of Daniel Boone played by Fess Parker in the hit TV series Daniel Boone. In part 2 of my interview with Darby and his wife Shan I get to share what I found on the Hinton Family History. (Above: Darby's grandfather Edward L. Hinton holding Darby's father)I've got more genealogy podcasting for you over at the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast. In Episode 21 I'm going to share a tool with you that will help you navigate your genealogy research. It's called the Genealogical Proof Standard, or GPS. And my special guest on the show is Mark Tucker of the ThinkGenealogy blog who has created a terrific visual map of the GPS. Listen to Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Episode 21 Subscribe in iTunes Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems e-newsletter because that's how you'll find out about what's coming up in the show, where I'll be speaking and some of the cool websites and tips that are only mentioned in newsletter.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 70 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com Family Tree University Google announced last week that it has quadrupled its searchable archive of historical news articles, many of which are free to access.From the Genealogy Insider Blog The National Archives just announced that it has launched what it calls a Narations blog. The new blog is going to focus on online public access to records of the U.S. National Archives The Salt Lake City Family History Expo is almost here MyHeritage.com, has announced the release of Family Tree Builder 4.0. The Family Tree Builder software is available for free download Read the article about Google's new improved search BBC News MAILBOX:Sean Lamb shared his recent discoveries and then had some questions about the 1930 census and the Office Use Only columns. GEM: IPUMS USA website The site is described as "Census microdata for social and economic research". It's an excellent and little known web site that is dedicated to collecting and distributing US census data. Its goals are to: Collect and preserve data and documentation Harmonize data Disseminate the data absolutely free 1850 - 1950 Enumerator Instructions 1930 Enumerator Instructions But as the column implies, the census taker was instructed not to write in column 26D so in this case the instructions can't help much. Column 26D was filled in by the staff at the census bureau after the census taker completed the task. The codes written in the column were to assist them in tabulating statistical information which they reported to Congress. Unfortunately these numbers really don't provide additional information because they just reflect what was written in the Occupation columns by the census taker GEM: Tools for Occupation CodesBut if you have a curious streak and would like to see exactly what the codes meant I've got a gem for you. Steve Morse the author of the One Step Tools shares your curiosity and he created a page on his website called "Deciphering Language and Nativity Codes Appended to the 1930 Census in One Step." You can learn what the occupation codes in Column 26D mean by visiting this page: "Deciphering Occupation Codes Appended to the 1930 Census in One Step." GEM: Agricultural Census (Non-Population Census)Farm # - It refers to the Special census called the Farm ScheduleListen to Family Tree Magazine podcast #12 Census secrets with Curt Witcher for more information. Non-population census at the National ArchivesAgricultural censusWhere to find the records at the National Archives GEM: Member Connect with AncestryDavid Graham. Director of Product Management at Ancestry.com gives us a tour of the new Member Connect feature.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 35 with Lisa Louise Cooke Published Nov 30, 2007 Episode 35 Show Notes Genealogy Gems News Blog "What's in a Name?" My Facebook Profile: Lisa at Genealogy Gems. Make a friend request and then take the Genealogy Gems Quiz. Check out the genealogy quizzes at FunTrivia.com YAHOOOOO - there's a genealogy gal on the Genealogy Gems Listener page! Beth Green answered my call on Episode 30 and emailed a Simpsonized Version of herself. Check it out at the LISTENERS page. GEM: A Little Help From Your Friends My Top Three Tips for Tapping into the Strengths of Others: Tip #1 Swap brick walls Try swapping brick walls with another researcher and look them over with a fresh pair of eyes. I like to think of it as being a cold case detective. Someone who pulls out an old file and goes over it with a fine tooth comb to see if anything's been missed. Tip #2 - Assess your weaknessesLook honestly at your office and your research and make a list of areas where you could improve. Then set out to find someone in your local genealogical society who has a strength in that area. Tip # 3 - Two heads are better than oneTry working alongside a fellow genealogist. Two heads are always better than one, and having someone that you can share the journey with is a wonderful thing. There are over 500 genealogy groups on Facebook alone! Or try one of the new genealogy social networking sites that have been popping up lately. Genealogy Social Networking Websites GEM: The Library of Congress Webcasts:Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American CommunityPresented by Laura Cohen Appelbaum and Wendy Turman of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. Library's Map Treasures are Highlighted in "Cartographia a book and presentation by Vincent Virga GEM: Genealogy through the Looking Glass I've enjoyed using children's books for many years to become acquainted with new and sometimes complex subjects. They are little gems just waiting to help you take on a new area of genealogical research. For instance, does the subject of DNA still seem a bit foggy to you?Try "Genes & DNA" by Richard Walker, and "DNA is Here to Stay" by Fran Balkwill. "Coming to Canada: Building a new life in a new land" by Susan Hughes is a great first timers introduction to the subject. The Irish Potato Famine: Irish Immigrants Come to America (1845-1850) by Jeremy Thornton . "Feed the Children First: Irish memories of the Great Hunger" edited by Mary E. Lyons. Juvenile Books can also be a great quick resource for the history of states and countries that you are unfamiliar with and have just discovered your ancestors spent time in. So when you stumble into new territory, try taking a child's eye view and perhaps a child's curiousity as you approach the situation. GEM: Now for a little Pixie DustLab Pixies Google Gadgets My Favorites:LabPixies TVMy del.icio.usCountdownBabylon Translation BoxLabPixies ClockLabPixies RadioTechBlogsFlickr Slides Contact Lisa Free monthly Genealogy Gems Newsletter Looking for a great Christmas gift? Lisa L. Cooke is the author of Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies from Season One of the Genealogy Gems Podcast now available.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 69 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com NEWS: For the month of August 2009 Footnote.com is providing free access to the 1930 census images. To get the free access just go to www.footnote.com/1930census/and register with your email address. Genealogy Insider Blog by Diane Haddad at Family Tree Magazine. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMUC) is celebrating it's 50th year. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections is a free Library of Congress program. Information about the manuscript collections of participating US libraries is being entered into the WorldCat library catalog search engine. Family History: Genealogy Made EasyEpisode 38 - Features the Footnote Maven Randy Seaver's article on the Genea-musings blog Footnote Maven's post about the episode Episode 39 of the Family History podcast features the very gifted writer Denise Levenick who write the Family Curator blog, and also has an alter ego known as Penny Dreadful who writes occasionally for the Footnote Maven's Shades of the Departed blog. And you get two bloggers in this episode because it also features my interview with Schelly Talalay Dardashti who writes the Tracing the Tribe blog on Jewish genealogy. Both these ladies are very experienced bloggers and will give you great tips on blogging, including dispelling the myth that you have to be technically inclined to blog! Google Books:Read Lisa's blog post on the subject Books Rights Registry So what do you think about this? Have you published your family history? Does it matter to you who owns the digital rights to your work? I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Email Lisa or call the voice mail line at 925 272-4021 to have your thoughts included on the show. GEM: Profile AmericaAugust 1 - First US Census GEM: Tony BurroughsTony Burroughs is an internationally known genealogist, author, and former adjunct genealogy professor at Chicago State University. He lectures throughout the United States and Canada on all aspects of genealogy. (Above: Lacey Cooke, Tony Burroughs, Lisa Cooke) He is the author of the book Black Roots: A Beginners Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree published by the Fireside Division of Simon Schuster and I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Tony about his work and his approach to the research process. Tony was so much fun to talk to and has so much knowledge about such a variety of subjects. If you'd like to see my interview with Tony that was filmed at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree you can view it in it's entirety at the Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel. GEM: My Mother Was A Quilter by Lee Drew Lee's Website his FamHist Blog and his Lineagekeeper blog GEM: Profile AmericaAugust 2 - The First News Reel Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems e-Newsletter: To stay up on everything going on at Genealogy Gems be sure and sign up for the free e-newsletter. Just go to the website and click the Sign up button in the column on the left and when you do that you'll get the 20 page e-book on Google Research strategies as a thank you gift. See Lisa in person:Family History ExpoSandy, Utah just outside Salt Lake City August 28 & 29, 2009 Email Lisa with your questions and comments

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 73 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App www.GenealogyGems.com NEWS: Lisa covers digitized newspaper records recently posted at the Library of America's Chronicling America web site As well as news from Ancestry.com including new records, the new social networking with records feature, and updated to their Member Connect Feature. Watch Lisa's 2 part video series on Member Connect with David Graham of Ancestry. Go to the Genealogy Gems TV Channel at YouTube and Click on the Videos section. Become a fan of The Genealogy Gems Podcast at Facebook. Add Lisa as a friend on Facebook MAILBOX:Lisa stops by Mike O'Laughlin's Irish Roots Cafe to ask the Irish research expert for some advice for listener Maria Romano about her Hickson and Carey ancestors from Clanmorris, County Kerry, Ireland. Mike has some great leads for Maria and anyone with Irish ancestors. Then Lisa shares some advice from German Genealogist Baerbel Johnson of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City on German research in response to listener Teri Chaffin's question about her Matzdorff family. Danny from Baltimore wrote in to comment on Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 69 and the story about the man who found his family history book digitized on Google Books. "Copyright infringement and plagiarism is always a topic near and dear to every genealogist. A discussion on "fair use" typically results in a heated debate but to assume that since a library has a copy of a book and that an arrangement between the library, a company (Google) and various literary organizations permitting the digitalization of the library's collection automatically implies the granting of digital rights to that collection is flabbergasting. Danny from Baltimore Web sites mentioned:Authors Guild. Original article (9/3/09) about Google books from the BBC. Tina Kelly writes to say how excited she was to be able to get some of the archived Premium Episodes from the Genealogy Gems store at Lulu. Premium Episodes now on Lulu:Premium Episodes 2 through 7 And more episodes are coming soon! Limited Time Savings: Save 14.92% on your order with coupon code PINTA Sale Ends Oct. 12, 2009. And Russ Karr writes to share the highs and lows of his research, and his curiousity about an ancestor that died in an Insane Asylum in San Jose in 1920. Resources mentioned by Lisa:The Suitcase Exhibit Online Diane Haddad's post on The Genealogy Insider Blog Attend Lisa's classes:Family History ExpoRedding, California October 16 & 17, 2009 Listener and Premium member Pat Dalpiaz shares how she proudly wears her new Genealogy Gem Rhinestone Pin whenever she has a new discovery, and shares two of her most recent discoveries generated by working on her family history blog. $11.95 + $1.50 shipping to the Continental U.S. Designed personally by Lisa Louise Cooke and made with high quality Czechoslovakian and Austrian crystals, this custom rhinestone pin is bound to generate genealogical conversation when worn. Measures approximately 2" x 1", secured with pin back. Limited quantities!

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 66 with Lisa Louise Cooke Download the FREE App Published June 7, 2009 GEM: 65th Anniversary of D-Day I've written a blog post about the D-Day anniversary that includes an article that appeared in the Yorkshire Post about how the memory of WWII is slipping through the cracks of time. In my own family my grandfather's brother Elzie Cecil Moore who we called Uncle Elzie participated in the invasion of Normandy and received the bronze star and a purple heart for a shot he took to his shoulder during the invasion. Shortly after that he received a second purple hear for a shot he received through his face. Growing up I always noticed that scar on his chin and thought it was a cute dimple, not realizing until I started asking questions about family history that it was from a bullet. Above: Elzie in Boot Camp My Grandmother Pauline Moore worked at the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, California building the Navy ships that sailed the Pacific. She was the secretary to the Dock Yard Manager for Yard #2 and that meant that she helped hire and process all the Rosies. In fact, when the Yard was finally closed down at the end of the war, Grandma was the last women through the gates. Like so many women she sacrified time with my dad was born in 1939 and was not yet in school. But she often told me it was one of the happiest times in her life because everyone was pulling together. Above: Grandma Pauline and my dad during WWII Check out the post D Day Anniversary on the Genealogy Gems Blog where you will find a link to the Yorkshire Post as well as a video of the events of D Day. NEWS:On the genealogy conference front there are several great events coming up: The Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado June 12 - 13, 2009. The Southern California Genealogical Jamboree in Burbank, CA on June 26 - 28, 2009 which I'll be attending. I'll be teaching two classes on Google, a beginning and Advanced, and I'll also be on the panel for the Son of a Blogger Summitt with Dick Eastman, Steve Danko, DearMyrtle, George Morgan and others. And when I'm not doing that I'll be at the Family Tree Magazine booth in exhibit hall. You can get more information about the Jamboree at the Jamboree 2009 Blog. And you can register at the Southern California genealogical society Website. The 29th annual International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies International Conference on Jewish Genealogy being held August 2 - 7, 2009 in Philadelphia, PA You can register at the IAJGS website. I'll also be at the Family History Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah August 28 & 29, 2009 Genealogy Records Update:In May of 2009 FamilySearch announced that it has published millions of records from Southern states to its free online collection. The most recent additions to the Indexing Project: Alabama Statewide Deaths 1908 to 1974 (Index) Arkansas County Marriages: 1837 to 1957 Civil War Pension Index Cards (Digital Images) Florida Deaths 1877 to 1939 (Index) Florida State Censuses: 1855, 1935, 1945 (Digital Images) Georgia Deaths 1914 to 1927 Louisiana War of 1812 Pension Lists (Images) North Carolina, Davidson County Marriages and Deaths, 1867-1984 (Digital Images) Texas Death Index 1964 to 1998 (Index) Texas Deaths 1890 to 1976 West Virginia Births 1853 to 1990 (Index) West Virginia Marriages 1853 to 1970 (Index) West Virginia Deaths 1853 to 1970 (Index) Thank you for supporting this free podcast by clicking the Amazon and other sponsor links to do your online shopping! GEM: Interview with Kathy Meade of Genline.com Lisa talks with Kathy about Genline's new Transcription Service Also check out Lisa's other interview with Kathy Meade in the June 2009 episode of the Family Tree Magazine Podcast Swedish Parish Look Up You need to be registered, but no credit card is required to register. Visit with Kathy in person at the upcoming Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado on June 12 - 13, 2009. She will also be at the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree in Burbank, CA June 26 - 28, 2009. Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member GEM: Paper of Record / Google News Archive Here's a comprehensive list of what is currently online in the Google News Archive, as well as content that will be added in the next three months, and the records that at this point in time will not be added due to lack of display rights. Google News Archive Timeline Video