This is the 6th edition of our monthly newsletter- The Dispatch! We are thrilled with the response to our newsletter. It has been a great way to keep our members up to date on what we are doing at MLGC but also genealogical events locally, nationally and even worldwide!
The Club meets the 2nd Thursday of the month, September through June, from 1 to 3 pm and welcomes all who are interested in learning more about their ancestors, both newcomers and those who are more experienced. Our purpose is to present programs that will help both new and experienced students to research their own family genealogies and to learn new techniques for improving their knowledge of their ancestors and their family histories.
Our April Meeting features a lecture by Mary Crauderueff, Curator of Quaker Collections in the Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections. You won't want to miss it! See full details below!
April also brings the release of the 1950 Census! Will you be on your computer at 12:01 on April 1st? See Paul's Podcast Picks below with tips to get ready, and Steve Morse's links under "previous meetings" from his lecture in September. Laverna has DNA books to recommend this month and Sydney wants you to get the most out of your Ancestry subscription.
Check out the list of our remaining lectures this season and the BCGS calendar for the many genealogy events in our area. Visit our website mainlinegenealogy.org for a wealth of information and follow us on social media! Links below!
The Planning Committee recently announced that the MLGC will be moving to a new location at the Tredyffrin Public Library in Strafford, Pennsylvania. The Tredyffrin Public Library has a large meeting room and we are hoping to start hybrid meetings sometime soon, (but for now meetings are still completely virtual). A hybrid meeting will allow some members to meet in person and some to meet virtually all at the same meeting. Whether the speaker is in person at the library or presenting via Zoom all members will be able to watch the presentation in real time. The Planning Committee is looking forward to finding more ways to benefit our membership and the greater genealogy community.
We ask you to make a $5.00 contribution at each meeting to help defray our expenses. Use the link to "Cheddar Up" in the meeting details to donate. Zoom link information for each meeting is sent to all those on our email list. See Zoom instructions here.
The Virtual Help Desk is open before each meeting! If you have a genealogy question or issue, please come prepared with the type of information, or document you are seeking, the approximate geographic location, and the approximate time period. Then connect to our Zoom meeting at 12:30 pm. There you will be moved to a separate Zoom meeting room where one or two of our planning committee members will attempt to provide you with guidance before the meeting begins at 1:00 pm EST.
We hope to see you at our next meeting on Thursday, April 14th. The MLGC Planning Committee
Next up in April:
Have you ever thought you might have Quaker ancestors?
Have you ever been told you have Quaker ancestors? Have you tried finding your Quaker relatives, but gotten stumped by Quaker jargon? Come hear a discussion of Quaker archives, particularly in the Philadelphia area, to learn about how to use these resources.
Mary will also discuss the over 8 million Quaker documents in Ancestry.com and how best to use those resources.
This is a Zoom Meeting. Watch for meeting login details to arrive in your inbox soon. $5. contribution suggested.
Please use this link to donate throughCheddar Up.
Upcoming MLGC Meetings All meetings are on the 2nd Thursday of the month
September through June, 1:00-3:00
Help Desk open 12:30- 12:55
Apr 14 2022: Mary Craudereuff, Researching Quaker Records: Uncovering Your Roots in the Religious Society of Friends Mary Craudereuff
May 12 2022: Amy Johnson Crowe, Written in Stone: Tombstones and Other Cemetery Records Amy Johnson Crowe
Did you miss the previous MLGC meetings this season?
On March 10th we welcomed Diahan Southard,Your DNA Guide. Diahan gave her presentation, "Connecting Your DNA Matches".
We celebrated Black History Month with a presentation by Dean Henry on Feb 10th. Dean's lecture was titled, African American Genealogy Basics Illustrated. Get in touch through his website Family Pearl if you need help with your African American research!
Our very own planning committee member, Sydney Cruice presented Why Should Anyone Believe Your Research – How to provide Genealogical Proof and Write a Genealogy Proof Argument on January 13th. Get in touch withSydney and see her list of upcoming lectures through her website- Sydney Cruice Genealogy. Better yet, take her course, Foundations of Genealogy I, starting in March, details below in "Classes and Conferences" and on her website!
The speaker on Dec 9th was Mary Kircher Roddy, CG, ofMKR Genealogy. Her lecture, Family Browse- A Different Way to Look at Family Search, gave us detailed explanations on how to search the millions of unindexed images on Family Search.
We had Chris Paton in November, who discussedScottish Research Resources before 1800. See his website for more info-Scotland's Greatest Story, and look for his many books!!
October's meeting topic was, Discovering Your Immigrant’s Origins: Exhausting Every Resource by Rich Venezia of Rich Roots Genealogy. Rich discussed ways to pin down your elusive immigrant ancestor’s place of origin using some well known and lesser known record sets, ideas, and techniques.
In September, Steve Morse gave us a tour of his website One-Step Webpages, which provides tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records and much more. Click on "About this website and how to use it", for an overview and start searching more effectively. Get familiar with Steve's website if you are excited about the 1950 U.S. Census being released on April 1st.!!!
2022 Classes and Conferences
Maximizing Ancestry.com Workshop with Sydney Cruice, registration details coming soon at sydneycruicegenealogy.com!
Registration is open for seats at the very popular virtual Gen-Fed 2022, August 8-13. See details here: Gen Fed News
May 24-28 In person inSacramento, CA and Online- National Genealogy SocietyFamily History Conference
The Family Tree Magazine Genealogy Podcast
Hear about the best genealogy tools and tips directly from Family Tree Magazine’s editors and experts! Tune in to the Family Tree Podcast for a dose of genealogy education and fun.
In this monthly online radio show, host Lisa Louise Cooke takes you behind the scenes to learn more about genealogy topics from their magazine, courses and more. Each episode features interviews with genealogy experts and Family Tree editors on using genealogy websites, records and resources, along with sneak peeks at the latest tools from Family Tree. Listen to their most recent episodes or subscribe to listen on your favorite podcast service. They even invite you to share your story with them! If you have a family history discovery you’d like to share on the podcast, email them at FamilyTree@Yankeepub.com.
If nothing else, you need to listen to their most current podcast from March 2022; they give so much information on the 1950 Census that it is a one stop shop for all of the 1950 Census information available.
Episode 159: Preparing for the 1950 Census Release | March 2022
In this episode we’re getting ready for the release of the 1950 census by learning how to research ancestors through the 1940s, as well as how to find your ancestors’ Enumeration District with Steve Morse’s One-Step Webpages. Plus, unlikely sources for family photos and much more!
If Diahan Southard sparked your curiosity about DNA, the two titles featured here will provide a solid foundation. This is a specialty that is rapidly expanding, so you may want to explore Diahan’s website at www.yourDNAguide.com and follow up with some of the online resources listed by these authors.
Dowell, David R. NextGen Genealogy, the DNA Connection. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, ABC-CLIO, 2015. 173 pages. Tredyffrin: 929.1072D
Directed at novices, this very readable book covers basic genetic concepts and terms, the four types of DNA, and haplogroups. Dowell (Ph.D.) also devotes chapters to ethical issues, documenting your family story with genetic and genealogical evidence, and resources for further learning.
Bettinger, Blaine T. The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy. Cincinnati, OH: Family Tree Books, 2019. 271 pages. Tredyffrin: 929.1072B (also has 2016 ed.)
With a Ph.D. (biochemistry) and a J.D., Bettinger is the go-to expert in genetic genealogy. In this book he covers the basics, misconceptions, ethics, types of DNA tests, and how to analyze and apply test results. The text also includes a glossary, comparison guides, research forms and suggested resources for additional information.
Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth with Ancestry.com?
We all pay a lot of money for our Ancestry.com subscriptions, but are you getting your money’s worth? Most genealogy researchers only use about two thirds of the benefits offered by Ancestry.com. Under utilizing these tools and functions can slow down your research. In addition, you may end up spending more money on unnecessary software that you wouldn’t need if you were taking advantage of everything the Ancestry website has to offer. If you use Ancestry.com to the maximum it can really help you to organize your research materials. That alone is worth the time and effort you will spend. I would encourage everyone, no matter how long you have been using Ancestry.com, to take some time this month to explore and learn unfamiliar Ancestry.com tools and functions. Here are some suggestions:
Under the Help Menu:
Ancestry Support (Here you will find all kinds of lessons on how to better use the Ancestry.com website – searching, tree building, etc.)
Ancestry Community (Here you can learn about the new things that are happening on the website and ask other Ancestry.com users for assistance.)
Ancestry Messages Boards (This is like a bulletin board where you can post family members who are your brick walls. You can also get in contact, and work together, with other Ancestry users who may be struggling with same family branch.)
Family History Learning Hub (This is under the Trees menu. It is a place where you can learn about different record sets and the history of various historical events that may have affected your family.)
Ancestry Academy (This is under the Extras menu. Be careful - some of the lessons here are free, but many of them cost additional money. Make sure you exhaust the free lessons here, and check the internet, before you pay any additional money for lessons.)
By taking the time to learn something new you may end up finding that elusive ancestor that has hiding from you for years. Remember for every hour you spend learning a new genealogy skill, or learning about a new record set, you will save yourself 3 to 5 hours of wasted research time.
