Montana Genealogy Research

 

Montana Genealogy Research

If anyone is looking for ancestors in Montana, this is a good site for resources.  I am learning a lot about the state so i can be of help to anyone who needs help in this Facebook Research page.

Great news!!!!  I had done a lot of work on my adoptive family`s tree in Ancestry.com and invited my brother to see it.  He wasn`t very interested at the time.  I have been using Rootsmagic 5 and couldn`t get a file saved to send to him.  He had to have a genealogy program to open the gedcom.

Yesterday, I downloaded the now Family Tree Maker 2012 and played with it last night.

Well - this morning - my brother emailed me and said a lady from the area wants to know if he had anything past his grandfather, because she is related.

Lo and behold - my new program allows me to save a pdf Family group sheet for each person AND the tree view itself!!  I have traced them back on my father`s side to 1100.

: I was SOOOO excited to save and send all this to him.  Am still in the process, but he has a few already.

: He will be soooo surprised!

Response from my brother:

I am going to email (name of relative) today and give her some of the info you sent if I can figure out how, would you mind if I give her your email address, as she is working on the Daniels family tree, and you might be able to help her.

They, her and her cousin are going to have a small family reunion on Sat. Aug. 25 and invited us to go, so we will go if everything works out.

Thanks again for your trouble getting the info so quick for us!

Nothing to do with genealogy?  From my window - Alberta skies.  Just one of many beautiful sunsets.  Skies are so vast and changing.  They look down on generations and generations.  I know - I'm stretching here. :)  Just being reflective on a Sunday morning.  Have been reading Frank McCourt's  Teacher Man about how he came to America from Ireland and was teaching in the inner city schools of New York.  Known as a "tough little mick that isn't so tough," Mr. McCourt tells how he got away with not teaching the way administrations wanted and sometimes got praised for his efforts and sometimes got fired.

If any of you have stories such as this about your people who emmigrated to America and made their way in poverty and in riches, but don't consider yourselves "writers" and are timid about putting yourselves "out there,"  send me your (short) story and I will edit and publish them on this blog for you.  This will benefit both of us, because I think it will be interesting for my reading public and will give you a forum for your stories.  Please be assured, I will email you the final draft for your approval before I publish it.

Remember to keep it to blog  size and, if you can't, I will edit for you.
Send stories to nsharon2@telus.net

Have a wonderful day and happy writing! - and don't worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation.  I will take care of all that.  I'm just excited to read your stories.

This is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

Just found this:  http://blog.familyhistorysearches.com/category/366-days-of-genealogy/

Since the 1940 US Census has come out, we are busier than ever on the phones, answering emails, answering questions from the Feedback tab on http://www.familysearch.org/, and doing Live Chats from the site.  Can things get any more exciting?  Well - yes they can.  And they will.  Always new things to try.  That blog site "366 days of genealogy" for example - lots of good stuff there to peruse.

Well - I'm gone for another little while helping people find their ancestors.
I wish you all success in your searches until we meet again here.

Rocky mountains in the distance as seen from my living room window

I can’t go ANYWHERE without getting into a conversation about genealogy.  Case in point:  I was getting my black  ink cartridge refilled and was discussing the merits of laser printing, since I do so much black printing.  Then I mentioned why I used so much and………..and hour later I had some printed profile pages from Ancestry.com and names, dates, and places, and a business card and the kiosk dealer had my email address.

Now I have a Word document with url’s, gravesite screenshots, and ideas for further research.

Why do I DO this to myself?  The dyed-in-the-wool genealogist out there will know what I’m talking about.  There is a passion in our work.  We are 24-hour genealogists.  And we are a patient bunch.

People like to talk about their families – about their roots, their bloodline; in other words, themselves.  And mixed in with all that verbiage is a tidbit of valuable information – a clue – the one you have been waiting for with pen poised above paper.  Hurry, get it down before he goes on to something else and a new clue pops up.  Ya gotta be ready!!!!

Finally, you get to ask a question or two and off you go, forgetting all about what it was you came to the mall for besides getting your black ink cartridge filled.

INDEXING and Other Oddities

Anybody want to learn how to do indexing?  Want to index your childhood province or state?  What about the country where you grew up?  FamilySearch has batches and batches for people to index and, when they are finished, they will be available to view online.  Free!  In perpetuity!!! 

Right now there is a big hooforah about the US 1940 Census, which will be ready to index April 2.  Both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have put out a call for indexers to help.  Ancestry's results will be available for free for one year (that's the scoop, anyway) and FamilySearch's will be available online free, as with the rest of their indexed records.

Indexing is easy, once you get the hang of it.  I talked to a woman today who did her very first batch and needed help with one button to click on.  She was very proud and, I suspect, will become just as addicted as the rest of us.  There is a satisfaction in completing a record that you know will be seen by someone looking for and ancestor that they couldn't find before.  Their "aha" moment will be thanks to you!!

While being accurate is of prime importance, don't shy away from indexing because you fear making a mistake.  A batch is indexed by two people - independent of each other - and then, if there are different entries for the same thing (the name of a place, for instance), the arbitrator will look at the original image and the project information and decide which indexer is right (Key A and Key B is used, not indexers' names) or if there is a third option that neither indexer knew about.  As soon as the batch is arbitrated, it will go with the rest in that collection and get put online.

Presently, I am arbitrating Ontario, Canada marriages in the early 1900's.  I grew up there and I'm familiar with the county and town names, as well as many last names and the popular first names of the day. No, I wasn't alive then, but grandparents hand down stories from their parents.  For instance, did you know that, in certain areas/families, a daughter-in-law was taken in and treated as a daughter; therefore, when the census-taker came around, she was listed as a daughter, not a daughter-in-law.

Besides arbitrating batches of indexed records, what am I doing these days that keeps me away from my blog?  Clicking on those little green leaves in Ancestry.com and checking out the results and documentation.  Downloading the gedcom that results from weeks of work, and putting the gedcom into Rootsmagic, where I check for duplicates (an automatic process in Rootsmagic) and merging duplicate records.  Then I check everything with my tree on FamilySearch and put it there.  Now I have a database on my computer, one on Ancestry, and one on FamilySearch.  I am also updating my wall chart for my hallway.  Makes for a good conversation piece as guests walk in the door....my hallway is long and narrow and there is room for many generations.  Oh - and I just bought the upgrade from version 4 to version 5 of Rootsmagic and am attending classes for the public at our local Family History Center.  Every day I learn more new things about programs I've been using for a few years.  Oh yes - and I've taken up stamp collecting.  It is intriguing to see how boundaries of countries have changed, which affects genealogy searches and that history is told in the stamps of those countries.

What do I do for fun?   You just read about it. 

There is a fairly new blog out there:  The McCaws of the World Clan

There are many Mccaws and many questions about origins.  A lot of genealogy work and a lot of great discoveries, from both past and present.

And don't forget to check out our blog:  McCaws Come to Life