Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog: August 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

DNA and Genealogy Education ~ Classes on Day 2 at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy

I only attended two classes on the second day of the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy. Both of the classes were held in the afternoon.

The first class I took was titled "Beginning Autosomal DNA Analysis" and was taught by Paul Woodbury. Mr. Woodbury is a member of CeCe Moore's DNA Detectives Team.

During his class, Mr. Woodbury shared information about the differences between autosomal, Y-DNA, and mt-DNA tests. Both Y-DNA (paternal direct line) and mt-DNA (maternal direct line) stay intact as they are passed down to future generations and mutations are hierarchical. On the other hand, autosomal DNA is mixed every generation, mutations are not hierarchical, and consist of many lines of ancestry.

Mr. Woodbury listed the uses for autosomal DNA tests. They include general interest, ethnicity (within 6 generations), adoption, unknown paternity, illegitimacy, and difficult to trace ancestors.

I have done two autosomal DNA tests, one through AncestryDNA and the other through Family Tree DNA. I've shared the results of those tests in previous blog posts. If you'd like to read them, click on the following links.

My Family Finder DNA Results Are In ~ Grandma Was Right!

My AncestryDNA Results Are In ~ Some Surprises

I also had a mtDNA test done through Family Tree DNA, but I haven't shared those results on my blog yet.

I'm glad I had my DNA tested. I'm hoping to have my husband get his DNA tested as well.

In the late afternoon, I attended Valerie Elkins' excellent class titled "Getting a Great Genealogical Education Online." She's a wonderful person and a great teacher!

There are so many amazing online resources to further our genealogy education. Valerie listed many of these in her class including FamilySearch, Cyndi's List, the credentialing organizations Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) and The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen), webinars, online schools, genealogy blogs and websites, social media, and many more.

During her class, Valerie showed the following slide which listed several genealogy blogs. I was so honored to find my genealogy blog listed in Valerie's slide. Included in her syllabus are additional genealogy blogs not listed in her slide. Unfortunately, her syllabus was not included in the syllabus for the conference. She said we could access it by going to her website at www.valerieelkins.com and then click on the Resources tab.

I want to thank her again for listing my blog in her slide and syllabus!

I'll be sharing more about my experiences at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Friday, August 28, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for August 28, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

How Quilting Is Like Genealogy AND National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers: A Surprisingly Rich Resource by Amy Johnson Crow, author of Amy Johnson Crow Blog
Principles Part 1: What I learned from my family about color by Robin Foster, author of Saving Stories
Flickr Groups – A Photo Community for Families by Denise Olson, author of Moultrie Creek Gazette
LEGACY 8–Adding a hyperlink to your media file by Diane Gould Hall, author of MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS
Life Altered in an Instant by Michelle Ganus Taggart, author of A Southern Sleuth
Did a Father's Death Lead to Sons' Mental Illness? by Joanne Cowden, author of Researching Relatives
I'm removing a blog post image...because it was the right thing to do! by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
My First Blog Book...Coming Soon by Amie Bowser Tennant, author of My Kith N Kin
Trust, but verify; or There goes 1/16 of my family tree by Kathleen Scarlett O'Hara Naylor, author of You Are Where You Came From
AncestryDNA Shared Matches Appear AND Tuesday's Tip: Evidence Explained Website has Citation Examples, QuickLessons, QuickTips, Forums and More! AND How Can I Find What Paper or Microform Information is Kept in a Particular Area? by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings
HOW TO… GET ORGANIZED WITH RESEARCHING MY FAMILY TREE by Larisa Thomas, author of Roots of Kinship
Indexing ... Keep Fueling FamilySearch by Amy Archibald, author of Revealing Roots and Branches
a dictionary for everything: defining peculiar words by Tami Osmer Mize, author of Relatively Curious about Genealogy
Spit Hit - Now I'm a Believer by Jill Ball, author of GeniAus
The value of transcribing by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
Find: How Far Would Your Dollar Go in 1915? by Trevor Hammond for Fishwrap, the Official Blog of Newspapers.com
How Bad Photos Can Make Good Genealogy by Denise May Levenick for Ancestry.com Blog
A Darling Legacy by Diane Boumenot, author of One Rhode Island Family

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 33 Recap

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere Last Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Jana's Place

Plexus no. 29 at the BYU Museum of Art

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Accreditation, Ohio, and Citing Sources ~ Classes on Day 1 at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy

If I counted correctly, there were 151 classes and 23 tracks offered at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy.

One of the tracks offered was the ICAPGen Track. ICAPGen stands for "The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists."

The first class I took on Tuesday, July 28, 2015 was titled "Why Become Accredited?" by Jill N. Crandell.

I am not a credentialed genealogist at this time. Perhaps someday I will pursue certification or accreditation. Certification and Accreditation are two different pathways to becoming credentialed. Certification is through the Board of Certified Genealogists. Accreditation is through ICAPGen.

One of the things I learned during this class was that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been involved in the accreditation process. In 2000 the Church transferred ownership of accreditation to ICAPGen. Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, who is an Accredited Genealogist, wrote a blog post titled "Why I Will Not Seek Certification." Regarding the accreditation process in her post she wrote that, "the testing was done by the LDS Church at the Family History Library." To read her post, click HERE.

Speaking of Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, I attended her class titled "The Firelands, the Connecticut Western Reserve, and the Ohio Territory. Peggy is an amazing teacher! She's fun and engaging and very informative. If you ever have a chance to take a class from her I highly recommend you take the opportunity to do so.

Peggy LOVES maps! She showed several to the class during her presentation.

One of the things I learned from Peggy's class is that the area in Ohio referred to as the Firelands was given this name because this area was given to people in Connecticut whose homes were burned down by the British during the Revolutionary War.

After lunch on Tuesday I attended "Fun With Citing Sources!" by Jean Wilcox Hibben.

Citing our sources is so very important. Source documentation is extremely important not only for yourself, but for those who access your genealogy research in the future.

Jean listed several different styles for writing citations including Turabian, (MLA) Modern Language Association, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style.

I only attended three classes on Tuesday. In the afternoon I headed over to the myFamily History Youth Camp. I wrote about my visit in an earlier blog post. If you'd like to read that post, click HERE.

I'll be sharing more about my experiences at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Monday, August 24, 2015

Descendant Migration Charts for Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster and Iver Iverson

I recently watched Legacy Family Tree's QuickTip video called "Creating a Migration Chart." I was intrigued. I hadn't made this kind of chart before. I have used Legacy Family Tree for a number of years and still have a lot to learn about the many features it offers.

I decided to make a migration chart for my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster.

As you can see, this is quite an interesting chart. Not only are U.S. states listed, but the countries of Brazil and Mexico are listed as well. That's because Ebenezer's son, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster, is my great-grandfather. You may know him as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. He was born in Ohio, but traveled to Mexico where he married my great-grandmother, Esther Matus Villatoro. They then traveled to and settled in Brazil. Of course, settling in Brazil didn't mean he stopped traveling. But, that's another story.

Here's the migration chart for my paternal 2nd great-grandfather, Iver Iverson.

Iver was born in Norway on 2 August 1827 in Marteplads, Nes, Buskerud, Norway. He immigrated to the United States in April of 1858 and settled in Minnesota. He served in the United States Civil War in the 34th and 21st Iowa Infantries.

From this chart I can see that the majority of Iver's 146 descendants were born in Minnesota.

If you are use Legacy Family Tree and would like to learn how to create a migration chart, please click on the QuickTip video link below.

Creating a Migration Chart QuickTip Video

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Friday, August 21, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for August 21, 2015

Hello wonderful readers! Fab Finds is back from it's one-week hiatus. The photo above may give you a clue as to where my family and I were last week. Yep! Utah! One of the places we went while we were there was Bryce Canyon National Park. What a stunningly beautiful place! Thanks for your patience while Fab Finds was on hiatus.

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

RootsTech 2016 Registration Opens 15 Sep 2015 by Pat Richley-Erickson, author of DearMyrtle
Find Unique Ancestral Records on FamilySearch by Lee Drew, author of Lineagekeeper's Genealogy Blog
May We Show Off Your Genealogy Chart? by Janet Hovorka, author of The Chart Chick
Would You Help Me With A New Project Here On Genealogy Circle? by Cindy Freed, author of Cindy Freed's Genealogy Circle
The limits of ownership AND This time next month by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
No Need to Stop Fueling the Find by Mary Perkinson Nelson, author of Celebrating Family Stories
Lost and Found by Michelle Ganus Taggart, author of A Southern Sleuth
Researching the Musician in Your Family by Jake Fletcher for Legacy News
Tender Mercies of the Lord by Amy Archibald, author of Revealing Roots and Branches
Tuesday’s Tip: Maybe those online trees aren’t ALL bad … by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
Facebook and Family Photographs by Maureen A. Taylor – Photo Detective for Family Tree Magazine Blog
Constant cleaning up by Peggy Lauritzen, author of Anxiously Engaged
NGS Announces a New Course in the American Genealogical Studies Series: Beyond the Basics by Diane L. Richard for UPFRONT WITH NGS
Spotlighting audio and video content by Jenna Mills, author of Desperately Seeking Surnames
Reflections of a Grandmother by Jacquie Schattner, author of Seeds to Tree
I’ve been building a genealogy research toolbox by Gail Dever, author of Genealogy a la carte
Direct Messaging Shows up live in the FamilySearch Family Tree by James Tanner, author of Rejoice, and be exceeding glad...
LDS Church Breaks Ground for First-of-It's Kind St. George Family History Library by Sue Maxwell, author of Granite Genealogy
Don’t Let Mythology Guide Your Genealogy Research! by Lorine McGinnis Schulze for Legacy News
See You at RootsTech 2016! by Thomas MacEntee, author of High-Definition Genealogy
Finding photos of Roberts Cousins on Facebook by Becky Jamison, author of Grace and Glory
Treasure Chest Thursday ~ Relief Society Magazines by Leslie Ann, author of Ancestors Live Here
Genealogy Friday: Creating a Timeline for your Ancestor by Leagh, author of A Look Thru Time
Sepia Saturday: Before e-Harmony by Wendy Mathias, author of Jollett Etc.

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 32 Recap

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere The Last Two Weeks

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Jana's Place

Update on Where I've Been...Again

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Food and Fun at The BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy

Attendees at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy were given a generous hour and a half lunch break each day from noon until 1:30. Lunch was available for purchase at the Morris Center Cafeteria, which is close to the BYU Conference Center.

The food was served cafeteria style, but was not your typical average cafeteria fare. The food was very good. There was a salad bar and two hot entrees offered each day.

On Friday I had the Grown-up Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Basil Soup. It was delicious!

Here are some photos of the Morris Center Cafeteria during lunch at the conference.

A variety of delectable desserts were offered each day including BYU's famous Creamery Ice Cream. I've had BYU's Creamery Ice Cream during past visits with family in Utah, so I already knew how amazing it is. Of course, I couldn't resist having some during the conference, so on one day I had their Chocolate ice cream, and on another day I tried their Mint Brownie ice cream. Yummy!

On Thursday I had one of BYU's amazing Mint Brownies with Chocolate Frosting. I wish I had taken a picture of these delicious treats. I was able to find recipes for the Mint Brownies on the BYU Alumni page. To see them, click HERE and HERE. The second link not only gives a recipe for the Mint Brownies, but also provides recipes for three other desserts.

In addition to enjoying delicious food, it was fun spending time chatting with fellow genealogy blogging friends during lunch at the conference.

I'll be sharing more about my experiences at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Monday, August 17, 2015

Vendors at The BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy

In addition to attending classes and keynote addresses, attendees at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy had the opportunity to stop by the booths of twenty-eight vendors to learn about their products.

Vendors lined the main hallway at the BYU Conference Center throughout the conference. And Room 2260 was filled with vendors on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here are photos of the main hallway. The vendors are next to the windows.

The BYU Bookstore had a window at the conference too so that attendees could purchase various items. Unfortunately, the Bookstore was closed when I took this photo.

This is Janet Hovorka, Development Director at Family ChartMasters and author of The Chart Chick blog. Janet and her employees create beautiful family history charts.

Janet is also the author of the Zap The Grandma Gap books and workbooks.

Here's Renee Zamora at the RootsMagic booth.

These are photos of the Vendor Hall in Room 2260.

Sue Maxwell, Bob Taylor, and Bob Ives at The Family History Guide booth. Please check out this helpful website. It's free. The Family History guide has a Facebook page, which you can access by clicking HERE. They also have a blog. You can check out their blog by clicking HERE.

Sue Maxwell demonstrated The Family History Guide website for me.

Here's the My Mission booth. I was able to speak to the developer of the My Mission app and was quite impressed by what I heard. It's free too, which is awesome. Families of LDS missionaries past and present ought to check it out.

The Ancestral Quest booth.

Here's Lisa Louise Cooke and Sunny Morton at the Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems booth.

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of each vendor booth. But here's a list of the vendors at the conference.

Ancestral Quest (Incline Software)	http://www.ancquest.com/index.htm
By Land or By Sea	dick.donna1119@yahoo.com
BYU Center for Family History	https://familyhistory.byu.edu/Pages/Home.aspx
BYU Family History Library	http://sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/
BYU Print and Mail	https://printandmail.byu.edu/home/
Easy Family History	https://www.easyfamilyhistory.com/
E-Z Photo Scan, powered by i/oTrak, Inc.	https://ezphotoscan.com/
Family ChartMasters	https://familychartmasters.com/php/index.php
FAMILY SEARCH	https://familysearch.org/
Flip-Pal	http://flip-pal.com/
Genealogy Gems	http://lisalouisecooke.com/
GenSearch and more	http://gensearchandmore.com/
Green Planet Maps LLC	famousfranko@gmail.com
Group National Publishing ( presentation is everything)	http://genealogypresentations.com/
Group National Publishing (flip-pal )	http://genealogypresentations.com/
Historic Journals LLC	https://hjournals.com/
HistoryLines	https://historylines.com/
ICAPGen	http://www.icapgen.org/
Larsen Digital	https://www.larsendigital.com/
Legacy Family Tree	http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/
Life Story Productions	http://heritagecollector.com/
My Family Online	http://www.myfamilyonline.com/
My Heritage	https://www.myheritage.com/
My Mission	http://www.mymission.com/
ResearchTies	http://researchties.com/
Rootsmagic	https://www.rootsmagic.com/
SHOTBOX LLC	http://www.shotbox.me/
Thirty Minute Mission (The Family History Guide)	http://www.thefhguide.com/
Treasured Souls to Keep	http://www.treasuredsoulstokeep.com/

I'll be sharing more about my experiences at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Monday, August 10, 2015

Genealogy Blogger Meetups at the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy

One of the really fun aspects of attending the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy was the opportunity to meet fellow genealogy bloggers. I've been friends with them online for quite a while and it was fabulous to finally meet them in person.

I made sure to take pictures with all of my wonderful blogger friends.

Peggy Lauritzen, author of Always Anxiously Engaged, was so welcoming to me. She really helped me feel at ease at my first national genealogy conference. She's a dear sweet lady. We had lunch together at the Morris Center on Tuesday, which was the first day of the conference. She was also a presenter at the conference.

Left to Right: Jana Last and Peggy Lauritzen

Another sweet and kind fellow blogger that I was able to meet in person was Janet Hovorka, Development Director at Family ChartMasters and author of the blog The Chart Chick. She is also the author of the Zap the Grandma Gap books and workbooks. Janet truly is a delightful person. I so enjoyed getting to know her better. In addition to manning the Family ChartMasters vendor booth in the main hallway, Janet was a presenter at the conference.

Left to Right: Jana Last, Janet Hovorka, Peggy Lauritzen

It was also my pleasure to meet Valerie Elkins, another sweet and wonderful blogger friend. Valerie is the author of the blog Family Cherished. She also was a presenter at the conference. Valerie is an amazing and lovely person and it was wonderful to get to know her better.

Left to Right: Valerie Elkins, Jana Last

Janet, Valerie and I went out to lunch together on Wednesday. It was so fun!

Left to Right: Janet Hovorka, Valerie Elkins, Jana Last

One of the other official conference bloggers was Lynn Broderick, author of The Single Leaf. She was very helpful and kind and it was great to meet her.

Left to Right: Lynn Broderick, Jana Last

This is Sue Maxwell, author of the Granite Genealogy blog. What a wonderful person she is! I met Sue in the vendor hall while she was helping at the The Family History Guide booth. It was so fun talking with her.

Left to Right: Sue Maxwell, Jana Last

Renee Zamora, author of Renee's Genealogy Blog, was in the main hallway manning the RootsMagic booth the entire conference. It was great to finally meet Renee.

Left to Right: Renee Zamora, Jana Last

I also finally got to meet The Ancestry Insider in person. Lynn Broderick had the fun idea to take photos of us together with him.

Official Conference Bloggers - Myself, The Ancestry Insider and Lynn Broderick.

Left to Right: Jana Last, The Ancestry Insider, Lynn Broderick
Photo Courtesy of Lynn Broderick

Thank you Lynn for allowing me to use your photos in my blog post. They turned out better than mine did. And thank you for the idea of getting us together to take these fun photos with The Ancestry Insider.

Left to Right: Jana Last, The Ancestry Insider, Lynn Broderick
Photo Courtesy of Lynn Broderick

I'll be sharing more about the BYU Conference on Family History & Genealogy in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana