Cragun - Bingham - Porter - South - Salinas - Spouses - Parents + Basic Genealogy information. Also a passionate advocate of FamilySearch and FamilySearch Family Tree. Email Larry at larry@cragun.net
Friday, October 5, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
FamilySearch Tips
No site offers the amount and depth of free Genealogy/Family History Training that does FamilySearch.org. This post illustrates one example, that of FamilySearch Tips.
Video and Slides(10 minutes)
- Cost$0 (free)
Lesson Supplements
Description
If your FamilySearch searches haven’t been successful, this presentation demonstrates five techniques that may help. These include:• Narrowing your search with filters
• Using wild cards
• Adding a relationship
• Adding an event
• Browsing images
The presentation will provide you with additional tools which will
give you some alternatives to conducting basic searches.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Searching For African American Slavery In FamilySearch Wiki
Searching in the FamilySearch Wiki can bring up an amazing amount of information.
You find the FamilySearch Wiki by going to http://familysearch.org/ > click learn > then click ehte Wiki photo > then use the search box.
As an example the search for "African American Slavery" has several articles. This is a poriton of one of them.
Brief History of Slavery in America
Fiding Plantation Records
Registers of Slaves and Freedmen and Manumission Papers
By the time of start of the Civil War in 1861 about ten percent of African Americans were free. Most free African Americans carried their own papers, but these could be stolen. In order to distinguish between slaves, runaways, and free African Americans, many counties or states in the upper South, and border states kept one or more sets of registers or papers. Some had registers of slaves. Some kept registers of blacks, freedmen, "free men of color," or "free negroes." Some kept copies of manumission papers of people freed from enslavement. To find these kinds of registers or papers look in county courthouse records. They are most likely found in the court papers, or among the land and property deeds, or occasionally in probate records, or even with taxation records. Sometimes these kinds of records are found at state libraries, archives, or historical soci
The Slave Trade Registers
The Constitution allowed the outlawing of the importation of slaves to the United States after 1808. Between then and the Civil War the internal slave trade became an important business in the Southern United States. Most states regulated the slave trade. A few kept records of slave traders and their businesses. Look for such business registers at state libraries, archives, historical societies, or county courthouses.
You find the FamilySearch Wiki by going to http://familysearch.org/ > click learn > then click ehte Wiki photo > then use the search box.
As an example the search for "African American Slavery" has several articles. This is a poriton of one of them.
Brief History of Slavery in America
Nearly 75 percent of people who arrived in America
from Europe and Africa before 1776 were immigrants in bondage. Those from Africa
almost always arrived enslaved. Those from Europe were often convicts,
indentured servant apprentices, or became indentured servants to pay for the
cost of their ocean crossing. In colonial times indentured servitude as an
apprentice was considered the normal way to learn a trade (part of growing up),
or a normal option for paying a large debt.[1]
In 1619 a Dutch ship blown off course came looking
for fresh water near Jamestown, Virginia. At Jamestown the Dutch sold 20 of the
African slaves they had captured from a Spanish ship originally bound for
Mexico. These were the earliest known African immigrants to arrive in what is
now the United States. It was the custom of that time to free servant-slaves
after seven years.[2][3]
Caribbean and Brazilian plantations (95 percent of
the trans-Atlantic slave trade) usually grew sugar and few slaves survived there
for seven years. In America (five percent of the slave trade) slaves lived
longer and had children. In the thirteen British-American colonies a milder
climate and better working conditions growing tobacco, cotton, hemp, and indigo
allowed slaves to live long enough to be freed. But the institution of lifetime
chattel slavery applied to people of African descent was slowly accepted and
developed when owners were reluctant to free such valuable labor to compete with
their former owners. This form of slavery was formally legalized first in
British-America in 1654.[4]
All 13 British-American colonies participated in the
slave trade before 1780. In the 1750s a slavery abolitionist movement began and
grew stronger. Vermont was the first to abolish slavery in 1777 and by 1804 all
individual states north of the Mason-Dixon line had gradually ended slavery. The
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a federal law that prohibited slavery north of
the Ohio River. Slave labor works best when the assigned task is relatively
simple, such as large scale agriculture. Slavery in increasingly industrialized
America was becoming too expensive until the invention of the cotton gin in
1793. A healthy young adult male slave was worth about two years wages, so most
owners considered freeing slaves an economic hardship. The Constitution of the
United States permitted the outlawing of the importation of slaves starting in
1808, but the internal slave trade continued until the end of the Civil War and
the Thirteenth Amendment prohibited chattel slavery in 1865.[5]
| Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations Collection or Repository[7] | User Guide | FHL First Film |
Series A, Selections from the South Carolina Library. University of South
Carolina
|
||
| Series B, Selections from the South Carolina Historical Society | ||
Series C, Selections from the Library of Congress
|
||
| Series D, Selections from the Maryland Historical Society | ||
Series E, Selections from the University of Virginia Library
|
||
Series F, Selections from the Duke University Library
|
||
Series G, Selections from the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin
|
||
| Series H, Selections from the Howard-Tilton Library, Tulane University, and the Louisiana State Museum Archives | ||
Series I, Selections from Louisiana State University
|
||
Series J, Selections from the Southern Historical Collections, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill
|
||
| Series K, Selections from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, The Shirley Plantation Collection, 1650-1888 | ||
Series L, Selections from the Earl
Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary
|
] | |
Series M, Selections from the Virginia Historical Society
|
||
| Series N, Selections from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History |
| Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries Collection or Repository[8] | User Guide | FHL First Film |
| Series A, Selection from Duke University Library | ||
| Series B, Selection from Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | ||
Series C, Selections from the Virginia Historical Society
|
||
Series D, Selections from the University of Virginia Library
|
||
| Series E, Selections from the McCormick-International Harvester Collection |
Registers of Slaves and Freedmen and Manumission Papers
By the time of start of the Civil War in 1861 about ten percent of African Americans were free. Most free African Americans carried their own papers, but these could be stolen. In order to distinguish between slaves, runaways, and free African Americans, many counties or states in the upper South, and border states kept one or more sets of registers or papers. Some had registers of slaves. Some kept registers of blacks, freedmen, "free men of color," or "free negroes." Some kept copies of manumission papers of people freed from enslavement. To find these kinds of registers or papers look in county courthouse records. They are most likely found in the court papers, or among the land and property deeds, or occasionally in probate records, or even with taxation records. Sometimes these kinds of records are found at state libraries, archives, or historical soci
The Slave Trade Registers
The Constitution allowed the outlawing of the importation of slaves to the United States after 1808. Between then and the Civil War the internal slave trade became an important business in the Southern United States. Most states regulated the slave trade. A few kept records of slave traders and their businesses. Look for such business registers at state libraries, archives, historical societies, or county courthouses.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Internet site contains
references to 35,000 slave voyages, including over 67,000 Africans aboard slave
ships, using name, age, gender, origin, and place of embarkation. The database
is about the slave trade between Africa, Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean, and the
United States.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
FamilySearch Wiki Is Your Number 1 Research Tool
This great resource which is growing is not the place to find your ancestors - rather it's the place to find out where to find them. In training a recent missionary he wanted to find out where his indian ancestors obituaries could be found. We went to the Wiki and was directed to that answer plus a great section of interviews that the Chocktaw Nation members had to go through to receive benefits from the Choctaw Nation.
The Wiki made it easy to find and the results were astounding, finding documentation on ancestors known, and names of many othe ancestors he had not yet located.
To find the Wiki, go to https://familysearch.org/ and click on learn.
Click the photo as you see on the left.
Note the Family Search Wiki is a free collection of family history articles provided by family history enthusiasts from around the world. The wiki makes it easy for people to share research information and useful tips. Research Wiki articles are valuable resources for anyone who wants to learn more about their family history.
The search bar appears and you are on your way.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday Is For Fun: Agreed?

Did you know that if I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong? Are you aware that we never grow up, we only learn how to act in public? Isn't it true that war does not determine who is right - only who is left?
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Finding Genealogy Records On Line by FamilySearch
In the past very few years, online genealogy records have grown to the point that the larger databases are talking in terms of billions of records. How can you begin to comprehend that many records? Where do you start and where does your searching online end, if it ever does? What do you do when you search for an ancestor’s name and there are thousands of results? And of course, the main question is, if you already know enough about your ancestor to search for him or her in the huge database, why do you need to do the search?
Some of these questions are very difficult to answer and some of the answers depend on your own research goals. But first, when I am talking about a really big online database, what am I including in that title?
By far the largest database of genealogical information is found in the commercial website Ancestry.com. But there are a number of larger databases that would qualify for inclusion under any set of criteria. Read the entire article, click here
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Plan For RootsTech 2013
The RootsTech Conference is coming in March. Beginner or expert, you won't want to miss it. I would say that last year at RootsTech my entusiasm for doing family history research was jettisoned into a new feeling of confidence and excitement. There will be a large variety of topics and displays from vendors.
The 3rd annual RootsTech conference offers new and exciting resources for individuals of all skill levels:
The 3rd annual RootsTech conference offers new and exciting resources for individuals of all skill levels:
- More Exciting Classes & Workshops
- 40% Bigger Expo Hall
- New! Getting Started Track & Developer Day
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Learning Family Tree - Power Point And Videos
The Family Tree is a new approach to genealogy. It is unlike any tool you've
used before. You will connect with others who share a common interest in your
genealogical lines. Together, you compare findings, weight evidence, and decide
what information is most correct. The history of your work and the rationale for
change are preserved for others to see. You'll find great satisfaction in your
family research because you are part of a team working towards the same goal -
the most accurate, complete, and enduring family tree ever produced.
This version of Family Tree supports full navigation of your genealogy tree. You can: Explore trees, families, and individuals. Edit and improve data about a specific individual. Attach sources, including links to online sources. Watch and receive notifications about changes to ancestors.
To gain access to FamilySearch Family Tree: Click here
Very helpful training videos by topic are here: Click here
This version of Family Tree supports full navigation of your genealogy tree. You can: Explore trees, families, and individuals. Edit and improve data about a specific individual. Attach sources, including links to online sources. Watch and receive notifications about changes to ancestors.
To gain access to FamilySearch Family Tree: Click here
Very helpful training videos by topic are here: Click here
Power Point Presentations By Bridget Jordan, Family History Training Zone
4.33 Minutes of El Divo That Never Grows Old, "Amazing Grace"
I know that there is a God, Creator of all things. It blesses my life immensly to understand that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)



