I Did IT! I Chewed That Elephant Up In Pieces

One of the big tasks we have in FamilySearch Family Tree is merging duplicate files. All of the different versions people had put into new.familysearch.org need to be merged together to make the tree clean.

A careful merge brings together  into one file all of the information the various contributors have added.

The older the ancestor is, the more likely the amount of duplicates are to be many. Add to that if they were nobility, it is likely a bigger issue. Such is the case of Lord John Lisle.  A lot more research needs to be performed to verify if the family is as several have input.

So I decided to get all of the information scattered in family tree about Lord Lisle into one file. I gave up the first time at over 100 merges. Later I thought, if not me who? So on several different occassions I again merged about 100 files. They almost all  have the same info, but on a few merges there was a new child to add.

I wish the tree told us how many duplicate files there were, but it usually set the number at 98 or 99. So after completing many setting of merges I wondered will this ever end.

It did, finally. Last night I kept merging away and then suddenly noticed the number was 94 left to merge. Could it be so? I got it down into the 80 's and danag the count jumped up. Oh please no I thought. Then it dropped into the 70's. At 48 I became a believe - there was an end to this task. The count jumped from 41 to 46 but I kept going. It went 46 to 45 and sequencially down to 31 and I said to myself; please don't jump back up to  99. Whoopee, it skipped from 25 to 21. Oh dang it went from 21 to 25. Please no more jumping up.

All went well until 10 were left to merge. I then got the message These records cannot be merged because the corresponding combined record in new.familysearch.org would be too large. To merge these records, please wait until new.familysearch.org shuts down.  You see, Family Tree still uses some of the processes from new.familysearch.org. Over in new.familysearch.org there was a maximum number of records that could be attached to one ancestor. The older they were the more likely a file too large to merge. Family Tree won't have this problem. We all have just the one entry for an ancestor.

This is a tedtious task, but I believe we are doing something very important. Now onto more exciting tasks, such as determining did he really have these  11 children. Is one of them really my ancestor. You see, there is missing proof in 3 generations that he and Lady Lisle are really the great great grandparents of Joshus Whitaker, our Joshua Whitaker.

We shall see.

Onward and forward.

7 Reasons Why I Like Social Media As A Genealogy Tool

Blogs are part of social media. You are here so you are participating by default at worse case. I participate in social media for a few good reasons. Here are some:

1- I use Facebook and Twitter to share my findings with relatives. This is often a photo or a story. Connecting this way to relatives often provides feedback and collaboration. It also brings us closer together as many are quite distant in many meanings of the word.

2- I have over 1000 Twitter followers. Some are Craguns. When I post a Cragun article I forward it to Twitter. When I post a how to do genealogy article I do the same but for the purpose of trying to create some interest in genealogy.

There are buttons at the bottom of each article that is a one click forward to those sites.

3- Blogs are great as they are filled with content and the search engines treat them well. I am amazed where the visits to the blog come from.

4- You often can search Twitter and find a current tweet about a subject you are searching. This is the type of response you would get if you just did a Twitter search for genealogy:

5- Some great resources post to Twitter. For example Indiana Counties often Tweet about new records they publish online. You could pick any to follow.

6- I post some of my sources in Slideshare.net. I received an email telling me that my account was in the top 4% of their traffic. You can post power points and pdf' documents to Slideshare.

7- Blogs are a great way to start recording  your stories, as in chapters of a book.

The definition of social media should have something to do with being social. How's that for a concept?

10 Tips For Genealogy Newbies

There is so much fun in digging into your family history. I enjoy helping people as a part time missionary in the church support unit. Several hundred requests come in daily from novices to experienced with a specific question to get resolved.

Here are a few tips for the genealogy newbie.

1- Start be seeing what is in FamilySearch Family Tree. Learn to use it, it's the genealogy of the world.
2- Use a separate email for genealogy related correspondence.
3- Using these four websites to search for an ancestor cover a lot of ground; there are many more: http://familysearch.org/ http://ancestry.com/ http://google.com/ http://findagrave.com/
4- Read on a regular basis the blogs listed on the right side of this blog. Add to that the FamilySearch blog: https://familysearch.org/blog/en/
5- Talk to your elderly relatives. Dig out their stories and facts. Remember when an old man (woman) dies a library burns.
6- When you find a fact record the source of that fact. Family History without sources is fairy tale.
7- When you want to find a website to tell you where to find an answer go to these two sites first: The Family Search Wiki: https://familysearch.org/ask/researchWiki and Cyndi's list: http://www.cyndislist.com
8- If you are like me and like to learn by video go to this site that is a dirctory of upcoming webinars:  http://www.geneawebinars.com
9- When searching in Google add the word genealogy to the search for better results.
10- There are about 4000 family history centers around the country. Likely there is one near you. Some are only open a few hours a week. They are usually manned by a pretty good expert volunteer. To find the nearest to you go to: https://familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator

Did You Know An Eight Year Old Can Have A Family Tree Account?

Why would an eight year old be allowed an account? With parental approval of course. Two obvious reasons; they get computers and this is their time.

RootsTech 2014 welcomed 4000 youth for special sessions and events. Watching their interest was a fun thing to do. There were special speakers for their sessions. One by Elder Neal A Andersen was great for them, he told them this was there time, and I think you would enjoy it too.  There is a lot of good here. For you non LDS viewers it might be impressive to see what our leaders teach the youth of the Church and get a sense on the good it does.

Updates in Family Tree

If you are like me you have numerous ancestors saved to the watch list. It's a great feature allowing me to stay aware of what changes are made to my ancestors. Currently there is a weekly email sent notifying me of all changes made on those ancestors.I have been told that eventually the notice will be immediate. I'd like that.

The problem just solved is that I can select an option to not be notified of my own changes. Last week I was responsible for over 80% of the changes made. I guess I could enjoy seeing my name in print, but really, I'd rather not.

Users can now optionally remove their changes from the list:  CHANGES TO PEOPLE I’M WATCHING.

Also You Can Switch Person A and Person B During a Merge

During the merge process, users can now switch Person A and Person B to place the person with more data on the lefthand side. If this operation is not allowed, the Switch Positions link does not appear.

The Vault In The Granite Mountain

Billions of records,yet to be indexed.

What About The Partnerships Family Search Is Making?

On February 4, 2014, FamilySearch announced a series of agreements with Ancestry.com, findmypast, and MyHeritage to accelerate the delivery of freely searchable genealogical records to family history researchers.

As a missionary I receive more questions on this issue than practically any other. Dennis Brimhhall recently posted this list of questions and answers regarding the partnerships.

These agreements are in line with the FamilySearch mission to publish online as many freely available, searchable genealogical records as possible.

The agreements are best understood in light of the overall pace at which searchable records are currently being delivered on FamilySearch.org. Notwithstanding the astounding success of the FamilySearch indexing program and the tireless dedication of hundreds of thousands of volunteers, it will still take many generations to index and publish just the records contained in FamilySearch’s Granite Mountain Records Vault. This estimate does not account for the more than 35 million new images of records that are digitized each month—and that rate is increasing.

FamilySearch indexing, is, at best, only a partial solution to the challenge of making searchable records available in a timely fashion. Clearly, there is a need for additional, creative approaches to providing indexed records, which is why it makes sense to partner with leading commercial genealogy providers such as Ancestry.com, Archives.com, findmypast, Fold3, and MyHeritage.

Working together, FamilySearch and its partners will bring billions of currently unsearchable and unavailable records to patrons decades before these records would otherwise become available.
Some people have questions about how this collaboration will all come about and what it means to volunteers. Below are answers to some of the most common questions.

Q.        Will records indexed by FamilySearch indexing volunteers continue to be freely available to all patrons?
A.        Yes. FamilySearch volunteers index and arbitrate with the understanding that their contribution will be made freely available to others. These partner agreements will not change this practice.

I have been told by Don Anderson and heard Dennis Brimhall suggest that there could be many more of these in the future.

It is really exciting to see that the big providers in the genealogy community see the value they often preach, that of collaborating. It is truly a good thing.

Continue to the family search blog for the remaining Q & A

Did Patrick Cragun Live In Pennsylvania

We find records of Patrick Cragun in Indiana. Did he come with an Irish group that settled in Pennsylvania?

Ireland the beautiful:

Or was Patrick Scottish?

I see little suggesting that we should research Pennsylvania for Patrick. However, Cragun researcher extraordinaire Gaylynne Heinger Hone thinks it worth some time. In researching for her awesome book on the Osborne's she found evidence that his Indiana neighbors came in a group from Pennsylvania. People traveled in groups for safety reasons. Perhaps Patrick was part of one of the Pennsylvania folk. Perhaps one of his neighbors had a daughter he married.

Family Search Wiki recently posted the below paragraphs about the Irish and Pennsylvania. The time period in history is right. Perhaps this will tell us more about the fabled Patrick.

Scots-Irish started coming in large numbers after 1718. They settled first in the Cumberland Valley area and later pushed into the western Pennsylvania counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington, Greene, and Allegheny. Many Scotch-Irish eventually moved into southern states such as Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Kentucky. French Huguenot and Swiss families mingled with the Germans. Some Huguenots from New York migrated to Pennsylvania and settled in Berks and Lancaster counties. Swiss Mennonites began to settle in Lancaster county about 1710.

• Dunaway, Wayland F. The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1944. Free digital version at PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf at Penn State. Includes chapters on their Ulster background in Ireland, immigration, places of settlement in Pennsylvania, military involvement, economic, social, religious, educational, and cultural contributions.

Irish Quakers came to Pennsylvania as early as the 17th Century. An outstanding historical study with brief biographies and names of extended family members remaining in Ireland, and which provides a summary of Irish Quaker emigration and migration to the state, is: Immigration of Irish Quakers to Pennsylvania, 1682-1750 .

Here is an update on new FamilySearch and Family Tree.

Recent Family Tree Changes

Print Pedigree now includes PIDs

A few weeks ago, we updated the Family Group Records to include the PIDs for each individual.  With this update, all users will now see the PID for each person printed on a Pedigree Chart in the format: Sarah Moulton (KWNK-3B7).

Review Merge comparison look changes

The merge page styling has changed slightly to make it more obviously that conclusions on the right are being copied to the left. Note the use of the gray background for Person B (right side).

Sources during Merge process

Sources are now preselected during the merge process to prevent sources from being unintentionally dropped during a merge.

To tell whether the source was on the original record before the review or not, look for the “undo” option in the upper right corner of each source.  In the picture above, the “undo” option shows which means it was not on the original record but was “added” from the second record as part of the process.  The “undo” option still lets the patron choose if they want to keep the source as part of the merge process or not.  The “undo” will move the source back to the second record and delete the source from the record when they complete the merge.  They may not want to keep a source because it is already on the record in another format (i.e. manually created versus system created) or decided it is an incorrect source (i.e. for a different person).

New FamilySearch Changes

There is currently a scheduled release for new FamilySearch on Tuesday, Feb 25^th.  In this release, there is one known change for patrons: A fix for the bug currently preventing patrons from seeing all children in the pedigree using Chrome.

How Would You Like Being Deleted Forever? Then Don't Delete Another In Family Tree

Certainly there is a delete option in tools, just don't use it. There was and in fact still is a major debate in the developer world on whether or not delete person should even be there.

A good rule to follow is don't delete if you didn't just put the person in, in the wrong place or family. When you delete it's gone, to never be found again in the system, by anyone, even the proper family.Any sources or memories that were added are also gone. So be aware.

Also, In researching a record that “disappeared” from Family Tree, we discovered if a patron deletes a LIVING record they have added then it is completely deleted from the system. There is no way to restore the deleted living record even by an admin.

Although patrons “add” living records through Family Tree, they are actually adding records to new FamilySearch. Currently, no living records actually exist in Family Tree until the enhancement (i.e. “private spaces”) is released later this year.