May I recommend the Trunk Monkey?
Friday, March 21, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Patrick Cragun: No Results On This Trail: Pennsylvania FamilySearch Historical Records: updated
There are a lot of Craguns interested in family history. Some spell their name Cragan. Some even in a strange to me way Craughan. However you spell it cousin, lets work together. I will post my research trail on Patrick Cragun and and William Whitaker Jr; supposedly making us descendants of Elisha Cragun direct descendants of Lord and Lady Lisle. I know, every one of us want to be related to this great lady. But how about lets prove it.
Family Search Historical Records have 16 collections. Not a lot. Some had millions of records.
I found no sign of our boy Patrick within these: All different spellings searched in the family search unindexed portion of histgorical records. These records are found on line, some searchable, some only viewable. There are billions of non digitized records.
FamilySearch states that at the rate we are publishing digitized records (over one million a day) that it will take 300 years to index what we have, let alone what we will gather.
For example: the church has over 250 missionary couples out over the world photographing church and municiple records.
A true case for our giving back by indexing.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
News Flash
The word in the mission is that the partnerships are in beta now. There will be 600 missionaries in the beta. It could be available to the church membership in Mid April.
Grove Creek - Timpanogos Stakes Family History Fair Saturday March 22nd
ADDRESS CORRECTION: 1176N 730E Pleasant Grove
I love learning more about genealogy and family history fairs, seminars, and conferences are my favorite way to learn. RootsTech and the Riverton 3rd Saturday Seminar are regular events for me.
This coming Saturday is a two Stake fair in Pleasant Grove.
I have been asked to give a presentation titled, "blogging is genealogy". I am on at 2PM. You might want to come to the rest of the fair. -:)
Saturday, the doors open at 8:15am for registration, and the fair starts with the keynote at 9:00.
The way the schedule runs, there will be a ten-minute break between classes.. The final presentations in each room goes from (3:00 – 4:00)
I love learning more about genealogy and family history fairs, seminars, and conferences are my favorite way to learn. RootsTech and the Riverton 3rd Saturday Seminar are regular events for me.
This coming Saturday is a two Stake fair in Pleasant Grove.
I have been asked to give a presentation titled, "blogging is genealogy". I am on at 2PM. You might want to come to the rest of the fair. -:)
Saturday, the doors open at 8:15am for registration, and the fair starts with the keynote at 9:00.
The way the schedule runs, there will be a ten-minute break between classes.. The final presentations in each room goes from (3:00 – 4:00)
One Of My Favorite Things About The Genealogy Community
It's the good spirit of the work. I love the spirit of the work. It's not only the passion people develop in finding their ancestors but it's more than that. It is the spirit of service, one to another that is so common in this industry.It shows up in how people treat each other. It shows up in how we can collaborate and share. It also shows up in the partnerships taking place even in the business part of this work. As we find our ancestors we seem to be bound to them. As we share our knowledge with our family members we are more closely bound to them.
As an example last summer I wrote about how great it was for my young grandson Michael from Iowa to go photograph headstones together As I was indexing our own work the headstone of one our photos reflected Michael's image into the picture. We not only shared in the fun of doing this together, we reveled together of him being in the picture. He called me a few days ago to tell me he was passing by the cemetery we photographed and it reminded him of our fun time doing the billion graves thing. To see that article and photo, click here.
Using billion graves as another example I received this email this morning from another great company; MyHeritage. Read on and see if you don't get the same great feeling I am talking about.
By the way; don't you just love the MyHeritage artwork?
Dear Larry,
Cemeteries are among the most valuable resources for family history research. Headstones (gravestones) contain a wealth of information about the deceased, such as dates of birth and death, names of relatives, and surprises such as photographs and emotional epitaphs.
There are hundreds of thousands of cemeteries worldwide, but most of them have never been documented, and the headstone information is not available online. Time is chipping away at the headstones and many become unreadable over the years :-(
Together with our partner, BillionGraves, we have recently launched a global initiative to photograph and transcribe all of the world's cemeteries, and make the data available for free!
This week we kickstarted this initiative by taking the employees of MyHeritage to "practice what we preach" and digitize an entire cemetery ourselves. We photographed more than 50,000 gravestones in a few hours in the largest project of this kind ever done in Israel. Read about our amazing experience and look at many photos documenting our project on our blog. Leading genealogy bloggers agree that this is a wonderful, worthy mission – read the posts of Dick Eastman, Randy Seaver and James Tanner about it.
We cannot do this important project alone. This is where YOU can make a big difference!
We extend an invitation to you to come join us in this exciting project.
How does it work?
1. BillionGraves is a very easy to use iPhone and Android app. First, click here to sign up to BillionGraves for free in its special MyHeritage welcome page.
2. Download the BillionGraves mobile app from that page.
3. Visit a cemetery near you, and take photos of the headstones using the app. GPS information on each grave is automatically captured.
4. Use the BillionGraves website to help enter the names and information that appear in the headstone photos that you took or other users have taken. All information is made available for free on the BillionGraves website and on MyHeritage SuperSearch. MyHeritage Record Matching technology will match the headstones automatically to your tree and all trees on MyHeritage, for free.
For more information, read our blog post. If you have questions about participating, email them to our team at cemeteryteam@myheritage.com.
As part of the project, I photographed 2000 gravestones myself this month, and I must say it is fascinating and addictive. Join our global initiative too, by clicking here.
Thank you.
Gilad Japhet
Founder & CEO
MyHeritage
As an example last summer I wrote about how great it was for my young grandson Michael from Iowa to go photograph headstones together As I was indexing our own work the headstone of one our photos reflected Michael's image into the picture. We not only shared in the fun of doing this together, we reveled together of him being in the picture. He called me a few days ago to tell me he was passing by the cemetery we photographed and it reminded him of our fun time doing the billion graves thing. To see that article and photo, click here.
Using billion graves as another example I received this email this morning from another great company; MyHeritage. Read on and see if you don't get the same great feeling I am talking about.
By the way; don't you just love the MyHeritage artwork?
Dear Larry,
Cemeteries are among the most valuable resources for family history research. Headstones (gravestones) contain a wealth of information about the deceased, such as dates of birth and death, names of relatives, and surprises such as photographs and emotional epitaphs.
There are hundreds of thousands of cemeteries worldwide, but most of them have never been documented, and the headstone information is not available online. Time is chipping away at the headstones and many become unreadable over the years :-(
Together with our partner, BillionGraves, we have recently launched a global initiative to photograph and transcribe all of the world's cemeteries, and make the data available for free!
This week we kickstarted this initiative by taking the employees of MyHeritage to "practice what we preach" and digitize an entire cemetery ourselves. We photographed more than 50,000 gravestones in a few hours in the largest project of this kind ever done in Israel. Read about our amazing experience and look at many photos documenting our project on our blog. Leading genealogy bloggers agree that this is a wonderful, worthy mission – read the posts of Dick Eastman, Randy Seaver and James Tanner about it.
We cannot do this important project alone. This is where YOU can make a big difference!
We extend an invitation to you to come join us in this exciting project.
How does it work?
1. BillionGraves is a very easy to use iPhone and Android app. First, click here to sign up to BillionGraves for free in its special MyHeritage welcome page.
2. Download the BillionGraves mobile app from that page.
3. Visit a cemetery near you, and take photos of the headstones using the app. GPS information on each grave is automatically captured.
4. Use the BillionGraves website to help enter the names and information that appear in the headstone photos that you took or other users have taken. All information is made available for free on the BillionGraves website and on MyHeritage SuperSearch. MyHeritage Record Matching technology will match the headstones automatically to your tree and all trees on MyHeritage, for free.
For more information, read our blog post. If you have questions about participating, email them to our team at cemeteryteam@myheritage.com.
As part of the project, I photographed 2000 gravestones myself this month, and I must say it is fascinating and addictive. Join our global initiative too, by clicking here.
Thank you.
Gilad Japhet
Founder & CEO
MyHeritage
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
A Search Trick For All Researchers
I would guess that all those experienced web searchers know this trick. So if you do, just close your eyes for a minute. It's called a Wildcard. It's using an * as a refining tool.
As an example, in looking for Patrick Cragun or signs of him in Pennsylvania, with the spelling Craughn, perhaps expanding that to other spellings would go like this.
I went to familysearch.org
Instead of using the search box for indexed records I scrolled down browse all public collections.
I followed the path from the United States to
In the search box there were no Craughn records. But while I was here I went down a bunny trail.
Wow, (I am writing this post as I research) Sixty two marriage records roll out. There are various spellings of our Cragun name. However, it deserves some investigation as we have one reference to Patricks wifes name; it is in his Patriarchal blessing given in Nauvoo.
I will wrap up the message of the post, using wildcard by illustrating were I to search with cra* the search would sort and deliver only all options possible following cra, craig as an example.
You can also inject the wildcard in the middle of a word in a similar manner.
This link takes you to an article with more detail:
http://google.about.com/od/googlepowersearches/qt/wildcardqt.htm
PS: An update on the 62 marriages. None seemed to be our Patrick, the dates are later than his would be.
As an example, in looking for Patrick Cragun or signs of him in Pennsylvania, with the spelling Craughn, perhaps expanding that to other spellings would go like this.
I went to familysearch.org
Instead of using the search box for indexed records I scrolled down browse all public collections.
I followed the path from the United States to
| Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951 | 1,830,468 | 24 Dec 2013 |
| I've been through the records above this link. (I selected the dates so most recent comes to the top) |
Wow, (I am writing this post as I research) Sixty two marriage records roll out. There are various spellings of our Cragun name. However, it deserves some investigation as we have one reference to Patricks wifes name; it is in his Patriarchal blessing given in Nauvoo.
I will wrap up the message of the post, using wildcard by illustrating were I to search with cra* the search would sort and deliver only all options possible following cra, craig as an example.
You can also inject the wildcard in the middle of a word in a similar manner.
This link takes you to an article with more detail:
http://google.about.com/od/googlepowersearches/qt/wildcardqt.htm
PS: An update on the 62 marriages. None seemed to be our Patrick, the dates are later than his would be.
I then went into these records:Pennsylvania, Eastern District Naturalization Indexes, 1795-1952
I could browse through all Browse through 232,810 images or I can search. CRA* takes the number down to 258. A common change of spelling is the u in Cragun. I will do Crag*n; = no results.
Crag* brings up 7 records to research.
The wildcard is a great help.
A New Indexing Opportunity
Meet Jack Starling, a pirate. He and I are buddies now.Jack had a short part of RootsTech. You might be interested in his message.
.JPG)
Actually,I finally kicked in and started indexing. It's only fair, I use the indexing results of others so very much. You do too I am sure. Instead of paying it forward I suggest it's paying it back.
Actually,I finally kicked in and started indexing. It's only fair, I use the indexing results of others so very much. You do too I am sure. Instead of paying it forward I suggest it's paying it back.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Puzzilla May Be A Reserchers Best Tool.
So many say my work is all done. That is because they go up the tree. Genealogy isn't just a pedigree going up. What about the families they had; your cousins. This short video is a great demo.
Theory: Patrick Cragun lived in Pennsylvania For A Time: Could be Spelled Craughn
I am following the trail by Gylynne Heiner Hone that Patrick once lived in Pennsylvania and from Nancy Day that he might have used the spelling Craughn. This is a later than Patricks time wedding found in family search historical records. Could Elizabeth be related to Patrick?
Let's coordinate if you feel like searching these historical records so we don't duplicate. There is a lot to go through.
"Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHFQ-C35 : accessed 15 Mar 2014), Elizabeth Craughn in entry for Edward Paul O'Connor and Margaret Helen Higgins, 18 Jun 1936; citing , Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States; FHL microfilm 2224602.
| Name: | Edward Paul O'Connor |
| Titles and Terms: | |
| Event Type: | Marriage |
| Event Date: | 18 Jun 1936 |
| Event Place: | , Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Age: | 31 |
| Birth Year (Estimated): | 1905 |
| Father's Name: | Edward T |
| Father's Titles and Terms: | |
| Mother's Name: | Elizabeth Craughn |
| Mother's Titles and Terms: | |
| Spouse's Name: | Margaret Helen Higgins |
| Spouse's Titles and Terms: | |
| Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): | 1911 |
| Spouse's Father's Name: | James W |
| Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms: | |
| Spouse's Mother's Name: | Mary Mcnamara |
| Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms: | |
| Reference ID: | |
| GS Film Number: | 2224602 |
| Digital Folder Number: | 004833150 |
| Image Number: | 00379 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)