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Learn About the 21 Day Family Connections Experiment at the March Meeting

March 4, 2021 / Ellington Sweeney

If you’re looking for fun and exciting ways to engage your family members (especially teens and the youngest generation) in genealogy and family history, we’ve got a TREAT for you!

WHEN: Sunday, 14 March 2021
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

Taralyn Parker, Olivia Jewell, Camille Mecham, and Michelle Gardner will be the special guest speakers at our March meeting and will share their hugely successful project, the 21 Day Family Connections Experiment.

About the project:

The 21 Day Family Connections Experiment, a family history project, invites individuals to increase their connections with family past and present for a consecutive 21 days.

Started during the world-wide pandemic, a group of family historians thought it would be an excellent time to do an informal study about how connecting with both living and deceased family members can contribute positively to our overall emotional health and mental well being.

The family history activities in this 21 day experience go beyond traditional genealogical tasks. In fact they are short, simple, engaging, fun and can be enjoyed by children and families.

The program is titled, “The 21 Day Family Connections Experiment: Exploring the Power of Psychological Benefits and Social Connections in Family History.”

Bring the whole family to learn how YOU can participate in the 21 Day Family Connections Experiment!^[1]Please note that the Second Life Terms of Service restricts users to age 16 and above for general content areas. Attendees may invite family members younger than age 16 to watch the presentation at … Continue reading

A short business meeting will be held prior to the program.

All are welcome at our meetings. You do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend, but we’d love it if you’d join!

About The Speakers

Taralyn Parker is a journalist turned family historian who runs the blog Keep Moving Forward With Me. During the COVID-19 crisis, she helped create the 21-day Family Connections Experiment: a Family History Project. Whether she is teaching classes or traveling to ancestors’ hometowns, Taralyn is passionate about sharing family history and stories.

Working in the industry for 10+ years, Taralyn manages social media for various companies and organizations. She loves using her talents to help share goodness.

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Olivia Jewell is a family history presenter who has presented at RootsTech, BYU Education Week, and other related events.

Amidst her busy schedule as a mom of four, she has learned to incorporate her technological savvy and family history experience to teach busy people of all ages simple ways they can incorporate family history into daily life using modern technology to make it easy and fun.

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Camille Mecham is from southeast Idaho. She still lives there with her husband and 3 kids.

She has taught at the Rexburg FamilySearch Center, the South East Idaho Genealogical Conference, and at RootsTech in 2020.

She runs The Mommy Genealogist where she shares how to share family history with your family, especially kids.

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Michelle Gardner: For as long as I can remember, I’ve been teaching others of all ages how to use tech to their advantage the easiest way possible. I LOVE connecting with people and creating opportunities for individuals to connect with others, so much so I got a degree in Recreation and Non-profits. This love has also driven me to genealogy work and helping others get through genealogy roadblocks in their own family history.

Notes[+]

Notes
↑1	Please note that the Second Life Terms of Service restricts users to age 16 and above for general content areas. Attendees may invite family members younger than age 16 to watch the presentation at their own discretion.

February Meeting to Feature Brick Walls Discussion

February 10, 2021 / Ellington Sweeney

February 14th is the day we celebrate LOVE. But as genealogists, one thing we DON’T love is brick walls blocking our ancestors!

Please join us on Valentine’s Day for an open-mic, genealogy problem-solving discussion. Bring your bricky-est brick wall, and let’s see if the “hive mind” of our membership can bust it down!

A short business meeting will be held prior to the discussion.

WHEN: Sunday, 14 February 2021
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

All are welcome at our meetings. You do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend or share your brick wall – but we’d love it if you’d join!

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

The December meeting field trip to the Dickens Project

December Meeting to Feature Dickens Project Field Trip

December 13, 2020 / Ellington Sweeney

After a brief business meeting, we will head back in time to the world of Charles Dickens!

WHEN: Sunday, 13 December 2020
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: Meet at the Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

As the 8th year for this popular SL destination – and the 4th year for a full region – the diverse experiences continue the mission of balancing “the view of Dickens’ world. It’s not all plum puddings and prize turkeys… not for children, the working poor, women, or for animals.”

Dickens’ depictions of life during the Victorian era speak to the social/cultural complexities experienced by our ancestors. To read more about the month-long activities happening in the region, please check out the blog entry from the Dickens Project host, the Seanchai Library.

Costumes are encouraged but not required.

Free costumes are available just to the right of the Dickens’ Project landing point. We created THIS landing point to make finding the costumes a bit easier. So, take a little time and grab a period outfit prior to the meeting!

All are welcome at our meetings. You do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend – but we’d love it if you’d join!

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

October Meeting to Feature Talk on Cemetery Research

October 8, 2020 / Ellington Sweeney

Join us for a ghostly field trip and spooky presentation on Researching Cemeteries by SLGVS Vice President, Cheri Daniels.

Topics covered will include; cemetery versus graveyard, cemetery design clues, iconography, access laws, management, online databases, and pre-Find a Grave inventories.

After our business meeting, we will take a surprise field trip to a spooky fire pit for the presentation, followed by an exploration of a virtual graveyard to look for iconography clues. Don’t be alarmed if you encounter an ancestral ghost or two!

The winner of the FamilySearch Indexing Contest will be announced, so get busy indexing!

WHEN: Sunday, 11 October 2020
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

All are welcome at our meetings. You do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend – but we’d love it if you’d join!

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

About The Speaker

Cheri Daniels, MSLS, is the Vice President of SLVGS. During the day, she serves as Head of Library and Archives at the Kentucky Historical Society as well as Editor of Kentucky Ancestors Online, their free genealogy publication. Other duties at KHS include Rights and Reproductions Coordinator, Project Director for Kentucky Ancestors Town Hall (event and soon-to-be state PBS program in 2021), and This Week in Kentucky History (NPR radio program).

She holds a B.A. in History and an M.S. in Library Science (MSLS), with a concentration in Archival Care and Management. For over 25 years she has worked in various types of libraries, including 11 years at the University of Kentucky, and 9 years at KHS. Her genealogy work pre-dates her career and continues to be a driving force. She is also a contributing author to the 2018 book from McFarland Publishers Genealogy and the Librarian.

Be watching for her latest project to be launched soon: The BloodRoot Podcast.

Other roles include DAR Member, blogger at Genealogy Literacy, Journeys Past, and speaker/on-air talent for regional/national events/programs (FGS: 2017, NGS: 2012/2014/2019, RootsTech: 2014/2019/2020, Travel Channel’s Mysteries at the Museum: 2014, WTVQ Kentucky History Treasures: 2014, 2016, Kentucky Ancestors Town Hall: 2017-2019, This Week in Kentucky History: 2018-2020).

SLVGS Program to Feature the Family History Guide

Learn About the Family History Guide at the September Meeting

September 12, 2020 / Ellington Sweeney

The Second Life Virtual Genealogical Society’s September meeting will feature genealogist Miles Meyer who will share “Introduction to The Family History Guide.”

The Family History Guide is a website focused on enhancing your skills in genealogical research. This site provides step by step tutorials on using FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FindMyPast as well as helpful hints on researching different types of records.

The Family History Guide also provides training on how to research locations from the country level all the way down to individual counties. You can track your progress as you go through each lesson and take quizzes to see if you are retaining the information presented and, if you need to review a topic again, it is as easy as going back to that lesson and following the steps provided.

A brief short meeting will be held prior to the presentation.

WHEN: Sunday, 12 September 2020
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

All are welcome at our meetings. You do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend – but we’d love it if you’d join!

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

About The Speaker

Miles is a scientist by training and has been active in genealogy for over 20 years in a variety of ways. His expertise revolves around new technologies, internet research, and FamilySearch. He is a Family History Consultant and current Director of the Vero Beach Family History Center. He has been speaking at genealogy conferences, including RootsTech Salt Lake (2019) and RootsTech London (2019), and other events for over 10 years and assists others in researching their family histories.

Additionally, Miles has been a beta tester for several genealogy companies including AncestralQuest, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, BillionGraves, and BYU Tech Labs to name a few. He is also a Certified Trainer and the Director of Education for The Family History Guide. Miles has produced several training manuals and maintains several websites and blogs on genealogy related activities.

Hive-Mind Research Request #1

July 12, 2020 / relatively curious

Can you help find the parents of Milo Allen?

Our first genealogical mystery was submitted by SLVGS member Genie Weezles. Let’s put our heads together (like a “hive mind”) and find the answer!

GOAL: Determine the parents of Milo Allen.

REQUEST: Looking for a list of suggested resources that that might help. (Wouldn’t you know, just as I was writing this up, *this* showed up in my email… but sadly only contains information that I have added.)

BACKGROUND: Milo Allen (1814-1888) is my 3^rd great grandfather, but I have no family information on him.

WHAT I KNOW/HAVE (Verified):

Born 18 April 1814 in New York
Died 25 Aug 1888, Southington, Trumbull, Ohio
Married Clarissa Marchant (also Merchant) 16 Feb 1841, Akron, Summit, Ohio.
Children:Eliza Mary Allen (1846-1912) married Orson Samuel Thompson. Remained in Trumbull County Ohio
- Lot W. Allen (1849-) married Cordelia E. Wildman, and he moved to Nebraska.

FALSE HOPES:

Possible parents – Tryphena and Elihu Allen. I had researched that possibility and have discovered that unfortunately, it can’t be correct. Tryphena and Elihu’s son, Milton/Milo appears in the 1850 census still in NY when “my” Milo is already married and in Southington Ohio (since before 1850). I suspect that Tryphena and Elihu’s son Milo may be the one who ended up dying in the Civil War in Pine Bluff Arkansas (possibly). However they are *not* the parents of Milo Allen who married Clarissa Merchant/Marchant.

HINTS:

After collecting the low-hanging fruit of data from 1850+ censuses, and available birth, marriage, and death certificates for known folks, I moved on to the Unknown folks. I started by mapping out things like the Allens in the 1840 census in the Ashtabula/Trumbull county area, where Milo was married and ended up residing to try to get a visual on the “possible” places he might have been in 1840.

My great aunt, the daughter of Milo Thompson (Milo Allen’s grandson), had in her possession a book that contained the “Minutes” of the Eaton Allen Reunions” from 1900 to about 1940. The surnames are extremely familiar, but most of these individuals are not in my known-family database. This book has provided me with ancestors that I believe MUST be related, else how would this book have stayed in our family? Milo Thompson did marry an Allen descendant as his second wife, but that was several years after he was noted as having attended this reunion (see mention of his daughter being born toward the bottom of the page) — therefore his connection to the Allen family had to have existed long before his second marriage. (Perhaps he met the Allen widow at a reunion?)

I’ve started a database extracting the names dates and events listed (though sadly lacking a lot of detail other than how much money they collected for ice cream that year).

I created a mind map with the information gleaned from the Reunion book to better visualize these folks and their possible relationships. This has actually been EXTREMELY helpful, especially considering I can see the verified relationships and the unverified relationships.

WHERE I’M AT:

I believe that Milo is the brother of Chester and/or Edward Allen (bright yellow), who both married sisters who were daughters of Joshua Eaton, but I have yet to verify their parents of the Allen boys who could well be brothers.

MY DILEMMA:

I’ve become overwhelmed and too easily fall down rabbit holes, so to stay on task, I really need to create a checklist of specific sources to search that may help me establish Milo’s parents. To give you an idea of what I’m looking for, I’ll start this list with questions:

Are Chester Allen and Edward Allen related? Who are their parents?
What other records might exist pre-1840 that would document parents/children?

What should Genie do next?

Please share your research suggestions in the comments.

Thank you!

Let's Talk DNA at the Second Life Virtual Genealogical Society

Join the DNA Discussion at the June Meeting

June 12, 2020 / Ellington Sweeney

Let’s Talk DNA

After a brief business meeting, we will be holding an informal discussion about DNA!

Bring your questions, case studies, and solutions so we can get answers and help each other learn about genetic genealogy.

Details

WHEN: Sunday, 14 June 2020
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

All are welcome – you do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend.

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

What’s Your Story? – Post RootsTech Discussion

March 7, 2020 / milesameyer

Did you attend RootsTech? Do you want to know what you missed? Join us to discuss what happened at RootsTech and what we learned.

Details

WHEN: Sunday, 8 March 2020
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

All are welcome – you do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend.

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

Get Mappy at the February Meeting

February 7, 2020 / Ellington Sweeney

If you love the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, then you won’t want to miss this fascinating field trip in Second Life!

Field Trip to Rumsey Map Islands

After a brief business meeting, we will be taking a FIELD TRIP to see the David Rumsey Map Collection in Second Life.

Hundreds of historical maps have been placed on the Rumsey Map Islands allowing visitors to explore them in ways only possible in virtual worlds

Want to see a preview? Check out this video of David Rumsey’s avatar, Map Darwin, touring the maps (sorry, this video isn’t shareable).

Details

WHEN: Sunday, 9 February 2020
TIME: 5:30 p.m. SLT (same as Pacific Time)
WHERE: The Fire Pit at Just Genealogy SLurl

All are welcome – you do not need to be a member of the SLVGS in order to attend.

For information about how to join the SLVGS, please visit our Membership Page.

What’s New In FamilySearch 2019-2020

January 17, 2020 / milesameyer

Did you know that FamilySearch International, formerly known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2019 and that the FamilySearch website is now 20 years old? It seems like just yesterday (1999) when FamilySearch.org first opened its website to fanfare and a rush of users and then promptly crashed due to the unexpected stampede of enthusiastic genealogists. During all those years, FamilySearch has been an innovator and leader in the genealogy world, transforming the way we do family history research while providing access to billions of records.

So, what happened in 2019? First of all, the number of registered users for the FamilySearch website grew by over 2 million from 11.8 million in 2018, to 13.9 million in 2019. Those users contributed 72 million new individuals and 262.5 million sources to the Family Tree. In addition to that, the users contributed more than 8.75 million photos, stories, documents, and recordings from their own collections to the Memories in Family Tree. FamilySearch also did its part by adding more than 123 million name-searchable records and another 832.5 million new record images to their collection. All of these sources and records help to build and prove the relationships between people and contribute to “The Story of You”, the theme for RootsTech 2020, through encouraging people to discover who they are by bridging the gap between the past and future.

Beyond just adding records, FamilySearch also provided some upgrades and improvements to their website. One of these additions was the long awaited ability to edit indexed names for some records. This allowed the users to correct indexing errors as well as errors in original documents by editing the names. Future improvements in editing, expected in 2020, will allow for dates and places to be editable.

There were also some additions to the ways families are presented in the Family Tree. Now, same sex marriages can be added as well as indicating “no marriage” and “no children” events between couples. These will help reduce the number of notifications and research tips users receive.

We are all grateful for the work done by others, whether that be indexers or fellow researchers, to help build our family trees. Now, we are able to express our thanks. When viewing the indexed information for a record you will see a box in the lower left indicating that the record was indexed by a volunteer. You can then click on “Thank the volunteer” and send them a short message. Also, occasionally, you may see a popup which informs you of the top contributors in your family line and provides a way to thank them for their work.

Another new feature is the ability to see how you are related to a contributor. Many times we get messages from other users asking how we are related to the family. Now they can just click on the contributors name and see that connection, if the contributor has their relationship indicator turned on. This can be found in your user profile, just click the box to turn it on.

Also, new advancements in computer learning are pushing the boundaries of technology. BYU Linking Labs is working on several huge projects. One is the Community Reconstitution Project. This project works to reconstitute communities (groups of people, populations of towns or counties, etc.) by pulling names from record sets. Another is the Census Tree Project. They presented this project at RootsTech 2019. The project links the 188 million people that lived in the US between 1900 and 1940 across the census records. In my opinion, the most amazing project they are working on currently is the Automated Indexing Project. This project provides the technology necessary to automatically index records, including handwritten records. They recently completed indexing the 122 million people in the 1930 US Census and are also working on the 1940 US Census and Ohio death records. Volunteers can help teach the AI computers by using the app located at bit.ly/rll-index. They also are testing out a new Geo Hint Record Search as well as a Surname Record Search tool. This application can be found at https://fhss-blackwidow.byu.edu:564/Geo/Index.

These are just a few of the many updates in FamilySearch during 2019 but what can we expect in 2020? Well, we should see improvements in the merging features. Some of us have already seen this improvements as it was tested with random users last fall. There will be new ways for us to manage and share our Memories. We will be able to better track our contributions to the Family Tree, and there will be an increase in our ability to find new records. The Explore Images tool will open up new digitized records within days of the records being collected. 2020 will be another groundbreaking year in family history research at FamilySearch.

To read more details about these improvements visit the following pages:

FamilySearch 2019 Genealogy Highlights

FamilySearch Updates Enhance Your Experience

See How You Are Related to Other Users – FamilySearch Update

What to Expect from FamilySearch in 2020

What’s Coming to FamilySearch in 2020

BYU Linking Labs Projects

BYU RLL Hints App

BYU Record Linking Labs Facebook Page