January 24 Meeting

There was terrific interaction and questions at today’s session with 16 attendees.  We covered three main topics with the handouts and links available below.  Our next session will be Wednesday night, February 7^th, 7:00-9:00 PM for those beginning their genealogy journey (everyone is welcome).

1)      We did a refresh of Interpreting your AncestryDNA with focus on using the DNA Matches for cousin fishing.  To get the handout: Click here

2)      Death Certificates, what to look for and how to interpret the information,

        a.       HOMEWORK: to get the sample Death Certificate: click here

                    What information can you get from this death certificate and 

                     where would you look for more information - bring your 

                     observations and recommendations to the next afternoon meeting.

        b.      to access the International Classification of Diseases: click here

        c.       to get the Genealogy Records Checklist: clickhere

        d.      to get the spreadsheet genealogy checklist: click here

3)      Research Project : STATES

        a.       HOMEWORK: Each member of your group should be researching

               one vital record in that state

        b.      to access the FamilySearch Wiki for the homework, click here

4)      Fun Ellis Island 360: click here

       a.       Civil War: A letter from the trenches 360: Click here

       b.      Battle Road: The American Revolution 360: Click here

Quick links:

a.    For obtaining phone numbers for free use: zabasearch.com

b.    New innovations for "FamilySearch.org" in 2018: Click here

January 17 Genealogy 101 Session

We had a great turnout of 15 people to this session, many new members looking for how to get started and current members helping out.  This was a session on "how to get started and how to focus on "Yourself" first", then move backward along your ancestors lines (making sure to go up the father and mother side of the family).  Our next session on February 7th will review the homework assignments and then begin to use FamilySearch.org to look up some of our heritage.  The homework was to start a pedigree chart and then do several family group sheets.

Here are the handouts and a video for refresh:

1) Homework page: Click here
2) Pedigree Chart: Click here
3) Family Group Worksheet: Click here
4) Search Sources checklist: Click here
5) Relationship Chart: Click here
6) Genealogy 101 Video: Click here

Here are some useful websites to look at before our next meeting:

1) FamilySearch.org : click here
2) Family Tree Maker (genealogy software for your computer - $): click here

January 18, 2018:

New resource announcements:

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter - click here
  - Article about the Journal of Genealogy and Family History

Index of Old Occupation (United Kingdom and Ireland Occupations 1891) - click here
  - Thank you Linda Juchatz for this reference

January 10th, 2018 First meeting of the year

We had a great "2018 Genealogy Fair" today at the Lake House.  We are sorry that some of you could not attend.  We did have 31 attendees to the Fair (not including our guests), with 18 being brand new potential members.  It was great to see these new and enthusiastic "genealogists" with great questions.  It was also fantastic to have 13 DIRT current members in attendance to share their own experiences and meet new people.

I want to thank Denise Doyon and Linda Mecchi for their tremendous help in setting up and running the Genealogy Fair.  I also want to thank Denise and Linda for all they have done for DIRT to start it in 2013 and help it grow to what it is today.  They have passed the Leadership role to Lynn Baker, who will try very hard to keep up the forward progress.

We had guests: Marianne Crawley (South Carolina Room - Charleston County Public Library) and Delsa & Dave Biorn from the LDS Family History Center to share what is available to you and also have tables to talk to attendees about what is available.

Lynn presented "Who is DIRT", "Where to get Free Genealogical Research" and a Map project for everyone to show where their relatives are located.  Linda Mecchi did a Genealogy Crossword puzzle for a prize of "free DIRT membership for a year".  We had a lot of fun and got to meet many new "potential genealogists".

Here are the handouts:
Who is DIRT brochure: Click Here

Where to get Free Genealogical Research: Click Here

We are into the new year of 2018, please look at the upcoming events.  The evening sessions will be more focused on helping those that are new to Genealogy to get started.

See you all soon.

Mark your calendar for the "2018 Genealogy Fair" sponsored by Digging Into Roots Together:
When: Wednesday, January 10, 2018 1:30-3:00 PM
Where: Live Oak Room, Lake House
Who: you and your friends
Why: Genealogy Fun, Kickoff for 2018, Bring in new members
How: Denise, Linda and Lynn have set up a great program of fun with genealogy for the afternoon

Handouts from Family History Fair 2017 - October 21, 2017

If you were not able to attend this Genealogy Event, here are some of the handouts I was able to collect from the Family History Fair for your reading and learning.

Click on the title to access the handout:

Agenda and Schedule
Come learn and start doing indexing
Digitizing Your Photos
Digital Assets spreadsheet
Digital Photo Terminology
Evernote for Genealogists
Evidence.  What's Your Type?
Finding Your Ancestors in Freedman's Bureau
Genealogical Resources at the South Carolina Historical Society
Interpreting Your AncestryDNA results
Organizing your digital genealogy information
Researching Family Lore: A Beginner's Look at Records and Research Method
Using the Digital Public Library
Using your Public Library's online General Resources for Research
What's New on Ancestry.com
What's New on FamilySearch.org and FamilySearch information

Nov 8 DIRT Meeting - Using Land Records for Family Heritage

Doreen Larimer, Historical Property Research professional gave an outstanding presentation on Wednesday on the use of Land Records, specifically on Charleston County and South Carolina Land Records for finding out more about your family.  Doreen gave an excellent overview on how to read and interpret Land Plats through time and what has changed.  She suggested that the Charleston Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society is a great place to meet other genealogies and get additional ideas.

Lynn captured and recorded some of the procedures Doreen showed us.  It will be interesting to discover how other States within the USA digitize and catalog their land records. 

Accessing Charleston County Land Records instructions: CLICK HERE
Accessing South Carolina Archives and History instructions: CLICK HERE

Two of the websites used were:

Charleston County: CLICK HERE
South Carolina Department of Archives and History: CLICK HERE

This will can add more depth to your family heritage story.