“Blaine Day” at Archives of Michigan

For over a month I have been helping a family member prepare and recover from a hip replacement surgery so genealogy time has been almost null. But an opportunity arose which I am thankful I was able to attend thanks to a family member covering for me.

Blaine Bettinger at the Fall Family History Event

Yesterday was the Michigan Genealogical Council and Archives of Michigan's Fall Family History Event in Lansing. It was titled, "A Day with Blaine Bettinger."

Or in my words, "Blaine Day." A day packed with four — yes four! — presentations by Blaine Bettinger on various DNA topics.

With a start time of 9:15 a.m., this meant getting up before the chickens, scraping the first frost off the windshield, and driving "an hour and a half" to arrive in time for the 8:30 a.m. start of registration. Thankfully the weather other than a bit cold was great for driving and traffic was strangely light despite game day while the sun raced up in the rear-view mirror. I arrived with plenty of time to spare.

The event seemed to be well organized (even with a good couple handfuls of early arrivals) and from the morning announcements this was the largest attendance they had in the 12 years of hosting this event.

The Archives of Michigan
(and Library of Michigan) in Lansing, Michigan.

Another morning announcement was regarding the digitization and indexing of the naturalization records for the 70 Michigan counties that the Archives of Michigan has in its collection. The images will eventually be at the AOM's SeekingMichigan.org website. There will also be an index to the collection on the SeekingMichigan website and at the FamilySearch.org website. They are not announcing a timeline for the project. (Remember Michigan Death Certificate anticipation?) And since the index will be done by volunteers aka us the genealogy public, when it gets done depends on our participation. The Archives of Michigan staff is working on obtaining the naturalization records from the remaining Michigan counties that have not turned their records over to the archives.

Now as for "Blaine Day" which ran from 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., the Forum auditorium was pretty much packed all day with a bit less attendance at the last of the four presentations. Bettinger's presentations were:

• Using Y-DNA and mtDNA to Explore Your Ancestry
• Using Autosomal DNA to Explore Your Ancestry
• Using Third-Party Tools to Analyze Your Autosomal DNA
• DNA and the Genealogical Proof Standard

I thought each presentation was really good. Bettinger covered enough of the basics that the DNA uninitiated could understand the concepts but also enough of the technical end that intermediates had something too. The handouts, which were sent out via email a day before the event, were informative following the main points of each presentation but not every detail. One handout was not in the order of how it was presented but it was easy enough to follow along. Bettinger also made time to answer questions after each presentation which was great because there were a lot of questions.

Couldn't make it to yesterday's Family History Event? Much of the content in the presentations also seems to be covered in Bettinger's new book, The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy. I bought a copy (along with another copy for a cousin too) about a month or so ago and I'm slowly reading it. It's not a hard read, it actually explains concepts very clearly, I have just been so busy and tired it is taking me longer than normal to read things.

So if you get a chance to see Bettinger speak or hear him via a webinar, do try to do so. I don't think you will be disappointed.

The drive home was just as pleasant. Towards the end the big moon was visible ahead of me as the sun was going down behind me. I arrived home in the driveway just as darkness fell.

Blaine Day aka a DNA Day for me was a good day. And as I learned upon getting on the internet after dinner, November 12th was also the day Family Tree DNA released its Ancient European Origins feature on it Family Finder tests. It was interesting seeing FTDNA's estimates of how much Metal Age Invader, Farmer, Hunter-Gatherer and Non-European DNA we are still carrying in our DNA. I don't think it will be of much use, but it is interesting.

©2016 All Rights Reserved, goneresearching. All text and photos in this post are copyrighted & owned by me (goneresearching) unless indicated otherwise. No republication (commercial or non-commercial) without prior permission. You may share (tell others) of this blog as long as you give credit and link to this site (not by downloading or copying any post). Thank you.

Searching Ontario Marriages Work-Around: Ancestry has the Index, FamilySearch the Images

I have not forgotten about the promised post about the Process of Searching for Land Patents. It's a long post and I want to format it better so it is not so hard to read. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, I hope you find this post useful.

Finding records in early Ontario (aka Upper Canada and Canada West) can be a challenge but with the digitization of microfilm it is becoming a little easier if you know where to look. And sometimes that "knowing where to look" involves more than one place at the same time. Get your multiple browser tabs ready!

Ontario Collections at FamilySearch

Did you see that two weeks ago on May 6, 2016, FamilySearch.org added digitized images of the Ontario, District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858? And did you know that digitized images of the Ontario, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 have been on FamilySearch since at least April 27, 2016*?

If you did, then you know that both digitized collections of these early Ontario records are browse only collections meaning neither have been electronically indexed so you have to click through the images to find the record you seek.

But did you know there is an index elsewhere to help you out?

About this database ...

Now it may not give you a specific image number or page number but you can at least figure out that a marriage was recorded and when and where it occurred. Knowing this can cut down on the amount of your searching through "digital film" with no index.


What and where is that index? It's the Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928 collection at the Ancestry.com website. (Use Ancestry Library Edition at a local library if you do not have a home subscription.) Now this database collection is actually an index to records from a variety of sources. Reading the "about this database" clarifies and tells you what sources the indexed records originate from and which ones are indexed with images and which ones indexed without images.

Full List of Sources from the "About this database"

For those record entries you find without images, look at the entry's "view record" information. Make note of the microfilm series in that entry's source citation and then compare it to the source list in the "about this database." Records originating from the County Marriage Registers are from microfilm series M248, reels 5-18. These have no images at Ancestry, but FamilySearch now has the images and has divided them by county. You just have to estimate where to start in the group images for that county for the year of your record.

Ontario Marriages database entry for Johannah Arnold

Here's an example that I found for one of my cousins. Now she has one less item for her To-Do List for a visit to the Archives of Ontario in Toronto, Canada, or Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

From the Ontario Marriages collection at Ancestry.com, we found what we thought was the marriage of her ancestors Henry Zuelch and Juliana Arnold. (Note: Zuelch has various spellings.) As you see from the image here, Ancestry's indexing leaves a lot to be desired because the record was indexed as Henry Fullich and Johannah Arnold. (In this case, Ancestry used an index from another group so it is just repeating an error. Read that "about this database" for details.)

Until recently there was no record image online to confirm this suspicion for ourselves. My cousin would have to wait to visit a library/archive with the Ontario County Marriage Registers collection. Why did we suspect this was the marriage record we sought? We knew her ancestors were in a certain place (the Waterloo area) and in a certain time period based on their children's birthplaces and census entries. And we have experience knowing what letters can be mistaken for other letters.

Detail of Source Citation from the Johannah Arnold entry

So looking at that index entry's "view record" we see the source of the entry came from MS248, reel 16 which is the Ontario, County Marriage Registers.

Using the date and location (18 Feb 1862 in Waterloo County) of the marriage, now we can open another browser tab and search through the new Ontario County Marriage Registers collection over at FamilySearch for the actual record image. (Using multiple browser tabs or windows allows me to keep my place in the first database while searching the second database so I can return to verify information or bring up the next record entry to investigate without having to find that entry or results list again.)

In this case under the County Marriage Registers, under Waterloo county there are three volumes (books) digitized. The first volume covers 1858 to 1862 and contains 91 images.  So I searched that volume and since I was looking for an 1862 marriage, I jumped to the last image by typing 91 in the currently viewing box of the image viewer. I proceeded backwards until I found the page/image I needed.

The Ontario County Marriage
record image from FamilySearch

Seeing the actual image now for ourselves, we can confirm with our own eyes that the indexer read the record entry incorrectly. This is the marriage record for Henry Zuellich and Juliana Arnold. (If you find something at Ancestry.com incorrectly indexed, do submit an alternative when there is the option to do so. I did in this case.)

Henry Zuellich not Henry Fullich

Juliana Arnold not Johannah Arnold

For the Ontario District Marriage Registers, it appears the database collection at Ancestry.com does have the record images linked to the index entries. But if you find an index entry from MS248, reels 1-4 that does not have a linked record image, you now know that there is an alternative location at FamilySearch to find the record image.

I suspect that in time Ancestry will add links to the record images for those entries in its Ontario, Canada, Marriages collection that are from the Ontario County Marriage Registers.

Now when I get a chance, I will need to go back through my tree's sourcing to create a list of Ontario marriages where I only have an index entry to document the event rather than a digital image of the original record. This list will get added to my overall To-Do List so when I finally get to that To-Do task I can easily go back and get the original record images that were not there at the time I did the original search.

But before I make that list I have another post to finish.

* Note: The late April 2016 listing of "New FamilySearch Collections Update" appears to have been skipped. I believe I have the right "newly added" date for both collections. But some are reporting that the County Marriage Registers was the collection added May 6th instead of the District Marriage Registers. I included a screen capture of all of the Ontario collections listed under Canada at the FamilySearch website with their add/update dates as of May 20, 2016.

©2016 All Rights Reserved, goneresearching. All text and photos in this post are copyrighted & owned by me (goneresearching) unless indicated otherwise. No republication (commercial or non-commercial) without prior permission. You may share (tell others) of this blog as long as you give credit and link to this site (not by downloading or copying any post). Thank you.

Third Tip for Searching: Reel Content Specifics for Some LAC Digitized Microfilm Collections

I did not get much time this past week to work on the promised post about the Process of Searching for Land Patents so in the meantime here is another tip which should work for any LAC microfilm collection that is also available through the Family History Library Catalog at FamilySearch.

Part of the problem when working with the digitized microfilm collections of the Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) is that for the most part all you see is a list of reel codes with no descriptions of what is on each "film." (Remember, the digitized microfilm of the LAC is located on two websites: the Héritage website and the archived LAC website.)

Heir and Devisee at Héritage

At the Héritage website, you would think the "About" tab for a particular collection would contain a detail like that. Most of the time it does not. It simply tells you about the records not how they are organized on the microfilm. 

Every so often an "About" does mention what is on the reels for that collection but it is very generalized. That is the case of the Heir and Devisee digitized collection. There is actually a list of what volumes are on which reel but nothing to tell you what a particular volume number contains so you still do not have a clear understanding of what you are working with.

Heir and Devisee at LAC Archives Catalog

Using the MIKAN number (see my Two Tips post) listed for the collection and doing an Advanced search of the Archives Catalog over at the main LAC website, you bring up a similar description for the collection. The Archives catalog entry does list which reel numbers are associated with the collection but again not one detail for what is on which film.

Here's My Tip.
If a particular LAC microfilm collection is available through the Family History Catalog at the FamilySearch website, check the FHL catalog entry. It often has more details of regarding what is on which film. But because the FHL catalog entry does not make mention of the LAC reel number you have to compare the microfilm listings from both sites to see the whole picture.

Catalog listing for the same collection at FamilySearch.

So from the About tab for the Heir and Devisee digitized collection at the Héritage website, we learn that film H-1133 contains vol. 1-6.

From the About tab of the Heir and Devisee Collection at Héritage

Microfilm listing for the same collection at FamilySearch.

Comparing that information to film listing of the entry in the Family History Catalog for that collection we learn that those volumes are "Index of location certificates issued by the Land Boards v. 1 pre-1804 Heir and Devisee Commission records Eastern District v. 2 1803-1804 v. 3 1803? v. 4 1797-1802 (partial index) v. 5 1809-1841 v. 6 1785-1804." And, of course, we learn the FHL microfilm number for that reel known at the LAC as H-1133.

Now we have an understanding of what we are looking at and can finally utilize the collection with less hassle and involving less time.

As I said at the start of this post, this tip should work for any LAC microfilm collection available through the Family History Library.

Lastly, don't get me wrong. I love that formerly hard to access historical/genealogical collections are being made more accessible but what I am pointing out is that the end-user needs to be thought of in this process.

Sitting at home (or where ever) the end-user (you/me) does not have access to long-existing paper finding aids sitting on a shelf in an archive/library. These vital pieces of the puzzle are necessary to understanding collection organization and must be put online in some form also. AND that the steps needed (look here, check this, then look there) to properly utilize a collection are clearly indicated and follow-able on the website.

I hope this tip helps. Now I'll get back to that other post.

©2016 All Rights Reserved, goneresearching. All text and photos in this post are copyrighted & owned by me (goneresearching) unless indicated otherwise. No republication (commercial or non-commercial) without prior permission. You may share (tell others) of this blog as long as you give credit and link to this site (not by downloading or copying any post). Thank you.

Another New Database on Ancestry.com -- Michigan Marriage Records 1867-1952

There's another new rabbit hole to investigate on Ancestry.com this month. Today, Ancestry.com added the database Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867 - 1952.

Though the online index goes up to 1952, you will only find actual images of the records up to the year 1938 due to Michigan laws. So you get 13 more years of images (FamilySearch.org has images up to 1925) and 27 more years of index and transcribed records.

Oh, what fun! Could the posting of the additional images of the Michigan Death Certificates (up to 1938) on SeekingMichigan.org be near? One can only hope!

©2015, goneresearching. All text and photos in this post are copyrighted & owned by me (goneresearching) unless indicated otherwise. No republication (commercial or non-commercial) without prior permission. You may share (tell others) of this blog as long as you give credit and link to this site (not by downloading or copying any post). Thank you.