MyFamily.com’s newest product allows users to create a slideshow on the Web, narrate the stories behind each photo using your own voice, and send it as a link to your family and friends.

You just upload photos from your hard drive to the site and arrange the photos in the order you’d like. Then you’ll be prompted to call a 1-800 number and enter the pin number on your phone. Using the Record and Advance buttons that show up on your computer screen under the slide show, you can choose when to begin recording, advance to the next photo, and end the recording. Once complete, you’ll have a slideshow you can share with family and friends via email.

This product is currently in beta testing and MyFamily.com would love to hear what you think of the product when you’re done. Just click on the feedback link on the main SnapGenie page.

You can log into SnapGenie using your MyFamily.com log in or register free at: beta.snapgenie.com/snapgenie

Ancestry is pleased to announce a new publication from Patricia Law Hatcher, FASG.  Researching Your Colonial New England Ancestors leads genealogists past the American Revolution to the time when their ancestors were English citizens, blazing the way in the new territory. Pat provides a rich description of the world in which those ancestors lived and details the records they have left behind. Researching Your Colonial New England Ancestors teaches family historians how to have a colonial mindset, provides them with a wealth of resources to use, and sets them on the path to the colonial American world.

This book is intended as an introduction to doing genealogical research of people who lived in colonial New England. It assumes that the researcher has arrived in the colonial period through sound genealogical research and that he or she is familiar with basic records, repositories, and research techniques.

The settlement of New England, its religious and political controversies, its wars, and its relationship with the native populations have been discussed in hundreds of books and articles, some of which are indicated in the Resources section. The Background section presents an overview of those topics and provides an historical framework oriented toward genealogists.

The researcher will encounter a myriad of nonstandard records and sources in colonial research. Especially during the early colonial period, understanding the history and background, which define the environment in which records were created, are often more important than a reference catalog of records.

This book is currently available in the Ancestry Store.

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Posted This Week 

• Social Security Death Index (SSDI), updated through August 2006
• History of Northeast Indiana: LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties
• History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys, Colorado
• Century review, 1805-1905, Maury County, Tennessee
• View a list of all new and updated databases 
• Learn more about what’s new at Ancestry.com 
• Search the Ancestry.com Card Catalog
  

As family historians, we collect names, dates, and places but too often we fail to look closely at that information. Choose an ancestral family and examine all the information you have gathered. What was the area in which they lived like at the time? Rural, urban, or suburban? Was it an ethnic community? Was it a community of well-to-do professionals or did most of the neighbors list “laborer” as their occupation? How old were the parents when they married? How old were they when they had children? How old were the children when a parent died? If you know the cause of death, was it preceded by a prolonged illness? What impact might the answers to these questions have had on their lives? The implications may also affect the course of your research.

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by Juliana Smith.

After watching a TV show about kid volunteers with animals, my daughter found an opportunity to help out when we happened across a greyhound rescue group at our local county fair. American Greyhound takes in greyhounds that have been retired from racing and places them in foster homes until an adoptive family can be found. We asked about volunteer opportunities and were told that they could use help handling the dogs when they are out at local events. Wanting to promote the spirit of volunteerism in my daughter, I agreed that we could help out the following weekend at a local pet store.

Now if you’re a sane person who already has two large dogs and two cats at home, warning bells would be going off in your head at this point. I clearly don’t qualify as a “sane person” because I didn’t hear a thing. At the first event, I was so taken with these sweet animals that before we left the store, I had filled out an application to foster a dog, and a few days later, Annabelle came home with us. A week later we were filling out adoption papers for her, and the following week another foster, Nanny, came home to stay with us until we can find her a home. So as of this article, I have four big dogs living in my house (and two really ticked off cats).

So why is she rambling on about dogs, you may be asking? Well, when I first considered taking in a foster, I figured a dog is a dog. I’ve had dogs throughout my life. I feel pretty secure in my knowledge of how to take care of them. However, I quickly learned that taking in a “fresh from the track” greyhound is a bit different than taking in other rescues. Sure, having general knowledge of dogs is a huge help, but there is a lot more that I needed to learn to take care of my new babies.

As we research our family history, we may find ourselves in a similar (albeit less crowded) situation. As we move back in time or expand our search outward to other branches of the family, we often find ourselves venturing into unfamiliar territory. This “new territory” can be chronological as we move back to an era where the records we’re familiar with are no longer available or geographical as we find ancestral origins in a new location. Sometimes even crossing a state or county line can mean learning new research techniques and record availability.

While our general experience with genealogy research will definitely be a plus, it can be intimidating to start fresh in a new area of research and the temptation may be to relegate that family to the dark recesses of the closet. So this week, I thought we’d take a look at some ways to make that jump into unfamiliar territory a little easier. Continue reading →

by Michael John Neill

Families rarely migrate in complete isolation. The ties of family and friends are not always obvious to the researcher several lifetimes later. The difficulty with most families lies in finding those connections that led to migration. This week we see how the databases at Ancestry, along with some detective work and analysis, can allow us to begin discerning those connections. Continue reading →

from Paula Stuart Warren

I am taking some of my own advice and checking old files–tossing duplicate items, things no longer needed, and outdated items. I was doing this to get ready for a mini-family reunion. I chuckled a few times at notes I made as I listened to lectures in the early 1980s. (Wasn’t that just yesterday?) Much of what I found still applies today:

• If a family disappears, check the locations of the wife’s family. People often moved with the wife’s family.
• If a family disappears, look westward. Pay attention to when homestead land opened in various states.
• Surname spelling doesn’t count; your family may not have known how to spell the name, or the clergy entering their details into a record book may not have been familiar with the language your ancestors spoke.
• Always keep maps handy and pay attention to city, county, and state boundary changes.
• If your ancestor does not appear in a county history, try for their siblings or in-laws.
• Your family may not have moved–the town or county line may have moved.
• Don’t forget to look for the records of siblings. Those may hold some magic in the form of maiden names, places of origin, and may yield the descendant with the family Bible.

I also found a note talking about the 1910 U.S. census that was about to be opened to researchers. Just think, we now have the 1920 and 1930 available for research. And they are online and every-name indexed today!

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Browse Special Collections
It was a frustrating day looking for information on my parents’ marriage, which took place on Long Island, New York, in the 1930s. Anyway I decided to take a break and randomly cruise the various websites. I decided to browse through the Hempstead (New York) Library Special Collections.

The Special Collections department is home to numerous older photos of Hempstead. I thought it would be fun to see the places that my parents probably frequented. One of the photos was from 1932 and showed several policemen standing in front of a movie theater.

One of the policemen images jumped right out at me. It was my father! My father had served on the force during this period and this was the first photo I had ever seen with him and fellow officers. It was an exciting find–especially since I wasn’t even looking for him in any of the photos.

A couple of points: One is that browsing can lead to finds. Second, don’t forget those special collections in libraries all across the country.
 
Dr. R. S. “Bart” Bartanowicz
Venice, Florida

Continue reading →

The year was 1876 and England was in the midst of what is known as the Victorian Era (1837-1900), named for Queen Victoria. For a look at home life in England during this period, visit the website, 1876 Victorian England.

In the United States, the country was celebrating its centennial anniversary and in May, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia became the first World’s Fair held in the U.S. and drew over 9 million visitors.

Colorado became the 38th state in 1876 and the country continued to grow. With railways now connecting the east and west, people began to travel more. With the increased travel came the need for good accommodations and in 1876, Fred Harvey entered the business of meeting this need when he took over a restaurant at the Topeka, Kansas train depot of the Santa Fe Railroad. He was soon able to expand and hired a staff of women who became known as the “Harvey Girls”  to serve guests in his restaurants and hotels along the railroad line. Continue reading →