dr. john colletta speaks at dallas library
brenda kellow
june 8, 2014
Dr. John Philip Colletta is the speaker at the July 11-12 Dallas Genealogical Society Summer Symposium at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in Dallas. “The Many Ways to Preserve Family History” is a two-day program of eight presentations by Dr. Colletta covering organization, documenting, historical content, artifacts, principles of good writing, storytelling, evidence, writing and publishing your family history. Go to their homepage at http://dallasgenealogy.org/DGS_Docs/Pictures/Colletta_John.jpg, for more information and to register.
WEST INDIES ANCESTORS: Never assume your black ancestors should be on the census, slave lists, etc., when in reality they came into the port cities from the West Indies as free citizens who settled in the northeastern port cities. Their citizenship records are a valuable asset and found in the National Archives. Read the seven-page article on this subject at www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2013/fall-winter/west-indies.pdf. It also has references to additional articles of interest to researchers.
LEGAL TERMINOLOGY: When examining legal documents, when you see the abbreviation, “6th inst,” it refers to a date in the present month. However, an abbreviation such as 8th ult. (ultimo) refers to a date in the previous month. See Black’s Law for your legal terminology.
BETHANY CEMETERY MAP: Last week I told you about the preservation of the Bethany Cemetery on Custer Road between Legacy and Hedgcoxe Road. In the announcement, I mentioned that the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation had found a map of the cemetery showing the owners of the various plots and a school/college/church on the south end of the property. I did not mention that the map is available for the interested public to look at and examine in the Haggard Library. Thank you, Candace Fountoulakis for the update. As this project continues, I hope to report more details of this cemetery and the 13 others scheduled for renovation.
LABEL YOUR PHOTOS: Before you add photos to your genealogy software or to your digital photo collection, be sure to label them. To do this, you need Picasa. It is free, and easy to use. Use the “text” tool and name those in the photograph. Type, ‘Facing left to right,” and then their names. You might also need to label the rows such as top row, middle row, and bottom row. Next, type: “From the collection of (your name), (date of picture), and (date archived). You have a choice of typing in black or white type.I do this and it has never been a problem. In fact, as I send photos to family members, they always know exactly who is in the picture, who owns it, etc. Occasionally, I have been told of misnaming. That’s easy to correct. Just go back to the photo in Picasa and delete the name and replace it with the correct one.
SAVING NEWSPAPER ARTICLES TO ANCESTRY.COM: If you find an article on one of your ancestors in Newspapers.com and want to attach it to someone on your tree at Ancestry.com, it is easy to do. In fact, there is a tutorial on doing this at http://go.newspapers.com/video.php/?vid=SZshMP6_WWk. To create a link from the newspaper to Ancestry, just click, “Save to Ancestry.” That button is on the top right of each page. I just found our wedding announcement in the paper, saved it, and it is there whenever I open it up. There are additional tutorials under “Newpapers.com Basics.”
GOODWILL RETURNS 200-YEAR OLD HEIRLOOM BIBLE TO FAMILY: Goodwill, in Denver, found a 200-year old heirloom bible in the donation box. Lucky for the family, the Chief People Officer was a genealogist. When she read the name of the family on the inside cover of the Bible, she became interested in returning it. It read, “Wm Burbidge, Long Bucky, Northhamptonshire, born May 20th 1812, Died August 9th 1882.” It ended with “Grace Ann Burbidge, Born July 31st 1854, Died 12th May 1932.” She immediately began her online search. Read this heart-warming story at People.com, www.people.com/people/mobile/article/0,,20804934,00.html.
FGS CONFERENCE IN SAN ANTONIO: This year, the annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), will be held in San Antonio on August 27-30, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, 200 East Market Street, San Antonio, TX 78205. If you have never gone to a national convention, this is an ideal opportunity to do so. The complete 16-page brochure is at www.fgsconference.org/FGS2014_%20RegistrationBooklet_web.pdf. To find out more, visit the FGS Homepage at www.fgsconference.org/.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
WEST INDIES ANCESTORS: Never assume your black ancestors should be on the census, slave lists, etc., when in reality they came into the port cities from the West Indies as free citizens who settled in the northeastern port cities. Their citizenship records are a valuable asset and found in the National Archives. Read the seven-page article on this subject at www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2013/fall-winter/west-indies.pdf. It also has references to additional articles of interest to researchers.
LEGAL TERMINOLOGY: When examining legal documents, when you see the abbreviation, “6th inst,” it refers to a date in the present month. However, an abbreviation such as 8th ult. (ultimo) refers to a date in the previous month. See Black’s Law for your legal terminology.
BETHANY CEMETERY MAP: Last week I told you about the preservation of the Bethany Cemetery on Custer Road between Legacy and Hedgcoxe Road. In the announcement, I mentioned that the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation had found a map of the cemetery showing the owners of the various plots and a school/college/church on the south end of the property. I did not mention that the map is available for the interested public to look at and examine in the Haggard Library. Thank you, Candace Fountoulakis for the update. As this project continues, I hope to report more details of this cemetery and the 13 others scheduled for renovation.
LABEL YOUR PHOTOS: Before you add photos to your genealogy software or to your digital photo collection, be sure to label them. To do this, you need Picasa. It is free, and easy to use. Use the “text” tool and name those in the photograph. Type, ‘Facing left to right,” and then their names. You might also need to label the rows such as top row, middle row, and bottom row. Next, type: “From the collection of (your name), (date of picture), and (date archived). You have a choice of typing in black or white type.I do this and it has never been a problem. In fact, as I send photos to family members, they always know exactly who is in the picture, who owns it, etc. Occasionally, I have been told of misnaming. That’s easy to correct. Just go back to the photo in Picasa and delete the name and replace it with the correct one.
SAVING NEWSPAPER ARTICLES TO ANCESTRY.COM: If you find an article on one of your ancestors in Newspapers.com and want to attach it to someone on your tree at Ancestry.com, it is easy to do. In fact, there is a tutorial on doing this at http://go.newspapers.com/video.php/?vid=SZshMP6_WWk. To create a link from the newspaper to Ancestry, just click, “Save to Ancestry.” That button is on the top right of each page. I just found our wedding announcement in the paper, saved it, and it is there whenever I open it up. There are additional tutorials under “Newpapers.com Basics.”
GOODWILL RETURNS 200-YEAR OLD HEIRLOOM BIBLE TO FAMILY: Goodwill, in Denver, found a 200-year old heirloom bible in the donation box. Lucky for the family, the Chief People Officer was a genealogist. When she read the name of the family on the inside cover of the Bible, she became interested in returning it. It read, “Wm Burbidge, Long Bucky, Northhamptonshire, born May 20th 1812, Died August 9th 1882.” It ended with “Grace Ann Burbidge, Born July 31st 1854, Died 12th May 1932.” She immediately began her online search. Read this heart-warming story at People.com, www.people.com/people/mobile/article/0,,20804934,00.html.
FGS CONFERENCE IN SAN ANTONIO: This year, the annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), will be held in San Antonio on August 27-30, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, 200 East Market Street, San Antonio, TX 78205. If you have never gone to a national convention, this is an ideal opportunity to do so. The complete 16-page brochure is at www.fgsconference.org/FGS2014_%20RegistrationBooklet_web.pdf. To find out more, visit the FGS Homepage at www.fgsconference.org/.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
