Stay active and connected online

This is a great time to stay home in your bunny slippers and do some genealogy online.  Many  societies have webinars and tutorials available for free to the public.  Check out some of the offerings below:

FREE SCGS WEBINAR   http://www.scgsgenealogy.com Saturday, April 4 at 10am (PST) Foundations to Researching in Europe by Julie Goucher In this presentation we consider the broad elements of researching a European surname and then expand outwards to include other important factors such as culture, geography, borders and links with other areas outside of Europe, including the influence of European Empires. We too explore religion, history, languages including alphabet and dialects. We further address naming patterns across Europe. Julie Goucher has been a keen genealogist since the late 1980s, and has a special interest in Italian and European family history. She is a published author and writes regularly for a number of genealogical magazines and journals. She is also the tutor for the Pharos course, Introduction to One-Name Studies. WEBINARS   https://www.americanancestors.org/education/online-classes Free and open to the public Treasures of New England Historic Genealogical SocietyPresented by Curt DiCamillo, FRSA Thursday, April 30 3:00 - 4:00 PM EDT The New England Historic Genealogical Society has been collecting family treasures for 175 years. From exceptionally rare 17th-century Boston portraits to beautiful early American furniture to art and relics associated with John Hancock, our fine art collection spans three centuries of American history. Join Curator of Special Collections Curt DiCamillo, FRSA to hear the stories behind some of the "hidden-gems" in our collection and learn how to start researching the story of your own family treasures. Register today! WHAT'S NEW AT AMERICANANCESTORS.ORG WEBINAR SERIES AmericanAncestors.org is the award-winning website of New England Historic Genealogical Society and home to hundreds of databases with 1.4 billion searchable names, our robust online library catalog, digital manuscript collections, educational resources, and online periodicals with more being added each week. Stay up to date with what’s new at AmericanAncestors.org with this quarterly webinar series! Hear about new databases, search features, and resources only available at AmericanAncestors.org. Register below! Thursday, April 9, 2020 3:00 - 4:00 PM EST Thursday, July 9, 2020 3:00 - 4:00 PM EDT NEHGS  Chat with a genealogist SERVICE AVAILABLE TUESDAY–SATURDAY AFTERNOONS 3:00–4:00 PM EST Do you have a quick genealogy or local history question? One that might be answered in five minutes or less? Enter it in the chat box provided below, and one of our genealogists will respond. NEHGS members can also send us questions through our Ask a Genealogist service.  Florida State Genealogical Society  https://flsgs.org 16 Apr 2020 – Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG Give Me---Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration and Naturalization Webinar Abstract: Learn how our ancestors were naturalized; when, where, and what records were created; and the information that might be found in these records. Presenter: Jeanne Larzalere Bloom specializes in Illinois problem solving and compilation, particularly Cook County. Family History Library Class Calendar To find the class webinar links visit https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Family_History_Library and go to Classes and Online Webinars. 2020 RootsTech Sessions https://www.rootstech.org/category/2020-rootstech-sessions

And 2019 London RootsTech Sessions!  With accents!
https://www.rootstech.org/category/2019-london-rootstech-sessions

The Virtual Genealogist March 19th

Here's a query which has VG stumped.  Our loyal readers offer some suggestions:

I am looking for a baptism record for my grandmother, Olive McCormack. Her parents were John Henry Arthur James (!)McCormack and Mary Jane Kelley. Her obituary (Powell, Wyoming Tribune of 17 Jan 1929) says she was born 17 Aug 1905 at Buncombe, Illinois. “When eight years old, she was baptised a member of the Latter Day Saints.” They were living in Independence, Missouri at the time. My assumption is that the family was part of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, RLDS, since the family did not move to Salt Lake City with Brigham Young. I found no record of her or her family in the LDS records in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Can anyone give me clues where to look?
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Sara Hayden responds:

1. Explore Jackson County (where Independence is located) on the Family Search Wiki: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Jackson_County,_Missouri_Genealogy.

2. Explore Jackson County Genealogical Society's website: http://www.jcgs.org/.

3. Explore Jackson County Historical Society's website: https://www.jchs.org/.

4. Explore Jackson County Clerk of the County's website: https://www.jacksongov.org/clerk. This is a large county, so I'd also suggest ...

5. Explore Independence, MO's, City Clerk website: https://www.ci.independence.mo.us/CityClerk/. Independence is the county seat and a suburb of Kansas City, KS.

6. From Wikipedia: "The Temple Lot, located in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, is the first site to be dedicated for the construction of a temple in the Latter Day Saint movement." LDS a big deal (may still be) in Independence. For full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Lot#Museum.

7. The Midwest Genealogy Center, a part of the Mid-Continent Public Library, is also located in Independence. Explore their site: https://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy. See especially Frequently Asked Questions on their "about" page for assistance: https://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy/mgc-information/about-mgc.

8. If our inquirer is local, I'd suggest visiting the Family History Center in Oakland (temporarily closed). The people who volunteer there are very helpful.

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The VG responds:

http://www.latterdaytruth.org/pdf/101055.pdf

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My very Southern g-g-gf left California during the Civil War for Mexico and wound up in Texas with a second wife, a widow that he’d married in Mississippi. In Texas he claimed his first wife had died, but she in fact outlived him and all but one of their children. I found no record of a divorce in the California counties where they had lived. Are there other places where one can look for a divorce record in the 1860s?  He was a lawyer, postmaster, mayor, and state senator in California so one might assume he had some knowledge of the legal system. 
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The VG responds: Given that he held such prominent jobs, you have a good chance of finding out some of this story.  Here are some places you could look:

• California census for the wife's marital status in the following years (1880 shows this, not all do).  Who is she living with?  Children?  Other family?  Does she own or rent?  
• Are there any property records for her residence?  And for husband?
• Military records for husband.  Who is listed as next of kin?
• Newspapers for California.  Especially the social and legal pages.
• Street directories for California.  Do they mention the wife?
• Court records for that county.  Look for property or financial disputes.
• Death records for wife and children.
• County historical or genealogical societies for biographies or newspaper clippings.
• Records and newsletters of fraternal, professional, or other organizations he belonged to.
• Professional licensing organizations (bar association, etc.)
• Religion! Is divorce not allowed?  Would she not give one?  You need a complete social history to make a reasonable assumption of what happened here.

It's possible there was no divorce, and that's why he left the area.  

The Virtual Genealogist March 18th

Here are some answers to yesterday's queries.  Want to play along?  Submit your queries and answers to publications@smcgs.org.

My grandparents, with all of their family of 10, immigrated from England (Croyden, south of London) to San Mateo County between 1907 and 1910, finding work on wealthy estates. 
They came “directly” to San Mateo as their intended destination, but I don’t know of the the stops along the way, or where they first entered the US.
Initial cursory attempts to search for immigration records have come up empty.

So, I have three questions:

1. Where/how do I focus my search to find their travel path and dates (e.g. ship records, immigration records)?

2. What would be common transport paths from England to San Mateo? Somewhere I heard to Canada, then to US at Detroit, the presumably by train to San Francisco. Others have said, Canada, cross Canada by train, then to SF via ship from BC, Canada. Were there a small number of most common paths for English immigrants during those years?

3. Any surmises in why in that era (1907-1910) a family of 10 would leave England and end up in San Mateo, apparently the intended destination from the get-go? They were lower working class, so I assume they saw a grim future in England. And perhaps they heard about the 1906 earthquake and the huge need for labor to rebuild, so they chose SF as their destination. Make sense? Any other thoughts?
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The VG responds:  If I wanted to leave Croyden in the 1906 (the date on the census page) I would probably hop a ship from Southampton to New York or Boston.  The Croyden aerodrome didn't open until 1920, and the Panama Canal wasn't completed until 1914.  Here are some places to look for ship lists.  Remember that there is a difference between manifests, ship lists, and arrival lists.

Not just from Norway:  Passenger lists and emigrant ships from Norway Heritage http://www.norwayheritage.com
Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild   https://www.immigrantships.net
The Ships List http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/
Specifically for Southampton
https://www.gjenvick.com/Passengers/Ports/Southampton-PassengerLists.html

It's possible that they came through Canada.  As British citizens, this may have been easier.  The US did keep track of border crossings, so you could look here:
Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960  https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1075/
And don't forget Ellis Island 1892 to 1924https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org
The transcontinental railway was opened in 1869.  This was a likely means of transport.  I haven't seen any passenger lists for the railway.  

Why would they want to leave Croyden?  Have you BEEN to Croyden?  OK, it's nicer now, but wasn't a hotbed of industry in 1906.
It looks like you might have some chain migration here.  A brother is in San Mateo.  Other things to consider:
Who did they come with?  Check the census and directories for possible friends and relatives.
Was religion a factor?
What was their occupation in England?  In the US?
What was going on in San Mateo in the 1910s?  Lumber?  Mining?  Construction?
Any financial incentives to come here?  Newspaper ads?  Employment?

Check the California Digital Newspaper Collection.  There are some articles about the estates you mentioned around that time period.  https://cdnc.ucr.edu

I always think there's a reason families moved to a particular place at a particular time.
- VG
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My family name gets spelled many different ways once you get back to the 17th and 18th C. What is the best way to decide on how you enter a name in Ancestry or your software of choice? Birth record? Death?  Also, how best to enter the names people went by when those bore no relation to their formal name.
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The VG responds: The purpose of posting online for any site is for people to find you.  In this case, you're better off using the most common recent spelling for the name of the tree.  I've seen some names using variations with a slash "Smith/Smythe tree".  And I've seen come cases where it gets unmanageable, with every possible variation in the name in every single entry.

For your own records, you may find that the name changes over generations.  On my tree, I use the older spelling for those generations, switching to the recent one later.  Try to be consistent within the records for an individual, so that you don't end up with three different names for the same person.
Which to use when the records can't agree?  Birth records are usually reliable, death records less so, census not at all.  But I try to find the way my ancestor signed him/her self and use that.

When the name they used is not their legal/formal name?  The standard is usually to record the name as on documents, with the common name in brackets.  "John Percival (Bud) Smith".  Remember you want people to find them when they may not be aware of the common usage name.

And of course if you use too many spelling variations, it plays havoc with your index!
-VG