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What is "blog"

I don't understand the word! I just read James Turner's article "why should I go to a genealogical conference?" and tried to respond to it. I wrote but it didn't appear. I can't seem to reach James turner even though we are both members of various Genealogy Wise groups. I don't know how to be involved with the Blog thing. I am Susan (S.J.) Cruse and I would like very much to respond to Mr. Turner. I am Deaf and I have some positive comments on this.
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Why should I go to a genealogical conference?

Genealogy can be a very solitary activity. Although you may have contact with your family and with other researchers, most of the work you do is done by yourself. Even though you may read journals, magazine articles and online resources about the work of doing genealogy, there are few places you can go to get feedback from knowledgeable people. Genealogical conferences provide the motivation to re-energize and re-think methods, procedures and sources. The social atmosphere of the conference allo
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The Home Guard - Part 2

From “The London Free Press and Daily Western Advertiser” June 11, 1866.As was seen in part one of the “Home Guard” the boys are fully trained and ready to go.Corner of Dundas and Richmond Streets, under a gas lamp, 3 am.“To the Captain commanding Home Guards - Formed my troops in square of the rendezyous . Told them London expected every man to do his duty. Threw out skirmishers into the back yards and dark doorways. Marched with the main body under my own immediate command up Richmond Street t
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The Home Guard

This excerpt from “The London Free Press and Daily Western Advertiser” June 11, 1866. It reads to a 21st century critic as if it was straight out of Monty Python. It’s ofnone man’s tale of service in the London, Ontario, Home Guard during the Fenian Raids. In fact, just after as the Battle of Ridgeway is over, and at this point, most of the Fenians that fought at Ridgeway are in the custody of the U.S. Army.“I’ve joined the Home Guard, Sir, Editor, I would have volunteered and gone to the front
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5 Tips to Choosing an Online Genealogy Database

Now more than ever, I can appreciate how confusing it can be for a family historian trying to decide on which database they would like to join when beginning their family research. If you’re an armchair genealogist then certainly you want to belong to an online genealogy database. The question is which database to join?I am here to tell you, only you can know the answer to that. How do you know?1. Gather as much information about your ancestors prior to seeking out a database. Where your ancesto
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The Illiterate Colonel

Last week I blogged about Colonel Joshua Burnham, and the fine mansion house he built in Milford, New Hampshire. His house was later sold to the Hutchinson family. Because of their fame as singers, I’ve been able to find many documents about my ancestor the Colonel. You would think that as a Revolutionary War officer, and as someone wealthy enough to build a large estate, he would have left documents for me, the future genealogist, to uncover. But that is not the case with Joshua Burnham.In my f
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Family Tree Connection - Update (17/Jan/2010)

Family Tree Connection

Family Tree Connection has added the following genealogy items to its database:

Quinobequin Lodge I.O.O.F. 1918 By-Laws - Constitution, By-Laws and List of Membership of Quinobequin Lodge No. 70, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Jamaica Plain, Mass.

Revolutionary War Invalid Pensioners 1807 Report - Letter from The Secretary of War transmitting A Report in Relation to Invalid Pensioners: Made in Pursuance of the Act of the 10th of April last intituled 'An act to provide for persons who wer

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WorldCat, RedLaser, Google Books and much more

In my last post, I mentioned a new iPhone called RedLaser. I guess I need to be a little more specific. RedLaser is an app that reads UPC barcodes. If you read a barcode from a product in a store (or elsewhere) it will look up the product and search for a price on the Internet. The app has recently been expanded to read UPC barcodes on books. In addition to looking up the book and a price on the Internet, the program also looks in WorldCat to find a copies of the book in libraries, starting with
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My Ancestors

Here is a list of my ancestors:

Great Grandparents:
Albert Kolstee (1879-1937)
Louise Trump (1900-1985)
Merle Harrington (1894-1978)
Alice Washburg (1895-1991)
Martin Widegren (1903-1990)
Elmira Harrison (1906-1994)
Carl Johnson (1905-1968)
Rose Conti (1921-2004)

Great-Great Grandparents:
Jan Willem te Kolstee (1830-1895)
Johanna Geertruida Theodore Hesselink (1840-1905)
John Leonhard Trump (1864-1939)
Barbara Pfiffier (1865-1942)
William Harrington (1872-1960)
Emma Wheeler (1867-1929)
John Elmer Washburg (1875-

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My name is Emily M. Matthias and I am a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State University. I am also a family historian, working on my own family (hi)story since 2000.The purpose of my study is to explore ideas surrounding cultural identity formation using the pursuit of genealogy as one lens. I am interested in hearing from fellow family historians working on their own research.Please help me out by going to my website @ http://www.mygenealogystudy.
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Deciding to create a family history book can be a large undertaking and it can be an expensive undertaking. Often the process can take on a life of its own. Therefore, it is important to set parameters for your family history book. One of those parameters must include a budget. It is very important to decide on a budget for your book in conjunction with deciding on the size and scope of your book. A great way to determine your budget is to ask yourself some key questions.Do I want to sell my boo
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Do Wikis really work for genealogy?

Before we get into any controversy over the question in the title to this post, I believe the answer to be yes, collaborative shared information sites, like the FamilySearch Wiki or the family tree Website, Werelate.org, certainly have a large role to play in genealogical world of the near future. But, is genealogy really about consensus? Just because I can get all of relatives to agree with me where my great-grandfather was born in California, does that really change the fact that I may be wron
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Minstry of Truth

I tried to type this in my "status" area on my page, it said, "why are you stopping by?" but you are limited to 140 characters, So I posted it here. I haven't been to GeneaologyWise in months but.....I heard that my friend Debbie Anne Jackson had been "disappeared" and I just had to look for myself.Not only is she gone but all our correspondence is gone, I see the groups that she started were very carefully edited so that they could stay.It is very spooky and Orwellian, she is now an "unperson",
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That's it. I will never be surprised by technology again. When I hear about some new gadget or technology idea - I will no longer think, "yah right, maybe in the future." The future is here.LIke most genealogists, I like taking pictures - pictures of the family, trees, and cemeteries. When I read about Eye-Fi last night, not only did I realize that the future was here, but I also knew that taking pictures would never be the same.Eye-Fi makes your digital camera go wireless. As soon as you snap y
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My 5x great grandfather, Colonel Joshua Burnham, built a fine home in Milford, New Hampshire in 1824. He sold the home to fund his retirement, and it was purchased by Jesse Hutchinson to house his large family. The children and grandchildren used it as a summer home until the mid 1900’s. It still stands in Milford, and is down the street from a small cemetery where Colonel Burnham, and many members of the Hutchinson family, is buried.It turns out that the Hutchinson family was quite famous. The
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Back to Adam?

Recently, I have had several people brag to me about their extensive pedigrees. It seems that they have completed some of their lines back to Adam! I am always grateful to find out we are related, but I do have several comments about these old extended genealogies, some of which are apparently showing up on New FamilySearch.Before getting into a discussion about the validity of these ancient records, it would be a good idea to get a feel for the types of records that survive. One good site is "S
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