Sunday, July 25, 2010

Guide to Obtaining U.S. Vital Records

Vital records are one of the best sources for family tree information.  These records are issued by state and local governments when a major life events happens (birth, marriage, death, etc.).  In addition to describing the event, these records typically reveal other information too - like who the person's parents or next of kin, when and where they were born, etc.   All these little pieces of information will help you piece together the larger picture ... that is, your family tree.

Due to privacy reasons, however, these records generally aren't readily available to the public.  Your best source of vital records is to ask members in your own family for copies.  I've been working the last couple of years to borrow every vital record (and photograph) I can get my hands on so I can scan them into my computer.  Of course, I always take good care of the originals and give them back to the owner.

I've often been asked why I want the original, and not a copy. The simple answer is that originals scan better (especially if there is color ink on them).  Scan a copy produces a another degraded copy, whereas, scanning the original results in the best copy possible.  The other advantage is that after scanning the original in, I can print good (and often color) copies for my notebook and then put the original document into a fireproof box for safe-keeping. 

Once you've obtained all the vital records you can from family members, you'll have to get the rest from county offices.  That is, you'll have to make a formal request (by application) for a certified copy of the vital record you want from the office that issued it. And there is usually a fee involved (typically $12-25 per record).   For this reason, most people don't order copies of a lot of vital records.  Doesn't take long before the fees start adding up.

You will be able to find some vital records on the internet. I've found several death certificates on FamilySearch.org for free. I consider those finds little treasures in my family tree chest.   Some states also offer some records online for free.

For more information on how to obtain vital records in the U.S., click here.
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Thursday, July 22, 2010

How to Customize Your View in Family Tree Maker

When you open Family Tree Maker 2010 and view your tree, you'll notice the screen is divided into different sections.

On the left is a list of the people in your tree. In the middle is the pedigree view of your tree and below that are the family details of the current person selected.  And on the right, are the details of the person selected (or currently being viewed).  This right panel is the "View" and it can be customized to make editing easier.


By default, you'll see the person's name and fields to enter that person's birth, death and marriage.  But you can other fields if you like.  Fields that I have added to my own "view" include: Burial, Cause of Death, and Divorce.   This is information that I like recording and having them on my "view" panel makes it a lot easier for me. 

Changing your "View" is easy.  Just click the button at the bottom of the right panel labeled, "Customize View".  A window will pop up when you do. 

To add a field on your view, scroll down the list on the left to see the fields available.  When you find one you want, click on it (single click) and then click the arrow pointing to the right (circled on image).  Notice once you add the new field, you can move it up or down in the list.  In other words, you can decide which order you'd like to see your fields on your view.  Be sure to click OK when finished to save the changes.

If you don't see a field that you're looking for, you can create a custom one by clicking the button on the bottom left of the window.

You'll notice that the window shown, allows you to select fields for "individuals" as well as "shared". Marriages and divorces are examples of "shared facts".

Being able to customize your view in Family Tree Maker is a nice feature, so take advantage of it.  it will make your work a lot easier!
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Friday, July 16, 2010

How to Export a Tree in Family Tree Maker

One of the nice things about genealogy software is they usually allow you to import and export your family tree information.  Not only is this helpful when sharing information with others, but it's also makes it easier to work with online genealogy sites like Ancestry.com.

Below are the steps to export a family tree using Family Tree Maker (FTM) software:
  1. Open Family Tree Maker
  2. Open the tree you want to export (if you have more than one)
  3. On the menu, select FILE and then EXPORT
  4. Make sure "Entire Tree" is selected (as wells as everything else).  
  5. Select the "file type" you'd like your exported file to be (see notes below).
  6. Click OK
  7. Select the location you'd like to save the file to (I usually select DESKTOP, so I can find it easily).
Different genealogy software programs sometimes use different file types.  If you know you are sharing between different people using Family Tree Maker software, then exporting a "Family Tree Maker" file is okay. If the person you are sharing with is using an older version of Family Tree Maker, than be sure to select the older version (so they can open it) in the menu options.   If you need to share your tree with somebody using a pre-2008 version of Family Tree Maker, then select the option that reads, "GEDCOM for FTM 16".

If you are sharing your tree with somebody not using Family Tree Maker software, then it's best to export your file as a GEDCOM file (GEDCOM 5.5, Standard). This file type will work with PAF software and other genealogy software programs.

The next step is to share your file.  If you are sharing this file with somebody else, then it's best to either copy the file to a flash drive or a CD/DVD.  However, if the person lives far away, you may also be able to email the file to them (depending on the size of the file). Generally speaking, it's not a good idea to email a file that is larger than 5 MB in size.  However, depending on who you're sending it to, you may be able to get away with a 10 MB file.

To check file size, RIGHT CLICK on the file and select PROPERTIES.  You'll see a number followed by either "Kb", "Mb" or Gb".  That's the size of the file. The file  is within the range quoted above, you can try and attach it to an email and send it.  If it's larger than 10 MB, it would be better to burn the file to a disk (or copy it to a flash drive) and mail it.

 
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Family Tree Maker Tips - Entering Divorces

In today's culture, very few people stayed married forever any more.  So it's not uncommon to have to enter divorces into your Family Tree Maker software.  Sadly, entering divorces is not very intuitive, so I thought I would share the steps here.

These instructions are for Family Tree Maker 2010.   If you're using an earlier version of Family Tree Maker, the steps may vary a bit.
  1. Open Family Tree Maker and access the person in your tree that you desire to enter a divorce for.  This assumes that you've already entered the appropriate data for the marriage.  When you double click the person's name, you'll be shown a new screen with just that person.  Your screen should look like the image below:

  1. To Enter the divorce, click the "+" sign (circled above) to add a new fact (a window pops up)
  2. Scroll down the list until you find "divorce" and then click OK.
  3. If you've already entered more than one spouse for this person, make sure you have the correct spouse selected before entering the date.  If the wrong spouse is selected, use the pull-down arrow (circled above) to select the correct spouse.  
  4. Enter the date of the divorce. 
 You can also customize your view in Family Tree Maker to make entering divorces even easier.

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    Saturday, July 3, 2010

    Finding Missouri Death Certificates Online

    Have you been trying to find a death certificate for a family member that died in Missouri?  If you haven't already, you might want to try the Missouri Digital Heritage website.  This is an awesome website!

    The folks managing the site have been gracious enough to post scanned images of death certificates online for 1910-1959. You can save the digital images of death certificates to your computer and/or order certified copies of them. 

    Just click the link above to get to the website.  The scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter the surname of the person you're searching for and then click the "search button".

    You can scroll through any results to find relatives and click the "view image" link to see the actual death certificate ( a window will popup with the scanned image). If you have trouble seeing the image, make sure your browser's pop-up block is off.  You can also minimize all other windows so you can see the new one.

    To save the document to your computer, click the icon that looks like a floppy disk (2nd icon from left at top of page).


    You can rename the file after you save it by RIGHT-CLICKING on the file's icon and selecting RENAME.

    If you want to order a certified copy of the Missouri death certificate, click here.
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    Thursday, July 1, 2010

    Fallen Heroes - A Resource for Families of Veterans

    I stumbled across a new web site today that is devoted to remembering fallen soldiers. Most of the soldiers appear to have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan within the last 5 years - but there may be others.

    None the less, i thought it was an excellent resource for those looking for information on soldiers.

    To check out the Fallen Heroes website, click here.

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