I found a solution this problem! Instead of taking the picture to the scanner, Flip-Pal allows you to bring the scanner to the photo.

Flip-Pal is very easily transportable and can scan items that are in albums or frames. It even has this amazing software with it that will allow you to scan a very big item in stages and then stitch the scans together later making one large image.

I see Flip-Pal working great in reference libraries. Instead of making paper copies of reference materials and taking them home and scanning, you can scan the book right at the library. Flip-Pal will allow you to get the book flatter than a copier and there will not be the distortion of words where the book is bound!

You can throw it in a purse or laptop bag and carry it with you. Then when Aunt Judy says oh no I can’t let you take the album you can say instead, mind if I scan a few photos?

If you would like more information or would like to order your own Flip-Pal, please follow the Flip-Pal link, give me a call (262-783-1620) or send an email. I can place the order for you and have it shipped directly to your home.

The new page can be found here.
http://wiroots.org/wiadams/whitecreekhistory.html

Pictures are in the Linking Your Past Photo Gallery

Thanks to Patricia for sending the information and photos!

In less than 10 months the 1940 US Population Schedules will become public. It will not be name indexed, so it will be necessary to do an address search in order to find families. Address searching involves knowing the ED (enumeration district) in which the address is located. The National Archives (NARA) earlier this year indicated they had plans to make available in 2011 the 1940 ED maps of cities and counties, and ED descriptions, but their recent move to consider having a 3rd party host all the images may have appreciably set back this timetable.

The only website that currently has location tools for the 1940 census is the Steve Morse One Step site (http://stevemorse.org). There are several such tools there, and it could be overwhelming to figure out which tool to use when. There is a tutorial that attempts to clarify it (http://stevemorse.org/census/intro.html) and an extensive FAQ (http://stevemorse.org/census/faq.htm).

We are announcing the opening of another educational utility to help people learn about the different 1940 locational search tools on the One Step site, and information about the 1940 census itself. It is in the form of a quiz, and should help many, many genealogists quickly learn how to search an unindexed census by location. The new utility is at: http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php and is called “How to Access the 1940 Census in One Step”. Not only is it informative, we hope it is entertaining.

Thanks

Joel Weintraub
Steve Morse

When Scott Drummey read the June 9 Portsmouth Herald article detailing Berwick resident Carrie Arsenault’s discovery of an inscribed gold ring, he got down to the business of solving a family mystery.

The only clue when Arsenault found the ring on a private beach near the Lady Pepperrell House on Route 103 was an inscription: “CCD to MAL Dec. 25, 1880.”

Arsenault’s mother, Kittery deputy town clerk Kathy Pridham, looked through town marriage records and found one match: Kittery residents Charles C. Dixon and Maranda A. Lewis were married May 12, 1881, by the Rev. John A. Goss.

Arsenault and Pridham were unable to find out much more about the mysterious couple, but Drummey, who became interested in genealogy studies after researching his own family history, turned to Ancestry.com and found some interesting facts that may start to clarify the lives of Dixon and Lewis and their possible connection to the ring.

“As soon as I read the article, I thought, ‘There’s a history behind this,’” he said.

Scott Drummey is hoping to find an heir to the ring. “Are (descendants) reading this article? Do you know who they are? Let them know their great-grandmother’s engagement ring recently washed up on the beach,” he said.

If you can help, you might want to first read the article. Find out more about the story.

Eastman’s article

1: Funeral homes MAY NOT refuse to accept caskets purchased form another retailer.

2: Funeral homes MAY NOT charge a handling fee for caskets purchased from another retailer.

3: Funeral homes MAY NOT require consumers to be present when a casket is purchased from another retailer is delivered to the funeral home.

4: Funeral homes MAY NOT make slanderous statements about buying caskets from another retailer.

5: Funeral homes MAY NOT require consumers to buy certain funeral goods or services as a condition for furnishing other funeral goods or services.

This was published in the Wisconsin Cemetery and Cremation Reporter in 2007. It is based on the strict Federal TRade Commission laws governing funeral homes and their interaction with customers.

(AP) A man widely believed to be the model for the smiling chef on Cream of Wheat boxes finally has a grave marker bearing his name.

Frank L. White died in 1938, and until recently, his grave in Woodland Cemetery (Michigan) bore only a tiny concrete marker with no name.

A granite gravestone was finally placed at his burial site. It bears his name and an etching taken
from the man depicted on the Cream of Wheat box.

When White died Feb. 15, 1938, the Leslie, MI Local Republican described him as a “famous
chef” who “posed for an advertisement of a wellknown breakfast food.”

White lived in Leslie for about the last 20 years of his life, and the story of his posing for the Cream of Wheat picture was known in the city of 2,000 located about 70 miles West of Detroit.

The chef was photographed about 1900 while working in a Chicago restaurant. His name was
not recorded. White was a chef, traveled a lot, was about the right age and told neighbors that he
was the Cream of Wheat model.

140 Free Online Genealogy Research Courses
Growing Course Catalog Makes It Easier to Expand Family History Skills

Family Search Genealogy Research Lessons Online

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Ever found yourself researching your family tree and discovering a new branch that extended to another country—and you are not familiar with that country’s records or language? Or perhaps you are a fan of the popular reality show Who Do You Think You Are? and wonder, “How do the producers know what public records to search to find all of those cool stories about that celebrity’s ancestors?” Maybe you’d like to learn more about how to do your family history research but don’t think you can afford to take a class. Thousands of individuals are now satisfying many of those needs through FamilySearch’s growing collection of free online genealogy courses. In just one year, the number of free FamilySearch courses has grown to over 140—and new courses are added monthly. Most recently, over 25 courses were added for Australia, England, Germany, and the U.S. Additional courses were added that focus on basic tools and techniques for anyone just getting started in family history research, as well as courses for intermediate and advanced researchers.

“The goal of the initiative is to educate more people worldwide about how to find their ancestors. We do it by filming the experts teaching a particular class of interest and then offering free access to that presentation online—complete with the PowerPoint used and any electronic handouts that the user can download or print for future reference,” said Candace Turpan, FamilySearch instructional designer.

Turpan’s team films presentations made by its staff from the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as special guests (the library is frequented by accredited researchers from all over the world). They also travel to industry conferences or other venues where record and research specialists gather. There they film specialists’ presentations and make them available online.

Of course, you don’t have to be into genealogy to find presentations of interest. Fans of The Da Vinci Code or National Treasure might find the Cemetery Art course by Ellen Miller of the Mid-Continent Public Library System in Independence, Missouri, very intriguing and enlightening. Miller’s course teaches about funerary traditions and cemetery iconography. “[Tombstone] practices differ from country to country, culture to culture, and religion to religion. As funeral ceremonies differ, so do the burial practices,” said Miller. Those elements often influence the types of funeral markers and symbols used on headstones, footstones, and tablet stones and can therefore tell important facts about the person they help identify. The key is in understanding the messages behind the symbolism.

FamilySearch uses viewing software that splits the viewing screen (sort of like the picture-in-picture features on some televisions) so the user can watch the video of the presenter while also seeing the PowerPoint presentation. Most courses are 30 minutes in length. You can also fast forward through the presentation or presentation slides or stop and pick up later where you left off—a luxury you don’t get in the live presentation.

“Maybe you enjoy the thrill of deciphering or reading old records in other languages. FamilySearch also has free courses to help genealogy students understand key words and terms of older foreign alphabets and handwriting, including Gothic,” added Turpin. The intent behind all of these courses is to give people the keys they need to successfully find their elusive ancestors in historic records. “Sometimes they just need a new sleuthing skill or resource. These genealogy courses are perfect for those personal development needs,” concluded Turpin.

Whatever your motivation or objective, bookmark and make regular visits to the growing catalog of free courses at FamilySearch.org.

And if you or someone you know currently teaches a class that would be of value to the genealogy community and wants to share it, find out how online at FamilySearch’s genealogy classes online.

Latest Course Additions:

Australia
Australia BDM Civil Registration Index
New South Wales Early Church Records 1788–1886
Using the New South Wales Birth, Death, Marriage Index

England
Getting the Most from the National Archives Website
Researching in the British Isles
What Is Britain?

Germany
My Experiences in German Family Research

Research Principles and Tools
Cemetery Art
Finding Your Way: Locating and Using Maps in Your Research
How to Find More at a Genealogy Library
If I’d Only Known: Beginner Genealogy Mistakes
Managing Your Family Records on the Internet

United States of America
Basic U.S. Military Records with Tiff
Beginning Census Research and Record Keeping
Colonial Immigration
Colonial Land
County Histories and Your Family
Finding the Slave Generation
Locating Ancestors on the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes
See You on Sunday! Church Records in Genealogy
Some Underused Online Resources
U.S. Courthouse Research
Welcome to the World of Periodicals

ICAPGen The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists
Mentoring Class: Introduction to ICAPGen
Mentoring Class: Research Binder
Mentoring Class: Evidence Analysis Part II
Mentoring Class: Written Exam and Oral Review

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer–driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

For some people organizing is the most difficult part of the research process. Don’t let it scare you. The first step of organizing your ancestry is determining your goals. If you don’t know where you are headed, then how can you get there? Determining your goals will help you focus on what is important.

• Do you want just birth dates, death dates, marriages?
• Do you want to know about who they were? What they did? Activities?
• Do you want to know just the direct family members (parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc)? or
• Do you also want to know about their children and their families?
• Do you want living relatives.
• How many generations do you want to know about?

Now with a goal in mind, you can start the actual organization process. Some people prefer to organize the old fashion way (paper and pencil) and others prefer to organize using software or other technology. I like to use both and will get into different recording techniques in a later article.

The next thing I do when I start a family tree is create a pedigree chart. A pedigree chart is an outline of the direct family members. You can get some preprinted pedigree charts online by doing a search. Cyndi’s List has some listed on her website. Fill out the chart as best you can. You may not know a lot of the information. That is okay. I like to have this chart so I can quickly see who the major players are in the family at a glance.

I then color code my families. I assign a color to an individual or a particular surname. You can use a highlighter, marker, crayon or colored pencil to give that family a color.

I have divided my information as follows:

• Color 1: Mom’s mother Surname Blum
• Color 2: Mom’s father Surname Jonas
• Color 3: Dad’s mother Surname Radej/Radey
• Color 4: Dad’s father Surname Chaloupka

Almost everyone has some sort of document or photos or something they want to keep in a physical form. I then invest in some water tight plastic storage bins. Good sturdy ones are worth the investment. They will help protect your paper copies and photos from damage. Also, get some colored tape or labels and label the storage container with the family color. Masking tape and markers works okay too. If your budget permits, you may also want to invest in matching colored file folders and/or binders.

Next put all the notes, photos, family trees, documents, bibles etc. that you have on that surname or person and place it in a storage container. Don’t take the time to organize it within the bin, just put it in and put on the lid.

As time permits, you can take out a bin, one at a time, and deal with its contents. It should be less intimidating when you take out the box, because it will be focusing on only one family tree topic. If you still have too much, you may need to divide it once more.

Organizing the contents of the bin will be the topic of a later article.

People have been researching their past for many generations, but only recently has it become so easy to climb your family tree and if you aren’t careful, someone else’s tree. Television shows like “Who Do You Think You Are?” brings to light some of the techniques necessary to find the facts. It isn’t necessary to pay a fee to subscription based services such as Ancestry.com in order to start your research. There are many sources out there that can get you much of the same information for free.

The first resource most everyone has available to them is living relatives. Start out by asking questions to people who might know, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, even siblings. Sometimes you will be surprised by what people already know. Your goal when asking the questions is to get as much information as you can. Key questions to ask are:

1) Do you know the maiden name?
2) Do you remember any people who frequently visited? Sometimes a Mrs. Jahn could actually be your great grandmother’s cousin. Don’t dismiss information just because you don’t think it is relevant. You never know when that information will come in handy.
3) Do you remember any places that were visited? Vacation locations?
4) Ask if anyone has any photo albums. Sometimes there are names or places written on old pictures that can be helpful.
5) Does anyone have a family bible? Names, dates and places are often written in the family bible.
6) Does anyone have any funeral cards they have saved from years ago. Funeral cards can give you hints as to the religion the family may have practiced or the cemetery family members preferred to be buried.
7) Does any of the elder members of the family have their birth certificate?, baptism certificate? their parents death certificate? Often these documents can give you a clue to where to go next.

After you have gathered all you can from living relatives, it becomes time to organize and sort your materials and notes. The subject for next Wednesdays article.

Have any questions about this article? Please leave your questions below.