TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Genealogy Sessions Can Be Rewarding

ADVERTISEMENT

By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: October 5, 2008

Fall genealogy programs get into full swing throughout the Bay area this month. Here's the October lineup for those interested in learning more about research and meeting fellow family historians:

Pasco County Society Meeting: Peter Summers will present a program on Documenting Your Sources at the meeting Saturday of the Pasco County Genealogy Society. The program will begin at 10 a.m. Summers will address the technical process of recording sources and the importance of using quality sources. This meeting will be at the Latter Day Saints Church, 9016 Fort King Road, Dade City. You can learn more about the society at www.rootsweb.com/~flpcgs. Those with questions can call Pattie Schultz at (813) 973-4546 or (813) 505-7996 or email Pattie_Schultz@hotmail.com

Jewish Society Meeting: The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay monthly meeting will feature Debbe Hagner speaking about what's new at FamilySearch, the Web site of the Latter Day Saints Church. The society will meet Oct. 12 at the Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater. A social with refreshments and library access will begin at 1:30 p.m., and the program will start at 2 p.m.

This meeting is open to anyone interested in learning about Jewish genealogical research. For information on the organization or directions to the meeting, call Linda Zolinsky at (727) 372-0646.

Pinellas Society Meeting: I will be lecturing at the Pinellas County Genealogy Society on Oct. 18. My topic will be Speaking from the Grave: Exploring Your Ancestors' Probate Files. The program will be held 11 a.m. in the Jenkins Auditorium at the Largo Public Library, 120 Central Park Drive, Largo. Guests are welcome, and there is no fee to attend.

South Bay Society Meeting: The South Bay Genealogical Society meeting on Oct. 21 will feature Barbara Shulz speaking on Jamestowne, Virginia: Its History and People. Reservations are required to attend this meeting and must be made by sending a check for $15 to the society at P.O. Box 5202, Sun City Center, no later than Oct. 14.

This group usually meets at the SouthShore Regional Library but for the month of October will meet at the Sunset Grill restaurant in the Little Harbor community of Ruskin. Directions to Little Harbor are available online at www.littleharbor.com/contact-directions.asp.

A Lesson Learned

Tampa reader Carol Klein-Buckingham recently shared with me how trusting the skills of a record collections indexer almost caused her to miss an ancestor in the census.

While using the highly regarded census indexes at Ancestry.com she got an up-close lesson that indexers do make mistakes. Carol now is a believer in the sermons we lecturers and writers preach about getting as close to the original document as possible before eliminating individuals as our ancestors.

Using a column format, census takers abbreviated race descriptors of individuals as "W" for white and "M" for mulatto (racially mixed) and "M" or "F" for male or female. In the 1910 census Carol's three-year-old ancestor Arlie Coop was enumerated with those standard abbreviations for a white male.

Perhaps the indexer was tired or his eyes temporarily crossed as he interpreted the "M' in the wrong column and listed the Coop family as mulatto. Carol was sure this was not a mulatto family so she looked at the original record and confirmed that the indexer had erred.

In previous research Carol had passed over names indexed as mulatto, and now she says she plans to revisit them to see whether any of those mulattos in fact were her family members.

Unlocking Google

A new book that promises to unlock the hidden power of the Google search engine will be off the presses later this month. Titled "Google Your Family Tree," the book is authored by professional genealogist Daniel M. Lynch. It will include search tips, how to create alerts, and use Google Maps and Google Earth. It will sell for $34.95

You can learn more about this book and place an advanced order by going to www.GoogleYourFamilyTree.com.

Write to Sharon Tate Moody in care of The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606; or e-mail stmoody0720 @mac.com.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT