Upcoming Meetings and Events - Future Events View

This talk covers how more than two decades of journalism experience has helped Jennifer as a genealogist, both to zero in on reliable information and not to be duped by unreliable information. She will talk about using the “Law and Order” method (follow the “dun duns!”) to track down information and how relying on simple principles like Occam’s Razor – that the most likely scenario is the least complicated – and logic grids can help you get further. We’ll go over pitfalls like not blindly using Ancestry hints, assessing the credibility of sources, not being wedded to spelling, (hello, wildcard searches!) and why genealogy is like playing Concentration: you always have to remember the cards you’ve seen and turned over.

One-Step Webpages : A Potpourri of Genealogical Search ToolThe One-Step website started out as an aid for finding passengers in the Ellis Island database. Shortly afterwards it was expanded to help with searching in the 1930 census. Over the years it has continued to evolve and today includes about 300 web based tools divided into 16 separate categories ranging from genealogical searches to astronomical calculations to last minute bidding on eBay. This presentation will describe the range of tools available and give the highlights of each one.

Case Study: Genealogy of Renee Kaufman This lecture presents a case study using the One Step Webpages as well as other websites to develop a family history It illustrates how with a minimal amount of initial information, an entire genealogy can be obtained. It also shows how to obtain records in spite of name misspellings, and how to avoid accepting wrong information.

The Russian Empire compiled information about households in census-like records at various times. The Russian Empire compiled Revision Lists from 1719 until 1858, family lists from time to time thereafter, and an Empire-wide census in 1897. Using Russian Empire document examples, this session will explain how families can be followed from one Revision List to the next. This session will also demonstrate the importance of knowing an ancestor’s place of registration for finding related records.

Jewish headstone inscriptions and burial records can provide crucial information to family historians. Hebrew name inscriptions that are based on patronymics can link together two generations of Hebrew names unlike any other source document. This can be especially helpful when trying to connect first generation American ancestors with their European families.

Using photographs and case studies, Nolan Altman will explain the symbols and details found on headstones and describe how this information can provide important data and context for your family research. He will also direct you to the major websites that can help you locate the burial sites of your ancestors.

Naturalization is the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. These records can provide a researcher with valuable information such as an ancestor’s person‘s birth date, birth location in the old country, occupation , immigration year, marital status, spouse information, witnesses‘ names and addresses. Naturalization and the individual steps to citizenship could be done at any “court of record” of which there were 5,000 in the United States.

"How to Get Your Documents Translated: Free Resources!"

Mike will demonstrate how to translate your documents with a variety of Internet resources. He will also discuss translation vs. transliteration, major translation projects such as the Yizkor Book project, and other related topics.

Join TJGS founder Debbie Long in a discussion of how hometowns shaped you and your ancestors PLUS a special movie about Debbie‘s hometown. The discussion will also include a review of Kehilalinks.