Making the Most of Quarantine Time: Genealogy Learning Online

With all the extra time we are gaining as we conscientiously obey the need for social distancing, why not take advantage of learning more online? Genealogists are indeed fortunate because there are many ways for us to continue learning from the comfort of our homes. A slew of trusted genealogy websites offer free video content that can help us become better researchers while we sit in our jammies and sip a hot beverage. You can watch a video on your own schedule or sign up for a live-streaming webinar at a particular time and date.

Webinar: Virginia Minor, Early Suffragette

Thursday, 2 April 2020, 11:00 a.m. (Central Time)

The Show Me Missouri Speakers Bureau presents Sandy Davidson speaking about "Not So Minor: Supreme Court Denies Women's Right to Vote." Virginia Minor was an early suffragette from St. Louis, pre-dating Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She sued for the right to vote in 1872, a case that went to the Supreme Court, which upheld that Missouri law did not permit women to vote. When she died in 1894, the situation had not changed. Sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council and the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO), this lecture is free but pre-registration is required. If you are interested, you can register on the SHSMO website.

Online Classes at FamilySearch

FamilySearch, one of the major online players in family history research, offers dozens of free instructional videos. The FamilySearch wiki is filled with videos narrated by experienced genealogists. You can watch at your leisure, stopping and starting as you like. You might want to start with "FamilySearch Research Wiki: What It Can Do For You!" an overview of the wiki, one of the most unheralded but valuable resources online. If you are new to FamilySearch, be sure to watch "Tips and Tricks Using FamilySearch Historical Records Collection." This video will help you navigate the vast FamilySearch collection.

Note that both these and other videos in the wiki bear a caution against using Firefox for viewing; however, both videos ran just fine in the newest version of Firefox so maybe the trouble is with older versions. Note, too, that if you scroll beneath the videos, you will see that you have the option to download both the video and handout material to your own computer. At the bottom of each screen is a list of more videos with related content.

If you are doing region-specific genealogy, you will be excited to see the wiki page with a list of countries on which there are instructional videos available.

As you can see, if you click "show" at the end of each line of black text, there are multiple classes with handouts for many countries. At the bottom of the list are also entries for North and South America. And at the top of the page are more general webinars and past research seminars (2016, 2017, and 2018 are currently available.)

If you want to see all the offerings in one spot, check out the "Classes in the Learning Center" page. Here you will find more than 2,000 videos, although not all are in English.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Search for genealogy videos on YouTube and you will find  hundreds. CyndisList also can steer you to many more. Have fun and remember that you do occasionally have to get up and stretch!

StLGS and the Current COVID-19 Situation

Having cancelled our planned events for March through May, and, like all of you, unsure of how long we will have to shelter in place, the St. Louis Genealogical Society social media committee has been working to speed up the process of bringing you genealogy lectures and classes digitally. We had been exploring options before the coronavirus appeared, but we are now moving ahead a lot more quickly. As you will see below, however, this process will still take a bit of time.

What are we planning?

Our first priority is learning to use popular webinar software and getting a process in place to offer lectures online that can be both fee-based and free—free to members (like our classes), and, when appropriate, fee-based views (like our Family History Conference and Speaker Series.) While we were still able to meet last week, the social media committee began to develop this process, which will likely begin with a simple one-hour meeting sometime in the near future.

In addition, we are planning a virtual Family History Conference to replace the full-day in-person conference that had been scheduled for Saturday, 4 April. Members of the social media committee obtained willingness from the conference speakers to participate, and now we are moving ahead with the behind-the-scenes parts: contracts, payments, details of registration, etc. There are many steps we must take, but we are working on them diligently.

What can you do?

You can help us!

1. Last week, we emailed a letter to members asking how you want to handle your registration fee, if you have already registered for the Family History Conference. If you haven't already responded to that email, please will you do so? Can't find the original email? Send a note to publications@stlgs.org and we'll send you another copy.
2. Check our website (www.stlgs.org), our Facebook group (www.facebook.com/groups/76633518155), and/or our Twitter account (www.twitter.com/stlgs) periodically so you are up to date on progress. We want to stay connected with you so you will be aware of what is happening.
3. If you have genealogy friends that are not getting this blog or are not using social media, encourage them to do so.
4. If you have any questions, please send them via the StLGS Facebook group or Twitter account, or send an email to programs@stlgs.org so we can answer them for you.
5. Most of all, we are pleased to say that exciting things are coming, and we appreciate your patience! Stay tuned!

Celebrating a Pirate Queen and Calling for Your Biographies

March is National Women's History Month and St. Patrick's Day is just a day away, so this week we will celebrate the life of a remarkable woman of Irish heritage. Be thinking about those amazing women in your own family and how you can capture their stories as we examine the life of someone you may not know.

Have you heard of Grace O'Malley, "the notorious Pirate Queen of western Ireland"? Not surprising if you haven't as most Americans know nothing about Grace, but she was formidable! In the west of Ireland, in a remote, romantic spot on Achill Island, is the windblown stone tower called Grace O'Malley's Castle. It was here that this writer first learned about Grace, and her story is astonishing.

Born around 1530 into a family known for piracy and ruthlessness, when she was about twelve, Gráinne ni Mhaille, the only girl, was eager to travel with her father to Spain. Her mother refused to let her go, so Gráinne shaved her head and disguised herself as a boy, earning her a nickname she would carry for life. The Irish name Gráinne translates to Grace and Mhaol means bald, so she became Granuaile, pronounced "graw-nya-wail," or Bald Grace.

For years, she worked with her father, learning to be a sea trader, raider, and captain, as well as a diplomat and a great leader. She married twice, the first time at just fifteen, and had three children before her husband died in battle. His death left Granuaile, then twenty-three years old, in possession of a castle and numerous fighting ships. Her second husband owned Rockfleet Castle on Clew Bay near Newport. She stayed with him long enough to bear him a son and then take both the castle and the baby from him by literally putting him out the door.

Grace O'Malley went on to be the undisputed warrior queen of the western Irish coastline. She fought numerous battles for territory on land, led pirate ships at sea, and went head to head with Queen Elizabeth I in Greenwich, England, where she refused to bow to the monarch, saying that she was a queen herself. According to legend, Grace carried a dagger to the meeting, saying it was for her own protection. The women negotiated in Latin, as Grace did not speak English and Elizabeth knew no Irish. They reached an agreement that Elizabeth would release Grace's sons and her half-brother, who were being held as hostages, and Grace would stop terrorizing English ships off the Irish coast and supporting Irish rebels against the English. (The graphic shows Grace standing on the left and Queen Elizabeth on the right. There are no known contemporary portraits of Grace O'Malley; this is an illustration from Anthologia Hibernica, volume 11, published in 1793.)

Grace lived into her seventies, dying in 1603 at Rockfleet Castle. She is the stuff of Irish legends to this day. You can read a lot more about Grace online and this is a good place to start.

 Women in Your Family

Your turn! Is there an interesting woman or two in your family whose story deserves to be told? What better time to sit down in front of your computer and start writing? And what to do with your biography once it's done? Share it, of course! Give copies to your family so they know their heritage. Is your female ancestor a St. Louisan? Then we welcome her story as part of our St. Louis City/County Biographies project. You can get all the details on our website.

Updates to Orphanage Care in St. Louis: St. Bridget's Half-Orphan Asylum for Girls

(Thanks to StLGS treasurer, Viki Fagyal, for contributing this week's blog post.) 

Questions about orphans and orphanage care in St. Louis are among the most frequent inquiries we get from genealogy researchers at St. Louis Genealogical Society. If you are a member of the society, we have quite a bit of information to help you on this topic on our website. Log into the site and go to the orphanage home page to start learning about the various institutions in St. Louis. The orphanage page will also give you basic information on orphan trains and available records in St. Louis.

St. Bridget's Half Orphan Asylum for Girls

St. Bridget’s Half-Orphan Asylum for Girls was established in 1858 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and was located on Lucas Avenue and Beaumont Street. The home served female half-orphans from five to twelve years old, who were placed by the surviving parent. Part of the founding mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet was St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis. This put the order in the unique position of being able to serve deaf orphans and half-orphans.

Of the ninety-nine white females between the ages of four and twenty-one listed in the 1870 census, twenty-five of the girls showed handicapping conditions: four were marked "idiotic," fifteen marked "deaf and dumb," one marked "deaf, dumb, and blind," two marked "blind," and three marked "mute." Of the ninety-four white females between the ages of ten months and nineteen years listed in the 1880 census, nine of the girls showed handicapping conditions: six were marked "deaf and dumb," two marked "idiotic," and one marked "disabled." This is remarkable because St. Bridget’s served a population not seen in the other orphanages.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet gave permission for the St. Louis Genealogical Society to place a list on our website of deaf children cared for and taught at St. Bridget’s. The data includes their names, birth places, parents’ names, when they left the asylum, and sometimes some additional information. This list can now be found at the top right of the Orphanages page on our website in the box labeled "More Orphanage Information." You can also go directly to it here, once you are logged into the site.

There is little history available for St. Bridget’s Half Orphan Asylum for Girls. In 1866 it was placed under the control of the Board of Managers of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylums of St. Louis. The archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet deals only with the sisters; they do not have student records. The St. Louis Archdiocesan Archives does not have records for St. Bridget’s Half Orphan Asylum for Girls either.

More on St. Louis Orphanages

The StLGS website includes a bibliography of orphanage histories and articles, a finding aid for locating orphanages in the 1850 through 1940 censuses, a timeline of the locations for each orphanage through all their moves, and an Index to the Journal of Commitments for the House of Refuge.

The most comprehensive resource for St. Louis orphanages is Researching Orphans and Orphanage Care in St. Louis, written by Viki Fagyal ($13 members/$15 nonmembers), and available in our society's store. Don't forget to log in and get your member coupon code for the lower price.

March Genealogy Meetings, Classes, and Special Events

Spring is in the air, and now that the weather shows signs of brightening up, March is crammed with all kinds of exciting genealogy events. In addition, there are many conferences and workshops coming up in the next few months. So, prepare yourself to keep busy doing your favorite hobby and grab your calendar!

Upcoming Meetings

StLGS Monthly Meeting: Saturday, 14 March 2020

"More Than Checkmarks: Finding Female Ancestors," by Jake Eubanks, St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium, 10:00 a.m.; free, open to all, no pre-registration needed. More information available on the StLGS website.

 

Cliff Cave Library Genealogy Presentation: Wednesday, 4 March 2020

"Researching in Alsace and Lorraine," by Dan Lilienkamp, St. Louis County Library Cliff Cave Branch, 6:30 p.m.; free, open to all, no pre-registration needed. More information available on the library's website. 

St. Clair County (Illinois) Genealogical Society Monthly Meeting: Thursday, 5 March 2020

"Introduction to DNA Testing for Genealogy," by Bob McDonald, St. Luke's Parish Hall, 226 N. Church Street, Belleville, 7:00 p.m.; free, open to all, no pre-registration needed. More information available on the group's website.
   

Czech Genealogical Researchers Monthly Meeting: Saturday, 21 March 2020

"The Irish in Bohemia," by Mary Petersen, St. Louis County Library Headquarters, East Room, 1:30 p.m.; free, open to all, no pre-registration needed. More information available on the group's website.
 

Upcoming StLGS Classes

• "Legacy Family Tree 101" (PC only) by Cathy Amen, Saturday, 21 March 2020

• "Intermediate Irish Research," by Carol Hemmersmeier & Kay Weber; Saturday, 28 March 2020

Classes are held at the StLGS Office from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Free to StLGS members; fee for non-members; pre-registration required at 314-647-8547.

 More information on these and more StLGS classes on our website.

StLGS German Special Interest Group Meeting

"German Genealogy: What Do You Need to Know?" by Carol Whitton, CG, German SIG leader; Wednesday, 25 March 2020, St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.; free, open to all, no pre-registration needed. Click here for more information.

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March Classes at St. Louis County Library

• 5 March: "Exploring the Ancestry Database," Thornhill
• 10 March: "FamilySearch Basics," Florissant Valley
• 11 March: "Family History Online: Databases for Genealogical Research," Rock Road
• 17 March: "History and Genealogy in Newspapers," Sachs
• 18 March: "Library Skills for Genealogical Research," Natural Bridge
• 19 March: "Discovering Ancestral Military Veterans," Weber Road
• 26 March: "Finding Ancestors in U.S. Census Records," Headquarters
• 31 March: "Who Were My Ancestors? Beginning Family History Research," Meramec Valley

All library classes are free but require pre-registration. More information available on the library's website.
  

Upcoming Special Events

"That Fabulous Summer" (1904 World's Fair)
Lecture and film at the Missouri History Museum, Sunday, 8 March 2020,

Lee Auditorium, 2:00 p.m. Free; no pre-registration required.

The museum is also sponsoring several classes this month with St. Louis Community College that are historical/genealogical in content. Specific details are on the museum's website.

Tours at Bellefontaine Cemetery

Celebrate Women's History Month and the coming of spring by taking a walking or a trolley tour at Bellefontaine. Tours are planned throughout the month of March. More information in the March Events Calendar on Bellefontaine's website.

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  StLGS Trivia Night: Saturday, 7 March 2020

Richmond Heights Community Center, 8001 Dale Avenue (just south of I-64 between Hanley and Big Bend); doors open at 6:15 p.m.; questions begin at 7:00 p.m.

Questions on all topics. We'll provide snacks, fun, and an awesome silent auction!

Check out our website for more information and/or to register.

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48th Annual Family History Conference
Proof Positive . . . Evidence in Court Records

Featuring Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL
AND John Dougan, Missouri State Archivist
PLUS
Local speakers, Exhibitors, Prizes and Raffles, and More!
Saturday, 4 April 2020
Orlando Gardens, 2050 Dorsett Road, St. Louis, MO 63043
Registration and complete program information
 on the StLGS website.