Where are the Death Certificates?

St. Louis Genealogical Society has a very active presence on Facebook, both a News and Events page and a wonderful group just shy of 4,300 members. No politics, no precocious baby or animal videos, no endless goofy jokes—OK, maybe a few occasionally, but only about genealogy! We know that many people avoid social media, but our Facebook group provides a safe space for people to ask and answer genealogy questions, announce meetings and other special events, and spread the joy of genealogy. Sometimes inquiries are posted in the group that need a bit more time and space to answer, and this week brought up one that is so important, we thought we'd devote a post to it. So, for all of you asking about online death certificates, please read on . . .

June StLGS Meetings and Classes

Summer is almost here, and we are excited to bring you some great upcoming meetings. We have one class scheduled for this coming weekend, and we want to remind you about the deadlines for registering for our Salt Lake City Research Trip or watching the digital recordings of the Family History Conference. Here's what's on tap for June . . . 

Preview of June Meetings, a Few Reminders, and a Chart-Making Treat!

Because of our annual Family History Conference that took place on Saturday, 3 May, there are no other scheduled events for this month. However, we have some great meetings coming up as well as a class, and we don't want you to miss the deadlines for registering for our Salt Lake City Research Trip or watching the digital recordings of the Family History Conference. We also have a fun link to share for those of you who are planning to print large family charts. Here's what you need to know. . . 

Find Your Ancestors in the Newly-Released 1931 Canadian Census

If you have ancestors from Canada, you know that there is a Canadian census, like ours, conducted every ten years, but unlike ours, a complete national census is not available before 1871, since Canada did not become a confederation until 1867. The first census for the Confederation of Canada covers just the four original provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. The next census, in 1881, covered the entire country as it existed then. There are earlier censuses for Canada, but they are for individual provinces and territories. All these early censuses are digitized and available online, most on FamilySearch for free and on Ancestry and Findmypast with a subscription. For a complete listing of available Canadian censuses and where they are located, see the article in the FamilySearch wiki, called “Canada Census.”

Long-awaited Changes Come to Find a Grave!

Many of us use the website Find a Grave on a regular basis. Some of us have created memorial pages for our ancestors; some just mine the pages created by others. For those not familiar with the site, Find a Grave is a free website that is owned by Ancestry. It is crowdsourced, meaning the data on the site is submitted by volunteers who visit cemeteries for the purpose of photographing tombstones and adding biographical information on individuals and by others who may have direct connections to the people whose pages they maintain or visit.

More Tips on Using the 1950 Census

Now that the 1950 federal census has been released, many of us have attempted to find our families or even ourselves. In looking for your relatives, you may have discovered that some major genealogy websites are in the process of indexing but have different states available. According to a news article from the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Ancestry and FamilySearch have partnered to create an index. Ancestry began by using a proprietary Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology so an entire census index could be released as soon as the census went live from the National Archives in April. Now, FamilySearch volunteers are reviewing and making corrections to that index. The National Archives also released an OCR index and is asking for assistance in finding and correcting errors.

How Safe is the Data in Your Online Family Tree?

For most of the past few decades, genealogists have been posting their family trees online at various websites. Doing so has enabled many researchers to meet new relatives, make friends with other online researchers, and enlarge their knowledge of their families’ histories. Experienced genealogists have agonized over the lack of thorough research in many online trees and bemoaned the proliferation of inaccurate information, but the vast majority of researchers have still enjoyed the convenience of being able to attach documents as they find them and pursue “hints” or suggestions. Many of the major genealogy sites have spent years encouraging people to keep their trees online and millions have done so, but at what cost?

Free Genealogy Webinars are Just a Click Away!

Twelve months of mostly being at home has given many of us the chance to explore new ways of learning using our computers or tablets. Have you discovered the benefits of free webinars yet? Did you know you can watch thousands of digital recordings without any fees at all? Yes, sometimes there are advertisements, but they are relatively unobtrusive and easily passed over. By now, many of us also know that there are instructions online for just about anything we want to do. In fact, just last week, like magic, a two-minute YouTube video saved this writer a trip to the store and the price of a new pneumatic door closer when just a few squeezes of a piece of metal with a strong pair of pliers was all it needed. OK, that was fixer-upper stuff—what about our favorite hobby? Are there free webinars available on genealogy? Indeed there are, and here are some places you can start to look for them.

Phishing, Scamming, and Hacking: Another Epidemic This Year

Just about a year ago, on 17 June 2019, our weekly blog addressed the issue of protecting yourself online. At that time, many of us were being inundated with phony emails asking for money, gift cards, and the phony "rescuing" of friends in need. That blog post lists ways you can protect yourself and we hope you will click on the link at the end of this post to refresh your memory on ways you can stay safe. All of those hints are still quite useful.