Memorial Day in my own family and Preserve the Pensions

This Memorial Day weekend is a time to think about all the brave men and women who have been in the military service of the United States and gave their lives for us. I am especially thinking about one Korean War serviceman, Gerald J. Mueller, from Buckman, Minnesota. Jerry was married to my Mom's only sibling, my Aunt Jeanie. Jerry never came home from the war. I was a toddler when he was declared Missing in Action (MIA). I remember his Mom, Grandparents, and two half-brothers. I recently reconnected with one of those half-brothers when we were both commenting on a Facebook page for Old St. Paul [Minnesota].

There are many websites that list the various MIA's from 20th century wars. Unfortunately some records from the past century's wars, especially up through WWII were lost in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis back in 1973. I shudder whenever I think about that loss. It's horrific enough that we lost so many military personnel in various wars and add to that with the loss of their records.

We have the chance to make sure the same never happens to some of our earlier military records. The War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land applications are housed at the National Archives in Washington, DC.  The National Archives has faced many years of decreased budget and decreased staffing. The Federation of Genealogical Societies has been spearheading the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions Project.

As of now, 35% of the funds have been raised. That does leave 65% more to go. If you donate $25, that amount is matched by Ancestry.com. If FGS, genealogists, historians, service personnel, hereditary organizations, and others raise the full amount, all those records will be digitized and online for FREE forever.

I just checked and more than 1 million digitized images are already online for free at Fold3.com. These encompass War of 1812 service anytime between 1812 and 1815. WE did this!

The search capability is helpful. Search by given name, surname, both names, geographic place, date, or topic. I searched for several surnames and found great details. Then I searched for the term Indian and found many pension records for Native Americans that will be helpful in a work project. The next search was for a couple towns where my own ancestors lived in Wisconsin and I found affidavits from men living in those towns in the pension records for other men.

We can't let these records sit and chance further deterioration. They need to be digitized NOW. Please donate today. Please visit the Preserve the Pensions page on the Federation of Genealogical Societies website.

Donating is painless. There are several methods. I have made a few donations over the past couple of years and am proud to say I am a member of the Preservation Patriots who have donated $250 or more. Why not make one or more donations over the next few months and join me and many others who feel these records must be preserved. Any amount is welcomed. Donate Now. Please.

Genealogy lectures live streamed from Jamboree

There's nothing better than attending a genealogical conference or institute for great knowledge, camaraderie, networking, and on-the-spot help. There are many great educational opportunities. I would love to meet many readers in just 2 weeks at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree but I do realize that some have family, work, health, and budget limitations.

However, the SCGS is offering a great array of Jamboree presentations via live-streaming right in your own home. The first day has a fee and the three following days are free.
You'll find a complete list of the sessions, with links to the registration pages and as well as registration information on the Jamboree website and also on the right hand column of this blog.

Here are the specifics:

Family History and DNA Conference - June 5, 2014
-Five streamed sessions, 10:00am to 6:00pm PDT
-Pay for view, $30 per session
-All-Day Pass $130 includes complete DNA syllabus
-Requires a two-step registration process
-Sessions available for 30 days after initial webcast
-Sessions will not be available in the SCGS webinar archive

• CeCe Moore: "Real World Stories from the Desk of a Genealogy DNA Detective"
• Diahan Southard: "Lab Tour: How Your Data is Generated"
• Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD: "Using Autosomal DNA to Explore Your Ancestry"
• Dr. Maurice Gleeson: "Which DNA is Best for You?"
• Tim Janzen, MD: "Advanced Techniques for Use of Autosomal DNA Tests to Break Through Genealogical Brick Walls"

Southern California Genealogy Jamboree - June 6-8, 2014
-14 streamed sessions over three days
-Initial webcast provided free of charge
-Cost is partially underwritten by Diamond Sponsor Ancestry.com
-Many sessions will eventually be available in the SCGS webinar archive for viewing by members

Friday, June 6 - Four sessions 1:00pm to 6:30pm PDT

• Judy G. Russell JD, CG, CGL - "Dowered or Bound Out: Records of Widows and Orphans"
• Blaine Bettinger PhD, JD - "DNA and the Genealogical Proof Standard"
• Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FUGA - "Manuscript Finding Aids: Locating Migrating Family Records"
• F. Warren Bittner, CG - "Proof Arguments: How and Why"

Saturday, June 7 - Six sessions 8:30am to 6:00pm PDT

• F. Warren Bittner, CG - "Elusive Immigrant!"
• Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL - "Staying out of Trouble: The Rights and Responsibilities of Today's Genealogist"
• Michael Leclerc - "Researching Your New England Ancestors"
• Bennett Greenspan - "The Future of Genetic Genealogy"
• Dr. Maurice Gleeson - "Researching Your Irish Ancestry"
• Cyndi Ingle - "The Internet: A Genealogist's Printing Press"

Sunday, June 8 - Four sessions 8:30am to 3:30pm PDT

• D. Joshua Taylor - "Resources of the DAR: Beyond Revolutionary War Soldiers"
• Dawn Thurston - "How to Write a Personal History that Captures your Interesting Life"
• Dr. Maurice Gleeson - "Ireland and the Slave Trade"
• Denise Levenick - "Dirty Pictures: Save Your Family Photos from Ruin"

Please help us spread the word about this outstanding educational opportunity for family historians and genealogists from around the globe. Share this news with your cousins, friends, society members, and followers.

Recordings of my genealogical presentations

I have received several requests asking how someone might hear my lectures. The most requested ones are railroad research, research planning, research reports for ourselves, NUCMC, and the WPA. Of course, your society may engage me as a speaker. Just email me PaulaStuartWarren at gmail.com for my info packet with all the details.

Many of my lectures (and those of many other speakers) have been recorded and the recordings are available for purchase. These recordings keep me company when I am driving long distances in my car.

Not all presentations are suitable for recording. This may include lectures that depend heavily on the visuals, first-time lectures, or those presented in workshop format. All recordings are copyrighted and intended for individual listening. Any other use must be only with permission of the speaker and may require a fee.

Fleetwood Onsite Conference Recording  available in CD and download formats. Fleetwood has recorded the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2011 Springfield, IL, 2012 Birmingham, AL, and 2013 Fort Wayne, IN conferences.

JAMB Inc.  available in CD formats. JAMB has recorded a variety of national and state level conferences for several years.


If you wish to purchase the accompanying handout for any of my recorded lectures, please send me an email for details.

Paula is interviewed on the Genealogy Guys Podcast

While I was at the Ohio Genealogical Society's conference in Sandusky, Ohio earlier this month, I was interviewed by Drew Smith for the Genealogy Guys Podcast that is hosted by Drew and George G. Morgan. We covered several topics including railroads, research planning, and genealogical institutes. I was able to mention my own railroad connections and love of railroads. Drew is a great interviewer. At the end I loved hearing that George picked up several tips from my railroad lecture at that conference.

You can listen to the entire May podcast at http://genealogyguys.com. My segment is at the end, but the rest of the podcast is very worthwhile.

A few dates & links for your genealogy calendar

Do you have these events on your summer genealogy calendar? I will be presenting sessions at all of these events and would love to meet you there. Have a genealogy question? Bring it along to the event and I will help you figure out the answer! Just click on the underlined words to reach the website and see all the details for each event. Each of these has something for all levels of research experience. Learn more about online and offline research, records, repositories, methodology, and more from experienced presenters.

June 6-8, 2014: Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, Burbank, California. This event has many special features, subscription website access, exhibit hall, plus education and fun!

July 20-25, 2014: Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Five days of exception genealogical education and a syllabus on a beautiful college campus. There are still open slots in some of the courses.

August 3-8, 2014: Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, "On the Road," Orchard Lake, Michigan (suburban Detroit). Five days of exception genealogical education and a syllabus on a beautiful college campus. There are still open slots in some of the courses.

August 27-30, 2014: Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, San Antonio, Texas. Four days of genealogical education, large exhibit hall filled with vendors, extensive syllabus, special luncheons with a speaker, evening events to celebrate Texas history, all adjacent to the famed San Antonio River Walk.

St. Paul Mayor Latimer and the St. Paul Public Library

Way back in 1989 I had the pleasure of meeting St. Paul Mayor George Latimer. One of the large genealogy conferences (NGS) took place in St. Paul. I found out that he was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and had an interest in family history.

He accomplished many things for the benefit of St. Paul over the 14 years he served as our Mayor. He still resides in the city and has had a great honor bestowed upon him. The central St. Paul Public Library in downtown St. Paul is being renamed the George Latimer Central Library.

I love this library building and took the bus to it as a child, researched there for school projects while in high school, even went there with a special beau (that's all I will say about those visits!), and used it for family history research. 

To read a very nice article about Mayor Latimer and the library at Twin Cities.com, click here.

The St. Paul Library's website is here.

The trains are back at St. Paul's Union Depot!

National Train Day is this Saturday, May 10th. It's a great week for trains in my area. After a 40+ year absence, trains are again arriving and departing from Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. The first "new" arrival was late last evening. And late it was, by 70 minutes. 

The Depot has been beautifully refurbished. It is now a place where travelers can board local buses, MegaBus, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and in mid-June, the Green Line light rail opens. That line runs from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis.

The Union Depot is a place where my paternal Grandpa Earl James Stuart took my cousin Dave and me to watch the trains. Grandpa was a superintendent with the Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Omaha Railway. His brother LaMer Stuart and Uncles Fred and Lou (L.F.) Slaker worked for the same railroad in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A maternal Great Granduncle Sam Dow (Daoust) worked for the Omaha as did maternal Great Granduncle Thomas Hanley, a half-brother to my Grandpa Michael Hanley. I keep writing about these men in hope some descendant of theirs ever reads my blog!

Evernote for genealogy!

Cyndi Ingle of Cyndislist.com has a new blog. It's dedicated to those of use who need help with Evernote. I am a new user of Evernote to help me keep track of many things, add notes and images and so much more. I am happy she has this new help for those of use who are technologically challenged at times.

Check out her new blog at http://evernotegenealogy.postach.io/

She also has links to many other websites that offer help on her Cyndi's List.

She is a dear friend but I don't get any remuneration for talking about this new venture. Go Cyndi!