Record Your Family Memories

We are blessed in this modern age of technology where we can easily record and save our ancestor's oral histories, which will be preserved for your children, children's children, and down through the age. 

The Native Americans frequently taught each other their history by telling stories of their past. These stories are valuable in helping the children know who they are from and, as a benefit, allow them to know who they are. 

Now is the time for you to record your parent's and grandparents' stories. You will enjoy hearing them tell them in their own words once they have left this life. My family has recordings of my parents talking about memories from their life. They have all passed from this life, and it brings me joy to hear their voices. 

Consider talking with the oldest family members and recording them talking about their lives. We are also blessed with the cell phones that cannot only record audio, can also record video. The videos will be a treasure trove for your children, grandchildren, and throughout generations. 

Additionally, if you upload the videos or audio recordings using the FamilySearch Memories Mobil App, which can be found in app stores, and they will be preserved for your children, grandchildren, and on down through the generations. The Memories app can be downloaded from the Google App Store using your computer or phone or Apple App Store using your iPhone or iPad. 

 

Genealogy on a Mac

I wanted to share with you all my thoughts about the availability genealogy programs for the mac.  My PC died in September of 2013 and as a result I have decided to try and do my genealogy strictly on a Mac.  This has provided many challenges including deciding on a program to use and importing the data from a PC to a Mac based environment.  Needless to say, I am still working through the change and have not been very happy with the options.

The Mac programs that I have tried included:
Ancestral Quest (Using Cross Over)
MacFamily Tree
Heredis
Reunion

First of all, I attempted to use Cross Over and run Ancestral Quest. I really like Ancestral Quest in the PC environment and was hoping that Cross Over would be the solution to my dilema. The program ran in Cross Over, but I had problems with the program running smoothly and allowing for me to sync with FamilySearch.  Ancestral Quest frequently froze using Cross Over resulting in having to close the program or restart my system.  I have not tried to use RootsMagic in crossover, so this may be an option for those that have RootsMagic.  I would recommend you try the free trial of Cross Over to see if it will work for you.

I also downloaded the trial versions of Heredis and Reunion.  Both of these Mac programs have been developed nicely, however, they do not sync to FamilySearch.  For many people, this may not be a concern, but for me, I wanted to be able to move my data freely between FamilySearch and my Family file on my computer, therefore, I chose to stick with MacFamily Tree.

I decided to try and learn how to use MacFamily Tree, as I had already purchased the program when I first got my MacBook Pro, but really hadn't spent much time working with it seriously as I was still using my PC for the bulwark of my genealogy research, before my PC crashed. At first I found the updated version to be a little tricky to work with as I was not familiar with the program.  There are many intuitive aspects to this program that I liked; however, I wasn't sure about the FamilySearch aspect of this program. I must qualify this statement with the caveat that I usually try to figure out the program without going to the manual.  I finally caved and went to the manual on how to have MacFamily Tree work with FamilySearch and have found it works well and I have used it several times and like it's functionality.

Another nice feature of MacFamily Tree is it allows for one to geocode the important events in a person's life.  The one drawback that I have found with this, is the fact that names of places and their locations have changed over the years as have the boundaries in which a location may be found. This is the result of changing of country, state, county, and city boundaries and therefore, the accuracy of the locations are not rock solid as the program uses current names, places, and boundaries, which have changed throughout years past.

The bottom line: There are many wonderful Mac genealogy programs for one to choose from, however, the only Mac based program that will sync with FamilySearch is MacFamily Tree.  MacFamily Tree also provides a mobile app that you can use, however, I have not attempted to use it at this point, as I have spent that past little while teaching myself the MacFamily Tree program.

Wyoming Newspaper Project

I have always found researching in newspapers very enlightening and rewarding.  Not only can you find information about your ancestors, you can also see the information in the context of your ancestors' lives. I have long been using the Utah Digital Newspapers and found many interesting tidbits regarding my parents lives.  I would encourage you to research in the newspapers archives for little gems regarding your family.  Each of the newspaper sites search differently and require a little time to figure it out. I was researching in the Wyoming Newspaper Project and found it difficult to understand. However, once I figured it out, it was quite simple  I searched by simply putting in the last name of a relative into the search box and left the down arrow box at Keyword.

The search results are displayed as noted above. You can click on the document and you will be able to view the document; however, if you want to search for a particular name in the document you will need to click on the magnifying glass on the top right of the screen to view the document in a new window. Once this is completed you will be able to hit Ctrl-F or the Apple key-F to bring up the search window function and you will able to enter your search term, which will then be highlighted in the document you are viewing.  It took me a few tries to figure it out, but once I did, the site works beautifully.  If you have any questions. Please feel free to contact me. You can research the Wyoming Newspaper Project by clicking on this link Wyoming Newspaper Project. Have fun!

Attention Apple/Mac genealogists

A wonderful sale going on this weekend for those searching for a genealogy program for Apple/Mac computer that will sync with New FamilySearch. The program is MacFamily Tree. The program is regularly $49.00 but this weekend until 12mn tonight, the program is only $24.50. If you have been using the demo version and would like to buy the program at this discounted rate, you can find the information at MacUpdate Promo. If you would rather look at the demo version before purchasing you can go to Synium software, MacFamily Tree.