Montgomery County Genealogy Club

The Montgomery County Genealogy Club met at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Crawfodsville District Public Library. Meeting called to order by President Shannon Hudson who then led us into the Pledge of Allegiance.

Hudson brought in Dian Moore, Activities Director, to introduce our speaker for the evening. Moore said Amie Cox is so well known to most of us that she really needs no introduction.

Cox presents the 10 best genealogy updates tonight. She is a district media specialist for the Crawfordsville Community School Corporation, works part-time in the local history section of the CDPL, and has been an "amateur" genealogist for 25 years. Very skilled in genealogy.

1. Family Search - http://www.familysearch.org/ Many of us have used this site, but Amie told us that it is constantly being updated and that they have digitized all of their microfilm, 2 .4 million rolls. Not everything is indexed yet, but if you explore some of them have their own index.

2. Podcasts - You don't need to download an app. Usually you can go directly to the website and find the podcasts, you can open one and listen.

The Family Tree Magazine Genealogy Podcast

The Family Tree Magazine Genealogy Podcast

The Gems of Genealogy Podcast

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode Show Notes

Extreme genes

https://www.extremegenes.com/extreme-genes-podcast

Ben Franklin's World - A podcast about America's early history

https://benfranklinsworld.com/

3. Boolean searches

Boolean operators are single words (AND, OR, NOT, or AND NOT) used as conjunctions to combine or exclude keywords in a search, resulting in more targeted and productive results. This should save time and effort by eliminating inappropriate results that need to be analyzed before being discarded. Amie's favorite is to put quotes around what you want to search for. "Daniel Boone AND Rebecca Boone", "Daniel Boone KY" Try 4 or 5 different ways to enter your search information to get different results.

4. Snagit - https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html

Saves an image as a ping file. It's free to use. A snipping tool by Techsmith. When you save, you can put in any folder you want, not just in an image folder.

5. County/State Databases - SHAARD - https://www.secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html - ENTER as guest. This site contains structural surveys and listings of OLD homes in Indiana.

Illinois State Databases - https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/databases/home.html

Click on 'Departments', click on 'Illinois State Archives', click on DATABASES

BLM-GLO - Land Records - https://glorecords.blm.gov/

Bartholomew County Archives-

https://www.bartholomew.in.gov/archives/search-archives.html

6. SlideScan - An application on a mobile phone. You can turn a collection of old slides into digital images. You need your phone and a computer.

7. Storyworth - https://www.storyworth.com Platform/website to privately save your family stories and have them printed as a book at the end of a year. You select a family member (eg, great-grandfather) and the company emails them a question once a week for them to tell a story. The questions can be tailored to the stories you want to collect. At the end of the year - a book! $89 or more to start.

8. Free Virtual Genealogy Conferences - RootsTech - https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/next

Legacy Tree Webinars - https://www.familytreewebinars.com/

You can also check out family history webinars from the Allen County Public Library, the Indiana State Library, and BYU (Brigham Young University).

9. Autosomal DNA - Most accurate for only five to six generations. Cox prefers Ancestry.com, but there are others. Ancestry has "through lines" that connect strangers to people on your tree. You can better track how they are related.

10. Forensic Genetic Genealogy - DNA Doe Project - https://www.dnadoeproject.org/ - using DNA to identify suspects or victims of crimes. Parabon Nanolabs is one of the leaders in the field.

Meeting attendees greatly appreciated Cox's informative program.

Next, Hudson asked everyone to review the January meeting minutes. A correction noted for the spelling of Moore's name. No 'e' on Dian. Judy Harvey moved to accept the minutes as corrected. Mary Cramer seconded. Approved by vote. The November minutes have not yet been reviewed.

Treasurer's Report - Three new members. Revised report. Moore moved and Mary Cramer seconded to accept the report. Approved by vote.

Old Business: No report on Project Bible, and no report on 4-H.

Committee reports:

Activities - the program schedule is almost full for the rest of the year. Next month's meeting - March 8 - will be a celebration of our 20th anniversary. Hopefully many members will be able to attend.

Membership - Twenty-six individual members and two families currently.

Appointment - We need a secretary following the resignation of Carolyn Perkins. Anyone who has been a member for at least one year is eligible. If you are interested in taking on the position of secretary, contact Terri Fyffe or Hudson.

Newsletter - Delivery of the current edition

20th Anniversary - Program set, refreshments discussed and memorial list/moment for deceased members.

No Report - Grants, Public Information, Cemetery

List of refreshes - no discussion as we currently have no refreshes. There was no match.

Since there is no more agenda, Judy Harvey moves, seconded by Cramer, to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned.

Upcoming programs: Jeanie Regan Dinius on Cemetery Symbols, April 12; Kate Springer, Indiana State Library on Historical Census questionnaires, June 14; Christmas in July, July 12; Susan McKee Fisher, Dorothy Q Chapter, NSDAR on How to Join a Lineage Society, August 9; and annual meeting, September 13.