"Tracing Our Roots" Newsletter Archive (A monthly genealogy newsletter written by the late Brenda Kellow, dec'd, for the Plano Star Courier newspaper. We've included all the ones we could recover.)
Have you heard of the site with almost 6 million names on the free genealogy site? It is easy to search and it only takes a minute to find whether or not yours is on it. If it is on there, it will give you the full name, life events with dates and place names, show direct bloodlines, provide contact information about the submitter, and should link you to hundreds of ancestors on a lineage-linked family tree.
The site is located at FindYourFamilyTree.com. It is a worldwide collection of data submitted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the Pedigree Resource File (PRF). Progeny Software sponsors the site and the search engine especially for this lineage-linked database. Accessing the PRF file identifies the CD on which your family history is stored, and a newsletter announces when new PRF sets are available. New to genealogists is the invitation to publish your found family links on your Web site or share the information with other family members by way of a GEDCOM file. Or, submit your data to the LDS PRFs to share with others throughout the world. This service is available to non-members of the Church. Each record is preserved and stored in the vaults beneath the Granite Mountain storage site located southeast of Salt Lake City.
The PRF online at FindYourFamilyTree.com is an index, therefore it will not require that you purchase the entire CD set to examine for your family. The index will find the family if they are there and tell you a little information to further identify whether or not they are yours.
Most importantly, don t wait until you have finished your family tree and published it in print or online. Waiting may delay finding pertinent information needed now. Visit the site often and feel free to submit over and again. The URL is www.findyourfamilytree.com.
SATURDAY SEMINAR
If you have been waiting to hear local talent and genealogical speaker Glenn Kincade, he will be the speaker Saturday at the Gladys Harrington Library. He will speak on It s Relative (How to describe how you are related to your relatives) and Using Indirect Evidence when the direct path seems blocked. The free program begins at 9:30 and will finish at noon. This is sponsored by Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc., a non-profit organization certified under Section 501 c 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED 24-7.
Being a night owl, I am often researching or writing long after midnight and find I need an answer to a question. Because of the late hour I can t go to the library for the answer. It is times like these that I wish I could go to www.askusnow.info and ask a question of the Maryland or New Jersey librarians who are on duty around the clock to answer questions. But it is only for local residents. The Maryland staff is comprised of 20 public library systems, five academic libraries and the state law library. New Jersey s URL is at www.quandanj.org/. Don t you wish Texas had this service?
Brenda Kellow, dec'd, Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Instructor, had a Bachelor s Degree in history and taught genealogy courses at the local Community College and computer genealogy at the University.
