I woke up a few weeks ago thinking about Becky Surpless.  When I posted that on the Heritage Hub Facebook page, it seems like several people knew something about her.  Here is what I know so far---without the documentation being posted---I'll add that to an official story.   Please feel free to make additions or corrections!  

Samuel J. Surpless was born in Ohio in May 1877.  He moved with his parents to South Dakota in 1882 where he lived for several years.  He served in the Spanish American War with the South Dakota Volunteers, company 1.  They saw service in the Philippines and were mustered out at the Persidio, California, in October 1899.  Sam married a girl named Irma (no marriage record located yet) that year and they were living in Douglas County, South Dakota.  

By 1910, Sam was living in Almo, Idaho, with the Robert Redmon family.  The census lists Sam as doing odd jobs in the community.  He gives his marital status as being a widower.   A newspaper listing shows instead that Irma filed for divorce in 1909 in South Dakota.  

Rebecca Pearl Durfee was born 29 January 1887 in Almo.  Her parents were James Madison and Tryphina Malinda Butts Durfee.  James and Tryphina had moved to Almo from the Monona, Iowa, area about 1880 and he homesteaded up in the Little Cove.  James' mother died during the mobbings around Nauvoo and his father had been mustered into the Mormon Battalion.  His father left James in the care of a trusted friend who left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The man, along with Triphina's family, joined a break off group from the Church.  The members of that group moved to Monona, Iowa, where they attempted to live with all things in common.  The leader instead took advantage of his congregation and the state broke up the group.  James brought his young family and several other families to Almo where his brothers, Myron Bushnell and Henry Dennison Durfee, were living.  Most of them, including James, stayed a short time before joining with members of the Reorganized LDS in the Hagerman area.  Becky's obituary indicates that she grew up in Hagerman.  She, her mother, and others of her family returned to Almo and are buried in the cemetery there.

Becky's older sister, Addie, was married to Robert Redmon and while Sam was lodging with the family, he must have met Becky.  Sam and Becky were married 10 June 1910 in Albion.  

Sam died at age 40 in 1917.  His death certificate has not been located yet.  He was buried in the Sunny Cedar Rest, but the following year, his widowed father had the body moved to the family burial plot in South Dakota.  

Becky lived in a small log cabin near Bill Jones' home.  When Reuben Jones' wife, Glenna, died leaving him with a young family, Reuben hired Becky to help with his children.  Reuben's daughter, Opal, married Cleon Durfee, and on the few occasions that they needed a baby sitter, Opal hired Becky to help.  The children remembered Becky as being very stern.  

Becky's right arm and possibly her right leg were paralyzed to some degree.  There is no indication as to whether the paralysis was due to a stroke or if she had been crippled early in life.  

Becky moved to Carey in about 1947. She must have moved back to Almo at some point.  She died in Shelly, Idaho, in a nursing home on 14 November 1959.  Bishop Elbert Durfee conducted her funeral.  She was buried in the Sunny Cedar Rest Cemetery in Almo.  

Earn Cliff in the Narrows

 I couldn't get the photos to transfer from my phone to the Blogspot, so you will have to go to Facebook to see what I am describing.

"The Narrows" is the area just south east of Almo where the Raft Rivers flows between the end of the Jim Sage Mountains and two small hills that look like they slid off the end of the Jim Sage.  There is a lot of history in that area.

I was driving home from Logan the other day and stopped to take these photos.  The sun wasn't just right, so you will have to look closely at the photos.  From a distance, it looks like a tiny piece of the mountain broke off, likely along a fault line.  When you get closer, you realize that it was a significant chunk of the mountainside that sloughed off.  The cliffs are tall and rough.  They are quite stunning, in fact.  

In 1886, a post office was started there, officially known as  "Earn Cliff". "Earn" was said to signify eagles that nested and lived in the area---so Earn Cliff.  It is sometimes spelled as Ern Clif, but Earn Cliff is the official spelling on the Post Office records available at the National Archives Records.  The Post Office was 9 miles from Bridge, 10 miles from Almo, 25 miles from Conant, and 35 miles from Kelton.  It was about a mile from the Raft River and a mile from One Mile Creek.  That should help us locate it a little more closely.  It was to serve about 50 families.  

I have an audio recording of a trip from Almo to Bridge that was made several years ago with then 90 year old Glen Olsen as the guide.  I will try to post it soon on our you tube channel at mini cassia heritage hub.  

Glen's parents were early settlers in the Bridge area, and his father ran the post office there.  He shared lots of stories about the area.  It seems that the postman at Earn Cliff saved his wages and hid them on the property for safety.  It was rumored that he had a lot of money.  Some scoundrels thought they would scare the poor man into giving up the location of his savings.  They put a noose around his neck and hoisted him up just enough to make him talk---they thought!  They ended up killing him before he told them what they were after.  

One of the Womack girls who grew up on the Jim Sage Mountain not far from there recorded that it was the stage station keeper there in the Narrows who was hung, but the other details were pretty close.  There isn't any indication of who the bad guys might have been or if they were ever caught.  

  

These dishes belonged to my Great Grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Stephenson Gray, who came to Albion in 1875 with her husband, Charles Monroe Gray. They had come from their home in Missouri to Ogden by train with relatives, the Dilley Family, and were headed to Oregon Territory, full of hope after the horrors of the Civil War. The children came down with measles and by the time they had all recovered, many of their precious resources had been depleted. They bought their teams and wagons and headed out. The Kelton Road originally went through Almo and down Goose Creek where it joined the trail to Boise and on to Oregon. Some looped around the Jim Sage Mountain through the Elba Valley and over the pass into Albion and down to "The Flat" where they also joined the trail to Oregon. When the bridge over the Raft River was built at Bridge, just south of Malta, it cut miles off of the journey as travelers went from Bridge to Conant, a stage stop and settlement just east of Connor Creek. I haven't been able to tie down a specific date for the bridge at Bridge. During the 1860's, huge cattle ranches had been set up by JQ Shirley, Andrew Sweetser, Thomas Keogh, and the Pierce Family. There were hundreds of thousands of cattle throughout the valleys of Cassia County. By the mid to late 1870's, settlers mostly out of northern Utah---the children of the Mormon Pioneers who needed more land---began to settle in these valleys. The cattlemen did not have claim to the lands where they had been grazing their cattle and the settlers could own the land under the 1862 homestead act. When Grandma and Grandpa Gray and the Dilleys passed through the Albion Valley in 1875, they could see signs of settlers in the valley. They made it as far as Rock Creek and, as my Grandma Clark used to tell the story, the women decided they had enough. They wanted to go back to the pleasant valley they had just passed through. The men were eager to get to Oregon to see the fertile land their relatives had written home about. So Grandma Clark claimed that her mother and Mrs. Dilley got out of the wagons with the younger children and refused to go any further. (Grandma's nephews disputed the story and claimed that Grandpa made the decision to return without any mutiny involved.) Anyway, they turned around and settled at the foot of Mount Harrison. Another of my ancestors, James Stapleton Lewis, had moved to Albion only months earlier from Brigham City area. He and his family had planted a garden and they kept their family and their new neighbors fed from that garden until the Grays could get established. Several other families settled in Albion that year. Some, like the Grays, dropped off the trail. More came from Brigham City area. The town and valley grew quickly. Grandpa Gray was one of the first county commissioners in the new Cassia County.

So back to the dishes.  Grandma Clark always used the platter for family dinners and I loved drying it and seeing it put back in her cupboard. It was one of her treasures and I felt honored when I was given the dishes.   I always imagined Grandma Gray sending away for her fancy dishes---with the gold trim on the edge and their initial and always felt that they were a little better off than some of my other families.  I was researching on newspapers.com the other day.  I ran across an advertisement from the "Golden Rule Mercantile" in the new town of Burley, Idaho.  They were offering a $10.00 set of fancy dishes---with rose colored flowers and green leaves, gold trim on the border and your initial!!!!!!!  You could get the set by using your punch card at the Golden Rule Mercantile for your purchases!!!!!  Who knew!  Makes the dishes even more precious.  Grandma was a very careful housekeeper and widowed early.  Life was harder than I can imagine.  I wonder how long it took her to get enough punches on her card to own her precious dishes!!! 

The Swift Pony Express of 1857

 Most of us know that Thomas Owen King, an early settler in Almo, was a Pony Express Rider. Though short lived, operating from April 1860 to October 1862, the Pony Express delivered mail  from  St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.  The delivery of mail between East and West was vital to the growing nation.  During its eighteen months of operation, the riders generally made the nineteen hundred mile trip in 10 days.  There were 157 relay stations, manned by hardy station keepers, to support the route.  Wikipedia reports that the "Riders who could not weigh over 125 pounds, changed about every 75-100 miles, and rode day and night.  In emergencies, a given rider might ride two stages back to back, over twenty hours on a quickly moving horse...".The exploits of those courageous boys and young men were amazing as they battled the elements,  hostile Indians, wild animals and robbers.  It was an impressive feat.  

At our last Heritage Hub Meeting, we learned that there was an attempt to establish a "Swift Pony Express" in 1857, three years before the Pony Express.   The Mormons early recognized the importance of a mail delivery between the east and the Great Salt Lake City.  Brigham Young envisioned a four point project.  Riders would deliver mail.  Stagecoaches would transport passengers quickly and easily. Freight wagons would haul supplies to the Utah Territory at a reasonable rate.  Way Stations would be set up along the way to support all of the enterprises, with food and feed being grown to provide sustenance and resources for the travelers.  Brigham Young, as President of the Church,  was awarded the bid, operating under the name of YX Company and employing an agent not recognized as being a Utah Mormon.  He was able to underbid his competitors by asking for donations from the members of the Church.  In return for whatever they could contribute, the members would benefit by better mail service and cheaper goods and share in whatever profits were made.  Four hundred people participated.  One man donated a horse.  Another gave several dollars of hard earned money.  One lady donated a pair of socks that she knitted for a needy rider.  The Church borrowed $12,000 to help fund the venture.  

In April of 1857, Brigham Young called nineteen riders to ride the mail and sent out others to set up way stations and plant crops to provide feed and supplies.  The service lasted only a few months.  The men who had lost the contract to the YX Company were angry and used anti-Mormon sentiment to persuade the newly elected President of the United States, Buchanan, to cancel the contract with the company.  By the first of July, the riders from Salt Lake reached Independence and were denied the Utah bound mail.  They had noticed many heavy freight wagons headed west as they had traveled to Missouri, and discovered that they were loaded with supplies to support Johnston's Army of about 2500 soldiers which was headed to Utah to install a new governor and straighten out affairs in the Utah Territory.  The lead rider told those manning the way stations to abandon them and return to Utah.  

Historian Leonard J. Arrington suggested that if the YX Company  had been allowed to continue the history of the West would be very different.  The Willie and Martin Handcart Companies could have had a place to winter.  The harsh and demanding exodus of members of the Church from Salt Lake and areas north to the Grantsville/Tooele/Provo area would have been avoided.  Emigrant travel would have been facilitated. The economy of Utah Territory would have blossomed.  

We discovered at Heritage Hub that Henry Dennison Durfee was one of the nineteen riders called to ride for the YX Swift Pony Express.  There are no known stories of those riders, but they were part of a historic and challenging undertaking!

Henry Dennison and Jane Isabella Barker Durfee

 

Henry Dennison Durfee, Sr., Jayne Isabella Barker Durfee, Lorenzo Durfee

Sarah Durfee Taylor and her three children, Arthur, Fred and Bertha, Ida Durfee Bruesch, and William Wallace Durfee

Bruce and Kent Durfee will be telling us about their great grandparents, Henry Dennison  Durfee (Uncle Den to lots of Almo people) and his wife, Jane Isabella Barker at our Heritage Hub on Thursday, February 8, at 6 PM in the School.  We will post it on you tube at MiniCassia Heritage Hub.  They have been doing a lot of cramming for the presentation!  I think it is great that DeeAnn is giving people a chance to learn more about their families as she makes the assignments for our Heritage Hub---even if they growl about it!  : )  

Judy Teeter and her sister Helen told us a couple of months ago about their ancestor, Myron Bushnell Durfee, Den's older brother.  They were not quite two years apart and both of them were living in Connor Springs, near Corrinne, Utah, before moving to Almo in 1878 and 1879.  Bruce and Kent were born about 18 months apart and have been close as brothers.  So that makes me appreciate this story even more.  

In the 1880's, a prominent man from Brigham City who was inspecting the school situation in the area, came to Almo.  He had been a teenager at the time of the Almo Massacre---an Indian attack in 1861 or 1862 that is part of our Almo Story.  He remembered seeing the Indians coming into the town after the attack, as well as the survivors after their rescue.  He also recalled the soldiers who came to Brigham City after Connor led a brutal attack on the Indians on the Bear River near Franklin, Idaho.  He was very interested in learning more about what had happened here, and "Mr. Durfee"---who turns out to be Myron---showed him the site of the attack and told him what had happened.  Myron had actually been part of the rescue party that came to Almo and helped bury the bodies.  We think that was why Myron decided to move to the Almo Valley almost twenty years later.  He had seen the resources of the Almo valley and  Connor Springs is just north of the Great Salt Lake. The soil was not the best.  He and Den moved their families to Almo in those early years, and were accompanied by others from the North Ogden/Willard area.   

So, I think that it was at this time that the settlers decided to do a reenactment of the Almo Massacre.  Myron portrayed one of the doomed settlers and Den was one of the Indians.  Den must have been having a great time acting his part and teasing his brother.  Myron had wadding in his gun, and got flustered.  He somehow shot, and the wadding hit Den in the eye.  You can see in Den's photograph that his eye has been damaged.  The story says that the family never let Myron live it down....They teased him about it for years. 

There are lots more stories about these two brothers!  Many of you are probably related to one (or both!) of them!!!!!  We got that from Steve Durfee's presentation a while ago along with a lot of good laughs!  

                        Henry Dennison Durfee   Myron Bushnell Durfee

Nina Sorenson Edwards (1899-1978)

                                                         "The Good Old Days"! 

Arlene Edwards Kimber wrote about her mother, Nina Sorenson Edwards,  and a family member posted it to Familysearch.org.   Nina was Larry Edwards' grandmother.  I don't know how these ladies did it---plus the daily care of their children and keeping up with everything often while expecting a new baby.

 Mom’s water supply was an open well with only boards covering the top. It was about 100 feet from the house. Water was carried to the house and stored in a bucket or 5 gallon can to use for cooking, drinking, washing etc. 

 Mom’s cooking stove was a wood burning stove. Mom always started the fire each morning. Dad did not start the fire as he would often use Gasoline and cause damage rather than being helpful. Mom with that stove could create the best bread, meals, venison steaks, pies, and cookies, that pleased all of her grateful children and husband. 

 An outhouse was built about 100 feet from the house. That was another area that Mom had to watch and ensure that chemicals were placed on the discarded waste, and if needed another hole was dug and the outhouse moved to another location and the old hole covered with dirt. Indoor waste containers were located in the house to use in the night for little kids and Mom took the containers to the outhouse and emptied them. 

 Lack of electricity created the need for all tasks be done before the dark of the night. The light at night that I am most familiar with is the oil lamps that put off a yellow dim light. School assignments were better done early and nightly chores also. The nightly chores were bringing in wood for the stove or even chopping wood if you were a boy or able to handle an axe and bringing water from the well to fill the house containers. The children did the task and Mom made sure it was done.

 House hold duties were not the only thing that had to be done on a farm. Mom had chickens and chickens are not low maintenance. Children don’t mind gathering eggs, or feeding chicken but they do not like to clean chicken coops. Mom generally had that smelly and unpleasant task of scraping the chickens waste off of the boards that were used by the chickens at nighttime. Mom generally would kill the chicken when she wanted to prepare a meal of chicken. She had a long wire with a hook on the end that would catch the chicken by the leg and then she would either ring the chicken’s neck or use a hatchet while keeping the neck of the chicken on a log. Chickens couldn’t be a pet because they had a purpose of laying eggs; becoming a mother to a bunch of chickens hatched from the eggs she had laid for that purpose or becoming a delicious dinner for the family. Mom was fortunate to be able to sell the eggs at the local store in exchange for items that could not be grown. 

 One of the evening chores was milking cows. Mom always wore a dress with an apron covering the dress even when she milked the cows. Cows have a tail that is use to swat at the flies on their backs and often you were hit in the face with the tail. Cows are not always gentle and good natured and if they don’t like how you treat them, they will lift their foot and sometimes it will end up in your bucket of milk. You must always be on the alert. Milk was also part of the income that came into the Edwards household when it was sent in milk cans to Malta to the cheese factory. 

 Spring time was the time for Mom to plant her garden containing all kinds of vegetables. It is a lot of work to maintain a garden but mom never complained and did most of the work herself. First you prepared the soil, planted the seed, hoed out weeds that always come, water regularly and finally harvest the product. She would get up early to do her work before the heat of the day. 

 Mom would enlist the help of daughters when bottling the vegetables and fruits. Green beans had to be snapped. Corn taken off the cob. Peas shelled. Apples peeled and core taken out. Bottles washed. The woodburning stove had to be hot enough to boil the water in a large galvanized pan, that held the bottled vegetable or fruit for the needed time to preserve the item. It was a hot and long process but a very vital process to provide us with fruits and vegetables to last us for a year. Little fresh air could get into the kitchen as window did not open and the door did not go outside, but into a little porch. 

 Having a big family created a lot of washing. I don’t remember our washing machine but I do know we had to haul and heat the water and Mom made the soap that washed the clothes. I remember helping hang the clothes on the three rows of clothes lines that went along the south end of the lot. I hung a lot of clothes with close pins and gathered them when they were dry. I think mom did most of that work of folding and ironing the clothes with an iron heated on the stove.

.

Stan Lloyd in "Elba, Idaho, of All Places!:

Stan Lloyd "Of Elba,Idaho, of All Places" is an avid historian and a great story teller. He instigated many of the trips that we took with neighbors and guests to learn of the history of the Raft River Valley! You will hear much from Stan as we embark on this history adventure. He would always introduce himself as "Stan Lloyd, of Elba, Idaho, of All Places." Then he would tell that Ted Tuttle worked with "Father" after he came home from World War II. Ted had been in the Merchant Marine. A short paragraph on familysearch.org gives this clue to his experience. "5’ 11” in height. green eyes. Born with dark brown hair but during WWII while serving in the Naval Reserves, at one point his ship was under attack by the Japanese for about a month. He said he went from a guy with dark thick hair to gray and balding." Stan says that Ted would look up from working on their property there in the Elba valley, look around, and say, "Doesn't it beat "heck", repeating it a few minutes later. Finally Father said, "What beats "heck", Ted? Ted shook his head and said, "I've been all over the world and here I am back in Elba, Idaho, of all places. Doesn't it beat "heck"? So Stan isn't in Elba, Idaho, right now. He is living at Pomerelle Place in Burley because he got too rambunctious at home. But he is still totally involved in our history project. I hear from him every few days. I sent Stan a cassette recorder soon after he moved to his new home. He has been recording histories of some of his neighbors in Pomerelle Place! n He is going to record more about Ted Tuttle and Nathaniel Wake. This morning he told me that Nathaniel was married to Lovina Chandler (both natives of Elba) and they had two little girls when he went into the Navy during World War II. Nathaniel was aboard the USS Liscome Bay Aircraft Carrier when it was sunk in the Gilbert Islands on 24 November 1943. The ship went down within twenty three minutes after being struck by a single torpedo. Six hundred forty four men, including Nathaniel, were lost. Out of 916 men, only 272 sailors were rescued. Ted may have been in that same battle aboard another ship. He returned to Elba and married Lovina in 1951. He died only ten years later. The photos are of Nathaniel and Lovina and their daughters and Ted Tuttle. There is a photo of Stan on the mini cassia Heritage Hub Facebook Page.

Who knew I already had a blogspot!?!

The Burley Family History Center is sponsoring a Family History Expo on Saturday Feb 10th from 8:30am-4pm at the Burley CSI building. I was trying to find more information about the Expo and ran across an old Blogspot! The name of the Blogspot was the Declo Stake Family History Center and as I started to read the first blog, I thought it sounded a littler familar----and realized that it was my blogspot. I was the family history director for the Declo Idaho Family History Center around 2011 and we hosted a family history expo that year. This blogspot was set up then. Almost 13 years ago. I changed the name to coordinate with the Heritage Hub project I am working on right now. So........ Now there is a website at www.minicassiaheritagehub.com that links to local websites to help visitors to the area learn more about Minidoka and Cassia counties and the heritage tourism sites and events. We have a facebook page at Mini Cassia Heritage Hub where we can share information. And a You Tube channel also at Mini Cassia Heritage Hub where we are posting audio and hopefully video recordings. I have a wonderful son-in-law who helped me over New Year's to set up all kinds of fun things!!!!! We have a Heritage Hub meeting in the Old Almo School on the second Thursday of the month at 6 pm. We generally have about twenty people come, and it is really fun. DeeAnn Spencer has asked people to present a history of their family. Everybody is pretty much related in some way and there is a lot of good natured discussion. We are trying to post the audio recordings (haven't been very successful yet with video). So far we have presentations on the Robert Eames family, the Whitakers, Bronsons, Myron B. Durfee, the Tracys, Smiths and Taylors from Yost, and others. They are posted on the Mini Cassia Heritage Hub You Tube Channel. Now I am going to bed.....We will see where this all goes!

Trainings at Family Search

Family History enthusiasts are strange people, or so I've been told. One of my favorite things has been to attend family history conventions and workshops. It is so fun to be able to attend classes and visit with people who share a common "addiction". But classes and conventions tend to be rather expense and involve a lot of travel. The Church has come up with a fantastic solution. Classes and trainings online! Of course, you miss the fun of visiting with other researchers, but the classes are very good and best of all, they are free!!!!!

For those who are overwhelmed by new family search, there are several short tutorials on every aspect of the website. You can watch one clip and then practice until you become comfortable with it, and then watch the next clip. That way you don't feel overwhelmed with having to remember everything all at once.

Go to www.new.familysearch.org. Your sign in and password are for your LDS account if you are a member of the church. The LDS account is the same one you use to sign in to the stake/ward website, order from the catalog, etc. Those who are not members of the LDS Church and want to access new family search can set up a general account. It is easy to register. Just click on Register and follow the directions. If you have problems, contact one of the ward consultants or visit the family history center on Thursdays. Don't forget to write down your user name and password! You can always have them sent to you, but it is much easier to just have it written down!

Once you sign in, click on "How to Use New Family Search". It's that easy. You will see eleven tutorials and nine (at this count) guides that will take you through every step you need to become comfortable using the new family search website.
Take your time becoming at ease with the website and you will find it to be a wonderful resource.

The home page also has a "Help Center" link. It has been updated and contains answers to questions, a way for you to ask questions, and more videos and trainings. There is a link for those who want to learn how to index as well.

A "help" button is included on each page of new family search if you get lost. Those putting together the website are prepared for even the most computer illiterate among us! They are determined to help us be successful!!!!!!!!!!

For those who are comfortable with new family search and want to learn how to do actual research, go to www.familysearch.org. Click on "Learn". You will see a link to wiki family search, a link to classes and courses, and a link to the website for the Family History Library Catalog. You can learn how to use all of these websites at the help center on new.familysearch.org.

For the cost of a pair of earphones or speaker, you can access hundreds of videos and trainings. Check it out! It's almost as good as a Family History Workshop!

Handouts for the Community Family History Workshop

HANDOUTS FOR THE COMMUNITY FAMILY HISTORY WORKSHOP WILL BE POSTED AT

www.genealogybyjan.com Go to Library. Under file type, click on Handouts and under category type, click on Declo Family History Workshop.

You can print off the handouts from this website.

Community Family History Workshop 2011

COMMUNITY FAMILY HISTORY WORKSHOP
Declo Idaho Stake Family History Center
April 30, 2011 10 AM – 3 PM

COME IN THE EAST DOOR

CLASS SUMMARIES
Albion: A Model for Cemetery Research: Janis Durfee
Family Tree Magazine gives four tips for making cemetery research more effective. The cemeteries in Albion are a great way to understand just what you can find about your family from a visit to the cemetery, whether in person or online.

Ancestry.com:
Thinking about a subscription? Not sure how to use the subscription you have? Burley Family History Center now has a subscription to ancestry.com. Learn to use this powerful commercial website, which is frequently the end result of an Internet search.

Beginning Scandinavian Research: Kathleen Hedberg
Kathleen Hedberg is a well known teacher and author. She claims that Scandinavian Research has a steep learning curve, but that the research resources are incredible and easy to use once you know how. Let her help you past that learning curve so you can research your own Scandinavian roots!

Black Sheep in Your Family? Get in Line!: Lisa Dayley
When reporter and genealogist Lisa Dayley visited the Declo Stake FH Center for a news article, we traded stories about our more notorious ancestors. Sometimes people are afraid to research their family tree, nervous about what they might find. Perhaps they already know they have a horse thief or worse as a relative. How do you deal with less than stellar ancestors?

Census Records: A Snapshot in Time: Sylvia Grush
Census Records are one of the best places to start your family history research. Taken every ten years (and more often with State and local Censuses), these records can help you track your ancestors through the changes in their lives.

Doing Research in the Mini-Cassia Area: US Genweb and Much More! Janis Durfee
There are a surprising number of resources available locally and online to help you trace your ancestors. Many of the resources are specific to our state and county, but other resources can help you research all over the world.

Getting Started---The Five Basic Steps: Cherry Mae Smith
Do you want to research your family but don’t know where to start? Learn five basic steps to help you get going! There are actually six steps! The first step is determining to come to the Workshop and take this class.

“Google Genealogists Toolbox”: Jamie Larsen
Lisa Louis Cooke, host of several genealogy podcasts and author, has written a new book. "The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox" promises to “help you stuff your genealogy toolbox with free state-of-the-art Internet tools that are built to search, translate, message, and span the globe”. Jamie has been studying the book and will teach us to use Google more effectively in our Family History Research.

Land Records: DeeAnn and Angie Spencer
Learn more about the lives of your ancestors through land records. The Government Land Office (GLO) records even let you see your ancestor’s homestead claim.

Immigration and Naturalization Records: Adrianna Boyer
There are all kinds of records available to help you find your immigrant ancestor! Learn how to locate the various records and what information may be available in each.

Military Record in Family History Research: Janis Durfee
Military records can be located for every war going back to Colonial Times. See how to find family relationships and personal information in the many types of military records and databases.

Navigating the New Family Search: Brother Williams, Burley Family History Center
New Family Search is a fantastic research tool provided by the LDS Church and is free to the public. Brother Williams will teach you how to use this tremendous database to research your ancestors. (Elaine Richman will be available in the Cultural Hall to help you practice on new Family Search.)

Organizing Computer Files: Darla Young
Intimidated by your computer? Can’t find anything you need? Darla will show you how to create new folders, move information and everything else you need to feel comfortable saving---and finding---documents on your computer.

Recording Oral Histories: Kristen Bastis
Kristen is Chief of Cultural Resources at the City of Rocks National Reserve in Almo. Living family members are one of the most overlooked places you can go for information about your family. Kristen will show you tips on how to effectively do oral histories. If you don’t make visiting your relatives and recording their memories a priority, the opportunity will be gone before you realize it!

PICASA: Darla Young
Picasa is a free internet program which will allow you to manage your photographs. Learning a few basic tips will help you organize your pictures and your computer.

Probates and Wills: Blanche Simmons, Burley Family History Center
Sister Simmons says that The U.S. Probate Records are “important in every region of the United States and should be used by every genealogist…Because wills often list the names of many family members, as much as half the population either left a will or was mentioned in one.”

Putting it All Together: Sylvia Grush
Now you’ve learned to find census, vital, cemetery, military records and more. What do you do with all the information you’ve collected? Sylvia will teach you to put it all together so that you can see who your ancestors really were.

Using Documents and Sources: Darla Young
Wonder where you got that bit of information? How accurate is the family group sheet you got from Great aunt Sarah? Learn to document your research in order to make it more valuable to you and to those who view your work.

What’s on Family Search: Brother Williams
If you haven’t checked out this fantastic free website sponsored by the LDS Church, you will be amazed at the number of resources available from census and vital records to free classes. You can also access the Salt Lake Family History Catalog and order microfilms from their vast collection through this website. Wiki.familysearch and forums are other features at familysearch.org

World Vital Records and Footnote: Gwen Hurst
The Declo Family History Center has subscriptions to World Vital Records and Footnote. Gwen will show you how to search these two commercial programs. Footnote specializes in military records and WVR has a lot of early LDS records as well as digital books.

"Indexing" Family Search is adding millions of new records regularly through the efforts of volunteer indexers. Indexers basically transfer information from a census or other record into a form which will make the data available for a computer search. More indexers are needed! Penny Thompson and Ruth Anderson can help you learn to register, download the batches, and transfer the information. Indexing is really fun!

Displays and Demonstrations in the Cultural Hall and West lobby

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers—Norma Edgar
Find a Grave—Jade Larsen
Color Coding your Family Files---Adrianna Boyer
Family Crests/Coats of Arm, etc. Display----Irene Ruffell
Photo Restoration Display---Jamie Larsen
Practice with New Family Search----Elaine Richman
Take a break and create a scrapbook page—Kenny Mae Gold
Involving Kids in Family History----Emma Curtiss

Why Research?

If you are just beginning to do your family research, you may feel overwhelmed as you look at the list of classes that we will be teaching at the Community FH Workshop. Why do you need to know about census records, military records, land records, probate records, and on and on? A person's lifespan can cover many decades. Several events typically occur in each person's life---birth (obviously), school, military, marriage, children, work, retirement, and death. Records are generally created with each event and these are often the only thing---other than memories---remaining to mark a person's life. The created document shows a "snapshot" of the person at that precise moment and event. It may or may not include information about other aspects of that person's life. So we look for as many of these documents as we can, trying to put together a view of the person's entire life. For example, a birth document will most generally list the person's place and date of birth and the parents. It obviously will not list his children. Military records may list the dependents and other vital information. Census records will list the individuals living in the home on that particular day. You can see that the more records you can find about a person and his family the better chance you have of reconstructing that person's life. It's like putting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle----but first having to search out and find the jigsaw piece. That is what makes research fun! Now I record the "puzzle pieces" in the notes section of my Ancestral Quest files (similar to PAF). That way I don't lose track of the dozens of random pieces of paper that I am still trying to locate with little bits of precious information. I started to date the entries and it is fun to look back on a family that I am researching and see the progress that I have made in discovering who this family really was.

Working together as a Family

Doing family history is so much more fun and a lot easier if you don't do it by yourself. About twelve years ago, we held our first Lewis Reunion in Albion, Idaho, where our common ancestor James Stapleton Lewis and his family moved in 1875. These annual reuions have proven to be a great blessing in the lives of many, living and dead. Many of us have become close friends----We are Lewis Cousins. Working together on our family history has been great. We don't have to be good at it all---or do everything. We each do what interest us, and then share it with the rest of the family. In February, several of us met as we began the "James Stapleton Lewis Families Project". The purpose is to help us work more closely together as a family. We're still few in number, but growing. And we are making progress. Cousin Lyn has set up a blogspot and a Facebook page for Grandpa----he is probably chuckling over that! We have a forum at beta.familysearch.org and our own website at lewislinks.com which gives quick access to the various links to family websites, etc. One cousin lives in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, settled by our Potts/Lewis ancestors. Another is an hour or so away from the Joel Lewis home in North Carolina. Other family members are busily working on the lines that interests them. By working together and sharing our talents, we are making a difference in finding our Lewis ancestors and cousins.

Sources

If you have spent any time at all on new family search, you soon realize that there is a ton of really rotten research posted there. While there is an easy way to document where the information came from, not many people have done that. As you correct your family data on nFS, be sure to document your sources. As I mentioned in the posting on documention, you should list where you got your information---whether it is from a solid source or not. Evaluating the sources is a great way to tell if information can be trusted or if more research needs to be done. Here are some hints.

Primary Sources: Obvious. A first hand account from a person involved in the event. It is best if it was recorded near the time the event occurred. A primary source is generally considered one of the most accurate sources---but not always. In the late 1800's, Judy Persinger copied information into her precious family Bible. She asked her father-in-law, William, for information on his three marriages. Later, a researcher found a marriage bann for William and his first wife, about 1790. It didn't match the date in the Bible. Polly had been gone for many years, not there to remind William about their anniversary, so he had gotten it mixed up in his old age. And my dear husband, present at the births of our five children and their subsequent birthday parties, couldn't tell you the birth day or year for any of them. For some obscure reason, he can tell you that we used my china for the first time on February 4th. So if I ever needed to document that, he'd be perfect.

Secondary Source: A secondary source would be information from someone who is not an eye witness or was removed from the event. There is opportunity for the information to be misunderstood or changed. Such a source may be all you can find and should not be discounted. If, however, there is conflicting information documented from a Primary Source, it should take precedence over a secondary source. An example: A friend reported that she had misspelled her name her entire life and didn't know it until she had gotten a certified copy of her birth certificate to apply for social security. Her mother had taught her to write her name----Mom was a primary source since she was the one who chose it. The hospital clerk, the recorder at the state, even Dad, could have entered in the wrong spelling. So while a birth certificate is usually considered a very accurate source, I feel that Mom knew best.

Original and Compiled Records: Always look for the original record if you can find it. We have a tendency to get lazy when we search online. Search for a census record on ancestry.com or other site and you will come up with an index. This is a compiled record. Someone looked at the original record and tried to copy down what it said. Their intention was good and they tried to be as accurate as possible. But if you have ever done indexing, you know what a hard task that is! Mistakes enter in. Be sure to take the little time required to click on the original record and see what you think it says. Better yet, save a copy and attach it to your PAF file. Sometimes when you know a little bit about the person, you can decipher the hen scratches of the census taker better than someone unfamiliar with the family. Always note whether you looked at the actual census or at the index. It can be embarrassing if someone calls you on it later.

Sometimes it is tricky to figure it all out. I found a marriage record in an old book in the Cassia County Courthouse for my great aunt Meg in 1879. The book was hand written by --oh, dear, I have forgotten his first name---Mr. Weatherman, the first recorder in Cassia County. I assumed it was a Primary source. Later I learned that our county was part of Owyhee County at the time of their marriage and that Mr. Weatherman had traveled to Silver City where he carefully handcopied all of the Cassia County records from the original Owyhee book. We visited Silver City many years ago. It was a daunting drive in our pickup, and not an easy task for a man on a horse. And as careful as I am sure he was, he may have made a mistake. The original records are in the Owyhee county courthouse in Murphy, Idaho. Twin Falls County was created from Cassia County, so they likewise have copied records of their early events, and Cassia County has the originals. I probably won't make it to Murphy to check their early marriage records, but I did change the notes in my sources to explain that it was a copy of the original record. It really made me appreciate Mr. Weatherman and all of those others who so carefully recorded the information we are seeking now.

Documenting your Research

If you are just starting out in family history research, LEARN TO DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES FROM THE START! I hate to admit how often I have looked back over my years of research and wondered where I found that really "good" piece of information. Sometimes I have gotten a great gedcom from a distant cousin----but with no clue as to where the data was obtained and how accurate it is.

Documenting doesn't have to be hard. You just tell where you got the information. If you copied the names and dates from Grandpa's Book of Rememberence, that is your source. If Great Aunt Sally told you the story of your family settling in the area, she is your source. If you read an index of a census, then indicate that it was an index that you noted as opposed to seeing the actual census. The idea is to for you or someone else to be able to know where the information came from. A cousin may want to see for themselves where you found the information---or they can evaluate use it to evaluate the accuracy of the source. (See the posting on sources)

PAF and other personal family history programs offer a great way to source the information. Your ward family history consultant can help you learn to do this, or come to the Declo Family History Center on Thursdays for personal help. If you find several family members in the same census or the Western States Marriage Index, etc., you can enter the source once in the source list. You just click on that source to add it to any person listed in that source. Even better, you can personalize that person's page to show not only the source, but the specific information for that person. I'm not explaining it well, but it works great and is easy to do once you know how.

I use the notes page in my PAF or Ancestral Quest programs to save information. In the "olden days" we were encouraged to submit our PAF records, including notes, to the Ancestral File or Pedigree Resource File. With the new family search, we do not do that. So my note page is "mine" now. I use my notes page to copy information that I may not have room to put into the sources page. Before that, I would write my findings---or my thoughts on where to look next---on little pieces of paper which are somewhere in the house, I hope. Now I put them in the individual's notes. I like to date my entries. It is fun to go back and see what I was thinking about a family and realize that I have made progress. Any sensitive material should be entered under confidential notes (see your instructions) or kept in another file. Be sure when sharing histories to click the box that prevents confidential notes from being transferred. Some sensitive information in our family tree was inadvertedly added to Ancestral File and is now permanently recorded in new family search. Whoops! The relative who did it would be really upset if she knew she had shared that with the world.

One of the helpers at the Burley Family History Center insisted that I not only make a copy of the page of a book but to copy the Title page and the page with the publication information and staple them together. That goes for scanning books as well. I was in the basement of the Burley FH Center a while ago searching through their Missouri section. I picked up a book, flipped through it, and found an entry that a James Gray accompanied a family from Bourbon County, Kentucky, to Clay County, Missouri. WOW!!! What a clue!!!!! So I copied the info quickly into my planner----but left off the title of the book. So a few months later, I was downstairs again, rummaging through the bound books, hoping to be able to be find that paragraph again. It took me a while---a long while. So learn to document! It saves a lot of frustration!

Rethinking Census Records

We just had a great family reunion. Our common ancestor was born in 1814, so it is pretty much oriented towards family history. We've met for about 10 years now, and established some pretty special cousin relationships in addition to working together on our Lewis ancestry---and descendency.

One cousin, Lyn, had just returned from a BYU Family History Workshop. Her favorite class was aimed at helping researchers get more out of the census records. Lyn's tips: (Along with some tips from another cousin).

Cousin Aletta wrote several years ago: "Families often moved together when settling new areas. It was if they travelled with a ready made community that they would transplant to a new area. Spometimes a family or two would settle in a new area, then communicate with the other families, urging them to come. Once the families start intermarrying, the bonds would become even stronger".

Lyn's tips are based on this observation. Most of us know that when you are searching a census record, you should look a couple of pages before and after your family's listing. You will most likely find other related families in your search. Lyn said that the instructor had come across a land plat showing a map of the landowners in the area where her family lived. It was drawn about the same time as the federal census. The instructor looked at the dates at the top of the census page and made a note of the families who were enumerated on the same day. She then compared that list to the land plat. She discovered that the census taker had basically gone down one side of the road and then several days later, turned back and enumerated the other side of the road. Relatives living across the street were listed in the census twenty six pages after the first family. If you don't want to spend the time necessary to read the whole census for that town or district, at least do a search in the database for family members who might be in the area.

The instructor noticed a family living next door to her ancestors. The wife was born in the same state as her ancestors. Searching proved the wife to be a sister. Cousin Aletta already knew this principle. I had searched the 1860 Census and found my great great grandpa Dave Lewis and his father, Lemuel listed next to each other. End of story. Aletta sent me copies of her research. She had recognized that Lydia Canoy who lived on the other side of Lemuel was his daughter. Her given name, birthplace, and age helped uncover her identity. It also opened up a new descendancy line which was pretty exciting.

Another find. The instructor had come to a dead end on her family research. She was looking at a census and noticed that a neighboring but unrelated family came from the same state as her family. She did a quick search on that family and was able to find them in an earlier census. Sure enough, a few houses down she discovered her family. There had been a problem with the indexing which kept them from showing up in her ancestry.com search. You just never know.

Timelines

Timelines are a big help in family history research. A timeline can be simple or complex. Several of the personal ancestral programs and many websites have a template to help set up a timeline. I generally use a paper and pencil because that is how I think best. It doesn't matter how you do it. A timeline helps you see what you know about your family and where you need to look to fill in the blanks. Here is a brief example.

My Grandma told her children that her father was born in Clay County, Missouri, in 1832. He brought his family to Albion, Cassia, Idaho, from Daviess County, Missouri, in 1875. He died in Albion in 1898. Grandma spoke of her half brother, Charles. So......

1832 Charles Monroe Gray, (CMG) born 8 August 1832 in Clay County, Missouri.
1875 Charles and Sarah Elizabeth Stephenson came to Albion, Cassia,Idaho.
1898 Charles died in Albion on 25 Sept 1898 and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery.

Three events, but they give us a lot of clues as to where to research. Census records are always a good place to start. The 1850 census was the first one to list each person by name, age and place of birth. It does not show relationships. In the olden days, we would have had to search both counties (hopefully no more) name by name on the old microfilm machines. Now we simply do a search in Ancestry.com and find Charles in the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses. The 1890 census was destroyed.

Our timeline can be updated with lots of new information.

1832 CMG born in Clay County, Missouri
1850 CMG living with his parents, James and Mary Gray, in Daviess County, MO.
1860 CMG in Daviess County, Missouri. Wife, Susan. Children listed
1870 CMG in Daviess County, MO. Wife, Susan. Some children added,others gone.
1875 CMG and Sarah come to Albion
1880 CMG in Albion, Cassia, Idaho. Wife, Sarah. Children, some different.

What can we see now from our timeline?

Charles was married, likely in Daviess County, by 1860, to Susan. Susan died between 1870 and 1875 and within that same period of time, he remarried. A search of the marriage records of Daviess County shows both marriages.

A distant cousin had an old handwritten record giving the births and deaths of Charles' family members. Susan's death is recorded as 7:32 P.M., showing that the person who recorded it had personal knowledge of her passing.

Historical Context is also important in developing a timeine. What historical things happened during his his lifetime that would have influenced his life? The Civil War and the movement westward. Again an Internet search reveals his military record and details of his service. So.....here is an abbreviated timeline of what we now know.

1830 James and Mary (Polly) Gray married in Clay, Missouri
1832 CMG born in Clay County, Missouri
1832-1850 Polly and James moved to Daviess, MO.
1852 Monroe Gray and Susanna Morgan married in Daviess, MO
1854-1863 Five children born, three died as infants or toddlers
1863 CMG mustered into the 23rd Missouri Volunteers, captured at Shiloh,
POW camp in Georgia, Prisioner exchange, home briefly.
1864 Marched with Sherman across Georgia, mustered out before Atlanta
1872 Susan died, Charles married Sarah, daughter Rebecca died.
1874 Son Theodore born. Susan's brothers and Sarah's uncle go west.
1875 Family comes to Ogden via train heading for Oregon, end up in Albion
1880 More children born. Older children marry and leave home
1880-1898 Albion records show CMG as a county commissioner, Mason, carpenter, etc.
1898 Cousin shares story about CMG's death of heart attack, tombstone, will at the courthouse in Burley lists his living children and their residence.


You can see that the timeline guided us as to when and where to search for records. If we know that Charles moved to Idaho by 1875 then we won't be looking for his records in Missouri during that time. The 1850 census proved his parents' identity and we found their marriage record in Clay. History books, local histories, etc. can also add a lot of information. For example, Grandma wrote that her family came by train to Ogden, but history tells us that the transcontinental railroad was completed by 1869, so they obviously wouldn't have come across the plains by wagon train.
I use a timeline for research and also as an outline as I write histories. The timeline is really just an abbreviated outline of one's life.

New Family Search; Message Boards

First Step? Prayerfully determine what you need to be doing. Ask for guidance and then ponder on your family as you go through your day's work. Look through what you have. Many of us have huge Books of Remembrance that we haven't even opened. Think back to some of the stories you have heard or relatives you have known. I promise that you will start to feel stirrings that will lead you to your own spot in this great work.

Some suggestions:
Get signed up for the new family search. You will need your membership number (on your temple recommend) and your confirmation date. The site will guide you to set up your account. If you already have an LDS user account (one you use to access the ward and state website) you will use that user name and password. The website will soon be open to everyone so the LDS user accounts identify you as a member of the church and allow you to view the LDS ordinances. You will choose a user name that will show up on the new family search (nFS) whenever you make changes. I chose to use my name; others choose to use a nickname, etc. to protect their identity. You also choose what information you want others to be able to see. At least include your email address. It is really frustrating to try to get in touch with a "new cousin" and not be able to find any contact information. I included my name, address, phone and email. I have had a couple of cousins call me and we had great visits about our common ancestor. Most of the time I have been contacted through email. If you have trouble registering or using the site, come to the FHC on Thursdays or visit with your ward FHC consultant. A tutorial will show up on the screen after you register. It is a good idea to go through that and learn the basics. The site is easy to use and improvements are being made all the time.

CAUTION: There are a lot of mistakes and misinformation in the nFS. Make changes only if you KNOW the right information. If you make a change on nFS without documentation or proof then you are only adding more clutter. You can easily document your information on the website. Even if your information came from "Aunt Sallie", always put down the source. Others will use your source to evaluate the value of the data. A birth certificate may trump a family source. But not always. One friend ordered her birth certificate in order to apply for social security and it showed her name as "Carole" instead of "Carol". She was appalled that she had misspelled her name all her life. But did she? Her mother had taught her how to spell her name. Mom would obviously be the primary source as to her daughter's name. The doctor or clerk who filled out the birth certificate had changed the spelling. An explanation of the circumstances in the notes of her PAF program,or the discussion tab on nFS would help others searching for the correct information.

MESSAGE BOARDS:
I was so proud of myself when I started doing FH research on the Internet. I carefully typed "Durfee Family" in the search engine that first day and luckily came up with a great site. There was a lot of really good information and help---and for a long time I didn't know that I could go anywhere else. I had tapped into a MESSAGE BOARD. They are a great place to look for family information. www.genforum.com was the one I had stumbled across but you will find them on many websites. You can choose your surname or locality on genforum. It will bring you a list of messages from other people. Type in your locality, ancestor name, or a keyword in the search box and see what comes up. You browse through the messages, looking for information on your people. If you find something of interest, you can create or follow a thread, and discuss that family with other researchers.

If you don't find your family listed in the message board, be sure to leave your own message. Many times, even years later, a cousin may come across your message and get in touch with you. Be smart in leaving the message. Some try to be cute with a message title like "Help! Looking for Family". There are researchers who'd love to help but won't waste their time clicking on the message to see what help you need. Your message title should be something like "James and Mary Allen Gray, Daviess County, Missouri, about 1850." Use full names, dates, places, ask specific questions in the body of the message. Look at some of the other messages and see what works.

Oh, the new family search just added a great new "discussions" feature. It works like a message board. "My" James Gray is linked to the wrong parents and I haven't been able to get it changed. I left a message on the discussion board stating why these parents are incorrect and explaining where I think his family came from. I think it will really help clear up some of the confusion and clutter on nFS.

JUST BECAUSE YOU FIND IT ON THE INTERNET DOESN'T MEAN IT IS TRUE. Look for sources and documentation. Evaluate what you find against what you already know and what makes sense. The new family search and message boards are two good ways to get in touch with new cousins and share or increase your knowledge of your ancestors. Have Fun!

Getting Started is the Hardest!

That old adage is true. I have been procrastinating for several months and finally decided it was time to get our stake family history blogspot going. It has been hard to get started. Many of you find that it is hard to get started in your family history research. At some point, you just have to DO IT!

Most family history "how to" tips tell you to start with yourself. Gather a big box and start collecting all of your important papers in order to document your own life. That's a really great idea----but I'd never have gotten involved in family history if I had started with me! I'm still trying to get enthused about writing my own history. My five year old granddaughter thinks I am old enough to remember both the pioneers and the dinosaurs, so I guess it is time to set the record straight and write down my own personal stories and memories.

MY ADVICE? Start with something that interests you. Each of us brings a unique perspective to family history. We have different talents, different interests, and different goals. A new convert can generate names to take to the temple without a lot of work. A member whose family has been doing genealogical work for generations will struggle to find even a few names. So prayerfully ponder where you are at. I can guarantee that you will be guided to your own particular place in this important work.

Are you interested in the stories of your ancestors? Does a particular family or person intrigue you? Do you enjoy writing? Are you drawn to old photos? Do you feel the need to research your family line? Do you have records available to help you document and correct your family information on the new family search? Do you have heirlooms that need to be preserved? Do you need to host a family reunion---or even a cousin reunion? Have you been procrastinating a visit to an elderly aunt or grandparent? Do you regularly attend the temple?

There are so many ways to become involved in family history work. The scriptures and the writings of the prophets make it clear. Elijah came to turn the hearts of the fathers and the children together. This is the dispensation in which this work is to be done---and this is the time for you to get started.

Come to the family history center on Thursdays. Consultants will be there from 10 AM to 7 PM. Each ward has at least one family history consultant who would love to help you get started. We can help you so that it isn't quite so intimidating! In fact, you will find that it is really fulfilling and even fun!

Yes, We're Blogging!

At our last meeting, our family history consultants expressed an interest in keeping this blog going. Hopefully each one will share their thoughts and some of their ideas and tips for doing family history. We would enjoy your comments!

At one of our classes, some of the sisters just beginning their family history research became very frustrated. I thought about that class for a long time and realized that I kept hearing "Well, I...." that night. And what "I" do in family history is not what someone else has to do. We each have our own niche----our purpose----our talents and abilities----our spot in family history work. Determining OUR Purpose is something that I have come to understand is a very important beginning step in our family history journey.

Genealogy or family history research is one of the fastest growing hobbies. People everywhere are finding a need to find out more about their family's past. There are tons of websites, family organizations, you name it....to help us in this search. It is for all walks of life, all ages and interests.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have the responsibility of finding the names and doing the temple work for their deceased ancestors. This is a solemn obligation outlined in the scriptures and taught by modern day leaders. Many times, however, we find that much of this work has already been done. What then?

One of the classes at the Family History Workshop will be 10 Things to Do When You Think You're Done. While I haven't been to the class yet, I can tell you that there is much to do in preserving the stories and records of our ancestors. The thing that makes family history work so much fun? Finding those jigsaw pieces of history which help us realize that our ancestors are real people who lived real lives----and that we are like them.

Stay tuned as we discuss some of these things---share thoughts, poetry, tips, exciting finds....

Janis