8th Annual Family History Conference

I spoke today at our Stake's Family History Conference and thought I'd share the talk since it tells about much that has been happening in the last year in Family Search.

Family History Day, Concord, New Hampshire

Saturday, October 24, 2015

It is such a privilege to be able to participate with all of you at the 8^th Annual Family History Day here in Concord.  We moved to Concord from California just over a year ago to serve as Record Preservation Missionaries and have been working at the State Archives since that time.  Besides the fact that we get to live in the most beautiful state in New England we have enjoyed being part of a wonderful project to photograph probate records. 

The new CEO of Family Search, Steve Rockwood said,

“In our discovery I hope we will all shine a light on the life-changing nature of family history.  All of our family and friends need to personally experience the emotion, understanding, and joy that comes from discovering family, both past and present.”  Since we began working at the archives we have had numerous opportunities to see the shining light of family dynamics when we get glimpses into their history, their family, their generosity, their religions, their successes and their struggles.  We have enjoyed little glimpses of love for spouses and children.  It has been amazing to me to realize that these aren’t my relatives and yet I have been uplifted by the beautiful words, and kind thoughts that have been expressed by so many of these wonderful strangers.  I often hope that their posterity will also have an opportunity to see what amazing ancestors they have.

Today I wanted to share what has been happening in the last year at Family Search and to tell you what the Mayville’s and my husband and I have done since this project began. 

Ø  At this time there are over 200 cameras and other archiving resources distributed around the world.  42 of those cameras are operating in the United State right now.  We have two cameras here in Concord.

Ø  Family Search image capture projects worldwide are currently producing over 80 million images per year.

Ø  In June it was announced that Family Search is partnering with African American organizations to help index records of the Freedmen’s Bureau, an agency organized following passage of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution.  Between 1862-1872 the bureau gathered handwritten documents on free men, women, and children.  These records include marriages, family information, military service, banking, school, hospital and property records.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke at the announcement and he told the audience, “One of our key beliefs is that our families can be linked forever and that knowing the sacrifice, the joys, and paths our ancestors trod helps us know who we are and what we can accomplish.”

Ø  In August there was a World Wide Indexing Event.  In that one week 12,251,870 records were indexed with the help of 82,039 volunteers.

Ø  As of October 2015—

o   10 million records have been added to the New York New York Passenger and Crew List

o   The Australia Queensland Cemetery records from 1802-1990 are now available on Family Search

o   The Illinois County marriages from 1810-1934 is now available

o   The Massachusetts Salem and Beverly Crew List and Shipping Articles from 1797-1934 have been photographed (tell the story of Herman Melville)

o   The Pennsylvania Historical Society Card Catalog from 1553-2015 is now available on Family Search

o   The Maine J Gary Nichols Cemetery Collection from 1780 to 1999 is now available

o   The North Dakota State Census from 1915 to 1925 and now available on Family Search

o   Florida Probate Records from 1874-1990 have been photographed and

o   The Billion Graves Index has added 562,082 names

At New Hampshire Archives we have been working with Tim and Phyllis Mayville who have been taking pictures (we call it capturing!) since November 2013.  During that time they have completed the Grafton County Probate Estate files from 1773 to 1899.  When that was completed they began work on the Cheshire County, New Hampshire probates from 1900 to 1959.  That project had about 16,000 files and Tim, Phyllis, and their son Jared took over a half a million images.  They have just started another project for Grafton County capturing probate files from 1900 to 1959 and when that is completed they will begin Merrimack County.

When Scott and I started at the Archives we began working on the Rockingham County probate files which we completed in August.  Those records were from 1850 through 1918.  We have opened 18,918 folders and took 436,242 pictures.  We are now working on Hillsborough County beginning in the late 1700s.  Rockingham County had 155 boxes full of probate files and our Hillsborough project has 354 boxes which will keep us busy until we return home in March of 2016 so there will still be work to be done after we leave.

It has been a great experience and although we do the same thing each day we have grown to love the work and appreciate more the wonderful people who settled this area so many years ago. 

On the Family Search website they have written—

·         Learning about our ancestors helps us better understand who we are-creating a family bond linking the present to the past, and building a bridge to the future.

I know that is true.  We are living in such a wonderful time because of all of the technology that has made it possible to be linked almost immediately to our ancestors.  To learn about them gives us immeasurable opportunities to be better people because of their good and even sometimes their bad qualities.

In closing I’d like to encourage you that ‘as you move along in your journey to discover the roots of your family never forget that your own story needs to be told’.  Each of us has so much to contribute and what you are doing is so important and so far reaching.  I hope you have continued success.