Lynda, here are a couple of minor corrections to your answer below. (1) the Patron Family Group Sheets have been moved from the main FHL over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, but are still available, just not in the FHL; and (2) I don't think anything from the Patron Family Group Sheets was ever entered into the Ancestral File, only stuff that was sent in specifically for the AF. And now they only accept stuff on disk for the AF. We hear people say all the time, "But we sent in the 4-generation FGS years ago. Why aren't they in the AF?" The answer is because they were never entered in the AF. BTW, we heard yesterday at the BYU Genealogy/Family History Conference that the new AF version will contain 35 million names and will be out during the first quarter of 1999. (But don't hold your breath for it!) Don Snow At 09:00 AM 8/7/98 -0400, Durfee_Lynda@tmac.com wrote: >The article didn't mention that many of the IGI records were extracted from old >Family Group Records and temple index cards. The film number and other source >information will tell you that. Nearly all (but not 100%) of the records you >find on the Scottish Parish Register CD are in the IGI. Many extractions are >from published family genealogies. Some of my RI ancestors are in the IGI 5 or >6 times, from FGRs, vital record extractions and published books. I guess >they're sealed pretty tight! > >Back in the old days (30+ years ago when I started doing family history), you'd >get request forms from the GSU (now FHL), send them in (up to 5 at a time), and >the GSU would send a photocopy of the temple index card and/or family group >sheet. The name and address of the submitter, along with notes and other >information not shown in the IGI record, was often on the sheet. On the index >card, the names of the persons serving as proxy were often named. Later, all >these sheets were microfilmed alphabetically. Then, you would go to a FHC and >order the film containing the surname you were looking for. > >The main FHL in SLC (as far as I know) has all of these old family group sheet >(now called FGRs) films. Many of the local FHC have a good number of these. I >understand the information from these was also copied into Ancestral File >(without notes, of course). When the FHCs got computers, they kept these >loaner films. The FHC I volunteer at has several drawers of these. If your >local FHC has them, it may be worth a look, especially if you find a FGR with >reference information. > >One hint in using the IGI. When you use the parent search to find additional >children, look for variants on the parents' names. Especially with >birth/christenings extracted from church records, you might find the parents >recorded differently. For example: > >John Illingworth and Betty >John Illingworth and Elizabeth >Jno Illingworth (no mother) > >For this surname, I'd also look under Ellingworth. They are not coded the same >in the SOUNDEX nor grouped together in the IGI. If you have a surname starting >with a vowel, check for similar variants. > Dr. Donald R. Snow, Dept of Math, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602 (801) 378-2366, snowd@math.byu.edu