Hi all, While this discussion has been going on, I've been in Salt Lake -- for 10 days actually -- and now I'm home at last. A fellow researcher and I go once a year. The library is so rich with microfilm of primary documents that we'll never run out of projects. December is a great time to go -- Temple Square is decorated with a zillion lights, and the library is relatively empty. Apparently most groups go in May or October so those are times to avoid. Lois's strategy of looking for something very specific is excellent. What's really wonderful is when you find that very specific thing is that you can interpret it, then immediately move on to your next task with the likelihood that another court case, deed, tax or church record will be right there to look at. This trip I spent a few days looking through old church records in Warwickshire and Lincolnshire, England. I immersed myself in the films of original parish records and the original Bishop's transcripts. I found signatures of ancestors written in the early 1700's, and X's marked by those who couldn't write. I was also writing up a recent trip I took to those places with some distant English cousins, and I found maps to flesh out my write up, plus local histories written at that time full of information about home life. All this right there in the library. I was actually kind of shocked to find a book printed in 1729 with beautiful etchings in it just sitting there on the shelf. And they let you xerox from any book. There are many, many county and city histories. There are privately bound books of research done by individuals or small genealogy societies that you won't find elsewhere. It's a wonderful place to spend a week. Even though I've gone to the FHL now quite a few times, I still have some problems using their computerized card catalogue. When you're researching court documents, it's pretty easy to use. But there are so very many histories, and obscure documents that I have difficulty finding without already knowing the author or title, that I know I'm missing a lot of good material. For instance, I'm still trying to find the original patents for Garrett county -- I'm sure they have them, but I just can't find how they're indexed. And they have Casper Stoever's diary on film-- easy to find -- but only after many steps did I find the church records kept by Rev. John L. Grant of Philadelphia in the mid 1800's which had my gggrandparents marriage record. To use the library effectively you really have to dig in and do research -- not data mining. Still, the library is a gold mine. I spent one lovely morning just reading through Allegany county liber A chronologically. So many ancestors there then. The IGI and the ancestral files are filled with errors, but are often useful as clues. I look forward to being able to urge corrections to those. Oh yes, and xeroxes are only a nickel a page. I wish a trip to Salt Lake on all of you! Merry Christmas to all! Lavinia Schwarz [email protected] wrote: > > When I go to SLC I just have one page to find and that would be the German > record of Zeilbach of their citizens who applied to immigrate after 1846--page > 2 ended with my 2nd great-grandparents. I will take what I have with me. I'm > hoping to find when the rest of my great-grandfather Conrad Hetrick and his > wife Anna Maria "Nancy" Upphold applied to emigrate. It would have had to > have happened after 1854 but before 1861 as their first born (Charles Conrad) > was born in 1860 in MD. The record gives the parents' names of those > emigrating. Would be a wonderful find . . . then maybe from there I can find the rest > of Nancy's family from Bavaria. I presently only have the name of her sister > Margarethe Eisner and her daughter Johanna (looks like a combination of Johann > and Anna) Hmmmm. > > Lois Hetrick Stewart > > In a message dated 12/18/2006 2:02:39 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, > [email protected] writes: > > Using LDS facilities, I have found old European church records of births, > marriages, and deaths. This info would have been difficult to discover by > any other means of which I am aware. On a trip to Germany, I took the time > to search out and view for myself one set of church records I had seen > copied by LDS. The LDS records faithfully copied the original. > > Walt > > > > > > ====================================== > Looking for your Garrett County ancestors? Make sure to visit us on the web at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdgarret/index.html > ------------------------------------ > If you need help with this list, make sure to email the list administrator, Sonny O'Haver, [email protected] > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MDGARRET-reques[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

One thing I found that doesn't work well at the Family History Centers is researching property transfers. That's one thing that works best at the County Court house if you possibly can. That's because one deed book will refer you to another then another then another; and each deed book will be on a different microfilm. From today back to 1800??? you may have to go through a dozen or more than a dozen deed books (or microfilms). However the indexes are usually available on film, and if you can find the person or deed you are looking for in an index, you can order that one film for that one record. Generally, though, if possible, I think the courthouse is a better bet for land records. Another thing that happens is that a piece of property may have been bequeathed in a Will, in which case then you have to go look up the will, (usually just around the corner or across the hall); which will refer to a land record, then go back to land records office to continue. Sam ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lavinia Grace Schwarz" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 12:22 PM Subject: Re: [MDGARRET] LDS Church > Hi all, > > While this discussion has been going on, I've been in Salt Lake -- for > 10 days actually -- and now I'm home at last. > A fellow researcher and I go once a year. > The library is so rich with microfilm of primary documents that we'll > never run out of projects. > December is a great time to go -- Temple Square is decorated with a > zillion lights, and the library is relatively empty. > Apparently most groups go in May or October so those are times to avoid. > > Lois's strategy of looking for something very specific is excellent. > What's really wonderful is when you find that very specific thing is > that you can interpret it, then immediately > move on to your next task with the likelihood that another court case, > deed, tax or church record will be right there to look at. > > This trip I spent a few days looking through old church records in > Warwickshire and Lincolnshire, England. > I immersed myself in the films of original parish records and the > original Bishop's transcripts. > I found signatures of ancestors written in the early 1700's, and X's > marked by those who couldn't write. > I was also writing up a recent trip I took to those places with some > distant English cousins, and I found > maps to flesh out my write up, plus local histories written at that time > full of information about home life. > All this right there in the library. > I was actually kind of shocked to find a book printed in 1729 with > beautiful etchings in it just sitting there on the shelf. > And they let you xerox from any book. > > There are many, many county and city histories. > There are privately bound books of research done by individuals or small > genealogy societies > that you won't find elsewhere. > It's a wonderful place to spend a week. > > Even though I've gone to the FHL now quite a few times, I still have > some problems > using their computerized card catalogue. > When you're researching court documents, it's pretty easy to use. > But there are so very many histories, and obscure documents that I have > difficulty > finding without already knowing the author or title, that I know I'm > missing a lot of good > material. For instance, I'm still trying to find the original patents > for Garrett county -- > I'm sure they have them, but I just can't find how they're indexed. > And they have Casper Stoever's diary on film-- easy to find -- but only > after many > steps did I find the church records kept by Rev. John L. Grant of > Philadelphia in the mid 1800's > which had my gggrandparents marriage record. > To use the library effectively you really have to dig in and do research > -- not data mining. > > Still, the library is a gold mine. > I spent one lovely morning just reading through Allegany county liber A > chronologically. > So many ancestors there then. > > The IGI and the ancestral files are filled with errors, but are often > useful as clues. > I look forward to being able to urge corrections to those. > Oh yes, and xeroxes are only a nickel a page. > > I wish a trip to Salt Lake on all of you! > > Merry Christmas to all! > > Lavinia Schwarz > > [email protected] wrote: >> >> When I go to SLC I just have one page to find and that would be the German >> record of Zeilbach of their citizens who applied to immigrate after 1846--page >> 2 ended with my 2nd great-grandparents. I will take what I have with me. I'm >> hoping to find when the rest of my great-grandfather Conrad Hetrick and his >> wife Anna Maria "Nancy" Upphold applied to emigrate. It would have had to >> have happened after 1854 but before 1861 as their first born (Charles Conrad) >> was born in 1860 in MD. The record gives the parents' names of those >> emigrating. Would be a wonderful find . . . then maybe from there I can find the rest >> of Nancy's family from Bavaria. I presently only have the name of her sister >> Margarethe Eisner and her daughter Johanna (looks like a combination of Johann >> and Anna) Hmmmm. >> >> Lois Hetrick Stewart >> >> In a message dated 12/18/2006 2:02:39 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, >> [email protected] writes: >> >> Using LDS facilities, I have found old European church records of births, >> marriages, and deaths. This info would have been difficult to discover by >> any other means of which I am aware. On a trip to Germany, I took the time >> to search out and view for myself one set of church records I had seen >> copied by LDS. The LDS records faithfully copied the original. >> >> Walt >> >> >> >> >> >> ====================================== >> Looking for your Garrett County ancestors? Make sure to visit us on the web at: >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdgarret/index.html >> ------------------------------------ >> If you need help with this list, make sure to email the list administrator, Sonny O'Haver, >> [email protected] >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> > > ====================================== > Looking for your Garrett County ancestors? Make sure to visit us on the web at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdgarret/index.html > ------------------------------------ > If you need help with this list, make sure to email the list administrator, Sonny O'Haver, [email protected] > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >