Dian Darr
On July 16 at the regular meeting of the Robson Ranch Genealogy Club, members heard an interesting presentation by well-known genealogist Sandra Crowley. She gave us many ideas on how city directories provide valuable information on our ancestors, including the time and place where they lived. Using directories can give us information on the friends and neighbors of our ancestors and provide clues as to the everyday life of our relatives. Sandra began her talk by giving us a brief history of city directories. Many of us were surprised to learn that the first known directory was published in London in 1588. Early directories in the United States often included only a list of those who had a telephone. These early directories showed no phone numbers, since operators had to connect people.
She showed us the importance of becoming familiar with a directory by finding the list of abbreviations, the list of businesses, and the advertisements. Genealogists use directories to add to census information; to search addresses between the different census years; to identify other family members, career changes, marriages, and deaths; to verify other documents; and to identify the churches, schools, and fraternal organizations of our ancestors. We were also given many resources to help us access city directories online. We all enjoyed this informative talk, which will add valuable steps to our genealogical research.
On Aug. 12 at 2 p.m., during our monthly Help Session, Emily Richardson presented some of the best sessions from Roots Tech, the largest family history and technology conferences in the world. We all were shown how to access the many informative online sessions from last year’s conference.
Please join us on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. when David Randall, one of our experienced genealogists and an expert on WikiTree, will show us some new ways to use and access it. WikiTree is a collaborative, global family tree site for genealogists of every level from all over the world. Users can research and contribute to their own family tree while building a singular worldwide family tree.
If you are interested in discovering more about your family heritage, come to our meetings on the first and third Tuesday, at 7 p.m., in Room 114 of the Creative Arts building, and to our Help Sessions on the second Monday at 2 p.m. in the same room. During this time, experienced genealogists can help you get started on your family history search or help you break through a brick wall you might have already discovered.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the Robson Ranch Genealogy Club, please contact us at [email protected].