Village Coordinators

Special appreciation is expressed to individuals who have agreed to take on the important task of Village Coordinator.

Please remember that in order to succeed we must all share information that may be of value to others.  Information can be shared via email to chapter members, sent to village files and anyone having an interest. While conducting research, and you happen to locate an interesting tidbit of data, please pause for a moment and consider who might find this information of value.

Notice the diverse geographical areas represented, the GR's were mobile people for various reasons.

Lets play it forward and share your research sites, how you gather and store data; please reply to all.  I will compile a master list of ideas.

• Newsletters, 
• EWZ records (Odessa3), 
• Immigration, 
• National Archives
• AHSGR.org
• Germans from Russia Heritage Society
• Germanic Genealogy Society
• State Historical Societies
• Family History Library
• Russian Archives
• Google

Numerous villages remain unattended and are desperately in need of a vc; if you are interested please step forward and offer to cover one or more of these open villages. Village Coordinator data is available at AHSGR.org.  A vc must be a member of AHSGR, sign a contact and agree to abide by all terms and conditions.  Another value to becoming a vc is access to an on-line vc link to share ideas and ask questions of other vc's.

Village Coordinator information is available at other organizations interested in gathering similar data. A good example is the North Dakota Germans from Russia Heritage Society  http://www.grhs.org/  

Perhaps you would be interested in assisting in some capacity.

Intermountain Chapter Village Coordinators (to date)

Ansley, Shirley

Neu-Hussenbach, Gashon, Samara

Eickbush, Fran 

Neu-Arzis, Akkerman, Bessarabia

Neuburg, Grossliebental, Odessa, Kherson

Gertge, Joe (w/Nick and Barbara Bretz)

Rothammel, Saratov, Volga

Hert, Dee

Blumenfeld, Stavropol, North Caucasus

Alexanderdorf, Volga

Alexander-Höh, Samara, Volga

Anton, Saratov, Volga, (with Sharon)

6 additional villages pending

Hertz, Brad

Fischer, Saratov, Volga

Oryall, Gwen

Guldendorf

Odessa

Worms

Rohrbach

Stone, Sheri

Hussenbach, Linevo Ozero, Saratov, Volga

Weber, Darrell

Balzer, Saratov, Volga

White, Sharon

Straub, Samara, Volga

Warenburg, Samara, Volga (w/Ron Brott)

Research Classes

Eastern European Family History Conference

July 17-21, 2017

Plaza Hotel, SLC

conference@feefhs.org

Research Center for the State Archives and Utah State History

Monday - Friday 9 am - 4 pm

300 S. Rio Grande St.

Salt Lake City, UT 84101

archives.utah.gov/research

British Institute

18-22 September 2017

Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, SLC

Reservations 800-366-3684

www.isbgfh.org

Reminder

Plan on attending the next chapter meeting on Saturday, February 18th.

Scanning Records

Doug and Adee Hacking work at the Family Search Center on Thursdays from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm, and Saturdays from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. On Thursdays the center stays open until 9:00 pm, and on Saturdays they close early at 1:00 pm.

The center is located at 915 West Gordon Ave, Layton, UT 84041, and the phone number is 801-784-2100. You can call that number ahead of time to reserve one of the slide scanners. They assign them out in one hour increments, but you can do a lot in an hour.

They can show you around and help you with your scanning. All the equipment is free to use. The only thing they charge for is copies and they are five cents a page.

Also...
Brigham Young University Library, 1st floor, houses the Utah Valley Family History Library. They have several high speed quality scanners available for public use for family history. They are set up to link with your family search account if desired, and there are always plenty of volunteers to help. Call ahead to reserve a time slot.

Put This on Your Calendar

Saturday, February 18, 2017, is our next chapter meeting.  

We are planning to participate in the Scottish Festival in Payson on July 7-8, volunteers appreciated.

Mike Meisinger, AHSGR Vice President, will be coming to Utah to teach classes.  Date to be announced soon.

AHSGR board meetings, April 27-29, Lincoln, Nebraska.

The book drive continues whenever we gather.  We are accepting new or used (clean) books for Primary Children's hospital.  Our youth members are creating a bookmark for the books.

The chapter agreed to a cookbook; send recipes to Dee.  It would be wonderful if this was a family event with you and your kinder taking lots of pictures and sharing with Dee.

Sources for Mennonite Information

The Grandma database (Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) contains information on over a million individuals, most of whose ancestral lines can be traced to Mennonite communities in Prussia and South Russia. GRANDMA is produced by the California Mennonite Historical Society.

https://blog.eogn.com/2014/06/17/grandma-the-genealogical-registry-and-database-of-mennonite-ancestry/

This database is available in two forms: on a CD-ROM disk as well as in a searchable online database. Both versions provide searches of the same data, but the online database is updated several times a year while the CD-ROM is only updated once every few years. The on-line version also allows you to share your family photographs with other researchers.

In additional to this wealth of data is a free standard edition newsletter.  To receive a once-a-day email message containing links to all the new articles published,

http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=948986).

You can also subscribe to the Plus Edition here: http://blog.eogn.com/subcribe-to-the-plus-edition.

Dan Eastman is the webmaster and will be featured at the Feb 8-11, 2017 RootsTech in Salt Lake City, Utah. (http://www.rootstech.org)

Do you have interesting database information to share with everyone??

Thanks for the support.

Dee Hert

A Message From Dee

LDS gift opens up a vast new path for African-American genealogical treasurers

Index of nearly 2 million names given to the Smithsonian.

Up to now, genealogical research on African-American families often ran into a dead end after the search reached back to 1870, the first census that documented newly freed slaves as U.S. citizens.

The LDS church donated an indexed database of the Freed African-Americans which can now bridge the gap between freedom and slavery and reunite, on paper, families that were once torn apart by slavery.

FamilySearch’s team also uncovered and indexed the names of 1,781,463 people found in marriage and hospital registers, education efforts, census   lists, labor contracts, and apprenticeship lists.  This is the largest collection of records that impact the African-American population today.  The bureau records present the genealogist and social historians with an unequaled wealth of information about matters as varied as issuing food and clothing, investigating racial conformations, settling freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands and establishing schools. The bureau helped secure deeds to property so people could build schools.

The indexing team attracted volunteers from the 36 chapters of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, black colleges and churches, and any organization that might have an interest.

Source:  Sunday, December 11, 2016, Salt Lake Tribune.

The messages I learned from this article: 

A group of dedicated volunteers can organize various sources of data and compile significant data.  It is heartwarming to know that this information will be of great value to many families.  Continue sharing your personal knowledge and resources; that is what genealogy and family history is all about.  The more we share the more we learn. The numerous records used in this search can always open doors.

Dee Hert, Chapter Membership Chair

Wishing you every blessing this Christmas and New Year...

New Year's Resolutions

A recent article in Family Tree Magazine encouraged me to be serious about some things that have been on my mind.  I always say I'm not doing the resolution thing this year, but these resolutions are a little different.  Hopefully they will help me to do a better job on my family research.

1- Research regularly. I often find that my effort is spotty.  I'll go great guns on my research, then my other life gets in the way.  Weeks or months have passed and I haven't done anything.  Even worse, I forget what I was doing and where I ended.  I spend too much time getting back on track.

2- Cite your sources.  Initially this didn't seem to be all that important, this was just a hobby for my own enjoyment, right?  Now that it is a more serious business to me I find myself going back and trying to document.  That job would have been much easier had I done it along the way, not to mention much less embarrassing when I have to contact people who've shared information with me.

3- Organize.  Need I say more? Pictures, records, letters, on and on... Not to mention the back ups I should do on my documents, pictures, family group sheets, and pedigrees.  It would be terrible to lose all those.

4- Continue to learn. I don't know near enough about so many things.  How do I use my DNA match information to further my research?  What other resources are available to me in my specific areas of research?  Do I know enough about the locations and events that were part of my ancestors lives?  Have I learned enough from elderly relatives about their lives?  The questions are endless.

This list could continue, but in the way of all resolutions, the more there are, the less chance I'll be successful with any of them.  Hopefully, this will spark some goals for you as well in the coming 2017.

Merry Christmas and a ThankYou

This post is a bit personal, but I really need to share a few things.  The photo was taken at our chapter Christmas party.  It shows a group of absolutely wonderful people.  It has been a tough year for me, and I haven't been able to make it to our monthly meetings.  They have kept me in the loop with emails and have been a huge encouragement for me.  These people work SO hard to help our chapter grow and donate untold hours to push forward the research on our Germans from Russia ancestors.  This is my chance to publicly thank all of them for the many things they do.  It was a great party by the way. Here's wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and wishing you all the blessings you deserve. You are truly my people...

German Proverbs, continued...

As fast as laws are devised, their evasion is contrived.

Argument is a sieve for sifting truth.

Each of us knows best where his own shoe pinches.

Many who build castles in the air cannot build a hut on earth.

What is sport to the cat is death to the mouse.

Little folks are fond of talking about what great folks do.

No one is luckier than he who thinks he's in luck.

No answer really is an answer.

He who deals in onions no longer smells them.

Merry Christmas

The Christmas party will be held at the Community Presbyterian Church at 245 South 200 East in Springville, on Saturday, Dec 10. Pat and Shirley can set up Saturday morning. They have the building from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. They have all the paper goods for the table settings. There are nine  70” round tables. If everyone helps with setting up and cleaning up it will go very fast, so please pitch in. 

Congratulations AHSGR

AHSGR was selected as part of the 2016  Nebraska State Passport Program.  It was a great opportunity that increased visits to their museum last spring and summer. They were the #1 attended spot on the “Flavors of Nebraska” tour.  Out of the 1292 people who turned in passports for the prize count, 1247 of them  had  visited headquarters.  

Mark Your Calendar

The next Intermountain Chapter meeting:

November 12, 2016. 

Sandy Library @ 10:00 AM in the small meeting room.  

This room does require that we set up all tables and chairs, including returning furniture to original locations. A helping hand would be appreciated.  We have reservations until 1:00 PM.  Hope to see you there!

Fruit Platz (Cake)

This was shared by the Edmonton Chapter, and I thought you might enjoy it.

It is a German Mennonite recipe and is great for dessert or a coffee break.
Mrs. Mildred Rempel, Tofield, AB
 
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Fruit (apples, rhubarb, plums, etc.)

1. Sift dry ingredients
2. Cut in margarine
3. Add liquid milk.
4. Press into 9x13 pan.
5. Cover with fresh or frozen fruit
6. Sprinkle with sugar to suit taste

Topping:
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
Rub to form crumbs and sprinkle on top of fruit Bake at 450* for 10-15 minutes Then turn oven to 350°F and bake for another 30-35 minutes Serve warm or cold.