Pioneer Day

I'm very excited about Pioneer Day this Sunday. I suspect it is a more prominent holiday in Utah than other parts of the US. It certainly rivals the 4th of July celebration around here. In honor of Pioneer Day I was excited to see this new Pioneer Collection pulled together on WorldVitalRecords.com.



I went looking for some of my pioneer ancestors and quickly found this photo of Henry Grow (architect of the Tabernacle on Temple Square). While the collection has some great data sets that will be of interest to those with ancestors that were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it also has wonderful information about pioneers throughout the US regardless of their religious affiliation.

You can search nearly 14 million names in the Pioneer Collection.

Here are some of the highlights in the collection:

• Photos from Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah
  
• Annotated 1850 Iowa Census, Pottawattamie County
  
• Pioneer History Stories of the Mississippi Valley
  
• Pioneer Catholic History of Oregon
  
• History of Custer County, Nebraska
  
• Historic Background and Annals of The Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of Southeastern Pennsylvania

I'd love to hear of any success stories you have searching the collection.

Enjoy your search and have a happy Pioneer Day!

Rare Opportunity to Experience Echo Canyon

If you have mormon pioneer ancestors that came to Utah by handcart or wagon, you need to go on the Echo Canyon Tour being sponsored by the Mormon Trails Chapter of the Utah Genealogical Association.



The tour will be Saturday, June 18th. John Eldredge will be the guide for this tour. Mr. Eldredge has written the book, “The Illustrated Emigrant’s Guide,” a booklet written for the 2005 Oregon California Trails Association Convention. You will find Eldredge’s historical knowledge remarkable and appreciate his ability to tell about the artefacts among the ledges and emigrant trail.

Watch the Echo Canyon Tour video or go to the Utah Genealogical Association website to register and get more info.

Product Review: Genealogy At a Glance

From time to time someone will send me something in hopes that I'll provide a review of it on my blog. I've been a little slow to do that (ok, so I've never really done that) but I've decided to give it a shot. I've also decided to be very honest in my perspective. Here goes...



Last night when I got home from the office I had a package from Genealogical.com waiting for me. Inside were two nicely laminated 8 1/2" X 11" bifold Genealogy at Glance guides. The first was Genealogy at a Glance: Scottish Research by David Dobson. The second, Genealogy at a Glance: French-Canadian Research by Denise R. Larson.


The Genealogy at a Glance series is intended to provide succinct review of the critical information to keep in mind when performing research on ancestors from are particular part of the world. They are quick reads, just 4 pages, that are somewhat reminiscent of restaurant menus. In both the Scottish Genealogy Research and French-Canadian Genealogy Research aids, the authors did a great job distilling the pertinent details into consumable chunks of information. I was able to review the information in a matter of minutes and come away feeling like if I were to embark into researching ancestors from either location I would know where to begin. If you're someone that prefers printed materials and is interested in Scottish or French-Canadian research these might be very helpful for you. I could also imagine that these would be very helpful in a library setting or for a family history center that wanted to provide quick information for people starting into a new area of research.

It did seem like the format and approach to providing the information assumed at least a basic understanding of how to do genealogy. If you're just getting started, you'll probably need more help than one of these sheets can give you. If you're experienced with genealogy but inexperienced with the nuances of a new location the information is exactly what you'll need.

For me however, this particular approach is not a good fit. I'm a very technology oriented person. The chances of me packing these sheets around with me is fairly low. Put the same content into a mobile format - say an iPhone or iPad app and you'd have a product I'd be interested in.

In summary, if you're an experienced genealogist but are new to Scottish or French-Canadian research and you like or don't mind the physical format, these are probably worth the low investment. These would also be a nice add to any library or Family History Center.