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The Genealogy Corner… Family History Lesson Series

shanna-jones3Issue 51.09

FamilySearch has released several short lessons covering a variety of Family History topics.  They are available for downloading in convenient PDF format.  The lessons may be used as self-study guides or as class supplements for Family History instructors.  They can be found at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp?page=home/welcome/site_resources.asp%3FwhichResourcePage=fhlessonseries.  Or an easier way without typing the large URL is to go to www.familysearch.org and under What’s New click on the Family History Lesson Series provides useful guides.

There are seven lessons so far.  Lesson 1 is perform descendancy research.  It is a 11-page guide on how to go through the steps to find all of the descendants of an ancestral couple.  This comprehensive guide really includes all of the steps you would need to find your cousins who descend from the same common ancestor.  When I compiled the books, William Carter First Plowman in Utah and Archibald Sullivan and Julia Mathews, Mormon Colonizers, I did these exact steps to find the descendants of these early Utah pioneers.  Doing descendancy research is also invaluable when you want to do a DNA study.  Because the Y-DNA is passed from father to son, unchanged, you need to find male descendants of the ancestor in question, to be tested. 

Lesson two is titled Conduct Family History Interviews, it is about interviewing to capture memories before they are lost.  This eight-page guide will help you through the steps.  Lesson three is on Involving Children and Youth in Family History and the ten page guide provides ideas and activities for children and youth to develop an interest in family history. 

Lesson four is about writing a personal history.  This 14-page guide leads you through the steps to get organized, get started and then review and evaluate what you have written.  The guide also lists resources on web sites to help you write your personal history.

Lesson five is a lesson to explore some ways to preserve your unique family heritage, called Create a Family History.  Lesson six is on how to involve your extended family in family history, using their attributes to help you accomplish your goal. 

Lesson seven will provide you with the information you need to Use the Internet for Family History Research.  It includes a glossary of family history terms, quick reference table and an original record table.

Shanna Sullivan Jones is a professional genealogist.  For additional information, Shanna can be reached at (435) 628-4900 or shannasjones@msn.com.

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