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HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YEVol. 33, No.2 - Summer 2012

Vol. 33 - No. 2 Summer 2012© 2012 Rochester Genealogical Society

RootsMagicBy Nancy M. Merzke

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What genealogy software would you recommend? What is the proper way to document your source?

These two questions were asked by a member during GenTalk at a recent RGS meeting. RGS does not endorse any particular brand of genealogy software. The fact is that each product does the basics. Some may have more bells and whistles that some people find appealing yet those same features may be overwhelming to others. Each person will tell you that they like the program they use – at least they should. After all, why use a product that you don’t like?

What our member did is what I think is the best ap-proach to use when you are deciding which genealogy program to buy. Ask other genealogists what they are using and why. Find out what each program has to of-fer; what do other genealogists find so attractive about it. You will likely find selling points or draw backs that you’d not previously considered. This is what our member did. Her ultimate choice, based on her needs, was RootsMagic. One of the reasons she chose RootsMagic is that it gave her the guidance she was looking for concerning the proper way to document her sources. I took her experience as my inspiration for this article.

My goal is to introduce you to some of the features of RootsMagic including a couple that I think separate it from its competitors. I am in no way suggesting that you should change what you are using. I am also in no way suggesting that RGS recommends this or any other product. My thought is to supply you with what will hopefully be useful information and new tools.

RootsMagic has recently been updated entirely. It is easy to use and you can quickly move through the application and add new information from just about

every screen. The software is highly compatible and portable. It can import PAF type files to and from FamilySearch. In terms of portability it can run directly from a flash drive with RootsMagic To-Go. You can also perform web searches right through the applica-tion without having to copy and paste names and dates; this software will pull the data for you.

RootsMagic functions like a database, and it can store and organize a large volume of information and small details such as marriage dates, health informa-tion, burial dates, occupations and religion. All in all it has 60 pre-defined fact categories, or you can add your own. Additionally, photographs, sound clips and video can be attached to any person, family, place, source or event.

RootsMagic offers a high level of compatibility, including being FamilySearch certified. This software can import from Family Tree Maker, PAF files, Family Origins, Legacy and LDS programs. It also fully sup-ports GEDCOM 5.5 for exchanging data with other applications.

With RootsMagic genealogy software you can eas-ily work with more than one database of information at once. You can even drag and drop people between databases. When new people are moved into a differ-ent database, the family links are automatically cre-ated and you can store and search by alternate names. Searches can be performed by name, record number, date, place, note or other field. There is also a search and replace for quick entry changes.

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HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YEVol. 33, No.2 - Summer 2012

I began this President’s Message thinking about summer research trips. The internet is for cozy winter evenings by

the fire. Warm days, no snow on the roads, long daylight hours – that’s the time to get out and find those documents that aren’t available via the internet. So, I was going to say, let’s go visit out-of-the-way historical and genealogical societies, county courthouses, and such. Places that have useful information that is not, and probably will not be online anytime soon. Now, historical societies are comfort-able. They can look and feel like libraries. They even have friendly staff that is there to help. Courthouses, however, are another story. These days we have to go through security just to get inside. Sometimes we can’t take our digital cam-era or our cell phone with us. The people who work there, kind as they might be, do not have our needs as their highest priority. For us shy folks, this is somewhat intimidating. Tell me again why I have to do this. Because the county court-house is where they keep probate records and deeds. Oh, right. Probate records and deeds. All those funny words like “messuage” and “enfeoff.” I think, instead, we’ll focus on the jargon to make this stuff more palatable.

Let’s begin with probate records. The first reality check is to make sure we’re headed for the right courthouse. Mon-roe County, for example, was created in 1821. Before that, someone who died in what became Monroe County would be in either Genesee or Ontario County. Should we look in Rochester or Batavia or Canandaigua? Assuming we’re at the right courthouse, and we’ve found the files of the Sur-rogate court (That’s for New York. If we’re in Pennsylvania, probate is under the jurisdiction of the Orphans’ Court. For other states, you’re on your own.), and there is a probate file, what next?

The probate file is identified by a case number. It contains a summa-ry of court proceed-ings to process the estate (all property and debts belong-ing to a person) of a decedent (a deceased person). If the decedent is a testator (person who has written

President’s MessageMarian Henry

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1940 US Census Indexing Project 11Book Distribution Project 7Catholic Dispensations 101 4CIG Programs 6CRPC Summer 2012 3Editor’s Note 11Holy Sepulcher Ramblings 5It’s Not Rocket Science 9Member Query 5Membership 9Presidents Message 2Programs 6Rochester Churches Indexing Project 4Roots Magic 1

a will), there will be an executor (person appointed in a will to carry out its provisions) or executrix (female execu-tor). In the case of sudden illness or injury the will may be nuncupative (declared orally), but will still have witnesses. If the decedent died intestate (without a will), the court will appoint an administrator (person appointed to manage or divide the estate of a deceased person). Instead of writing a new will, a testator can write a codicil (an addition modi-fying a will). The testator bequeaths (transfers personal property to someone) or devises (transfers real estate to someone) his estate to his heirs (entitled by law or by terms of a will to inherit property from another), who often in-clude his consort (spouse) and/or issue (offspring, children, descendents).

The probate packet may include the following: appoint-ment of executor or administrator to prepare and present to the court an inventory of the estate; the will and testimony of witnesses to the will as to its validity; list of heirs; a financial report by the executor or administrator listing col-lection of debts owed to the estate, payment of debts owed by the estate, and division of the remaining estate among the heirs; appointment of guardians to minor children; testi-mony, usually of relatives, if the will is disputed. Although the decedent’s occupation is not always stated, the list of ev-erything making up the estate will also help us distinguish a cordwainer (shoemaker) from a yeoman (freehold farmer).

A relict (“left behind,” archaic term for widow) had a special status under law because of her dower rights (a widow’s share for life of her late husband’s estate). He could bequeath or devise his entire estate to his children, but, by law, she had the use of part – traditionally one third – of the estate during her widowhood, i.e. until she remar-ried or died. Because a wife was potentially a widow, she had a vested interest in any real estate that her husband wanted to sell during his lifetime. She was, in effect, a par-tial owner, and her consent was required. He could buy land by himself, but only the two of them could legally sell it. If that nicety was neglected, we sometimes find a later deed in which the widow separately transfers her dower rights, in order to make the original transfer unquestionably valid. That segues tidily into deeds, usually found in the County Clerk’s office in the same courthouse.

The deed books will undoubtedly be accompanied by a series of index books. Each transaction is listed twice – once for grantor (the “party of the first

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The Church Records collection on the RGS website continues to grow. The committee has recently added

the Mt Hope Cemetery single graves and 19 volumes of Salem Evangelical Reformed Church records. Kathryn Heintz has completed bookmarking the remaining Salem volumes (83 total) and they will be available soon.

The next collection of church records to be made available will be Concordia Lutheran which joined with Zion Lutheran in 1959 to build Incarnate Word Lutheran on the corner of East Ave and Goodman St. The records are located at Incarnate Word. The early records are in German and they slowly transitioned to English af-ter 1910. The collection of 54 volumes includes Parish Registers, Anniversary booklets, Pew Assignment registers, photographs, Council Meeting minutes, School lesson plans etc. Yes, Concordia had a German- English school for about 30 years. It had a peak enrollment of 350 children before closing in 1907.

I would like to thank the members of the com-mittee who are imaging records at Third Presbyte-rian Church on Wednesday mornings. As of May 2012 Bob Coomber, Russ Green, Eila Harkonen-Hart, Roscoe Hastings, Larry Lavery, Larry Naukam and Vince Tollers have imaged over 23,000 pages of records. I expect they will continue through the summer months and then will switch to the next project, Lakeville Presbyterian Church. You are welcome to join us. Let me know and I will provide details.

I would also like to acknowledge those who are working behind the scenes to organize and process the thousands of Church and Mt Hope images that appear on the RGS website. A tip of the hat to Bob Coomber, Ros-coe Hastings, Kathryn and Roger Heintz, Barb Koehler and Larry Lavery.

I used the Church Records on the RGS website for my family research and I thought for a moment my

home computer was broken. It wasn’t but I will try to explain what you may encounter and why. Consider the 83 volumes in the Salem collection we are about to add to the website. Not all will be available for privacy reasons but the volumes range in size from 2 to 239 megabytes with the average size about 50 megabytes. Here is a tip from Roger Heintz our webmaster. If you want to see the size of the file move your cursor over the filename and a window will appear that reveals the size, number of pages and other facts about that PDF book. When you open the book to view it, the entire book is

downloaded to your com-puter. That can take several minutes depending on your computer and network connection so try to be patient. I use Windows 7 and Firefox and there is no obvious indication the file is downloading. Windows XP and Firefox does show a progress bar so depend-ing on your computer’s operating system and browser software your results may differ from mine. Remember, if you keep selecting the volume you want to open you will be downloading multiple copies which will really

bog down your network connection. Open the book you want to view once and be patient.

Minimizing the file sizes on the website helps the ease any download and viewing problems so we have reduced the resolution of the Church Record images and Mt Hope images on the website. We find them perfectly acceptable for most purposes but if you find you need a higher quality image of a page just let us know. We maintain an archive of the high resolution images for all of the Church and Mt Hope Records on the website.

Larry Lavery, CRPC Chair ( LLavery@Frontiernet.net)

Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church on Helena St., Rochester, NY

CRPC Summer Report

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We welcome new RGS indexer from Florida, Anne Trabold, to our team.

The RCIP exceeded our goal in April by now having 26,189 Rochester area marriages indexed. Following New York State guidelines for privacy, we have now completed Concordia Lutheran and two Evangelical & Reformed parishes. There have been requests to do some of the Italian parishes and we now have 422 marriages from Our Lady of Mount Carmel completed. Some of us are now working on the west side Italian parish, St. Anthony of Padua. It should be kept in mind that we can only go to 1910 with Catholic records.

They haven’t been published yet but we have the Brighton Reformed and some of the St. Peter & Paul baptisms already indexed. Soon to appear will be the Salem church marriages that will complete that parish. We have gotten requests to do St. Michaels up to 1910 and that will be our next project.

Anyone working with Catholic Church registers will soon run into those strange dispensations. What

do they mean? Sacraments like marriage are governed by Canon Laws which in turn come from prohibi-tions found in the Bible or the Magisterium authority. The publication of the bans of marriage is supposed to be made three times with the final date being the marriage. Sometimes fewer than three are said and a dispensation is granted for the missing bans. The bans while interesting are not generally valuable from a ge-nealogical perspective. A Catholic priest has the discre-tion to perform a mixed marriage at a church provided the non-Catholic party attests that there will be no in-terference with the Catholic party’s performance of her/his religion and that any children of that union will be brought up Catholic. A dispensation for a “mixed reli-gion” marriage is granted when the other party has had a valid baptism. A Protestant baptism generally will be considered valid provided that the water flows during baptism. A baptism is considered so important that it may be performed by the midwife or mother if it looks like the infant will not survive. Where there is some

Rochester Churches Indexing Project Update

Catholic Dispensations 101..... Making Sense of Them

While most records are straightforward and easily indexed, some extensive scholarship is needed with others. What do you do when primary records disagree? How should we deal with name changes and with Latin? That is why we need a team to work on such problems. What may appear to be a primary record may not be. St. Peter & Paul parish had someone do an ex-traction and that is the only record we now have. That German parish has the German forenames changed to Irish spellings so that Johannes is now John, Maria is now Mary, and Jacob is now James! So much for not altering anything in an original record and that second generation was done over 100 years ago.

Don’t know how to index? There are opportunities to work on the 1940 US Census. Some of the smaller states have already been completed. This is your chance to give something back to genealogy and to work from the comfort of your own home. Give it a try!

question about the validity of the baptism you may see that a dispensation is granted with the designation of “disparity of cults”. A marriage to a non-Christian would also require a disparity of cult’s dispensation, yet most will be to a Protestant Christian because the priest is being scrupulous and is unsure of the validity.

Marriages to relatives will require a dispensation for the impediment. These are graded 1 to 4 and may say something about cousinship being of “equal or unequal lines” from a common ancestor. A grade one dispensa-tion is NOT a marriage of first cousins. What it usually means is that a party marries the brother or sister of his deceased spouse. That happened frequently in a time of short lives and big families. The grade 2 dispensation is for a marriage of first cousins. The grades continue out to the third cousin relationship and end at grade 4.

Most of the time these dispensations will be written in Latin, but the Latin is so close to the English that you should not have a problem.

Bert Balt

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The following questions and answers were culled from a trip made by RGS members to Holy Sepul-

cher Cemetery on Lake Ave. in Rochester. Many of you will find the answers very interesting.

1) Why can I not find ancestors on the cemetery’s com-puter? There was a fire in the 1920’s when the cemetery office was located on Frank St. near the St. Patrick’s Cathe-located on Frank St. near the St. Patrick’s Cathe-dral. Many records were lost including those from the former cemeteries before Holy Sepulcher was established. Burials on the eastern side of the cemetery would be the ones most af-fected. Family plots on the eastern side may have the names, but exact location of the burials may or may not be known.

2) Why would my Catholic ancestor be buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery? The Catholic party needed to be in a state of grace to be buried in Holy Sepulcher. A suicide would prevent that state of grace. A non-Catholic spouse would be denied burial at Holy Sepulcher until recently. Perhaps a couple wanted to be buried together and this is the only way it was possible.

3) Why is there only one burial book available from LDS sources? At one time there were two books on film. A burial book to 1911 that listed consecutive burials with an LDS number and the companion name index which never had an LDS number and is not listed in their catalog. I used that missing film back in 1991 at Nazareth College and know that existed as late as 2007. Unfortunately it is now lost and a trip to the Holy Sepulcher office is the only way to access the original name index book.

4) Why are some babies buried “by the fence” and others in regular numbered plots? This had to do with the Catholic doctrine of Limbo which was an article of faith until Vatican 2. A baby needed to be baptized to enjoy the fullness of the faith. A stillborn or unbaptized child could not be buried in

Holy Sepulcher Ramblingsthe same place as those who had received the sacrament. This was the reason a typical baptism would take place on the day of birth or soon afterwards.

5) It looks like my ancestor was buried without a monu-ment. Don’t be so sure! The sandy soil at Holy Sepulcher is like quicksand. Over the years a small marker may have been buried under several inches of sand. Bring along a probe just to be sure. Take advantage of the excellent maps as well. One time they didn’t exist and this was a most difficult cemetery to find anything.

6) Why do many Catholic monuments have the cross at a 45 degree angle instead of upright? This does seem to be a Catholic thing. A monument of this type found in a municipal cemetery most likely belongs to a Catholic. Also you won’t find any monuments with the insignia of secret organizations like the Masons or Odd Fellows. Belonging to such organiza-tions is still prohibited.

7) Why aren’t there any mausoleums in Holy Sepulcher? It has to do with the blessing of the grounds and not the air above. You needed an actual burial in the ground to get the benefit of the blessing.

8) My spouse is Catholic but I am not. Can I still be buried next to my spouse? Yes, the rule has been changed as long as one of the partners is Catholic. I have seen a monu-ment there with a Jewish Star of David. Limbo is no longer an article of faith so there isn’t the distinction between being baptized and not baptized.

Holy Sepulcher is a beautifully kept cemetery. You should become familiar with it even if you don’t share that faith.

Bert Balt

GREEN-HETZLER. Seeking parents/ancestry of John Green: born about 1800, possibly in Duchess

County, NY, died unknown. John Green married Anna Hetzler/Hetsler/Hechlar about 1828-9. Anna: born 14 Apr 1813 in Wheatland, Monroe, NY was the daughter of Frederick Hetzler/Hetsler and Elizabeth Fips, died 22 May 1869 in Marengo, McHenry, IL. John and Anna had four children: Emeline, Dewitt Clinton, Frederick R and Elizabeth. The family lived in Seneca, McHenry, IL from abt. 1839-1859, is found in the 1860 census in

Sodus, Wayne, NY later returning to IL/WI. Any help is appreciated. Nancy Schroder, 2645 Oak

Lane Dr., Rhinelander, WI 54501, nss7181@newnorth.net.

Any assistance you can provide is greatly appreci-ated. Thank you!

Nancy Schroder

Member Query

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HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YE HEAR YEVol. 33, No.2 - Summer 2012

The Rochester Genealogical Society (RGS) meets monthly, except July, August, and December, usually on the third Thursday of the month. The meetings are held in the Fellowship Hall of the Asbury First United

Methodist Church, 1050 East Avenue in Rochester, New York. The meetings usually start with a short program at 7:00 p.m., followed by a short business meeting and a refreshment break, and then a main program beginning at 8:00 p.m. and ending about 9:00 p.m. There is an experienced research consultant available in the anteroom at the back of the large meeting room during the short program for attendees with specific research questions.

Synopsis: This promises to be a memorable event. Members of the 4th US Cushings Battery Civil War Reenactment Regiment will join us for “rations” (dinner), then a display at the Mount Hope Civil War Monument. The 4th US Cushings Battery preforms some of the larger Civil War reenactments including Gettysburg, Mumford, Letchworth Park, Ft. Ontario, and many others. They will explain life for the Civil War soldier, women’s roles in the Civil War, and much more. Fair warning: These are uniformed Union soldiers with “artillery”. Confederates attend at your own risk. Bring your dinner and join us at the Mount Hope office for an evening you will never forget!

June 21, 2012:

Annual RGS Picnic

2012 Spring Program Schedule

CIG (Computer Interest Group)Join the Computer Interest Group for learning and sharing of technology-related information for genealogists. Our

members range from novices to experts and at $5 per year, membership provides serious value for your money.

Program: The Pre-1850 US Censuses name only the Head of Household. Tracking other family members 1790 through 1840 can be a frustrating and error-prone exercise. There are tools available which may help. Free spreadsheet tools as well as a commercially-available product will be presented.

Upcoming Meetings:

Thursday, June 14, 2012Using Spreadsheets to Track Individuals through the Pre-

1850 Censuses

Dennis Hogan

Most people think that shadows follow, precede, or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires,

deeds, impulses and memories. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate

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As those of you who can come to the monthly RGS meetings are well aware, one feature of every

meeting is the opportunity to win a book of genealogi-cal interest at the end of the evening. I’d like to take the opportunity to explain how the program works and what we can all do to make it better.

The purpose of this program is threefold. First, it is educational, letting those who are too busy to spend time at the bookstores know what is new and available in the fields of traditional genealogy, digital research, DNA analysis, family history, local history, memoir writing, etc.

Second, it’s a benefit to the members, giving them the opportunity to obtain a useful reference book for the minimal price of fifty cents per ticket. And last, and no less important, it adds one more element of fun to the meetings.

This is a self-sustaining program, and without your participation it couldn’t continue. The way it works is that we have a budget, which allows me to plan ahead, and buy books when I find them at a good price; at the same time, by the end of the year, the program is ex-pected to bring in as income at least the same amount I spend on books. That’s what being self-sustaining means. If ticket sales fall short, I have to pick less expensive books for the next few months so that we come out even at the end of our fiscal year. The more people that participate, and the more tickets each one buys, the better the quality of the books I can provide throughout the year.

Besides buying tickets, another way in which you can help is by making donations. If someone gives you a gift card to Barnes and Noble for your birthday or Christmas, and you already have more books that you know what to do with, consider donating your gift card to RGS for the Book Distribution Program. I’ll be happy to put it to good use. Also if you have gently-used books, on a genealogy-related topic, published within the last few years, and you no longer need them, they’d be very welcome as well. In all cas-es you will receive an official RGS acknowledgement expressing our gratitude, which is documentation of a charitable contribution for income tax purposes.

Exciting Changes in the Book Distribution Program

By Carmen Bush

I appreciate the favorable comments that many of you have made to me as feedback, and I have been con-sidering different ways to improve the program. I hope that the plan I have come up with will satisfy everyone.

The main challenge I have every month, besides staying on budget, is trying to vary the subject matter of the books offered, while at the same time attempting to make sure that winners are satisfied with their choices.

To deal with this problem, in the past I have of-fered mostly books of very general interest, not want-ing to stick the second or third winners with a book on British, or Italian research, for instance, if they have no ancestry from those countries. There’s nothing worse than having the thrill of hearing your number announced, only to find that the one book left is one you have absolutely no interest in. However, this ap-proach is very limiting.

So this is what I am going to try next year. Start-ing in September, you’ll have a group of five books or items to choose from. We’ll still pick three winners, same as always, but there will be more choices. So even the third winner will have three choices! The two offerings left unpicked will be featured at the follow-ing meeting together with three new ones. This will mean that I can offer more books that may appeal to a smaller group of people such as British, or Ger-man, or Italian research-related books, for instance, or DVDs and other media material that appeal only to computer-oriented genealogists, as well as novelty items, charts, etc.

I hope you like the changes. For my part, I enjoy this job very much. It’s fun being on the look out for good books for everyone to enjoy, as well as having the opportunity to meet so many of you when you stop to get your tickets. Besides that, I am very lucky to have the help of Jim Allen, Kathy McGrath and Sha-ron Perkins, who substitute for me when I can’t make it, or simply to give me a chance to go get a drink and a cookie at break time.

See you next meeting at the tickets table!

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part” or seller) and grantee (the “party of the second part” or buyer). Look for your ancestor in both indices, but in the grantor index also look for his administrator/executor, his widow, or any of his children.

The initial wording of a deed is usually quite simple. The seller (whose occupation and place of residence are usually recorded) sells something, to be described below, to the buyer (whose occupation and place of residence are also listed) for a specified price. The occupation and place of residence help to distinguish people with the same name. This includes linking land deeds with probate; an innkeeper grantee is unlikely to be the same man who later died pos-sessed of a full set of blacksmithing tools, even if they do share the same name. Analogous to the rule about looking at ALL the census records, we should look for all the deeds for our ancestor. If a man makes his first purchase of land before he actually moves into the area, his residence in that deed will tell us where he came from. Very handy, right? Ideally, we can match all the land he bought with land he sold or bequeathed. In reality, not all deeds were recorded. What we find in the deed books are not original deeds. They’re copies of deeds made by the clerk of the court. (That’s why we find them in the County Clerk’s office. Duh.) Either grantor or grantee could decide to record the deed – and pay for it. If they lived in different counties, the deed could be recorded in a county different from the prop-erty being transferred. The deed might be recorded very, very long after it was executed. If property was passed on in the family, the owner could simply write on the back that he sold it to his son, for example, and have it witnessed. When the family wanted to sell the land several generations later, the prospective buyer might insist that the original deed be recorded.

Pay particular attention to a low price. Selling a valuable piece of property to someone for a dollar may indicate the presence of a heretofore unknown son-in-law. Regardless of the selling price, deeds will sometimes mention family rela-tionships. Reading the designation “my daughter Jane, inter-married with John Doe” is probably worthy of a celebratory glass of something or other.

The grantor does not just “sell.” The deed can read like an entry in a thesaurus. He grants (transfers property by a deed), bargains (negotiates the terms of an agreement), sells (exchanges for money), aliens (transfers property), enfeoffs (gives someone freehold property), releases (relinquishes title to another), and confirms (makes valid or binding by

a legal act). Golly, all at once? But, doesn’t it sound more impressive?

The description of the property being transferred can also be puzzling. Descriptions of land in the western states are relatively simple, the parcels being, for the most part, rectangular. Land in the east, however, is described by the more recondite method of metes and bounds. The metes are the straight-run sections of the boundary, each specified by a direction and a distance. For example, we might find “south forty eight & a half degrees west forty two perches” which translates “face south, then turn 48.5 degrees to the west and move forward 42 perches (the same as a rod; 5.5 yards). The bounds are other boundary descriptors such as a water course or a public road. The description will start by specifying a place of beginning, describe a complete circuit around the property, often mentioning the names of own-ers of adjoining land, and then usually state the enclosed acreage often with the qualifying disclaimer “be it more or less.” Comparing the description of the same property as it changes hands tells us something about the accuracy of the surveyor’s art and the wandering attention of the clerk making the copy.

In addition to the land itself, the property may also contain a messuage (a dwelling house), and hereditaments (anything capable of being inherited), and appurtenances (attached easements, or rights and privileges).

The grantor may sell “to the only proper use and behoof (use, service, profit, advantage)” of the grantee. The word “behoof” implies transference in fee simple (seller has absolute right to sell with no restriction). The grantor sells, not only to the grantee, but to his heirs, executors, adminis-trators, and assigns (individuals to whom property is, will be, or may be transferred). That would about cover all pos-sibilities, I guess. Even though this is an agreement between the party-of-the-first-part and the party-of-the-second-part, only the party-of-the-first-part signs the deed. The clerk’s copy will distinguish between a mark and a signature. This can also help to distinguish between two men with the same name, for example a father who cannot write his name and his son who can.

Probate records and deeds can tell us a great deal about an ancestor including when he came into the county and from where, who his neighbors were, whom he did business with, how he made a living and who inherited his estate and when. Have a good trip!

President’s Message (cont.)Marian Henry

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Membership CornerMany of you have renewed your membership already and we thank you for your dedication to making our orga-

nization a success. For those who have not yet renewed, dues are due by July 1st. If you receive a paper Hear Ye Hear Ye the label will indicate if your membership is about to expire. If you receive your Hear Ye Hear Ye by email and you are not sure of your membership status you can email me at rgsmembership@rochester.rr.com, and I can tell you when your membership expires. We have not come up with a better way to do this yet!Regular membership dues are still $20 for RGS and $5 (optional) for the Computer Interest Group.

Kathryn D. Heintz

Membership Secretary

We welcome the following new members.

Christine SeamanWilliam & Margaret FienPat DeCaroRosamond Miller

Renee LanniCindi and Richard HareSusan McKenna

It’s Not Rocket Science Anymore!

Computers have a reputation for being mysterious, frustrating, and expensive. However, while you weren’t look-ing, computers improved. Gradually they have become more of an appliance (“turn it on & use it”) and less of

a pain. Plus they are very helpful in researching your family. I think you may be out of excuses for not taking full advantage of computers for genealogy.Excuse #1: Computers are too expensive.

Wrong. Do you like free? You can use the computers at your local library for free (with a free Monroe County Library card). Ancestry.com is free at 7 Monroe County libraries and HeritageQuest is free at all local libraries. You can use tons of great genealogy software for free at our 4 local Family History Centers (Brockport, West-fall Rd, Kreag Rd, Palmyra).

Excuse #2: I can’t learn how to use a computer.Yes you can! You’ll be surprised at how easy it is. Almost every public library offers computer courses from absolute beginner level to intermediate topics. Check at your local library for offerings, which are mostly free.

Excuse #3: Someday I’m going to learn more about using computers (I don’t need that beginner stuff).There’s no time like the present. Here’s a link to an overview of classes at our local libraries: http://www3.libraryweb.org/adults.aspx?id=108Also the JCC hosts classes by TechAge (formerly SeniorNet). “Computer classes for adults, taught by adults.” No whippersnappers talking tech-speak, just real people helping you learn. www.roctechage.org

Excuse #4: I’m doing OK with computers, but I need help using them for genealogy.You knew this was coming. RGS & its Computer Interest Group (CIG) can help you. Every month the CIG has presentations by experienced researchers on computer related topics. Many of the RGS presentations are also tech-related. The RGS site (http://nyrgs.org/) has meeting schedules with topics for both the RGS & CIG.

Good Luck.Dennis Hogan, RGS VP & CIG Coordinator

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This software has just about all of the data entry, sourcing and management tools you could want. It offers numerous sourcing tools, including nearly 400 Source Wizard templates, and source documentation can be added to any person, fact or family. Sources can be copied, memorized, merged and listed, and you can apply more than one source to one entry. You can also create your own source templates.

RootsMagic has good tools for organizing media relative to an entry. This genealogy software can store images, sound clips, video and documents such as Word or PDF files. You can also configure RootsMagic to upload scanned items directly from your scanner. Ba-sic image editing function such as adjusting sharpness, brightness, contrast and orientation can be performed without using a separate photo editor.

The software is well organized, easy to use and very intuitive meaning you will spend less time consulting the help menu. It is simple to switch between views, and many types of information can be clicked on to find relating information, which really speeds up the process of moving through a family line.

For many genealogists, the sharing of information is one of the most important aspects of genealogy soft-ware. Your dream may be to produce a printed book or a series of books to share with the family and relevant libraries. RootsMagic supports customized headers, footers, margins and fonts, and books can easily be created. It has a tool called RootsMagic Publisher that can create books with narrative, notes, charts, images, source information, a bibliography, index pages, a table of contents and more. The genealogy software can also be used to create six types of CSS-styled websites: pedigree charts, group sheets, combo pedigree chart and group sheet, descendant narrative, ancestor narra-tive and alphabetical narrative. It can also create read-only CDs for sharing data.

RootsMagic also provides numerous reporting op-tions, and all reports can be saved as a PDF file or an RTF file for word processing applications.

RootsMagic genealogy software posts quite a bit of useful information in the support section of their web-site, and you can contact them for technical support by telephone or email. When you purchase the software, it also comes with a printed document called “Getting the

Most Out of RootsMagic.” You can also read comments posted by users and technical support on their message boards. RootsMagic also includes features to satisfy modern expectations such as DNA data storing and website creation.

RootsMagic, the company, has other software avail-able to support the avid genealogist. Personal Histo-rian helps you write the story of your life and of other individuals. If you are overwhelmed with the thought of writing a personal history, this software breaks this seemingly monumental task into small, manageable pieces and then reconstructs it into a complete, publish-able document. Family Atlas is the fun and easy way to map your family history. Trace your ancestor’s migra-tion around the world and pinpoint the sites of impor-tant family events. Import your family data directly from your genealogy software, then create and print personalized family maps. Family Reunion Organizer guides you from start to finish to plan that most-impor-tant of get-togethers. Organize your guest list, finances, schedule, and assignments. It even has ideas to keep guests of all ages entertained.

Both RootsMagic and Personal Historian are avail-able online in a form called essentials. This allows you to download a slightly limited version of the software as a free trial. You will have the chance to evaluate what it has to offer without having to commit to a purchase.

Finally, let me share some of the features that make this my software of choice. I like to feel like I am get-ting my money’s worth out of any product I purchase. RootsMagic software costs $29.95. You may choose to purchase the User Guide for an additional $10, but it isn’t necessary. You have the choice of a direct down-load or the download with a CD. If you choose the later, you will pay a small additional fee for shipping of the CD. However, either way you choose, you will be able to download the program just as soon as your credit card clears. You will also be able to download the software on up to five computers at no additional cost. This means that if you change computers, or if you have a desktop and a laptop, you do not have to buy a second license. Every few years when they do a ma-jor upgrade, the cost is $19.95. Most other companies charge full price and it seems like

RootsMagic (cont.)By Nancy M. Merzke

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they update every year. Smaller updates to the program are downloadable for free. Another plus is that the com-pany normally offers additional copies of RootsMagic at Christmas time for $19.95 to their previous custom-ers who may wish to give their family and relatives a copy for a holiday gift.

RootsMagic offers a large selection of online tutori-als in the form of webinars that cover most aspects of their software. If you learn more easily by watching a demonstration or listening to someone teach, you will find this a most valuable feature. Even if you do not own the software, you can learn from these webinars. Check them out at http://rootsmagic.com/Webinars/. You will never have to worry about not knowing how to use your software.

Remember the RGS member’s questions that inspired me to write this article? She and her husband purchased RootsMagic, transferred the files from their old program and watched the webinar on how to record your sources. She now reports that she and her husband are delighted with their new found skill and confidence when siting their sources. To explore the world of RootsMagic, go to http://rootsmagic.com/ Even if you are not in the market for new software, do check out their webinars. There is always something new to learn.

Most genealogists know by now that the 1940 US Fed-eral Census has been released. You may have already

explored this latest census looking for your ancestors or perhaps even yourself. I am sure that your experience was a little like stepping back in time to the old days before so many of our records were indexed and available online. How many hours did we spend searching for that elusive record scrolling down page after page neck is aching and eyes straining? Indexing certainly made our life so much better. Now think how much easier life would be if the 1940 Census was indexed. You can make it happen!

Many of your fellow members of the RGS have volun-teered to help index the census and we would like to wel-come you to our group. Online training is available. You can work at your own pace. You will begin by download-ing free software that will allow you to view the records on a split screen. You will be able to see the records you are indexing at the top of the screen and type the information into the database at the bottom of the screen. Once you have the software, you will be ready to begin.

1940 US Census Indexing ProjectYou will be downloading one census page at a time, 40

lines of information that will take fifteen to twenty minutes to complete. Once completed, you will be guided through a process to check your work and then asked to submit the page. That’s it! You are able to preview each page you download. If you can’t read it, send it back. No questions asked. Each page is indexed by two different people. Their responses are electronically checked and any discrepan-cies are sent to an arbitrator for a final decision. Indexing is something you can do. Why not become part of our team?

Join the 1940 US Census Community Project, a historic national service project to preserve and share on line the records of the “greatest generation”. You can make a differ-ence by helping to transcribe the 1940 census records. Go to <the1940census.com/society> to join the Rochester Ge-nealogical Society project team. For more information con-tact the RGS administrator, Bob Coomber at <rcoomber@rochester.rr.com> Together, we can make this happen.

Saturday 11 August 2012 is the deadline for all sub-missions for the fall issue of the Hear Ye Hear Ye.

Please try to be early if possible. It’s never too early to submit.

Editor’s Note:

The Writers Group has changed the day for their meetings to the first Thursday of the month. We

will be meeting in the same location; the same room where CIG meets at the LDS Facility at 1400 Westfall Rd. Meetings begin at 7:00 P.M. and everyone is wel-come. We do meet during the summer months. Meet-ings are an open forum and we are always interested in helping others solve their writing and publishing prob-lems. For more information about the Writers Group, contact Nancy Merzke at nancymerzke@gmail.com.

Writers Group Notice

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Rochester Genealogical Society, Inc.PO Box 10501, Rochester, NY 14610Vol. 33, No. 2 —Summer 2012

Return Service Requested

President Marian HenryFirst Vice President: Cherie WoodSecond Vice President: Dennis HoganRecording Secretary: James AllenCorresponding Secretary: Robert CoomberMembership Secretary Kathryn HeintzTreasurer: Ned SeachmanHistorian/Genealogist: Ed GroszewskiPast President: Roy ThurstonEducation Committee: Lowell E. SalyardsPublicity Committee: Barb Koehler Publications Committee: Debbie Barnes Church Records Preservation Comm.: Larry LaveryWebmaster: Roger HeintzTape Library: Vacant

Non-ProfitU.S. Postage

PAIDRochester, NYPermit No. 244

Hear Ye Hear Ye Editor: Nancy Merzke Hear Ye Hear Ye Desktop Publisher Jean KohlhoffHospitality Committee: Marlene Bettin Gale Hermanet Reception Committee: Joyce Mitchell Laurel MitchellOther Society Liaison: Sharon BurchNYSCOGO Liaison: Sharon BurchDAR Liaison: Robbie DreesonSAR Liaison: Stephan ClarkeRoch. Public Library Liaison: Larry NaukamFamily History Center Liaison: Carmen BushBook Distribution: Carmen Bush

Hear Ye Hear Ye is published four times a year, in Spring (March), Summer (June), Autumn (September) and Winter (December) and is available electronically or through the mail.

Hear Ye Hear Ye is mailed Bulk Rate. This takes lon-ger to receive, but should not take longer than 10 days. If there is a problem please notify us.RGS Website: http://www.nyrgs.org

Please notify the membership chairperson if you have moved. Because Bulk Rate is not forwarded, it will cost RGS the price of a first class stamp for the Post Office to notify us of your new address.

Meeting cancellations because of inclement weather will be announced on our website, RGS Voice Mail, www.13wham.com and WHAM 1180 AM.

RGS Voice Mail: (585) 234-2584

RGS Officers and Activity Chairs through June 30, 2012