Reading German Records

  By Michele Simmons Lewis, Student German: Reading the Records  is my favorite German course from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies so far. The first half of this course concentrates on teaching you how to write in the old German script. Actually forming the letters over and over again gets those letter shapes in your brain and you have a much easier time recognizing them when you are reading documents. The second half of the course is all about reading real records. There is a required book for this course, Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents by Roger P. Minert. This is an excellent book and has countless examples of documents along with transliterations and translations. Each document is fully analyzed pointing out certain things you need to be watching for such as common abbreviations and common phrases. This is one of those books you will want to read from cover to cover. There is a little surprise in the class. German documents aren’t always written in German. You also have to learn how to read Latin and French. I happen to love languages so I was pretty happy to see these assignments. Now I have even more flexibility and these skills will help me in other areas, not just with German records. This isn’t an easy course. The assignments include documents that look like they were written by a second-grader. (Did you think that only happened with English records?)  There are faded documents and some have the words cut off…

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The History of Religions

By Shannon Bennett, Student I love history. Really, I do, and if you have followed this blog for any amount of time you probably have figured that out. So guess how excited I was when Module 1 of US Religious Records – Part 1  was all historical background. That’s right, I read it one sitting and went back for more. Ok, I will admit I knew most of it, but it was really good information. If you really don’t have historical context for common Christian religions it is a must read. Seriously. Knowing how and why religions developed in relation to historical events can be a real eye opener if you have never studied it before. Of course, I am sure everyone is familiar with the story of Henry VIII and his infamous divorce. You might also know who Martian Luther was. How about George Whitefield?  Maybe, maybe not? Well he was a leader during the “Great Awakening” which was America’s first significant religious revival which occurred in the 1730s-40s. Many of the religions that formed out of it are still around today, along with their philosophies and their records. To be honest, while the history lesson was great I particularly looked forward to Module 2 which covered the Roman Catholic Church exclusively. I wanted to know more about the records for those members of my family and how I could find them. The first section covered the history of the church in the colonies from Spain and England. The…

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Starting U.S. Religious Records Part 1

By Shannon Bennett, Student Religious records are used frequently in genealogy research. Baptismal records can verify a birth date and parent’s names. Burial records can give an estimated death date. Then there are the marriage records, the fantastic marriage records. Needless to say, records from religious institutions can give you amazing information. That is if you know where to work.   I know my ancestors were religious. Well, at least I know they were moderately active in their local churches and participated in the typical things; you know baptisms and marriages. A few of them were involved with community church projects and others simply attended because that was where their parents, and their parents, and their parents, and so on all attended.  However, how do you find those records? For my family I know I have a large number of Catholics, followed closely by the Presbyterians, then Methodists, and finally, those who identified themselves at Protestant but I have no idea what flavor. I have to admit I was surprised by the Catholic lines. No one I personally know actively practiced Catholicism but it seems that my paternal grandmother was Catholic as well as her entire side of the family. On my maternal side, my grandfather was the first to be baptized Protestant. His father’s family were all Catholic all the way back to their roots in Maryland, but his mother was not. Can you guess who won the religious war in that family? The course US Religious Records –…

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New Course: Skill-Building: Nuts & Bolts of Reporting Research

Skill-Building: Nuts & Bolts of Reporting Research written by Forensic Genealogist Leslie Brinkley Lawson is a new course offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies starting January 12, 2015. A professional or serious minded genealogist needs to perfect core skills to help them achieve success whether they conduct research for clients, lecture, or write. These skills include source citation, transcription and writing. In the field of genealogy there are some texts that are considered the standard by which professionals are judged―these include Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Dr. Thomas Jones’ Mastering Genealogical Proof and the Board for Certification of Genealogists’ Genealogy Standards. These books help prepare the professional or serious minded genealogist for the day to day work of writing, analyzing and preparing information for themselves or the clients that they come in contact with. Books like Professional Genealogy “offers benchmarks by which they can advance their skills and place their businesses on sounder footing.” In this course students  will study portions of some of the above mentioned texts and complete assignments and exercises to better understand the key elements taught within its pages. Not a course for beginning researchers, please be aware this course is classified as “Intermediate Level” in the Professional Development Certificate Program. It has been developed for individuals who are at or working in the Intermediate to Advanced Levels in our other…

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U.S. Religious Records Part 2: Communities

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student After U.S. Religious Records – Part 1  I jumped straight into U.S. Religious Records – Part 2 .  I thought it made sense to just go ahead and keep the momentum going by continuing with the topic.  It was a good idea since all of the information from Part 1 was still fresh in my mind.  If you can schedule  both courses  close together I would recommend it. The first section was a particularly informative overview of religious records, groups, communities, and history which occurred in America during the 19th and 20th centuries.  I always found the communal religious societies in the 19th century fascinating.  The Shakers, Oneida Community, Millerites/Adventists, Mormons and Community of Christ all developed during a time in American history that was filled with religious expression.  Many of these communities were unable to sustain themselves but others still exist today in flourishing communities.  (The Mormons and The Community of Christ are covered extensively in Module 3 of this course.) These communities formed during the first half of the 1800s when there was a religious fervor occurring across the former colonies.  The “Second Great Revival” in the Protestant religions swept over the country and made the atmosphere ripe for religious exploration and expression.  This atmosphere contributed to the formation of a variety of religious movements and communities (many of which didn’t actually have a religious focus) like the ones listed above.