Social Security Database - New Links

This from the KYGENWEB List:

Happy Easter everyone! One of our coordinators emailed me yesterday about
an email she received from Rootsweb/Ancestry. Wesley Exon is a content
marketing manager for RW and is trying to reach coordinators who have their
sites on RW. The Social Security database link has changed and he wants yo
to be aware of it! If you get an email from him, please answer! For the
rest of the coordinators (no matter where your site is), if you have a link
on your site to the SSI Database, please make sure the link is correct. The
new link is:  http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693


Thanks,
Suzanne Shephard
Assistant State Coordinator
KYGenWeb is part of the
USGenWeb Project

Just got this after posting the above!

FYI: RW's (Ancestry.com's) Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is no
longer free.  It was moved over to their subscriber's side many
months ago.  I believe they sited privacy concerns, if you can
believe that.  I changed my link to the SSDI at FamilySearch.org (
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535 ).  The main thing
that I miss is being able to search by exact birth or death dates;
with FamilySearch's SSDI database you can only specify by year or a
range of years.  There are a few other free SSDI databases out there,
but I found this one to be the most reliable and easy to use.

Brian K. Caudill
Malabar, FL

Special Memorial for Easter

A very special child who loved to swing and sing her favorite song "Jesus Loves Me."

Samantha Ann McDonald

Located in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville KY is the most beautiful monument for a sweet little child who loved Jesus.  Photos come from a great blog "Save A Grave" http://saveagrave.net/sami 

Go to Save A Grave for more and also visit

Find-A-Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16477414

 The stone portion of this monument was designed by Terry Joy of Joy Monuments out of Louisville, KY. Tom White of Bethel, Maine was the sculptor of the bronze parts of the monument.

 "Sami"

 Visit Sam's Rock to learn about Sami and the work of her family to help others... http://www.samsrock.net/

The LORD is my ROCK - 2 Samuel 22:2

 Sami and Jesus

 A beautiful, innocent child swings with joy with Jesus!

 "This is a monument of Jesus holding the rope of a 3 year old Sami McDonald, who is swinging in a swing. They both have a smile and look like they are having a great time. Words to her favorite song “Jesus Loves Me” are etched into the granite rock. Along side her hand print are the hand prints of her Brother Jacob and her sister Becca."

"Jesus loves me, this I know... Let His little child come in... For the Bible tells me so!"

- Indiana Bones and the Tri-State Genealogical Society wishes everyone a very Happy Easter!

Interesting Hobby- Genealogy!

Genealogy is such an interesting hobby (or profession).  There are so many different levels of doing research and different goals of the researchers.  Some individuals pursue researching with a passion for learning more about their family in general, while others have the goal of learning about one specific person, line or even one event.  Some research is done in an un-organized manner picking up information with a more haphazard approach.  Many will use professional standards in citing sources and acceptance of facts.  It seems a large number dream of writing a book.  There are some that basically hoard their research for fear that others will use their research for their own or possibly for a book.

When I see the work of others, I have enjoyed most because they include iron-clad facts or in some cases pure fiction, but all are stories (true or not) of people and families.  There are the ones that are like the “begats” of the Holy Bible [King James Version: Genesis]… you know, “Eber begat Peleg, Peleg begat Reu, Reu begat Serug, etc.”  I have seen a lot of histories that are simply organized into charts, family group sheets with some documents and photos.  Then there are the ones that are written in story form with few notes or citations, some with many footnotes.

But what I find that really makes this hobby interesting, educational and fun – is that it is YOUR family and YOU are the one doing it (even if you have help).  Whatever way you do it, is your business!  Now, if you are doing it for other people, then, you might have to do it in a way that is appropriate for the intended audience.  This is the history YOU discovered and report to others.

Now, that I have spent over 50 years of learning about my family, gathering information and acquiring research techniques to improve my efforts and increase results; I, now, realize that I am just beginning to learn about my family.  I have researched mostly with the idea of discovering the parents and siblings along with facts like birth & death, plus anything else I could learn.  However, in the last few years I have been attempting to answer questions about these families and looking at people that are not so much in that direct line, like some of the more distant cousins.  One reason for looking at more of these cousins is that I have been finding many “new” cousins learning about how their families relate to mine.  Back to answering questions… this requires some intensive research into a very large area of documents and sources.  Often, it leads to new questions and new information that is unrelated to my original question.  This type of research lends itself well to putting “meat” onto the bones of my history.  Now, I must warn you that you might discover facts that are different than what has been passed down, especially something that might be considered negative or bad.  Realize that the more people you learn about in the family, the more you will encounter the ones that are not of the best character along with the heroes and saints.  It’s just family, YOURS!

Genealogy is the study of families and their stories are what make up the fabric of the history of a community, a nation and the world… through the ages.  And that is why genealogy is such an interesting hobby!

Written by Indiana Bones

The Adventures of Indiana Bones Feb 2013

Indiana Bones will be off soon, this morning, for another adventure in genealogical research. This time in the Christian County Courthouse looking for deed records of another John West born sometime between 1760 & 1775 in North Carolina. This John West is somewhat elusive, but bought the land inherited by the heirs of Thomas West, Jr. in Nov. of 1836 in Christian Co., KY. It says in that indenture that John West was the brother of Thomas West (the deceased)... others say that is not correct that he is the son of Thomas West and brother to the other heirs. Indiana Bones is on a quest to find out about this John West's actual relationship is to my direct ancestor Thomas West.

I have some U.S. Census records for a John West (or perhaps for more than one man) beginning in North Carolina and then in Christian Co., KY.  there is a John Trip West in Christian Co. that is more than likely the son of Thomas West that is in the 1850 Census (born about 1773).  The one that bought the land in 1836, we believe was born about 1762 and would be the young uncle to the 1773 John West.

I will begin by trying to locate the disposal of that 1836 land (250 acres) and see if I can find any other deeds and tax records for the brother John West.

- Indiana Bones

Tuesday's Meeting will Discuss DNA!

Why DNA?  Do you come up empty about DNA when it comes to a simple understanding of this great new genealogical tool?

Come to our meeting this coming Tuesday night:
 12 February 2013 6:30 PM at Willard Library – Bayard Room on the Second Floor.  

Kenneth “Ken” E. Nowlan, Jr. will present a very interesting program on “Making Sense of DNA: How Can It Assist Genealogical Research.”  How many of you have found people in your genealogical research and wondered if they were related, but could not find any proof. In today’s world there is a way to find that answer using DNA. We see on the news and on crime shows how DNA helps find the bad guys. Now you can find out how to use that technology in your research.  Ken earned his Bachelors Degree from Indiana University and his Masters Degree from University of Pennsylvania. He became a Certified Genealogist (SM) from the Board for Certification of Genealogists, he is the Project Administrator for DNA Surname Project on FamilyTreeDNA and is a Member of Tri-State Genealogical Society.

You do not have to be a member to come and participate at the society’s monthly meetings.

Has Your Family Talked About This?

Your family may have talked about this situation concerning the re-location of a loved ones burial.  This may sound morbid or foolish, but many families move from "home" and want loved ones buried where they live today.  There are many reasons why a family may want to do this as this article suggests.

Joy Neighbors blog site is one of my favorites - A Grave Interest.  This article is called "Remains of the Day - Relocating a Body."    She points out all of the things that are involved, plus cost considerations for each.  She does make a great suggestion to consider as a possible alternate solution.  Great article and a great blog!

- Compiled by Indiana Bones

Genealogy on Your Kindle Fire!

Using the Kindle Fire for Genealogy – GedFamilies

Just found a link to this article on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (EOGN) points to an easy way to carry your genealogy with you without having a computer.  Use your Kindle or other electronic devices.  

Here is part of the short article that has several links for more information:  GenBlog by 

Julie Cahill Tarr, Genealogist

"A few months ago, the company that developed Families [designed to work with the software Legacy Family Tree] released GedFamilies (Android, iOS, $7.99).  From what I can tell (based on the product description, screenshots, and the “test drive” I took on Amazon) it is nearly identical to Families.  The big difference between the two apps is that Families only works with Legacy Family Tree databases, while GedFamilies works with a GEDCOM file.  That basically means that if you use ANY genealogy database software that can generate a GEDCOM 5.5.1 file, you can use the GedFamilies app and have your family tree on your Kindle Fire.  Just like the Families app, you will need to download and install a syncing program on your computer."