More about the LDS Family History Centers

Last week we heard from Nancy Montgomery, coordinator for the LDS Family History Center in Newnan, who gave some great information on the background of the organization and what information was available there.

This week, Nancy continues her contribution, with a little more detail on the Ancestral File and International Genealogical Index. These research resources may be accessed on the computers at the center. You can also access them online. I will tell you more about that, and my visit last Thursday, in a minute.

Nancy writes:

"Cicero said in 130 B.C. 'Not to know what happened before we were born is to remain perpetually a child, for what is the worth of a human life unless it is woven into the lives of our ancestors?'

"The 'Ancestral File' is a computerized file containing family information submitted by descendants of the family. The file contains over 13 million names with accuracy of varying degrees. It was developed by the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS (Mormon). It can be accessed on the Worldwide Web, and is part of 'Family Search' computer system. The advantage of this file is that you can access the submitter of the information. The submitters' names and addresses are available at the family history centers.

"The 'International Genealogical Index,' known as the IGI, is a computerized index of names extracted from millions of births, marriages, deaths and many other vital records. The LDS church has been photographing these records for many years and the accuracy is excellent. It lists over 187 million deceased people. It primarily includes people of the 14th to 19th centuries.

"An interesting procedure with the IGI [is that] you can obtain a list of all surnames in a certain location between 1700 and 1900. For example, you can access all Forresters that lived in Clackmannanshire, Scotland between 1600 and 1900. This procedure helps to find extended parts of families and can only be done at the FHC.

"In the IGI, the information is listed by individual, marriage or parents. I found all ten children of George and Sarah Davies living in Lancashire in the 1860s. I'm not sure my cousin, Hilda, in England, knew them all.

"I want to apologize to the Jonesboro Family History Center. Their telephone number is 770-477-5985.

"Hoping all of you are finding your families." Nancy Montgomery.

I met Nancy last Thursday evening at the Newnan facility and was almost overwhelmed by the information available there. We only scratched the surface and I'm returning this Thursday for my second "lesson."

Last Thursday, after Nancy demonstrated the use of the computers at the center, I ordered microfilm for three resources ... two death certificates and one book on microfilm. The fee for ordering each microfilm record is $3.50, so my total was $10.50. Very modest considering it would cost me more than that in gas to drive to Alabama.

One of the death certificates (I hope) will take care of one of the "hornet's nests" I had stepped into. The other is for my great-grandfather Fowler, who supposedly suffered from something akin to Alzheimer's and died from exposure after wandering away from his home in late November 1919. It will be interesting to see what the "official" cause of death was.

The third microfilm I ordered is on a book about the McWhorters. I found the name of it in some of my late aunt's notes from her research done back in the 1970s and 1980s. The book was found in the Family History Library which you can access online ... and it is fascinating. You can save yourself some time by looking up the book on the Internet before you go to the center to order the microfilm.

The computers at the center only contain information on what is available through the main library in Salt Lake, or what may be available locally. They cannot access the Internet.

To access the LDS library from your home computer, go to www.familysearch.org, the Web site for the LDS church. From the home page, click on the Family History Library and it will bring up another window where you can choose to search the library by surname, author or location. I did a search for "McWhorter" and it brought up all the books at the main library on that surname (and there were many). When you click on the name of the book, it gives a brief synopsis of what it contains and any other surnames mentioned.

If the book is on microfilm, there will be a clickable button called "Show Film Details." This will give you the numbers you need to order the film from the library. Some books are only available in Salt Lake, but many have been filmed.

You can also access the Ancestral File and International Genealogical Index from this Web site. Go back to the home page and click on "Search for Ancestors." Type in your surname or full name and click "search" and it will bring up everything available on that subject. Some may be in the IGI and some may be in Ancestral or Pedigree files. You may want to limit your search by giving a location, as there may be thousands of records.

Just remember what Nancy said: The IGI is the only thing taken from photographs of official records which makes its accuracy rate excellent. The Ancestral and Pedigree files are submitted by family members and are subject to error. Sometimes, but not always, the name of the submitter is given (you have to click on "Submitter, Details") and you can write to the person and get more information. The site does not give e-mail addresses of submitters.

Although the Family History Center in Newnan is divided into several smaller rooms, there are many computers and many microfilm readers ... and records from all over. One gentleman there last week had just printed out a census page from Germany. More next week on this valuable research center.

I still want to hear about your families and your genealogy adventures. Send mail to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!