“This Little Book of Heart Poems”
A slender volume of poetry inscribed by President Heber J. Grant turns a son's heart to his great-grandfather.
By James W. Petty, AG, CG
The Temple in the Fog
A woman loses sight of the temple in the fog, only to realize that there is a lesson to be learned here.
By Carol Kostakos Petranek
Reader's Tributes to "My Mother-in-Love"
As a Mother's Day tribute, here are three stories of mothers-in-law who became mothers-in-love.
By Meridian Readers
Jumpstart Your English Research Online!
The Internet is loaded with information about Englishmen and women from the past. One needs only to know where to find it.
By Nathan W. Murphy, MA, AG®
Turning Mothers-in-Law into Mothers-in-Love
People tend to place other people high on pedestals, or low in pits. Mothers are spoken of in idyllic terms, and we hold the position in esteem; yet for some reason the term “in law” turns an idyllic being into the enemy, and we have to decide which person our spouse's mother really is.
By James W. and Mary Ellen Gleason Petty
Coming to Your Census!
Modern technology has taken away much of the tedium of doing family history. Whoops and hollers of success are much easer to come by in the computer age than they were in days of old. And if you want to seek your ancestors, census records are the place to start.
By James W. Petty, AG, CG
Why Hire a Pro to Do Your Family History?
Family history and genealogy require a great of time, effort, and skill. When it comes to doing our genealogy, hiring a pro can make these important responsibilities all the more possible to accomplish.
By James W. Petty, AG, CG
Why
Won’t Anybody Talk About Aunt Hattie?
Is there someone in your family
that everybody avoids mentioning? Do your relatives shrink when
you talk about doing family history? You might want to consider
doing a genogram of your family.
By G.G. Vandagriff
Going
Home — A Family History Letter To Brooke
Visiting an ancestral home plays
an important part in compiling pictures of our ancestors. In traveling
to such places we see the community they lived in, or the countryside
they saw every day, and we begin to appreciate their culture and
way of life.
By James W. Petty, AG, CG
Bringing
Genealogy to Life
If your ancestor is nothing more than a
name and a date on a page, it might be time to give your great,
great grandmother or grandfather, aunt, uncle or cousin a life.
By Bettyanne Bruin
Planning
a Family Homecoming
Whether your ancestors helped settle
the frontier of Utah or the penal colony of Sydney, Australia,
you can celebrate their lives with an event-centered Homecoming.
Here is how one family is doing it.
By James W. Petty, AG, CG, and Mary E. Petty
Bring
History Home —
A Genealogist's Call for Valiance
Linking the lives of our ancestors
to the events of recorded history helps us understand what has happened
in the past and why it happened, and the part our families played
in that history. And then history has meaning in our lives, and
can encourage how we live.
By James W. Petty, AG®, CGSM
The
Legacy of Shirts
A son's status in life may depend on
how big his shirt is. This story of shirts tells how one son tried
to live up to his father's expectations.
By James W. Petty, AG®, CGSM
Turning
the Hearts of the Parents to the Fathers
How can parents help turn the hearts of their
children to the fathers, if the parents don't know who the fathers
are? It is vital that husbands know the genealogy of their wives;
and that wives know the genealogy of their husbands.
By James W. Petty, AG®,
CG(SM), BS (Genealogy), BA (History)
Do
You Have an Elephant on Your Menu?
If your family history problems seem as big
as an elephant, tuck in your napkin and reach for your salt shaker.
By James W. Petty, AGCM,
CGSM
Happy
Hunting on the Imperfect Road of Internet Genealogy
The wunderkind of family history today is
the Internet. Or is it? Rumor has it that there are "all encompassing"
databases on the web
that you can access for free that will give you your complete family
tree —
just like a pedigreed
registered dog. Or so the myth goes about online family tree research.
Unfortunately, there is more fiction present on the Internet than
documented fact. But it is a most valuable tool that if you know
how to use it.
By James W. Petty, AG®,
CGSM
MIRACLES
– Are Where You Look For Them
I am not surprised when people tell
me they have never experienced a miracle. Experiencing miracles
requires recognizing them.
By James W. Petty
Slavery and Redemption on Every Family Tree
Evidence shows that the author's father's relatives helped redeem a family owned by her mother's. History sometimes reads better than fiction.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
A
Tool to Read Old Manuscripts
A
problem facing Latter-day Saints who want to research their family
history is that handwriting has changed over the years.
By John Tvedtnes
Family
History: Why Do We Resist the Blessings?
Some people feel that doing family
history is one more thing in a hectic life that they can't fit in.
By
Darla Isackson
How
to Chronicle a Life
How can we contemplate resurrection,
after all, until we admit death? I don't know about your mother,
but mine would rather die than pass away.
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Small
and Simple Things
Making the gospel of Jesus Christ
available, either to the living or the dead, is one great, glorious
whole, with eternal returns and ramifications. Certainly those hearts
turned most, by "small and simple" means, may very well
be our own.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Are
They Commuting from the Celestial Kingdom?
Since I have been working as a temple
worker in the Provo, Utah Temple, I have met many dedicated patrons
and workers who offer extraordinary examples of service and commitment.
By
G.G. Vandagriff
Hang
Those Ghosts of Christmas Past
Given the option to use their traditional
tree ornaments, with all those memories and sentiment, they instead
were excited to have me recreate for them the “Christmas Family
Tree” that had become a tradition in our home.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Fabulous Fayre
Why, in my deep fascination with ancestors,
did I overlook the living legacy they left behind?
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Haunted or Hallowed?
Our ancestors want to be found and
often remarkable things happen in the search.
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
“My
Time Was Not Yet Finished: More Was Required of Me.”
As Kendon Eakett emerged from the
hospital, he knew his life had been spared for a purpose.
By
G.G. Vandagriff
Ye
Shall Always Rejoice
Should you tell your life history,
warts and all? Do you want your descendants to know your perils
and pitfalls?
By
G.G. Vandagriff
Prayers,
Genealogy, and Personal Revelation
This is His work we are engaged in,
not ours, and sometimes we need to be reminded of that.
By
James W. Petty, AG, CGRS
Rehearsing
Celestial Reunions
It’s that season when somebody
in the family is going to get the bright idea that we ought to hold
a reunion.
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
“Automagically”
Millennial
This year's BYU Computerized Genealogy
Conference highlighted some exciting new developments that will
make your head spin.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
The
Hearts of The Fathers
There is an almost inexplicable yearning
in each of us to know who we are really, and to connect ourselves
to a greater whole. Is this not the joyous blessing of Elijah?
By Barton L. Carter
Accelerate
Your Genealogy through Collaboration
New innovations in genealogy research
make it easier to collaborate and faster to accomplish.
by
Chelsea Beattie
Who
Craves Rest from “Work” Like This?
Temples are those places on earth
where the veil between the living and dead becomes more thin--we
see beyond material things more clearly, begin to understand that
death walks us quite simply from one room into another.
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Silent
Nights
Casting
Right with 'the Net'
Have you considered setting up a family
web site that is open to the public? Here are some great tips.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Gold
Diggers, We!
Buried treasure and ghosts banging
in the fireplace eventually lead to hints on how to unearth these
types of fascinating stories and more while probing for your ancestry.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Having
the Spirit as a Guide:Our Greatest Duty --- to Preach the Gospel
Throughout the ages the members of God's church
have been charged to do good, promote righteousness and teach the
principles of truth that they, as well as others, may obtain eternal
life.
By Peggy Proctor
Treasure
of Heart and Spirit
Sherlene gives us a personal look into her search
for family and the Unseen Hand that unfailingly guides those efforts.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Strange
Family History Tales from Internet Cousins
If you find your cousins on the Internet,
be prepared for some unusual skeletons in the family closet.
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Family
History - A Sometimes Haunting Avocation
A cousin, discovered on the Internet,
tells a beautifully, haunting story from the past, right when it
is needed.
By Sherlene Hall
Bartholomew
Easy
Does It--In Family History Too!
How
do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Family history can be
more digestible than you think.
By
Darla Isackson
Made Rich by Our Poor
Learning about the occupational
lives of our ancestors can be humbling, as well as illuminating.
We don't have a clear picture who they are, until we see how they
worked.
By Sherlene Hall
Bartholomew
And Save Ourselves
with All Our Dead: The Stories of Three Women
Erma Rosenhan had a mission to serve and neither
financial hardships nor Germany's Hitler would deter her. Her story
gives genealogy 'work' a whole new meaning.
by Terry Bohle Montague
Love
Letter to the Future: Writing Family Histories
Now is the time to blow the dust
off your good intentions and start writing family histories instead
of just thinking about it. Here's some ideas to make it easy.
by
Darla Isackson
The People of
Parley Street
by James W. Petty, AG, CGRS
A
Smorgasbord of Classes at BYU Genealogy Conference
While planning next summer’s family or personal activities,
circle BYU’s annual Genealogy and Family History Conference.
Bartholomew reviews this year's conference and gives it a
big 'thumbs up'.
by
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
When was Great Grandpa Baptized?
With as ordered, compartmentalized,
structured and recorded we are today in the Church,
you would think getting your
Grandpa's baptism date wouldn't be that hard a thing to do. Think
again! We haven't always been such a 'house of order'. James Petty
takes us through some of the maze of 're-baptism's and binding
your heart to your ancestors.
By James W. Petty, A.G., C.G.R.S.
He
Was Looking Directly At Me
It
was just the two of us alone as if we were in a photo studio together.
The close-up lens was focused tightly on his face, and his dark
eyes looked straight into mine. It was a magical moment, one I
will never forget.
by Steve
Orton
A
Testimony From the Grave
The
only way to describe it was that a spirit enveloped me, or perhaps
touched my spirit. I felt a pleading, a prayer, a request, a longing,
a need communicated to me that this priest who lived between 100
and 200 A.D. desired to receive baptism and temple ordinances.
by James
W. Petty, AG, CGRS
Give
Me Your Tired, Your Poor...
So
wrote Emma Lazarus in 1883. Her words are found inscribed on the
base of the Statue of Liberty; a Welcome, beckoning to all nations
and people, to come to America.
by James W.
Petty, A.G., C.G.R.S., BS (Genealogy)
God
Hears a Mother's Cry!
I
wish I had space to tell about all the cousins I have “met” on the
Internet. For now I will tell about those descended from a special
mother—one three generations ahead of me—Clarinda Evick Hall.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
McLean
Family History Center to Hold Fair on Genealogy for the 21st Century
Editor’s Note: The McLean Stake has become a model in using family history as an outreach
to the community. Read on to see how some of their ideas might
apply in using family history to invite neighbors to the church
in your own area.
Standing
In Holy Places
Everyone
needs to have places of refuge, where we can go to feel the Spirit
of the Lord, and enjoy relief from the daily trials and influences
of the These are places where we can reach out to our Heavenly Father,
and receive personal communication from him, and be uplifted from
the cares and contentions of society.
by James W.
Petty, A.G., C.G.R.S., BS (Genealogy)
Such
Fun not Forbidden?
The
way to meet fascinating people and to make fast and sure eternal
friends is to get involved in “The Search” after our
kindred dead.
by Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
Find
a Hero in Your Past
There
is an old saying, 'what is good for the goose, is good for the gander.'
This really came home to me this last Sunday evening. Mary and I,
along with our son Will, attended a Stake Fireside. TRUE TO THE
FAITH, promoting this Summer's Stake Youth Trek. For those few days,
Zion's youth have the opportunity to experience the life and trials
of the Pioneers who endured the trek west a century and a half ago.
by James
W. Petty, AG, CGRS
I
Hope They Call Me On A Mission...
William Henry Wright hurried up
Guildford Street and past New John Street, to Geach Lane. It was
raining here in Birmingham, England, and he needed to get to the
Latter-day Saints Meeting place on Hunter's Villa near Farm Street.
Today was Sunday, December 24th, 1882; the day before Christmas.
He was supposed to speak to the Saints about the Gospel, and what
Christmas meant to him.
by James W.
Petty, A.G., C.G.R.S., BS (Genealogy)
Ho
Cakes and Heritage
She
can only be described as a character. We called her Aunt Luella
even though technically she was not a blood relative. It is just
that in the small Mormon community where I grew up, with its heritage
of polygamy, everyone was related more or less somewhere on the
genealogical tree. Moreover, the adult women of the town adopted
the role of “defacto aunts” as they watched over each
other’s children, monitoring their behavior regardless of
bloodlines.
By Steve Orton
Put
Life Into Your Life Stories!
The
story of Paris Wimmer illustrates some of the principles of writing
a life story. Every life is a fascinating
account of personal growth and experience, and it is made valuable
and meaningful by the way we relate
it. by James W. Petty, A.G., C.G.R.S., BS (Genealogy)
Christmas
with Ain’t Nick
Editor’s
Note: In Sherlene’s last column,
she talked of learning about her ancestor, Nicholas Pinion, whose
wife accused him of killing children. Her column set off an explosion
of letters both defending and deriding Nicholas. It wasn’t
“children” but chickens, Nick’s side claimed.
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
New
Internet School for Researching LDS Genealogy and Family History
Can your lost ancestors be found? Are there
family stories to be discovered in your family lines? Is it possible
to learn the details in the lives of our early LDS pioneer forefathers?
Here’s information on an online school that teaches family
history skills.
by James W.
Petty, A.G., C.G.R.S., BS (Genealogy)
The
Ancestor I Didn't Want to Find
One of my husband Dan’s ancestors came over on the Mayflower,
and his are among those first migrant Separatists who celebrated
our nation’s First Thanksgiving and who, in turn, are honored
by us each November.
By Sherlene
Hall Bartholomew
The
Book Fell Open to the Right Place
A
fantastic story of hope and love on this side of the veil and the
other
By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
The
Face Beyond the Veil
I
prayed to know my great-grandmother better.
by
G. G. Vandagriff
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