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Man follows ancestors’ Mormon journey

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

From The Daily Iowan:

Jesse and Mary Griffen left behind a destitute life in England. Seeking religious and material relief in the West, the train took them, along with 148 other Mormon immigrants, from Boston to Iowa City.

In 1857, this was the end of the railroad. And this is where their great-great-great grandson, Kent Steinke, picked up the journey at 5 a.m. today.

“A knowledge of history — one with value instead of a neutral, objective history — can help us find a place in the world we’re all seeking,” the 35-year-old said.

Steinke is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After the Griffens, most of his family has been Methodist, and Steinke attended seminary school in Dubuque and in Kentucky. But, harboring an intense interest in the Mormons as an ethnic group, the Nebraska native has planned for years to recreate their travels.

“It was just a matter of time,” said his wife, Jackie Steinke. The 42-year-old joined her husband in Iowa City, unable to take a month off work. “He’s so into his family history, especially the Griffens.”
Kent Steinke, a nurse assistant for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, spent thousands of dollars preparing for his trip. He started April 22 in Boston and plans to end in Omaha, where his ancestors settled. Along the way, he has made every stop first by train — as the immigrants did 152 years ago.
He was able to recreate the trip thanks to Jesse Griffen, who kept meticulous notes of their voyage. Steinke inherited the diary from his grandmother.

Arriving in Iowa City April 29, Steinke set up a tent in the Mormon Handcart Park. The UI owns the Hawkeye Apartments just behind the park’s edges and helped preserve the historic and religious site; Steinke said he received university officials’ permission to camp there.

During the day, he went to the Main Library, the Old Capitol Museum and the state Historical Society to learn more about his heritage.

Unlike iconic pioneers, the handcart travelers were too poor to afford oxen or horse-drawn covered wagons. They took the train as far as they could with financial help from other Mormon settlers, who were waiting for them in Utah. From Iowa City, they continued on foot the rest of the way.

Delayed by rain and logistics with the handcarts, they camped in the cold and chill for weeks in the woods now named after them, the Mormon Handcart Park.

On Sunday evening, Steinke was in a similar predicament. His cart had not yet arrived from Cedar Rapids by dinnertime on Sunday, but he said it would arrive early this morning. To experience frontier fare, Steinke ate mostly bread and smoked bacon, cooked in a squat, heavy Dutch oven.
Sunday night saw him to a Mormon family’s home for dinner, however.

“[His journey] is admirable and adventurous,” said Scott Gill, the host. “I’d like to say I would do the same, but I’m not sure I could.”

From Iowa City, Steinke could get to Omaha by car in six hours. But he wanted to experience the grueling handcart trip, which had cost a pregnant Mary Griffen her health and prevented her from reaching their original destination.

The hardships they faced deeply touched Steinke. He discovered an appreciation for tiny, Midwestern towns, the kind he knows most university students dream of escaping.

“They were a wonderful place, a destination at the end of a difficult journey,” he said. “I couldn’t see that until I’d seen all the places, gone on the journey and seen where [the pioneers] were going.”

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Sacramento Mormons invite African Americans on search for ancestors

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

From The Sacramento Bee:

Elizabeth W. Stephens, left, of Elk Grove and Hester McCoy Snider of Rocklin went Saturday to the Sacramento Family History Center, owned by the local Mormon church, to find out more about their ancestors.

Ron McDowell clunks open a metal drawer, one of many at the Sacramento Family History Center, to reveal stacks and stacks of microfilm.

“Those are the census records from 1880,” he said, pointing down the line of drawers. “They just go on and on.”

As co-director of the center, McDowell, along with his wife, Lynette, watch over a small part of the treasure trove of genealogical records belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Saturday, the church invited African Americans in the region to view those records, offering workshops and guidance on how to sort through dusty documents and online databases to uncover more about their ancestors.

As part of its fourth annual seminar, the church offered scores of probate, land transfer and bank records, along with slave transaction records, to African Americans, a group whose documented ties to ancestors were muddied by more than two centuries of slavery in America.

“All of us need to feel like we belong to a community,” Lynette McDowell said.

The LDS church is considered a world leader in genealogy research and makes its ancestral records available to the public.

Genealogy is valued as part of the faith’s emphasis on the eternal nature of marriage and family. Since the bonds of family last forever, even beyond death, according to Mormon belief, it’s crucial for the living to be aware of their ancestry.

Saturday’s church event, which drew more than 100 participants, was something of an awkward union, as African Americans were blocked from church ceremonies and the priesthood until the late 1970s, when the church repealed the restrictions.

To help bridge the divide, the local Mormon church sought sponsorships from African American business groups, and advertised directly to the African American community before Saturday’s event.

Participants were delighted with the access to the church’s family history room – a library holding more than 20,000 research books of historical records and maps within its exposed brick walls.

Hester McCoy Snider, 82, from Rocklin, came to the event with a friend. She just finished up her memoir and was hoping to find out more about her ancestors.

“You want to know as much as possible because you want to let your children know who they are,” she said.

Brenda Austin of Vallejo also came with a friend. She said the importance of being familiar with your family tree hit home when her daughter, then in middle school, came home talking about a boy she liked. After the family did some research, they made an unnerving discovery.

“He turned out to be a cousin,” Austin said. “It’s a very small world.”  (cont.)

Posted in Family History, LDS Church, Member News | No Comments »

Who are you? Mormons have the answer

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

From Inquirer.net (Philippines):

MANILA, Philippines—Who am I? Where did I come from?

People plagued by these questions can find the answers at the Family Search archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, which has copies of all civil registries in the Philippines dating to the 16th century.

The records, which are free and open to the public, have helped orphans wanting to trace their birth parents, people looking for blood kin for medical reasons, and historians researching their books.

It has helped people to know and understand their roots, according to the Family Search archivists.

Knowing that one’s ancestor was a hero could be a source of inspiration, they said. Or if he was a cad or a criminal, then one could learn from his mistakes and strive to do better, they added.

“You cannot change history. You can hide it, but the fact is, it’s there,” said Manny Baul, country manager of the Family Search archives.

The Family Search database is also useful for people who want to know their family’s medical history, particularly those at risk for diseases that are passed down through the generations, he said.

If one of your ancestors died of diabetes, then you know that you belong to a high-risk group and therefore, must be careful with your diet, he said.

Baul also he believes that conflicts would be reduced if people only took the time to check out their family histories.

They would realize that they and the people they are in conflict with have more affinities than differences, he said.

“You realize that your enemy is just like you. You become open-hearted,” he said.

Pete Adduru, the Quezon City chapter president of the church, said he has always wondered about his surname. He said his family is from the north and yet his last name sounds Arabic, which would make one suppose that he is from Mindanao.

When Adduru searched the records, he discovered that his ancestors originally came from Syria, traveled to India and settled in the Ilocos region, while still keeping their Arabic name.

That is why, Adduru said, when he first went to Davao he felt an affinity for the Muslims because he believes them to be descended from the Arabs.

(Editor’s Note: Islam was brought to Sulu and Mindanao through Muslim missionaries who came from Arabia between the 14th and 16th centuries and converted the people of Southeast Asia. The Muslims of Mindanao are not descended from the Arabs. They are ethnically the same as their brother Filipinos everywhere.)

Family is central

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormons, is the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the largest denomination originating from the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1840.

Family life is central to Mormon belief because it is thought that the family unit will continue to exist beyond mortal life. To the Mormons, the lives of their dead relatives are part of their own lives and futures, hence the intense interest in genealogy.

Janryll Fernandez, assistant director for public affairs, said finding one’s roots and respect for the departed is a fundamental tenet of the church, one that even non-church members are familiar with.

“Families can be together forever. Family relations can last forever. We perform sacraments—ordinances—for them to be able to be with them in the next life,” he said.

“The church is a family-centered church. Everything we do boils down to that,” he said.

Surprise lurks

Baul said a surprise, pleasant or otherwise, almost always lurks in one’s family tree and records.

Take Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte who, according to Fernandez, has been unwittingly celebrating his birthday on the wrong date.

Instead of Oct. 2, Belmonte’s birth date is actually Oct. 1, said Baul. Church researchers discovered it in his birth records.

Belmonte also learned that his family was originally from the Ilocos region and not Nueva Ecija province, where he was born, and that his surname was not originally spelled with a “B.”

“They probably migrated to Nueva Ecija,” said Baul.

Belmonte took the news of his supposedly real birth date in stride.

“He was really surprised. But it was there on the records,” Baul said.

The mayor said, “if I know who my ancestors are, then I know more about myself.”

FVR, FM distant cousins

The Family Search archivists also determined the exact relationship between former President Fidel V. Ramos and the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

According to Baul, the two men had the same great-great grandfather and therefore, are distant cousins.

The archivists also tried tracing former President Corazon Aquino’s family tree.

Baul said their search showed that Cojuangco—Aquino’s maiden name—was the name of the family patriarch who came from China to the Philippines.

“His name was Co Juan Co. It was combined into one name,” Baul said.

They tried mapping the Aquino branch of the family, but it was too dense, said Baul.

“It has too many branches. It’s like the name De la Cruz,” he said.

The Mormon archivists offered to map the family tree of Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but they both declined the offer, Baul said.

Since 1500s

So far, Mormon archivists have copied 90 percent of the country’s civil registries and 80 percent of the Catholic Church records—containing baptismal certificates, among others—since the archival work started in 1972.

Fernandez said the group has volunteers, armed with cameras, who scour dusty record rooms of all municipalities in the country and photograph the documents. The volunteers who do the dirty work are trained to read Spanish and the anachronistic handwriting.

Oldest document

The microfilms are stored in The Church of Latter-Day Saints’ main temple in Greenmeadows subdivision, Quezon City. Baul said there are 80,000 microfilms stored in their temple.

The oldest document was a baptismal record signed in 1542, just two decades after Ferdinand Magellan landed in the Philippines, which was found in a municipality of Batangas.

Link to article

Posted in Church History, Families, Family History, LDS Church, Missionary | 1 Comment »

Church Responds to Jewish News Statements

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

From LDS Newsroom:

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are very disappointed over statements made in a media advisory from Mr. Ernest Michel, honorary chairman of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors.  The advisory announced a press event on Monday, 10 November, in New York.

The Church stands by its word. It has no intention of performing baptisms or other rites in its temples for Holocaust victims, except in the very rare instances where such people may have living descendants who are members of the Church. Such exceptions were noted and agreed to in 1995. The understanding reached in 1995 determined that the Church would remove Holocaust names from its public database immediately, which the Church has done. It further said that Jewish groups would provide to the Church any names that reappeared on the database so the Church could remove them. The Church cannot understand why Mr. Michel has refused now to provide those names to the Church so the Church can maintain the spirit of that 1995 understanding.

The media advisory also claimed that Church leaders had refused to meet and “broke off negotiations in July. “ This is absolutely false. Church leaders met with Mr. Michel in New York on 3 November, along with representatives of other respected Jewish community organizations. The Church’s written response to Mr. Michel and to that meeting is found here. It did not receive a reply.

Church leaders and members empathize with the depth of feeling of all Jews regarding the Holocaust.  Such regard and empathy have motivated the Church to remain in talks about this subject for so many years.  However, with his press conference, Mr. Michel seems to have unilaterally terminated those discussions and has presumably rejected the proposals set forth in the Church’s 6 November 2008 letter. Those steps by Mr. Michel on behalf of the American Gathering were both unnecessary and unfortunate, and belie the long and valued mutual regard that has existed in the past years.

Link to article

Posted in Family History, LDS Church, Temples | No Comments »

Did My Ancestors Vote? Find Out at a Mormon Family History Center

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

From About.com:

Yesterday was the deadline for voters in my area to register to vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, which immediately brought to mind several of the recent finds I’ve had in the voter registration records of my ancestors. Yes, many of them did vote - or at least registered for the privilege, and these official records can often be a valuable source of information for genealogists. If nothing else, voter registration records provide an address where your ancestor was living during the gaps between census records, but you may also find naturalization information, voting records, or your ancestor’s signature. It’s also worth checking the voter laws in effect at the time in that area - many places enforced a residency requirement of a certain period before allowing an individual to become a registered voter.

In the southern United States, the 1867 registration of voters was the first to enumerate the recently emancipated black citizens, as well as men who had survived the Civil War. This particular registration is especially helpful for genealogists, because many Southern families — both black and white — relocated during the period between the Civil War and the 1870 Federal Census. Many of the extant 1867 voter registration records
, which include names of voters who registered to vote between 1867 and 1869, can be found at the state archives, or on microfilm from The Family History Library. There are also some examples of these valuable records online such as Alabama 1867 Voter Registration Database from the Alabama Department of Archives & History.

In August 1920, ratification of the 19th Amendment first gave women in the United States the right to vote, making that year’s voter registration records a great place to begin the search for your female ancestors who were U.S. citizens at the time.

The United States, of course, is not the only country with voter registration records. Freeholders’ Records in Ireland are an especially valuable resource for genealogists due to the scarcity of Irish documents available for the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has digitized about 5,500 sheets from pre-1840 Irish Registers and Poll Books, and offers them online for free accompanied by a searchable name index. The Canadian Genealogy Centre offers an excellent online article concerning the many voters lists available in their collections and how to access them. Similar voter lists and electoral rolls exist for England, Australia, France and other countries around the world.

Other significant online collections of historic Voter Registration rolls include:

 

  • California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 - This subscription-only database not only includes the address, but also the occupation and political affiliation of registered voters. If you have trouble locating your California ancestors, try Tips for Researching Ancestry.com’s California Voter Registration Index.
  • African American Voters in Alexandria, 1902-1954 - This free online database includes close to 2,100 entries of African Americans who registered to vote in Alexandria, Virginia.
  • Chicago Voter Registration Lists 1888, 1890 and 1892 - These voter registrations available to subscribers at Ancestry.com provide a wonderful substitute for the destroyed 1890 census.
  • Colorado Voter Registration, 1893-1905 - Despite the name of this database from World Vital Records, these voter registrations cover only Arapahoe County.
  • Cleveland, Ohio 1907 Voter Registration Index - The Western Reserve Historical Society maintains this free online index to nearly 100,000 voters who registered in Cleveland’s twenty-six wards during October and November 1907 (a big mayoral election!).
  • Family Tree Connections Election Records - A few locality-specific voter registration records for the United States are available on this subscription-based site.The majority of voter registration records will not be found online, but that does not mean that they don’t exist! Check with the local historical society, or the state archives or library (most offer online catalogs of their holdings) to see what voter registration records exist for your area of interest and where they might be located. A good example of the type of information you may find online is this finding aid for Hartford Voter Registration Records. The Mormon Family History Library has also filmed many voter registration records for areas around the world. Search the Family History Library Catalog online to see what’s available.Link to article

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    Bridging a Jewish-Mormon rift

    Monday, September 22nd, 2008

    From The Chicago Tribune:

    Grandpa’s arms always offered the warmest embrace. But he had an iron fist when it came to being Jewish.

    Having watched his parents shun his brother Al for marrying a non-Jew, Grandpa didn’t marry my Christian grandmother until she had converted to Judaism. Later, my grandfather insisted that a rabbi marry my mom and dad. And he boycotted his sons’ weddings when they both married Catholics.

    So imagine the shock when I learned that my late grandfather had been posthumously baptized a Mormon.

    The news revealed nothing about my grandfather. After all, the baptism wasn’t his idea. Instead, it opened my eyes to the role of free will in the belief system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church.

    And it gave me a new perspective on a dilemma that generations ago nearly tore my family apart.

    For years, the “Mormon side” of the family had been no more than shadowy characters in our genealogical soap opera. The “Mormon cousins,” as they came to be known, were the descendants of my great-uncle Al, who for years supposedly did not speak to his family because of the Christian woman he chose to be his wife.

    The whole saga served as a cautionary tale for many of us about placing religious allegiance above family. Moral of the story: Family came first.

    Eventually, my great-grandfather made amends with his son Al. But this was late in life, and by this time even my great-uncle had become a grandfather himself. There was something else: Uncle Al had found Mormonism. And so, another faith entered the clan, a faith that valued family and welcomed new converts with open arms.

    When I finally met my great-uncle and cousins four years ago, I knew we were related just from the same quirky sense of humor we shared.

    We had the same family stories, too, even some of the same photos in the family albums. And it was while flipping through those albums filled with family trees that I learned the news. Next to the names of my grandmother and grandfather were dates of their births, their deaths and their baptisms.

    My cousins don’t archive family history for only sentimental reasons. They do so for a theological purpose. The Mormon Church calls on its members to pour their energies into the salvation of all people—including those no longer on earth.

    To make sure every human being has a chance to reunite with God and family in heaven, Mormons baptize the dead by proxy, a practice my cousin describes as a sacred “power of attorney.”

    Mormons trace their unique custom of baptizing the dead to the New Testament. In one of his letters to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?”

    The verse confuses a lot of Catholics and Protestants. But for Mormons it makes perfect sense. They believe Christianity’s intent was restored through their church in 1830. They also believe God would not deny that good news to previous generations. So to be fair, everyone should get another chance in the next life to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that offer is proffered through baptism.  (cont.)

    Link to article

    Posted in Family History, LDS Church, LDS Doctrine, Temples | No Comments »

    Irish National Library silent on Mormon file ‘fiddling’ claims

    Sunday, August 24th, 2008

    From Independent.com (Ireland):

    Ireland’s National Library

    THE director of the National Library has refused to comment on reports that the Mormons are using its records to re-baptise dead Catholics in their faith.

    However Aongus O hAonghusa, director of the National Library of Ireland, has said that microfilms of Catholic parish registers are already available in many local heritage centres throughout the country.

    The controversy has arisen in the Irish Catholic newspaper after it reported that Archbishop Dermot Clifford and Bishop Bill Murphy have written to the National Library stating that they were “taken aback” that records handed over by the Church are now open to “all comers”.

    This relates to Mormons — or members of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints — trawling through parish records and using the names to posthumously baptise dead Catholics in the Mormon faith as part of a so-called “proxy baptism service”.

    A spokesperson for the Mormons told the Irish Catholic: “Posthumous baptisms by proxy have been common practice for the Mormons for more than a century allowing the dead to be baptised into the faith so they may be united in the after life”, and she added that all available records are used to carry out this practice.

    But Mr O hAonghusa, though refusing to be drawn into the controversy, has said that most Irish dioceses now allow unrestricted public access to their records, which have been handed over to the National Library.

    “It is worth noting that all bar three Catholic dioceses had lifted any restrictions on access to the National Library’s holding of microfilmed parish-registered records some years ago. In the case of the remaining three dioceses, the level of access varied from none in the case of records from the diocese of Cashel and Emily to minor restrictions in the case of the diocese of Cloyne and Kerry.

    “You should be aware that microfilms of the Roman Catholic parish registers are already available in many local heritage centres through the country.”

    The growing concern in the Irish Church has emerged just months after the Vatican warned bishops’ conferences around the world about Mormons accessing diocesan and parish registers, according to the Irish Catholic.

    Link to original article

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    Catholic Church should rethink stand on digitizing

    Monday, May 19th, 2008

    From Lebanon (PA) Daily News:

    One of the presentations on genealogical topics that I give is titled “Secondary Uses for Primary Sources,” and a line I use in that lecture is: “Remember that these things we call ‘genealogical records’ are seldom if ever created with genealogists in mind.”

    Whether the record is a will, a deed, a newspaper obituary, the U.S. Census or church registers, our use of these items as genealogists is secondary.

    I was reminded of this by the Roman Catholic Church’s recent policy decision to deny FamilySearch the opportunity to digitize or index parish registers.

    The reason behind this, according to Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, is to prevent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints members, or Mormons, from using the records to baptize the dead. FamilySearch is operated by the Mormons.

    Groan.

    To put it bluntly: I wish the Catholic church would grow up. As many others have said before, other faiths getting upset about this reveals ridiculous insecurities about their own religions.Because the fact is that if the Mormon tenet of “posthumous baptism” — in which members of the faith offer baptism to deceased ancestors — is an “erroneous practice” (as the Catholic letter calls it), then what is the great harm done by it?

    The Latter-Day Saints Church makes the records it microfilms, digitizes and indexes available to members of all religions for use in genealogical research.

    The church also cites the usual (mostly bogus) privacy concerns about allowing better access to parish registers. For every person who’s uptight about privacy, there are probably a hundred people interested in genealogy who would like the records to be more open.

    So, does the Catholic church have the right to do what it did? Well, sure, since it’s a hierarchical church, no one at the bottom of church can object with the assurance of being heard.

    But just because you have a right, doesn’t make it right. (cont.)

    Entire article here

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    Genealogists Need Catholic Records to Find Ancestors - Families Have Right to Family History

    Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

    From The American Chronicle:

    The Vatican Congregation for Clergy issued a letter directing all Catholic bishops to keep The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from microfilming and digitizing information in Catholic registers, according to a report in the Catholic News Service (CNS).

    Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, told CNS that the order was unnecessary because current policy already accomplishes the goal.

    “We have a policy not to give out baptismal records to anyone unless they are entitled to have them,” said Msgr. Fitzgerald. “That isn’t just for the Church of the Latter-day Saints. That is for all groups.” He told CNS that he does not support giving the Mormons names for the sake of rebaptism.

    However, Mormons are not the only people who use the Catholic records. People of all faiths, from all nations are interested in pursuing family history research.

    Fortunately, Mormons, the popular name for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have always been willing to share the records they obtain with anyone and everyone at no charge. Anyone can walk into a Latter-day Saint Family History Center anywhere in the world and conduct research without being asked what church they belong to and without paying a single dime.

    It is also the policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that records can be researched and used only by family members of the dead. The Church has repeatedly advised members not to use records of people to whom they are not related. A recent PBS television documentary entitled “The Mormons” included a great deal of information about the practice of genealogical research and temple proxy baptisms.

    In 1984 I asked my grandfather´s elderly cousin in Ireland to help me research parish records in his town in Ireland so I could research my family history. He was excited to help and went to his parish priest who said that every other name in his records was related to me. He told me I was welcome to copy the records for my research.

    Those records were so voluminous that the only practical solution was to ask the Genealogy Society of Utah to come in with their microfilming equipment. They provided a written agreement to the parish priest explaining that they would make a microfilm of the records, provide a free copy to the parish priest to help him preserve the records, and would make the records available to anyone who would like to research their family history without charge.

    My cousin said that the priest was so happy to preserve the decaying records, and that it would not cost anything to do so. I was happy because I now had the information that would not have been otherwise available to me.

    Stories like this have been repeated in communities all around the world as volunteers give up their time and pay their own way to help preserve valuable records that enable people everywhere to learn about their family history and heritage.

    I am so grateful that my cousin´s parish priest chose to go against the policy then in place by his bishop, which was that Catholic parish records in Ireland could be researched in person, but the LDS Church was not microfilm them. However, my cousin´s priest was concerned that the records would not last more than a few more years in their present condition, and he knew that many people would be blessed if the records could be preserved. (I have left out identifying information on purpose because even after all these years I do not wish to stir up trouble in Ireland.)

    According to the CNS news report, the letter was sent to Catholic bishops out of concern that Mormons believe in proxy baptisms of the dead, something Catholics disagree with. In other words, that baptisms can be performed by family members of those who have died with the hope that the dead family member has been taught about the LDS Church in heaven and has decided to accept the baptism performed for them in this world.  (cont.)

    Entire article here

    Posted in Families, Family History, LDS Church | No Comments »

    Baptism exhibition at historic church

    Monday, April 21st, 2008

    From The Ledbury Reporter (UK):

    But the early history of the Mormon faith will also feature as part of an exhibition.

    There will be a display on the Ledbury area’s own Western pioneers.

    Exhibition spokesman, Louise Manning said: “One of the people we are celebrating is William Carter, a blacksmith from Ledbury, who was the first person to plough a half-acre in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah.”

    Louise actually travelled out to Utah in October.

    She saw Mr Carter’s plough in a museum and met descendants of people who travelled from the local area between 1840 and 1880.

    Though not a Mormon herself she lives at Hill Farm, Castle Frome - the scene of perhaps the largest single mass conversion to Mormonism in history.

    Perhaps as many as 600 people, including John Benbow of Hill Farm, were baptised in the tiny pond that still exists there.

    Mr Benbow personally paid for 42 local people to travel out to the USA, and a chance of their own farms there.

    In England at the time, it was period of depression, high food prices and few social opportunities.

    Louise said that up to 2,000 local people may have taken the decision to leave England for Utah.

    The world’s first Mormon chapel is at Gadfield Elm, Eldersfield and the Mormon prophet, Brigham Young himself, is believed to have preached under Ledbury’s Market House.

    In 2000, two young Mormon missionaries to Ledbury gave an insight into what the area still means to them.

    Enrico Durante, from Italy said: “I feel really blessed to be here and walk the streets where, 150 years ago, our prophets also walked.”  (Entire article here)

    Posted in Church History, Family History, General Authorties, LDS Church, Missionary | No Comments »

    Parly P. Pratt’s Remains May Be Moved from Arkansas

    Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

    From The New York Times:

    The remains of an early Mormon leader killed 151 years ago in Arkansas can be disinterred and moved to Utah for burial as long as other grave sites are not disturbed, a judge has ruled. Robert J. Grow of Salt Lake City was granted the petition Wednesday to remove the remains from a cemetery in western Arkansas. Mr. Grow is a great-great-great-grandson of the leader, Parley Parker Pratt, an original member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His descendants include former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a great-great-grandson.

    Entire article can be found here

    Posted in Family History, General Authorties, LDS Church | No Comments »

    Pursuing the family history is a bit like solving a jigsaw puzzle

    Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

    From RecordNet.com:

    Betty Mathis comes from a long line of people devoted to their principles.

    One was hanged by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War for trying to recruit men for the British. His life would have been spared if he recanted, but he refused.

    A few generations later another ancestor, a 22-year-old Quaker, was hanged along with two younger brothers for joining John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, Va., an ill-fated attempt to arm slaves to fight for their freedom. The brothers, too, refused to save their lives by recanting.

    Mathis shakes her head over their exploits. The life-long Linden resident is just as devoted to her own cause, which is tracing her family tree and helping others do the same.

    “I guess it’s just curiosity,” the 75-year-old said of a quest that’s gone on since the 1950s and has included spearheading the publication of about 30 San Joaquin Genealogical Society books.

    Today, there are dozens of Web sites you can turn to. Genealogical societies across the country conduct research in their area for a small fee. Vital statistic records can be purchased from states. And, there’s the Mormon church.

    Family ancestry is a significant component of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  “Anything any of us accomplish, is, in part, due to those who’ve gone before us,” said Marc Robinson, president of area LDS congregations.

    “Knowing our ancestors, the sacrifices they went through to provide opportunities we have today, changes your outlook on life, and gives you a sense of your part in the human chain of people.”

    The church has created one of the greatest libraries of ancestry material in the world. Located in Salt Lake City, its information is found in more than 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, 742,000 microfiche, 310,000 books, 4,500 periodicals and 700 electronic resources.   (cont.)

    Entire article here

     

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    Emotions Surface as New Museum Opens

    Friday, March 14th, 2008

    From LDS Newsroom:

    Center manager, Cynthia Wilson, shows Latter-day Saint leader, Elder R. Bruce Merrell and Gordon and Myrna Conger some of the new facilities.

    SEATTLE — 14 March 2008

    When Lynn Stowell, a volunteer guide at Saturday’s opening of the new Northwest African American Museum, helped a man find information about his grandfather, the man wept. Such was the very personal response among some of the guests.

    Stowell and other volunteers showed visitors, many of them African Americans, how to research their family trees using the equipment and software available in the museum’s Genealogy Research Center.

    Finally getting access to information about our ancestors is an emotionally-charged thing,” said Andrew Cleveland. “Due to our history, information about our forebears has been difficult if not impossible to find.”

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated computers, a digital imaging system and other equipment and software to the center. Local Latter-day Saint family history experts provided training to center personnel. (cont.)

    Entire article here

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    Church provides access to millions of family histories

    Friday, March 14th, 2008

    From NewsTimes.com (CT):

    NEWTOWN — Tracing the family history is getting easier.

    More and more genealogical information is going online, said Francis D’Evegnee, director of the Family History Center in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 16 Saw Mill Road.

    “The Internet will be the main source of information in the future. That’s where it’s going,” he said.

    Because of online access and the increasing digitization of records and documents, people interested in their ancestry will have the ability “to find such historical information as the areas and time periods in which one’s predecessors lived,” said Kathleen Lenerz, a genealogist for more than 10 years and a consultant at the Family History Center.

    The center in the Church of Latter-day Saints will hold an open house Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will begin with Lenerz discussing the “Effective Use of the Internet for Family History: Beyond Dates and Places.”

    “She is very good at surfing the Internet,” D’Evegnee said.

    Until most documents are accessible online, the center, which opened in 1996, will continue to be of great use to family information hunters.

    To date, some 5,000 people have used the center, one of 10 in the state and one of the more than 3,400 worldwide. All the centers are satellite libraries of the LDS Church, whose members are known as Mormons.

    Visitors to every center can use a host of documents, including civil, church, census, birth, death, land, probate, emigration and immigration records – both online and on microfilm.  (cont.)

    Entire article here

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