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OneGreatFamily Guest Newsletter

December 28, 2006


Let OneGreatFamily Find Your Ancestors In 2007!


In This Issue:

Happy New Year from OneGreatFamily: Let OneGreatFamily Find Your Ancestors In 2007!


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OneGreatFamily would like to wish you a Happy New Year! Now is the time to make your plans and set your goals for 2007. Remember to include learning more about your own family history as one of your New Year's resolutions. We at OneGreatFamily are optimistic that, in light of the growing number of genealogists discovering OneGreatFamily, 2007 will be the best year yet for uncovering more knowledge about your family tree.

This coming year OneGreatFamily wants to help you learn how to do genealogy the right way. Many times individuals spend hours and hours searching for names that others have already found. When you use OneGreatFamily you can find names that have been automatically placed into your family tree without any extra work done by you! The only step that you need to make to get started is to submit any family names that you may have. Once those names are submitted, you'll see your family tree grow faster than you ever expected!

So make getting started or working regularly on your genealogy one of your New Year's resolutions today! Right now when you sign for a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription to OneGreatFamily we will give you Elizabeth Shown Mills, "QuickSheet: Citing Online Historical Resources" for FREE. This valuable resource guide provides a template for citing historical sources from the Internet.

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Q&A: How Does OneGreatFamily Save Me Time?


OneGreatFamily Is Working All The Time So You Don't Have To!

With all of our busy schedules we don't have much time in the day to do the things we really like to do, such as our hobbies or spending time with those we love. Working on our genealogy is something we often can’t spend much time on because of other obligations.  So when we do have a few moments to spend, it is important that we be as efficient as possible.  Using traditional research techniques it can take hours and hours to uncover just one new ancestor or a new piece of information. For some the combination of a lack of time and the slowness of the work can be so discouraging that they put off even starting.

OneGreatFamily was created to make researching as efficient as possible, saving time and money.

OneGreatFamily searches for ALL your ancestors ALL the time. It identifies leads for both new ancestors as well as additional information about known ancestors.  And it helps you zoom right in to focus on those leads.  This process saves YOU hours or even years of time!

To get started all you have to do is submit what you already know about your family tree. You can either provide us with a GEDCOM file or enter the information you have in our Genealogy Browser™.  Include as many relationships as you can, even aunts and uncles. More relationships give OneGreatFamily more information for its unique matching service. With more than 130 million names already submitted and between one and three million new names being submitted each month, you are sure to find your ancestors at OneGreatFamily . . . in the near future, if not today. Many of the names submitted to OneGreatFamily come with supporting data, such as information on life events (birth, marriage and death), sources, notes, photos, and biographies.

Once your family tree is submitted, an automatic review process looks at each individual in your family tree and begins searching for individuals that are identical within OneGreatFamily. Each match makes new information available to you . . . on a specific ancestor or even an entire branch of your family tree! A match with someone else's data also provides a point for further collaboration within OneGreatFamily.

OneGreatFamily also efficiently reduces duplicate family trees and relationships by creating ONE FAMILY TREE. You don't need to spend hours wading through hundreds of thousands of family tree fragments or weighing evidence to determine which entries are of most value to you. OneGreatFamily lets you see all information available for any given person at one time (including conflicting information, alternate spellings, notes, and other important clues).

Matching and merging can also be completed for individuals that are close matches. If the individuals are close matches, a hint (light bulb) appears in the Starfield View (pedigree). You then take the second step of determining if they are the same person and merge the records together. When collaborating, it is important to verify the information that has been submitted by others. This process of matching and merging allows distant relatives to help each other grow their family trees and also saves time that was previously allotted to researching, traveling, and sifting through billions of names in databases.

So take the first step to much more efficiently working on your genealogy by first submitting your family tree. Remember, OneGreatFamily is working all the time, even when you can’t!

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"Making Genealogy Magic" with Mandy Mathews


1890 Veteran Schedule

by Mandy Matthews, Family Historian

Researching your ancestors can be difficult at times due to damaged records or the sheer lack of record keeping. There are resources you can use to help fill in some of the gaps. The 1890 United States Census, mostly destroyed in a fire, leaves a large gap in research. The United States Census Bureau took a census of all veterans and their widows that same year. This can be a valuable record if you have veteran ancestors. Here is the information available on the 1890 Veteran Schedule:

  • Names of the surviving Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and widows
  • Rank
  • Company
  • Name of regiment or vessel
  • Date of enlistment (including day, month, and year)
  • Date of discharge (including day, month, and year)
  • Length of service (including years, months, and days)
  • Post office address
  • Disability incurred

This information can be invaluable if you are trying to locate military records for your ancestors. Family legend will often mention something about a war veteran, but it rarely includes which branch of the service they served in let alone their rank and company. It is possible to locate military records without this information, but it simplifies your search and can save you money if you do have the details available. Even if you don’t think you have military ancestry, please take a few minutes to look at these records. The best kept family history can still have gaps and new information can lie hidden in the least expected places.

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One Great Genealogy Site Award


Ancestor Genealogy Photo Archive

Ancestor Genealogy Photo Archive is a free genealogy database of family photos containing online vintage photographs. Many of these photos have been submitted by our visitors to help you find your ancestors and surnames. Others were found in antique stores and flea markets, and posted here in hopes of reuniting them with family members. Your ancestors could be among these genealogy photos.

  • Visit AncestorArchive.com
  • See Past Award Recipients
  • Recommend A Site Award Recipient

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  • Get FREE Time On OneGreatFamily.com


    Want Some FREE Time?


    Current subscribers can earn additional free time by referring others to OneGreatFamily.com. OneGreatFamily needs your help in growing the largest single family tree in the world. You can get free subscription time on OneGreatFamily by referring others to this unique service. When anyone you refer to OneGreatFamily subscribes to our service and enters your username, you get an additional free month.

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    Managing Editor: Heather Matthews
    Contributors: Heather Matthews, Mandy Mathews and Rob Armstrong
    Editor: Brenda Eyring

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