In Honor of Memorial Day

Pictures from earlier this spring when I put flowers on them.

Dad & Mom

Grandpa & Grandma Ward

Grandpa & Grandma Wooster

Great-Grandpa & Grandma Wooster

FamilySearch Celebrates 20 Years

 FamilySearch Celebrates 20 Years Online

Salt Lake City, Utah, (23 May 2019)-- Twenty years ago, global nonprofit FamilySearch launched an innovative new website, a free internet genealogy service. Two decades later, FamilySearch is a leader in the rising tide of popular ancestry-related services online. During that time, FamilySearch has expanded and evolved its free mix of online offerings, holding true to its purpose to provide economical access to the world’s genealogical records and create fun family history discoveries for everyone. (Find and share this news release online in the FamilySearch Newsroom).
On May 24, 1999, FamilySearch.org took the online genealogy world by storm, offering free access to hundreds of millions of historical records online—a treasure for those seeking to make family history connections. For perspective, online broadcast news, e-trading, and downloadable music services were the rage at the time. Google, ranked 93rd of top websites, was still an up-and-coming service that was attempting to redefine the role of a search engine by indexing the web to make results junk free and more consumer relevant.
At FamilySearch.org, searching historical records for new discoveries continues to be a big interest for site visitors. Millions of new customers grace its portal each year, looking for new family connections. And for good reason. The site now boasts over 7 billion searchable names and over 3 billion searchable images of historical records. And it adds more than 300 million new historical records and images yearly from archives worldwide.
The website has expanded its free offerings since its grand opening two decades ago. Patrons have added 1.4 billion ancestors to the site's robust, collaborative family tree. And the tree is integrated with two powerful mobile apps. You can preserve family photos and create audio files that help tell your family’s stories. The website also features an impressive inventory of very useful help services, like how to make sense of DNA test results, and it’s all still free.
Randy Bryson, now retired, was a FamilySearch IT director when the site was launched in 1999. He fondly recalls the big day. He said that the site was so wildly successful that it constituted 10 percent of all internet traffic at the time and was a top 10 website based on the amount of data it was hosting (20 terabytes). “Traffic on the site was so extreme at the time of the launch that we had to limit user access to 30 minutes at a time,” said Bryson. “The amazing thing was that people didn’t go away. When they were timed out, they would just log right back in to finish their search.”
Today the site is nimble and quick. Bryson said he was moved by the amazing gratitude of the site’s users. “It was very overwhelming, emotional, and gratifying” to see people able to easily access records of their ancestors conveniently online from their homes.
Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch CEO, is not surprised by the continued popularity of the website. He said, “When individuals discover more about their family history or make new family connections, it changes them. They see and treat each other differently.” Rockwood said that future services under development on the website will create more of these fun discovery experiences worldwide for site visitors.
FamilySearch.org continues to enjoy impressive growth today, adding over 50,000 new subscribers weekly and hundreds of millions of new family photos, documents, stories, and historical records yearly from contributors and archives around the world.
See what has changed and make new family connections in your family tree for free at FamilySearch.org.

RELATED
FamilySearch.org Facts
What’s Coming from FamilySearch in 2019
FamilySearch 2018 in Review

###

Wordless Wednesday: Lancaster Farms 2019

FamilySearch Records

New Free Historical Records on FamilySearch: Week of May 13, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY, UT—FamilySearch added new, free, historical records this week from Australia, France, Spain, and the United States, including Illinois, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Obituaries from American Society of Germans from Russia, Utah, and Washington. (Find and share this announcement online in the FamilySearch Newsroom).

Search these new records and images by clicking on the collection links below, or go to FamilySearch to search over 8 billion free names and record images.
Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org/indexing.
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Wordless Wednesday: Cemetery Creatures 2

Wordless Wednesday- Cemetery Creatures

FamilySearch New Records

New Free Historical Records on FamilySearch: Week of May 6, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (7 May 2019)—FamilySearch added new, free, historical records this week including over 1.8 million from Brazil and 4.5 million from Scotland. Other countries include Canada, England, Peru, Poland, South Africa, and the United States (World War I Servicemen Records from Delaware, Mississippi, and Ohio, Indexes to World War II Army Veterans of Utah, and other state records). Find and share this announcement online in the FamilySearch Newsroom.
Search these new records and images by clicking on the collection links below, or go to FamilySearch to search over 8 billion free names and record images.

Country	Collection	Indexed Records	Digital Images	Comments
Brazil	Brazil, São Paulo, Civil Registration, 1925-1995	1,848,685	0	New indexed records collection
Canada	Canada, Nova Scotia, Records of Aliens pre-examined at Halifax, 1923-1933	16,175	0	New indexed records collection
England	England, Northamptonshire, Non-conformist Records, 1840-1894	3,020	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Peru	Peru, Lima, Civil Registration, 1874-1996	123,377	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Poland	Poland, Radom Roman Catholic Church Books, 1587-1966	13,835	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Scotland	Scotland Census, 1901	4,437,987	0	New indexed records collection
South Africa	South Africa, Pietermaritzburg Estate Files 1846-1950	1,547	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Alabama, Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880	5,248	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Alabama, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919	1,058	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Alaska, Pioneer Home discharge index, 1913-1958	3,973	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Alaska, Vital Records, 1816-1959	0	92	Added images to an existing collection
United States	California, Pioneer Migration Index, Compiled 1906-1935	241	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Delaware, World War I Servicemen Records, 1917-1919	5	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Mississippi, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919	528	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Ohio, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1914-1918	230,784	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1909-1924	6,722	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865	104,563	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	United States, Florida, Index to Alien Arrivals by Airplane at Miami, 1930-1942	183	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation Rolls, 1848-1970	9	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Utah, World War II Index to Army Veterans of Utah, 1939-1945	42,317	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Washington, Pierce County Marriage Returns, 1891-1938	378	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Other	BillionGraves Index	338,467	338,467	Added indexed records and images to an existing collection

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org/indexing.
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FamilySearch Records

New Free Historical Records on FamilySearch: Week of April 29, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY, UT—FamilySearch added new, free, historical records this week from Colombia, France, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, and the United States, including Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia,  and Wyoming. (Find and share this announcement online from the FamilySearch Newsroom).

Search these new records and images by clicking on the collection links below, or go to FamilySearch to search over 8 billion free names and record images.

Country	Collection	Indexed Records	Digital Images	Comments
Colombia	Colombia, Catholic Church Records, 1576-2018	0	103,792	Added images to an existing collection
France	France, Calvados, Military Registration Cards, 1867-1921	3,651	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Italy	Italy, Pesaro e Urbino, Urbino, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1866-1942	5,691	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
New Zealand	New Zealand, Cemetery Transcriptions, 1840-1981	11,374	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Peru	Peru, Áncash, Civil Registration, 1888-2005	195,778	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Florida, World War I Navy Card Roster, 1917-1920	137	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Georgia Deaths, 1928-1942	1,510	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951	11,739	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Michigan, Census of World War I Veterans with Card Index, 1917-1919	277,245	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991	0	623	Added images to an existing collection
United States	Montana, Granite County Records, 1865-2009	13	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	North Carolina, County Divorce Records, 1926-1975	187	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Utah, World War I County Draft Board Registers, Name Index, 1917-1918	137,805	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Utah, World War I Service Questionnaires, 1914-1918	6,496	0	New indexed records collection
United States	Virginia, Petersburg, Gillfield Baptist Church Record, 1827-1906	168	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
United States	Wyoming, Reclaim the Records, State Archives Vital Records, 1908-1966	297,595	0	New indexed records collection

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org/indexing.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.