“So I keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike.”

“How long have you been standing there Ishmael?” Turning back toward the calm seas, Ahab continues. “You see out there. Beyond the horizon is our query. You can almost see the light plumes of water. In just a few days time we will be upon them.”

Tonight we shall continue our instruction on tools of the trade. If your reading this before last weeks post please go back and read it. We will pick up were we left off.

Go ahead and login to new.familysearch.org. As you search through your family tree you will find a little icon. This means that “Temple work might need to be done.” What this means to you is that there is genealogy work that needs to be done. This is where you can start to find your first real work. So go find one.

Select one of the names and their info will show up at the bottom. Scroll down to the bottom and select the “possible duplicates”

If you see the list of possible duplicates we are going to have to merge them. If there isn’t then you should be able to move onto what ever the next step will be for you. So lets go ahead and merge a few records. Check each box that looks like a possible duplicate and press the “compare in more detail”.

On the left you will see your original record. On the right you will see the possible duplicate. Go ahead a look at the data. What your trying to figure out is how likely these are the same two people. Follow the steps at the bottom of the page. When your done you should have resolved the possible duplicate. After I merged them that little Icon stayed there.

Press that icon. Inside the next screen you see that there is work that is ready to be done. Ya me. I have found someone to goto the temple for. Even if you are not LDS this is important in finding duplicates and fixing them so stay tuned.

Pretty exciting hu? Well almost. On the left you will notice that those two people look pretty much the same. Those two are duplicates. I went ahead and merged them.

After merging her records. The Icon has now changed into the one that shows all the work is done. You have just helped clean up your family tree. Your first real genealogy work. Congrats. Next week will try to figure out where to go from here. (This is the extent of my knowledge of genealogy. So next week will be a fun discovery that both of us can go on.)

Good day Ishmael. I hope you had a good nights rest. I hope the shrunken heads didn’t bother you to much. Welcome on board and to your first real day upon the BOAT. So lets get to work. Here you go Ishmael. Your very own bucket and brush. Shall we start? Oh, whats up with that look? You would think I hired you to scrub the decks and now that we are at sea you can’t go back. Giving you a huge smile and I head into my cabin. Better get to work Ishmael. Ah, I’m just kidding. I’ll help you at it. Grabbing my own bucket and brush, shall we get going? You see my friend, in order for you to understand how to get your first whale you have to understand a few of the things around the ship here. This brush and bucket are your most basic tool, and you will use it every day. Now lets get to work…

So here is your first genealogy tool. This is the most basic tool that every genealogist will need. You will have to have a place to put your family tree. There are lots and lots of tools/software out there. But you really only need one. That is New Family Search. Also referred to as NFS by those in the know. But why NFS you ask? What makes it so special. Well one word, the cloud. If you don’t know what cloud computing is then your in luck. I’m here to help. Cloud computing is where you use the internet to store your info and programs. Your information is stored on a server out there somewhere in the “cloud”. This has lots and lots of benefits. The first is that your data is backed up and protected by some other organization and as long as you can trust that organization your info will always be safe and recoverable. So NFS is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Weather you a member of the church or not, you must be aware of there interest in genealogy. Which is why they provide this service for free to you. With all the backups and protection they can muster. Including backups being stored in there granite vaults blasted out of the rocky mountains. The other benefit is that most cloud programs are community driver. So that others can see the work your doing and you can benefit from there work. Most of you out there when you join NFS will find that at least some of your family tree has already been created and your tied to them. This is a great bonus. That way your not duplicating someone else’s efforts in your family.

So lets get at it shall we. I will walk you through setting up an account and viewing your family tree. There are three basic steps.

Step 1. Creating an account

Step 2. Signing in for the first time

Step 3. Viewing your tree

Creating your account.
Lets head out to new.familysearch.org. You will need a few things to set up your account. The first thing you will need is to be a member of the LDS Church. I know I have no intention of this blog being about how a LDS member does genealogy work. This really is the best tool, but right now it is only avalible to members. That is going to change in the future so when your reading this it might have already changed. So you will need your membership record and you will need your confimation date. You can both of those from your ward clerk. I’m sure there are other ways but that is the easiest.

So just fill it out. You will be asked for a username at one point. Be careful what you pick because it is what will be used as your display name and on every record you submit. So pick something that you want others to see.

Now lets go ahead and use that new account.

Go ahead and skip this. Make sure you come back some other time and follow it. I can’t teach you everything.

Here is the Family Search main page. You will see that on the top will be your family tree or your pedigree. Click on any one of the people listed and it will display the known info in the bottom section. You will also see if your married your wife/husband is listed but you in laws if they are living are not there. That is one of the biggest confusions people have with family search. It doesn’t list any people that are living but are in its database. This isn’t a problem. Have your spouse setup an account so you can see there family. Now click around and become familiar with it.

Ah there you are Ishmael. I see you have signed your papers and will be bunking with Queequeg. I hope your first night together will be interesting. Before we embark on our voyage, I feel that this genealogical adventure needs a little back story. You know, the whys need to be all established. The biggest why would be, “why is Cptn.J so interested in Genealogy?”

To understand that, you have to understand the man behind Cptn.j. I love history. There is nothing more exciting to me than reading the words of the founding fathers of American. They were great giants of men. The words of Benjamin Franklin are inspiring and interesting. Thomas Jefferson’s view of politics and the rights of the people helped establish a constitution that dozens of countries have tried to emulate. Then later in our history you end up with Henry David Thoreau. With the works of Walden and Civil Disobedience,  he later inspired great men like Martin Luther King Jr, and Gandhi.

These men and their writings have helped shape who I am, and helped strengthened many of my beliefs. As I studied them, my mind wandered to my ancestors. Who were they and what words did they say? What things did they do that can inspire and mold me? I was lucky. I had the writings of three generations in a single book. I talked a little about that book last week. It is called Pioneering in the West. It contains the stories of my ancestors. To my luck, it is inspiring and they were great men, married to amazing women. As I read more of the words written, my mind wandered to other of my ancestors and their stories. This contained only three men’s writings. How many more are out there? More than anything I want to find those stories. I want to know those men and women that share my genes. It is a strong bond.

In this adventure I hope you find one story that inspires you, because one story will never feed your desire. You will need to seek out more stories. As those people become more than a name your heart will yearn to find more. In time you will find yourself standing next to me harpoon in hand attempting to slay your own whale. I hope to be there helping.

Next week we will get our sea legs, and learn about FamilySearch. Until next time, your Captain for this adventure Cptn.J

If you just started reading this blog, I welcome you. If you know me then you should know of my growing fixation with genealogy. If you don’t know me then you might be asking yourself, “Self, why does this Cptn.J guy write about Technology, Design and photography. With a dash of crazy. Then put in something that seems so unrelated as genealogy??” The answer that question is, because. There is a good reason but this is not the forum for you to know. If you ever meet me in life feel free to ask. If I am in a good mood, I might answer. But don’t count on it.

Now back to the show…

I shall call you Ishmael! Ya you. The reader. That is what I am going to call you. Ismael. Grab your hat, compass and harpoon. Because we are going looking for the white whale. You can call me Captain J and we are about to embark on an adventure. One of excitement, depression and joy. There will be ups and downs. In the end I hope to find a family member or two. If that is all I accomplish it will be a success. If I truly get  my Moby Dick the world will be a better place for it. Only time will tell.

A few months ago I was asked to attend a genealogy class. Before that I knew that it was an important part to my faith. That people around me found happiness and joy out of it. But I only gave it a passing glance. I knew I was from tough pioneer stock. I have a book that contains the writings of my ancestors. I have read that many times and have used it to inspire and teach. I am thankful for the stories found in it. But me do research? The task seemed so daunting. Where would I start. That book contains a hand written line back to Adam. There had to be hundreds and thousands of my family doing work or so I believed. If they hadn’t found anything how could I? So I said sure.

Over the next few weeks and years I hope to teach you the things I learned and will learn. I hope to share with you things that I know now to be myths about genealogy and how large of a task all of us have in front of us. In the end I hope to start a movement that changes the industry.

So grab your ores, man the long boat and spend every Thursday here on the Pequod. Where we all shall learn together to be sailors on the sea called Genealogy!

Your captain for this adventure, Cptn.J