Thomasville Chapter DAR features technology for Genealogy by Melody Porter

May 1—The April meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured a program by Melody Porter about the use of technology in genealogy research. Chapter Regent Charlotte Brown introduced the speaker. Porter's background is in IT as a software business analyst and project manager but she has been researching her genealogy for over 30 years. She specializes in Florida, Georgia and Native American research. She is a member of the Ponte Vedra Chapter, NSDAR and serves as their Membership Chair. Porter serves on the DAR National Lineage Research Committee — Application (AIRS) and the Florida DAR State Application Team. She is a past Georgia State DAR Registrar, past Thomasville Chapter Regent and Registrar and is currently an associate member. Porter is also a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG) and National Genealogical Society (NGS).

Porter spoke about the use of technology and the digitization of records which is changing the way genealogy research is done. She said FamilySearch has been doing genealogy since the early 1900s and has the largest collection of records. The organization began digitizing records in 1998 which are available for free on their website. These online documents provide helpful information for individuals and genealogists doing research for family trees. Other ancestry services such as Ancestry.com began providing access to online documents through a paid subscription. Porter says that Ancestry.com is more user friendly but the free service provided by FamilySearch.org has much more information available to all. Before documents were digitized by FamilySearch, they were only available by scrolling through microfilm. Many of the digitized records haven't been indexed yet which doesn't allow easy access to a record when searching by last name. This may involve scrolling through multiple documents to find the records. In comparison, Ancestry.com uses a leaf image for hints or shows multiple records during a name search which is very helpful for the genealogist.

Digitization and online access is the way of the future for genealogy and provides access to documents without having to go to the courthouse or the archives. Websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org have become successful because they allow you to search online for all types of records. Digitization has also allowed universities and college libraries, National Archives and other organizations to better organize their records and to preserve deteriorating documents and old books which allows for easier access. This provides more storage, the backup of records and photos by uploading them to the cloud and online storage servers. The quality of the digitization process is much better, which makes documents easier to read.

"If you are researching an ancestor in a particular county, check with the county courthouse to see if vital, marriage, land or probate records are available online," said Porter. This would also allow you to search for the records at FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com.

FamilySearch.org provides genealogy materials on their website at no charge and Ancestry.com is subscription based. Porter also recommended these genealogy websites when researching family history: My Heritage, GenealogyBank, Find My Past, Archives.com, FindaGrave, Fold3 for searching military records, newspapers.com, historical and genealogical societies, DAR and SAR. The American Ancestors website has information on Mayflower connections and immigration records can be found at the Ellis Island and Castle Garden websites. Another helpful and interesting website is DeadFred which can be used to identify and search for old family photos.

Genealogy computer applications such as Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic are used for building a family tree on a personal computer. These applications would allow records downloaded from other genealogy websites to be added to your family tree.Another technology tool used are phone apps such as FamilySearch Family Tree and Ancestry apps. The FindaGrave app is helpful when doing research in a cemetery. Porter said the CamScanner app is used to scan documents to your phone, the Evernote app is used to take notes and the Magnifier app can enlarge documents when visiting libraries. To learn more about the advantages of these technology tips, download the free apps, use free trials, view tutorials and how to videos found on genealogy websites.

Porter said that FamilySearch has so many documents digitized now that they are also using artificial intelligence to help with indexing the documents. FamilySearch has 2.6 billion historical resources currently available online and five billion more records that need to be transcribed or indexed with more records added each day.

After discussing the types of technology in her presentation, Porter asked everyone to download the FamilySearch Family Tree app to their phone. A fun feature in the Family Tree app is Relatives Around Me, which can tell you how you are related to anyone sitting near you. This feature showed that Porter and many of the chapter members are cousins and the relationships were displayed in the family trees. Another interesting feature is Famous Relatives. Porter said she was excited to see that the Family Tree app shows that she's related to Elvis Presley.

The Thomasville Chapter, NSDAR also held a Memorial Service at the April meeting to remember departed chapter members from June 2022 — March 2023. The Service of Remembrance was led by Chapter Chaplain Drucilla Bennett and Regent Charlotte Brown to honor and pay tribute to the memory of Mary Sylvia Stone Carrouth, Marjorie Kathleen Aldredge Ragan, Sarah Hasty Secrest, Geraldine "Dena" Bower Blair, Lucile Dorothy "Dot" Felkel Rigsby, and Claire Varnedoe Thomas. "Their dedication to the historic, educational and patriotic objectives of our society has inspired all of us in our daily work for God, Home and Country," said Regent Charlotte Brown. The service included lighting the memorial candle, scripture readings and placing white carnations in a vase for each departed member.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world's largest and most active service organizations. More than one million women have joined the DAR since it was founded. To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit www.DAR.org. For more information about the Thomasville Chapter DAR, visit thomasville.georgiastatedar.org or facebook.com/ThomasvilleChapterNSDAR.