Genealogy Research Tips and
Sahyun Library Updates

“Across the United States, more than 50,000 bodies remain unidentified—un-mourned and unnamed, but not forgotten. NAMING THE DEAD, a riveting new six-part investigative series from National Geographic, brings these untold stories to light. The series follows the groundbreaking work of the DNA Doe Project, a trailblazing nonprofit that uses genetic genealogy to help law enforcement

 Do you have an ancestor who served in the Civil War? Or, are you wanting some context about the war from someone who was there? Transcribed letters and diaries on Spared & Shared may have what you are looking for. These documents have been purchased on eBay or were user-submitted and transcribed by Will Griffing.

While it is still undergoing further improvements in FamilySearch Labs, full-text search is now also available in the all-collections search on the signed-in FamilySearch home page and in the FamilySearch Catalog.  Read how to find and use full-text search in each of these areas in this recent FamilySearch blog post. Submitted by Robin McCarthy

Most genealogists know the tragic story of the 1890 census, which was destroyed by fire and water damage in its Commerce Department storage facility. But here’s what many don’t realize: other federal censuses have significant gaps too, with entire states missing from various years. The following information is excerpted from this Family History Daily blog

“A group of Philadelphia-area historical organizations are pooling their archives into ‘The Revolutionary City: A Portal to the Nation’s Founding,’ a growing collection of original documents that has been digitized, catalogued and made searchable by the public. “More than 6,000 documents with more than 57,000 pages have already been uploaded into the publicly accessible website.

The Santa Clara County Historical and Genealogical Society is presenting the free webinar Dissecting a Civil War Pension Record: Union and Confederate by Jill Morelli. The webinar is on July 15th at 6:30 p.m. (PDT). A brief membership meeting precedes the presentation. Register here to receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link. Pension packets

Launched three years ago, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland is now home to over 350,000 records and 250 million words of searchable Irish history. Led by Trinity College Dublin and supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, the project brings together historians, computer scientists, archivists, and librarians working to digitally recreate Ireland’s destroyed

Lost in a sea of digital files, family photos, and paper records? Can’t find the records you know you have? Scanning photos and records more than once? This archives-based system helps you organize ALL of your genealogy research and records in just six folders. No need for color codes, numbering systems, or other complicated schemes

I came across some old copies of the out-of-print publication Communes of Italy. Here’s a tip I picked up: Looking for photos of your ancestral commune? Try Flickr I found some great shots of Sciacca, Vizzini, and Carini, Sicily. Give it a try. No Italian Ancestry, try searching for your country, state or city, I’ll

Here is a very informative article from Framily Tree Magazine on the Freedmen’s Bureau and how to search for records. ” The collection is not new, though recent digitization efforts by FamilySearch and Ancestry.comhave made it more accessible. But it does combat the myth of African Americans not being able to locate information on their

Here’s how the National Archives are working with volunteers, AI, and FamilySearch to transcribe Revolutionary War Pension Files and make them available to researchers. Read about it:  The Great Transcription Challenge Posted by Rosa Avolio, Webmaster

Courtesy of Michael John Neill’s Tip of the Day post “Adjacent in Census or Tax Lists May Not Mean Next Door” dated 8-June-2025. Those names that were immediately before and after your ancestor on a census or a tax list probably lived relatively near your ancestor, but do not assume that they shared a property

The Summer edition of Ancestors West has been published and is available for your enjoyment on the Society Publications page of our website. Read stories shared by our members of their ancestors’ remarkable achievements in this issue. Don’t forget that every issue of Ancestors West includes an index of surnames referenced within the publication. You

I was watching a couple of Amy Johnson Crow’s videos this evening and came across this one and had to share it. She gives great advice and instruction on using PERSI (Peridical Source Index). After you watch her video and learn how to use the index and you find a publication you want to see

Connie Knox from GenealogyTV on YouTube interviewed several people at the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Family History Conference in Louisville, KY last month. One of her guests was Aimee Cross from Camarillo and fellow member of the Ventura County Genealogical Society. Watch what Aimee said about SBCGS here. Thanks Aimee for the recognition. Submitted by

“Ancestry announces the Beta launch of its new document transcription feature. This innovative tool can empower Ancestry World Explorer/World Deluxe members to easily read and preserve handwritten documents like journal entries and letters from the past.” The document transcription feature is available on any of the Ancestry platforms (app, mobile, or desktop website) by uploading

If you missed Mark Lowe’s webinar on Early Migration and Settlement Patterns you missed a good one. Mark’s five-page handout is packed with resources. Members can view the webinar recording and download the handout for a limited time in the Webinar Archive.  Don’t miss our next webinar with James Beidler on Sunday, September 28th at