Among the many cool things in the boxes that belonged to my grandmother was a Family Record Book that her grandfather had kept. It has a bunch of information that I already knew but it was handwritten by my 2nd great grandfather. Such a treasure! And while I say that it is information that I already knew, I think the important thing here is that he actually knew many of these people personally so his record will contain hidden gems that may help answer questions.
Like most of my genealogy adventures, I try to digitize and share what I find in a way that is useful for my family members. Only one person can physically possess this book at a time but I certainly don’t want it’s existence to only benefit me.
That’s where FamilySearch comes in to help me out. They offer a free book scanning service during RootsTech. So I took my book along to RootsTech and had it scanned for free. That book is now digitized and available on FamilySearch under the “Search” tab in the “Books” collection. You can find it here.
If you have a book that is not under copyright, or a book that you own the copyright to, or a book that is under copyright but you get signed permission from the copyright holder, you can take that book to RootsTech and have it scanned. A very cool service.
Additionally, FamilySearch will accept donations of items like journals, family Bibles, compiled histories and so on. You can stipulate in your donation that they must scan the item and make it publicly available and they will! The item will then be stored appropriately and can be viewed in person by family members at the Church Archives building. This is a great option if you have an old item that is in danger of deterioration or if you have special family items and no one to care for them after you pass. They have different storage methods including very cold storage that they use to help preserve really old items. In fact, if your item is stored in one of these cold storage areas you have to make an appointment to view your item well in advance so they can slowly bring it to room temperature for your viewing.
I am so grateful for the many free services FamilySearch offers that help me to make my genealogy work available to my family members in a free and easily searchable way. This book is a treasure and now it can be treasured in every household that descends from Frederick William Ellis and not just in my home.
Here is one last image from the book. It’s the family group sheet for Frederick and his wife Susan, written in his own hand.
Happy Wednesday. I hope you make an amazing genealogy discovery today!
Note: I could only find the information for donating items that are relevant to LDS church history. I know that FamilySearch accepts donations of other items and stores them properly and digitizes them, I just couldn’t find the appropriate link in the time I have… I’m off to pick up a preschooler. If you are interested in this info let me know and I will track it down.