Vancouver Washington FamilySearch Center

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Vancouver Washington Center
FamilySearch This article describes the services and resources available at a FamilySearch Center, a branch facility of the FamilySearch Library.


Family History Center
Family History computer area
FHC

Welcome to the Vancouver, Washington Family History Center. [edit | edit source]

We are located in East Vancouver, look forward to serving you in all of your family research endeavors![edit | edit source]

Center Information[edit | edit source]

Location Map:

Address:

  • 18300 NE 18th St Vancouver WA 98684 United States

(entrance to the Family History Center is on the north side of the church building. 

Enter through the main doors, and turn left to find the Family History Center entrance.)

Phone:

  • 1-360-944-5773

E-mail:

Open Hours[edit | edit source]

Tuesday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Wednesday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Thursday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am - 2:00p m

Holiday Schedule 2017[edit | edit source]

Closed in observance of the following holidays:
Thanksgiving (November 19 - November 27)
Christmas/New Year's (December 19, 2017 - January 1, 2018)

Center Services[edit | edit source]

Staff Research Specialties[edit | edit source]

All Classes are free! - all patrons welcomed[edit | edit source]

Classes Offered[edit | edit source]

  • Overlooked Valuable Information

You will learn about oral histories, 50 questions for interviewing, Why is the whole family important, pre 1830  and other Bible records available and more.

October 26, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

  • The individual Value of our 4 main Partners

November 2, 10:30 AM - 12:00PM

This class will give information regarding Ancestry, Find My Past, My Heritage and American Ancestors.  Why would you use them?

  • Preparing Your Family Names for Temple Ordinances

November 13, 10:30 AM - 12:00PM or November 30, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

How to find green temples? Do you have enough information to do temple work? If not, How to find the needed information? Has the temple work already been completed?  How do you prepare and print the needed cards, etc. for the temple? and When do you need permission?

Seating is limited, only those registered will have a reserved seat in these classes.

To Register:  Call 360-944-5773 during our open hours (see above) or email: WA_Vancouver@ldsmail.net

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Handouts from classes[edit | edit source]

Searching Unindexed Collections on Family Search

As of June 2017, there are 2230 record collections available for searching on FamilySearch.org.

Many record collections are searchable, meaning that they have been indexed.  However, about 70% of the record collections are not yet indexed – but you can still “browse” the record collection.

Some of the following countries have the largest amounts of records that are on FamilySearch as unindexed collections:

Italy:  129 record collections

Germany:  45 record collections

Brazil, England, Guatemala, Mexico, Netherlands, Ohio, Portugal, U.S. General:  between 20 – 30 record collections each

Idaho, Indonesia, Maine, New York, Oregon, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wales, Washington:  between 10 – 19 record collections each

Many other interesting collections are available, from diverse locations such as:  Albania, American Samoa, Armenia, Benin, Cook Islands, Guam, Haiti, Hungary, Micronesia, Korea, Newfoundland, Slovakia, Wales, and more!!

Note:  dates found in these record collections span from before 1000 AD through as late as 2012.

The following kinds of records are available in these “browseable” collections:

  • Land records
  • Divorce Indexes
  • Naturalization records
  • Wills
  • Burial records
  • Cemetery records
  • Probate
  • Freedmen’s Bureau
  • Court Papers
  • Census
  • Passenger Lists/Travel Documents
  • Church Records
  • Military Records
  • City Records
  • Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers
  • Civil Registrations
  • And more!

Case Study

If I’m looking for Samuel Osborn, who I believe was granted land in around 1888 in Poweshiek County, Iowa, where would I go to find this record?

If I’m looking for a relative, who lived in Stark County, Ohio at the time of his death in 1973, where would I go to look for the records?  What record collection could I search?

Staff Training[edit | edit source]

  • Historical Overview of Records and Society

November 9, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Center Resources[edit | edit source]

Collections[edit | edit source]

  • We have a large number of microfilm containing images of Washington birth and death Certificates, plus much more.

Databases and Software[edit | edit source]

FHC Portal  This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium

family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions, including:

The 19th Century British Library Newspapers digital archive–Find.galegroup.com
Access Newspaper Archives–Newspaperarchive.com
Alexander Street Press, American Civil War–Alexanderstreet.com
Ancestry.com–Ancestry.com
ArkivDigital Online–Arkivdigital.net
Find My Past–Findmypast.co.uk
1911 British Census (accessed through the Find My Past website)
Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com)–Fold3.com
Historic Map Works Library Edition–Proquest.historicmapworks.com/
Kinpoint Premium-Kinpoint.com
Legacy Stories - Legacystories.org
MyHeritage-Library Edition-MyHeritageLibraryEdition
Paper Trail–Genealogytoday.com
ProQuest Obituary Listings-Obituaries.proquest.com
Puzilla-Puzzilla.org
World Vital Records–Worldvitalrecords.com

See this link for more information on these collections.

Hardware and Equipment[edit | edit source]

  • 10 computer work stations (touch-screen) with printer access for patron use
  • Scanner for copying film or fiche images to flash drive or paper
  • Wi-fi access
  • 3 Lexmark printers
  • Photo/document scanner, sent directly to your family search account
  • 1 HP color printer
  • 1 Flatbed scanner

Resources in the Local Area[edit | edit source]

Links[edit | edit source]

Volunteer at the Center[edit | edit source]

    • If you are interested in being a consultant in our center, please send us an email: WA_Vancouver@ldsmail.net
    • Typically, consultants volunteer between 3 - 4 hours each week, assisting patrons with their family history research.