Vancouver Washington FamilySearch Center
Welcome to the Vancouver, Washington Family History Center.
We are located in East Vancouver, look forward to serving you in all of your family research endeavors!
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:
- wa_vancouver@ldsmail.net
FYI: Due to inclement weather follows Evergreen school district
Hours of Operation
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
Closure Schedule 2018
June 29 - July 4 - Independence Day
July 23 - August 6 - Summer Break
August 17 - August 20 - Annual FHC Picnic
August 31 - September 3 - Labor Day
October 5 - October 8 - General Conference
November 21 - November 26 - Thanksgiving
December 21 - January 1, 2019 - Christmas/New Years
Classes Offered, Patrons Welcomed (Classes are free of charge)
Two consecutive months will be displayed. Please check back often for updates. Classes will be offered each month with the exception of July, August, December, (no class) March, May (are by assignment only)
| Month | Date | Time | Class description | Skill Level | Class Standard |
| May | Thur 17 | 6:30 PM | VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR YOU AS A ELDER:
This will be two weeks of one-on-one training for you at your level of experience. This class will help you in your responsibility to family history in your ward. |
Individualized | Training |
| May | Thurs. 24 | 6:30 PM | VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR YOU AS A ELDER
This will be two weeks of one-on-one training for you at your level of experience. This class will help you in your responsibility to family history in your ward. |
Individualized | Training |
| May | Thurs. 31 | 6:30 PM | VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR YOU AS A ELDER:
This will be three weeks of one-on-one training for you at your level of experience. This class will help you in your responsibility to family history in your ward. |
Individualized | Training |
| June | Thurs. 7 | 6:60 PM | VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR YOU AS A ELDER:
This will be three weeks of one-on-one training for you at your level of experience. This class will help you in your responsibility to family history in your ward. |
Individualized | Training |
| June | Mon. 18 | 10:30 AM | SOURCES – HOW TO TRACK THEM DOWN:
Learn about some of the valuable and easy to use sources. Sources enable you to take properly prepared names to the temple. |
Advanced |
|
| June | Thurs. 21 | 6:30 PM | SOURCES – HOW TO TRACK THEM DOWN:
Learn about some of the valuable and easy to use sources. Sources enable you to take properly prepared names to the temple. |
Advanced |
|
| June | Thurs. 28 | 6:30 PM | WHAT DOES “MY HERITAGE” OFFER?
Why was this site chosen as a partner? Learn research strategies for finding online records and how to attach these records to FamilySearch. |
Advanced |
|
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 being taught during 2018 Check back after classes are taught.
Will be posted for a month after the month of the class.
Wiki Class—April 2018
- About Us
- Overview
- Giant Information Repository
- How To Research
- Where to Research
- Research Information and Links to USA and 244 countries, territories, islands
- Links to available records
- How-to tips for specific country, state, county, etc.
- FamilySearch Research Wiki: What it can do for you
- Things to know to effectively use the Wiki
- What you want to know about your ancestor
- Where did he live?
- What time frame did he live in?
- General Research suggestions
- Start with yourself and work backwards
- Work backwards (from death, marriage, birth, etc.)
- Use maiden names for all females
- Use formal names (not nicknames)
- Getting Started With the Wiki
- Links to check:
- Research Help
- Wiki Search Tips
- Success Stories
- Rookie Mistakes
- Family History for Beginners
- Check out other links
- Wiki Tools
- Research Forms
- Family Group Sheets and Pedigree charts (paper or in a genealogy database program)
- Research logs
- Census Forms
- Miscellaneous Research Forms
- Miscellaneous Tips
- Find yourself “lost” on the Wiki page after clicking on links? Click on the Home page (upper left side) to start all over again
- Keep track of your research with a Research Log. Saves repeat searches for the same records. If you do not find anything, make a notation. You’ll be glad you did!
- Keep track of your sources. If you use a genealogy database program (Legacy, Roots Magic, etc.) you can record those here. Using paper forms? Make source notes here. Using Family Search or Ancestry only? Add those sources immediately—too easy to forget later on. “Genealogy without documentation is Mythology!
Ancestry Class-April 2018
Tips, Tricks and Tactics Using Ancestry
April 2018
- Things I like about Ancesty.com
- It is free to church members
- It is easy to use—especially doing searches and adding sources
- It gives you “hints” for birth, marriage, death, census and other records.
- You can look at other people’s trees to see what information they have
- You can use it as a “laboratory” to do “what if” searches
- You can transfer data and sources to Family Search (your “gold standard”)
- Ways to look up an ancestor in Ancestry
- If ancestor is already in your tree in Ancestry:
- Bring up your tree by clicking on Trees on left side of the black tool bar at the top of the screen and clicking on the name of your tree.
- Bring up a direct ancestor by clicking on the name of the ancestor displayed in your tree.
- If they are not a direct ancestor, then look them up by clicking on the Find A Person box located at the top right of the screen under your username, and enter ancestors name.
- If ancestor is not in Ancestry, then search the Ancestry data base by clicking Search on the black tool bar, and selecting All Collections and then filling in the required information and then clicking the orange search box. Any records or Ancestry Trees for this person will be displayed.
- Using other people’s trees in Ancestry to aid your research
- Click on green “hint leaves” on your tree, then click on blue “Ancestry Hints bubble” and look for Ancestor Member Trees box (displayed at top of list), and then click “Review”.
- When looking at a profile, click the Search Box (upper right corner) and select Family Trees from search categories list at the left side of the screen.
- Use the one with the most sources attached (usually at the top of the list).
- Attaching sources to ancestors using Ancestry.com
- Bring up ancestor’s profile in Ancestry and look for green-color hints icon. If hints are displayed, review them and either attach to your ancestor’s profile. or click ignore.
- You can also do a search by clicking on the Search Box in the upper right corner.
- If you see a record you want to add as a source, then select it for review by clicking on the source title (blue color).
- Narrow your search by clicking on a record source from the categories list on left.
- Review data and if the information is accurate, click on the green Save box and then click on your ancestor’s name in the pop-up box.
- You will be able to make a final side-by-side comparison of the information (name, dates, location, etc.) By clicking the little boxes you can move that data from the source to your Ancestry profile.
- To save this data to your ancestor’s profile, click on the orange “Save To Your Tree” box.
- Adding an ancestor to Family Search using Ancestry.com
- While in profile mode, click on green tree in upper right corner next to the search box.
- It will prompt you to log in to Family Search.
- After logging in to FS, click on the Add to Family Search box at bottom of window.
- This will add your ancestor to FS and will automatically connect this ancestor to any other relations (i.e. parents, children, siblings) you have identified.
- Connecting with an existing ancestor in Family Search
- While in profile mode, click on green tree in upper right corner next to Search box.
- A pop-up window will give you one or more choices of possible ancestors to select.
- The names and birth/death dates, parents, spouses and children, if known, will be displayed in the top section.
- Select the one that is most likely and compare data to your ancestor.
- If the data looks comparable, click the Connect to Family Search box. A blue check mark will appear next to the green family tree icon.
- Your ancestor is now connected to Family Search. (It can always be disconnected.)
- Comparing data (vital statistics, family members, sources)
- While in the profile mode in Ancestry, click on green tree icon in the upper right corner.
- Select the compare data button. The information from FS will be on the left, and the information from Ancestry.com will be on the right.
- Click appropriate box to move data from Ancestry to FS and vice versa.
- You will be asked why you feel this information is accurate. Answer by listing the sources you used. You will also be able to move your sources from Ancestry to FS.
- When you are finished, click on the Save Changes box at the bottom, or cancel.
- Switching from Ancestry to Family Search
- While in the profile mode in Ancestry, click on green tree icon in upper right corner.
- Click on “View this person in Family Search” option.
- This will automatically take you to the Details section for your ancestor in Family Search.
- To go back to Ancestry, click on the Ancestry tab at the top of the screen.
- You can go back and forth between the two profiles by selecting the appropriate tab.
How to Build a Tree in Ancestry from FamilySearch
- Open up Ancestry and click on Trees in the black tool bar at the top of the screen.
- Click on Select and Manage Trees from the drop box menu.
- You will find three choices:
- Create New Tree
- Import Tree from Family Search
- Upload a Gedcom File
Creating a new tree
- From the Select and Manage Trees drop box menu, click on Create new tree.
- The Start A New Tree screen will come up on the display. Click on Add A New Person.
- Unclick the I am Starting With Myself box as it will be easier to import your tree from FamilySearch if you wish to build a tree with yourself as the primary person.
- Enter the name of your ancestor that you wish to be the primary person for your new tree. Enter the gender, birth/death dates and places, and click continue.
- Repeat this process by adding either a spouse or parent.
- Once you have entered either a spouse or one of the parents, a Name Your Tree screen will come up on the display. Enter the name of your tree and click the Save button.
- Your tree has now been created and you can start building it by adding other relatives and searching for records to add as sources.
- Sources, such as census, birth, death and marriage records, can be used to expand your tree by adding spouses, children, parents and grandparents.
Importing a tree From FamilySearch
- From the Select and Manage Trees drop box menu, click on Import tree from FamilySearch. A drop box will ask you to sign in to FamilySearch.
- After you have signed in, the Import a tree from FamilySearch screen will come up on the display. Name the tree and click the Save button.
- Your tree with up to four generations will be downloaded to Ancestry.
- Each of your ancestors from these four generations will be displayed in the tree, and they will each have a Profile page.
- The Profile page contains demographic information such as birth/marriage/death dates and places as they were listed in FamilySearch.
- The profile page will also list any spouses and children that were in FamilySearch.
- Sources will not be found in your Ancestry tree, but you can easily add them by clicking on Hints, which will display a list of records, documents and pictures that are found in the Ancestry database.
- These sources can then be used to expand your tree by adding spouses, children, parents and grandparents.
Uploading A Gedcom File
- From the Select and Manage Trees drop box menu, click on Upload a Gedcom file.
- The Import a Family Tree screen will be displayed.
- Choose the tree you wish to upload by browsing the Gedcom files on your hard drive or thumb drive. A tree with up to 75 MB can be uploaded into Ancestry.
- Give your tree a name and description, and click the Save button.
- Your tree can then be expanded and sources added as described above.
Staff Meeting/Training Dates
Held 2nd Thursday each month from 6:30- 8:00pm except July, August and December
May 10, June 14, (July & August no Staff Mtg.), August 18 - Saturday is the annual picnic from 5:00-6:30 PM @ the Collins' residence. September 13, October 11, November 8, (December no Staff Mtg.)
Center Services / Resources
Staff research specialties
Staff to help with your needs
The following kinds of records are available in the Family History Center
- 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!
Collections
Databases and Software
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
- 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, sends directly to your family search account
- 1 HP color printer
- 1 Flatbed scanner
Resources in the Local Area
- Clark County Genealogical Society: http://www.ccgs-wa.org/
- Fort Vancouver Regional Library Genealogy Resources: http://www.fvrl.org/resources/genealogy
Helpful Learning information
- RootsTech 2018 Online Streaming Sessions: https://www.rootstech.org/ (streaming available Feb 28 - March 3, 2018)
- RootsTech 2017 Links: https://www.rootstech.org/rootstech-2017
- RootsTech 2016 Video Archive: https://www.rootstech.org/videos
Volunteer at the Center
- 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.