George Allgood 1846-1909 Mormon Pioneer

This posting was written for the Drake Extended Family about our common ancestor George Allgood.

With Pioneer Day being next week, July 24th, I thought some of you might like to know more about George Allgood who was an official Mormon pioneer (came to Utah before the transcontinental railroad was completed). He is the pioneer that Grandma Emily Allgood Drake used to obtain membership in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP).

The year was 1864. He was 18 years old and came from England with his mother and his brother and sister. For details go to Mormon Migration and type George Allgood into the search box. You will learn the name of the ship and other interesting details. There are links to personal journals written by other passengers.

Then go to Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel type in George Allgood 1846 -1909 (dates optional) and you will learn that he was in the Joseph S. Rawlins Company. The wagon train started in Wyoming, Nebraska not to be confused with the state or territory of Wyoming.

There are some interesting experiences related in the journals. Here are just a few details.

In 1864 the Civil War was raging. So this group of immigrants had to contend with the war in addition to all the other hardships. 

The ship struck an iceberg at one point. The reason the ship went so far north was to avoid Confederate ships. Actually their ship was sunk by the Confederates on its return voyage to England.

They went up the Hudson River to Albany and then on to Buffalo and into Canada coming back into the U.S. through Michigan, traveling on many boats and trains.

The steamboat that took them up the Missouri River had been attacked by rebel "gorillas" a fortnight before they traveled on it. It must have been a time of anxiety.

They were surprised somewhat by the appearance of the teamsters who had come from Utah with their ox teams and wagons to take them to Utah. They had wide brimmed hats and bullwhips. (Maybe it was like seeing cowboys for the first time.) 

There was some trouble with Indians and with the U.S. Army trying to confiscate some of the oxen. 

In another source I have learned that they were participants in the Perpetual Immigration Fund. 

I encourage you to read the journals and letters of the Allgood family's fellow travelers.

And of course, you can also use these two web sites to locate information about your other Mormon Pioneer ancestors.

Happy Pioneer Day!!!

Love, Aunt Jeanette

Indexing Training at Riverton FamilySearch Library

Yesterday a group of thirteen people from my ward attended FamilySearch indexing training at Riverton FamilySearch Library. We viewed a powerpoint presentation which explained the indexing program and then we each logged into a computer with our LDS Account usernames and passwords and did some indexing. Thank you to the staff of the Riverton Library for their help and assistance to get many of us started doing this important and interesting service.

Utah Genealogy Association Virtual Chapter Meeting

Last night I watched a virtual chapter meeting of UGA (Utah Genealogy Association). The speaker was Don Anderson, senior vice president of FamilySearch. He spoke about the Family Tree function of FamilySearch. It will be a marvelous program. I will gladly make the switch from new.familysearch.org. He predicted that it will be fully operational and accessible to the general public (not just members of the LDS church) by the middle of February at the earliest and April 2013 at the latest. This will be a great tool for family history research. I am excited about the possibility to share photos and stories using Family Tree.

Family Tree at FamilySearch

I am excited about the changes and improvements that are being made to Family Tree. It is part of FamilySearch.org and it will eventually replace New.FamilySearch.org. It will be available for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and also for nonmembers. Members should sign in with their LDS account and then they will have access to LDS Temple information.

Watch this short Introduction to FamilySearch Family Tree video to learn more.

Go to Family Tree Training to learn how to start using the program. The training resources are very comprehensive.

I would advise users of New.FamilySearch.org to make the switch now. Stop using New Family Search. Starting watching the tutorials for Family Tree. And start updating and sourcing the information on your family in Family Tree.

Christmas and Family History Ideas

This morning I watched a webinar from Life Story Productions

It was presented by Marlo Schuldt and Kathleen Bitter and featured Quick Pages that are now available for making an Heirloom Cookbook and 2012 Calendars. I learned more about the options in Heritage Collector Suite. A new feature in the latest 7.3 version is the capablility to tag your photos with GPS co-ordinates using Google Earth and addresses or place names or the Google Earth Map.

I am interested in following Kathleen's Storybook Blog. There are some great ideas for projects and free downloads for calendars.

And I know I need to take the time to watch the Heritage Collector Tutorials

African American Research at Family History Center in Kensington, Maryland

I love this video. I like the enthusiasm and the joy of the women who are finding information about their families. I especially like the way they LAUGHED about the "colored section" of the records.

Joining together to uncover history

The Genealogy of LDS Temple Record Keeping

The Saturday Seminars at the Riverton FamilySearch Library are always interesting and informative. On November 17, 2012 I attended the keynote speech by Ruth Maness, AG. She has worked for the Family History Libarary for many years and is a specialist in Scandinavian research. Her topic was The Genealogy of LDS Temple Record Keeping. She outlined the history of LDS temple work for the dead starting with work done at Nauvoo in the Mississippi River and in the Nauvoo Temple and going until the present time. Her presentation answered several questions for me. I know I will be checking a lot of temple work that has been done for my ancestors and their families. So the information that she shared will be very helpful. While I was at the Library I printed cards for temple work and I am giving them to grandchildren to get started performing the baptisms for the dead.