Fresno California East Family History Center

(Add a brief paragraph about your center here and the area it serves. Information in italics below is guidance for you and should be deleted as you fill out the page. Remove italics from other text by selecting the text and clicking the "I" box in the Toolbar above.)

Center Contacts and Hours
Location Map:



Address:


 * 1880 Gettysburg Ave Clovis CA 93611 United States


 * Language: English

Phone:


 * 1-559-291-2448

E-mail:


 * [mailto:CA_FresnoEast@ldsmail.net CA_FresnoEast@ldsmail.net]

Center Director


 * William Holden (559) 292-1658

Open Hours:


 * Tuesday 10:00am-3:00pm and 6:30pm-9:00pm
 * Wednesday 10:00am-3:00pm and 6:30pm-9:00pm
 * Thursday 10:00am-3:00pm and 6:30pm-9:00pm

Holiday Schedule:

Closed December 16th through January 1st:

Indexing news:
here is our schedule for February-

Our visits to our buildings for extra Indexing and Arbitrating help continues. We were able to meet and help several indexers. We are so grateful for all you doing!

We will again be visiting each building to offer our assistance with Indexing or Arbitration questions. Our schedule of visits are outlined below. Again thank you for all you do!

February 4th 2015 Wednesday 7-8 pm Sanger Building

February 11th 2015 Wednesday 7-8 pm Butler Building

February 18th 2015 Wednesday 6:30-8 pm Gettysburg Building

February 24th 2015 Tuesday 7-8 pm Fowler Building

Read "Why Indexing Matters" in the Oct. 2014 of the New Era~New-Era Why-indexing-matters?

Family Discovery Day,Streaming live from RootsTech,February 14, 2015

How to Participate

Live online: Watch talks live online right here at lds.org/discoverfamily or on the LDS.org home page.

Presentations Streamed on LDS.org at Mountain Standard Time Saturday, February 14

11:00 a.m. [10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time] “Family History Blesses the Living,” with Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Elder Allan F. Packer, and Elder Kent F. Richards, all of the Seventy, moderated by Sister Neill F. Marriott of the Young Women general presidency

1:00 p.m. [12:00 noon Pacific Standard Time] “Families and Sharing the Temple Challenge,” with Elder Neil L. Andersen, Al Fox Carraway, and Noelle Pikus Pace

2:00 p.m. [1:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time] Spanish session: “The Path to Promised Blessings,” by Elder Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy

2:15 p.m. [ 1:15 p.m. Pacific Standard Time] “Gathering, Healing, and Sealing Families,” with Elder Bradley D. Foster of the Seventy; Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president; Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women general president; and Tad R. Callister, Sunday School general president

4:15 p.m. [3:15 p.m.] “Our Father’s Plan Is about Families,” by Elder Quentin L. Cook

Class Schedule
Family Search Learning Center~ Browse through hundreds of on line genealogy courses to help you discover your family history.

Familysearch Learning Center

Examples:

U.S. Military Records: Revolutionary War~ How to use military records to research an ancestor who participated in the Revolutionary War.

US Military U.S. Military Records Revolutionary War Player

Welcome to the United State Census Tutorial:

Census BYU Education Project Files

U.S. Courthouse Research, Audio Interview with Christine Rose: FamilySearch Learning Center Lesson US Courthouse Research

Staff Training Meetings
Fresno East Family History Staff training will be held on Jan. 7, 2015 at 10 a.m. and repeated 7 p.m. Please attend one of these sessions that fits your schedule. Topics to be discussed are using Family Tree, Ancestry.com and Puzzilla.org.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: This center has the ability to order any of the films and fiche available through the FamilySearch Catalog.

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.

Hardware and Equipment

 * Our Family History Center has 18 separate computer stations; one microfilm copier; two microfilm readers; one microfische reader, and a copy/scanning machine.


 * Thanks to the efforts of Dennis McCauley and Bill Holden, we have one of the best family history centers set up in the Fresno Region. The Stake has recently increased the size of our internet bandwidth so our computers are able to connect much quicker to family history websites that in the past.
 * Thanks to the efforts of Dennis McCauley and Bill Holden, we have one of the best family history centers set up in the Fresno Region. The Stake has recently increased the size of our internet bandwidth so our computers are able to connect much quicker to family history websites that in the past.
 * Thanks to the efforts of Dennis McCauley and Bill Holden, we have one of the best family history centers set up in the Fresno Region. The Stake has recently increased the size of our internet bandwidth so our computers are able to connect much quicker to family history websites that in the past.


 * Due to the large number of individual computer stations, our Center offers an excellent facility to bring groups of ten to fifteen individuals at a time for family history training. We would request that if your Priesthood Quorum, or mutual class, or other organization bring in a group for training purposes, that you call Brother Bill Holden, the family HIstory director  at 559-292- 1658 so that we can schedule adequate staff to assist patrons on a one to one basis.

For youth groups, we request that the youth have their LDS accounts set up before coming to the Library so that time may be more fully devoted to helping them find names to take to the temple rather than setting up their accounts.

Staff Research Specialties
Richard and Carolyn Roach~Stake Index Leaders~559-292-6255

Bill Holden~Family History Director~works Tuesday nights at FHL; phone 559-292-1658

Dave Grenier- Family Search Missionary, works Thursday night at FHL; phone 559-297-1345; e-mail address: [mailto:grenida@pacbell.net grenida@pacbell.net]

Rebecca Shiner~Eastern Prussia; Great Britian Research~ 559-346-1390

Bishop Dan Winiecke~ Polish Russian Research~559-903-0605

Patrick Cummings~Leeds &amp; Grenville Counties, Ontario; New York Research~559-346-1259

Leon Papin- French Canadian Research~559-346-9620

''Jane Moffitt~Great Britian Research~works Tues. Mornings at FHL; 559-412-4267''

Bill Vaughn~Fresno East Stake FHL printing specialist- works Thursday night at FHL; phone 559-298-8345

Jana Last~Family History Blogger specialist~291-6375

''Steve Mecham~Ancestry.com Research~works Wed. Evenings at FHL; 559-291-7363''

Resources in the Local Area
American Historical Society of Germans From Russia:

Their purpose is purely historical by doing genealogical research of our German from Russia forefathers, as well as reuniting with living relatives, recording and preserving historical facts.

Genealogy Research Library and Museum

Library Hours: Tuesday to Friday 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m., Closed Saturday to Monday

Tours and/or Personal Research by appoitnment

Central California Chapter, 3233 N. West Ave, Fresno, CA 93705-3402

Phone: 559-229-8287 Email: [mailto:info@ahsgrfc-centralcal.org info@ahsgrfc-centralcal.org]

American Historical Society of Germans

The Heritage Center ~San Joaquin Valley Heritage and Genealogical Center~Central Branch- 2420 Mariposa St., Fresno, CA. 559-600-6230; Fresno Library.org Heritage

Hours:

Mon-Thurs 10am to 7 pm

Friday, Sat 10am to 5 pm

Sun 12 noon to 5pm

Resources:


 * California vital record indexes, cenuses Great Registers


 * City Directories and Telephone Books for Fresno More


 * Orbituary File


 * Yearbooks from local area schools and colleges


 * online resources including ancestry library edition


 * newspapers: local and California dating back to the 1850's


 * Maps: Fresno, San Joaquin Valley and parts of California


 * Postcard and Photograph collection


 * William Saroyan Collection


 * Oral Histories

For a more complete list of Resources, go to: Fresno Library Heritage

Daughters of Utah Pioneers:

C.L. Fancher Camp meets in Clovis on the third Thursday at noon.

Lydia McCauley Camp meets in Fresno on the 2nd Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Camp Sugar Pine meets in Oakhurst on the 2nd Monday at noon.

For more information, contact Sonja Kland 559-224-5236

International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 300 N. Main, Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1699

Dupinternational

Fresno County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1429, Fresno, CA 93716-1429; Phone no 559-600-6230

FCGS meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in Feb-July, Sept and Nov. at 6:30 p.m. in the Woodward Park Library located at 944 E. Perrin (at Champlain).

Meetings feature speakers on a variety of topics of genealogical and historical interest.

Save the Date! October 17, 2015; Lisa Louise Cook, host of the Genealogy Gems podcast, author, blogger, and national speaker, Lisa has spoken for the Southern California Genealogy Society's Jamboree, RootsTech, Who Do You Think You Are? We are pleased to bring Lisa to the valley. Look for more information on our website, Facebook page or email: [mailto:seminarfsgs@gmail.com seminarfsgs@gmail.com] to get on the mailing list.

Our website: Rootsweb Ancestry

Want to make a donation to the Church History Library? Contact Church History Library Donations;

Acquistions hotline 1-801-240-5696. Will accept journals manuscripts, books, letters, museum items with historical value with LDS content. E-mail inquiries to: [mailto:churchhistoryacquistions@ldschurch.org churchhistoryacquistions@ldschurch.org]

"MORE NAMES NOW AVAILABLE WITH FAMILY TREE HINTING UPDATES", January 5, 2015 by Robert kehrer.

On Tuesday, Dec. 23rd, Family Search released a new update of the hinting data view able on an ancestor's detail page and in the descendancy view in the Family Tree. In this data update, newly added or changed persons in the Family Tree have been hinted using all the newly available information. It also includes important new record sets, such as the Find-A-Grave collection, that have been recently published.

Additionally, engineers and architects have made numerous advancements in the software algorithms which makes it possible for more than 14 million new hints to be identified. Users of the Family Tree may wish to visit their ancestor pages again and see if any new hints are displayed.

We are excited as our users are about the accuracy and efficiency that these new tools provide., both the task of doing research, as well as the quality of the information found in Family Tree. In the days since this data release, users have set new daily highs in the number of sources they have attached to the Family Tree and the number of new persons added to the tree from historical records. With the vast number of daily additions to the Family Tree tied to historical documents, the Family Tree is becoming one of the largest and most accurate genealogical trees in the world. These new tools enable many new people to become engaged in Family History Work. We invite all who have used the new tools and hints to share their skills and love of this work with other friends and family members so that we can help accelerate this great work.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH FAMILY TREE HINTS: I have been searching for years the names of other siblings of my great great grandfather, Samuel Mecham. I knew from the 1820, 1830, and 1840 census records of McKean Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania that his father Elam Mecham and his second wife Sarah had at least three daughters and two sons in this second family for Elam, including my ancestor, Samuel Mecham, but I had been unable to locate any records of these other siblings. In June of 2014, I went to the family tree page of Elam Mecham Sr. and there was a hint for me to check the 1855 New York State Census of Charlotte Township, Chautauquia County, New York. It had never occurred to me to check the census records of this county, though it was a neighboring county of Erie, Pennsylvania, just across the New York state line. I had never come across any links in Ancestry.com directing me to check this particular census record [primarily because Ancestry had not yet uploaded this particular collection in their vast census collections.] To my great joy, I found as I openned up this particular record, I found the names of Elam Mecham Sr. and his second wife Sarah, residing in the home of Joseph and Betsy Gillett. This particular census record stated that Elam and Sarah Mecham were the inlaws of Joseph Gillet. Upon subsequent review of records in this region, I found the marriage record of Joseph Gillet to Betsy Mecham.

Subsequent research in other historical documents has led to the discovery of another daughter, Mehitabel Mecham Horton, residing in the Charlotte Township regions. I have since submitted the names of these two newly found families for temple work. Had it not been for the family tree hint that I came across on the family tree page of Elam Mecham Sr., I would have not been led to this important census record, which yielded so much more important information on the identity of these two missing sisters to my great great grandfather, Samuel Mecham. ~Submitted by Steve Mecham, Jan. 17, 2015

Links
New-era/2014/10/25 Cool-ways-to-connect-through-family-history

New-era/2014/10/A-menu-for-a-great-interview

Ensign/2014/10/Missionary-family-history-and-temple-work

Ensign/2014/10/Whats-a-family-tree-gathering

New-era/2014/10/Family-history-i-am-doing-it

Ensign/2014/11/Sunday-afternoon-session/the-book

LDS Church Members~ Create your own personal accounts with "ancestry.com: ; "find my past"; and "my heritage" for free. Family History is more than a hobby. It is an activity that that blesses both the living and the dead. Connecting generations with the blessings of the Temple serves ancestors, safeguards individuals, and strengthens families. See: Familysearch Partner Access

Alison Shaw Knudsen had been looking for her father’s great grandmother for many years.

In fact, many people had tried for more than 40 years to find her. Her father had spent his entire adult life searching, without success. It seemed like a lost cause. Sister Knudsen felt a very strong impression to try again to find her great great grandmother. She and her husband began their search with a prayer.

They searched again through a their family history books, looking for a clue. Finally they turned to ancestry.com.

Latter Day Saints receive now receive free subscriptions to Family Search partner websites, such as ancestry.com. For more information, go to FamilySearch Partner Access. “Ancestry.com gave us a massive list of possibilities, “ said Sister Knudsen. “For some reason, I was prompted to click on one among-st hundreds of options- and there she was! We found this great great grandmother in an English workhouse at the bottom of a census record. We also found her father and mother on this record. The Spirit was electrifying at that moment in the room. No words can describe our joy at making this connection.”

Sister Knudsen had the privilege of performing her great great grandmother’s endowment and sealing to her parents and children. “I felt her spirit finally happy. She had lived a life of poverty and abuse with her family in an English workhouse. But in the temple, I felt the generations of our family present, now all eternally connected.”

Download your own free copy of "48 Ancestry.com Research Tips" in available PDF file: Family tree magazine free-ancestry-search-tips

BYU Relative Finder~ Roots-fb.cs.byu.edu Relative finder is a place where you can find how you are related to the world. Discover connections between you, presidents, prophets, and your families.

A little known program of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides genealogy information that may be difficult or impossible to obtain elsewhere. The records include naturalization files, visa applications, and citizenship tests, and may reveal family secrets and mysteries. In addition to relatives, historians or researchers can also request files.

Under the USCIS Genealogy Progam, which started in 2008, requests are usually completed within 30 days. The government will run a search of the name, as long as the person is deceased. If there are records available, the government charges additional fees for the files. The fee for a record copy from microfilm identified as (M) is $20 per request. The fee for a copy of a hard copy file identified as (HC) is $35 per request. More information about the fees associated with each file series may be found at USCIS Government History Genealogy Records.

The documents typically include immigration information, often (but not always) including exact hometowns in their ancestors native countries. The files often have information on brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles. Many times it is useful to obtain the records of your uncles, aunts, and cousins who also immigrated from "the old country."

If the immigrant applied for American citizenship, the details are also included in these files. For anyone of Japanese, German, or Italian origin who lived in the United States during World War II, the documents often include FBI reports about the person's activities, including friends, family, and political activities.

For more information about the program, check out USCIS Government Genealogy.

FamilySearch's Top Databases for 2014 provide Resources for Family History Work~ Church News Resources for Family History Work

Using Free Message boards in Genealogy Research~ Genealogy Revelations Using-free-message-boards-in-genealogy-research

The National Archives~Resources for Genealogists~ Archives Government Research Genealogy

Making family History Fun for children:

Friend/2011/02/Family-history-fun

Lds-magazines/Friend-March-2012/2012-03-08-extra-extra-read-all-about-it

Magazines Friend-July-2013-07-31-familysearch-sleuth

Friend/2006/05/Grandmas-trunk

Friend/2009/10/My-family-tree

Friend/1982/03/Seek-and-find

Liahona/2002/08/Sharing-time-the-heart-of-the-children

Kids Family Tree Magazine

Volunteer at the Center
(Include information here about the volunteers you are looking for.)