[Genealogy] The Table Cloth I Never Use, Full-Text Class, Digital Images of Copies of Transcriptions
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Fri Sep 4 06:30:35 CDT 2026
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Genealogy Update 4 Sept 2026
** The Table Cloth I Never Use
** 5-Week Class on Using FamilySearch's Full-Text Search--Don't Miss It!
** It May Be A Digital Copy of a Microfilmed Copy of a Transcription of the
Actual Record
** Downloadable Webinars
** Upcoming Trips
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The Table Cloth I Never Use
----------------------------------------
[image: table-cloth]
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/table-cloth.jpg>
Not being too good with fabrics, I’m calling it a tablecloth.
The name is not as important as what it represents.
Shortly before her death in 2008, my grandmother Ufkes gave me this table
cloth. It may have been on the dining room table we never used, but I’m not
certain it was ever “used” for any actual meal. Grandma had brought it
back with her when she and my grandfather visited Ostfriesland, Germany, in
1976. It was their only trip to the land where their grandparents had been
born.
Grandma had commented that her cousin had given it to her “at the very last
minute” as they were preparing to leave and that she had difficulty fitting
it into her luggage. At the age of eight, I was more interested in the
wooden shoes Granddad had purchased than in a table cloth some old woman
had given my grandmother.
There was no discussion of last-minute packing when Grandma gave me the
table cloth.
It had been given to her by a first cousin of my Grandmother’s mother,
Tjode (Goldenstein) Habben. Tjode had several first cousins who were born
and raised in Ostfriesland–children of her father’s two brothers who had
remained after their siblings emigrated to the United States. After the
second World War, times were especially hard. Food was in short supply,
there was not much money, and they were nearly destitute. My
great-grandmother in the United States had sent care packages to this
cousin in Ostfriesland and her cousins had been appreciative of the
generosity of their American cousin. The cousins never actually met and
only knew of each other through letter correspondence.
The only specific item Grandma could remember her mother sending was a
winter coat. I was lucky she remembered that.
The cousin wanted to give Grandma something to symbolize how much they
appreciated the items that had been sent by my great-grandmother–over
thirty years later. She was very emotional when mentioning the care
packages that had been sent and when she gave Grandma the table cloth.
That’s why Grandma found space in her luggage to take it home.
I just wish Grandma had told me the cousin’s name.
-------------------------------
5-Week Class on Using Full-Text Search--Don't Miss It!
-------------------------------
*discussions recorded if you cannot attend live!*
*5-week class on Using FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search*
With Michael John Neill
Are you getting the most from FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search? Our five
session class on FamilySearch’s full-text search will help you to get the
very most from this truly paradigm-shift way of searching. Presentation and
discussion is practical and down-to-earth. Students will receive practical
and easy-to-implement search strategies and will be encouraged to share
successes and failures with other class members via an online group and
discussion sessions.
Week 1
Overview of FamilySearch full-text search.
This session will provide an overview of full-text search methodology,
discuss how full-text search is different from typical searches, discuss
workarounds for transcription errors, searching specific sets of images,
and search organization.
Week 2
Sourcing and Determining what has been found with FamilySearch full-text
search.
This session will discuss determining what has actually been located,
downloading all information and images for a complete source citation, and
creating a completion citation.
Week 3
Common Name Searching at FamilySearch full-text search.
This session will discuss some specific strategies for searching for common
names in full-text search.
Week 4
Problem-Solving with FamilySearch full-text search.
This session will discuss search formulation, tracking, and problem-solving
when specific items have not been located.
Week 5
Wrap up
Structure
Lectures will be available for downloading the week before the discussion
session. Students will view presentation and do optional homework the week
before the discussion. Each week’s discussion will review the lecture,
discuss homework assignment, and have time for student questions and group
discussion. Homework is optional, but will help students to understand
concepts and get more from discussion sessions.
Discussion sessions (*recorded if you cannot attend live) *will be held:
15, 22, 29 September and 6 and 13 October at 7:30 pm central time.
Class meetings will be via Zoom. Class communication will be via a Google
group. Registration for class is $70
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BKU7EFP9P55C4>.
Purchasers of one of Michael’s previous FamilySearch’s full-text webinars
can order class for $20 less–contact Michael to request special discount
registration link.
Registration is limited and can be processed here
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BKU7EFP9P55C4>.
Confirmation of registration will be made within 24 hours of receipt.
Contact Michael at mjnrootdig at gmail.com <mjnrootdig at gmail.comm> with
questions.
------------------------------
It May Be A Digital Copy of a Microfilmed Copy of a Transcription of the
Actual Record
------------------------------
The database entry for Aquilla Jones and Lettie Cook, taken from
“Tennessee, County Marriages, 1789-1837,” on *FamilySearch* indicates that
they were married in April of 1798 in Davidson County, Tennessee. [image:
jones-search-results]
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/jones-search-results.jpg>
The actual record page stated that the date shown in the index was actually
an “issue date,” apparently of the license. A look at the actual page
suggested that this was not a contemporary register and may have been a
handwritten copy made later. It may have been that the actual record’s date
was not an issue date at all and the transcriber was just putting that date
in the “issue date” spot on the pre-printed page.
My citation to this marriage record needs to indicate that the item I am
using appears to have been a handwritten transcription of the original.
This conclusion is based upon the fact that the handwriting is extremely
consistent for entries made over a series of several years and does not
look like other script I’ve seen for the same time period in the same
location. The printed form on which the records were written was also
rarely used during the time period in which these marriages took place.
This does not mean the information is inaccurate.
It’s just that I need to indicate that the item I was using was a digital
image of a microfilm copy of what appears to have been a transcription of
the original marriage record. All those links in the chain matter.
[image: record-image_S3HT-61JS-XTR]
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/record-image_S3HT-61JS-XTR.jpg>
The citation *FamilySearch *suggests needs a little work as well–just
saying page 35 in insufficient. I need information indicating from which
volume this page was taken. The film number (given in the search results)
can sometimes assist with this, but there are times where one roll of film
contains several individual volumes. For this reason, I chose to browse the
pages.
A little scrolling revealed the pages were microfilmed in reverse order.
Not apparent at first, a little maneuvering through the images made the
ordering of pages clear. The “cover page” of the volume was found at the
end which indicated that this page was from Davidson County Marriage Book 1.
[image: title]
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/title.jpg>
Why do I care?
Because if I can get the contemporary marriage register or record, that is
preferred to this. If it is extant. Sometimes a handwritten transcription
was made because the original was in a deteriorating condition.
But my citation needs to indicate what I’ve used and it certainly needs
more of a citation to the original volume than page 35.
Ready-to-Go Webinars–download immediate:
-
Creating Children’s Stories from Genealogy Events
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/creating-childrens-stories-from-genealogy-information/>
-
Creating Families from pre-1850 Census Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/creating-families-from-pre-1850-census-records/>
-
DeedMapper webinars
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/deedmapper-intro-and-more-deedmapper-webinars/>
-
Farming Ancestor webinars–landowner and non-landowner versions
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/rooting-around-for-farmers-and-tenants-and-laborers/>
-----------------------------------------
Upcoming Trips
-----------------------------------------
- Midwest Genealogy Center–October 2026.
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/>
- Library of Virginia–March 2027
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025-library-of-virginia-research-trip-richmond-virginia/>
- Allen County Public Library–June 2027
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/allen-county-library-2027-research-trip/>
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17
Henderson, IL 61439
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