Meeting Leader: Janice Moerschel

Ancestry website: Note that Ancestry now as "custom clusters," for DNA. These groups you can create on your own but also see the standard results that Ancestry creates. Available only for ProTools subscribers.

Janice demonstrated how to add photos to an album in the "Memories" section.

Ron Marvin presented details of searching on Fold3. He showed how to use Fold3 to research military ancestors and how to narrow down results by conflict and location. He discussed strategies for finding specific individuals in this large database and shared tips on using the platform's features to gather information about regiments, battles, and other historical context related to military service. He also showed what is available at the National Park Service website.

Additionally, he shared that records may have spelling and transcription errors. Another way to search is from an Ancestry profile page. He also mentioned that Cheryl Garrison writes detailed stories about World War II veterans from Washington State. One more great tip was to search a service member by their service number, if you have it! I found that my father's draft record for WW II had his number there and will search for him now. Thank you, Ron - great job!

Janice shared that if you create a profile page on Fold3 for a relative, you can add photos, records and stories - and search for records from that profile. At Ancestry, add a "tag" to show a person's military service. Use the card catalog to find military records. Choose "military," location, conflict, etc.  Also note that it is easier to search Ancestry (or FamilySearch) first to see what records may exist. If you find a given record, you may just get one image but, with subscription to Fold3, you may be able to click view to see all images.

Ruth shared that if you place a space after a name in a search bar at Fold3, it may yield more accurate search results, particularly for an unusual surname.

Janice and Ron shared some military veteran stories.

Paula talked about "Wreaths across America." You can contribute money ($17 for a wreath) or you can help lay wreaths on December 13 at the Pines Cemetery. Order wreaths by November 28. Thank you for telling us all about this - what a great way to honor veterans! Learn more here:https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org

We watched Connie Knox on finding military records (about 13 min. video) https://youtu.be/wRReHd1NFOo?si=-R7d2p4pWaPnMe5M

I also recommend webinars hosted by the LegacyFamilyTree website which has two recent military records videos that you can watch for free. Visit this link. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar-library/ One is on Colonial ancestors, and another on World War I. Their videos and video library cover a wide variety of genealogical topics. If you want, you can subscribe. Currently, these two videos are free to watch. These are other videos that may be helpful to folks searching for military records. Note that Fold3 is free until Nov. 16 (Sunday).

Crista Cowan on "Finding the Stories of your military ancestors," Ancestry Education: https://www.ancestry.com/c/discover/education/military-ancestors

Ancestry Academy has short videos about using Fold 3 https://www.ancestryacademy.com/browse

Allen County Library video on navigating Fold3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYfde5nt3Qw

Allen County Library: How to Maximize your search at Fold3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBv7-Zt5YGs

TAG had 16 participants:  Albert Calderon, Brusan Rhoda Wells, Carol Hsu, Charlotte Sullivan,  Dolly Webb,  Janice Moerschel, Juanita McBride, Judy Benson, Karen Kruse Lehfeldt (Clarkston), Kelley Taylor,  Marge Mero, Patricia Robison, Paula Davis, Ron Marvin, Ruth Halligan (Calif.),  and Sandi Gaffney

The next meeting of TAG will be on Thursday, January 8, 2026. I am looking for topic suggestions and/or presenters. This group is here to help you and provide content that interests you

. Meanwhile, thank you, veterans, and have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great holiday season!