MennoNet and Genealogy

[Josh]

Russian Mennonites (or people married to one) tend to like to store their info in "Grandma Online".

This is a site that is specifically about people from Dutch Mennonite heritage.
So also the Mennonite History and Genealogy FaceBook group, of which I am a member. I'm sure I have a number on GMOL (GrandMa OnLine), but I do not have a subscription. All of my ancestors are Plautdietsch, so as I say, "I don't have as man ancestors as most people". (Because a lot of them are the same people...) I reckon it's much the same for people of Swiss Brethren background. (Our daughter & her husband are distantly related to one another around 6 different ways, and not only am I not of any Swiss Brethren extraction at all, but this is only from looking in the 'Raber Book".)

I have yet to meet any Russian Mennonite person that refers to themselves as "Dutch Mennonites". Amongst Holdeman circles, everyone refers to themselves as Russian Mennonites if they want to get into ethnic background details.

[Neto]

Russian Mennonites (or people married to one) tend to like to store their info in "Grandma Online".

This is a site that is specifically about people from Dutch Mennonite heritage.
So also the Mennonite History and Genealogy FaceBook group, of which I am a member. I'm sure I have a number on GMOL (GrandMa OnLine), but I do not have a subscription. All of my ancestors are Plautdietsch, so as I say, "I don't have as man ancestors as most people". (Because a lot of them are the same people...) I reckon it's much the same for people of Swiss Brethren background. (Our daughter & her husband are distantly related to one another around 6 different ways, and not only am I not of any Swiss Brethren extraction at all, but this is only from looking in the 'Raber Book".)

I have yet to meet any Russian Mennonite person that refers to themselves as "Dutch Mennonites". Amongst Holdeman circles, everyone refers to themselves as Russian Mennonites if they want to get into ethnic background details.

In my circles, the majority do as you said, but I'm fairly certain that not all Dutch Mennonites that left Holland to settle in Prussia ever moved to Russia at all, and some came much later, staying for a very short time. So some Dutch Mennonites have no historical reason to self-identify as "Russian Mennonites".

When meeting Amish people I usually start by saying I am Plautdietsch, then say "also known as 'Russian Mennonite'. In some contexts I use both terms (Dutch and Russian), but if I want to clear up the impression that we are culturally or ethnically Russian, I will use the more accurate term, Dutch Mennonite. Also, the ancestors of those who left during the Soviet era were much more "Russified" both in language & culture than those who left in the 1870's, as did all of my own ancestors, with the exception of one of my great grandfathers, who left in 1890 or 91, at 19 or 20 years of age. He knew Russian well enough to work as a translator (after learning English), but many of those who left in the 1870's knew very little Russian at all, unless their business responsibilities required it, and then it was probably only a superficial mastery of the language. The Czarist government had officials who knew German well enough that those they related to in the colonies didn't need to speak Russian well. (Recall that there were also German-speaking Lutheran colonies in Russia, as well as German-speaking Jewish colonies. And of course Katherine the Great was German herself.)

I probably use the term "Dutch Mennonite" here more often than I do in daily conversations, because I'm relating to more knowledgeable people here than is the typical Amish person that I meet for the first time. (Some have never heard anything at all about Mennonites in Russia, or know that there were also Mennonites in Holland, etc. Others know quite a lot.)

[Soloist]

This past week, I've started digging into my genealogy for the first time.

I'm using FamilySearch.org and its sub-site RelativeFinder.org

Wife: has anyone else read the privacy policy or the terms of service on family search? It’s kind of an odd seeming website and makes me wonder what the Mormons use it for with all their ordinances/rites/wards, etc.. Maybe to make sure their missionaries know who it is and isn’t eligible? They seem more into genealogy than the Mennonites are.

I might do it later if soloist goes for it. It would be amusing to find out if I was actually related to anybody. my dad sent me a link to some other relatives and I figured out that there’s a strong possibility of us being related to Moses Carver. My children thought that was cool and wondered if that meant that we were related to George Washington Carver, and I had to remind them of the unfortunate truth.

[Ken]

This past week, I've started digging into my genealogy for the first time.

I'm using FamilySearch.org and its sub-site RelativeFinder.org

Wife: has anyone else read the privacy policy or the terms of service on family search? It’s kind of an odd seeming website and makes me wonder what the Mormons use it for with all their ordinances/rites/wards, etc.. Maybe to make sure their missionaries know who it is and isn’t eligible? They seem more into genealogy than the Mennonites are.

I might do it later if soloist goes for it. It would be amusing to find out if I was actually related to anybody. my dad sent me a link to some other relatives and I figured out that there’s a strong possibility of us being related to Moses Carver. My children thought that was cool and wondered if that meant that we were related to George Washington Carver, and I had to remind them of the unfortunate truth.

I thought about this exact question but then I realized it is all public record anyway. You can do the genealogy of any random person if you want. Who their parents are, grandparents, great grandparents, and so forth. Having it all in one place is convenient. But if we are talking about genealogy, there is really nothing private about any of it. It is just public birth records, census records, marriage records, immigration records, and so forth.

Genetic records are something different. If you do something like 23&Me you should probably be aware of how your unique genetic records are going to be used.

[Soloist]

This past week, I've started digging into my genealogy for the first time.

I'm using FamilySearch.org and its sub-site RelativeFinder.org

Wife: has anyone else read the privacy policy or the terms of service on family search? It’s kind of an odd seeming website and makes me wonder what the Mormons use it for with all their ordinances/rites/wards, etc.. Maybe to make sure their missionaries know who it is and isn’t eligible? They seem more into genealogy than the Mennonites are.

I might do it later if soloist goes for it. It would be amusing to find out if I was actually related to anybody. my dad sent me a link to some other relatives and I figured out that there’s a strong possibility of us being related to Moses Carver. My children thought that was cool and wondered if that meant that we were related to George Washington Carver, and I had to remind them of the unfortunate truth.

I thought about this exact question but then I realized it is all public record anyway. You can do the genealogy of any random person if you want. Who their parents are, grandparents, great grandparents, and so forth. Having it all in one place is convenient. But if we are talking about genealogy, there is really nothing private about any of it. It is just public birth records, census records, marriage records, immigration records, and so forth.

Genetic records are something different. If you do something like 23&Me you should probably be aware of how your unique genetic records are going to be used.

Wife: Well, actually, I’m not talking so much about the worry about privacy. I’m saying you should read the privacy policy because it’s very strange and mildly amusing. I think it might be the only privacy policy I didn’t actually just skim through.

[Josh]

Genetic records are something different. If you do something like 23&Me you should probably be aware of how your unique genetic records are going to be used.

You should also be aware how any of your relatives who signed up for 23&Me will have their unique genetic record used, which can easily be used to tie back to you.

[temporal1]

i’m not knowledgeable, but Mormons have vast genealogical archives, there’s a lot to learn about them and their records.
i’ve found so much through FAMILY SEARCH, i don’t believe i’ll be able to get through all of it in my lifetime. many surprises.
i have a free account.

i even found a link to some of the original mid-1800’s Mormons that made the journey to the Mexican Territory in attempt to escape persecution in Illinois. Cousins. (Not mentioned in my family, i had no idea.) Being Mormon was highly contentious.

PBS / The Mormons / Genealogy and the Mormon Archives
https://www.pbs.org/mormons/etc/genealo ... ily%20unit.

.. The church created an index for every person counted in the 1880 U.S. census, the 1881 Canadian census and the 1881 British census. These records are freely available online, and images can be accessed at the Family History Library or a Family History Center.

Other records online through FamilySearch.org include the Social Security Death Index, which has the names of deceased individuals who had a Social Security card and whose death was reported to the Social Security Administration after 1962 (when the database began); and the Vital Records Index, which has birth, death, christening and marriage records for select localities in Mexico and Scandinavia.

In 2001, the LDS Church collaborated with the Ellis Island Foundation to build the American Family Immigration History Center and the Ellis Island Web site, which has the names of 22 million passengers and crew members who arrived in New York through Ellis Island between 1882 and 1924.

And in 2002, the LDS Church began an ambitious plan to scan and put online all of the billions of records in the
Granite Mountain Vault, with volunteers creating indices to the records. Because of technological advances, a project once estimated to take 120 years may be finished in the next 10 years.

Mormons were doing this before DNA was on the scene.

i’m interested in all genealogical sites and resources, some mentioned here are new for me.
FAMILYSEARCH.COM has become a regular for me. Years ago, i tried Ancestry.com, i still have a free account there; it’s limited, paid membership has become pricey.

i frequent FINDAGRAVE.COM, too. also free. It’s really grown over time. “business is steady.”

[steve-in-kville]

Mike and I are fourth cousins once removed, fifth cousins once removed, fifth cousins twice removed, and sixth cousins once removed, depending on which branch you look at.

Poor mike. He's gonna need therapy knowing that

On a serious note, my wife was 7th cousins to her own maternal grandfather.

[Ernie]

This past week, I've started digging into my genealogy for the first time.

I'm using FamilySearch.org and its sub-site RelativeFinder.org

Wife: has anyone else read the privacy policy or the terms of service on family search? It’s kind of an odd seeming website and makes me wonder what the Mormons use it for with all their ordinances/rites/wards, etc.. Maybe to make sure their missionaries know who it is and isn’t eligible? They seem more into genealogy than the Mennonites are.

Mormons are in the process of baptizing by proxy, every person that ever died on this earth. So the family search database is used for this purpose. They also have a bunker in Utah made into solid granite, that utilizes 60 LDS staff, who file away all sorts of information about your ancestors. They are now in the process of digitizing this.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... ords-vault

https://www.deseret.com/2010/4/29/20111 ... tual-tour/

[mike]

Mike and I are fourth cousins once removed, fifth cousins once removed, fifth cousins twice removed, and sixth cousins once removed, depending on which branch you look at.

Poor mike. He's gonna need therapy knowing that

On a serious note, my wife was 7th cousins to her own maternal grandfather.

I wouldn't have expected that close of a connection given my lineage is Amish and presumably OJ's is Mennonite. Must have been some crossover at some point?