FamilySearch CEO Interview In Premium Podcast Episode 107

Dennis_BrimhallDid you know that the CEO of FamilySearch International doesn’t have a background in genealogy?

Dennis Brimhall is an experienced CEO–that’s why he was hired. But he admits that some folks even within his own organization weren’t sure about having him at the helm if family history wasn’t his personal passion.

Since then–only two years ago–FamilySearch has grown under Brimhall’s leadership. Dennis’ interest in family history has grown, too! Check out the interview in my Premium Podcast Episode 107, just published. You’ll hear how FamilySearch is reaching out to the 95%+ of the public who is not actively doing genealogy by focusing on the same things that caught Dennis’ interest: stories and photos.

In this episode we also explore a wonderful resource for Missouri genealogical research, and then we make tracks on some railroad history.

GG Premium MembershipNot a Premium member yet? You’re missing out! My website is packed with hours’ worth of Premium podcast episodes like this one as well as a full (and growing!) series of Premium videos. The videos are recordings of  some of my most popular presentations, and they’re available to Premium members 24/7 from the comfort of their own computers at the fraction of the cost of attending any major conference! They cover many of my most-requested topics: Google searching, Google Earth, Evernote, using the iPad for genealogy, hard drive organization and more! Check out the full list of membership benefits here.

Google Earth for Canada and Genealogy

canada_flag_perspective_anim_150_clr_2301Awhile back, Barbara from Courtenay, British Columbia, sent me an excellent question about using Google Earth for Canadian genealogy. Then she sent me an excellent answer before I had a chance to answer it myself! Here’s what they were:

Question: “I live in Canada and a lot of the Google Earth articles involving land plats can’t be applied in Canada. The prairie provinces do have a similar land survey system, with townships, ranges and meridians. I found a website where these can be converted to coordinates that Google Earth will recognize.  However, this particular website would like to be paid for providing this information (legallandconverter.com). Do you know of any way these numbers can be converted without paying?”

Answer: “I have some good news!  My very smart son found a free website, prairielocator.com, which will give you the coordinates of Section, Township, Range and Meridian for the Canadian prairie provinces. It doesn’t cover quarter sections, but that’s okay if you know which one your ancestor was on. Please pass this along to your Canadian fans or Americans who have Canadian ancestors (there are many, I know).”
Thank you, Barbara–and a special shout-out to your son for finding that resource to help genealogists use Google Earth for Canada research! Here’s my two-cent’s worth: I just peeked at PrairieLocator.com and I see the site also has an app for the iPhone: Prairie Locator Mobile – for iPhone,
and an app for the iPad Prairie Locator Mobile – for iPad

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