[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Church Records of Latter Day Saints

[Jerry Frank]

Jennifer and all:

There is a big difference between records that have been extracted for Mormon rites and those which they have microfilmed from original records around the world.

Extracted records of any kind, whether they be for Mormon rites, Ellis Island passenger lists, some SGGEE databases, etc., are all subject to errors and their reliability must be check from original sources.

I believe that many of the LDS extractions, to which you correctly ascribe the errors, are already available online through their website.

The records being digitized by the LDS are the same as the microfilms of ORIGINAL records from around the world.  These records may still contain some errors but, because they were created close to the time and location of the original event, they are very reliable.  It is these original records that will be made available in some way online for us to research at home.

Since their holdings consist of millions of reels of microfilm, I would have to think that it will take many years before all this info can be accessed on line.


Jerry Frank




----- Original Message -----
From: "Jennifer K. Walker" <jkwalker1968 at earthlink.net>
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 11:04 am
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Church Records of Latter Day Saints

> I have found the records of the Mormon Church/Latter Day Saints to 
> be full
> of errors.  I have checked and rechecked much of the information 
> that is
> there, and ultimately have concluded that, as far as my research is
> concerned, their records are not reliable.
> 
> I discussed this with a distant cousin of mine who was also 
> researching our
> family, after she converted to the Mormon Church.  She made the 
> point that
> new converts MUST research their family in order to become members 
> (in an
> effort to pray for all those who have died previously, so that 
> they can be
> brought into Heaven.)  As a result many of those who have 
> submitted their
> records have done so hastily and without much scrutiny of the 
> records.  It
> is these records which are maintained by the church.
> 
> Jennifer Walker
> ---------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 22:48:57 -0400
> From: "Ray Bloch" <rbloch at columbus.rr.com>
> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Article in WSJ
> To: "ger-poland-volhynia" <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Message-ID: <001f01c69994$44abb0f0$5101a8c0 at SHARPDOMAIN.sharpenv.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="koi8-r"
> 
> To all members:
> 
> June 22, 2006 in the Wall Street Journal, Page D1
> 
> Article entitled:  "New Ways to Dig For Your Roots Online"
> 
> In the third paragraph it states the following:
> 
> "In recent months, FamilySearch.org, a free site sponsored by the 
> Church of
> Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, has been expanding its 
> collection of
> birth, marriage, death, census and other records.  It has also 
> begun a
> massive project to digitize billions of records previously 
> avilable only on
> microfilm, particularly civil, church and local records.  It plans 
> to make
> those available online beginning early next year."
> 
> I thought this might be of interest for those of us who have spent 
> timewaiting for microfilms to arrive at our local Family History 
> Centers.  This
> technology will allow us the ability to scour the records in the 
> FamilyHistory Library from our computers at home.
> 
> Ray Bloch
> 
> 
> 
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