A Quiet Garden Scene

On this Easter Sunday, as we celebrated our Savior’s Resurrection, I recalled my mother’s account of an historic evening meeting at “The Garden Tomb,” as it was called, “owned and well maintained by the Dutch Reformed Church.  In September, 1972 they were still allowing some Latter-day Saint groups to hold meetings there … a beautiful setting, evocative of the Savior in whose name they met.”  The speakers were David Galbraith, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, President Harold B. Lee, and my father Ted.  “President Lee made the announcement in his talk and set apart David Galbraith to be the first president of the first Jerusalem Branch of the Church [of Jesus Christ] since the days of the early apostles.  Elder Hinckley set apart John Tvedtnes as first counselor, with the possibility of the second counselor being chosen from the BYU group” [40-50 students expected for a year-round Semester Abroad program.]  Special music included “I Am a Child of God” sung by the children, and “guitar-accompanied settings to several psalms in Hebrew, composed and sung by Abraham ben Abraham (the new Nazarite convert.)  President Lee said again that he felt impressed this was indeed the place where Christ was laid after his crucifixion and where he rose from the dead.  No one who was there at that meeting would ever forget the powerful witness of the Spirit that was also present.”
(Together – A Love Story, by Janath Russell Cannon & Ted Cannon, 1999, pages 133-34)

A Brief History of FH

Family Tree (two words), FamilySearch (one word), family history, genealogy; “Who Do You Think You Are?”  Going back thousands of years, the ancient Hebrews’ genealogies, such as I Chronicles chapters 1-14 in the Old Testament, comprise a ton of family history – evidently of vital importance to them.  In “History of Genealogy”, Donna Potter-Phillips “looks at the early development of genealogy.  Since earliest times, man has thought to leave a record of himself.”
– familychronicle.com

"The restoration of the sealing authority by Elijah in 1836 was necessary to prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming and initiated a greatly increased and worldwide interest in family history research."
– David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October 2011 general conference, "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn."

By 1920, the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU), started in 1894 in Salt Lake City, "had won a permanent and prominent place in the official programs of the [LDS] Church.  …  The Great Depression of the 1930s provided, in one respect, an unexpected stimulus to genealogical work; many who were out of work took the opportunity to do some long-neglected family research."  – James B. Allen, Jessie L. Embry, Kahlile B. Mehr, Hearts Turned to the Fathers: A History of the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1894-1994 (BYU Studies, 2012)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created the International Genealogical Index (IGI), a family history database which “was first published in 1973 and continued to grow through December 2008.  It contains several hundred million entries” ... from two sources: “personal family information submitted to the LDS Church, [and] vital and church records from the early 1500s to 1885.”  – FamilySearch.org

“May 1998: FamilySearch/GSU begins digital imaging of records.   About August 1998: Decision is made by LDS Church leaders to build a genealogical website.  May 1999: Website first opened to the public.  …  Oct. 1999: Surpassed 1.5 billion hits.  … Nov. 1999: 240 million names added, bringing the total number of entries to 640 million.  2001: Work began on a replacement website … (Later named New FamilySearch …)”  – Wikipedia.org

"FamilyTree: New FamilySearch Service Promotes Collaboration.  FamilyTree is the successor to New FamilySearch, which [has been operating] for the past few years ...  [FamilyTree] is live to the general public as of March 5."  – Church News, 11 March 2013
[It later changed to two words: Family Tree.]

“FamilySearch.org is a nonprofit family history organization dedicated to connecting families across generations.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the primary benefactor for FamilySearch services.  Our purpose is simple – help people connect with their ancestors through easy access to historical records.  FamilySearch believes that families bring joy and meaning to life.”  – FamilySearch.org/about