publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Blacksmith-sketch/63288 Double Down Why do you do genealogy research? For me, it's about finding more cousins. Others want to uncover the stories that were not passed down, prove their connection to a group of ancestors such as Revolutionary soldiers, pioneers, their links to an ancestral village, or an early group of immigrants.  I think it is important to think about what you really want  because  focusing your attention to a specific goal naturally increases your enjoyment, skill and success. Along the way, notice what tools you use to find and document your discoveries, and research how to best use those tools. Create a work flow that optimizes the time you have and improves your end product.  What is your dream? A trip to the old home place? A book about the family? A family reunion, or large DNA project? The more detailed your dream, the more effective your work will be. As I improve my DNA tree, I work in the Ancestry...

Tower in the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe   By Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa - Conical Tower - Great Enclosure III, CC BY-SA 2.0 Planning a Dig  While watching a documentary about an archaeological dig, I noticed how the team decided on first steps in their investigation into the history and development of an ancient huge African city. Instead of looking at the obvious features such as the central enclosure and outer walls, they started on a steep hillside where there seems to be a dump! Why? Because that is where they would find the remains of everyday life of the majority of the people.  We naturally notice the rich, the famous, the powerful--those in the headlines. But as we investigate our families, and the families of our ancestors, where do we find them? Only rarely in the headlines. Instead, we find them in letters, diaries, recipes, snapshots, social columns, legal and other government records, obituaries . And many choose to follow the pat...

Sunrise courtesy of Pixabay Sunrise, Sunset, Swiftly Go the Years Recently I attended a funeral Mass for my friend Steve from high school days. Many mutual friends attended, and much of his family, some of whom I knew, and some met that afternoon. We shared so many memories, stories, pictures, music, food, laughter, and some tears. Even a bit of genealogy and family history! The Sixties and Seventies when we all knew one another seemed so close, and yet eons ago. We've lost some friends along the way too, and their parents; and in that way it all seems like a distant past. And yet, as I re-introduced myself to so many, we're the same people we were, with more white or less hair, more wrinkles, some crutches and canes. The young ones playing or crying in the aisles of the church showed that life is moving on. In the words of Barbra Streisand,"memories may be beautiful and yet, what's too painful to remember we simply choose to forget. So it's the laughter we will re...

  "Light within all living beings," by Stefan Perneborg via Flickr; free to use. I bow to the light within you: namaste.  Before traveling to India to speak at a student conference a few years ago, I became aware of the Indian customary greeting, and what it meant. An Indian friend said, well, we don't think about the full meaning, it is just a respectful hello. However, while in India I felt deeply welcomed and respected by each person I met; many of them offering gifts upon meeting me. I treasure those gifts and the way each person made me feel.  I try to treat people like that, and life is generally better when I do. Over the past year, I've been trying to clean up my Ancestry tree, and since mulling over this practice of namaste, to see what "beginner me" was trying to accomplish years ago. I made lots of mistakes, but the repair project has taught me so much.  However,  I'm still struggling to honor the light within some of my ancestors and their re...

Before heading to the grocery store, I need to make a list, so I don't forget to pick up something we need, or worse, buy things we don't! I hate waste and overcrowding the 'fridge. It is even more important to plan both my schedule and my genealogy.  I learned how helpful this was some years ago, when we studied Research Like A Pro : A Genealogist’s Guide by  Diana Elder, AG with Nicole Dyer .  Thinking about my questions and goals before diving in, and carefully reviewing everything I know (or think I do) is critical to progress and eventual success. The GPS, Genealogical Proof Standard , was created to help us in our work, because building on a solid foundation helps us have confidence in our findings and enjoy the journey. I find planning more parts of my life helps me have more time for research too. I use Google calendar, but whatever tools you like will work, as long as you use them as a part of your daily routine.  So what's my latest plan? I just started on...

  Oroboros, free image courtesy of Magnific.com Oroboros, or: Haven't I been here before? The value and danger of digging into FAN club members who are part of an "allied family" and part of the pioneer generation of settlers, is finding the same names over and over. Sisters marry brothers, people marry spouses of their same surname or their mother's surname, and occasionally first or second cousins. I  became dizzy as the tree filled. I imagine the snake in the ancient symbol above is feeling woozy too. F amily, Friends,  A ssociates & N eighbors sometimes play all three roles in the early generations and rural locations. Lately, my first action when looking at a census record is to open the index and scan the neighbors, before looking at the person and their family in the image. When I've researched more deeply into their history, another look at the index reveals even more, as future spouses lurk nearby.  Moving back to an earlier generation reveals more ...

kellytf via pixabay.com: Public Domain Have you ever discovered something shocking in your research? I've found terrible tragedies, murders, accidents, and such, but not often something that blindsided—jolted me physically. To be "blindsided" means to be caught completely off guard by an unexpected event, particularly one that is harmful, distressing, or leaves you unprepared to react, according to Dictionary.com. Google adds that the term originated in sports like football—referring to a blindside tackle, a hit delivered from outside a player's field of vision. I shouldn't have been shocked to find Alexander Hamilton (not the famous one) in this place and time as a slaveholder, or to see his name in the 1850 Slave Schedule in Grainger County, Tennessee. But my research there so far had turned up little evidence of slaveholding, so I'd neglected to seek out those records. I'm not alone—few other researchers on Ancestry, FamilySearch, or WikiTree had li...

Dorothea-Lange-Florence-Thompson-and-her-children-in-a-pea-pickers-camp.- Nipomo-California.-March-1936; courtesy of PBS Until you begin the hunt, you never know what you'll find . When I began a research report for my great-grandmother, Nancy Jane Booth, (my mother's father's mother) I thought that I knew all about her from previous research. So I was shocked to see a Newspapers.com hint about a Sheriff's sale in Hugoton, Kansas. I knew that they had briefly lived there with their daughter's family, but had no clue they ever owned property there. The text isn't that interesting, but the details matter, so here is a transcription: (First published June 29, 1917) Notice of Sheriff's Sale Notice is hereby given, that in pursuance of an Order of Sale issued out of the District Court of Stevens County, Kansas, on the 13th day of June, 1917, an action wherein J.D. Newcomer Company, a corporation, is plaintiff, and Samuel McBee and Nancy McBee his wife, are defend...

Photo: Spider web with morning dew by  Ivicabrlic , courtesy of Wikimedia Commons The children's book Charlotte's Web came to mind this month, as more and more obituaries appeared in my hints, each adding to the web of information which solved mysteries, one tiny bit of information at a time. In that wonderful story, Charlotte has to work hard to create her web, even learning to read and spell in her effort to help the children save their pet pig.  Sometimes I see a family as a jigsaw puzzle , with really oddly shaped pieces, like a puzzle with a few missing bits. But  weaving a web better describes the work : find and snag the image of the obituary or news article, transcribe and link all the people named, then figure out who was NOT named and why. It's also interesting to see what facts are missing, such as previous marriages and divorce. The author of each obit worked as hard as a politician's speechwriter, stressing what they want remembered, while glossing over wh...

WTA volunteers building trail. Used with permission. While researching, all of us find people in records,  known and unknown, and would like to easily add them to our tree where we can find and add more records, properly place them in their family, and judge whether or not the family is properly placed.  This post will illustrate some ways to do that, using examples from my Ancestry.com online tree. Similar techniques can be used on other platforms.  Sometimes when you find a new person, it's quite easy to add each of the family members from a census record, even before the 1880, where relationships are not noted. When you experience that ease,  thank whoever blazed that path for you. In this post, I'll demonstrate how to mark the path yourself so that future  family researchers can more accurately add all the family members in a record. What Ancestry labels "Record" is actually a linked household index. An example is below. First, add your mystery person to yo...