Thanks to Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches via Facebook Organizing is a bunch of four letter words--sort, list, file, scan, copy, move. . .and a few others not to be uttered in polite society. Of those words, "List" should be one of your first actions.  Take an inventory of what you have and at least mentally remember where it is located now.  You might be surprised what you have in your file boxes and bookshelves.  Recently I spotted a book on my bookshelf that I could have used a few times myself and could have shared with others. A few years ago I prepared a presentation about the rectangular land survey system by which federal lands were allocated under various land grant acts including the Homestead Act of 1862. In the course of the presentation and several times in my own research I have encountered reference to Military Bounty Warrants. While I roughly know what they are, I have felt I needed to learn more about them but have never made the time...

Genealogical How-to Letters By Vera McDowell A book review by MaryLynn Strickland “That’s a very good book,” someone said, pointing to a bright orange and yellow volume on the book sales table. “Hmmm,” I thought, “I’ll have to remember that.  Someday I’ll buy it.”  A few years later I did just that.  Then, from time to time, I glanced at pages as the book was moved from coffee table to bookshelf.  I can’t say that I ever fulfilled my intention to read all of it. Recently, when I was looking for reading material in the middle of the night, the book literally fell off the shelf and opened to page 54 where I read: “To understand the four nationalities that make up the United Kingdom, we must recognize that: “SCOTS: Keep the Sabbath and everything else they can get their hands on. “IRISH:  Don’t believe in anything and will fight like hell to defend it. “WELSH:  Pray on their knees and everybody else. “ENGLISH:  Feel like they were bo...

By Dorothy Pretare In my prior post, “What Will Happen to Your Family History Stuff”, we identified 1) the types of family history stuff and their possible locations, 2) your hopes and possible options, and 3) some steps to help ensure your hopes/wishes will be honored. One of those steps was to “Organize Your Stuff”.  This step will help you in your research and make it easier to share information with others.  First, each of us may approach tasks in different ways -- think about handing an unorganized grocery list to a few people and watch them shop in an unfamiliar store.  Since there are many ways to organize items, I suggest you check “The Organized Genealogist” on Facebook or “Organize Your Family History” ( https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/ ) or Cyndi’s List ( https://www.cyndislist.com/organizing/ ) for her list of links to various methods.  Just select a method you think will work for you and remember you can always change your method of organizin...