Overwhelmed? Here's Five Steps To Help!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of genealogy information being "thrown" at you these days?  A sense of being totally overwhelmed by the "information highway"?   It seems like everyday there is some new technology, something new to search, something new to try, a new website, a new genealogy Facebook page,  you want to look at them all but you've got kids to take care of, the laundry calls, someone has to make dinner and the list seems to just keep growing on both the personal and the genealogy sides?

I know how you feel!  It can be tough.  But I've learned some things so I thought I'd share them with you.  This is how I survive, can't swear it will work for you but some suggestions that might help.

• Priorities  -  Sit down, step back and take a hard look at just what it is that is truly important to you.  Yes, I know you really want to find out who the parents of John Smith are.  We all do.  But the fact is, he's been dead for over 200 years.  He can wait.  Stop and take a good look at what really matters.  Then plan your time around those things.
• Organize -  You would be amazed at how much easier life is when you organize your life.  Not just your genealogy but your day to day life as well.  I didn't say it was easy or that it would happen over night, but it can be done.  By having things organized, you can quickly get things done without spending half the time you wanted to use researching or doing household chores looking for things to help get the job done.  Make a place for everything and put everything in its place. 
• Simplify - Again it really makes like easier if you learn to simplify things.  I enjoy cooking and baking as one of my "other" hobbies.  I sometimes see really great recipes with tons of ingredients and steps to making them.  Reading over the process I usually find a way to side step alot of the process and still get the same results.  There are alot of things that you can do to simplify things.  In genealogy, when doing some internet searches I search using ONE group sheet. Yep, just one family and search only for that family. No rabbit hole running.
• Make Lists  -  Not just in your genealogy but in your daily life.  Sit down and make a list of the chores that you need to take care of.  Sometimes by multitasking & dividing you can shorten the time it takes to get the job done.  By making a list you can see what chores are the most time consuming and perhaps do one per day, combined with several smaller chores each day.  Everything gets done and you win with more time for doing the things you want to do instead of what you have to do. 
• Learn to say NO -  Being a stay at home mom for all of our marriage meant that I was one of those who got asked to do EVERYTHING.  You know,  you are at home watching soaps and eating bon bons so of course you have time to be on every committee and do everything right?  I learned early on that if I accepted everything that I was asked to do I quickly had no time to do the things I needed/wanted to do at home.  So I stepped back, decided which things were the most important for me to do at school to support the activities I felt important and then adjusted my time to fit that in.  Everything else was "Sorry, I'd love to help but I'm already volunteering on several other projects."  

In the long run, it really boils down to one thing.  PRIORITIES.  What really matters to you?   We all love our genealogy.  It's addictive, it's challenging and I could go on and on.  But the fact of the matter is very few of us are "Islands".  We have people we live with, people who depend on us for other things.  And as much as we'd love to research 24/7 it really isn't possible.  At least not for me.  So take a few minutes, step back and take good hard look at your life.  Decide what things matter and then take it from there!  You'll be much happier and so will those around you!  
          

Monday Musings

So much to do, so little time.  I was surprised today when I came time to do my blog for today, to discover that my laptop was still in my bag from Thursday!  I was amazed!  Hardly a day goes by that I am not on the laptop working on my file in some way.  When I mentioned to Mr Brown Eyes that I had not been on the laptop he just laughed.

We hosted Easter here for our kids & grandkids.  Lots of laughs, food and time together. 

I'm back to working on all my images.  Naming, cropping and linking, checking each and every image to make sure that all are properly linked & named.  We aren't even going to discuss numbers on that project.  If I saw how many images I actually have linked, I might just run the other way.

I also started working on a sourcing project last week.  Modifying all my sources to make sure they are properly done and the information on each one is correct.  A lot of my sources are items in the Allen County Public Library catalog so I can copy & paste lots of the information straight from their catalog to my source.  Does make things easier.

And of course working on the to do list for the research trip to Allen County as well.

What are YOU working on this week??

Monday Musings

Seems like the week just flew by, hard to believe its Monday already.  Worked some more on my data base, primarily looking for sources on things that were entered in the file when I first started researching 20+ years ago.

I will be speaking on the West Coast the last weekend in April and as a side trip we will be spending a few days researching at the FHL in Salt Lake City.  So prep has begun on the list of things I want to research on there as well.

Saturday was productive as well, but with a wedding to attend on Sunday and the oldest grandson being hospitalized for a short time I can't say same for Sunday.  The grandson is fine but I'll have to play catch up on that research list at a later time. 

So how was your weekend?  What sort of research do you have on tap this week?

Wedding Wednesday - Nunn & Harrell (1838)

 

 Marr Rec Abner Nunn & Margaret Harrell

Claiborne County, Tennessee

15 DEC 1838

Pg. 64

Abner Nunn was a second cousin to Mark thru his Hurst line.  Abner's parents were Elisha Nunn (1791- ?) and Delilah Hurst (1817- ?).  Abner and Margaret Harrell, who was also the daughter of a Hurst, were the parents of 8 known children -
  Calloway, Mary, Isaac, Rhotin, Julian, Harmon, Martha and Floyd. 

Research on this line is currently ongoing. 

Wedding Wednesday - Hurst & Nelson (1845)

I certify that I solemnized the rights of matrimony between Nelson Evans & Elizabeth Hurst by uniting them together as husband & wife Nov. 9, 1845
     /s/ G. M. Clerk
I do certify the of matrimony were celebrated by me between the within named persons Nov. 9, 1845. 
   /s/ W.L. Turner, Minister of the Gospel
                                                     ***************
 Elizabeth Hurst was the 3rd great aunt of Mr. Brown Eyes.  She and Nelson were the parents of 10 children - James, George, William, Isaac, John, Thomas, Sarah, Mary, Nancy and Granville.  Nelson dies in 1864 in the Union Prison, Rock Island, Illinois.  It is unknown to the compiler the date & location of Elizabeth's death & burial.

**Claiborne County, Tennessee marriage records, 1845, Pg. 84, marriage of Nelson Evans and Elizabeth Hurst.

Military Monday - Civil War Records - A Good Thing!

This civil war record lists dates of service, pensions, unit & rank and when you get really lucky, the death date and place at the bottom.  Using that death date I was able to pull his death certificate below! 

Wedding Wednesday - The Gov. Marries!

Thomas Watkins Ligon was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia on 10 MAY 1810 and died 12 JAN 1881 in Howard County, Maryland.  He was a representative in the 29th & 30th Congress and was the Governor of Maryland from 1854-1858.  He was married twice, to sisters, the first above was to Mary T. Dorsey and after her death, he remarried to her sister, Sally Dorsey. 

There were a total of five children from the two marriages, three survived him at his death. 

Thrifty Thursday

Last year on Nov. 1st, 2011, I started keeping a research journal.  No lengthy writing or anything like that, BUT, I did start writing down what I worked on every day! 

Just a line or two, with details where I could.  I kept records of the projects I worked on, how they progressed, what I sent away for, when I got a response and what the response was.   The journal I kept was a real eye opener for me. 

I tracked research trips,  day trips, projects, blogs, contacts, webinars I wanted to take, and genealogy club meetings I did not want to miss,  and just about anything else you might think I could.  I even kept it while I was in Europe working there. 

The thrifty comes in with the fact that it saved me time (all notes in one place), paper (there wasn't 500 sticky post it notes all over my desk), and frustration (everything was at my fingertips).  Anything having to do with my genealogy research - notes, dates, projects, webinars etc., you name it, all noted and available with the turn of the page.  No more looking for slips of paper wondering if it got pitched to the circular file or not. 

I found it to be so helpful - I bought a new one to start fresh with on Nov. 1, 2012 for another year!

Friday Updates - The Research Log & More

So I wrote on Nov. 1st that I was going to attempt to maintain a research log.  I explained that this would be a challenge for me.  Or so I thought.

As of today, 17 whole days later I can say that I have been able to keep up the research journal.  I've got 17 full days of notes, including things that may not be genealogy but do relate to or influence my genealogy. I've included notes on travels, library's, copy costs, general notes abt those libraries (see yesterday's rant... Its Not Rocket Science), correspondance on genealogy and general what it is I've been working on for that day.  Not only is this good for me - helping keep me on track with my research but it will be great for my tax prep as I've also noted how many copies I made @ what cost, hotels I stayed in and the cost.  A great way to help keep it all straight!  Mr. Brown Eyes aka my accountant is thrilled!

This has been quite productive on the genealogy & home front.  In the genealogy realm I've been working more on the marriage project.  I"ve had quite a few marriages that I maybe only had a year on or perhaps a full date but no place - so I've been working to fill all those in.  Lots of success on that!   My recent day in Dayton at the Archives helped fill in LOTS of those wedding places.  I also found the date of my great grandparents divorce.  Something I did not have.  My goal for this year has not been to add more generations but to make sure that my data base is fully "dated" and sourced.  That is progressing very nicely.

On the non genealogy front,  bits & pieces of Christmas decor have started to appear around the house.  Today at Costco I found two beautiful "real" wreaths for my front doors.  They sure made the car smell wonderful.  My mom is here visiting from Florida and she's started to wrap the gifts I have accumulated for the grandsons.  Now that they are wrapped, we'll put them away to be "bowed" and put out after the boys are asleep on Christmas eve. 

The biggest task for the next few days is cleaning up my desk and inputting all the stuff I found last weekend!  Should keep me busy for a few days! 

Happy Researching!
Karen

On The Road Again...And More

First of all, I apologize to all the readers who showed up to read, and I had nothing for you to read. The week was just out of control, basically due to some computer rebuilding and all the work that comes with it.

Now back on track - first we are on the road again. Nothing new there. Mr. Brown Eyes had some business down in southern Ohio. In fact, just south of Butler County, Ohio. Gee, I just happened to have ancestors in that county. So off we went yesterday (Sunday) morning. The Middletown, Butler County public library just happened to have Sunday hours.

Of the 39 things on the to do list I managed to clear 20 items from the list. I found several things I wasn't looking for at all. Mr. Brown Eyes got into a county history and found some bio's that were quite interesting, one involving the flood of March 1913.

Today we will be headed to Dayton for a few hours research at the Montgomery County Archives & Record Center!

Research Journals & Planning

I remember when I was a kid in school all the girls were writing in diaries.  It was the thing to do.  Write in your diary lock it, hide the key and hope that your brother didn't find it. 

Somehow the diary thing never caught on with me.  I've never been a diary type person.  Mr. Brown eyes & the kids have bought me a few journals over the years, I'd keep them for a few days or a week then didn't write in them anymore.  I had too many other things to do to try and keep up with a diary or journal. 

Maybe that explained the surprised look on his face when I said I was going to do a blog.  Been over two years now and I'm still blogging, so I guess that's a good thing.  He sort of got that same look on his face when I told him I had bought a research journal.  Actually the official title is called My Family Tree Research Planner.  I've never been one to plan or log my research, as I do most of it "by the seat of my pants" as my grandpa used to call it.

Its a pretty handy little book.  I'm including a few images below just to give you some idea of what I am talking about.

Photo above simple cover shot...

This image shows a monthly page.

This page shows reminders for backing up files, research tips and more. To the right you can just see a corner of the daily page - which is shown below. There is room for daily notes, a bit small but I'll manage and space for progress notes on projects and a note space for reminders etc.

I decided instead of waiting until January to make a great start, to go ahead and make my start now. There's enough adjustments to make in the new year, so I've decided to get a head start on one of my "resolutions" now. We'll see how it works. You'll make sure I keep on track right?
Do you keep a research journal or notebook? How has that worked out for you? I'd love to hear your thoughts on research journals.
For those of you who are interested I got my journal at the Family Tree Shop.
Happy Resarching
Karen

The Study of Genealogy

Clicking on the image will enlarge in a new window.  Use your browsers back button to return to GFOM.

I found this article rather interesting because a few days ago I was reading an article very much like this one in a much more recent newspaper online.  It sounded as though this fascination with genealogy was something new.  Then yesterday when researching I found this.  Funny thing is, this clipping is from 1897! 

The newer one did not have the same point of view as this has in the second paragraph, which I find interesting as well.

*Image from The Hastings Banner (Mich.), 26 AUG 1897, Pg. 2

Happy Researching!

Karen

Progress

I hate filing.  I avoid it at all costs.  When my daughter lived at home I've been known to pay her to do my filing for me.  But she's moved out now.  I don't think Mark likes filing any more than I do. I don't know any genealogist who enjoys filing.

The two trips we've been on this year both had fabulous research outcomes, except that the data entry isn't nearly as fun as finding the stuff.  Guess you could say I love the thrill of the hunt more than the data entry & filing that comes along with the hunt.

Maybe the first two paragraphs were just excuses for why I can't say, "Yep, everything is all entered, all neatly typed & sourced!"  I WISH!  Sometimes it just seems life gets in the way, you know, little things like laundry or hanging out with the grandsons. 

Enough with the excuses, the fact is, its not all typed & sourced.  But that's okay, last I saw the stuff doesn't just go away on its own.  In fact, I find it very patient.  Patiently sitting here in stacks, on my desk, waiting.  Yep, just waiting for me to get back into typing & filing.  I backed off on a trip to Ft Wayne to research, I've got enough to do already!  Or do I?

Since we returned I can say I've gotten about 40 obits typed in, along with several wills & estate files scanned and linked.  So in all fairness I have gotten some stuff done, right? 

With the heat here I'm thinking maybe I'll work on some stuff today, maybe get some more stuff typed in.  Who knows, since those stacks are so patient, maybe I'll just find something to research...

Happy Researching!
Karen

My Favorite Time Of The Year...

Its my favorite time of the year! Well, yes, I do enjoy Christmas but I also like this time of year because I get to research for me!

I'm done speaking until early January, so my days now are spent working on my projects. I've got a couple going actually. The first is a source modification project I've been working on a few hours at a time. After reseaching for a while you start to wonder about how some things you did, and eventually modifications come into play.

The second project is going thru two books that I bought from my friend Wayne. Wayne has to be without a doubt the best when it comes to scanning and "cleaning up" old documents. And lucky me, we happen to research in the same counties. The primary one being Montgomery County, Ohio. His work in preserving the old records is just phenominal. Two of his books of scanned images are here, the first being Montgomery County, Ohio Marriage Book A-1 1803-1827, and the second being Montgomery County Ohio Wills, Administrations & Estates 1803-1918. I'm working my way thru the marriage book now, and adding tons of dates & places to my files. I hope to get started on the will book, adding much to my to do list I'm sure!

Finally I'm typing the obits & estates I pulled at the Garst a few weeks ago. Lots of scanning of all the probate files I pulled and typing of all the obituaries. With 193 copies made it will take a while. 

With all the parties done, the baking (completed today), now comes the time for me to do some serious work in my files.  I do enjoy the Christmas season but having down time to just work on my files - that makes it even better.  I'm temporarily at the dining room table so I can enjoy the Christmas tree and the beautiful snowy landscape outside my picture window. 

 Now if you'll excuse me that marriage book is calling....

Happy Researching!
Karen

Trick or Treat in July?

The research trip is over. It was in my opinion a successful one. If nothing else is learned from the trip I would hope that being prepared does have something to do with how much success is acheived. Not to say there are not things that no matter what won't be found.... but if you are prepared I do believe there is a chance you can at least do the very best job possible.

I'm a firm believer in going into any research trip prepared. However you choose to prepare - its up to you, but going in cold with absolutely no prep seems to me - you are just setting yourself up to fail.

Now that the trip is done, the briefcase is unpacked, the backup moved to the desktop, everything is in stacks on the desk. The next step... where do I begin with all this stuff?

Now the real fun begins. This reminds of Halloween night when the trick or treating was all done, we always finished the night by going home and dumping our treat bags in the middle of the floor. Checking out all the goodies was almost as much fun as the time we spent running from house to house getting them all. (this was way before candy had to be x-rayed before consuming)

So for me its time to "dump" the bag of goodies and starting looking to see exactly what I did come home with! I can't wait! I'll be sure to share anything really good with you.

Candy bar anyone?

Happy researching!
Karen

Three R's...

Bet you've seen that before - the three R's... you know what they are... review, review, review...
Yep you are seeing that correctly! Its all about review.

With my sweet husband moving the date of departure forward a few days we are now in review stage. I've written before about reviewing your files - but for now this comes down to reviewing the prep I've done for this trip.

• Decided on what counties in Pennsylvania I want to focus on
• Determined which lines I want to focus on
• Researched which libraries & archives I want to visit
• Determined what work needed to be done on our Ohio days
• Put together an extensive obituary search list for Ohio
• Assembled my research notebook

Now its time to focus on my briefcase and making sure I have everything in there I need. There's nothing worse than getting to the library or archives & discovering they only take change or a copy card. So today's focus will be my briefcase.

I'm going to try & blog as I do this research trip but as with all plans sometimes it just doesn't happen. So if I go a few days without blogging you'll understand!

Happy Researching!

Karen

Genealogist or Name Collector?

I really enjoy chatting with people about their genealogy research. When I go out on my speaking engagements - talking with the people who come to hear my talks is a really cool part of doing the talks. People inspire me - not only with new talk idea's but with research thoughts and success stories.

Inevitably I end up somewhere along the way with someone who has XXXX Thousand people in their data base & they are related back to XXXXX number of kings & queens - not that being related to kings & queens is a bad thing... we've all heard all those stories... I've even discussed them to some degree here.

My problem with this whole thing is multi-fold - let me explain -

• Documentation
• Research
• Documentation
• Research
• Documentation
• Research

As I see it there are two types of people working the genealogy circuit these days. There are those who truly do the research. They pull the records, the census, the vital records, the county histories. They know the work that goes into proving each person on the family tree. They've done it. They've done the searches, they been to the libraries, dug thru the newspapers and paid for the copies.

Then there are the name collectors - the "click & claimers*".... the ones who have no real idea of how to research or where to even begin. The ones who think that two weeks on Ancestry can provide them with everything they need to do their family history. The ones who are so gullible to believe everything they find online - without ever bothering to even prove one generation. You know the ones - their chart has the children born before the parents, in a state that didn't even exisist at the time.

Which are you?

Happy Researching!

Karen

*Click & Claim genealogy is the thought process that states if I can click on it I can claim it as my own forever & ever!

Scanner Meltdown

Today is the first full day since the return from our vacation that I am actually going to be home all alone. To some people this may sound boring and possibly crazy - but ME? I'm looking forward to it.

I brought home all these obits and death certificates from our vacation research trip - and now I can finally seriously sit here at my desk and make some major inroads into getting the information into my computer file.

The scanner is on & warming up, the stacks of obits etc are piled neatly awaiting their turn on the scanner. What awesome information will these papers yeild? Children's names? Residences? Perhaps a maiden name I've yet to discover?

Although the weather man is promising yet another beautiful day here in the metro Detroit area, I doubt seriously I will pay much attention or that you will find me out on the patio. I've been waiting for this day for quite some time.

Yep, home body me, loves to go, but loves to come back to my home & my life. Its time to see... is it possible to scan so much my scanner goes into a melt down? Stay tuned to tomorrow's episode to see.... Oh, if you see smoke coming from my office window, its not the house on fire its the scanner...

Happy researching!
Karen

Raising The Bar...

Yesterday I was surfing the internet, and spending a bit of time on Ancestry.com and it struck me over & over again.... just how many name collectors there are vs how many real genealogists there really are out there.

If this seems like an odd statement to you then let me clarify. I classify a name collector as one who gathers tons of names & dates, and really doesn't know the "history" at all of the family. One who gladly will dump anyone's Gedcom into their file just to see the numbers climb on the data base without regard to quality of sourcing or documentation.

To me, a real genealogist would want sources, want to know where did this come from? Just how good is this information?

We all have a couple of date entries where we have no places, I'll give you a couple - but when every entry in your file is nothing but a date with no place, how much history are you doing? I mean, this is Family HISTORY research.

In my surfing & wandering yesterday, especially on the Ancestry entries there were entire entry's with nothing but dates and names. And forget a source! To me sourcing is real info, the name of a newspaper along with dates; the name & dates of a probate record or land record; a death certificate number with real places included, now that is sourcing. Most I found had no source or ... so & so's gedcom.... as a source. What the heck good does that do for you? When they change their email address what do you have left?

Personally I would like to issue a challenge to the online genealogical community - its time to raise the bar - raise the standard for what we consider to be real family history research, real sourcing, real facts with dates & places... When did it become acceptable to accept such work as genealogy research? My history teacher had a high bar for her reports & papers, and although at the time, I absolutely despised her requirements, I'm so glad I took her challenge and stepped up to the plate, and learned how to research. I learned how to source and what I didn't learn from her I learned from EVIDENCE!.

With all the happenings in today's society where parents don't live together, babies from multiple relationships being in the same household, it seems to me that we need to make sure that the history we as genealogists record regarding our FAMILY history is even more important. So lets raise the bar, raise the standards and do REAL family history research. We'll leave the name collecting to the census takers.

[Image of Casper & Mary Heidenrich Dute family, Lorain County, Ohio, ca 1890; Anna Dute Krugman, 1865-1933, greatgrandmother to studmuffin, is pictured second from left. ]

No Place Like Home

Yes, we are back at home here in Michigan. Somehow sleeping in one's own bed after a week away is heavenly! I truly love being at home.

Our research trip was a great success, or at least I think so! We covered four states, logged 1698.3 miles, 22 cemeteries, four libraries, one archive. We took over 400 pictures, mostly of headstones but some at the Grand Ole Opry and on the road. We printed a total of 347 obits & death certificates.

Alot of the cemetery stones were on the female lines, alot were people that I had gotten obits on but did not have burial locations on. Some of the headstones were surprises some were not. We even found two obits on one man, different newspapers, different death dates, same man, no death certificate to be found... headstone has only a year of death. We found infant certificates with no parents names, a few do not agree with what we have, most appear to match what we have already.

We saw family, we shared a meal with good friends. We made new friends, talked with lots of people we didn't know. There were three "encounters" with local law enforcement -none resulting in tickets thankfully. One encounter with an employee of a large cemetery in Ohio was not pleasant, encountered one drunk peabrain at the Opry, chatted with many librarians, most of whom seem rather helpful and friendly.

We paid for one hotel night, spent less than $200 in gas, and not much more in meals. We did buy the three grandsons shirts at the Grand Ole Opry, other than that not alot of spending unless genealogy related!


Tomorrow the fun begins - putting it all in my database. Today, it's about laundry, unpacking and just enjoying getting back into the routine, because for us, there really is ... no place like home...

[Photo's from top left, Oldest grandson Nick, poses with some of our beautiful hostas outside the picture window. Some of the lovely purple & red Columbine in the wall garden and lower, view from the lower patio looking up into the picture window garden.]