STUMBLE "E"

This pretty much wraps up the Stumble series, and I really hope that I have encouraged you to think about how you have been researching. If you've been struggling maybe some of the things you've been reading here will help change that.

Today's STUMBLE letter is the final letter - "E". The word I chose for "E" is evaluate. When I say EVALUATE it refers to the process of looking at exactly how you are researching. Are you making the best of the tools & resources you have available to you? Are you making the best of your time that you spend searching? Is there anything you could change to make your efforts more productive?


When was the last time you re-evaluated your filing system - the way you file your materials, the way you keep notes & information in your genealogy software? By evaluating the way that you search, the way you use your time, the way you file (yes you do have to file things!), and even the way you mange the materials in your software all figures into your success in researching.

Being disorganized leads to duplicate documents, wasted funds, wasted time better spent chasing something you don't have. Using the same boards on line & not getting responses - is it because of the way your questions are posted? Is there enough info given or maybe not enough? Have you gotten to know your search engines so that you searches are the most productive they can be? Do you have databases on line that you subscribe to but have never taken the time to figure out how to best put the collection to YOUR GOOD USE?

By evaluating your time, your files, your methods and even your genealogy software, sometimes you find that maybe you need to tweek things just a bit so that the time & energy you spend doing your family history research is more productive and a bit less stressful because you have a plan and you are going to follow that plan.

Happy Researching!


Karen

STUMBLE "L"

So have you stuck with me through the series? I sure hope so! We're almost done. Today's letter in the word stumble is the letter "L".

When I use the letter "L" I use it for LEADS. Follow ALL LEADS. I know sometimes that when you use services such as Ancestry or one of those the number of leads can be overwhelming. So narrow down the search using dates or places or both. Then follow ALL LEADS.

Sure some of them are going to lead you down paths where you say "WHAT?" or "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?" or such thoughts. I've seen things such as my Hessian soldier Henry Boomershine being born in Indiana in 1748. I saw that and I said, "did you sleep thru your American history class?" What on earth are people thinking posting such things?

With a bit of common sense, your family group sheets firmly in hand, you can follow the leads presented to you and be able to assertain which need to go straight to the curb file and which ones are worth following. Every lead you come across has the POTENTIAL to contain at least one lead - whether its a date, a name or location.

Be sure to remember that these are LEADS not proven facts. You might ask the submitter or person who owns the website to provide you with their sources, which would be a great way to follow up on the leads. But they are just that LEADS. Hopefully the LEADS you find will turn into proven facts once you document & verify the information that you've located.

So put on your hip waders and venture out you might be surprised where following all LEADS might get you!

Happy Researching!
Karen

STUMBLE "B"

Today's letter is the letter "B".

The word I chose to use for the letter "B" is BOLD..

Bold - don't be afraid to ask questions of anyone you might run across who has your surname. Questions like:

• Do you have a source for that?
• Do you have any primary documentation - death certificates, marriage records etc?
• Do you have any photographs you might share with me?
• Can you tell me how you came to this conclusion?
• What is your relationship to this person?
• Do you own any of the family heirlooms that you might photograph for me?
• Do you know where the family bible is? Do you have it?

By being bold you might be surprised at the answers you get. After all what's the worst that can happen? So they don't answer or say no. You just pack it up and move on. No biggie. You don't need to be rude or nasty, but with sources you should be cautious.

So take a step out there and be BOLD, after all you might be surprised at what's available just because you asked a few simple questions!

Happy Researching!

Karen

STUMBLE "U"

Remember today is "Relatively Speaking - Cousins who blog" over at Reflections From The Fence - so AFTER you read my blog today be sure to stop on over & see what Carol has to say today!

SO, you've had all weekend to come up with what you think I use for the letter U. What did you come up with? Well, I use the letter U in STUMBLE for UNTURNED. As in leave no stone unturned.

Check every cemetery book, every deed book, every will book, that your library may have on that county. If its there and has your county on it you should be checking it as well as neighboring counties. Using every resource available is a very important part of researching.

I've had people in my classes say, I don't need to do this, I use Ancestry. Well that's good, BUT if that's all you use boy are you missing out. Newsflash, EVERYTHING IS NOT ON ANCESTRY!. They do have an impressive collection but so many counties are now putting their original records on line - just using Ancestry is so limiting to your search.

So many people stopped traveling to libraries because they really feel that everything is on line. No it's not. Many resources are not available on line. In order to leave no stone UNTURNED, you need to make use of libraries, the internet, historical societies etc. I promise you that once you think you've seen it all, a new resource will appear.

I had been going to the Montgomery County Archives & Record Center in Dayton for many years, researching my family there. I specifically was looking for the death record for Rebecca Tanreuther McCune, my GGG grandmother. I had been there at least ten years. I really thought that I had seen everything that possibly could have the death record of Rebecca. When I finally got my first laptop I went there with the laptop. Looking for a place to plug in, I asked the librarian about a good place to sit. She pointed to a table in the corner and told me to just move the book and use that table.

The book was smallish in size, I had not seen it before. It was a book on deaths at the county home. I opened it up, thumbed thru the index. An entry in the index indicated a person with that name was on page X. So with excitement building I quickly turned to page X. It was HER! After more than 10 years of going to the Archives to search for her there she was. I had found her death date at long last. Of course finding that entry gave me more questions that I could not answer, but I did finally know the death date for Rebecca!

Leaving no stone unturned means just when you think you've seen all the records another will probably make an entrance. So, recapping:

S- Source

T- Trace

U- Unturned

Stay tuned this week for the rest of the STUMBLE series.

Happy Researching!

Karen

Note: I searched high & low for a nice letter "U" to insert here but I just didn't find one in my clipart collection. Maybe I'll have better luck with the letter "M" for tomorrow.

STUMBLE "T"

Today we continue on with the STUMBLE process. We're going to discuss the letter "T".

"T" is for TRACE. Keep good records, know what you looked at, know where & when your ancestors lived, trace their migration. Trace all available census and vital records on your ancestors.

By tracing all the census and all the vital records you know where to look, where you've looked & where you need to look. Keeping good records in a notebook or in your genealogy file describing the places you've checked, the records you've gone thru means no wasting time doing double searches. It also means when asked you can answer with certaintity that you've done all you can do.

So to recap, we've got S- for sourcing and now T- for Trace......

We'll pick this up again on Monday when we look at the letter U. What do you think I use the letter "U" for?

Happy Researching!

Karen

STUMBLE "S"

Yep, today's blog is on the "S" in the word Stumble. The letter "S" in STUMBLE is for SOURCING. Sourcing is such an important part of the Stumble process. Making sure that all your information is sourced so that no matter what the item is you know where you got it, who gave it to you, where you found it or just who told you.

Without sourcing you really can not make a good decision about how valid your information is. Without sourcing you really have no solid ground to stand on when challenged.
Without sourcing you basically are writing a fairy tail. Can you imagine a lawyer going into court without supporting evidence to back up his claims? Of course not!

As a good genealogist its important to know where your information came from. Being able to compare two dates - and know where both dates came from gives you the power to draw conclusions based on FACT instead of theory. Without sourcing you really can not decide between two dates - you have nothing to base your case on.

Being able to go back at any time & relocate the information is also a big plus. You really do yourself a big favor by sourcing your material. After all if you aren't sourcing your material you might as well just be writing a fairy tale.

Happy Researching.
Karen

A correction to yesterday's blog - I said I was speaking at the St. Clair Shores library when in fact I spoke at the St. Clair Public library. Big difference. Sorry about that.

Stumble...

Tonight I am speaking at the St. Clair Shores Public Library - the topic of choice - STUMBLE!

What? I can hear you all asking what does STUMBLE have to do with genealogy? Well actually it has alot to do with genealogy.

Of course I don't want to give away the entire talk here but STUMBLE is all about formating a plan for your research & then working the plan.

Alot of people research rather haphazardly with no plan or even roadmap for the research they are going to do. Some people do rather well with that sort of work. I personally need a plan - I need some idea of how I am going to go about this. What am I looking for? Where am I looking? Using the STUMBLE plan I do have the tools I need to be successful in my research - and my pedigree charts prove me out.

I'm going to drag this out over the next few days so you'll have to stay with me. Each day we'll cover a "step" in the STUMBLE PLAN. So today lets kick it off with this bit of information from my desktop dictionary -

STUMBLE: 1.)to blunder morally 2.)to trip when running or walking 3.)to walk unsteadily 4.) to happen by chance.

I'll let you ponder on those & we'll get into the first step in STUMBLE - the letter "S", tomorrow.

Happy Researching!
Karen

Confessions of a Genealogical Klutz

As a genealogist I try really hard to be good. I mean, you don't want people to think you're a genealogical klutz right? After all who would want anyone to think that you just accidentally stumbled into some information - you know, stuff other people search years to find & you just sort of stumble into it without even trying to find it?

Well come over here, just a bit closer to the screen, I have a secret to share... ready? I stumble into stuff all the time. I mean I don't plan it that way, it just sort of happens. I call it simply "stumbling". Does that make me a genealogical klutz or something? I don't really think so, but I've given it some thought and I think I can explain it out. Take a listen to this.

Each letter in the word stumble reminds me of things I do, things that help put me in the right place at the right time that make it possible for me to stumble into things. Goofy? Maybe. But it works. More than you know!

The dictionary defines Stumble with three different definitions. Of the three I like the third one the best - TO HAPPEN BY CHANCE. Although I don't know that anything happens by chance if you truly follow the letters of stumble.

S - SOURCES - Know where you got your information.
T - TRACE - keep good records on what you looked, the variations you searched
U UNTURNED - as in leave no stone unturned
M - METHODICAL - make a plan for searching & stick with it.
B - BOLD - Be bold. Don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for photo's & Doc's
L - LEADS - follow every lead. No matter how small.
E - EVALUATE - Evaluate your plan, not once but every time. Something you could change that might get different results?

Sometimes stumbling can lead to great finds, although I must admit it does take a bit of work. So when you say, I stumbled on to this, you really aren't saying you're an unorganized genealogical klutz. Actually its quite the opposite!

Why not give it a try sometime?

Karen