Thrifty Thursday ~ Genealogy For Free?

Posted: August 9, 2012 in Family
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I Love Trees!
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com
Taken: June 2012- Punchbowl Cemetery, Honolulu, HI

Is the recession hurting your wallet? Do you only have just enough money to pay your bills, have a roof over your head and put food on the table? Believe me, you are not alone! I have struggled so much myself, being an unemployed housewife, dependent upon my husband to care for me, keep this hungry girl fed and keep all of our bills paid and current. Is it hard? Definitely! The cost of living is through the roof and just the idea of going out to eat makes the wallet cringe in horror.

So how can an unemployed, family historian seek out their ancestors when their budget is already stretched to the max? Being a genealogist is hard work, they deserve to be paid for the work they do just like anyone else. But there are some free resources out there that you can access for little or no money at all.

Here are three web sites I have found that I truly have used and like:

  • FamilySearch.org ~ Look for your ancestors here to start with. You can search by full name or just the surname. Enter all the information you have such as a birth date, death, or marriage. If you know the spouse’s name – even better! It gives you more information to work with later! It doesn’t stop there though, you can search other family trees, view documents, and if you don’t know much about genealogy at first, why not take a FREE class? You can access the “Learn” tab at the top of the web page to learn all you possibly can about this very intriguing subject. But once you get started, you may find that you just want to keep digging to the roots!
  • http://usgenweb.org/ ~ This website is great because not only is it free but is volunteer driven. The volunteers dedicate this site to free online research, which benefits everyone! Whether you consider genealogy just a hobby or you hope to make a connection with family, this site is a great starting point. Every county and state will have different web sites you can go to based on your own research or where you think your family of ancestors may have lived during a certain time period.
  • http://www.accessgenealogy.com/ ~ I like this web site because on the home page it tells me what new data has been added to the site. But you can always search by state, for me it would be the state of Virginia or maybe even Kentucky as that is where the majority of my research has been found. So I click on the state I need, where does it take me? It takes me to a corresponding page with related links, all free of course! I’m talking about lots of records! Cemetery records, slave records, census records, military records and rosters, maps, Civil War records, WW1 and WW2 records, you name it there is probably a link for it.

Happy Hunting!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Family of Three

Posted: August 8, 2012 in Family
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Mommy and Daddy’s Little Girl
Photo Taken in 1972 by an Unknown Family Member

This photo was taken in the year 1972~ the only photo I have where my dad is holding me. I am not sure where the photo was taken and I can’t ask my mom because she is still sleeping like a normal person! I’ve been up since 2 am! Love her cute dress, but if it was made out of that scratchy, itchy material, I would never be able to stand still for a photograph like this one! They were both dressed up on this day, so it makes me wonder what they were doing. Since my dad was always seen in his blue jeans, it’s odd to see him in a jacket and tie and no jeans! I’ll have to remember to ask her later about this photo!

Mobile Monday ~ Saving Memories Forever

Posted: August 6, 2012 in Genealogy, memories, research
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“Hawaiian Jasmine”
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com
Photo Taken: July 2012, in Honolulu, Hawaii

It seems that I am always on my laptop researching my ancestry, sending emails, and connecting with family members trying to obtain a little bit of history on my ancestral roots. If I’m not on my laptop, I always have my handy dandy iPhone with me everywhere I go. Sharing memories in the form of photographs on social networking sites helps me stay connected to my family being that I live so far away from them all. I live approximately 4000 miles away on an island in the middle of the Pacific, so staying connected is very important to me. Thank God for all this technology!

I recently found an app for my iPhone that I have been trying out and I really like it! The app is called “Saving Memories Forever”. And it’s FREE!! Even better right? You can create your “family memories” through audio recordings! HA! Love it 🙂 Having many stories to share with family and future generations, this app lets you record your stories and share them. Whether you have stories and memories of your grandparents, aunts and uncles, or just want to talk about the vacation you just took or the day you were married, this app allows you to do this. You can record as many stories as you would like to and share them with whomever you wish. The recordings you make are uploaded to the Saving Memories Forever web site and can always be accessed through the app or web site. If you get their premium service, then your stories can be “tagged” which makes the stories easier to find. All your stories are safely stored on this web site and you can even add your family’s favorite recipes and add photos to boot! Yay!

I think my favorite feature of this app is that you can share with your family and add them as storytellers! What better way to share your stories and those of your family? How convenient! What a great idea for an audio scrapbook; you will have your story in your own words and you can have access to your extended family’s memories too. To hear them talk about their own memories and be able to one day share them with your own children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren, is phenomenal!

This app is perfect for me! Always on the go, some memory may just pop in my head, but I don’t have time to write it down to remember later. If I remember everything, that is 🙂 I can then record the memory! Easy peasy right? I just wish I had known about this app sooner, like 10 years ago! I wish it had existed then. I would have loved to have recorded my deceased fathers stories and memories of his childhood, or hear him talk about the day he met my mother, how he felt on the days when my sister, Amy and I were born and so on. Now these memories are lost and died with him.

The only downfall with the free version of this app is:

  • Only 6 storytellers can be used within the app
  • There is a limit on the number of listeners (only 10!)
  • You can only listen to 5 stories per day
  • No use of tags
  • No photographs can be uploaded
  • You can’t attach Word Documents to your stories

The premium version is only $3.99 a month- definitely worth all the extra features I think. Especially at that price 🙂

If you go to the website, check out the tab, “How It Works” where you can view the PDF document of the users manual.

Let me know what you think about this app; I absolutely think this is a great genealogy tool in which to use. The link to the web page is below, if you would like to check it out 🙂

 

https://www.savingmemoriesforever.com/default.aspx

 

 

Sunday’s Obituary ~ Lucia Rose Cornett

Posted: August 4, 2012 in Family
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Lucia Rose Cornett Obituary Notice
Unknown Newspaper Clipping (2010)

Lucia Rose Cornett was my paternal grandmother, born on July 8, 1914 and died on November 3, 2010 at the age of 96. She was born in the Flat Ridge area of Virginia but lived in Maryland for many decades and also at the time of her death. When she passed away, I was living in Atlanta, Georgia. I remember sending her birthday cards and photographs as I hadn’t seen her since I was probably 6 or 7 years of age.

The newspaper clipping was given to me by my sister, so it’s all I have left of her besides a few photographs and even fewer memories. I am not aware at this time which newspaper her obituary was in or when it was posted. From the link below it states that it was posted in the York Daily Record and York Dispatch on November 5, 2010.

I love you grams!

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/york/obituary.aspx?n=lucia-r-cornett&pid=146417460#fbLoggedOut

Family History Fun Times

Posted: August 4, 2012 in activities
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A Plumeria Gathering
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial 2012

I lost my motivation today to research family members, so I decided to write about some fun stuff for genealogists and family historians. I had to get away for the day, as I am sure most of you understand where I am coming from. Sometimes a girl just needs a break, if just to get away from it all and focus on the fun stuff! I’m not saying genealogy isn’t fun, but I just wanted to focus my energies on something a little different today.

There are so many ideas out there for the family historian, don’t you think it’s time to have a game night with your children? Dedicate one day a week, maybe even tonight, to a game night that focuses on your ancestry. You could create a word search puzzle with surnames or events that happened during that time in your ancestors life. Word searches aren’t your cup of tea? How about Ancestor Trivia? I always loved playing Trivial Pursuit with my family and learned so much and gave a lot of wrong answers to be honest. But it was fun! You could create question and answer cards in which each player has a turn asking a question about all the ancestors in your family tree. What better way than to get the children involved and maybe even spur their interest in their family’s history?

Maybe you and your family are more on the creative side, what can you think of that you could do in terms of your own family tree? You could create a collage, paint pictures, or create Christmas bulbs in which to include on your tree this year! Wouldn’t it be nice to include your ancestors of the past into your holiday celebrations? You and your children could paint a family members name and birth date on the ornament, add glitter, bows, or whatever you like to make that ornament special to that particular person. It’s a great way to get the whole family involved and they might even like it 🙂

Here are some other ideas you might like:

  • Scavenger Hunt
  • Create a Time Capsule (but in reverse)
  • Make Picture Magnets
  • Create a Tombstone Rubbing
  • Tour a Cemetery

Here are a couple of good sites I found that may give you some other ideas:

http://amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Family_History_Activities_for_Youth

http://simplekids.net/family-history-activities/

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/links/genealogylinks.htm

 

 

 

 

Follow Friday ~ The In-Depth Genealogist

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Follow Friday
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Dollar wet ground

Dollar wet ground (Photo credit: ceoln)

As I was catching up on some reading in the genealogy blogosphere, I came across an awesome article that was also a fun read. The In-Depth Genealogist blog site had an article that caught my attention and shed some light on the census records that we all use as genealogists, but just may have overlooked a certain part of the form. The article was titled, “Fun With Land and Property” by Michelle Goodrum.

In this article, she talks about the column with the dollar amounts listed under your ancestor’s real estate or personal property by utilizing an inflation calculator to determine what the value was, but in today’s dollar! I remember seeing this column on one of my own ancestors but didn’t give it much thought. Now I want to go back and check all my census records I have and use this inflation calculator to determine their wealth or lack there of. I never even thought to use this calculator but this could be of great use to the family historian and a wonderful tool.

What a great way to find out just a little bit more about your ancestry. It would give me better insight into how they lived, the value of their land, home, or personal belongings. Maybe they owned a farm, this would hopefully tell me what that property value was worth, say back in the year 1900. Comparing that value with today’s dollar amount, I could probably figure out more about their standing in the community, their lifestyle and even what their cost of living may have been during those times. It’s a wonderful approach to a side of genealogy research that I hadn’t previously thought of before. But in regards to their economic standing and the value of our dollar today, given our economic recession, I would have to take that into consideration as well. Here is the link to the article I read: http://www.theindepthgenealogist.com/?p=2158

Below are a couple of links to different inflation calculators where you can try the one you like best. Compare it to your census records and find out all you can about your ancestors! This is just the tip of the iceberg! Maybe now we can figure out what those numbers really mean!!

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

http://www.davemanuel.com/inflation-calculator.php

http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/

Lost and Found ~ Photographs of the Past

Posted: August 2, 2012 in article
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The Virginia welcome sign at the Virginia welc...

The Virginia welcome sign at the Virginia welcome center on I-95 employs the state bird, the cardinal, and the state tree and flower, the dogwood. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am a member of several societies relating to genealogy research in the state of Virginia and I just wanted to post this web link for those of you out there that may be looking for lost family photos.

http://oldphotos.homestead.com/lost.html

The owner of the site is actually selling them, some are only $7 each, so take a look as I’d hate to see someone buy your treasured photos!

Another site you may be interested in are some obituaries dated from 1790- 1940!

http://virginiaobits.homestead.com/

Good luck and happy hunting! I hope you find something that relates to your family history search within these links! 🙂

Those Places Thursday ~ Old Country Store

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Family
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James Granville Cornett Store
Photo Credit: Dan R Roberts (1980)

“This store sat at the corner of Comers Rock Rd. and Roberts Cove Rd. and was operated by Mr. And Mrs. Granville Cornett from 1918 to 1959. It is no longer standing.” (Dan R. Roberts)

In the above image, my great grand uncle, James Granville Cornett, who was born on March 1, 1880 and died December 17, 1959, operated the store for approximately 41 years. When he first operated the store he had to have been only 38 years of age, given the date calculations of his birth, death, and dates of operation. He was the brother of my great grandfather Stuart “Marvin” Monroe Cornett. I am not sure who may have operated the store after his death in 1959, or if it just closed down permanently. The above photo was taken about the year 1980 in Grayson County, Flat Ridge, Virginia.

What items did he sell inside this store? Was it anything like a convenience store similar to what we have today? Maybe he sold gas, because it looks like from the photo above there were some old gas pumps there at one time. Maybe even Pepsi-Cola? At least this is what it looks like from looking at the top of the building, it looks like bottle cap signs which may have been Pepsi’s brand.

I wish I had more photographs of the store when it was in it’s prime, but I’ll have to investigate this further to see if any even exist. First and foremost, I would have to find out what the name of the business was called as I don’t see any business name. It could have been on the white, washed out looking sign on the right hand, top side of the photo.

If anyone knows anything about James Granville Cornett and his store, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would love to know more!

Wordless Wednesday~ Family Of George Wesley Cornett and Celia Ann Pool(e)

Posted: August 1, 2012 in Ancestry, cornett, Family, Genealogy, research, Wordless Wednesday
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Family of George Wesley Cornett and Celia Ann Pool(e)
Photo Courtesy of: Dan R. Roberts (Originally Submitted May 29, 2011) Ancestry.com Family Tree
Bottom of Photo: Courtesy of Louise Mays
(Date Actual Photo Was Taken is Currently Unknown)

George Wesley Cornett and Celia Ann Pool(e) were my GG- Grandparents.

Tuesday’s Tip — Ancestry Magazine on Google Books

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Family
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Anne Gillespie Mitchell's avatarcluster genealogy

Although it’s no longer being published, you can still access copies of Ancestry Magazine on Google Books.
Starting with the first issues in 1994:


Up until the last issues in 2010:


There are all sorts of great articles in here.  And it’s all free!

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Tombstone Tuesday ~ Gone But Not Forgotten

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Ancestry, cornett, Family, memories
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Billy Edward Cornett
(March 15,1944 – April 28, 2001)
Image Credit: Findagrave.com (Daniel Cole) taken on: July 23, 2012
Grave Location: Bel Air Memorial Gardens (Sunrise Section 26D-3)
Harford County, Maryland

The grave marker image above was photographed by a volunteer of Findagrave.com. My father’s grave marker above looks rather lonely and forgotten. No flowers or vase on display that shows he is forever thought of. The grass is starting to overcrowd his grave around the edges and there are no flowers to say, “You may be gone, but never forgotten.” That is the sorrow of being buried in a cemetery I guess. Even though his spirit is in Heaven, it would bring me more peace if I knew that he wasn’t left here all alone in a cemetery grave yard, where the dry, crispy leaves sweep across his grave site.  It makes me not want to be buried at all, knowing that one day, I will eventually be forgotten and left behind as others just walk past me with no kind words or thoughts of my life. I would be just a memory. Remembered only at the time of my funeral and maybe a few short months that may pass by, isn’t enough for me.

His grave marker is rather simple, with just his name, birth,and death years engraved on it. One day, I hope to visit his grave myself, in person and just be close to him. If only, just to talk to him and let him know that he is not forgotten by me or my sister, Amy. We think of him every day and will never forget his memory as long as we live.

Rest In Peace Daddy 🙂

 

Motivation Monday ~ On The Hunt

Posted: July 29, 2012 in Ancestry, Family, Genealogy, research
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brick wall

brick wall (Photo credit: Muffet)

Most days, I stay motivated by working with other family researchers, who just so happen to be my own family! Family I never knew I had until recently. They have become my rock so to speak. They know what hard work it can be to try and track down our ancestors. The thirst for knowledge we have about our family’s past. The ache of not knowing where one family members’ life may take us. It could be down an old, beaten path or it could be down a road less traveled. So much so that we have to cut our way through and make the path passable. At the end of the day, a genealogist or family historian still has names, dates, agendas, to-do lists, research plans and logs, documents to find, dusty attics to search through– all this and much more goes running through our minds at any given time. Most of the time I suffer from insomnia and find myself wide awake at different hours of the night, or should I say early morning? It seems like my best writing ideas comes to me at 3 a.m.! I guess it’s my quiet time with no interruptions or anything else that would distract my thought process. It’s just me, my cup of coffee which is flavored with my favorite hazelnut creamer, my laptop, and my thoughts!

I have even found myself dreaming of what I needed to do regarding my genealogy research. I recently had a dream of ancestors and antique shops, where I found something from the 1700’s that had their name and date of birth written on it. It was a simple Christmas ornament, but the shop keeper wanted an arm and a leg for it and it was way out of my price range. ($7500 to be exact) What do you think triggered this dream? It had to be the email I sent to this antique shop in Virginia just a few days ago! If I were to interpret the dream, I would say that I am feeling out of touch, feeling that my ancestors are just out of my reach. So close but yet so far! I can dream up some really strange dreams, but this one I actually remembered in vivid detail for some odd reason.

Today, I feel like I need more motivation to keep up with all the block walls that I seem to be running into blindly. If you can just picture this: a woman running along a winding road, the wind blowing through her hair and the sun shining down on her. All of a sudden she collides into a brick and mortar wall, her face slamming right into it, as it just appeared out of nowhere. She’s stunned. She looks around to see if anyone saw her. Oh, how embarrassed she would be! Mortified to say the least 🙂

In my most recent search for my fathers documents, I didn’t know the city or county he was born in until Sunday afternoon. I received an email from my aunt, telling me that my father was born in Wythe County, Crockett, Virginia. He wasn’t born in a hospital, but born at home. Even though all that is good to know, I need concrete evidence so I am able to move further back into my family tree, nourishing those roots with some good old TLC and begin my thorough research on my grandfather. One of my goals is to become a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) through one of my patriot family members. But to do this, I need all the documents that I can get my hands on. With any luck, I will accomplish this goal! For those of you who don’t know me personally, I am determined, strong willed and stubborn like my father. I admit I am sometimes too patient but at the same time, I can also have a mean temper. Just ask my husband he’ll tell you what it’s like! 🙂

 

Sorting Saturday ~ Who’s My Daddy?

Posted: July 28, 2012 in cornett, Family, research
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information hydrant

information hydrant (Photo credit: Will Lion)

Sorting through documents, scanning, saving them to my hard drive on my laptop, and importing them into Family Tree Maker 2012 has helped me keep track of what I have and don’t have. Also, I have created a back up disc just in case my laptop decides it doesn’t want to operate anymore. This is very important to me because I had another laptop two years ago where the motherboard fried. All information was lost! Photos, college papers I had written, my resumé, my artwork, and many other important documents that I had saved over time. All GONE! Irretrievable.

Lately, I have been seeking information on my father, Billy Edward Cornett, and have discovered that he has become a brick wall of sorts. Not knowing him as a daughter should, my parents divorced when I was very young, I am finding that I don’t even know the details as to where he was born! After creating a research plan for my father, I hadn’t realized that I was lacking this particular information. Granted, I know that he was born in the state of Virginia in 1944 but that is all I know. I am lacking the information of the county, city and even the hospital in which he was born at. How do I request a birth record based only on this little bit of information I have of him? Where is his paper trail?

 

I have all the other documents I need, except this one little piece of paper that could tell me so much more! Frustrated doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings on this lack of data on my own father, no less. I am a family historian and genealogy buff, I should be able to find this piece of evidence at least. I have written emails to family members and no one seems to have a copy of his birth certificate or even know where this document could be; they don’t know who might even have it, if anyone even does. Dead end #1. I have searched for him on the Family Search web site. Dead end #2. I have searched Archives.com and nothing but census records and an SSDI reference. Dead end #3. I feel like I am overlooking something that is staring me right in the face!

 

My next step would be to contact the Virginia Vital Records office to see what information I can get about his birth. Since I am his next of kin I should have no problem ordering his birth certificate through them. This will have to wait until Monday morning as they are closed right now. Being on Hawaii time, I am 6 hours behind the east coast.

 

These are the documents I have on him to date:

 

  1. Death Record
  2. Obituary
  3. Marriage Certificate
  4. Marriage Certificate Receipt (Ha! My parents only paid $5 back in 1971)

So today, I ask myself, “Who’s My Daddy?”

 

 

 

Genealogy Olympics

Posted: July 27, 2012 in Genealogy Olympics
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London 2012 Olympics Tourch

London 2012 Olympics Tourch (Photo credit: AslanMedia)

Aren’t you super excited that the 2012 Olympics in London is well on its’ way? Did anyone watch the opening ceremony? It’s all everyone has been “tweeting” about today!

What is Genealogy Olympics? It’s just my own personal way of saying that genealogy is the best of both worlds. Family history and sports 🙂 Do you have an Olympic athlete in your family tree? How would you feel if you did? I would be ecstatic I think. To be the best at what you love to do, has to be the greatest feeling in the world! It doesn’t matter if a member of your family is famous or not, they are yours to be proud of in every conceivable way.

Do you remember the feeling you get when you crack through a brick wall in your research of past ancestors? You probably thought you never would accomplish this unreachable goal, but you did it! The feeling was amazing!

With genealogy and the study of your ancestors, you can live and learn like a true Olympic champion!

Check out the link below for a virtual exhibition of the Olympics; there are several ones in which you can chose from!

http://www.olympic.org/content/museum/virtual-exhibitions/

Own a Kindle Device?

Posted: July 27, 2012 in Family
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ImageMy Blog..My Life.. My Ancestry can now be downloaded to your Kindle device so you never have to miss a thing! Kindle Blogs are auto-delivered wirelessly to your Kindle and updated throughout the day so you can stay current on the newest research and genealogy articles that I’m doing.

Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when you’re not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which often only provide headlines, blogs on Kindle give you full text content and images, and are updated wirelessly throughout the day. (Amazon.com)

What are you waiting for? Subscribe today and get your genealogy fixation!

Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008O857ZI

Happy Aloha Friday!

Posted: July 26, 2012 in Family
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Taking the day off from blogging and research…it’s Aloha Friday that’s why!

 

Watching Ducks Float Down The Stream..
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com
Photo Taken July 2012

 

It’s a day where I just want to relax. No worries..no research agenda..just some quality “me” time.

 

Sunshine Hibiscus
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com
(Summer 2012)

 

May you have a blessed day!

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ Celia Ann Poole

Posted: July 25, 2012 in Family
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These past 2 weeks of research has been all about sending emails out to family members and locating documents that could be used for becoming a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) through a patriot in our Cornett family ancestry. Still lots of work and documents to collect before this is made a reality.

On July 21, 2012, I received an email from a family member regarding an inquiry that was made regarding any possessions that may have belonged to my great-great grandmother Celia Ann Poole. I was sent some photos of some of the belongings that she owned at one time. When I inquired about Celia’s dress, a photo of her dress is all that I assumed I would receive. That’s what I get for making assumptions!

A little about Celia: she was born on March 17, 1856 and died on August 13, 1943. She is the daughter of Granville Harrison Poole and she married George Wesley Cornett who was born on March 10, 1858 and died on July 11, 1940. I don’t have a record of their marriage date in the papers I had received from my father over a decade ago; this is where that information comes from. (Note: the dates still need to be verified for integrity purposes to make it actual fact) If I am correct, Celia is my great great grandmother via Stuart “Marvin” Monroe Cornett, who was her son and also the father of my grandmother, Lucia Rose Cornett.

Below is a 1900 Federal Census Record for George Wesley Cornett and Celia Ann Poole and the household data.

1900 United States Federal Census (Celia Ann Poole)
Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Wilson, Grayson, Virginia; Roll: 1711; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 43; FHL microfilm: 1241711.

Celia’s Belongings

Celia Ann Poole Dress (Image1)
Image Source: L. Kurtz
Celia Ann Poole Coat
Photo Credit: L. Kurtz (Taken July 21, 2012)
Celia Ann Poole Shoes
**The shoes had a note in them stating that they either belonged to Celia Ann Poole Cornett or Sessie Frances Cornett.
Photo Credit: L. Kurtz

I am not altogether sure if the shoes in the image above belonged to Celia Ann Poole or her daughter, Sessie (Sissie) Frances Cornett. Sissie would be my great grand aunt, but just to have these images is a treasure to behold no matter who they belonged to!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Phoebe Angeline Anderson (Cornett)

Posted: July 25, 2012 in Family
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Phoebe Angeline Anderson Cornett With Younger Sibling
PhotoCredit: Clinton G.

Flora Almeda Anderson Plummer (1869-1959) standing here with her sister, Phoebe Angeline Anderson Cornett (1858-1937). They were the daughters of Nelson and Rachel Anderson. Photo was taken at the home of Phoebe Angeline. Flora Almeda lived in Maryland and visited her sister until her death in 1937. (Clinton G)

Family History Interviews

Posted: July 24, 2012 in research
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Photo Credit: Kelly Cornett-Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com (June 2012)

How do you plan on getting clues about your family’s history? What would you like to know? How about interviewing a family member? By asking the right questions, you may just get a lot more information than your originally thought. Getting people to share their stories isn’t the easiest thing to do but in reality, it needs to be done. What would happen if you procrastinated getting your questions together? Your relative may die with those memories and then you would never know. It would be lost forever!

Think about the questions you would ask them if you were ever given the chance. Do you live too far away to do a one on one, personal interview? That isn’t always a bad thing as you can always create a list of questions for your relatives to answer by email, a phone conversation, or even snail mail. With all the social networking that is done by men and women of all ages, there is no reason for you to delay contacting them. Another idea would be to create a “note” in Facebook, list all of your questions and share it! Why not? It’s worth a shot!

If you do have the chance to interview one on one, be prepared to have a notepad and several pens. If you plan on recording the interview, which I would advise, I would have a voice recorder, extra tapes and also extra batteries. Give yourself at least two hours in which to complete the interview.

Below are some questions I will be asking my relatives by the time the day is out. I am currently in the process of creating this interview in a Word document and I will copy and paste the text in an email for those members that do not have the program. There is always the option of a PDF document too! There are so many questions I have to ask, and I think this is the perfect way to get those questions answered.

Questions You Could Ask

Before you get started, write or record the name of the person being interviewed, who interviewed the person (you), the date, time and location of said interview. Try not to ask questions that will give you a simple yes or no. That doesn’t really get you anywhere. Try and think of open ended questions you might ask to give you more details in which you can work with. Good luck!

  •  What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have any nicknames growing up? When and where were you born?
  •  How did you and your family come to live where you are? Is there a reason behind why they chose this town over another city or county?
  •  What are your parent’s names? Do you know when they were born and where?
  • What were your (4)grandparents names, birth dates, wedding dates, death dates, and place of burial?
  • What were your (8) great grandparents names , birth dates, wedding dates, death dates and place of burial?Did any of your grandparents ever mention if they emigrated from another country? If so, where did they come from?
  •  Are any family members war veterans? If so, what war and in what year? Do you have any documents showing their terms of service?
  •  Do you have other family that lives in this area? Who were (are) they?
  •  Did your family have a house or a farm? What was that like?
  •  Can you describe the house or property in which you grew up?
  •  Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
  •  What is your earliest childhood memory? Any siblings? If so, what are their names?
  •  What was your family like? Did they have different personalities? What were their personality traits?
  •  What was your favorite thing to do as a child? Did you have a favorite toy or game? What was it?
  •  What school did you go to as a child? What was it like? Did you excel in a particular subject?
  •  Did you ever participate in school clubs or activities? If so, what were they?
  •  Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper article? If so, what was it about? Which newspaper?
  •  What was your family life like?
  •  What Church did you and your family go to?
  •  Who did you look up to as a child?
  •  What was your favorite color? Is it the same one that is your favorite, today?
  •  Did you ever own any pets or farm animals that you considered a pet? What were their names?
  •  Do you have any old pictures that you would be willing to share? Who are they of?
  •  What types of events took place while you were growing up? Did you grow up in a recession or experience the affects  of war?
  •  What family traditions did your family have? What were holidays such as Christmas, like for you as a child?
  • What family heirlooms do you own?

 

These types of questions should get you started and you can alter or delete the ones you don’t think you would need to ask. You can also add more than the above questions I listed to better suit your needs. I hope this article helps you in some way. Now I have to get started writing my own!

 

 

 

Tuesday’s Tip ~ Genealogy 101

Posted: July 23, 2012 in Family
Tags: , , , , , , ,
1

Nourishing Your Family Roots
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com

Are you a “newbie” to the subject of Genealogy? I have been doing my own genealogy research as a hobby for several years now and over the years I have acquired some knowledge from fellow researchers and what works and what doesn’t. I hope to share with you some of that knowledge and help get you on the right path to tracing your own ancestry. It’s time to nurture the roots of your tree!

Some of the Basics

1. Start from the very beginning; use what you know and then proceed into the unknown. Document all your facts as this will be your flesh and bone foundation. It will help your overall strategy and try to also document family traditions, memories and the like. It’s all relative! No pun intended 🙂

2. Take notes! Interview family members, writing down the date, who was interviewed and create a list of questions for them to answer. You can videotape each interview or you can buy a voice recorder for all your communications.

3. Next, you should definitely create a research plan! I won’t say it is mandatory, but it will help you stay more organized; you can enter all the data on the research plan that you know on any particular person in your tree. You should create a research plan for every generation or person and include fields such as: names, birth and death dates, places, and sources where you can probably find the information you don’t have. Don’t forget to cite the source information that you have found also! This is very important as you probably won’t remember where you seen the data last. It could have been NARA (National Archives), FamilySearch, Ancestry, etc.

4. Research logs are also important- keep it accurate and up to date. On a research log you can document what you have searched such as the ancestor’s name, type of record, the date of your search, trips to the library and what was found, online resources and any side notes. Keeping in mind to record your findings for each ancestor and your results is an important part of your research. You will want to note what era your ancestor lived in and so on. You can find sample research logs through Cyndislist.com to help you create your own. It’s important that your fields have enough space in which to write your information in. Small field boxes that are too small will cause you to cram what you can into these areas which in turn, may cause you some confusion.

5. Your research notes should be able to be read and understood by anyone and should also indicate the reason behind your search.

6. Filing Systems are a great way to keep you organized as well. You should order them alphabetically by surname, color coded, then create sub folders that have ancestors and the years searched. If you don’t want to go that far, you can always just file them alphabetically by surname so they are easier to locate in the future.

7. Stay organized and keep your files in order from the start of your search for your family roots. It will save you a ton of time having to go through hundreds of pieces of documentation, notes, logs, plans, calendars, deeds and BMD records that you have accumulated over time. There are many different types of documents that you will accumulate over any given period of time, so keep it organized or you will be forever hunting for it later!

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