Posts Tagged ‘Family history’

Don’t Forget Dad!

Posted: August 17, 2026 in Family
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Hello everyone, this is my dad, Billy Edward Cornett, born March 15, 1944. He passed away in April 2001 and lived to be 57 years of age. From what I can recall, he lived with his mother, Lucia Rose Cornett in the family home that I remember from when I was maybe 6 years old, in Whitehall, Maryland. He lived in this house for about 28 years (since April 1998).

Just last week, I submitted a request for a copy of his birth certificate online through the Virginia Vital Records office. Easy process and it only costed me $15, cheaper than I thought it would be, to be honest. I am waiting to receive this document via snail mail. I’m kind of excited to see what kind of information I can glean from his birth certificate! Then just this morning, I found that I misplaced his death certificate, somehow. I had placed the copy of it in an Evernote app, in a note I created several years ago. So once I decided to no longer use the app, I emailed it to myself and must have accidentally deleted it. (YIKES!) So I had to try and remember the funeral name from the death certificate so I could request a new working copy, not certified but just a copy, at least for now.

I contacted the funeral home via their website, and I must say within less than 5 minutes I was contacted by phone, they searched and sent a copy to my personal email address. How’s that for customer service?? In a past post, I believe the title was “Who’s My Daddy”, I mentioned that my father was a brick wall of sorts. Since I am a child of parents who divorced when my sister and I were very young, we do not have very much information on him. Maybe a handful of memories, a couple of photographs, I want to know so much more!

I plan on trying to have a conversation with my mother this afternoon, after work to see if her memory will cooperate with us both. She has early signs of dementia starting, so there are a few questions I would like to ask to see if I can maybe learn where he went to school, when they met, what he did for work while they were dating…you know the early years kind of stuff! Based on his death certificate, I know he only had an 8th grade education and his occupation was listed as a carpenter, but that’s really all I know the details of, sadly. Why did he not graduate high school like my mother had? Did he have to quit school to help support the family? Did he just not like school? SO many questions that I hope to enlighten you all with, in a future post!

The reason I wrote this post, is sometimes dads get overlooked and they can be an important building block to your future research as you travel through the many avenues or traveling down the long, winding dirt roads of our ancestral roots.

HAPPY HUNTING! May your adventures lead you to thrilling discoveries and unforgettable experiences, whether you’re exploring the great outdoors, searching for hidden treasures, or simply embracing the joy of pursuit. Remember to take in the beauty around you and cherish each moment as you embark on this exciting journey filled with new opportunities and challenges along the way!

Sorting Saturday ~ The Sloppy Genealogist

Posted: August 18, 2012 in archive, data, documents
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USS Missouri (Ship Desk)
Photo Credit: Kelly Vial via kellyvial.wordpress.com
Copyright © 2011, Kelly Vial

As a genealogist and family history researcher, you would think I’d be a little more organized! I am overwhelmed with emails of new information and document attachments! Now, what is the best way for me to sort through these? I think I need another filing cabinet! A filing cabinet just for my genealogy research! When I started my research I didn’t really need but just a little space in the back of my filing cabinet. Since I really didn’t have much as far as documents, except for the packets of information that I received from a family member oh so many years ago! Now it looks like my research is going to have to take up residence in another location 🙂

My handy, dandy printer just decided that it needs new ink cartridges! So what’s a girl to do with her digital documents when she can’t print them out right away? No CD’s either! What has my office world come to? Looks like I’m running out of everything, doesn’t it? I guess I need to make a trip to Costco and Office Max!

So I guess since I’m out of ink and I have no CD/DVD’s to make a genealogy back up disc, that I will have to resort to Evernote and then export all my documents into my Family Tree Maker 2012 software. There is so much that needs to be done! Did I mention how much I hate clutter? I can’t stand it when my computer files are all out of whack and not in their proper folders! Yes I did do that! It’s all my fault, just being lazy I guess!

MY TO-DO LIST

Re-stock my office supplies (make a list)

Organize my hierarchy mess of file folders on my laptop

Scan more photos (Oh so tedious; I think I have over 2000!)

Organize my file folders in my real world office (which happens to be my bedroom currently, in this tiny apartment)

Organize my file folders in my email account (Ugh..that should be tons of fun!)

Create a filing system that works wonders! (Is there a program out there for that?)

When I said organization is key in another blog post, I really meant it! It would have saved me so much time if I had accomplished everything like I was telling you how to be more organized! Ha! You remember that saying your mom may have told you at least once in your life? “Do as I say and not as I do!” That’s the way I at this moment! Here I am  writing about organization tips and not even doing it myself! All I can say is I’ll try to do better and not be such a sloppy genealogist 🙂

Tuesday’s Tip ~ Social Networking for the Family Historian

Posted: August 14, 2012 in Tuesday's Tip
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Title: Deep in Memories
Creative image #: 143176334
License type: Royalty-free
Photographer: Maria Pavlova
Collection: Vetta
Credit: Maria Pavlova

For several years, my interest in genealogy has escalated from being just a hobby to pass the time, into a full fledged passion to learn everything I could about my ancestors lives. Before becoming a city girl and moving to metro Atlanta, I was a barefoot country girl and where I lived if you wanted to have access to the internet, you had two choices, you could have dial up or dial up! There wasn’t any such thing as high speed internet, I’m sure there really was but not where I lived 🙂  So annoying, the wait time! If I were to wait for dial up to connect to the internet for everything that I do today, I would be lost! Who wants to wait for 30 minutes to check their email only to lose their connection and have to wait yet again and again?

Today, I am back in the city, I have my T3 internet bandwidth going full speed ahead! Normally T3 is mainly used by businesses for their high speed capabilities and they offer very fast, data transfer rates. I guess this girl got lucky didn’t she? Having T3 in my apartment, how could I not be ecstatic? Life in the fast lane as they say! So much to do and only so many hours in a day to do it in. 🙂

Everyone seems to be on social networks these days, your everyday person, non-profit organizations, businesses and so on. I for one, am on not just one social networking site, but several! You can find me on LinkedIn for business networking, Twitter for my genealogy interests and followers, Facebook to stay connected with my own family and friends and I love the fact that even though I am so far away from my family we are able to stay connected to one another by sharing our photos, videos and what we are currently doing with one another, so it almost feels like we just seen each other last week. Sort of!

Being so interested in my family history, I decided to create a Facebook page called “Fans Of Genealogy” which is  dedicated to my research findings and connecting with family members and others who are interested in this topic, in a totally different way than just having a Facebook profile for just myself. It’s a place where we can all share our family memories, stories that were passed down from one generation to the next and to share photos of our past ancestors. I am sure everyone has a story they would like to share, and for me, this is the best part of learning about my heritage. What social networking sites do you utilize for your family history research?

Have you created a fan page or group on your ancestors? It’s a great way to not only stay connected but to also document your research and what you found out about your family for your children and grandchildren. One day they might be interested in what you are doing in terms of genealogy and family history. They may one day want to know where they come from, what their ancestors looked like, or even read some of the stories that were passed down oh so many years ago!

It’s time to get crackin! Time to become the genealogy sleuth and discover my past! I’m going from life in the fast lane to life in the past lane!!

Happy Hunting 🙂

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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/

Tuesday’s Tip ~ Genealogy 101

Posted: July 23, 2012 in Family
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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!

Sorting Saturday ~ Genealogy Detective

Posted: July 20, 2012 in Ancestry, family tree, Genealogy, research
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detective

detective (Photo credit: olarte.ollie)

If you like mysteries, then you are probably a good genealogy detective. Just like police detectives or investigators, genealogists and family historians alike must find the clues in their research to be able to move forward with what they have found. When sorting through my different documents and research findings, I admit I am guilty of just jumping the gun and “Googling” to my hearts content. In truth, there is nothing wrong with using search engines to find something, ANYTHING on your ancestors. But it probably won’t yield the results you are seeking. You may have reworded your keyword search several times over, but the search engines still give you the same web pages, with a little variation thrown into the mix. In cases like this, maybe it’s time for a different direction as far as your research is concerned. What do you do next?

Have you thought about creating a research plan? I have many different times, but have yet to put this into action. After listening to a genealogy webinar hosted by Legacy Family Tree, I have decided to change my research tactics! I have completed research on this topic but just now, think it’s time to share what I have learned. You may ask, “What is a research plan anyway? Why should I use one?” A research plan is the backbone of a genealogists research. It will help you find out what you do and do not know about your ancestors and may also help you break through that brick wall you have found yourself up against. You need a plan of action; this is the purpose of the research plan!

Well, for starters, creating a plan such as this can be critical to your research. Would you go into a library unprepared? Looking around for a book that just may look interesting enough to check out, is just a waste of your time. Go in there prepared and knowledgeable as to what you are seeking. How do you gather your information? Personally, I start with what I know. Right now I am in the process of creating my own research plan form using Excel software. The forms I have seen on the different web pages, I don’t really care for. The field boxes are too small to write the data inside without making a mistake reading it in the future. I want to be able to recall my sources, dates, the type of research that was completed and so on. So I am creating my own! Too much work? Not at all. It will keep me organized and I can always refer back to the plan.

There are many different sites where you can download free forms such as a family group sheet, a research log, pedigree charts, or a research plan; whatever form you think may help you in your overall research, forms are a great resource tool to get acclimated to using on a regular basis. I like http://www.cyndislist.com/free-stuff/printable-charts-and-forms/ personally. This site has direct URL’s that take you to the right form based on your own needs without having to waste time searching for the right one.

If you are like me, you do a lot of online research. I live over 4000 miles away from where my ancestors were known to have settled, so I depend mainly on the Internet for my findings. I have gone to my nearby library but have only walked out with genealogy books and a book that will help me learn the Japanese language. There wasn’t very many research books related to my family search, mainly Hawaiian heritage and the like. They did have huge filing cabinets of old newspapers which I thought was interesting, but doesn’t help me find my Cornett family roots. So I am pretty thankful to have internet access!

Keep in mind that if you are searching through internet search engines, that Google, Bing, Mocavo and others, will yield a variety of differing results. Not all search engines will be the same or give you the same results. Experiment with different search engines and compare the results! Just an idea 🙂

There is quite a bit of data accessible online and it can be overwhelming to a beginning genealogist. One of the sites I go to regularly is https://familysearch.org/. They are always updating the site with new records and documents, so I go there to see what may be new to my own searches on my ancestry. Thank you to the volunteers for adding and helping make these documents available for viewing! Since using a research plan involves thoughtful planning, I hope my plan works for me as well as I think it will.

If you decide to create your own research plan, ask yourself a few questions.

1. What do I already know about my ancestor? Write it down.

2. Can I narrow down the search in any way? Maybe it’s a death date or burial location.

3. Did a family member move away during a specific time frame?

4. Did my ancestor die in one place but happen to be buried in another location or state altogether?

TOOLS

Ancestry’s Wiki or Red Book

Family History Library Catalog

Local history books of the area you are researching

Manuscript Searches

Literature Research

Heritage Quest Online

Search old newspapers

Family Search Wiki

I can’t wait to get started on this new method style of researching my ancestry. Good luck!

 

Thankful Thursday ~ The Fun of Genealogy

Posted: July 18, 2012 in Thankful Thursday
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Energizer Bunny

Energizer Bunny (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been researching my family’s history for several years now, off and on. The past few months, I have been going at it non-stop. I couldn’t just stop researching after all the work I was putting into my blog on a daily basis. My readers want something new, something that will also help them in their own research. They want fresh articles with substance. So I kept going and going like the Energizer bunny!

Genealogy is a very interesting topic to me and even doing all the research and hitting brick walls along the way, I still find myself trying to break through. There is one brick wall that still eludes me, but do you think I am quitting and giving up on this one person, who happens to have disappeared off the face of the Earth after he was born? Not a CHANCE! If anything, it makes me want to search even more. There is bound to be something that I haven’t found on him; somewhere the evidence is hiding out just waiting for me to find it.

I have discovered that my family on my father’s side emigrated from Scotland, going back several hundred years, but I still have to prove everything with the correct documentation. So how do you find the information you’re seeking?

Genealogical Resources

For myself, I started writing a Blog to keep track of my research findings, and I think it has helped immensely. It keeps things in order and it’s easier to go back to a particular article that I wrote just in case I need to refer back to it for some reason, or if I forgot a name or a date of importance. Keep in mind though, that you really should cite the source of information and give credit to the person or entity in which you have gained this information from. They probably put a lot of man hours into the research and published it on the web for others to read over. You wouldn’t want your work stolen and used by someone, now would you? Some may not consider it stealing, but it is. It’s a theft of words. The words or ideas belong to someone else, they are not yours. So definitely make note of your documented sources, especially if you plan on publishing it for all to see.

Awhile back, I had utilized Google’s Archive where I just researched and scanned old newspapers looking for a lead into my family’s past. A photo, an article, or even the obituary section would give me a lead to work with. It is a great resource that I don’t believe will be around much longer; there was a news article awhile back which claimed that Google was getting rid of the Archive on its’ own web site. What a pity! Here is the link to the article in which I am speaking of, just in case any of my readers are interested in reading further.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/google-shuts-down-newspaper-archive-project/239239/

Genealogy Links

I have personally used other resources to aid in my family search; sites such as:

http://www.ancestry.com/– this site actually helped me find a few cousins that are researching the same surnames that I was. Check it out and see where your family roots take you. I like this site for the documents that can be viewed, the photos members have posted and the family trees that you can create for your own family. Granted, you will have to do the research yourself as all trees may contain mistakes. They could have copied this from the web just assuming the data is true. Assumptions don’t count. You can also view other public member trees to see if they may have some information that is similar to your own. I found War Draft records from World War II, Census records of family members, SSDI (Social Security Death Index), voters lists, BMD records (Birth, Marriage, and Death), old photos and plenty of leads to other members of my family, but I have to make sure that what is listed is actually true and factual information. It is a long process, and even better when you can accumulate documentation to back up your findings. (Which by the way I am still working on.)

http://www.findagrave.com/– This site has helped me many times! Users and volunteers post photographs of actual cemeteries and headstones. The information is displayed as a form of memorial, if you will. I actually found a relative this way by requesting a photo of a particular headstone in a cemetery in Virginia. My relative actually went to the grave site and searched for the headstone in a family cemetery. She then took pictures and sent them to me in an email. Such a treasure and I am forever grateful to her. Since I live in Hawaii, it’s not like I can just take a weekend off to travel on the mainland and do this myself, so I am really thankful that she was willing to go to such lengths for someone she didn’t even know, personally.

Here are a few other web sites that may help you in your family search:

http://www.archives.com/

http://cyndislist.com/

https://familysearch.org/

http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/

http://refdesk.com/factgene.html (I really like this site- there are over 70 additional resources that lead you to other links)

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ (I used this site once I found that my family may have emigrated from Edinburgh and was potential members of a Highland Clan)

I wish you all the luck in finding your family roots; it can be an adventure and also lead you to family members you may have never known existed! Take your time and don’t expect to complete your research overnight. It won’t happen just like that.

Wednesday’s Child ~ Olive Melvine Cornett

Posted: July 17, 2012 in Family
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Olive Melvine Cornett is today’s “Wednesday’s Child”. Olive Melvine was my 3rd great grand aunt through my 4th great grandparents, David Cornett and Phebe “Feby” Sutherland. Olive was only 2 years of age when she died. Olive was born on June 12, 1844 and died February 6, 1847. She is buried at Central Cemetery in Flat Ridge, Grayson County, Virginia.

I wish I knew the cause of her death but that’s for another post entirely! Wish me luck as I research her in more depth. Hoping to find something on her, but since she died so young, there is a probability that I won’t find anything at all. Keeping it positive!

Timeline of Events Which Took Place in Olive Melvine Cornett’s Birth Year (1844)

Charles Dickens published a short story called “The Chimes”.

In 1844, Harriet Tubman married John Tubman, who was a free African American, while she could still be sold and separated from her husband.

Our 11th President was elected, James K. Polk, in November 1844

 

Olive Melvine Cornett (June 12, 1844- February 6, 1847)
Buried at Central Cemetery in Flat Ridge, VA
**Photo Credit: Clinton G.

Tuesday’s Tip ~ Staying On Track

Posted: July 16, 2012 in Tuesday's Tip
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Gum tree & footpath to Baldwin

Gum tree & footpath to Baldwin (Photo credit: Ben.Millett)

Why do I write a genealogy blog of all topics in which I could choose from so many other topic choices? I could be writing about some of my favorite hobbies like cooking or photography, but I chose genealogy. Always interested in learning new things, why not learn more about the family I never really had the chance to know? This was a perfect choice for me! I feel that writing this blog about my family, in turn, allows me to connect with the members of my family in a way I can’t describe altogether. After all, I am researching dead people! I love every moment and breakthrough I get. I have written many different articles on different family members, and in my lifetime I will never ever finish my research. There are way too many people to do look-ups on in my family tree for me or any other family historian to ever be truly complete. There is so much history in our Cornett family and I’m only just getting started really.

 

Since researching, I have found many great genealogy blogs out there in the internet world. Made some great contacts along the way too. Who knew they were my cousins? I sure didn’t when I started! Being on the topic of other genealogy blogs, there are many that are abandoned and dead to the rest of us historians. They may have started out with a great purpose in mind, but they are just taking up space. Nothing is updated. The links are bad and go nowhere! What about the citation of those resources? Umm yeah…non existent! That’s not a good thing and it definitely isn’t what I have in mind for my blog. I intend to keep it going as long as I am able to do so. I consider it my baby, being my very first blog I had ever thought to keep updated, it’s almost like my own personal family journal. Writing the stories of my ancestors is my main goal. Not to make money, but to keep their memory alive through words, photographs, and documents I find.

 

Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t get discouraged! Stay on track with your research. When you least expect it, your research will benefit from all of your hard work and you may find the information you have been seeking. Keep looking! The documentation is just playing a little game of hide and seek, just waiting for you to discover it and bring it back to life.

 

 

 

 

 

Thrifty Thursday ~ Historypin

Posted: July 11, 2012 in Family
Tags: , , , , , , ,
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Pinterest

Pinterest (Photo credit: KEXINO)

Historypin! What is it? It’s like a Pinterest for history and genealogy buffs! Instead of pinning pictures from various web pages, you pin channels instead. The channels hold everything you pin within that channel category. The channels you create can be customized however you like. It differs from Pinterest in a way that absolutely surpasses anything Pinterest has done so far. There is a tab at the top of the page entitled, “Maps”; I was curious to see what it did when I went to it, thinking it’s just a map of users who happen to use the site right? No way! Yes, it is a map but it’s so much more than that, it displays images and pins on that map that are clickable where you can see what someone has pinned and from what location it was pinned. Vintage photos from all over the world can be seen, you can upload video and audio content and you can even search by keyword if you are looking for anything in particular.

Historypin also has collections and tours that can be viewed or you can make your own. The collections, tours and photos are by museums, National Archives, Universities, and people from just about anywhere in the U.S. and abroad. The part I love most about this web page is the fact that Historypin is all about connecting people by the millions, who have a history that they want to share. Be it stories passed down from generation to generation, old photos of family or places, or archival objects such as antique photo albums that probably sat up in a dilapidated box, in a dusty, dirty attic with rats scurrying around up there. Yuck! It’s time to pull all your forgotten memoirs from your past ancestors, out of the attic and share their history with other genealogy buffs and professionals. We consider stuff like this to be an actual gold mine of sorts. A true treasure to behold.

What I wouldn’t give to walk into an old, abandoned house that my ancestors may have owned at one point, go up in the attic and see if anything was left behind! What would you do if you find something that they owned before you were even thought of? To imagine them holding it in their hands or using the item. It could be furniture, a cedar chest full of treasures of their day, a cameo, a family Bible, a daily journal or even an old, yellowed newspaper.

In conclusion, Historypin has a channel that gives these items in your attic a home. Not only can it be used as an educational tool, but it can be shared, learned from, seen by hundreds of thousands of people and build a more thorough understanding of the history of your ancestors or even someone else’s! What are you waiting for? Go check out these channels and pin some of your history! If you love Pinterest, you’ll love Historypin even more!

Do you have a web site or blog? Historypin has an embed tool where you can add your channels to a map on your site! Cool yeah?

Link: http://www.historypin.com/

I almost forgot! There’s a mobile app too! Historypin works on your Android, iPhone, and Windows phone 7 🙂

Free Genealogy Resources

Posted: June 30, 2012 in Family
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English: An example of a Genealogy fan chart (...

English: An example of a Genealogy fan chart (or family tree fan chart) where paternal and maternal ancestors are shown as concentric rings of a fan. This family tree fan chart also includes family coats of arms. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the economic crunch that so many of us are feeling these days, myself included, we have to find a way to do research on our past generations in a much more frugal fashion. Unemployed? Still trying to find a job after so many interviews and very little call backs? I feel your pain. I have been in the market for not just a job but a career for several months now. No matter where you go, it’s been hard for everyone. I happen to live in Honolulu, and it’s just as hard here as any other metropolitan area in the mainland. I want to do something I’ll love in years to come; this is part of the reason I started writing again. I love it! Do I get paid to do it? Not so far, but it’s something I like to do. Being a genealogy researcher and unemployed at the same time can be a little time consuming, if not hair raising. Since looking for work and doing research takes up my hours and days, and sometimes those unfruitful days turn into very long weeks, I have been seeking out low cost or FREE genealogy resources to help me along the way.

Free resources are the best sometimes because it allows you to continue your search of your unknown ancestors. There are hundreds, if not thousands of genealogy blogs online. Start reading them! They are very informational and we all appreciate the feedback on the articles or topics we have written. Contact them or start a conversation in regards to the article presented; it doesn’t have to be scholarly. This is how you learn. People make mistakes or just may not be educated in this particular topic, but this will eventually help you. How? Well for starters, you will introduce yourself to the researcher where you can ask questions you may have, or just get a feel of what a genealogist does on any particular day. Learn from them, it’s easy and doesn’t cost you a dime to do so. It just takes up a few precious moments of your time to shoot someone an email and ask a few questions that you may have been wondering about. Go ahead and give it a try! You will be glad you did.

5 FREE RESOURCES I LIKE

https://familysearch.org/ ~ This web page has many free documents such as indexed records of the 1940 census, they also have other years available to aid in your search, birth, death, marriage records, probate records, military records and many more. You can search for free! There are learning centers on the site along with videos to watch and free genealogy courses that you can take online to help you discover your family tree. Discussion forums are a nice way to get involved also.

http://usgenweb.org/ ~ This web page is searchable by states, time is donated by dedicated volunteers to aid in keeping genealogy web sites free for us. For example, some of my family is from the beautiful state of Virginia. I click on the link for Virginia and I have a page of other links to go to that will further my research and increase my desire to find out more. I hope you enjoy this site as much as I have.

http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml ~ This web page has over 1900 pages of free genealogy records to help you and your search for your ancestral roots. Just to name a few different features of the site, there are too many to list otherwise. The Olive Tree Genealogy site has ship passenger lists, a gazillion other resource links, orphan records, photo albums, and even tutorial and help files along with blog articles. How could you not go to this site? It’s absolutely rewarding! I love it 🙂

http://www.geneabloggers.com/ ~ I utilize this site almost every day. It keeps me in touch with genealogists and their own blogs, which I have learned a great deal about. Not only is there a listing of blogs, but the site displays ones I never knew existed. I read the articles, the tips and tricks, and I try to stay up to date in the news of genealogy on a day to day basis. This site even lists events such as upcoming conferences and the like. Read up on what they have in their blog resources, and if you are thinking about writing a blog on your family history, you can submit your blog to this site. This, in turn, publicizes your site and helps you gain readers who may have never known of your site, or you, of theirs. It’s definitely worth checking out!

http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/ ~ Another resource I like to use is actually a blog by Pat Richley- Erickson called Dear Myrtle. On this site there is just loads of information to help you achieve the results you are looking for. So many articles, a calendar for webinars, you name it she has written about it. It’s a wonderful resource that you really shouldn’t miss!

 

I have only shared five links but there are thousands of others related to this topic. New blogs are popping up every day and why not even utilize the social networks? I utilize these every chance I get! There are Facebook pages on genealogy, some personal and some not, such as mine called Fans of Genealogy where you can access here : http://www.facebook.com/MyBlogMyLifeMyAncestry

Try Twitter! Connect with other users interested in the same topics- connect with them, talk to them. You never know what friendships you will make here unless you just get yourself out there and DO IT! You can follow my tweets on my twitter page at: https://twitter.com/KellyVial1 follow the people or pages that I do or you can just search for new ones on your own.

One option for doing a genealogy search is utilizing the search engines! Google Chrome is great and has many other features and apps that you can use. Try this link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/home?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon

Another search engine I would like to mention, but do not use regularly is Mocavo; this search engine is new and dedicated to genealogy but it hasn’t reached it’s full potential just yet. Yes they are off to a great start and you are welcome to try it, I think you have to sign up though. http://www.mocavo.com/

I hope you find these links useful and wish you all the luck in finding the roots to your family tree 🙂

Have you found any interesting resources? Care to share? Reply below, I look forward to checking them out!

Creating A Genealogy Blog

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Family
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WordPress

WordPress (Photo credit: Adriano Gasparri)

Are you serious about recording your family history, promoting your blog and giving a gift of research to future generations? If you are serious, why are you creating it? Is it more a personal feat to record the history of your family, to know them as they were back in the day? Maybe it’s a creative outlet for your writing skills. I created my genealogy blog initially to keep track of all the research that I have done thus far. Now, writing my blog has become more of a personal endeavor. It’s no longer just names and dates of my family and past ancestry from maybe three or four hundred years ago, it’s more about learning about their history and the lifestyles they have led over the years. There are so many different reasons I choose to continue writing, but the main one is creating something that I hope one day will tell my children where they come from, in a genealogical sense.

Since I love to write, I always seem to be finding myself writing articles and completing more research to accommodate this passion I have for both writing, genealogy, and just the love of the hunt! There are a couple web sites that offer a blogging service, but since having Blogger over the past year, I now like to use WordPress. I seem to have more viewers and more feedback on the articles I have posted. Before you make a decision on which service you would choose, try watching some videos on YouTube, read some reviews and comparisons on the blog of your choice. Do you already have a blog? Tell me which one you use and why you like it. Feedback most welcome!

Genealogy Tips For Beginners

Posted: June 14, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Are you interested and intrigued by your family ancestry but just don’t know where to start? First of all, you will want to start by being organized with your findings. You could start by creating folders for known family surnames that you plan on researching. If it helps, write a small note that has surnames of your family listed. This sometimes helps keep you organized but at the same time you don’t want to overlook a surname either.


For me, my interest and infatuation with genealogy came from my father. More than 15 years ago, he sent me a packet and in this packet were two different sets of genealogy research papers with names, birth, death, and marriage dates along with the names of children on down the line. When I first started, never having the proper education as far as the topic of genealogy was concerned or having someone say, “this is how you should start and this is what you need to do to get started”, so I did what I had to do, on a limited budget. I taught myself! Granted, I haven’t learned everything I need to know. Why? Because every day you learn something new. But how you retain that knowledge and use it is entirely up to you, the student.

I won’t tell you that your family research will be easy, because it won’t be. You may have some members in your family that you look up and find everything you could possibly hope for, but not all family members will be so easy. You have to dig deeper for these others because they are hiding out. For all we know, they could be there. Just not in plain view sight! They could be in an old cardboard box at a historical library in a room with other boxes. Just keeping each other company while collecting dust. That’s a horrible thought when I think about it.

The following tips helped me in my research and I hope they help you too.

1. Interview Family Members ~ Get in touch with and stay in contact with living family members that you can “talk story” with. You may hear a family story or two that you may be able to utilize later. You could voice record the conversation or even set up a video camera for your family interview. You probably don’t have to take it to the video extreme but it is an option you may want to consider. Talk to grandparents, aunts and uncles and anyone else you think may be able to offer some insight to your research.

2. Join a Genealogical Society ~ What are the benefits? You can learn new research skills and techniques for starters. You can meet other local researchers and volunteers that may help you along the way too. It is a great way to network with others that share your passion on the topic of genealogy. You can attend monthly meetings and listen to guest speakers and even if you are like me, and have moved away from the area where the majority of your family may have settled, you can still join! (My family is mostly from Kentucky and Virginia, but I live in Hawaii) You may eventually meet some local family historians who are more than eager to share their own experiences and accomplishments. Another benefit to joining is the newsletter, it may be monthly or bi-monthly, but the information that is in them could be very beneficial! So what are you waiting for?

3. Family Albums and Scrapbooks ~ Looking through an old family photo album or scrapbook, you may find just about anything! One day I was looking through some photos my mother has collected over the years, and not only did I find a few old photographs but I also found obituary clippings and funeral cards too. Scrapbooks and photographs can tell a story like you wouldn’t believe. Remember it’s not just about finding the photos, you could find birth announcements, wedding invitations, birth and death certificates, vintage postcards, old letters,   military records or enlistment papers.  

4. Family Bibles and Journals ~ Look at an old family bible which most likely has writings of birth and death, names and dates, christenings or baptismal records. The possibilities are endless! My grandmother on my mother’s side use to have an old cedar chest in a guest bedroom. I wish I had access to the objects that were inside! I remember as a child, I would wear all her fancy old hats, scarves and jewelry that she kept in there. The jewelry wasn’t valuable at that time but they would be considered a great heirloom piece one day. She had old clothes in the chest along with a quilt she made, some doilies and some old books. Memories are wonderful things to behold.

5. Local Libraries ~ Visit your local library as you never know what you may be able to find there. Talk to the librarian and explain the research that you are partaking in. She may be able to offer some guidance or recommend certain texts. Unlocking the door to the past may only be a library card away! Here you can get familiarized with the printed work offered and also microfiche. Microfilm and the readers at your library may help spare you some time in researching and reading book after book. 

6. Internet Research ~ The Internet has evolved in so many ways. There are so many web pages dedicated to the topic of genealogy and family history research. You could read other blogs, read and participate in genealogy forums, read articles on the topic, groups on Facebook you can join, news articles. You can even view archived newspapers, look at old photos and anything related to this subject. Access to libraries online, genealogy files, online family trees, personal web pages that list members of their family tree, cemetery records and many others.

Below are a few of my favorite links that I like to utilize, but remember when doing your research, to have everything documented and to cite the source where the information was obtained from. If you do this right from the start, you can go back further in time and research other members of your family. For example, you may have a copy of your parents and grandparents birth or death certificates. This would name their parents, so this is a lead you can work with! Then you can research the parents and their parents and so on down the line. Good luck!

Links







There are many more sites to choose from but this list is just for starters. Good luck in your research and I hope this article has helped you in some way. 


Image Source:
Title:

vintage family photo album and documents
Caption: genealogy & family history
Creative image #: 108757760
License type: Royalty-free
Photographer:

Andrew Bret Wallis
Collection:

Brand X Pictures
Credit: Andrew Bret Wallis
Release information: This image has a signed property release. This image is available for commercial use.
Copyright: Andrew Bret Wallis

Family Genealogy Package

Posted: July 27, 2011 in birth certificate, death certificates, descendants, family treasures, George Parks, history, Homestead, military service records
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Yesterday, I received my genealogy package in the mail from my Aunt Evelyn! I was so excited to open it, that it was like opening a birthday gift except there wasn’t any frilly bows or paper to unwrap. In this package came two thick stacks of family history, stapled together, one for Lucia Cornett, (my grandmother’s side of the family) and another packet of information for Walter Cornett’s side of the family, (my grandfather). 


One packet was labeled, “The Family of Stuart Marvin Cornett and Gincy Malinda Long Cornett” which contains names, birth and death dates, marriages and the children’s information, etc and there was even a few photos included in each of the documents, a couple of newspaper articles, one which was a 50th wedding anniversary article, another article titled, “Three Couples From Cornett Family Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversaries” (Gazette, Galax, VA, Monday, December 9, 1991) How exciting to have three different couples, all in the Cornett family to celebrate such a momentous occasion at one time! The other packet was labeled as “The Descendants of David and Feby (Phoebe) Sutherland Cornett.


The package also included a death certificate for Walter and a birth certificate for Lucia, two different Honorable Discharge papers for Walter’s WW II military service, a press release regarding his service in the Army Air Forces and a story titled, “Roberts Cove” which was written by Pat Miles Burris and Anna J. Woods and included a photocopy of the George Parks homestead which is posted below.

George Parks Homestead
(Notice that there are three front doors)





In the above photo, the back side reads: George Parks and Vinnie Testerment- 
Izora’s Mom & Dad- (Walter’s grandparents on mother’s side)
Date Unknown
‘
The Homestead Photo has writing also- “Old George Parks Homestead”
Date Unknown




Are Your Children Interested In Genealogy?

Posted: July 18, 2011 in activities, children and genealogy, family treasures, family tree, Genealogy, involvement, roots
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Good afternoon! I have been trying to figure out a way to get both of my sons, ages 20 and 14 to have an interest in their family tree. I have had some success with my oldest son John, but Dakota, well that’s another story entirely. All he is interested in, is playing basketball! So how can I get him involved and actually start liking “the hunt”? I have a few ideas that I have been thinking about but have come to realize that he may never really be interested in genealogy or where he comes from, for quite awhile. But in the meantime, I like to share what I have found out so far with both John and Dakota. John likes hearing it to a certain extent, he wants to know about all the drama in our family! Personally, I think he watches too much television! I haven’t found any mobsters or convicted criminals yet. My family is not based on a mobster movie like the “Godfather”, either! 

Image Source
Genealogy For Kids



As much as they would like it to be, I can’t say that the research I have come across, resembles anything even close to that. Dakota, on the other hand, thinks I’m weird for focusing my time on research and not doing fun stuff! He told me the other day, “Mom, you live in Hawaii! You need to do fun stuff like going surfing!” Haha, me on a surfboard? Now that would truly be a sight! Don’t get me wrong, I love the ocean and watching the surfers do their thing. But I don’t want to be one!! I like to go snorkeling. Now that’s something I could do without getting cut up by the reef. Besides I kind of fear sharks A LOT! Give me a boat and I’ll go out in the middle of the ocean, but you aren’t going to find me on a surfboard, catching the next swell anytime soon. 


Are your children interested in Genealogy? Does anyone have any ideas for activities that will help get children involved more? If you do, please share! I imagine if I had started this when they were younger, there would be plenty of things that I could do with them. But they’re a little older now, so it may not be such an easy task. Everyone has their own idea of fun, their likes and dislikes and what I may like and think as fun, someone else may not. 



Saturday Shout Out

Posted: July 16, 2011 in article, blog, Family Cherished Blog, Genealogy, Saturday Shout Out
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A few days ago, I thought about taking a few college courses in Genealogy to further my research and put my thirst for knowledge to work. Then life intervened and I got side tracked and it just slipped my mind to investigate it any further. That is, until I read a blog called Family Cherished written by Valerie, a very talented and inspiring writer I might add. The particular blog article I am referring to is called, “Getting a Great Genealogical Education For Little or No Money!”  Can I just say, I was hooked before I even finished the first paragraph? 


The article was very informative, and just what I was looking for, in terms of courses that wouldn’t put me into tremendous debt. Been there, done that! I’m still paying off college loans, so why would I want to be further indebted just to take a couple of extra courses? This article is a “must read” for those that have been thinking about gaining a little extra knowledge on this topic. Valerie listed some very good ideas on…..well you really need to read it for yourself! 


Kudos, Valerie for writing such a great article and spurring me into action!

Learning "Legacy" Family Tree Software

Posted: July 14, 2011 in database, DNA, Family Search, family tree software, Forms, learning, Legacy software, Microsoft Earth feature, PDF, powerful, software programs, Source Writer, teaching, webinars, Word files
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English: Headquarters of Ancestry.com (formerl...

English: Headquarters of Ancestry.com (formerly “The Generations Network”) in Provo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Good morning all! This morning I am finally learning and teaching myself more about the Legacy software created my Millenia. What’s so great about this program versus others out there? I have tried many different ones, but I seem to get along with this one the best, and it has come in under the #2 spot in the Genealogy Software Review for 2011! But just to let you know, I tried the standard version, which is free by the way; but I absolutely love the options and features that are offered for the deluxe version!




PROS: “Legacy can directly search Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Genealogy.com and many other online services.”
CONS: “Although this is a powerful database application, some others are more visually appealing.” 
(Data Source: Genealogy Software Review)


This program is cost effective especially when you look at what Legacy offers, some of the features that I found so far that I like the most are listed below.



  • Mapping feature which allows you to utilize the Microsoft Earth to pinpoint the places in your ancestors lives, automatically from within the program.
  • The Source Writer! I can’t forget to mention that- and who wouldn’t like to have their sources written out for them- just type in the necessary information, and you’re good to go!
  • Interview Reports- currently there are over 1000 pre-written interview forms you can use to interview family members or others when researching your family history. Cool huh?
  • Along with attaching pictures, sounds, and video to individuals, events, locations, and sources, you can now also attach any other kind of document (PDFs, Word files, etc.).
  • Recording DNA marker test results from different companies offering this type of service
But this is just a few of the features I like, that the deluxe version offers; there are plenty more! On the Legacy web site, they are offering several webinars on different topics, that you can listen in on, if you wish. I’ll post the links below.

I’m not getting paid for the content of this blog posting; I am just merely expressing my opinion on  the software itself and the features that I enjoy so far.





Genealogy Services~ Ways to Protect Yourself From Being a Scam Victim

Posted: June 28, 2011 in Complaints, Genealogy Services, protect yourself from fraud, Scam
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There are many reputable Genealogy web sites you can go to, but unfortunately there has been some not so savory websites that focus on what they get from you, and not what you can gain from them. They make fraudulent claims to sucker you in. They get your money for a “membership” and you get? NADA. No results. Guess what? ‘You just got scammed!’ Pathetic really, but how do you protect yourself from these types of predators that promise you everything, but in reality you really have nothing to show for your new “member privileges”?

Image Source
SCAM



Think about what you would do if you had never heard of a particular business before. Can you say Internet search? I do this all the time, for example I know someone who gets all this junk mail in their mailbox at home. They think it’s all on the up and up, but really if it weren’t for the Internet, I think a lot more people would be scammed out of their hard earned money ten-fold! Maybe even more. So I researched some of the companies that this person had gotten letters from, I can tell you there were many reports through both the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and a web site I use called Complaints Board. I have seen another web site called Rip Off Report, but have heard on the Complaints Board that they may even be a scam themselves. Who do you really trust these days? On the Rip Off Report web site I personally just like to read the web sites newest rip off reports, and there’s actually several, and some are businesses that we have heard off; big box stores like Wal-mart. Really? OH YEAH! For more information on this particular rip off, go to Rip Off Report – Complaints


Ask yourself these two questions first.
1. What types of services is this so-called Genealogy research company offering to you, the consumer? 
2. What am I getting for my money?


Next you will want to look for contact information, a physical address, phone number or even an email. You have probably heard the saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!” This couldn’t be further from the truth. You know when a product or service is advertised as “FREE”, you have to ask yourself, “Okay, what’s the catch?” Nothing in this world is absolutely free of charge. Oh yeah, you can search a surname for free, (just an example) but to see what the real results are you have to pay. Hmmm.. sounds like a little bit of false advertisement, doesn’t it?


Check this out! I submitted a genealogy report on the Rip Off Report web site and just take a look at some of the reports they have listed. I do hope that no one was burned by any of these companies.


Genealogy Rip Off





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