Sunday, April 28, 2013

Genealogy Meme


103 Genealogy Things

1. Belong to a genealogical society – yes, 3

2. Joined a group on Genealogy Wise – never heard of it

3. Transcribed records - yes

4. Uploaded headstone pictures to Find-A-Grave or a similar site – many, I’m kind of a grave geek

5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents) – more than 4

6. Joined Facebook – yup

7. Cleaned up a run-down cemetery – couple times

8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group – ???

9. Attended a genealogy conference – conference, no but did take a college class

10. Lectured at a genealogy conference – gave a genealogy speech in college and helped others as a volunteer at the FHC

11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society/local library’s family history group – no me, no speeches except in college speech class

12. Joined the National Genealogical Society – meant to do that

13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication – couple times

14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society - yes

15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery – not since GPS

16. Talked to dead ancestors – talk to them often, especially the brick walls

17. Researched outside the state in which I live - yes

18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants - no

19. Cold called a distant relative – yes

20. Posted messages on a surname message board – not in a while but used to do it often

21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet – same answer as above

22. Googled my name (and those of ancestors) – like everyday

23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness – have helped others

24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it – I’ll research anybody who shows up on my radar but only for a couple hours since I have my own work to do!

25. Have been paid to do genealogical research - no

26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research – I wish

27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative - yes

28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals – a what?

29. Responded to messages on a message board – yup, sometimes years after the original post

30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion – bug bites count?

31. Participated in a genealogy meme – just this one so far

32. Created family history gift items – yes but should do more

33. Performed a record lookup – hundreds, maybe a thousand

34. Took a genealogy seminar cruise – where do I sign up for that?!?!?!?

35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space – or worse, had two wives each in a different county of same state. Can’t think of any other answer for a particular dilemma.

36. Found a disturbing family secret – I am not easily disturbed. Found that others change “facts” so as not to reveal a disturbing family secret.

37. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking) – a little.

38. Think genealogy is a passion and/or obsession not a hobby – it’s not a hobby, it’s a pilgrimage

39. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person – for work, not for genealogy.

40. Taught someone else how to find their roots - yes

41. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure - yup

42. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology - yes

43. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher – my favorite is removed

44. Disproved a family myth through research = oh yeah

45. Got a family member to let you copy photos - yes

46. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records – yes when desperate

47. Translated a record from a foreign language –  nope, my relatives are dumped at the water, so to speak.

48. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record – they pop up on ancestry but I haven’t used them much…I only research the US

49. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer – in the olden days but those microfiche machine make me seasick

50. Used microfiche – I still own some ;)

51. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City – yes and it was so overwhelming I didn’t find as much as you would think.

52. Used Google+ for genealogy – don’t know what that is but I do Google ancestor names

53. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors - no

54. Taught a class in genealogy – not a class

55. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century – easy enough

56. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century - harder

57. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century – hooked into others research because I don’t research outside the US

58. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents – and where they were born and died and of what

59. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer – nah, I need the computer for that

60. Have found many relevant and unexpected articles on internet to “put flesh on the bones” – I’m a bones girls, prefer dates and facts over stories

61. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills – no, hummmm

62. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research - yes

63. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC – no way, I understand that neighborhood is dangerous. Or is that the Washington archives?

64. Have an ancestor who came to America as an indentured servant – believe so but cannot prove it

65. Have an ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 or Civil War – yes to all, many in each

66. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone – who hasn’t?

67. Can “read” a church record in Latin – no but I’ve learned early American writing (like F for double s’s)

68. Have an ancestor who changed his/her name, just enough to be confusing – every other generation on one line

69. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list - several

70. Created a family website – yes

71. Have a genealogy blog – a brick wall blog

72. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone – only for about 2 second then dove right in

73. Have broken through at least one brick wall – several, one somewhat recently

74. Done genealogy research at a court house – via phone/mail to the court house

75. Borrowed microfilm from the Family History Library - tons

76. Found an ancestor in an online newspaper archive – don’t think so

77. Have visited a NARA branch - ?

78. Have an ancestor who served in WWI or WWII - yes

79. Use maps in my genealogy research – can’t stand using them

80. Have a blacksheep ancestor – think so

81. Found a bigamist amongst my ancestors – no proof yet

82. Attended a genealogical institute – I wish

83. Taken online genealogy (and local history) courses – not online, at a college

84. Consistently (document) and cite my sources – for my work but I do save others that I have not personally documented

85. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don’t live in) in search of ancestors – nope, I quit when I find a ship

86. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes - yes

87. Have an ancestor who was married four times – don’t recall

88. Made a rubbing of an ancestor’s gravestone – just photos

89. Followed genealogists on Twitter – not fond of Twitter

90. Published a family history book- I never feel “done enough” for that

91. Offended a family member with my research. – yes, I am quite insensitive about that

92. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts – via internet to distant relative

93. Have a paid subscription to a genealogy database - several

94. Submitted articles for FamilySearch Wiki – no, never “done enough”

95. Organized a family reunion – gosh no

96. Converted someone new to the love of all things genealogy – I’ve tried

97. Have done the genealogy happy dance – yes and the song and the scream

98. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C. – love it

99. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project – I did something once a long time ago, may have been that

100. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana – I wish, I have been looking for a family in 1870 Indiana census for abt 20 years

101. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the "Psychic Roots" variety – what?

102. Visited the Library of Congress - no

103. Belong to a lineage society – didn’t we start with that?

Friday, April 26, 2013

National Museum of the American Indian

We only visited one of the Smithsonian museum while we were in Washington DC earlier in the month and I chose the National Museum of the American Indian. I have a soft spot for tribal/Native museums after having worked for the Alutiiq Museum & Archeological Repository in Kodiak.

 The exterior of the building.
 Mom with one of the scriptures outside the museum
 A woven boat???
 Paddles made by Jerry Laktonen
 A Yupik mask
 Ceramic made by Pomonkey tribe members - I took this for an old work friend whose father is a member.
I believe this was the outside of the Rasmussen theatre
 
 
The museum was awesome. A nice exhibit of many different cultures. What I found most impressive was that it taught history and then on another floor it was more of a "who we are now" type exhibit. I believe that's an important distinction that Native peoples are current, not past.


Monday, April 22, 2013

Lineage Society

Mom and I attended a memorial at UDC this weekend. White is the traditional color for Confederate's memorial day. We are in 3 lineage groups - don't worry, this one is about history, not a southern revolution. lol

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Chinatown


While in Washington DC, my mom and I had a craving for Chinese food. We looked in the phone book but every restaurant that looked interesting was kinda far away and then we saw it - Washington DC has a Chinatown!  Isn't the entrance beautiful?
 
The Walgreens and Subway had Chinese lettering - I thought it was cool.

My mom chose the shrimp and cashews
I chose the crispy beef
We also had steamed dumplings and lo mein. Too much food but it was so good, and other restaurants around town were so busy, that we went back to Chinatown another night and tried a different restaurant that was also fabulous. Plus, I did a little shopping in the Asian shops.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

A Lesser Known Memorial

I made it a point to visit the Original Patentees Memorial while in Washington DC. Compared to the famous and impressive Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans, etc. monuments and memorials it does not seem like much; however, it means something to me because one of my "assumed" ancestors' name is on it. I say assumed because I got the information from others and have not yet proven it myself.

The monument located on the ellipse and is a granite shaft next to the sidewalk on 15th street between Constitution and Avenue and E street across from the Department of Commerce. The monument was erected by the Daughters of the American Colonists in 1936 to commemorate the 18 owners of the 10 square miles donated to create the National District, a capital for a new country.

The wide base is covered on three sides with the patentees names and one side explains the reason for the monument. Each side of the upper shaft is decorated with something representing colonial bounty - a turkey, corn, fish, and tobacco.

Me posing by the monument


My relative is first one listed on this side


That's the commerce building you see across the street



Friday, April 12, 2013

United States Daughters of 1812

My mom and I spent April 3 - 9 in Washington DC to attend the national Associate's Council of the National Society United States Daughters 1812.
I am the Alaska state president so it's about time I went ;)  Here's some photos:
Me on day 1 of meetings - my first time to Associate Council.

Mom on day 1 in lobby of our hotel (Hamilton Crown Plaza)

My Alaska buddy Michelle giving her report as a National Committee chair.
 
 Dressed for first night banquet 

Michelle, me, and mom in our dress up clothes.

Day 2 of meetings. I had to give my state president report in front of everyone! I lived through it.

My mom day 2

Banquet day 2 - in our finery again.
Me and Michelle with the President National (notice the wide sash).
The three amigos at brunch on Sunday, last day.

The National headquarters building where we went to tea after attending a memorial service around the corner at Grace Reformed Church where Teddy Roosevelt attended. 
President National at her desk in headquarters signing the charter for a new chapter!
Getting the dining room set up for tea (above) and the ladies getting ready (below).


 The building next door also owned by the National society. It is used as a library and museum.

 
 First room in the library.

Me on the 2nd floor in the museum still wearing my gloves from the memorial service and tea.


Thursday, April 11, 2013

National WWII Memorial

My first time to see the WWII memorial designed to "honor the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home".
Each state is represented by a granite pillar with a metal wreath. There are two pavilions comprised of these pillars - one is titled Atlantic, one Pacific.
 
 
Bronze plaque in floor of Pacific pavilion
Looking up at Baldacchino sculpture in Pacific pavilion
 The Atlantic pavilion
 

Field of stars - each represent 100 servicepersons killed. 

I liked how this shot turned out with the Washington monument & American flag by the Alaska pillar




Last photo: my mama standing by her homestate pillar

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

And I Thought The Cherry Blossoms Were Beautiful Yesterday.......

....they were FABULOUS on the way to the airport. Huge difference since yesterday even. If you are in the DC area, now is the time!

Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC

We took DC Cruises around mid-day yesterday, our last full day in the city, and we were lucky because two types of cherry blossoms had opened that morning.
 




Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Going to Washington DC

Hopefully I will have an opportunity to post some Easter photos tonight. I was too tired on Sunday night and last night my Internet Explorer wouldn't work.

Tomorrow my mom & I are flying to Washington DC for the annual meeting of the National Society United Daughters of 1812. It's one of 3 lineage organizations that we belong to. Hopefully some good photos there too.