Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts

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?

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



Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Way Back Wednesday 7/30/2008

Another photo from the archives. If you click on the image to see the larger version you should be able to read the names and see my Great Grandmother as a young woman (before her marriage) and her parents, my Great Great Grandparents. This GG is my maternal grandmother's mother. Her name was Icie Brewer and she married Henry Newton Gillihan.
Now....to modern times:

Home today with ice on foot. Finished my book by 9am so trying to figure out what to do for remainder of day........... The dogs are doing their usual - sleeping the day away.

Met Cousins Erica, Lea, Sarah and my mom for dinner last night at Cracker Barrell. None of the dinners sounded good for some reason so I had blueberry pancakes for dinner. They were very good and hit the spot even at 6pm. Not a pancake lover but almost anything with blueberries is fine by me :)

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Way Back Wednesday 7/9/2008

It's Wednesday, the day I like to play Pogo.com, and I have someone coming over at 7:30 (or is it 7:00) for a meeting so I'm going to share a photo from way back. This is a school photo from 1903 in Ponder Switch, Arkansas (that's Lawrence county for those who've been to Arkansas). This photos is especially important to me because it has both my paternal grandparents in it! My dad's mom is in the front row "Rosie Truxler" and his dad is also in the front row "Andrew Manning". She is the third GIRL from the left and he is the third person from the right. So wierd to see your grandparents in elementary school photo! By the way - I am realated to everyone in the photo whose name is Manning, Whittaker, or Truxler. Vickie

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Cemetery Search

Someone left a comment on my blog about a Cemetery in Kodiak. I inventored that cemetery about 10 years ago I guess. My inventory was connected to Cyndi's list but when I moved someone else "took" it and now apparently it is gone. I am looking for paper copy but am thinking I left with one of the museums in Kodiak. I thought it wasn't long ago that I saw it online but perhaps I am thinking of a cemetery in Arkansas since I did a couple there too. Anyway, I have discovered that it seems to be called the Army National Cemetery now instead of the Old American Cemetery - at least that is what I am coming up with from searches.

In the mean time, while I look for this information, here's a couple photos of dogs looking for forever homes ;)
Meet Domino! She's being fostered in Georgia and was pulled from a shelter just in the nick of time. Good job Ratbone!


Like me, Cricket is a Floridian. I am sure she would be happy to changes addresses if it means finding a forever family.!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Back Online!

We've had some phone lines problems and I was without telephone or internet connection for a few days. Plus, my cell phone is dying (going to pick out a new one today) so I was really out of the communication loop; however, it was an eye-opening experience as to how dependant I have become on modern devices. I still have an Alaska bank so everything is done online, my school is online, my telephone book was in my malfunctioning cell, etc. Plus, I was stuck by Verizon saying nothing was wrong with their lines and it must be in my house. Turns out some switch was flipped at their central office. (I can assure you my switch was flipped as well!)

Had a great "girls night out" at Tijuana Flats with mom, Aunt Hellen, Erica, and Sarah. While we were eating and enjoying watching 2 year old Sarah, I thought about the fact that here sat 4 generations of our family: mom and her sister Hellen are one generation, I am the next generation, Erica is my first cousin once removed, and Sarah is my first cousin twice removed. Because my grandparents had such a big family, sometimes your cousins are closer in age than your siblings. For example, Mom & Hellen's sister Frances, who is Erica's grandmother, was 24 years older than Hellen. The photo is of Grandma & Grandpa Barnes the ancestors of all of us at the table last night.

Wow - my Florida family is growing. Cousin Erica & Sarah live closest in Largo, mohter-in-law Marge in Clearwater proper, my Mom about 10 miles away in Dunedin, Erica's sister Sonya in Lakeland, my Aunt Mary in Beverly Hills, and my Aunt Flossie & cousin Bill (Dad's side) and his family in Arcadia. Soon Erica's mom will be retiring and living at least part of her time here in Florida as well!