Today is the first day in many weeks that I have been able to sit down and do some research. As usual, I started with new ancestry leaves and ended up on a distant branch of the family tree (somewhere around the twigs where my sister-in-law of my first cousin four times removed sits).
One puzzling find was the suggestion of that a marriage record for an Elizabeth H. should match a Julia Ann B. on my tree. I was interested so I poked around the records a little bit and couldn't find any information that made me think this was the same person.
Is Winnie a nickname for Elizabeth? Has it ever been? My curiosity lead me to many fun nicknames for Elizabeth (including Buffy, Lidabet, Lillibeth, Zabby, and Tizzy...but no Winnie).
.............For that matter, why is Winnie a nickname for Julia in the first place? No idea.
I (was) a 20-something-year-old who stumbled into the world of genealogy all because of a scandal. Researching since 2008.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Old Houses
For as long as I can remember my dad has had a subscription to the magazine This Old House. Home improvement is definitely not my forte; my very favorite section is the last page. Each magazine showcases an old house that needs to be 'saved'. Usually the houses are cheap (sometimes as low as $1) and need to be moved to a new location. Aside from the fascination with the logistics required to move a house...the histories of the homes is always interesting.
I do like new houses too. Here is my favorite from the same magazine:
While I was traveling over Thanksgiving I saw a sale advertisement for a gorgeous old house built in 1890. I wish I was in the market for buying a house...I didn't get a chance to stop by, but I plan to do so in the next few weeks.
I do like new houses too. Here is my favorite from the same magazine:
While I was traveling over Thanksgiving I saw a sale advertisement for a gorgeous old house built in 1890. I wish I was in the market for buying a house...I didn't get a chance to stop by, but I plan to do so in the next few weeks.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A big thank you!
Thank you to these wonderful blogs who linked to mine! Check them out!
Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
GenBlog
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On another note...
My friend bought me one of these before I went to nursing school and it has been such a neat way to record short blips about my day. I have been a haphazard journal-er for years, but just having a few lines to fill up each night is very manageable.
As I was filling out my entry last night I realized that this would be a neat way to track genealogy finds too. I'm going to order another one and see how it works.
Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
GenBlog
---
On another note...
My friend bought me one of these before I went to nursing school and it has been such a neat way to record short blips about my day. I have been a haphazard journal-er for years, but just having a few lines to fill up each night is very manageable.
As I was filling out my entry last night I realized that this would be a neat way to track genealogy finds too. I'm going to order another one and see how it works.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Free Kindle Book #2 (more genealogy!)
Over the next few months my life is going to navigate a lot of changes. One will hopefully be more time to read! My kindle is feeling neglected and I'm excited to be finding these genealogy books for free.
Enjoy!
The Mayflower and the settlers of the Outer Banks of North Carolina have always interested me...even before I developed my genealogy fascination. I haven't located any ancestors who were on the Mayflower, but still intriguing nonetheless.
Enjoy!
Friday, November 16, 2012
“One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.” - Antonio Porchia
I went to a conference today and like most conferences there was a person who got on stage in between speakers to make introductions (and in this case tell jokes to pass the time). I was sitting in the middle of the second row so I had a clear view of the stage. A weird feeling came over me while listening to this man speak.
A remote area of my mind that had tucked away the memory, sight, and sound of my grandpa was being activated. The same white hair, same voice, same accent (which was quite out of place at this event), and same dry and quirky sense of humor.
Maybe that is a normal part of the human brain - to look for connections and familiarity in everyday objects and people - or maybe that's just a part of my brain.
---
I recently connected with a relative that I never knew existed. Initially I told her I didn't think I had a photo of the person who links our trees together. A few days ago I scrolled through my picasa album and oddly...there was a photo of a baby I didn't recognize. A scan of the back of this photo revealed my grandfather's handwriting and the name of this person. I sent out the photo and it was quite a 'warm fuzzy' feeling to read that she immediately saw a resemblance to her nephew.
A remote area of my mind that had tucked away the memory, sight, and sound of my grandpa was being activated. The same white hair, same voice, same accent (which was quite out of place at this event), and same dry and quirky sense of humor.
Maybe that is a normal part of the human brain - to look for connections and familiarity in everyday objects and people - or maybe that's just a part of my brain.
---
I recently connected with a relative that I never knew existed. Initially I told her I didn't think I had a photo of the person who links our trees together. A few days ago I scrolled through my picasa album and oddly...there was a photo of a baby I didn't recognize. A scan of the back of this photo revealed my grandfather's handwriting and the name of this person. I sent out the photo and it was quite a 'warm fuzzy' feeling to read that she immediately saw a resemblance to her nephew.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Ancestors Day by Day
This month I have been using the 'Calendar Report' feature of Family Tree Maker 2011
to visualize who-did-what-when on my tree.
You can select which people you want to include (immediate family, everyone, or a select few) on the report and it will show you who was born, who died, and who was married on each day.
For November I have at least one event for every day of the month except the 21st and 23rd. I guess nobody in my tree likes to participate in life altering events around thanksgiving...on it...yes, before and after...no!
Looking ahead...for December only the 9th is empty.
There is a new version of Family Tree Maker (2012)
available...and 2013 may be coming soon. I got the 2011 version for Christmas in 2010.
Happy searching!
to visualize who-did-what-when on my tree.You can select which people you want to include (immediate family, everyone, or a select few) on the report and it will show you who was born, who died, and who was married on each day.
For November I have at least one event for every day of the month except the 21st and 23rd. I guess nobody in my tree likes to participate in life altering events around thanksgiving...on it...yes, before and after...no!
Looking ahead...for December only the 9th is empty.
There is a new version of Family Tree Maker (2012)
available...Happy searching!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Old documents
Each one of these papers is from a document my grandparents kept for many years. The oldest is from my grandmother's elementary school diploma (1924) and the 'newest' comes from my grandfather's navy discharge papers (1946).
Saturday, November 10, 2012
AncestryDNA additional information on the way!
I was pleased to read in this blog update from ancestry.com that raw genetic data from our AncestryDNA tests will be available as soon as early next year!
When I made the decision to purchase a DNA kit I was aware that this feature was not part of the package and was okay with it. I figured I would eventually try out another service to compare results and select one that offered this information.
Buuuuut...as someone who had the most uniform results ever the possibility of teasing apart this information a little further is very exciting!
In other news, WWI records from the United Kingdom are free through November 12. I have absolutely no hope of tackling the possibility that I have an ancestor documented in those records within the next 48 hours, but maybe you do!
When I made the decision to purchase a DNA kit I was aware that this feature was not part of the package and was okay with it. I figured I would eventually try out another service to compare results and select one that offered this information.
Buuuuut...as someone who had the most uniform results ever the possibility of teasing apart this information a little further is very exciting!
In other news, WWI records from the United Kingdom are free through November 12. I have absolutely no hope of tackling the possibility that I have an ancestor documented in those records within the next 48 hours, but maybe you do!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Thoughts
I have so many thoughts running through my head. On Halloween I spoke with a relative who I didn't even know existed a week ago. This whole situation is a reminder that when stories within families are not told (or told incorrectly) you can lose whole branches of your tree without knowing it.
I took pages of notes while we were chatting (while I was sitting in my car freezing...but that's another story!) and I'm glad I did because we had a lot to discuss. It was exciting to learn bits of information that clear up questions I had about census records, name changes, and disappearing family members!
There are many questions I will never have the answers to, but what is important is I have 'new' family members to share stories with, and hopefully one day meet.
Solving one mystery leads to many more.
I took pages of notes while we were chatting (while I was sitting in my car freezing...but that's another story!) and I'm glad I did because we had a lot to discuss. It was exciting to learn bits of information that clear up questions I had about census records, name changes, and disappearing family members!
There are many questions I will never have the answers to, but what is important is I have 'new' family members to share stories with, and hopefully one day meet.
Solving one mystery leads to many more.
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