Category Archives: Genealogy

Rebecca’s Reel Hints: Organize Your Project with Timelines and Maps

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Rebecca

Why use timelines?

How do you keep your personal calendar of things to do each day? Written into a calendar hung on the wall by the fridge? Carefully noted in a day planner? Typed into your Ipad, phone, or other electronic device? Hundreds of sticky notes stuck to the front door? Some ways are better than others, but the fact of the matter is that you probably keep on schedule better when you are keeping some kind of calendar. It is a very rare person who can keep all their appointments and to-do lists in their head, collated and cross-referenced with all the relationships and demands placed upon their time. So, why do we think we can keep someone else’s life from a hundred years ago– every fact, document, and migration–  sorted in our heads at the same time? If you calendar your own life, it makes sense to “calendar” your ancestor’s life.

Start your timeline simply

There are four options, and we will discuss some pros and cons of each.

1) Paper and pencil.

Pro: If you aren’t comfortable with computers, at least you’re getting it done.

Con: Hard to adjust if you find new information.

2) Word document on your computer. Use a simple document to enter facts into a table you’ve created, or use easy-to-read bullet points. Use the footnoting option to cite and document each fact.

Pros: Easy to adjust, print, duplicate, and share.

Cons: None (in my opinion), unless you hate using the computer.

3) Create a spreadsheet.

Pros: Many people find this format familiar, and easier to refer to.

Cons: Harder to transfer the information when you are ready to write a report or narrative. Don’t forget to include a column for citations.

4) Use your computerized genealogy program to create a timeline for you.

Pros: Quick and easy.

Cons: You may not own a genealogy program. And make sure that your generated timeline cites the source of each fact.

What are the elements of an effective timeline?

Regardless of which way you decide to create your timeline, it must have five basic things: Dates, places, descriptions of the events, people involved, and citations of where the information came from. Keep it simple or make it complicated, it’s up to you. Dates can be the whole day-month-year or a simple year reference. A place should be as complete as possible, including a town (if known), county or parish, and state. Descriptions of the events vary widely from voter records to birth of a third child to an obituary. Having a list of people involved is an often-missed section of timelines; knowing who witnessed the deed or who else was in the household that census day can help with future research. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly: the citation. How can your judge between different pieces of events if information is conflicting? Using citations and applying common sense to questions like “Which document was made closer to the time of the event or created by a witness to the event?” A mother’s letter about her baby’s birth is probably more convincing than a granddaughter’s recollection. When I have a big project ahead of me, the timeline becomes my main organizational tool. I can chronologically look for clues and patterns. Do I have two men named John voting in different wards of the city on the same day? I may have two Johns, and have to watch that I keep their records separate.

Try it

Build your timeline now with the background information you collected on your focus family from last month. What do you notice? Are there gaps? Contradictions? Now go back and include major events, such as wars in that country, famines, or anything you think might reasonably have caused changes in your focus family’s lives.

Map Your Timeline

Mapping out your family’s chronology wil be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. There are two types of maps you may find yourself needing. First, large maps of multiple counties or states that show migration patterns. Second, detailed maps of cities/counties or plats of deeded lands, created with descriptions of chains, links, compass points or cadastral survey map subdivisions. Your choice of map depends on how far your ancestor traveled or what you are looking for.

An example of how mapping out the family answered a question. Look at the map at the top of this blog article, complete with some county names. The question was “Where were Jane and William married?” Here are some points from their timeline (simplified, and without citations for this example):
• 1845 – William was born in LaSalle County, Illinois
• 1850 – Jane born in Jo Daviess County, Illinios
• ___? – Married in an unknown place.
• 1873 – Missouri, daughter Emma born
• 1876 – Iowa, daughter Sophie born
• 1879 – Missouri, daughter Mary born
• 1880 – Census in Nodaway County, Missouri
• 1883 – Gentry County, Missouri, son Willie born

In mapping this family’s migration,  I learned something very important. I learned that Iowa, which had been later in my timeline (where daughter Sophie had been born), turned out to be an much more important place. Using the two lines from Jane and William’s birth places to places they were known to be later, I ended up finding that they had married in Louisa County, Iowa, smack in the middle. I even found the name of Jane’s step-father on the marriage record!

Now it is your turn – What could you find out with timelines and some creative mapping? You’d be surprised. Give it a try and let us know what new information you discover!

Next month: Research Plans

Eisensteins in the Attic: Rediscovering Your Own Film Treasures (Guest Blogger)

Posted on January 30, 2012 by admin

Clack…..clack…..clack…clack..clack clack/clack/clack….

We all know the sound of an old 8mm or 16mm projector throwing Kodachrome home movies up on a wall. For all too brief a moment we look into a coruscating window on a lost or fast disappearing past. Images roll in: jump cuts, lens flares, shaky camera work. We squint maybe, trying to improve the focus. Real, but also somehow surreal, those old film images; transporting and magical.

That time machine costs how much?

I think of old home movies as a kind of time machine – but a time machine that really exists. What would we pay for just such a machine if we didn’t have one?

What wouldn’t we spend to peer through a time tunnel at our old grandpa digging in his “victory garden”, or to see mother on her wedding day? Old home movies are exactly that time machine, and yet we don’t always know – or value – what we have.

Dan Streible knows a thing or two about old movies. He is a professor of film at New York University and the founder of the Orphan Film Symposium – the biennial gathering of scholars, archivists, curators, and media artists devoted to saving, screening, and studying neglected moving images.

Dan says people underestimate the value and power of home movies – “these millions of feet of rediscovered family films, the millions of feet of film shot by mothers and fathers, aunts, uncles and friends throughout the 20th century (that) now make up the best record we have of daily life as it was lived during the past two or three generations.”

Of course, he is talking about other people’s home movies. And if you are lucky enough to have some of your own? Well, chances are they would be like Eisensteins in the Attic – dusty masterpieces of their kind left unwatched and slowly disintegrating*.

Priceless images in dusty boxes

Priceless images are stowed away in shoe boxes all across America, locked up in now unplayable film formats like Super 8, 16mm and 8mm; or in early cassette formats like Video8, Hi8 and Digital 8.

And if you did take the trouble 10 years back to convert to VHS, S-VHS or VHS-C? Then you did a great thing. But VHS is now obsolete; and sadly, the quality of VHS was poor from the start. You’ll get a much better result today retransferring from the original films or video cassettes.

The good news of course is that every old film and video cassette format can now be converted to digital video. Most people get their old home movies transferred to DVD. But here’s a tip: When you go to the expense of transferring, why not create an uncompressed video master file and get that put on a hard drive. (Uncompressed video is the best quality you can achieve.) Then, use those home movie master files to create your DVD, your YouTube or iPhone video (or whatever else becomes the device de jour).

Turn home movies into a personal documentary

And best of all, you can use that home movie master file to help create your own personal or family history documentary – your “Reel Tribute”. The only thing then remaining is to dim the lights, toss in the DVD, and become transported into “a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas”. You may miss the old “clack clack clack” of the projector, but the experience will be every bit as magical.

*Sergei Eisenstein: Pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist famous for his silent film Battleship Potemkin (1925). The sole copy of his unfinished Bezhin Meadow was destroyed in a WWII bombing raid (“Shoulda had it transferred...”).

Thank you to video biographer and Association of Personal Historians board member Jane Shafron for this article. In recognition of the importance of preserving our home movies, Jane has recently added video transfer services in Orange County CA to her suite of family history services. Jane was recently named one of the Top 10 Personal History Bloggers of 2011 by Dan Curtis.

What does Samuel Pepys’ diary mean to you?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Lin

Samuel Pepys (pronounced ‘Peeps’) was born in London, England on February 23, 1633. Samuel was the fifth in line of eleven children. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1654 and married his wife, Elizabeth St. Michel in 1655. He later became Secretary to the Naval Board, a member of Parliament, and as was written of him, ‘master of an elegant household, owner of a coach and pair of black horses; a man rich enough to retire and live with comfort, if not in abundance.’

However, what probably has brought Samuel Pepys the most fame and renown is his personal diary. His diary shows his gusto for life. His interest in recounting his daily activities and very private observations comes through in this diarty.  He speaks of his work in Parliament, of counting his many pieces of gold, of lusting after certain women (particularly those of “low virtue”),  and not surprisingly, of squabbling with his jealous wife.

Pepys began his diary at the age of 26 in 1659, and concluded it on May 31, 1669 when he feared eyestrain might lead to blindness. Pepys’ daily diary entries have intrigued and educated people over the centuries. They have also provided insight on 17th Century English life, from the royalty to the mundane.

In 1665, Pepys records burying in his garden a piece of Parmesan cheese and a bottle of fine wine, in the hopes that they would both survive the Great Fire of London.  One wonders what happened to them, and if he considered burying his precious diary as well.

Pepys also writes of experiencing tremendous pain due to a kidney stone. Despite being left sterile by the surgery, he survived.  Pepys proudly kept his recovered kidney stone in a felt lined box, and was happy to show it to anyone who wanted to see it. He also covers more “highbrow” topics including the entertaining lives and public deaths of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell.

To bring this to a close, please give a little thought to this idea: think if you were related to Samuel Pepys.  Imagine all of the insight you would have into your ancestor’s life, his character, and his curious personality.

Okay, so maybe you aren’t related to Samuel Pepys. However, it’s not too late to preserve your own remarkable story so that your descendents will know about you. What have you buried in your backyard, or your heart, that may intrigue descendents hundreds of years from now? What observations do you have on the current political or social environment?  Nothing is too mundane. Just start writing; your children’s children will be happy you did.

Rebecca’s Reel Hints: New Year, New Genealogical Project

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Rebecca

What’s the point of genealogy project? Sure, it’s to uncover a family’s history. But the real mission should be clear: results!

Nobody wants to spend time on a project that goes nowhere. That’s a frustrating experience that you shouldn’t ever endure. So to kick of the new year, in the next few months I will focus on one genealogical project and show you how to get real, tangible results.

No, that may not mean having one hundred new ancestors’ names by next Tuesday. I won’t be getting into a specific record group or telling you where on the internet you can find that answer you’ve been looking years for.

Rather, I’d like us to put one project on the fast track and show you a proven method for organizing the research. In the next few months I will go into detail about:

1. Goals and Background Information
2. Timelines and Maps
3. Research Plans
4. Writing as a Research Method

We’ll take each of these, break them down into small goals, and move forward slowly but surely. By the end of these four organizational steps, you’ll be surprised at how much you do and don’t know about your own research.

Step One: Goals and Background Information
1. Define your goal. We hear the word “goal” and our eyes roll back into our heads. It’s as if we are conditioned to hate having goals. But take a deep breath. A goal is just a road with a sign saying, “This way to your destination.” If you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to get there?

Write down your goal. Be specific. Do NOT say, “I want to prove myself all the way to Charlemagne.” Do say, “What happened to Uncle Dolphus after the Civil War?” or “Who are Grandma Eulalee’s parents?” Even if you want to prove your relationship to a Revolutionary patriot, you still have to do it one generation at a time; make each generation a separate goal.

So, what is your goal? Write it down and refer to it frequently.

2. Write the background information. This is simply a summary of what you know about the ancestor and WHY you know it. It may be full of blanks like:

“Uncle Dolphus was born in 1836 in Livingston County, New York. He never married. He moved away from the family after ____. He was living in Solano County, California by 1881. He died _____.”

The blanks are just as important as what you do know. They help us focus on the missing pieces.

3. Use footnotes.  Be careful; sometimes the “facts” are actually misleading. That’s where footnotes come in. The footnotes tell you and other researchers you may work with in the future how credible your information is. Do I know for sure that Uncle Dolphus never married? The footnote would say that it was a family story passed down by his great-niece. This isn’t the greatest piece of information; the source is too far removed from the events.  How do I know that Dolphus was in California? The footnote would show that he and the other siblings quitclaimed their father’s home and property to his little sister, Anna. I have the probate file book, page number, and year. I use Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Evidence! or Evidence Explained! to keep my footnotes consistent. Use any footnoting system you want, just make sure you are citing each fact you claim, and where it came from.

4. Collect as much info as possible. Where does the data come from? You need to go digging in your own house. In my case, it almost felt like archaeology: the strata of paper and photos was so thick! I dug out all the paper relating to Uncle Dolphus; all the printed pages, research notes, everything. Then I re-read it all. I realized I’d miss-remembered some things, such as thinking someone said he had died in San Diego County instead of Solano County. I found that I had some information I hadn’t quite put together before. In writing out, in paragraph form, what I did know and footnoting each fact to say why I knew it, I got a better hold on the problem.

To summarize:
1. Make a focused goal.
2. Get out all the papers and information you have about that person or family.
3. Write your background information with blanks and footnoted citations.

Feel free to write and tell us how you’ve done, and if you learned anything new. We would love to hear from you.

Next month: Timelines and Maps.

Rebecca’s Reel Hints: A Time to Give

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Rebecca

After hearing amazing stories on the news the other night about people who gave their time and money to local charities, I felt guilty for not doing more – especially in this season. No matter what you celebrate this month, many of our traditional celebrations focus on giving. I have active children and a busy schedule, and wondered how I could give more.

As I was pondering this, I realized how much I was already giving and how many opportunities there are for someone with my genealogical skills and interests. I thought back to the time I served at the local LDS family history center, the lectures I had given pro-bono for local groups, the cemetery indexing and photographing project I had been involved in, time spent talking to new genealogists about their projects and offering advice, and the regular meetings of an online genealogical educational group I help with (http://progenstudy.org/). While I don’t have the ability right now to work in a soup kitchen or help build homes, I still lend my time and expertise voluntarily.

Are you interested in giving back to the genealogical community? Let me tell you about some of my favorite places, and maybe you will find a project that fits your schedule and interests:

  • www.DeadFred.com. This is literally genealogical treasure hunting. When people find old photos or even family bibles that are thrown away or sold at swap meets and antique shops, they “rescue” them and put them up on this site, looking for a home. You can go there to look for your own long-lost relatives or put up some photos you have found.
  • www.USGenWeb.org. This is a hub for state, county, and town sites created and maintained all by volunteers. Contact the site manager of a town or county you are interested in to see if there are projects you can help with. When I did it, I was sent a few pages from an old index to re-type. I re-transcribed them into a word document, sent it back to the site manager, and it became a new online resource for out-of-town researchers.
  • www.FindAGrave.com. A great project for your family, church group, scout troop, or genealogical society. Volunteers photograph headstones and monuments from a cemetery and put them up on this site. You can submit one photo that you already have or hundreds taken by yourself and friends on a sunny afternoon. Check with the local sextant or cemetery manager if you plan to do a whole cemetery to make sure you would not be interfering with any funerals.
  • FamilySearch Indexing. The LDS Church is famous for their microfilm collection and they are organizing an ambitious project to digitize and index these valuable resources. Check out https://www.familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing. There is an online tutorial to teach you how to index, and lots of help along the way.
  • www.worldmemoryproject.org. Ancestry.com and the Holocaust Memorial Museum have partnered to create the world’s largest online resource for information about victims of the Holocaust. Thousands of volunteers worldwide have added 873,000 records that are now searchable. Contributing is free and easy to do for anyone with a computer and a few hours to help.

There are so many more ways to use the talents you have as a genealogist to give back to others and encourage a love of family history, I wish I could name them all here. If you know of a special group or project, or just want to tell about a giving experience that you have had, write us and let us know.

This holiday season, celebrate random acts of genealogical kindness. After all, not every gift can be wrapped with a bow.