Volunteering

Looking for a way to give back?  Think about volunteering your time and talents by volunteering for genealogy websites.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses volunteers to scan and/or double check records and to decipher handwriting in Census' and such. It's easy, fun, usually you can do a record in about 20 min. and it's amazing the connections you will find.

Genie Angels always needs more volunteers willing to go to local courthouses to pick up documents for others.  Get your exercise in by walking through out of the way cemeteries and taking pictures of tombstones or taking a survey of the plots.  There are endless opportunities to volunteer and give back.

Reaching Out to Family for Help

Once upon a time, genealogists would put together small packages of information with a letter to relatives for help filling in missing information.  The cost could become astronomical and the frustration through the roof! at the lack of response.


Now it's possible to put the same information together, the same letter for help, but you can put the information out on a blog such as this or the upcoming ArtisticAncestry.com to share with family members and to ask if they have any of the missing information.  


Technology is available and wonderful, so use it!  Take advantage of the options it has to offer.

I recently received an email that said, "You know you're from Pittsburg if..."  I have lived in the Pittsburg area my whole life, so I was among the people who remembered Pico ice cream shop and Ken's pizza, but the thread had included comments from some women who had lived in Pittsburg since they were born and are now in their 80s.  Their memories were so much more impressive.

Do you think in 70 years kids today will be telling others that they remember when 1106 was a Drive-In on Broadway between Quincy and Jefferson?  Or that they remember when Quincy St. was simply a two lane road and not a six lane super highway?  We just need to keep the historic perspective in mind for everything.

October 12 marked the commemoration of the day Columbus landed in the New World.  Had it not been for Columbus searching for a different route to the Orient, would we still have a country that has all of the Freedoms that we now have.  Was it Divine Providence that led him to this land or a happy accident?  Whatever you believe led him to the New World means that we have a life that we may not have had otherwise.  Happy Columbus Day.

Sometimes we assume a relative's gender simply by the name.  There are many gender neutral names now, but most of the time those names began as boys names such as Taylor, Lane, Cameron, and multiple others.  We've now learned not to simply assume a gender by the name, but we haven't trained ourselves to look at our ancestors the same way.  

I've recently learned that the name Joy used to be a common name given to boys by Danes in the White Mountain region and a lot of foreign names when census workers tried to Americanize became female names. Also Gale, Erin, Jan, and Kelly. It pays to be patient and see if they have a spouse before attributing a sex to people. After all, wouldn't you feel funny to find out your great grandpa was really your great grandma?

Women and Wills

There are some legal terms you might run into when it comes to women being named in wills.  Dowager is a woman who has property from her husband.  Relict is another term for a widow.  Testratrix refers to a woman who leaves a valid will.  These are just a few of the terms you may run into hunting for your female ancestors.  It's important to know the difference between a testratrix and an administratrix (a woman a court appoints to administer an estate when no valid will is established) so you won't make the mistake of believing your relative was an heir when in fact she was a court appointed executer.

Making art out of history

Are you looking for a special way to present some of your family history?  Here's a suggestion.  Take an old end table or trunk that has seen better days.  If they're made of wood sand them down.  Get some old family photos and have copies made.  Cut them down some and decopage the photos along with a family tree  or chart to the top of the table.  It's important to make sure you are using copies since the adhesiive will eventually degrade the pictures. 

Preserving Family Photos

ArtisticAncestry.com will be coming soon, but while you're waiting check out 1000memories.com.  It's a FREE online photo storage location where you can upload your pictures and share with family and friends.  It's the great chance to protect the integrity of those photographs you want to keep.

How 30 Seconds Changes Life

October 26 marks the 130th anniversary of the Shootout at the OK Corral.  Historians disagree on the reason for the gunfight.  Some say it was simply in revenge for malicious attacks and insults, others say it was a battle to decide who would control the direction Tombstone, AZ would take.  The gunfight itself only lasted about 30 seconds, but the good guys were obviously the victors.  Tombstone was not going to be controlled by cattle rustlers.


Did you have ancestors living in Tombstone?  Was one of the Earp brothers or a member of the McLaury-Clanton Gang a relative?  Could the outcome have changed your family's lives had the outcome been different?