Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

October 2021 30 x 30 wrap up!

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It’s the end of another 30 x 30 challenge and it’s time to share how you did. I’m sorry to say that I did not have a good month. As I mentioned in the mid-month check in, I had trouble remembering in the first half of the month. Things got worse in the second half because I was in Walla Walla visiting my family from October 18 to 28. I had some nice reminiscing time with my father and my aunt, but mostly I was kept so busy with various tasks for them (and my brother) that I did virtually no research. I was able to process a few documents from my backlog on the airplane, but overall, the last half of the month feels like a wash.

But you know what? I’m cutting myself a lot of slack. I was not able to prioritize genealogy research and that’s okay. I know better months are in my future!

If you participated in the challenge, please let us know in the comments how it went. I’m hopeful it went well for you, but there’s no shame in admitting you didn’t have a great month.

I plan to do another challenge in December or in January, depending on how my December looks.

30 x 30 mid-month check in

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We’re at the halfway point of the October 2021 30 x 30 challenge. How is it going?

I have to admit I’m not having a great challenge. I kept forgetting at the beginning of the month, so I missed a couple of days. Then I remembered, but didn’t have time to research much. So I’ve managed to do some research–but nowhere near 30 minutes–all but three days. I have hopes that I’ll have time for some long research sessions in the remainder of the month to make up some of the time. But even if I don’t, I’m pleased that I’ve been able to connect with my research almost daily.

How about you? If you’re participating in the challenge, please let everyone know in the comments how your month is going.

Creating a poster of your family tree

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A tree from MyCanvas

I had an inquiry recently from someone who wanted to get her Ancestry tree printed so that she could see the whole tree. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question and I did a little research. I haven’t had the desire to see a printed version of my tree, but I do get the attraction.

I found three companies that create large-scale printed versions of a tree (sometimes very large, suitable for family reunions!). I like limiting my options, so I stopped at three. This obviously isn’t an exhaustive list, but I hope you find it helpful. Feel free to add resources in the comments!

  • To have a decorative tree created from your Ancestry tree (rather than from software or a GEDCOM), it looks like the easiest option might be MyCanvas, which offers a 24 x 18 poster in three different types of trees, Standard Combination or Descendant (coming soon). Just connect your Ancestry tree to get started. Prices vary from $25 to $55, depending on the tree type and the number of generations. (Maximum is nine generations.) They also offer oak hanging rails.
  • Ancestry Printing will create a large-scale chart directly from a variety of genealogy software packages (including the one I use, Reunion). It also looks like they print from Ancestry, Geni, My Heritage and Tribal Pages. AncestryPrinting says it offers personalized customer service and lots of flexibility. They will do the designing for you! Their pricing is based on the linear foot of the chart.
  • Family ChartMasters offers custom decorative charts, as well as working charts and charts with blanks to be filled in. You can design your own or work with a designer. They offer charts in a variety of formats and you can get the ball rolling with a free consultation. Their prices vary depending on the type of chart.

If you’re looking for a decorative gift, a giant tree for a family reunion or a large-scale chart to help you with your research, it looks like these companies can help! If you have experience with any of these companies or you know of others, please let me know in the comments.

 

Quick Tip #26: Search for an ancestor without using his name

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Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. I learned this trip from Amy Johnson Crow’s excellent, Getting Savvy with FamilySearch workshop.

Search for an ancestor without using his name

When you fill out a search form on FamilySearch on Ancestry, you typically enter the name into the search box of the ancestor whose records your searching for. That seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? But if you’re having trouble finding records on a research subject whose parents’, spouses’s or siblings’ names you know, try the leaving the person’s name blank an instead entering the name of one or more of those relatives. Sometimes you’ll find documents that did not come up with a search on the ancestor’s name.

Why does it work? There are lots of possibilities. Perhaps there was an indexing error on the research subject’s name. Or maybe you were searching on a full name when the document in question uses a nickname or initials. It’s an easy thing to try and you might be pleasantly surprised by the results!

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

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When you first join the list, I’ll send you a few emails to help you organize your family history. After that you’ll hear from me at the end of every month when I send an email with links to that month’s posts. And every now and then, I’ll let you know when I have something special to promote.