Organize Your Family History

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October 30 x 30 wrap up

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Another 30 x 30 challenge is over! Today marks Day 30. Please share know how it went for you!

I had a great month. I managed to research every day except one. And, according to my spreadsheet, I averaged 30 minutes 12 seconds a day. Some research sessions were longer, some were shorter, but most were around 30 minutes.

My goal for this challenge was to eliminate the backlog of files that had accumulated. I did it! That felt great. However, I discovered other backlog folders that I don’t remember creating. They were filed in individual surname folders. So my backlog is not gone completely. But I did process 77 backlogged documents this month and I downloaded and processed 19 more. That feels very productive and I’m pleased as punch.

I hope to continue with daily research in November, though with the absence of a 30 x 30 challenge it’s less of a sure thing. I’m planning to do another challenge in January.

Your turn: If you participated in the challenge, how did it go? Did the challenge help you get more done? And did you have some fun? I hope so!

October 30 x 30 challenge check in (redux)!

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I posted this on Friday and one reader to wrote to say she was getting an error message when she tried to comment. I’ve been trying to fix it and I think I have finally succeeded. I think there were two sets of problems (a new IP address and an updated plugin) and I’m hopeful you all can comment. So, please, do let me know how your 30 x 30 challenge is going! And if you try to comment and can’t, please shoot me an email at janine@organizeyourfamilyhistory.com and let me know. Thanks!

Update! I got GoDaddy involved and I think it’s really fixed this time. So if you do have a problem, please let me know.

It’s the middle of month already and time for a check in for those who are participating in this month’s 30 x 30 challenge. How’s it going? Have you been able to research daily? Are you putting in 30 minutes a day? Even if you’re not, have you found the challenge helpful?

It’s been a good, if not great, month for me. When there’s a 30 x 30 challenge my research is definitely more on my radar. I have researched every day, except one, which I feel great about. The one day I missed I had a good excuse: my husband was hospitalized for five nights at the beginning of the month with a heart ailment (he’s doing well now). One of those evenings I just plain forgot to research. But I was proud of myself for remembering the other days! (My Trello daily task management board has been outrageously helpful.)

This month I’ve been focusing on reducing my backlog and until yesterday I was doing great. I started out with 96 documents to process and I have now have 60. Before yesterday, there wasn’t a day that my backlog of documents went up–I’ve been trying hard to resist adding documents. (So far this month, I’ve processed 48 documents and added 12.) But yesterday in order to feel comfortable adding a couple of documents I’d found on last year’s research trip to my database I had to do a little more research and then downloaded four documents that I didn’t have to process.

I have averaged 24 minutes a day, but I hope to bring that average up this weekend. I plan to keep working on my backlog. I have a fighting chance of getting it down to zero, which would be amazing!

How’s it going for you? Please let us know in the comments!

October 30 x 30 challenge check in!

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It’s the middle of month already and time for a check in for those who are participating in this month’s 30 x 30 challenge. How’s it going? Have you been able to research daily? Are you putting in 30 minutes a day? Even if you’re not, have you found the challenge helpful?

It’s been a good, if not great, month for me. When there’s a 30 x 30 challenge my research is definitely more on my radar. I have researched every day, except one, which I feel great about. The one day I missed I had a good excuse: my husband was hospitalized for five nights at the beginning of the month with a heart ailment (he’s doing well now). One of those evenings I just plain forgot to research. But I was proud of myself for remembering the other days! (My Trello daily task management board has been outrageously helpful.)

This month I’ve been focusing on reducing my backlog and until yesterday I was doing great. I started out with 96 documents to process and I have now have 60. Before yesterday, there wasn’t a day that my backlog of documents went up–I’ve been trying hard to resist adding documents. (So far this month, I’ve processed 48 documents and added 12.) But yesterday in order to feel comfortable adding a couple of documents I’d found on last year’s research trip to my database I had to do a little more research and then downloaded four documents that I didn’t have to process.

I have averaged 24 minutes a day, but I hope to bring that average up this weekend. I plan to keep working on my backlog. I have a fighting chance of getting it down to zero, which would be amazing!

How’s it going for you? Please let us know in the comments!

Small lessons from a cemetery visit

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When I drove home to St. Louis from Walla Walla, Washington, last month I planned my route so that I could stop at the Carleton Cemetery, in Thayer County, Nebraska, where all four of my 3rd great grandparents are buried. These are the grandparents of my grandfather, Crawford A. Brown (1906-1996).

Though I had seen their grave markers on Find A Grave, I think it’s always nice to visit a cemetery in person and make that connection. (I blogged a few years ago about why I prefer in-person visits to cemeteries.)

What I was actually looking for were two shared graves. One was for Newton Perry Brown (1853-1938) and Antoinette Garlock Brown  (1855-1922), my grandfather’s paternal grandparents and the other was for Samuel Vorce Wheeler (1852-1937) and Elizabeth Jane (Jennie) Nebergall Wheeler (1857-1933), the parents of his mother.

I didn’t have the luxury of visiting when the sun was high in the sky (time of day can really make a difference in the quality of your cemetery photos), since I started the day in Wyoming. And I was a little distracted while I was at the cemetery because a pebble hit and cracked my windshield on the way there. Plus I had to pee. So I didn’t spend a lot of time at the cemetery looking for other relatives. But I’m really glad I went.

A couple of tips I occurred to me when I was there.

Look for a cemetery directory of graves. I knew what section of the cemetery to look in for the grave of one set of ggggrandparents because it was noted on Find A Grave. I looked around that section for the grave of the other set but I didn’t it. Then I went back to the entrance to see if I could find a directory. This is what the information area inside the cemetery gates looked like:

 

I wondered about the metal case and lifted the door. There I saw a set of drawers and, sure enough, each contained the cemetery records!

I found the section and plot number the grave and was able to go right to it.

If you’re casting a shadow, consider taking the picture upside down from the other side of the marker. Because it was late afternoon, my shadow was cast onto the gravemarker, which was flush to the ground. But I had the idea of taking it from the other side and just flipping the photo using my phone’s Edit feature. Voila.

Right side up:

Upside down:

I felt like a genius.

I think visiting an ancestor’s grave is a great use of time. I always feel more connected to my ancestor and I absolutely remember where they’re buried if I’ve visited the cemetery. It was nice to drive in the little town where my grandfather was born, even if I didn’t get the chance to spend much time there.