Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Making military research a little easier

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Before Memorial Day in 2016, I wrote this post on figuring out which ancestors might have fought in which war. I’ve run it a couple more times and it seemed like a good time to run it again. Incidentally, MyHeritage is offering free access to its 83 million military records this weekend, May 25-30, 2023.

Whenever I read about a records collection for a certain conflict (which seems to happen around military-related holidays, like Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day or anniversaries of conflicts) I get excited about researching my ancestors in those collections, which can be such a treasure trove of information. But in the past sometimes I would have difficulty remembering which ancestor might have fought in which war and I’d become overwhelmed and abandon the effort.

So I created a document that shows me the prospective ancestors for each conflict, based on the dates they were born. At the time, I used a table from Family Tree Magazine but when I went looking for it to share in this post, I couldn’t find it. However, I did find an even-better table called Ages of Servicemen in Wars that lists 20 military conflicts, the years they were fought, the typical birth dates for soldiers and the  typical ages of soldiers. Thank you, FamilySearch!

Armed with that information, I created a simple spreadsheet (pictured, in part, above) with the following column headers:

  • Conflict
  • Likely Birth Year of Soldiers
  • Prospective Ancestor
  • Confirmed Ancestor

For each conflict, I entered the names of the ancestors who were born during the birth-year window listed in column 2. After I ascertained that one had indeed fought in that war, I entered an X in the Confirmed Ancestor column. What I should have done and will from here forward, is place a dash or an N in the Confirmed Ancestor column to indicate that I’d ruled that ancestor out.

This is a simple way to see at a glance who I might research when I’m looking at military collections at the National Archives, Fold3 or elsewhere. It’s easy to create and I think it’s well worth the time spent.

 

NARA’s Genealogy Series starts May 3

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In 2021, the National Archives transformed its annual one-day virtual Genealogy Fair into a multi-week Genealogy Series. The theme of this year’s series of lectures is is Public Service: Military & Civilian.

There will be one lecture each Wednesday from May 3 to June 14 (six Wednesdays), from 1 to 2 pm. No registration is required; you can watch live and ask questions of the presenter at the NARA YouTube channel. (You can also watch later without the opportunity to ask questions.)

Visit the NARA website to see the program and details about each talk. The page also includes links to the talks and handouts, available on the each event day (and after). According to the website, “You are invited to attend, participate, and ask questions during our sessions’ YouTube video premieres. Presentations are pre-recorded videos broadcast on NARA’s YouTube channel. Throughout the broadcast, you will be able to ask questions, and the presenter will respond in real time. After the initial showing, the video and handouts will remain available on this web page and YouTube.”

I’m excited about this free learning opportunity and I want to thank reader Marian Kowalski for telling me about this year’s program. It had escaped my notice!

Quick Tip #41: Read everything with a critical eye

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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 now and then on a small topic that pops into my head. This one is an important reminder.

Read everything with a critical eye

When you’re evaluating evidence, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that what you’re reading may not be right. If it’s a fact that another researcher has provided, be sure to check for a source citation and then look at the actual source. When looking at a document, consider the informant and how likely the document is to be accurate. Information on an ancestor’s birth, for example, is more likely to be accurate if it came from a birth certificate than from a death certificate, since it’s closer in time to the event. The accuracy of a census record depends on the knowledge of the person who the gave the information to the enumerator, as well as the enumerator’s listening (and handwriting) skills, among other factors.

If you find conflicting evidence, it’s easy assume that the information you found first was correct and that the subsequent information is inaccurate. But that might not be the case. Try to be critical about all the information you come across in your research.

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

The rejuvenating effect of switching my research focus

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I’ve been researching my family pretty seriously for more than a dozen years. My progress has been slow and careful and the excitement of beginning that research is a dim memory. If I’m being honest, I’ve been less motivated about my genealogy research over the last year or so; that’s because of other pressures in my life but also because the research may have become a little stale.

This month I decided to research my husband’s family, for the first time. It started over an idle question about what year they were married, since I’m privileged to wear my mother-in-law’s engagement ring.  I did a quick search and came up with two wedding dates. It turns out both dates were right–they were married secretly out of state at the age 17 (they lied and said they were 21!) and then again a year later in an official ceremony, something that is part of family lore. Just finding those dates was a thrill and it was so fun to share what I’d learned with my husband, Barry.

So I’m off to the races with a new family. I’m sure I’ll get back to my familiar ancestors before too long, but in the interim it’s fun to relive the thrill of discovery with something new. If you’re getting bored with your research, you might try picking a new branch of your family or researching the family of a spouses or friend!

 

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

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