Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Don’t forget to check the next page on the census!

By 10 Comments

Recently, I was doing some research with the 1850 census and almost missed a 10-year-old child in the family because he was listed on the next page. I’ve developed the good habit of always looking to the next page when the family I’m researching is on the last line of a census page. But in this case, though the family was last, there were two blank lines on the page, so I didn’t bother to click ahead. (That’s a snip of the page at the top of this post.) I’m not sure what caused me to look about a half hour later, but I’m glad I did!

That’s such a easy mistake to make, I thought I’d mention it here. Of course, even if the family you’re researching isn’t the last family on a census page, it’s a good practice to look at the next (and previous) page to observe their neighbors and see whether there are other family members living nearby. Lesson learned!

ETA: I had a feeling that there would be some great comments to this post that would provide additional advice and information and I was right! Please be sure and read the comments. And thank you to those who have commented!

The beauty of a genealogy buddy

By 10 Comments

The joy of a genealogy buddyLast month, I had a genealogy play date. My friend Vickie Sheridan, whom I met through this blog, and I met at the History and Genealogy department at the St. Louis County Library headquarters. The library has great resources. But that’s not the only reason we met. There are many benefits of having a genealogy friend to research with–even if you share no common research interests. These benefits include:

  • Setting aside time for research. By putting a six-hour (including lunch) genealogy date on my calendar, I elevated genealogy research on my priority list that day. In a month where I got precious little research done, this day was a stand out.
  • Getting out of the house. I appreciate an excuse to go to the genealogy library, rather than researching online at home. I have more resources available to me at the library (including access to documents on Family Search that I can’t access at home). Having a dates gets me away from my desk.
  • Keeping me focused on my research. When I’m researching quietly beside a friend who’s also researching, I tend to stay focused, rather than let my mind (or feet) wander.
  • Having someone to brainstorm with. It’s so nice to be able to pick Vickie’s brain (or vice versa). We’ve been genealogy buddies for five years now, so we’re a bit familiar with one another’s research. We try not to interrupt each other’s research, but when we do have questions, it’s really helpful.
  • Our mutual interest in genealogy. Some (most?) of my friends outside the genealogy world really don’t want to hear about my little genealogy victories. But Vickie does!
  • Having company. Genealogy can be such a solitary pursuit. It’s really nice working on my own research in the company of someone else. Vickie is also my genealogy conference buddy. We’ve attended more than ten conferences together–we even drove to Indianapolis together this summer to attend Midwestern Roots. It’s great to have someone to hang out with at conferences.

If you have local friends or family who are also genealogy enthusiasts, I encourage you to get out to a library or cemetery or conference or other genealogy site together. Genealogy buddies are real treasures!

Talking about downsizing on Generations Cafe

By 6 Comments

I was so happy to be interviewed once again for Amy Johnson Crow’s  podcast, Generations Cafe. It’s a great podcast and I look forward to each new episode.

This week, Amy kicks off a series on downsizing, based on her recent experience in moving her parents from their home of many decades into a smaller space. In this week’s episode, called Downsizing and Family History, we talked at length about how it can be tricky for genealogists to decide what to let go of when they recognize the potential genealogical value of items for future generations.

The intersection of my work as an organizer and my passion as a genealogist is one of my favorite places to spend time, so I really enjoyed this opportunity to talk with Amy. (If you want to learn a little about how Amy organizes her own family history research, check out her How They Do It interview on this blog from July 2017.)

If you’re not already listening to Generations Cafe, I urge you to subscribe. If you’re new to podcasts, Generations Cafe is a great first genealogy podcast to subscribe to! The podcast showcases Amy’s clear-eyed view of genealogy and her excellent communications skills.

So glad to be a tiny part of it!

October 30 x 30 challenge – who’s in?

By 41 Comments

Boy do I need a 30 x 30 challenge. I barely did any genealogy research in September–my priorities kept shifting away from genealogy. I did spend one day at the library with my genealogy buddy (more on that next week), which was great. But otherwise, my research log for September is pathetic.

So clearly I need a 30 x 30 challenge to elevate genealogy on my priority list. Who would like to join me? This month, I vow to spend 30 minutes a day working on genealogy research every day for 30 days. My focus will be finishing up (or at least making great progress on) processing the documents I obtained on my Kentucky research trip in June. And I’m committing to creating an entry in my Evernote research log each day.

If you’d like to join me, please just leave a note in the comments. If you’d like to mention what you’ll be focusing on, all the better.

I have high hopes for October!

Edited to add: Apologies if you tried to comment and were blocked (and thank you to the readers who told me about it). The firewall issue is now fixed.