Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Loving my electronic file system

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A snippet from my Finder window

Back in January, I blogged about reorganizing my electronic file system. I took inspiration from Ben Sayer of Genealogy Tools, creating a file structure format for each individual, organized into surname folders on my Mac. What I name individual documents within a folder is fairly loose, but the folder naming structure has been standardized.

I’m happy to report that it’s been a success! I can easily find a document I”m looking for and, even better, I’m now saving documents with confidence and alacrity. A nice side benefit of that confidence is that I’m printing fewer documents that I find online. (I blogged about the printing dilemma in January as well.)

I wanted to save money on paper and toner by printing less. What I didn’t take into account, though, is that I also save time by saving documents rather than printing them. It takes a bit more time to type the file name than to click Print, but once I’ve done that, the process is over. I don’t have to file the paper documents. And they’re also easier to retrieve. Since I store my genealogy file cart in a closet in my office, retrieving files took a little effort.

Another benefit is that when I’m feeling industrious, I can link images of source documents from my hard drive directly into the Reunion software I use. Once I get consistent about that, I’ll really be set and it will be so easy for me to see the research I’ve found.

I’m saving more documents and easily using this new naming protocol for folders. The next step will be to work on my backlog. My 2012 files are not consistently filed. But I know if I work on it a little at a time, I ca bring order to my hard drive!

My electronic file system has evolved a great deal since 2013 when I wrote this post. In 2021 I published an Orderly Roots Guide called How I Do It: A Professional Organizer’s Genealogy Workflow that provides detailed information on how I organize my own genealogy research, which is now 100 percent digital. It is available for $19.99.

Civil War recordkeeping

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Laban Taylor Rasco Civil War documentToday I had the good fortune to find the Civil War records for my great-great-grandfather (my paternal grandmother’s paternal grandfather), Laban Taylor Rasco. I initially found him listed in Alabama, Census of Confederate Soldiers, a document I found on Ancestry.com. That listed his company and regiment (he fought for the Confederate Army), which allowed me to easily find a lot of documents at Fold3.com.

He’s not the first Civil War ancestor for whom I’ve found documents, but he is the first on the Confederate side. Through the documents, I learned that he was injured in the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgie in September 1863 and that he was a held as a prisoner of war in a Union prison camp in Talladega, Alabama, and paroled on June 3, 1865, after the war had ended.

Of course, I’m dazzled and amazed that in a matter of a few minutes I can uncover and read these documents via the miracles of scanning and the internet.

But I’m also really amazed by the recordkeeping that took place in this war. When you consider that most forms were filled out by hand and that thousands upon thousands of soldiers fought, it’s remarkable. My great great grandfather was a mere private and today I saw 10 different documents.

I saw the movie Lincoln this weekend (and heartily recommend it) and it brought to life the absence of technology of that era. I am so impressed with the organizational skills that allowed these records to be kept and retained. And, of course, it’s very impressive that they continue to be well organized and accessible.

Documenting sources

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Properly documenting sources is really important to me as I explore my family history this time around. I want to be  confident about every fact I enter into my genealogy software.

I just read the article , “Genealogy GPS” in the current (October/November 2012) issue of Family Tree Magazine. I hadn’t realized that there’s a Genealogical Proof Standard (how great is that?). Reading the article added to my resolve about having high standards for the data I include in my family tree. In fact, I now think I want to go back and try to find a second source for any information I’ve already entered that has only one source.

I had a private conversation on Facebook with an old friend recently, who excitedly told me that he’d traced his roots back to the 12th century. He’d done so via clicking on family trees on Ancestry. When I mentioned that my own family history research involved using only confirmed data, he replied, “I resolved that sourced reference is terrific, but the speed and excitement of Ancestry.com is far more satisfying.”

Here’s the thing: My friend is having a great, satisfying time researching his family history this way and that’s perfectly okay. But I have to tell you, I get such a thrill when I track down a document that verifies the unconfirmed data I tracked down ten years ago during my own spate of that speedy and exciting Ancestry research. That’s what’s working for me.

The “Genealogy GPS” article is really terrific–chock full of resources. If you’re a subscriber, don’t overlook it. (And if you’re a newer family history researcher and not a reader of Family Tree Magazine, you really should consider subscribing. I love it.)