Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Take another look at your documents

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A recurring theme I heard at RootsTech this month was the value of taking a second (or third) look at the documents you’ve found. I know that I almost always see new things when I do. I think that’s because I’m becoming a better genealogist. And I’m learning more about my family, so my eyes are open to more clues.

When I was flying to RootsTech, I re-read the divorce case documents I’d received in January for my 2nd great grandfather, George Washington Adams (1845-1938) and his second wife, Della (1870-1943). I’d read the whole divorce file at least once before but it wasn’t until this re-reading that I realized that the couple had had a daughter who was born and died between the 1910 census and the time of the divorce in 1920.

Since I noticed that little detail, I was able to find her death certificate at the Family History Library (with the help of my friend and professional genealogist Maria Tello). I was so glad I’d taken a few minutes to re-read that document in preparation for my trip to the Family History Library.

In her RootsTech session, Digging for Details: Getting the Full Story, Jen Ballwin of FindMyPast spoke about the value of mining every single detail from a document. She said that you should “treat each document like it’s the only document you’ll ever find on that ancestor.” I think that’s great advice. If you haven’t already been doing that, you’d be well served if you took the time to go through your documents again and record every teeny detail.

That might feel like an overwhelming proposition (I know it does to me). But like everything else that’s overwhelming, the key is to break it into small parts.

Since my plan is to focus on just one family line in 2017, I’ll see if I can’t spend some time re-examining all the documents I have for a particular ancestor when I’m researching him/her. I think the exception will be those documents that I’ve already abstracted and transcribed. That process gives me the chance to be really thorough and I find that details come jumping out at me. So I’m pretty confident I’ve mined those well.

It can be really tempting to limit ourselves to looking for new documents and checking documents off a checklist as we find them. (That checkmark makes you feel so accomplished!) But if we don’t make the most out of the information contained in the documents we find, we’re not doing ourselves any favors. Go ahead, take a second look!

Illustration by Kate Ter Haar via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

Using a calendar to introduce variety in your research

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Over on the Genealogy Research Loggers Facebook group, member Laura Aanenson posted her 2017 research plan and the brilliant method she uses to select the ancestor to research each session. I thought it was a such a great idea I asked her permission to write about it here.

She uses Family Tree Maker software that has a calendar function. Each day the calendar shows her the names of the ancestors who were born, died or married that day. Each session, she focuses on the ancestors that are listed that day, filling in blanks, answering questions and carefully logging her research, including her observations and further areas for investigation.

Laura wrote, “I find if I concentrate on just one branch of my tree, the others get neglected and I miss opportunities to connect with prospective cousins. My calendar-based log helps me turn nearly every leaf in my tree several times a year and move everyone at least one step forward.”

I find myself really excited by the idea, despite the fact that my 2017 research plan has me focusing me on a single line all year (and so far this year, I’ve just been working on one couple). I’m enjoying the focus, so I’m going to stick with it. But what I love about Laura’s method is the unpredictability of which ancestor will be researched each session. I think that makes everything more fun and exciting!

I imagine many family tree software programs have the calendar function. I checked Reunion, the software I use, and there is a calendar function I could use for this purpose, though it’s a little clunkier than what Laura is describing.

Feel free to join us at Genealogy Research Loggers if you’d like to learn other great ideas like these!

Getting past overwhelm by breaking a project down

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getting past overwhelm by breaking down a projectAs I plug away at transcribing my 2nd great grandfather’s 137-document pension file, I keep thinking to myself how valuable it is that I’m doing this one small document at a time. When I started, the idea of transcribing this vast file seemed insurmountable. The printed sheaf of papers that I received from the National Archives is nearly an inch tall!

But rather than think about the enormity of transcribing the whole file, I’m just looking at the next document. Then the one after that. I’m trying to work on it at least 30 minutes daily (even after the succcessful end of my latest 30 x 30 challenge two weeks ago, I’ve only missed a couple of days) and slowly but surely I’m getting through it. Today, I transcribed documents 47 and 48. Before long, I’ll be halfway done.

Once or twice I’ve questioned the value of this exercise. But as soon as I do that, I discover something I didn’t notice on first reading, when I wasn’t transcribing. There’s no doubt in my mind that transcribing these pension documents is a valuable use of my time.

So here’s my big takeaway, which of course can be applied to many aspects of my life. When I’m facing a large, seemingly insurmountable project, I can get past overwhelm and eventually complete it if I:

  • Break it down into small tasks
  • Do one task at a time
  • Work on it very regularly, for a small period of time

This strategy is working well on the pension file. I can’t wait to get all the way to the end and see what discoveries has in store for me!

A commenter asked for the steps on requesting a Civil War pension file.  Here they are:

  1. Go to this page on the National Archives website.
  2. Select NATF 85D: Federal Military Pension Application – Civil War and Later Complete File
  3. Select delivery format (I selected paper)
  4. Click Add to Cart
  5. Login or register
  6. Fill out form with your ancestor’s name, military unit and other information (if you don’t have that, check out Ancestry.com or Fold3.com to get it)
  7. Pay $80 online
  8. Wait for your packet!

A successful 30 x 30 challenge

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30x30 challengeMy November 30 x 30 challenge ended yesterday. (It went from November 2 to December 1.) During that time, I pledged to work at least 30 minutes per day for 30 days.

I ended up missing three days. My brother has been visiting from Australia since November 21 and his visit disrupted my routine enough that I forgot to do research a couple of times. (But I researched more than 30 minutes a number of those days, so I got my time in.) I learned earlier this year that the best time for me to work on genealogy is first thing in the morning. That strategy allowed me to do research while my brother slept in the morning.

With the exception of a couple of days, November’s work was all about the Civil War pension file of my great great grandfather, George W. Adams. I have now transcribed 26 of the 138 documents in the file, a drop in the bucket. But this exercise has confirmed for me that slow and steady wins the race. I plan to continue with my daily efforts in hopes that I can finish transcribing and abstracting the file before too much time has passed.

The file contains some details about my great great grandfather’s second wife and one day that sent me galloping off in search of more information about her. But I reminded myself of my moratorium on bringing in new information and the next day I was back to the task at hand.

I can imagine that some people might find this approach boring, but I’m finding it easy and reassuring to know what I’m going to be working on each day and to make progress each and every day.

Next week I travel to Washington state to visit my family so it remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to keep up my daily effort. But I still have the advantage of being an early riser, so I remain hopeful.

If you participated in the challenge, how did you do?