Author Archive

Family History Month Challenge Day Seven: Do Something With Those Old Photos

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann 
Hi Cousins!
 

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 7? Here it is: Do something with those old photos. Scan them into the computer so you do not lose them should something happen, and then save them a few different ways-on a disc, a removable drive, an online “cloud” like AncestorCloud or DropBox. Be sure to put who is in the photo and their information in the file name.

“I Am A Cousin” – Meet Michael Stills

Michael and AJ are 25 steps apart.
 
1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Well the short answer I give online is Husband, Father, Son, Digital Explorer.  I am part of that “Sandwich” generation, caring for elderly parents and a 16 year old daughter.  What time I have left, I divide between my wife and myself.  
I dreamed of a career that was a cross between Lewis and Clark and Star Trek, exploring the unknown but with high tech  gadgets.  I was a National Park Ranger before I ended up with a career in Volunteer and Nonprofit Management mostly for outdoor and nature organizations. Recently I started a small business assisting members of my community, an extension of taking care of my parents. And I am dangerously addicted to Genealogy and I like puzzles. When I discovered WikiTree, I had to figure it out and in the process I got hooked.
2. What first interested you in the Global Family Reunion? Are you thinking of attending the shindig in New York next year? 
I think it was through reading the G2G feeds and the curiosity of it played into what I was doing at the time. I was tracking down relationships to the US Presidents.  I find that many famous figures have had their genealogy done for them, usually it is well done.  If I find a connection, often I can push back my own lines or better source them.  Over time I realized that it is not, “Who are we related to?” but “Where are we related?”. The themes of the project resonated with my own. I think that is what Global Family Reunion is built on and what WikiTree is excellent at finding.  Besides, everyone was having so much fun I had to check it out.
I wish I could attend the event in New York.  My wife is from New York so it would be a fun trip for us both.  But alas, my budget is small so the adventures have to be local.  Be sure to say hi to all my cousins for me though, ok?
3. What is an unexpected connection in the links between you and AJ?
Once you realize everyone is connected, finding the connection is not unexpected but it sure is fun. 
 
But what is really unexpected is that AJ’s passion for his project and his relative newness to genealogy has found an outlet that has the potential to be transformative.  It was not some big name genealogist that got the ball rolling but a relative newcomer.  That’s awesome! I feel like we have just explored the proverbial “tip of the iceberg.” It will be interesting to see how this grows until the reunion next year and then to see what comes of it in years to come. Is this just another project for AJ or will the genealogy bug grab him like it has for many of us?  In any event, more fun and adventure ahead.
4. Who are some notable people you were glad to be connected to in the big tree? 
Thomas Jefferson because he was a “Renaissance man”.  I wanted to say John Wayne because my mom is a big fan, but he isn’t connected to the Global Tree yet!
I also love my ancestors in the New Netherlands Project.  New Netherlands history is a sorely neglected part of American History.  Russell Shorto’s book, “Island and the Center of the World” was a great read and very enlightening. Connecting to the supposed pirate, Anthony Jansen Van Salee and his wife, “Manhattan’s first prostitute” is a lot of fun, if a bit suspect.  But I am very glad to be able to find connections to regular folks at WikiTree too!
5. If you get AJ to invite one person to the reunion, who would it be? Who are some other notable people you would like to see connected to the tree?
Me??, …wait, I am invited!
Hmm…I can not think of one person specifically so I am going to say, history teachers.
Once you truly realize that we are all related, then we are back to “Where are we related?”  We need to enlighten those who have not yet discovered this reality and the potential behind it.  Imagine teaching history from the perspective that, “We are all related.” Not as a general platitude, but as if we are teaching about our grandparents.  Genealogy has the potential to make the experience of history real and personal.  We say the words, “Forefathers” but we do not “feel” the words.  If our common understanding of history includes the idea that we are all related (and we know exactly how), how would our relationships in the world change?  If our children understood historical figures as personal ancestors, how might their understanding of history change?
6. Who is someone in your family tree the rest of us would be proud to call “Cousin”?
My first “discovery” was learning about my great grandfather, Smith Alexander Stills. He is my primary focus and I feel a personal connection to him. Even though he was just a farmer from a long line of Tennessee farmers, what little I have about him suggests he was a good man.
Another ancestor I could point you to would be Dr. Chauncey Lee Sheldon.  He served as Surgeon’s Mate during the War of 1812, was County Clerk in Warsaw, New York, where he was also their first doctor and druggist. As County Clerk, he authenticated a lot of Revolutionary War pension applications and was a pillar in his community. He lived a lot of American history, yet he died at the age of 44 after fathering 13 children, of which at least three died very young.

Family History Month Challenge Day Six: Volunteer at your Local Society

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann 
Hi Cousins!
 

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 6? Here it is: Volunteer at your local historical society for an hour. Who knows-you might find something that helps you out as much as you helped them!

Here’s some helpful links:

Family History Month Challenge Day Five: Research a Collateral Ancestor

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann 
Hi Cousins!
 

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 5? Here it is: Research a collateral ancestor. Who was your great aunt’s husband? What about that gal with the funny name who married your fifth great uncle? Go find out about someone new. Sometimes clues for your own direct line lay buried with those collateral families.

Check out:

Lessons Learned From Collateral Lines
Cluster & Collateral Genealogy on Cyndi’s List

Family History Month Challenge Day Four: Start a Scrapbook

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann 
Hi Cousins!
 

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 4? Here it is: Start a family history scrapbook. Having all that information on the computer is great, but start your family story, including pictures and the stories your family tells you, as well as those in old town histories.

Here are a few sites that can help you get started!

  1. Scrapbooking your Family History 
  2. Scrap your Family History
  3. Scrapbooking on Cyndi’s List

Tip #9: Common Census

by Abby Glann

Sticking with the theme of sources, one great source to use to start filling in a lot of blanks fast is a census. Most areas use some sort of census to keep track of the growth of their population. The most recent one available in the US is the 1940 census, while Canada and the UKs most recent released is the 1911 (following their 100 year rule). The kind of information these usually give you is the head of the household, the spouse or if the head was widowed, and the children living in the house at that time. Though you can’t depend on them 100 percent, they are fantastic sources to start with. From them you get a general idea of the birth year-most are estimates unless the taker specifically asked for the year, where they were born, an occupation, where their parents were born, and if you take the time to look at the neighbors, you’ll often find other relatives or future in-laws.

All this information, even when just an estimate, can be quite helpful for finding future sources and ancestors. A great place to access many census is through FamilySearch.org (it’s free!). If you know your great grandparents’ names, general birth dates, and places you can usually find them in a census somewhere. Depending on your age, you may even find your parents or grandparents. The US has census data back to 1790, but the most useful censuses, especially for beginners, are from 1850 and after. The UK started taking them regularly in 1801, and every ten years after. Check out familysearch.org (or if you have a subscription somewhere else like Ancestry.com) and find your family!

If you know of a great site to access the census data for another country, let us know about it in the comments and we’ll add the links to this post. We know we tend to be US-centric, but want to make sure we’re helping *all* of our cousins.
 

Family History Month Challenge Day 3: Visit a Cemetery

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann 
Hi Cousins!
 

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 3? Here it is: Visit a cemetery you haven’t yet to find the headstones of some of your ancestors. Take pictures. Post them on that collaborative site you joined!

Here are some great tips for visiting a cemetery.

Do you enjoy photographing tombstones? Both WikiTree and Geni have cemetery projects you might be interested in joining!

Family History Month Challenge Day 2: Start a One Name Study

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann 
Hi Cousins!
 

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 2? Here it is: Start a One Name Study for one of your unique family names or one of your favorites.

A One Name Study is a project researching a specific surname rather then a particular line (such as ancestors or descendants).

Both Geni.com and WikiTree.com have projects dedicated to One Name Studies and could help get you started!

Hi Cousins!

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 1? Here it is: – See more at: https://globalfamilyreunion2015.blogspot.com/#sthash.n63YaHLn.dpuf

Hi Cousins!

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 1? Here it is: – See more at: https://globalfamilyreunion2015.blogspot.com/#sthash.n63YaHLn.dpuf


Family History Month Challenge: Day 1

by Eowyn Langholf and Abby Glann

Hi Cousins!

October is Family History Month so for fun we’re giving a challenge every day of the month relating to ways you can celebrate your family, your lineage and your heritage!

Ready for Day 1? Here it is:  Join a collaborative genealogy site to start sharing your research with others.

Not sure where to join? There are several great collaborative sites to try out and see what works best for you.  Here are a few:


Tip #8: Source the Stories

by Abby Glann

One thing that will keep coming up when you run with genealogists of any sort are sources, like we talked about last time. They are just *that* important. No matter what the source, be it the 1790 United States Census confirming your fifth great grandpa’s home in Virginia or the back of the cereal box that told you George Washington’s mother’s name was Mary Ball or the parish records from Zbiroh, Bohemia showing your second great grandmother’s birth date, you need to put it in your notes. That includes family stories.

Family stories can be great for little clues to big finds. One thing I have loved to do for years is to take my notebook (or smartphone for you savvy sorts) with me to visit relatives and take notes about the stories they tell. When your grandfather starts talking about his grandparents living in Sweden, their profession, what their trip over on the ship was like, where they settled, that child who died in infancy, the other one who married the doctor in that small town in Minnesota, and so on, all of that is great to use for clues in your search for where your family was at certain times. Sources tend to lead to other sources, and family stories are great for that. 
One caution with family stories-they aren’t always true! That doesn’t mean they won’t help, though. My family had a story about my third great grandfather that had been in the family for ages and was rather beloved. I was the unfortunate bearer of bad news as I got further into researching our heritage. The story was that that grandfather had been a member of the Scottish navy and had gone AWOL while on leave in Nova Scotia, changing his name from Saxton to Brown and starting a family there. Well, his name was always Brown and he immigrated from England, not Scotland, with his young wife to be a miner and raise a family. No navy. No name changes. But there was truth there-he did live in Nova Scotia, he was an immigrant, and his name was Brown. All those correct clues helped me find the truth and add to my family lines. 
No matter the story-that you’re descended from Thomas Jefferson or that your great Uncle Jim Bob owned the service station is Sapulpa-they are sources, and should be put down as such. They make great additions to your own story, too, giving you an idea of who your ancestors were. Every member and detail to your story you can add will help get you one step closer to finding how you’re a cousin to all of us.
 
 (image courtesy of Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches)

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