SOME GENEANONSENSE 2

ancestorize-The act of researching your family in  search of ancestors you can boast about in conversations. "Now that Molly knew she was descended from Charlemagne, she finally felt fully ancestorized.

geneaddict-A person who can't get enough genealogy. Being a geneaddict sometimes leads to a geneavention.

geneabler-That thoughtful spouse who watches the kids while you do research
and who doesn't mind planning vacations around trips to courthouses and
cemeteries.

geneajargon- Gedcom.  LDS.  PAF. RM4. EE. Need I say more?

geneadrink- Yes, please. Can I have some ice in it too?

SOME GENEANONSENSE

A week ago Saturday I was so wrapped up in my blogging about my
grandfather that I forgot to post these for that week's Saturday Night
Genealogy Fun Challenge from Randy Seaver. So here's my contribution
to Genealogism Dictionary:



Genea-vention: What your family might have to perform when you've spent too
much time on genealogy. "Please honey, put down the gedcom and step away 
from the computer!"

Genea-Conventions :No, not gatherings of genealogists but the agreements you
make with your family on how much time you'll spend on your research and how
much with them. Failure to live up to your family Genea-Conventions could lead
to a genea-vention (see above)     

Genea-pet: Remember that half a sandwich that you accidentally covered with
some folders a few weeks back on your desk ? Well, it's now a lovely shade of
green. AND  IT'S ALIVE!

Geneanation: The whole genealogy community

Geneaverse:        Have you heard of a man  name of Randy?
                            With  geneachallenges he's handy!
                             Each Saturday night,                           
                             A new one he writes
                            And we all think that they're dandy, Randy!

Geneapen: No, I'm using my laptop, but thank you.

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART7

So I've had nearly a week to absorb what I've learned about grandfather
Edward F. White Sr. and his second family. I tried Googling the various
community organizations he was a member of but only two have websites
and neither had photographs or information covering the period that was
connected with them. I haven't had any luck finding anything about my
two new uncles online, either. 

I think I want to see if I can view the case files for my grandparents'
divorce before I contact my new-found relatives. So a trip to the
Suffolk County Courthouse will be my next move. That won't be for at
least three weeks, though, for two reasons.

The first is that I only have Thursdays and Sundays off from work,
and obviously that means that there is really only one day a week
available for me to get into Boston.

The second is that the bookstore I work at is being closed as part of the
Borders reorganization and we're in the midst of a liquidation sale that is
mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. Honestly, I need to
deal with that first.The upside of it is that in a few weeks I'm going to have
plenty of time on my hands that I need to fill and following up on all this
then seems more logical to me at the moment.

So, that's what I've decided to do, so in a few weeks, I'll be back at it!

A POEM FOR A NEW ENGLAND SPRING...

...by who else but Robert Frost?

Spring Pools

These pools that, though in forests, still reflect
The total sky almost without defect,
And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver,
Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone,
And yet not out by any brook or river,
But up by roots to bring dark foliage on.
The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
To darken nature and be summer woods --
Let them think twice before they use their powers
To blot out and drink up and sweep away
These flowery waters and these watery flowers
From snow that melted only yesterday.

- from the his West-Running Brook collection

CIVIL WAR GENEALOGY BLOG CHALLENGE REMINDER

We're getting closer to April 12th, 2011, the  150th anniversary of the start
of the Civil War at Ft.Sumter.I'd like to remind everyone of the Civil War
Genealogy Blog Challenge I issued back in February:

Did you have ancestors in America on 12Apr 1861? If so, where were they
and what were their circumstances? How did the Civil War affect them and
their family? Did the men enlist and did they perish in battle or die of illness?
On which side did they fight, or did you have relatives fighting on BOTH sides?
How did the women left at home cope, or did any of them find ways to help
the war effort? Were your ancestors living as slaves on Southern plantations
and if so when were they freed?  Or were they freemen of color who enlisted
to fight?


If your ancestors had not emigrated to America as yet, what was their life
like around the time of the Civil War?


The 150 year celebration of the Civil War is a great source for those of us
blogging about our family history. So, let's do a little research over the coming
weeks between now and April 12th. Find out the answers to the questions
I asked and write about them. Or if you think of another topic to do with your
family history and the Civil War, write about that. Send me the link when you
publish it on your blog, and on April 12th I'll publish all the links here.

There's about two and a half weeks left, so start writing! I'm looking forward
to some great stories!

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART6

Fellow geneablogger Michelle Robillard kindly volunteered to go to the
library and search for the obituary of my maternal grandfather, Edward F
White Sr.  She emailed it to me today and it was waiting for me when I
came home tonight. It's from the  The Lowell Sun, 7Dec 1981 p 23. From it
I learned the following, most of which I never knew before:

That he had lived most of his life in West Roxbury
He moved to Billerica around 1961 after retiring from the Atlantic Gelatin
Division of General Foods in Woburn.

He was a member of:
The Billerica Lodge of Elks
The Senior Citizens Club
The Carriage House Club
The Greenwood Club

He worked as a school crossing guard

He also worked as a cab driver for the Graham Cab Company.

He had two sons, Edward F White Jr of Woburn and Charles T White
of Lynn, and seven grandchildren.

This confirmed the story I'd heard from my Aunt Emily that my grandfather
had named two of his sons after himself: my Uncle Ed, and a son from his
second marriage.

So now I know that I have two half uncles and at least seven cousins. If
Edward and Charles are still alive they are most likely at least in their
seventies since my grandparents divorced in 1936. Did they know about
my Mom and her brother?( They are not mentioned in the obituary.)  If I
contact them will I be disclosing information about their father that will
upset them, and do I have the right to do that to them?

Most of all, I'm not sure how I'm feeling about my grandfather right now.
It looks like he had a pretty full life, and I think of how my grandmother
struggled to raise my Mom and uncle, and how different my Mom's life might
have been.

THE HEIGHT OF GENEA-FASHION

A week ago Friday on Geneablogger Radio, Thomas MacEntee had
as his guest Noah Tutak, CEO of Geni.com. Thanks to Noah, Thomas
ran a contest for some free three month memberships to Geni.com and
the grand prize was a lifetime Pro membership. Now I usually don't win
things but much to my amazement I won the grand prize!

Included in that were two very nice pens, a tee shirt and a hoodie. I
promised the folks in the Geneablogger Radio chat room that I'd post
some photos when they came. So here, (artfully edited to crop out my
open closet door) is my Geni.com genea-fashion show:

The front of the tee shirt

The back of the tee,

And the hoodie!

 Thanks again to both Thomas and Noah!

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART5

My maternal grandfather Edward F White Sr.'s death certificate came in the mail
this morning. It's answered some of my questions about a man I never met and
raised a few more in their place.

The document confirmed that my grandfather died on 6Dec 1981 I had thought he
had died in Billerica, Middlesex, Ma. but that was not the case. He died in Lowell,
Middlesex, Ma at St. John's Hospital. Apparently he'd had a stroke and after a
month suffered respiratory failure. His funeral was at the Sweeney Memorial
Funeral Home at 66 Concord Rd in Billerica and he was buried at  the Fox Hill
Cemetery on 9Dec 1981. He was 82 years old.

At the time of his death my grandfather was residing at 13 River St in Billerica
and his occupation is listed as a retired security guard. Interestingly, he was
divorced from his wife, the former Janet Love Booker. Keep in mind that he
and my grandmother had been divorced in 1936, forty five years before his death.
Was Janet Booker the only other woman he'd been married to since then or had
there been another? Did this second divorce take place in Suffolk County
or in Middlesex County?

Did his children by his second marriage live in Billerica? Are any other
members of the family buried at Fox Hill?

Would it be worth my time to see if the funeral parlor has any other records of
the funeral services? What about his obituary?

Stay tuned for future developments.

THE END OF A CHAPTER

I've been a bookseller for twenty-one years now but it looks like that
part of my life is coming to an end.  I work for the Borders Books
store in Braintree Ma, and as many of you know, the company is
reorganizing under Chapter 11. Yesterday they made the decision
to close our store by the end of May. I've worked there eleven years
now, longer than anyone else on the staff.

Working in a bookstore was a dream job for me,.although I started
out in the receiving room of the old Lauriat's Book's store in the
basement of the South Shore Plaza (also in Braintree). I worked my
way up from receiver to assistant manager at the Taunton store to
managing the Avon store in Lauriat's Royal Discount Books division.
But then Lauriat's went out of business. After a short ill-fated stint at
Hollywood Video I went to work for Borders.

I've enjoyed most of the people I've worked with over the years, and
I liked helping customers find the books they were looking for, either
for themselves or as gifts for others. I got a kick out of customers who'd
tell me how much they'd liked the book or author I'd recommended to
them. I've been at this for so long I can sometimes tell a customer who
wrote a book without having to check the computer for the information,
and I can find a book on a shelf because I know what the cover looks like.

I'm going to miss that, working in a field I enjoy and doing something I'm good
at for a living.

Most of all I'm going to miss the people I've worked with at Borders. I took a
camera with me to work today to take pictures before the chaos that is a
liquidation sale starts on Thursday. I won't post the pictures I took of people
here,.but I do have a few of the store.

A display of local interest books with some of my favorites

The Images of America books display

Looking down the aisle towards the history department.

It's going to be hard to close this chapter of my life. We'll see what the next one brings.

REPORT CARDS

I thought I'd lost these but I found them inside my college yearbook when I
picked it up at my sister's house recently. Well, now I remember my 4th
grade teacher's name was Miss Desmond!

I'VE GOT MY IRISH UP!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Here in Massachusetts, we take St. Patrick's Day seriously. There'll be
parades of one sort or another all over from today through Sunday, the biggest
of which will of course be in Boston. That one is preceded by the traditional
breakfast attended by the local and some national politicians at which they
fling friendly jokes and sarcasm back and forth at each other in between
singing traditional Irish songs. Abington's parade (which I've blogged about
before here) will be this Sunday at 1pm. That allows the folks who might be
working today a chance to enjoy the parade with their families.

It's no surprise it's such a big deal here. You can talk all about the parades
in New York City and the river running green in Chicago,but for sheer
numbers, Massachusetts and Boston has them beat. You've heard of red
and blue states? Well, Massachusetts is an Irish green state.

According to the U.S. Census, in 2009 24% of the population in Massachusetts
were of Irish descent. In Boston, the number was 17%. Nationally, it's 12%.
Here in Abington, it's 44.5% and we're only the 8th Most Irish town. #1 is Scituate
at 47.5%. The Catholic church here in town is named St Bridget's and nearby is
St Patrick's Cemetery. And there's not a day that goes by at the bookstore
where I don't hear someone talking with the accent of some part of Ireland.

Not coincidentally, today is also Evacuation Day, a legal holiday in Boston and
Suffolk County. On March 17th, 1776 the British forces under General Howe
left Boston for Nova Scotia, thus ending the Siege of Boston by General
George Washington. Some of my ancestors from my father's side of the family
took part in that siege, so today has significance on both sides of my family!
I can just imagine how the Irish politicians who established the holiday must
have loved the concept of celebrating both events on the same day!

I'd thought I'd include a clip that shows just how pervasive the Irish influence
is in Boston. This is a clip of Red Sox ace relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon
dancing to "Shipping Up to Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys at the 2007
American League Championship Series. Enjoy!

HILLSIDE CEMETERY, ABINGTON, MARCH 13TH

Sunday was a nice sunny day and the snow around here is nearly gone,
so after a round of cleaning house in the morning, I grabbed my camera
and headed for two nearby cemeteries I hadn't visited as yet. One was the
Silver Lake Cemetery over in Rockland, the next town over to the east
of Abington; the other was the Hillside Cemetery over on the western
side of town on Route 139. I'll blog about Silver Lake over on my The
Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit later.

I wanted to visit the Hillside Cemetery because it's the oldest cemetery
in town and I suspected I'd find the grave of my distant cousin Captain
Cornelius there. It's a very small cemetery situated on a very busy road
with no off street parking so getting in and out of the car requires care.
The graves are on a small hill and vary in age from the 18th to the 20th
century. Some of the headstones are obscured by bushes and plants that
surround them:.

I found Captain Cornelius Dunham's grave and some of his family  immediately
after entering through the left hand gate. They date from the late 18th and early 19th
century and the markers are weathered, and the inscriptions hard to read. One grave
which I think is the Captain 's is covered with gravel. I don't know why this would
be done. Perhaps more experienced graveyard rabbits might know the answer?

As you can see, it's going to take a little work to decipher those inscriptions!
 

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART4

So, how am I going to go about finding out more about my Grandfather Edward F
White Sr? What resources and leads are there to pursue?

1. Family Members. There are several of my older cousins who might have
     memories of what was said about my grandfather by their parents. Also,
      there's my Aunt Emily who might remember information.

2. Divorce Records: Thanks to the talk on Second Life Tuesday night on
    Boston repositories I now know Suffolk County and Boston divorce
   records are kept at the Boston Municipal Court at the Edward Brooke Building.
   I have the divorce decree already but there may be other material in the case
   file so I should go to the Court and ask for them to be pulled for me.

3.Obituaries: A trip to the main branch Boston Public Library to check the
   newspaper archives might help here.

4. City directories: Again these might be available at the BPL.

5. Death certificate: Already sent for last week.

6. Census: I have yet to locate my grandfather on the 1930 census. Further off
    there is the release of the 1940 census coming next year.

7. Other: There is always the hope that one of Edward F White Sr's children by
    his second marriage or their descendants will contact me after finding my
    blog or finding my family tree on Ancestry or Geni.com.

I'd thought I'd try to make it into Boston this Thursday but March 17th is a
holiday in Boston and Suffolk County. It's Evacuation Day, commemorating the
British troops evacuating Boston in the Revolutionary War which, begorrah, also
happens to be St Patrick's Day. So I'll make the trip next week.

If there's some thing or place you think I might try, let me know.

And I will let you all know what, if anything, I find out about my grandfather.

ROOTSMAGIC4 FILES ON THE KOBO EREADER

Awhile back I read on somebody's blog about loading genealogy files onto
an ereader. (I wish I could remember exactly where but I think it was James
Tanner's blog). Now back before Christmas I bought a Kobo ereader at the
Borders store I work at because I had to sell them and I wanted to know how
to operate them  so I could answer customers' questions and help them when
they came in with a problem. Besides EPUB the Kobo also uses .pdf files so
I thought I'd take a run at getting some genealogy material on it.

RootsMagic4 lets you save reports in .pdf format. Now as it happens I'd already
created a chart showing the shared descent of one of my Dunham cousins with
my Dad. Tonight I also created for purposes of this test a one page pedigree chart
in .pdf. Getting them onto the Kobo was fairly easy. First I connected the Kobo to
my laptop with the usb cable and selected the "manage files" function.  Then I
selected each of the two files, right clicked on them and sent them to the Kobo.
I then disconnected the Kobo. There was the "Please wait while your content is
updated screen. When that cleared, I pressed the MENU button and toggled down
to select the "Documents" box. The two files were there listed in the documents  
menu.

This is the relationship document at the "Full screen"/100% magnification. As you
can see it's readable but small.

I hit MENU again, toggled down to the "Display" box and opened it. In .pdf you
can display a book or document from 100 to 200%. I chose 200%. The chart
was enlarged, and to see more of it I would have to press the direction pad in
direction the arrows are pointing.


Here's the pedigree chart, again first at 100% and then at 200%.

You can also change the view from "portrait" to "landscape"

You can also load books or documents onto an HDSD card and then insert the
card into the slot at the top of the Kobo. I may try loading a larger RM4 file on
a card and see how it looks,

Obviously the ereader is not as versatile as a laptop or notebook. But if you
don't want to lug either around for some reason the Kobo(or any other ereader
that can add the RM4 .pdf files is a convenient alternative.

And just think, when you are lying on the beach, studying your ereader screen
and someone asks what you are reading, you can easily display your gedcoms
until the person who asked gets that glazed look in their eyes all of us are
familiar seeing when we start talking genealogy to the unwary friend or
relative!

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART3

Here's what I already knew about the family from Federal Census Records
in reverse chronological order.

Edward F White Sr was my grandfather. Edward J White was his father
and Pauline (Lena) Offlincher his mother:

1930 census - ‘Boston, Suffolk Co., Mass. ED # 333,
page IA
#939 Parker Street

Agnes D., White, 31, b. Mass., married at age 21,

father b. Northern Ireland, mother b. Scotland,

no occupation.

Edward F. White, son, 4, b. Mass., both parents b. Mass.

Anna M. White, daughter, 2, b. Mass.


#133 Washington Street, Roslindale

Edward J. White 56yrs. married/head teamster/City of

Boston


Pauline M. White 56 yrs. married/wife


Esther l6yrs. daughter

Ruth B. (White)Fitzgerald age 21 daughter of Edward

Alfred S. Fitzgerald age 25 (son in law)

Ruth J. Fitzgerald age 9 mos.


1920 Federal Census for Boston, Suffolk County, Ma.
January 2, 1920
41 Philbrick Street

White, Edward J age 47 b.MA Father b. MA Mother b. Canada

Occ: Stage builder Government


wife, Pauline M. age 47 b. MA Parents b. Germany


son, Charles age 22 b. MA Clerk RR

son, Edward F. age 21 b.MA Steam fitter RR

son, Frederick C. age IS b.MA Laborer Government

dtr., Pauline M. age 16 b. MA Salesgirl Dry goods store

dtr., Ruth age 12 b. MA

dtr,. Esther age 5 b.MA


1910 Federal Census for Boston Suffolk County, Ward 23
Precinct 5 Enumeration District 1615 Sheet lA
April 15, 1910


White, Edward J. age 35 married 14 years b. MA

Father b Ireland Mother b.Canada teamster Wholesale Flour


wife, Pauline M. age 35 married 14 years 8 children 8 living

b. Ma Parents b . Germany


dtr., Marcella M. age 13 b. MA

son, Charles W age 12 b. MA

son Edward F. age 10 b. MA

son Frederick E age 8 b. MA

dtr, Pauline M. Jr age 6 b. MA

dtr., Elizabeth H age 5 b. MA

dtr., Ruth V. Age 2 b. MA

son, James A age 9 months


1900 Federal Census for South Boston Suffolk County MA
Liberty Street Enumeration District 1387 Sheet 9 Ward 16
June 6, 1900


White, Edward J. b. May 1873 in MA age 27 married 5 years

Father b. Ireland Mother b. Canada 0cc: Teamster


wife, Pauline b. Dec 1873 in MA age 26 married 5 years

3 children 3 living Parents b. Germany

dtr., Marsella b. June 1896 in MA age 3

son, Charles W. b.March 1895 in MA age 2

son, Edward F. b. July 1899 in MA age 10 months


I've since discovered Pauline's parents were Charles Offlincher and
Johanna Luick. I had some probable information that Edward J White's
parents were Patrick J White and Mary(last name unknown). Now, thanks
to Heather Wilkinson Rojo searching the Boston Vital Records  on the
NEHGS site, I can go another generation back on the White side:



Boston Births, 1873, Volume 252, page 155
May 15, Edward White, male, 5 Oxford Place,
parents Patrick J. and Mary, residents of Boston, gilder. born Ireland,
mother born Halifax, N.S.

Boston VRs Marriages
Volume 228, page 148, line 50
20 Sept. 1870, Patrick White, age 22, gilder, born Boston, parents Edward and Ellen,
married Mary Powers, age 22, born Ireland, parents Thomas and Catherine,
first marriage for both, by Rev. J. P. Ryan, Boston.

So, the next step is to come up with a plan: who to talk to, where to go, what to look
for in my search.

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART2

These are three documents that I have related to my grandfather Edward
Francis White Sr.

The first is his WWI draft registration card. Up until the time I found this I
hadn't known he'd been employed by the railroad before he married my
grandmother. It might indicate that's where he went when he and my grandmother
separated. On the other hand, he could have just as easily been still living in
Boston but in a different neighborhood .

The second is a record of their marriage which took place on 19Oct 1924.
Two things I only noticed today: one is the date of the certificate: 21Nov 1935.
That is the day before the divorce decree was granted on 22Nov 1935.
The second thing I realized is that the marriage took place in October and my
uncle was born six months later in April, so either he was premature or my
grandmother was already pregnant when they married.

The third document is the divorce decree which as I noted was dated 21Nov
1935. It states my grandfather had deserted them for three years, which agrees
with what my Mom said that she'd been four years old when it happened. The
divorce became final on 23May 1936.


Next I'll go into what else I know and where I think I need to go from here.

THE FAMILYTREE MAGAZINE TOP40 GENEABLOGS FOR 2O11

The recipients of the 2011 Family Tree Magazine Top 40 Genealogy Blogs Awards
were announced yesterday and I honored to have been selected once more. I want
to thank the readers who voted for West in New England and I am humbled that
you enjoy my posts enough to vote for me.

I'd also like to thank the Expert Panel of Judges for the work they put into this, all
of whom have long been bloggers I've tried to emulate.

Finally, I'd like to congratulate not just the other recipients but the other nominees
as well. I am proud to be numbered among such wonderful writers and
geneabloggers. I'm especially proud of the contingent of New England bloggers
who keep me on my toes in trying to equal the quality of their blogs.

You'll notice I say "recipient" and not "winner." That's because there are no winners
or losers this. We are all part of a fast-growing community that is filled with talented
people who are ready and willing to help each other and share our knowledge.

In that, we are all winners!

LOOKING FOR MY GRANDFATHER : PART1

I found my grandfather Edward Francis White’s Word War I draft registration
awhile back on Ancestry.com and from that learned he had been born on 3Jul 1899.
A search for a date of death turned up records on the Massachusetts Death Index
1970-2003 and the Social Security Death Index for an Edward F White, born on
3Jul 1899, died on 6Dec 1981.

I debated with myself which record I should order, then decided to go with the state
death certificate. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to learn his place of residence from it and
perhaps the name of his next of kin. Of course, there is always the possibility that
Edward was a nursing home resident which won’t be too helpful but nothing 
ventured, nothing gained, as they say.

While I’m waiting for the record to arrive, I’m going to put together a list of what I 
know about my grandfather and another list of what to check for more information.

WHO DO I THINK I AM?

The last two episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? featured Kim Cattrall
and Lionel Richie and lived up to the high standards the three earlier episodes
have set for this season. Each displayed good research techniques and
engaged the stars and viewers emotionally in the search for their family
history. I have to say that for me this season is the better of the two that have
aired ao far.

The Cattrall episode was especially relevant for me. I share something with
her and her family: I have never seen a picture of our maternal grandfather.
Whatever pictures our grandmother Agnes McFarland  might have had of or
with her husband Edward Francis White Sr were destroyed sometime after
their divorce. Our mother and her brother, Edward Francis White Jr rarely
spoke about their father and when they did it was not in loving terms, to
say the least. If they were both still alive I doubt they'd have been happy
with me if I told them  I want to find out what happened to him.

I was explaining all this in an email to my recently found McFarland cousin
in New Zealand and I realized that I want to finally resolve the whole issue.
I want to know where my grandfather lived after the divorce, who the woman
was who he married afterward. Did he ever tell his other children they had a
half brother and half sister. Did they live nearby us, as I suspect they did,
without us realizing it?

These are questions I've toyed with and blogged about here in the past, but
I am now going to make it a goal to get some answers before this year is over.

The question is, where do I start?

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT MEMORIES

I want to thank Lynn Palermo of The Armchair Genealogist blog for  the Family
History Writing Month Challenge.  I missed only one day (due to illness) and
my posts were each over the 250 words so while I didn't make it 100%  I'm
happy with the results.

Now, while I enjoyed writing down my memories (and I hope you enjoyed
reading them)I didn't share all of them. My sister made the comment to me
that there weren't all rosy times when we were growing up, and she's right,
there weren't. There were times when things were tough. But those times
are not something I choose to air online in my blog. When I put these memories
 together and perhaps print them I may include them there.

That being said, there's a lot more I haven't written yet, so there will be more
"Memories" posts in the future!

SO MANY GEDCOMS, SO LITTLE TIME.

Now that Family History Writing Month is over(more on that tomorrow) , I’m
returning to blogging more about generations before mine. The trouble is,
I have so much to choose from, I’m having trouble deciding which way to
go.

A few years back I found and downloaded the Revolutionary War Pension
Files for eight direct ancestors and three of their siblings. I’ve analyzed
and transcribed three of them so far and intended to do the others.
(Remember my still not started Elisha Houghton series?) But I kept
finding other things to research, and I started adding to and expanding
my tree online at Ancestry and here at home. And of course there
was my health problems and then my move to a new apartment last
year.


Now I’ve gotten my great great grandfather Asa Ellingwood’s Civil War
Pension file and I’m planning to send for my great great granduncle
Asa West’s file. I have new leads on my McFarland ancestry and I
may still have information to bring down my John Cutter West brick
wall.

I suppose I could lock myself away in my apartment for a few months
and do nothing but transcribe and interpret all of this, but I do still have
a job(knock on wood) and besides, there’s a ll that graveyard fieldwork
I’m planning to do once the snows melt and the weather turns warm.

What’s a poor geneablogger to do?

Ok, that’s it, I need more time.

I’m living to 100!

A FEW THOUGHTS

Tonight when I got home I found I’d received an email from a newfound
Barker cousin.(Well, she wasn’t lost, she knew exactly where she was
but you know what I mean.) She included a wonderful story about one
of her ancestors that made me grin, and I’ve emailed her back.

Recently, fellow geneablogger Heather Wikinson Rojo and I have been
messaging back and forth on Facebook detailing the myriad different
ways she and I are connected.

Now what these two things have in common is that they were FUN. FUN
is the reason why I “do” genealogy and blog about it.

It’s come to my attention over the past few weeks that there are some
folks out there contacting some geneabloggers about the “correct” way
to cite their sources and such. Now when I blog about something and
use a quote, I include the information. If I quote records, I provide the
source. But I’m not going to go crazy making sure that the form I use to
cite my sources is always classically correct. If somebody wants more
information than what I provide in the blogpost, they can email me and
I’ll be glad to share what I have.

It strikes me that those who have nothing better to do than spend time
critiquing other peoples’ genealogical correctness may be among those
who now bemoan the spread of the new internet genealogy community.
I would not be surprised if they are also among those who refuse to share
their research because it’s their research.

To those who’ve heard from these folks, don’t let it discourage you from
continuing to blog. Do try to keep your research as complete as possible
for your own benefit. You’ll be glad you did later.

The most important thing about blogging, about ANYTHING, not just
genealogy, is to do it about something that you enjoy and that is fun for
you to write about. Because when you do that, it shows in what you do
write and that in turn makes it fun for us to read your blog.

Now go out there and have fun, dangit!