Back Up Your Cousin Connections Too

The first of every month is backup day--to be sure my genealogy documents, notes, digitized photos, and everything are kept safe in more than one place. LOCKSS: Lots of copies keep stuff safe.

In addition to automated backups to the cloud every day, I have multiple hard drives with backups, just in case. What about backing up my cousin contacts? For that I created a simple cousin connections document.

As shown in the sample at top, my connections format has three columns: (1) name/relationship, maiden name and/or nickname, (2) all contact info, including social media; and (3) notes, such as clarifying who the person is and when I last was in touch. 

This week, after I spoke with one of my cousins, I jotted a note that we had a conversation, and wrote down the update month/day/year.

For my hubby's cousin connection form, I added the email of a cousin I'm now corresponding with about mutual ancestors. Also noted the update month/day/year.

Both forms are now freshly printed and tucked into my address book as well as in a surname file or two. These forms will refresh my memory and will be useful to the next generation after I join my ancestors in the far future.

And both forms are digitally backed up to my hard drives and in the cloud!

-- Tips from my popular genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, available in ebook and soft cover from Amazon US, Amazon UK and Amazon Canada.   Also available in soft cover from the AmericanAncestors.org bookstore and the Newberry Library bookstore!

Thank you to Tamie Dehler, who reported on my book with a glowing review in the July 30th issue of the Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, IN. 

Your Family Tree: One and Done or LOCKSS?

As genealogy folks, we're used to looking back toward the past. But to keep family history safe for the long term so descendants and researchers won't need to reinvent the wheel, we should look ahead to the future. 

Think LOCKSS:

Lots

of

Copies

Keep

Stuff

Safe

Will one family tree be enough? Here are some of the steps I've taken to perpetuate my family history by sharing trees (and more) in different places:

• Posting my family tree on multiple sites (Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, WikiTree, FindMyPast). These serve as cousin bait too! 
• Posting bite-sized ancestor bios on these and other sites (Fold3, FindaGrave). 
• Sharing family history with relatives now (via booklets, videos, heirloom photos, my blog, and more).
• Sharing ancestor photos with relatives now (sometimes with a story, sometimes on a shared family tree, sometimes here on my blog).
• Sharing family stories now (on my blog and during family gatherings, plus in conversation, as "memories" on family tree sites, and more).
• Sharing ancestor bios with repositories where I've donated artifacts or materials. This keeps ancestors alive in their collections!

LOCKSS. Keep your family history safe for the future. Maybe "one and done" isn't enough?

--

For more ideas, please see my book (print and ebook), Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, on Amazon (US, UK, Canada, beyond) and at the American Ancestors book store. If you're a Kindle Unlimited member, you can read the ebook for free! 

My 2022 Genealogy Paper Chase

Here we are, halfway through 2022, and already it's been quite a year for family history! 

Thanks to the big Census releases, my genealogy paper chase has been extremely productive in the first half of this year. 

In fact, I'm making good progress on all my projects and plans:

• Find ancestors and the FAN club in the 1950 US Census (results: yay, lots and lots of info and really interesting clues).
• Look for hubby's ancestors in the 1921 Census of England (results: found some, will look for a couple more).
• Write and post bite-sized bios for aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents on genealogy websites (results: some completed, a few in draft stage)
• Reorganize family photos into archival albums (results: hundreds of 20th century snapshots reorganized, but oldest photos and negatives still to be reorganized--a big project to accomplished in small chunks). 
• Follow up on genealogy clues from Burk/Birk branch of my father's side and Schwartz/Winkler/Preisz branch of my mother's side (results: yay, made new cousin connections!).
• Continue making presentations on genealogy topics (results: talks scheduled July through autumn of this year).

Next steps

One top priority is to write more bite-sized bios, with the goal of keeping these ancestors' names alive for future generations. Currently, I'm finalizing details for bios of my hubby's great-grandparents and my great-grandparents (actually just posted hubby's great-grandpa's bio). Even when I know very little about these people, I can still write about milestones in their lives (BMD), number of children and/or siblings, where/when they lived, and the social/historical context of of their lifetimes.

Another priority for the second half of 2022 is reorganizing older photos, captioning, and maybe even writing brief narratives about a few of the series photos. I did this with one of my late dad-in-law's albums chronicling the summer of 1917, when his father drove the family from Cleveland to Chicago in a new 1917 Ford. 

I'll also be testing additional archival photo storage possibilities during the summer, to see which are best suited to the small and odd-shaped old photos and negatives inherited from my late dad-in-law. As I wrote in my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, life by the inch is a cinch--life by the yard is hard. I'm stretching out my photo reorganization and taking small steps to keep this project from becoming overwhelming. Digitizing these photos is only part of the process. It's just as important to keep the originals safe for decades to come.

Paper chase in my future

I'm still busy following the paper trail to trace more of my Eastern European ancestors. DNA has less helpful than I'd hoped. Yet there are documents and family tree clues about a few branches that came to America, some around the time of World War I and some after World War II.

In recent months, I found a couple of distant cousins I never knew about. Together, we're pooling information and coordinating research to try to connect with more descendants while documenting those who came before. 

The second half of 2022 promises to be as productive as the first half! And of course I'll be blogging about challenges, breakthroughs, techniques, issues, and more. More than 13 years of genealogy blogging, with more to come.

Curating and Sharing Old Family Photos

 

This week I've been moving "old" family photos into archival photo albums. The ultimate goal is to encourage relatives to page through the albums now and then.

Currently, I'm sorting and arranging hundreds and hundreds of snapshots from the more recent past--meaning 2010 back through the 1960s. I'm saving the very oldest photos for last, because I'll be using a different kind of photo album for those odd-sized prints.

Happily, most of the photos have the month and year of development auto-printed on the back (as shown at top, left) or on the front border. This is a big help in sparking memories about who, what, when, where, and why, for captioning purposes.

There are a LOT of near duplicate photos, for a very good reason. In the pre-digital age, we would often take two or even three photos of the same person or scene, because we weren't always sure which would come out well (if any). That's why there are SO many photos to reorganize into albums.

As I sort through the photos, I'm curating by:

• Tossing out of focus or very poor quality photos, like the one at top right. 
• Saving only one of exact double and triple prints, sending most of the dupes to relatives as a surprise.
• Putting the best photo in the album and inserting a near-duplicate underneath the best print. The near-dupe isn't visible but it's available in the album, if I don't send one or more to relatives right now ;)

Curating doesn't take much time but it will focus attention on the most important photos from our family's past. It also means the albums will not have too many multiple versions of the near-same photo. 

Plus it's fun to share the dupes and near-dupes with relatives now--and it gets a conversation going about family history.

I may even create a few photo books with themes such as weddings, graduations, or holidays, featuring different ancestors and relatives through the years. It's another way to keep alive the memory of our ancestors, gone but not forgotten.

Saving Family Letters for Future Generations

My aunt Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001) was a prodigious correspondent, writing monthly letters to relatives near and far. 

I have dozens of letters and a few postcards written to one of her nieces, dating from the early 1980s and continuing until shortly before her death nearly 20 years later. 

"Auntie" wrote of life after retiring from her teaching career, about her travels, about being in touch with relatives, about her health, and more.

I found some really interesting family history tidbits in her letters. Did Dorothy's grandpa Moritz Farkas (1867-1936) play favorites? Dorothy says Moritz's oldest daughter was his favorite--even though another of Moritz's daughters insisted she was always the favorite. And that's just one example.

Put a sleeve on it

Yesterday I finished carefully unfolding and inserting each letter into a clear archival resealable sleeve, sliding the envelope in the back of each sleeve, to keep everything safe for the future. (This was long after I had removed staples, clips, and rubber bands.)

The letters, flat and straight in their sleeves, will be organized chronologically. Some don't have years, just day and month at top of the letter, and a few have no envelopes with postmarks. I'll have to "guess" the year based on what each undated letter says. At some point, I'll scan the letters but for now, I want to smooth them out and keep them safe.

Next step: For easy storage, I like to box things up.

Box things up 

My favorite storage method is the archival box. As shown above, I buy boxes with metal corners so they can be stacked 6 high without giving way. Boxes come in a variety of sizes to fit nearly every kind of genealogical item that can lay flat, such as a document or a photo or an album or even a Bible.

I use my trusty label maker to add a descriptive label on the short side and the long side of each box, so I can read the contents no matter which side faces out.

As soon as I finish arranging my aunt's letters, that box will join the rest of the archival boxes of documents and photos in my home office--including the box above, containing letters written home during World War II by service members in my Farkas family tree. 

Transcribe for accessibility

I've previously transcribed the WWII letters and sent copies of the letters and transcriptions to my cousins, the children and grandchildren of those service members. Years ago, I transcribed letters written to my mother during the late 1940s, when she met and was courted by my father. Other letters still await transcription.

Meanwhile, the letters are safely stored and will go to designated genealogy heirs when I join my ancestors someday.

--

For more about organizing, curating, and preserving family history for the sake of future generations and future researchers, please take a look at my concise, affordable book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, available on Amazon, at the American Ancestors book store/catalog, and at the Newberry Library book store.

Digitally Donate Your Genealogy?

 

Although not everything is online, I really appreciate being able to access digitized photos, letters, postcards, and documents when researching my family tree.

In fact, some museums, libraries, historical societies, and other institutions welcome the digital donation of old photos and printed items. This is a great way to share family history without physically letting go of the actual items.

Above, a screen grab from the online Case Western Reserve Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. The photo is one of several digitally donated by my husband's family, along with names, dates, and places. 

These digital images now accompany the online history of the Cleveland Heights Youth Theater. Pictured here is a rehearsal of a 1950s children's TV show that was broadcast from downtown Cleveland. 

By donating these digital images, the family is helping others learn more about the youth theater and the key role it played in the lives of participants.

Do you have photos, documents, postcards, printed genealogies, or other items from the past that might be of interest to an institution if digitally donated? Think of this as another way to share your family's history!

--

For more about preserving family history for the future, please see my concise guide, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

Finding Tiny Bits of Family History in Old Negatives

My late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986), was a lifelong photography buff, leaving behind hundreds of negatives, photos, and slides. Starting at the age of 14, he photographed his family, his home, his travels, and more.

As I reorganize Ed's collection in preparation for storing in archival albums, I'm  scanning some of the negatives he never printed. 

Turn negatives into photos

There are a number of apps that will do this (see Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal's Heart of the Family post here). 

Or do scan the negative, then invert the image using photo software (as I showed in my blog post here).

Once the negative is displayed electronically as a positive, it's much easier to enlarge and figure out who or what was photographed. Otherwise, the family history might remain trapped on the negative--which may deteriorate before too long.

Enlarge and look for clues

The photo at top, from a negative I scanned and inverted, was taken about 1919 by Ed Wood. It was sandwiched between photos of his brothers, which were dated that year (this particular negative had no date). 

Enlarged on the screen, a clue stood out. Reflected in the mirror is the headboard of a bed. My husband and I recognized its distinctive shape instantly, because one almost exactly like it was part of the Wood family's household for decades. Perhaps Ed's father, a busy carpenter and builder, made the headboards for the family? 

With this clue in mind, I strongly believe we're looking at the bedroom of my husband's grandparents--the parents of the teenaged photographer who snapped the photo circa 1919. 

My hubby noticed that there's no doorknob on the door, only an old-fashioned latch that lifts, with a bolt for locking. I'm charmed by the wallpaper and the fabric covering the shelf, plus the graceful chair--a glimpse of how these ancestors lived.

By turning negatives into viewable photos and enlarging the images, it's easier to notice and share clues like these--tiny insights into the family's past. 

--

For more ideas about preserving the family's past for the sake of future generations, please see my recently updated book (available in print or as an ebook), Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

Bite-Sized Ancestor Bios on Find a Grave--Sometime Soon?

One of my passions is to keep family history alive for the sake of future generations and for future researchers. After years of research, I'm sharing what I know now by posting bite-sized ancestor biographies on multiple websites. 

This is part of the PASS process described in my updated book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past (available on Amazon, in the book store at American Ancestors.org, and in the book store at the Newberry Library).

Lots of copies keep stuff safe

At top, the bite-sized bio I wrote about my husband's maternal grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970). After sharing within the family, I've posted this on Family Search, My Heritage, and WikiTree. The idea is to share this ancestor's story widely, in public, so those who come after can learn more about his life. 

I'm applying the LOCKSS principle--the concept that "lots of copies keep stuff safe." With lots of copies, it's less likely that genealogical and biographical information will be forgotten or lost or otherwise become inaccessible as time goes on.

Not yet on Find a Grave 

For the past year, I've been trying--unsuccessfully--to have this ancestor's bio posted to the memorial page on Find a Grave. 

Find a Grave is free, it's worldwide in scope, and it's another suitable place to share info about ancestors.

Image at right shows how the memorial page currently looks. Notice that I took the photo of Brice's grave and posted it years ago. 

The brief bio currently on the page was not written by me. It's not just incomplete, it's inaccurate.

I've posted other ancestral bios on Find a Grave, both on memorial pages that I manage and through the courtesy of non-relatives who manage my ancestors' pages. However, I haven't yet been able to get Brice's posted. 

Following Find a Grave's policies

Beginning in January of 2021, I submitted edits multiple times to the current manager of this memorial. Repeatedly. To date, I've had no response. I see the current manager has more than 440,000 memorials, and that person's profile mentions how much time it takes to plow through edits and requests for transfer.

Still, 13 months seems way too long to wait for edits to be posted or a transfer to be completed (with a click). I've even explained to the current manager, at least once, that Brice and Floyda are my husband's maternal grandparents. 

According to Find a Grave's policies, someone who manages a memorial page that is NOT of their ancestor is supposed to transfer to a relative, upon request. You can read those policies here. 

Now I'm giving Find a Grave an opportunity to stop the 13-month logjam and expedite the transfer of Brice's and Floyda's pages to me. I wrote the support folks, as Find a Grave says to do, and briefly explained why I want to manage those memorial pages and how I've attempted to have accurate bios posted for months, to no avail. 

(March 8 update: No response yet) (March 21 update: Find a Grave said, in a tweet: "We are processing a large backlog at this time. We apologize in advance for a delay in response; we are responding as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience while we process the mail we have received. Please know we are giving each request our full attention."

March 29 update: Partial success!! Find a Grave made me the manager of my Dad's memorial. Now I'm hoping they'll transfer hubby's grandparents in just as timely a manner. TY to Find a Grave.

My goal is to keep alive the memory of these ancestors, not just for descendants but also for other genealogical researchers. And I don't give up easily! Readers, I'll keep you posted about what happens. 

A Look Back at My Genealogy Projects in 2021

Staying close to home in 2021, as I did in 2020, it was a year chock-full of genealogy projects. 

Although I've been doing some research, I was particularly focused on documenting family history for descendants and to share more widely online. Genealogy is never complete...but anything I share is more than the family (and future researchers) had before. Why wait? I'm sharing now.

Also, I blogged, wrote, and gave talks about preserving family history, prepping for the 1950 US Census, perpetuating family history, and many other topics.

Highlights:

• I published a new edition of my best-selling book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, receiving highly favorable reviews from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Family Tree Magazine (UK), as well as from genealogy societies and genealogy bloggers.
• It was a real honor to be a featured guest during the WikiTree Challenge. The remarkable WikiTree super-sleuths smashed several brick walls (Burk, Farkas, and Kunstler) and provided concrete clues to help me continue the research!  
• I made nearly two dozen live webinar presentations to US genealogy societies from coast to coast, plus one talk in person. In addition, I recorded talks for the New England Regional Genealogical Conference, THE Genealogy Show UK (summer and winter), and the Virtual Genealogy Association Conference. Wonderful audiences! 
• It was fun being a #GenChat guest expert, sparking discussion about finding ancestors when the 1950 US Census is released in April. Also I participated in lots of #GenChat and #AncestryHour chats, occasionally chiming in on #ANZAncestryTime chats.
• I wrote an article, "Finding Heirs for Your Family History," published in the December, 2021 issue of Internet Genealogy magazine.
• I wrote an article, "Free and Almost Free Genealogy," published in the winter 2021 issue of Avotaynu, the International Review of Jewish Genealogy.
• I found new homes (museums, libraries, historical societies) for artifacts such as theater programs collected by my late father-in-law from the 1920s to the 1980s. Family is so happy about donating these items. More to go!
• Consulting with relatives, I wrote and posted (on Find a Grave, Family Search, MyHeritage, WikiTree, and elsewhere) dozens of bite-sized ancestor bios from my tree and hubby's tree. Good progress, with more in the works.
• My late father-in-law left hundreds of photos and negatives, which I'm slowly scanning, captioning, and sharing with relatives. To be continued in 2022, along with scanning my childhood photos. Scanning is easy, captioning is key.
• I helped my hubby record several family-history videos and prepare a number of written reminiscences, complete with photos. Lesson learned: For our family audience, videos are watched once, but printed materials live on.
• I expanded my virtual cemeteries on Find a Grave to share with relatives and keep burial places from being forgotten in the future. More to go!
• I expanded my knowledge base by watching talks all year, not just those fantastic RootsTech talks but also programs hosted by national, regional, and local genealogical societies. In my bunny slippers and headset! (PS: I'm excited to be a RootsTech Influencer--aka Ambassador--for 2022.)

My next post will be a look ahead to 2022, when I will celebrate 14 years of genealogy blogging.

Where Are Your Family's Artifacts?

 

If, like me, you've donated some of your family's photos, documents, or other artifacts to a museum, a library, or another institution, be sure your relatives (and your heirs) know the details! 

Not all items must remain in my genealogy collection. When the family has no sentimental attachment to an item, and the item is not vital to my genealogical knowledge, my goal is to keep these artifacts safe in institutions where they can be preserved and made available to future researchers.

In the past six years, my husband and I have happily donated nonpersonal items of historical interest (such as theater programs, photographs, WWII memorabilia, specialized magazines, and more) to libraries, archives, historical societies, museums, and other repositories, after asking permission to make these donations. You can read my blog post about the step-by-step process of donating a family artifact and learn more in my newly-updated book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

As shown at top, my genealogy files include a separate folder called "artifact donations" containing all the deeds of gift and notes about what has been donated, when, and where. A deed of gift (or contract of gift) is the legal document used to transfer ownership of a donated item from myself to an institution. 

Now my heirs will be able to see which institution owns each donated artifact. 

Where the Bodies Are Buried, at a Glance

 

A key aspect of planning a future for my family's past is to be sure relatives know where the bodies are buried. Literally.

Ancestors memorialized on Find a Grave

Over the years, I've been creating and/or improving memorials on FindaGrave for ancestors who are gone but not forgotten. The site is free and easy to access.

Also, I began gathering memorial pages into a virtual cemetery for each line (or intermarried families) on my family tree and my hubby's family tree.

It's quick and not complicated to create a virtual cemetery. FindaGrave has instructions here.

Then, with a virtual cemetery, I can (1) post a link to that page within my online trees, (2) include a link to that page with bite-sized bios I write and distribute or post, and (3) send relatives a link to that page so they can see which ancestors are buried where.

Virtual cemetery tour

A virtual cemetery also shows some key info at a glance.

The image at top is part of a virtual cemetery I created for my husband's intermarried Wood and Slatter families (that's the catchy title of this virtual cemetery).

Each memorial page in the virtual cemetery includes the ancestor's name, dates, and cemetery details.*

For convenience, I sort my virtual cemeteries by surname, alphabetically. But the memorials in a virtual cemetery are also sortable by how recently each was added and by cemetery. 

If any photo is on the memorial, a thumbnail of the main photo appears in this virtual cemetery listing.

Look closely and see, in grey, the FindaGrave memorial ID number. If I want to correspond with another user or with FindaGrave about a particular memorial, I can refer to that ID number.

Another handy feature: A small blue dot indicates whether I'm the manager of a particular memorial. In the image at top, I don't manage the memorial for Adelaide Mary Slatter Baker but I do manage the memorial for Jane Ann Wood Black.

*Remember, this is only the info that has been entered into FindaGrave. If it's incorrect or incomplete, you can submit edits or--if you manage that memorial--you can make the changes yourself. Don't forget to link ancestors to their spouses, children, and parents!

Try a virtual cemetery

FindaGrave is available all over the world, both for adding memorials and for improving memorials with bite-sized biographies, Census data, grave and personal photos, family links, and more. 

Do consider creating a virtual cemetery to organize the final resting places of ancestors, so future generations will know where the bodies are buried.

Curate by Sharing "Double Prints" Snapshots

Remember the days of putting film in a camera and then bringing the finished roll to the store for developing? 

Local drugstores used to compete by offering "double prints" with every roll developed. 

Double prints, double fun

Back in the day, hubby and I took a lot of snapshots and wound up with a lot of dupes. Many times, we sent dupes to family right away. Still, we ended up with some fun dupes that I couldn't bear to toss, so I saved them. 

Now I'm downsizing my family photo collection, in preparation for assembling archival albums.

Not every dupe is worth saving or sharing at this point. I'm selecting the best and getting more ruthless about saying goodbye to the worst.

Curating and captioning dupes

After curating, I'm captioning the best dupes to pop into the mail for family and friends, as a surprise. 

Because developers often printed the date (or at least month/year) on the back of these prints, all I have to do is add a quick caption. It doesn't have to be elaborate. On photos where the recipient was a baby or toddler at the time the snapshot was taken, I'm adding names and the place/occasion.

On one of the dupes from September, 2014, I added the caption "Remember the ice bucket challenge?" because that's the focus of the photo. One day soon, that young woman will open my envelope and see the photo, showing her standing with the ice bucket.  The family was proud of her involvement in the fundraising challenge. When she gets the dupe, she will relive the memory, and my pile of dupes shrinks.

If you have "double prints" to share, don't wait to get started. Recipients will appreciate seeing the photos and you'll slim down your collection for the sake of future generations.

Keep Key Family History Details Alive

Over the years, family history can be forgotten unless we tell the stories again and again to honor our ancestors and let future generations know about their lives.

Mayflower connection rediscovered

No one in my hubby's family had ever heard of any Mayflower connection until a cousin I met via genealogy showed us the research paper trail. 

This wonderful cousin linked the Wood family to five people who were on the Mayflower: Mary Norris Allerton, Isaac Allerton, Mary Allerton, Francis Cooke, and Degory Priest. 

Looking ahead: keep the stories alive

We don't want this key detail of the Wood family tree to be lost to those in the future! 

Every Thanksgiving, we send greeting cards to our grandkids, naming these Mayflower ancestors. We add a different focus each year to flesh out these ancestors. One year, we said who did and didn't survive that first winter after coming to the New World. Another year, we wrote about Mary Allerton Cushman being the last of the Mayflower passengers to pass away, in 1699. 

Tell your ancestors' stories

My family's history is different from my husband's side of the family. 

My four immigrant grandparents left Eastern Europe and came to New York City at different times and in different ways. All sought a better life for themselves and for their descendants.

By retelling the stories with a slightly different emphasis each time, we're doing our best to prevent these ancestral connections and motivations from being forgotten in the future.

No matter what your family's history, keep those key details alive for future generations. This is Family History Month!

Family History: Don't Keep It to Yourself!

Don't wait to share what you know about your family's history. 

Maybe you're just beginning your research or, like me, you've invested years in your ancestor search. Either way, share now to get the info to relatives and (if you choose) make it available to other researchers.

Some clues are better than NO clues

Consider this list of Steiner siblings, jotted on the back of a 1930s business card by my hubby's grandfather, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970). The list included his wife, Floyda Mabel Steiner McClure (1878-1948), and her eight older siblings, with birth years as remembered. 

How lucky that Brice wrote down this information--not wanting it to be lost--and my sister-in-law shared it with me, clues to be followed up. Not every detail in Brice's handwritten notes was correct, but the clues were much better than beginning with nothing. I'm so grateful he didn't keep it to himself.

Thanks to this listing, I had a head start in locating vital records, burial places, and other facts to flesh out and verify the family tree. Brice left other handwritten clues, too, steering me in the right direction to identify members of older generations. In turn, I've shared this list and similar genealogical clues about deceased people on my public family trees, to allow other researchers to make use of them. 

Share works in progress?

Even if your family tree information is incomplete or hasn't yet been verified, I encourage you to discuss with your relatives with the warning that your research is a "work in progress." 

Hearing what you've learned may help your relatives recall something from the past. I still have relatives casually mention key details previously unknown to me--leading to interesting breakthroughs! When something I write on a pedigree chart or family tree chart has not been confirmed, I include a question mark or "circa" or "about" or some other indicator that this is a "work in progress."

In addition to public family trees on multiple genealogy sites, I have a couple of private family trees on Ancestry. I use these for experimentation and I fully recognize they're not ready for prime time. Still, private trees can be helpful to other researchers. 

Recently, someone asked to see a private tree, listing his ancestors with that surname. Unfortunately, there was no connection. My ancestor had changed to that surname as an adult, and no one else on the tree carried that surname. Although disappointed, the other researcher was able to move on, investigating different possibilities in trying to locate more of his ancestors. 

To be continued . . . with a post about LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe).

For more ideas about keeping family history safe for future generations and researchers, please check out my newly-revised book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, 2d edition.

Reorganizing Family History, Part 1

 

The longer I'm involved in family history, the more I appreciate practical organization.

Not just for myself...but for those who come after me.

Genealogical materials for my husband's family tree are in one set of archival boxes, while my family tree items are in a different set of archival boxes. All are clearly marked by name or surname. 

These boxes are being passed down to different heirs, one on each side of the family.

Too many archival boxes?

Lately, I've been the happy recipient of genealogy materials from relatives and FAN club members. Not just photos and negatives from my late father-in-law, but  photos and documents from other ancestors. All need to be stored safely, which is why I just received a fresh shipment of archival boxes, above. And I'm keeping my label maker handy!

My bookshelves now hold 36 boxes in all. They are neat, they are safe, they stack well, they keep contents intact. They are my favorite way to safeguard genealogical materials like photos, original documents, etc. This organizational method has worked well for the past decade. And boxes are easy for my heirs to move and store.

Yet just yesterday, I began to wonder if I have too many boxes. This led me to Part 1 of my reorganization experiment.

Album experiment

Now and in the future, family members might actually prefer to view old photos in a more traditional album format. This could encourage them to open the album once in a while, instead of leaving boxes unopened on a shelf. 

Hoping my hubby will be part of my experiment, I asked whether he would prefer to put corners on photos or slide photos into the sleeves of an album. He was squarely in favor of an album with sleeves. So I browsed good quality archival photo albums and purchased one that holds 500 photos, up to 4" x 6" size, with space for captions alongside the sleeves. 

How to arrange the photos was another big concern. A number of friendly folks at #AncestryHour on Twitter suggested arranging photos chronologically. This approach will guide descendants through the Wood family's history, visually and with brief captions. 

When the album arrives and I begin this reorganization, I'll post about the process and lessons learned. 

Reorganization issues

I have to consider safe storage for the negatives that accompany many of my late father-in-law's century-old photos. Because negatives can't be safely stored in the same sleeve as the photos, I'm thinking about separate storage and a numbering system that indicates which negative corresponds with which photo in the album...which adds another layer of complexity to the reorganization process.

Another issue: How to accommodate photos with notes on the back. An  #AncestryHour friend lets the notes show by not putting two photos back to back in the album. It's something to try if my new album (currently in transit) has clear sleeves that work in this way. 

Reorganizing family history will be a long-term process, best accomplished little by little. But then again, genealogy is a long-term process. If I tackle the photos in one archival box and get them situated (in order) in the album, I can return to caption them at a later date. It's a learning process...

One photo at a time, one box at a time, one album at a time, I'm learning more about how to reorganize family history and plan a future for my family's past.

-- This is my entry for the Sept 2021 Genealogy Blog Party.

Try Indexing Your Family History Materials

Have you tried indexing diaries, letters, and other family history materials inherited from your ancestors? There are four great reasons to index:

1. You can trace the movements and activities of ancestors through a period of time and notice gaps or changes that may reveal turning points in their lives.
2. You can compare details in these family documents with official government records and other formal records, to identify discrepancies or confirm info.
3. You and your relatives (and future researchers) can use the index to look up specific ancestors and turn to the proper place in any set of documents, instead of paging through to search.
4. You may discover new clues as you index, or by comparing the index with what you already know about your ancestors. Thanks to indexing my father-in-law's diaries, I was able to identify his first cousins in an old family photo! 

In the new edition of my best-selling genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, I include the sample index form shown at top, along with instructions for how to create an index. 

If created digitally, the index can be sorted and searched electronically. Entering the year first in the "date" column allows me to sort by year, handy when I'm comparing and contrasting multiple documents or events in family history. Similarly, entering names with surnames first allows sorting in that manner.

Remember to note who created the index and when. Also note where the original materials are located, especially important if you are designating an heir for your genealogy.

Please feel free to adapt my sample form to your own indexing projects. Who knows what you'll find as you read through family history again!

--

Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, 2d edition is now available in paperback from Amazon.com (US, UK, Canada, and other nations). Or preorder the ebook edition for delivery to your digital device on September 15th. Thank you!

Coming Soon: Second Edition of Planning a Future for Your Family's Past

September 1 is publication day! 

I'm releasing a new, thoroughly updated edition of my popular genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

The new table of contents is:

• Chapter 1: Organized storage for your genealogy collection
• Chapter 2: Organize your photos, images, and movies
• Chapter 3: Organizing digital files and emails
• Chapter 4: Inventory and index your genealogy collection
• Chapter 5: Record your family tree
• Chapter 6: Family artifacts: keep or give away?
• Chapter 7: Find outside homes for artifacts
• Chapter 8: Who wants your genealogy collection?
• Chapter 9: Write your genealogical "will"
• Chapter 10: No obvious heirs? Try these ideas
• Chapter 11: Keep family history alive for the future

The paperback version is now available through Amazon.com (US, UK, Canada). Later in September, the paperback will be available at  AmericanAncestors.org. 

As of September 1, Amazon is accepting preorders for the digital book, to be released on September 15.

Please watch for more details to come. Thank you!

How a FAN Club Member Identified an Ancestor for Me

I've been scanning old photos and negatives left by my father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986). 

At left, a 1919 image I blogged about just recently, remarking on the fashions.

This came from a set of negatives that Ed had marked as "Baker family, 1919."

I know the names of these two sisters, who were Ed's first cousins, but not which is which in the photo.

At right, a photo that my hubby and I believe shows Ed with these same two cousins, 50 years later. No caption, but a family story gave us confidence that these were the Baker sisters. Which is which? We had no idea. Until now.

Hearing from a FAN club descendant

This week, I received a message from a gentleman (Pat) who noticed the Baker names on my public family tree.

Pat is not related to the Bakers or to my husband. 

Here's where it gets a little convoluted. Pat is the executor of the estate for a lady who was the executor for the estate of one of the Baker sisters. In other words, he's the descendant of a FAN club member.

Connecting through my public family tree

When Pat's mom died, he inherited her boxes of stuff, including boxes from her  dear friend, Edith, who died a few years earlier. Pat's Mom wanted her friend's photos and letters to survive, so she bequeathed them to her son. (She wisely planned ahead before she joined her ancestors.)

Now Pat is sorting the bequest and looking for descendants who would like to have some of the items he inherited.

Pat noticed Edith and her sister on my Ancestry public family tree and sent me a message. I confirmed how Edith was related to my father-in-law and thus to my husband. 

Then we exchanged photos. He shared a photo of Edith in her later years. We are so grateful he did.

Eureka! Thanks to the FAN club, I now know exactly which of the ladies in both of these photos is Edith and which is her sister. Edith is on the right in the later photo, on the left in the younger photo. And Pat can see how lovely Edith was in her youth.

A good reason to have a public tree...even without photos, it serves as cousin bait and FAN club bait, with ancestor names/dates/locations visible and the option to send a message. 

Should You Rely on a Website to Perpetuate Your Family History?

 

There are many pros and cons of posting family trees online--and many choices of where to post. Family Search, Ancestry, My Heritage, Geni, WikiTree, FindMyPast, and more. Parts of my family tree are on all of these sites, because I want to share with other researchers and I hope to connect with cousins worldwide. 

Such sites reach many thousands of people who otherwise would not know of my ancestors, and enable folks to connect with me when we discover ancestors in common. These sites are and will remain an important part of my everyday genealogy activities.

Library or storage?

Yet Cousin Russ and Dear Myrtle make a very good point in their recent video. (You can view it here.) These genealogy websites are more like libraries than storage facilities. The safest place to "store" family trees and family history is at home, even if we want to have trees on various websites. They demonstrate ways to have online trees without personal photos, if that's what you want to do. 

Any website can, of course, change its terms and conditions at any time. The recent change by Ancestry is a wake-up call to understand the terms and conditions when deciding about sharing all or part of our genealogy materials online. In fact, as Dr. Leah Larkin, "the DNA Geek," points out, all of the genealogy websites have some terms and conditions that affect user-submitted content like photos. Caveat emptor.

Plan for your trees and materials

Most of us have more than just a tree. This is the time to consider what will happen to our genealogy materials, research and photos, in the distant future when we join our ancestors.

My trees will remain on the many websites where I've planted them. However, I'm deleting nearly all personal photos, except perhaps those of ancestors who are long, long gone. But I'm also giving passwords to my genealogy heirs so in the future, they are able to access trees and decide whether to leave them online, add to them, or delete them.

Please consider who will have access to your online trees, your physical photos, and original documents in your possession. Even if you have no obvious heirs, there are still ways to keep your family's history alive for future researchers. Physical materials need good homes, not always in the family but in appropriate institutions that will preserve and study them. 

For the sake of future generations, I encourage you not to rely only on a website (or even two) to perpetuate your family's history. Start now to make a plan!

Pssst! What Happens to Family History Secrets?

 

Every family's history includes a personal secret. 

Maybe it's a "secret" in the sense that ancestors never spoke of it: someone committed a serious crime in the past, someone had an affair, someone was pregnant before marriage or outside of marriage, someone died of a disease considered shameful at the time...the list goes on and on. 

Document but don't disclose? 

If the secret could be very hurtful or even damaging to someone still living, I choose not to disclose. I don't say anything in public (info is not posted on family trees, not included in family genealogies, not on my blog, not mentioned in talks). 

Instead, I document what I've learned and then leave the explanation in my files.

Why? Although I don't want to hurt someone still living, I also want that discovery to not be lost forever. By keeping it in my files, I'm allowing it to be rediscovered by the relative who will eventually inherit my genealogical materials. (Assuming the relative opens the files and reads the contents!)

It's likely that after a number of years, the secret will no longer be as hurtful or damaging because the people involved will have joined their ancestors, too.

Of course, if a secret has particular historical significance, that's an entirely different matter. Similarly, if the secret involves DNA and "NPE" (not parent expected), that also changes the situation. My ancestors didn't have those kinds of secrets--not that I know of, anyway.

Planning for a future for family history secrets

What happens to a family history secret in the event our genealogical files wind up in an archive, a library, a museum, or some other repository? In other words, the secret and its documentation would be out of family hands, if left within the files.

This is an issue to consider when planning for the future of our genealogical research and materials.

I'm going to ask several archivists what they think, and then write another blog post about their responses.

Meantime, my impulse is to let the secret stay in the file, along with a note requesting that the details not be publicly disclosed before a certain date (five or 10 years, for instance). 

What do you think, dear readers? Please add your thoughts in a comment. TY!