How I Write a Blog Post

Inspired by Nancy Gilbride Casey's recent post about how she writes on her blog, I'm going to share my process as well. 

Where I get ideas for blog posts

Like Nancy, I often write a post after finding something new in genealogy research, maybe a new database or a new discovery or a new (to me) methodology. For example, I recently had to learn how to appeal a VA denial of my FOIA request for my Dad's military/medical file. I won't know the outcome for months, but I will definitely blog about what happens. 

Other inspirations:

• 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompts by Amy Johnson Crow. Some weeks, the prompt gives me a nudge toward additional research or encourages me to look at ancestors in a slightly different light. Last week, for the prompt "in the news," I wrote about finding a report of my husband's grandmother's divorce, with the subhead: "Surprise of the season."
• Holidays. I like to post about family history traditions and artifacts related to major holidays, including ration books used by my hubby's family on Thanksgiving during World War II. Plus I enjoy posting vintage penny postal cards sent to my husband's family in the first decades of the 20th century.
• Heirlooms. This is a favorite type of post for me. Just last week I wrote about having a custom shadow box frame created for the childhood jewelry of my Mom and her twin sister. This year I also planned a custom shadow box frame to preserve and organize my Dad's World War II memorabilia.
• Book reviews. I recently reviewed a concise and handy new book by Elizabeth Shown Mills and last year I reviewed a terrific genetic genealogy mystery by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. 
• Resources. Just as I appreciate when other bloggers break the news of fresh resources, I also post about updated resources, such as my post about the Fold3 Korean War-era draft cards made newly available earlier this year. A particularly popular post was my discovery of a new (unannounced) index for free digitized New York City Muni Archives vital records. Another well-read post was about FREE sources of downloadable images for blogging, bite-sized ancestor bios, and more.
• Other bloggers. When another blogger writes an intriguing blog post, it makes me think about how that topic or resource or methodology applies to me. This post is a great example of being inspired by Nancy to write about my blogging process. 
• What's happening at the moment. Whether I'm writing a bite-sized ancestor bio or organizing old photos, I blog about it. Trying AI with an ancestor interview in Russian was this kind of post from earlier in the week.
• My two cents. Some blog posts represent me having my say about something, such as why I don't usually change Family Search profiles and sources. I also get on my soap box about planning to preserve family history materials and curating them NOW before we join our ancestors. 

Writing and illustrating a blog post

I type a first draft as it comes to mind, being sure to add links (to outside resources or to my own blog posts) and always including an image to grab attention. However, I don't post right away. I check what the post looks like in draft form, let it sit for a day or two, and then read it over again. 

Using the features of Blogger, I don't have to post anything right away. I like to "blog ahead" by writing posts and scheduling them to appear a few days or a week in the future.

Every post, ideally, should be accompanied by an image for reader interest. Maybe I'll post a family photo, maybe a genealogy document, or a copyright-free image (from Pixabay, Pexels, or RawPixel). The image at top is from Pixabay, and I changed the color slightly as well as adding the name of my blog. 

I don't include citations in my posts, but I do include links to relevant websites or collections or my own posts. Why? Because although a few relatives read my blog, they can get details from my public family trees and the family history books I've prepared over the years. If a reader sends me a comment about a post, I can answer with more info at that point. 

More posts are ahead!

Looking for Free, Downloadable Genealogy Forms?

I really appreciate free, blank genealogy forms I can download and use in analyzing research sources and recording my family tree. 

Forms help me stay organized and record data in a standardized format. 

They're also great for sharing information with relatives and researchers.

Here are just four of the many sites that offer downloadable genealogy forms for free:

• FamilySearch. A great source of downloads for everything from blank Census forms (Canada, UK, US) to blank forms for pedigree charts and research logs. Scroll down for links to lots of other excellent sources of free downloadable sources (via Cyndi's List, and more).
• Misbach. Not all forms are free on this site, but there are good selections that cost nothing. I especially like the free pedigree charts and free 6-generation fan chart.
• National Genealogical Society. A bit of color adds to the readability and appeal of these free, downloadable charts. Just type in your info and these are ready to share. 
• Kentucky Genealogical Society. Whether or not you have Kentucky ancestors, these free downloadable charts are pretty and add a touch of color to your family tree details.

Although it's easy to electronically share these forms after I've entered data, I also like to print and put into my files (and send to relatives), as backup! Check whether your local genealogical society has forms for free download, or use one of these sources. Write it down so you and later generations will have the information you need.

Free: Finding Capt. Slatter in the Internet Archive

After watching Thomas MacEntee's talk on the Internet Archive during THE Genealogy Show, I returned to this data-rich resource with fresh ideas of what was available and how to search. 

Not only is the Internet Archive entirely free, it has some scanned resources from places that I would otherwise have to visit and research in person. See for yourself at https://archive.org.

Searching for John D. Slatter

Because Canadian collections are well represented on the Internet Archive, I began with a new search for Capt. John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954), my husband's great uncle. At the turn of the 20th century, Capt. Slatter was renowned as the leader of the internationally-known Kiltie Band, the 48th Highlanders of Toronto. 

From previous searches, I knew this ancestor was often mentioned in news items and in city directories as John D. Slatter. That's how I searched for him in text contents (see above) of Internet Archive. I didn't limit my search by date or by collection, but I did put his name in quotes to search only for that phrase. Some searches take a few moments longer but it's worth the wait.

New finds for free! 

On the first page of results, I found John D. Slatter in the text of a calendar from the Toronto Conservatory of Music for the 1914-1915 term. 

He was listed as Bandmaster, 48th Highlanders, and a teacher of cornet, French horn, slide trombone, euphonium, and tuba. Our family never knew this ancestor played tuba, and we never knew he was on the faculty of this institution.

Also I found calendars for the University of Toronto, for the period 1913-1917. John D. Slatter was listed in the university materials as being on the faculty for the Conservatory of Music in those years. The Conservatory had an affiliation with the university, listing faculty for both institutions. It's a small thing, but we didn't know about it.

Next, I'll plug in more Slatter names, because Capt. Slatter had two bandmaster brothers also in Canada. With luck, one or both will be in the Internet Archive.

UPDATE: I found new results for Captain Albert Slatter and more results for Capt. John D. Slatter! Nearly all out of copyright (check rights document by document) and available to post here and on my family trees. Below, Capt. John Slatter at center of front row, leading the U of Toronto band in 1937.

--

"Free" is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.

Free Genealogy Websites -- But Sometimes It Pays to Pay!

Randy Seavers issued a Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge this weekend: "Your Top 10 Free Genealogy Sites."

My summary page for "Genealogy--Free or Fee?" shows many top picks for free genealogy.

The Ancestor Hunt by Kenneth Marks

One free website I'm adding to my list is The Ancestor Hunt, a very useful website by Kenneth Marks (on Twitter at @marksology). 

As shown at top, the site links to free genealogy resources (arranged by U.S. state and Canadian province) such as newspapers, birth-marriage-death records, photos, school yearbooks, directories, immigration, divorce, and lots of other categories!

Here's a sample of what these state-by-state links look like. Definitely worth taking a look and clicking for the state where our ancestors lived! Be sure to look at all the headings. There's a lot here, thanks to Kenneth Marks.

When It Pays to Pay

Sometimes I need information that I just can't find for free. Direct line ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grannies, etc) are a key priority. If those key vital records aren't available for free, I order and have them in hand for careful scrutiny. More than once, I've noticed tiny details that changed my understanding of an ancestor's life! And, as my friend Linda Stufflebean points out, the free version of a record may not have all the info that is available on the original version ordered for a fee.

I also pay for birth, marriage, death, and other records when I need to find out (or confirm) a maiden name, get an exact date, or see info that my ancestor actually wrote. This includes original photocopies of my ancestors' Social Security applications (SS-5). 

In general, vital records tend to get more expensive as the years go by--if they are available at all. Some states are restricting access, unfortunately. If I want that record and it's not available for free, I'm going to buy it now and keep it.

Before I send money, I always look at a blank copy of the record to be sure I understand what will (and won't) be on it. If I'm hoping to learn an exact birth date but early marriage records show just an age or state whether bride/groom are over 21, I may look for a different record to obtain the birth date.

Free or Fee Genealogy: Click on Cyndi's List

One of the oldest and most comprehensive free sources of genealogy links is Cyndi's List. As shown above, Cyndi's page organizes U.S. genealogy links both geographically and by categories (such as African-American genealogy, Ellis Island, Mayflower/Pilgrims, etc.). It has international gen links, as well.

Usually, I begin with the geographic category index, browsing all those links in search of a specific region, county, city, or township. Many of the genealogy categories are quite useful for focusing on specific regions or aspects of family history, such as how to use Ancestry or links to research about specific occupations. Since hubby's family includes four Mayflower ancestors, I've also checked out Cyndi's Mayflower category.

Remember that although Cyndi's List is free, it does include links to pay sites as well as free sources. For instance, below is an entry from the Connecticut--maps & geography page, clickable to the Ancestry map collections that would help anyone researching the Nutmeg State. Note the "fee-based subscription" comment.

Cyndi began collecting genealogy links in 1996, and after 22 years, she has a wealth of links ready for researchers to click. Because her site focuses on links, it loads quickly and processes clicks quickly, too. Go ahead, click on Cyndi's List and see what you can find.

This is the latest entry in my ongoing Genealogy: Free or Fee? series. For more, click HERE!

Tuesday's Tip, Genealogy: Free or Fee, part 7--Redo Your Searches (Again)

Doing my Gen Go-Over, I've been rechecking dates, places, and relationships on my tree and my hubby's tree.

I can't check every ancestor every week or even every month, but I redo searches of my direct line (and my husband's) at least every year just in case.

In many cases, I find new data has been posted since my last search. More than once, I've broken down a brick wall by retracing my steps and redoing my searches, no matter that I'd used the same sites and strategy a year earlier.

Among the free sites, I usually begin with Family Search and Find a Grave, because so many new records are posted on these sites, week after week. Also, I'm on a mission to link my ancestors on F-A-G so others will be aware of the parent-child-spouse relationships.

Recently I redid a search on Find A Grave for my husband's McClure family. Up popped this memorial for great-great-aunt Adaline. The kind volunteer who posted the memorial did his own research to uncover her obit and explain her name. Having these details gave me new clues to trace the McClure family's spread from Ohio to Michigan. (Of course, I submitted an "edit" for relationship linking to parents.)

After finding Adaline on F-A-G, I looked to the left of that screen and clicked to "Find all Cooks" in the same cemetery and county. That's where I located Adaline's husband's first family, all linked to each other but not to Adaline (until I submitted the edit).

As an Ancestry subscriber, I redid the search there too and immediately, a few new hints popped up for Adaline and her husband. It's like priming the pump: You can get the hint system working in your favor by browsing the "dormant" parts of your tree every now and then.

In addition to sites mentioned in parts 1-6 of this series, here are more sites to try during a Do-Over or Go-Over. Admittedly, searches sometimes wind up on a paid site, but you still may learn enough from previews to continue the search on other sites if you're not a subscriber. Good luck!

• Family Tree Magazine's 25 Best Genealogy Websites for Beginners is a mix of free and fee. From this list, one site I particularly like is Chronicling America, with free access to newspapers from 25 states. 
• Family History Daily's 50 Free Genealogy Sites includes must-see megasites like Cyndi's List plus more targeted sites like Fulton History, which allows searching through New York-area newspapers. Fulton History has yielded news and social items for several folks in my trees.
• The US government has a page of genealogy links to sites like state archives listed on the National Archives page. Worth a look - click around to see what states you want to search.
• Don't forget Steve Morse, and his one-step webpage links for searching Ellis Island and Castle Garden, state and federal records, and much, much more. (This site alerts you when the results of one-step searches lead to fee-based sites, by the way.)

Tuesday's Tip: Free or Fee Genealogy, Part 4--Learn to Record-Strip

Do you record-strip?

Record-strip is a term used by the historians on a recent Backstory podcast about American history. They were referring to the practice of gleaning as much info as possible from each document and using those insights to develop a more nuanced view of an individual in historical context.

There's a difference between collecting documents for genealogy and actually record-stripping them. And doing a Genealogy Do-Over is forcing me to go back and reexamine my collection.

Years ago, when I was taking my first baby steps in genealogy, I was given a checklist of personal sources to use in researching my ancestors. Many were documents that an ancestor would have during the course of his or her life and many were documents to be obtained from authorities (for a fee) or to be created in the course of my research.

You can see an excellent checklist of suggested sources (free and fee) on Family Search. And these checklists are extremely valuable!

But as a baby genealogist, I didn't really know how to use the list. I enthusiastically set off in search of these documents and checked off each item for each ancestor, as you can see on the actual list excerpt here.

In other words, I was playing genealogy bingo, acquiring or creating the documents without understanding exactly why. When a document wasn't readily available, I thought about who in the family might have it or how I might acquire it, free or fee.

It didn't take long for me to realize that the point wasn't to acquire as many of those items as possible and check them off when I filed them away.

I didn't have the terminology or experience then, but now I can say the point is to record-strip the documents for specific details. What can each document tell me about my ancestor?


For example, "library cards" are on the list. What can those records show, apart from a love of learning or books? Maybe a nickname, maybe a clue to a neighborhood I didn't know my ancestor lived in. What about "funeral home receipts"? A hint about who had the money to pay for a certain ancestor's funeral, or the name of "next of kin" being a relative I didn't know about . . . you get the idea.

Before I can determine what is worth paying for, I need to step back and think: What will that record tell me? Do I have the info on another document or can I get it fairly easily from another source? Is the info "nice to know" or truly "need to know"?

So Tuesday's Tip is: Learn to record-strip each document and get full value from it, don't just play genealogy bingo.

Tuesday's Tip: Genealogy--Free or Fee, part 3

Sending for a Social Security application is not cheap. And yet I've sent for several, during my Genealogy Go-Over and earlier.

Here's an example from 2009. I wanted to confirm my maternal grandfather's home town and parents' names. At the time, these applications weren't indexed or available anywhere else. Today, you can often see some application info on Ancestry or other sites.

Above is what I received for my money eight years ago. Yes, Theodore (Teddy) Schwartz (1887-1965) was born in Ungvar, Hungary, on May 21, 1887. His parents were Herman and Hanna. And the address is where my grandparents lived for a few years, before selling their dairy store and moving around the corner from Tremont Ave. in the Bronx, NY.

In 2009, there was no electronic way to request these forms, and the wait seemed interminable (about 2 months). Today, just click to the website and have your plastic payment ready, which cuts a little time off the wait.

A better example is what I learned when I started the Gen Go-Over. I finally bought a copy of the application of my paternal grandfather, Isaac Burk (1882-1943). It revealed his mother's maiden name and his hometown. It also told me he was working for his brother-in-law, which I didn't know. Looking at the application, I suspect Isaac didn't write it himself but did sign it (I've seen his laborious signature on other documents).

The bottom line is: Try all the free possibilities first, including free access to the big genealogy websites through your public library or family history library. But if you absolutely, positively cannot get the details or the confirmation in any other way, and this information is critical to your research, do consider paying for this document, which contains info personally provided by your ancestor (even if he or she didn't actually write the information but only signed the paperwork).

My reasoning:

• This is a good place to see an ancestor's parents' names. I needed to confirm Grandpa Isaac's parents' names, which were indistinct on his marriage license.
• This is a good (sometimes the only) way to see a maiden name. That's what happened with Grandpa Isaac, among other ancestors. I fought hard to see the full SSA details of a cousin's ancestor, showing the maiden name of his mother, because without it, I couldn't get the final piece of the puzzle in place and prove the family relationship. Patience and perseverance will pay off if you have to fight to see redacted details.* It took me two appeals, but I won. And solved the puzzle!
• This is sometimes a good way to learn or confirm hometown or homeland info. Grandpa Teddy and Grandpa Isaac show this in action. I appreciated using their SSA info to confirm other documentation.
• This will give you a clue to home and work addresses that you can research in more depth. Suppose you can't find someone in the Census but you do know that person had a Social Security number, which you located via the Social Security Death Index or through another method. At least you'll have an address as of the date of this application. My 2d cousin found Teddy's address in a note her mother had squirreled away decades ago. Now that I knew when Teddy lived at that address, I could be more certain of when the young lady was in touch with Teddy. It helped us understand the close relationship between Teddy and his niece. 
• Other details. Maybe, like me, you'll learn something surprising about the person's occupation or employer. I'm always hoping to flesh out my ancestors' lives so they're more than a name and a few dates.

I've written two other posts about Genealogy, Free or fee: Part 1 and Part 2 (more are in the works).

Please feel free to comment about your "free genealogy" experiences or what you believe is worth paying for! Thank you.

*The appeal is one way to see what has been blocked from view on a person's SSA. I don't think there's an appeal process for requesting a record that the authorities say doesn't exist or they can't find. But if you receive an application with names blocked from view, it's worth rereading the privacy rules and trying to appeal by sending documents to prove that the dates are beyond when any of these people would be living. 

Tuesday's Tip: Free or Fee Genealogy, Part 2

Birth, marriage, death records really are vital records, since they have vital details for genealogical research. But they're not the only records I feel are vital for my Genealogy Go-Over and for ongoing discoveries about ancestors in my family tree.

Naturalization papers are a treasure trove of info, really important when I don't know someone's home town or birth date, and of course the names of witnesses can be the icing on the cake. When an ancestor is in my direct line, I usually do my best to get his or her naturalization, even if I have to pay for it, so I can double-check against other documents in my possession. Still, ordering from NARA takes time, not just money.

My favorite free source is Family Search, and even if I have to order a low-cost microfilm of naturalizations, it's a bargain and doesn't take much time. Many naturalizations are currently available through my Ancestry subscription, but not all. I used to have Fold3 access, which put many naturalizations at my finger tips.

Since many of my ancestors (maybe yours too) came through Ellis Island or Castle Garden and stayed in the New York/New Jersey area, I use Italiangen.org to see what naturalization documents are available before I make up my mind about paying.

Naturalizations in other countries aren't as easy to obtain from a distance. I was elated to discover last year that my great-uncle Abraham Berk's naturalization file could be requested from the Canadian authorities for the princely sum of $5 . . . until I realized that only Canadian residents could make the request. May I say how lucky I am that a friendly genealogy blogger in Canada graciously volunteered to place the order? Only a few weeks later, she scanned and sent me pages and pages of fascinating details from his file, including the document shown here, confirming his home town and other key details. Wow.

BONUS: After sharing my previous post on this subject with the Genealogy Do-Over community on Facebook, commenters there and on my blog offered more ideas about ways to save money on vital records and other genealogical documents. Here are some of their ideas:

• Check to see if there's a Facebook genealogy page for the locality where your ancestor was living or born/married/died. A volunteer might know of a local source for the document you're seeking or be willing to get it for you.
• Consider a "road trip" to get multiple documents from local authorities, if feasible.
• Check with the local genealogical society or historical society about whether some documents are in their files. (It works: I've saved some money this way, paying the local society for photocopies and a small donation.)
• Do a thorough online search--some places have put parish records and census records online, for example.
• Request help from the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness folks, paying for copies etc.

Thrifty Thursday: Free or Fee Genealogy?

During my Genealogy Go-Over, I'm carefully checking what I know and don't know, looking at my evidence, and filling in the gaps by obtaining vital records and other documents.

Since money doesn't happen to grow on my family tree, I have to pick and choose what I will pay for. Fee or free genealogy? It's not always a straightforward decision.

Increasingly, documents that I purchased even a year or two ago are showing up on free genealogy sites like Family Search and on fee-based genealogy sites like Ancestry.

A case in point is the above marriage document for hubby's grandparents, Brice Larimer McClure and Floyda Mabel Steiner. I sent a check to buy a copy two years ago, when doing the original "Do-Over" program. I considered it to be a good investment because it revealed that Grandma Floyda had been married once before. That sent me to the newspaper archives to learn more...and I fleshed out this ancestor's life a bit.

Since that time, more Ohio vital records have been made available through Family Search. And in fact, the very clear image above is not from the copy I purchased but the free version available on Family Search.


I'm still collecting documents for my Go-Over. Being a long-time Ancestry subscriber, I always check there first. But if it's not on Ancestry, where would it be? Here's my thought process on deciding what to pay for (and I'd be interested in yours, readers).

In general:

1. Try Family Search. Best free site to start looking for most documents! Two years ago, this license wasn't available through a Family Search name/date search. I checked the wiki to see what documents are available from the time and place. I learned from the Wyandot county part of the Ohio wiki that marriage documents weren't always filed as required by law before 1908. I knew Grandma Floyda was married in 1903. I called the county clerk first and she kindly checked in the database. Once I knew the document was available, I was almost ready to send money but first I checked a few more sites.
2. Try Cyndi's List. This will point to fee-based and free sites that might have a document or information. I looked at "Ohio" but no luck with a Wyandot county site for a freebie on Floyda's marriage or divorce docs.
3. Try Linkpendium.com. This will tell me whether some other local source might be holding certain documents. In this case, no luck on holdings that would include Grandma Floyda's marriage or divorce paperwork for free.

In the end, I decided to spend the money for Grandma Floyda's marriage document. I had no way of knowing when or if Family Search would have that document available, either online or via microfilm.

Now, with Reclaim the Records, there are more ways to obtain documents than even a couple of years ago.