This summer, I wrote a booklet about 18 of my husband's Civil War ancestors. With the stories written, I want to share them across multiple sites (as cousin bait and to keep the memories alive for future generations). I could even use one of my genealogy blog posts (slightly edited, or a snippet) as the basis for a brief story or memory to post on a genealogy or family history site.
Here's how I shared one story on two well-known sites, Fold3.com and FamilySearch.org.
Memorializing Isaac Larimer Work on Fold3
Through my state library website, I have free access to Fold3, known for its military databases. I created a free individual account so I can post brief write-ups of different veterans in the family tree of my husband as well as in my own family tree.
Today, I copied and pasted the brief bio I wrote of Isaac Larimer Work (1838-1862), my hubby's 1c4r. The options allow me to boldface the name (or other words). I have no images, but I did add a gold star (see green arrow and oval at top right of screen shot) to indicate that Isaac died during the war.
Now the memorial page (including my story) shows up in a search for "Isaac Larimer Work" along with his actual Civil War records (which Fold3 has available). Larimer and Work cousins will be able to read my story about this young man, who was born in December of 1838 and unfortunately died in December of 1862.
If you have access to Fold3, I encourage you to post photos and/or stories of veterans in your family tree. My father's photo is now there, along with a synopsis of his WWII service. Where possible, list sources so other researchers can retrace your steps. I'm getting ready to post more stories and photos (if available), little by little.
Memorializing Isaac Larimer Work on Family Search
Given the global reach of FamilySearch and its fame as a free collaborative family tree site, it's a great place to post ancestor stories. Above, I the same condensed story on Family Search, as one of the ancestor's memories. No boldface, but very readable. I can also tag other people, add topic and date/place tags, etc., enabling researchers to quickly and easily locate this man, his family, and his story.
My story is publicly visible and I am shown as the contributor. If cousins read the story and want to get in touch, they can use FamilySearch's messaging system.
I encourage you to consider posting even a brief paragraph or two about ancestors, as a Life Sketch or a Memory on FamilySearch. It takes only a few minutes, and will be available to countless people over the years.
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This is one of many bite-sized family history projects you can plan and complete in a short time! I'm giving a presentation on the topic of bite-sized projects during the all-virtual NERGC Conference in April, 2021.
