1950 US Census: "Errors in Age Statistics"

Before the 1950 US Census is released on April 1, 2022, I'm doing background reading to understand what the population schedule will tell me about my ancestors.

I recommend looking at the state-by-state results published by the US Census Bureau in 1954 and available for free at HathiTrust. Browse the list until you see the state(s) where your ancestors lived. Many of my ancestors lived in New York, so I've been clicking my way through that statewide report of 1950 Census results.

No matter which state report you read, you'll see the same introductory information that will add context to the 1950 Census results. 

Look at reported age, for instance, which we know isn't always accurate on Census forms. Women, in particular, might fudge age downward. In fact, both my grandmas were sensitive about being a year older than their husbands, and lied to enumerators in more than one Census. But there were other reasons for age errors, as well.

The Census Bureau knew about age errors 

As shown in the introduction excerpt above, the Census Bureau was well aware of "errors in age statistics." Young children tended to be undercounted, a situation that was partially fixed by the use of Infant Cards written out by enumerators for kids born in Jan-Feb-March of 1950. Sadly, these info-rich cards were not retained and we won't have access to that valuable data.

In addition, errors were noted among older age groups. The Census Bureau said there were fewer than expected people enumerated in the 55-64 age group, but more than expected enumerated in the 65+ age group. 

Suddenly so many seniors?

Coincidence? Maybe, but my guess is this had to do with post-war retirements and people wanting to collect Social Security at age 65. With an eye toward eligibility, I suspect lots of folks were suddenly willing to admit to a government agency that they were 65 or older. 

This was an actual problem for my hubby's maternal grandpa, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) He told employers he was younger than he really was so he could work all during World War II. 

Once the war was over, however, Brice was already over 65. At that point, he had difficulty straightening out his age documentation so he could collect Social Security payments. He eventually did manage to collect, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he said about his age on the 1950 US Census!

For more background about preparing for the release of the 1950 US Census, please see my summary page here.

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. 

Remembering WWI Veterans Julius and Peter Farkas

For Veterans Day 2021, I want to honor the World War I service of two great uncles: Julius Farkas (1892-1969) and Peter Farkas (1894-1961). They were among the 11 children born to my maternal great-grandparents, Moritz Farkas and Leni Kunstler Farkas, ancestors who left Hungary for America at the turn of the 20th century.

Because neither Julius nor Peter married, and they had no direct descendants, writing about them helps keep their memories alive for the future. That's why I'm working on bite-sized bios to post on various genealogy websites. But I'm always open to additional ways of memorializing ancestors. 

The "bachelor brothers" were laid to rest in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens, New York. Turns out, this cemetery welcomes the submission of information about the military service of those who are buried there. I sent service details for both of these great uncles last year.

Now when someone searches that cemetery's database for Peter or Julius, they will see a special veteran line on the interment page. As shown above, the cemetery added a flag, the designation "Veteran," plus their years of service and the war in which they served.

I'm privileged to honor Peter, Julius, and the many other veterans in my family tree who served in the military over the years. Thank you sincerely for your service to country! 

PS: I posted their bite-sized bios on Fold3, Find a Grave, and the Wikitree site.

Public and Private Ancestor Bios

Do you find it more challenging to write a public biography of ancestors you knew--especially those closest to you? I do.

I want key ancestors' bios to be available to distant relatives and future researchers in some form, whether posted on Find a Grave, Family Search, MyHeritage, WikiTree, or other sites where they can be found today and tomorrow. 

But I do make a distinction between public and private bios.

Writing it all down for family

Over the past decade, I've created family histories intended just for family, not for public eyes. 

Whether lengthy or brief, these family history documents include personal photos and candid comments that might not necessarily be appropriate for the wider world. In a private bio, I can reveal unflattering quirks and other dimensions of an ancestor's life known only to the family at this point. 

Secrets aren't necessarily in these private bios, but they're in my genealogy files to be inherited by the next generation and therefore will not be lost to the family.

Private bios can be as long or short as I wish, and include minute details that would bore non-relatives. Only relatives are likely to care that my Dad (Harold D. Burk, 1909-1978) baked apple pies from scratch every autumn, trying for a perfectly golden brown, sky-high crust. 

I've blogged about these kinds of details because they're of interest to me and my generation, but I haven't included them in the bite-sized bio of Dad publicly posted on FindaGrave and other sites (see image above).

Public bios in brief

With a public bite-sized bio, my aim is to focus readers on the essence of who each ancestor was, in a few paragraphs rather than a few pages. For Dad's public bite-sized bio, I went a bit beyond the bare basics: "Growing up, his ambition was to be a travel agent..." is how I described his life goal--which he achieved.

In the final paragraph, I wrote about his disappointment at having to close his business, saying: "He reluctantly retired..." My entrepreneurial father would have kept his travel agency open if the building where it was housed had not been torn down. 

Currently, I'm drafting a bite-sized bio of my father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986), a good family man, a career insurance adjustor, and a professional musician. Not to mention his travel adventures!

Keeping the public bio brief yet adding personality is a real challenge, both because I knew him and because his life was full of interesting twists and turns. Earlier family history booklets went into great detail--now I want to focus his bio for public eyes.

Prepping for the 1950 US Census: NARA ED Maps

I've been researching the street addresses and Enumeration Districts of dozens of ancestors, with the goal of being able to browse for these folks when the 1950 US Census pages are released (unindexed) on April 1. Most of these ancestors lived in urban areas, although a few were in rural areas.

Unified Census ED Finder doesn't cover every street in every town

Researching ancestors in rural Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County, Ohio, I was unable to find the town in Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub's Unified Census ED Finder tool. This is the easy-to-use tool I normally use to transform a street address into an Enumeration District. 

As shown in image at top, Wyandot is one of the few counties where the Steve Morse/Joel Weintraub tool has no provision for town or street address input. See FAQs 302 and 403 for an explanation.**

Because I do have a street address, I've learned to use National Archives's Enumeration District maps to locate the appropriate ED.

NARA Enumeration District maps to the rescue

To reach the ED maps via Steve Morse's site, click on the link titled "Viewing ED Maps in One Step." It's at the very bottom of the page (see brown arrow). Or click to reach that link here. 

At the Steve Morse link, once you enter the state, county, and town, you'll be taken to a page like the following:

Now you can choose the NARA viewer OR go directly to the images on the NARA server. Both work, just read the advantages and disadvantages to see which you prefer. 

Here is the small version of the NARA map for Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County, OH. I clicked to enlarge the map and looked around each ED until I located the ancestor's street address on West Bigelow.

As a result, I discovered my husband's great aunt Etta Blanche Steiner Rhuark's residence in ED 88-27. Next April, I'll be browsing pages of that ED to find her.

Let me call attention to Beth Finch McCarthy's excellent graphic about preparing to browse the 1950 US Census, including the use of NARA maps.

--

**Joel Weintraub explains: The National Archives has stated that urban areas of 5 or more EDs should have online 1950 ED maps, although I've seen such maps with less than that. Our One-Step criteria for street indexes are the location should have 5 or more EDs and also have 5,000 or more people. Upper Sandusky according to my information had 4,397 people in 1950 so I didn't include it on my list of areas to be done. We still have a database for searching ED definitions. In your case.... go to the Unified Tool, pick Ohio, pick from the city list "Other (specify)" which opens a box where you can type Upper Sandusky. You should then see 7 EDs with that name on the their ED transcribed description... on the lower left. Click on "more details" and you should see the ED transcribed definitions for each of the seven which also may help determine the exact ED wanted.

Honor Roll Project: Veterans' Memorial in Middlebury, CT

For Heather Wilkinson Rojo's wonderful Honor Roll Project, I visited Middlebury, Connecticut, where a lovely plaque embedded on a boulder honors veterans from pre-Revolutionary War days up to World War I. 

The boulder bearing the plaque is located at the right of steps leading to  Middlebury's stately Town Hall. 

With pride, the Middlebury historic marker below notes: "During the Revolutionary War, French General Rochambeau and his troops established a camp in the Breakneck Hill section on their march to the final campaign at Yorktown, Virginia."

I've transcribed the names of the men and women honored on this memorial plaque, one war at a time, as shown on the plaque.

If any descendants of these veterans conduct an online search, I hope they find the names and realize their ancestors' service to country has not been forgotten.

For Veteran's Day 2021, I'm doing my part to keep alive the memory of these brave men and women from Middlebury, Connecticut, who served in the military. 

Middlebury Honors Those Who Have Served in the Wars of Their Country

French - Indian War

Abner Munson

Revolutionary War

David Abbott, Benjamin Bemont, Aaron Benedict, Enos Benham, Samuel Benham, Edward Blackman, Michael Bowers, Asahel Bronson, Elijah Bronson, Isaac Bronson, Andrew Clark, Daniel Clark, Benjamin Fenn, Samuel Fenn, Israel Frisbie, Stephen Hawley, Reuben Hickox, Timothy Higgins, Benjamin Hine, Justus Johnson, Simeon Manvil, Augustus Peck, Gideon Platt, James Porter, Ebenezer Richardson, Jonathan Sanford, Ebenezer Smith, John Thompson, Aaron Tuttle, Ezekiel Tuttle

War of 1812

Lewis Booth, Eldad Bradley, Jonathan Bradley, Noyes Bradley, Elijah Bronson, Isaac Bronson, Daniel Clark, Asa Fenn, Loammi Fenn, Philo Hamblin, Levit Hawley, Benjamin Hine, Isaac Hodge, Mark W. Mazugan, Abner Munson, Miles Newton Jr., Isaac Nichols, Samuel Porter, Ranson Saxton, Harry Smith, William H. Smith, Mark Stone, Eli Thompson, John Thompson, Peter Van Bogert, Peter Vandereagast

Mexican War

Ranson L. Gaylord

Civil War

Robert J. Abbott, George Anderson, George W. Baldwin, Philetus M. Barnum, James W. Benham, Eli B. Blackman, Maro P. Blackman, Henry Blakeslee, Charles Bradley, James M. Bradley, Eli Bronson, George H. Crook, Adrian Dehm, Church R. Fox, Michael Genter, Guernsey Johnson, Thomas Kenney, Charles King, George S. Manville, John Meier, George B. Meramble, Michael G. Miller, Charles Moshier, Jacob Prime, Emery J. Roswell, John Smith, Asa W. Stone, Charles E. Stone, Edward L. Welton

Mexican - Border War

Arthur M. Foote

World War (World War I)

Stanley Andrews, Walter Beebe, Allan J. Benson, Bernhardt Benson, Edwin H. Benson, Henry J. Benson, Lester J. Benson, Burton F. Bird, Vincent Botta, William Budieser, Antonio Calabrese, Raymond Caligan, Mary J. Campbell, Robert M. Campbell, Rodger W. Cooke, Edward Cronley, Francis Cronley, Cyril Davis, John Delaney, Thomas Dowling, Joseph Feist, Arthur M. Foote, Asahel Gibson, Arthur C. Hallgren, Gustave E. Hallgren, Edmund Janes, Wilfred Jordan, Harvey S. Judd, John Kawickas, George Muller, Clarence A. Nichols, Earl H. Nodine, Alfred Perro, Ellis F. Phelan, Fred H. Robertson, Edwin J. Robin, Emanuel J. Robin, Morris L. Robin, Melville Skiff, Horatio N. Smith, Lyman E. Smith, Frederick W. Speaker, Raymond Stauffer, Royal J. Steele, Raymond F. Tyler, Ralph Vincent, Willis T. Vincent, Frank Wassabach, George Webster, Leon Williams

Note: The memorial plaque from Middlebury, CT, is also listed in the Historical Marker Project.

--

This post is also part of the November, 2021 Genealogy Blog Party.

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.

For Context of 1950 US Census, See Documents at HathiTrust

The release of the 1950 US Census is only 151 days away! 

On April 1, 2022, we will be able to browse the population schedule of the US Census that was taken on April 1, 1950. No indexing will be available on day 1, but we can click our way through 7.8 million pages of handwritten Census data about U.S. households, arranged by Enumeration District.

Preparing for the Census release means (1) listing ancestors we want to find, (2) locating a residential address for each ancestor, and (3) turning the address into an Enumeration District using the powerful Unified Census ED Finder tool from Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub. I describe the three-step process here.

In addition, so we can put our ancestors into context, it's a good idea to read some of the publications summarizing the background and results of the 1950 Census. 

HathiTrust has carefully curated a collection of nearly 200 documents related to the 1950 US Census. Take a look! 

Wood Family Halloween Postcards

 

Halloween is one of the many holidays when the Wood family sent greeting post cards to young relatives during the early 1900s.

These two colorful cards were sent to my hubby's uncle, Wallis W. Wood, in Cleveland, Ohio. The lad was in grammar school at the time and likely couldn't read the greetings handwritten in cursive.

The senders were his paternal aunt Nellie (Rachel Ellen) Wood Kirby and uncle Art Kirby, who lived in Toledo, Ohio. Nellie was the attentive older sister of Wallis's father, James Edgar Wood. 

The handwritten greetings on these cards were usually brief and affectionate.

Wally received colorful cards throughout the year, not just on Christmas, Easter, and New Year's, not just on Halloween and his birthday, but also for Abraham Lincoln's birthday and George Washington's birthday! And in between.

As Family History Month winds down, I wish you all many genealogical treats and no genealogical tricks this Halloween.

On the Track of the First Train

During Family History Month, I'm trying to track down answers to some questions that have on my "to do" list for some time. 

One question is the origin of the given name "Train," which appears several times in my husband's McClure line. 

Previously, I concluded that Train Caldwell McClure was named for his uncle by marriage, Train Caldwell (1810-1887) who was the husband of Mary McClure (1810-1869). 

Who was the first Train?

However, he wasn't the first in the Caldwell line to bear the Train name. 

• Train Caldwell, husband of Mary, was the son of James Caldwell (1787-1819), an Ohio Fever ancestor.
• This James Caldwell had a brother named Train Caldwell, and a brother named Manlove Caldwell, among other siblings. 
• The father of James, Train, and Manlove was James Caldwell (1748-1830). When this James's will was submitted for probate (see handwritten will at top), he named his sons and daughters individually. Thank goodness! 
• A different will and a few family trees suggest that in the 1700s in this direct line, one of the Caldwell men married Mary Train (or Trane). That appears to be the first appearance of the Train/Trane name in the entire family.

Who was the first Manlove?

Research shows the Caldwell family sometimes used an in-law's surname or a mother's maiden name in a succeeding generation, as a show of respect or affection. Train is only one example. 

In the Caldwell family tree, Mary Caldwell (daughter of Joseph Caldwell) married George Manlove in Preble county, Ohio (the same jurisdiction where James Caldwell's will was probated) in 1811. Mary and George are both named as early settlers in a 1917 History of Fayette County, Indiana, where they moved from Ohio.  

Earlier, this Manlove family lived in Guilford, North Carolina as the Caldwell family did. Some of the Caldwells moved to Ohio, some went on to Indiana, in same area as the Manloves. 

Even earlier, some in the Manlove family lived in Kent, Delaware, where James Caldwell was born (the James who died in 1830, whose will is shown at top).

On the right track?

Looks lilke I'm on the right track, following how intermarriages and multigenerational associations resulted in both Train and Manlove becoming given names in the Caldwell family.

However, Train Caldwell McClure did not continue the naming tradition into the next McClure generation or later. Manlove Caldwell, who was mentioned in his father James's will above, doesn't seem to have named a child after himself, either.

Missing One Baby in My Mahler Family Tree

My paternal great-grandparents, Meyer Elias Mahler (1855?-1910) and Tillie Jacobs Mahler (1852?-1952) had 7 children who survived into adulthood. Henrietta (hi paternal grandma!) and David were the two oldest, born in or near Riga, Latvia. 

Meyer arrived in New York City in 1885, and Tillie followed, with the children, in 1886. Later children were all born in New York City, or so I originally thought. 

Yet there is a significant gap of time between David's birth in 1882 in Latvia and the next child's birth in 1888 in the Big Apple. Maybe my original assumption wasn't correct after all.

Two small sons died in Manhattan

In the past few years, thanks to Family Search, I've learned the names of two Mahler babies who died in New York City. 

Wolf Mahler died in 1894, before his fourth birthday, of Bright's disease. 

Sundel Mahler died in 1901, about a month after his birth.

When I asked my Mahler cousins, no one remembered hearing about these baby boys who died so young. I've added their names to my family tree and will keep their memory alive for future generations. 

I'm still looking for one more child who died young. Here's how I know I'm missing one baby in my Mahler family tree.

Clues in 1900 and 1910 Census 

The 1900 US Census indicates that Tillie had 9 children in all, with only 7 living at the time. 

The 1910 US Census, shown at top, indicates that Tillie had 10 children in all, with 7 living at the time.

My reasoning: Wolf died before 1900, so he accounts for one of the babies no longer living in that Census. Sundel died before 1910, so he and Wolf together account for two of the babies no longer living by the time of that Census.

What of the missing child who died before 1900? 

Do the math

Summing up, the birth years of all Mahler children currently on my tree are: 1881, 1882, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1892, 1894, 1896, 1901. That's a total of 9 children, out of 10 born to great-grandma Tillie.

One possibility is that the missing baby was born in Latvia between 1883 and 1886. Unlikely the child was born before 1883 because David Mahler was born in March of 1882. Meyer left Latvia in early May of 1885, so there is a very slim chance his wife Tillie gave birth in early 1886, the year she left Latvia.

Another possibility is that the missing baby was born in New York City in early 1887. No later, however, because the next child was born in February of 1888. That's a mighty small window of opportunity for the missing baby. 

There are fairly small gaps in the years between the children's births in the 1890s, when the family was in New York. And I've found no other New York City births or deaths of children seemingly connected to Meyer and Tillie Mahler, so far.

My hypothesis now is that the missing baby was born and died in Latvia. He or she would have been no more than 3 years old, if this hypothesis is correct.

During Family History Month, I'll keep doing the research with the goal of memorializing this missing son or daughter on my tree.

Farkas Family: Good Sports About Fishing

Go fish!

After World War II, the Farkas Family Tree (named in honor of my maternal great-grandparents, Moritz Farkas and Leni Kunstler Farkas) tried to charter a boat and fish as a family every year.

Some years the tree couldn't reserve a boat on their chosen weekend, but when they did, at least 30 men, women, and children boarded for a full day of fishing--or, more accurately, food and fun, with a little fishing too. 

A good number of my ancestors were land-lubbing apartment-dwellers in New York City. Still, they were good sports about being on the water once a year and baiting a hook or two. Some had fancy fishing rods, but many used a length of string with a basic hook, lowered into the water by hand.

Here's what the tree minutes say about two memorable all-day fishing trips (making me smile 70+ years later).

Excerpt about a fishing trip on Sunday, May 29, 1949:

"Many fish and many kinds of fish were caught and a most tremendous amount of eating and drinking. Fifty of the fish were fried at the host's home that night. Those who didn't realize how tired they were, played gin rummy until midnight. Albert caught the most fish; Ella caught the first fish; Leonard caught the largest fish; Irene caught the first flounder; Harry reported his stomach was in good condition and stayed on board." 

Excerpt about a fishing trip on Sunday, May 27, 1951: 

"Except for a few green faces and rough weather, our fishing trip was a huge success. Huddled under the canvas cover, we all had a great time eating, singing, and eating. Abe was the only anti-social one. He insisted on staying at the back of the boat looking out to sea, but he was bent in a peculiar position, with his head over the edge." 

-- Sports is the week 42 prompt in Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors challenge.

Debuting New Talks at Two Genealogy Conferences

During the last two months of 2021, I'll be debuting new presentations at two virtual genealogy conferences.

Virtual Genealogical Association

In November, I'm honored to be speaking at the Virtual Genealogical Association's 2021 Conference. 

This much-anticipated event will have 6 live talks on November 13th and 15 prerecorded talks, a total of 21 presentations available for viewing for the next six months. Download the detailed syllabus and watch presentations whenever you wish, even in your bunny slippers. 

My topic is: Get ready for the 1950 US Census -- a treasure trove of family history! I'll show, step by step, exactly how to browse the unindexed Census pages to find your ancestors when the Census population schedule is released on April 1, 2022. Plus I'll explain the interesting questions and quirks of the Census questionnaire and enumerator instructions. You'll come away with specific ideas for how to get started and what to look for on the Census pages next April.

THE Genealogy Show

In December, I'm delighted to participate as a virtual speaker at THE Genealogy Show. This affordable event begins on December 3, and all talks will be recorded and available until January 4, 2022. 

My topic is: Genealogy clues and cousin bait on Find a Grave. I'll demonstrate tips and tricks for getting the most out of Find a Grave, including how to analyze every element on a memorial page and how to use the source of a memorial or a flower as possible cousin bait. Enjoy this practical, how-to presentation.

Hope to see you at one of these upcoming genealogy conferences.

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.

Try This Cousin Bait Trick on Find a Grave

FindaGrave.com has valuable features that can function as cousin bait. 

The site, owned by Ancestry, has 190 million+ memorial pages spanning the globe. 

To take advantage of the features, just register for free and sign in.

This is Family History Month, a good time to memorialize our ancestors' final resting places and improve their memorial pages...

One trick: Have you ever noticed the flowers or flags left at the bottom of a memorial page? 

Flowers as cousin bait

Above is a flower with a brief message that I left on one ancestor's memorial page,  identifying how I'm related to this man. Free cousin bait for anyone who looks at the bottom of that page! 

If you notice a flower or flag on a memorial page of your ancestor, read the message and click to see who left it. Maybe a relative left that flower. 

Any text shown in blue is clickable--such as the name of the user who is the source of the flower. Clicking to see the source of a flower or flag lets you learn more about that user. Did I mention this is all free for registered users?

Go to the source: user profile

If you click on M Wood as the source of the flower shown at top, you'll see my user profile page on Find a Grave. Similarly, if you click on W. Wood as the source of the flag posted at bottom of a memorial page for my husband's distant cousin, you'll be taken to my user profile page (since I left it in his name). 

On my user profile page, I list some of the surnames/locations that I'm researching. 

More than once, a possible cousin has clicked to see my profile, noticed a family-tree connection, and sent a message.

Similarly, if I find the memorial of an ancestor on Find a Grave, I look to see who's left a flower and click on the source. 

This trick has worked for me, putting me in touch with relatives and other people researching my ancestors. Maybe it will work for you? Try it during Family History Month!

This trick and others are explained in my new presentation, "Genealogical Clues and Cousin Bait on Find a Grave." 

-- My blog post for the October Genealogy Blog Party!