I can't believe it is already 2016! My genealogy has really suffered in 2015 due to a number of reasons and not setting my genealogy as a priority, this year things are going to be different. My New Year's resolution is to spend at least 10 hours a week, working on my genealogy and blogging at least once a week. Since our kids decided to come visit us for a few days, Shannon for New Year's and Eric sometime within the next week or two, I had to get my computer room (which doubles as our guest room) in order and now, my room is ready to go, so now I can start in on my genealogy Monday morning. I'm not sure which line I want to work on yet. But I plan on figuring that out this weekend.
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I've been trying to listen at least one webinar each week from Legacy Family Tree Webinars and the most recent webinar I listened too was "After You're Gone - Future-Proofing Your Genealogy Research," the presenter talked about his newest book, 500 Best Genealogy & Family History Tips – 2015 Edition, by Thomas MacEntee The book is an 85 page PDF (great for reading on your iPad or iPhone). The cost of the book is very reasonable at $5.95 at Legacy Family Tree Webinars or $5.99 at Amazon.com. The book can be previewed on Amazon's site. I wasn't sure just how much the book would benefit me, as I have been doing genealogy for quite some time. I was pleasantly surprised at what I'm learning through Thomas' book. It was well worth the price. Not only does Thomas provide wonderful tips, but also links to relevant resources. Beginners, intermediate, and advanced researchers will all find something of interest in Thomas' book.
As I was going through some of my old college papers, I found an old paper I wrote about the Chicago Fire. I've saved numerous papers over the years that I felt had some genealogical value. My Chicago Fire paper most definitely fit this criteria, as my dad's paternal line comes almost exclusively from Chicago and were living in Chicago during the fire. Here is the essay:
The City that Would Not Die Country’s fourth largest city devastated by fire! Stories filled newspapers across the country, the week of October 8, 1871, reporting a fire destroyed the city of Chicago. Chicago, a regional mercantile center had recently passed St. Louis as the United States fourth largest city. The tremendous amount of wood used to build the city of Chicago, combined with an extremely dry year; providing the conditions to fuel the devastating fire that left thousands homeless and cost hundreds their lives. Extensive historical and genealogical records were lost as city, county, and church records were consumed by the inferno. The fire was able to take their homes and livelihoods from Chicagoans, but the fire could not take away the stories, which were handed down from generation to generation; stories about how these people survived and how they rebuilt their lives and their city. The population of Chicago in 1871 was more than 330,000 inhabitants, a population made up mostly of Yankee elites and European immigrants. My ancestors were some of the many German immigrants who chose to make Chicago their home. At the turn of the century, Chicago was only a trading post on the Chicago River. By 1871, Chicago had ascertained status as a regional mercantile and was nearing status as an industrial metropolis, with international standing. Chicago was a city that had everything going for it and was growing daily. The city of Chicago contained a vast amount of wood. Because of the availability of wood, the city was built almost entirely of wood. Buildings were built in close proximity to one another, going up quickly and haphazardly, due to the rapid growth of the city. Fifty-seven miles of Chicago streets and 561miles sidewalks were made with wood. Lumber and wood products were stacked in lumberyards along the river. The area was experiencing high winds and drought conditions, with little rain falling since early summer. There have been many theories as to the causes of the Chicago Fire. The favorite theory is that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over the lantern in the barn. One part of this theory was found to be true, the fire did start in the vicinity of the O’Leary’s barn, but what actually stated the fire, we will probably never know. The amount of wood, the dry conditions and the high winds contributed to the fierceness of the fire. The fire, with its destructive and deadly force, lasted three days. Before the fire was extinguished by rainfall, it had claimed 2,124 acres; destroyed 17,450 buildings; left 98,500 people homeless and cost nearly 300 Chicagoans their lives. The estimated property loss was $200 million. While growing up in the Chicago area, I learned about the Chicago Fire through my Social Studies and History classes. To me, the Chicago fire was something that happened a long time ago and at that time was of little importance to me. It wasn’t until t started focusing on my father’s paternal line while doing my family history; I realized what had really been lost. It wasn’t just the loss of the buildings and lives, but also the loss of history. With the destruction of much of Chicago, many records were lost. As my genealogical endeavors progressed, I found that my roots were planted very deep in Chicago’s history. I have five ancestral lines (the Blickhahn, Keller, Seidelmann, Fiedler, and Laplanch families), who were living in Chicago at the time of the Chicago Fire. My ancestors were businessmen and business owners. They were furniture makers, cigar makers, and saloon keepers. All of them lost not only their businesses, but also their homes. My great-great-grandmother, Barbra Maria Kunigunda Keller, almost lost her life. She was home alone with her infant son when her home caught fire. She carried her young son to safety and returned to her home, which was engulfed in flames to save one of her most prized possessions, her feather bed. The city of Chicago was nearly a total loss, but Chicago and her people were strong. The thousands of immigrants who called Chicago their home rebuilt the city and their lives. Rebuilding their lives was nothing new to the hardy immigrants who were left homeless; immigrants who chose to rebuild their lives in Chicago after leaving their homelands. These immigrants did rebuild their lives and Chicago as well. The rebuilding of Chicago was mostly of brick. The buildings were built of brick, the sidewalks and streets were made with brick. By 1875, Chicago had become a city that had ascertained status as an industrial metropolis, a city with international standing. Chicago was a city that refused to die. In four years, Chicago was rebuilt with little evidence of the devastation from the fire. The new Chicago emerged bigger and better. I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted, but sometime life just gets in the way. Over the last couple of weeks, much of my computer time has been consumed with Pinterest. Once you get started, it is hard to stop. There is so much good things there, especially for genealogy. I started with one Pinterest board for genealogy, and now I have seven. I'm thinking I need more, as I think if I break the boards down even more, I'll be able to find the pins to my board easier. I have several hundred pins on my genealogy mapping board and it is difficult to find what I'm looking for. The first divisions I think I'll make is to divide the board into U.S. maps, maps of the British Isles, Germany. and Norway and then re-evaluate the divisions and see if I need to break the groups down even more.
Well, so far so good posting once a week. I decided I needed to participate in the Genealogy Do-Over, just to really get back into my genealogy and to make sure it is properly documented. I tried the Do-Over started by Thomas MacEntee, but found it hard to keep up., so to do a Do-Over, I created a form the I could check off (I'm thinking with a red pen so it stands out) each fact as I verify the documentation or document the fact. I believe this checklist will be very helpful to make sure everything is documented adequately. The form will also show me at a glance what information I'm missing. Each piece of documentation will be filed in my documents binder as well as a digital copy in my Legacy program.
Working on my Stanley lines can be challenging because prior to 1850 the census records can be very vague, with very few details other than where family member generically fit on the census form by age. Because of how individuals are listed, it is hard to determine even a birth range for family members. There is a solution to this problem, CensusMate. CensusMate helps determine a birthdate to as few as 5 years., The best part is that the download is free. It's great to find a quality tool that helps bridge the gap of missing birthdates.
I've been doing a little bit of research in between sorting and filing my boxes of genealogy. I have made a lot of progress trying to get my genealogy sorted and filed. My husband heading back down with more stuff from our old house and hopefully no more boxes of genealogy! It's been interesting how many stages of genealogy the boxes contain. Some boxes are from my research I was doing while living in Las Vegas, another from Thousand Oaks, and some with my more recent genealogy. Now I'm trying to combine the data into my Legacy genealogy program.
I haven't had much luck finding anything about James W Wallace, my great-great-grandfather, but I did come across a new website that I have added to my Toolbox. It's wonderful to find new websites that will aid me in my research, but even more so when the site is free. The website, Ancestral Findings. This site is made up primarily of tips to help researching. In addition to the website, the website owner also sends out newsletters regularly. One thing about regular newsletters, it helps keep keep motivation and interest high. As we are quickly saying goodbye to 2014 and welcoming 2015, I have decided that my genealogy needs to be one of my top priorities in 2015. I have so much to get organized and enter into my database with all of the proper documentation that goes with good genealogy practices.
While on the road to visit my daughter and son-in-law, I had a chance to read an article in one of my genealogy magazines. It was about heirlooms. The article talked about what makes an heirloom an heirloom. I had always thought that an heirloom was something old that remained in the family, only to find out that an heirloom was something in the family that had a story to tell. When my grandparents died, my mom got the clock she and my dad made for them in the early 70s. What makes this an heirloom is the story behind the clock. The clock was one of four ceramic clocks my mom and dad painstakingly made after being introduced to fired ceramics when my brothers and I were in 4-H. The mold had to be cleaned, painted and glazed. Another heirloom is a clock my grandparents had. Yes it is old, but is it an heirloom? In the case of this clock, yes, as it was brought over from Germany by my grandfather's paternal grandparents. Some pictures can be heirlooms when they can tell a story. Heirlooms can also be more recent items for example a decorative pedigree chart, a map showing migration trails of your ancestors. Although I have some heirlooms that are old, it is important that I create heirlooms for my children and grandchildren. I got to thinking about what one educational resource is the most important to me as a genealogist. Without a doubt, this one resource would be Legacy Family Tree Webinars. A new webinar is generally added each week, sometimes even more often. The best part is that live webinars are free and remain free to view for a couple of days after the event.
Geoff Rasmussen, the owner of Legacy Family Tree Webinars has recruited some of the top names in genealogy for these webinars, names like:
Well trying to post once or twice a week hasn't gone so well :(. All of a sudden, I've had so many doctor's appointments, tests, respiratory therapy, and physical therapy. This week, I have or had respiratory therapy twice, physical therapy twice, a sleep study, a CT scan, an ultrasound, and a doctor's appointment. The next two weeks aren't much better. I'm thinking that posting once or twice a week will have to be a New Year's resolution. I don't know how I would have figured working into my schedule, I would have been out of work more than at work.
It's always cool when you find a tool that really works. One of the craft websites I regularly visit had a link to PicMonkey, a photo editing tool. As I try to work on my genealogy, I'm also trying to work on my pictures. PicMonkey seems very easy to use and also features some tutorials. I've tried some photo editing programs in the past, but they were so complicated, I'd have to relearn it each time I used it. Although I didn't watch any of the tutorials, it was fairly easy to use (granted I didn't really use many of the features that were available). The basic version is free, and the upgraded version (includes some additional fonts and features, as well as being ad free). The upgraded version has a 30-day free trial. The subscription runs $4.99 a month or $33.00 a year. Both the monthly and annual subscription prices do not kick in until after the 30-day free trial. |
Click the link below for one of the best values in Genealogy Education!
Author - Dr. Kathryn M. WattsI live in Orange, California with my husband Bill, and my service dog Timber. Genealogy is one of my favorite past times. Archives
May 2019
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