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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019
No more procrastination! First things first!
I’ve just discovered that many of the things I’m setting aside time for now that I’ve retired (on the so-called bucket list) are things that I thought of doing many years ago and put off for one reason or another.
Looking back at my lack of dedication to this project in 2015, I am almost afraid to try again. But thank you, Amy Johnson Crow, for giving me another chance.
The prompt for the first week in January is Start. A small word for that all important first step forward, or in the case of genealogists, backward as we search for those who have come before us.
#NotAtRootsTech Feb. 8-11 in Salt Lake City, UT
I’m not there 😦 but I can still enjoy the live streaming at https://www.rootstech.org/
Sharing genealogy wisdom from Roberta Estes, whose blog, DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy, I follow. Going through many of these in our own DNA research. Well worth reading!
Sooner or later, this happens to every genealogist. You are “gifted” with an ancestor one way or another and either they turn out not to be your ancestor at all, or at least not by that surname. Then, you have to saw that branch off of your own tree! Ouch!
There are lots of ways for this to happen, but this past week, we added a new way – and to me – this new avenue is even more frightening because it carries with it the perception of validation by DNA. After all, DNA doesn’t lie, right? Well, it doesn’t, IF it’s interpreted correctly. And that IF should be in the largest font size possible.
Bad New Ancestor Discovery (NAD) #1
Yep, last week, Ancestry.com released a new feature that uses only your DNA to find your ancestors called New Ancestor Discoveries. Great idea. Not terribly accurate – at least…
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As we decorate our homes for the holidays, I thought it would be interesting to see how my ancestors would extend greetings of the season in their own native language:
Merry Christmas – England and America: Reed, Mullett, Rankin, Pollard, Hallett, Trostle, Thompson, Dodds, Gray, Cunningham, Shields, Puckett, Stone, Roberts, Garrett, Roberts, Hutchison, Lewis, Magnes, Munson, Gunning, Bailey, Hendricks, Grizzle
Fröhliche Weihnacten – Germany: Gotto, Fromm, Stitz, Massong, Dostert, Thein, Junemann, Kruse, Isenhour, Dahms, Lehrmann,
Nollaig chridheil huibh – Scotland: Brownlee, Hamilton, Ewing, Finney, Hamilton,
Nollaig Shona Dhui – Ireland: Mulhall,
Joyeux Noël – France: Beauchamp,
ᏓᏂᏍᏔᏲᎯᎲ – Cherokee Nation: McGill
Wishing all my followers Peace and Joy in 2016 …
I guess I’m a victim of writer’s block right now and this blog struck me as very honest and creative too. Enjoy!
I’ve heard that genealogists really do see dead people and not just on Halloween 🙂
Do you search for ancestors every day of the year? You may want to check out Geneabloggers to enter the MyHeritage Halloween Contest – and qualify for great prizes – before 12 noon CDT today!!!
I’ve got to say I’m inspired by the camaraderie in the genealogical community. Most of those I’ve reached out to with questions about shared ancestors have responded. And they have been helpful, whether or not there is an actual family connection.
In fact, I am so impressed that I’ve decided to reach out to at least one of my GenFriends each day. If nothing else, just to keep in touch. I know we may never meet in person, but that doesn’t matter. These people are special to me.
They are the comforting souls at the other end of my message or email or phone call who understand a brick wall or an amazing discovery or double first cousins or disappearing ancestors. They just “get it.”
And I appreciate that … especially the fact that they take the time to respond, however brief. Some even go way beyond that, sending me CDs of information that I would never have guessed existed. And there are those in Find A Grave who have driven miles to document and photograph graves of my ancestors living far away from me.
For my part, I am trying to be just as good a GenFriend to other genealogists as they are to me. So if you have research questions about any of the branches on our family tree (see Word Cloud above) bring them on. I’ll try to help!
Just wondering, how do you reach out to your GenFriends?
What a wonderful way to get past square one on my genealogy “to do” list! Amy Johnson Crow has issued a challenge: “The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”
Time and energy ran out last year as I had so much requiring my attention and still only 24 hours in a day. And even though I didn’t want to give up something that had helped to jump-start my love for writing again, my little blog went by the wayside.
Ironically, as I was sorting out my New Year’s Resolutions recently, I had decided to dust it off and start having fun with genealogy once again. And so, it is with that optimistic outlook in mind, that I pledge to take better care of my family tree in 2014.
Do you have genealogy resolutions you’d like to share? Perhaps you’d like to take the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge as well?
This summer has flown by and my good intentions to concentrate on blogging regularly are “Gone with the Wind.” Luckily, we were able to get to the family reunion in July. On the way to that, we went to Corsicana, where we made some amazing discoveries including the resting place of my husband’s second great grandfather, Louis Munson. That was quite a thrill, even though his grave had been relocated and no gravestone could be found.
We’re already planning the 2014 Munson Family Reunion, our 30th year. It should be very special, with lots of great ideas and volunteers.
Closer to home, we also attended the Ancestry Day in Texas last weekend and enjoyed seeing Crista Cowan and others from Ancestry.com. More than a thousand came for genealogy tips and tricks and to network with others who were “climbing their family trees.”
My latest efforts – working on organizing my genealogy research with a form that helps you list all the documentation you have on each ancestor. Really helpful for getting a handle on my paperwork.
Please share – what is your secret to staying organized?
AncesTrees 