Organization

I think the most organized thing in my house is my genealogy research.  Sorry, mom, I know you tried.  Although I have a pile of pages that need to be filed away, I can still find what I'm looking for in that stack pretty quickly.   Even my digital genealogy files are super organized.

This got me thinking about genealogy organization.  I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day and checking out the pins.  There are some great ones on Genealogy organization if you need ideas or help!  I also was thinking about the difference between my two parents and me and our organizational styles.  Just with the three of us, we all organize our research very differently. 

Starting with me, I use a combination of methods.  I use file folders by married couple names (generally) to keep hard papers in.  There are a few exceptions.  I have been using this method almost since I could get my hands on file folders.  This idea came from the book Organizing your family history search by Sharon Carmuck.  You can pick up a copy pretty inexpensive on Amazon.  I addition to the file folders I use binders for my major family surnames.  Again this came from Carmuck's book.  I adapted this and use the binders that you can put pages in the front and back.  I place a form with a surname list and year ranges that I am researching.  In my digital files, I have a similar setup. I have one major file called Genealogy, then divide by surnames-similar to the ones that I have in my binders.  I then have different divisions under my surnames based on my needs.  I have files for couples, cemeteries, record types and photos.  The advantage of digital files is no stacks of paper!

Now my mom prints everything and puts them into binders.  She uses those post-it tabs and organizes by family couple.  She also uses the file folder method similar to mine.  Mom is a little less technology-oriented and handwrites all her research notes.  Don't worry I'm working on getting her to put her research into her copy of Legacy. 

My dad's research is based on the local cemeteries.  Dad is a paper and pen kind of guy.  He is working to make the information on Find A Grave more complete as well as contribute to the local research for our genealogy society.  Dad prints out a page then makes his notes on the page.  Highlights the line he finishes.  He has found a lot of interesting stories through his research.  I keep urging him to write a blog about these stories.  I think I may have to steal his stories and share them. 

There are many ways to organize your own research and it has to make sense to you. How do you organize your research?  Share your organization style below in the comments. 

Happy Hunting!

The Family that Researches Together

My parents and I have a great relationship and I have always been very close to both of them.  I feel very fortunate for that in my life.  My mom has always been a part of my genealogy world but is becoming more driven with her own family's research and now my dad has become a Find A Grave addict!  But in a good way.  My parents travel all over are area to get photos for people that are requested through Find A Grave. Ok I see two great benefits in this...the nurse and daughter in me is thrilled that Mom and Dad are out walking cemeteries and getting exercise and of course the genealogist is doing the genealogy happy dance because my Dad has been diligently working this winter to update the local rural cemeteries with information, linking family members and adding people who he has found and are not already listed as being buried in the cemetery...which leads to me.
About three weeks ago Dad sent me an email through Find A Grave to link some family members.  Ok, he called me on the phone before I saw the email.  Anyway the link contributed to information that I did not have on the Lardies...which lead me through about 3 days of hard research (there isn't much to do when you have a night off working midnight shift and everyone else is sleeping).  So I started with my Legacy file name count somewhere around 2700 people (give or take a dozen or so).  Todays count shows 2849 people in my database!  (Insert Happy Dance here!)  Of course then he gave me his notes last night....which are still hiding in my purse currently.  I can only imagine where this bought  of research will take me. Thanks Dad! :D
I have been hoping that my Dad will eventually start his own blog and share some of the wonderful stories he's shared with me helping others with their research, and of course we all know how grateful we are when someone, like Dad, helps us out with our research and doesn't ask for anything in return.  I have always tried to pay it forward when I have received such help.  If you get a change pop over to Find A Grave and check out Ogdensburg Cemetery and check out some of the memorials and leave Dad a little note of thanks on his profile for all the work he's done!

Happy Hunting all!

Thank you Find A Grave Member, Frank L Courter

Recently I had confirmed on Find A Grave, the burirals of my Great Great Grand Father's brother and his second wife, William Tennyson Fitzgerald and Isabella Kase Fitzgerald, in Union Cemetery in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.  Now, I find that the burials are unmarked, however, at least I have confirmed they are there, along with their daughter Sallie, aka Sarah.  I also now know their causes of death.  These are small pieces of information, but we all know how wonderful it is to add even these little facts into our databases.  I wouldn't have found this information if it wasn't for Frank L Courter who is another Find A Grave contributor.  Frank was able to confirm William, then sent me info on Isabella, and when I asked if he knew of additional Fitzgeralds he also gave me information on Sallie.  Frank gave me his time freely and supplied me with this information.  I am so appreciative to his generosity.  I even took the time and wrote the following email to Find A Grave as a special thank you to Frank:

Dear Find A Grave Staff,
Thank you for such a wonderful website.  I wanted to share with you over the past week I've been corresponding with another contributor, Frank L Courter.  Frank has helped me add many pieces to my brickwall family that were missing in my research.  The brickwall has yet to come down, but the information he has provided has also helped confirm some information that I was seeking.  He has been very generous adding additional information for me as well and help me with additional information that I asked him if he would be able to help me with.  So many contributors, such as Frank, make this such a wonderful website to be a part of.  He has given me his time generously to give me this additional information and I can't thank him enough!  This is one of the best ways I could think of to recognize Frank!
Thanks again for such a wonderful site!
Alanna Fant


So this is another way I can give Frank a special thank you for all his help.  Thanks again Frank!

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=24697&GRid=32791011&

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38833706

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=114471815

Find-A-Grave

Week 22 for Geneabloggers challenges us to visit the website Find-A-Grave and write about our impressions of the website and any interesting entries we find while we are visiting the website.


I have to say the Find-A-Grave is one of my favorite websites. There is so much I can say about it. I have been a member of the website for just a couple months shy of 4 years.

Find-A-Grave is a free website created by a group of people that just love cemeteries. From the main website one can choose to view famous gravesites or "normal" gravesites.

Under the famous website is various divisions of organization, for example, you can search by name, let's say Al Capone for example.

 From the results page, we find several listings from the Capone family members and gang. So I choose Alphonse "Al" Capone. Which brings me to his individual memorial.

Here is can read the bio written about Capone, see photos of him as well as a photo of his Grave. For famous people, you can 'vote' at the bottom about how famous (or infamous) the person was.

Each person listed on Find-A-Grave has their own memorial page (famous or not) in which the creator can include information like birth date and place, death date and place and, of course, where the person is buried. There is also a bio area where biographical information can be typed in by the memorial creator.

One feature nice for memorial creators is the ability to request a photograph of the grave, even if the grave of their ancestor is in another state or even another country. Let's look at one of my memorials for an example.

This is John Fitzgerald, my Great-Great-Great Paternal Grandfather. I recently learned that his was buried in Old Rosemont Cemetery in Columbia County, Pennsylvania.

 I created this memorial from the main page under the 'Add Burial Records' selection.

You can also use the search for a cemetery function and add a memorial from the cemetery's page. I live in Michigan near Traverse City and my GGG Grandpa was buried in Columbia County, PA in Old Rosemont Cemetery. Old Rosemont Cemetery is about 700 road miles from where I live and a 12 to 13 hour drive. Not something I can just hop in the car and go check out. So that's where Find-A-Grave comes in! Find-A-Grave allowed me to add John's name to the cemetery and request a photograph of his headstone, if there is one.

One note here, there is no guarantee how fast my request will be filled. I've had requests filled very quickly and I've had requests I've requested quite a while ago that are still waiting to be fulfilled.

I also enjoy being a photo volunteer in my area and taking photographs of headstones for others. It is very satisfying to me to help someone else as well in their search.

There are so many other features to Find-A-Grave that you can discover by visiting their website!

Haapy  Hunting!

Disappointments

Two things have happened reccently in my genealogical life that have really had a hard blow to me.

This first is that yesterday, Michigan Governer, Jennifer Granholm, signed an executive order to close the Library of Michigan. The order closes the libraries doors as of Oct 1, 2009. It also gives the libraries collections the opportunity to be aquired by other agencies and if not....they are going to be destroyed! The Library of Michigan houses Michigan's state genealogical collection. The genealogy collection has been a valuable tool for many Michigan genealogists and it is a tragdey that this valuble asset will be lost. Worst of all, the collection holds rare one-of-a-kind books and records that if destroyed they will be forever. I literally cried when I heard this news.
The executive order can be viewed at:
www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/EO36_285881_7.pdf

The second thing that happened, came about today. I frequently use the website www.findagrave.com to request photos of headstones of family and potential family members. A couple days ago I requested photos for around 8 or 9 Fitzgeralds that are in Iowa near where one of my GGGrandfather's brother moved to. When I opened the links from my email to the memorials I found that the lady who volunteered to take the photos used chalk on the stone because they "are difficult to read". When I confronted her (via email) about using something she admitted it was chalk and told me that "it only damages Limestone stones". This is not true! Also this practice is completely against Find-A-Grave's policies. I ultimately asked her not to do any more of my photo requests because I cannot condone this behavior. It made my stomach knot up when I saw this.
Remember that never to use anything but plain water and a soft brush on a headstone. Chalk, cornstarch, baby powder, shaving cream....all damages headstones in different ways. All types of stones, not just limestone. We want these stones to be around for a long time.

May your research lead to your ancestors.
Happy Hunting.