Good Bye Family Tree Maker?

Today I received an email from Ancestry.  They have announced that as of December 31, 2015 they will no longer be selling Family Tree Maker.  They are going to continue their efforts into the website.
I find this interesting.  It must have been a hard decision to come to.  I personally respect Ancestry's decision.  I will continue to use the website for my own research.  But I can also understand the frustration from it's long time users.  My best of luck to Ancestry and all it's followers through these changes.

For more info directly from Ancestry check out their Blog.

Moving with Genealogy

Hey all!
Well big news on my horizon.  I'll be moving next month into a new house.  So one of my projects will be to pack up all my genealogy work and move it safely to the new house.  Fortunately this move is going to be only across town and I don't have to worry about my work travelling long distances in boxes and crates.  But this led me to think about how I'm going to move with my research safely intact.
My first task I did was an internet search on moving with genealogy....guess what?!?  I didn't actually find a lot of advice on how to move your genealogy.  I found a lot of information about moving away from researching in one type of documentation and on ancestors moving.  All good information and advice.
So lets start a new trend topic.  How to safely move your genealogy to a new house.

I look forward to sharing this new genealogy adventure with you all!

Happy Hunting!!!

If these Items could talk!

Recently, I was with my mom and dad at a local antique store where we spent a great deal of time looking around. It's quite a large store we were at and I really enjoyed looking at all the items the different vendors who have areas in the store have for sale. My mom and dad were looking to add to their own collections respectively, while I just browse through the shelves. This got me thinking while I was there about the stories that some of the items in the shop could tell. This also got me thinking what a perfect tie into family history that some of these items may have made at one time. We've all heard of family air but do we all have the stories that are behind them. For example I have my great-grandmothers wedding cake plate. But I don't know much more about it. And currently there are few people left who would. No don't get me wrong, this is an item that I cherish dearly, and how much fun would it be to know a little bit more about the plate. Another example I can think of are the silver pieces that my mom has collected. Now as far as I know she is just a fan of silver pieces and of course many of them are very beautiful to look at and very ornate. However, I don't really know why she decided to start collecting silver. This I think would be an important element in the family history part of my research. An important story that I could document in my files to share with future generations when no one else is around to share the story.

So while I have not discovered the collectible that I have to have proudly displayed in my home, this leads me to think that we should all be documenting the stories behind our family's treasures. I'd love to hear your stories with your family treasures. Please share them in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from all my followers.

Happy hunting!

New Trends in my Blog! AKA Confession of a Geneaholic is on You Tube!

So recently I had a great idea for my blog. As we move into the next level of online communication and blogging, I have decided video recordings. However I find that I cannot upload video recordings teaching genealogy, after some thought I have created my own YouTube channel called Confessions of a Geneaholic where you find the videos I will be creating of genealogy videos in addition to my blog about genealogy as a hobby as well as provide education for everyone out there who wants to learn about researching their genealogy as well as those of you that don't think you might have not have the time to actually research on genealogy. I'm going show you how to start, how to keep going, and how to squeeze a little bit of time into your day for research.

I'm also going to explore sharing genealogy with my children and hopefully even with their classmates as the year goes on. The kids were five and nine years old are both becoming interested in genealogy. In fact you can only guess my joy when I discovered that my nine-year-old had found a blank family group sheet and started filling in her name her birthday, her brother's name, her brother's birthday and mine and their fathers names like every proud genealogy mama I have that for hanging up on my wall and I'm excited to learn about projects to show my children and hopefully grow their interest in genealogy.

Another plan I have for all my blog followers out there in my future YouTube channel followers is to record my genealogy vacation I have planned coming up in the next year to you all can follow my adventures on trying to break down my biggest brick wall.

I can't wait to hear your ideas on what you like to hear me talk about and what you'd like to learn about in the genealogy world.

Happy hunting!

Random Acts has Returned!

When I say genealogy happy dance what genealogist doesn't  know that feeling?

Recently I typed in the website for the former website Random Acts of Genealogy Kindness In my search engine, looking for some information on the former website.. I wasn't expecting to find much on the website itself, however I was surprised that random answers back online. Those of you who are followers know I have always been a huge fan of the website, and was devastated when we found out that the founder had unexpectedly died.  The website was shut down shortly after her death. Recently the website has come back online!

Now to honor her memory I encourage all my genealogy friends out there to sign up and volunteer. The commitment isn't big the new creators asked that you follow through with one random act a month in more of course if you like what you the guidelines are the same as the former random acts website and I am encouraged to be using this website again soon

Myself. All the details on the website on how to volunteer and how to request a volunteer. I am so excited and thrilled that this invaluable tool is back online.

Make sure to share with all your genealogy friends out there that random acts of genealogy kindness has returned and encourage your friends to sign up as well. The website won't work without everybody's help.

I look forward to hearing about all the acts that you, my followers, fulfill and the ones that you receive. I'm even more excited to hear how these random acts will help each of you further your own genealogy research as well as to share my own experiences. And what better way to give back to our genealogy community and each other by volunteering to help someone else!!

The web address is www.RA0GK.org

Happy Hunting!

Why we do it

Yesterday my 9 year-old asked me why I "do genealogy".  My immediate answer was a less than eloquent "because I like it".  Which satisfied my daughter's curiosity...at least for now, but what would I tell another adult who would likely required a more detailed answer.

So why do we do what we do?  Why do we spend hours in front of our computers tapping away? Or waiting by the mailbox for that next piece of evidence?  What drives us to hunt down the clues and piece together our ancestors lives?    

Genealogy is about the people that came before us.  We learn about their hardships and heartaches as well as their joys in life.  It's also about learning where we come from and about the lives that shaped our own lives.  Although, unless you've been there, it's hard to describe the feeling of hunting down that crucial piece of evidence and finally finding it and jumping out of your chair to do the genealogy happy dance in your living room.  A dance that normally knocks over the chair, scares one of the lives out of the cat and receives odd looks from one's significant other and eye rolling from one's children.

Why wouldn't we love it?
I love to hear from my readers.  Share your reasons why you love it in the comments below!

Happy Hunting!

Spelling Doesn't Count!!!

How many times were we told in school, growing up, and in our jobs that our spelling counts???  Our kids bring their spelling lists home proudly every week to show off their scores. But what about in historical records? Not so much...
Why is there so much discrepancy with names and spelling?  There are a few things to consider here.  First is accents.  Censuses were taken by hand in the days before internet and bubble cards (those things you fill in with #2 pencils).  The person giving the family's information may have a thick heavy accent, so the way they say their information and then the way the census taker hears the information both influence how that information is recorded. 
I have also personally found some catholic records written in Latin.  I don't read Latin.  Fortunately the churches that have sent me the information have translated them for me.  And this also influences how the information is interpreted.  Different people may translate the information a little bit differently depending on how they were taught the language.
Literacy may have also played a factor in the interpretation and relaying information on records.  Another theory I have is who is providing the information.  Let's say a child of immigrants in the only one who can speak English.  The child is the one giving the information to the census taker.  The information the child is giving is only as good at the child's education.
When looking at other records, such as death records are only as good as the informant's memory or the information the institution has at the time of the decedent's death.

So what does that mean for genealogists?

Soundex is available to help search records.  In short soundex is a method of applying a code to a surname.  More can be learned by Google searching soundex or in a future entry of my blog.

Learning alternate spellings of last names and be flexible when it comes to searching first names.  Various of both can be found in records.

Always look at the original document when possible.  Even transcription errors can lead to alternate spellings of a surname or first name.  Ever look at old hand writing?  If you haven't yet, you will.  (And another good future blog topic).  Reading old hand writing can be difficult and lead to misinformation or alternative information or spellings.

Take care and happy hunting all!