Photographs

Old photographs have often fascinated me, and I have the fortunate blessing of having a photo album full of photos that came from someone, but not the family that is pictured in the photos. No one seems to know anything about the family, and I have looked on Ancestry to share these with their family.

I recently read a blog 4 Tips to Identify Unknown Family Photographs by Lisa Lisson and she gave me  great idea for helping to get these photos identified. I am going to upload them to a Pintrest and start a page that has unknown photographs. These photos can  be sent around and maybe, just maybe, we can find the family that belong to them.

This is a great idea and I am so grateful that someone has given me a new way to share them. I do well when someone gives me an idea, but I need the idea, and then I can build.on it. I am like that company, I do not build it, I just make it better. :}

I have old photos that I have found on Ancestry that I did not know were out there and thanks to them I was able to add them to my family tree online. I love the ease of adding sources to my family line when I do searches, I just have to be absolutely sure before I do it, but most of the time I can tell the family resemblance.

Many of my family members do not even care about genealogy, family history, or anything that has to do with it, except the end result. They love the idea of having a family tree for their line, but they do not care about the work that goes into creating one of these personal mementos. As the line grows, I tend to want to say you can have it, but you keep it up. That just will not do though. I must keep the line going as long as I can. I feel the pull of my family, and I can not say no to them.

Census Records and Memories

At church I am over the Family History Center. I am the director so that means that all things lead to me. I am the tech person and I do not know enough. I do know a few things, and was able to find out that we have an issue between the modem and the computers that are in the Family History Center.

Now, this center is open to all persons, and without the Internet Service, we have no center to offer the public. I now have a problem because my center is closed. It is because of this technical issue, that AT&T wants to charge to fix, I have not been able to open my center for weeks. Now I need a tech person to fix it. Wish me luck and say a prayer.

Now, I have just learned that there were state census records from 1890 that survived. This is a great boon to those individuals that happen to be in that area. The link to the website, Census Bureau Records, which gives the list of the areas that these records are from is here, 1890 List.

It is so awful to know that there is a twenty year gap of family records when it is so hard to follow a line to that point to begin with. Following the lines, eventually one gets to the 1890 census, and then one wants to cry. They are not the truest written records, but they are so important when it comes to following a family as they moved across country.

My grandfather was born in Alabama, but when he was young, him and his parents moved across country and the census shows that. It is so good to see the proof and the links that the census provides. It gives me a better knowledge of my grandfather and his early years, and the stories that he told. He remembers the whole move and told many stories about those ten years.

He was born in a census year so he was easier to follow than some of my family. He told the stories of riding on a train to the many areas that they lived in those years. It is so good that he gave us those records of him.

It reminds me that we need to be vigilant in our journaling so our posterity can know who we were and how we lived, not just our birth and death. Family History is so much more that just genealogy. It is the stories that bind, they are necessary for a true link to each generation. The records that we keep are what helps our posterity keep the tree going.
                 



    
                                

Organization

I have recently found a way that I think may help me organize my files, or at least it will if I stick to it. It is a folder system inside of a folder.

I know right. It is ingenious. The hanging folder, or larger folder, holds the smaller folders. The main folder has the maiden name of the family line, say like mine would say Kilgore, then there would be subfolders that had my sisters married names as well as mine, and my brothers as Kilgore's. The folders would hold any information that I found on them, or pictures that they have.

You can do this on your computer and do this physically. Hard copy of any record is a must, and having the same type of filing system that you have on your computer may help.

I am not sure if this will change the way I tackle my organization in family history, or am I dreaming about that, but either way, it is a great idea. Color coding names would help too, like the folders for one family line are marked in blue, the next green, the next purple, and so on. This would help you find the family at a glance.

This all sounds great, and maybe I can do this too. After all, I talk about it, I should be able to do it. Problem is, I can tell you better than I can show you. I can see what others are doing wrong, but I cannot change the same issue in my own life. Just like this organization thing. I can tell you how to do it, I can do it for you, once I tell you about it, but as far as doing it for myself, that is another story altogether. It has always been that way with me.

I used to love to help others get their bedrooms cleaned up, but as far as cleaning my own, I hated doing it. My dad has been a Quality Control Expert for at least 50 years and I have learned that from him. Checking behind others, and telling them what is wrong is in my blood. After all, I am only 48. HaHa.

Searching Cemetaries

I have been to cemeteries and have been floored to find no way of knowing how to find the name or names I am looking for because there is no onsight office Well, now I know how to find those names if it happens again, I go to the clerk's office and they can help me find the information on any cemetery and plot that has been plotted. How about that. Now, if there is no office, or no caretaker onsight, then there is another option. No longer do you have to worry, but I still suggest you pray. After all, most families want to be found.

Of course, not many people can enter a cemetery without saying a quick prayer anyway. They feel that chill that runs up the back when there are spirits. Not everyone sees them, not everyone recognizes them, but almost everyone knows they are going to be there if anywhere. I know I have been to the cemetery and have a fully charged camera, and phone, only to find that both have been drained, or that the photo turned out all black, nothing. Like the piece on the chip had been exposed or a finger may have covered the lens. I know this to not be true, but the evidence says differently.

I love walking in a cemetery just the same, and I think they are so peaceful. I always feel pulled or pushed in directions that I can never quite understand, but they are still so quiet and restful. I love the idea of someone reaching out to me and asking me to help them in some small way. I guess that is why we pray when we enter. We want to guarantee the spirits that communicate are one's that do not harm us.

Many will read this and think that I have lost my mind, but others will know just what I mean. Either way, I know how to find records of cemeteries that do not have offices or caretakers.

Family Thoughts

Lately I have been ranting on FamilySearch, but I guess I should not do that. They offer a free service to anybody that wishes to use it, and that is special all in itself. I am frustrated with the lines that are not right, and I am working with another person to straighten out this line of my family on my dad's side.

I really wish that my ancestors knew that I was going to trace them. Maybe they would have left me better records to go by. I would love to have some of the genealogy that others have and join it to mine, but in FamilySearch, I need to be exact because it is not just my tree I affect. Knowing you are going to change someone's world makes you pause for a moment. Getting it right is more important than ever.

I know I would not mind it if others were in my family circle, but they have a family and they need to be with them, not in the wrong family. After all, we are talking about eternity and who we will spend it with. I love my family so much that I want to be with them through all eternity. I realize this is a long time, bit I was given the best family and I do not want to lose them.If I need to, I can always take a break from them.

It has been a long trip and it will be longer, but at least I will have my wonderful family to take it with.

GRRRR

I am angry today. I have a family tree on FamilySearch and I am not happy with it or the way it can be changed by others. I had a family line that was a brother rather than a father. I straitened it out, only to have others go crazy.

Now this is my tree, so I should be able to change whatever I want, but nope, others are now upset that I took the name off of the line. My tree, my line, my work. This is the way I feel, but the others that are tied into my tree are going crazy. I am sorry that the other people are affected, but I am still of the mind that bit is my tree.

This is why I like Ancestry

and the trees that are on there. You can add to or take from your tree,  and no one has to worry about their private tree. This is so much easier and so much more  of an intelligent design. I have a tree on both sites and I am definitely happier with Ancestry's website design. I do like the memory section and the like on FamilySearch, but the tree interaction design takes the fun out of having the tree.

I must go back into FamilySearch and add to the tree so other people do not have to feel like their tree is in a disarray. I do not like the idea of messing in another's family tree and it is quite worrisome. I hope I can get the line straightened out soon. I know the others that my changes affected will be happy for me to get it straightened out. I imagine that they feel like their lives have been disrupted. I know I do every time some one changes the line. I better hurry huh?

Lost Time

The time spent searching for our ancestors is not lost time. This can be the best time spent on anything. It can help with health issues by allowing you to know what your ancestors died from. It can also tie you to a family that you did not think you had.

Genealogists every where know what it feels like to find a name that was not there, but now, you have new family. This feeling never gets old.

Recently my father-in-law passed, and I have been looking at a new family that is mine by marriage. This makes me think about the families that do not have loved ones searching for them.

Families are ties that bind, in a good way. I cannot imagine what it is like to not want to know your ancestors
They are the only reason we are here, after all. They hold all of the answers, as we are the sum of them.

Think about this.  

Meanderings of a Tired Mind

I have to apologize. It has taken so long to come back and blog. I have been helping others, going to school, and helping my husband with coins. We are trying to sell his collection, and I mean collection, on Ebay.com and also going to school. I should do better, but not many read this blog and so no one really cares but me.

I have been asked to help with the Relief Society "mall" next month. My store will be of course, the Family History Store, and I am going to try and create a nice table to display my store on. I am not very imaginative, so I am hoping that I can be better than I normally am. I am going to town on Pinterest and am really glad that others are also doing this.

I have found that it is a great way to hold all of your information in one place, and allow others to access the information too. I have started my boards holding all my family history pictures, and am soon going to start a new board because my old board is getting fuill. I really like the idea and I am going to use it and expand it.

I found that I so missed writing my blog, but since I had no followers, I kept letting other things take me away. I need to write this for me, not any one else. If I get you to follow me and read my blog, I will then have a better reason. Until then, I will write because I want to. I can use this as a way to talk about my family and their lives, as well as write about genealogy issues that arise that I find interesting.

I have to say that I was surprised that it took me so long to realize how I will never be organized with my genealogy. I would love to. I would love to be able to put my fingertips on any piece of information that I I have ever found. This will not happpen as far as I am concerned.. I have a husband that takes up a lot of my time, and he does not share well. I am glad we did not have children or there would have been competition.

Maybe tomorrow I will write about genealogy more. Today I have been meandering on the thought patrol. I will try to do better, but then again, the older I get, the worse it gets.

Lunatic Fringe

I am late but I am here. I am always late, but I always show up. You can count on me to do what I said I would, and I did. I have been researching lunacy records by using Google.com and have found some interesting finds.

First, Lunacy Records is not the group so ignore that if you do search for the records under this name. Second, once you find the records. you may not be able to view online. This is where your local genealogical Family History Center comes in. They allow you to have access to the Ancestry.com records for free and many other choice paid websites. To have one in your area can be a great help.

There are also many libraries that offer access to the records of the area and the state. You can also ask your local historian for help. They are usually in only at certain times but check with your local library and they may be able to help. The point is that there are many places that one can turn to for help. Now, back to the records.

The National Archives can help you as well. There are many searchable records on this website. They hold the lunacy records as well as any archived records. It is a great resource to use and study. They have loads of information on the country and the people who lived in it.

Searching for these records can be frustrating because every record has to be digitized before it can be searched. Your record may not be there yet. Do not give up on the search because unless the records were destroyed, they exist. If the record was destroyed in the fires or floods, I am sorry for your loss. There is no regaining that record.

It is mournful to think that a piece of history that told a story of a person can no longer be accessed. The loss of those records that were destroyed is almost heartbreaking. No birth and death certificates, no record of their life. Finding a piece of that time that helps establish the individual is so much more important and fulfilling.

Searching and researching is what we do when we want to know who we are and how we got here. The records of our ancestors, even if they are from the lunacy papers, are important and tell the story of family. Happy searching this week.