August, 2007
Be Still My Heart! A Genealogical Conference in the Heartland!
I have been to exactly one genealogical conference in my life. I really wasn’t sure that I had much to offer on the topic of genealogical conferences. Over the years, I’ve read what others have had to say about conferences. I especially agree with the oft-stated desire that conferences make their syllabi available on CD’s to save trees and make …
August 16, 2007 Thursday at 3:05 am
Centenarians
Yesterday, we reported here the death of Brooke Astor, the former Roberta Brooke Russell, at age 105. I noticed also yesterday that the world’s oldest person, 114 year-old Yone Minagawa, had died in Japan. According to the Census Bureau, in the year 2000, the United States had 50,454 persons over the age of 100, out of a total population of …
August 15, 2007 Wednesday at 1:03 am
More Credit: Denise Olson’s Family Matters
I’m still getting caught up with what’s been going on in the genea-blogosphere while I was travelling, so there may be some old news here over the next few days. One of the neat things was that Family Tree magazine ran its list of 101 best websites. In the blogs category, Family Tree included Denise Olson’s Family Matters. An excellent …
August 13, 2007 Monday at 4:59 pm
Once Again, "There Are No Easy Cases in Genealogy"
A key objective of the trip to Missouri had been to further identify Sarah Gilbert Johnson, the presumed wife of my great-great-grandfather Ezekiel Johnson. Unfortunately, I made no progress at all on this issue and it continues to frustrate me. I would have to say that this is my leading research objective right now. So I had begun to write …
August 12, 2007 Sunday at 4:29 am
Getting Info from the Government: FOIA 101
Suppose your grandfather or great-grandfather worked for the federal government or for a government contractor, building Hoover Dam. Perhaps he kept a journal that stayed with the government for some reason when the project was completed. Or may be your relative was in the Far North as an early operator of the DEW Line. You might want to learn more …
August 11, 2007 Saturday at 9:42 pm
Kudos
Once again, in our Credit-where-Credit-is-Due Department: 1. Congratulations to Missouri, whose State Archives has now added images for the year 1935 to its Death Records project. This project is rapidly closing its gaps! 2. Thanks to the Local History Department of the Corpus Christi Public Libraries, which outdid its usual great service by responding to my request for a scanned …
August 11, 2007 Saturday at 7:55 pm
Light Schedule Next Few Days
I have to have some minor surgery tomorrow (Wednesday 8 Aug) and I may be out of commission for about two days, so our postings may be a bit light as we approach the weekend. Back to normal by Monday!
August 8, 2007 Wednesday at 4:11 am
Interviewing Family Members in the Field
How many times have you heard somebody [or even yourself] say, “I wish I had asked [insert name of now-deceased family member here] about this!” That’s the family historian’s lament. It’s also sometimes the motivation to seek out far-flung family members to get their stories. “Getting their stories” is the essential nature of what needs to be done. On the …
August 8, 2007 Wednesday at 3:03 am
Research Trip: The Don’t Overs
Sometimes when kids play games, they have rules that either allow or prohibit “do-overs,” that is, the opportunity to make the play again. In this post, we present the “don’t-overs” for genealogical research trips. 1. DON’T OVER-pack (Photo Grrl!): Remember, you’re not going to Mars. If you forget something, you can probably get it wherever you are. You don’t need …
August 8, 2007 Wednesday at 3:01 am
A Kansas City Follies Girl, c. 1920
Annie Florida Corrine Long She later was known as Florida C. Gines, my grandmother. Coming Up: Research Trips–The “Don’t-Overs”
August 6, 2007 Monday at 8:33 pm
