Venturing into the Wild West

Our ancestors came from anywhere and everywhere. Whether they came from Asia, Europe or the east coast, chances are someone took that leap and headed westward in search of something greater. If you have ancestors who traveled west, the SFGate has an interesting article on resources you can use to find those wild western adventures.

5 places: explore ancestry, genealogy

Are there any other resources that are great for finding these westward ancestors? 

The Price of Family History

This article caught my attention recently:

Genealogy Hot Hobby Worth $1.6B, Not Just For Mormons - ABC News

While the article discusses the industry as a whole and how Ancestry.com is worth a ton of money right now, it got me thinking more about the individual cost of genealogy to those who are interested in finding out more about their family's past. How much does it really cost to get all the information?

Personally, I have not spent much money on the pursuit of genealogy. The only things I purchased were Family Tree Maker and access to an online archive for a single obituary. Other than that, I have managed to get what information I have for free. The reason I try not to pay for the access to information is because most of what you pay for is the convenience to not have to go to every county across the United States to gather vital records and other documents. I know that it may take the rest of my life to get the information I need, but if there is a free way to get it, I would rather do that. I do realized that some costs will be incurred, especially when it comes to processing or copying fees, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

How much money do you spend per year on your pursuit of family knowledge? Do you drop big bucks to attend conferences, or do you try to get as much free information as you can?

What Will You Do with Your Genealogy?

Family history is an exciting thing to explore. You are learning so much about where you and your family came from. You spend countless hours gathering names, dates, locations and stories passed down through generations. Now that you have all of that, what will you do with it?

There are a variety if things you can do with your genealogy research. Many people like to put together information into books for other family members. If the story is compelling enough, it may even make for a good book to publish. You can also put together projects to help teach and inspire others to dig into their own family history.

What are you planing to do with you genealogy?

Getting Stuck

It's inevitable. Unless you know your ancestors are royals, there is a good chance during your hunt for family history that you will hit the brick wall. It's not always permanent though--some people do find a way aroudn those brick walls with additional detective work.

When you seem stuck and can't find a way out of it, here are some tips from an article at World Vital Records that provides ways you can get around this wall and get back to adding to your family history.

Stuck Happens! 13 Things to Do When It Happens to You

 

And remember, you can always let us know about your adventures in the comments section!

Making Sense of Census Records

Are you still occasionally confused when it comes to census records? While the questions may be standard in any given census year, the census records may not always give the same information when it comes to each individual. And combine that with the handwriting variations on original records, you really have to be on your toes if you want to find your family members. Over at Ancestry, they recently put out the Top 10 Census Tips from members. Do you find these helpful? I know I certainly do!

Technology in Genealogy

Have you have ran into a technological wall when doing family research? The Internet is full of information, but you have to know how to access it. The same goes with genealogy programs. Learning how to embrace technology can help to get further in your research. Genealogy conferences are now tackling this issue to help genealogists get the most from technology.

Genealogy Conference to Tackle Technology

What's in a Name?

I found this interesting article at Newsday: Baby Names on Genealogy Website. While I don't have personal experience on choosing baby names, I do use various baby name resources as research for the character names in my stories and novels. This is actually a great resource for my stories that are set smack in the middle of the 20th century.

Have you found any interesting names in the 1940 census, whether it was a person in your family or not? Knowing that many spelling mistakes can happen due to accents and literacy levels, have there been any names in the 1940 census that you just couldn't make out?

You Never Know Where History Will Take You

I saw this article in the New York Times and I thought it was fascinating: Obama Has Ties to Slavery Not by His Father but His Mother, Research Suggests. Not only is it an interesting journey through American history, but it is also interesting that it is his mother's side that provides this deep connection. What do you think about this?

School Days

Not sure where your ancestors attended school? Not sure if they did attend at all? Researching school roots can be tough, but here is some good advice from Tom Mooney from the TimesLeader.com:

A short lesson on researching school roots Tom Mooney Out on a Limb

Genealogy Infographic

I am currently obsessed with infographics (probably because I see at least one at work every day) and to feed my obsession, I found this great infographic about online family history trends from Archives. Enjoy!

Tracing your family history takes time, effort and money

Found and interesting article this morning. It gives a lot of good, common sense tips to those who think that hundreds of years of genealogy is just a few clicks away: Tracing your family history takes time, effort and money

Hope you enjoy it. I did!

What Are Your Favorite Genealogy Resources?

There are plenty of great genealogy resources on the web. I use the usual ones, like Ancestry, all of the websites owned by Ancestry and some of the sites dedicated to old photos -- I'm a real sucker for old photos. I also have some luck with more localized GenWeb sites. I was just wondering which ones were your favorites? I'd be interested in any of your suggestions!

New to Genealogy?

When I first started exploring my family history, I didn't really know where to begin. It seemed easy enough to just start with myself and work backward, but there were still so many questions. Where do I find more information? What information exists past family documents and stories? Realistically, how much money should I be spending to work on my family tree? Ancestry's Family History 101 page was a great help to me. If you are just starting out in genealogy, I hope you'll check it out too.

Cemetery Photos #8: Silas A. and Effie C. Wynkoop

Okay, folks: this is the last photo from Oak Hill Cemetery chronicling my ancestors. What does that mean? I better get planning the next cemetery trip.

Silas A. Wynkoop was born in 1873 and died in 1944. He was the son of Adrian and Rachel Wynkoop. He married Effie Clayora Johnson (1872-1929), and is buried with her.

Cemetery Photos #7: James L. and Margaret M. (King) Wynkoop

At the moment, my family tree doesn't contain much information on this couple. Also, there's been a slight mishap on the computer and I have yet to reinstall Family Tree Maker (but the backup file is safe!). I believe that James L. is the son of Adrian, but I must collect more evidence to that fact. Other than that, I have the picture from Oak Hill Cemetery:

This Friday will be my last cemetery photo post from Oak Hill Cemetery. I guess I better plan my trip to the next cemetery on my list soon!

Cemetery Photos #6: Minerva Jane (Ballenger) Wynkoop

Minerva Jane (Ballenger/Ballinger) Wynkoop was born in July of 1835 in Rush County, Indiana.She married James V. Wynkoop in Clinton County in 1853. She died in 1931. THIS biography of her husband James also provides some additional information on her life.

Cemetery Photos #5: James V. Wynkoop

James V. Wynkoop was the son of William and Elizabeth Wynekoop. He was born in March of 1828 in Indiana. In 1853, he married Minerva (also spelled Minervia) Jane Ballenger. He died on Valentine's Day, 1904 and is buried next to his wife in Oak Hill Cemetery, Kirklin, Indiana.

Cemetery Photos #4: Adrian Wynkoop

Adrian Wynkoop was born August 5, 1841 in Indiana. He was the among the first half of 13 children born to William and Elizabeth Wynekoop. In April of 1864, he married Rachel J Kelly in Clinton County, Indiana. They had two sons and two daughters.

He died February 1, 1913 and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kirklin, Indiana.

Cemetery Photos #3: Julia E. Wynekoop

Julia E. Wynekoop was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Wynekoop. Julia died April 30, 1850. She was only 14 years old, which means there is not a long paper trail for her, at least that I have found so far. She is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery next to her mother. Here is her headstone:

Cemetery Photos #2: Elizabeth (VanMeter) Wynekoop

Elizabeth (VanMeter) Wynekoop was the daughter of Josiah and Lydia (Crownover) VanMeter (also spelled VanMetre). She married William Manning Wynekoop. Here is the picture that I took of her headstone:

In my photo, the words on the stone are almost completely illegible. But, at Find-A-Grave, there is a much better picture that gives the information contained on the stone.

Cemetery Photos #1: William M Wynekoop

I told you last week about visiting a cemetery where some of my ancestors are buried. Here is the first in a series of the pictures I took and what information I know about them. I'm starting with my 5xgreat-grandfather, William Manning Wynekoop.

William Manning Wynekoop was born in August of 1801 in Virginia. On April 10, 1826, William filed for a marriage license to wed Elizabeth VanMetre. They were married on the 13th, according to marriage records. Some time after this marriage William and Elizabeth made their way to Clinton County, Indiana. Here they established their family. Together they had 11 children, some of which are buried near them. William has a very short mention in this passage from A Standard History of White County (1915) where his grandson, Lewis, has a biography. On February 3, 1863 William died. He was 61 years old. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kirklin, Indiana.

The headstone reads: 

WILLIAM M WYNEKOOP

DIED

Feb. 3, 1863

AGED

61 yrs. 5 mo. 15 days

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Interesting Trip

I had been planning for the past few months to visit cemeteries around Indiana where my ancestors are buried. Yesterday, I was finally able to make it to one. Most of the cemeteries I had planned to go to are located in northwest Indiana, but there was one just the next county over from where I live that was also the final resting place for some of my ancestors. In fact, these were some of the first people in this area, then the family sort of migrated north. It's funny, because now I'm back in the area where this branch of the tree started in this state. Funny how history can repeat itself.

I took plenty of pictures and I will post those soon.

Gems of the Census

When the 1940 census came out last week, I knew I would find grandparents and great-grandparents, plus all of their siblings. I was also fortunate enough to gather a few extra clues on a great-great grandmother I was stuck on. Before, I could never find her parents but with the clues I got from the 1940 census, I found out where her parents were born, and more importantly the state where she was born. That has narrowed my search a great deal. So much so that I think I'm hot on the trail of her father... now all I have to do is find the right sources to confirm it!

I have also gathered up a list of graves that I need to visit and get pictures. I was so excited when I started making the list, but now there are 148 names in just five Indiana counties. Now it seems a little overwhelming, but I hope that I will be able to get it all done over the summer. It's a cheap--but slightly creepy--vacation plan.

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1940 is Almost Here

I went to Ancestry.com this morning to enter the contest they have running right now and saw at the top of the page that there's only 28 days until the release of the 1940 census. I totally forgot about that. I'm really kind of excited. There are a lot of family members I can look up in the 1940 census. I'm going to start putting together a list so I can be ready whenever it gets online.

New Article

Flexing my writing muscle this week. I created an new article called Guide to the Social Security Index. Hope you enjoy!

Celebrity Ancestors

I have been working on my family tree a lot in the past month and have been lucky to find a few notable names in there. Of course these are all tentative connections because after my great-grandparents, I'm still in the first phase of research. Most of these names are extremely distant cousins, but it's fun to link them up to my own family. If I get a little more proof together, I'll share some of these names soon.

In the meantime, I'll keep working and getting inspiration from Who Do You Think You Are? I love that show! Plus, I have written a new article that may be useful to all your researchers out there: Resources for Vintage Photographs.