What Do You Use to Create Your Family Tree?

I was interested to know what most people use to create their family trees? I've started a poll (on the right hand side of this page) which you can vote on until the end of next week. I can't wait to hear your answers. :-)

Who Do You Think You Are--How Do You Like it So Far?

There have been four new episodes aired of Who Do You Think You Are? over the last four weeks. These episodes included celebrities Kelly Clarkson, Christina Applegate, Chelsea Handler and Zooey Deschanel. All of these episodes have contained interesting stories that connect the lives of these people to their anscestors. Which one has been your favorite so far? Do you feel a particular connection to any of the stories?

For me, Kelly Clarkson's story of her ancestor that fought in the Civil War mirrored my own family story. My ancestor was also from Ohio, enlisted as a soldier for the Union (enlisted into a different company than Clarkson's ancestor) and was taken prisoner and put in Andersonville (in a battle six weeks before her ancestor was captured). Through her story, I was able to discover a little bit more of my own. I can't wait to see the rest of the season.

It's Back!

A great show that I love is coming back to televison -- Who Do You Think You Are? This show traces the genealogy of a wide variety of celebrities. This season's celebrities will include Kelly Clarkson, Christina Applegate, Zooey Deschanel and others. However, the show has been moved to TLC. It will premiere Tuesday, July 23 at 9/8c. Will you be watching?

Just a Quick Note

Now that I have a phone that's capable of everything but saving the world (or maybe it can, I'm not sure) I'm now on Vine and Instagram for anyone who is interested. You can also follow my Twitter account to see what I post from these neat little apps.

What Are Your Family Treasures?

The yard sale season is upon us and I have already been out in full force since I bought a record player. I've been sorting through stacks of old LPs to find those gems I would love to take home and listen to. However, yard sales also bring up questions about family treasures. What family treasures do you have? Would you ever get rid of anything that has sentimental value, even if the monetary value is high?

Summer Genealogy Plans

Summer seems to be a great time to look back into your family history. I know that summer is usually the time when it is best to visit genealogy centers, historical societies and grave sites. Some people even work these side trips into their summer vacations.

What are you planning to do this summer to work on your family history project?

Interesting Find

You never know what you'll find when you simply clean out a closet. I found some extra copies of books that I had poetry published in as a kid, and one of the bookmarks was surprising. It ended up being a prayer card from my grandfather's funeral. It was interesting to see and I think I'm going to put it in a safer place with my other genealogy items.

Have you ever found something interesting tucked a way in a place you never thought it would be?

Copyrights, Permissions and Other Fun Stuff

Because I'm a writer, I've been wondering about the legalities of my genealogy work. Can I publish some type of work based on research? Are family photographs fair use? These questions have actually kept me from being much more public about my research into my family history. However, I have found some great resources that can help sort all these issues out, and here are a couple:

Family History Etiquette, Ethics, Legalities (from Ancestry.com Wiki)

Copyright Fundamentals for Genealogy by Mike Goad

The Legal Genealogist

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!