Family Sayings

New Episodes of Who Do You Think You Are - Coming Soon

GENEALOGY ROADSHOW coming to PBS in September this year

PBS has announced a new show called GENEALOGY ROADSHOW.
GENEALOGY ROADSHOW will air Mondays, September 23-October 14, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET.

Genealogy Roadshow

PBS has it shows available online if you don't have cable at PBS.org.  Enjoy!

Is there a difference between Genealogy and Family History?

Recently the family search blog posted an article regarding the difference between Genealogy and Family History.

Difference Genealogy Family History

I have always thought of them as two distinct things.  Genealogy has been about the people who have passed on.  In particular dates and such.  But Family History is about stories and photos.

My maternal grandmother was very much into genealogy.  She spent about 50-60 years working on genealogy research.  She was able to find many people.  My religion emphasizes the importance of genealogy and encourages all members to participate in genealogy.  I was not interested in doing the research.  I had a hard time sitting still and my brain went into immediate meh when it came to genealogy.  But I did enjoy stories.

In college I took a class on preserving family history.  I loved the idea of interviewing family members and doing what was necessary to have stories to pass on.  I started a family newsletter in 2004 to help keep my extended family closer, but also to preserve our stories and photos throughout the year.

But I can see how these two words are unifying.  It's important to know more than just names and dates.  It is important to try and get to know these people who have gone on before who are our family.  It is also important to make sure that we also pass on stories and photos to be included with our names and dates.

Family Stories that Bind Us

The New York Times published an article back in March of this year regarding how the telling of certain family stories makes that family stronger and the children more able to cope with life.

The Family Stories that Bind Us

From a layman's perspective, I have to agree with the idea of needing to know about past family stories in order to feel connected as a family.  Even though my extended family is quite close, there were aspects of life we did not talk about.  Certain topics were off limits and not to be discussed in the open, or at all with the person it involved.  It was like, if we don't talk about it, it never happened.  I am not saying you should talk about past flaws all the time, but I do agree with the idea of saying at the right moment, I did this wrong and I've struggled to change, and would not make that same decision again.

On the other side of my family - I know nothing.  I have been doing a lot of digging around to find out even just minor details about grandparents and cousins.  Also, the stories that did make it to me did not leave my grandmother in the best light.  (My grandmother died in a car accident before my parents even met, and then my parents divorced and it was my father's mother, so we only had very limited information.)  I realize we are all human and make choices, but if all you ever hear about someone is the bad, it's very hard to form an understanding of who they were, and it does leave you feeling off in yourself.  After all, I am 1/8 that person.  Does that mean that 1/8 of me is whatever stories you've told?

We all come from a family.  And as families continue to be bombarded by challenges to just stay together, it seems like sharing information about who your ancestors were and how they overcame, or didn't overcome challenges, helps to strengthen the current family.

TLC - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? - Available Online

If you don't have access to TLC through your TV, you can watch full episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? online at

www.tlc/tv-shows/who-do-you-think-you-are/videos

Family History Interviews - Question Generator

You want to gather family stories and information from your parents, grandparents... etc., but you don't know where to start?  You feel overwhelmed by the questions to ask?  You can utilize this question generator to help get you going.

http://storycorps.org/record-your-story/great-questions/

You can also send the questions to someone to respond to, but you will get better responses in an interview, because natural curiosity will take over to ask followup or questions to fill out what they are saying.

Enjoy!

Family History Center Trip PAYS OFF - FOUND THINGS

Family History Center in Menlo Park, California

I had some time on Monday night and was in the area of the family history center, so I decided to drop by and play around on the premium subscriptions available.  I was looking for the obituary for my Great Grandma Madison because a cousin had asked if anyone had it.  (I didn't find it, but I haven't given up.)  I got caught in a loop of finding a bunch of information on my Grandma Madison's siblings (my dad's aunts and uncles.)  I found out so much information.  Like one of the sisters was an army nurse during WWII.

Halverson is her married name.

I found much more information that I'm not going to post all tonight, like that one of the sisters was on the yearbook, and a copy of the yearbook is available on Ancestry.com, but you do have to download it page by page.

I had some holes in my research about my great grandpa Johnson, actually a lot of my Johnson research seems lacking.  I was trying to find more about his second wife (see more below) and found this nugget on Ancestry.com through findagrave.com.

I love that it mentions siblings and others survived by him, great for further research.

Someone took the time to put in next to his grave information what appears to be a news article regarding his death.  I was very distraught last night after finding it to see that my great grandfather died falling off a building, but that my grandfather watched it happen.  This happened only 3 months after my dad was born, and about 5 months before my grandparents split up.  It has made me wonder how much this incident played into their split up.  I doubt it was the reason, but I am sure it's hard to get over watching a parent die and would complicate whatever was already going on.

One thing that seems to happen in my family is death and divorce.  My parents are divorced, my dad's parents were divorced, and his dad's parents were divorced.  It might go back further, but you get the point.  My great grandpa Johnson remarried and had a daughter.  My dad has often asked me if I have found anything on her.  He knew that she died in the 1960s and that she had 4 kids.  I was able to find some information about her last night.  I was also to verify information about her husband, and a child who has passed away through findagrave.com again.

Hats off to Cecelia McKein

Overall it was a very productive couple of hours at the family history center.  It was great to find information to flush out people.  It also has my wondering more about generations and what we are left to deal with as children, and what kinks and flaws we pass down because of emotional scars from the kinks and flaws of our ancestors.  I think we just do our best.

Family History Binder Ideas

muahrilou: Family History Binder

If you are looking for some ideas for tracking your genealogy research this is a good idea.  Please read the post.
I like the idea of tracking more and more since I've been doing research for more than a couple of years now.  I am also finding I hear more stories and I need to write them down more often than I do.

Genealogy Programs

I get asked a lot what programs are best for tracking your genealogy work and family history.  Being LDS I do my family history with the goal of making sure that the temple work is done for that person (if you have any questions, please message me), so the program I like to use is synced with familysearch.org to track the temple work as well as the family history information.  The program I currently use is AncestralQuest.  There is a free version available.

Ancestral Quest

This program is replacing the popular PAF program, which will no longer be available any day now.

The problem with Ancestral Quest is that my MAC friends tell me it requires all of this back work to trick your computer it's not a MAC to use it.  I have not used any MAC software, but I have found some blogs that have recommendations for what to use.  I thought I'd share them in case you are searching for a program to use.

Genealogy Programs for Macintosh

There might be more programs out there for both MAC and PC.  If you use one not listed, please comment how much you like it, and if you would recommend it.  Or if you are using one listed, but have a strong opinion, either way, please share.

Sharing Family History to get Family Excited

I have said it before, and I'll say it again, Social Media has helped to make family connections.  I have been estranged from my dad's family.  Multiple complications have made it difficult to know them, until one day I started instant messaging with a cousin back in the early 2000's.  And then line upon line, I have been able to "friend" more cousins and aunts on that side.  We are far from besties, and it's strange in comparison to the relationships I have with my maternal family side.  But it's moving forward.  A couple of days ago, a cousin on the paternal side started a Facebook group for that side.  Another cousin started sharing family photos of when aunts/uncles were kids.  I decided to jump in too, and scan the couple of photos I have of my grandma and great grandma from that side.  This is the same great grandma that I shared about the post before.

Edna Marie Madison

Irene Madison (nee Amanda Sten)

I have also been able to collect some photos from my cousin of my father when he was younger.  She even had some I'd never seen.  (I haven't seen many of my father because of the estrangement.)

It is difficult to do family history when you aren't close (distance and emotionally) to family.  We do what we can with what we have.  Just because you can't today find the information you need, or there are road blocks.  But don't give up complete hope because miracles happen.  When they do happen, we count ourselves blessed.

Decluttering and Finding Family History Gems

While on break between Summer and Fall semesters in law school.  In between my other breaks I have been scanning my grandmother on my mother's side photo albums from her whole lifetime, plus the ones she inherited.  I am finally done with the photos.  So this break I've been working on decluttering my house, in preparation for my final year of law school and in preparation for taking the bar next year.

Amanda and Anna Sten

So I hit my closet in my bedroom today to remove stuff from the top to make room to move my photo albums in there away from the sun.  Up there was my Book of Remembrance that my dad gave me YEARS ago.  I knew it was up there, but because I do all of my genealogy on the computer I hadn't looked at it in YEARS.  I thought I would double check it to see if there was anything in there I didn't have online and I found an envelope from my Great Grandma Madison (my dad's mom's mom), and she had sent me part of her life story that a friend had put together.  My great grandma passed away in 1993.  I have had this story since some time in the mid 1980s, and I'm just now fully appreciating what I have in it.

Anders Perrson (the grandfather Amanda came over to America with)

My great grandma came over from Sweden in 1912 with her grandfather, and I am sad that I didn't take the time to know her better when I had the chance.  Every year for my birthday, she'd send me a birthday card with money in it.  It's a sad story how ego-centric we are as children and can't appreciate fully what family do for us.

I have already scanned and shared with my siblings and cousins.  That's the power of digital, the ability to share, and share quickly.

Lillhardal, Sweden - Summer

Lillhardal, Sweden - Winter

Four Generational Photo Ideas

My cousin recently did this same idea as a four generation photo.  (I am not sharing her photo because of privacy reasons.)  It was a beautiful way to get a four generation photo.  I have some from when I was a kid.

Me, my Mom, my Mom's mom, and my Grandma's mom
Johnson - Willis - Farnsworth - Loveridge

But I like the creativity of the multiple pictures.  It's a nice flair to the generational photos.  Also, my cousin held the photo of her baby at a slight angle so it stood out from the others.  It's good to capture these moments of generations for years to come.  I had the opportunity to know my great grandma and grandma for a while because I was the oldest of an oldest of an oldest, but not every grandchild has that opportunity.  It's good to have these photos and to tell family stories to keep family that have passed on alive.

Also, it's another idea of generational photos...

I like this idea, because I've come across old photos from my grandma's photo albums and the names on the back of the photo, but this helps you to see the photo and who the persons are from the front.  It's always good to think about the future and making sure that information about who people are is preserved.

Generations of New Yorkers

The idea of generations in the same city is novel to many of us.  We are a generation of movers.  I have moved about 40 times in my life.  I have lived in 2 countries, 5 states and at least 15 cities.  While I moved a lot for the average person, it's not uncommon to move a few times in a lifetime now that we are a more mobile people.  But I was born in Southern California, my mother was born in Southern California, and my mother's father was born in Southern California.  So I do feel like a true Californian.  This idea of spending generations in the same city boggles my mind.  But it also gives one a sense of belonging and permanence that I do not understand.  It also can make doing family history a little easier.

Here is an interesting New York Times article about generations of New Yorkers and Family History.
Family Tree New York

Family Bible - Family History

There was a time when family histories were kept in the family bible.  And that bible would be handed down through the family.  It is a blessing how easy it is now to share family history throughout the world with our family.  Here is a lovely story about the rescuing of a bible that provided family history information.

Rare Bible Rescued from Trash Provides Missing Family History

Family Health History

More and more we hear about the importance of health history.  Doctors prefer to be aware of family healthy problems that they should be aware of to keep track and possibly begin to see before it's a real problem.  The following article suggests ways to gather this information.

Doctors Want You to Do Your Family History

Part of the problem is the fracturing of families.  The articles mentions the genetic services available like 23andme.  I am on the edge of doing that myself because of some family estrangement issues.  It is also rumored, highly probable, that my father's father was not his biological father.  It is only $100 to do 23andme, and I have friends that have also used the service and speak highly for its ability to direct you in health issues also.  I would suggest this style of test if you do not have access to family, because of death, estrangement, or whatever, to consider the money towards the information available in DNA testing.

It would be good to read the article in regards to what to preserve to start a family health history to pass down through descendants.

For further consideration on a family health history, please see the following articles from the familysearch blog.

Finding your family history through medical history part 1
Finding your family history through medical history part 2

Grab & Go - Personal Items to Grab in case of disaster

In the last week I have known two families in my area that have lost their homes to fires.  It's important to have a Grab & Go box with important documents.

Also, it's a good idea to have 3 copies of any documents/photos.  Those copies could include: hard copy, dvd/cd, could, and/or external hard drive.  This is a good practice for backups.  It's also a good idea to have a copy in an area away from you, another city, in case of a natural disaster.

http://www.personalhistorians.org/blog/is-your-grab-go-file-updated-and-ready/

2013 Comparison Photo Organizing Software

Looking for some software to organize your photos, check out this comparison.  I currently use Picasa, it's free and loads to the web easily.  But you might have different needs.

http://photo-organizing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Searching is getting easier on FamilySearch.
Go to your ancestor's details page and click "Search Records."  This will open a new browser window that allows you to search for your ancestor in FamilySearch's historical records collection.
http://spr.ly/6039Z12F

Making Genealogy Cool

Are you involved in genealogy?  What go your started?  How do you get others excited?  This article helps with some ideas.

Younger Generations Family History

Helping Others Find Family

I am a family history consultant in the LDS family history center on Sundays.  Today I had the opportunity to help someone who hadn't started genealogy yet, to start their family tree.  Last week we got her parents information, and this week we got her father's mother and father in.  Once her grandma was put in, she linked up with other information already in Family Search and that information goes back to the 1600s.  It's always great to see someone's family tree grow before your eyes.  We had fun searching Ancestry.com for information about her grandparents.  Even with the limited information she had, we were able to find them.  I am looking forward to being able to help her more.

Facebook and Beyond

I have had a couple of friends that have expressed interest in what I know about researching family, but also what I do in preserving family history.  For almost 10 years now, I have created and shared a family newsletter within my matriarchal side of my family.  I also have worked on scanning family photos from my matriarchal grandmother to be able to have digital copies for myself, and because digital is so easy to share, I have done so with my cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, etc.

In order to share with people who want to know more about researching and preservation, I have also created a page on Facebook where I share.  It is a public page and you can find it here: WilliStory

It Begins...

The hardest part about genealogy is the motivation.  At times it can be frustrating because you are searching and searching and not finding what you want to find on someone.  But what is even more frustrating about genealogy is sometimes your living family.  The idea of finding your ancestors sounds like a good idea.  Where did I come from?  Why do I have the physical features I do?

The idea of finding out family history can be difficult when the family you have is one that you struggle with because of estrangement, abuse, or other obstacles.  It can be a struggle to be motivated to find ancestors when you aren't thrilled with the family you have.  I am not saying I have all of the answers, because each family is different.  Each member of a family is different.  What works for me, might not work for you.

That gets to the heart of genealogy and family history - WHY DO WE CARE?  The belief that families are important, whatever they may look like.  My family all has a history of why they are who they are.  Ancestors were human.  They made good choices and bad ones.  Current family members are human and do the same.  I do family history in an effort to find out where I came from, and to learn to love my family regardless of their faults.

The purpose of this blog is to share my journey in searching out my family.  I will share what I learn and how I strive to maintain a positive attitude while working with the past.