Beginner Genealogy -- Biographical sketches

When conducting family history research, sometimes we find interesting facts or anecdotes that we want to share, but maybe this information does not fit into a pedigree chart or family tree. Writing a short biographical sketch about an ancestor is a good way to keep track of anecdotal or more complex or in-depth genealogical data. You can include almost anything in a biographical sketch, but some typical information to provide is: full name; birth, marriage, death location(s) and dates; names of parents, spouses, and children; residence information; stories or legends; accomplishments; occupation, career, military service, and/or education; etc. Many towns and counties will have a "History and Biography" or "Biographical Sketches" of town leaders or pioneers. These relatively brief life stories can be filled with helpful family history leads!

Below are links to a couple of examples of biographical sketches. Remember that bios do not have a particular narrative style, length, or voice. Try your hand at sketching some family history biographies!

Family History in the News -- September 2015

This week I have compiled some genealogy and family history news stories that may be of interest to readers. Click on the headlines below to read more. Enjoy!

Genealogy Gold Mine: Millions of Wills Now Online Chicago Tribune

Thousands of amateur genealogists who fantasize about being left a fortune by a distant relative can now get a reality check. Starting Wednesday, upward of 100 million wills written over the last three centuries will be posted to Ancestry.com, the popular genealogical search engine.

DAR offers free online genealogy research tools Examiner.com

The DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) is the free online portal to genealogical records maintained by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. It provides seven databases that contain a wealth of information to help potential DAR members complete membership applications, but even genealogists who do not plan to join DAR may find valuable information on their ancestors.

Genealogy records to be available online after closure of library East Valley Tribune

Many genealogy enthusiasts were very disappointed last month when the Arizona Genealogical Library was closed and the more than 20,000 documents that made up the archives split up and distributed between several different locations.

And for fun...

Seven dastardly deeds of genealogy Green Valley News

We’ve all heard of the seven cardinal vices, the Seven Deadly Sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. We genealogists have our own list of dastardly deeds to consider, like refusing to share information because it is “ours,” or not verifying secondary sources.

Beginner Genealogy -- Where do I start?

A common questions asked of genealogists is "where do I start?" My short answer is simple: start with what you know. Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil and jot down some family history notes.  Make a few phone calls or stop by to visit your aging relatives (if you're lucky enough to have some of those!) Don't be afraid to interview family members and write down everything.You never know when a scrap of information can present itself as a lead later on. Important pieces of information to include are: full names; names of spouses, children, and parents; dates of birth, marriage, and death; locations of birth, marriage, death, or residence;  After exhausting your own memory and those of your family members, look for written family sources. Do you have an old family bible? Photographs? Funeral cards or obituaries? Military papers? Other records? These family sources can be extremely helpful in getting started, even if they are not  properly sourced.

Good luck in getting started! This series of posts will continue with "Beginner Genealogy -- How to record basic info."

For more tips on getting started, visit the FamilySearch "Begin your genealogy quest" page. Are you more into vlogs or webinars? Try watching Ancestry.com's Back to the Basics: Genealogy 101 video on their YouTube channel.

Resources on the Web: Youtube

When we think of online local history and genealogy resources, it is easy to forget that some of the websites we use daily for other reasons may be packed with genealogical resources as well. Youtube is a great example of this issue. Many of the leading sites that grant access to vital records and provide tree building software, such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org also create and upload helpful videos to Youtube. Ancestry adds how to videos to their channel  whenever a change to the website occurs and they also advertise and demonstrate many of their services as well. They also have a series of videos called the Desktop Education Series that provides expert advice on a variety of research topics. In addition to Ancestry, FamilySearch demonstrates services and provides brief explanations about certain record types, like the 1940 census set. The blogger who calls herself Dear Myrtle also has a Youtube channel.

Join your local genealogical society!

I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to be a part of my local genealogical society. Members and officers are there by choice and many of these people genuinely enjoy helping others with genealogy. To find out about your local organization, visit the Federation of Genealogical Societies website. You can search by the society's name or by location. Happy Searching!

Tracing Your Roots on Genlighten!

Very exciting news! Tracing Your Roots now has a professional profile on Genlighten! You can view my storefront here. I offer family history and genealogy research and reporting for an hourly rate of $25.00 per hour. The fee includes PDF copies of records and documents, research time, and report writing. Send me a message or visit the storefront for details.

How popular is genealogy?

An article in Genealogy In Time Magazine seeks to answer this question. Following is an article abstract: 

At GenealogyInTime Magazine, we like to think outside the box. In this article, we tackle a fundamental issue: How popular is genealogy? The answer, it turns out, depends on the specific question being asked. We examine the evidence and take a hard look at the facts. In the process, we dispel some common myths and misunderstandings about the popularity of genealogy. 

Access the full article here.  

Champaign County (Illinois) Workshops

The Champaign County Historical Archives of the Urbana Free Library in Urbana, Illinois will host a number of genealogy workshops this spring. 

Information for the first workshop is located below: 

Ancestry.com: Beyond the Basics

Saturday, March 29   10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Instructor:  Steve Szabados

Ancestry.com is one of the largest and most important Genealogy websites. Its major databases are well known, however, it has many databases that are just as important but are rarely used. Steve Szabados will draw upon his experience to describe how you can find and unlock these databases. He will also review his techniques to simplify your research on Ancestry.com and make it more efficient.

Call the archives (217) 367- 4025 or stop by to register (it's free!)

Click here to download a PDF list of workshops available this spring. 

For more information visit their site: http://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history-genealogy/workshops-events