The Best of the Golden Age of Genealogy: Top Posts of April

 In case you missed it, here are the top three viewed posts of my blog in April.

Wait! What?!! What To Do When An Unexpected DNA Match Happens

Have you submitted DNA and found a close match of a relative you know nothing about?  It happens!  Take a look at this blog entry and share your story in the comments.


When You're Adopted, Which Ancestors Do You Choose?

I often hear from friends that they are uncertain as to which family line they should research.  When you are adopted, this is a question you might ask yourself.  I have shared my story here and would love to hear how you have dealt with adoption in your research.


BillionGraves Takes The Anxiety Out Of Searching For Loved Ones

A recent trip to Quantico National Cemetery gave me the opportunity to share the magic of BillionGraves.  When we visit our loved ones who have passed on, we want to spend time at their burial site and not wandering around aimlessly.  Has BillionGraves helped you locate ancestors?


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Gettysburg Retreat

This past weekend was the first chance I've had this year to get away.  I say "get away," but to be honest it was an excuse to get out and do what I enjoy most -- immerse myself in history and graveyards.   It was a gorgeous weekend with low humidity and a lot of sunshine, and so I headed off to Gettysburg where I could escape into the past and reconnect with my ancestors.

My roots are planted deep in Civil War history. I personally live just off a well known battlefield in Virginia, but it goes much deeper than that.  My ancestors fought for both the North and the South in what my mother called the "War of Northern Aggression," and my dad referred to as the "Great Rebellion."  Dinner conversation during my childhood was interesting to say the least.

There was a time when I was deep into the research of my ancestors' experiences in the Civil War.  My dad's Grandfather (yes, we have very long generations on his side of the family), fought with Company M, Massachusetts, 4th Calvary Regiment.  My mother's 2nd Great Grandfather fought with Company G, North Carolina 38th Infantry Regiment.  Obviously they both survived, because I am here to write about it, but in doing their research I came to learn of the hardships they personally endured.  One grandfather, in particular, never recovered from his wounds of war and was unable to work.  The affects of the war on his body extended to the hardship on his family who struggled to break free from government assistance for another generation.

It can be overwhelming touring a place with such a great history.  Absorbing the information can be compared to drinking from a firehose -- definitely information overload.  I chose to do a self guided tour of the battlefield. Gettysburg has been greatly preserved and I have to say, the audio tour was of great benefit to me.  Since I knew the Regiments of a few of my ancestors, I was able to follow the detailed map to the areas in which their troops would have set up camp, as well where they marched directly into battle.

Walking where they marched and trying to envision what they experienced was quite a sacred experience for me.  Here we were as visitors, enjoying a gorgeous weekend, embracing the beauty of the landscape, escaping our crazy busy lives at the very location our ancestors came to lay down theirs for our freedom.  It was humbling to say the least.

The battlefield today is peaceful and beautiful, and people come from around the world to study and remember the events that took place there.  But just off the battlefield is another location that I took the time visit: the cemetery.  Like the battlefield, it too has been maintained and tourists walked the pathways and talked in hush voices. 

 I spend a good deal of my free time photographing cemeteries for record preservation. While there are thousands of headstones in the Gettysburg National Cemetery, none of them, to my knowledge, are my forefathers (and not all are of Civil War era). They are somebody's ancestors though, so I took some time to digitize as many headstones as I could before having to leave for the day.  Later, as I began transcribing the information from these graves, it touched me to see that matches were being made with entries in FamilySearch.  It is my hope that the images I took this weekend make it to those individuals who have been searching and searching for their ancestor's information.

It was a wonderful retreat.  I could easily have spent a week in Gettysburg and still not done all the things I would have like to have done.  If you get a chance to visit any location of your ancestors, I suggest you take with you notes about their lives and time spent there.  It really makes the visit meaningful and brings it to a very personal level.

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BillionGraves Contest Leads to Free Canary Islands Vacation

In the Summer of 2015, BillionGraves offered a Summer of More Get Away contest.  Combine my passion for cemeteries with a contest, and immediately my competitive nature emerged!  Over a couple of months, with the help of my family and friends, I managed to photograph 68,972 images, allowing me to win a trip to anywhere in the world.  My family and I chose to travel to Teneriffe, Canary Islands, Spain.

A Room With A View

Our initial set off was not without incident.  A delayed and then canceled flight out of Dulles Airport resulted in our luggage being lost somewhere between Washington and France, or maybe it was France and Spain.  We never did find out what happened.  Our first 3 days in Teneriffe was spent in the same travel clothes.  But, hey!  We were in the Canary Islands, so who cares, right?!

 

My 16 year old daughter carried all her luggage on the plane.  Not a care in the world!

My 19 year old son looks like he could live here!

While waiting for our luggage to be found, we decided to connect with members of our faith.  Meeting with members of the local LDS church was like seeing family and made the trip even more special than it already was.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Teneriffe, Canary Islands

The Sister Missionaries were as happy to see us as we were to see them!

Our luggage finally arrived and after some respite, we were ready to see the island.  The black sand beaches are a result of the volcanic eruptions from El Tiede.  It was strange to see beaches this dark, but they were so beautiful!

I was fascinated by the rock piling on this particular beach.

Even though this was to be our vacation, we couldn't resist visiting cemeteries around the island and photographing them for BillionGraves.  The visitors of the cemeteries greeted us with an embrace and love.  Although we could not communicate in their language, we could feel their warmth and welcome.
 

From our Condo, the drive around the island took about 3 hours.  It was amazing that at one moment we would be on the beach and within an hour we would be in the mountains.  The view was always amazing!

 

 Our trip to Teneriffe was definitely an experience of a lifetime.  With my children nearly grown, it was expected that this may be our last full family vacation.  I am so grateful for the kindness of BillionGraves and their willingness to send the four of us on such a spectacular trip to another country. It is something we will never forget!  Thank you, BillionGraves!

If you would like to learn more about volunteering in this effort to preserve cemetery records, visit BillionGraves.com.

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Follow the Arrows -- I Did and You Will Want To, Too!

While today's blog post has little to do with Genealogy, it has everything to do with my goals in regards to Family History.  I have been on an amazing journey for over a month now, and would like to take a moment to share a bit of it with you.  Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Sark e-Media co-founder, Kevin Arrow, on Periscope.  Well, let’s go back a little farther.  

At the close of 2015, I happened to be listening to a podcast whilst working out at the gym.  The speaker mentioned a social media outlet I was unfamiliar with called Periscope.  Curious as to what Periscope was and what it could do for me, I created an account through Twitter and was introduced to a whole new world of hyper enthusiastic individuals seeking to uplift one another and give guidance in a variety of topics.  I spent a few weeks as an observer, and it was during this observation period that I met Kevin Arrow who introduced me to his lovely wife, partner, and award winning blogger, Sarah.

Follow the Arrows is the tagline Sark e-Media uses in advertising, and while it is a very clever advertising choice, it is sage advice, as well.  Sark e-Media specializes helping entrepreneurs boost their confidence, and provides them with the tools needed to obtain visibility not only for their product, but for their name, as well.  And, while I am not an entrepreneur, per se, I am someone who offers a unique type of service for people interested in doing family research.

After getting to know Kevin over a few weeks, I became keen to know more about the 30 Day Blogging Challenge his wife Sarah created.  He graciously introduced us and since then my view of how to blog, research and promote my ideas have changed – and I like to think, for the better.

Quite a few things happened when taking part in the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.  Acceptance into their Facebook group gave me the opportunity to not only post my daily blog entries for other members to read and comment, but afforded me the opportunity to see the works of other bloggers learning to develop and grow in their particular fields of expertise.  Not only does the Facebook group allow for us to express concerns and questions regarding our personal blog, but the feedback from Sarah and the fellow bloggers is priceless.   But the Challenge doesn’t stop at peer mentoring.  No.  There is so much more.

During the Challenge, Sarah sends out daily emails to each of her members.  She addresses the concerns bloggers regularly face, whether the challenge is writer’s block, how to style the blog, which blogging outlet to use, or how to gain exposure.  She is spot on every time.  Now, like I mentioned, I am not an entrepreneur, so there were some tips that were not pertinent to my needs, but there were many tips that she shared with me that brought about amazing results, and I have to say I have become slightly addicted to watching my blogging analytics – which is not a bad thing when we consider that higher numbers means that whatever we did that day we should most likely do again.

So, what did I get out of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge?   Well, I’m glad you asked!  I received a wonderful opportunity to recommit myself to focusing on my goals which at the moment revolve entirely around Family History.  It has allowed me to present my thoughts and share my knowledge with anyone interested in reading what I have to say, and shown me where I need to focus on study and research.

Because of the Challenge, I have been given exposure to other genealogists and family history buffs who have been able to give me encouragement and feedback on my writing.  My blog viewership has quadrupled and I have been approached for interviews regarding my work in restoration of abandoned civil war era cemeteries.  Above all, my confidence has gone through the roof.  I’ve always been a very self-assured person, but working with Sarah has really been the boost I needed to up my game and reach for even higher goals.

Before this challenge, I had no idea there were so many genealogy blogs.  Now, that I am writing and promoting my blog, I am meeting a great number of fellow genealogy bloggers and making a great many friends and contacts in a world that is somewhat unique.  We, Genis, as we like to call ourselves, don’t see each other as competitors, but as colleagues and friends, always ready to give support and encouragement.   

So, while I began this post stating that Sark e-Media assists entrepreneurs in obtaining confidence and exposure, I would have to alter that to say they are supporters of anyone wanting to succeed in following their dreams, whatever those dreams may be.  They truly are a positive and genuinely wonderful couple who have a talent for helping people bring the best out of themselves.

Thank you Kevin and Sarah for an amazing few months.  While the challenge was for 30 days, it took me longer, and you were most patient with me!  I love your logo and highly concur that anyone looking to succeed in their business should most definitely Follow the Arrows!

To learn more about Sark e-Media and how you can improve your blogging skills and receive more internet exposure, go to Sarkemedia.com.