The 21 Day Genealogy Challenge – Day 3: Gather, Identify and Sort.

Organization is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up. – A.A. Milne

Today we are going to step away from the computer and focus on pictures.  For this activity you will need a few small boxes.  I like use a plastic storage box the size of a shoe box.  You will use these boxes to sort the pictures you no longer want, but may donate to other relatives.  You will also need a storage box for the pictures you do want to keep.  Label the boxes to avoid confusion.  The reason I use plastic boxes is to protect the photos from any possible water damage from a spilled drink, or if I take the photos away from my home for whatever reason, to protect them from the elements.

Before we can get to this step, however, we must first take out our pictures and analyze them.  If you inherited boxes and boxes of albums and pictures, as I did when my grandfather passed away, do not take them all out now.  Take out about 35 pictures.  If you have time to do more throughout the day, that is wonderful, but we want to pace ourselves so that we don’t get overwhelmed.  This is a process we want to enjoy. 

Identify

First, we are going to identify each picture.  Any picture that has a name and date on the back, set to one side.  We are happy whenever anyone has taken the time to label pictures.  We all have great intentions to mark our photos when we get them, but we forget.  And, you know what else we forget?  Who is in the photo!

Now let’s look at the unidentified pictures.  Some people in the pictures you may recognize immediately, such as your mom, your aunt, or even yourself.  If you can identify the people without a shadow of a doubt, then do so now.  However, if you only have an idea of who is in the photo, let’s set it aside for the time being.

Some pictures may not be labeled.  Closely compare them with other pictures that have been identified.  Are the people and places similar or the same?  This will take out some of the guess work.  You may come across photos of people at various stages of their lives.  This is going to take come serious observation and I suggest collaboration.  Below is an example.

Andrew Breckonridge Posey seated with his children. Ollie Posey in white dress standing.

Here we have a photograph of my 2^nd great grandfather Andrew Breckonridge Posey with his children.  The cute little girl to our right is my great grandmother, Ollie Posey.  I know who is in this picture because Great grandmother Ollie told me and my mother when she gave us the photograph.

Andrew Posey with his eldest child, Dorah Lucinder Posey.  Dorah died at the age of 2 years.

Here we have a photograph that had not been previously identified.  At first I believed it to be a different ancestor from the same time period.  My hope was that it was of General Wilson, my 2^nd great grandfather (father to Ollie’s husband Judson Wilson).  We have little to no information on him and I really wanted this to be him.  In fact, for years I insisted that it just had to be General Wilson.  (Note: General is his first name and not military rank.)

Then one day I happened to see the two photos consecutively and I immediately recognized the unknown man as a younger Andrew Posey.  I sent a digital copy of the photograph to a few cousins and asked them to compare with fresh eyes.  I did not state who I wanted the picture to be, but instead asked, “Do you think these two pictures are of the same man?  One being at a younger age.”  The decision was unanimous.  We all concurred that Andrew Posey was the young man in the unidentified picture.  As further evidence, I revealed that the picture was among Ollie Posey’s photographs and it would be safe to say she would have a picture of her father at a young age. 

Sort

You may want to sort you pictures by years and decades.  Perhaps there are themes to a set of pictures such as vacation photos, family reunions or holidays.  How you choose to sort the pictures is up to you.

Any photographs you do not want, but know that other relatives may like to have them, place in the give away box.  My family has a reunion every summer.  I have placed the photos I don’t want or have no use for in a box labeled “Lackey/Sharpe Reunion.”  I know that this box will go with me to the Reunion for the cousins to pick from.  Any photos not claimed, I will toss.  

It is okay to toss out pictures!  Not every photo will have meaning to the inheritors.  My grandfather liked to take pictures of EVERYTHING!  Personally, I don’t care to own pictures of someone else’s vacation, particularly if there is no one in those pictures.  Granted, special vacation photos I do plan on keeping.  Granddad visited Russia and there are some very nice pictures in his album that I don’t mind keeping and labeling the story behind the photos.  If you do keep pictures such as these, remember to say something about them or no one else will understand their importance.

Some pictures are just plain bad.  You can’t see anyone or anything.  You know what? Toss it.  If the picture is blurry, there is a possibility that you can have it touched up and made more visible.  These pictures you will want to keep.  Use your best judgement.

Ask

Let’s go back to the pictures that were not identified.  These pictures you will want to set aside for the purpose of asking relatives for help.  Bring these pictures to your family reunion or take them with you when you visit a relative who may be able to help you identify the people and places.  Don’t assume that there is no one living who can answer your questions.  You may not be the only person with a copy of the picture.  An uncle or cousin may know exactly who is in the photo and the story behind the picture.

Photos are an excellent way to begin a conversation or family tree interview.  There will be pictures that you will want to set aside to take with you when you do these interviews.  Keep an eye out now for any pictures you may want to use for that purpose.

Here is your 5 Point Review:

• Get small boxes and label them for the sorting of your pictures.  
• Make a plan for the pictures you want to keep.  Will you place them in an album? Who will get the photos you no longer want or need?  
• Sort no more than 35 photos at a time. 
• Identify your photos where possible. 
•  Set aside photos that need identification or that you have questions about.  Keep in mind which photos you would like to use for future family history interviews.

Congratulations! You have completed day three of the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge!  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them in the Blog Comment section below.  Invite your friends to join this challenge by sharing this blog with them on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.  The share icons are just below this blog entry.

Thank you for joining this challenge and remember…..

History not shared is History forgotten!

The 21 Day Genealogy Challenge - Day Two: It begins with YOU!

And his sisters and his cousins, whom he numbers by the dozens, and his aunts.  

 – Gilbert and Sullivan

Welcome to day two of the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge!  Today is the day we actually begin our family tree.  Before we start, I would like to acknowledge that some of you may have begun the process I am about to explain in this blog post.  Perhaps you are recommitting to doing your family history and the following ideas you have already completed.  As you follow along, reevaluate your tree and see if there is any new information you might be able to add to your contemporary relatives.

Let’s begin with you.

You are part of your family history, so let’s begin with you.  Place in your tree all the information you think would be pertinent.  This is a pattern you are going to follow with each of your ancestors.  Enter your birth date and location.  If you married, enter that information as well.  Some programs, like  Ancestry.com, allow for additional information such as height, hair and eye color.  While we might not think anyone cares about these details, consider this: wouldn’t it be interesting to know what your 2^nd great grandmother looked like beyond the black and white photo?  While we are still entering our personal information, remember to include hobbies and interests.  If the genealogy program you are using allows for you to add photos, include a couple of pictures from different ages of your life.

What more do you know?

Now, let’s move on to your parents and do the same thing.  What information do you have at your fingertips?  Do you already have a copy of any birth and/or death certificates?  How about marriage records?  Remember, online ancestry accounts will keep the information of living relatives private, but if you are still concerned, you may leave out these details.  Make certain, however, you keep a file of this information for future reference.

As you enter information for your parents and grandparents, do not forget to add their entire family.  By this I mean, add all children.  If you have brothers and sisters, add them to your tree.  If your parents had siblings, add them as well.  Do the same for your grandparents.  For each person, add as much detail as you possibly can, just as you did for yourself.  We want to be thorough in our information on the living to save our descendants the trouble of having to research us the way we are having to research our ancestors.

Your Genealogy Journal

Once you have entered all the information you have at your fingertips, you have completed Day Two of the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge.  How do you feel?  It’s okay if you weren’t able to supply each current family member with all the information you would have liked to enter.  This is where the Genealogy Journal comes in handy.

Open your Genealogy Journal and begin making a list of what you were able to accomplish today and what information you still need to obtain.  I like to give each person their own page.  Write their name at the top of the page, then begin to list their vital information – birth, marriage, and if applicable, death.  With each event make certain you are including location of the event.  Skip a few spaces and add any marriage information and list of children.

Leave the facing journal page empty.  Here is where you are going to place a question or two of what you would like to further discover.  This practice will come in handy when we begin covering our deceased relatives.  

Example of my Journal page for ancestral relative Earl Clausen.

 Here is your 5 Point Review

• Start your family tree online or on a software program.
• Enter your personal information as the starting point for your family tree. Remember to include your hobbies and interests. 
• Add photos of yourself through different stages of your life, ie. childhood, teen years, adulthood, etc.
• Add your parents and grandparents to the tree using what information you already have.
• Begin your Genealogy Journal.  Create an information page for each person  you are researching, keeping in mind that the facing page can be left free to keep notes and jot down questions that may arise.
  

Congratulations on completing the second day of the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge!  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them in the Blog Comment section below.  Invite your friends to join this challenge by sharing this blog with them on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.  The share icons are just below this blog entry.

Thank you for joining this challenge and remember…..

History not shared is History forgotten!

The 21 Day Genealogy Challenge -- Day One: Prepare!

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success – Alexander Graham Bell

Welcome to the 21 Day Genealogy Challenge!  It is my hope that these next three weeks will help you organize your thoughts and begin or recommit to doing your family history work.  Our first day is focused on preparation.  Without proper planning we are easily distracted from our goal which is to find our ancestors!

Focus

Let’s begin by taking a moment to ask ourselves “What is our desired goal?”  More specifically, “What is it we want to know?”  Maybe we want to learn more about our parents and what their lives were like before they met and had children.  Or, there is a grandparent you know very little about?  Decide who it is you want to research and let that individual be the focus for the next 21 days.

Workspace

 Next, we want to create a workspace that we feel comfortable with for the next three weeks.  We need a place where our work can sit and not have to be put away at the end of each day.  If the space in your home is limited, be certain to keep your work stored somewhere you can access easily and your papers will not get confused with a child’s homework or other activities going on in the home.

Genealogy Programs

You now should consider what program you plan to use online and/or offline.  If you do not have a genealogy program, find one you are comfortable with and set up your account.  There are online accounts that you can set up for free, but to access information may cost a monthly to annual fee.  There are also programs that you can set up for free and use their service for free, but you need to understand the differences in the services regarding the tree you set up.  Here are two examples.

1.     Ancestry.com has a free starter membership.  You can create a tree that you choose to make public or private.  Either choice you make, all living individuals added to your tree will have their information private – meaning you will be the only one who can see what you entered.  If your tree is public, the only ancestors that will be seen by the public are those ancestors that are deceased.  Living individuals (parents, grandparents, etc) that are in your tree will not have their information accessible to anyone but you, and will only be seen as PRIVATE by others viewing your tree.

You will find with Ancestry that record hints pertaining to your ancestor will appear, but in some cases you will have to pay a membership fee to access those records.  It is up to you as to whether or not you would like to move forward with that type of membership.

Keep in mind this:  Your tree in Ancestry is your tree.  Unless you give someone permission (in the tree settings) to make edits to the tree, no one can change any details you have added to an individual.  Likewise, if you find another person’s tree on Ancestry that contains your ancestor, you cannot make edits to that person’s tree.  It is their tree.  You can however, leave a comment or send a private message to the tree owner.

2.     FamilySearch.org is a free service.  Unlike Ancestry where each member has their own personal tree, FamilySearch is one tree in which every member adds their ancestors.  When an ancestor’s information is entered, the system will prompt you to do a search to verify if that particular person is already in the tree.  If he or she is not, you will be given the opportunity to add him or her.  Like Ancestry, living individuals added to the tree will not appear to other viewers.  The only person who can see the information will be the person who entered it.  

Because the tree in FamilySearch is one united tree, other members can add and adjust information regarding any given ancestor within the tree; however, when changes are made, the system will give a prompt requesting a reason for the change.  It is important to include sources and documentation to each ancestor you add to the system.  This lets other researchers see that information regarding the ancestor has been sourced and verified.  Understand that some sources can give conflicting evidence.  As this challenge goes on, we will discuss where to find sources and how to attach them to an ancestor’s file.

FamilySearch will offer source hints to ancestors in the tree, or you can do a site search to find information.  Unless the site directs you to an outside source, all information given within FamilySearch is free of charge.

I have listed two online programs here, but there are others readily available.  Two others that come to mind are FindMyPast and MyHeritage.  The choice is yours as to which program best suits your needs.  Ancestry and FamilySearch happen to be two programs I use.

You may choose to use a software program like RootsMagic or FamilyTreeMaker.  There are many varieties on the market.  Again, the choice is yours.  Perhaps you are old school and like to stick with the pedigree charts and family group sheets.  There is no wrong way.  Whatever you are comfortable with is the right way for you. 

Genealogy Journal

One thing I like to do when researching is to keep a Genealogy Journal.  Each day I record which ancestor I studied and log what information was found.  I also list questions that come to mind as I am finding evidence.  I never rely on my mind to remember the next day or the next time I pick up my research again.  It may seem like a repetitive step to take since you have a tree with notes already, but I promise you, you will be glad you kept a Genealogy Journal.  It is also something you can carry with you when you go to various sites to continue research.

Include Your Family

Finally, as you begin this 21 Day Challenge, let your family know you will be doing family history work for the next three weeks.  Reach out to your extended family and let them know you may be in touch to ask some questions or get ideas of who in the family tree to research.  Your relatives may question why you are doing this.  Be sure to let them know that your interest is to learn more about your heritage and to ensure that your family history can be passed down to future generations.

 

Here is your 5 Point Review:

•  What ancestor do you want to research?
•  Prepare a place to work for the next 21 days.
• Choose a program to log your ancestral information.  This can be online or a software program.
•  Keep a Genealogy Journal.
• Let your family know about your project and enlist their help.

This is going to be an amazing journey.  As we move forward, feel free to share your thoughts and comments in the blog comment section below.