Blog Caroling 2016

One of the women I admire most in the world has requested Christmas carols. She is one I joyfully obey!

So, dear fM, here is one of my favorite, favorite carols. One I heard constantly as a child and hear still today. I never tire of Harry Belafonte's voice. Nor of his version of Mary's Boy Child. Written by Jester Hairston in 1956 (a REALLY good year) it topped the charts the next year when Belafonte recorded it. It still tops mine.
#BlogCaroling2016 #fMRules#MerryChristmas

Long time ago in Bethlehem
So the Holy Bible say
Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ
Was born on Christmas day.

Hark, now hear the angels sing
A new King born today
And man will live forever more
Because of Christmas day.

While shepherds watched their flock by night
And see a bright new shining star
And hear a choir sing
The music seem to come from afar.

Now Joseph and his wife Mary
Come to Bethlehem that night
And find no place to borne she child
Not a single room was in sight.

Hark, now hear the angels sing
A new King born today
And man will live forever more
Because of Christmas day.

By and by they find a little nook
In a stable all forlorn
And in a manger cold and dark
Mary's little boy was born.

Hark, now hear the angels sing
A new King born today
And man will live forever more
Because of Christmas day.

Taking Aim

From the Library of Congress

I have been on Geneablogger auto-pilot for many, many months. Years, even.

But the lovely sharing of her grandmother's photo album by my husband's aunt last month, inspired me to at least pay it forward and share the family photos she let me copy. Grandma Bonnel's photo album is slowly going public. Simple posts. Not much research involved, but it has gotten me back into devoting some time to family history. And doing some very light blog reading. I miss having the time to devote an hour, often more, to reading and examining what other Geneabloggers are producing.

Those posts I have read provoked deep, deep thoughts while editing and shooting Grandma Bonnel's photos into the world. Contemplating my navel, as my father calls it. James Tanner had me in a bit of a snit with his post Time Constraints. Frankly, I agree with most of his points. But Tanner, who seems to operate as a blogger provocateur, did prompt a defensive reaction with his call to action,

"Let's jointly craft museum quality research rather than throw-away, disposable research that will have to be redone in the future by someone else (like me)."

Whatever I am doing here, it ain't museum quality research. I don't have as much constrained time, nor am I as disciplined, as he. And I regret that. That knowledge prompts my educational wish-list (another contemplating my navel blog post). Much of which falls by the wayside when those darling living folks I am related to worm their way back into my consciousness.

An aside to ward off howls from my kin. I adore my family and am blessed to be closely connected to many of them. They are not in any way burdensome. But my brain has a limited capacity. When I am enjoying them, I am not researching, scanning or producing anything worth preserving. Beyond memories.

Saturday I read a post by one of my Hungarian researcher blogger buddies, Zen & the Art of Genealogical Maintenance. Magda took a hard look at her own work and came to three conclusions.

"1 ) Less is more
 2 ) Don't be a genealogical hoarder
 3) Keep it simple."

I'll never be a minimalist anything. But her second and third conclusions resonated with me. And reminded me of why I began blogging and why I returned. I love research. I've done some pretty good bits over the years and am proud of them. But my genealogical mission is not research.

My mission is examining, culling and then sharing the thousands of photographs, letters, documents and earlier research that I have inherited. I have made no attempt to truly research each family. I have had hundreds of families handed down to me. Others will have to do that. I am sharing the research I have been given, after validating it as best I can using online resources. I am scanning and sharing photographs and documents that do not appear to be available elsewhere. That's it. Someone else will have to take the material and turn it into genealogical art. I hope they do. I just want to get it out "there".

Ready. Aim. Fire.

Geneabloggers Rock!

My first take on a completely delightful weekend in Fort Wayne with other Geneabloggers - I need to do this at least a couple times a year! What seemed self-indulgent turns out to have been a terrific boost. I've enjoyed the conferences I've attended, but the focus there is on learning. And they are e x h a u s t i n g.

This time spent on my own research, surrounded by equally passionate (and entertaining) friends, allowed me to see my work with fresh eyes and kicked my energy level up a notch. I'm a poor bet for the goals, encouragement and accountability Geneabuddies provide for one another (it should be clear to those that attended that my attention span is non-existent), but the laughter, conversations and company of  these folks was fabulous!

The first results -

I realized on the drive home that as much as I want my Rachel Hampton to be the daughter of the Robert Hampton who left a 1796 will, and land, and records, that those same records all but prove she isn't. I still believe she's related (she did name a son Robert Hampton Mulkey, after all), but I need to let go of Robert as her father and move on! Hat tip to Laura at The Last Leaf On This Branch. Just thinking of handing off the research to her to review made it depressingly clear. I did find a new Hampton - Alfred - mentioned with Robert's family in several road orders.

Context is essential. My husband's family settled in Wyoming early in the 20th century. I've heard some stories and seen a few family photographs, but never visited the area or dug into the research. Two hours reviewing the Fremont County books available at the Allen County Public Library let me know just how much I don't know! I need to learn about the legal and commercial relations between the white and Shoshone residents, about the schools on the Wind River Reservation, and fire off some questions asap to his aunt.

For all my complaints about Legacy Family Tree (and they were non-stop) I lost count of how many times I referred to it for a date or name. I concede. It is useful. Those who endured my whining are free to wave this in my face.

I had one "aha" research moment of finding the burial spot for a "lost" great-great grandmother and learned of four previously unknown children. I am not sure why they are buried apart from the other family, but given the 30+ years between her death and her husband's, it's possible they moved or that his second wife determined his burial site.

And finally, I detoured to visit Waveland Cemetery outside Hillsboro, IL on my way home. This is something I should have done years ago. It's only 80 miles from my front door. I found another Jones to research (this is good news) when I realized the only other Joneses in the cemetery were laying next to my husband's ggg grandfather Joseph Jones. Joshua Jones is entirely new to me, but a quick check of census records yields some interesting hints. He is 5 or 6 years younger than Joseph, born in IL (Joseph was born in TN) and lists both parents as born in VA on the 1880 census - as does Joseph. Fun, fun, fun!

All this before I even look at the images and pages I copied. Thanks to Tina Lyons and Terri O'Connell for organizing the Midwest Geneabloggers gathering. Can't wait for the next one!

Getting Down to the Basics - A Review

Last weekend I wrote a post asking why people use genealogy databases and begging for specific answers. And I got them! Thanks to all who participated in the discussions here, on Google+ and on Facebook. Five bloggers (hope I haven't missed any, but if I did please let me know and I'll add to this list) posted in response.

• Jasia wrote My Love/Hate Relationship with Legacy Software at Creative Gene.
• Denise Levenick shared My Needs and Wants for Genealogy Database Software; How Well Does Family Tree Maker Mac2 Measure Up? at Family Curator.
• Shelley Bishop explained How I Use Reunion for Mac as my Genealogy Database at A Sense of Family. 
• Review Randy Seaver's Ten Reasons Why I Use a Genealogy Software Program at Genea-Musings.
• Linda McCauley detailed some her favorite tricks in How I Use in My Genealogy Database at Documenting the Details.

I've read and re-read the responses, thought about my frustrations, and settled on a few things I want my Legacy database to do. 

• Manage my source and repositories lists
• Provide a master geographic locations list
• Generate basic reports to share with those contacting me for more information 
• Record conflicting information or problems

I will not be using Legacy in my digitizing project beyond entering appropriate source information. Many people commented that they used a database to organize documents and images. I don't need that. I can find the computer files I need quickly using my existing digital filing and tagging system. Now if there was a way that Legacy could organize the physical papers and photographs I'd be a lifetime devotee!

Nor will I be using Legacy for cluster research projects. I far prefer spreadsheets to sort and analyze information. I have used Ancestry.com's online trees to gather census information and other source documents for small groups and will probably continue. But so far I don't see a genealogy database helping me with my group projects. 

I may learn new methods that will change these views. I joined a Legacy User Group to learn more about the program's features. I'm especially excited to have people I can bounce questions, ideas and problems off of. We'll see how excited they are after a month or two of my questions.

Read the comments on all the blog posts and social media platforms. There are as many ways to use the genealogy database programs as there are users. You may find an idea you hadn't considered. 

And thank you again to all who chimed in with your opinions. It was a marvelous discussion.

Comments, Captchas and Conversations

This will be quick. Blogger recently changed the captcha code to include two words. Without going into dreary personal information, my vision is such (or not such) that it's too difficult for me to manage the codes. I tried the audio codes only to discover my hearing isn't any better. Not a cheerful realization.

At any rate, I am no longer able to prove I'm not a robot. For those of you using the codes please understand I am not suggesting you remove them. We all need to take care of ourselves first. I can easily understand that you might choose the codes over dealing with the dratted annoying damn spammers.

But I do miss being able to comment on some of my favorite blogs. I've read some wonderful posts lately! So going forward I will be using the Google+ button more frequently. If you see a +1 from me you'll know I loved the post.  I'm also sharing more posts to Google+ where conversations flourish.

My inner conspiracy theorist wonders if this isn't part of a world domination plan to push everyone to Google+. Whatever. Just wanted you to know why I wasn't commenting the way I used to.

The Posterity Project - Follow Friday

A quick Follow Friday recommendation for those with Tennessee research interests - or those who love history and archives (pretty much covers all of us, no?).

Gordon Belt's (read his About Us entry to be wowed by his credentials) The Posterity Project is one of my must reads. I love his posts referring to my East Tennessee locales of interest, such as when he wrote about the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University recently.

I love his posts about current issues facing archives and archivists.

I love his posts about the Civil War and the resources available to explore its history and effects.

I could go on, but you get the point. Check it out. It's a fabulous resource and always a great read.

Sweating the Details

I've been reading blogs when I ought to be doing some other real world things. And now I'm writing when I ought to be doing real world things. One of the greatest attractions of genealogy/family history is its endless ability to distract me from the real world.

That said, my point here is a bit of heresy. Michael Hait started the wheel's turning with his post What is a conclusion?. Russ Worthington chimed in with When to enter data into your genealogy software?. Then Randy Seaver posted Events, Assertions, Evidence, Fact, Sources, Analysis, Conclusions, Software, Oh My! Read them all.

After reading Randy's post I revisited Michael's and read the comments. When I got to Martin's I cheered.

"Most ages do not agree visa-vis the census. Do we really need to GPS [Genealogical Proof Standard] every single person, or can we just conclude that ages in censuses vary? Genealogy is proving relationships. I can understand that proving a relationship might incur the GPS, but every fact or event?"

Amen. Maybe it's because much of my research involves 18th and early 19th c. frontier areas where few records were kept. Maybe it's because I am not a genealogist, but a family historian and an historian by training. Maybe it's because I'm comfortable with chaos and confusion. But I do not have the need to prove every "fact" as Hait defines them. I am content to know my research subjects were born, to learn as much as I can about their lives and relationships, and that they died. I can live with conflicting information as to specific dates and places.

And frankly (hold on to your hats here), I don't need death certificates or birth certificates for the people I've known in my life. Someone else further down the line can hunt for those if they wish. I'm perfectly comfortable stating a birth or death date based on my personal knowledge.

I'm a big picture gal. Give me the overview, the route, the story. I want every detail I can find, but I'm not going to sweat it if a death certificate and marriage license differ on birth dates. If those differences suggest the documents are not for the same person, we can talk. If not, I'm moving on. It doesn't change the relationships.

I'm not going to obsess over each fact or event or assertion. Just as long as you don't tell me the Mulkey marker proves Jonathan's wives. Them's fighting words.

Pining for a Pedigree Chart, Part 3 or What I Did

Using the strategy of "translating" the HTML code that I wrote about in my last post I was able to achieve my goal of a pedigree chart interface on my yet to be born website. This is what I did.

In Legacy I created pedigree style web pages for a family group.

I chose to view the pages in my browser and selected a page to transfer to my website, making note of the file title.

I found the file in the Legacy file on my hard drive and chose to "Open With" a text file editor (in this case Notebook).

The opened text file contained the HTML code for the web page. I copied all of the text.

I opened my web site in Google Sites and chose to create a new page. I used the same name as the file for the page name (later on I'll go back and change names if I wish) and selected the basic Web Page template.

I selected the "Edit HTML Source" option and pasted the copied HTML code from the Legacy generated file. After closing the HTML Editor I was able to edit the page using the WYSIWYG editor.

I edited the page - heavily - and customized the pedigree chart, tailoring it to reflect my use of family group pages rather than individual pages.

Then I saved the page as a template, allowing me to use the design on any new page I choose.

I was so pleased with the result that I designed a template for a modified family group page and saved it as well.

The templates based on the Legacy pages can now be used to create new pages. 

The process of creating the pages is still cumbersome. I can only do a page at a time and have to enter all the links myself, but I can do so on the pedigree chart or in the "Family" box giving me the graphic interface I wanted. It is surely not worth the effort if the goal is a site with a complete (though I know there's no such animal) family tree. In that case I would have to move to a different type of web site that allowed uploading of files or integration with a program like TNG. But for my purposes this works. 

Pining for a Pedigree Chart, Part 2 or I don't speak HTML

One of the benefits of using the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) sites like Blogger or Weebly is not needing to know HTML, the language used to format and create links on web pages. (Language is a key word here. We'll get back to it shortly.)

Conversely, these sites also limit what you can do. Generally each page must be created separately, links added individually. There are constraints regarding fonts and graphics. You cannot upload groups of linked pages created by a software program like Legacy. This hasn't created a problem for me as a blogger. I write an entry or two at a time. They're usually pretty free form and content driven.

The website I want to create, however, has many pages and a clear structure. There are pages with specific formats for individual biographies, for families, for locations, for events like the Civil War. Most of the information is coming from my genealogy software. The entire point of the site is the ability to easily move from page to page.

That's one of the reason's I got so fixated on the graphic pedigree chart at the top of the page. There are other reasons having to do with genetics and personality but that's another post.

Anyway, one of the key elements to my web design problem was that I don't "speak" HTML. It's a language, remember? But these sites do. And each of them has a built in translator. On Blogger there are two views when writing a post. "Compose" is the WYSIWYG editor. But if you select "HTML" you will see your post translated into HTML. On Google's Sites, which I'm using to build the website, the translator looks like this.

What this means for we non-speakers is that we have the ability to take something written in a language we don't understand (HTML) and translate it into something we can work with. I discovered this when I was entering data on WeRelate.org, the genealogy Wiki. I had trouble entering information (such a massive understatement) until I realized I could write what I wanted in Blogger and then copy and paste the HTML code from Blogger into WeRelate. HUGE timesaver. 

This time I did the reverse. I copied the HTML code from the web page created by Legacy into Google Sites and edited using their WYSIWYG editor. For those who are interested I'll lay out each step in the next post. 

There are many programs you can download that do the same thing and far more. If you Google "wysiwyg html editor" you'll get pages of links. This is a very low-tech, and pretty dumbed down approach. Just my speed. 

Photo credit Some rights reserved by Nikita Kashner

Pining for a Pedigree Chart

I'm "back" home after three days as a virtual RootsTech attendee. While not as tired as those who traveled to Salt Lake City and are now traveling home, my head is still spinning. My thanks to the hundreds of people (at least) who produced such an engaging and enlightening conference and allowed us to attend from afar.

After watching Laura Prescott's Publish Your Genealogy Online on Friday I spent much of the next day rethinking my approach to my nascent website (started in 2010 and still not live - surely the longest gestation period ever). My website focuses on several different family groups of 3 or 4 generations. I use a free site (great price) but have been so frustrated in my efforts include graphic layouts or reports generated by my software program, Legacy.

I hadn't considered Legacy's web design capabilities. But after Prescott's presentation, I looked again at one of my favorite sites, Linda McCauley's Linda's Family Tree. Much of her material was generated by Legacy. Linda has been generous with advice and information and I knew that her choice of self-hosted site, and the option of uploading Legacy's web pages, was not going to work for me.

But I really liked the way her pages link through the small pedigree charts. I went back to Legacy and began experimenting with it's web page styles. I produced examples of each, examined them on my browser, and found the format I'd admired on Linda's site - the Pedigree style.

I realized I could produce pages for only the small groups I was working with. The pages generated were not exactly what I wanted, but they were far closer than anything I'd come up with before.

But there I stalled. The free sites I've been working with do not, as in DO NOT, accept ftp uploads, the only way I could transfer the linked pages as a unit to a web site. And while there are some sites that do (RootsWeb), I need the WYSIWYG "webpages for dummies" interface that Google or Weebly have.
I know almost nothing about HTML, the language used in web page design.

I stewed on this for quite a while before accepting the easy route of using pages produced by my software was a no go. But I was still fixated on that little pedigree chart at the top of the page. Had to have it.

In the end, I got it. It's not the easiest solution - I still have to generate each page and all the links - but I have a template that works well. In my next post I'll share how I did it.

Noodling on Google

After a Google induced nightmare yesterday I am interrupting my blogging hiatus with a few thoughts on life with Google.

Yesterday, with no notice and with no subsequent explanation, my genealogy Google account was disabled. One minute I was posting some insignificant comment about my day on G+; the next minute I was banished. I had a very unpleasant few hours as I realized just how much of my virtual genealogy life and actual life was tied to this account.

• This blog disappeared from the web. I wish I'd kept a screen shot of the notice that appeared. Only the knowledge that I had a recent (though not comprehensive) backup kept me from complete insanity. 
• While my genealogy photographs are backed up locally and on Flickr, all the blog posts are linked to a Google Picasa account. I don't know if I would be able to access them should I ever completely lose this account.
• My G+ profile, my posts and comments disappeared from the platform.
• My primary gmail account for genealogy and all contacts were inaccessible.
• My personal calendar, linked to my genealogy account because that's where I spend the most time, vanished. 
• Neither I, nor anyone I had shared with, could access my Google Documents. 
• A genealogy website I am developing was inaccessible. 
• UPDATE - I also lost access to my Google Reader account, my preferred way of keeping on blog reading and my iGoogle pages of links and rss feeds.

I was eventually able to restore my account by "verifying" my identity to Google via text message to my cell phone. Nothing was lost. All was restored.

I had been very reluctant to share my cell phone number with Google, but did so on the genealogy account because it was so fundamental to my work. A blessing that I did, but finding the link to verify the account was far from simple. If Google suspected my account was being improperly used, there should have been an immediate link to the verification process. Not the case. Not by a long shot.

I tried at least 50 different times to log in to the account - from all of the linked accounts - before I was finally able to access the verification page. The Gmail account ultimately proved the charm. In the process I sent several messages to Google requesting an explanation of why the accounts had been disabled. No response. At least not to date. 

My decision to rely so heavily on Google was deliberate. It seemed the best way to assure access to all my data (ironic, no?) while I was traveling last summer. I invested in an Android smart phone, transferred my calendar and all my contacts, moved some data to Google Docs and took off on my genealogy dream trip. And it worked perfectly! Flawless. 

I'm not certain if I will change my reliance on Google. I understand the need to guard against spam and hijacked accounts. But I was really, really unhappy yesterday (such an understatement). And I still am. I don't know if I did something to trigger this or if it was an attempt to hijack one of the accounts. I don't understand why it was so difficult to find my way to the verification page that restored me to Google's good graces. It's hard to escape the feeling that this could happen again. 

My takeaways from this? There are several. 

First, Geneabloggers are the best! I reached out via Twitter, Facebook and email and was immediately enveloped in a wave of support and sympathy. I can't overstate how much those expressions helped. 

Second, I'm rethinking my all eggs in Google's basket approach. I joked yesterday that I was looking for omelet recipes. Too true. The blog was backed up, but without access to my account I had no way to restore it. My calendar and contacts were synced with programs on my Mac desktop computer, but it is on its last legs. They were not synced with programs on my Windows laptop. As of today I have

• exported this blog to a shadow blog on WordPress. I will do so at least monthly when actively blogging.
• changed delivery of emailed copies of the blog from Tabbloid to a non-gmail address. (More than a few expletives were uttered yesterday when I realized my failsafe backup plan was tied to a Google account.)
• installed Thunderbird and the Lightening add-on on my laptop, downloaded all my emails, contacts, and set up automatic backups of my calendar (see this blog for step by step directions on backing up Google Calendar). 
• put current back-ups of this blog and its template in Dropbox.
• downloaded copies of all Google Docs. For now they're in Dropbox. 

Third, I still love the my Android phone. That's where I found email addresses for some of the Geneabloggers I know. 

Fourth, for all the negative things I've said about Facebook this fall, I reinstated my account there in a split second when I was locked out of G+. I won't spend much time there, but I will not be deleting my account. Social networks need backups, too.

There is still work to do, but Christmas is but a week away. First on my list for 2012 resolutions -

• Blogger's pages did not export to WordPress. They are backed up, but I need to format the WordPress blog to include them. 
• Rethink the Google website. Weebly has been getting lots of good press. I may use that. 
• Make sure that if I do continue using all the Google accounts that I have a backup or alternative account for each of them. 

And now, back to elf duty and my hiatus. I'll be back sometime in 2012! Until then, best wishes to all. 

What I read on Wednesday - Follow Friday

I've never done a "Best of the Blogs" post and truly had no intention of doing one Wednesday night when I sat down to do some catch up reading while listening to the Cardinals actually win a baseball game. But I have never read so many extraordinary posts at once. There was some inspired writing this week. I even missed several key plays, though not the unlikely grand slam by pitcher Jake Westbrook. A wonderful evening.

So, with no promises for future "Best ofs", here are the blogs that I found informing, entertaining, moving or all of the above on Wednesday night.

There were two wonderful posts sparked by researchers revisiting information.

Stephanie Goldberg at acquamarinesteph took a different tack in researching her great great-grandparents and found new material in Conliffe update, part 1: AKA Start With What You Know. 

Lessons Learned by Taco Goulooze at ...it all makes census shows what can happen when you examine everyone in a census listing. And isn't that the greatest blog title?

I'm about to dive back into genetic genealogy after taking the summer off and loved Daniel Hubbard's clear writing on the subject in Holes in my Genes at Personal Past Meditations.

I've definitely noticed the occupations listed on Ancestry.com's World War II enlistment records database and added a few to my data. Might need to check again according to John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch. Read his post Civil Occupation Codes: What's Going On Here? for more information.

Heather Rojo has written about her Hawaiian kin many times at Nutfield Genealogy. But she was surprised by the amount of new information and connections made when a Facebook group started for Hawaii's Holt Family.

There were two posts that made me grin, then laugh out loud.

Mindie Burgoyne's The Vacation of Many Cars with Teenagers from Hell at Who Cares What I Think? brought back memories of some tortured trips of my own - both as intrepid chauffeur (but never as intrepid as she) and as Satan's spawn. 

Dee Burris of Shakin' The Family Tree has found one of the all-time great criminal pardons and shared it in What a hoot.... Now if only she can figure out if there's a connection to her Burris kin. I do hope so!

The Civil War Sesquicentennial has sparked some great reads.

If you haven't already found and been reading the New York Times' Opinionator/Disunion series it's time to do some back reading yourself. Wednesday's Baltimore's Unlikely Confederates was just the latest of their superb offerings.

The last paragraph of John Hennessey's The final journey of Capt. Edward P. Lawton (part 2) makes a strong point about Civil War history and commentary today. The blog, Mysteries and Conundrums, is written (unofficially) by the staff at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial.

Finally, Mel Wolfgang celebrated his first blogoversary at Mnemosyne's Magic Mirror with another perceptive and beautifully written post - And Still I Write. Each time I read one of his posts I see an eloquently developed thought - a sculpture rather than the block of marble that often rests upon my shoulders. I wish I thought and wrote as he does. That will never be, but I am ever grateful he shares both.

Quite an evening. No surprise that I'm finishing this in the wee hours of the morning full of admiration for those bloggers who manage this each week. I've no idea how they do it!

The Results Are In

Last Saturday, after seeing multiple posts of the same information on my blog reader, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, I asked readers to vote on how they preferred to access blog posts.

The results clearly show that my readers (at least those who voted) are not relying on Twitter or Facebook to follow my posts. Most prefer the RSS feed to read the blogs they follow. None voted for Twitter and only 2.5% voted for Facebook.

Poll results from Vizu.com

The newest entry in the platform wars fared well. Twenty percent of readers would like to see Nolichucky Roots posts shared on Google+. Almost as many (17.5%) expressed no preference.

As a result of this information I will begin to share more posts on Google+ and move away from Networked Blogs (just as soon as I figure out how to extricate myself from the service). I may share some posts on Facebook, but they will no longer be automated.  Since it appears neither I, nor my readers, are heavy Twitter users who would be frustrated by repetitive posts I may continue announcing posts there. I have had personal requests from two readers I treasure to use Twitter to share posts. Frankly, if some of you wanted the posts delivered by paper airplane or carrier pigeon, I'd try to oblige.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and preferences. I've no desire to make it more difficult for anyone to find material they want to read, but nor do I see the benefit of broadcasting every post via every platform. I would surely feel differently were I marketing my services, using these platforms for professional networking or had monetized this blog. But since none of those situations apply, I need please only myself - and you.

Photograph by Gianluca [Miche].

Pick a Platform

I have been alternately pleased with and overwhelmed by the entry of Google+ into the social media platform competition. I am the veriest novice when it comes to the whole issue. In my real life I don't do platforms. The shoes are ridiculous and perilous for one who is literally off-balance. Physical platforms are off the ground and inherently risky. Political platforms, stating it as gently as I can, are written by manipulative sociopaths to appeal to those below the lowest common denominator (2012 is going to be a very long year). 

 Some rights reserved by ShawnMichael

But though platform adverse, I have experimented with different social media platforms. Facebook has been a delightful place to connect informally with other family history researchers, genealogists and bloggers. I rarely use Twitter, but when there's a conference I wish I was attending or a popular uprising in Cairo, it can't be beat.

I post this blog to both because several readers have mentioned their preference for receiving blog posts via Twitter feeds or on Facebook through NetworkedBlogs. Though I strongly prefer blog reading through an RSS aggregator like Google Reader, I aim to please.

And now there's Google+.

I haven't posted my blog there before today. It seems excessive to post the same material three times over. I am not marketing myself in any commercial sense. I am simply trying to make the material I write available to those who are interested in the format that is most convenient. I am finding the redundancy a little depressing. Must one post everything on every platform? It seems like virtual littering.

So, in an effort to discern the preferences of you, my loyal reader, I've devised this brief poll. Please vote and let me know your 'druthers. Voting will remain open through August 25th. I will share the results next week.

Thank you!

Online Surveys & Market Research

Serendipitous Results

When I started blogging last year I'd no idea who, if anyone, would be reading what I posted. Blogging was the first step in addressing the issue of what happens to Mom's stuff when Mom is off to greener pastures - be they eternal or the result of wanderlust. My goal was to share the stuff, most of which has been entirely private, with present and future family historians.

I'm blessed/cursed to be the family archivist. I have vital records, letters, diaries and photographs of my immigrant grandparents; boxes of papers and photo albums hauled up from my great-grandfather's house in 1996; crates of my grandmother's letters, photographs, research notes, grocery lists, bills, and newspaper clippings. There are a couple bags of research and photographs from my mother and aunt. This summer I've added digital copies of my husband's great-grandmother's papers to the mix. It's overwhelming. Who would be interested in this?

Well, it turns out people are!

GeneaBloggers LOVE reading each other's work. I suspect many of us have few people in our daily lives who are fascinated by the details of what we do. This was unexpected, but has been great fun.

Cousins have contacted me after reading the blog - especially on my father's side of the family. This has been a joy. It's the reason I began. Nothing beats connecting with family members interested in family history.

I've not had as much luck connecting with cousins in the more established American families I research, but I have been amazed by who has contacted me about those lines. I expected interest in the blog to be limited to family historians, but, with the power of Google, other researchers are finding posts of interest. I've had a wonderful exchange with a gentleman researching the history of his high school, a school where my great-uncle coached (more on that in a later post).

Three people researching house histories have emailed me. One man is researching a family home in the area where Thomas James Meredith's son settled. He kindly told me my Meredith posts have been helpful (hallelujah!!). Given how besotted I am with the family, this pleased me more than I can express. He's confirmed that the Thomas Meredith in Gloucester County is the son and generously offered to share some documents and photographs. I do love those Merediths!

Two people actually live in homes that belonged to great-grandparents. They found the blog by googling their addresses or the previous owners' (aka my g-grandfathers') names. Both are restoring the homes (to my delight) and have appreciated pictures and information about the houses and families that lived there. I've learned about present day adventures and had the chance to visit with the family living in my Sawyer family's homestead. I'd not been back since my last great-aunt died in 1996. It was beyond wonderful to see another family making the home their own. I even found an old painting of the house tucked in my archives (basement) and returned it to Tennessee. Far better it should hang there than gather dust and who knows what else in my "archives".

Not at all what I expected when I began this project, but these experiences have heartened and encouraged me to keep on digitizing and blogging. Now, back to work. Only a few thousand items left to scan or transcribe...

UPDATE
I mentioned that GeneaBloggers love reading one another's work. That this work also inspires and motivates us is not always so clear. I was catching up on back reading and saw once more a grand series of posts last month by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on her Nutfield Genealogy blog. She spent a week blogging about the joys of unexpected results in her Serendipity posts. I read them at the time and loved them. I have to think they inspired the theme and title of this post, though I was slow to recognize it. Belated hat tip to Heather!

Great Reads - Follow Friday

Some blog posts are worth reading. Not scanning for surnames or hints. Not looking at the pictures (though I adore the pictures). Reading. For comprehension. Absorbing. 

As the multitude of geneabloggers grows (the miracle of the loaves and fishes comes to mind for some reason) I've had trouble keeping up. I am now following 259 blogs and adding a couple more every week. So yes, I scan and when I see something long with polysyllabic words I pause. My strategy has been to "star" it to read later - in the evening when the Cardinal's are letting balls slip out of gloves or hitting into double plays. I've had LOTS of reading opportunities so far this season. 

Sometimes, one of the posts is so good that I keep it starred. I read it again the next night. I think about it during the day. I share a morsel with my husband or daughter. It's a really good read.

I've come to rely on those bloggers who share their favorite posts of the week. HUGE fan of their efforts. I'm not going there. But I do want to highlight the posts that stick with me - that nourish my mind and often my spirit. So here's the plan. When I find something I keep going back to I will share it through Google Reader. There's a widget this blog's sidebar now titled "Great Reads" that will highlight my shared posts. They won't be the helpful tips or humorous posts that have us howling. Others are highlighting those brilliantly. They will be longer, thoughtful and thought provoking pieces that illuminate a moment or an idea. So when you have a moment, check them out. They are truly worth the time. 

Considering the Source

I completely amaze myself with my ability to stumble over the obvious. Here's the issue (actually this just scratches the surface) - I want to do a better job with sources. I know. Big news. I'm sure I'm the only one.

Here's my work flow.

• Gather piles of stuff and put them near my work space. Stuff is defined as the photographs, news clippings, letters or documents filling the boxes filling my house. 
• Scan something and put it in a basket (or pile) to be filed or thrown away. Put the digital file in a folder to be processed (meta data, links to specific individuals, added to database, blog fodder, etc). 
• Repeat until bored then start working on a digital file.
• Something about a file prompts a blog idea. I start the post, forget the meta data, links or database and wander about my mental and digital files looking for information to complete the post. 
• Look at post, realize I have no source listed and struggle to construct something that might pass for a citation if one had spent decades on a desert island talking to a volleyball. 
• Give up and go back to scanning or playing with the digitized files. 

And here's my revelation.

Use my Legacy software to record the source when I'm writing the blog post.

Mind blowing, isn't it? It takes about a minute, gets the digitized record/photo/whatever into my database in at least one relevant spot AND I get a citation I can copy and paste into the blog.

Is it a perfect system? Well, no. I don't get the source added to all relevant events/people in the database. The odds of my maintaining it are slim. But it's far better than what I've been doing (nothing). Maybe I'll be disciplined enough to continue.

Any comments reflecting on my obvious scatterbrainedness, ADD or calling me a geneaditz will be met with a DUH! Family need not comment at all.

Awards and Awardees - Sharing the love

I've been honored recently to receive awards from some of my favorite fellow bloggers and tardy in acknowledging and thanking them. Nick Gombash, who writes both Nick Gombash's Genealogy Blog AND the new Official Blog of the Hungary Exchange AND runs the outstanding Hungary Exchange website gave me the Ancestor Approved award.

Many thanks to Nick. If you're doing research in Hungary or it's former Empire check out his work. I was fortunate to receive this award last December and wrote about it here.


The One Lovely Blog Award has been making the rounds of genealogy blogs.  I have been flattered to have been given the award by several of my fellow bloggers in the last couple weeks, each of whom has a distinct voice and writes a blog I thoroughly enjoy following.

A thank you to each of them. Receiving this from such strong bloggers truly pleases me. I urge you to check out their blogs.

• Margel at 2338 W. Washington Blvd.
• Yvonne at The Mashburn Collection 
• Wendy B. at  Shaking Leaves 
• Shelley Bishop at A Sense of Family
• Betty Tartas at Betty's Bone Yards
• and Joanne at Keeper of the Records

The award was started a little over two years ago at Works of Art by Sara and included the following rules.

• Add the logo to your blog.
• Link to the person from whom you received this award
• Nominate 7 or more blogs
• Leave a message on their blog, letting them know they are "One Lovely Blog"! 

Here in genea-world the rules have been adapted to acknowledge new (or new to me) bloggers. I've spent the last few days reading some of the newer blogs listed at Geneabloggers. There are dozens and dozens of interesting ones but a few really stood out because of a particular post. I am passing the "One Lovely Blog" award on to the following blogs (listed in no particular order) and the posts that caught my eye -

• iSeeAncestors' post Genealogy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Skipping Down Memory Lane's post Update on Dorothy
• Pid Was Her Name's post Tuesday's Tip - The Undiscovered Repository
• Curbow-Montoya Family's post Aunt Ramona - Maria Ramoncita Montoya Gallegos
• Discovering Latvian Roots' post Paying Attention to Details
• Totally Related's post The Mystery of Minnie, Part II (and do read Part I, as well)
• A Hoyt Family Genealogy's post Maritime Monday - "Uncle Eddie" Stewart
• A Hundred Years Ago's post Sibling Teasing
• Elrod Famiy History's post Who Was Jacob Elrod II?
• The Rideouts of Bath's post John Rideout & Sons?
• aquamarinesteph's post Those Places Thursday: Coal Creek, TN 

Check them out! 

Why I blog and who's behind those Foster Grants?

I suppose the question is more do I blog, rather than why. I've been otherwise engaged for several weeks and my goals for this year have been shot full of holes. Still, I've been inching back toward my piles of geneastuff, reviewing my DNA results at 23andMe and catching up on some blog reading. Kathy Reed at Family Matters posted a wonderful piece reflecting on blogging and awards that got me thinking about the whys of blogging.

I began blogging for the glaringly obvious reason that I have some things to say about the families I've been researching for more than thirty years. Some posts have been written to correct mistaken family trees and histories metastasizing throughout internet. Some are cousin bait (I do so love that phrase), though more are aimed at the family I know than those I've yet to meet. Most posts have simply been an effort to share what has fascinated me about my kinfolk with anyone who might care.

Two photographs I consciously look at every day are of my mother and great-aunt (in a location familiar to most family historians) and of a cousin I met when visiting Berezovo, the village where my grandfather was born.

Mary Kathryn Sawyer McKenzie and Mother c. 1990

Researching is so ingrained a part of my being that I expected to find a genetic link in my DNA results, perhaps on the 15th chromosome near the snp that says I'm a fast metabolizer of caffeine. I'm definitely a carrier. I feel an obligation to preserve and present the work done by my aunts, parents and grandmothers. The photo of Mother and Mary Kathryn encourages me. I'm a big fan of the sunglasses, too.

Paternal cousin, 1992

My cousin knew my grandfather before he left Berezovo, knew the man he was before he became defined by immigration. I look at her photograph, sitting in her daughter's home in the Ukraine with her rosy cheeked great-granddaughter peeking from the doorway, and know that I want my children to have a sense of the world my grandparents left. They never heard the accented voices I heard, never celebrated a traditional Easter, never smelled the incense and heard the music of the liturgies. I blog to preserve the fragments I know, to present the fragments I find.

For a happily solitary person (hermit and antisocial are other words that come to mind) I'm finding the social aspects of blogging engaging.  When I began I saw no reason to share any information about myself - including my name. But I have come to "know" other bloggers as I read their posts, to care about them and the families they write about with such love, laughter and even acerbity.

I've spent several days mulling over anonymity as even my blog title went AWOL for a time. I am sharing my name and genetic information with complete strangers - at times it feels I'm standing on street corners tossing it to the winds. It seems absurd to hide behind Nolichucky Roots any longer - and it's such a mouthful. Especially when compared to Susan Clark (curtsying and saying how 'de do).

Scattered thoughts and daffodils

Some rights reserved by E>mar

I feel rather like one of the daffodils in my yard pushing through the clay soil's surface and this week's snow. I can feel the warmth, know the sun is up there somewhere and am working my way up.

Life briefly interrupted my research and blogging. A good thing. I'm more than a little fond of the living folks that populate my hearth and heart and am in no rush for them to be promoted to a better world. Fortunately, they feel the same way and whatever powers are operating in the universe concur. Blessings and thanks to them all.

~~~

During my absence, ever so quietly, my blog turned one year old. No candles - not even the belly rubs my dog got on her birthday last week. I am quite pleased by that reserved milestone. My motivation for beginning this blog was to share the information and documents I had gathered from my relatives and some small victories in my research. While I've been gone people searching the web for information on William Pereksta, Edward Turner, Philip Mulkey, the Sinking Creek Baptist Church and slavery in Washington County, TN have landed on my blog. I hope they've found useful information or hints.  I do hope to see a search for one of the women of our families at some point. How 'bout Margaret Meredith?

~~~ 

I did receive notice that the DNA sample I sent into 23andMe was ready to review. I've been working through the information presented. The medical information is far more interesting than I'd suspected, though there is little new information - with the exception that I am unusually sensitive to a medication that has had great prominence in our household these last few weeks. Explains some of our recent adventures...

I am beginning to contact some of the 985 "cousins" that were identified.  985.  Really.  I hope the 800 plus identified as "distant" aren't waiting up.

One early success connected me to someone with deep Washington County, TN roots and some common surnames. I'm looking forward to seeing if we can make any paper connection for we appear to descend from previously unlinked Duncan and Mulkey families. You know the situation - same name, same place, same time but no evidence connecting the two families. Maybe the minute snip of DNA we share will point us toward a connection.

~~~

I doubt I'll ever catch up on blog reading, and it will take a few days at least to pull out my working piles that were stowed away. I did see Family Tree Magazine's announcement of its 40 Best Genealogy Blogs and raised a cup of coffee in honor of them all. Superb choices and great reading. Congratulations!

Blog reading will be even more fun while I'm searching for some new blogs to read. With over 1700 blogs listed at Geneabloggers I know I've barely scratched the surface. But two of my favorite bloggers (love fest!) Yvonne at The Mashburn Collection and Margel at 2338 Washington Blvd. have awarded me the "One Lovely Blogger" award. I need to pass it on to 15 new to me blogs - and frankly I'm so out of the loop right now I can barely remember my own blog's name. Give me a week or two to get my head above ground and I'll do you both proud. Thank you Yvonne and Margel. The camaraderie and support from other genealogy bloggers has been the single most exciting and unexpected gift of this last year.

Happy Spring!