MYOG - Mine, Yours, and the Other Guy's Genealogy: June 2014

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Ancestry.com - Saying Goodbye for Now.

It is time to let Ancestry.com go. I have exhausted the information search in this tool. I almost think that I should keep my subscription going but then remind myself that I have not used it in over six months. So, Ancestry.com must go.

Instead, I have purchased Family Tree Maker and downloaded all of my various family trees from Ancestry.com. I can't wait to start my clean up of these trees offline and utilize the publishing features within this software.

I have a few more weeks of my Ancestry.com subscription. I will probably take some time to make sure that the information that I've downloaded is complete. After that, the trees I have online are what they are. I have set the privacy settings on them to private and not searchable. That does not mean my profile won't be found. My profile has my email address with it.

My new project will be to embark on a more personalized family tree. We will see where it takes me. This blog will still be my portal to connect with others and distant family.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Year 4 of MYOG

This is year 4 of my blog! I leave you with my first post ever below originally posted on June 14, 2010:

It begins with where you came from.

It begins with where you came from. Right? Well sure. You came from your parents after all. Where did they come from? The simple answer might be "their parents". As we all know this builds on itself and follows a line backward in time. The line also splits off to others, creating more branches. I suppose that's why it's called a Family Tree. Genealogy is more than that. In my opinion, it is the network of family histories that builds on each other. It can allow us to discover our national origins and others who are distantly, or not so distantly, related to us.

I am seeking to discover not just my family tree but a network of family who may be scattered across the United States and beyond, or who might be living in my neighborhood. Sometimes it disappoints me how family can lose touch over time. In another instant, I start to think about my own situation and how "busy, busy, busy" I am in my daily life. I run out of time to keep in touch, I suppose. Or is it a choice? Personalities can sometimes interfere as can life's experiences some of which are not so kind. They can really split up a family despite individual's best efforts to remain close. I see that in my own family line going back and find that some days I am confronted with it in my own expanded family dynamic.

Anyway, I thought I'd start a blog of sorts about genealogy called "Mine, Yours', and the Other Guy's Genealogy". I've been working on my family tree off and on since about 1990. In the past, whenever I had an opportunity to grab onto to some information, I took it. At the age of 19, I recall sitting at my grandparents dining room table in Long Island, New York, asking them about their parents and on up the line. I wrote the information down as quickly as I could on one sheet of paper. I remember my grandmother correcting my granddad on facts of his family line. It was pretty funny to witness. They knew each other very well along with all of those family members which they really weren't in contact with any longer. For various reasons, everyone seemed to have gone their own way. Maybe some individuals or families moved away, passed away, or just got "busy, busy, busy".

My mother recently gave me the sheet that she'd held onto for the past 20 years. It had some definite "hints" on it that I'd forgotten. I only wished that I'd asked for more information and written more down. On that day in the summer of 1990, I did receive a gift though......a gift of finding out where my dad came from. At least it was a start.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Ready, Set, Go!

I think that I am ready to jump back into my genealogy. My only concern is where to start. I have lots of loose ends to tie up and/or re-investigate. I also have lots of photos go to through. Additionally, my work will be at a slower pace.

A decision on whether to keep my Ancestry.com subscription going or allow it to expire needs to be made. Even if it expires, my family trees will continue to live online. Some have mistakes and need fixing. I have to decide what to work on next before the expiration.

Photos are my priority. My grandma's photo album is not getting any better in the state that its in. My mom's photo album seems to be in worse shape than the aforementioned. Scanning of photos and building a private photo sharing site seem to be a priority.

Creating a second Shutterfly book about my family for my children is also on the list. That can probably wait until the Fall. I'd like to present the book as a Christmas gift. It will be the second volume. The first book was designed to be more of an introduction to our ancestors. It easily shows the connections of family from one generation to the next in photos. I may have more challenges on my father's side as there are fewer photos.

My blog...This blog could use some cleaning up. I've got old posts with outdated information that seem to hit people's search engines before more updated blog posts show up. This concerns me. I began posting in 2010 when I knew little information about my family lines. By 2012, I had more complete information about all of my family lines and started making posts with complete and corrected information. I should archive my older posts and call it day.

As you can tell, I have some work ahead of me. Photos will ultimately take first priority. I am faced with the reality that my living relatives will not be around forever and the photos of the past delight people. A picture is worth a thousand words. It really is more than that. A photo can stir memories of a time, a place, and people that we had forgotten.