52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History – Week 2
06 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in 52 Weeks of Genealogy Tags: ancestors, genealogy, Holik, Marshfield, Missouri, winter
Week 2: Winter
What was winter like where and when you grew up? Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.
I spent most of my growing up years living in southwest Missouri where there was a lot of ice and snow each winter. I remember one Christmas Day when my mom had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after we ate Christmas lunch and the power went out. We had snow on the ground and then ice. Lots of ice. We were lucky to have a wood fire place in our living room and wood to burn because the power was out for days. I remember we even ended up cutting up and burning an old living room chair towards the end of that power outage.
We lived on 10 acres and behind and to the right of the house the land dipped down slightly and there was a huge low-lying area. When it would rain too much, it would flood. When it would snow too much, then melt, it would flood. When it would snow too much, melt, then freeze again, we could go ice skating.
Winter was always an adventure because we lived four miles out of town up a steep hill. School was closed a lot when the weather got too bad. The town just couldn’t get the roads clear enough for all the kids who lived outside of city limits. Snow days meant play days.
Mystery Monday – Chicago Butcher Shop 1928
31 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: ancestors, blogger, Chicago, family history researchers, genealogical research, genealogical researchers, genealogy research, generations, professional genealogy, research genealogy, researching family history, writing family history
This weekend I was going through boxes of memorabilia to sort and organize it. I came across this photograph which had been in one of my uncle’s old albums. I’m not sure who Louie is. A friend of my grandpa’s? I wish the people sitting on the stools were not so blurred and faded. Regardless, I think it is an interesting picture of the time period and wanted to share. Maybe someone will see this and know who it is and where it was taken.
Blogging to Write Family History
15 Jan 2011 1 Comment
in Blogging Tags: ancestor, ancestors, blogger, family, family histories, family history, family history researchers, genealogical researchers, genealogist, genealogy, genealogy society
Blogging is a fantastic avenue when you begin to write your family history. Blogging allows genealogical researchers to write out their brick walls and frustrations. Sometimes other researchers are able to offer suggestions on how to break down those walls. For some researchers, just simply putting a research problem out there and walking away can lead to more success on that issue down the road.
The photo is of my great, great grandfather, Jan Zajicek. Family story is he lived in Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire and saved the dining room table during the blaze. I heard this story when I was in my mid-20′s and had just started researching. My initial thought was Jan was a married man working as a tailor and perhaps the dining room table was where he did some of his work. To me, it made sense he would try to save it.
Fast forward a couple of years and some major research time. I discovered Jan was not a married man but a teenager! He was working as a tailor but I was no closer to discovering the truth about the table. His family did live in Chicago during the time of the Great Fire, but my brick wall is locating his 1871 address. This remains a brick wall for me, but I have blogged about it so who knows. Maybe an answer will present itself or another blogger will suggest a resource I overlooked.
Some genealogists and family history researchers use blogging as a tool to publish their family histories. What does it mean to publish though? Publish means to write up and present the information to someone, whether it is a family member or local genealogy society, national journal, or publish an actual book.
Blogging allows people to explore many of their family history topics in depth and in a more shallow way. These blog posts can eventually become the beginning of a family history book. Blogging also allows connections to be made between researchers who share the same ancestors.
Where do you start to create a genealogy blog? Check out Geneabloggers. Thomas MacEntee, of High-Definition Genealogy has created a site full of resources for those just getting started and seasoned bloggers. Blogs are submitted and listed by type of blog. There are daily blogging themes posted to help provide blogging topic ideas. Thomas also posts interviews with people around the genealogy community, reviews of books and products, and online safety information we all need.
Explore blogging platforms such as Blogger and WordPress are WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) and HTML publishing platforms. Both are very easy to use with many templates available.
So what are you waiting for? Stop reading and go explore some of these genealogy blog resources and get started today. Leave a comment and post your blog if you begin. I’d love to stop by and read it.
Additional Family History Resources
14 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Genealogy Research Tags: ancestor, ancestors, census records, Chicago, family histories, family history, family history resources, genealogist, genealogy, military records
There are many other family history resources available to discover preliminary genealogy information. I will list resources here but for more in-depth how-to get started on your research, see my list of resources below.
Major Resources for family history information
- Vital records
- Military records
- Census records
- Probate records
- Naturalization records
- Maps
- Cemeteries
- Property records
- Published family histories
- City directories
Resources to help get you started
Free Genealogy Guide. I like this site because it provides free resources on getting started.
Blog of a Genealogist in Training. This site is run by a fellow Chicago-area genealogist. She is on a different educational path than I am so be sure to check her out to learn more about learning to research.
Geneabloggers. Need help getting started with research or writing or other topics? Check out a list of over 1,500 genealogy and family history blog topics.
Investigate these family history resources and begin documenting your ancestors lives.
Census Research
12 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Census Tags: ancestor, ancestors, ancestry, census records, family, family history, family tree, genealogy
Census research is an important part of genealogical research especially when building family group sheets. Using the U.S. Federal Census allows researchers to help prove, disprove, and collect information on ancestors. These documents have been around since 1790 and are enumerated every 10 years. Records can also be searched for the same surname in the area in which your ancestor lived to possibly link new family together.
What information is available?
A U.S. Federal Census typically contains these items:
- Name
- Street Address
- Age or birth month and year
- Immigration and naturalization information
- Occupation
- Home ownership
The enumeration forms vary year to year. Additional fields that are included in some census years are:
- How many children born to mother
- How many children still living
- Veterans status
- Mother tongue
- Does the person speak English
- Employment information: status, how many days unemployed, occupation
Tips on using the census
It is important to start with the most recent census available and work backwards. Work with what is known to the unknown basically. Record all the information you find each enumeration on an extract sheet or in your family tree database. Note the source, where the information came from, so you can refer to it easily again if needed. Search on spelling variations because census takers did not always spell the names correctly or when the record is indexed to be searched online, the transcriptionist wrote it down the way she saw it which may not be the same way someone else sees it.
Where can I find the records?
Records can be found online at several paid genealogy services such as Ancestry. The National Archives has the records on microfilm. Family History Centers, major research libraries, state archives and state libraries are all places to check.
So what are you waiting for? Start researching your ancestors in U.S. Federal Census Records today! Their stories are waiting to be told!
