First Seven Days of Advent Calendar Topics

 First Seven Days of Advent Calendar Topics

 I still seek Guest Posts for one or more of the days of Advent - see the following
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - first seven days.

December 1 – The Christmas Tree
: Did you have a real tree or was it artificial? How big was the tree? Who decorated the tree? What types of Christmas trees did your ancestors have?
December 2 – Holiday Foods
: Did your family or ancestors serve traditional dishes for the holidays? Was there one dish that was unusual?
December 3 – Christmas Tree Ornaments
: Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?
December 4 – Christmas Cards
: Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?
December 5 – Outdoor Decorations
: Did people in your neighborhood decorate with lights? Did some people really go “all out” when decorating? Any stories involving your ancestors and decorations?
December 6 – Santa Claus
: Did you ever send a letter to Santa? Did you ever visit Santa and “make a list?” Do you still believe in Santa Claus?
December 7 – Holiday Parties
: Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?

If you have a one, two or three paragraph comment you would like to include here, send it to me by email, or even in the comments here, and I will include it in the post for the correct day; likely along with my own comments. Let's give it a try.


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Publish Post

Carnival of Genealogy - 100th Edition - 'There's one in every family!'

Carnival of Genealogy - 100th Edition - 'There's one in every family!'

It's a FAMILY REUNION - the 100th Edition of Carnival of Genealogy.

And the topic for the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is…

“There’s one in every family!”

My perspective in these comments relate to the pre-1940 era; not recent years when other sociological factors have perhaps become more prevalent. It also relates primarily to the families with over five children living to adult age that was so prevalent for most of the years of the eighteen and nineteenth centuries where most of my research has been done..

There is at least one single person in (nearly) every family.

It may be a 'maiden lady' or a 'bachelor,' but it has always been interesting to me from my early days of family research that this seems to be true... in nearly every family with which I have worked. I've not done a statistical analysis, but this is my anecdotal observation. Your observations may be similar or different, of course. I'd be interested in your thoughts; comments welcomed.

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Follow Friday - 26 Nov 2010

Follow Friday - 26 Nov 2010

My recommendations this week. As usual, I normally pick one or two good posts from my week's readings, or left from the prior week! Hope they are useful or at least interesting to you, as well! If it is your first visit, even better!  ;-)


POST 1:

Thomas at GeneaBloggers.com frequently offers useful tips and recommendations for genealogy bloggers and others.  His recent "Writing Tips for Genealogy Bloggers" is worth checking out, again, if you have not spent some time there. We can each use one or more of the tips, whether we are newbees or old-timers as reminders.

What do you think?  ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Follow Friday - 19 Nov 2010

Follow Friday - 19 Nov 2010

My recommendations this week. As usual, I normally pick one or two good posts from my week's readings, or left from the prior week! Hope they are useful or at least interesting to you, as well! If it is your first visit, even better!  ;-)


POST 1:

I am pleased to again recommend a fine post by Dan Curtis - Professional Personal Historian: "What I've Learned About Getting "Truthful" Interviews."

The post is directed at the personal history interview, but the seven point discussion really speaks to all of the genealogy and family history research we do on our family and ancestors as well, in my view. We want the "truth" - but does the "whole truth and nothing but the truth" always contribute in a positive way to what we hope to accomplish in our research and especially in our sharing of our family story?

I do not mean to suggest we "not seek the truth." To the contrary, following the context Dan builds with his seven points, I believe, provides us a better framework within which to tell our family stories.

What to you think?  ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Family Tree Maker for Mac: Merging Family Trees

Family Tree Maker for Mac: Merging Family Trees

Continuing the progress report on migration to the new Family Tree Maker (FTM) for Mac genealogy software...

I decided to move my "family tree" to it; actually, I have three family tree files. You may have a similar situation. I have my primary tree and two others based on much research but which I have not previously merged with the main tree. The larger of the two was originally created based on a branch of my maternal side, Kinnick, where we had not yet proven the relationship for certain (the NC-Indiana branch). The third, a smaller set, was from back in colonial times (Maryland - Brightwell line).

With the family relationship demonstrated on the larger set and the third, smaller set representing the earlier days of each, I decided to merge the three files in setting up the new software. Have you found it necessary to merge genealogy software files? In the past, this has been quite a challenge, in many cases. I was anxious to see how the new software handled this situation.

With each of three trees successfully loaded using Family Tree Maker for Mac on my Mac, I moved ahead to merge the smaller of the two files into my main tree. To my pleasant surprise, the very first questions the software asked was, "Do you want to backup your file." Excellent. In the past, I have lost my primary file sometimes in the process of doing a merge. Have you had that experience? Well, it immediately provided the click-click process to back up the file, and moved to the merge. I only needed to enter the information to access the file to be merged, answer some specific questions about what I wanted to include, and the merge occurred. Since the second file was only a few hundred individuals, it took little time. The merge identified 33 individuals that were possible "overlaps" or duplicates. The software provided a worksheet screen with multiple options to include and exclude proper information. It felt good working through these options. The merge was successful.

With a small success in hand, I felt confident to follow the same process with the larger file, merging it into the newly created merged file. The only difference was that with several thousand names, rather than a few hundred, the merge took much, much longer. There were only 33 individuals to be resolved, this time; so that was nice. With my newly integrated major file, I look forward to working with the many other features available on the Family Tree Maker for Mac.


Families are Forever!  ;-)

FTM for Mac: Installation and GEDCOM issues

FTM for Mac: Installation and GEDCOM issues

Today my wife and I received our copy of the CD with the new Family Tree Maker (FTM) for Mac genealogy software. I hope to share some comments, here, from time to time, as I install and migrate my family research to this new software on the Mac from my old PC laptop using RootsMagic4. Most of my research work took place between 1995 and 2003 - first on Reunion on the Mac, then on RootsMagic on the PC, through several transfers and iterations of software. I know I lost a lot of my notes/citations when I moved from Reunion to the PC. It appears I will retain my notes from the PC back to the Mac.

The installation of the FTM for Mac from the CD went very quickly. I use a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X Version 10.5.8 with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, for those who care about such things.

Earlier, I had created GEDCOM files from each of my three family databases via RootsMagic4. I must admit that I was shocked when they were unacceptable to the FTM for Mac because: "GEDCOM files must be 5.5 or higher." I have the latest update of RootsMagic4 on my PC, why would the GEDCOM generated there not be acceptable???

Curiously, as I was "fooling around" trying to figure out what to do, I double-clicked one of the GEDCOM files on the PC - and it opened up in Family Tree Maker 11, which I had loaded on the PC at some time in the past, but never used. After verifying that all my information appeared to be there, I created a Export/GEDCOM file in FTM11. When I opened that in the Mac on the FTM for Mac, it opened just fine. I proceeded to do the same with the other two files.

And life goes on...

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Follow Friday - 12 Nov 2010

Follow Friday - 12 Nov 2010

My recommendations this week. As usual, I normally pick one or two good posts from my week's readings, or left from the prior week! Hope they are useful or at least interesting to you, as well! If it is your first visit, even better!  ;-)


POST 1:

It has been a while since I have had a chance to mention a blog post by my friend, Kathleen Brandt, at a3Genealogy: Accurate Accessible Answers. Her post, "But, It Doesn't Follow Logic!" really caught my attention. She gives outstanding examples to back up her assertion that you must know/look at the laws of the time and place you are researching. But, of course, she just scratches the surface. Use these examples to remind yourself to properly followup in your personal research.


POST 2:

This recommendation could have come from any of several places, but I am using Randy Seaver's post: "Can we really build a Better GEDCOM?" I think this development and the wikispace being used to collaboratively move forward is very important to each of us doing genealogy research. The GEDCOM standard is critical to us all, but it can be improved. Check out the links, and, if you have the skills, the interests and the time, I encourage you to participate at an appropriate level.


Comments are welcome, as always!


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Follow Friday - 5 Nov 2010

Follow Friday - 5 Nov 2010

My recommendations this week. As usual, I normally pick one or two good posts from my week's readings, or left from the prior week! Hope they are useful or at least interesting to you, as well! If it is your first visit, even better!  ;-)


POST 1:

This is really a multiple recommendation because it is: Monday's Link Roundup from Dan Curtis. He is Personal Historian, that I'm sure I have mentioned before. I recommend signing up to be on his email list. He sharing a 'plethora' of useful and interesting information.

On this particular Link Roundup, I was especially interested in 'UNESCO's Ten Best Intangible Cultural Heritage Sites,' and '10 Tips for Blogging Your Memoir or Any Book.' You will have your personal favorites, I'm sure!


Families are Forever!  ;-)

100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy upcoming

100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy upcoming

This seems to be the week to promote upcoming blogging activities. I'll use the GeneaBlogger link to the call for submissions. Hope you will help be part of the 100+ submissions to surpass the goal. I do plan to be a part, as well. Here is a summary excerpt:

"And the topic for the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is… “There’s one in every family!” Bring your stories of colorful characters, unique heirlooms, mouth-watering recipes, most dearly beloved pets, whatever! Interpret as you like. Every family has “special” individuals, you know, the ones with a green thumb, the black sheep, the lone wolf, the blue-ribbon cook, the story-teller, the geek! I know you have treasured recipes and amazing heirlooms you’ve yet to share! Tell us about them and become a part of history in the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! The deadline for submissions is December 1st."


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Advent Calendar - Coming in December

This is just an alert to let you all know that I am planning to participate in the Advent Calendar project - I issued an invitation to my Facebook friends and family members to send me guest posts. We'll see what happens.

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories blog has all the details. You are invited to send a guest post, as well. Just send me a email with Advent Calendar in the subject line and the date to publish your guest post.

Stop back regularly to see how this new project works!  ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)