The real magic of genealogy manifests outside the traditional box—beyond the standard family tree data. Let me tell you about a man named Riley and the odd place I found the next piece of his story.
Golden Egg Genealogist (Selected Legacy Content)
Genealogical Society Boards versus Committees—Forests and Trees
When your genealogical society board of directors gathers for meetings, are they steering the organization, or are they deciding if you will serve orange or apple juice at a seminar? Are they minding the forest or pruning trees?
Paperless Genealogy: A Commitment
Today, as I watch the Notre Dame Cathedral in flames, I know I cannot put this post off any longer. Our research is a fragile thing, if dependent upon paper files. It’s unsafe if dependent upon a single copy in any form. Not even two copies will save it in a disaster, if both are kept together. You’ve heard it all before. You need to commit to paperless genealogy. But today, please hear it and act.
High-Powered Hit-and-Run Data Grabbing Technique
You’ve invested a day off and a tank of gas to have a precious four hours at an ancestral county courthouse, state archive, or local library. You want to make the most of every minute. Here’s my high-powered hit-and-run data grabbing technique to get home with maximum ancestral data in minimum time.
What’s in a Name? Conflicting Practicalities.
In genealogy, a rose by any other name may not smell sweet. A feud broils over what is acceptable, when it comes to naming conventions. Do you use question marks for unknown portions of a name? Do you write helpful information in the suffix field? Congratulations, we’ll call you a Montague! Do you get annoyed when you see people doing the above, fearing trashy data transfers—a messed-up GEDCOM? You, friend, we’ll call a Capulet. In determining how to use the name fields in our software, we find ourselves having to choose the house of Montague or Capulet—expedient practicality or clean data sharing. Some want both. Starry-eyed optimist I may be, but with the right tools and rules, I think Romeo and Juliet can have a future together.
Childless Siblings & Empty Silhouettes
Some of us will never be ancestors. We have no descendants. We died too young, or we married too old. We stayed single and took care of our parents or stayed single just because. Or married and couldn’t or married and didn’t. For any number of reasons or none, we died childless. So, who will tell our story?
Multi-Great Style or the Great-Great-Great Tongue-Twister
What label do I attach to a great-great-great-grandmother in speech and in writing? Because, let’s face it, “great-great-great-grandmother” is just a ridiculous mouthful. Do I say “3-times-great-grandmother”? “Third-great-grandmother”? Or, more concisely in writing, “3rd-great-grandmother”? Do I need the hyphens? Does the genealogy field have a standard?
The Genealogical Society: Revise or Demise?
Genealogy is emerging, growing, thriving. So why do we hear rumors of the impending death of the local genealogical society? Is it “revise or demise” for these once-vital pillars of family history research? And what is the serious genealogist’s obligation to local organizations?