Musings on a Munday Rootstech Effect

Sadly, I did not attend Rootstech 2011 but I plan to be there in 2012!  I've read many of the rave reviews those in attendance have given and my #rootstech Twitter feed is still very active.  There is a movement here that this conference started and I for one am looking forward eagerly to see where it takes genealogy.

On the Rootstech website the major conference sponsors are listed at the bottom of the page.  That's a fairly impressive list considering several are not companies you associate with genealogy:

• Microsoft
• Dell
• Novell
• Oracle
• Sprint

There are a couple of others, but these jumped out at me.  Hmmmmm who is noticeably missing???  Who could it be???  Maybe their name starts with an A and ends with pple!?!  I heard that there were over 3,000 attendees and I think 3,000 is worth Apple's time to visit.

It will be interesting to see how the sponsorships change and increase for 2012 along with the exhibitors.  I also hope the conference planners plan for significantly more than 3,000 next year!  Looking forward to it!

GHLL Weekly Updates

New Genealogy and History Data posted for week of February 28, 2011 - March 6, 2011.





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Mary AND Her Daughter Make Me Contrary

For 2011 my genealogy goal was to find my great grandmother Mary.  I detailed in a post the challenges I was facing in finding information about her.  I had hoped, with all my focus on this one task, that I was going to be making quick progress where I hadn't before.  What is that saying about the best laid plans?? :)

With expectations of finding more details on Mary, I requested her daughter's (Una/Viola) birth certificate from Illinois.  No birth certificate was found.  I reviewed Una/Viola's funeral book again slowly, but there is not any mention of a mother, Mary or any father.

Lucky for me, Una/Viola died in Missouri and our Secretary of State's Office has death certificates from 1910-1960 available online for free.  Una/Viola died in 1960, so I was actually very lucky!  After downloading the certificate I started extracting the information it contained.  The parents are listed as Joseph Evingham and Martha Smith.  This was the first reference I had found of her father's name, that information by itself was exciting.  However, Martha Smith?  Smith?  Really?  Is Mary a common nickname for Martha?  I didn't think so and this now creates more questions.  Is the Mary listed in the census records with Una/Viola really Martha and is it a coincidence that the man listed as a servant has the last name of Smith?

I am now off to see what I can find about Joseph Evingham and Martha Smith in Ohio and Illinois.  I will also continue to research Una/Viola in an attempt to find more references to her parents.  The quest continues!!

Wordless Wednesday Current

 

Tombstone Tuesday Kuhn

Musings on a Munday Primary Sources

Is a replacement birth certificate considered a primary source?  I understand primary source documents to be those that were created near the time and place of the event.  What if the replacement birth certificate was created 20 years after the birth?  Of course, I hope that the parent that provided the information does remember the circumstances surrounding the birth of their child, but one never knows.

Wordless Wednesday Ripple

 

Tombstone Tuesday Cochran

Musings on a Munday Who Do You Think You Are?

Season 2 of Who Do You Think You Are? is underway on NBC. The second show featured Tim McGraw.

Let me start by saying that I love every single thing about this show! I love the celebrities, I love the researchers, I love seeing the libraries and repositories, I love the theme music but most of all I love that there is a genealogy based television show on network TV during prime time!

I approach this show as entertainment and see it as a great vehicle for exposing genealogy to the masses. It's not a how-to research show and it's not a how-to handle documents show. Who Do You Think You Are? is an awareness show. Do your non-genealogy friends and family know that they could actually find a document in a journal from the 1700's about their ancestor? Probably not. But if they watch this show, they will learn that and more. This show may be the catalyst they need to begin tracing their own roots and that's what Who Do You Think You Are? is all about.

GHLL Weekly Updates

New Genealogy and History Data posted for week of February 14, 2011 - February 20, 2011.





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Wordless Wednesday Ebb

 

Tombstone Tuesday Kling

Musings on a Munday SMASH Book

I came across a new product from EK Success Brands, a scrapbooking and paper crafting company. I imagine the SMASH Book was designed with scrappers and crafters in mind. While I do scrapbook, I immediately saw the appeal of this product from a genealogists point of view! I could see devoting a book to a single ancestor or family, full of those sticky notes and partial pieces of paper that we are not supposed to use. Perhaps you have ancestors that worked in an interesting field and you've accumulated little bits and pieces of information, the SMASH Book would be a perfect place to keep it all together. This would also be a great tool to scrapbook a family history road trip as you go.

The possibilities for using SMASH Book are really endless and I'm excited to get started! SMASH Book will be available in April, 2011.

Full disclosure...the video has music...and it's very addicting. You will be humming the song the rest of the day! :)

GHLL Weekly Updates

New Genealogy and History Data posted for week of February 7, 2011 - February 13, 2011.





Click tree to view updates to:
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Wordless Wednesday Breathtaking

 

Tombstone Tuesday Martin