Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Feb 15, 2017 4:10:31 GMT
Skimming through the Ancestry thread got my brain ticking, and there seem to be a few very experienced people here. leftturnonly myboysnmeI've worked on my family tree on Ancestry for about five years, off and on. I have the benefit of a lot of groundwork laid by my grandmothers, especially my paternal grandmother, whose documents and binders I inherited. I've also been able to go to several libraries and many cemeteries and get a lot of information that way. I have not made the leap to getting primary documentation from courthouses about land ownership, wills, and such--that frankly feels really daunting. I've done some work on my husband's family, too, so that adds to my piles of info. Some of my questions are... How do you organize all of your paper information? I have a lot of photocopied pages from published family histories, local histories, newspaper pieces, etc. I have two-pocket folders, each one labeled with a family surname, and I've parceled it all out as best I can. Is this how you like to do it? How do you arrange your information, photos, etc., so that other (casual) observers can enjoy it and make sense of it? I have a lot of family members who are interested in the stories and photos, but they'll glaze over pretty fast if it's not presented in an easy to follow format. How do you back up your family tree on your own computer? I have Family Tree Maker software but the documents and records I've attached to each name in Ancestry do not show up in FTM. Plus, as far as I know, FTM will be obsolete if it isn't already. And to follow that up, I have been able to connect hundreds of census record pages, military records, and other public records to people in my family tree via Ancestry. But I would like to have my own back-ups of that stuff. Can I copy this stuff over to my own computer files? Should I try to make printouts? We're talking an enormous amount of stuff. I guess my problem is that I am drowning in information (which is a good thing!) and I feel paralyzed because I don't know how to organize the actual stuff or the virtual stuff for my own use. Do I just rely on Ancestry to hold and organize it all ? In my head, I feel like I need real books, real paper copies, real printed photos of everything. But do I? I would love to hear about your own experiences.
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Post by stefdesign on Feb 15, 2017 4:50:57 GMT
I'm looking for similar answers. I have file folders full of info, and digital files in a variety of places, plus info on Ancestry and FamilySearch. But no organization to speak of. But I sure love the search!
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 15, 2017 4:58:46 GMT
I don't have as much as that, but I too feel like I'm lost in this information and not sure how to even organize my smallest stuff. Right now I have one 12x12 2inch deep container that has all my notes and pictures in it. Then I have pile for my mom's side and one pile for my dad's side. Right now I try to work on my dad's side and a lot of them have the same name or nicknames and bam I get confused on who is who. Anyways, yes I would too like to see how other organize their stuff. I need help as well.
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Post by melanell on Feb 15, 2017 5:05:07 GMT
I have binders that I keep my paper notes in. I don't currently have digital or printed copies of every record I have ever viewed. Instead, I keep printed Family Group Sheets for each family. I fill in the info on the front, and I transcribe info from records about the family on the back. And I did that for a very long time. I also kept lined notebook paper to write down anecdotes, stories, memories, etc. Things such as census reports, that I know are available for free at any time online in numerous places, I don't bother printing or keeping digital copies of unless there is a particularly vital piece of info included on them, they were very hard find, or it's a branch that I am struggling with and I want every last speck of info in a format I can hold and rearrange and move around. I don't have a digital tree even close to finished right now. I have a started private tree on ancestry, because it's free, and since it's not a priority for me, free is good. (I keep it private because it is a free account and therefore there is no way for anyone to contact me via ancestry to ask me about it. And since it's so little of the info I have, I figure it would lead to lots of questions that no one could ask me. I don't want to confuse or frustrate people.
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Post by melanell on Feb 15, 2017 5:15:06 GMT
My binders are always growing and multiplying. Back when I first started I had one binder & it held everything. Then I had one for my family and one for DH's. Then two for mine (maternal/paternal) and two for DH. And for one parent each, I still have only one binder because their families are all recent immigrants, so I have much less info for them. But for my dad and MIL, I have to keep getting more binders because their roots just keep going further and further back in the states, and so I keep finding more and more info. If I have a family or a surname that is really giving me a hard time, then they get their own binder and I print every darn thing I can find on them. I have always learned best by reading and writing, so I will keep rewriting info down in outline form, index cards, whatever, looking for any angle I might try next or any conclusion I failed to make earlier. I do want to get more organized, because I know that right now, decades of my work exists only in those binders and that's scary. I think ultimately, I'd like to have a binder per surname or branch, depending on the size, and a CD of digital info kept inside the proper binder. And I'd like to get the tree online finished. But right now, it's hard for me to devote time to that because I feel like I need to spend my time wringing more info from my relatives. I started asking questions back in 1985, and I am always still thinking of new questions to ask. And on top of that, I've moved forward in several lines and reached out to people online, so I now have all of these great old photos to add to what I already had, and I need to get all of those in digital format, too. So my plan is to just go one surname/branch at a time, starting with the ones I know the least about and/or have the least records, articles, photos for, and get things organized like that. The hard part is not ditching the organizing and going back to researching instead.
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 15, 2017 5:42:01 GMT
The newest versions of Family Tree Maker sync with your trees at Ancestry. Ancestry stopped selling FTM at the end of 2015 but were going to support it through 2016. During the year, another company bought FTM. I haven't checked on it recently, but I'm guessing that you can buy some new version of FTM that will sync with Ancestry. When you sync, all the documents that you link at Ancestry are downloaded to your computer and continue to live on your computer even when you don't have an actively paid subscription. Between the time Ancestry declared they were ridding themselves of FTM and there was news that it would be bought by someone else, I changed what I was doing. (Well, that and I bought a laptop that I do most of my work on and FTM is on my old desktop.... which I've typically been hundred of miles away from. ) I bought a different program* and I began doing my active work directly at Ancestry. (Someday in the near future, I'll resync Ancestry with my computer.) For EVERY document you find, you should have Ancestry controls to download that document (or page) to your computer. If, for some reason, you aren't able to download directly, you can take a screenshot and save your information that way. You can do this without Family Tree Maker or any other computer program. These digital documents save a LOT of room over the paper ones. It's your personal decision to make about which paper documents you want to keep and which you are willing to save as only a digital copy. As long as you have computer access to them, census records that are easily found in a variety of locations is a good place to consider going digital only. I suggest developing an organizing system for your digital files and then, when you get something that works well for you, work on your paper files instead of trying to tackle the paper first. No matter how great someone else's system looks to you, it might not be the way you naturally think. There are some really great organizing videos both on Youtube and at Legacy.com. Watch a few and see what makes sense to you. I have followed some suggestions and my digital files are now really well organized. MOST documents I attach directly to the person (or people) that are named in them. Pay attention when you're attaching files from sites like Ancestry. There may be an entire file of papers copied that go along with your grandfather's estate, for example, but when you attach it, only the first page will actually show in your gallery. You'll have to use the Ancestry viewer (and that requires a currently paid subscription) to see the other pages. Take advantage of it when you have it and go ahead and download each page individually to your computer. You can turn right around and then upload those pages individually to that individual(s), and you can also copy the source certifications for those pages into the description fields available for what you upload. You'll be able to see whatever you upload even if you don't have a currently paid subscription, so you have the option of what you want to keep on your computer and what you are willing to erase. On my computer, I have a general folder labeled genealogy. (or something similar) Within that folder, I have a folder for headstones, a folder for portraits (typically not current photos of living people but for older ancestors), a folder for newspaper clippings and other ephemera and a folder for photos of different cemeteries (not individual stones/markers). I have a different folder for locations. Within the location folder, I have folders by state. Within the state folders, I have counties and within the counties, I make folders as needed for the records I have. I've found this a really terrific way to file such things as marriage or cemetery records where there are a number of people from different families. If I want to check a cemetery list to see which lot someone is in, I can go to that state, that county, perhaps that city, and then that cemetery and there it is. I can also attach information directly to individuals, but this is where this information lives. It's best to standardize how you record everything. Dates written like 14 Feb 2017 leave no room for doubt. 2/10/17 could be Feb 10, 2017, 2 Oct 2017, or even some time in 1917 or 1817. It takes no more effort to make it clear and it saves an enormous amount of effort trying to decide what was intended down the road. For something like a newspaper clipping for a person, I'll record it as Jones, Sarah Sue -- 3 Mar 1982, Paper Name ----- You can add the city, county and/or state if it's not absolutely obvious to you where the location is. That can make the address really long, so that might not make the most sense if you have a lot of locations. I do similar for headstone photos. Smith, George Henry & Martha Mary Washington (Washington being her maiden name) is very clear to me. Take the time and effort to document where the cemetery is and where you got the photo from. I prefer to attach headstone photos immediately to my online tree and document there. I record the address as Greenway Cemetery, City, County, State, USA. I record all locations as City, County, State, Country. I come from Chester, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA. (I do not write County in there, but many people do. Just be consistent.) It's really important to spell it all out. Chester is not in Chester County, which is a neighboring county, nor is it in Delaware, which is a state a few miles down the road. When I see locations for Chester, Pennsylvania, it could mean one of two areas 20+ miles apart. Context is everything. A Chester city directory will mean Chester in Delaware County. PAY ATTENTION when you attach records like city directories. Ancestry will try to make this location as Delaware, Pennsylvania. You can edit that to make it the way you want as you attach the information. When I have a rural location that is just the county, no town or city, then I record it like Chester Co, Pennsylvania, USA. *I* hate spelling out County and United States so I never do. I'm consistent. I also do not use periods in names or locations. I would write J P Morgan just like that. I never forget and add a period when I'm filing something in my digital computer files, and that way that . never screws up the addresses for things on my computer. For paper files, I suggest looking into filing by color AND looking into filing with binders. There are also methods that are organized by type of document and numbered as you find them. Any of those can be paired with a similar location file/box/drawer/binder that is useful for those documents that are of a location and includes multiple families & typically multiple surnames. My computer keeps crashing, so I'm going to stop here before it does and I lose all I've written. If you have more questions, just ask. *Legacy
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Post by melanell on Feb 15, 2017 6:02:30 GMT
I just started renaming all of my files on my computer, and I agree that consistency is the key. Before I just saved them with whatever file name they already had, and then I had hundreds of files and no clue what was on them. So dumb. Like the death certificates from Ancestry---they have file names of about 20 digit numbers. And I saved them all that way. ugh.
Now, every marriage license is in one folder, and they are labelled, with both names in the exact same format for every file. Every death cert. has the person's surname, first name, year of death. Such a world of difference. I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place.
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,744
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Feb 15, 2017 6:03:13 GMT
thanks leftturnonly will forward info to DD and keep for reference
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 15, 2017 6:06:22 GMT
My binders are always growing and multiplying. Back when I first started I had one binder & it held everything. Then I had one for my family and one for DH's. Then two for mine (maternal/paternal) and two for DH. And for one parent each, I still have only one binder because their families are all recent immigrants, so I have much less info for them. But for my dad and MIL, I have to keep getting more binders because their roots just keep going further and further back in the states, and so I keep finding more and more info. If I have a family or a surname that is really giving me a hard time, then they get their own binder and I print every darn thing I can find on them. I have always learned best by reading and writing, so I will keep rewriting info down in outline form, index cards, whatever, looking for any angle I might try next or any conclusion I failed to make earlier. I do want to get more organized, because I know that right now, decades of my work exists only in those binders and that's scary. I think ultimately, I'd like to have a binder per surname or branch, depending on the size, and a CD of digital info kept inside the proper binder. And I'd like to get the tree online finished. But right now, it's hard for me to devote time to that because I feel like I need to spend my time wringing more info from my relatives. I started asking questions back in 1985, and I am always still thinking of new questions to ask. And on top of that, I've moved forward in several lines and reached out to people online, so I now have all of these great old photos to add to what I already had, and I need to get all of those in digital format, too. So my plan is to just go one surname/branch at a time, starting with the ones I know the least about and/or have the least records, articles, photos for, and get things organized like that. The hard part is not ditching the organizing and going back to researching instead. I lost all my information on Family Tree Maker three different times. The last time, I had everything backed up on 3 different computers and LOST ALL OF IT. I am the ONLY one who has the family history for my late husband's family, and I have it for the past several hundred years. I am the ONLY one who has paid attention to the family history of my own family. I had to go back and start again 2 years ago when I found my original paper family group sheets and pedigrees. (Plus other paper documentation including histories written long ago.) I've spent the majority of the past several years far away from my paper records - and even my desk top. I could not have gotten as much accomplished these past couple of years if I hadn't worked so diligently with the tools available at Ancestry. Now, when I'm on the road.... when my computer is across the state.... when my computer dies or I'm evacuated..... the records are still there safe and sound still in order. It takes a great deal of time. This has been a period of my life where the time needed and the urgency to get this recorded to pass along to another generation have coincided. My children's cousins on my late husband's side have almost all lost one or both parents already. They don't even have anyone left to ask a lot of questions to. Now that they are beginning families of their own, their interests in family history is beginning but they don't have the time yet. This work will mean more to them in a few years. Nothing like losing a lot of family to lend the sense of urgency needed to really push to get it down.
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Nanner
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,969
Jun 25, 2014 23:13:23 GMT
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Post by Nanner on Feb 15, 2017 12:58:53 GMT
I started doing mine almost 40 years ago, so it was all paper then. I use folders, by married couple. Once a child is married, his/her information gets transferred to his/her own folder. I only have folders for my direct line. So siblings of my direct ancestors remain in their parents' folder. At one time I was making folders for EVERY couple, direct or not, but it got so out of hand that I was drowning. I pared that down to direct ancestors only, a few years ago.
I colour code those folders, by my grandparents. So four colours. i.e. My maternal grandfather's line is all blue. So my parents, grandparents, siblings have no colour coding. This is just how I started it years ago, and have continued to do things this way.
I use Family Tree Maker and have had no issues with backing up. I started using that back in 1995, when the first version was released. In fact, it was the first piece of software (after WordPerfect) that I bought with my first computer.
I have also created digital family sheets, but have not printed those out for the paper folders. I am TRYING to digitize everything, because it would e awfully nice to be able to get rid of that large four drawer filing cabinet full of stuff! (plus more binds of unorganized stuff).
I do take very long breaks - some as long as 3 years - from working on genealogy. During those times I just suspend my Ancestry subscription, and reactivate it when I get back into it. I'm on a break right now and probably will be until next winter.
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 15, 2017 14:03:25 GMT
I started doing mine almost 40 years ago, so it was all paper then. I use folders, by married couple. Once a child is married, his/her information gets transferred to his/her own folder. I only have folders for my direct line. So siblings of my direct ancestors remain in their parents' folder. At one time I was making folders for EVERY couple, direct or not, but it got so out of hand that I was drowning. I pared that down to direct ancestors only, a few years ago. I colour code those folders, by my grandparents. So four colours. i.e. My maternal grandfather's line is all blue. So my parents, grandparents, siblings have no colour coding. This is just how I started it years ago, and have continued to do things this way. I use Family Tree Maker and have had no issues with backing up. I started using that back in 1995, when the first version was released. In fact, it was the first piece of software (after WordPerfect) that I bought with my first computer. I have also created digital family sheets, but have not printed those out for the paper folders. I am TRYING to digitize everything, because it would e awfully nice to be able to get rid of that large four drawer filing cabinet full of stuff! (plus more binds of unorganized stuff). I do take very long breaks - some as long as 3 years - from working on genealogy. During those times I just suspend my Ancestry subscription, and reactivate it when I get back into it. I'm on a break right now and probably will be until next winter. Instead of 4 colors - mother's mother, mother's father, father's mother, father's father - I began with 10. My 4 grandparents, my husband's 4 biological grandparents, and my husband's 2 adopted grandparents. It was very pretty. Colored notebooks. Colored folders. Colored pens and pencils.... And then I hit the road and haven't been home since! Fat lot of good all those pretty folders do me now. ETA - The two lines from his adoption grandparents are important for my kids' cousins since those are their direct blood lines.
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Post by Linda on Feb 15, 2017 15:20:35 GMT
I am 90+% digital. I have a file box of original documents (letters/certificates/hand-drawn family trees from deceased relatives) but I've scanned all of those as well. I don't rely on Ancestry's tree - I use an offline software (the one I use is no longer being sold - The Master Genealogist - but Legacy and Rootsmagic are both good options, imo) to keep my genealogy. I download anything I find on ancestry (or elsewhere) and save to my computer. My files are kept by type but many people keep by surname. So I have my big genealogy library with folders for each census, each state/country's civil records, each state/country's parish records, and so on. Each file is labelled with the name of the main person (head of household for a census for instance) and any other identifying info that I need. So a 1940 census is in the 1940 census folder and labelled John Doe (if there is more than one John Doe, then I'll label John Doe b1901 or John Doe Worcester MA) but a birth record will be labelled Birth John Doe 1901. I link all of the records to the individual(s) in my software. To share with others - I either generate a report through my software and WORD to send via email (or I can print out if the person isn't online) or I can generate a website (either to upload online or to save to a CD/DVD to be distributed) -I use Second Site for that as it works directly with my software but the developer has a new version that works with a GEDCOM instead www.gedsite.com/en/index.htm I did spend a long time many years ago inputting ALL of my paper genealogy into the software - I started on paper back in 1982, had a brief foray info software with Sierra Generations back in the late 90s (but didn't like the limits), and started using The Master Genealogist probably 15 years ago. I then spent a summer digitaling all my files probably 8 or 9 years ago.It's been well-worth it to me. I do keep copies of my digital files on an external harddrive (I update periodically) and use Carbonite so I don't lose decades of research to a harddrive failure
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Post by myboysnme on Feb 15, 2017 16:18:08 GMT
Most of my information is on ancestry.com but I also have scrapbooks! I do family scrapbooks and include all the documents and photos, letters, information. Now they are hopelessly behind but when I download something I either print it up or have a photo made.
I still love going through a heritage album geared toward preservation and not artistry. That is what I try to do. I have several large volumes- one for each family branch but I have really outgrown some of them and also have many more things I've discovered to include.
So the short answer is, I scrapbook my heritage stuff in chronological order.
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Post by scrapcat on Feb 15, 2017 16:40:17 GMT
I am currently trying to tackle this too. You sound like you have a pretty good system! As far as backups, I'm sure you can somehow download and save everything. I've just saved docs here and there. I really need to figure that out. Saving to an external hard drive may be good too, or if you save in jpeg form can back-up somewhere like Flickr.
I do have a plastic file storage container, so far I only have things separated by the two sides of family, but plan to make it more detailed.
My plan is to make a digital scrapbook with the info that can be copied for family who are interested. I have been working on this idea for a few years, but have yet to actually make it. For me, I am more focused on the stories, so when older relatives recount stories I record as much of it as i can into a type document, or save it on my phone, email it to myself. I only have decent facts going back a generation or two, not much, so I plan on posing some of my research as questions and speculation based on historical facts of the time.
There's so much great info on this thread, thanks ladies!
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TXMary
Pearl Clutcher
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean. God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Posts: 2,811
Jun 26, 2014 17:25:06 GMT
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Post by TXMary on Feb 15, 2017 17:38:09 GMT
I haven't read the replies and I'm just passing through for a second but this is the system that I use. I find the color coding to be very helpful. I used FTM for a lot of years until they stopped supporting it. Then I bought Legacy and I really like it. After they brought FTM back, I upgraded to the new version but I still like Legacy better. I'm actually just starting over again after a very long hiatus and I love this organizing system. It makes sense to me and that would be my best advise: find one that makes sense to you. www.genrootsorganizer.com/Also, getting genealogy info from others is great and can be full of useful information. It can also be very, very wrong. When I started out, I had info coming in right and left and unfortunately I trusted it all to be true. A lot of it was. A lot of it wasn't. That's why I'm going back now and starting over. I want to source everything and put nothing on my tree unless I absolutely know it to be true and can prove it.
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Post by melanell on Feb 15, 2017 18:35:52 GMT
As for arranging info to share with others, I know there are websites that will help you set up a genealogy related blog or website of your own, but I don't know much about that.
If you want to go the paper route, I think a simplified family group sheet is something most people can easily understand, and if you were to add a few photos to go with each sheet I think it would capture people's attention.
Obviously we don't always have photos of our ancestors, and eventually we reach a point where it was too early for photos to exist and not everyone had portraits done. But you can still find photos that help tell the story of a family.
You can search online for historical or you can use current photos to go along with the family. Photos of towns where they lived or worked, homes they used to live in, cemetery markers, schools, places of worship, family heirlooms that have been passed down form that person, etc.
You can also use copies of records, particularly those that have a decorative or interesting look to them (say a certificate of some sort rather than a census report) or short newspaper clippings to add interest.
If you can't get to the location to take a photo yourself, I really have no qualms about using pics from a public website such as a township page or a county FB page, so long as I'm using it only for myself, not reproducing it in mass quantities, and marking it clearly as a photo from wherever I obtained it.
I think even one or two visual items of interest can liven up a chart or list of ancestors for someone not used to those sort of things.
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Post by melanell on Feb 15, 2017 18:38:09 GMT
For instance, I have no photos of my great-great-great grandfather, but I have a report from the RR of an accident where he and another man were injured. I also have a photo of the tracks and the station in the town where he lived & worked. And those are items I would include with his facts if I were to make a physical page or a portion of a website about him & his family.
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 16, 2017 18:03:30 GMT
I haven't read the replies and I'm just passing through for a second but this is the system that I use. I find the color coding to be very helpful. I used FTM for a lot of years until they stopped supporting it. Then I bought Legacy and I really like it. After they brought FTM back, I upgraded to the new version but I still like Legacy better. I'm actually just starting over again after a very long hiatus and I love this organizing system. It makes sense to me and that would be my best advise: find one that makes sense to you. www.genrootsorganizer.com/Also, getting genealogy info from others is great and can be full of useful information. It can also be very, very wrong. When I started out, I had info coming in right and left and unfortunately I trusted it all to be true. A lot of it was. A lot of it wasn't. That's why I'm going back now and starting over. I want to source everything and put nothing on my tree unless I absolutely know it to be true and can prove it. That's the color system I started - with 10 colors instead of the 4 used there. (my 4 grandparents, husband's 4 bio grandparents and 2 adopted grandparents). Turned out very pretty. I really like Legacy, too. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't hold a gallery like FTM does. If I move something or change the name of it on my computer, the link to it is broken in Legacy and then I have to search again for my source. At least at Ancestry, the gallery remains with the information. And since they upgraded, it is much easier to link an item to specific facts than it used to be. I like the layout of FTM for the family view better than Legacy or Ancestry. It was in that view that the same death dates for a number of children and one parent lept out. On exploring, I discovered that they (and a great many other family) died in a terrible measles outbreak that decimated the community and reduced the entire population by about half. I don't know if I ever would have noticed in a different format. So, that's a tip. Look at your information in different formats. Look at the family overall and not just at each individual. Are there large gaps between children? There may have been other births you don't know about yet. Did several people die near the same date? There may have been a terrible accident or an outbreak of disease. Did this couple have a child that died young and name a later child with the same name? That happened all.the.time. Do any of the children share a birth date? They could be twins. Do any of the children's birthdates stand out as WAY out of the realm of the others? They could be from the same father but a different mother, or they may be a grandchild or other relative.
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 16, 2017 18:26:53 GMT
As for arranging info to share with others, I know there are websites that will help you set up a genealogy related blog or website of your own, but I don't know much about that. If you want to go the paper route, I think a simplified family group sheet is something most people can easily understand, and if you were to add a few photos to go with each sheet I think it would capture people's attention. Obviously we don't always have photos of our ancestors, and eventually we reach a point where it was too early for photos to exist and not everyone had portraits done. But you can still find photos that help tell the story of a family. You can search online for historical or you can use current photos to go along with the family. Photos of towns where they lived or worked, homes they used to live in, cemetery markers, schools, places of worship, family heirlooms that have been passed down form that person, etc. You can also use copies of records, particularly those that have a decorative or interesting look to them (say a certificate of some sort rather than a census report) or short newspaper clippings to add interest. If you can't get to the location to take a photo yourself, I really have no qualms about using pics from a public website such as a township page or a county FB page, so long as I'm using it only for myself, not reproducing it in mass quantities, and marking it clearly as a photo from wherever I obtained it. I think even one or two visual items of interest can liven up a chart or list of ancestors for someone not used to those sort of things. Here are a few of my alltime favorite videos on Youtube. They are scrapbook pages of GGGrandparents and use not just photos of them, but info from censuses, etc and other photos of the times and places they lived. GGGrandparent: HowardGGGrandparent: AnnieGGGrandparent: RobertGGGrandparent: AnnaGGGrandparent: CharlotteGGGrandparent: John GGGrandparent: John AGGGrandparent: Annie MGGGrandparent: John PGGGrandparent: Isabelle
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139
Jun 26, 2014 14:43:10 GMT
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Post by scrappington on Feb 16, 2017 19:34:33 GMT
I have numbered everyone. I am number 1 and my father 2 mother 3, paternal grandfather 4 grandmother 5 etc. I have a binder and tabs and all the info for the family goes in the tabs and corresponding number of the person. I print off the ancestry page I have about them. And I make notes, it seems to work for people who have no understanding. Its all very personal how to organize the information. I know many people use colour codes. There is a good FB Group called the organized genealogist.
Funny currently I am storing for DH's work friend grandmas research. Grandma's oldschool research. 5 double wide 4 drawer filing cabinets and 30 boxes of paper. They don't know what to do with it and are currently making room for it. Grandma recently died. Its unbelievable the paper.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Feb 16, 2017 19:45:24 GMT
This is all really helpful and I appreciate it. And I've bookmarked this thread for future reference!
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 16, 2017 20:21:27 GMT
Funny currently I am storing for DH's work friend grandmas research. Grandma's oldschool research. 5 double wide 4 drawer filing cabinets and 30 boxes of paper. They don't know what to do with it and are currently making room for it. Grandma recently died. Its unbelievable the paper. That's what happens, and it makes me very sad. My actual paper amount is fairly slim. The amount I *could* print up is enormous, but then I'd not only have to store it, I'd have to pass it on to someone or some group that would take care of it. My goal is to pull my info together and pass on the stories that these documents represent to the generation I'm doing this for so that they will really have something that they can appreciate. Then, they can go back to (probably Ancestry) whatever online site I leave all the documentation on to verify or get more information if they so desire.
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 16, 2017 20:36:01 GMT
In my head, I feel like I need real books, real paper copies, real printed photos of everything. But do I? To some extent, yes, you do need it. You need to keep some paper copies of your most basic and important family information not only for backup, but also for you to hold and enjoy. The paper most important are the birth and death certificates, deeds, passports and licenses. Things that are obvious. Also, keep a copy of family histories that have been done that have not been published in book form. During the country's centennial, there was a big national push for city and family histories to be written. There was another big surge in the early 1900's. A great many of these histories are now available on GoogleBooks for free. There wouldn't be a need to keep printouts from books that are online for free unless you are actively working with them. Learn how to certify your sources (include the web address and when you accessed it) and then decide if you really need to keep all of the pages for the long haul.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Feb 16, 2017 21:28:18 GMT
Thank you, leftturnonly ! I love all the family histories on Google Books...I've been able to make good use of some of them. Thanks for all your good advice--I just get paralyzed and have a hard time thinking my way through what to keep, how to keep it, where to keep it, etc. You've been very helpful!
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Post by leftturnonly on Feb 17, 2017 0:18:15 GMT
Thank you, leftturnonly ! I love all the family histories on Google Books...I've been able to make good use of some of them. Thanks for all your good advice--I just get paralyzed and have a hard time thinking my way through what to keep, how to keep it, where to keep it, etc. You've been very helpful! Then set it aside for the time and work on things online digitally. You can get a lot done very quickly working online. You can also try different ways of storing your digital information. It's much easier to change things around when you're just moving a bunch of things from one folder to another on your computer than it is to move and relabel a bunch of actual file folders. If you keep trying to look for something in Location but it's not there because you think you should file it in Marriages or Cemeteries, for example, than it's time to re-evaluate your system since it's making you work too hard. If your natural inclination is to go to Location, begin with Location and break that category down into further files that make it easy to follow the path to whatever you need. You want a logical progression so things are not only filed by where you look on your first inclination, but also so you or someone else can find anything in the future without confusion. After you get something that works for you consistently, then you'll not only have a better idea of how your paper files should be organized, you'll also see what you have or could have digitally that doesn't need to be kept on paper as well. That may have been the best thing to have come out of the FTM shakeup last year for me... reorganizing my digital paperwork on my computer independent of any genealogy program. I still love the different color system I set up in real files and some programs, like Legacy, allow you to colorize different family lines. It's at least possible that I may in the future set up colored folders on my computer to match, if I decide to download a wealth of documents from Ancestry that would make the effort worth the trouble. When you use Ancestry, you don't need a numbering system. When you use Legacy, people will be numbered as you enter them or you can create your own system. I'm a nerd. I love the Ahnetafel pedigree numbering system where you begin with yourself as 1, your father as 2 and your mother as 3. Every father is twice the number of the child and every mother is twice the number of the child +1. That means that every odd number brings in a new surname into your records. You can expand on that and create suffixes for siblings. For example, your siblings could be 2.2, 2.3 etc. with the number to the right of the decimal their birth order number. Then their children could be 2.2.1, 2.2.2, etc. (I chose the father's number here, since most children have their father's surname. You could also chose the mother's number, 3 in this example, especially if the children have the mother's surname.) Each person receives their own number that tells you exactly how they relate to the "home" person, the person the system revolves around, which in this case would be you. This appeals to me far more than just putting children's information into either their father's or their husband's folder, as many recording systems do. Husbands can be filed with the wife's information if the woman is the one you're related to. (It makes it easier if the woman has multiple spouses, as well. Just make a subfolder for each spouse.) Other systems number people in their tree as they enter them and many do the same thing for all records. The first birth certificate would be BC1, the second would be BC2, etc. They need to keep updated indexes for those files of who each certificate is for, but it enables them to keep all the birth certificates neatly in one BC binder or folder. I'm certain I could work with such a system without any problem, but I would forever be annoyed with it. I want to go to the person first, not the category of certificate first. That system is not the best for me even though others are extremely happy to organize that way. Maybe if I was working with a great many actual paper certificates (not just digital ones) I would feel differently and prefer the separate binders. If you organize your major lines by color and then further separate people by number, you can see at a glance how they relate to you. It may take up more room than organizing by the order information comes in, though, and that will be really annoying to some people.
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Post by ashleysummer on Mar 13, 2017 16:16:32 GMT
I've just starting building a genealogy tree using MyHeritage. I really like creating our family tree. It's enjoyable to put my family photos on my website and share all this with my family. When choosing a genealogy software, I was leaning towards OneGreatFamily and MyHeritage, but t this review help me decide.
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Post by myboysnme on Mar 13, 2017 16:57:28 GMT
I've just starting building a genealogy tree using MyHeritage. I really like creating our family tree. It's enjoyable to put my family photos on my website and share all this with my family. When choosing a genealogy software, I was leaning towards OneGreatFamily and MyHeritage, but t this review help me decide. I use ancestry.com. It doesn't matter just so you get it recorded and keep it accessible.
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Post by femalebusiness on Mar 13, 2017 17:33:55 GMT
I started out putting everything in three ring binders. By the time that I had fifteen binders it was too much so I spent a year scanning all of my records and then threw out all of the binders and paper. I still have one large plastic box of records that I wanted to keep the originals. All of my work is on cds. All of my cds have a couple of back ups.
I also have cds of all of the extraneous info that I have gathered over the years as I can sometimes go back years later and see how it connects to my lines. I save every bit of info on my surnames, that I come across.
I have tried several times over the years to put my info into a family tree program but I just don't like them and always give up. I have a bio, in a WORD doc, for each person. Some are twenty pages long and some are just a paragraph or two.
The bios start with a picture, if I have one, all of the vitals, who their parents and siblings are and how they fit into the family tree. Then I write the story of their life and in most cases I tell how I found the info and clearly state what is documented fact, what is family lore and what is a theory. For anything that I can't prove I write a detailed explanation of where the info came from and why I have come to that conclusion.
My bios are organized in files by surname and under each surname I start with the oldest ancestor and under each ancestor I add their children, under each child I add their children etc.
I also have a simple family tree print out of just names with birth and death dates as a guide to the bios.
At the top of every bio I have a header that goes like this: Joe Henry Smith Son of Sam Smith and Mary Jones Grandfather of Tom Smith Great grand father of Susie Doe Great great grandfather of Jim Green Great great great grandfather of ME GGGG grandfather of My Daughter (picture here if I have one)
Joe Henry Smith Born: Date, place Died: Date, place Buried: Date, Place
Parents: names and birth and death dates Spouse: Name and marriage date and place Children: listed with birth and death dates After this I start the bio/story
That way anyone can tell at a glance how this person fits into the family line and how they are related to me and my daughter.
Eta: I also have every single census page stored on CDs. I have every census page in some counties so that I can go back and find neighbors etc when my subscription to Ancestry is not active.
ETA Again: I also have my working files on flash drives. Those are constantly being updated and improved. On the lines that I am actively working on and updating I burn updated CDs at least once a year.
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Post by Karene on Mar 13, 2017 19:43:05 GMT
I also use Legacy Family Tree program. The standard edition is free but I use the Deluxe version which is only $29. I also have a document based program called Clooz in which you start with a document (Census, church record etc) and then link everyone associated with it. It syncs with Legacy and a couple other programs.
I find Legacy great to use, especially since it lists baptisms on the front page, which FTM didn't (at least the version I had). Most of my early records are baptisms. I also like all the free videos they have for the program and there are tons more that you can subscribe to. I have been using Legacy for at least 10 years and have no desire to switch to anything else.
I also have binders (and binders!) of papers, mostly from before you could scan things easily and had to photocopy instead. I have a big binder for each side of the family. I also have some that are just censuses, or just deeds or just baptismal records. I like the colour coding idea, though, and might go get some new binders! I always have to open each one to see what family it is!
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Post by leftturnonly on Mar 14, 2017 2:09:23 GMT
I use ancestry.com. It doesn't matter just so you get it recorded and keep it accessible. I started using Ancestry a couple of years ago. They went through a makeover while I was on the road a lot. All the changes made it so much easier for me to do my active work right there at Ancesty. Everything is kept right at hand and the documents travel along with each person. I LOVE that. I don't need to route through anything to find the birth certificate, or death certificate, or census. I can see who their parents and children are. AND, it's become very simple to link a fact to a source or other media. (I upload copies of some documents as jpegs and they are considered photos.) I have a bio, in a WORD doc, for each person. Some are twenty pages long and some are just a paragraph or two. When I bought my laptop, I lost access to Microsoft Word. I can open things with Google Docs, but it's a PITA. Just something for you to think about. We tend to rely on certain programs and when we update, we sometimes can't use what we had. I write the story of their life and in most cases I tell how I found the info and clearly state what is documented fact, what is family lore and what is a theory. For anything that I can't prove I write a detailed explanation of where the info came from and why I have come to that conclusion. Writing individual stories is the only way a lot of people will ever be interested in their family history. My goal is to make a type of book for my peeps. Ancestry does a life story that is automatically updated for each person. SO much faster than constantly trying to update everything myself. I'm adding so much info & adding so many people on a daily basis that I have to chose whether to spend my time updating everything by hand or digging for new information. I have added birth/tax/marriage records for a community I'm from from the 1680's because all my roots tie back to there. When I'm looking at a DNA match, as soon as I see one of those surnames, I have my path back to our common ancestors or at the minimum, our common location. Right now, I'm going through cemeteries on FindAGrave and finding people with my surname. I toss them in and then work the info back. 90% of the time we all go back to one man and his three sons that immigrated here just before the Revolutionary War. So far, they all tie back to the two brothers that we are NOT from and their histories are so different from my own, it's fascinating. My brother of the three died in Pennsylvania before the father and other brothers moved further south. We stayed up north. They became southerners and continued migrating further south and west. It's so strange to find out that I actually have had blood relatives living in the same little Texas communities I moved to as an adult without ever knowing we really were kin. Now, I have a better understanding just how rare this name really is. I can add notes or write/upload stories to Ancestry. I prefer to write directly at their site instead of uploading something I write on my computer as uploaded Word documents need to be downloaded to be read while the things written there are already opened and ready to read. I also have a document based program called Clooz Never heard of it. it lists baptisms on the front page, which FTM didn't (at least the version I had) On the last version I got, you could add or delete fact fields. I also like all the free videos they have for the program and there are tons more that you can subscribe to. It's a school! Love their videos. I'm not shilling Ancestry. I'm just telling y'all what is working extremely well for me at the moment.
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