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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 22, 2017 3:27:23 GMT
SORTA... lol
So there have been a couple of posts on how to organize ancestry items. So since about 2001, I just have been 1/2 collecting stuff, pictures, news articles, things my dad and/or my uncle have sent me.
I didn't realize what a mess I have made. I made about '3 different types of organizations' without realizing that I had stuff stash in different places.
So a couple of nights ago, I got EVERYTHING out that I could find on the kitchen table. First I separated my mom's side of the family from my dad's.. DUMB move on my part, but at some point I just started putting everything in a box.
Then the last 2 nights in a notebook I started a page for each person. I started with me and my family (no interest yet in compiling current info) so I just put down the facts. Then the next page was my mom/dad's page. (right now I am just looking at my dad's side) so at this point mom's side is all in an envelope.
My dad has the first page.. Lots of information I just complied.. DOB, marriages, kids, jobs, things of that nature.. then it went to his grandparents... and on and on. So if the grandparents, who each have a numbered page, and if they had children I wrote their names down then I gave them a number and referenced their own page if I had more documents on them. So basically each person has their own page of stats..
Some have tons and others not much. I hope that makes sense. Once I got a grip on that.. I started to go through all my emails, and anything else that 'goes' with that person. I have a football schedule that belongs with my uncle's page, or a paycheck stub that goes with my grandpa's page. So behind each page has 'their' own stuff. (I haven't tackled the pictures yet.) But seems to me this is working out.
And in this Italian line of family EVERYONE is named the same.. Three generations of William and Charles.. oh, that makes it HARD. And then just the spelling of their name, is different EVERYWHERE... Some have two 'Z' in the last name, some have two "Z's and two "R's"... There is probably 10 different ways of spelling the last name. At least on my grandma's side the spelling never changes.
Now I might get to a point and think is this the best way?
I wish I could find a form online that I could use so that I could write down all the same documentation in the same manner.. I have looked but nothing has stuck out.
Am I spinning my wheels doing this?
On another note, I came across a letter from 1940 written to my Grandpa (who died young) from someone who was looking for ancestry information, she was 16 years old. FIVE pages of perfect penmanship and tons of information but from what I could make out, if we were related to this person, I don't even know what to make of it. I never found a link between this person and our family. This person did a lot of research it looks like and I would love to give a copy to some kind of professional researchers..
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 22, 2017 16:15:33 GMT
It sounds like you have a lot of fun stuff to go along with the facts!
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Deleted
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Jun 10, 2024 3:47:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 16:20:10 GMT
I haven't started gathering paper stuff yet. Just a few things I printed off of Ancestry.com just so I don't have to toggle back and forth between two windows.
So I appreciate any tips or comments on organizing!
My g grandfather married a Catherine. His mother is a Mary. My grandfather married a Katherine. They had a daughter Mary. It's very confusing!
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 22, 2017 17:04:46 GMT
It's funny, I do have a slew of really odd items. I don't even know now I got them.. I have a "Welcome to the Marines" pamphlet (which came from my dad), then I have all the paperwork from a 1941 Buick that my Grandpa bought.., I have a lot of birthday cards and Valentine cards, I found a letter from a candy company (WELL KNOWN, but can't think of the name offhand) but it was from the founder and it was a reference letter saying my Grandma was a good worker.. lol.., little tiny clippings from the newspaper, man they put a lot of 'stuff' in the papers back when.. like "Thanks to Mrs. W.S.Smith for hosting a wedding party for J.D.Jones.", I got a ton of those.
I just started looking at the pictures and trying to figure out the best way to sort them. Most don't have names, dates or anything. I have to go by if I can recognize who is in the picture, which is really hard. Then how to I sort them? I tried by person, but then most have 2 or 3 people in them.. I really can't by date, as they are not dated. Some of them I have no idea who's in the pic. SOO trying to figure out how to sort them.
I did start a scrapbook and used a bunch of pictures just for fun.. people I didn't know.. I would do a layout maybe highlighting a bunch of woman in fancy clothes or hats... or a bunch of them on horses.. so they were fun layouts to create... and then just journal saying something like "I believe these were probably friends of my Grandmother Marie" or similar.
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 22, 2017 17:10:25 GMT
I haven't started gathering paper stuff yet. Just a few things I printed off of Ancestry.com just so I don't have to toggle back and forth between two windows. So I appreciate any tips or comments on organizing! My g grandfather married a Catherine. His mother is a Mary. My grandfather married a Katherine. They had a daughter Mary. It's very confusing! I had some Ancestry stuff I printed back when I started and just stuff in a file folder. I sorted all those by person as well. Tonight I think I will try to go back to the websites I used and try to find more information on some stuff I am missing. Those names are VERY confusing!! LOL... I have a confusing one.. When my Grandpa died my Grandma remarried.. but her sons did NOT liked the guy. They say he was mean to her. So they saved nothing of him and I can't even find a first name. When she was buried they didn't use her newer married name either... Guess he was really mean?? OR did my dad and his brother didn't like the idea of her getting remarried? They don't say a thing about it. My dad's side of the family really LACKS communication! |
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Deleted
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Jun 10, 2024 3:47:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 17:13:15 GMT
Wow! That is so cool! I don't have anything like that! And I still haven't seen my mom's albums. I remember looking through them when I was younger. It's so sad most of us don't see the value in those old items and may have thrown them out.
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,970 
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Feb 22, 2017 17:29:43 GMT
Do you use family tree software? Rootsmagic is awesome. I then have any paper stuff in notebooks with dividers by last name, but I don't have that much "extra" stuff...
ETA: there are so many Joseph's and Mary's in my family tree (or Josef and Maria, or Jean and Marie), it is actually pretty annoying... come up with a new name ancestors!
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Deleted
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Jun 10, 2024 3:47:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 17:31:36 GMT
At the moment, I'm looking at a local newspaper the month and year my mom was born trying to find her birth announcement. They have little snippets of information like who visited who during the holidays! So cool!
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 22, 2017 17:58:57 GMT
Do you use family tree software? Rootsmagic is awesome. I then have any paper stuff in notebooks with dividers by last name, but I don't have that much "extra" stuff... ETA: there are so many Joseph's and Mary's in my family tree (or Josef and Maria, or Jean and Marie), it is actually pretty annoying... come up with a new name ancestors! Not yet.. I started on on ancestory.com awhile ago... but I haven't been back to it. I'll check that out though.. thanks for the tip. Those are common name so yeah... everyone in my family (both sides.. my mom and dad's side) love the name Marie.. myself, my girl cousins, we all have Marie as our middle names. On my dad's side, we form a "Marie" club.. My mom, me, my cousins on my dad's side, my daughter.. it's pretty funny. |
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 22, 2017 17:59:16 GMT
At the moment, I'm looking at a local newspaper the month and year my mom was born trying to find her birth announcement. They have little snippets of information like who visited who during the holidays! So cool! Did you find that online??? |
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Deleted
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Jun 10, 2024 3:47:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 18:03:28 GMT
At the moment, I'm looking at a local newspaper the month and year my mom was born trying to find her birth announcement. They have little snippets of information like who visited who during the holidays! So cool! Did you find that online??? Yes. A facebook friend told me to try the site. It's called NYSHistoricNewspapers.org. I don't know if other states have a similar site, but it's possible. Unfortunately, the local paper doesn't go past 1934. But I did find my mom's birth announcement and pasted a clipping (photo) of it onto her profile. I don't know how to attach it any other way. |
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Post by Karene on Feb 22, 2017 18:41:58 GMT
My gg grandmother had 15 children and her last name was spelled differently each time! The software that I use and love is called Legacy Family 8.0 Family Tree. One of the reasons I like this one is that on the home page is has a spot for baptisms as well as births. Since most of my info comes from church records rather than civil records, the baptism record is more useful to me. The software is also set up so that your citations are entered the same for each record. You can enter alternate names, photos, documents. I also downloaded another piece of software that you can find on Legacy's Add-on drop down menu on their website. It is called Clooz. It lets you enter information by document or photo and then list everyone associated with that document. Here is the website for Legacy 8.0. There is a free version but the deluxe version is only $29. Legacy Family TreeWhat kind of online forms are you looking for? Legacy also has lots of webinars and training videos, not just for their program but on how to search for your family. Another good site is the Family Search Family SearchIt is amazing with the amount of info they have put on the internet. I have found lots of documentation on their site that is downloadable for free. You can also order microfilm that is not online and look at it at your local Family History Centre. You get the microfilm for weeks at a time and just have to pay shipping. On their website it will tell you where the nearest Family History Centre to you is. Family Search also has videos and lots of help if you click on the top left corner where it says Help. |
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Post by melanell on Feb 22, 2017 18:42:17 GMT
I have had a lot of luck finding out the identities of people in photos on Facebook. Town history or memory groups can sometimes help, as can simply reaching out to extended family. The family works especially well if you have any photos that they may appreciate, Send them a photo of their parent/grandparent/etc., and tell them you a few more if they are interested (only if you really do, of course.  ) and ask them if they'd mind looking at a few pics to see if they can identify anyone. Some won't answer. Some won't be able to help. But when you find the right person, it's like you've struck gold.  |
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Post by melanell on Feb 22, 2017 18:46:51 GMT
I find that surnames tend to be fluid until a certain point in the family history when most of the children have several years of formal education under their belt. At that point you may find different branches opt to spell the name different ways, but from that point on the name tends to at least stay the same within the generations. When you're far enough back that reports and forms were being filled out by strangers and the family wasn't able to proof or correct anything, then you're going to see anything any person thought might possibly be correct. Add in an accent that a clerk can't quite work past, and God only knows what they might write down. The clerks weren't trying to change the name, they were just sounding out what they thought they heard. |
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 22, 2017 23:15:47 GMT
My gg grandmother had 15 children and her last name was spelled differently each time! Oh my!!! Almost like the Duggars!! haha... I think it was my gg grandpa.. he had 9 brothers and 5 sisters.. (It was someone down the line).. and I don't have a single name of any of them! But that is for another day.. I need to get a grip on what I have now. Thanks for the links!! |
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) and ask them if they'd mind looking at a few pics to see if they can identify anyone. Some won't answer. Some won't be able to help. But when you find the right person, it's like you've struck gold. 