BOOT CAMP - LESSON 10

WHY DO "I" NEED TO DO FAMILY HISTORY

Okay, so your whole life you have never had an interest in family history. You wanted nothing to do with any of it. That was a great hobby for your mom or uncle but not for you. You say, "Why do church leaders keep telling me that I need to do this? I am so busy and I don't have the time nor do I wish to take the time to learn how to do it." You kind of know the answers to these questions but you just aren't in a place in this time to act upon what you know is something that you are suppose to do. So why do they keep pressuring you?

Simple answer:  If YOU do nothing, then maybe nothing will be done. Your mom, your uncle, can't tell your story like you can tell it. Your family may not be united if you don't set the example. Your descendants may need your experiences to help them through a crisis or emotional support when they are sad, or validation that they have a purpose in life. You may be the one person that through your story or example, might be that ray of hope. Maybe you need that ray of hope from your ancestor. Or just maybe, you might be in the right place at the right time to receive vital information for an ancestor waiting for their eternal work to be done. If you are not receptive, you may miss this opportunity. Who loses? - that ancestor, YOU, and your descendants.

I have a son who recently told me that he has no interest in genealogy. Yes, I am the "family genealogist" and my children have let it be that way all of their lives. What he doesn't realize is that he actually is doing family history. First of all, he does go to the temple. He teaches his family both by example and by encouraging them to do the same. Before he goes to the temple, he asks me if there are any ancestor names that he can do. He once went to a cemetery with his dad to find an ancestor's grave and realized that it was kind of fun. He is a pilot and has layovers in some places where his ancestors are buried so has volunteered to do a little photo taking of family names in different cemeteries. He accepts challenges through his ward and stake to do Indexing (although he doesn't do it on a regular basis, he does participate in challenges). He holds regular family home evenings where his family is taught gospel and family values. He enforces family traditions. He and his family take lots of pictures. His wife makes sure that they are organized and shared with family. He keeps his family closely in touch with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. No, he may not be doing genealogical research, but he is doing FAMILY HISTORY.

We as genealogist can help those who are not into research by encouraging them to do "Family History" - in other words, expand on the things that makes a family important to each other and to those later generations. Those of you that are not into research, encourage your children to be strong family members, to participate in some family history making projects. Try to encourage them to do something - even it doesn't seem like much, every little bit they do might open an opportunity for something bigger. Keep a journal, write your family history, organize photos into a book and tell a story about them, search a cemetery for ancestors, have family home evenings, be strong in traditions, attend the temple, and most of all, set the example.

Family History is about FAMILY. It's not just researching for ancestors even though that is very important. It's not about taking huge blocks of time. It's about helping family feel connected. To share the love that our ancestors had for their family and the love we have of our family with the love we hope our descendants will have for their family. DO SOMETHING!

Boot Camp - LESSON 9 - Documentation

Documentation - How important is it?

So you have been doing genealogy research since you were 11 and have thousands of names in your data base. Your distant cousin (that you haven't met but found on Facebook and now wants to trade information with you) wants you to tell him where you got your information. You ask why. He said he's trying to prove that a particular line is actually his line. You look at your records and see that you have no documentation. All of those years of research and no proof that any of it is real. You can't tell him anything. OOPS!

How important is documentation?  VERY! I have a family (on Family Trees) where I have hit a brick wall with this line. I have exhausted all known resources so far. I was on FamilySearch the other day and saw that someone had linked my ancestor up with a wife (I had the first name but no last name). She now has a last name, she has parents, and now there are several kids added to this family. I was so surprised, excited, then suspicious.

I saw no documentation for this wife with a new last name. I did some research and did find this lady with the new kids that were added to my family BUT no matter where I looked, there was no mention of MY ancestor. The child I had with a father and a mother with no last name now was with a family that didn't make sense. I wrote to the lady who added this name to Family Tree but have not yet heard back from her. I found on Ancestry this family (the mother with the new last name) - again, my ancestor was not listed but this wife with a husband (the same as my ancestor's name) and three children. were listed.  Where is the proof that this wife was actually the mother of my ancestor? Now I have a situation. They have linked everyone up, done temple work for all new additions and sealed everyone. I will be very excited if this truly is my family but there is no proof. I have seen way too often where someone sees a family in a location that is about the right time frame so they think this is their family. That might not be the case.

Documentation is so important. If you find a family that you think might be your family, DO YOUR RESEARCH! Make sure you make notes of where you got your information (be as complete as possible about your source) and record exactly what is shown on the document (or save the actual document - you can link these up on Family Tree). If you have a feeling but no real documentation, say that. Identify yourself and say that you believe that this family is connected but have no real proof. A statement like this will remind you (as well as tell others) that you need to do more research. (I put these names in my personal files - like my Roots Magic program. I mark them with an * to let me know that I still need to find proof of this person or relationship.)

For more information on sources (documentation) in Family Tree click HERE,
Why sources are valuable - click HERE.
Document as you go (Family Search) - click HERE.

So what do you do if you have done all of this research and have not documented any of it? Get Started! Go back to the first person and start documenting. You will find some fun things will happen while you do this. You will get to know your ancestors better, you will find mistakes you (or someone) may have made along the way, and you might just break through some of those brick walls as you find your ancestors. You may even come across some really interesting stories along the way.  What a fun family project! My goal is to have good documentation on every single name in my tree.

FYI - Unfortunately, I did not have my documentation linked to this family. I have it in my personal files but neglected to do the follow through and connect it in Family Trees. I am as much to blame as the person that added these other family members to my ancestors. We all have areas that need improving :) 

Boot Camp - Lesson 8 Let's Get Organized (Photos)

Lesson 8 - Let's Get Organized!

It's a new year and time to clean up and organize. We often use this time of year to go through our house and chuck out old and unused items - to clean up and get organized. Today we will discuss organizing photos - mainly digital photos. If you are like me, you have collected thousands of photos and now don't know what to do with them. This method can work for physical pictures also.

If we are very lucky, we have a few pictures of our ancestors. How grateful we are for them. In the days of our ancestors, most did not have a camera and relied on one or two professional pictures of themselves and their family. In today's world, the digital world, we snap pictures of absolutely everything and everyone wherever we go. In a matter of seconds, we can collect hundreds of pictures - some treasures, some silly and worthless, and hundreds of places, animals, and people we don't really care about. The interesting thing about pictures is that we have a very hard time getting rid of even the worst pictures. I also have had the bad habit of "saving" my pictures to all kinds of devices so that I won't lose them (knowing how computers can crash or cameras break) only to now have 20 duplicates of all those meaningless photos. So what do we do? How do we decide what to keep and what to discard? Well, let's get organized! We will be sorting our photos. Just like our house, we will keep the good and chuck out the waste.

Step 1 - Make a file on your computer (or external storage if you need something with a lot of space). Give this file a name like MASTER FILE (under the Pictures section).

Step 2 - Divide the Master file by setting up two files under the master file
     KEEP  - Most pictures that you like and want to keep will go into this file. You will want to make sub folders in this file to help organize your pictures even more.
     TRASH - All pictures that have no meaning to you, duplicates, poor quality, etc. BE STRONG! This may be hard to do but get rid of all of those extra pictures that have little or no meaning to you or to the next generation.

Make sub folders if you wish to sort more thoroughly. For instance, under my Keep file, I have my pictures in years. As I am sorting out pictures in years, I might add more folders for particular events like Family Reunion, trip to Alaska, etc. I will place those sub folders under the year it applies to. (2014 - sub folder Alaska Trip)

Make one of the folders a TREASURE folder. - Limit to "treasure" pictures - ones that you would like to print out and pass down. Think about the photos you treasure of your ancestors to help guide you for this group. For photos in this group, copy from the keep file the ones that you really want as a treasure then paste the copy into the treasure folder.



Step 3 - Go through all of your pictures and make the decision to put each picture into one of these two folders. Be sure to trash all photos that would not look good if printed (blurry, people you don't know, places that mean nothing to you, etc.) Also trash all duplicates. Be strong with yourself. You know what pictures mean nothing to you or that would look bad printed. Remember, you are housecleaning your photos. To do a quick sort, just put all of your pictures in one of the two folders then when you are done, go back and divide the Keep folder into sub folders. This is a double step but it will go faster if you have tons to sort through.

Step 4 - Do a quick look through your trash folder to make sure that these are pictures that you can part with and then DELETE THESE PICTURES. Get rid of them. Don't let them clutter your computer for another minute! (You will be surprised how you won't miss these at all.)

Step 5 - Now go through your Treasure pictures. This is the group you are going to carefully name and organize. Try to identify and date if possible. It would be good to print these pictures and put in a book that can be shared.

Step 6 - Save this Keep folder in more than one place. Copy and paste this Master folder onto an external drive or to the cloud. Be sure to share these pictures with your extended family.

Step 7 - All new pictures will need to be treated immediately. If downloading from a camera or phone, make sure to drop them into a "temporary" folder. Now delete all "trash" related pictures, put your new pictures into the Keep file under the year (and group)or however you have chosen to set up your folders. If you have pictures to add to your Treasure folder, be sure to label them carefully and put them into your Master File Treasure folder. Every so often, update your files that you have kept in other locations by deleting the old file and replacing it with the new. (The reason for deleting the old is that it no longer contains all of the pictures you have collected as you have since added new pictures. Since the old files are not complete, delete them and replace them with this new complete folder)

Share your pictures with your family by printing out picture books or displaying them in a digital picture frame. Pictures help us remember memories of events in our lives. Make sure that your family will remember these events in their lives through the pictures you have organized!

BOOT CAMP - Lesson 7 - Traditions

TRADITIONS

Christmas always seems to be a time for traditions. Most of us have some traditions that we grew up with and have continued as adults with our family. Now would be a great time to write down the traditions of your family as a child and those of your family today. Tell about your traditions on your family tree! If you don't have any traditions, maybe this would be a good year to start some!

What are traditions?
Traditions are behaviors and actions that you engage in again and again - regular rituals that you perform at the same time and/or in the same way. Traditions, when done right, lend a certain magic, spirit, and texture to our everyday lives.

7 Reasons why traditions are important - by Frank Sonnenberg

• Tradition contributes a sense of comfort and belonging. It brings families together and enables people to reconnect with friends.
• Tradition reinforces values such as freedom, faith, integrity, a good education, personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and the value of being selfless.
• Tradition provides a forum to showcase role models and celebrate the things that really matter in life.
• Tradition offers a chance to say “thank you” for the contribution that someone has made.
• Tradition enables us to showcase the principles of our Founding Fathers, celebrate diversity, and unite as a country.
• Tradition serves as an avenue for creating lasting memories for our families and friends.
• Tradition offers an excellent context for meaningful pause and reflection.

This Christmas season take some time to gather the family and discuss the importance of your family traditions. (This would be a great Family Home Evening!) Most of all, have a wonderful Christmas.

BOOT CAMP Lesson 6 Thankful for the Memories

THANKFUL FOR THE MEMORIES
 

While pondering a lesson for November, I was reminded of a Thanksgiving many years ago and  thought it would be a good lesson for this month. The topic for this month's lesson will about recording family memories for future generations.

With the holidays upon us, many of us will be visiting with family - parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and friends too! Now is the perfect time to record some of their history. In order to do this, go well equipped. You will need the correct tools to record these wonderful memories. Let's discuss some of what you will need to prepare yourself.

1 - A Plan - Plan ahead, even if you aren't sure that the opportunity might arise, if you have some items with you and have some simple preparation, you can do an interview on the fly. Attend your gathering with a "thought" and a "plan" to glean information from your family.

2 - Equipment - It is imperative that you have some kind of recording devices to save these memories that you want to acquire. The most basic is to use a cell phone for pictures and or videos. Better yet is a digital camera for live videos and still photos. You may also want to bring along a little digital tape recorder. Make sure everything is in at least digital format (or whatever is the most current mode of recording) so you will be able to easily transfer it to Family Tree or some other keepsake like a video or photo album. If you have a portable scanner, not a bad idea to take it with you but don't forget, your cell phone or camera may also be used to record documents and printed pictures (like those on a wall or in an album).

3 - Outline - Decide ahead of time what you are wanting from those at your gathering. Be prepared so you don't waste time and frustrate those you want to interview. Be organized in how you go about getting what you want.

PHOTOS - Be sure to know your camera before you go to your family gathering. Make sure the batteries are fully charged. Have a card large enough to record all the videos and pictures you would like (you may need an extra battery and extra cards). Take as many pictures as you can because you will wish you had more and the "right time" may never come along again.

INTERVIEW - Definitely have a plan for interviewing. There are a few different ways to glean stories from family. Some people are very nervous about sharing or talking about themselves and their lives. Many think their lives are unimportant and feel there is nothing to talk about. You can take different approaches. You can ask questions - probably starting with their childhood and moving through their life. Another is to record a friendly family gathering with some leading questions to inspire the discussion. Be sure to include the important things in a person's life like names, dates, places, etc. Don't forget to get the stories! Watch this short video to help with some ideas. There are lots of ideas online with questions to ask and how to make others feel comfortable while being interviewed. Be sure to record the questions as well as the response from the person being interviewed as their response may not be clear without the question.

29 Fun Ways to Excite Your Family with Family History

Fun Ways to Get

Your Family into Family History

1. Tell your children the stories of your childhood. Help them see their ancestors as real

people by inviting grandparents and other family members to share their personal life

2. Plan an evening meal around a traditional food from someplace an ancestor lived, i.e.

Irish corned beef and cabbage, German sauerbraten, Italian gnocchi, Mexican

enchiladas, Native American wild rice and cranberries, Louisiana jambalaya or

Maryland-style crabcakes.

3. Using a map of the United States and US Census records (or a pedigree chart), trace

the migration of ancestors from state to state. Have little ones color in the states

where their ancestors lived.

4. Experience what life was like for your ancestors before homes had electricity. Don’t use

anything electrical for 24 hours (but be sure to keep your refrigerator and freezer

5. Create a “Who Am I?” family history trivia game with questions that can only be

answered by searching your pedigree chart.

6. Show your child photos of her ancestors and talk to her about characteristics she might

have inherited from an ancestor, such as red hair, freckles, or bushy eyebrows.

7. Help an older child or teenager locate an ancestor in a US Census between 1880 and

1940. Ask him questions about that person’s occupation, birthplace, education,

immigration date, etc.

8. Take your family on a “Family History Field Trip” to places where your ancestors lived

or worked. Or download googleearth and fly off to visit those places.

9. Visit cemeteries in person or online at findagrave.com and billiongraves.com and see how

many ancestors’ graves you can find.

10. Research historical events that took place during your ancestors’ lives. Talk about how

those events might have impacted them.

11. Include your children in a dramatic presentation of an event from your own or an

ancestor’s life. Make simple costumes to make it more fun.

12. Print an online template and create a jigsaw puzzle from an ancestor’s photo or a

favorite family photo.

13. Make a time capsule. Place various items that are important to you and your family (i.e.

a family photo, a movie ticket, school papers, family artwork, etc) in a sturdy box. Set

a date to open it but don’t forget where you hid it.

14. Print a fan chart from www.familysearch.org and turn it into a puzzle. Help your

children match each person with their parents.

15. Research the meaning of each family member’s given name. Find out if your name had

particular importance to your parents. If you were named after an ancestor, find out

more about that person.

16. Create a “Family Faces Bingo” game with photos of ancestors and family members or

simply write the name of an ancestor in each square.

17. Find out what your ancestors might have done for fun where they lived 100 years ago,

such as square dancing or pulling taffy.

18. Make a “Matching Game” for younger children by making two copies of 15 or 20 family

pictures. Add names to the “Matching Game” cards to create a game of “Go Fish.”

19. Do a little research and find out how to make your own butter or soap. Use this for a

family home evening activity.

20. Create a picture pedigree chart by placing a small photo by each ancestor’s name.

21. Celebrate with food by making Grandma’s apple pie or Papa’s famous meatloaf. Talk

about their lives as you enjoy their recipes.

22. Print a blank pedigree for your child and help her fill it out, starting with herself.

Make a simple frame and hang it in her room.

23. Visit a grandparent or another older family member and have an older child or teen

conduct a family history interview.

24. Help your child create a timeline for the life of one of his ancestors.

25. Visit http://www.comehome.net/ and involve your children in creating a Family Website

where you can share photos, recipes, gift lists, etc. with close and extended family

26. Help your children research the meaning and ethnic origin of their surname or those of

27. Help your scout-age son fulfill the requirements necessary to earn his Genealogy Merit

Badge. Or help your Cub Scout complete the family tree activity.

28. Enter the names of your ancestors into Google Books at (https://books.google.com). You

might be surprised by what you find.

29. Bring your family to the Family History Center and travel through time as you look for

your ancestors in some of the premium websites available there for free.

BOOT CAMP - Lesson 5 - Using the Help Section of Family Search

It seems like many of us don't want to get started on a project as big as researching our family lines because we just don't know what to do, how to start, where to go for information, what to do with the information once we get it, and so forth.  Well, today we are going to explore the HELP section of Family Search.

1.  Go to FamilySearch.org (you don't have to log in but it is good to do so - see Boot Camp Lesson 1 for instructions how to sign up and/or sign in.

2.  Now, look in the uppermost Right Hand Corner to where it says "GET HELP".  This is the answer to most of your questions concerning research, using Family Search, adding names to your Family Tree (as well as photos, stories, etc.) and so much more.

3.  There are 2 sections.  Let's discuss each of these sections individually.

A.  CONTACT US - This is for that one-on-one help that is needed at times.  There are 4 ways to actually get help in the contact section.
     - You can CALL them.  The phone number for the help area is shown for your country.
     - You can do LIVE CHAT.  This is really fun but know that you will actually be typing your questions to someone live - meaning you will get an immediate answer because there will be someone on the other end of your chat actually answering your questions.  You should have a decent Internet connection or your session may time-out. You will have to answer a couple of questions before you start (name, email, and phone number as well as select a number that refers to the department of your question - Family Search, memories, research etc. - they will show you the list)
     - The next way is to MESSAGE them.  This is an email conversation.  You will need to supply your name, email, phone, and question. You send a question and they will first send a letter letting you know that they got your email then they will send you a response by email (although, I have had some of them call me as well as email).
     - Then there is FIND LOCAL HELP - This will direct you to the nearest Family History Center for assistance
     -  Also under the Contact Us section is REMOTE CONNECT and MY CASES.  Remote connect is where you will download a program that will allow a member of the Help team actually connect to  your computer and work within your computer - they from a different location thus remote.  This is helpful if you need some help - like in Family Tree - and you just don't understand their instructions on how to fix a problem.  The team member can access your computer (only with your approval) and actually fix the problem as if they were sitting right there with you working on your computer.  For your cases, sometimes you have an issue that the team needs to fix.  They will give you a case number. You can refer to this case number to see how things are progressing with the help or corrections.

B. SELF HELP - This is just like it sounds, you can use these links to help yourself find the answers you are looking for. (If you can't find your answer, try the contact methods listed above).
     -  QUICK START TO FAMILY SEARCH - This is a short 3.34 minute fun video explaining what Family Search has to offer.  It also shows how FamilySearch got started.
     -  GETTING STARTED - This actually takes you to a page that will give you links to specific areas to begin your work on FamilySearch,  1) Discover your story, 2) Explore your family tree, and 3) Find your ancestors. Each will take you to another page to help you in those areas.  Be sure to explore these and follow the links to learn more about these topics. While you are at those pages, click back to the HELP section and if you see the words QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, click on it.  This will bring up some of the most popular questions with answers to help you understand how to use these parts of Family Search.
     -  HELP CENTER - This has tons of the most popular questions asked about research and Family Search.  Pick a topic you wish to know more about then pick a question - or write in your question in the space provided.
     -  THE LEARNING CENTER - This is my favorite.  They have just about every topic you can think of covered in a lesson.  This is a How To section. Most lessons are in video format but many have PDF's to look at and some even have handouts.  These are taught by very experienced people in the topic discussed. It tells you how long the video is - 5 minutes to over an hour.  Be sure to have a decent Internet connection to watch.
     -  RESEARCH WIKI - WIKI is a resource center. It mostly covers locations and some topics.  Whereas FamilySearch covers mostly people, WIKI will help with locations.  Note: There are some display changes coming to WIKI so if you look at it today, it may look differently tomorrow but the same info will be there.
     -  WHAT'S NEW - This will let you know of any recent changes in Family Search. It tell what has recently been added to Family Search and some changes to how to use things in your Family Tree.  This is helpful if you see changes and don't understand them.

So that's it!  When you are working on Family Search or in Family Tree, don't forget to look up at the HELP section for updated information, how to do something, or to ask a question....don't forget that Live Chat can help you RIGHT NOW!  Have fun learning!