If you're following along on my heritage album project, I truly appreciate your interest! Since the last time I posted, I've made quite a bit of progress. I'm now into the second album and my family tree on Ancestry has expanded to include the lines from both my paternal grandpa and grandma -- more than 200 people!
I've learned a lot about my ancestors and have also had to slow down and back up more than once to correct my novice errors, like this photo! I was so excited to have what I thought was a picture of my great grandma as a young girl. Turns out that with a bit more study, I learned that this is a photo of her cousins' family. Had I read Grandma's notes more carefully, I wouldn't have goofed this up!
In another error, I discovered that this obituary is not about my great great grandfather but rather his brother, so I'll need to correct the label on this page, too. I made both of these mistakes when I first started tracing the family tree. I decided at that time that I would not add my grandparents' siblings to my tree and would just focus on my direct lineage. Well, that quickly proved to be a bad plan because often you need information from those siblings to complete the information on your grandparent. Once I filled out those families in my chart, I spotted my errors right away. Lesson learned!
Luckily, I've also made a few interesting discoveries, including the fact that my great grandpa was known locally for the chickens he raised. I Googled his name and quickly found a write-up about him on a county historical website, so I formatted and printed it for my scrapbook.
I also discovered that one of my great great grandfathers had a patent approved for a piece of farm equipment he invented, although he didn't have the money to get it produced. I found a diagram and a write-up on a local county history website, which will be great information to put in the scrapbook!
I also added several pieces of memorabilia to the albums, including my grandparents' marriage record. Rather than use adhesive on it, I attached the "folder" with a band so it can be slipped out to open. I've had boxes of this stuff just sitting around so it feels good to finally have it in an album.
Most of my recent pages still need photo captions, so I put a temporary piece of paper in the space to remind me to go back and add that information. I have found it's more efficient for me to format and print labels for several pages at once.
I'm deep into several pages about my dad. He's the little boy in the go-cart at the left. Next I'll be working on his military photos.
Before my grandma passed away, I took several photos to the nursing home and asked her to tell me about them. (I wish I had taken more!) The photo of my dad in the sailor suit was especially memorable to her. Turns out that a traveling photographer had come to the house one day offering his services. Grandma had no money but wanted my dad's picture taken, so she paid for the photo with a chicken!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I continue to discover useful information that is right under my nose. I ran across a post on Ancestry which referenced a local town history book which I have but had not looked at in years. As soon as I opened the book (which was on my very bookshelf!) I found lots of information which gives context to some of my photos.
I'm also really happy that I now have my dad's family tree much more sketched out. Working from Grandma's
records and the wealth of information on Ancestry, I've been able to
fill out much of each grandparent's family. I'm not planning to spend
much time on those siblings, but having the information documented
definitely helps with my accuracy!
When I started this project, I knew the names of my two grandparents and four great-grandparents on my dad's side but beyond that, my knowledge got very murky. Now, through my grandma's genealogy records and the information I've found on Ancestry, I actually know the names of my eight second great grandparents, 15 of my 16 third great grandparents (not shown below), and even some beyond that. I just think that's the coolest thing.
I can also now identify the countries where each of their families immigrated from, some locations more specifically than others, and the various states where they settled after coming to the United States (Maine, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, to name just a few). After I finish with my US-based research, I'll move on to those European records which will be much more of a challenge.
Because I'm a novice to family history, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos published by Ancestry. I've learned many good tips and have fixed lots of my errors after getting a better grasp of the basics! If you're interested in learning basic genealogy, I'd recommend starting with Ancestry's Desktop Education Series.There are all kinds of topics which are useful even if you are not a subscriber to Ancestry.
Check it out...you just might get hooked, too! Thanks for following along with me on this project!
jp
No comments:
Post a Comment