Genealogy Do-Over

I would say it has been awhile, but that would be an understatement. I guess there is no time like the present to start all over. sigh. So what happened? That would be a great question wouldn't it? To be honest there is a list:

• I got lazy.
• I got bogged down. When I started sourcing wasn't a priority, now that I have relized HOW STUPID that was, I felt like it was a lost cause.
• I got stuck and felt like nothing else could be found. I know thats not true, but I think this had to do with me feeling bogged down.

So what a better time to DELETE EVERYTHING (enter screams).

 Okay not really...

Enter the Genealogy Do-Over, I have tried before but didn't give it the time it deserves. So since I am restarting my research, I am going to do it right.

Week 1

Task 1: Setting previous research aside

This will probably be the easiest thing to do for me. my laptop pooped I haven't gotten it fixed yet, so I have no way to get to those files (no way to open my backup drive with a PC since it was a mac that it was created with). I have a GEDCOM file in my dropbox, but I just won't look at it. My paper files are in a closet, with stuff on top so those are fairly safe.

Task 2: Preparing to research

I usually do research at a table or ...sadly...on the couch. I know, I know....

So what do I need to change in my research pregame?

turn the tv OFF!

actually leave the house

get what I need before I start

Notebook, pen, snack, drink, computer, computer cord, any books

Task 3: Establishing base practices and guidelines

I WILL...

• CITE my sources
• TAKE my TIME
• Be honest
• not Cherry pick
• File my paperwork correctly
• Track what I am doing
• Ask questions
• Not give up so easily
• Bring a drink and maybe snacks
• Have a pad and pencil or pen just in case

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

A death: Nathan E. Orschell 1938-2012

My Grandpa Nathan died the 15 of November. I was able to keep my head though out the visitation and part of the funeral mass, but when it was my turn to stand up and say the petitions. I cried so hard that the Father Danda and a cousin, Greg Orschell, came to my side. Greg ended up saying the petitions for me after asking me if I wanted him to do it. I said yes, then he whispered fine, but you have to stay here with me. At the only thing good about a catholic funeral, the food (Nun food to be exact), another cousin told me I did a perfect job, that even the people that hadn't cried could no longer hold it in when I feel to pieces. Maybe I did do a good job, letting my sorrow out and giving permission for the others to cry with me. My Grandfather may not have been perfect or the most loving at times, but he was still my grandpa.

In actual family history news. I got my grubby hands on a 3 1/2 floppy disk that my Great Aunt gave to all of her kids...the best part non of them actually know what is on it! Now I just have to find some way to open it, I think a trip to the library would be good. Also, I managed to get the family history book that my Great Grandmother started in 1967 or so with great stories like:

He had seven girls then the fist boy was named Philip-he died. The next two boys  (both named Philip) died also. He asked his brother George what could be wrong. He said name him something else. The next boy was named George and lived.

At the moment I am transcribing the tree and all of the notes that go along with it.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Update and Flip-Pal

Well it has been awhile hasn't it?

• Mississinewa 1812 has came and went. We had a great time although it did rain for a bit on Sunday but our visitor numbers weren't as bad as what was predicted. We had loads of new vendors and had to expand even more this year then ever before. Some aches and pains with new regulations but it went pretty smooth. Plus I got to wear the new dress I made!
• My Grandpa Orschell isn't doing very good. He is in the ICU with a hospice nurse and my grandmother at his side. Prayers are needed.
• I just finished painting the inside of our camper. It looks so much better then when we got it. I wanted to get it painted before we took it to the Muster on the Wabash. It is amazing how much easier it is to clean (thats the big deal, besides not being so primer WHITE) semi-gloss painted walls then primer...duh!

On to the main topic the Flip-Pal scanner.

Right now (literally) I am listening to the Genealogy Gems podcast. The newest podcast (#143) has an interview with Gordon Nuttall, CEO of Couragent Inc the maker of the Flip-Pal. If you are on the fence about getting one take a few moments to listen to what he has to say. Lisa does a great job asking the right questions.

 If you don't listen to her you should! Lisa has some great ideas and thoughts while still being entertaining, and its FREE! She does have a premium podcast for a fee with all kinds of things, but the the free podcast has so much information that you won't feel like you are missing out on all the good stuff like other free things (Check out her site and blog also).

I also recently started poking around the My Heritage website. Their phone app is 10x better then Ancestry's in my opinion. It has record matches (tree matches), I like the look of the family trees better then Ancestry, and while you do have to pay for some features you don't have to pay to see most of the records (They really really want you to though). Check it out and see what you think (Its free, mostly).  Oh one more thing you can only have up to 250 people on the family tree in the free version. Check mine out at brynn-montag.myheritage.com.

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Why we should connect

When I first started this adventure I was really excited, somewhere between a puppy seeing a dog biscuit and a 6 year old going to Disney Land excited. I have this blog, a website, and 3 public trees all floating around out there in cyber space. It is kinda like fishing, I fling my bait out as far as I can and wait and hope for a bite.

Finally after all this time I got some nibbles, in fact 3!

2 folks emailed me, I returned the emails but haven't heard anything back.

The third, and the most exciting, I received an email from a lady whose 3x great grandfather is my 4x great uncle. WOOOHOOO! The best part is that she is from my home county, is good friends with my great uncle, and played cards with my grandparents before their divorce! When I told my grandmother I thought she was going to fall over, all this time and they had no idea.

I was asked why I would put so much effort to get the information out there, now you know. Not only am I getting the information out there but I am connecting with people; and really thats what this is about.

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

July 2nd: Mass records day

On July the 2nd familysearch.org organized an event. Not just any kind of event, one that was record breaking! familysearch.org was hoping for 5 million records to be indexed in one day, but could we the indexers do it?

Well, over 46,000 people came together to index records and in just 16 hours the 5 million mark was hit and bypassed for a grand total of .....

....drum roll please....

10,340,879


Thats right over 10 million records were indexed in just 24 hours. GO TEAM!

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Andy Griffith

I wanted to take a break from work, dishes and research to remember Andy. Growing up it wasn't uncommon to watch The Andy Griffith Show. Sitting cross legged on the floor was standard kid sitting with the grown ups on the couch and dad (or grandpa, depending on were we where) in "his" chair, this of course as long as there wasn't baseball or football on.

It always seemed like the black and white episodes were always better then the later ones in color. Either way, the wholesome life of Mayberry with its neighborhood characters, made you wish for a "simpler" time. The script was so well done, (thanks to Andy Griffith many a times) that you felt like you actually knew them, like they were real, and lived next door.

Did you know that this iconic theme song is actually part of a song called " The Fishin' Hole" sung by Andy?

Unlike some of the "superstars" today, Andy could actually act and sing. He is most well known for singing  hymns with one of his albums reaching certified platinum standing.

I bet it was so fun to be on the set of the music video for "Waiting On a Women" by Brad Paisley. Andy added his vocal talents to song.

 I want to pass on my sincere condolences to Andy's family and friends.

Andy Griffith

June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012

P.S Who can forget Matlock!?

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

WWII Widow

I wanted to pass on this video incase anyone hasn't seen it, whether you have or haven't you will want tissue. It is a story about love, let down, and joy.

 Peggy Harris lost her husband Billy Harris just a few weeks after D Day. 60 years later she was still waiting for a report, a letter anything that let her know what happened to him. Thanks to CBS's  show Sunday Morning, she finds out.

P.S Her Senator, Mr. Mac Thornberry, should be ashamed of himself!

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Don't Just Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: A Breakthrough!

Now that I am back to work the only real day that Chris and I have together is Sunday. So, not wanting to waste it, we have been spending the day at his grandparents lake cabin.

 We have been dropping hints  to both his grandparents about wanting to know more about the history on that side of the family. Chris's grandfather was interested but didn't know where to start, his grandmother wanted nothing to do with it. "Why would you want to do that?""I have no interest in knowing." So finally after close to a year of bringing it up, we brought what we did have (which, believe me wasn't a lot). Grandpa Phillips recognized names, and stories that had been passed down giving what we did have done a leg to stand on. He got really excited when we told him we found a connection to Knights in the Crusades. At that moment you could see the light bulb in Grandma's head flip on. EUREKA! Next thing we know she is rattling off names, dates, places. After all this time all we had to do was show her what could be found? 

The very next Sunday we had photo's to scan. 

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

50% Indexed!

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Future projects

 Oh dear,
Its been awhile. *sigh* Lately I haven't been able to actually do much research lately. I am still Indexing with Family Search, we had a reenactment at Friendship, Indiana {it was a blast, hot very hot, but a great time}, we have been looking for a house {one of the worlds most stressful thing}, and various stresses of everyday life.

I have 2 more family trees to create, another for my grandmother of my step-grandfather's side with a matching wedding "tile" {Thats what I am calling it, basically it will be a small rectangle with his and her names with the wedding date}, and one for my future mother-in-law. I also want to do a scrap book like thing. I don't scrap book it doesn't interest me. But I do want to take a book on the First page my brother and I, the second page would be of my mother, the facing page my father and so on. I want it in something I can add pages to that way when I have kids or I find another relative I can add them to the book. I feel like it would be a good visual representation that you can sit down and flip through. Maybe with pockets for copies of census or military records I'm not sure.

My crafts will just have to wait, coming up with a down payment while paying rent, and bills will break even the hardest saver into broke submission.

Maybe some of you would like a hand painted family tree on canvas? hint hint!!!!






We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

The 1940's Census

We are all excited to find ancestors in the recently released 1940's census, but it might be awhile before we are able to easily find them. Right now you can find them using enumeration numbers and I will tell you how later. 

First I want to let you know how you can help hurry up the process. If you go to Family Search Indexing you can find information on how to get started indexing the census (and other records) from HOME! It is volunteer but it super simple, the hardest part is reading the hand writing, there is even a test drive on the site so you can try it out. You can do 1 or 50,  you can do half of one before dinner and the other after. You just download a free program, for both PC or Mac, and start; rated beginner, intermit, and advanced; and in practically every language. At least take a look and give it a try. You can also index through the National Archives. I don't care which one, or if its another just pitch in and lets get this information out there.


If you just want to dive in you will want to know the enumeration number. Enumeration numbers are the particular area that a certain census taker was located. So in a county of 100 there may have only needed to be one census taker thus one enumeration number, but in a county of 200,000 there may have been 200 census takers thus 200  enumeration numbers...cross eyed yet? If you go to https://the1940census.com/ you can just follow the prompts to find out enumeration numbers and then you can use those to search for the census. Eyes still crossed?
It is really easy I promise just lots of steps and here they are. (This is if you need the enumeration number)

1. Go to the https://the1940census.com/ web site and click Get Started

1. You will have 2 choices 'Do you know the location where the person lived' or 'Do you know the 1940 enumeration district number' 

1. Since we are pretending that we don't know the number we are going to pick the first option.

1. Now enter what you know. I did my home county of Franklin County, Indiana.

1. Now if you know what area/township you are looking for just find it in the 'description' results, if you don't click on 'maps' and find the area and it tells you. *warning* There might be multiple pages to the map*

1. Now that you have the ED (enumeration number) for example ED 24-1 click on 'census schedules' and click on the one with the corresponding number.

1. HUNT! Scroll through till you find the people you are looking for.

See! wouldn't it be easier if you could just go to familysearch.org or the National Archives and search the indexed files?

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

My Baby is back!

Thanks to the hard work of the boys at Signature Mac and Apple I have MacBook back! After I got done hugging it, I opened it, started it up and I held my breath.....

....MY FILES ARE SAFE!....

After the hallelujah's and tears of joy, I was able to put her gentle down and do some house work. After a nail biting week off I can finally get back to doing some research. 1940's census anyone?


We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

An Easter warning

As you all know my computer is in the shop. Lucky for me Apple is covering all cost since its only 6 months old. Unlucky for me the motherboard and the RAM exploded (ok not really, but they both crapped out ) anywho, it will be atleast a week maybe two before I get it back. So I have 2 pieces of advice.
1. If you have a smartphone download the blogger app. It's free, you can write post (like I am now, it is easier on a computer but great when traveling or when your computer kills itself.), you can also read post that you are following etc.
2. Save yourself from a mental break down....BACK UP your work. I was on the edge of shooting something, till they said they MIGHT be able to save my stuff...(might). For the love of your family,pets,and sanity back up everything.

On that note have a great Easter. Hug your family, and eat an extra piece of pie for me.

My poor Mac

So this morning I tried to turn on my MacBook Pro only to find out that it died over night. It's only 6 months old so after 2 phone calls I learn that I can get it fixed for free....thank God for warrenties. Hopefully I can get it fixed without losing anything. Gahhhh!
But on the bright side its gorgeous outside.

Wordless Wednesday: Family Photos

This is going to be a not so Wordless Wednesday post. For the last few days I have spent time with my Grandmother going through the old family photos. The stories and names to numerous to count. So I present some of my findings:

The baby is my Great Grandmother Christine Long {June 3, 1916-1963}

with her parents Pennington [Pen] Long {1894-?} and Mary Ida (Rhinehimer) Long {1897-?}

And yes, in case you were wondering Pen is missing a finger.

Pennington [Pen] Long and Mary Ida (Rhinehimer) Long taken Feb 1946

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Who Do You Think You Are? : Marisa Tomei

Its Friday so its Who Do You Think You Are? night.
Tonight Marisa Tomei, traveled to Italy to find her Great-Grandparents and find out if the family story of her Great-Grandfather's murder.


If you haven't seen it, or don't want to know the details skip the part between the spoiler alerts.


*Spoiler*
Marisa Travels to the church where her Great-Grandparents are buried, only to find out she was off the year of death for her GGrandfather. Easily fixed she moved on to find their marriage cert. Now the family tale was that her GGrandfather was killed for being a womanizer but according to the paperwork he died of an illness. Of course Marisa digs further to find out what happened. In a newspaper article she finds that he was killed by a man who was arrested on the spot, she travels to the town that he was killed in and She meets with a professor in that town, in a cafe. What he tells her is that she is sitting in the exact cafe that he was murdered in front of, and that it was over a business deal between the two families (the murderer and Marisa's family) that caused it. She had to travel 1hr to the town that the trail was in, and found out that the man that killed him was acquitted but was guilty of carrying a gun which was only a misdemeanor and served 38 days and paid fines, the man then fled the area because of the honor code at the time.


At the end of the episode the researchers had found a cousin 1x removed who, at 88 yrs old, wrote her a letter explaining some things, like how after her GGrandfather died, her GGrandmother remarried and was very happy.
*Spoiler*


In other news if you go to ancestry.com/sweeps you can win the "ultimate family history journey" 3 Grand Prize winners will win a trip valued at $10,000 which includes a trip to the winner's homeland, round trip for two, hotel, and $2,000 in cash, a 6-month Ancestry.com World Explorer membership,and a DNA test. 20 First Prize winners will win 6-month Ancestry.com World Explorer membership. I mean wholly cow thats cool!


One last thing, like my last post I am asking you to sign The We the People petition, posted at http://wh.gov/khE about the SSDI  if you already haven't. We are going to need ALL the help we can get.


We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Stop the blocking of the SSDI: STOP ID THEFT NOW! CAMPAIGN WITH WHITE HOUSE PETITION

In the last few months we have heard a lot about the SSDI being blocked from public use, and yes that includes us genealogist. The issue is that people are using it to comment tax fraud by gaining the SSN and names of deceased individuals, and the government is trying to stop it. The SSDI was created so that the IRS could have a master list to check against when dealing with tax returns. So why aren't they using it like that? Just like SOPA/PIPA that they tried to pass last month this bill is to over reaching, and to large to actually work. 


Just like you I see it from purely the genealogy point of view. My first reaction is WHAT!? HOW WILL I FIND [ insert name]! I NEED THE SSDI....but, we aren't the only people to use it, insurance, the courts, banks, law enforcement etc. all use it to find the next of kin, and to find people. It would raise the cost and make probate and other court cases drawn out and longer then what they already can be now. 


That is why the RPAC (Records Preservation & Access Committee) has created a petition that every genealogist, family historian, researcher, librarian, police officer, judge...well everyone needs to sign. It is asking that instead of taking access away, that the IRS does its  job and double check the tax information against what is in the master files of the SSDI. 


According to the RPAC website:

The We the People petition, now posted at http://wh.gov/khE and accepting signatures, has a simple yet effective mission:

Take immediate steps that would curtail the filing of fraudulent tax refund claims based upon identity theft from recently deceased infants and adults.

No need for lengthy hearings in front of a Congressional committee. No need for filing statements for or against any House action. No need to waste time and effort which could be directed to more pressing national issues. In fact, the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2011 issued suggestions which do not require additional legislation but can be implemented collaboratively between the IRS and Social Security Administration (SSA) almost immediately in time to impact the current tax filing season.

 Please Please Please sign and pass it on to everyone you know. The petition still needs over 24,000 signatures before March 8th! Plus write/email/call your representatives and tell them its not okay to take out the IRS's laziness out on the people. 


We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Flip-Pal Scanner: IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!

So a few posts back I excitedly told you that I was waiting for my Flip-Pal Scanner. Well guess what!? It came today! EEEK! So far in my test run I love love love it. It is such a great size, around the size of netbook and is so easy to use. All you do is scan then put the SD card into your computer, and it works for PC or Mac. I am so ready to go to the library, and since there are no cords to be hooked up to my computer it will be so easy to use, I can just stand up and go. I don't even have to take my laptop out of the bag if I don't want to.

In the box: The scanner, a flash drive style SD card reader (awesome btw), instructions, and a 2gb SD Card with the software on it, and batteries.

This baby will scan in 300 dpi and 600 dpi, has stitching software (so you can scan something larger and the software magically puts it together), and you can take the cover off and scan things (I will explain later). 

First some examples of scans:

Photo scanned like a normal scanner with the top

Photo scanned with the scanner upside-down

Large painting scanned and stitched together, the black areas are parts that didn't get scanned.

So now you are probably wondering what I mean about it being upside down. We all know what a regular scanner looks like and this one works just like it, but you can also take the cover off and use it!

Like I said in the video, and it is my first, so be kind :), if you have any questions let me know. 

We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Who Do You Think You Are?: Martin Sheen

Ahhh...the new season of Who Do You Think You Are? is finally here! The first celeb to be featured is Martin Sheen, and let me say the things he digs up are the things that we wish we could find and what keeps us (genealogist) going.

Now before you read any further there are a few minor spoilers and one JUMBO one, so if you don't want to know skip everything between the ** starting.....now


**
Martin, who's real name is Ramon Estevez,  was born on Aug 3, 1940 in Dayton, Ohio to a Spanish father and an Irish mother. What he finds is  pretty amazing. He goes first to Ireland then to Spain and finds revolutionaries, illegitimate children, and !JUMBO SPOILER! his 4th great grandfather was a Judge who was after a girl for arrest who had gotten pregnant by what is thought to be a clergy man, and was seeking an abortion, now his 4th great grandmother on his father's side is that girl! His Grandmother and Grandfather were each decedents one of the girl and one of the judge! You just have to see this episode to fully understand.

Would a diagram help? I though it would...and even if you don't need one you are getting one, HA!

**




Okay if you have skipped all that you can read now!




Hint: If you have it on your DVR you will be thankful. Like everything Ancestry. com does their commercials are through out the show and really how many times do you need to hear about the site?




Catch it on NBC Fridays 8/7c or go to the Who Do You Think You Are? website for previews and more info.







We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott

Flip Pal Scanner

Just a quick post:

Who has 2 thumbs and just ordered her very own Flip Pal Scanner? This Girl!

I know cheesy, but I am so excited. I can already mentally list off all the things I am going to scan with it. I also can't wait to take it to the library and make copies from books. It's going to pay for its self in just copies alone.

Check them out here and order your very own!


We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. ~Shirley Abbott