Yes, another grandiose title with a not-so-grandiose post. In any case, I went to visit my dear old grandfather in Fort Worth, Texas this past weekend, and it renewed my ever-flagging interest in genealogy. I’ve mentioned a bit about my family’s recent (very recent) history on this blog, but it goes back much farther than all that, praise God.

It may surprise you all to know it, but there’s some noble blood in my veins—noble both literally and figuratively. (Welshmen may recognize it as similar to the arms of the Williamses, sheriffs of Caernarvon; these are kin to the Goodmans of my line.) My grandfather has spent years, both in America (where the first of our line, Benjamin Goodman, debarked in 1673) and in England and Wales, researching our long family history. By God’s grace, many of the records are intact; he’s even found the gravestones of many of our people. And I’ve decided that it’s high time that I familiarize myself with the history of the family that produced me.

Sadly, my dear grandfather, who keeps incredibly copious documentation, decided to do so in the Family Tree Maker brand of software. This software is proprietary and closed, and it saves in its own strange file format, suffixed with FTW, rather than the standard GEDCOM format. (Yes, I know it was developed by Mormons. But nothing’s perfect, and it is the standard.) So I needed to get this ginormous (16M, all but its onesome) FTW file converted into a standard format that some free software genealogy program could recognize (namely, GEDCOM).

There are, as usual, many excellent choices for genealogy software in the free software world. The one I ended up choosing was the GNU GPLed Gramps program, which is GTK+ based and seems quite good. It understands GEDCOM (using its own, better XML format internally) and can produce reports in a number of different word processing formats, not to mention plain text, HTML, pdf, and even the mighty LaTeX. All in all, a superb program that I’m excited about getting to know better.

But it can’t understand FTW files. And who can blame it? FTW files are proprietary; Family Tree Maker won’t tell anyone how to read them. Of course, Family Tree Maker would be more than happy to save the file in GEDCOM—but I need to install a trial of an old version in order to do this. (It appears they no longer offer a trial version, though clearly they once did; fortunately, Grandpa had sent an old one along with the enormous file.) They only make the software for Windows. I don’t run Windows. What to do?

Enter wine, an incredible program which enables many Windows programs to run on free systems. Because the Windows API is closed, wine sometimes has trouble mimicking it well enough to make things run well (though often things run perfectly). That’s fine, for my purposes; it doesn’t have to run well, or even for any significant period of time. I’m going to remove it as soon as I’ve installed it, opened the FTW, and exported it as a GEDCOM file that a better program can use. Surely wine will be able to do that.

So I save it to my ~/.wine/drive_c directory, install the trial version, and run “wine SETUP.EXE”. Sure enough, it runs. It doesn’t run well, and it doesn’t look pretty. But it runs. It opens the heinous FTW file. And it allows me to export it to a GEDCOM file. All without any tweaking.

That 16M FTW file took a good six hours to convert to GEDCOM, but all was well in the end. I was able to import it to Gramps’s better XML format, and I can produce great reports about my ancestry in a variety of formats. We’ve got pretty iron-clad evidence of my ancestry back well over three hundred years (pretty good for a non-noble family, as we certainly were by then). Here’s a listing of them down to 1730, when the last listed was born; the various wars they fought in; and whether they were firstborn sons:

• Donald P. Goodman III (me)—firstborn
• Donald P. Goodman II—firstborn
• Donald P. Goodman—firstborn; veteran of Korea and Vietnam
• Charles Goodman—youngest son; veteran of WWI, wounded
• Samuel Goodman—firstborn; veteran of the Civil War; officer, 3rd Texas cavalry
• Claiborne Goodman—firstborn
• William Goodman
• Benjamin Goodman—firstborn; veteran of War for Independence; murdered by British soldiers after having surrendered after a long and grueling battle at Hayes Station, South Carolina

Yes, this is more than enough to get me into the Sons of the American Revolution, of which I am a member.

It’s also deeply moving to realize just how very close we are to the great events and conflicts of the past. My grandfather’s grandfather was a veteran of the Civil War. He listened to his grandfather tell stories about his heroic father, Benjamin, murdered by British soldiers. (Yes, murdered; killing in battle is not murder, but killing after a battle is.)

Furthermore, I’m struck by how closely connected I am to my ancestors in place, now that I’m officially a Virginian. (I’ve got an accent, a vegetable garden, am descended from a Confederate veteran, and enjoy little more than biscuits and gravy for breakfast followed by a lunch of chicken-fried steak with pinto beans and cornbread. What would you call me?) My most distant of American ancestors was Benjamin Goodman, most probably deported to Barbados, though he stayed there for less than a year, for some crime the identity of which is uncertain. He debarked in Maryland in 1673, then proceeded south to Virginia, specifically New Kent County along the James, where he dwelt the remainder of his life. My ancestors were Virginians for a hundred and fifty years, living in New Kent County; Hanover County; and elsewhere, and fought with Virginia in the war, until Claiborne Goodman traveled to Tennessee, and his children to Texas. And here I am, living barely two hundred miles from where my ancestors lived and worked and died so long ago. It’s quite moving.

Now, that’s just my father’s line, understand. My father’s mother was of French extraction; her line is only traced back to her grandparents, Justin Paul and Marie Berlureau, and even then only to their debarkation at Ellis Island off the St. Louis in 1908. This lack is largely due to lack of funds, time, and energy from anyone in the family to go to France and dig this information up. Perhaps one day. Until then, I’ll keep learning about my family. They are, after all, my blood.

Praise be to Christ the King!

Dodge family Credit: T.Hartley

Our Family History Roots Us

Knowing where we came from will guide us to where we need to go, which is especially helpful these days. At no other time in history has there been a greater need to focus on our heritage. Modern life and social relations are fragmented by mobility and fast-paced lives. Many of us no longer live where we were born. But we can still branch out roots into the collective soil that nourishes us. Computer programs, scanners and cameras can help us heal.

 Online Family Trees Help Grow Roots

 It’s easy to become wrapped up in the day-to-day of life, and to forget the joys of sharing with others: the first smiles, the first baby steps, the first boyfriend, the walk down the aisle. Gather together all your facts and stories, pictures and movies, and put them on a free website, such as My Heritage. Then you can share them with relatives, friends, anyone or everyone. Take advantage of powerful social utilities to branch out and bloom.

 Grow Your Own Family Tree

 Start with genealogical charts, lists and other documents containing information about all the people, places and dates associated with your tree. Don’t forget that other people may have already done some of the work for you. Search the internet for genealogical sites and files (i.e. GEDCOM’s) that you can download for free.

 Inputting genealogical information requires not only speed and accuracy but also a familiarity with the specific program being used. Mistakes can be made with regards to privacy settings, and the results can be embarrassing to say the least. Correlating the facts on a tree, and getting the places and dates recorded correctly is definitely a challenge. If your time is better spent doing other things then why not hire a professional?

  Computers, Scanners and Cameras

 Is your life well recorded, and that of your family? Take time to capture the best of the present for future generations. We all love to take pictures of our children, but let us not forget the elderly. Use a video camera to record a grandparent talking about their life. I assure you such memorabilia will be treasured by many in years to come.

 Get all your photos together, scan them, and then start labeling and dating the best. The sooner the better, if your old family photographs are deteriorating. You might not be able to do them all right away, so try to at least get one good picture to use for the profile image for every member of your family. This will really leaf out your tree and make it easier to maintain. If a priceless picture is in very bad condition you many need professional restoration (avg. rate is $25 per photo). A great looking photo of an ancestor helps bring the memory alive. A tip for those who use flatbed scanners: wipe the plate glass constantly as old photos are surprisingly dirty. Be extremely carefully trying to clean old photos. Use cotton gloves and special cleaners.

 Genealogy Generates Family Connections

 Last year while building my family tree website my searches found a second cousin, a grand-daughter to my mother’s father’s sister. My mom either did not know about this family branch or, more likely, she had forgotten. Anyway, I contacted this cousin and she sent me a lot of new genealogical information. We also exchanged many family photos. Try growing your own family tree. You might be surprised by the results!

This afternoon I was thinking about how I record place names in my family history database (Family Historian). I suppose this is actually part of my database cleansing operation, in that I want make sure all place information is in a standard format, but also I want to make sure it is the best way of recording it.

Family Historian uses the GEDCOM standard, and has two fields for storing location data within events and attributes. These are place and address. So using my 2x great grandparents Henry and Dorothy Isabella BATEMAN as an example their location data would be:

ADDRESS : 2 Shenley Villas, Hurst Wickham

PLACE : Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, England

The address field contains a house number/name (or farm name) and a street name (if there was one) within a parish. There may also be an area or district included if there was one within the parish (in this case Hurst Wickham).

One element I need to standardise and check my database for is when the event referred to takes place in a church, such as a baptism, marriage or burial. In this case the address field would contain the name of the church, such as St Peter’s Church. I need to make sure they all have consistent format, capitalisation and punctuation.

The place field contains the Parish, County, State (not really sure if England is a state or not). This is alright for rural parishes, but for urban parishes where a town may contain more than one ecclesiastical parish things start to get untidy, examples of these from Sussex would include Brighton, Lewes and Chichester.

In one of these cases I would record the place as: Town/City (Parish), County, State. So as an example: Lewes (All Saints), Sussex, England. The first element is standardised so that if I generate a report from Family Historian which includes the place then all the town or city will show up first, rather than having some events listed under All Saints Lewes and some under Lewes All Saints.

The other advantage to this system is that it matches the Parish, County, State format when the actual parish is not known. For example when someone gives their place of birth on a census return as Lewes, Sussex. All places beginning with Lewes could be listed together on a report regardless of whether they have an ecclesiastical parish included or not.

Of course there are always going to be places which don’t fit into this format, the main one being the registration districts listed in the GRO BMD indexes. These I simply record with the district name, such as Lewes District or Brighton District. The theory being that these are only temporary records, and one day they will be replaced by more precise data. I am not sure whether I should change the format and record Brighton District as Brighton Registration District, Sussex, England. This is more long-winded, but probably more descriptive and helpful.

I would be interested to here what you think about my place structure in the comments below. Do you have any suggestions for improvement? How do you record registration districts?

Hybrids Continued:  Disks can be placed in envelopes or slim-line jewel cases to be delivered (or shrink wrapped) with printed books, or spindles may be attached to the end sheets to secure a CD in a hybrid book. Content ideas for this include:

• Containing GEDCOM files (alone, or in addition to other formats) so readers can update and add information in a variety of genealogy programs including Family Tree Maker

E-books fitting this have also been known to be sold as a stand alone book or even as an “add on” price to the standard book retail.

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This section is drawn from http://www.gregathcompany.com/epublish.html

Include all your photos in a hybrid “printed” book: For the author that would also love to see every photo available in print – a book with accompanying CD may be the answer.  Select the “cream of the crop” to be printed into the actual book.  The CD – which can be attached to the book via envelope or spindle – can contain a wealth of digital information.  Photos galore and/or original document scans, GEDCOM files, author notes on theories, etc.

Mixed Media Books: Authors who have opted for a traditionally printed book should not overlook the possibility of including additional material on CD with their books.  This can be done totally separately or with an envelope (or spindle) affixed to the book itself (generally inside the back cover).  The author can include files of anything that was “cut” from the book, more reference, further stories & details, links to favorite places, artwork, GEDCOM, etc.

Downloading Bluetooth ringtones is actual easy, bold that you accept a Bluetooth dongle to accredit you to do it. A dongle costs beneath than $10, and can be acclimated to interface amid a PC or laptop and a Bluetooth activated corpuscle phone….Prima Softs

Free ring tones can be begin all over the internet, and even some of the bigger absolute tones are amazingly inexpensive. Your problem, accepting begin one that you like, is how to get it assimilate your adaptable phone, and how to get it activated already you accept it there. That action is abundant simpler than you ability believe. Many humans acquirement ringtones, and again acquisition adversity uploading them to their corpuscle phone: don’t let that be you. It’s not difficult. Here’s how…Prima Softs

First you charge the dongle, unless your computer already has Bluetooth. An accretion amount of new laptops are getting launched with Bluetooth included, but if not again you charge the dongle. It’s annihilation added than a accessory that plugs into you USB anchorage in actuality it looks just like a USB anamnesis stick. Its purpose is to interface your computer with addition Bluetooth accessory (i.e. your corpuscle phone)….Prima Softs

You will aboriginal accept to install the dongle application an accession disk. That is just as simple as installing a printer or added device. Already that’s been done, you accept to actuate it, and again about-face your adaptable buzz to the Bluetooth option. You will acceptable acquisition that about on your ’settings’ section, or equivalent. Each altered accomplish of corpuscle buzz has its own way of allotment these things, but you are basically searching for Bluetooth, or the Bluetooth logo (two white triangles in the anatomy of the letter B, on a dejected background)….Prima Softs

When you acquisition it, actuate it, and again acquisition on your computer the downloaded chargeless Bluetooth ringtones that you wish to alteration to your corpuscle phone. You can archetype that and again use your computer to browse the folders on your mobile: if you do that it will be just like browsing any added binder structure. Already you accept begin area your ringtones are stored, just archetype over those that you wish to transfer.

Bluetooth will acquiesce you to do that just as if you were appointment files from one binder or agenda in your computer to another. You can either archetype and past, as appropriate above, or annoyance and bead the closing getting decidedly advantageous if you accept two screens, or are application two windows on your computer, one for the PC and the added for your adaptable phone….Prima Softs

That’s all there is to it! It is as simple as that. The hardest job of the lot will be to get the chargeless Bluetooth ringtones to transfer. In actuality they are not absolutely Bluetooth ringtones humans alone alarm them that because they use Bluetooth to upload them to their corpuscle phones. They can be any blazon of ring tone, such as realtones or chargeless MIDI ringtones. However, it doesn’t amount what they alarm if they are free, and there are lots of chargeless offers if you apperceive area to attending – and how to alteration them from your PC to your mobile!

]]> http://gregathcompany.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/february-2006-v52-computer/ Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:28:07 +0000 gregathcompany http://gregathcompany.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/february-2006-v52-computer/

Organization – part 4

Do you have a lot of photos that have been given to you, you’ve taken, or scanned?  If so, they could be slowing your computer down.  Additionally, if the only copy of a photo you have is on your hard drive, we really don’t want to think what will happen if the computer crashes.  If you have the budget and don’t mind new hardware, there are several excellent back up systems you can purchase and install to take care of knowing your photos are safe.  But what about those of us with less than 40% hard drive space open?  It’s time to file your photos!  One of the easiest ways with today’s technology is with a USB drive (starting at $20).  Once you have tamed the photos and put them into file folders, simply plug the drive into your computer, open up its’ window and a window that shows your photos and drag and drop.  It is suggested that you keep the drive with a general table of contents to make retreval/enjoyment fairly easy.  Another excellent way to file photos is by CD. Once you have your photos on removable storage media (drives or disks), it is up to you whether to keep them on your computer.

While you can use this filing tactic with any type of files, currently photos are the universal memory hog.  If you do digital video; have your genealogy back to the 1600 (including lots of collateral lines) in GEDCOM, etc.; have all your audio collection in the hard drive; etc. all of these may be filed similar to the photo example above.

Old School Tip: Were you computing at home in the 1980s?  Still have those large floppy boxes?  If so, they make excellent CD storage – with or without the jewel cases!

Please Note: Due to the newness of digital storage, it is important to keep your storage up to date.  Some of us still have large floppy disks with data on them – and no where to use them!

A large number of genealogists are taking advantage of the resources of the internet.  Just because you can find a document or GEDCOM online today doesn’t mean it will be there (or free of charge) tomorrow or 20 years from now.  Because of this, it is a good idea to treat computer print outs for your files/archives to reduce their acid level as much as is comfortable implementing.  Here are a few tips:

• use acid free paper

• only print on one side

• only run the paper through the printer once

• if you don’t use only acid free paper, you might invest in a second printer that uses only acid free

• when buying a new printer consider the composition of the ink it uses

• if possible, take a “junk” print out from the printer and wet it down to test it’s water resistance – if it runs, you need to select another printer for your file copies

• when making notations on the print outs, make sure to use archival quality ink pens (widely available, if in doubt – head for the scrapbooking section)

• don’t use paperclips, staples, rubber bands, adhesive (unless archival and absolutely needed), post-it notes, etc.

• store in acid free folders, etc.

• keep temperature and humidity steady and comfortable.

For more information visit
http://www.gregathcompany.com/gstore.html
http://www.gregathcompany.com/sstore.html

myHeritage Family tree builder is the best software for this purpose. You can make your family tree with photos, generate reports like listing how a particular person in the family tree is related to all the members down or up a tree. There is also provision to store the relative’s phone number, wherabout etc as in a address book. The whole creation can be saved as a GEDCOM file and uploaded to myHeritage website where you can search other families also.

GenoPro is a lighter version where the symbolisation of family members is through original scientific notation (Square for male, circle for female) and it is possible to chart out a disease pattern which runs in families. In short, myHeritage FTB aims to know more about your family in detail, but if you are interested in scientific study, GenoPro may be a better option. However, the .gedcom file that you created in myHeritage FTB can be imported to GenoPro.

Je hebt lopen zweten en zoeken in stoffige archieven. Weken, maanden en jaren gezocht naar informatie over jouw voorouders. Vervolgens op de computer in programma’s als Aldfaer, Gedcom of Myheritage de stamboom bewerkt, uitgeprint, rondgemaild en toen….

Na grotendeels de focus gelegd te hebben op het zoeken en ordenen van infomatie is het tijd voor de volgende stap. Nu kan je 2 dingen doen met de stamboom die je hebt gemaakt:

1) laten liggen en er zo nu en dan trots naar kijken OF
2) delen met anderen!

Mocht je voor optie 1) kiezen dan heb ik alleen als advies bewaar het bronbestand niet alleen op papier, maar ook digitaal. Denk dan aan een usbstick (gemiddeld 15 jaar houdbaar) of dvd / cd (gemiddeld 10 jaar houdbaar). Zet de data om de zoveel jaar over op een nieuwe ‘drager’ (cd, dvd, usbstick, (externe) harde schijf). Hierbij zorg je dat de data het best bewaard blijft. Toch is het mogelijk dat er tijdens het overzetten data verloren gaat. Diverse kopieen bewaren op verschillende dragers beperkt de kans op verlies.

Om verlies te verkomen heb ikzelf mijn data op diverse dragers opgeslagen (externe harde schijf als cd en usbstick).

Kies je voor optie 2) dan zijn er verschillende manieren om jouw informatie te delen. De laatste tijd zijn er verschillende netwerken gestart. Hieronder de enkele voorbeelden;

- Familieband.nl
- Geni.com
- Zooof.nl
- MyHeritage.nl
- Verwant.nl
- Familii.nl

Zelf vind ik de look and feel van Verwant.nl wel leuk, maar waar ik bij de meeste netwerken tegenaan loop is het weergeven van de stamboom. Ik wil in één oogopslag zo overzichtelijk mogelijk veel familieleden weergeven. Nu voldoen bovenstaande netwerken wel als het gaat om 3 generaties (jij, jouw ouders en grootouders) met kleine gezinnen. Maar je hebt een probleem als je ouders beide uit een gezin komen van 10 kinderen waarbij iedereen op hun beurt weer kinderen heeft.

Toch zijn er mogelijkheden! Bekijk het programmaatje KS Tableau. Heel simpel en klein, maar MET mogelijkheden. M.i. tot nu toe het best te gebruiken voor het schematisch weergeven van een aardig grote stamboom. Bekijk hier een voorbeeld

Mocht je interesse hebben om de stamboom in boekvorm te gieten dan raad ik zeker MyHeritage aan. Voor zowel het opmaken als het bewerken van de stamboom scoren zij zeer goed. Maar het aanbieden van standaard templates om de stamboom uit te geven in boekvorm is wat mij betreft echt van toegevoegde waarde!

Jag skrev tidigare om släktforskning, där jag föreslog att man skall använda data program av typen GRAMPS eller liknande. Det är givetvis fortfarande min åsikt att spara alla sina data lokalt, och där man kanske vill lägga till personliga kommentarer, foton och dokument till personerna i databasen. Dock är det ett ganska ensamt arbete, eftersom ingen annan kommer åt din databas annat än genom att du skickar den till intresserade, eller publicerar den på nätet via ngn html-export. Det leder till att du får mejl om alla fel i databasen, eller att man borde uppdatera det ena eller det andra. Dessutom är det inte alla som vill finnas publicerade på nätet.

Lösningen till dessa problem är en sajt där alla dina släktingar kan gå in och ta del av din släktforskning, vara med att uppdatera, lägga till bilder och tex hjälpa till att känna igen personer på gamla bilder. Kanske specificera var personer är födda och bor, så att man kan via t ex Google Maps kan följa sin släkts utbredande. Man kan också se det som att man bevarar denna information åt eftervärlden. Det finns massor som varje person vet, men som försvinner när den går bort. Hur många gånger har man inte ångrat att man spelade in mormors historier, eller tog kopior på de där fotona eller filmerna. Alla kan sedan föra in sina släktingar och ingifta familjer, och slutligen har man ett världsomspännande träd.

Viktigt är dock att denna information är skyddad, samtidigt som den är åtkomlig för intresserade. Det måste byggas på frivillighet men med gemensamma krafter så kan man ju bygga en gratis världskarta.

Geni.com levererar en platform för detta. Där kan man börja med att ladda upp sin GEDCOM-fil eller börja på ett blankt papper. Sajten har fortfarande lite skavanker och är ibland lite trög, men den är lättanvänd och pedagogisk, och använder sig av taggar och nya funktioner kommer hela tiden. Ett tips är dock att spara med en backup som GEDCOM-fil lite då och då.

Hela familjen och släkten kan vara med… ta del och dela med sig… kan bli hur bra som helst.

“We are actual admiring Broderbund has called Prima as its publishing partner. Broderbund has awash added than two actor copies of Ancestors Timberline Maker, and we’re aflame about accouterment their barter with a Prima-quality book to accompaniment their software product,” said Matt Carleson, Chief Operating Officer and Publisher for Prima’s Technology Division.

“Family Timberline Maker is such a able-bodied artefact we feel barter may be application alone a atom of its accurate capabilities,” said Doug Mack, General Manager, Banner Blue Division of Broderbund Software. “Prima’s Official Companion to Ancestors Timberline Maker Adaptation 5 is advised to admonition readers advance all of the program’s able accoutrement to admonition them ascertain and bottle their ancestors history. Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist, was called to address the book, so she could action admonition not alone on application the software but aswell on archetype the ancestors tree, which she’s acquired through years of able research.”

With Prima’s Official Companion to Ancestors Timberline Maker Adaptation 5 barter apprentice how to:

– Save time researching with tips from able genealogists

– Create and broadcast a ancestors book

– Ascertain their ancestors online

– Enhance their ancestors history with pictures, complete and video clips

– Get the a lot of out of Ancestors Timberline Maker with able admonition and tips

Prima’s Official Companion to Ancestors Timberline Maker Adaptation 5 will be appear accordingly with the new adaptation of Ancestors Timberline Maker. The book will be accessible area Ancestors Timberline Maker is sold, as able-bodied as in arch bookstores and added above retailers throughout the world.

The author, Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist, is a amalgamated columnist and affection biographer for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. She is the columnist of two books and added than a thousand online writing on genealogy. Among her awards are the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Continental Congress Special Recognition Award and the National Genealogical Society’s Award of Merit for acclaimed plan in genealogy.

Prima Publishing, founded in 1984, is one of the country’s better apart endemic and operated publishers and consists of four publishing divisions: Prima Health, Prima Lifestyles, Prima Games, and Prima Technology. Prima, headquartered in Rocklin, California, has ahead appear books on accepted Broderbund articles such as Myst(R) and Riven(tm). In addition, the aggregation owns Prima Creative Services, a wholly-owned book packaging and assembly aggregation in the United Kingdom.

Broderbund Software, Inc. develops, publishes and markets a ample band of alternate software for use in homes, schools and baby businesses. Since its founding in 1980, Broderbund has again torn new ground, conceiving and developing families of software articles with constant chump address based on creativity, addition and ease-of-use. Some of the Company’s best-known brands cover Ancestors Timberline Maker(R), The Print Shop(R), 3D Home(R) Series, Carmen Sandiego(tm), Living Books(R), Myst(R) and Riven(tm). The Company, headquartered in Novato, California, is committed to accouterment its barter with agreeable articles that set superior standards and yield advantage of the latest technologies.

Broderbund, Ancestors Timberline Maker, Carmen Sandiego, 3D Home, The Print Shop, Living Books are trademarks or registered trademarks of Broderbund Software, Inc. Myst and Riven are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cyan, Inc. All added artefact or aggregation names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their corresponding holders.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, this blog and my regular genealogy website (All My Branches) has been instrumental in the “finding” of long lost and unknown relatives.  I attribute my good fortune to several things.

1. The use of great keywords
2. Submitting my sites to search engines
3. Submitting information on key family names via message boards and queries on a variety of genealogy related sites
4. Posting enough information about ancestors that will aid others who are searching for specific family names

Not too long into my research, I ran across a post on a message board by an Amore relative whose name was familiar to me.  Turns out, he was the son of my first cousin!  We emailed constantly and shared a wealth of information with each other.  When his father had to travel to my part of the country many months later, we were able to meet.  I hadn’t seen him since I was very little.  He also got to spend time with my sister, who he had known quite well when they were both younger.  I mailed letters to many with that last name who were living in Coshocton, and soon I was also in contact with others from my Amore branch.  Several others also found me through the website.

On my Johnson line, I had posted a query on a message board about my great-grandfather’s half brother and his children’s names.  Quite awhile later, the grand-daughter of that half-brother, contacted me after seeing her mom’s and two aunt’s names.  Since that time, we have exchanged pictures of our shared ancestors and family.  She even sent me copies of letters my grandparents had written to her mom.  Between her queries and my website we brought several more Johnson family members into touch with each other.

I have also heard from relatives I never knew existed: a daughter of an uncle; a daughter of a great-aunt; a grand-daughter of my gr-great aunt’s son; just to name a few.  I’ve also heard from those I’ve been searching for – maybe not by name, but by relation (case in point: Rachel Blazer Given’s descendents). 

In almost all of my closest family lines (Amore, Johnson, House, Wilt, Stern, Blazer, Goul, Werts) – there has been at least one distant “cousin” (sometimes closer) that has found me via the blog or website.  Sometimes I’ve heard from relatives that share a common ancestor through the Caylor, Roudebush, Hollister, Loveland, or Risley line.

So as you post information on your blog or set up your genealogy website, make sure you:

• submit it to several search engines
• use good keywords
• post information to message boards or queries – not only Surname – but location and even ethnic or religious boards
• list Surnames so they are easily found

When contacted by other researchers, sharing is wonderful – but until you know enough about who you are giving information to, make sure you privatize your gedcom files.  Also, make sure when you receive information from others (as is the case when surfing the web), take with a grain of salt any information that’s posted unless there are sources and accurate citations.

And if you happen to stumble across long lost relatives or those waiting to be found, enjoy the experience!

Actually, it turned my gedcom into a complete mess, but that isn’t such a snappy headline.

Being serious, I downloaded a new programme, which seemed to work very well, only to discover it did some really odd things to the data. Not content with turning my notes into some kind of computer language – great for machines, not so good for people – it mixed families up, so that folk who married in the 17th century were shown to be the parents of others who weren’t really related to them and who arrived in the world a couple of centuries later. I’m not even going to discuss the problem of multiple duplicate entries and the lack of a merge tool.

Fortunately, I have an earlier copy of the file at Ancestry, several dozen people are missing but at least I was able to make some kind of fresh start using Legacy, which isn’t as pretty, but does do what it says on the tin.

I am insane, I am insane, I am insane, I am insane.

This is what 3 years of genealogy research looks like….Why am I doing this to myself? I am an idiot who doesn’t know when to say no to polite inquiries thats why.

GRAMPS è l’acronimo di Genealogical Research and Analysis Management Programming System ed è (come si evince dallo stesso acronimo) un software per la gestione di alberi genealogici.

Le ricerce genealogiche sono una mia vecchia passione. Ho consumato mesi interi alla ricerca delle radici della mia famiglia e mi sono divertito un sacco (!).

Chi ha già avuto a che fare con le ricerche genealogiche sa quanto sia importante avere a disposizione un software che permetta di gestire la mole di informazioni prodotta dalle ricerche. GRAMPS è proprio la soluzione a questo problema; è perfettamente integrato nell’ambiente desktop Gnome ed è scritto in Python e GTK.

Gli utenti Debian (o Ubuntu) posson scaricare il programma dai repository della loro distribuzione.

Per maggiori informazioni sulle caratteristiche di questo programma potete visitare il sito del progetto.

Buone ricerche genealogiche!

Today I am updating my Ancestry.com website for the Barretts. I deleted the Gedcom I had on there because it had a lot of “iffy” information, as well as a lot of duplicate names (I have no idea how that happened!) so I am redoing the entire thing. Unfortunately my gedcom won’t upload/ I have no idea why so I am doing it all by hand. This means it may take me a few days (or weeks) to get it all done. In the meantime don’t be disappointed if you do not find the info there that you are looking for…it will be there shortly. I am adding all of the lines that feed into the Barrett lineage as well. Yes, some (probably most) of that is the ones that are married into from the time of Cyrus and Susannah to myself. If you have any info that you think I may not have then please send it my way at aunt_sande@yahoo.com.

I have written import and export reports for the genealogy software GenJ for supporting and XML representation of the GEDCOM format. More info here.