Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What Type of Genealogist Are You?

Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post for today asks What Type of Genealogist Are You? The mission for those responding is:

1)  Read Lorine McGinnis Schulze's blog post What Type of Genealogist Are You? (25 August 2012).

2)  Answer the questions, and write about them!!

3)  Share your opinions in your own blog post, in comments on this post, in a Facebook Status, in a Google+ Stream post, or in a Twitter microblog.

There is no doubt that I am the Hunter/Detective type; I love research, for my own ancestors and for those of clients and friends.

Based on that, I am neither a Gatherer/Ancestor Collector (although I know several) nor an Ancestor Finder. And although I have been frustrated at times with collaborative genealogy, I am not a Hoarder; I want share my research but not necessarily in online trees. Not a Junkyard Collector either, although you couldn’t tell that by looking at my desk!

I haven’t submitted any articles to scholarly journals (yet), but I am a Scholar in that I want to have proper source citations and I try to include them even on my blogs so that people will know where I found my information. The longer I am involved in genealogical research, the more I am becoming an Analyzer; in my personal research, I find if I go back and look at documents again, there are clues I didn’t see before!

I wish I were more of a Planner. I try to use research plans and logs, but sometimes I get caught up in the thrill of the hunt, or sidetracked by some tidbit of information, and I get off track.

So there you have it: I’m a Hunter/Detective, with some Scholar and Analyzer thrown in for good measure!

Sherlock Holmes in "The Five Orange Pips"
By Sidney Paget (1860 - 1908) (Strand Magazine)
 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

© 2012 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Thanksgiving Edition

Randy Seaver of GeneaMusings has offered the following challenge for the Thanksgiving edition of SNGF:

Think about the answers to these questions:

• Which ancestor are you most thankful for, and why?
• Which author (book, periodical, website, etc.) are you most thankful for, and why?
• Which historical record set (paper or website) are you most thankful for, and why?

Tell us about it in a blog post of your own; in a comment to this blog post; in a Facebook status line or a Google Plus stream post.

I am thankful for all my ancestors—without them, I wouldn’t be here!

But since I can only choose one for this exercise, I would have to choose my paternal great-grandfather, Ambrose B. Martindale (1844-1918). A.B. (as he was known) was active as a business and civic leader in the communities in which he lived. I have been able to find articles about him in the newspapers of the day, in addition to official records. Of all my ancestors, A.B. is the one who has truly come to life for me.

Hands down, Elizabeth Shown Mills is my favorite genealogy author and speaker. Before I ever heard of Evidence Explained, I read her historical novel Isles of Canes. Her QuickSheets provide a handy reference for writing basic source citations and analysis for problem solving. And I never pass on an opportunity to hear her speak at a genealogy conference!

Again, since I can only choose one historical record set, I am most thankful for the Civil War Service Records available on Fold3. The digitized images of NARA Publication M347 "Unfiled Papers and Slips Belonging in Confederate Compiled Service Records" available as part of this collection gave me the information I needed to prove a family tradition that A. B. Martindale had served in both the Confederate and Union armies!

Disclaimer: I am also thankful to have the opportunity to participate in several affiliate marketing programs! Should you decide to purchase any of the products listed above through my link, I will receive a small commission. The price you pay for the product will be the same whether you purchase through me or by going directly to the seller’s website.

© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Genealogy Database Statistics

Randy Seaver, of GeneaMusings, has posted this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge:

Hey genea-philes - it's Saturday Night!  Time for more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  If you have your family tree research in a Genealogy Management Program (GMP), whether a computer software program or an online family tree, figure out how to find how many persons, places, sources, etc. are in your database (hint:  the Help button is your friend!).

2)  Tell us which GMP you use, and how many persons, places, sources, etc. are in your database(s) today in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook status or Google+ stream comment.

I use the Deluxe Version of Legacy Family Tree 7, which doesn't provide as many statistics as RootsMagic 4. The steps in Legacy are to click on HELP, and then on GENERAL INFORMATION; here are my results:

It shows that the version I am using has a build date of 2 Aug 2011; one of Legacy's features is that it will remind you to check for updates to the software. This is the most recent version.

Under File Information, you will note that the Family File Path shows that I have saved my database to My Dropbox. By saving it there, I can be sure that I have the most up-to-date information whether I open the database from my desktop computer or my laptop.

Finally, it gives some content information:

• Number of individuals: 9,765
• Number of families: 3,456
• Unique surnames: 2,161
• Master source entries: 921 (Of course, I have many more source citations! This just represents the number of master sources I am currently using.)

Here are some of the other reports available in Legacy, along with my current page count for each report:

• Event Report: lists events for each individual (200 pages)
• Source Citations Report: lists each master source with the number of times it is used (62 pages)
• Surname Report: lists each surname with the number of occurrences (37 pages)
• To Do Report: lists to-do items by individual (21 pages)

To save trees, I don't print ANY of these reports!


© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Genealogy Research through I Ching

Leave it to Randy Seaver of GeneaMusings to come up with another fascinating project to keep us busy and out of trouble on Saturday night. This week’s mission: 

• Go to http://IChingOnline.net and ask a question relating to your genealogy research. You can "throw the coins virtually" or "throw the coins by hand." You have to click the "throw" button six times, then click on "Read."
• Report the question you asked and the answer you received, in the form of the Cast Hexagram (which explains the situation you are now in, or what has gone before), to your readers.
• Does the answer make any sense to you? How do you interpret the answer?

I have NO experience with I Ching so here goes! 

My question: Will I ever find the parents of Ellender Vickers?

I throw the I Ching coins (virtually) and receive Cast Hexagram 56 – The Wanderer:

The first part of the Cast Hexagram says: 

Lu/The Wanderer

Fire on the Mountain, catastrophic to man, a passing annoyance to the Mountain:

The Superior Person waits for wisdom and clarity before exacting Justice, then lets no

protest sway him.

Find satisfaction in small gains.

To move constantly forward is good fortune to a Wanderer.

The second part, the Situation Analysis, reads:

You are a stranger to this situation.

It is your attraction to the exotic that has led you here, but you will move on to a new

vista when this one has lost its mystique.

Because much of this environment is foreign to you, you must exercise only the best

judgement.

You don’t know the custom here, and it’s too easy to cross a line you don’t know is there.

Because you are the foreigner in this setting, you have no history to acquit you.

Watch, listen, study, contemplate, then step lightly but decisively on.

The way I see it, the I Ching is telling me I don’t know the answer to my question (duh), but when I find it, I’ll move on to the next question (right). I take the part about the foreign environment to mean (correctly) that I don’t know much about the South in the early to mid-1800s. So I guess I will take the advice in the last line and spend my time (more wisely) following the steps required to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard!

Or maybe I’ll call a genealogy psychic or tarot card reader! (Just kidding!)

© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – True Confessions about Genea-Assets

Here is this week’s challenge from Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings:

Hello there, genea-collectors - it's SATURDAY NIGHT, time for more GENEALOGY FUN. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

 

1)  Think about this:  Is all of your genealogical material, which you've gathered over the years, well organized?  Do you have papers, certificates, photographs and other ephemera squirreled away somewhere in your genealogy cave center?  Do you have forgotten digital files, including documents, photographs and notes hiding in your computer file folders?  It's Saturday night, do you know where ALL of your family history information is? 

 

2)  Give yourself a grade (from A to F) on how well you've done with your filing of tangible and digital genealogical assets (two grades, one for each).  Brag about your organizational prowess if you deserve it - you can be a good example to the rest of us.  Bemoan your situation if your files are like mine.

 

3)  Look through your tangible or digital genea-assets and find something you've "lost," forgotten or overlooked that might add to your knowledge about one or more families.  Tell us what you found, how will it help you, and will you commit to analyze it, source it, and use it?  

  

4)  Write a blog post of your own, make a comment on this blog post, or enter a Facebook Status or Google Plus Stream item concerning your "find" and what you're going to do about it.

 

 

What is the world coming to as geneabloggers resort to “True Confessions"? At least we are keeping it to genea-assets and not getting into more sensitive areas such as source citations and methods! Before I took up genealogy, I had the reputation of being the most organized family member, but my reputation has certainly been tarnished as I have collected stacks of books and papers and other stuff!

Part 1 

Recently, I started organizing my genealogy resources (books, magazines, etc.) and even recorded my holdings on LibraryThing. It’s not any where near complete. I have digital books that haven’t been included yet. I know I have books that must still be in boxes in the garage, having never been unpacked since the last move (3 years ago). But I’m working on it! 

My paper genea-assets (copies of book pages, computer printouts, etc.) are in numerous file folders and stacks. Last week I took a bunch of them and at least got them organized by surname so I can try to make sense of them and determine whether to keep or trash. The vital records copies are in family folders. 

My digital genea-assets are somewhat better organized into a series of folders based on type of records (birth, marriage, death, property, pictures, etc.). I use a numbering system for each document and the document number is included in the source citation detail in my database. For example, “BIRTH001” might be Mickey Mouse’s birth certificate and “DEATH001” might be Scrooge McDuck’s death certificate. I started using a numbering system because of multiple ancestors with the same name. I do have digital “stacks”—that is, computer folders with documents that have not yet been processed. Having lost digital materials in computer mishaps in the past, all of my digital genea-assets are in My Dropbox. 

Part 2 

• Tangible genea-assets grade: C-
• Digital genea-assets grade: C+ 

Part 3 

I sorted a 2” stack of tangible genea-assets and found two items related to my two favorite research subjects, Ambrose Martindale (my great-grandfather) and J. J. Spurlock (my grandfather). 

The first is a copy of a 2010 mailing list posting looking for 8x10 photos of the Past Masters of Greenville (MO) Lodge #107 of the Masons. Ambrose Martindale is one of the men listed. I don’t have an 8x10 photo of him, but I want to follow up with the writer of the post to see if he can give me any information about the dates of Ambrose’s membership in that particular Lodge. If a photo of another size or format is acceptable, I may be able to help after I visit my niece in November. 

The second item is a page from The Jewelers’ Circular, dated 27 August 1919, which carried the following statement under the heading “San Diego, Cal.”: 

J. J. Spurlock, formerly with J. Jessop & Sons, recently opened a school at 725 Broadway for teaching the watchmakers’ trade. 

I need to see what resources might be available to find out more about this school. Perhaps my geneablogger friends in the San Diego area can point me in the right direction!

© 2011 Denise Spurlock, Ancestral Trees Research