My Thoughts on Ancestry's New Home page ...

A couple of days ago, I happened to read Ancestry blog's posts 1 and 2 on the new home page, and I thought I would post my thoughts here. Even after I read the posts and the comments, I also decided to log into Ancestry. (I don't have a subscription with Ancestry. My sign-in is due to the rootsweb message boards.)

So, what was my impression of the new home page? I don't think the new home page is anything special. It's just so-so to me. Obviously, I don't find the new home page impressive, but I also don't see why the new home page is special. The home page, to me, appears to be nothing I haven't seen before. Of course, I haven't tried searching through this new home page. (If the search results are just as poor as the new search, my opinion will probably a bit different than it is now.) I realize that websites will change their pages around at times, but this change does not strike me as something new. It looks very similar to the main Ancestry home page that I see before I log into the site.

One of the things that I did notice was that family trees were put at the top of the page. I don't have a family tree connected to my home page, so I can still see where the search engine is from my computer screen. I personally do not want to put my family tree online, for privacy and safety concerns, so the addition of having a family tree box at the top of the page just makes me want even less to create a tree with Ancestry. Plus, I don't believe adding a "create your family tree" box to the top of the page will sit well with Ancestry's customers. I think adding that box just makes people feel that ancestry only cares about creating family tree databases. In light of incidents that happened last year, I think many genealogists are wary about sharing any information with Ancestry, especially if they believe Ancestry might claim that contributed information as their own. Of course, that's just my thoughts.

So, what do you think? As always, you can leave a comment.

Week of June 29, 2008: More Genealogy and History Blogs Added!

I have added several more genealogy and history blogs. The blogs added are:

• The Poplar Grove Project (This is the blog for the Maryland Plantation where a goldmine of records were found. I learned about this blog from an online genealogy group.)
• CelticGenealogy.org
• Genlighten Blog - Genealogy Documented (I learned about this blog from Miriam's post.)
• The Chart Chick (I learned about this blog from Becky's post.)
• Travels in Czech, Russian, English, Estonian, Polish (I learned about this blog from Harold's post)

You can find these and other genealogy blogs on the lower left side of the page, and you can find these and other history blogs on the right side of the page.

13 Days Left ...

That's right. You have thirteen more days to submit your article to this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I plan to post the edition on July 18.

Finally, I Got Part Of An Article Series Done ..

Yes, I have finally posted another backlogged article today. You can read it here. I will be posting some more posts on searching for my German ancestors. Enjoy!

One more backlogged post to go ...

51st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 51st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The next edition will be hosted on Lisa's blog, 100 Years in America. The topic for this next edition will be on:

"AGE. As family historians, we take time to carefully mark the birth dates of our forebearers. We print out family tree charts including this all-important data. We make it a point to note at what age family members have married, had children and passed away.Take some time to look over the data that you have collected on members of your family tree, and share a story of age with us for the upcoming edition of the carnival. Do you have a member of the family who went to work to support the family while still of a tender age? Someone who accomplished something that was typically done by others beyond his or her years? A couple who married young? A couple with disparate ages? A family member who accomplished something of note at an advanced age? How about family members that lived many years, outlasting many of their relatives and friends?With the understanding that "age is often a state of mind", share your family story about someone whose story stands out because of their age, either young or old. Submit your blog article for the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page."

13th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 13th Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this column is Denise May Levenick, and you can read the column here. Enjoy!

And Some Ancestry News ...

I was unable to mention this yesterday, but I thought I would make mention of a couple of Ancestry. com news. In the first item, Ancestry is digitizing records at the NARA, and in the second, Ancestry has changed their home page.

Happy Fourth of July!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July. Enjoy!

And Another History Article ...

I just happened to notice this article on yahoo news. Apparently, George Washington's childhood home has been found.

Two More Articles You Might Find Interesting ...

I just happened to notice these two articles on yahoo news. The first article has to do with the explosion in Siberia over a hundred years ago, and the other article has to do with the difference between modern and Stradivarius violins. I thought someone might find these articles interesting, and I hope everyone enjoys reading them.

Family History Center Visit 7

Earlier today, I went to the local Family History Center. I spent about two hours there, but I did not accomplish very much. I tried to copy images from the Holy Trinity Church records microfilm, but I was unable to do so because the film was too dark to be scanned. I am still waiting for the microfilm that I ordered back in May, but it has not yet come in. I also decided to order two more microfilms. One microfilm is of records from Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania and the other microfilm is of church records from Saddleworth, Yorkshire, England. I'm hoping that these microfilms come in soon. Wish me luck, and stay tuned ...

Finally! I Got Two More Done ...

I finally posted two posts that I have had back-logged for a while. Yesterday, I posted a post on my Oswalt ancestors, and today, I posted on a possible ancestor, which I have submitted to the Carnival of Genealogy. Any now, back to posting other posts ... Stay Tuned!

Google Analytics' Statistics: Results For June 2008

Once a month, I thought I would post the Google Analytics results for my blog, and to keep it to once a month, I just decided to list everything in one post. So, here are the results for the month of June 2008.
my
The top ten countries, in number of visits, to my blog are:

1. United States - 712 visits
2. United Kingdom - 27 visits
3. Canada - 21 visits
4. Not Set - 18 visits
5. Australia - 9 visits
6. Israel - 5 visits
7. Germany - 3 visits
8. Finland - 3 visits
9. South Africa - 2 visits
10. Spain - 2 visits

The top ten states in the U. S., in number of visits, are:

1. Michigan - 177 visits
2. Texas - 68 visits
3. California - 57 visits
4. Illinois - 42 visits
5. Not set - 35 visits
6. New York - 27 visits
7. Utah - 27 visits
8. Ohio - 23 visits
9. Washington - 21 visits
10. Oregon - 20 visits

The top ten cities/towns in Michigan, in number of visits, are:

1. Hamburg - 68 visits
2. Whitmore Lake - 39 visits
3. Oak Park - 11 visits
4. Sterling Heights - 10 visits
5. East Lansing - 8 visits
6. Redford - 7 visits
7. Grand Rapids - 5 visits
8. Livonia - 4 visits
9. Huntington Woods - 3 visits
10. Detroit - 2 visits

The top ten articles for this month are:

1. FamilySearch Lab Adds More Databases to Record Search - 47 views
2. What on Earth? This is a Stupid Lawsuit ... - 43 views
3. A Bell and Beau Couple: My Great-Grandparents - 30 views
4. No! Ancestry's New Search Is Worse ... - 23 views
5. Researching in FamilySearch Lab's Michigan Vital Records Databases, And More Genealogy Blogs I Forgot ... and Week of June 15, 2008: More Genealogy and History Blogs Added! - all tied at 20 views
6. Week of June 9, 2008 and Earlier: Genealogy and History News - 19 views
7. An Interesting Article On a Genealogy Gold Mine ... - 17 views
8. 8th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - Father's Day Edition!, Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 14 - My Thoughts on Another "Genealogy is Bunk" Article and Update On That Lake Ontario Shipwreck ... - all tied at 16 views
9. Tombstone Maker Website and They May Look Cute ... - both tied at 14 views
10. Things Handed Down: Traits and Characteristics and Another Lesson Learned the Hard Way ... - both tied at 13 views

Well, that is it for this month's Google Analytics Report. To my reader, I just want to say, "Thank you for reading my blog."

Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Reminder

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the next edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due on July 17th at 11:59 P. M. The topic for this upcoming edition is on research experiences or research tips. I will accept entries that deal with research from Germany to Russia to the Balkans Peninsula. You can find the submission link on the lower right side, below the pictures of other genealogy carnivals.

And Another Poll ...

I have created another poll. The question for this poll is, "If you wanted to read posts on history, what topics would you like to see?" The choices are:

• History of a locality
• Historical event
• Historical Analysis
• Historical Mysteries
• Historical Controversies

You can chose more than one answer, and you have a week to vote. Enjoy!

Poll Results!

The results are in, and the poll is now closed. The question for this poll was, "Are you new to genealogy?" I created the poll with the thought that maybe posting some basic how-to on genealogy would be beneficial to those of my readers who might have been new to genealogy. Nine people voted, and the results are:

• Yes - 0 votes
• No - 9 votes

I guess it would not be worthwhile for me to post articles on the basics of genealogy. To those who voted, thank you for voting.

Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 15 - Dealing With the Ugly Side of History: Slavery in the United States

Earlier today, I posted a link to an article on one family's discovery of their involvement in the slave trade, and afterwards, Thomas asked me what my thoughts were about this article and its affects on genealogy research. To be honest, this is a difficult topic to write about, and I'm not sure I can write a post that does justice to this topic. I will try my best, though.

Do I believe a discovery like the one the family made above would deter or stop people from doing genealogy? Maybe. I think it depends upon whether or not the genealogists in question were prepared to expect to find ugly family secrets. Even though I have no clue how many people might be scared away from doing their genealogy, my guess is that the number would be fairly small. (Of course, I could always be wrong.)

To be honest, I think if I found a dark family secret, it would still come as a shock to me even though I know I might uncover something ugly in my family's past. I have not uncovered any slave-owning ancestors yet, but I am not going to be presumptuous and claim that I do not have any ancestors who were. I might still uncover an ancestor who was a slave-owner.

If I find a slave-owning ancestor, what will I do? To be honest, I do not know what I would do, and I guess I will not know unless I come upon this situation. But, I think the best solution would be to be honest about my family's past. It probably would be difficult to admit, but I do not believe hiding or white-washing my family's past would be a good decision. History is full of incidences where humans have behaved ugly or done horrible things to other humans, and it does not do anyone any good to try to hide the past.

An Article On A Family Secret ...

A couple of days ago, Thomas wrote about a documentary that he watched on one family's role in the slave trade. Well, I just happened to find a brief article on the family today from the History News Network. You can read the article here.

Looking For My German Ancestors: My Research Experiences - Part 1 ...

I did write an earlier post about researching German ancestors for a previous edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, but it was a fairly brief post. Plus, I wrote the post in terms of generalities. I did not go into detail about my experiences. So, how did I start?

Since my known German ancestors are on my paternal side, I first started out by talking to my paternal grandparents about my ancestors. (Well, actually one is supposed to do that anyway, regardless of ethnic background, but I digress.) From my grandma, I was able to learn the names of her grandparents and the names of two of her grandma's brothers. With that information, I was able to do searches in the censuses, and find the rest of the family. Of course, it also helped that my grandma had a family tree of one of her lines as well. Even though I had that family tree, I still verified the information that was on the tree, and I am glad I did so, as I found several errors on it, especially the portion of the family tree where one of the generations in the U.S was concerned.

After searching for my ancestors in the censuses, the next step for me was to start research in Michigan's vital records. Since I found my ancestors living in Saginaw and Bay counties in the censuses, I decided to start looking for records in those counties. Up at the county buildings for both counties, I was able to find marriage and death records for a few of my ancestors and their siblings. Of course, I did not find all the records that I had hoped to find, and I am still looking for records on my ancestors in this country. In another post, I will post more specifically on records that I collected and still collecting on my ancestors. Stay tuned ...

Finally ... I Got It Posted!

I finally got the Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 14 posted! I had been working on it for a while, and I have finally got it done. You can read it here. Enjoy!