65th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 65th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is:

"iGene Awards, The Best of The Best! It's Academy awards time... time for
the Academy of Genealogy and Family History, aka AGFH, to honor their best blog
posts of 2008* in the following 5 categories:
Best Picture - Best old family
photo that appeared on your blog in 2008. Tell us which you liked best and why.
Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2008 would make the
best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
Best Documentary -
Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or
event involving your family's history in 2008?
Best Biography - Which was
the best biographical article you wrote in 2008?
Best Comedy - Which was the
best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in
2008? Please
feel free to use this graphic on your post.Start digging back into your archives
and choose which of your blog posts deserve to be recognized for outstanding
achievement. This is not a competition between bloggers but a chance for you to
spotlight your own shining efforts at recording your genealogy and family
history in 2008*.There is no nomination process. You just need to announce your
winning blog posts for the 5 categories mentioned above in an article on your
blog and submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy. Please act as your own "award
presenter" by writing an introduction and include it in the "Remarks" box on the
BlogCarnival submission form.The deadline for submissions is February 15,
2009.*We're going to define "2008" to include any posts written in 2008 as well
as those written Jan. 1-Feb. 15, 2009 as well (so that new bloggers can
participate)."

Enjoy!

Doing the Happy Dance: Finding Answers

To be honest, I'm not sure I have ever done a happy dance after finding a key piece of information, but I do know that I have uncovered some key pieces of information in the few years since I started doing genealogy research. Even though I don't actually get up and dance when I find a new piece of information, I am cheering in my mind. So, here are a few of the successes I have had since I began researching my family's history:

• Finding an ancestor's grave. - I have already started to write about the search for this ancestor's grave on my other genealogy blog, but I haven't finished the story yet. You can read the first three parts here, here and here.
• Finding the county in Pennsylvania where my Civil War ancestor came from. - When I ordered Adam Oswalt's Civil War Pension file, he gave his birthplace as outside of Huntingdon, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. Since the information came from his testimony, the chances are pretty good that the information is accurate.
• Finding my ancestors in the 1894 Michigan state census. - This census helped to establish a link to my ancestor to another man, who had the same surname as my ancestor, that I suspect was connected but did not have proof.

Of course, there are several other successes that I have had in the five plus years that I began doing genealogy, but at the moment, I can't think of all of them. Someday, I'll list the other successes when I have a little bit more time.

64th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 64th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is:

The Happy Dance. The Joy of Genealogy. Almost everyone has experienced
it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What
event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to
go crazy with joy? If you haven't ever done the Happy Dance, tell us what you
think it would take for you to do so. This next edition will be hosted by Becky
at kinexxions.
Thanks Becky! The deadline for submissions is Feb. 1st.

Enjoy!