Top Ten Genealogy Blogs List Posted!

I just want to briefly mention that Kimberly Powell of About.com:Genealogy has posted a list of the top ten genealogy blogs. Of course I wasn't the first to post about this list. Randy Seaver, Jasia and Terry Thornton all blogged about this article before me, and I don't believe I can add any more to my post than what they have in their posts. Even though I am not on the top ten list, I still thought it would be nice to mention that a list has been published, and I just want to say, "Congrats!" to those who did get on the list.

World Vital Records Changes Name!

I just learned earlier today from World Vital Record's e-mail newsletter that World Vital Records has changed its name to Familylink.com. You can read more about the name change here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Ten

Why should genealogists cite their sources?

I realize that I and other genealogy bloggers have blogged before or touched on the issue of citing sources, but I wanted write about this issue again.

The lack of citations on genealogical information is a pet-peeve for me. It could just be that the drilling and insistence upon citing sources in papers in school has made me hyper-aware of the need for citations, but when I see family trees without citations, I get upset. As a history student, I have to cite my sources in any paper that I write, or I will face serious reprisals if I do not. I would be guilty of plagiarism, a form of stealing, and I could face either failing a paper or a course or getting expelled from school. Outside of academia, I could possibly be sued, as the lack of citations would indicate that I was claiming the words or ideas were my own, which in reality was not true.

I realize that from the previous paragraph, some people will consider my stance on this issue as being too serious, as these people are only doing genealogy for fun. I am also doing my family's genealogy for fun (I'm not a professional genealogist), but I am taking the time to cite my sources because the practice is ethical and because the practice saves me time. Even though I am a college student, I don't have all the time in the world, as is probably true for most genealogists. I do most of my research in the summer when I am not in school, and although I have more time then, I usually only get to visit the area where my ancestors lived about once, if I get the chance at all. I don't want to waste my limited time going over sources that I have looked at before. Plus, I am not going to remember where I found all of my information when I look over it later that evening. The citation of sources is even more important for me as I always have a couple of family members assisting with the research. If my relatives don't cite the source of their information, I am going to waste time trying to find the source of that information, especially when I could be spending the time looking at another source. I should be able to spend my time efficiently since I have relatives helping me. Of course, I have had the situation where one of my relatives did not put down the citation, and I had to spend time looking for that information again. I have also mistakenly transcribed a couple of records, and I have had to double-check some records. If you have the citation for the source, you can easily find the source within a couple of minutes. Thus, citing one's sources is quite practical.

Besides enabling one to find a source, citing also allows one the ability to be able to share quality information. What I mean is the information that one gives on a person is verifiable. The person requesting the information can find out where you got your information. For example, if someone requested information from me about one of my ancestors, I should be able to not only give that person information but I should be able to point that person in the right direction if that person wants to be able to look-up the information himself. Or in my case, when I have inquired for information on a person, who might be the same person as my ancestor, in another family tree, I hoping that I the owner of the tree will have some new information or will be able to point me in the direction where I can find a source of information. There have been times when I have contacted people who did not have any information on sources or where I could find their information. It is always frustrating to me when I find a tree with a possible connection, only to learn that the owner does not have any hard evidence to back up his or her claim.

Hopefully, by the end of this column you have understood the importance of citing one's sources. I realize that there are many experienced genealogists out there who already cite the sources of their information. My intention is not to patronize those who already know the importance of citing, but rather at those who are just beginning to do research, so that newcomers will understand why writing down where one found information is important.

So, what do you think? As always, you are welcome to leave a comment.

Family Mystery - Missing Person ...

Almost all of us probably have some family mysteries or something close to being a mystery. I blogged about one mystery a couple of months ago, but I haven't blogged about another mystery that I am trying to solve.

I only call it a mystery as I have not been able to find one of my ancestor's older brothers. (This is for a different family than the ones I have blogged about before.) The last time I can find him is in the 1900 census. After that, I have no idea where is. In his father's probate packet, his sister listed his place of residence as unknown, and that was in 1910. There is a probate file for him in the Saint Joseph County's Probate office, and the reason given for the file is missing. I have not yet checked this probate file, so I might be able to find some answers or clues from that packet. Hopefully, when I have time, I'll be able to take a look, as this inability to find him has been frustrating to me. (I'm sorry, if I'm starting to rant.)

So, why am I writing this? Well, I figured that other genealogists have come across a problem similar to one like mine. Has anyone been able to resolve a missing ancestral relative mystery? How did you solve the mystery?

Just A Quick Reminder ...

I just want to remind everyone that entries for the next Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due by January 25. The topic for this upcoming carnival is on stories. The entries can range from folklore stories to stories about your ancestors from Central and Eastern Europe. You can find out more here.

Connecting With Cousins

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have made connections with distant cousins, even though I have not met them in person. (I will not mention the names of my cousins as I do not have their permission. I'm not going to use any names, real or fake.)

So, how did I connect with other cousins? I mainly made connections through the message boards at Rootsweb and Genealogy.com. I have also connected with other cousins through contacting the owners of family trees that have my ancestors. In a couple of cases, I connected with cousins that I did not know, but were known by my grandparents. So, I have been able to verify people's claims that way. I must state, though, that I have only connected with a few cousins. I have not connected with very many cousins.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Nine

Over this past week, Randy Seaver and Lee Anders have blogged about whether or not to help other people search for living people, and I thought that I would add my two cents to this debate.

To be honest, I really haven't searched for living people at the request of strangers. The closest I have come to looking for a living person is when I looked up the phone number of cousin for one of my cousins. Of course, I also knew why my distant cousin wanted to contact this other cousin; we were both hoping that this cousin might know more about our family's history. Outside of that situation, I have not been asked to search for living people.

Would I search for living people? Probably not. Personally, I don't like searching for living people as I feel that would be an invasion of a person's privacy. I truly believe that people have a right to their privacy, and I don't like the idea of intruding into people's lives. As I have stated before, I really haven't had to deal with this issue, and I really don't have any experience in searching for living people.

The only genealogy research that I engage in at the moment is my own genealogy. I have never been asked to help anyone do any genealogical research. When I have contacted people that I did not know on a line, I have either contacted that person through e-mail or on a message board, and even then, I clearly state that I believe we share a connection with the explanation as to how. Again, when I do contact strangers, I am only contacting that person or persons in the hope that maybe he or she has some information that would help me make a connection with an ancestor.

I won't go into detail about the ethical and legal issues of this problem as the issues have already been covered and to write about them would be redundant. But I can't help putting myself into the shoes of the person who is being searched for. If I knew that someone was searching for me, would I like that? Probably not. I mean, would I really want a classmate from elementary school searching for me? Probably not. Sometimes people don't want to be contacted by someone from their past for various reasons. If this person had not been a friend, I'm not sure if I would want to be contacted by someone who I haven't seen for the past forty years. Of course, some people would not have a problem. Maybe it is just me who has the problem. I honestly don't know.

Congragulations to Blaine Bettinger!

I just want to congratulate Blaine Bettinger for becoming a member of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy. I just noticed his announcement, and I want to say, "Congrats!"

New Poll Created!

I have just created a new poll, in order to determine what topics I should write about in my Genealogy and History Thoughts columns. The question is: "What topics would you like to see covered in the Genealogy and History Thoughts columns?" The choices are:

• Personal research experiences
• Contemporary genealogy issues
• Information on historical events
• Information on historical places or landmarks
• Information on the history of a location

Even though I have given five choices, you do not have to limit yourself to these five. If you would like to see a topic or have an idea, please feel free to leave a comment on this post.

Note About the Genealogy and History Thoughts Columns

As you probably know, I have not posted a Genealogy and History Thoughts column in a while. Since I last posted one of the columns, I have been very busy. I have not discontinued the column, and I will start posting this columns. I do not believe I will be able to post a column every week as I originally intended because I am expecting another busy semester at school. Even though the columns will not be as regular, I still hope to write and post more columns in the coming months.

Genealogy Article on Pennsylvania Records ...

A couple of days ago, I noticed that Randy Seaver posted an article on Pennsylvania records. I have been busy lately, so I did not have a chance to post on this article earlier.

Of course, I read this article with interest, as I have at least three major lines that come from Pennsylvania. The only problem for me is that my ancestors lived in Pennsylvania before the state began to collect vital records. All of them died before death records were instituted, so I don't have death certificates to look at. The only records on death that I would find are probate records, church records, or newspaper death notices/obituaries. My biggest problem at the moment is trying to determine the church or churches that my ancestors attended. So far, I have not been successful in determining which ones those churches are. Another road block to my research is that I do not live in Pennsylvania, and so far, I have only been able to do my research from outside of the state. I have not researched in Pennsylvania yet.

But I digress, as the article was not on records before recording was instituted. This article was on the efforts of other researchers to get Pennsylvania to allow for wider access to its vital records, especially in the form of death certificates. The article ended with the suggestion that researchers write to the Governor and state Representatives about changing the law. Even though most of my research will deal with records pre-1906, I probably should write a letter when I have the time to do so.

Also, on another note, I just want to mention that Lisa at Small-Leaved Shamrock also wrote an article about this issue back in December.

New Genealogy Blog Added!

Today, I have added another genealogy blog. The blog added is:

• What's Past Is Prologue

I first learned about this blog from Jasia's post. You can find this blog and other genealogy and history blogs on the lower left hand side of the page. Any suggestions for other history or genealogy blogs are welcome.

The Genetic Genealogist Hosts Contest For Free DNA Test!

I realize that other people have already posted about this contest in the past few days that Blaine Bettinger at The Genetic Genealogist, but I decided to post on this contest as well.

So, what are the requirements to enter? Well, one could post an article on the contest on his or her blog, and leave a comment with the URL for the post entry. One could subscribe to the feed of The Genetic Genealogist blog, or one could leave a comment explaining why one would to win the contest.

What is the prize? The prize is a free DNA test, and one could choose one test out of three. One could choose either a mDNA test, or from two different y-DNA tests.

To be honest, I am not sure what I would actually do with a genetic test, as I have never talked to any of family members about doing one. I am not sure if I could get my family to agree to the test. If I had to choose, I think I would do a y-DNA test on my last name, as that might be the easiest option in doing research. If other DNA tests have been done by people of the same last name, I might be able to make a connection, but that is, again, an if.

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The carnival of genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next carnival is on meeting or connecting with living relatives while doing research. Enjoy!

1908: Where Were My Ancestors?

Earlier today, Lisa over at 1oo Years in America blog, put a challenge for other genealogy bloggers to write about where their ancestors were in 1908.

So, where were my ancestors in 1908? Well, they were living in various places ...

Some of my ancestors were living in the United Kingdom. Some of my ancestors were living in the county of Lancashire. Other ancestors who were living in England, I am not as positive as to where they were living, but they were most likely living in Bedforshire county. One ancestor, I am not even sure if he was still living in Scotland or was living in England. I do not know at the moment.

As for my American ancestors, most were living in Michigan: either in Detroit, or rural counties such as Saint Joseph County and Gladwin County. Other ancestors were living in Cleveland, Ohio. For one of my ancestors, I don't know where he was living are time, as I have not been able to find him in the 1910 census. He was either living in New Jersey or some other state. I do not have any clue, as he was working as a salesman and was traveling at this time.

So, as you can see, I still have holes that I need to fill, and I don't know exactly where all of my ancestors were at that time.

An Interesting Irish Genealogy Research Article ...

In light of the posting of the 2nd edition of the Carnival of Irish Culture and Heritage, I decided to post on an article that was just recently posted on Ancestry's Weekly Journal. You can read the article here.

Even though the article was short, I read it because I had a question that was similar to the topic of the article. I was wondering whether or not passenger lists existed for ships that carried passengers from Ireland to Scotland. Now that I have a little better understanding of whether or not lists existed, I'll have to keep in mind that a passenger list might not have existed for my ancestors. Either way, I thought this article was informative.

Yesterday ...

I hope everyone had good New Year's Day yesterday. I couldn't help but notice Jasia's article about the snow that she got over New Year's Eve, so I decided to write about my New Year's Day.

As most of you have probably figured out by now, I live in Michigan. I don't think I need to mention that a snow storm passed over Michigan the night before yesterday. Anyhow, where I'm staying at the moment, about 12 inches of snow fell over that night. The storm was pretty bad, so much so, that we ended up having several guests spend the night, since it was too dangerous to drive. Of course, that's not all ...

We also lost power at our house some time between and eight and nine the morning of New Year's Day. A power line fell down somewhere in the area that we lived. So, we were out of power until about 7:30 that night. So, in all, it was a pretty interesting day. ... And this morning, I woke up to see that another 2 to 3 inches had fallen last night. Ah, snow ...

2nd Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The second edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture was posted yesterday! You can read it here. The topic for the next carnival is on Irish places that your ancestors came from. The entries are due on January 29th. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

I just want to wish everyone a happy New Year. Enjoy!

2007 in Review: So, How Did I Do?

I don't have any resolutions to compare my genealogy accomplishments for 2007 as I did not start blogging until this past March. Even though, I did not have any resolutions, I did have some goals that I wanted to accomplish.

Goal One: Obtain the death notices and obituaries for my ancestors and their siblings who lived in Detroit. Results: I obtained some of the death notices for this branch. I was only able to go through the Detroit Free Press, and I did not find all of the notices. I have not yet checked the Detroit News, so the notices might still exist.

Goal Two: Order microfilms from the LDS of church records for the area of England that my ancestors lived. Results: I was able to order a couple of microfilms, but I was only able to find a couple of ancestor's marriage records. I did not find any baptismal records for my ancestors.

Goal Three: Order Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania probate records on microfilm. Results: I was able to order one microfilm from the LDS. I found the probate entry for my ancestor. It confirmed the name of his two sons, but did not mention the names of any other possible children.

Goal Four: Find the naturalization records for one of my ancestors. Results: I have not found it yet, but I have not had any time to go the state archives and look up the naturalization records.

Goal Five: Look up the death record of a possible sibling of an ancestor. Results: I was able to look up the record, and have a couple of the leads. I am still looking for more information to confirm the relationship.

Goal Six: Visit the local family history center. Results: I went a handful of times to the local center. I was not able to as much research as I liked, but a did a little.

Goal Seven: Find the marriage record of my great-grandparents. Results: I was only able to go to the state library once, and I did not have a chance to search for to search for their marriage record. I hope to find it this upcoming year.

Well, I remember of any more goals that I set-up as I did not write them down. As you can see, I did not accomplish all of my goals. I had hoped to be much further a long now than I am. I know I still have a lot more researching to do, and I hope to do more this summer than I did this past summer.