A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

Ever wonder about the laws behind the records? Michael Hait has a great post on resources for studying historic laws.

If you’re following records access issues, then be sure to read Judy G. Russell’s post, News from the SSDI front, which discusses how changes in Congress could affect our access to these important records.

Paula Stuart-Warren asks, Is that genealogy record abstract correct?, and follows through with a discussion of her findings when comparing an abstract to a microfilmed copy of the original.

Adventures in Genealogy Education announced that registration for this year’s Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh will open on February 7. The institute is offering six courses this year led by some of the best-known names in genealogy education.

Liz at My Tapley Tree…and its Branches shared four generations of baby photos. Aw, so cute!

Paul Milner, a professional genealogist and popular speaker, has started a blog. Welcome, sir!

A Sunday Walk around the Blogs

I’m afraid I got a little carried away this week, but there were so many good posts and news articles!

Judi Scott writes about her week-long adventure at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy as a student in the Advanced Genealogical Methods track, led by Thomas W. Jones. I’m so jealous. But someday, I shall be that student. Oh, yes, I shall.

Trouble with the genealogical terminology in Judi’s post? Elizabeth Shown Mills’ QuickLessons can help sort that out.

Randy Seaver writes about Pinball Genealogy using an example of how he handles Ancestry.com hints. Randy’s inspiration for the post was DearMYRTLE’s post, The pinball approach to genealogical research, which was itself inspired by her time in Tom Jones’ Advanced Genealogical Methods track at SLIG. (Did I mention my envy?) The two debated this subject back and forth for several days after the initial posts. Be sure to read the follow-ups.

Sardis Methodist Church and Cemetery, located in the Buckhead community of Atlanta, have been listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.

For those following budgetary issues with the Georgia Archives, you may be interested in reading Vivian Price Saffold’s post Governor’s recommendation indicates small cut at Georgia Archives Matters. Judy G. Russell also discusses this on her blog, The Legal Genealogist. Sounds like we still have our work cut out for us!

Family History through the Alphabet is a new genealogy blogging meme for genealogists to share topics, heirlooms, stories, and so forth beginning with that week’s letter. Julie Tarr’s post on GenBlog for this week is Family History through the Alphabet – Books, an excellent listing of books available to genealogists both through the library or on the Internet, including a few less well-known resources.

But what happened to Marthy? by Michelle G. Taggart of A Southern Sleuth details a search for a distant relative, and the unexpected places the search led.

Michael Hait answers the question of When you find a document that may be about one of your ancestors, what do you do with it? His answer may surprise you!

New Hope Cemetery, an African American burial ground located near Franklin (in Macon Co., NC), was rediscovered by one of my son’s fellow Boy Scouts, Andrew Baldwin, who is in the process of cleaning it up. Way to go, Drew!

Ok, ok, just one more. (I know I’m running a little long this week.) On The Migration of Jacob Wiley Eudy over at Job’s Children, all I can say is, Wow! Look at those pictures!

Happy hunting!

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

Trust Judy G. Russell to start the week off with a bang. In Monday’s post, O death! Thy name is woman, Judy explores women who received the death penalty in the United States, from colonial times to the last woman executed.

The Knitting Genealogist published a fascinating look at the transformations wrought by the Industrial Revolution in the U. K. and their effects on her ancestors and their communities, “Those infatuated creatures calling themselves Luddites.”

Dave Tabler of Appalachian History writes about the life of Gertrude Dills McKee, a native of Jackson Co., NC, and the first woman to serve in the North Carolina State Senate.

The Rally at the Capitol in support of funding for the Georgia Archives received news coverage from The Clayton Daily News. Don’t forget to write your local representatives to the General Assembly about this important issue.

Well, we almost got snow here. I think a few parts north of us did, so here are some snow day recipes from Alison Murray at North Carolina Miscellany for y’all.

As an aside, my mother used to make snow cream for us using snow, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Yum. Now, if we could just have some actual snow…

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

Some interesting blog posts and news from around the genealogy world.

Jay Fonkert writes about Katharyn Fawkner and the Fountain of Youth. Poor Kate forgot how to count her years as she grew older. Of course, I don’t know a single woman who would ever fib about her age…

If you weren’t “doing genealogy” before the Internet, then you can get a good taste of what it was like through two posts from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings: Genealogy Searching Then and Now – Part 1: Then (Pre-1999) and Genealogy Searching Then and Now – Part 2: Now (2013). If you’ve only ever researched your family on the Internet, then Randy’s post is especially pertinent, particularly his reminder that comparatively few records have been digitized and placed online.

At UpFront with NGS, Diane L. Richard poses the question, Do We Still Need Libraries? I agree with Diane. What do you think?

Elizabeth Shown Mills has a new QuickLesson online: QuickLesson 15: Plagiarism–Five “Copywrongs” of Historical Writing.

Happy hunting!

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

This past week, straddling the old year and the new, brought some interesting posts.

Kerry Scott of Clue Wagon‘s first post of the new year exhibits her usual no-nonsense wit with In Which I Assign You A New Year’s Resolution. Hint: It’s about merging family trees.

Judith Beaman Scott (no relation?) of Puzzles of the Past is Preparing for SLIG (Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy). I admit to some envy. She’s taking the Advanced Genealogical Methods track, which is on my list of education to-dos.

The writers at the Augusta Genealogy and Local History Blog just reported that planning has begun to transfer the Georgia Archives to the University of Georgia system. Good news for researchers, I hope.

The new conferences keep a-comin’, proving that genealogy is a growing industry. Your Genetic Genealogist just announced that a DNA and Genetic Genealogy conference will be held in conjunction with the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in June of this year. Looks like there will be a whole passel of good speakers, too, so those of y’all attending the Jamboree are in for a real treat.

The Board for Certification of Genealogists has a new blog, BCG SpringBoard: News and Notes. Great news for us all!

Finally, a touching story out of the Midwest. A Detroit couple found World War II love letters, photos, and discharge papers while remodeling their home. Let’s hope an interested family member who will take care of these precious documents steps forward.

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

The past couple of weeks have brought some interesting and informative articles and posts.

Elizabeth Shown Mills has released three new QuickLessons on Evidence Explained, the companion web site to her book by the same name: QuickLesson 12: Chasing an Online Document into Its Rabbit Hole, QuickLesson 13: Classes of Evidence–Direct, Indirect & Negative, and QuickLesson 14: Petitions–What Can We Do with a List of Names?. If you’re not studying these QuickLessons, you’re losing out on an excellent (and free!) educational opportunity, presented by one of genealogy’s leading minds.

Michael Hait has posted on two important topics this past week, The most important thing you can ever prove, about discovering, sorting out, and proving identity, and Genealogical fallacies in logic. Both are excellent tutorials on how to avoid pitfalls in our analyses.

Harold Henderson, one of genealogy’s best writers, has a new article available on Archives called Why We Don’t Write, and How We Can, in which he reminds us that researching is only part of the battle.

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs: Saving the Georgia Archives Edition

The decision by Georgia’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp to close the Georgia Department of Archives and History to the public has sparked outrage and concern across the nation. Here are a few responses to this decision.

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

Friday, August 24, 2012 marked the 68th anniversary of the crash of the B-24 bomber The Little Lulu. My grandfather, Sgt. Thad J. Watson Sr., was killed in that crash, along with all but one of his crew members. A child of a soldier who served on The Little Lulu, before my grandfather’s crew, has created a blog dedicated to honoring and remembering the members of the 464th Battle Group. Friday’s post contained more information on the crash of The Little Lulu, as well as photographs of the crash site.

Michael Hait recently announced the publication of the second edition of his eBook, Online State Resources for Genealogy. I had the pleasure of hearing Michael speak about this very subject this past June at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that Michael knows his subject well. Anyone interested in making the best use of their at-home research time would do well to have a copy of this eBook.

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

I’m always interested when Boy Scouts take on history (since my son is a Scout and a budding historian), so I was delighted to see this article: Boy Scout Takes on Massive Job of Replacing Civil War Headstones in Harrisburg Cemetery.

One of my favorite blogs is Reclaiming Kin by Robyn Smith. Robyn is a Southern researcher (mostly). Her blog provides an excellent model for publishing a family history online. I particularly enjoyed two of her more recent posts, the earliest on Alabama Convict Records and a newer one, Criminals in the Family: Joseph Harbour about one of her wayward ancestors. If nothing else, stop by Robyn’s blog to see all the wonderful pictures she’s placed online.

Finally, Elizabeth Shown Mills is one of the more well-known names in genealogical circles. There’s a reason for that, one of which is her volume on source citation, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace (available through Heritage Books and other retailers). The companion web site, Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage offers a number of resources, including forums where researchers can post their own citation problems and a section of QuickLessons. In the latter, Elizabeth covers a number of interesting topics, such as “QuickLesson 2: Sources vs. Information vs. Evidence vs. Proof,” a timeless topic. All of the QuickLessons provide a fascinating glimpse into the analytical mind of one of the top researchers of our time.

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

There’s hope yet for burned records. The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis is working to restore, among other things, military personnel records damaged in a 1973 fire that devestated the NPRC’s holdings. This is exciting news for those of us whose ancestors’ paperwork may have been affected by that fire.

Julie Tarr gives 4 Reasons to Convert Your Genealogy Research into Writing, a timely reminder to all genealogists. Julie’s blog focuses on genealogical writing.

Finally, Robyn at Reclaiming Kin has an informative post about Ex-Slave Pension Records, a source with incredible potential for documenting the lives of former slaves. Robyn has taken the time to capture several images showing a range of the documents one might find in this collection.