Granny Pam's Genealogical Trials and Triumphs
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I found a tag on Apple’s tree. Somehow I missed it when she tagged me. Here are the Tag Rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random fact/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. A the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their name.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

Since I’m months late, I’ll just post the eight things, forget about tagging anyone and get on with my day.

  1. My hair is red, not strawberry blonde, or blonde. At least it was when I was born.
  2. Little girls who had red hair in my hometown in the ’50s were scarce, there were 2 in my school. They got teased a lot.
  3. The hair color thing becomes a large part of who that little girl is.
  4. In spite of what the headline photo on my blogs looks like, my hair has faded to a gray-like strawberry blonde look, more like this.
  5. Colored red hair looks fake. All of it, including mine in that photo. So I don’t color it anymore.
  6. Of my three daughters, two have red hair, D2′s is light colored and curly, D3′s is auburn and straight. All of my daughters have blue eyes.
  7. Of my five grandchildren, 3 have red hair. GD’s 1 & 2 have rather straight light strawberry blond hair, but GS3′s hair is a copper color and curly. All five have blue eyes.
  8. The red colored hair thing wouldn’t have been such a big deal if I hadn’t heard some remark nearly every day of my childhood from someone about, “Beautiful, curly, red hair.” It was meant as a complement, but I it had a much farther reaching effect on who I was. Strange.

Have a good one!

Here is a Genealogy Meme that I “caught” from Jasia, “the Creative Gene”, she says she got it from Becky and friends, and it’s just too fun to pass up. I agree, so here goes:

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Researched records onsite at a court house.
3. Transcribed records.

4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents) .
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.
9. Attended a genealogy conference.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society .
12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication .
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
16. Talked to dead ancestors.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
19. Cold called a distant relative.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name.
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.

24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record lookup for someone else.
34. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
36. Found a disturbing family secret.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.

38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
45. Disproved a family myth through research.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
51. Used microfiche.

52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
53. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
55. Taught a class in genealogy.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
60. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.

65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
66. Visited the Library of Congress.
67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. (Papa does)
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
71. Can read a church record in Latin.
72. Have an ancestor who changed their name.
73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
74. Created a family website.
75. Have more than one “genealogy” blog .
76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.

77. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
79. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.

81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana .
82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the “Psychic Roots” variety.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.

84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.
85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors .
86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
87. Use maps in my genealogy research .
88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
90. Visited the National Archives in Kew.
91. Visited St. Catherine’s House in London to find family records.
92. Found a cousin in Australia (or other foreign country).
93. Consistently cite my sources.
94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don’t live in) in search of ancestors.
95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes .
96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
97. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
98. Organized a family reunion.
99. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
103. Offended a family member with my research.
104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

Thanks Becky and friends. I know I’m much later than everyone, but, “Better late than Never.”

Often, I receive invitations to participate in Carnivals. I don’t often participate. It may be that I’m not good at following suggestions, or it may be that I’m not creative enough to relate my blogs to the carnival topics.

Imagine my excitement when I realized that there was no way out of the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy:

New Year’s Resolutions! What plans do you have for your genealogy research next year? How about for your blogging? No groaning or whining now. Write ‘em up and let us know!

No more foot dragging, here are my resolutions for genealogical research:

1. Enter all the information from the BOX into my database. No exceptions, no cheating.

2. I will file all the paperwork in the proper place, not in piles on the floor, desk, or in any convenient box.

And for my blogs:

1. I will post on either GrannyPam or Granny’s Genealogy every day.

2. I will finish posting all the data from my “old” genealogy site to Granny’s Genealogy.

This seems like a tall order to me, which will require much discipline. I often find myself searching around the internet or a library for information, when my research goals would be better served by organizing the information I have gathered.

Time to stop and get on with the factory work of genealogy!

Genealogy Day

August 12th, 2008 | Posted by Granny Pam in What's going On - (0 Comments)

I have to catch up on certain genealogical tasks today, since the Oakland County Genealogical Society Board meets tonight. We’ll be stuffing the envelopes for the fall mailing, which includes your member form and a program schedule.

I also need to finish some personal organization tasks, since I’m going to the Library of Michigan tomorrow! Yea, I get a whole day of research, and someone else is driving. It couldn’t be better, really, it couldn’t.