Granny Pam's Genealogical Trials and Triumphs
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Progress

March 17th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Organize! | Tools and Information | What's going On - (7 Comments)

It is a little too early to post quarterly progress on my Genealogy Goals, or a little too late to post monthly progress for January and February. So, I will consider this an irregular report to myself.

I have been troubled by side trips, which makes marching straight toward a goal difficult. Some of you know what I mean, this is how it goes for me:

  1. Enter a marriage record for an individual
  2. Realize that there are probably birth and perhaps death records which will be easy to locate on-line
  3. Locate several new records for individual, including 4 census records, death, another marriage, photo of grave on Find-A-Grave.
  4. Correspond with several other researchers of the same name.
  5. Share information by e-mail
  6. End up with 20 new items to enter, for the individual, his family and so on.

So focus is an issue. A big issue.

My Goals:

DWTD (deal with the data)

Looking back, in January when I set my goals, I had 102 folders, 5474 files and 5.17 gb of data in my dumping ground/new information folder on my computer. The tally this morning is 1 folder with 827 files. How did this happen? I did do a little typing, but I also reorganized much of my data.

  • A lot of the information had already been entered into my database, and the images attached. I was just so disorganized that I didn’t know that.
    • To address this, I created a set of archive folders which follow the alphabet, and contain some folders for my major surnames. I put my older archived files into the file set, then I moved all the “already entered” data into that file set. Stats on my archive files: 187 folders, 5087 files, 4.796 GB. The best part is that they are organized to match my physical file system.
    • Next, I created a folder called research notes. The contents are mostly spreadsheets of data I have collected, but also included are some “fishing trip” data. An example is a census record for a surname that is interesting to me due to it’s similarity to my great-grandfather’s surname. There are 198 items in that folder, and I hope to turn those into “to do” times and file them also.
    • The folder of images currently attached to my database contains 2,828 flies, 1.37 gb.

I think I will give myself a “adequate” on progress here. A lot left, but much accomplished.

And my two other goals:

  • Find the surname used by my Yearnd/Yournd/Ewen/Euens ancestors before their arrival in Howell, Michigan from outer space, (or Germany, or wherever they came from).
    • I get a failing mark here, but I have done some investigation.
  • Find my cousins, descendants of my Mother’s half brother, Donald William Hill. Donald was born 17 March 1919 in Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County, New York to George Gardner Hill (1896-1962) and Helen Lois Palmer (1891-1966). He was first called George Gardner Hill, Jr., on the 1920 census, but later known as Donald William. Donald died 4 April 1985 in Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California, and is buried in the National Cemetery in Riverside California. An genealogical angel and volunteer in Lake Elsinore has provided me some leads which may help me find Donald’s children.
    • I admit I have done nothing on this.

Not a total wash, but not as much as I had hoped to accomplish before good weather arrives.

I am also preparing for a research trip to New York. I am going in May, and hope to find new information about my mother’s Herrington/Harrington ancestors in Washington County. I will also research her Winn line in Columbia County, visit some cousins in Hoosick Falls, and check out various locations in Massachusetts for information. It is a big trip for me, and one I have put off too long.

In the summer, I am busy with my yard and garden, and I want to visit my grandchildren, too. The next months should be challenging, but fun.

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New Year’s Resolutions, Goals, or Whatever They Are

December 31st, 2009 | Posted by Granny Pam in DWTD - Deal With the | Tools and Information | What's going On - (4 Comments)

Thanks to Jasia at Creative Gene for hosting the New Year’s Carnival. She posted the following: Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: New Year’s Resolutions! This year is almost over and a new decade is knocking on the door. This is the perfect time to make your New Year resolutions, goals, aims, declarations, intentions, aspirations, objectives, plans, targets, schemes, wishes, or whatever you want to call them! Figure out how you’re going to approach your family history research next year, write it up, and share it with us in the COG. The deadline for submissions is January 1, 2010.

My “main” computer contains a set of folders which can be described as the “dumping ground”. Every photo, obituary, census image, document scan, or other digital file which I HAVE NOT evaluated, transcribed, attached to my database, and filed resides in those folders. I just checked and there are 5.17 gb, 102 folders, 5474 files! I could check on this because I keep a copy on my “travel” computer, in addition to two backup copies.

If I started on January first and worked every day of the 2010, that would be 15 files a day. Perhaps it would be better to look at it as 103.283 files per week? Or 456.1667 files per month? The good news is that many of the files are simply photographs passed on to me by other researchers of my lines, or tombstone photos, or something similar which can be addressed quickly. The bad news is that some are far more complicated, like the 29 photos of the lengthy, complicated will of one of my ancestors.

There is more bad news, I have a small (physical) file of information I have collected over the past few months, obituaries, photos and other items that must be scanned, entered and filed. This year will be a challenge as I attempt to summon up the discipline to deal with the data. That will be the theme of my genealogical year, Deal With The Data, or “DWTD“. There will be more on that theme.

In addition, I will continue to bore readers of this blog with the results of my research into the land transactions of our ancestors, from my deed research in Michigan and beyond.

I also have two other goals:

  • Find the surname used by my Yearnd/Yournd/Ewen/Euens ancestors before their arrival in Howell, Michigan from outer space, (or Germany, or wherever they came from).
  • Find my cousins, descendants of my Mother’s half brother, Donald William Hill. Donald was born 17 March 1919 in Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County, New York to George Gardner Hill (1896-1962) and Helen Lois Palmer (1891-1966). He was first called George Gardner Hill, Jr., on the 1920 census, but later known as Donald William. Donald died 4 April 1985 in Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California, and is buried in the National Cemetery in Riverside California. An genealogical angel and volunteer in Lake Elsinore has provided me some leads which may help me find Donald’s children.

So that is the sum total of my hopes for 2010:

  1. DWTD.
  2. Find a name.
  3. Find some cousins.

Time will tell how this year will play out. Good luck to all the busy as a beaver genealogists out there, and blessings in the New Year!

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Progress and Pain

October 20th, 2009 | Posted by Granny Pam in Organize! | Tools and Information - (4 Comments)

Back on December 28, 2008 I made some resolutions, on which I will report progress today in this post. This is not a 30 day or quarterly report, I am writing it because I don’t know what else to write today, and this may help me decide what to write tomorrow.

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.

These two resolutions are complete. I do have a folder of newly gather information, but that was not part of the resolution, right? Hmmm.

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.

It would take a little checking, but I am pretty sure I have missed a day here and there. However, my overall post total has more than met my unstated goal of 365 posts for 2009. A review of the numbers shows that I have posted more here on Granny’s Genealogy than on my personal blog. I have also made several posts on Papa’s site, which was not in the mix back when I made the resolution to write every day. The bottom line is that I probably never will write every day, but I can manage writing most days, and scheduling when I am too busy or away from home to write.

Posts in 2009 (after this is published) 485, as follows:
Granny’s Genealogy: January: 30, February: 32, March: 38, April: 32, May: 34, June: 33, July: 65, August: 10, September: 31, October: 23, total: 328.
GrannyPam: January: 15, February: 15, March: 26, April: 22, May: 22, June: 13, July: 15, August: 11, September: 10, October: 8, total: 157.

Traffic is up on Granny’s Genealogy, and down on GrannyPam, and checking the post numbers explains why.

Now the thing that is not complete, posting all the data from my old site to this blog. This has proved much more difficult that I thought it would be. I have started, but some of those pages were written in 2003. I know more now, so I feel I should update them. Additionally, a web page is different from a blog post, and things don’t translate as well as I thought they would.

I took a big bite and did the cemetery photos from my old blog. I had to split them into more posts than I had web pages, and format them differently, and link the photos differently. I am still not sure if I am satisfied with what I did, but this is a blog, so I need to post and move forward.

The organization factor has been bothering me, and I have partly addressed it. In the side bar, you will see monthly archives, category archives and a new tool, “Series” I found this little widget when trying to find a practical way to index my posts. I am not satisfied without an index, and am still working on that, but the series widget has helped some. When you click on it, it gives you the posts in a given series from the first one to the last one, in order. That is pretty hard to beat in some circumstances. For the cemetery posts, the first to last order doesn’t matter much, perhaps an alphabetical list of cemetery locations or names would be better. But for things like my Grandma’s books, it does put them in order, and make them accessible in one place as a group.

I am happy with my progress on genealogical resolutions, but not sure what direction I am headed. I believe I will need a new resolution before the year ends, or at least a new direction. The data from my old site will run out quickly, and I will need to decide how and when to post on this blog. I really do well with a list, but I am out of artifacts to list and describe. Except perhaps for a large group of old photos. I will have to put my thinking cap on, and see what feels right.

Thanks to everyone who has hung with me through my growing pains and continues to visit my blogs. I have great appreciation for the many geneabloggers who continue to produce valuable and thoughtful posts day in and day out. What talent!

Moving Right Along

August 8th, 2009 | Posted by Granny Pam in Organize! | Tools and Information - (0 Comments)

I feel disconnected from the this blog right now, having spent the last week on other things. Some reports for my genealogy society, some other work for that cause, a trip to Lansing to protest (so 60′s), and a family reunion. Now all that is water over the dam.

I’m going continue on my quest to fulfill my New Year’s resolutions. Let me see, what was that?

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.

Wow, it’s a good thing I looked back. My results are dismal:

  1. Some of the box information is entered.
  2. What is entered is filed in another box.

I’m in real trouble here, it appears that I’ve completely stalled. However, we put down three rooms of new flooring, painted much of the house, raised a garden, cared for our lawn and flowers, and took a few breaks to see our favorite music and musicians.

I’m hoping that I can return to using one or two days a week exclusively for data entry. That will mean no Facebook, no Twitter, and no YouTube for those days. I am betting if I could stick to that, the pile would shrink dramatically.

Between my two blogs, I have made the following posts:

  1. GrannyPam: 129 posts
  2. Granny’s Genealogy: 265 posts

That is 394, more than one per day for a 365 day year. So, if averages count, I can take the rest of the year off! The funny think about this is that I thought I had accomplished much toward my resolutions by analyzing and posting all the “Belle’s Box” items, and it turns out that was not among my goals!

There is a saying I can remember, Keep Your Eyes On The Prize. Interesting, unsourced info on WikipediA on that.

To end this little evaluation, here is the song that that saying is based on. This a super cool version from The Nashville Bluegrass Band. That is Mike Compton singing and playing mandolin. I had to look twice, usually he is wearing a T-shirt and bib overalls.   I love this video, for the song, the excellent job done on it, and for the camera shots of the Lewis Family members sitting in the audience. They also appeared in the Gaither Bluegrass Gospel Homecoming videos, which we own and play sometimes around here. Enjoy, and I’ll try to keep my hand on the plow.

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New Year’s Resolutions!

December 28th, 2008 | Posted by Granny Pam in Papa's Ancestors | Tools and Information | What's going On - (7 Comments)

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!

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