My Tools: Microsoft One Note

Posted on by Kathleen

Today I was supposed to go into town and visit the LDS Family History Center. It’s been there forever and I’ve never known it.

What kind of genealogist am I?! I know the answer to that, the hermit type. I will get my license by December of this year if I have to save my pennies and give up my Ancestry.com membership to do so. I’ll just have to sacrifice Ancestry for awhile, I can always get it back right? The Ancestry price alone is half of the fee for driving school. I’m not into self torture or I would have given up my website hosting fee too. That wouldn’t do at all. I’ve had this website (moore-mays.org) since May 2003 and we won’t even discuss all my little pet projects that give me joy. No that’s not an option.

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Sentimental Sunday: Full Circle

Posted on by Kathleen

I was taking pictures of something I’m going to share tomorrow when I found this gem. Since today is Sentimental Sunday, I thought it would be nice to share it today. After this discovery, there is no doubt in my mind that my Great Grandmother must have been a genealogist herself.

Here in the midst of another gem, was an unexpected prize.

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Not prepared!

Posted on by Kathleen

Folks, I am not prepared for a trip to the Family History Center in town. I’m going to do it anyway. My mom’s co-worker is actually an LDS Church Member and he’s said he’ll take us in and introduce us around and help us get situated with the place.

My first reaction was panic. I’m not ready for that kind of information influx you know! Then I realized I’ll NEVER be ready up to my standards, so I’m going in with both eyes wide open and maybe my camera to document the experience. I found I do love to take pictures, even if I don’t know how to take good ones yet. ^.^

The annual Moore Family Reunion is set and coming up fast on July 4th. Maybe I’ll bring back another box of information. I think there is only one more, but I don’t know. I do know I had Llewellyn’s birth certificate and maybe even death certificate at some point and I don’t now. So that’s got to be at least one box of documents. I cringe at how many photos could still be left. Oy!

Treasure Chest Thursday: Cemetery Deeds

Posted on by Kathleen

If you told me 10 years ago that I would come to look at pieces of paper as treasure, I would have thought you were crazy! Sure I was curious about all this family tree stuff then, but not to the extent I am now. Reflecting on the great experience I had a few years ago, I decided I was going to do another Find a Grave photo request. However, I didn’t want to send someone into a Brooklyn cemetery blind. I knew I had the deed somewhere, which will give the plot number. It’s the least I could do, right?

In my quest for the Brooklyn Cemetery Deed, I found the one for Prospect Hill Cemtery in Caldwell, New Jersey.

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To Do List

Posted on by Kathleen

There are two things I’m trying to focus on right now:

  1. Getting the website back up to what it was before it was hacked and I deleted all those un-verified people. I feel like the site is empty now, so I really need to get things back up and sourced properly there.
  2. Preparing a to do list (a list within a list, that could get weird) for going to the LDS Family History Center in town. I can probably spend a ton of time there over the summer if I play my cards right. I just want to try and spend my time efficiently.

So that’s what I’m up to right now. Hopefully I don’t overwhelm myself. 🙂

Tombstone Tuesday: Kindess

Posted on by Kathleen

This Tombstone Tuesday I’m going to share a tombstone picture and a story of kindness.

As I often complain about, I live in Maryland while many of my roots are in other states. Due to limited means, I can’t really travel. So getting to cemeteries where my relatives actually are is very difficult. That’s why I love the Find a Grave website so much. They have Photo Volunteers on there. I am now one of them, but I haven’t been fast enough to fulfill a request yet! Anyway, I sent out a photo request for some tombstones that I had been to before in my Dad’s hometown, but didn’t have a camera at the time. What I got in return for one photo request was an amazing experience.

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Oops!

Posted on by Kathleen

I had every intention of doing a Surname Saturday post on the Whitts of Kentucky. I’m still working on it, so maybe next Saturday. ^.^ It’s completely my own fault I didn’t finish it. I got distracted as I often do. The hard part of having so many people I can search on Ancestry, is that there is always something new to find. I just couldn’t wait until Monday to post about this one.

James Ellis Crabb, from U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938

Sorry for the scrunched image. If you click on it, you should be able to see it bigger. How many great facts can you get from this one record? I got a TON. 🙂

Good Ol’ Days

Posted on by Kathleen

Since we’re all friends here, we won’t discuss what I did last night. Just know that I deeply am sorry for the constant changing of my mind. The Random Relative Projectâ„¢ is still happening, but in a different way. I just couldn’t get it out of my mind last night. Here I was doing all this work on sourcing these random people in my tree and adding them to my website. Then the thought showed up, the one that clung on for dear life and wouldn’t go away. In fact, it won’t go away now, when I’m desperately hungry for a sandwich. So I need to get this out quick so I can make a date with my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

So the thought was, “What if these people turn out to be the wrong people?” “What if I spend all this time adding them and sourcing them, and they don’t even belong in my tree?” Yikes. That’s a scary one. One I’m sure I thought of before, but said I’d come to that when I got there. Then more thoughts came, “You assigned them numbers. If you assign them numbers and they aren’t part of the family what will happen to that number?” “Will you keep a list of numbers to recycle?” Oy oy oy with the poodles!

So yes, I will keep on with my Random Relative Projectâ„¢ in a very unofficial just looking through the census manner. I’d like to at least verify where these folks are in case they are family, and then in case they aren’t maybe they live nearby the real family. The official numbers will have to come from my “Official Family File” though. The one where nothing enters it without a source attached. Of course,  there isn’t much movement on that one except adding in my cousin’s information right now.

I came across this gem today. Poor Nathan Ellis is only 60 years old (Well he was in 1850), and he’s already being considered put out to pasture.  I am positive that sooner, rather than later I am pushing myself to this end. Of course it’ll be another 10 years before anyone can embarrass me on a census. So there’s still hope. Don’t ask me who belongs where in that household. I couldn’t tell ya. I only had Jeremiah, a wife Anna (not Nancy) and a son Washington (he’s next door). So everyone else is up in the air.  Who said genealogy was relaxing anyway? Oh that was me. ^.^