Thriller Thursday: Getting Started in Genealogy
Why is this a “Thriller Thursday” post? Because we have new interest within the family to document and preserve the past, and that is THRILLING! It is so wonderful to find connections between cousins and our ancestors through DNA, online trees, and communicating via email, sites like FaceBook, or wonderfully, in person! Unless we preserve the little pieces we each have and share them, there will be much missing in the stories of our family.
A number of cousins have asked for suggestions on getting started, and after starting a long email to one cousin, it seemed a bit easier to put it out in a blog post, along with some links that might be useful.
So here are some of my thoughts on doing genealogy, and I hope that they will help those interested.
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There are so many ways to do and organize genealogy. An Ancestry.com public tree will give you the most exposure for finding cousins, even if you do not pay for the service. (Most libraries have a version of Ancestry that can be used for research.) Software on one’s own computer allows more privacy for living people although it is tough to keep two trees current. There is some concern about using genealogy software- when they no longer support a program, what will happen to your data? They always keep their data in a ‘proprietary’ format, which means it cannot be read by other programs. So it is lost if the company ceases to exist, although there may be time to convert it before data is removed. Unfortunately the program used to convert, called GEDcom, is very old and does not transfer pictures, notes, has problems with places, etc., so some information would be lost. Using formats like .pdf or .txt, Excel, or a Word document to keep everything on a laptop can be very useful- those files have a better possibility of being kept/supported for a very long time. And some persons, like me, still believe in paper copies- those can be read no matter how out-of-date something is on a computer, or if the power grid fails or whatever. (But then we probably have worse problems to deal with!!)
Here are some ideas about getting started with preserving your family history so that it can be shared:
1. Scan your photos at 600dpi and make sure the scanner glass is clean (has to be dry too or you can destroy the photo). Scan only one photo at a time, as the scanner decides lightness/darkness automagically, and if you have an old b&w photo plus a color photo on the glass, it will find a not-so-good middle ground for the scan. Try to carefully dust off the photo with a clean, dry cloth, and make sure that little bits of paper crumbs are not left on the glass between scans.
2. Don’t forget to take pictures of family treasures- the wedding gift from 1904, a diploma too big to scan, a WWI canteen, or pickle castor. Take pictures in good light if possible rather than a flash, and shoot from different angles, including any place there might be a manufacturer’s name. Did grandma leave a little piece of paper inside that had a note? Also take a photo of the paper with the object, and it could be scanned as well.
3. Choose the file format that works best for you for scans or photos. TIFF files are more archival but take up more room on your hard disk. JPG files lose information each time they are copied. Here is a blog that has lots of great info on photo preservation and talks about this problem with file types, even if you don’t use the equipment she is talking about:
(I don’t suggest her filing system- see below for mine.)
If all that is just too complicated, just take pictures like you normally would- it is definitely better than not having an item documented.
4. There are a number of resources and blogs that can really help with getting started on recording your family history and family artifacts, photos, and treasures:
Here is a fast, easy, and inexpensive way of keeping information with an image: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/easy-low-tech-way-to-label-scanned-photos/ I would use unlined index cards and write a date, names of persons and places, plus any other info you know about the photo, keeping it somewhat brief. Personally I would scan the card with photo and then do the photo alone, but the photo could always have the info card cropped off if you decide to only do the one scan with the card.
(Amy’s blog is great to read and she has a podcast now that might help get people started in genealogy research.)
Make sure to scan the borders of a photo and the back of any images that have information on them too. Even a studio or photographer’s name can help you figure out an approximate date of the photo, as can the type of paper it is on, border size, etc. Plus, it is lovely to have the handwriting of an ancestor, and especially their sweet comments on the image.
5. Naming and filing information so it can be found later is really important. Do you have a Mac or Windows machine? I use a Mac but filing and naming are essentially the same, I think. Here is one of my posts that might be useful:
This link tells in detail how I name my files. I use this format for EVERYTHING- photos, documents like censuses or marriage records (you can download from FamilySearch or Ancestry or do a screen capture, and I recommend that because sometimes the documents disappear from being online), notes, emails with info that I save about a person, and even current photos.
For files that belong together, I use the same root file name and add an extension describing the new file, as described in the article. Here is an example:
1923_0725_McMURRAY_Edward A_Sr_ROTC Camp Training Certificate_pmm.png
1923_0725_McMURRAY_Edward A_Sr_ROTC Camp Training Certificate_pmm_cropped.png
1923_0725_McMURRAY_Edward A_Sr_ROTC Camp Training Certificate_pmm_unit info.txt
When you name the file, make sure to include keywords to help you find it within a search of your files. With the above, I can search by date, name, ROTC, camp, certificate, etc.
6. All those files need to get from your scanner to a folder where you can keep them together for each family; the post below tells how I do that.
Each folder, or the files within each folder, then, will essentially become a timeline for each person, as the computer will order them from oldest to newest since you have the dates first in the name (if you have set it up that way- there is a small arrow to click up or down for sorting order). If you put the year first it sorts by year, then month, then day. If you put the month first as in traditional dating, it will put together all the May files you have, then sort by day then year- not very useful in general. Some persons do file by document, event, or place, but I am lazy and don’t want to browse 4 folders when I am looking for information about one person. I also like the continuity of files being together for a person within their birth family, then their own family once they have married. For siblings who are not of my direct line, I leave them under their parent name, but create a folder for them with their spouse.
I actually use full names in the folder now, not initials as was posted previously:
McMURRAY_William E-Lynette PAYNE
7. Capitalizing last names makes them easy to find in files with a quick visual scan. In my family trees and software programs, I only capitalize direct line ancestors. (Some software now lets you tag direct lines, but Ancestry.com still does not.) Capitalizing makes a “William McMURRAY” who is an ancestor easier to find among all the William McMurrays who are cousins. (Why did they use the same names over and over??)
8. It is important to write down your impressions when you first see a document or photo- what is unique, who do you think is in it, when or where do you think it was taken, etc.? Our brains are remarkable and often make associations that are unexpected. (Trying to ID the person in a daguerrotype, after many years I noticed the woman had very large hands, and realized I had noticed that in another picture more recently acquired. I knew about what family she was in, so looked at those photos again, and the large hands were evident in a family photo with her husband and children! That photo had an ID so now I knew that the daguerrotype most likely was of the same person, though younger.) I use a Text Editor, as that will probably always be readable, for taking notes about images and artifacts. You cannot format text in it, but that’s ok for my purposes. You could also use a Microsoft Word document for interviews, notes, things you want to verify, etc. Even second or twentieth impressions can give insight- a picture that just seemed to be Grandpa in the back yard suddenly became one that made me realize he loved to grow roses- something I would never have guessed.
9. If you are lucky enough to have folks of the older generation available, try to get with them ASAP to record their memories. Diseases like Alzheimer’s, dementia, stroke, or a sudden death can make a delay in visiting also a big loss of information, as well as being a heart-breaking event in a family. Showing a picture or document may help jog a memory, so take what you know from prior research and be ready to take notes, video, or record your visit, as well as scan (even using your phone camera). The memories may help them jump to more remembrances, and they might even say, “Hey, I have some things you might be interested in, I think, in a box under the bed (or in a closet or horrors, attic or basement).” Transcribing the information soon after is important too, as nuances of a conversation can be lost- was the person interviewed happy about a memory, disturbed, cautious, or elated? It is good to add your impressions in to an interview, but always make sure it is obvious that they are your impressions, not those of the person being interviewed. You can use brackets and italics to signify things unspoken: [got very excited to see picture, and began remembering small incidents from childhood]
Here are some sites that may also be of use when getting started:
FamilySearch.org
This is a great site that is free, offers an unbelievable number of documents, photos, etc., as well as educational materials. The site is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and you will need to create an account to use it. Once you have signed in, click on “Search”- you will have the option to look for records, old genealogies (not always accurate but good for clues to verify information), old books, such as county histories which will provide biographies of many citizens (although often paid for, so often glowing accounts), plus one of the best-kept secrets, the FamilySearch Wiki. The Wiki will help you find what records are available for a specific time and place, and give ideas on genealogy how-to subjects, such as interviewing. They even offer a world-wide family tree, but, as with all other online trees, please use the information as CLUES, not facts- there is a lot of bad genealogy out there. Visiting your local LDS Family History Center will open new doors into your research as well.
LegacyFamilyTree.com
https://familytreewebinars.com
This website offers a wonderful software program, as well as an incredible array of webinars on about every subject in which a genealogist could have an interest. Webinars are free when they air and then for a number of days after, and some webinars are always free. Others are behind a paywall but even a one-month membership could be enough to get a new family historian up and running in the right direction, with the right documentation.
Ancestry.com
Hated by many, the discoveries made using Ancestry’s trees, documents, books, newspapers, DNA database, etc. has been worth every penny to me over the years. Since Ancestry came online, our family tree has grown by countless generations in every direction, and I have found close cousins I never knew existed. They offer special pricing at times and a partial version is available in many libraries and Family History Centers.
Books, Journals
GoogleBooks, Internet Archive, and the Hathi Trust have old magazines, journals, and books online for free.
Newspapers
Newspaper websites can help tell the stories of our ancestors when vital records or photos only give us the facts. “ChroniclingAmerica” is from the Library of Congress, “Old Fulton Postcards” specializes in New York but has newspapers for other states, and many states are now digitizing their newspapers and placing online for free. Google abandoned its newspaper project but pages are still available online at https://news.google.com/newspapers.
Before paying for a newspaper site, browse their holdings to see if they have papers from the dates and places in which your ancestors lived. My favorite site is GenealogyBank, but short subscriptions may help you find what you need even if they only have papers for one place/time of interest.
Overwhelming? Sure, but it is all out there, just waiting for you to work on preserving and sharing your family history. Take one step, tackle one small project at a time. Any bit you do, no matter how small, will preserve more information for our younger generations and those to come than might have been otherwise saved. So just get started!
Notes, Sources, and References:
- I have no financial interest in any of the above organizations or businesses, and none of the recommendations were solicited by them.
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