52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Week 6 - Family Heirlooms

For which heirloom are you most thankful? How did you acquire this treasure and what does it mean to you and your family?


This challenge runs from Sunday, February 5, 2012 through Saturday, February 11, 2012.

One of my most treasured heirlooms is this almost 70 year old trunk. This trunk saw two generations off to college, first my mother and then me. Of course before, I set out with it, I figured it needed a little update, so I spray painted it blue and tried to smooth out the interior with a patchwork cloth lining.

During those interim years between mom heading off to college (1945) and me heading off to college (1979), this old trunk provided extra storage for my grandparents.

Today, it serves as an end table in my living room.

After all these years, it's definitely showing it's age, the chipped paint, the broken handle, the metal beginning to pull away from the frame. But all these things also give it character. One of these days, when time allows, I'll probably try to restore some of the features, like the handle, and perhaps take it back to it's original color, black. Otherwise, I'll just let it be.

Free Offline Genealogy Tools - Week 4 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 4 - For which free offline tools are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefited your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.


This genealogy challenge runs from Sunday, January 22, 2012 through Saturday, January 28, 2012.


My favorite free off-line genealogy tool has to be the Carolina Room at the Main Branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. While my hectic schedule has not allowed me to use this local resource as much as I would like and hoped to, I still must tout it.

When I first discovered this wonderful local resource, I was pleasantly surprised that they actually have many resources that pertain to other states. Ironically, for my research focus, there actually seem to be more resources for my Georgia ancestral counties than my North Carolina ancestral county.

The Carolina Room is not just for genealogy but history as a hold and therefore, contains many other valuable resources. The following list provides a general idea of some of the resources available in the Carolina Room:

• Newspapers
• Newspaper Clippings
• Periodicals, which includes over 400 titles
• Census Records
• Pamphlets, Brochures, Ephemera
• Maps

To find out more about the resources available within the Carolina Room's collections, just visit the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library site and do a search for the Carolina Room.

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This is the fourth challenge in 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, a weekly challenge developed by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog. The weekly challenges are posted by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers.

Free Online Genealogy Tools

Week 3 - Free Online Genealogy  Tools: Free online genealogy tools are like gifts from above. Which ones are you most thankful for? How has it helped your family history experience?


This challenge runs from Sunday, January 15, 2012 through Saturday, January 21, 2012.


There are several free online genealogy tools but two of my favorites are definitely Family Search and Georgia Virtual Vault.

Family Search - I think I might have mentioned this a few times but it seems that within the past year, I've probably been able to find more information via Family Search than with Ancestry.

Some information is a duplication of information found on Ancestry, such as census records, but other information is not.

You can browse by location or name. There are also some wonderful learning resources which are provided through courses or wikis. In addition, there are also discussion forums.

Georgia Virtual Vault - If you have roots in Georgia, this site is a must stop destination in your online research.

The Indexed Death certificates (1919 - 1927) and the Non-Indexed Death Certificates (1928 - 1930) will save a researcher both time and money. There are also marriage records, although these are not available for every county or every year within a given county.

The Vanishing Georgia Collection provides many wonderful pictures that just may contain an ancestor.

The site contains many other wonderful resources. You just have to poke around and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I have.

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This is the third challenge in 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, a weekly challenge developed by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog. The Weekly challenges are posted by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Paid Online Genealogy Tools

Week 2 – Paid Online Genealogy Tools: Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most? What special features put it at the top of your list? How can it help others with their genealogy research?

I have just two paid online subscriptions, Ancestry and Fold3 (formerly Footnotes). 

Between the two, I definitely use Ancestry the most. While I think most people really love them for the census records, I think I like them more for some of the vital record information and images they have in their databases. Yes, that information is a bit spotty depending on what state your are researching but it has allowed me to obtain this information / documents without always having to request these document(s) from individual state's vital records departments, thus saving me both time and money.

Even though I've had a subscription on Fold3 / Footnotes for a few years now, I've not really used it that much but, and this might be strange, but I have always liked it. Fold3's main emphasis these days is on military records. That being said it still has other records on the site from its Footnotes days such as the African American Collection and Native American Collection. Since focusing primarily on military records now, it's might be a bit harder to actually find these collections but they are still there.

In the past, I've had a few other paid online tools and can't even remember which ones they are now, which I guess attest the the fact of how much I used them. Needless to say I allowed them to expire due to lack of use.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Week 1

Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog has done it again, come up with a weekly challenge to help us hone our genealogy skills. You can read up on challenges from previous years at Geneabloggers.

Hopefully, participation in the weekly challenges will help me to get back on track with my research. I'm only one week behind, so I should be able to get caught up quickly.

The challenge for week one is as follows:

Week 1 - Blogs: Blogging is a great way for genealogist to share information with family members , potential cousins, and each other. For which blog are you most thankful? Is it one of the earliest blogs you read, or a current one? What is special about the blog and why should others read it.


Back in 2009, when I renewed the search for the ancestors, blogging about my research was the furtherest thing from my mind. First, up until I started blogging, I just never really got the whole blogging thing. When I say that, I'm talking blogging in general not just a particular subject.

But as I got back into my research, I came across this wonderful medium thanks to Luckie Daniels of Our Georgia Roots, which sadly no longer seems to be up, and Our Alabama Roots. Three years later, I can't exactly tell you how I came across Luckie's blogs our what drew me in but I remember I enjoyed reading them and slowly began to think I can do this. So, within a few short months I begin blogging about my own research with Luckie's encouragement.

Once I begin blogging, I discovered oodles and oodles of other genealogy bloggers, so many in fact that I can't possibly keep up with all the blogs, even with Google Reader, which I guess is Google+ something now (I really need to get caught up on all the 2011 happenings with Google that I'm out of the loop on).

There are many blogs that I enjoy reading and for various reasons, so it's hard to pick ones that have had the most influence but here are three that I always seem to turn to when I've had a significant lull in my blogging and research and am trying to get back on track.

1. The African-Native American Genealogy Blog - Angela Walton is a wealth of information on African-Native American families and communities. Angela just doesn't tell the history of her family but that of communities. I always seem to learn something that I didn't know when reading Angela's blog. In fact, thanks to Angela, I've learned so much in this area that I was able to assist my BFF with her research.
2. Geneabloggers - when I've been away for awhile, I always check out Thomas MacEntee's Geneabloggers. I can quickly find out what's going on in the geneablogging world through his calendars and posts. I can find out about new blogs, get reacquainted with old blogs, and learn about any concerns or issues going on in genealogy.
3. Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter - not exactly a blog but always like checking out Dick's review of various products, new products, and happenings around the country.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #48 - Personal Genealogy Library

Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog, created a 52 week challenge to help we genealogist sharpen our skill set. This is my second week of participating.

The challenge for this week is Examine different online tools for cataloging your personal genealogy library and keeping track of the books you read. LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com//) is a site where you can catalog and tag the books in your own personal library. It is a great tool for keeping track of the genealogy books you have. You can ever create tags for books you want to purchase. Good Reads (http://www.goodreads.com//) and Shelfari ...(http://www.shelfari.com/) are web sites that help you keep track of books you have read. All three of these sites have social networking components. Your challenge this week is to browse these sites and see how genealogists use them. Bloggers, do you use any of these tools? How do you organize your own personal genealogy library?


This challenge runs from Saturday, November 27, 2010 through Friday, December 3, 2010.

I checked out and set up accounts with both Library Thing and Good Reads. After one day of use, I preferred the set up of Good Reads. For whatever reason, it seemed more user friendly to me.

How will I use this in tool in my research? Good Reads will definitely help me keep track of books in my collection and others that I have read but that aren't part of my library. I think it will also help keep track of materials I have ordered but not yet received. I recently checked a book out of the library that I had already ordered through half.com. This occurred because I simply had forgotten about the ordered book (the book arrived within a few days after I had checked the same title out of the library).
The other thing the catalog system helped with is visually seeing how my voracious reading appetite has returned even if it is for all things genealogical. I amazed myself with the books I've read during the past 2 years and I'm still no where where I would like to be.

This was a great challenge. Thanks Amy!

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #47 - Genealogy Christmas Wish List

Amy Coffin of We Tree blog, created a 52 week challenge to help we genealogist sharpen our skill set. The series has been on-going since the beginning of the year but this is the first time I've participated.

The challenge for this week is Make your genealogy gift list. The holidays are coming! Prepare a list of genealogy-related gifts you’d like to receive: books, magazine subscriptions, software, electronics, society memberships or anything else that might look good with a bow on it. If you’re blessed to already have everything you could possibly want, consider charitable donations and in-kind gifts to societies, libraries and preservation groups. If you have a genealogy blog, you can share your list and give gift ideas to your readers as well.



This challenge runs from Saturday, November 20, 2010 through Friday, November 26, 2010.

My Genealogy Christmas Wish List for 2010 includes

Flip-Pal Scanner - I've wanted a portable scanner for some time but for whatever reason have not been that impressed with the wand scanners. I always thought a portable scanner would be perfect when hitting up relatives for pictures, since most are a little leery about letting such items out of their possession. Before ever seeing a demonstration of the the Flip-Pal, I knew this was what I had been looking for. Watching the demonstration of it at the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo cemented the deal that this was the one I wanted.

Flip Camcorder - This is another item I've wanted for awhile. I know the size of regular camcorders haves been scaled down but they still aren't for me. The flip is perfect for the times when I want / need something a little extra besides a still shot or video from my digital camera. Besides I inherited a love of electronic gadgets from my dad.

Kia Soul - The current vehicle has 108,000+ miles and counting. It will probably manage to get around locally for awhile longer but I've gotten concerned with taking it on extended trips. A new vehicle would hopefully alleviate the expense of a rental car when doing research trips. And why a Soul specifically - 1) affordability, 2) MPV - so it would hopefully be more suited for taking excursions off the beaten bath, and okay the most important reason - it looks like a fun car to drive.

Family Finder DNA from Family Tree DNA for mom. I have autosomal results for her from 23andme but would also like to do the Family Finder DNA on her, too. I already have both on dad and with the continued upgrades to reporting, etc. with Family Finder, I think in the long run I will prefer the Family Finder.

A copy of Wayfarers in Walton County. I know the chances of finding any of my Walton County Georgia Ancestors in there is probably slim and none but I would still like a copy because I just might get lucky.

There are plenty other items I would like such as books, research trips, etc. but the above items are the big ones for now.