Powerful Memories in December

December may prove to be a very interesting month for me.

Personally, there is a significant amount of change in our lives right now, and it's only going to get more chaotic before we reach 2013. It's a challenge and a promise of better things to come. There are a few people in my life that I am concerned about, and December may just answer the ongoing, stressful questions that arise in their situations.

My daughter and husband, working their
way down the slope. I'm the shadow.
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2012.

It is, also, a time for family. We have our own traditions as a family, some of which have already played out this year. On the 28th of November we celebrate a birthday in our family with our annual "first day on the slopes" (unless, of course, there is an awesome powder day before hand, then we just pretend), and we go snowboarding. This year, we took our daughter for her first runs on a board, and she had a blast. At three and a half years, it was amazing to watch her jump into it with 100% confidence and laugh and giggle all the way down the hill.

I'm pretty big on traditions. I absolutely loved it when I was in high school, and my father was still making us wait for him to get his hot chocolate and for Mom to get her coffee before we could start opening gifts. I loved it that, even as "big kids", we had to pick someone to sit at the base of the tree and pass out a present to each person, then we could all unwrap together. I loved it that no matter how old I got, on Christmas morning, I was still just their little girl. The littlest, actually.

I loved that we went to my Aunt's house every year for Christmas dinner, that we celebrated Christmas Eve Mass and then drove around town, looking at all the lights. That we ended that special night with our own hot chocolate in Mom's special Santa mugs, that only came out on Christmas Eve. I love that no matter what our situation, our family made it special.

So, I absolutely adore the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, presented by Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers. What an amazing idea! Blogging prompts are provided for every day of the month, leading up to the 25th. If you haven't seen this yet, please do take a look. Share your holiday memories, one day at a time!

Here's two of my favorite memories. I've posted the group photo before, I believe, but it dates to 1980 and includes myself, my two sisters, and one of our cousins. I'm the one with the doll.

And, me and my big brother. Not sure on the exact date of this one, but it had to be around 1990 somewhere. He is playing Santa Claus at the annual pancake breakfast, which was a fundraiser for the high school band program that all four of us heavily participated in. Behind me is one of my sister's. My parents were also very involved in the program, as members of the "Band Boosters" for several years, and we were all recruited to participate in events like this. Which explains my apron - I was probably stuck washing dishes.

I am very much looking forward to 25 days of memory lane. I hope you will join us! 

Robert & Anna Hamilton: 1900 Census Search, not quite done!

And, we're back.

Robert & Anna Hamilton just will not let my brain rest, so I am doing this post on my search for them sooner than I planned. You can read all about them in two previous posts; dated 29 July 2012 and 25 Nov 2012.  They create an intriguing mystery, and I am hoping to solve it.

A couple of suggestions were made after my most recent post regarding the search I conducted for the family in the 1900 U.S. Census. I thought before moving on to 1910, it would be wise to examine at least one of those.

Grundy County, IL.
Source: Wikipedia.

At one point, I theorized that Anna, and her family, may have gone back to Illinois either to live or for extended visits. We know from two of Anna's journals held with the Colorado State Archives, that she was generally unhappy living in Breckenridge, and "pined" for her family and friends back home. A reader, Deborah Andrew, thought perhaps that she may be listed in the census with her family, possibly even under her maiden name of Sadler.

Anna was born Anna Jane Sadler, on 2 Sep 1862 in Illinois, probably Grundy County. She and Robert married on 11 Feb 1885, also in Grundy County. Before this, we have no record of Robert ever living in Illinois, and because of research done on the families, it is probable that the families were already connected by marriage, or at the very least, friendly with each other, before the nuptials. Jane's parents were John Sadler and Matilda Hamilton. They had been in Illinois since at least 1862 when Anna was born, and I have been able to pinpoint that both John  and Matilda were born in Ormstown, Quebec.

Being the oldest of six, Anna was closest in age to her brother, George Walsh Sadler, and he also resided and died in Colorado. Two others I have at least an approximate death date for, but two are completely unaccounted for, so it would appear that I have some cluster genealogy to do.

In the meantime, here is what I could find on the Sadler's in the 1900 U.S. Census, focusing on Grundy County, Illinois:

• In the Vienna Township, John Sadler, aged 62 years, born Canada. He is listed with his wife Matilda, and just one child, Harry (the youngest). He is a farmer, and both he and Matilda reported their parents being born in Ireland. 
• Also in Grundy County is William Sadler, residing in Felix Township. He is 51 years, listed with wife Kate, and was also born in Canada, with Irish lineage. Although I do not have a familial connection to this man in the Sadler/Hamilton family I'm searching, he is one that I need to remember, because that could easily be the case. Per Google Maps, the two communities are less than 24 miles apart. Could be a coincidence, but it certainly could not be, also! 

Headstone of George W. Sadler and his wife, Lillian.
Source: www.findagrave.com

There are several other counties in the 1900 Illinois Census that list Sadler residents.

Although some of the results were interesting, including a listing from the insane asylum, none of them appeared to be Anna or her possible children. Or her siblings, for that matter.

I would be interested to see what other resources researcher's use for Illinois, or specifically Grundy County, as it appears the family was there for some time.

Looking for Robert & Anna Hamilton in the 1900 Census

My quest for the Hamilton family, and what happened to them after they left Breckenridge, Colorado around the turn of the century has certainly not ended: not even close. I have left them alone for a few weeks, and am now seeking the family in the 1900 United States Federal Census.


What Do I Already Know?

1885 Colorado State Census

Robert Hamilton married Anna Jane Sadler on 11 Feb 1885 in Grundy County, Illinois. By June of 1885 when the state census was taken in Colorado, they were residing in Breckenridge, Summit County. They lived in that town at least until 1888, as we can track them through business and newspaper mentions.

The family can be found again in 1910, now living in Denver, Colorado. They appear to have resided for a time in Oxford, Nebraska, which sits on the county line of Furnus and Harlan Counties. In 1911, Robert Hamilton again owns land in Summit County, a ranch along the Blue River. He travels back and forth in successful business ventures for at least the next couple of years.  Anna appears to have died by or in the year 1914, according to a biography written about her father, which was published in Illinois.

Robert was born in Canada about 1857, and Anna in Illinois on 2 September 1862. Their families appear to have been connected by marriage in previous generations.

They were reported by the local newspaper in Breckenridge to have had children, but the number, sex, and names of those children were left out.

Anna had at least one brother who also resided in Colorado, George W. Sadler resided in Divide, of El Paso County. He was elected to a local office in Nov of 1899, so he had to have been there for at least a few months, if not a year or more, to gain the friendship of enough voters. He married Lillian T. Unknown and together they had at least three children.

The Search

I am starting in the HeritageQuest Online database, accessible through my local library system, and searching a combination of the following parameters to locate the family in the 1900 Census.
Robert: would be about 43 years of age, born Canada.
Anna: 38 years old, born Illinois.
Assuming the children were born sometime in the first five years of marriage  and I know there were at least two, they would be at oldest 15 years, and born in Colorado or Nebraska.

Previous, more detailed searches have not been able to determine any matches, so I am leaving this process vague intentionally, hoping to find even a sliver of hope.

I was given 225 results to scroll through, using just "Hamilton" in the name fields, 1900 Census in Colorado. Nearly every county is listed.

• Summit County: three results, none match. 
• El Paso County: no matching results, out of 17 results.
• Arapahoe County (where Denver would be located at this time): 63 results, no matches.

Having eliminated the obvious options, I am left to simply go county by county down the list. The results were... nothing! Not a single even potential candidate for either Robert or Anna. 

Moving on to Nebraska... Neither Furnas nor Harlan Counties were able to produce the correct Hamilton's. Once again, I am left to search county by county.  

Only one possibility was found in Nebraska: Robert Hamilton, age 42, born Canada, found in Douglas County, in Omaha. He is of the right age and race. The image is difficult to read at best, so I was unable to determine from this source if he was listed with family. However, there were no Anna Hamilton's that came up for this area, and if she had been on the census page with him, then she would have been listed in the results. 

Once again relocating the search, this time to Illinois. I know from her diaries that Anna really never liked living in Colorado, and especially in Breckenridge, and she pined for her friends and family back home. It's certainly possible that they went back there, especially since Robert also had ties to Grundy County.  

My search, once again, comes up empty. Nothing.

Breckenridge, Colorado.
Copyright Jen Baldwin, Ancestral Journeys, 2012

Broadening my scope just one more time, I attempted a more detailed search for Robert Hamilton, born in Canada, between the ages of 41-50, all states, for the 1900 Census. Six states came up with a possible match: Nebraska (see above), Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, New York. None of them had a wife named Anna, or seemed to match any of the other information I currently have access to.  A similar search was conducted on Anna Hamilton, and three possibilities were found: two of which were already widowed, and we know that Robert outlived Anna. The third was listed as married, but her husband was not identified in the same census record. She was found in Campaign County, Illinois, with three daughters, all born in Illinois. However, those daughters list their parents place of birth as Illinois for both the mother and the father, so already, there is discrepancy. However, it is a valid candidate. 

A search on Ancestry.com for the Nebraska result of Robert Hamilton lists his spouse as Clara, and she is the wrong age (not even in the ball park).

What happened to the Hamilton family?  Obviously, there is more searching to do... I have records on Robert from another researcher that date from 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1916, all from Colorado. But, the 1910 and 1920 census records have yet to be identified. Nothing yet has been located on Anna's death or burial. And Robert's death? Also, in the "yet to be determined" category.

More to come, certainly, on this mysterious family. 

I'm Alive... but just barely.

It's Thanksgiving weekend, and I haven't posted a single thing. Needless to say, its been a busy week.

Last Saturday, I had two wisdom teeth pulled. The process itself wasn't too bad, but my mouth is so sore! Yikes! So, concentrating has been a bit difficult.

On Monday, my husband launched his new catering business: Food Elevated. Based in Summit County, Colorado, they will focus on innovative cuisine for all event types. Naturally, I've been helping him with some of that, so my computer time has been spent elsewhere. And? I drove an hour and a half to have dinner with my brother, who I haven't seen for five years, and he had a chance to meet his niece for the first time.

Copyright Food Elevated, 2012.

On Tuesday, my parents arrived for the holiday. They brought lots of boxes from Costco with them.

On Wednesday, my sister and her family came over and we all went to dinner together. Then, my three nieces spent the night for a pre-Thanksgiving slumber party with my daughter! Fun, but exhausting for us all.

Thursday. Thanksgiving. Dinner. Busy, busy, [sore] lady.

Finally, today, I get a chance to sit down and check in on my various projects around the web. Not for long, though! We're off to my sister's house in about an hour for yet another family dinner.

My grandmother, Elsie Brown, on one of her many
Thanksgiving holiday's. Photo taken by her brother,
Leo Tober.
Personal archives of author. 

What am I thankful for this year? Well. All of the above. The pain I'm currently experiencing is only temporary, and will lead to better days. I'm ever so grateful I have my parents here to celebrate with us - for a while it seemed that might not happen this year, as my Mom has been in and out of the hospital. I'm pleased as I can be that my daughter consider's her cousins her friends, and they all enjoy spending time together. I'm extremely proud of my husband for starting this business, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this will lead us.

I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday, filled with family and friends, memories and laughter.

Did You Hit the Ad's?

One of the joys I find in genealogical research is digging through historic newspapers. It's fun! Yes, we can gain a great deal of insight and real life experiences of our ancestors from these incredible resources, but there is more. Scanning the headlines, reading the quick notices, the short articles; all of that comes together to create an astonishing experience  placing yourself in that moment in time.

Summit County Journal, Breckenridge, Colorado.
1 Sep 1917, Page 8.

One thing I make sure to look for in newspaper searches is the advertisements. Have you stopped to investigate these as genealogy source? Just this advertisement for the Rogers Furniture & Undertaking Company from Breckenridge, Colorado tells you so much information: location, what they did, note the Proprietress is Mrs. J. GOUGH, and the year the business began. Knowing what I do about Breckenridge history, the date given of 1880 makes sense; the town was created in 1859 and by 1880, it was thriving. Now I know where else to look: 1880 Federal Census, 1885 Colorado State Census, cemetery records (because they acted as Undertakers and Funeral Directors), etc.

Consider the other aspects as well. As a business, they were doing well enough to afford a reasonably sized advertisement in the local paper, but not well enough to get it on the first page (it was found on page 8). In 1917, Mrs. Gough felt confident enough in her role to list herself as the "manager"; or was it that she felt a feminine touch was necessary in this particular industry?

Try a series of dates to learn more!  We can use Robert "Bob" Lott, former resident of Breckenridge, as a fantastic example. When he passed away in 1913, his friends in the community gathered to give him a proper headstone, in the "Pauper Section" of Valley Brook Cemetery. His headstone was so fascinating, it absolutely demanded more attention:

Copyright Jen Baldwin, Ancestral Journeys, 2011.

Although there is little mention of Mr. Lott in standard newspaper articles of the time period, and even less in community historical documents, there are a lot of ad's. I have learned that he went from catering - delivering meals to your home - to owning his own restaurant, partnering with at least three other men in town of varying degrees of status and luck, finally moving back to his original spot in town, where he ran a successful steak house for several years. He was the only African American living in Summit County, Colorado at the time of his death (per his obituary). Just from the newspaper pieces alone, I have been able to establish a decent timeline of his adult life, leading to further investigation. I hope to someday have his life story; where he came from, and how he ended up in the mountains of Colorado. His is one story of our community that deserves to be remembered, and its up to me, since he left no descendants. 

I have to wonder: Oysters or "Rocky Mountain Oysters"?
Summit County Journal, Breckenridge, Colorado.
5 Jan 1907, Page 5.

Have you gained invaluable data from newspaper articles? Do you have one to share? Please let me know! Leave a comment or a link, and I'll be sure to connect with you. 

Finding Your Power in Writing

Protected by Copyright.

We hear many pieces of advice every day, and the information is coming to us faster than ever. Writer's and "writing experts" talk about "finding your voice", and using impressive post titles to intrigue, and then capture, an audience. One article recently read indicated using "power words" to engage your readers. I have heard these bullet points listed for months, as recently as within this last week from comments left on my post, "SEO: Why It's Important For Your Blog", so I finally decided to put down my thoughts on the topic.


Personally, I believe that only time and practice will evolve you into the kind of writer you want to be. It is the only way to "find your voice". For me, this meant I needed to practice on eliminating the extra, filler words. The unnecessary. After reading through several of my posts over the past month's, (almost a year!), I can see the changes in my style, I can 'hear' my more direct nature coming across. In life, I am not a "beat around the bush" type of gal, and I see that reflected in my writing here.

The "power words": I had to delve into that a bit, as its been a while since my last Creative Writing class, and it was easy to find. Strong, emotional words that create an immediate connection with your audience. Use those in your title, use them in your Twitter and Facebook posts to direct traffic, use them every which way you can. Because when we read, we want to connect. We are looking to find something in what the writer is expressing the induces... anything. Whether its dread, sadness, anticipation, adrenaline, fear, anger or overwhelming awe.

And those are the words. Sensational. Lavish. Sly. (When was the last time you used 'sly' in a genealogy blog post?)

There are more than a few websites on the topic, so I will challenge you: find a great one, and share it here. I found "57 Power Words For Writing Brilliant Headlines" by Tiffany Monhollon, posted 1 Jul 2010 on Personal PR. I also found a series by Tonia Kendrick from Tonia's Roots, entitled "31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog", which I will absolutely be following from now on. She's already completed several posts, so I have some catching up to do. (How did I miss this?)

Let's be savvy bloggers, shall we? Find a great resource and let me know. Or not. I suppose you could keep it to yourself. But where's the fun in that?

Obituary: Mrs. Charlotte Anderson

Mrs. Charlotte Anderson Called By Death

 

Charlotte was my great-great grandmother, through her daughter, Emma, who married William W. Brown of Orting, Pierce County, Washington. 

New Opportunities with Ancestry.com

I'm intrigued by some of these, so decided to post. This was released on 9 Nov 2012. 

New Military Burials Feature Lincoln, Custer, a Well-Disguised Jilted Lover and

More Than 100 Years of History and Remembrance

Ancestry.com partners with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and

National Archives and Records Administration to create a new collection of

online military burial ledgers and headstone applications

PROVO, UTAH – November 9, 2012 – Going beyond name, rank and regiment, a new collection of military burial registers on Ancestry.com provides insight into some of America’s greatest historical figures – including Abraham Lincoln, General Custer and others dating to the Civil War. The online, searchable collection launches today courtesy of a partnership between Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

“These began as around 60 amazing, handwritten burial registers – more than 9,000 pages of American heroes, where they are buried and other details,” says Dan Jones, Vice President of Content for Ancestry.com. “And today they can be searched by individual names and viewed online on Ancestry.com, allowing family historians everywhere greater insight into the military experience of ancestors as well as notable personalities.”

Highlights of the collection include:

·        President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s honorific entry in an Arlington National Cemetery register is framed with a hand-drawn black border. Under cause of death it reads “Assassinated; pistol shot by John Wilkes Booth the ball entering 2 inches below and behind the left ear and lodged in the brain.”

·        General George Armstrong Custer.  Custer is among those officers “taken up on Custer’s battleground” and brought to Fort Abraham Lincoln by steamer in 1877. Custer’s brother Thomas and brother-in-law James Calhoun, who were killed at the Little Big Horn, are in the collection as well. 

·        Captain Charles William “Charley” Paddock, USMC. Paddock, winner of the gold medal in the 100 meter at the 1920 Summer Olympics, and whose 1924 Olympic appearance was portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire, died in a World War II plane crash near Sitka, Alaska, where he is buried.

·        Vivia Thomas. According to legend, Thomas was a jilted fiancé who left home to exact revenge on an army officer who broke off their engagement. Thomas traveled west dressed as a man and joined the army at Fort Gibson, her ex-fiancé’s post. She eventually shot and killed him, before dying herself. When the soldiers of Fort Gibson, who knew her as Private Thomas, learned of the story, they honored her courage by interment in the cemetery Officers’ Circle. 

From the 1860s until the mid-20th century, in some places, U.S. Army personnel tracked burials at national cemeteries and military posts in registers that included name, rank, company/regiment, date and cause of death, age, grave number, and original place of burial in the case of re-interments.  The U.S. Army was responsible for all national cemeteries from the 1860s until the early 1930s, and they were responsible for depositing most burial registers at NARA.  In 1973, the Army transferred 82 national cemeteries to what is now VA, where the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) oversees them.

Concerned for the fragility of these documents and wanting to expand public access to the contents, NCA scanned about 60 handwritten ledgers to produce more than 9,344 pages of high-quality digital images.  Then in 2011, NCA initiated a partnership with Ancestry.com to index the ledgers so users can search them easily.  At no cost to the government or taxpayers, Ancestry.com spent close to 3,000 hours indexing NCA’s ledgers records to make them searchable by name.

The ledgers are one of two new Ancestry.com collections, U.S. Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862–1960 and U.S. Headstone Applications, 1925–1963, both launching for Veterans Day 2012. More than 500,000 individuals are included in these records.

“We are excited to be able to share this wealth of primary documentation,” said VA’s Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Steve L. Muro. “With the help of Ancestry.com, we have opened the doors to thousands of service members’ histories through the information contained in these burial ledgers.”

The Ancestry.com partnership supports NCA’s commemoration of the Civil War 150th anniversary (2011–2015).  More than 72 of NCA’s 131 national cemeteries originated with the Civil War.  More than 3.7 million Americans, including Veterans of every war and conflict — from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror — are buried in VA national cemeteries in 39 states.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with approximately 2 million paying subscribers. More than 11 billion records have been added to the site in the past 15 years. Ancestry users have created more than 40 million family trees containing approximately 4 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site, Ancestry.com offers several localized Web sites designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.

SEO: Why It's Important for Your Blog

SEO.

If you cruise the internet, you may have come across this acronym. You may have thought it wasn't relevant to you, your blog, or your search for ancestors. It is, in fact, important. SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization", and no, its not scary.

What is it, exactly?

If you want the technological jargon, you can read all about it on Wikipedia. This is my take, my version of that information, but into language I can understand.

Simply put, SEO is the way a search engine reacts to a website and lists it in your results page. For example, if you do a search for "genealogy blogging", you will see www.geneabloggers.com is almost always at the top of the list. How does that happen? Well, site creator Thomas MacEntee has done an amazing job of providing search engines with the proper search terms, so people find his site first and easily. (He may have other tricks up his sleeve, and probably does, but I know he is doing this, and doing it well.)

Chrome search results for "genealogy blogging"

Think of it this way. When you open your web browser and conduct a search - for anything - you use a certain set of terms to try to get the best results possible, right? For example:

"Brown + Nebraska genealogy"

This is essentially universal. Yes, there are other ways of conducting a search. But, think about when you are looking for a recipe. You might search for "spaghetti recipe" or "world's best spaghetti". You don't always use a complicated search pattern to find what you are looking for.

Applying these terms to your unique blog or website allows the search engine to identify what your site is about and related to. It makes it easier for the search engine to find topics on your site and match those topics with the search terms that people use in simple searches.

Why should I do this? 

Simple. You want people to find you. Don't you?  Are you writing your blog to find other relatives? Well, they search for surnames, locations, photos, etc. Lead them to you with the right terms. Are you writing about your business, or general methodology? Great! Use the applied terms to communicate that's what you are writing about!

Don't care if anybody reads your blog? Ok. You can still read the rest of this one, though.

• "Why does it matter if your site is at the top of the results page or on page 42?"

Wouldn't a dedicated searcher find it either way?  Well, yes and no. I recently read that the average user in the U.S. only looks through the first two pages of search results, then either adapts the search terms or stops all together.

• "So what? Genealogy is reportedly the second most popular hobby - they are still going to find it."

Eventually, yes, they could. No built in guarantee on that one. Imagine that this long lost cousin finds you today, or finds you in five years. What have you missed out on? What kind of relationship could you have developed with this new branch of the family in that time?  There is a whole series of "what if's" here, and my favorite one is this: "what if long lost cousin's grandmother is still alive today, but dies next year?" Think about that for just a minute.

Convinced yet? Ready to start? I hope so.

How do I do this? 


Caroline Pointer of BloggingGenealogy.com recently posted a great little piece entitled Want More Cousins to Visit Your Genealogy Blog? in which she introduced us to "Cousin Awesome Sauce", and using "alt text", which allows you to "'tell' the search engine what the image says..." (Read the full post, it's worth it, I promise.)  So, start with that. Create a way for your images to be identified with the text you are producing.

Once you've got your feet wet, take a look at Search Engine Optimization: Step By Step on the About.com Web Design / HTML page, by Jennifer Kyrnin. It's a visual - yes, visual - instructional post about how to do this, and gives a more technical look at why you should. She makes it pretty easy.

Do not overlook this! This little tidbit from the step by step guide I just told you about is priceless! Use Adwords from Google to identify the best, and most common, search terms for your blog. Ms. Kyrnin puts this in her tutorial, but I want to point it out specifically as a really useful tool for this process. Just putting my blog and my webpage through that one tool, I learned a great deal. It proved to be incredibly useful.

Have other ideas? Know something about SEO that I don't? Well, that's likely. I'm just starting to educate myself on this particular road to internet usage and success. If you have a great resource you have used to improve your site, I'd really like to see it. Please leave a comment.

In the meantime, here is a great graphic to explain the process just one more time. And one more tip: look on Pinterest. There are numerous "infographics" to help understand SEO.

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6442/12-Amazing-SEO-Infographics.aspx

Ancestry.com New Release: UINDY Teams with Ancestry.com on Identity Project

UINDY TEAMS WITH ANCESTRY.COM ON IDENTITY PROJECT

Relationship with University is First for Popular Family History Web site

(INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana) – November 8, 2012 - The University of Indianapolis is teaming up with Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, in a first-of-its-kind initiative to encourage students to explore and reflect on how their family history impacts their identity.

All UIndy students, faculty and staff have been granted access to Ancestry.com content from computers and mobile devices anywhere on campus. That content -- 11 billion searchable documents and images -- includes census records, prison logs, ship manifests, historic newspapers and yearbook photos in addition to 40 million online family trees.

The company is providing on-campus workshops and seminars to help the UIndy community make the most of the online product. UIndy faculty members, particularly in disciplines such as history, are enthusiastic about the classroom potential of giving students easy access to the vast database of historical documents.

Although Ancestry.com has worked previously with libraries and other institutions, this is its first such relationship in the field of higher education.

”Helping people discover their family history is at the heart of our mission at Ancestry.com,” said Brian Hansen, general manager of the Ancestry Institution Product. “We are excited to work alongside the University of Indianapolis to enable students and staff to uncover new information about their ancestors that will help them better understand who they are and where they come from.”

At UIndy, the Ancestry.com access is a key component in the annual University Series of programs and events. This year’s series features guest speakers, discussions and workshops built around the theme “Who Do You Think You Are?”

As a starting point for the students’ exploration of heritage, the university adopted a common reader for the campus community, the 2009 book “The Ties That Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory, and Redemption” by Bertice Berry. Berry, an African-American sociologist and writer, explored her family history and found a story far more complex than the black-and-white tale of slavery and tragedy that she expected. Three-fourths of the university’s incoming freshmen voluntarily bought the book, and hundreds attended a campus lecture by Berry in September.

The coordinators of UIndy’s University Series hope students also uncover life-changing revelations in their own family histories.

“This is about being able to make sense of yourself – past, present and future,” said Dan Stoker, UIndy’s executive director of student services. “In confronting the truth, you can learn something vitally important and see the world in new ways.”

About UIndy The University of Indianapolis is a private, comprehensive institution of higher education founded in 1902, with a home campus of more than 5,400 students, a wholly owned branch in Athens, Greece, and partnership sites in Asia and Latin America. Its challenging undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs include nationally ranked offerings in the health sciences. Two centers of excellence make UIndy a leader in education reform and aging studies. More information is available at www.uindy.edu.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with approximately 2 million paying subscribers. More than 11 billion records have been added to the site in

Genealogy and Art

There are so many ways to visually express the idea of genealogy and family history. Look around and you will find depictions of trees, trees with roots, pedigree charts, historic photos, maps... the list is really endless. Many of them are great, many are repetitive. 

About a year ago, a cousin of mine posted the below art work on her Facebook page, and I was instantly enamored of it. Although art is her hobby, I could not believe the detail and meticulousness of this piece. I was truly awe struck at her ability and talent. I made several comments to her about the sketch, and before I knew it, the original had landed in my mail box. It was an incredible gift, and it is one of my most treasured possessions. 

Copyright Serrin Boys. 

For me, this is a very hard image to put into words. The idea of human hands holding the tree; that ever to common symbol of family, history, generations past. We are literally care takers of our own history, and it is a powerful and emotional interpretation of such. 

I have no idea what was in her heart or mind when she created it, but I know it speaks volumes to me. I have been honored once again, as she has allowed me to use it as the logo for my newest project; Conference Keeper. 

Truly, I believe it to be rare to come across something that affects each of us so uniquely, and in my opinion, this is a stunning example. Of course, we all have our own reactions to art, and some may not agree with me. That's fine. I hope that each of you is able to one day find that unique and important expression of the importance of your family history. I've got mine.

Genealogy: The Next Generation

What will genealogy look like in 2063? That is the question I am posing today, and I'm curious to see what responses I will get.

CER-10, Digital Computer, ca. 1963
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CER-10

In 1963, the idea of advanced technology looked very different than it does in reality. When they looked fifty years ahead, could they have imagined that we would be researching with tools such as Google Books, online records sources, digital cameras, and personal computers small enough to fit not just in one room, but in our laps?

With new tech and abilities hitting the market at an alarming rate now, what will genealogy look like in twenty or fifty years? Will everything be online? Will we be having the equivalent of webinar's instructing researchers how to walk into a courthouse and request records?  Will it even be necessary to do on site research, or will it all be available to us via some sort of mass media source? How will people be dealt with after death in the future? Will cemeteries still exist, or will society turn to something else?

The bigger question; will it, the research, even be necessary? Will there be a day when genealogy is just... done? Will we ever have all the answers?

(Personally, I don't think so, at least not in our lifetime, but its an interesting question to ask.)


What do you see for the future, the next generation of genealogy? 

Imagine This: A List of All Genealogy Conferences

Have you imagined it? What would it look like? There might be a page for "national" conferences, perhaps another to list conferences and workshops by state. Maybe a tab or two devoted to Canada, Ireland, or Australia.

And that, all for free.

I tried to find it. Last week I spent two days searching the internet, then messaged folks on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Only to find, it didn't exist. There were some great options to use; certain organizations posted calendar pages; there is a Facebook page dedicated to the idea of a comprehensive list. But, they all required me to do extra work to find what I was looking for, and it just was not coming together for me.

What do to?

Everybody I asked left comments like, "wow, that would be great", or "awesome idea!"


Enter: Conference Keeper.

It took me all of fifteen minutes to make a decision, create a name, pick a theme and start putting the site together. I have a feeling it will consume a great deal of time moving forward, as I work to stay on top of the variety of functions that are hosted world wide on the topics of genealogy, family history, story telling, technology, small business and more. However, I am going to try.

It's a very simple concept. I've started by focusing on scheduled events around the United States, though I do have a short list of international events currently. It gives just the basics: name, date, city/state, and a link to the website for either the conference or the host organization.

You can easily contribute to the list, just use the "Contact Us" tab on the website, or message me through Facebook on the Conference Keepers page. Assuming I don't already have it on there, I'll add your event.

Time will tell where this will go, but in the end, the genealogy community now has a one stop shop style website to find the conference, seminar, workshop of interest in your area. No more wasted hours spent searching for each individual event, taking notes, comparing dates and "re-finding" the website you had an hour ago to make a decision on what to attend, when and where.

I hope it is helpful, and I hope you utilize it over and over.