Why I wrote this blog

Back in the 1980's and '90's I was quite passionate about family history research. In addition to doing a lot of work on my own family lines, I worked in a genealogy library helping to teach other people how to get started with it. However, that was a long time ago - before genealogy (or anything else for that matter) went digital.  So my research methods back then were most definitely "old school".  I went to court houses.  I wrote letters which were mailed at a post office to various libraries and genealogical organizations.  I walked through cemeteries.  I cranked lots of microfilm machines.  It was rewarding, but rather tedious, expensive and slow to track down new information.

Then as time went by, my life got very busy with career and family responsibilities.  I had two very active sons who kept life interesting with all their activities.  When they got older, I went back to school to complete a graduate degree.   After that I was immersed in establishing a career.  Along the way our family moved a few times.  Basically, life got full and I allowed a lot of other things to take precedence over my genealogical research.  

During the next decade or so,  most of my family history records got put on the back burner.  Once I packed it all up for one of our moves, I never really got it all out again to have it be an ongoing part of my activities.  I would go back and dabble in it a bit from time to time whenever circumstances would allow, or if I learned of a new lead.  But I was not nearly as focused on keeping up with it as I previously had been.
 
Then around 2010-2011 I decided it was time to get it all out to take stock of what records I had and to organize it again.  I got into a Family History class at my church and that re-ignited the old spark of passion.  An aunt and uncle I hadn't spoken to in years sent me several boxes of  old family photos, documents and personal correspondences when they were clearing out closets.  Filled with renewed energy for the project, I was ready to pick up where I had left off.  However, I discovered the whole world of family history research had changed dramatically with the advancement of the Internet.  Genealogy had gone digital while my back was turned!

Today I have a whole new set of tools and research methods from how I did things before.  So I decided to embrace those tools by using the internet as a means of  both recording data I had collected and for sharing my love of family history research with others.  This is why:


1) I want to PRESERVE my information. By recording my various family information digitally and posting it on this blog, it keeps it safe, no matter what happens to my original records. Potential dangers of flood, fire, mice, or other destructive elements are far less of a threat when my data and images and saved to the "virtual cloud". Beyond that, most of my family does not have much interest in genealogy. It's quite possible that when I grow old and feeble or die, someone cleaning out my house may pitch out the whole stack. Saving things digitally will insure that my many years of gathering information will not go down the drain once I am no longer there to watch over it.

2) I want to SHARE my information with others. Even though no one in my immediate family is particularly interested in these records, other people might be. My great grandparents had many descendants through other lines besides my own who I know nothing about. Perhaps one of them will one day go looking. Or, it may be someone from a generation not even born yet will one day wonder where they came from. Google did not exist when I first started doing family history research. Now with a few clicks, people anywhere in the world can search for information. By putting the info up on the internet it will make it possible for others to find pictures, documents, stories and other information that took me years to track down.

3) I want to ORGANIZE my information. I've collected quite a bit of stuff over the years.  There are boxes and boxes of miscellaneous papers in my collection, in addition to the files and books I generally keep in my office.   There is so much material that even with the best of filing systems it is hard to find what I need when I want to locate a particular image or piece of information. By having everything converted to digital format it's much easier to store and sort. With a few clicks of the mouse I can get to the family group I am looking for and then sort by generation. In a few minutes I can find just what I'm looking for without losing every horizontal surface of my home to stacks of paper or straining my back searching through boxes in my storage shed. It just makes sense to me to keep things this way,

4) I want to VALIDATE my information.
 No matter how careful I've been, it's always possible that errors have crept in as I copied over information from court houses, cemeteries or other people's records.  It is also possible some of the information provided to me by others was not complete or not accurate to begin with. By having it out on display like this, if there is anyone else who may be researching the same families, they can let me know if they notice mistakes in what I am claiming.

I really do try to be careful in putting my information together, but I know very well I am not perfect.  I do not take offense at all if someone tells me "hey - you've got that information wrong" or "you did that the wrong way".
I am eager to make my records as accurate as I possibly can, so I welcome any feedback from others who may find something that needs fixed.

This blog has three main sections. The links at the TOP portion of the sidebar are tools that I routinely use that I have gathered here just to make it easy for me to access by having them all in one place.  In the middle are the lessons.  These are summaries of the class I took at my church that kick started my re-entry into the world of genealogy.  Those are there as a reminder for my own benefit, as well as aids to potentially help others who have an interest in family history.  At the bottom of the side bar are Links to information about the families I am doing research on.  I keep most of my own data on FamilySearch and Ancestry.com.  But I also have created separate blogs for each of the main family groups that I research as a gathering place for some of the stories and photos I have.  This blog is my central key to it all so that with just one URL and one password I can readily click to everything I have.

So if you have stumbled across this humble little blog, welcome. Enjoy. I hope you find something useful.  If you have suggestions for some other resource I might want to add - please let me know.

Whatever your reasons may be for finding this page - welcome.  Isn't the digital age an amazing thing?

The People on My Pedigree Chart

My Parents:

Donald Charles Pendley
b. 25 Apr 1928  Oak Creek, AZ
d. 16 Dec 1983  Camp Verde, AZ

Nancy Ann Krebs
b. 05 Dec 1930   El Paso, TX
d. 21 Dec  1983   Phoenix, AZ

Married 25 Dec 1952   Flagstaff, AZ

My Grandparents:

Father's Parents

Frank Leslie Pendley
b. 12 Mar 1877   Austin, TX
d. 14 Oct  1954   Oak Creek, AZ

Jane Hibbard Hutchinson
b. 12 Mar 1903    Stroud, OK
d. 14 Dec 1979    Prescott, AZ

Married 21 Nov 1921  Flagstaff, AZ

Mother's parents

Louis B. Krebs
b. 04 Sep 1905   Phoenix, AZ
d. 13 Dec 1979   Cottonwood, AZ

Florence Lucille Kurtz
b. 28 Mar 1907  Barberton, OH
d. 17 Nov 1988  Camp Verde, AZ

Married 25 December 1925   Phoenix, AZ

My Great Grandparents

Father's Father's Side:

Thomas Tillman Pendley
b. 1848  GA
d. 1889 Austin, TX

Matha Hall
b. 1853  MO
d.  abt. 1892 TX

Married 30 Jul 1871  Austin, TX

Father's Mother's Side

Charles Hutchinson
b 18 Aug 1867  New York, NY
d. 31 May 1953  Wesleco, TX

Edith Thomas
b.   Dec 1873   Beloit, WI
d.   17 Jul 1910   Oak Creek, AZ

Married 12 Dec 1893  Benton, AK

Mother's Father's Side

Aola Urade Krebs
b. 20 Dec 1873  Pine Grove Mills, PA
d.  25 Jan 1929  Phoenix, AZ

Alta Geneva Booton

b. 12 Mar 1879  Mt. Zion, KY
d. 26 Jun 1944  Phoenix, AZ

Married 27 Sep 1898   Cowley, KA

Mother's Mother's Side

Emery Jacob Kurtz
b. 09 Mar 1883  Baughman, OH
d. 10 Nov 1938  Sedona, AZ
Gertrude Anna Young
b. 18 Jul. 1881 Union Township, OH
d. 29 Jul 1983  Cottonwood, AZ

Married 16 Aug 1902  Barberton, OH

The Cow Report Letters

Sometimes treasures of genealogy information can be gleaned from reading old family correspondences. Before the days of cell phones, email, twitter and FaceBook, people actually wrote letters to one another as a way to stay connected. Some of those letters still exist in attic trunks or tied up with satin ribbons in a shoe box under somebody's bed.

Ask other family members if they know of any correspondences, Bible records or other family records that may be around. If the person you ask does not have them, they may know who will. You could be surprised by the wealth of information available to you. I know of some who have felt a special closeness to ancestors who left detailed margin notes in old recipe books!

I was fortunate enough to inherit a packet of family letters written by my great grandfather on my mother's side, Aola Urade Krebs. His oldest daughter, Fern, had gone to Japan to work as a secretary for the Methodist church. For the years that she was in Japan her father wrote to her faithfully every couple of weeks. Fern kept many of those letters and I now have them.

You can imagine my excitement when I received this package of letters from my grandmother. I was sure I would learn all sorts of detail about the history of my family in the lines of those long ago correspondences. In some cases, that would have been true. Not, however, with these.

My great grandfather worked for Central Arizona Dairy in Phoenix, Arizona. If there ever was a man who loved his cows, it was Aola Urade Krebs. Nearly all the letters to Fern are filled with infinite detail about the health and well being of each cow at the dairy. He reports meticulously how many gallons of milk were received and how much cream they gave. He tells all sorts of things about the operation of a dairy farm in the early 1900's. Then, almost as an after thought, he would quickly scribble at the bottom of the page "mother and children are doing fine."

I was deeply disappointed by the lack of usable family history information in these letters and almost gave up after reading six or seven that were all pretty much the same story - cows, cows and more cows. But I did not give up. I am tenacious if nothing else. I kept reading page after difficult-to-decipher page in my great grandfathers wavy handwriting. Finally it paid off.

In one letter he remarks that it is his wedding anniversary. EUREKA! Until I found that note I had no idea when he had married. This gave me a solid date in the man's own hand, something I could be sure of. Over the years I have learned to appreciate these letters more than I initially did, because for all they lack in family anecdotes, they really do give me insight into my great grandfather's work ethic and his affinity for his vocation. They help me understand what was important to him.

They also inspire me to turn off the computer and write a few old fashioned correspondences of my own from time to time. I can't imagine anyone keeping even the best phrased emails for 100 years. These letters from great grandpa are about that old. Hopefully in my own letters, however, I 'll say more than "mother and kids are doing fine.".

Getting Help from the Other Side

Over on my "Pile o' Pendleys" page I list my grandmother's lineage to Elder William Brewster, spiritual leader of the pilgirms who came to this country on the ship Mayflower. What I did not tell there is the story of how I came to have the document which proves this.

The document is a letter from the Mayflower historical society written in 1905 to Kate Thomas (my grandmother's aunt who raised her) listing each generation from her father (John L.V. Thomas) back to William Brewster.

I have a dim memory of my mother showing me the document when I was a very little girl.  I remember being in awe of that letter, so old and so important. I handled it gingerly, imagining the lives of the generations of my family listed there in faint, curly script.
.

My mom had the best of intentions for gathering and preserving information about our family. She really did mean well. But she did not have an organized bone in her body. Her way of dealing with "stuff" was to put it in a box to sort through and put away later. For most things, later never came. So her closets, the garage and just about any other available space in her home were filled with many, many boxes of hodge podge gathered up items that had nothing to do with each other. There was no filing system. There was no order at all. As a result of her disorganized, chaotic way of living, she lost the Mayflower letter early on and never could find it despite several frantic searches.
.

After my mother died in 1983 I had the job of flying to Arizona to clean out her house to prepare it for sale. It was quite a chore. Room after room was filled with things I had no idea what to do with. Much of it had tremendous sentimental value, but not anything that would be of much worth to anyone else. Since most of my siblings lived several states away it would have been expensive to ship boxes of things none of us had seen for many years. So most of it got sent to the local thrift shop or just outright thrown away. I rented a big dumpster which was delivered to the driveway of the house where I'd grown up. I spent many hours tossing away mementos of my childhood with tears streaming down my face.
.

After I finished with the house stuff I went to the garage. By that time I was tired, sore, and emotionally exhausted. I took one look at that garage and became totally overwhelmed. It was floor to ceiling boxes stacked in rows three deep on each side with just a little path to walk between them. Where would I even begin?
.

I opened up several of the boxes that were easy to get to. I felt like an archaeologist sifting through layers of a life. I found scraps of the fabric I had tried to make a dress out of in home ec class when I was in eighth grade. (Emphases on TRIED because I was a complete failure at sewing!) Why had she kept that? Under the cloth were piles of Campbell soup labels she had saved for some fund raiser at the school. Under that were her 1964 tax files and receipts. Under that were newspaper clippings about various people she knew. Under that were ...well, you get the idea. It was piles and piles of more STUFF that had meant something to her but probably should all just get thrown out.
.

Discouraged and tired, covered in grime and sweat, I decided I had enough. I put down the box and headed for the door. As I moved to leave the garage I got a DISTINCT impression that said STOP. It was not a voice that I heard with my ears. But it was as clear a feeling as if someone were standing right next to me. I turned all around to look, reassuring myself that no one was there. Again I moved to leave.

STOP!

The second time the feeling came it was undeniable. I did not understand it. But I knew I could not leave that garage. I was to do something. But what?

I stood quietly in the garage for several minutes, gathering my thoughts. I began to pray, asking Father in Heaven to guide me to know what he would have me do.
.

Then, in a way I cannot explain in any sort of linear, logical fashion, I was DIRECTED to open a very specific box. Mind you this was not a box that was easy to get to. Out of the dozens, maybe hundreds of boxes that were in that garage, I got a distinct impression I was supposed to open one particular box that I had to move many others to get to.
.

When I finally got to THE box, I had a complete sense of confusion about what I was doing. It made no sense. Why was this box any more special than any of the rest of the junk that was stored out there? For goodness sakes, why didn't my mother ever throw anything away?
.

With a tired, discouraged sigh, I began sorting through the box to try to figure out why I was getting such a strong feeling. Again, I lifted out layer after layer of things that were sentimental to my mother, but of absolutely no use to me. There were things from her time as a cub scout den leader. There were papers from the time she served as president of the PTA. Under that was a bunch of stuff that looked like grocery lists, clipped obituaries, and out right junk. I thought, "this is stupid" and turned around to leave again. This time I got such a physical shock, it was as if someone were standing right there by me and grabbed me by the shoulders, saying LOOK! I know that makes no sense. But that is what I felt. 
.
So, feeling like I was losing my mind, I went the rest of the way through all the mess in that box. Then there, at the very bottom, there were two things: the letter from the Mayflower Society documenting my lineage to William Brewster and my grandmother's report card from the first grade.

As soon as my fingers touched those papers, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Not MY relief. But it was as if I were feeling the relief of whatever presence had directed me to search that particular box that day. I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that even though my eyes could see no one, I was not alone.
.

I believe with all my heart that our ancestors are waiting for us to find them. They are eager to have us learn of their lives and to feel a connection to them. I know that our kindred dead are depending on us to complete the necessary temple ordinances so they can progress in the next stage of their eternal spiritual journey. I recognize that some folks think that is a kooky idea. But to me it is as real as watching the seasons change.
.

I know that day in the garage,  I was guided to find a record that will have important significance in my family for years to come.  I know that when I get stuck in doing genealogy research, if I am patient and prayerful, I will at times be given help from the other side. It will not always be as dramatic as this particular experience. But I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are connected to others who went before us and this work of searching out and documenting family history matters.
.

I am grateful to my mother, who despite her complete lack of organization, did teach me to have a love of genealogy. I am also grateful to my ancestors who helped me find this special link between them and me.

Time to get organized!

Whether you are just getting started at gathering family papers or are a seasoned researcher, it just makes sense to have some sort of system for keeping your records and notes organized and safe. There are a number of different ways to organize family history. There is no "right" or "best" way to do this. Some people like paper they can hold in their hands.  Others prefer keeping everything electronic.  Whatever system you use, some basic questions to ask may include: 

What is important to keep?  
(Is it original?   Does it provide unique information?  Do you have multiple copies?)

How should I organize my materials?Find a system and stick with it.   Some people put EVERYTHING having to do with a specific family together in one box or notebook.   Others put all photographs together, all documents together,  all correspondences together, etc.  Another approach is to use color coded folders for different types of records but keeping everything pertaining to each family group  in its own box or drawer.  Whatever works for you, having a system of order will help you be able to get your hands on a particular item when you want one.

How can I keep my records safe?
For paper records, it may make sense to have them scanned as a back up.  Be sure they are stored in such a way to minimize risk of damage, whether in plastic sleeves in notebooks in a bookcase or in file folders in a cabinet.

NOTE: Newspaper clippings should be photo copied or scanned.  If you choose to keep original newspaper clipping be sure you separate it from all other records as the paper tends to be acidic and can do damage to photos, documents or other records.

For electronic files, it is wise to have every file backed up, whether on separate flash drives or cloud storage.  Be sure file names make clear what the record is, and date each record.

You do not have to go to the lengths of a museum archivist.  But if you have special family records, setting up a system for keeping them in order and undamaged will make all the difference to future generations.

Here are  sources that may be helpful to figure out what sort of system will work best for you.

In a Pile or a File

Free e-book from FamilyTree Magazine:
23 Secrets to organize you genealogy

Podcast on How to Organize Family Papers - American Ancestors

SMALL WORLD

I do not believe in accidents. Things happen for a reason. I am sure of this. But sometimes the "coincidences" that occur in our lives really are amazing. Today I have been sorting through my boxes and drawers of family history files to try to put them into some kind of order. Tucked down in the side of one of those files was a letter I received from my uncle, Bob Krebs, at least 12 years ago. Scratched on the bottom of the letter is a name and phone number for a cousin of ours who lived in Las Vegas at the time and was interested in family history.

The name was Fred Ferrell, someone I remember very well. About 2001 I had an opportunity to visit with Fred in Phoenix when we got together for a family gathering and to share records. I also got to know his mother well, Bertha (Bert) Krebs Elwing. Some time after our initial meeting in Arizona I visited her again at her home in San Diego. I have a picture somewhere of the two of us together taken at the San Diego Zoo.

"Aunt Bert" was the sister of my maternal grandfather, Louis Krebs. She provided me with several wonderful pictures of her siblings and told me stories about the family that were very precious to me. However, since I have moved about five times since our visits I had lost touch, and wasn't even sure if she was still alive. (She is, now 94!) Because of all my many transitions I figured the chances of Cousin Fred still having the same phone number my uncle had given me all those years ago were somewhere between slim and none, but I decided to take a chance. Fortunately for me, not everyone is as much of a tumbleweed as I am. Fred not only answered the phone after just a couple rings, he immediately remembered who I was, even though we have been out of touch for quite some time. Then, as we talked I told him of a friend of my husband's who also lives in Las Vegas, someone we have just recently learned was living there that we hope to track down. My cousin Fred immediately knew who I meant, and had in fact PLAYED CARDS WITH THE MAN just the week before. They happen to attend the same ward. What are the odds of that??? So now I am thinking there is a trip to Las Vegas to be planned in the not too distant future so my beloved can reconnect with his boyhood pal and I will be able to make contact with my family. This is just one more proof to me that doing family history work will bring blessings IN THIS LIFE as well as in the world to come.

It really is a very small world!

A Legacy to be Grateful For

My mother, Nancy Ann Krebs, was a remarkable lady. It is largely because of her efforts that I came to have an interest in family history research.

Nancy was born December 5, 1930 - the second of five children and only daughter born to Louis Krebs and Florence Kurtz. She married my father, Donald Pendley on Christmas Day 1952 when she was twenty-two and he was twenty-four.

After a miscarriage early on, Nancy and Don had five children in quick succession: Wayne in 1954, Andy in 1955, me (Lynda) in 1957, Alan in 1959 and Sharon in 1960.

Nancy converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1956, the year before I was born. My dad also joined the church a bit later, but it didn't stick with him. He became inactive by the time I was very young and later had his name removed from the rolls of the church. My mom, however, did have a strong testimony, and did the best she could to live according to the teachings of the gospel. It was through the influence of the LDS church that my mother became interested in genealogy work.

She wrote dozens of letters to people all over the country seeking information on various family lines. She placed ads in newspapers and magazines to try to make connections. Long before the Internet, she understood the importance of networking to extend family research.

My parents had a difficult, turbulent marriage that ended in divorce in 1970. I honestly don't have any memories of them ever being happy together, although I've been told they were in the early years. Beyond that, for much of my life my mom and I did not get along. During my stormy adolescent years we both said and did things that were hurtful to one another. Even after I was an adult with kids of my own, my mother and I were not close. Since I lived in a different state I seldom saw her and often went several months at a time with no contact at all. That was the case up until she died on December 21, 1983 at the age of fifty-three.

Over the years since my mother's death I've had lots of time to think about her life and the challenges she faced. There is much I wish had been different, both for her sake and mine. But despite that, I am so grateful for the legacy she left me. It is because of my mother I was taught about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. My mother also made a special point to be sure all of her children valued education and had a special love of literacy. It is absolutely because of my mother that I care about family history work. She got me started with genealogy research, showing me how to fill out a pedigree chart and family group sheet when I was about ten years old.

Because I believe families can be eternal I have confidence that one day I will see my mother again. I will ask her forgiveness for the many unkind words that I said to her when I was growing up and I will frankly forgive her for the things she said and did that I once thought were so unforgivable. I have come to understand that we are all complicated people doing the best we can with what opportunities and obstacles get dealt to us. We all fall short of being our best selves. I know both my mother and I definitely did.

One of the blessings of maturity is that finally I can put the resentments of the past behind me. Today I am very grateful for all the ways my life is blessed for having had Nancy Krebs Pendley as my mother. I will never completely understand what it was like for her to deal with her unhappy marriage, poverty, health problems, and other challenges she faced. Sadly, I know my mother did not have a very happy life. However, one of the things that did bring her much pleasure and satisfaction during her difficult life was doing genealogy. I hope that as I carry on the work that she began all those many years ago, that in some way she may be looking down and smiling.

Lesson 11 - Everybody Loves a Story

A key lesson of family history research is the importance of incorporating journals, histories and family stories into our genealogy.  When I took the genealogy class in my church our teachers, Quintin and Sue Phillips, illustrated this very well. The visual aid they used for an object lesson made perfect sense to me. Sue showed a list of the basic vital stats for one of her ancestors -Pattie Bartlett Sessions - date and place of birth, marriage and death. She then read some stories from a book based on the journals of that woman, a pioneer midwife with a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

To further reinforce the point, Quintin put out a plate of sliced homemade bread next to the book, representing something rich in taste and smell, fully nourishing. Next to the sheet of paper with the raw data he put a bowl of flour. It was a worthy beginning, but only the most basic ingredient of what it meant to "know" this person.

I could not agree more.

Over the years I have done a fair amount of gathering of information on the Baldwin and Burlington families - ancestors to my children through my ex-husband's lines. I have been blessed with having found several wonderful aunts and uncles in that family who have been willing to continue to correspond with me and share information long after my short, chaotic first marriage was over.

One of those people is Roy Burlington of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. On several occasions Roy has generously shared copies of photographs and key information I would never have been able to find from any other source. However, until recently I've been so focused on getting to know the long dead who-begat-who of these families that I haven't really gotten to know much about the living, breathing man who was sending the information.

I wrote to Roy recently to tell him I would like to know more about HIM if he was willing to share some of his own stories. In response he sent me a copy of the book "Diamonds on the Water" that he wrote in 2007. This book is a wonderful collections of stories, primarily of various fishing adventures set in upper Michigan, Alaska and Florida. Woven between the tales of pulling in big catches are wonderful gems which give a peek at Roy's experiences and values and a few snapshots of various family members.

One such gem is this one, from page 13 where he is writing about his father, Ken Burlington: "I knew I was about to enter manhood at 10 years of age when he let me row the boat and bait m own hook. Just me and my Dad. He belonged to a generation of quiet fathers who seldom told their sons they loved them. They simply took them fishing." I'm only part way through the book so far, but I can tell already that it is going to be a treasure.

I am incredibly grateful to Roy for his sharing this whimsical, personal tale of life on the water, introducing me to friends and family members in a rich and meaningful way through stories.

Tracking down names and dates of family history is important. But capturing the stories is what makes it come alive. Quintin Phillips challenged the members of his family to each capture one family memory in 100 words or less. I think that is a great exercise. Not everyone is a natural writer. Some might be more comfortable simply talking into a tape recorder. We also talked about other means for keeping records - blogs, emails, notes on 3 x 5 cards, along with other possibilities. However it works for you, I would encourage you to record those stories of experiences that have been special to you - whether it be fish tales, testimony or about places you have visited.

One of the stories my father-in-law, Fred Bennett, told that was of interest to me was of how he loaded hay using a "Johnson Fork". I did not grow up on a farm and had no idea what that was. Having him take the time to specifically describe what to him was a mundane, utilitarian tool helped me understand more.

I've also been fascinated by tales of what sort of medical or dental care were available to my grandparents or earlier ancestors. That makes me wonder what my great grandchildren might think of the story of my husband's recent hip replacement surgery - something I would just as soon forget, but might we well served to write down.

Things like how we travel, the price of groceries, how we like to cook or how we spend our time may seem pretty dull and boring today. However the world changes so very fast that even our most modern conveniences and what they mean to us may be an interesting detail to those reading it two or three generations from now.

Family history has a lot to do with doing research about long dead ancestors. However, it also can have plenty to do with recording our own lives in the here and now.

What stories do you want to record for your posterity?

Lesson 10 - Basic Research : Why We Need PROOF

There is a sign in the Family History library at my church which says: "Without Proof my family history would only be mythology."
 
Basic research means finding as many primary source documents as possible, and in the absence of those primary sources corroborating what we know about our family history with the best confirming documentation available.

In terms of family history research,
"PRIMARY RESOURCES are those that record an event at or close to the time that it happened; original records of events may include: diaries, journals, state or federal census records, courthouse records such as deeds, will probates, birth or death records, baptism or marriage records. Also included in primary records would be ship's passenger lists and military records." The USGenWeb Project)


SECONDARY RESOURCES,  on the other hand, are information that was recorded after the fact, usually by someone who was not present - quite possibly by someone who wasn't even alive at the time of the event the record is about.  this may include "Published records, including: family histories, indexes or compilations of census or marriage records, any sort of history (county, state, etc) and collections of cemetery inscriptions, for instance." (The USGenWeb Project)
 
As mentioned in the previous lesson, collaboration in doing family history work is a GOOD thing. However, in light of the ease of communication which modern technology makes possible, there can be a temptation to rely too much on that collaboration by simply getting copies of what other kind people are willing to share without taking the time to verify information through the use of primary sources, or in the absence of those, the most reliable secondary sources possible.

Fortunately, the technology available today also makes searching for primary sources easier than ever before.
For those looking for records in the Western United States, BYU-Idaho Special Collections many marriage and death records as well as census records and a whole host of published manuscripts about various families.

One source that was totally new to me was Gen.Forum This was of particular interest to me because of the information about immigration records which is a current concern of mine.

To find records specific to any state in the USA you can check out what is available at USGENWEB.ORG

I have very much enjoyed using various search tools to find information about my family lines. I have had some great successes at pushing the information I had started with back several generations which is exciting. However, until I can CONFIRM that information with corroborating documentation, it must be considered preliminary.

Particularly when using FamilySearch, there are MANY errors in the data which come from multiple people with marginal understanding of proper research techniques combining individuals or inputting data without due diligence. While I appreciate the kind intent of folks who want to help, uploading information that has not been sufficiently proven and then trusting that all the details will get worked out in the Millennium simply isn't useful.

Part of my goal for the coming months is to continue to extend what I know about my own family history. However, just as important will be the process of searching out documentation for what I already do know. By footnoting all of my records on Ancestry.com with scanned copies of the documents I have others following in my path or tying into my lines will be able to know that the information is accurate.

As it says in the article Assembling an Accurate Family History by Barry Leadbetter:

To assemble an accurate family history one must:
* obtain each piece of information from as many independent sources as possible
*include primary sources where ever possible
*properly assess the accuracy of each source of information and
*resolve the inconsistencies, giving more weight to the sources assessed as most accurate.

With that in mind, I have added several new links to my resources side bar - sites to go to for primary resources for records pertaining to the Civil War, the Revolutionary War and passengers of the ship Mayflower. I am excited to explore and see what they have to offer!

Lesson 9 - Clean Up & Collaboration

Doing family history research works best when it becomes a collaborative effort.  It is very common for people doing genealogy to discover other people working on the same lines so they can help each other by sharing information rather than duplicating efforts.  However, that kind of collaboration can get sticky when we discover our information to be slightly different from what someone else may have.  Which is accurate?  How can we be sure?

Sometimes those differences may be minor, such as a date of birth for some long dead ancestor being a week off one way or the other.  Sometimes it is a big difference, like having a particular person listed in an entirely different family.  When addressing the differences we find in our data, whether large or small, it is important to use tact and to give one another the benefit of the doubt.

Using digital tools like FamilySearch or Ancestry.com provides a great way for people to contact each other to discuss issues about contradicting information so that the records posted there can be made as reliable as possible.  Writing letters to others, making phone calls, or going to visit and share info can all be richly rewarding.

Particularly when working in FamilySearch which allows other people to make changes to the information posted, it becomes especially key to take care in how we communicate and to appreciate one another's intentions even when some of the information showing may need some clean up.

MOST online genealogy tools are closed, meaning that each person enters their data how they think it should be and no one else can touch it.  If they have set their research to be made public, others can see their information which is great for collaboration.  But if I am working in FindMyPast or Ancestry.com I cannot do anything to someone else's data base.
 
FamilySearch is a very different sort of program.  The goal of FamilySearch is to create ONE big database for the human family that we each tie into.  That means when I post a listing for my grandmother, that SAME post is what will appear for my cousins (for whom she is also their grandmother),  for my aunts and uncles (for whom she is their mother) or for my grandfather (for whom she is his wife.).   Any of us can go in and tinker with the spelling of the name, the date and place of key events, or post other notes, photos, documents, sources, etc.

It is all too easy to get our feathers ruffled if someone tells us our information is wrong or criticizes some change we made.  Or, the flip side of that, some may initially get down right indignant if they see someone else has been making changes in the records that they originally posted.   Particularly when someone has spent a lot of time and energy putting information into the system, or has a close personal bond to the family, it is only natural to feel somewhat territorial about how things appear.

People approach doing family history work with all different skill levels.  Sometimes mistakes will be made, even by the most skilled researchers. How we respond to those mistakes can make or break our future relationships with potential collaborators and can make the difference between having a great experience in doing family history work or one big knot of frustration.

I really do believe that the potential for building stronger bonds between the living family members is as important a feature of  FamilySearch as is the ability to record information about the dead.  

We all can learn from each other.  Whether you are on the side of having the best, most accurate and complete information or on the side of having some records that could be improved - EVERYONE has something to contribute.  The more we are open to sharing what we know and genuinely being willing to listen to and learn from others, the greater experience we will have.

Lesson 8 - The Ten Minute Genealogist

One of the reasons some people are hesitant to begin working on family history is because they do not have the TIME to get serious about genealogy. Beyond that, they are afraid they will never see their dining room table again. For some people, working on family history projects has a way of taking over their life and space. But it doesn't have to be that way. Meaningful family history work can be done in manageable, bite size increments that can be kept neatly organized.

The lesson in my family history class today was about doing family history in just 10 minutes a day. That's right. TEN MINUTES.

The exact amount of time set aside may vary from person to person, depending on their own circumstances. For some it may be 10 minutes. For others it may be 30 minutes or an hour. However the principle is a good one. Instead of getting overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and not starting at all, or getting lost in one or two marathon sessions that we never return to, we can each set aside whatever amount of time fits for us and then incorporate regular periods of family history work into our daily life.

It really is amazing what a person can get accomplished in just a few minutes a day if they are willing to set aside a plan of action. How that plan will look will of course be customized to fit the individual. But here is one suggested process we talked about:

1. Set the timer

2. Begin with a short prayer
3. Open the log you have created, and note what you will be working on that day. (This may be a simple notebook or a document in a word processing program. Use whatever works best for you. )
4. Open whatever family history program you are using.  This may be
FamilySearch,  Ancestry.com, My Heritage or some other system. 
5. Spend the time you have pre-determined on whatever task that you had planned.  It might be checking census records for particular family members.  It might be writing query letters (either by hand or online) to relatives.  It might be viewing a tutorial video to learn something new.  Each of those things are worthwhile and can be done in as little as 10 minutes.
6. STOP when your timer goes off.  Don't say " Oh, I just need to do one more thing".  There will ALWAYS be one more thing.  Plan your time and then respect those limits.  That makes it far more likely you will come back to it consistently and THAT is what will make all the difference.
7. Save and close your software
8. Close with prayer

A KEY PRINCIPLE of the lesson today was that as Latter-day Saints, we are involved in a spiritual endeavor. MANY people outside the church do family history out of curiosity or from pride in their family history. That's great. But for us, it is something different. We believe we are undertaking a work that has the power to bind families together through the sealing power of sacred temple covenants. With that in mind, we should begin and end each session of family history work with prayer. Because we are doing work the Lord wants us to do we have the opportunity to ask for inspiration and personal revelation to guide us where we should go.

The other principle we talked about was the importance of keeping a log. Especially because this method means committing to working in small, manageable bites it is critical that we stay on track. It is very easy to get distracted on different tangents. Also, if we don't leave a bread crumb trail of notes in a log sheet of what we checked already and what we plan to check on next we may forget where we've already been, leading to wasted effort as we follow the same trail again and again. Besides that, keeping a log allows us to see the progress we make, accumulating our accomplishments bit by bit, like marking a child's growth on the inside of a closet door.

TIME IS UP. This entry took me about 10 minutes. What can YOU do in that time?

Remember, it doesn't take a lot of time. It just takes a little time used well. As it says in Alma 37:6 "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances does confound the wise."

Lesson 7 - ON Target : Setting Genealogy Goals

In today's family history class we returned to the idea of goal setting.

We talked about some of the suggestions for genealogy goal setting that professional genealogist Jennifer Holik-Urban has posted online which can be found HERE.

In some ways it seems logical to have specific outlines for what we hope to accomplish. After all, most worthwhile activities require some forethought and planning, perhaps the creation of something like the ...M-O-A-L (Mother of All Lists) check list that Quintin Phillips uses when planning a white water rafting trip.

However, one of the points we discussed was the difference between establishing specific goals and living in patterns that lead us toward what we want to achieve.

I might have a GOAL to completely document all the principle players of my pedigree sheet for 10 generations. However, it is the pattern of continually seeking, learning, organizing, sharing that is what really matters. Whether I wind up with the information on every single person I planned to or not, that pattern will enrich my life and will help me accomplish a great deal.

This is more than just a matter of semantics. Goals are destination focused. Patterns are all about the process, the journey along the way. It is my hope to establish patterns that will guide me toward developing increased research skills and help me build relationships with others (extended family, fellow researchers, etc). Whether or not I get full documentation for all those generations....who knows? Sure, I aim to try. But I will consider myself to have SUCCEEDED when I have so completely ingrained the pattern of regularly engaging in research, networking and organizing records that it becomes as natural to me as brushing my teeth before I go to bed at night. If I can manage that, I have no doubt that tremendous breakthroughs will come my way despite having a few lines that today seem pretty much stuck.

Nevertheless - Ms. Holik-Urban has some great ideas and resources for genealogy goal setting that I find very valuable to help me in my process of building patterns into my life:

1) EDUCATION Goals- There are a variety of resources for workshops, classes, webinars and other learning opportunities to pick up new skills or sharpen expertise in doing family history research.

Whether someone is interested in formal certificate programs such as those offered by BYU or the National Genealogical Society or a more casual approach such as setting aside a certain time to read books and journals, follow genealogy blogs, etc it just makes sense to commit one's self to learning all they can to be a more effective researcher.

2) RESEARCH Goals - Clearly there is a difference between "working on my family history" in a general way and trying to identify which ship John Burlington emigrated to America on and then to obtain a passenger list to seek the names of the three children I know died along the way. There is a time for casual meandering through records to get a feel for a family and a time for making specific lists of what information I am looking for so I can build a strategy for finding it. This is where specific research goals can really help. Ancestry.com has some good guidelines for how to go about that.

3. ORGANIZATION Goals - This is where I really need to focus over the next six months. Because I recently moved, all my family history records got stuffed into boxes and I have yet to set up an adequate filing system that meets my needs within the space and resources I have to work with. There are a lot of different ways to approach this. One that is important to me is to digitize all my records. Because I work full time and do some adjunct teaching at a community college on the side, I do not have a lot of discretionary time. Still, like eating an elephant, I can take on this mammoth job "one bite at a time" by committing to spend 20 minutes or an hour every weekend scanning the next stack of documents and photographs. I just need to DO IT.

4. WRITING Goals - One of the reasons I feel so close to some of my ancestors is because some of them took the time to write about their lives. For a few others, there have been fascinating histories written by down downstream relations who researched their lives. The Armchair Genealogist Blog is a terrific resource for tips on writing personal or family histories.

I've very much enjoyed working on writing OTHER people's histories. My own I've been more reluctant to take on, for a number of reasons. However, even if I never get around to writing an "official" history of my life, I console myself with the knowledge that my grandkids can always take a peek at my views and values, as well as some of the key events of my days by reading my various blogs:

Mind Muffins(2006-2012)

Life by Design (2007-2009)

Apprentice Human (2006)

5. NETWORKING Goals - In this modern age of Facebook and Twitter some people forget about the good old fashioned form of networking - writing letters or going to visit. I have met many WONDERFUL people over the years who I found through seeking family records. Some were "shirt tail relatives" and others were not related at all. However, the things I learned from people like Bess Britton in Van Buren County, MI or Cindy Allen in Salem OR are treasures I will never forget. I believe that as we share the spirit of Elijah with others who have an interest in family research, all our lives will be richly blessed.

So there you have it - that's a summary of the goal categories that Jennifer Holick-Urban shared in her work. Some may fit you well for your life while others you may choose to skip over for now. That's fine. The thing is, for too many people, the task of taking on a family history project can seem so big and complicated that they just get overwhelmed and do nothing.

When it comes to genealogy, like many other areas of my life, I try to remember the words of Edward Everett Hale who said: " I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Remember, the best, and only way to eat an elephant has always been one bite at a time.

.

Lesson 6 - Documenting Sources

An important part of gathering family information is to document your sources. It really matters to record how you know what you know. One reason this important is to demonstrate that your information in reliable. Another is to help tease out where the problem is if your records don't exactly match up with someone else s.

My Grandma Kurtz celebrated her birthday on July 18 every year. Her certified copy of birth record lists her birthday as June 29, 1881. I was told by my grandmother that the reason for the disparity is that babies were delivered in the county by a traveling doctor who came out to the various farms in the area and then later supplied a report to the folks at Vital Records at the end of each quarter. Grandmother suggested that the doctor may have gotten two babies mixed up, not remembering which night he delivered which baby. She said Gertrude's mother clearly knew when her daughter was born and the family information on the birth date should trump whatever the state record might claim.

What's a person to do? I have a copy of the certified record in my family history book with a note telling why I believe it is not accurate.

Because my great grandmother was considered a "local pioneer" and one of the oldest people in her community, there were write ups about her in local papers on her birthday each year. Because those are based on self report, they all list her birthday as being in July.

Is it POSSIBLE she was born in June? I suppose. Does it matter? It did to my grandmother.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there are a series of statements that capsulize our core beliefs called "the Articles of Faith". One of those states: "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God." This acknowledges that while the Bible is a sacred record from inspired prophets, in all the many thousands of years of those records being handed down and then translated from one language to another, some errors have crept in along the way.

Just think - there is a BIG difference between celebrate and celibate. It doesn't take a very big mistake to change a lot of meaning.

Likewise, in family records it is easy to transpose numbers or to hit a wrong key on a keyboard. If we rely entirely on Great Aunt Tilly's family history that has been handed down for generations without ever checking sources ourselves, it is possible to perpetuate mistakes.

So check your data as much as it is reasonable to do so and leave a clear trail that proves where your information comes from.

Recording information based on personal memory is fine – you simply ought to say that is where the information came from.  Then, if or when other records come to light which give a different date or place for some relative’s key life events, future generations will have a better chance of knowing which information to trust.

A worthwhile family history activity for those who live in places where official documents or other written records are common is to periodically so searches for “official proof” of the family information we already have.  A great many records are now available online which have made this process far easier than in the past.

For those who live in areas of the world where oral tradition is the only record available it is especially important to get that information written down, recording who gave the information and the date and place the record was made.  Your future descendants will thank you for it.

Lesson 5 - Planning Family Reunions

In June of 1990 Ensign magazine published a short essay I wrote about the power of family reunions titled "The Tapestry Called Family". In that little story I talk abut family reunions that were held each year to celebrate the birthday of my great grandmother - Gertrude Anna Young Kurtz, who lived to be 102 years old.

This picture is from her 100th birthday party showing five generations of our family. (Left to right: me , then my mother (Nancy Krebs Pendley Powell), Grandma Kurtz (Gertrude Anna Young Kurtz), my grandmother (Florence Kurtz Krebs) and down in front my two sons, Aaron and Forest Baldwin. )

All of my life my Grandma Kurtz was the oldest person I had ever met. As a young girl, I could not imagine her ever having been like me or that I might ever be as old as she. However, as I say in my essay, through family reunions I began to see her as a whole person rather than an "ancient curiosity". Those family reunions helped me develop a strong sense of identity as a member of our clan.


On my father's side of the family we got together far less often. However, the few times we did left a lasting impression. My father was one of nine children and each of those nine had several children of their own, so I had lots of cousins. We were a large and boisterous clan given to lots of drama. Whereas my mother's people were generally more reserved, my dad's relatives were very intense. 

Uncle Tom always wanted to argue politics. My Aunt Marge had once lived in Bermuda and had somewhat of a mysterious past. Somewhere between the nine there was usually some feud going on. The backbone of that family, however was the heritage to my pioneer grandparents and the sense of attachment we all had to the ranch they homesteaded in Oak creek, AZ. Even though many of us traveled far and wide and ended up living in other parts of the country, that ranch and the many stories of that place were a part of us all.

Just as all families are different, each family gathering will be unique, depending on what you want it to be.

There are a number of online resources with tips for how to organize a family reunion. Here are just a few:

About.Com
Hub.com
Scrapjazz
Temple University

Some reunions will involve just a small group, such as when I gathered my siblings and their spouses together last summer.



Others will be multi-generational affairs including larger groups. Some families only get together every few years, especially when family members live at far distances from each other.  Others find it works best to have a regular time for gathering, acknowledging not everyone will make it every time.   My husband’s family gather together every year on the Saturday before Memorial Day.  We all know that is when it will be so we can plan our work and travel schedules accordingly.



Whether you want to have something simple in an informal setting or a more structured reunion with time for creating a formal family organization is up to you.

At the annual Bennett gatherings each family group taking turns for who has the responsibility for organizing and providing the main dish for the meal. Everyone else brings pot luck salads and desserts.

Some families choose to make it easy by having their reunions catered. This can be especially helpful when there are a lot of people traveling long distances. It's a bit hard to bring a casserole if you are driving cross country or coming by plane.

There is room for many different styles in family reunions. Some have talent shows or games with a family theme. One year we had a family auction and raised money for a family member with major medical expenses. The important thing is that you plan well and be open to suggestions from others.

This summer I hope to gather the cousins from my father's family in a Pendley Cousin Reunion. I know that not everyone will be able to come. But I am starting now to get the ball rolling so that I can organize a reunion that will hopefully be meaningful to as many as can make it. I will also create a "Cousin Directory" with photos and contact information of the entire tribe which will be distributed to everyone in the family, so whether they are actually at our gathering this year or not, hopefully they will begin to feel a bit more connected to the family.

When was the last time you had a family reunion? Maybe it's time to start planning the next one!

Lesson 4 - Identifying Family Photos

We all have them. Somewhere in a box or drawer there are old family photos of people we have absolutely no idea who are.

What could be more frustrating?

One of the saddest and most frustrating parts of family research is coming across wonderful old family photos that no one alive remembers who they are of.

Sometimes we don't have any clues to go on at all. Other times there are cryptic inscriptions such as "mother's cousins". WHOSE mother? What cousins?

On more than one occasion I have pounded my head against a wall trying to identify people in old photographs that had been passed down with no notes.

Other times we may know EXACTLY who is in the photo, but have no context in which to place them. For instance, mixed in a drawer with other family photos belonging to my great-grandmother was an image of a handsome young man in a bow tie with the inscription "Leslie Bostwick" written on the back. For YEARS my mother and grandmother both poured over old correspondences, bible lists and family charts trying to figure out where this man fit in to our clan. It was all in vain.

 Finally, when my great-grandmother was about 102 years old she finally admitted with a sheepish grin her secret of all those years. "He was my old beau." So he wasn't related at all.

On other occasions we will come across pictures that we know who is in and even where they belong in our family, but no one will be able to remember the when or the where or what the occasion was of the picture. That can be truly maddening!

I am deeply indebted to my grandchildren's OTHER grandmother. She was totally faithful in ALWAYS writing the name, date and place on the back of every family snapshot...something that I, alas, was not. I have been able to figure out several of my own family photographs only by comparing them to hers.

If you have old family photos you cannot quite pin down, there are a number of ways to find clues to guide you. Try THIS LINK for tips on how to sleuth your way to answers.

In order to properly tag family photos you have now for future reference, there are a number of methods. On of my favorites is taken from an old photo of a family reunion held at the George Cook home in Summit County, Ohio which was taken around 1910 (judging from the estimated age of the child who would grow up to be my grandmother, Florence Kurtz Krebs, and the fact that her mother was wearing black which would be appropriate considering her oldest child died in 1910.) This is the picture:

And THIS was my grandmother's method for keeping track who was at that long ago reunion:

She took a long sheet of heavy paper and made a hole with a pencil that fit precisely over each face in the photo. She numbered those holes and then made a list of the names. I can still hold that aging old card stock over the photograph and see the faces line up by their corresponding numbers. BLESS YOU forever, dear grandma. Finding this in her papers was like finding the Rosetta Stone.

These days I am converting most of my old pictures to digital format by scanning and labeling each one.  Now that we can load photos onto FamilySearch.org those photos will be preserved indefinitely, regardless of what happens to the originals.  They are also publicly available so all the cousins for generations to come will get the blessing of sharing them.

For those who are somewhat techie inclined there are various on line programs for sorting and storing photos such as Fotobounce. This is a great tool if you have LOTS of pictures to label with the same people being in a number of different views. You start identifying faces. The software then sorts through all the images in your collection and looks for possible matches. Of course, it still requires you to confirm or deny the match the machine thinks is the right one. And there COULD be confusion over family members with very similar features. But it has a simple facial recognition system that can save a lot of time, depending on the collection you have to work with.

Some folks, however, want nothing to do with computers. That's fine. Do what fits YOU best.

For writing directly on the backs of photographs your best bet it to use an acid free archival quality pen which can be purchased HERE for $5.99 You can also find these at any store that carries a good selection of scrap booking supplies.

Whatever method works best for you, just remember the old Chinese proverb: "The palest ink is better than the best memory." There are many ways of doing it - but find a method that works for you so that pictures of you and your immediate family do not one day wind up in an old shoe box marked "No one knows who".