My Thankful Genealogy List

It's Thanksgiving.  Time to give thanks for the many blessings in my life.  I thought I would put together a list of some of the things I am thankful for from a genealogical perspective.

The Internet which has brought billions of records to my fingertips.

Social Networks which gives me closer contact to cousins all over the world.

The Mormons for having a belief that calls them to rescue genealogical documents.

The Government officials that required us to document certain facts about our lives.

Developers of the Camera who gave us the ability to see likeness of our ancestors.

Computer which allows me to store, review, edit and present to others copies of our family tree.

Makers of Family Tree Maker who created my favorite genealogy program.

Newspaper Writers, Editors, & Publishers for sharing the stories of our lives.

Genealogy Podcasts which keep me inspired to  continue my genealogical research.

All the Libraries and their staff who provide access to an abundance of information.

My Ancestors that left a lot of documentation about their lives because of them I feel I am making a lot of progress.

My Ancestors that left little documentation and led me to a brick wall because of them I am challenged to break it down.

My husband who loves genealogy as much as I do.

My late mother who handed me her work and started me on this adventure.


And thank you to everyone who has glanced at my blog!

How to do my "To Do" list

Like many genealogists out there, I have a long list of genealogical "To Do" items that if I don't keep them somewhere, I forget them.  A list of them is a necessity.  But now that I have switched from PC to Mac, where should I create this list?

I used to be able to keep them in my Outlook Task List.  When I changed to Mac, the Microsoft Office package I purchased did not include Outlook.

This is a fresh start for the To Do List so what options do I need to fulfill?
*Do I want it to be portable?  If so, how do I want it to be portable?  -              Computer, iPhone, or old school paper?
*Inside of my Genealogy program or outside?
*Will it be related to a specific person or broader?

I would like to look at the last two questions first.  In the past, I have kept person specific lists in my genealogy program (Family Tree Maker for PC).  As I transitioned my files, those person specific to do list transferred over int o Family Tree Maker for Mac.  However, I have other genealogy To Dos that don't fit in.  So it would appear, I need some time of non-genealogy program list.

Now the question of portability comes into play.  I could do this the old fashion way and make a list on paper.  Very portable...but not very efficient.  Unless I plan to do them in the exact order they are listed, you end up with several pages of items with varying number of outstanding items.  Then you spent time condensing them into a new list.  As I said, not very efficient and a waste of valuable genealogy time in my opinion.  So I am definitely looking for an electronic method.

Currently, I do not have an easy method of inputting my extensive "To Do" lists on to my iPhone.  So until I find an app that I transfer between my computer and iPhone easily, I will stick with a computer version.  I am sure there is probably an app out there that would allow me to do this.  However, I am still trying to get a handle on the Mac World and am not sure I would choose the best product at this time.

My old standby for To Do lists has been Excel.  I can build a table of different types of items to be done and even keep notes on the status of the item.  I guess for the time being this is the solution I will peruse.  Unless someone has a better idea?

The Hairstylist and the Genealogist

I often talk to my hairstylist about genealogy while she is styling my hair.  She always seems interested in what I have learned new about my family history.  She is a good listener and asks great questions.  Questions that often challenge me to think in different ways.

The other night, she quietly said "I've been thinking about doing some research."  She seemed a little tentative so I asked what she was wanting to research.  There is a picture she has of her paternal great grandfather and great grandmother.  "No one talks about what happened to him."  But she has learned he was in an asylum.

She supplied me with details about the picture.... black and white.... on cardboard stock.  I told her i thought the time frame would be from the last 1800s to the early 1900s.  All she knew was that her grandfather was young when her great grandfather died.

We had talked before about her grandfather who served in World War II and was in his 90s.  But this was not the grandfather.  This grandfather she didn't know his exact age but he was in his late 70s or early 90s.  I started to calculate his age when she added that her father was born in 1956 and her grandfather was 21 years old when he was born.  Okay....so your grandfather was born in 1935. 

"What should I look for?  What do I do first?"  I told her when you start genealogy, you start with yourself and work you way back in time documenting each piece of information along the way.  "But I already know about me."  For her great grandfather the first piece of information we would be looking for would be his death information.

She then recalled her great grandfather's name.  The first name was Ezra.  The last name was not common.  I asked where he died.... Illinois.  I asked if she knew when he died.... No.  I decided to see if by any chance he turned up in the Social Security Death Index.  There was an Ezra born Aug 1895 and died Feb 1944.  "That can't be him.  He died when my grandfather was young".  This man would have died when her grandfather was 9 years old. 

Since his son was not born until 1935, the 1930 Census would be of no use....or would it.  "My grandfather was the second youngest of seven children."  He would be in the 1930 Census with his other children and wife.  Did a search and there he was Ezra, his wife Beulah and four children.  His birth year according to the Census, was 1896.  So Ezra in the SSDI was him.

My hairstylist was amazed.  I found all of this while she styled my hair in 30 minutes or less.  And to be truthfully honest, I was too.  Guess twenty years or so of doing this has paid off!  Now the only question is "Has she caught the bug?"

Changing from Family Tree Maker PC to Family Tree Maker for Mac

Due to my Windows laptop having more and more errors, my husband and I decided it was time to switch to Mac.  I have not touched an Apple Computer since the early 1990s.  Over 20 years of PC use has embedded all of the shortcuts  and PC methods into my brain.  Now I have to learn the Mac techniques.

One of the reasons why we didn't go to Apple sooner was my attachment to Family Tree Maker.  I had been using it since the early 1990s as well.  But with Family Tree Maker for Mac, that has all changed.  Now comes the challenge of moving several family tree files over from the old PC.

I tried just opening the FTM PC file in the MAC version of Family Tree Maker but it was to the correct process.  My husband then tells me that there was a migration program on the installation CD.

So placed the CD in the Macbook Pro and tried to install the migration program. No Go.  The Migration program has to be installed on the PC and the files converted.  Since the plan is to get rid of the PC at some point, I realized I would have to convert all my FTM files.

I installed it and converted the files.  As the files were converting, I was a little concerned that all of my many notes might be lost.  I then opened the files in  Family Tree Maker for Mac.  I was happy to see that the program looked very similar to the PC version and nothing was lost in the transfer.  All of my notes were there.  Nothing lost.

I haven't really played around with the program to much yet. One small difference I noticed is the graphics seem much more artistic than the PC version.  I am glad to know that FTM will be one of my easier challenges of moving from PC to Mac.

Now to learn how to work the Mac itself!

Honoring My Ancestral Veterans

As today is Veterans Day, it is only appropriate to pay honor to those of my family who served in the military.

Let's start with ROLL CALL!

Howard Johnson          World War II       Father
Harold Johnson            World War II       Uncle
Marvin Johnson            World War II       Grand Uncle
Loren Thompson          World War II       Grand Uncle
Henry Coonrod            Civil War             2nd Great Grandfather
John Thompson            Civil War             2nd Great Grandfather
John Yelliott                 Civil War              2nd Great Grandfather

John Burlend                Mexican War       Great Grand Uncle
Daniel Burbank            Revolutionary        5th Great Grandfather
Woollery Coonrod       Revolutionary        5th Great Grandfather


These are the veterans I have determined so far in my family history research.  I want to thank each one of them and those that I have not yet identified for serving our country.  They fought to keep this country free and to protect the rights of all people. 

They had many new experiences.  Some experienced new forms of transportation.  My father was transported to Iceland via airplane.  It was his first flight.  My uncle had experiences with boats on the river but he had never experienced a troop ship.  Both my uncle and father took their first train trips being transported to camps in the United States.

Some experiences were not always good.  Several of my Civil War veterans suffered with dysentery and other ailments.  The details described in their pension files are sickening to say the least.

Probably the hardest of experiences was leaving behind family and friends especially when they did not know what their future held.  Of all the men listed above, only one did not return, John Burlend.  His death was listed as "Kill, affray on m'ch".

There is only one thing left to say... THANK YOU... to all my ancestral veterans and THANK YOU for all the veterans out there who read this blog.

My Illinois Civil War Ancestors

1500 years after the Civil War, my curiosity has been peaked to explore my ancestors who served during the war.  I have made a combined Civil War timeline list for my three ancestors.  Combined because I wanted to see any overlap in time and place as I start to plan my Civil War Road Trips.

My first ancestor to serve in the war is John Burlend Yelliott of Pike County, Illinois.  He was mustered in at Camp Butler, Illinois near Springfield on 21st August 1862 at  the age of 18.  He served for three years being mustered out on 12th of June 1865 at Nashville, Tennessee.

My next ancestor to serve war was Henry Harrison Coonrod, Sr. also of Pike County, Illinois.  He was 30 years old when he mustered in at Florence, Illinois on the 23rd of August 1862.  Henry was married with one son. He, too, served for three years being mustered out on 31st of July 1865.

My final ancestor to serve was John June Thompson of Fulton County, Illinois.  At the age of 26, he musters in at Camp Butler, Illinois on the 21st of February 1865.  He was married with three daughters.  John served a little over six months being mustered out on 5 Sep 1865 at Nashville, Tennessee.

Many questions run through my head as I look at these three men.  How did two gentlemen from the same county  muster in two days apart at two different places?  Why would John June Thompson a married man with three children  - all female - be called to serve when it would seem he was the sole support for these girls and his wife? What was it like for them?  What inspired them to take up arms?  How were their families handling them being gone?

These are questions I plan to research further in later blogs.  But for now I just want to salute these men that served

Going to the Cemetery! - Gone but not forgotten?

Mid October, I went to Bethel Methodist Church near Detroit, Pike County, Illinois.  As I said before in my blog, this was the first time I went inside but it was not the first time I visited the cemetery that surrounds the church.  I have been several times in the last 5 years.  Before that day in October, I had been there exactly 5 times...every Memorial Day.

I recall in Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's book "Honoring Our Ancestors", Jodi L. Severson contributed a store called "My Mother's Example".  Jodi tells of her mother's tradition on Memorial Day weekend of traveling to the cemeteries of her deceased family members.  While I don't talk to my deceased relatives at the cemetery, I do bring flowers and decorations for their plots.

My own tradition started 5 years ago before my mother past away.  She loved that I was researching her family and always wanted to know what new I had learned.  My mother developed dementia over the last few years of her life but she always remembered our trips to the cemeteries to Honor the Ancestors.  The year she passed away I probably went in remembrance of our trips together but last year was more of a remembrance of all my ancestors and for me.

While at the Cemetery in October, I noticed that there were only a few flowers on the graves in the older section of the cemetery.  The only ones I noticed were ones I knew I had placed there.  I commented on this to my husband and he looked around but didn't see any others. 

I have posted memorials to my ancestors on Find A Grave which leaves a digital record of their burial and tombstone.  But for me, there is just more meaning in seeing the sites in person.  I understand not everyone can be near their ancestor's resting places.  It's walking on ground they walked on.  It's walking next to where they rest.

So I wonder when I am gone who will Honor our Ancestors. Who do I inspire to carry on the tradition for my family? Or will they become like the rest of these stones unadorned and unvisited?  Until the next genealogist comes along.