Category: Scuttlebutt
Full circle
"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." ~ Arthur Ashe Family reunion...of sorts Meeting up with a long lost cousin A year or so ago I found my step-cousin Milton on Ancestry. Receiving a response of any kind on that site often does not happen; I was pleasantly surprised when ...
Family history: Understanding relationships
Telling a story through family relationships One example: When cousins marry cousins Not allowed in every state these days, in our not-so-distant-past it wasn't uncommon for a cousin to marry a cousin. A look at populations and geography and one can better understand the reasons. How does this effect our understanding of family when, through research, ...
Ancestor profiling using memory
Moments in time One memory leads to another It has happened to us all. You walk into someone's home and you see something familiar, perhaps a jacket draped over a chair. You do a double take. It's very similar to the one grandpa wore on that special day long ago. As you approach to take ...
Document and photo preservation
Preserving old documents and photos Documents, papers, photos and more I wrote about preserving photos and other old documents in IN A PREVIOUS POST. This one, however, takes a closer look at materials currently recommended. Take a look at Susan's article to read tips and tricks for preserving your documents. While it can be expensive ...
Obits and what they offer
What there is to learn from an obit There may be surprises My great, great grandfather was Alfred Josiah Smith. Let's pick apart the obit for his sister, Alice May Smith Lytle, presented in the following article. Looking at the information regarding the pallbearers, Susan makes a good point that not all of Alice's siblings were ...
Truth or fact: Honor guard or wounded soldier?
Separating truth from fact when reading old documents A matter of focusing on your goals When deciphering journals, diaries, or even census records, it's very important to keep in mind that someone's family story is their truth, which will be repeated as such. This does not mean it is factual. Perhaps a story or fact ...
Scanning, negatives, labeling, storage, and journals
Properly preserving, labeling, storing and more Scanning Photos take a lot of time to scan and label. Some are quite large and cannot be easily scanned. My photography skills come into play here--or lack thereof--and this can be a challenge. I've managed to take photos with my cell phone of most of the larger, awkward ...
About submitting your documents
Using Gmail Compatibility using Google and Gmail For our purposes here, when sharing and editing documents, it will be most advantageous for you to use your gmail account. If you do not have gmail, the system will ask you to create an account within 14 days in order to see a shared document, and this ...
Scuttlebutt
The place for the latest. The scoop. The buzz. I will be posting articles related to labeling, preserving, and recording genealogical artifacts. First up will be the following topics: Watermarking photos, a consideration. See: WHY WATERMARK? Distinguishing between truth and fact. See: TRUTH OR FACT Preserving original documents. See: DOCUMENT AND PHOTO PRESERVATION HOW TO FIND NEWS: Click ...
Why watermark?
Watermarking online photos Why include your John Henry? What follows is MY OPINION only. This is a discourse on why I choose to mark my photos. I have been the recipient of photo thievery on Facebook. I have been the recipient of photo thievery on Ancestry. I claim the status of amateur photographer; I do ...
The Malevolent Matriarch 