Volunteer

As genealogist we have so many chances to help with making records available to others. You can start with your local libraries genealogy room, historical society and as a transcriber online.

Local libraries are constantly looking for genealogy helpers. One of the large advantages is you learn so much about their facility. Try volunteering on a Saturday to help those patrons that are new to the libraries genealogy collections. Maybe writing is your thing and there are tons of records that the libraries that have yet to be identified to the general public. Start by asking they would love to have your help.

Historical Societies especially in rural counties tend to be the main place for people to donate their historical items. Much of this is very important to the average genealogist. The sad part is these organizations to not have the manpower to help make these records available. This is where we all can offer a helping hand. Creating that bridge between the Genealogy and Historical community is so important to both sides of the fence.

You can also volunteer in your own home by helping with the transcription projects on both Family Search and Ancestry. Did you realize that records are not able to be put on the internet with out a human putting the old records in a format that the computer can understand? This is where we can all help. The sooner we are able to get records transcribed the sooner they will be available on the Internet.

Look for you genealogy volunteer opportunity and let me know how you do.

Flag volunteers honor deceased veterans - Our Town Sylvania

Honoring our vets on memorial day.  Great volunteering!!!

Flag volunteers honor deceased veterans - Our Town Sylvania

Unkonwn

It's funny but I really could not come up wih a word that pertains to genealogy that started with the letter U. Then it hit me we struggle with the unknown so much in our genealogy journey so it should be included as a a word. We have all hit our brickwalls and are alwasy searching for that one clue when trying to learn what is unknown. Hopefully in my sharing on this page you have learned some new ideas on how to resolve some of these issues.

Have a great day.

Tax Records the under used resource

Have you used Tax records for your research? They are a very under used source for verifying a variety of facts per 1850 during a period when you normally have so little information. Great way to identify relationships, arrival and departures.

It was becasuse of the collection of taxes that the taxman was forced to differentiate between people with the same names. Fathers became identified as Senior and the sons as Junior. We are forced though to do more research if there are multiple people with the same names.

The tax man was the first person to identify when a family arrived in a particular area. He was highly motivated to identify the family as new and collect the tax. In the same token when a family left the area his records would indicate it by not having them listed. Make sure to check subsequent years in the rolls to make sure they have left. In rare cases families were missed.

Finally tax records were normally kept in the order of household. You will be able to identify who the neighbors are in the records. Be careful though,because some enterprising tax men alphabatized the names. Finally when a new person appears in your surname group it is often a indicator of a person coming of age and being able to own land. Very common.

Software

As some stage in the game software and the computer will be things that genealogist need to tackle. When I last went to count there was over 100 seperate programs to consider for storing your genealogy. It really comes down to your individual tastes.

The most popular program out there for stroing your genealogy is still Family Tree Maker. You have a variety of other choices like Legacy and Roots Magic to name a few. Make sure to download the trial versions and read up on the in's and out's. Like any good male I don't normally like to read directions so I wanted a program that loaded and I could use right out of the box. Both Legacy and Roots Magic fall into that category. I was looking for a basic program without all the bells and whistles.

Another trend in software is the accesories. They vary from a citation helper to map plotter. Teh choices are endless and growing. Make sure to take them all for a test drive before you buy.

Recomendation

I feel very strongly that I need to give another shout out about Derek and his genealogical research skills. I contacted the National Archives in Washington, DC direct about my 2X great grandfather, William Gurin (1834-1916). In response, I received (2) documents in the mail. Two tiny bits of information. While I appreciate *any* information I receive as you never know what's going to give you a much-needed clue, it was *nothing* compared to what Derek unearthed for me.

To date, he has provided me with well over 200+ pages of documents from the National Archives in Washington, DC including detailed Civil War pension records, letters from my 2X great grandmother regarding William's military pension, medical records, hospital records from William's last days, including day-by-day doctor's notes about William's condition. They are extremely exciting to read, although at times heartbreaking to know what William endured from his Civil War injuries. One of the documents also included a 1915 photo of 81-year old William from his hospital records. *Amazing*

I can't thank Derek enough for the treasure he gave me on my favorite and by far (for me) most fascinating ancestor. I considering myself a pretty good sleuth on the ancestry trail, but I could *never* have discovered on my own what he found.

A link to his website is below. Highly recommend if you need assistance in your genealogy quest!

Revolutionary War Ancestors

A common quest for many researchers in their early stages is to identify if they have a ancestor that participated in the War for Independence. For us doing research of ancestors in Northwest Ohio this is a very high possibility if your are able to trace your ancestors were in Ohio prior to 1830. Why you ask?

The largest issue that is unique to Ohio is the Ohio Military lands. Here in Northwest Ohio it is the region known as the Firelands region. This area is in Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, Lorain and Huron counties. In the past few years signs have been posted in this area that identify that you have arrived. This area was originally claimed by the state of Connecticut. The land was given to those people that had land damaged in Connecticut by the British during the War. It was given as compensation to those effected. Pay attention to the many New England names used where our ancestors lived, because they offer great clues on their origins.

Finally be careful when using lineages from the DAR. Over the years some funky genealogy has been going on and some of the lines lack the proper documentation. Always document your genealogy.

Queen

Have you found your family to be realted to royalty? Be aware without the proper documentation it does not become fact. There are a lot of suspect genealogy in this area. The challenge of proof can be dificult as a result of so many sources depending on the same bad information.

Photos

Photos are the images that actually allow us to see our ancestors as well as get clues to how they lived. Fascinating understandings can occur when you look at the clothing, backgrounds and features of the people in the pictures. Make sure to identify the people in the pictures. Start from now and work your way back.

Scanning those pictures and putting them in a format that will survive the test of time is critical. There are many scanners out on the market that make it easy to complete this part of your task. Do a little at a time and stick with it. Very valuable step in our preservation of our families legacy.

Finally for the pictures themselves remember to use archive quality sleeves to store them. Include the pictures in the family group files you have created to organize your paper files.