Finances- Was my family rich?

Throughout history the economic fortunes of our families have varied. In my own family the majority of my family have been farmers that owned their own land. The financial level of family members does a great deal to control the paper trail of our ancestors. Once vital records became common in the United States there were two controlling factors that effected if people recorded their life events. One was the distance that the family had to travel to the location where the records were being recorded. This typically was the county seat which was normally positioned in the center of the county. The second was their ability to pay the fee often collected to file this record. Counties began charging a fee for the filing of vital records for a source of revenue. When a family had a choice between filing a birth certificate or feeding little Johnnie food always won out. As a result the filing of records in certain places was as low as 50 percent. When a person died a will was not often created when the person had no assets to distribute. It was common practice to just hand over the keys so to speak rather than go through a formal court process. People with out money got very little coverage in the Newspaper so you would have no obituary or a very short line. Cemetery stones would not be purchased and this resulted in unmarked graves. There are reasons we can not find our families. It is important when doing research on our families to be aware of their economic situation. If they were experiencing modest financial situations their paper trail will be slim to none. The challenges of the search become even more difficult.

Who are the people that live around our family?

One of the common over looked parts of genealogy that is overlooked is looking at the people that live around our families in their community. Understanding who lives around our families can often help in understanding more about our own families. An excellent place to start your search is to take a look at census records and city directories. Then follow it up by using tax and land records. Many genealogist become very focused on their family unit and do not look at the other folks around our families. A good rule of thumb in this situation is to use the ten up and ten down rule when looking at the census. This means looking at the ten families listed before and the ten that appear after. Be sure to look at their last names. Pay attention to where it says they were born. People traveled and lived around people they were familiar with. This did not always mean blood relation. In my own family over about a two hundred year period the families that lived around my family from Connecticut to Ohio were the same. Many followed with multiple moves in the migration trail. This does not become apparent until you look at more of the census record than your family unit. When researching families in urban areas the city directories are a excellent way to look at our families an their neighbors. These publications would start in the 1850's in many urban areas, but would become more popular as time moved towards the 1900's. One of the common tools used in the city directories was a section that listed the streets in a area and the people in order of their street numbers. Pay attention to the next door neighbors or the people that lived the street over. Understand the nature of the neighborhood. Were the people from a particular ethnic background? Do they work at the same places? Using this information later in the census helps you locate possible clues to your families origins and lives. When a family moved into a new area the greeting committee was often the tax man. Funny how that works. Prior to 1850 this is a excellent way to determine when a family arrived in a certain area and when they may have departed. It would be rare for the tax man to miss people for a period of time. If there is a gap it is a strong indicator that they have moved or maybe even died. Tax records provide valuable information during a time period where the paper trail may be weak. Look at who is around them again. Hopefully the records will be done by household and not alphabetized by the tax man. Finally land records which happen to be one of the less used documents to genealogist. Plot the properties around your ancestors to see who their neighbors were. Where they family? Do they have a connection to your family? Who was the person that your family originally bought land from when they arrived in a new area? How did your family know them? These are all important questions to ask. It was common for one person from a area go and scout out the new location for migration. This person would be entrusted with locating and buying the land. Then the others would move out and the land would be redistributed. Fathers would buy large tracks of land and redistribute them to their sons when they came of age. Use all the resources to research your family. Do not use blinders when it comes to the community in which your ancestors. The neighbors often provide the keys to breaking down those brick walls.

Families Falling out

The separation of a family unit happened even in old times. Husband and wives fought over similar things today that cause families to separate. Sometimes we may have the best of intentions, but things change. Prior to the 1900's the use of Divorce was less common to what it would be in the twentieth century. The common man would normally says things were not working out and would move out. Going through the court process of a divorce would be difficult to handle, because the newspapers would cover it as front page news. I am struck by researching in the early twentieth century and how the guy working in a plant has his separation front page news in the local paper. This would bring a great deal of pain to all parties involved. As with all things the more common the process became the less value it held for the newspapers to cover. Another common belief is that the spouse just disappeared. Understand at the time communication was not what we know of today and transportation was limited. People tended to travel within walking distance of their home. It was very common for the spouse to move outside of that circle and still live in the same town. Many a story has occurred where the spouse has gone and started a second family and the kids end up going to school together. Had one instance where they were dating and they were half siblings. The separation of children from the primary family was also a common event. In many cases we will never know the reasons why these events take place. It results in a major challenge to your research skills when trying to locate this missing person. Analyzing the event and the potential scenarios is key. Use the records at hand to help you uncover the mystery. Make sure that you consult all records. In this case no stone should be left with out being turned over.

Brick Walls- Extended Family

One of the common things when doing genealogy is that we tend to have blinders on when it comes to extended family. We become so focused on our direct line that we fail to take advantage of the clues that may be gained from researching collateral lines. Many road blocks occur with our direct lines due to the lack of a paper trail. The needed confirmation of information may not exist in direct family so we are forced to look elsewhere. In the early stages of my genealogy life I wore blinders and did not pay attention to the other members of the family. As I matured as a genealogist I found the gold that could be found when looking at the brothers and sisters in a family unit. One of the primary areas of confirmation is building a body of evidence to make a conclusion on your family line. Discovering the birth, marriages and deaths of other family members will help you in better understanding your direct line. In most cases these people had interactions with each other both good and bad. A great deal of information can be gained in these situations over a land sale, contention over probate or a military service record. Not to mention the vital records. When you run into a brick wall make sure to check out the whole family unit for clues. It is important to find all the pieces of the puzzle, because they will help you in resolving your direct line family. Good luck in your research and please be sure to share your ideas.

Brick Wall- Family Seperations

If you think families separating is a new thing check your history. The things that effect the family situation today occurred in a different time period in the same way. When you have tracked a family and suddenly they are not all together make sure to find the reason why. Ruling out death in the family results in checking out the other possibilities. Husbands and wives did not get along in earlier times as well. It was not fashionable to go through the court process prior to 1900. For many it was a matter of heading off to the corner store and not coming back. Ironically the newspaper is a excellent place to find this kind of information. This would fall more under tabloid journalism. Papers would cover stories that sold papers. Recently I was doing a search on a family in Lorain, Ohio that the father had separated in the early part of the 20th century. The primary document were the court records that were found and filed by the wife. She was looking for spousal support for the children. The amazing thing for me was that there were stories in the paper on the incident. The story in the family is that the father had moved far away. From the newspaper articles I was able to learn that he had only moved a short distance away to Huron, Ohio. The father lived a very colorful life and was good at getting himself in the paper for all the wrong reasons. Another source in the Catholic church is to look for the annulment papers that were filed to dissolve the marriage. These records are kept at the diocese level. Divorce was a big taboo in the church and as often the reason that a family member would be buried in the Protestant cemetery and not the Catholic one. Make sure to pay attention to all the clues. These records and events offer valuable insight to our families lives.

Brick Walls- Land Deeds

The use of deeds is a very common document that is overlooked by most amateur genealogist. Land deeds provide important clues for both location and relationships. When you are attempting to identify when a person arrived in a particular location or left a particular area land deeds play a important part in this search. The vast majority of the population prior to 1900 were farmers. This would mean the purchase of land. Further you go back the higher likely hood that land was purchased. Identifying the date of departure and arrival in a area is important to creating a timeline of our ancestors life events. It is also a important document when you are attempting to establish First Family status for a family unit in a particular area. It was common for people to purchase land from people they know. This could be a friend that had lived close to them in the location they were in prior or a family member. Be sure to identify the potential relationship between your ancestor and the person they were buying the land from. Pay attention to the origins of the person selling the land. Did they continue living in the area after they sold the land? Do they share a common surname? Who were their neighbors? Make sure to look at people that shared the same surname purchasing land in the same area during the period of time your ancestor may have located. When looking at where they sold land check for others selling around the same time period and see if they show up in the new location. Please let me know your success with this process. It is a wonderful tool for breaking down those brick walls.

Don't forget the collateral lines- Brickwalls

Don't fall into the trap of wearing blinders when doing research and only focusing on our direct family lineage. The trail may run cold with our own direct line, but a sibling may have a rich paper trail that helps us identify our lineage. When I first started doing my family research I started my search with my mothers family line of Stevens. I was able to trace the line very quickly back three generations, but I was stuck on Seymour. In the early stages of learning genealogy I was always concerned with my direct family line and did not pay attention to the collateral lines. Seymour would be a brick wall for me for almost thirty years. Understand that I began my genealogy journey when I was thirteen. One day I decided to take a look at the line again to break the Seymour brick wall. I knew very little about his family other than his migration pattern from his birth in Massachusetts to his death in Fairfield, Huron, Ohio. The time period was early nineteenth century and did not have a very large paper trail. The one thing I did know was that he had a brother named Paul who lived by him in Huron County. Reviewing census records the two brothers were always close together. They bought and sold land together. There was a lot of crossing of paths for these two. I knew they had come from Monroe, Ashtabula, Ohio in the 1820's. When I searched the census and tax records Seymour and Paul were right next to each other in this county. The connection was very strong. There were many Stevens in this county and they lived in very close proximity to each other. Now to eliminate the suspects. My first search was in the Probate records for the county. It was here that I hit pay dirt. There was a Paul that died in the 1830's that had another Paul that was his executor. I had noticed the elder Paul in tax records next to my Paul and Seymour. When reading the will it mentioned Paul Jr and Seymour both listed as living in Huron County Ohio as his sons. There were also letters in the file back and forth from Paul Jr that were post marked at Fairfield, Huron, Ohio. The amazing part for me was able to trace Paul Sr back to when his family came to American in the 1630's. Did I mention to he was a Revolutionary War solider. The sad part was it only took thirty years. Always look at those that are around your family. Especially those that share the same name. Understand their possible relationship to your ancestor. Don't fall into the trap of wearing blinders.

Why do we do the things we do?- Brickwalls

It is interesting to look back at the many family traditions about our family to identify clues of our families heritage. All families have specific traditions that have been handed down or shared over the years that we may not understand. Recipes and holiday traditions are just a few that come to mind. Families have the tradition of food. There are reasons that families serve foods that have specific food traditions that point to the families ethnic origin. In my own family my wife's grandmother on her father's side made most of her dishes around her Polish heritage. The serving of blood soup and kielbasa dinners was a tradition that was enjoyed by all. On my Mom's side of the family the Irish dish of Corn beef and cabbage was a popular dish. My grandfather always served his beer at room temperature and kept it by his chair. He told me this was the tradition of his English roots. Yuck! Holidays are a time for families to share these mysterious traditions that no one understands why, but knows we have always done it that way. In my wife's family her father is big into Christmas and one of his traditions is for the kids to locate the pickle ornament on the Christmas tree. The child that finds it gets a special gift. This was a tradition with German families at Christmas time. Think back on the many things our families do. Determine if they may offer clues to your families ethnic origins.

Making a chronology of your ancestors

One of the important ways I have found recently to understand your ancestors is to put their lives down on a piece of paper in the form of a timeline. By putting their known life events down on a piece of paper it better helps us understand new paths of research to fill in the gaps. In a previous post I had talked about writing a biography on your relatives, but this is different in that it only sticks to the facts. The main information is the milestone dates in their lives. Starting with birth and including all the important events that took place in their lives. This not only helps you understand how they fit into the lives of other members in your life, but helps you in understanding the effects of local and national events that make effect the decisions that they have made in their lives. A major pitfall is to think that all the decisions or influences in our ancestors lives were as a result of events withing their immediate families. The opening of the Erie Canal in the 1820's was a major stimulus that caused families to move further west. This is a major reason why folks started to come to Ohio or Michigan during this time period in much higher numbers. Another example would be the opening up of the Black Swamp in Northwest Ohio in the 1840's that caused people to move into that area and up into Michigan. Prior to the draining of the area you had a major block of bug and animal infested swamp. This was a major road block to westward migration. If you follow the average family coming to from the east coast it was why people stopped in the middle of Ohio for long periods of time. It was not until after the 1840 time frame that they were able to easily move further. The opening of the Wabash Erie Canal in the 1840's allowed easy travel from Cincinnati into the area of Defiance on the Maumee River. Looking at a map of the path of the canal will help you understand why your family may of come to a certain area and understand how the canal helped with this process. Understanding the events and history that were going on in the lives of our family will help us in better understanding their lives. Make sure to document all their life events and fit them in with the events that occur around them. Fit them with other family members and see if you can find patterns. Good luck with your search.

Brick Walls Boundaries

What makes you think our ancestors understood Geography any better than we do? What of the keys to finding someone is knowing where they are. There are numerous times when family is not where we think they should be. It is not only important to know where they are, but why they have moved to where they are. Another important issues is that the person we have identified is in fact the person we are looking for in the search. The earlier you go back in doing genealogy the higher likely hood of confusion on locations. An example for me close to home is the boarder between Michigan and Ohio that was not resolved until 1837. People that lived in portions of Northern Ohio were considered to be in Michigan prior to 1837. Land deed evaluation during this time period can prove to be confusing. If you think your relative in was in Ohio may be wrong,because in fact they were in Michigan. Michigan is where the records will be. Another example of this is county boundaries in early Ohio. In the beginning of the states creation the amount of counties was limited. People would by land at a land office in Defiance, but there land would actually be located in Paulding or Williams counties. A distance of almost thirty of forty miles. A large county in the southern half of Ohio was Greene county. It was split up several times to create more counties. Be aware of the history of the area that your family was living and be aware of potential boundary changes. Once while doing research for a client she had spent decades researching her family in Vermont and could not locate vital records for them. This area was historically very good at keeping vital records and did not have any instances of the records being destroyed. What struck me about this family was their close proximity to the Canadian border. When looking at a map there was a fairly large town right across the border. On the US side I was struck by the distance that the family would have had to file vital records. Since the client had done a search on the US side I looked to Canada. Well much to my surprise after doing the search I was able to find the information we were seeking in the Canadian records. This was a real lesson in looking in the correct place. The client had spent over thirty years looking for this information. Understanding why someone was in a particular area is also important. In the vast majority of situations people moved for a reason and with people they knew. When you find the individual in a new location look at those that are around them. Pay attention to where it says these families are from as well. This will offer major clues on where your family came from. People often lived next to family members in old neighbors in the new place that they had lived before. Pay attention to the person they bought their land from. Understand what the connection may be to your relative. Are they related or did they come from the place that your relative came from before? Finally make sure you are looking at the correct person and have identified them with proof. As a result of naming patterns there were a lot of common names. Don't just assume that the person is your relative, because they almost fit the facts that you know. This is where a lot of bad genealogy occurs. In our eagerness to prove a new fact we accept things that have not been proven. Take the time to document everything. Boundaries throughout time have always moved and understanding the history of the area is a key to solving these brick walls.

Brick Walls writing your biography

In my years of research it took me a while, but eventually I started to understand the value of writing biographies on family members to better understand them. Looking at family members in the context of their lives helps me better understand them as well as understand the areas I need to do further research for clues. Taking the time to put it into writing has always helped me learn better. The same applies for genealogy. Starting from their time of birth and identifying all the events in their lives helps to understand them. Where were they born? Location? Do I know their parents? Did they attend school? How long did they attend? When did they get married and to whom? Where were they married? Did they go off to war? When were the children born and where? Have they moved? What local and world events were going on that influenced their decision making? What did they do for a living? Did they get married more than once and why? Did they have more than one family? What religion did they practice? Where did they die and when? Who was the witness on the death certificate? All of these questions force you to put your detective hat on to resolve questions on our ancestors. I am always struck how there is one little detail that we miss that when writing the biography sticks out and leads to resolution on our mystery. Stories are what make genealogy fascinating and more interesting to the average family member. The truth is out there we need to identify where it is and retrieve it. So as we move into the Fall months sit down with one of your favorite ancestors and write their biography. Better yet start with yourself. This can be a fascinating way to learn how to write a biography. Who do you know more information on than yourself? One day future genealogist will want to learn your story.

Pictures Update from Walking the Dog

I still have the pictures in my possession. Not real sure what to do with them. The family that put them in the trash, but not real sure if this is a good thing. Looking for suggestions. Drop me a line.

Ideas for Breaking Down the Brick Walls

In upcoming articles I am going to offer ideas on steps to take in order to break down those many brick walls that happen as we do our family search. The first step is to not make assumptions that all things are correct with the information that has been collected on your family. Normally we gather information from a variety of sources when we first start working on our family line. It is important that you take the steps to verify all the information from vital records, census and the variety of other documents. Many errors and miss leading ideas occur in genealogy. Validating information with at least three sources is a excellent rule of thumb. Trust nothing until proven and make sure to document. An example of a common assumption is that the first child was born after the couple was married. This was not always the case. Only through documentation can we actually prove this fact. Many things today that we see as scandal would get easily swept under the rug in the early days. Stay tuned to more postings on Brick Walls. Look forward to your input.

Genealogy Classes Fall 2012

Teaching Genealogy Beginners and Advanced this fall. Spread the word and please sign up. Terra Community College- Fremont, Ohio http://www.terra.edu/uploadedFiles/Terra_Static_Content/Kern_Center/Home_Page/fall2012kerncatalog.pdf Lourdes University Life Long Learning- Sylvania, OH http://www.lourdes.edu/Home/AboutLourdes/CommunityOutreach/LifelongLearning/LifelongLearningClasses.aspx Hope to see you there.

Northwest Ohio World War II Vet

This was posted on a friend's site. My research on the WWII POW experience of Leroy Wilbur Wyse Jr is in the final editing stages, and will soon be finished. Junior was taken prisoner by the Japanese on the Island of Corregidor in the Philippines in 1942. This is a 54 page document that outlines Junior's experience from the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 to his eventual liberation and finally his untimely death in 1947. The most interesting part of the paper includes a diary that was kept by a member of the very unit that Junior served in during the siege on Corregidor. My intention is to have this research bound in book form. I plan on donating one copy to the Williams County Public Library. I also want to make the book available to anyone else who would like to have a printed copy. My hope is that others will volunteer to purchase additional copies that can be placed in other libraries like the Fulton Co Genealogical library. I plan on placing the book order on November 24th, but am taking reservations now so that I can get an idea on what the final cost will be. I'm selling the book at my cost (printing and shipping). I expect the book price will be close to $20.00 each, but could go down if I get enough orders. If you think that you would like to have a copy, just let me know how many you think that you will want, and we will take care of the money after I place the order in November. Please also consider purchasing and donating a copy to your favorite library. I can be contacted at steve.wyse@gmail.com Please let me or Steve know if you are interested in contributing.

Genealogical Services

Have you been curious about your family history please contact me. We can put your story together as well.

Genealogy while walking the dog

This spring I was out walking my dogs for one of their daily trips near my vacation home in Lakeside, Ohio when I cam across an interesting find. Most of my three times a day walks come out rather normally, but this one was going to be different. While walking I came across a large pile of garbage from a cottage that was in the process of being prepared for sale. Not normally being one to look through someone’s trash I was struck by an oil painting of a women that was staring back at me. The picture was of a woman that was dressed in a black dress from the mid 1850’s. Vision’s of the Antique Road show were dancing through my head, but then what caught my eye was the picture behind the women. The second image was of an older woman that looked similar to Queen Victoria and I was struck by how unusual it was to be throwing it out. The picture to me looked like a photograph that had been altered with color. I would later find out that the picture was taken just prior to 1903. Imagine my amazement when I turned to look on the back and discovered a genealogy of family names which included the women in the picture. Needless to say this got my genealogy blood flowing. The dog walk was shortened and I attempted to navigate the trip back with two paintings and two dogs on leashes that did not understand what I had just found. Walking two dogs can be a challenging task on its own, but with the addition of the two paintings and genealogy blood flowing it went fast without the usual stops along the way. Once back at the cottage I began to analyze the information that was on the second picture. The information was as follows. Card 1 Bella Brown Sarah Beatty’s mother John and Rachel Beatty’s grandmother Marcia Jane and Mary Louise Beatty’s great grandmother Card 2 Bella Brown Beatty Died Sep 3, 1905 Was married Dec 29, 1846 To John Beatty April 16, 1819 to 1897 Joseph Beatty July 4, 1865- March 1907 m. Sarah Henrietta Kerr John David Beatty Oct. 4, 1896 Father of Marcia, Mary Louise and David These were my beginning clues on my search. Being a professional genealogist I thought it would be an interesting test of my research skills in a new way. The older woman in the picture was Bella Brown Beatty. She was married to John Beatty on Dec. 29, 1846. Bella would die in Sep 3, 1905. I was curious about Bella and John’s potential connection to the cottage that was up for sale. The first step I took was to travel over to the Lakeside Archives to do a search of the property and determine the ownership history. A few years back the cottages in Lakeside were historically evaluated to get the area on the Historic Register. It is a valuable tool for reviewing the history of the homes. I hit pay dirt. The first name was Eloise Matham Hully who owned the property from 1909 to 1956. The owner of the property at the time of the survey was May Beatty Hagen. These were my key names to searching the history of the family in this picture both backwards and forwards. The second step was to look at both land records for the house and the property owner rosters. The land records date very early starting in 1910 and ending with 1924 with major breaks in between. The person listed as the owner during this time period was a Sarah Beatty. Could this be the Sarah Beatty listed on the cards on the back of the picture? I looked through the owner directories from 1930 to current with major breaks in the books. From 1930 to 1951 the property was owned by a E M Hully. Starting in 1964 the names listed was Mary H Beatty. The name changed to Mary Beatty Hagen in 1973. In 1985 the property would be owned by the Hammer family and this would be the case until 2006. Ownership then would change to the current owner and the person selling the cottage. The clues gathered here included the Beatty name and the long connection to Eloise who was the E M Hully in the directories. The other address for Eloise and Mary was listed as Deland, Florida. This would be the next step in my research. Starting with the US Census and working backwards I need to determine the connection between these two ladies and the Beatty family on the cards. The best way to complete the search was to take a look at the 1940 US census and the place to look was Deland, Volusia, Florida. I was able to locate Eloise Hulley age 72 years, widow and born in New Jersey. Living with her was Mary Beatty age 39, divorced and born in Pennsylvania. Eloise was born in 1868 and Mary was born in 1901. Need to identify a connection with these ladies to the cottage in Lakeside. Moved on to the 1930 census here I was able to identify a Louise Hulley with no age listed, but living in Deland, Volusia, Florida. She was married to Lincoln Hulley with no age listed. Lincoln was listed as a President of a University. The University was identified as Stetson. Louise and Lincoln were both identified as being born in New Jersey. Looking at Stetson University history would offer more clues to my hunt. Searching for Mary Beatty she was found in Pittsburgh, Alleghany, Pennsylvania along with John Beatty. Mary was listed as born 1901 in Pennsylvania. Curiously her parents are listed as being born in Northern Ireland. Her husband John was born 1896 in Pennsylvania. They had a daughter Marcia who was born in Pennsylvania in 1925. Is this Marcia Jane that was listed on the back of the picture? Later research would confirm this. It is amazing what you can put together from a picture. Fortunately I was able to piece all the puzzles together using the Lakeside Archives and the Family Search website on the internet. The paper trail continued through vital records as well as the Stetson University archives where pictures of the Hulley family at Lakeside. Lincoln was running bible classes every summer in Lakeside until his death in 1937. The search was complete. Preservation of pictures is important even if they are not your family. A wonderful story can be created from a picture. Amazing genealogy can happen even when walking the dogs.

Genealogy- What do I do with it once I am gone?

Have you thought about what happens to your life work your genealogy once we get the final date? This is a important item to be taken care of while we are still alive so that it does not end up in the dumpster. If you are not able to identify a family member that is interested that is the legacy of our family history we need to make plans for it's care once we are gone. Many opportunity exist outside of our family units to find a good home for our genealogies. An important step though is to make sure that we index the content of our collection. Make sure to identify the scale in which your family history covers. What are the primary surnames, locations and time periods involved. Does your archive include vital records, bibles, pictures, etc etc. Making a complete inventory and identifying significant items in your collection are important for those that will get the collection. The ability to make it a useful tool for others is hindered when the caretaker needs to start from scratch to inventory your archive. Make sure that items in the collection are protected properly. Put the information in a format that will allow others to use the collection. Several places exist that would be glad to have your family record. The library that holds the county genealogy collection would be a excellent place to start. In the state of Ohio the regional archives is a second idea for storage. Finally the Ohio Historical Society loves all things that relate to Ohio history. Contact these facilities prior to your passing to discover what their rules are on accepting new items. Most of all make sure to start quickly in taking care of it. So much time love and energy have been put into our work. It makes me cringe to think it is going to end up in a landfill. Many excellent ideas exist on the Internet to help you with this task.

Speaking- Dayton Public Library- September 8

Derek will speak Sep 8, 2012 at main Dayton Pub Lib 1:00 pm. "Researching your War of 1812 ancestors". Spons the Mont Co Chap of OGS.

Sandusky Rotary Club Thursday meeting

Want to thank the folks at the Sandusky Rotary club for a great meeting. Loved talking to them about my genealogical journey. I look forward to speaking to other groups like this and sharing the wonderful world of genealogy.