THE NEW YEAR BRINGS MANY TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES FOR SHARING
Brenda Kellow
January 13, 2013
Whether or not all of us were ready, 2013 dropped into our lives prompting us to think before writing the date on a check or other documents, encouraging us to make resolutions most of us never keep for longer than a couple of months if that long, and pray for peace and goodwill.
For genealogists it encourages us to be better family historians through sharing, writing histories on our families, posting brick wall families on the Internet or just blogging for help on difficult lines. There are many avenues for accomplishing each of these. As you finish your research on each generation, sit down and write the story of that generation using sources or just noting that a special story is family legend. Then send them off by post or email to family members and fellow researchers.
By using the technological advantages on the Internet, you can post difficult lines or search problems on several sites. I posted one of my difficult lines on Rootsweb and was successful in reaching a friend, eight years later, who put me in touch with the grandson and granddaughter of my Chesborough McKenzie-Kennedy line. Alternatively, you could post information on a blog. Still another option is to be a better person, genealogically speaking, and do nice things for others, for free such as take a picture of a tombstone in the local cemetery for someone in another state or become a genealogy buddy and do free look-ups in your personal library.
Jean Funk told me that last year she began a Facebook page on a problematic line that has proven successful. She says that guests to the site must get her permission to enter the site. This allows the researchers to share data and meet new family members and researchers.
Another reader, Don E. Stevenson, told me about a recent telephone conversation with his sister, Jamie. His research difficulties finding his Aunt Kate Evans Shaw brought the story to mind.
“I [Don] was talking to my sister Jamie by phone after visiting the Knox City Cemetery. I told her of the trouble I had locating Grandpa’s grave and mentioned Aunt Kate’s.
“Aunt Kate was born on 22 Aug. 1862, in Ripley, Mississippi and died 16 Nov. 1952 in Abilene but was buried in Knox City. She was Grandma McManners’ youngest sister. Aunt Kate was time worn. She once held her hands and commented “Just look at these hands, they look like they had worn out two bodies”. She was out spoken too. She said about Maxine wearing shorts: “That would look a lot better covered up”.
“Jamie told me a funny story about Aunt Kate’s visit to us in Denton about 1940. I was too young to remember it. Jamie had a loose baby tooth – a really loose tooth. Aunt Kate wanted to help her pull the tooth. They got the proverbial string and tied it to the tooth and then to a door knob. They slammed the door and the string came off. This action left the tooth in place. They tried again, same result. They tried again by hand and the string came off again. Aunt Kate dipped snuff. She used a little twig she chewed on to make her dipping brush. It looked awful. She was looking at the tooth again, and took her twig, and poked the tooth and out it came! Jamie said that had the most awful taste to it. Ugh! She never wanted to taste tobacco again.”
“We had a good laugh over the story.”
Can you imagine how thrilled you would be if a relative shared a story like that with you—or if you found it published online? The online genealogical research possibilities for this 21st century are almost limitless.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
