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Genealogy for Halloween: A Treat from Genealogybeginner.com

Genealogy and Halloween go together like “Trick or Treat”.  After all, who is more interested in the spirits of the past than your average ancestor hunter. If you needed any more proof of that, you would not have to go farther than a visit to some of the preeminent genealogy sites and blogs, such as GeneaBloggers or Genealogy.com.

 

 

 

Here is a look at how the genealogy community is celebrating this holiday in spooktacular style

A Halloween themed Radio show

Set your calendar for Friday October 28 to catch “Haunted by Ancestors – A Genealogy Halloween Special!” presented by GeneaBloggers at:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/geneabloggers/2011/10/29/haunted-by-ancestors–a-genealogy-halloween-special. The show will feature professional genealogist Henry “Hank” Jones Jr., who will be speaking on his book “PSYCHIC ROOTS: SERENDIPITY & INTUITION IN GENEALOGY”.  Other guests included in the October 28 radio show are Paul J. Bunnel, genealogist slash certified Ghost Hunter and Melinde Lutze Byrne, vice president of the American Society of Genealogists and former skeptic.  The show is moreover proclaiming a mystery guest, someone who will make an important announcement asserted to be of great interest to the genealogy community. GenealogyBloggers Radio certainly promises an entertaining evening of bone digging fun.

Historic Halloween pranks

Over at Genealogybank you can find an entertaining post titled “Halloween ‘Tricks’—One Subtle, the Other a Blast”.  Offering an interesting historic look at the “trick” side of this well-loved celebration, Genealogybank has tracked down a couple of old newspaper articles based on the past hijinks of Halloween tricksters. Sharing some of the fun genealogists can find in searching newspaper archives and giving us a very instructive read.

From the graveyard

A Spooky Genealogy: A Cemetery Find is what you will find when you go Trick or Treating at the Ancestor chase Blog.  A visit to this site will give you the chills as they recount the tale of a strange and unexpected genealogy discovery.  One that was perchance initiated from beyond the grave, by those lost from the family tree record.

Genealogy.com is joining in the Halloween amusement with a fantastic article on cemetery searches.  The article covers Getting Started with Cemetery Records as well as Cemetery Records and Gravestones. In addition to this wonderful information, there are some great tips on finding additional sources for your cemetery search.

Show of your generations

MyHeritage.com is holding a Halloween Family Photo competition, what they are looking for are creative and original photos of families dressed up in their Halloween best.  Uploading your favorite family Halloween picture, old or new, onto their Facebook page could win you a premium subscription at MyHeritage.com.  Contest entry ends November 1, 2011. For more information, give them a visit.

Story time

If spooky stories of generations past are what you have in mind this Halloween, then Ancestry.com should be on your list with a message board dedicated solely to scary ancestral tales.

In the news

A week of Family Tree Halloween merriment would not be complete without this wonderful headline maker from The Associated Press.

Prince Charles linked to Dracula

“LONDON The truth is out: Prince Charles is related to Vlad the Impaler.

The heir to the British throne says he is related to Vlad the Impaler, the cruel 15th-Century Romanian warlord who helped inspire Bram Stoker’s 1897 vampire novel “Dracula.”

For the complete story visit: http://www.thespec.com/whatson/celebrity/article/615644–prince-charles-linked-to-dracula

Wrap up

Of course, this could not end properly without a Samhain Salute from Genealogybeginner.com

 

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween!

Genealogy or Family History?

For many beginning genealogists, the line between the concrete facts of genealogical research and the personal lore of family history are easily blurred.  This article by Genealogy Beginner’s resident genealogist, Ramona Hartley clearly demonstrates the difference between the two related but separate fields of study. Do you know the difference between genealogy and family history? When you are a beginning genealogist; taking those first tentative steps in researching your ancestry, it can be difficult to distinguish the difference between them.

The terms genealogy and family history refer to two separate but equally significant approaches to exploring your roots. The fundamental difference between the two methods lies in the sources of information used to conduct the research. These sources consist of primary, secondary, and tertiary information.

Genealogy

The study of Genealogy refers to the fact based inquiry into your ancestry. It is the concrete process of searching for your genetic origins by gathering and documenting the names, dates and locations of your predecessors. Genealogy requires adherence to the precise information presented within public record to provide irrefutable evidence of your lineage.

A genealogist’s tools are the source materials such as Statutory Index Records for marriages, births, deaths, and baptisms, although at times family bibles and Census Records can be primary sources. To correctly conduct genealogy research you would want to use only primary source information, which means using any record showing a first hand account of an event and containing the signature of a witness.

Family History

Family History refers to the study of the unique details and personal events in your ancestor’s lives; it is their story as told by you, their descendant. Family history research fleshes out the full account that gives life and character to your family tree by including the private details of your generations past; these being the fine points of lives lived that are not found solely within public records. A family historian can use secondary and even tertiary information such as, old photographs, diaries, letters and family lore.

Tying it together

That is not to say that you can not use primary sources for family history research. The study of family history often requires the need to read between the lines of public documents and dig a little deeper to find the tale that lies within. Some truly wonderful opportunities for family history stories are hidden in genealogical data.

Using a fantastic clue found in an Old Parish Record, I will show you how the two can work together.

Genealogy Data + the Family Historian = A Great Story

OPR Extract:

Parish of Carstairs, County of Lanark. Dated May 2nd. 1790

“May 2nd, this day Alexander Gibson in Longflush and Christian Weir had a daughter {Begot in Fornication}. Baptized, Named Janet Gibson.”

The Family History element

This baptismal record from Scotland 1790, tells us that the child being baptized was “begot in fornication”. Even so, both father and mother were listed in the parish record.

Sensing a good family history story, I researched what the term “Begot in Fornication” would have meant to the lives of these individuals in 1700’s Scotland.

What I found was that, the community was very narrow-minded in those days, quick to bring transgressors before the sessions. In this case the father of the child came forward and admitted his liabilities. Due to this he was listed in the record even though he did not marry the mother. The parents of the child being from “good church going families” would have been brought to task publicly and admonished for their sin, this over a period of three Sundays at normal services. Having then been deemed publicly humiliated they would be, so to speak, brought back into the fold and the child baptized.

Wrap up

The short and sweet answer to the question; do you know the difference between genealogy and family history is… You are a genealogist when: you are searching for and documenting records from primary sources and your concern is for factual, proven accounts of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. You are a family historian when: you are using those facts in addition to reported events that although probable, may not be substantiated by first hand account in the available records; for the purpose of telling the story of your family’s unique and very personal past.

No matter what your method, don’t be surprised if when rediscovering their lives’, you gain a better understanding of your own.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ramona_Hartley

Medieval England – Soldier Database

This came through on the Genealogy Blog at GeneaNet today. It appears as if a research grant (from the Arts and Humanities Research Council) for around a half-million pounds was awarded to a couple academics in England. the overall idea is that they’ll use the money to challenge some assumptions about the emergence of professional soldiery in the 14th and 15th century.

 

 

The genealogy interest…?

“The project has an innovative methodological approach and will be producing an on-line search-able resource for public use of immense value and interest to genealogists as well as social, political and military historians. The project employs two Research Assistants over three years and also includes one Doctoral Research Studentship – all of whom began work on 1st October 2006. The whole team is working on a jointly authored book, conference papers, and articles.”

You can read the full article and get access to the pilot database at GeneaNet’s Blog posting on the matter.

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Where to Next?

Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions

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Are You up to Date? By Paula Stuart-Warren, CG

I came across a heartfelt genealogy post at another blog and felt it was very much worth sharing. In her article, “Are You Up to Date,” Paula Stuart-Warren writes about keeping your family tree current with events in your family. While we may spend the majority of our time looking for distant ancestors, we need to remember to enter recent family data as well. She also discusses such topics as:

 

 

• Obituaries and Tombstones
• Family Group Sheets
• Funeral Guest Books
• Social Security Death Index
• Other key considerations

Paula, if you read this, my condolences and thank you for sharing such a great article. It is truly the testament you intended and a solid introduction to Genealogy and thus I felt it fitting to share it with the visitors here.

You can read Paula’s full article here.

Thank you – Chris

 

 

 

Man arrested in eBay sale of historic documents

I came across this article from Jean-Yves BAXTER at Genealogy Blog today. According to the article, Daniel Lorello, a State employee of New York, has been arrested for stealing historic documents and selling them on eBay. He has been charged with possession of stolen property, grand larceny and fraud. His crimes were discovered after someone saw the items posted for sale on eBay and alerted the authorities. Included in the missing documents are copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs and a letter from Vice President John C. Calhoun in 1823.

 

Read the full story.

Wow…

 

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Where to Next?

Blank Family Tree with Step-by-Step Instructions

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