Basics Of Genealogy
Basics Of Genealogy
Everyone has a desire to know where they come from, where they get their red hair or their green eyes from, and sometimes even a desire to know why they are mechanically inclined! In recent years this desire has strengthened interest in genealogy research. Fortunately, with the increase in interest, comes an increase in the information readily available to even the novice hobbyist. To better understand the basics of genealogy, it is important to differentiate between a family tree and genealogy.
Genealogy encompasses the research and study of not just the recent history of immediate family members but also the lineage of a family dating back as far as available historical records will permit. Genealogy research will, often times, provide researchers with information pertaining to the way in which people lived, where they lived, a medical history, and other interesting nuggets of information otherwise not previously known.
A family tree can be represented in either plain text or graphical form and it can be a useful representation of the basic history of a family branching back several generations. However, a family tree is not necessarily a good way to preserve information about and document deeper aspects of a relative’s life; like the above mentioned lifestyle information.
Another important aspect to understanding the basics of genealogy is to realize that there is often information to be found in the most unlikely of places. Newspapers and libraries, recognizing the need to preserve and share information for a wider audience, have taken steps to scan and upload copies of papers and other stored records (like microfiche) to both free and paid membership websites.
Many older churches have kept records dating several generations back; these records can be a treasure trove of baptism records, wedding information, and even funeral records. As technology improves, several of these churches are also taking the needed steps to digitally preserve their records for future research.
Where found records and information once needed to be hand documented, there are now commercially available software packages that will assist researchers of all calibers in thoroughly documenting their findings. Additionally, several websites now exist that not only provide researchers the ability to document and store their findings but also allow them to connect with other researchers.
Once a good source of information has been located it will often lead to more sources of information from another avenue; these links will often direct an intrepid researcher to several people who have done their own research on another aspect on a common relative’s life. Making those connections with other genealogy hobbyists or historians is a vital part of genealogy research because it will open previously unknown and unexplored doors.
A large part of genealogy research is being willing to explore those previously unknown avenues to find those missing links and missing gems of information. Keeping an open mind is also another vital part of research into a family background; not all of the information gleaned is going to be suitable for discussion at your next family brunch. We all have a deep and rich history behind how we got to where we are today; using your best investigative skills, along with your desire to know more, will allow you uncover that history. Even the somewhat unsavory aspects of your family history!
About the Author
Jeff Sallee is a genealogy enthusiast, and enjoys helping others get started in this satisfying hobby. For more information on the basics of genealogy visit www.secretsofgenealogy.com where Jeff exposes some of the latest secrets of genealogy research to other enthusiasts who want to climb higher into the family tree.
I Walked Among Angels Today
I Walked Among Angels Today
As a favor to a fellow genealogist, I offered to take a picture of the front of his ancestors’ crypt to show that it had been repaired as he had requested. At first I was a little nervous going into a cemetery that I have never been to before. Let’s face it, none of us like going there for any reason.
I drove around the grounds trying to find the right building and it came to me that I have never been in a mausoleum before in my life. All of my relatives are buried underground and are not in this cemetery. When I walk into that building, I am going to be surrounded by sadness and death. Having just lost my husband a mere 3-1/2 years ago, I wasn’t sure I could do it.
As I continued to drive, I came upon a funeral in progress. I took a few seconds to bow my head and close my eyes in respect. I watched as they removed the casket from the hearse and watched the mourners walk behind their loved ones’ casket to where it was to be laid to rest. I knew that I was going to sit there patiently as long as it took and then I wondered if there would actually be a person in this world so uncaring as to blow a horn or actually be angry that they had to wait a few minutes until they could drive through the area? Unfortunately, I suppose there are such people like that.
This cemetery also is the largest one I have ever been to and after driving around in circles for a while I decided to find someone to help guide me to the right building or else I would be there for hours. The lady gave me a map and it turned out I was not very far away from the “Lords Prayer” mausoleum. I gathered my notes and my camera and stood at the door for a few minutes to take a long deep breath before going in. Once inside, I tried to detach myself from all feelings and just started looking for names so I could take the picture and get out of there.
I don’t know if I can explain the experience I went through today but I would like to try.
As I walked further into the mausoleum, reading through the names, loving quotes and seeing the flowers, charms, beads (which I assume were Rosary beads), toys, wreaths, etc. that were placed on the front of the crypts or at the floor in front, I did not have a feeling of sadness, grief or fear. Somehow I felt as if I were being watched over by all of the people who have gone on before. I was in their house now and they were making me feel at ease in what normally would be an uneasy situation. By now you are probably thinking I have gone off the deep end which I haven’t.
Each name that I came across and sometimes a picture, I began to wonder about these people and the lives that they led. I’m sure for the most part their lives were not very much different from mine or yours in terms of everyday life; they loved, they laughed, they cried, they also mourned the ones who went before them. The longer I looked for the crypt of my fellow genealogists’ ancestor, the deeper I became involved in wondering about every soul at rest there. I still talk to my husband sometimes and I feel as if he is still with me and always will be, I believe he was with me today.
After about an hour or so of searching I found myself asking, “Please, Mr. and Mrs. Green, give me a sign to let me know where you are. I couldn’t just give up now. I must have read through more than 100 names and with each name I envisioned what that person was like, what caused them to be here. Was it an accident; was it natural or at the hand of someone else, did one of the wars claim this life? I saw many crypts that the fronts were blank; many had 2 names above or below the surname but only 1 name had both a date of birth and date of death; the other name just had the date of birth. Was the one left behind still in pain like I am from losing their husbands or wives or had they made peace with it and were just waiting to be reunited with them again?
After realizing I had been walking through the halls of these sacred buildings, in and out, for over an hour, I thought to myself I will have to come back. I am just too tired and exhausted to look any longer. I felt as if I had lived a thousand lives in that short amount of time. As I walked down one more hallway to go back to the car, it was as if I was being summoned to look to the right; there was a short walkway just outside of the building that I had not noticed before. It reminded me somewhat of a garden and as I turned the corner and looked up, there they were; Mr. and Mrs. Green. I took 2 or 3 pictures of the front of the crypt for my friend, read a few more names and imagined a few more lives and then walked to the car.
Sitting in the car, I just rested for a while before leaving. There was so much emotion involved by the experience that I had when “I Walked Among Angels Today.” I wasn’t sad; I wasn’t scared; I didn’t cry; it was almost peaceful; as if I had been given a unique gift to be able to spend time with so many people that I never had the privilege of meeting before they became Angels.
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Photo provided by: moonstarsandpaper.blogspot.com
Memories of Christmas…
December is always the time of year that we think of family and creating family memories of Christmas and traditions. We are either carrying on with old traditions or beginning new ones that future generations can carry on with their families.
It is a time to think about taking all of the pictures and writing down all that you can to capture those moments of joy when you see family you haven’t seen in a while or when you hear the giggle of the kids opening their gifts or even the dog running through the wrapping paper all over the floor. Treasure each and every one of these moments, get them on film and takes notes so you will know exactly who the photo is about, what day it is, what they were doing, what was the occasion, who was there, what you had for dinner. So much information slips by us and we think “I will remember this or that” and then as time goes on in our busy lives, some of the things that we thought we would never forget has slipped from our minds.
I know I am a little late in getting started on the 12 days of Christmas project, so hopefully you won’t mind doing a couple of extra days to catch up.
You remember the song, The 12 days of Christmas? On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in pear tree. Traditionally, The 12 Days of Christmas starts on Christmas Day and finishes on January 5th. This goes back to English times in the 16th century.
To be a little bit different, I would like to start the 12 days of Christmas on December 14 and each day on a scrapbook page or in a journal, start writing down what you are doing, what are you thinking about, who are you buying gifts for or are you not able to buy many gifts this year, are you making gifts, what are your feelings about this Christmas in 2011? Record these next days leading up to and on Christmas Day.
Just put in your name and email address and I will even send you a reminder each day for the next 10 days via email to get you started.
I want so much to encourage everyone to treasure their family and friends as much as possible in these times of trouble all over the world. Family is what binds us together and keeps us together. Some families aren’t as close as others but some are. We all can learn from each other. If you have said some unkind words to a family member or a friend; take care of that and apologize or do something special for that person, make up and be loving friends and family again. Life is much too short to let petty little differences come between any of us. We all need each other and we will all benefit from it. It doesn’t matter who said what or who did what, forgive and let it go.
Start off the new year of 2012 as a completely new beginning and continue it all throughout the whole year. You will be much happier in your own life.
Don’t let this Christmas season go by with unkind words or unkind deeds still in the way.
Enter your name in the box below to receive the “12 Days of Christmas” email reminders or enter your name and email at the top right corner and start receiving the notices of your journey into scrapbooking your family tree and creating new Memories of Christmas for your children and their children to look back on and be proud of where they came from.
Many, many people do not have anyone to share their lives with and if you are able, please take a minute to share a smile or a hug with someone who needs it. Donate some of your time; buy a little extra at the grocery store for a family who may not have anything this Christmas. You will be amazed at the awesome feeling you have if you do just one simple little thing to make someone else feel special.
Christmas is the best time of the year to start anew.
I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a glorious and safe Happy New Year.
Thanksgiving, 11/24/2011
Let us all be Thankful for what we have. Pray for those who don’t have what they need and strive to be a better person in the coming year.
As I joined my best friend and her mother for Thanksgiving dinner, I began to think back on how much things have changed. Her family has grown so big that we had to have their family dinner 6 days early so everyone could attend. As the children have grown up and started their own lives and families, the changes began.
I recall as a child growing up in Ohio. All of the family came to our house for Sunday dinners and ALL holiday dinners. My mom was what I considered the “matriarch” of our family.
She made all of the plans, did most of the cooking with the help of my aunts and my sisters who were older and had started their families already. I was the youngest (13 years difference between me and my sister), so I was outside playing with my nieces and nephews and cousins.
It was so different back then. Most families lived in the same town or very close by and kept in contact on a regular basis. All 3 of my sisters still today live within a 25 mile radius of where we were born.
Now that Mom and Dad are gone, I live in Florida and some of my sister’s kids live in other states too, so there are no longer any family gatherings like we used to have.
I have cousins, great nieces and great nephews that I don’t even know their names. I am beginning to realize just how sad that is. The family unit is not like it used to be and I doubt that it ever will be again.
So today, Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, the day AFTER Thanksgiving, I finally will spend time with my daughter and my 2 grandchildren. Her family is split up now too and the kids spent Thanksgiving day with their father and his family.
Everything is ALL messed up…
I would like to try and encourage everyone to bring their families back together. If not physically possible, then at least open the lines of communication with the members of your family again. Keep in touch. Let them know what you are doing. Find out about what they are doing. Do your family research; find out about your ancestors. If you are not interested, there will be someone in the family who WILL be interested in learning about where they came from, who did they get their blue, green or brown eyes from, hair color, mannerisms, traits, etc.?
Start your own journal or scrapbook those 100′s of pictures you have stashed away in a box. Don’t just slap a picture on a page and scribble “Aunt Betty 1952.” There may be times that is all the info you have but if you have more information, put it down. Aunt Betty had a life, she is a part of your history. She had good things and bad things happen to her in her life that may have had an affect on you in some way. Take a few minutes to write down what you know about Aunt Betty, when the picture was taken, where it was taken and what the event was when the picture was taken.
For example: Aunt Betty (Martin -include her maiden name if she is married) Campbell, taken August 15, 1952 at Grandma Eileen’s house on Red Robin Road in Anytown, State at a summer BBQ. If anyone else is in the picture, add that information also. A future family researcher will LOVE you for it.
Even for some reason you only have a picture like this of hamburgers being grilled; put it in a scrapbook and write what you know about what happened that day, good, bad, funny, embarrassing, it doesn’t matter just get it written down.
I am working on some videos to give you some easy and very simple ideas on scrapbooking pages with pictures of your family and even just “hamburgers.”
I hope that each and every one of you that have read this had a wonderful family gathering, a lot of great food and catching up with relatives you may have not seen for a while.
Please add your family names to the “Add Your Family Tree” section of this blog and see if you can make some contacts with lost relatives.
Free Genealogy Search: Discovering Your Family’s Ancestry
Free Genealogy Search: Discovering Your Family’s Ancestry
If you are interested about discovering about your family’s history like most people are, then you can hire a genealogist to do the search for you, however, there is a much cheaper way to start searching for your family’s history. Free Genealogy web sites…
Although it will only offer limited results, it is a great way to start your search for your family’s history. You will find a few websites that will offer free genealogy search. These free genealogy websites will only offer limited information but it will serve as a great start to find out about your family’s genealogy.
Free genealogy research websites will serve as stepping stones on your search, there may be times you will have to venture out to search public libraries for old newspapers and old public records that may contain the information you are looking for. A large number of documents are now on the internet and more are being added every day. Just remember, it’s like solving a puzzle. Just because it’s there and looks like it will fit, it might not be the “right fit.” There could be another whole branch of the family that is similar and not your branch at all.
Some of the best genealogy sites I have found, I have listed in the Research Links area of this blog. I will be adding more as I go along.
Since free genealogy search websites don’t contain all the information you need, you can consider gathering what information you can and once you meet a dead end in your search, you can try joining the different discussion groups, chat rooms and mailing lists that are associated with the name and/or location you are interested in. Always remember that the farther back in the past you try to go with your family tree, the harder it is to find documents and some information may or may not be correct due to many things.
Some documents have been lost to fire and floods. Sometimes it’s hard to determine what is written from the handwriting of the individual. Some people did not like giving information, so there may be blanks in your research or answers written down, like on a census form may have been a guess on someone’s behalf that was not there at the time.
Do the best you can and make sure you take and maintain notes on what you have or have not found. Your next research session just may present something that was there all along and you just didn’t see from the time before.
Free genealogy search websites are there to give you a bit of push on your search for your ancestors.
Searching your family history is a fun activity. So, start uncovering your family’s mystery by searching for the preliminary information first in free genealogy search websites and make some contacts with long lost relatives.
Scrapbooking Your Family Tree
Let Genealogy Help You Find Your Long Lost Invisible Irish Relatives
Find Your Long Lost Invisible Irish Relatives
Invisible relatives may pertain to those people who are difficult to find or are perhaps hidden relatives. A relative can be considered missing if he or she does not appear even in one of the volume of records containing your family’s history. Detailed information of your invisible relative can be hard to uncover. You don’t probably suspect that he or she exists before you begin your research.
You need to know some of the reasons why such things happen.
- Women are most often categorized as invisible relatives. Keep in mind that women didn’t have legal identities of their own in many countries. They are not regularly mentioned in community records. In Ireland, property was rarely registered in the name of a woman from the 18th to 19th century. When registration of civil marriages took place in 1865, only the father’s name of both couples is listed.
- If family members disapproved of a relationship, thinking that it can bring disgrace to their family, they would hide it consciously. For example, a widow who wanted to marry again but her children are all grown up.
- It runs in the tradition of the Irish, they always want to portray the best face and feet forward. They omit sad memories from the tales about their family. Thus, infants and young children who are already dead were never mentioned again.
- Some common records used in genealogy research are incomplete. The contents have entirely missed important things about the person. Maybe, they failed to anticipate that the latest generation would likely want to know about their origins. Some census reports in the U.S have this problem. Former spouses were never mentioned on the record, as well as the date of immigration until 1900.
So, some Irish who are just starting to find their genealogy can face a lot of challenges. It is advisable not to rely too much on what they find on the written records. However, any piece of information is important to help you in your research. No matter how small the information is, you can unravel many things once you dig deeper.
Never assume that the norms in the 20th and 21st century, made sense 50, 100, or 200 years ago. Try to learn and understand that norms vary according to time and place. Considering all the records (both Irish and American) are helpful in solving the jigsaw puzzles of your life, in case your family already migrated in the U.S. This process is also similar in other countries.
There are factors that you should concentrate on when finding an invisible Irish relative. Checking the census can be effective in finding the persons who are related to the one you are looking for. Another is to learn some significant traditions associated with the place. For example, in Ireland, the naming tradition is very popular. Irish men name their oldest son after their grandfather. If the person is already married, then search for the marriage record. Take note, during the 1860′s, divorce was not favored in Ireland. So, better check for death records also in case the name changed.
Finally, be patient as your research progresses. After all, it is worthwhile to embrace your origin again and find the missing part of your life.
Scrapbooking Your Family Tree
All About Autograph Collecting And Family History
Autograph Collecting And Family History
Since the TV series “Roots”, there has been a surge of interest in tracing family roots and history. Autograph collecting has been one of the avenues used to record this history. Now every other family seeks to have some kind of reunion once a year, every two years, or in rare cases every five years.
Many exchanges are made at these reunions including autographs. Other items may be collected such as old letters, birth certificates, wedding documents, and baptism records. Some of these reunions and family affairs such as weddings, anniversaries, graduations, and other special programs provide many different ways for those who are autograph collecting to get autographs. There are planned programs with pictures of participants and those who are being honored or remembered. These printed programs and pictures can be items used for autograph collecting. Some families maintain a scrap book with these signatures and pictures for reference information on the family.
How many times have you been to a family function and did not know all of the family who were present? Autograph collecting is a super way to get to know family and to have something to remember one by as a point of reference. If you are from a large family, autograph collecting may be the only avenue available to you to make some personal contact in a short period of time. Many collectors record information about the person on the back including date, place, and the relation.
When the person dies, the death date and cause of death may also be recorded on the back or somewhere close to the picture. Even before death, if you can record tidbits of information about the person, it may prove to be beneficial down the road. These tidbits of information may include the person’s profession, health information, interests and anything else important to family. If you use autograph collecting to its fullest, you may just become the family historian and be contacted from time to time for some of this information that you have gathered. This kind of autograph collecting records a lot of health information about the family in most cases.
Health professions have long known that the family blood line is the cause of many health problems. Rare diseases – like hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia may have been in the family at one time. If you let your autograph collecting reflect family diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes your time will be one of the best investments you could make. Tracing the illnesses suffered by parents, grandparents may help the doctor to predict your risk for having these diseases. In your autograph collecting some of this information can be recorded when it becomes available.
Very few people take the time to look on the back of a photo. Nevertheless, in addition to the signature on the picture, you will find it worth while if you provide a tag under each picture with name, date, and activity. Again there is no doubt that this kind of autograph collecting is one of the most valuable and rewarding investments you can make as a collector. That information will satisfy the average browser.
Scrapbooking Your Family Tree
6 Tips to Getting Started with Genealogy Research and Genealogy Forms
Photo provided by: VintageKin.com
6 Tips to Getting Started with Genealogy Research and Genealogy Forms
Like most every project doing family research is not really hard, the getting started is the hard part. There are many places on the internet where you can download the forms to get started on your search.
Getting Ready…
1. Gather some forms together. There are lots of free ones available on the internet to start working with. Free Genealogy Forms and Charts The forms you will need the most to start with will be Pedigree forms, Family Group sheets and Research Log forms.
Find and print a few copies of a pedigree form to start with. Much to my own aggravation I’m always trying to reinvent the wheel and often times create my own forms.
I’ve made a couple of Pedigree forms that you can download for free to get started and a Research Log. The download links are at the end of the post. These Pedigree forms are 3 generation forms to include; you, your mom and dad and your grandparents. The Family sheets, I really have not come up with a better reinvention of those – YET.
2. Start a numbering system right from the beginning. You will be SO sorry later on if you don’t. You will be #1, your Dad #2, your Mom #3, your dad’s dad is #4, your dad’s mom is #5, your mom’s dad is #6 and your mom’s mom is #7. Once you get further back in your research the numbers will continue in the same manner as you have started here.
3. I also have created and added a “Blank-Family-Record-Documents-Collected” spreadsheet form that I attach to the front of the file folder of the family I am researching. You can also download a free copy of that below. To open this form you will need Microsoft Excel or you can use Open Office, which is free to download (Download Open Office)
4. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. When I first started I did that and still at times make things more difficult than they need to be. Just start with yourself and write down what you know and continue backwards. The main thing to remember is to write down the information you find and where you find it so you don’t end up retracing your steps again looking for the same information.
If you have your birth certificate; mark it on the form I’ve provided that you have attached to the outside of your family folder and the same with your parents. Any documents you have mark it down on the form and store the document in acid free sheet protectors.
5. Most of all, make your project fun. Add some scrapbooking touches to your pages. There are also scrapbooking pages with genealogy charts; kits are already put together with pedigree forms and family group sheets.
6. Another great tip is “digital scrapbooking.” If you would rather do all of your work on the computer, sign up for a free account at Scrapbook Flair. The software is a free download and a little large but well worth it. You can create your family pages in tree form, or chart form, add embellishments and print them out in whatever size you want; even 12×12 if you are lucky enough to have a 12×12 printer.
Have a great time and remember you can post information on the family lines you are researching on the “Add Your Family Tree” section of this blog. You never know when you may find a connection with someone who can help you in your research.
http://scrapbookingyourfamilytree.com/add-your-family-tree/
Share this post with friends and family. Best of all, get your children involved in preserving their family history with you.
Click here to download the Pedigree form above.
Click here to download the Pedigree form above.
Click here to download the Blank-Family-Record-Documents-Collected
Scrapbooking Your Family Tree
Grandma and Grandpa Live On As Long As We Write Their Life Stories!
Since I have decided to accept Tonia Kendrick’s “31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog” challenge based on the book by Darren Rowse; “31 Days to a Better Blog,” it’s time to write my “elevator pitch” about my blog and why my blog is going to be different.
My Tag line is going to be: Grandma and Grandpa Live On As Long As We Write Their Life Stories!
Add some FLARE to your Genealogy Research by using Scrapbooking Techniques to preserve your heritage in STYLE…
Along with being interested in family history, I am also obsessed with scrapbooking, so I have decided to combine scrapbooking and family history research into one project.
I have inherited so many pictures from my ancestors and I have no idea who some of them are or anything about them. Some photos may have a name and a date or possibly a location scribbled on the back but most have nothing written down.
Who is this lady in this picture? I know because I remember my grandmother telling me who she was. There is nothing written on the back of the picture of who she is, how old she is, where this was taken, etc.
My daughter and grandchildren would not know who she is but they WILL know who she is because I am going to write down as much as I know about her, which unfortunately is not very much as she passed away at the age of 37, when I was only 4 years old. She is my aunt Maxine Mae Shaw, born 05 Nov 1922 in New Vienna, Clinton County, Ohio and passed away on 02 Mar 1961 in Greenfield, Highland County, Ohio.
Even in my own scrapbooking pages, I have found myself doing the same thing by not writing down enough information and sometimes writing nothing at all on the backs of pictures or adding a journaling section for my grandchildren and future generations to know anything about who I am, where they came from, who their ancestors were and what type of people they were.
I hope to inspire others to take a few minutes of time and write your family stories down. If you are interested, then I will bet you a dollar that someone else in your family will be interested too and so VERY grateful that you have helped them when they begin their family history research.
Okay, so my short “elevator pitch” turned out to be a bit longer than I intended but I will shorten it and add it to the “About Me” page.
Talk About Dysfunctional…Family History Files Are A Mess
I finally had a chance to get to my storage unit and retrieve my family history files that I started working on back in the early 1990s. After about 3 hours in the HOT Florida weather (anywhere from 92 to 98 degrees), I found all my files and some that had gotten put in the wrong boxes. I still have not found 1 file of my grandfather’s that had some original documents in that file. I am hoping that they too are mixed up with something else in another box and not lost completely.
This is the mess I had to go through and half way in to even begin finding my genealogy files.
Once I got the files home and started going through them, I realized I had no idea of what I was doing when I first started this project. I knew enough back then to obtain birth records, death records, marriage records, wills, etc. but I never sat down and created a filing system. If anyone else were to inherit this mess, more than likely it would all be thrown out in frustration.
I can kind of make sense of it because I created the chaos but even at times it was very confusing. In some cases, I found 3 copies of a birth certificate (1 for the child file, 1 for the mother file and 1 for the father file); absolutely too much work and a crazy system. Same thing for death certificates, but usually 4 copies of these (the person who died, the person who supplied the information and the names of the deceased persons parents).
And please don’t ask about the census records… too many of them to count all over the place.
So, before I go any further, I am creating a system, in hopes that generations to follow me will be able to pick up exactly where I left off. If not, at least a historical society or the LDS Church can have my records as a donation.
I am not sure whether I am trying to reinvent the wheel or not and maybe the system I am going to use is already in use but I have to work on a system that is easy as 1 – 2 – 3 for me. I AM basically starting from day 1 since I lost my computer records due to a Trojan virus in December of 2010. I was able to find a sketchy family tree record still left on Ancestry.com that I could transfer to my computer. I am so happy that Ancestry.com saves the files even if you aren’t a member for a while.
I will be using a genealogy software program, basically for numbering purposes; printing family group sheets and individual report sheets because after watching some interesting videos, I’ve decided that most of my genealogy research, etc. will be done on paper. As someone in one of the videos mention, “Who knows if in 20, 30 or 40 years if everything is done by computer, who is to say that future generations will ever be able to retrieve the information.”
I will be adding videos as I go along to show how I am setting up my system and will be preparing forms and suggestions and information on research resources and other sites to make your “genealogical life” much easier, especially if you are a beginner.
