Thank you to Linda B for taking the minutes. You're very much appreciated.
Ferndale Genies Meeting, November 16, 2020
Present were Judith C., Rick B., Linda B., Elizabeth D., Pam I., Peggy V., Sherry, Judy B., Bill R., Barbara B., Suzie P.
Judith began the meeting by asking each person what topics they would like to discuss today. Topics: report on DNA subgroup, picture mounting technique, articles emailed to the group before the meeting, which describe ways to maintain trees.
Check In
Linda: Attended David Obee’s presentation, “Write Your Family History” offered by the Skagit Valley Genealogy Society. The best writing presentation she has attended so far. As Obee described his approach, Linda realized that using the “Research Like a Pro” methodology would provide the same steps he recommended, including: research your subject, create a timeline, learn about the time and location in which the person lived. Obee also suggested some ways to make a story about an ancestor more interesting, such as focusing on one interesting event, the historic events of the person’s time that influenced their lives, etc. Linda used this approach when writing about her husband’s 2x great uncle, who gave him an autographed baseball. The story included information about the history of baseball in Boston where the uncle lived.
Peggy: Educating herself with two books. Purchased The Making of Milwaukee by John Gurda. Did not find information about her ancestors there. Also purchased The DNA Guide by Diahan Southard.
Elizabeth: Also attended David Obee’s writing presentation and agreed it was extremely helpful. She attended the presentation by Janice Lovelace, “Becoming America: A Story of Immigration.” Using MyHeritage was recommended. Elizabeth discovered there is a published history of her family (1979) and she has requested a copy through her local library. She contacted a church in the county where she grew up, inquiring about people buried in its cemetery. She is looking for her 2x great grandparents.
Sherry: Going through her DNA matches, using the groups (colored dots) feature in Ancestry. She has found some spouses of ancestors, great aunts and is hoping to find information on her German great grandfather.
Judy B: Working on transcribing letters written by her husband’s great grandfather, (not grandfather, as previous minutes noted.) Her in-laws wrote daily while he was in Italy in World War II, so there are many letters. The particular stationery used caused users to write in very tiny script, and the letters are more legible if transcribed rather than scanned. She is putting together a booklet of this history. Judy is also working on her family tree.
Pam: Good news! Sent an email to a possible second cousin in 2018 and finally heard back from him. He is sharing family stories from his mother and his sister’s research. Pam also registered for RootsTech.
Suzie: Described some of the wonderful finds as she continues to sort through her parents’ personal files. There are many letters. One describes Suzie’s birth, and her parents’ two-week process to decide on her name. Judith asked Judy for tips on organizing family letters. Judy sorted by person, then put letters in order by date, then separated by topic.
Rick: Shared a project he designed to save old family photos. He is mounting the photos on 8 ½ x 11” pieces of recycled paper, such as manila envelopes and pages from a discarded ledger. He decides on the layout, measures the photos, and then uses the ruler and grid features in Word to determine the layout for accompanying text. He prints a “draft” copy to test his layout, then prints the text directly on the paper on which the photos are mounted. He uses adhesive photo corners, either clear or black, depending on the effect desired. The pages are then placed inside archival sleeves. Photos framed in a cardboard frame will lie flat inside the sleeve. The effect looks like an old photo album, and the text labeling looks professional.
Bill: Has experience working with various companies to convert slides, 16 mm film and such to digital files. He is willing to share information on the companies he uses for particular formats. He has also had old Bibles restored. Lisa Louise Cooke just published an article on restoring old Bibles. (Perhaps this one: https://lisalouisecooke.com/2020/10/17/family-bible/)
Judith: Presentation on various websites used to create a family tree. Noted that in order to use DNA matching well, one needs an expansive family tree, that includes siblings and cousins, not just direct descendants.
The four main ones are
1. Ancestry. A good place to begin, as they have lots of records available, continue to add more records and buy related companies to increase their services. Popular site for DNA testing, so there is potential for matches.
2. My Heritage. Especially good for European research, many records, DNA testing and matches.
3. Find My Past. A good site to use for British and American research, trees are private. Many unique record collections.
4. Family Search. One universal tree to which one can add your own. May find others have already researched some members of your family tree. No DNA testing.
The first three are subscription sites and Family Search is free.
In addition, many genealogists maintain a family tree in desktop software. The advantage is that it is a place to keep one’s tree and related records without fear of losing information (assuming the records have been saved on the computer and backed up.) Some of the websites hosting trees change their access to records at times, so one can lose those records if not downloaded. On desktop software, one can decide how to list citations, divide trees if they grow too big, and the tree is private. Some software applications will indicate the ancestor’s relationship to you. It can also be helpful to use split screen to compare online trees to your desktop version.
One can use a gedcom file to upload data from software to online tree to move data from one tree to another. Many desktop software applications will automatically sync with online trees. The gedcom file does not include attached records, photos, or notes. Keeping an online tree up to date helps to work with DNA matches. If your tree needs to be “cleaned up,” it is best to address individual profiles that need to be changed, rather than delete a whole tree and lose the accompanying records, notes, and connections to DNA matches.
Lisa Louise Cooke keeps her main tree on her desktop and uploads only parts of her tree to websites. She advises if your tree has unproven data, to label the tree as “exploratory tree” or “not proven” or some other title that indicates all of the data may not be thoroughly researched and accurate. One can also use the tag feature in Ancestry, found on the profile page.
The two articles Judith referenced describe two approaches to maintaining more than one family tree. Our members have different approaches, too.
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