Hello! My name is...

Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE MY NAME! It sounds good and it has a good meaning. Have you ever stopped to find out what your name means? My friends over at Crestleaf put together this list of "Spooky Surname Meanings" and I'm glad to say my surname is not on this list (smile). Because if my surname was something like...umm...Calamity (#5 on the list), I'd probably change it. Check out the "Spooky Surname Meanings" to see if your surname made the list. If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the meaning. If your surname is not on the list, I'd still love hear your comments ;-)

Happy Searching! :-)

A Day at the Georgia Archives

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon at the Georgia Archives for an all-day genealogy workshop. There were several sessions going on throughout the day, but I opted to attend the Basics of Genealogy session. I've attended many basic/intro genealogy classes in the past, and can remember one instructor urging us to continue to periodically attend beginner's classes for two reasons:

1. To always keep basic principles fresh in your mind 
2. You can always learn more 

This is definitely true. 

The class yesterday was basically from 9am-5pm. It was indeed a day's work. Hey, you've got to put in work if you want to be good at what you do, right? The instructor covered basics such as where/how to gather sources, how to record that information and references on how to properly to cite sources, filling out ancestral charts and group charts, and lots of other helpful information. We even had time for document analysis and a round table discussion with all of the instructors for the day! We also discussed a couple funnies such as:

1. "Family Hoarders" - Relatives who gather family information and refuse to share it with anyone else in the family.
2. It has been stated that conservatively speaking, we each have 60,000 living cousins - Can you imagine that?!

It was so great to meet and connect with other individuals in the class - some who had been doing family research for years, and others who were just beginning their family history research journey. I think the youngest person in the class was a teenager, so it was great to see someone so young taking an interest in capturing their family history. 

My takeaway is going to be studying maps of areas where my ancestors lived. I hate reading maps (I may have to save that story for one Family Friday...lol). I was also inspired to search (again) in some of the special census' for a few of my ancestors who seem to have disappeared (smile).

I found out about this event through a local genealogical society in my area. Link up with some genealogical societies/groups in your area to see what events are being offered in your area. 

I want to give a huge thanks to the Georgia Archives for putting this event together!!! Click here for a link to the Georgia Archives website to stay updated on what they have going on. By the way, the National Archives is located next door to the Georgia Archives! Jackpot!!!

Happy Searching! :-)

Fear of the Known

For many people, genealogy can be quite fascinating; for others, it can be quite frightening. There are some people who choose not to explore their genealogy because they are fearful of what they may find. They would just rather not know because what is known may be too much for them to bear.

It would be a wonderful thing if all of our ancestors were upstanding, law abiding citizens who never did wrong or caused any trouble. Maybe they could've been community advocates, royalty, or maybe achieved some other form of fame or success. In such instances, these would be wonderful things to recall about our family histories; however, for various individuals this is not the case. Some family histories are laced with tales of infidelity, poverty, brawlers and outlaws, various forms of abuse, and the list goes on. These things can be embarrassing and hurtful, and usually requires being dealt with delicately. 

Over the past few years, I've encountered a few people who have expressed that they have an interest in researching their family. Before they could even get off of the ground good with any research, they were urged to stop by this person or that person in their family. Clearly, there were things that those family members did not want them to find out. Imagine for just a moment what it would be like if we concealed world history or American history the way we conceal family history from relatives. 

While I do understand that you can't force an individual to share information that they aren't ready to share, the point is that no matter how good or how bad, that information may be of some significance within your family. 

If you're still interested in researching your family, but having reservations because of family members, maybe these few tips can help you. REMEMBER:

1. We are not responsible for the actions of relatives who lived before us! There is no reason to carry that kind of guilt. 
2. No family is perfect and no one person in your family is perfect. 
3. If someone tells you that they don't want to talk about it - don't. That doesn't mean that they may never talk to you about it, but it just may not be the right time. Respect where they are in their decision at that moment. And occasionally try to ease into it to see if they've softened up to talk about it ;-) I've gone as far as asking somebody else. That may or may not work for you. You know your family dynamic. 
4. Do your own research. Just because "so and so" doesn't want to know, that doesn't stop you from knowing. You don't have to hold a family press conference to let the entire family know that you've been secretly researching. Research whatever information you deem necessary and file it away.  
5. Let people believe what they want to believe. You can have all the documented proof in the world, and there will still be that one relative who will challenge anything you say or show them because "so and so" has told them otherwise. There is no need to argue about it. If that's their reality, let them live in it. You just continue keeping accurate family records. 
6. If you're the keeper of family records and you're asked to keep confidentiality about a specific matter or person, you should respect those wishes. They know you're responsible enough to keep good family records without embarrassing them to the entire family. Now if this is about something that happened way back in like 1890, your family member really needs to stop! 
7. You can always hire me to do the research for you (smile)!

Happy Searching! :-D