Solving my biggest problems with genealogy research

I've tried the shaky leaf, and the exhaustive searching......so now what?

This is the question I am asking myself in my research today.  Do I continue to visit the same sites and research the same names & keep running into the same information or do I try something different?

Even if I think I'm right about some of my information, I can't help thinking I'm completely wrong about others.

So I'm turning over a new leaf.

 (Ancestry members will find that funny.)

Here are my new rules of research:

1. Use my "know how".  I've tried to take a different look at my research.  Talk it out even.  Sometimes the records don't add up to what I already know or what I should know.  I have to go back to the beginning of my tree & review what I have versus what I need.  (Maybe it's time for a to-do list.)
2. Watch out for those shaky leaves.  I've screwed up so much of my tree saving info from someone elses tree.  I've spent months trying to decipher between what I've been able to prove and what someone else has guessed and saved to their tree.  
3. Get off my computer and go to the library.  I'm a teacher, so I know how much more I can get done with real books and library resources.  I can't let my Ancestry membership keep me from really researching my family tree.
4. Put away the old and look at the new.  Maybe the reason I can't find what I'm looking for is that I'm trying to hard.  I need to start looking for something new and maybe I'll find something I've been looking for.  (It works when I'm looking for my car keys.)
5. Treat my genealogy research like my second job.  I spend so much time trying to remember what I was working on last, that I don't get much done when I do have time.  I need to have a "research day" each week.

Any suggestions to add to my list?
Leave a comment below.

I found Robert Wickliffe's first wife

Robert Wickliffe was my grandfather's first cousin, possibly one of his favorite cousins' since he was a witness at my grandparents wedding. 

Robert was Andy Wickliffe's son & up until recently, I'd only found 2 wives for him.

I'd found 2 marriage index for him from Kentucky.

 The first index, the marriage he had with Lillian McGee, stated that his previous marriage ended in divorce & this marriage was in March 16, 1977.

On the second index, the marriage he had with Trudie Mae Sanders in November 24, 1987, it states that it was the second marriage for them both & that both previous marriages had ended in death.  

Now, I know that before Trudie & Lillian, he married Frances Browder in 1946.  

On the one of my favorite genealogy websites for Muhlenberg County Kentucky

 I found this :

 Black Marriages Index, 1866-1960

Grooms: W

 

Year	Groom	Bride	Book/Page

1946

Wickliffe, Robert

Browder, Frances Louise

93/20

Once upon a time, I was organized

I've recently run into a major genealogy brickwall.

If I look at my notes, I'm lost.  Each of my lineages have stopped, including my Wickliffe tree.

I've started to create to-do list for myself because I feel like I'm looking for the same people in the same places.

What's step 2 in genealogy research?

I've started to repeat this question over & over.  So I search.......

I've went back through youtube videos & websites & I've come up with a few ideas........

The big white binder: how to organize your genealogy research

How do you organize your family tree research?

Organizing the information you find out about your family tree, is a long & exhausting project.  I've taken time over the last couple of months, to try to do just that.  

I have a huge white binder filled with my notes & print outs & pedigree charts.  I've tried to organize according to family, but needless to say, my notes are all over the place.  I have the information according to family surnames, but a few of the documents have been duplicated because the family member is in multiple places in my binder.

It wasn't long before I realized this system was NOT working.  So I started to do what I always do when I can't figure out something with my tree....I researched.

I've found a couple of Youtube videos, but this one is one of my favorites.

Hanging file folders & a file cabinet is a great idea, but before I can get here, I have to find a digital way to carry all of my notes with me.  That's where Google is helpful for me.  I'm a Google addict.  I use Google for everything, including organizing my numerous notes.  Typing these notes out, made me think of them again & see if I have "exhausted my search".

How do you organize your research?

How I'm making my blog work WITH my genealogy search

Who has time to search their tree & blog?

This is the question I keep asking myself.  If I blog, I'm not searching.  If I'm searching, I'm not blogging, & I love blogging!!!!!

So what's the alternative???

I'm still trying to figure this one out.

When I first started this blog, I thought it would be a great way for me to organize my searches.  I would stop being all over the place with my family tree climbing & get focused.  I was so wrong. 

Now I have even more information to try to track down & even more questions than ever. 

So what do I do now???????

I've done some organizing & I've recently started trying to set a schedule for my blogging & my searches.  

Any advice??????????

Blogs that help me

When I first started to blog, I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing.

I've just recently started to research how to blog about my genealogy. 

Tons of sites have caught my attention but here are a few I frequent almost daily.

If you are a beginner or you've been blogging for awhile, you will love Michael John Neill's

Genealogy tip of the day.  I learn something new from this site all the time.  

I recently started to follow a blogger who has been blogging for 8 long years!  Lisa Alzo calls herself the Accidental Genealogist, but her blog is no accident.  I've learned so much about formatting my blog from her.

A recent post of her's discusses some of her personal highlights over the years.  Check it out.

Even though I've only been to Kentucky once, I feel I know it well because of Brenda Joyce Jerome.  She has a blog centered around Western Kentucky Genealogy.

This is a life saver for me because most of my mother's family hails from this part of Kentucky.  Thanks Brenda!

One of the coolest ideas I've seen since I started blogging, was Amy Johnson Crow's blog:

No story to small.  She has a challenge called "52 ancestors challenge."  You have to check this out.  Each week she has a ton of great post sent in by members participating & the post are amazing.   

My all time favorite has to be Jana's genealogy & family history blog.  Not just because she has featured me in her blog,  (Thanks again Jana!)  but because of all of the interesting blogs she features each Friday.  She calls it her: Fab finds of the week.

I wish I could mention every blog, but this is definitely a start.

5 sites everyone searching their family tree should be using

Working on your family tree can be a long & exhausting process, but technology can help.

It's amazing how many tools there are to help you search, however, not every tool is free & some can be quite expensive.  Here are a few tools that have been lifesavers for me.

1. My favorite site is ancestry.com  I have been a member since I starting tracing my tree in 2007.  I can't say enough about the number of features ancestry has to offer even a brand new genealogist.  My favorite is the monthly youtube videos Crista Cowan, the Barefoot genealogist produces monthly describing what's new with ancestry.  Even if you don't want to pay the monthly fee (which is only a little over $20 of month) you can still utilize ancestry's tree maker & several of their records, including some of the 1940 census records free.
2. familysearch.org is free!  I had no idea about this site when I first started searching, but now I use it as often as I do ancestry.  In fact, I've came across records quicker with familysearch than with ancestry with certain family members. (My two times great grandparents marriage record.) 
3. The Indianapolis recorder-being an Indy native, I am familiar with this publication, but others outside of Indiana may not be.  When I first started searching through these records, it was an endless process, but I quickly learned how to narrow my search & came up on a wealth of African American history.  (It amazed me how much info they documented back then.  There use to be a section called Teen Talk that was strictly for the high school dating scene.)  
4. Chronicling America has newspapers on a wider scale (just in case none of your ancestors came from Indiana).  The unfortunate thing about this site is that it is very difficult to search through because the info is not as widely indexed as the other 3 sites. Which means you may have to get really good at looking at very tiny print to find the info you are looking for.  Also, the records are very limited &  most of the newspapers are from before 1922.
5. Find a grave is my new favorite site.  It is definitely more reliable in regards to info.  Most of the sites I frequent, the info is provided by the users & that is findagrave, but it's different because it is a picture of the actual grave site/headstone.  How much more reliable can your information get?

35 ancestors

I've recently started following an awesome blog called No story to small by Amy Johnson Crowe.

She came up with the brilliant idea to feature a different ancestor every week & start a challenge for others to do the same thing.

Why didn't I think of that?  And why didn't I see this 4 months ago?

Unfortunately for me, the challenge is well underway. As a matter of fact, they are 16 ancestors in.  

So I had an epiphany (if you know me, then you know I am famous for them) I may have missed the challenge, but I can hopefully do something similar.  I love the idea & I wish I'd come up with it myself.  Why not focus on one person every week. BRILLIANT! That's pretty much what I do anyway.  I just had not put a title to it yet.

Thanks a lot Amy!

How I knocked down my first brick wall

Familysearch.org is a secret I found only a short time ago.

I had been trying to find the maiden name of my two times great grandmother Lou.

First, I had no clue what her real name was.  Grandma Lou is all my mother had ever known.  

All of the records I had come across & those given to me by family members never mention any other name other than Lou Wickliffe.

I posted a message on the ancestry.com message board.  (Something I rarely do, but I was trying everything I'd learned to do to knock down a brick wall.)  Someone actually responded to me & asked me if I had tried finding my great, great grandparents marriage record on familysearch.  I had never even heard of the site.  

Long story short, 

Ancesty.com has a great video collection on YouTube.

The other Harrison Wickliffe

Since I started tracing my family tree, I've run into the duplicate name issue.

Of course, my great grandfather was my first experience with this.

Harrison Wickliffe was a popular name in Kentucky in the 1800's.  I've found 3:

• The oldest was born around 1815 in Danville, KY (in the heart of Kentucky).  He married Casina Wickliffe & they had 3 sons (Rowan, Joseph & Beatty) and a daughter (Florence).
• Rowan, (a teacher I recently found out through census record), married Sarah Alice Wickliffe & their first son was named Harrison.
• My great grandfather didn't name his first son (my grandfather) after himself.  
• He must have been named after his grandfather/my great grandmother Probia's father Alfred Collins.

I've have to be careful saving records because of the names of course, but the similar locations & birthdays.

Blogging our history

When I started blogging, I thought that I would post a few pictures & tell some of the stories that I had been told & that would be that.

I had not idea that I would embark on this journey to becoming a blogger.

This is not my first rodeo (as my loving baby sister would say).  I've kept a blog for my Medical Assisting class for the past 2 years, but that's easy.  I have a written curriculum, so I never have to think of something to write about.  I post a ton of YouTube videos & post more photos of my classes then anything else.  That blog basically writes itself.  

Another significant difference is my students have to look at my blog.  A lot of their quizzes & in class discussion happen in our blog, so I rarely have to make them read it.  

THIS BLOG IS DIFFERENT.

I took a week off from blogging last week to learn how to blog.  I researched how others brainstorm or come up with ideas & I was surprised to find that I'm not alone.  Others struggle with what/how to blog their family history.

I've come across several blogs I'm utilizing on a daily basis now:

1. socialtriggers.com/perfect-blog-post:  I had no idea how a blog post should be set up until I read this post by Alex Mangini.
2. Jana's genealogy & family history blog-my blog was mentioned in her blog as a Fab find this past week.  Thanks a million Jana Last!!!
3. Genealogy tip of the day by Michael John Neill-he post a brand new tip everyday.  I'm learning so much!
4. The accidental genealogist by Lisa A. Alzo- This month she is featuring fearless females & you have to check it out.
5. We tree genealogy-Amy Coffin's has a ton of info on the upcoming Rootstech conference. 
6. Western Kentucky Genealogy blog-Brenda Joyce Jerome is teaching me so much about Kentucky, which is where most of my ancestors hail.

The only thing I am still struggling with is how to build a follow.  Right now I feel like no one is interested.  Not one person is following my blog, not even my own Mom.  (Sorry Mom.)

What can I do to build an audience?

Please leave a comment & let me know what I can do to make people want to read my blog.

How to REALLY start searching your family tree

I thought I knew what I was doing.

When I first started to research my tree, I really thought I knew what I was doing.  I started subscribing to all of the right sites or what I thought were the right sites & asking all the wrong questions.

Everything I read said ask your family, but I now disagree. People can remember an event a lot of different ways.  Not always the truth or reality.  

My advice is to start with what you can prove.  I've found more evidence in newspaper obits & death certificates than any other source.

I should be clear though, relatives can give you info you can't get from official records or newspapers.  First hand knowledge is priceless.  Every photo I share came from a dear family member I've never met in person, but who has given me so many priceless treasures I can't even begin to describe how key to my search they have been.

I also think an organizational system is so important.  My biggest problem now is organizing the real info for my ancestors from the false.  (I went a little save crazy there for a while & now I am paying the price.  Having had no official training in genealogy, I had no clue that even with an uncommon name like Wickliffe, there can still be duplicate names.  This is an issue to be continued later in my blog)  
Managing your records & keeping track of what you have versus what you need.  It will save you a ton of time & heartache later. Believe me.

Research how to do genealogy research.

I had no clue it took real work to learn to research your family tree.  

This is not an easy accomplishment.  If you don't know what you are doing you will spend a tome of time researching someone else's family.  I'm recovering from this period myself & I must say I caused this mess myself.

I'm still learning, but it is getting easier.