One-Year Blogiversary

Time flies!

It’s nice to have basically an electronic journal of what I’ve done or attempted to do for the last year.  There were a couple slow months, I know.  I’ll take this time to list my achievements and goals for the next year.

What I Have Done (June 2014-June 2015)

Started this blog on 24 Jun 2014.

Approved for Society of Civil War Families of Indiana (SCWFI) (Civil War ancestor: Paul Mayer).

Approved for NSDAR (Patriot: Thomas Pearson).

Attended the OGS Conference.

Attended the IGS Conference.

Finished my indexing project.

Had a family reunion.

Began researching for a portion of my BCG portfolio.

What I Want to Do (June 2015- )

Start a local genealogy society (officially by 1 Jan 2016).

Volunteer more hours at local historical society.

Swearing-in ceremony for Sarah Winston Henry Chapter of INDAR (Sept 2015).

Create the yearbook for Sarah Winston Henry Chapter of INDAR (Sept 2015).

Attend regional INDAR meeting (Aug 2015).

Add two more of my ancestors to SCWFI (John Ford and Lyman S. Ford).

Begin working on NSDAR supplemental for William Ballard (born 1715).

Finish studies through NGS (got this in under the wire! Signed up for the NGS Guide to Documentation and Source Citation!).

Attend OGS Conference (Apr 2016).

Attend IGS Conference (Apr 2016).

Attend Midwestern Roots 2016 (July 2016).

Attend FGS Conference (Aug/Sept 2016).

Attend APG’s PMC (Sept 2016).

Join PALAM (Oct 2015).

Become an aunt again!! (July or August 2015)

Put together another family reunion (Oct 2016).

Go “on the clock”???

Apply for First Families of Ohio (James A. Fowler and his wife Elizabeth Devore).

2016 Plans

I checked my 2016 calendar and it is definitely shaping up to be a banner year!

In April, there is the IGS Conference and Society Management Seminar and the OGS Annual Conference.  In July, Midwestern Roots here in Indiana.  In August, the FGS Conference in Springfield, Illinois.  In September, the APG Professional Management Conference.  This is not counting any DAR functions or special seminars, such as IHS genealogy sessions or the Indiana chapter of PALAM, which I hope to join to strengthen my German knowledge.  I need to start saving!

Something else I’ve been toying with is seeing what kind of interest there is in my neck of woods to have a local genealogy society.  We have a historical society/museum but not anything dedicated to specifically genealogy/family history. Just something I’ve been thinking about.  Not sure about the interest in this area.  At the Society Management Seminar this weekend, the Wabash Valley Genealogy Society stated that they advertised an informational meeting, expecting 5-6 people to show up…they had 60 turn out! WOW! If I do anything like that–and that’s a giant IF–it might be the first of August.  We’ll see!

Researching at the Ohio History Center

It is the day before the conference, and I’m in Columbus, Ohio, to get some research done at the Ohio History Center where the Ohio state archives are housed, along with county genealogical materials. I have been noticeably absent recently as I was preparing for this research day in earnest.

The Ohio History Center was very easy to find and get to. The staff at the front desk were very helpful and friendly. It was a cinch to find the Archives/Library. You store your belongings in a locker. You can only taken in pencils, notebooks, and phone/nonflash camera/computer. Since I was researching a multitude of surnames, I decided to check county history books for any indices to help me locate documents on microfilm, on the ‘net, or in person at a later date. Of note, it’s on the third floor and there are solar panels in the ceiling, and, while we were there, a heavy thunderstorm rolled through…awesome!

The names I researched included Hickman/Heckman, Eby, Hanby, Fowler, Ford, Hill from my own family and Church and Mantle/Mantel from a friend’s family. Whew! I did have some luck…hopefully! This is the resulting stack of books I searched through:

There are even books hidden behind the major stack!

Once finished at the History Center, we cruised to downtown Columbus to the Sheraton to pick up my conference registration information. And there was this:

Already on my 2016 calendar!!

To Ohio I Shall Go!

The Ohio Genealogical Society 2015 Conference will be held soon in Columbus, Ohio (9-11 April 2015), and I am going! I had been riding the fence about this conference as 2 weeks after that I have the Indiana Genealogical Society Conference to attend. I examined the schedule for the Ohio conference and found that there was a session in each time slot that I was interested in. So, April is going to be busy for me!

I’ve had some serious research to do in Ohio and it’s time to get over there and do it! I’m super-excited about this trip…as usual, it will serve a double purpose: research and 19th wedding anniversary!

Some names I’ll be researching there:

Hamilton County: Doyle, Fitzgerald, Hanlon

Gallia/Morgan/Noble County: Ford, Hill

Butler County:  Hanby, Fowler

Franklin/Pickaway/Madison/Fayette Counties: Burk, Mantle, Church

Excellent time to create a research plan! (Or multiple research plans!)

Some of the sessions I hope to see:
Timelines: The Swiss Army Knife of Genealogy, Amy Johnson Crow, CG
Tackling the “Born in Pennsylvania” Problem, James M. Beidler
Evaluating Evidence: Ask A Mini-Minnie Question, Ron Arons
Identifying the German Origins of American Immigrants, Michael D. Lacopo, DVM
Choosing the Best Continuing Education Opportunities, Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL

Genealogy Do-Over~Week 1

Week 1: 2 Jan-8 Jan 2015

I’ve decided to work on a do-over with my research on John Ford, my 3rd-great-GF (paternal), or, more precisely, John Ford’s parents and family.

*Setting Previous Research Aside
I’ve decided to modify this a bit since I’ve accumulated quite a bit of information about Mr. Ford himself. I’m going to get what I have better organized. I have digital information, hard copy information, stuff saved in Evernote…all of this needs to be properly organized and cited.

*Preparing to Research (Further)
I am going to devise a research plan to make better educated searches for information. In Indiana, I need to better search the county where John Ford lived, I need to request his compiled service record from NARA, I need to better research the county in Ohio where he was first married, Sacket Harbor in NY where he was discharged in 1829, why he lived in Arkansas, etc. Oops, I about fell down the rabbit hole! Thus, I need a written research plan combined with a research log, possibly in Excel, to track research progress. Luckily, a member of the Genealogy Do-Over FB group shared an Excel template for a research log, and it is excellent! (Thank you Ellen Coulter!)

*Establishing Base Practices and Guidelines
I’m using RootsMagic7 and have added Folder Marker to my computer to match folder colors to RM7 colors for family lines.
I need to learn to add source citations to images (practiced doing this on this post).
I need to do this as soon as I scan the image into the computer…NO WAITING!
Save digital info to Evernote to my main folder, then move to appropriate family folders to keep organized, using appropriate note titles and tags.
Use Evidentia to its fullest potential for citing my sources, beginning with building a case for the Ford family.
Become BFFs with Evidence Explained!

On a side note, this first day of Genealogy Do-Over I actually did a bit of research for the project I’m working on for future BCG certification. This project will require further research in Ohio; I hope to attend the OGS annual conference in April to work on that. Fingers crossed!

ETA: I began this post on 2 Jan 2015. Since then, I’ve figured out how to add citations to images and save as .pdf files, I’ve color coded my folders on my hard drive to match my family lines in RootsMagic7, I have done some digital organizing of said files, and I have spreadsheets for research logging and census tracking. I have the next couple days off work so I plan to begin adding sources to Evidentia!