A Good Swift Kick In The...

A Good Swift Kick In The...

   Sometimes it takes being told that your job is ending to find your true calling. And sometimes, the true calling comes before the end of the job. That's what has happened to me.

    I have been working for the past 6 years in my original calling, nursing. It is a job that I love. Except for the bizarre, obnoxious, and demeaning paperwork (computer work?) that goes with it. I first worked with a nursing home. I love the elderly and couldn't imagine life without working with them. (I've worked in geriatrics for 30 years.) But the change has become so great over the years, that I found myself hating to go to work each day. And then, I hurt my back. There went my job. Or so I thought.

    Three years ago, I found a job with a contractor who worked with a huge health insurance company. I became a sub-contractor with them. I enjoyed being able to work on my own, visiting my clients in their home, and still performing as a nurse. The autonomy reminded me of what I enjoyed owning my own genealogy research firm. The paperwork (via computer again), was another matter. That work had to be done at home, as I live in a rural area, and no reception for cell phones or WiFi in most places. It had become a real pain in the tushy! I got to the point that when I got home I would sit in the car hating the fact that when I went in the door I had to head straight to the computer and chart!

    It seemed the only "dream" job I ever loved was working with genealogy research. My business, while never closed, after 12 years, has sat pretty dormant for the past 6 years. But it is back. Alive and prospering. I simply needed a good swift kick in the....pants to get it going again!

    As of May 13th genealogy is my main business.

    You know, we really need to remind ourselves of what our grandparents used to say...

"When God closes one door, He always opens another!"

    They were so right!

    Hope you are all having a fantastic Thursday!

Who Am I?

WHO AM I?

DNA Helix Model

We are told our unique DNA is made up of RNA and consists of 46 pairs of chromosomes. 22 pairs of non-sex pairs and 2 pairs of sex determining. Females care two X chromosomes, while males carry both an X and a Y chromosome. It is the chromosomes contributed by your father that determined whether you were a boy or a girl when you were conceived.

When we decide to utilize our DNA to try to locate our family ancestors, it is these unique chromosomes, broken down even further into haplogroups, and many other sub-level groups, that determine the "markers" that are looked at to determine if one person is related to another or not. Much like we determine if one person is a parent of a child by a blood test, but with more accuracy.

In looking at our haplogroups we are able to best determine where our ancestors most probably came from.

Of course, none of these tests are 100% accurate, but they can be quite close!

In my own DNA study, we studied only the paternal line of family. It has the closest of the brick walls for us. We originally tested back in 2007. And we felt confident that a close relative would come about through testing, as our family is documented back to 1792 in America.

This has not been the case. Doing a paternal DNA study (known as a Y-DNA test, as only the paternal line carries the Y chromosome). We felt so certain. However, no results have matched us, in our over 10-year quest, except close 2nd or 3rd cousins, whom we already knew. (At least we knew the milkman wasn't involved with any maternal ancestors back to our known point! But I jest here.)

When a complete study has been performed for one of our known cousins, over 1,000 matches have been made.  But this is matching both Y-DNA and Mt-DNA (maternal).

We have had several matches with 12-markers and 24 markers. But these make the common ancestor back anywhere from 250-2000 years ago! No where near to where we can match up common ancestry.

It's the 67-marker golden ticket that we are searching for. I was so hoping we would find this match. But as each year passes, and we have no matches, I am becoming more and more frustrated. It is almost as if we were dropped here from an alien spacecraft, or something! (No, I am NOT serious, so please, no emails telling me we are NOT aliens!)

I am still holding out for that golden ticket! I am not so old that I can't continue to search daily in my in-box for a perfect match somewhere!  And someday, I just know it will come!

FREE GENEALOGY RESEARCH

FREE GENEALOGY RESEARCH

    Yes! You read that correctly! 

    One lucky winner will win a full genealogy package that will include 100 hours of research, with a professional research report, and copies of all documents, and photographs if any are located. They will also receive one book bound copy of all of the research written into a family history. The book will be autographed by the researcher who writes the text. This book alone is well worth over $200 in information. The total package is valued at $3,000 USD. (This is for American research only.)

    So, how do you enter to win this fantastic project?

    As a Reopening Incentive, we are offering 2 hours of genealogy research for $10. This 2 hours will be a concentrated research on any one you wish to find in your genealogy. It will include any documents located, or photographs if located. And a professionally written genealogy report.

    Why would we offer such a low price? (We usually charge $25 per hour for computer based research!) We want you to see what we can do. And we want your repeat business!!! We'd also like for you to pass our business name on to your family and friends who might be looking for family research! This is our way of letting you get to know us, and saying 'Howdy!'

    For each person who responds and orders the 2-hours of research, we will give them 1 free entry into the drawing. The drawing will be held open until June 1, 2018 at 11:59pm. An independent party will then take all of the entries and will do a random computer drawing for the winner. The winner will be notified within 7 days of the drawing with instructions on how to claim their prize.

    Want more than one entry? Simply order a second, or third 2-hour $10  package!

    Want to order the package?

    Simply email  us at:

mountaingenealogists@consultant.com 

    Let us know that you would like to purchase the $10 two-hour research package. We will invoice you for payment through PayPal (we do not accept any other payment method at this time, and you can utilize PayPal without opening an account if you use your credit or debit card.) We will also send you a questionnaire requesting some information regarding what you'd like for us to accomplish for you. And once payment is made, and you return our questionnaire, research will begin. (Please be aware, if high volume is received, it may take up to 7 days to return you completed research, which will be sent to you via email.) We will make every effort to get your invoice and questionnaire sent to you within 48-hours of receipt of your request. Please understand that our business does require travel at times, and we may not be able to answer you immediately. Remember that patience is a virtue! (LOL)

    So come on! You may never again another chance at this kind of free research again! We may never repeat this offer again! So, I urge you to take advantage of this offer while you can!!!

    Please pass this on to all of your family and friends!

    And BEST OF LUCK!

OPEN

FOR

BUSINESS

  Does the thought of attempting to do your own genealogy research cause you to break out in a cold sweat?

  Well it doesn't have to any longer!

  If you think working on your family history and genealogy means mounds of records and research like this...

...it could! However, we have over 30 years experience in the fields of research and genealogy and we are here to help you!

  While we have taken a hiatus from working for a while, we are now back in full swing and we are here to serve you!

  Let us take on that mound of research and make sense of the jumble of information that you may have. We are here to grow your family tree!

  We will be offering full research for US based research only at this time. In the future we will begin to expand to other areas of the world as well.

  What, may you ask, is required to get started on your genealogical quest?

  Simply send us your name and email and we will be in touch with you within 48 hours to find out what options will best suit your request. We offer packages as low as $50. 

  As with all genealogical research, there is no guarantee that the information you are seeking will be found. We are searching paper trails for your ancestors. In rare cases there simply isn't one. So, please be aware of this before we even engage in planning! We will do our very best, however, to bring you a satisfactory find!

  We do require full payment up front on our smaller packages, and retainers on those that are larger. We will disclose all of our packages on request. Some of our larger packages include printed family trees in book form, enabling you to pass on the information we find to future generations.

  All documents, and/or photographs we discover during our search will be included in your unique package. This may include birth, death, marriage certificates and pictures of your ancestors!

  Simply email me at:

cynthiahenry@consultant.com

  And let's get started on your unique journey discovering your family's history!

Follow Friday - Using Pinterest

Follow Friday 

Using Pinterest

Do you have a Pinterest account?

These days, it seems everyone does. On this site we are able to share photographs, and articles from interesting sites, or that we make ourselves with hundreds, if not thousands, of other viewers.

We are able to create Boards where we can specialize those items we pin. Yes, think of each board as a bulletin board. You can specialize each board and pin items that are particular to that board. Such as one of my favorites, Genealogy News. Here, on my account, I am able to pin wonderful articles that I have either enjoyed, or have learned from others. And you can follow other people's boards as well. Getting to see what unique articles they are able to save as well.

I love that I am learning more and more about genealogy simply by following Pinterest boards!

So, how do you find these pins on everyone's boards? 

Go to http://www.pinterest.com and in the search box, simply type in what you would likie to find. (You name it, and someone has pins of it!) But, if you'd like to learn more about genealogy, simply type the word genealogy into the search window. Believe me, you can spend days (maybe weeks!) poring over the pins there! And if you visit the sites that they are linked from, you can learn so much! I've learned so much that I have started keeping a journal of sites with articles that I have read, so that I can reference back to them when I want to! Yeah, it's that cool! You don't want to bookmark the pages, because believe me, there will be too many bookmarks saved!

If you haven't already signed up for Pinterest, go ahead and do so now. Play around and see what others are saving to their boards for now. And then decide what things you are most interested in. Set up some boards and beginning pinning!

No matter what subject you are interested in, you'll find pins!

Well, I pin, and I pin, and I pin some more!

You can even pin your family name! You'd be surprised how many people will turn up with similar, or the same pins!

Visit it now, and learn just how you can use Pinterest to assist you in your genealogy research. It's a site well worth utilizing!

Follow Friday - Cyndi's List

I have been a follower of Cyndi's List since it first began. (Yep, I'm old as dirt folks!) After all, anyone with name like Cyndi has to be pretty special, right? (Yeah, I know... shameful aren't I?) I've even been mistaken for this Cyndi on more than one occasion, and had to direct them to the correct Cyndi.

And just who is this Cyndi?  Well, we're talking about Cyndi Ingle. That remarkable woman who started this blog in 1996. (Oh my! Now that is some kind of history today for a blog!) I can remember when everything she had was listed on a single page with links. Now, we're talking about so many pages, I can't even begin to discover it all!  And Cyndi's doesn't cost you one red cent. Although, donations are accepted, even those weren't done for many, many years! Cyndi provides this all as a service for those who simply want to find ways to research their family tree. And above all of the genealogy based web sites I have used the most, Cyndi's List has been the one that far outshines any I can recommend to you.

From her bog site, let me let Cyndi tell you why she does this: " The short answer is because I have fun doing this and I'm really happy to hear the great success stories that have come to people through using the list. The list began as a project for my local genealogical society in order to help our members find resources online. I want to make it easy for all researchers to find online resources for their genealogical research. I once read that the Internet is like a library with its books strewn all over the floor. I guess I'd like my list to be the card-catalog for the genealogy section of that library. And after all these years, I honestly believe that this is what I was meant to do. I’m very lucky that something I love to do has become a vocation."

Those of us who have been there all these years, know that it hasn't always been an easy path for Cyndi. And at least once or twice, she even considered giving it up. Thankfully for all of us, and that includes you, she never has! She has persevered, and is probably THE MOST used, and well-loved genealogy resource site in the Internet today!

I love how one of the comments from a user on her site states, and I am paraphrasing here, that she's kind of like the Dewey Decimal System of the genealogy world! Cyndi, herself, states she compares herself to a library strewn with books. You might go and look up one you need to find, but while there, you might also find one, or two, or a dozen, more that will help you! And yes, that's exactly what Cyndi's List is like! I can honestly say, that not once when I have gone there have I only copied one link. I usually copy a dozen, or more! How can that be? Surely I would have them all copied by now! Right?

Wrong! You see, Cyndi works daily on this site. She adds new links and new information every single day! Simply sign up for her newsletter and you'll be amazed at how much she puts into this! And the site is effortless to navigate through.  With the amount she adds, so often, you'd think it would be a jumbled maze!

I can honestly tell you, it's always been a breeze to find what you need here.

If there's one site you want to follow, this is it. Cyndi's List.

Head on over there right now, and be sure and tell Cyndi, that the other Cyndi has sent you there! Tell her 'hey!' for me.

Monday Mentions

Have you ever wanted to do your own genealogy search? Have you ever thought you had no idea where to start, but you didn't have the kind of money needed to hire someone to do research for you?

Well, while I have to be paid for my services, as does anyone who does this for a living, and I do try to keep my rates as reasonable as possible, I really do understand being under a budget restraint! (I live there all the time! LOL) So, let me share a web site that has ALOT of helpful pages to get you started on your own!

Let's take a look at The National Archives. (https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/genealogy.html) I know, the National Archives. Seems a bit daunting, doesn't it? But I've taken you directly to the Genealogy introduction page.

Let's take a look:

Contents

• How to Do Genealogical Research - Here you can find the following:

                 

NARA's Calendar of Events

See the calendar for scheduled genealogy workshops in Washington DC.

Family History: Clues in Census Records, 1850-1920

This article by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens appeared in the January 1998 issue of NARA’s The Record.

Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress

Useful guidelines on conducting genealogical research.

Genealogy Notes

Articles of genealogical interest from NARA’s Prologue.

Genealogy Research

Guidance from the Nashville (Tennessee) Public Library.

Local History & Genealogy Reading Room

The Library of Congress provides several guides for genealogical research including Bibliographies and Guides, Searching Tips, and links to Internet resources.

Researching Your Family Tree

A tutorial for performing genealogical research.

Searching Your Family History: Cardinal Rules of Genealogy Research

Advice from the Medina County (Ohio) District Library.

• Other Helpful Genealogy Sites

          

50 Most Popular Genealogy Websites for 2013

Here is a list of the most popular genealogy web sites for 2013 as determined by GenealogyInTime Magazine.

101 Best Websites for Genealogy in 2013

This list was compiled by Family Tree Magazine.

AmericanAncestors: New England Historic Genealogical Society

Located in Boston, the Society provides information on events, tours, and research. The Library is a valuable resource with many useful guides.

Ancestors

Originally a PBS series designed to inspire and inform beginning genealogists, this site provides information on how to conduct research and links to useful family history resources on the web.

Digital State Archives

Genealogists can find links to states’ digital collections on this web site.

GenDisasters

Interesting web site that allows researchers to find ancestors affected by disasters both natural and manmade. There is a search function, or researchers can browse by disaster, state, and year. A message board is also available.

Genealogy Today

This site provides news, links, and tools for genealogists.

Genealogy.com

Offers tips on starting genealogical research, web links, and searchable databases.

Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930

"A web-based collection of selected historical materials from Harvard’s libraries, archives, and museums that documents voluntary immigration to the U.S. from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression."

National Genealogical Society

"To serve and grow the genealogical community by providing education and training, fostering increased quality and standards, and promoting access to and preservation of genealogical records."

National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution

Provides resources for genealogists including an online catalog of the DAR Library’s holdings.

Pathfinder: Genealogy

This guide is designed to help people research their genealogy.

RootsChat.com

RootsChat is a free family history forum that helps researchers learn and navigate family History in the United Kingdom.

Western History and Genealogy

The Denver Public Library’s Genealogy page provides access to several resources, including Colorado Genealogy and Obituaries, Colorado Pioneer Records, Colorado and Nebraska Military, and more.

               

• Resources

         

The 1930 Census

NARA’s comprehensive guide to the 1930 Census.

The 1940 Census

NARA’s comprehensive guide to the 1940 Census.

Across the Generations: Exploring U.S. History through Family Papers

Family papers contain a wealth of useful genealogical information, as well as providing a window onto evolving social conditions, on-going economic change, new political trends, and cultural shifts over time. This web exhibit was produced by the Sophia Smith Collection and the Bodman Family Foundation.

Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet

Provides links to thousands of genealogy web sites.

Federal Agency Websites with Information Useful in Genealogical Research

Other federal web sites providing useful information in genealogical research are listed here.

Federal Township Plats of Illinois, 1804-1891

The passage of the Land Ordinance of 1785 created the rectangular survey system for the mapping and subsequent sale of the western public lands of the United States. In 1803, the first survey of lands began, which would later become the state of Illinois. This web site contains high resolution compressed images of all the township plats for the state of Illinois.

Genealogy: Open Directory Project

This site indexes genealogy sites on the Internet. They are categorized by subject and geographic region. Links to foreign-language sites are also included.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

Site consists of transcribed passenger lists published in eleven volumes. Researchers can use the search feature, or browse within volumes by date, ship’s name, port of departure, port of arrival, captain’s name, or passenger’s name.

Live Roots

Live Roots enables genealogists to search several resources at once by making use of data collected from a variety of providers and publishers. The site includes a daily update of new resources.

One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse

"This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications."

Surname to Soundex Code

With this tool, you can easily find the Soundex code for any surname.

TheShipsList

Presents immigration reports, newspaper records, shipwreck information, ship pictures, ship descriptions, shipping-line fleet lists, as well as hundreds of passenger lists to Canada, USA, Australia and even some for South Africa.

USCIS Genealogy

This site, maintained by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), gives information about immigration and naturalization records and how to access them.

USGenWeb Project

Volunteers around the country provide resources and transcribed records for genealogical research in every county and state of the United States.

• Searchable Databases

          Ancestry

Ancestry is a subscription database available free of charge from any NARA location nationwide. It offers searchable ancestor databases of over 600 million names, as well as specialized databases, including census images. Ancestry.com is available to individual researchers by subscription.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), General Land Office (GLO) Records

This web site provides "access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States. We also provide image access to more than three million Federal land title records for Eastern Public Land States, issued between 1820 and 1908." The database includes land patents, surveys, and land status records.

Castle Garden

This web site offers free access to an extensive database of information on 10 million immigrants from 1830 through 1892.

DAR Genealogical Research System

"The GRS is a collection of databases that provide access to the many materials amassed by the DAR since its founding in 1890." Included are the Ancestor Database, Member Search, Descendants Database, Genealogical Records Committee Report, and Resources.

Dead Fred’s Genealogy Photo Archive

Free photo genealogy research web site. Reseachers can search the surname database and post their own photographs.

Digital Library on American Slavery

Here is "a searchable database of detailed personal information about slaves, slaveholders, and free people of color." Data is drawn from petitions to southern legislatures and country courts filed between 1775 and 1867 in the slaveholding states and the District of Columbia. Researchers can search for petitions, search by name, or browse by category (such as Marriage and Women, Atttaining Freedom, Slave Ownership and more). A wealth of information.

FamilySearch

This genealogical resource from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints contains three billion names. The site includes a search function, photos, and a wiki with over 75,000 articles.

Maryland State Archives Census Indexes

Created and maintained by the Maryland state archives, this site allows searches of four different historical Maryland censuses.

RootsWeb.com

This genealogy site offers a searchable name database as well as the Social Security Death Index. It also features opportunities for researchers to connect.

Soldiers’ Records: War of 1812-World War I

Database abstracted from the individual service cards, and listing more than 576,000 Missourians who served in the military from territorial times through World War I.

Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation

This site has a searchable database of names of immigrants who came through Ellis Island as well as advice on conducting genealogical research.

• Genealogy Blogs

Ancestry Insider

"The Ancestry Insider reports on, defends, and constructively criticizes these two websites and associated topics. The author attempts to fairly and evenly support both."

B&F: Jewish Genealogy and More

This blog primarily geared to users researching Jewish genealogy, but there are also posts of interest to researchers of all origins.

Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter

Genealogists can find a free newsletter, a premium subscription newsletter, comments, and informative posts.

Genealogy

Kimberly Powell writes this blog which gives advice on genealogical issues and news about developments in genealogical research.

Genealogy Insider

This blog is published by Family Tree Magazine, and is written by Diane Haddad.

GenealogyBlog

This blog combines Leland Meitzler’s passions for genealogy, publishing and blogging. He and his wife, Patty, also run a publishing company called Family Roots Publishing, which specializes in the publication and marketing of genealogy guidebooks.

See also additional genealogical material:

• Ethnic Heritage
• State Archives
• Vital Records

The National Archives is one of my most favorite web pages to begin searching from. It is a fun site, and has a lot of records that are searchable online as well! And you can order records from here for many things when you desire a hard copy record.

I hope this site assists you as much as it has me! And again, it is a great place to start when you are just beginning your own private search!

Follow Friday - Pinterest

Have you considered the power of Pinterest?

I am totally addicted to the web site! I get on it, and will sometimes spend one, two, or even three hours and not even realize I've been there that long! It's much more addicting than Facebook, or games! My poor iPhone stays in my hand and I am there!

But, did you know that many genealogy bloggers are on Pinterest? I had been using Pinterest for quite some time, filling up my little Boards, until one day I accidentally came across a genealogy site! I am in seventh heaven my friends! Literally!

Ok, so I am wherever the genealogy leads me. I hope you know that about me by now! (How many years have we been together on this blog?) So, you can imagine my absolute delight when I found these genealogy bloggers on Pinterest! And suddenly, I cannot get enough genealogy! (If I could make an income with genealogy to match what I currently make working for a major insurance company, honey, I would be doing that full time! It's my passion!)

But on Pinterest, I can find, not only some great ideas about research, and writing, and digital photography, and saving those photographs, and census records, and forms to help me get everything organized, and great organization tips, but there's more! Did you know you can search for you the surname you're researching? Some families have linked their family trees to Pinterest! How awesome is that! Best of all, it's another FREE site to go looking for clues!

I use all kinds of resources as I'm researching. Both traditional, from brick and mortar institutions, to books, and web sites. But one thing I won't do, is take any one else's family tree and tack it onto mine. Nope. I've got to do the research and prove it first. (Only, I actually do the polar opposite! I try to disprove the connection first. Once I can't disprove it, THEN I attempt to find proof that it fits.) Remember, just because someone says that So and So is related to you, doesn't mean it's the truth! Find the proof out there, and document, document, document! Write down those sources, and citations!

But, I digress! Back to Pinterest! I absolutely love the site. It's given me some help in my family research. But what it's really given me are ideas. I use the site as a kind of sounding board. It helps to have a background in research, but if you will open your mind, and simply let ideas play one off of another, you'd be surprised to find out just how far you can go!

And that's where Pinterest really shines! You type in what you're searching for, and BAM! One has only to start looking through the thousands of pins that will come up from your search, and before you know it....2, 3, or even 4 hours have flown by!

Some tips on using this site? Keep a notepad handy! You'll want to take notes. And believe me, if you see something you want to read more in depth on, do it right then, because you won't remember how to navigate back to it! And don't think, "I'll just pin that and it will be on my board and I can come back to it later! Cause, darling, later you won't be able to find it in all of the pins you save! So, when you see something you want to read, do it right then!

I use my notepad for a jumping off point. I can always get back to an article I've pinned, because I mark down the date I've saved it. Sometimes, however, by making notes when I read the article I've pinned, I have enough info that I don't need to reference back to it.

So, I am here today to officially encourage you to head on over to Pinterest, and find you some fun! Just about anything under the sun can be found there! It's like an open air market. Just start browsing honey. You'll never walk away empty handed!

Have a great time!

Friday's Faces of the Past

Benjamin Franklin

1706-1790

My 4th cousin, 7 times removed

Okay, so here is another connection (albeit distant) that I have to thank the We're Related phone app for. I have a blast with the app. I first downloaded for pure fun. But the one thing I wasn't expecting was that amongst all of the distant celebrity/political/famous "cousins" was that where the two lines converge, has allowed me to take my ancestry back, in some cases, ten or twenty generations! (Well, let's just say that the lines and documentation leading to and from the English throne are pretty easily discovered.) Still, I had no idea how many times I would ooh, and ahh, as I was able to prove the next ancestor back.

And this has all been in thanks to the little app I downloaded on my iPhone. In all I have 191 people with whom the app tells me I am related. Out of those, I've probably worked my way through around 16 or 17. I started doing the research to "disprove" how accurate the app really is. But what I discovered was that, in about 90% of those I've gone through finding evidence of relationship, the information has been totally spot on!

And so, for a good time at a party, I can blurt out, as though bragging, that someone like, for instance, Benjamin Franklin and I are related! (Well, we've all got to have some bragging rights in our family tree, correct? I have plenty to brag about without ever bringing up a famous name!) And isn't it fun to see how some people react when you can tell them that you're 4th cousins, 7 times removed with Benjamin Franklin?

Okay, so in the last 50 years or so, some rather scandalous information regarding old Ben has become public. Doesn't tarnish his accomplishments any, does it? And he did have a few more accomplishments than just tying that silly key to the kite string you know!

So, how are old Ben and I related?

Here's Ben's line: (for sake of simplicity, I present these just as they are from the app)

Common Ancestor:

Sir William Jones (1520-1560)

    Agnes Jane Jones (1540-1612)

        Agnes Jones (1575-1646)

           Thomas Franklin (1598-1681)

                Josiah Franklin (1657-1745)

                    Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

And now, the line coming to me:

Common Ancestor:

Sir William Jones (1520-1560)

    Griffith Jones (1560-1598)

        Morgan Jones (1590-1643)

            Thomas Jones (1620-1671)

                Ruth Jones (1645-1675)

                    Elizabeth Hayward/Howard (1678-1728)

                        John Perkins (1710-1763)

                            James Perkins (1741-1825)

                                Samuel Perkins (1778-1854)

                                    Margaret Smith Perkins (1826-1891)

                                       John Monroe Bean (1866-1954)

                                            Walter M. Beane (living)

                                               Cynthia A. Beane (living)

And there you have it. My relationship to Benjamin Franklin. Fun for parties, and bragging rights. But using the app has lead me to find my ancestors by trying to disprove the line from me to the common ancestor. And for that, I cannot thank Ancestry enough. Sometimes, it's simply given me a name, and I was able to go on from there. And like I said, about 10% of the trees sent have been totally wrong.

I've barely made a dent in the list so far. So, I am super stoked about working on even more!

*******Yesterday's "Those Places Thursday"

Were you able to figure out where this place was?

This photo is one I took at the Bluestone Dam, in Hinton, WV. I took the photo in 2015. I was standing on a fishing platform that is built conveniently near the dam itself, where I am told there have been some monster sized trout and catfish pulled from. This crosses the New River. Behind the Dam is Bluestone State Park, and it's many camping, hiking, fishing, and swimming areas. Great fun! My children used to fish from the primitive campgrounds, and we would fill up our cooler with fish they caught. Then cook them over an open campfire in the evening. We spent some wonderful times camping there! I highly recommend the area for a stop if you're coming through West Virginia. Just a few miles east of Beckley, and west of Lewisburg, just 10-miles off of I-64, there are many wonderful places to sight-see!

Friday Funny

(cartoon credited to www.amfor.net )

If you do any kind of genealogy research for profit, eventually you're going to run in to a client like this one!

"Don't tell me if there's someone of another color in my ancestry"; "Don't tell me if we owned slaves"; "Don't tell me that any of my grandparents were married more than once"; and the list goes on and on!

I once had a client from a prominent family. We discovered that her ancestors made them wealthy (to this day!) off of the Libyan slave trade. They purchased slaves from Libyan traders. And then brought them to the Carolina's and re-sold them there. When preparing her genealogy into a readable book format, she requested that I not put that pearl of wisdom into the book. And when she found out that her 8x gr-grandfather had a child with one of his slaves, and then publicly proclaimed the child as his because she looked white, was raised in the home as white, and married as a white woman, she was enraged. "Don't you dare say a word about her in the genealogy or I won't pay you a dime!"

We've all had someone like this, haven't we?

My ancestors were no different than any others. There were slave owners back there. And one of my ancestors was a white slave, no African blood at all. (He supposedly stole aboard a ship bound for America, was caught and pressed into slavery until he reached the majority of his age. So sad. But there it is.

Instead of hiding from these "awful truths", we should embrace them. We need to remember, colonists and American's through the Civil War, were used to having and owned slaves. It was simply what someone did to supply labor for their plantations and farms.

You will also find the occasional murderer; philanderer shot be a jealous husband (or who was the jealous husband!); the wealthy land owner; the poor tinker; and the list goes on.

Instead of denying your ancestor's past, embrace it. What happened two or three hundred years is of no mind, or account, today. If someone judges you by your ancestry, perhaps they should check out their own! Seeking out your genealogy is not for the faint of heart, to be sure!

But the rewards are better than a bank robber's!

What's the strangest thing someone asked you NOT to include in a genealogy?

Motivation Monday

I am asked, sometimes, what motivates me to keep on searching for the elusive ancestors of our family tree. I have been asked, "Haven't you found out everything, already?"

Well, let me give you an idea of what motivates Me. Now this is simply what keeps me going. What keeps you, or someone else, going may be entirely different! We are, after all, each unique.

What motivates me, is nearly conversation my Dad, who is 79, and I have ends up with him asking the same question, "What did you find out today about the family?" Most days I don't have much to report to him. But on the days I do, he becomes so animated! Like a little child opening a big gift at Christmas! And that means so much to me!

Another thing that motivates me, is my own children. One will call and ask, "Hey Mom, what can you tell me about my great-great-grandfather's brothers and sisters?" I feel like the research manager for a firm, always in the need to research something, or in this case, someone!

 And, then, of course, there's simply me. My own inquisitiveness. Always wanting to find the elusive. Breakthrough the brick walls. (Or at least try to scale it!) I am always wanting to find something new!

Lack of motivation is never my problem! I am always motivated! And ready!

So, exactly what is my problem? Well, the answer is the worst of them all. Plain and simple, it is time. I work a full time job that requires travel. Long hours visiting with clients. And even longer hours putting their information into the computer! It simply doesn't leave me with enough hours into the day to do everything I would like to do!

If I could, I would work genealogy full-time. I did that from 2001 until 2012. Then it's like the bottom fell out of the business. If you can say there's a blame, I don't blame the economy. And what I do blame, is in itself a good thing. I blame it on the easy access of records made available online, and programs that make it easy to search for yourself. Even the untrained can get a fairly well put together family history written, simply by following online guides and examples. And that's a good thing! Everyone should have at least an idea of their roots.

Maybe one day, before I have to think of "retirement", I can actually quit my day job, and go back to doing it full-time.

Well, at least full-time, as in relation to also knitting and crocheting, reading, and writing!

Matrilineal/Military Monday

It's been a while since I've been into the swing of working on my genealogy blog. I've only recently got back into the habit of daily genealogy research and newsletter writing for my family.

So I wanted to start back with the GeneaBloggers daily prompts today. Thomas can always get you in the mood for some fun and antics in genealogy, as well as inspire you to further your research!

Today I chose a dual subject for Monday. Both Matrilineal and Military. Why? Because I have not honored my Mom since her death on this blog. (Heck, I haven't written but once on the blog since her death!)

Lois Velleda Dreher was born in 1938 in Indiana and passed away in 2015 in West Virginia. On both occasions she was surrounded by those who loved her most. In between the two dates, she lived a life full of service to our country and to those who were in need. She never shirked her duty. At times to her children she had to be both Mother and Father, as her spouse was a military man. During those times, I am sure it was especially tough. But she never complained.

She was introduced to the man who would become her husband while she was in the Women's Army Corps (or more affectionately known as the WAC's). The friend who introduced her was also in the WAC's. The two women were friends until the very end.

Lois was a lovely woman. Although she'd never tell you she thought herself pretty or handsome. My memories of her will forever be tainted with the scent of her Tabu cologne. I pass someone in the market, and for a brief moment I look around and wonder where my Mother is hiding to jump out and make us both laugh!

I've seen her cut her grass in a sandy yard on the beach with a pair of sewing shears, and replace the carburetor in the car. And yet again, sit in the floor and play Barbie's with her two little girls who wanted Mommy to play with them. As well as read the family Bible and have prayer each evening; never forgetting to ask God to watch over Daddy who was away at sea. When I was older, she asked me what dress I wanted to wear to the spring prom, and I showed her a picture in a catalog for a dress I knew we didn't have the money for. Yet, when it came time for the dance, I wore that very dress. Only, Mommy had made it with her own two hands, without even a pattern to go by, just the photo in the catalog. My friends never knew it was a handmade a dress. That's how good of a seamstress she was. She taught herself to crochet, and she could make anything, simply by looking at a picture of it. Flowers, dolls, sweaters, afghans, and doilies.

As a teen I saw my Mom grow a garden and then can everything in it for winter. She put up thousands, and yes you read that right, thousands of quarts of vegetables every year. Going to the grocery store meant for disposable items like toilet paper, napkins, and dish soap. I've seen her churn butter and make cheese.

And I've seen her sit quietly by the side of the bed of someone dying. Holding their hand, or wiping their brow. Praying when they asked, aloud. And silently the whole while. I've seen her start a bus ministry from scratch, needing a 64 passenger bus in the end to transport the children and adults to church. I've seen her teach children's Bible scouts. Bible quizzing. Sunday school. And Bible school.

I've seen her spend years caring for the elderly in the community. Solving minor crises within the community. And offering transportation or counseling to those in need. More than once I've seen a troubled couple show up on the doorstep and ask for Mom and Dad's help when their marriage had hit hard times. Why? Were my parents any different than so many others? My parents had endured through a military marriage. They had to put Country ahead of Family. And they both knew that. The only difference was that they put God before either. And that made all the difference in the world. I've seen those same couples who came seeking help still together after many years.

My Mother left a legacy behind that few today can lay claim too. As she lay dying, all of her four children, were at the bedside around the clock. Her last few breaths were taken with the four of us and my Dad praying, our hands holding each others, over Mom. It was a somber time. And yet, we looked forward to Mommy's graduation day in Heaven! We knew when her last breath here was over, she'd be taking her first in Heaven, with purest of air! And we rejoiced that she would be the first to see our Savior!

Mommy entered the military in 1957. She married a handsome sailor in 1958. And she was discharged in early 1959, expecting her first child. Me.

My Mommy was my hero! She was not only my Mommy, I had the distinct honor, and privilege of calling her my teacher, my counselor, and my best friend.

On July 30, 2015 she stepped away from the mortal realm, and began her eternal walk with Jesus. I can only imagine that little has changed about her. She wasn't perfect by any means. But she was about as close to it as anyone I've ever known, and I am proud to be her daughter.

Lois Velleda Dreher Beane

1938-2015