{"id":412,"date":"2013-01-04T20:35:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-05T02:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/accentuate-the-positive-2012-geneameme\/"},"modified":"2013-07-13T14:23:46","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T19:23:46","slug":"accentuate-the-positive-2012-geneameme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/accentuate-the-positive-2012-geneameme\/","title":{"rendered":"Accentuate the Positive 2012 GeneaMeme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2012\"<\/a>Last weekend, Australian genealogist, Jill Ball, of the blog Geniaus<\/a>, created a meme related to things we as genealogists accomplished<\/em> throughout 2012.\u00a0 The intent is to focus on the POSITIVE\u2026what we did accomplish\u2026and not the things we may have fallen short on.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about perspective.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s about how I approached my 2012 Achievements<\/a> post; while I didn\u2019t exactly accomplish what I initially set out to do, I highlighted many of the things I did accomplish, even though they weren\u2019t my original 2012 goals.\u00a0 In that post I listed several things, but it did not include many of the things on Jill\u2019s meme list.\u00a0 That being said, this is why I am writing this post.\u00a0 I encourage you to participate too, just so you can see how much you actually did<\/em> accomplish in 2012.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Message from Jill:<\/p>\n

On a whim this morning I decided to throw together a Geneameme in which you can share the positive results of your Genea Activities in 2012.<\/p>\n

I invite you to take part in this activity by responding to the following statements\/questions in a blog post. Write as much or as little as you want. Once you have done so please share your post’s link in a comment on this post<\/a> or to me via social media. I will, in due course post a list of links to your contributions on this blog.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

1.\u00a0 An elusive ancestor I found was<\/span><\/strong> Mary (Nevens) O\u2019Brien.\u00a0 Mary isn\u2019t exactly an ancestor, but she\u2019s likely family.\u00a0 Let me explain.\u00a0 According to family lore, my second great-grandmother, Margaret Millet, had left Ireland, lived in New York for a short time, and then went to live with \u201cfamily\u201d in Bristol, Illinois.\u00a0 Next to that note in parentheses was the surname O\u2019Brien.\u00a0 For the last two+ years, I\u2019ve had no idea who this O\u2019Brien family was or how they were related, but that changed a few months ago.<\/p>\n

Back in September, I was working on Margaret\u2019s Irish clan and a chance encounter of the name Anna Millett in the Illinois death index<\/a> on Ancestry<\/a> made me curious.\u00a0 I looked at the indexed record<\/a>, which was pretty detailed (I now also have the actual certificate) and Anna Millett, born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, was listed as the mother of Mary (Nevens) O\u2019Brien.\u00a0 Mary was listed as being born in Bristol, Illinois and she died in the next county over.\u00a0 Along with some additional research, I\u2019m now working with the assumption that Mary O\u2019Brien is the \u201cO\u2019Brien family\u201d that Margaret went to live with.\u00a0 I also think Mary\u2019s mother Anna is the sister of Margaret\u2019s father John, but I need to do some more digging to prove that.\u00a0 Even if they are not siblings, it\u2019s reasonable to assume they\u2019re related somehow.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled-1\"<\/a>2.<\/strong>\u00a0 A precious family photo I found was<\/strong><\/span> among a batch of photos my Godmother sent me a few weeks ago.\u00a0 There were handful of photos, all of which I already had, except for three.\u00a0 The three photos are from the same event and I had never seen them.\u00a0 I believe they are from my Godmother\u2019s niece’s birthday party.\u00a0 The caption on the back, probably written by my Godmother, was:\u00a0 Marie, Jean, Joe, Julie, Rachel and Grandpa.\u00a0 I would be the baby in the blue party hat, held by my dad, next to my mom.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 An ancestor\u2019s grave I found was<\/span><\/strong> completely by chance.\u00a0 About a month ago, I received a change request for a Find A Grave memorial I had for my fifth great-grandmother, Sarah (Norton) Webster<\/a>.\u00a0 The request asked me to add her father Solomon Norton to the record so they could be linked.\u00a0 What?!?\u00a0 There was a memorial for Solomon Norton<\/a>?\u00a0 As it turns out, yes there is, but I hadn\u2019t looked for one since 2010 and the memorial was created in 2011.\u00a0 Not only was there a memorial, but there was a photo of the gravestone<\/a>, which had an exact death date and included a second wife\u2026this was completely unknown to me (and probably everyone else because no one has this second wife in their tree).\u00a0 You can read more about my Solomon Norton research in a recent post entitled Dear GeneaSanta, How About Some Research Help<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 An important vital record I found was<\/span><\/strong> clearly the one I discussed in #1.\u00a0 But, in addition to that, I have spent some time working in the civil registration records<\/a> for my Luxembourg family.\u00a0 Fortunately the images are all on FamilySearch<\/a> (although not indexed) so I can take my time and collect all the records for the surnames of interest.\u00a0 All of the records go into a spreadsheet so I can keep track of the locations searched, what was found, and eventually determine who is family and who is not.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 A newly found family member who shared<\/span><\/strong> their direct line to our common ancestor, Governor John Webster, was Jana Last.\u00a0 Jana authors the blog Jana\u2019s Genealogy and Family History Blog<\/a>.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also enjoyed reading her Webster posts<\/a> on \"a2012-12-27\"<\/a>her blog.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 A geneasurprise I received was<\/span><\/strong> being able to visit my mom for the holidays.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been to visit her since 2008, so my husband decided to use his bonus to pay for the trip.\u00a0 It was nice to hang out with my mom for a few days and realize how much I miss her and her cooking!<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 My 2012 blog post that I was particularly proud of was<\/span><\/strong> What\u2019s Your Number? (\u2026and an Epiphany)<\/a>.\u00a0 While trying to answer the question of how many direct ancestors I have positively identified so far, I came to an important realization.\u00a0 You\u2019ll just have to read it to find out =)<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 My 2012 blog post that received the most number of hits was<\/span><\/strong> Using the Kindle Fire for Genealogy \u2013 Ancestry<\/a>.\u00a0 I have plans to revamp this post to bring it up to date since a lot has changed since I wrote the post back in April.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 A new piece of software I started to experiment with was<\/span><\/strong> RootsMagic<\/a>.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love Legacy Family Tree<\/a> and have been using it forever, but there are some features in RM that I really like\u2026if only I could blend the two\u2026.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was<\/span><\/strong> Facebook.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been on Facebook since 2008, and while I keep up with my friends and family, probably 75% of my friends are genealogists.\u00a0 I\u2019ve even made some new friends this year and when I ran into an issue on how to handle an adoption case, I knew exactly who to contact.\u00a0 Without Facebook, I wouldn\u2019t have known who to turn to for advice.<\/p>\n

11.\u00a0 A genealogy conference from which I learned something new was<\/span><\/strong> the Tazewell County Genealogical Society\u2019s fall conference.\u00a0 Carol Whitton was the speaker for the all-day event and she presented two lectures related to German genealogy: Using and Understanding the German Gazetteer<\/em>, in which she discussed how to use the Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs<\/em> and Reading German Church Records<\/em>.\u00a0 Both were extremely helpful and the minute I got home, I got to work.\u00a0 I wrote two blog posts related to what I learned and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll have more in the future:\u00a0 My Adventure With Meyers Gazetteer<\/a> and When In Doubt, Map It<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0 I am proud of the presentations I arranged for<\/span><\/strong> both the 2012 and 2013 Illinois State Genealogical Society\u2019s webinar series<\/a>.\u00a0 This program is very dear to me and I am fortunate to have met some wonderful genealogists who were thrilled to provide presentations for us.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge benefit to ISGS members and the genealogy community as a whole.\u00a0 Be sure to read my posts A Look Back at the 2012 ISGS Webinar Series<\/a> and Illinois State Genealogical Society Announces Its 2013 Webinar Lineup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13.\u00a0 A journal\/magazine article I had published was<\/span><\/strong> \u201cNewspapers: Going Beyond Obituaries,\u201d which was published in the Winter 2012 issue of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly<\/em>.\u00a0 It actually happened to be the cover story =)<\/p>\n

14.\u00a0 I taught a friend how to<\/strong><\/span> get started in her family history research.\u00a0 Literally the day before I left for my holiday vacation, a friend emailed me asking how to get started\u2026cheaply.\u00a0 As we all know, that\u2019s quite a complicated question to answer.\u00a0 I gave her some simple advice on collecting all of the family-held documents and talking to her mom and other relatives to pull together some basic information.\u00a0 She\u2019s a computer geek like me, so I suggested two genealogy databases to try out so she could start entering information to help her stay organized.\u00a0 I then suggested a few books for her to read so she can figure out what approach she wants to take based on what it is that she wants to know\/do.\u00a0 And of course I\u2019m always here for her if she has questions.<\/p>\n

15.\u00a0 A genealogy book that taught me something new was<\/span><\/strong> Luxembourgers in the New World<\/em> by Nicholas Gonner.\u00a0 There is a lot of great information in the first volume of the book, which I desperately want a copy of (I didn\u2019t get to spend too much time with it at the Family History Library when I was there last February).\u00a0 Volume II contains an index of names found in the Luxemburger Gazette<\/em>, which was published in Iowa from 1871-1918.\u00a0 Did I mention that I really want a copy of this two-volume set?<\/p>\n

16.\u00a0 A great repository\/archive\/library I visited was<\/span><\/strong> the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.\u00a0 I was able to get in plenty of time at the FHL while attending RootsTech 2012.\u00a0 I made some great discoveries that included finding records from my second great-grandmother\u2019s home town in Prussia.<\/p>\n

17.\u00a0 A new genealogy\/history book I enjoyed was<\/span><\/strong> The Last Queen of England<\/a><\/em>, by Steve Robinson<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fiction book where the main character is a genealogist.\u00a0 This book was released a few weeks ago and is the third in a series.\u00a0 They\u2019re all fantastic books\u2026I highly recommend them.<\/p>\n

\"KONICA<\/a>18.\u00a0 It was exciting to finally meet<\/span><\/strong> Colleen McHugh<\/a>, fellow genealogist and GeneaBlogger.\u00a0 While visiting my mom in Arizona this time around, we were much closer to Colleen and despite a terrible fate where my body and some asphalt become one the day before, I hid the pain and kept our plans to hang out at the Sonora Desert Museum.\u00a0 I\u2019m still recovering from my fall and should probably be in bed resting instead of writing this blog post \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

19.\u00a0 A geneadventure I enjoyed was<\/span><\/strong> helping a friend by tracking down her birth mother, which ended in a very happy reunion.\u00a0 This is the first adoption case I\u2019ve attempted (outside of my stepfather\u2019s case) and I am happy that everything worked out\u2026I know this isn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n

20.\u00a0 Another positive I would like to share is<\/span><\/strong> that I plan to keep truckin\u2019 along and fill 2013 with many accomplishments.\u00a0 Here\u2019s to a new year, cheers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, Australian genealogist, Jill Ball, of the blog Geniaus, created a meme related to things we as genealogists accomplished throughout 2012.\u00a0 The intent is to focus on the POSITIVE\u2026what we did accomplish\u2026and not the things we may have fallen short on.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25],"tags":[323,327,408,346],"class_list":["post-412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genblog","tag-family-millett","tag-family-norton","tag-family-obrien","tag-family-webster","cat-25-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3HcLI-6E","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4446,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412\/revisions\/4446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}