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 I can’t believe March is here…where did the winter go? (The shortish answer is….we never really had winter, just an odd snow fall or two and a couple brisk weeks of temps in the teens….altogether VERY STRANGE for our little corner of Northwest Pennsylvania) Genealogically speaking, time has flown. Although I made virtually NO progress on my personal research, I accomplished quite a bit: EDUCATION:  Research Professional Development  My newest list has to do with my plan of attack for earning a Certificate in American Studies at the NIGS. Forty courses seems overwhelming, but laying a project out on paper always helps me feel more centered and prepared for action-one step at a time. The courses in blue are those I’ve already completed or I am enrolled in now. With so many electives from which to choose, I’ve put together a preliminary list of what looks most appealing, given my personal family research and areas of interest. Compulsory (need all 28) American Studies Basic (B) 
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of this blog It’s been a great year! Blogging has given me a chance to delve deeper into palaeography and my beloved Denchfields. Blogging prompts (thanks Thomas and Tonia!!!) have been a creative inspiration and a big help to my writing. I’ve connected with distant cousins from around the world and met some fascinating people on the message boards at Rootschat.com, at the genealogical and family history societies I’ve joined, and through the 2011 Spring Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research program and the ongoing ProGen13 study group. Also can’t forget to mention my fellow bloggers and Twitter co-horts This past year, I’ve enrolled in classes at the National Institute of Genealogical Studies, completed a draft of Turner Collins Genealogy my family history book, traveled to England for a family vacation/genealogical research fieldtrip, and begun volunteering at the local county history (…more)  Way back at the beginning of August, I laid out a genealogy plan for the rest of the summer. It was a really busy summer. While I didn’t accomplish everything on my list, I made a dent and then some… Research 
Back in the beginning of my journey into the past, practically before the earth’s crust had cooled, I did what I think a lot of newbie genealogists are guilty of: I didn’t keep track of my sources. My first pedigree chart, drawn so carefully with pencil and ruler, was based on facts gleaned from conversations with my grandparents and family remembrance. To my credit, on family trips to England during my teen years, when I was able to coerce my grandfather to take me to the local records repository, or to traipse through an ancient cemetery in search of headstones, I did take notes, recording the place we’d visited and what discoveries I’d made there. But the idea of a bibliography was alien to me. Because I love old letters and aging paper, I did at least save the replies from vicars and distant family, sent in answer (…more)  I’ve loved genealogy for most of my life. Being knowledgeable about what I’m doing has always been paramount to me, so naturally I want to be as educated about genealogy as I can, particularly so I can achieve the goals I wrote about in this post Just having a love affair with genealogy isn’t going to cut it. It’s been a sporadic, occasional sort of affair, especially in the early days before computers: when months would go by waiting for a response to appear in the mailbox. Definitely a love hate relationship. To find a genealogical nugget of gold in an anxiously awaited, hand-written reply was to feel the exhiliration of a romantic summer afternoon; a new familial connection was a promise of a brightly budding romance. The absence of reliable evidence or running into that dreaded brickwall brought the sting of doubt and distrust, or worse: the unwelcome (…more) |
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