Family History Friday: A Fun Way To Write Your History!

You know you should do it, 

write your personal history! 

We've talked about this before. 

Remember, here and here and here and here?

I know I don't have to remind you, that you are the only one who can do it! There is not another person 

who lives inside your brain and 

knows what your thoughts are. 

Only you!! 

So I found another fun place that will help you write it down. It is called "This is Me, Challenge." It is a blog written by Kim and Emily. I absolutely love them for doing this! They will help you do write your history, a little at a time. Go here and check it out! You will love it, I just know you will. 

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Pictures!

My Great-Great-Grandpa Andrew Hanson,
is second from the left on the front row. 

My Great-Grandpa Emil Oscar Hanson is on the top left. 

(This picture looks better in person, sorry) 

"Seek out those with photographs 

and records of your family 

and meet your ancestors.

 Like us, you can connect with them 

and learn that everyone's ancestors 

are more than just names on

 paper."

-Russell Bangerter

Go here, to read a great article about family photos!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: This Day In History!

If you are writing the history of one of your ancestor's, or just trying to make a timeline of their life? A great place to see what happen in history is at 

"The History Channel"

 website.

They have a great website it is 

www.history.com 

One of the tabs across the top is called 

"This Day in History."

You click on the tab and it will give you information about things that happened on this day in history. What if you want to know about another day in history? You can pick a day, and find out about that day too! You can find it  here!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Family History and Genealogy Conference, Etc!

 There is so many people who want to help us learn about our precious ancestor's. I wish I could attend all of these conferences. There will be a conference at 

Brigham Young University in Provo 

starting on July 26th, 2011. It sounds awesome!! You can learn more about it here. 

There will also be one at 

Weber State University in September on the 17th, 2011.  

This conference is only for one day and it is free!! I will give you more information as it comes available. 

And of course the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, 

as well as many local Family History Centers around the world have classes for minimal cost, or no cost. There are over 4,500 Family History Centers all over the world. To find a Family History Center near you, check here! 

Happy Family History Friday! 

Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Stars!

Perhaps they are not stars, but rather 
openings in heaven
 where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.

-Eskimo Proverb
Happy Family History Friday! 
Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Great Fun!

The 

Ogden City Cemetery

 Tour 

was on June 11th and 13th 2011

Incase you're wondering what that is, 

I'll tell you!

You go to the cemetery, and listen to people talk about some of the residents of the cemetery. Usually, it is one of the descendants of one of the people buried there. They tell a short history of that person. I am amazed at the stories!!

This is a descendant of Sidney Stevens, 

who was from England.

He owned and tannery, and then later he owned an implement shop in Ogden. 

These two people are descendants of Louis F. Moench, he was from Germany. He was the first President of Weber Stake Academy, which today, is known as Weber State University!

This darling little lady is a descendant of Richard Slater. 

She told the story of Ann Corbridge Slater, his wife. They were from England. Their family was early settlers in the area now known as Slaterville.

This man is a descendant of  

James Iverson, from Denmark. 

Their little boy was taken by indians  

when he was 3 years old, and 

they were reunited when he was 17 years old.

Old Glory!

This is the World War I Memorial. This cute lady is telling us about World War I, and about the memorial.

There is a legend about this statue. If you go into the cemetery at night and go around the statue three times, the soldier with follow you with his eyes!! 

This is my cutest Mom!! She is telling everyone about the 

World War II Memorial. It has the names of 71 soldiers "whose burial places are unknown" as the memorial says.

This is the World War II Memorial

This is Gold Star Drive. There were 52 trees planted for each of 

the soldiers who were killed in action, from Weber County, in World War I. There is also a plaque in front of each tree.

It is a fun and interesting experience and it happens every year, usually in June. Each year the stories and people represented are different. I am always glad when I go! 

Happy Family History Friday!! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Native American Research!

-Chief Hole in the Day-

You know how you hear stories about your ancestors, while growing up in your family? Have you heard a story about being related to a Native American? 

I heard those stories, too! 

It wasn't until I was in my teens, that the story became more concrete. If you have heard this story, some things you will want to know in order to do research are: 

• Do you have a name?
• Do you know when and where they lived? (a location will help you identify a tribe)
• Who was it in your family that said you had a Native American ancestor? Can you go talk to them and find out more?

If you don't have much information and can't ask for more information, you will just have to work you way back, starting with you, until you find them. 

Sometimes it is just a story.

• Another important piece of information would be to know the tribe or nation the ancestor belonged. 

There are 100's of tribes. My ancestor came from the Great Lakes Region. Most of the records for my ancestor were found at the tribal agency. 

If your ancestor was a member of what they call the 

"Five Civilized Tribes",

Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, they ended up in Oklahoma. All tribes where not relocated and my be close to their original location. Even though my ancestors tribe was placed on a reservation, they remained in Minnesota. If your ancestor was in Oklahoma, there are some very helpful Federal records called the "Dawes Roles". They are a good source for information. You can read about them here!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Still Organizing?

So I have recently had a 

little extra time on my hands. 

And of course, one of my favorite

 things to do, is Family History. 

It is so fun!

Besides doing research, 

it is fun to organize it.

 I have noticed though, if you haven't had time to organize, and reorganize. It kinda piles up. I spent the entire day today organizing and reorganizing my Family History. It is an ongoing process. My new goal is, to never let it get so bad again. I will do two hours of Family History every Sunday afternoon. There, now that it's out there. I will be more likely to follow through. Pick a quiet time of the week for organizing your Family History. It'll make you feel great!!! I promise!

Happy Family History Friday! 

Love, Joy

Family History Friday: What Are You're Ancestors Telling You?

New York Times-picture

Have you ever read

a journal or 

a story of an ancestor, 

and thought that what they were saying in word or in the life they lived might be for you? 

I'm sure it was for you and anyone else who is a descendant. Just like we love our families and those who will come after us, the ancestor's of those in Japan loved their descendant's too! 

I found an amazing article about a village in Japan whose ancestor's left a message for their descendants. 

It was a warning on a stone, 

that said not to build their homes below a certain spot. Apparently, many stones were found, but not all headed the warning. You can read more about it here. 

Our ancestor's have left messages for us. 

They may not have written all of them down, but when we research and find the stories about their lives, they will speak to us. If we are listening with our hearts, we will hear what they are trying to say. Think about your ancestor's, their lives, the way they lived, and what it all means. When I think of mine, I think they might want me to know, life is full of hard work and wonderful. They are telling me, "It was hard sometimes, but I did the things that I needed to do, you can do what you need to do. Be amazing!" I love them, and am so thankful for the messages they have left for me. 

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Location, Location, Location!

Location isn't just important when buying a home. When trying to research our families, having the right location is important, because territories, state lines, and counties have changed over the years. Since most records are found at the county level, it is important to know the date when the county was formed. Most Family History Centers, Genealogical Libraries, and even Public Libraries have books available such as "The Red Book" and "Map Guide to the Federal Census". But today, with so many places to look on the internet, we can find the same information there. Be careful not to get so caught up in one location where you are researching, that you forget to look in the surrounding areas. These surrounding areas may have been part of that county or state at one time. My mom was helping a patron at the Family History Center who was trying to locate her Pioneer ancestry. She was moving backwards in history looking at Census records. She had already looked at 1870, 1860, 1850 records. My mom noticed that she was standing with a puzzled look on her face and asked her if she was having a problem. The woman said, "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I can't find the film for 1840 in Utah." Then she smiled and said, "Oh yeah, they didn't even get here until 1847!" At that point she said, "I guess I'm going to have to look someplace else." And my mom said, "Yes, you will." She was successful at what she had been doing, but momentarily forgot that there was a change in location. That's why it's important to always check the year and the location. 

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: I Totally LOVE this!!

There has been a series of shows on NBC called "Who Do You Think You Are?" I totally love them! They have invited several famous people to research their "Family Tree".  It is so fun to see other people enjoying their family history as much as I enjoy mine. In fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed the episodes that I have seen. Tonight my darlin and I watched an episode where the guest was Ashley Judd. Both my hubby and I were brought to tears as we heard about her ancestor, who fought in the Civil War. He had to have one of his legs amputated. Listening to the historian talk to Ashley about her ancestor, brought her to tears too. As I've always said, when we hear the stories, put the meat on the bones of our ancestors and start to realize what they did in their lives that made living better for me, it is always special and creates an almost sacred bond, between us and those who came before. Go check it out!! You will find the stories and episodes here!

Family History Friday: They are amazing!!

There are some amazingly talented genealogy bloggers out there!!

 I thought I'd give you links to a few!

---- 

There's Renee at, you guessed it, "Renee's Genealogy Blog", you can visit her here!

----

And a very interesting blog "DearMyrtle's" you'll find it here!

----

And Kerry at "Clue Wagon", check it out here!

----

Like I've said before, do a google search for; "family history blogs", you'll find great stuff!! These people are amazing, and helpful!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: When Grandma Was Ready For Winter!

I found a great poem about what grandma would have to accomplish before winter came, back in the day. 
********
When Grandma Was Ready For Winter
by Eunice B. Trumbo
When the last green tomato was pickled,
And the last blushing peach had been peeled;
When the last luscious pear had been quartered,
And the last can of plums had sealed;
When the last yellow quince had been honeyed,
And the last drop of chili sauce jugged;
When the last stalk of cane had been sorghumed,
And the last barrel of vinegar plugged;
When the grape juice was all corked and bottled,
Corn make into salad, or dried;
When the beets and the apples were buried,
And the side-meat and sausages fried;
When the catsup was made, and the sauerkraut,
and potatoes were stored in the bin;
When peppers were stuffed full of cabbage,
And the pumpkins were all carried in;
When the flower-seeds were gathered and packaged,
 And the house-plants were potted and in;
When the fruit cakes were baked for Thanksgiving,
And the mincemeat was canned up in tin,
The celery blanched and nuts gathered, 
And the beans had been shelled out and hulled;
Sweet potatoes dry-kilned in the oven,
And the onions were pulled up and culled;
When the honey had all been extracted,
Comb melted, and beeswax in molds;
When the jellies were all glassed and labeled,
And the horehound juice syruped for colds;
When the tallow was make into candles,
And the ashes were leached into lye;
When the rushes were bundled for scouring,
And the walnut-hulls gathered for dye;
When the cheeses were unhooped and ripened,
Beef corned in the brine to be dried;
Hams and shoulders well browned in the smoke-house,
Lard rendered from cracklings, and tried;
When the popcorn was tied to the rafters,
And the wood was piled high in the shed;
When the feathers from goose and from gander
Were picked for the warm feather bed;
Women folk were mostly ready for winter, 
To rest as they knitted and sewed,
Spun flax, carded wool, and pieced quilt blocks;
Is it strange grandma's shoulders were bowed?
********
It's amazing the things that our ancestor's had to do. 
We take so much for granted. 
The season's come and go and life is pretty much the same day in and day out. They were amazing people and I love them. 
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Family Holiday!

 A fun way to celebrate family, and your family's history, would be to pick a day out of the year to celebrate it! I found a great idea over at 

Family Fun 

you can find it here!

There are so many different directions

 you could go with this!!

Start off with your immediate family, pick a day, then eventually make the celebration include your extended family. You could tell stories from growing up together, or tell stories from your ancestors lives. You could even have skits or plays acting out things your ancestors did, or fun experiences they had, while they were alive. You could eat the type of food that your ancestors ate. You could watch old home movies. Do an activity that your whole family enjoys like a hike, or a bike ride, maybe even skiing. And if you record it all, then it will become part of your family history!! I love this idea. I plan on doing this with my family. Check it out and try it!! 

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: An Amazing Voyage!

In talking about the Mormon Immigrants and the hardships they endured, I have often heard my Mom say the trip across the plains was hard, but the trip across the ocean was harder. I have read many accounts of immigrants crossing the ocean, and it is always amazing to me what hardships they endured. Some, lost loved ones, that had to be buried at sea, and being sea sick would be so difficult. You would not hardly get a break from that. The close quarters and no privacy would be difficult too. I found an interesting article about the Saints and the trip across the ocean. You can read about it here!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Handwriting!

If you do a lot of research that involves a census or parish record, where the names and information is hand written by a enumerator or census taker. 

Having a guide or an example of the handwriting  that was common at the time, would be very helpful in being able to read and know what they were trying to record. 

There are many helps out there. 

I like to keep a sheet of paper with me when I do research that shows example of the way some letters or numbers might be written and what they are.  You can also find many helps on the internet. One such place is britishgenealogy.com 

You will find it here.

Family History Friday (FHF): On Genealogy!

Taken from "Talk Capsules"

by Albert L. Zobell, Jr.

Genealogy

A friend of ours has a wife with a peculiar quirk. Barring Smiths and Joneses, she is unable to believe that any two people can have the same name and not be the same person.

The other day she saw a headline stating that Dick Johnson had broken the pole vault record.

"How exciting!" she exclaimed, "I'm going to phone and congratulate him."

"Huh?" the patient husband looked up perplexed. "It's not the same Dick Johnson as I go to work with. He's fifty-five, weighs 235 pounds. He couldn't vault a fire hydrant!"

"But it said Dick Johnson," she insisted.

"Another Dick Johnson" my friend went back to his part of the evening paper. Just as he's tried to explain that Elsie Harper, their Saturday cleaning woman isn't the same Elsie Harper who writes mystery novels and that their mailman, John Williams, isn't the man wanted by the FBI. 

Whatever we  think of a story like that the story has a point. The point that proper identification is a must. And if proper identification is a must in a circle acquaintances, how much more vital proper identification becomes in the great work of genealogy.

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy 

Family History Friday (FHF): Castle Garden!

A while back I wrote a post about Ellis Island, and how for many years it was a stop for immigrants who came to this country, but before Ellis Island, there was Castle Garden. From 1855 to 1890 millions of immigrants entered America through Castle Garden. You can read more about the history of it here and here! So if you think your ancestor came to this country before 1890, you may want to look for them coming through Castle Garden. At one time it was a Fort, there to protect New York City. In fact, it was an island, but it's not anymore. It is part of the southern tip of Manhattan, in New York City, and it is called Castle Clinton.

 Happy Family History Friday! 

Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): Organizing Helps!

It's fun to go to 

FamilySearch.org 

and just see what's there! I found some great "Helps" I thought I'd share with you. You can find them here!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): Cyndi's List!

Cyndi is a great help when doing Family History research. 

Check her site out here!!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy