Finally completed my first week of classes for my certification through NIGS. Since my last post, things have changed a bit. Instead of taking 3 classes this month, I am taking two. Methodology Part 2: Organizing and Skill Building and US: Census Records. Let me say that these classes have already proved themselves harder than Methodology 1, which I finished all six modules in about 1.5 weeks, with an A- in the class. I was very excited about that. Good way to start school, right?
This week, I have put in about six hours of reading and research for my homework. I have learned that doing this late at night, is the best time to do the work. I thought it would be the best time, but I had to search for a specific person in the 1790 census and could not find him at all. I spent over an hour on this the other night. Today, I found him in less than 5 minutes.
Learnings for the week:
Census records offer a wealth of information, creating a timeline using census records is beneficial to any genealogist. Something I will definitely start doing.
I have been anxiously awaiting today for the past week. Today I start three classes through the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. I am currently enrolled in 9 classes. I have completed the first (in December), for February I am taking three, March I am taking three and the April I will be taking two.
This month my classes are:
Methodology – Part 2: Organizing and Skill Building
US: Census Records
US: Vital Records, Understanding & Using The Records
My plan of attack is to spend a few hours each evening on one of the classes. My goal at the end of this is to obtain my Certificate in Genealogical Studies – American Records.
Tonight’s focus was the Methodology class. Though this is a beginner class, it was great to get back to the basics and think about where I am as a genealogist and what areas I can grow in.
Today’s learning…
is that I need to find what works for me when it comes to organizing my files. I have read many different articles on this and I just need to decide what will work for me.
My goal for class and my blog is to sum up each week (over the next 6) what I have learned and how I am doing going through this process. It has been many years since I have been in a class that results in a grade at the end of the course. So, while I am excited about this process, nervous would also work to describe it.
Randy has once again come up with a great idea for SNGF. So, here we go…
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Open your genealogy software or family tree program of choice and make yourself the highlighted person.
2) Find out how to create a Calendar to show birthdays and/or anniversaries of yourself and all of your ancestors (or all relatives, or all persons – your choice!). The “Help” button is your friend here!!! It can be done in all of the current software programs.
3) Create your calendar. Pretty it up if you want. Save it. Can you show us a page from your calendar – say January 2010?
4) Which of your ancestors (or relatives, or descendants – your choice!), if any, were born on 30 January?
Have fun with this. How can you use this information during the coming year?
I use Reunion 9.07, creating the calendar took all of 1 minute. Reunion shows the calendar in a list format, which is ok. it does give me the option to save it, but I did not choose to do this. I can also create alerts to let me know when dates are approaching. As for the month of January and the 30th of the month, I have no birthday’s, death’s or marriages to report.
I have decided that in the coming year, I could use this tool to do a few things:
spotlight relatives on my blog
double check facts/sources on that specific ancestor
decide who to work on for that specific day
Randy, thanks for the great ideas that keep everyone thinking weekly.
Today I signed up to take 9 classes from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies, through the University of Toronto. I have decided to work towards my American Certificate in Genealogical Studies. Exciting, Right? Of course it is!
I have completed my first class, Methodology: Part 1 – Getting Started already. I found this class to be rather easy, the basis for this class is to really look at the information that we already have and make the smart decision of were to go next.
All classes post through your “briefcase,” you do the required reading and then do your homework. Homework so far has consisted of putting together a 5 generation pedigree chart of my family. So that had been done long before I took this class. But going back and looking at it is a good idea to see what information one is lacking in their tree. Other assignments have included case studies that the school has already done (names had been changed for privacy reasons). Each student would read the case study and then answer the questions that go along with it via their board. For the assignment with the case studies, the correct answer will appear in a pop up once you click on enter.
I look forward to my next set of classes, which include:
Analysis and Skills Mentoring Program – Part 1
Electronic Resources: Using the Internet
Methodology - Part 2: Organizing and Skillbuilding
Research at Family History Centers
US: Census Records
US: Land Records
US: Religious Records – Part 1
US: Vital Records, Understanding & Using The Records
Again, I am really excited to be taking this step. When I complete these classes, I will then have to take the intermediate level classes. There are an additional 9 in that group. Finally, I will then have to take the Advanced level courses, which there are 11 of.
The reason I decided to go with NIGS is because they are willing to work with you financially. Lets face it, this is important right now. Our economy has not improved. To take these courses individually would cost over $6000. Instead they offer package deals, if you do the three packages it will be just over $2000. $4000 is a great savings!
The school also has their own bookstore. They give you the opportunity to buy whatever books you might need and the print outs of all the classes, which is roughly $10 per class. This way, you do not have to print everything out and use your ink and paper.
Not sure on dates for when I will start my next class. I will figure that out in the next day or so. Please come back and read more about my experiences with NIGS!
Once again, we end our week with SNGF. Randy’s mission this week is:
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to: * Tell us about your “other” hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc. * Write a blog post of your own, respond with a comment to this post, or add a comment on the Facebook version of this post.
I have a few other hobbies that I enjoy. They are in no particular order.
I love photography and am seriously considering taking some classes to improve my photo’s. I have many taken many pictures were someone has asked if I am a professional photographer.
Scrap booking, I love to put together our family photo’s and chronicle what we did and who was involved. Plus, I love to show off my scrap books.
Reading, I love historical fiction!
I currently have a part time job at Bath and Body Works, I have been unemployed since March, I was laid off from Disney due to the economic conditions.
Also, I have 3 kids ages 13, 17 and 21. That is enough to keep anyone busy.
Grandma (Zeda (Lachney) Richmond) has always been one to tell us family stories, for as long as I can remember. With her recent passing I thought I should get them written down so that I will always have them and be able to share them with other family members as well. So welcome to my first posting of Grandma’s Tales From Life in West Virginia.
As a child, Zeda’s family had a dog named Joe. They got Joe because he followed her Dad (who is also Joe) home one day from the coal mines. The family really loved this dog.
One day, the dog was hit by a car and died. The girls and their Mom, Mary, were on the porch of the house, just crying. The neighbors had started to show up, hugging Mary and offering their condolences. Saying how much the liked “Joe”. As one neighbor was hugging Mary and offering his condolences, Joe came out of the house and the neighbor exclaimed, “Joe what are you doing, we thought you were dead!”
Our lesson from this family story is…
Do not name your dog after a family member, can tend to cause too much confusion later on.
I recently watched a home video that my daughter, Brittany, taped in 2004 when we were in West Virginia for the Hilton Family Reunion. The battery was low on the camera and we did not have the charger with us. I had searched for it before we left on the trip and was not successful, I was so upset by this. Brittany got a good hour to an hour and a half of our family together. This is a treasured gift for me. I have so many family stories that she taped on this night, that we will always be able to remember our family telling these stories and memories that Grandma and her sisters shared of their uncles, family we never met (or do not remember meeting). I plan to take some of these stories and post them here on Finding Our Ancestors, I cannot think of a better place for them to be. Check back soon for the first installment of our families stories.
Does anyone have any good suggestions for keeping your chargers were you will find them? As technology changes we seem to add more and more chargers and I try to keep them with the item they belong to, but sometimes it proves to be difficult. Suggestions welcome to help me end this problem.
The last few weeks have been rough. As my readers know, I buried my Grandmother last week. I have so much I would like to say about her, as a person, woman and grandmother. Yet it seems when I sit and try to write, nothing comes out the way I would like it to. So, I have decided to let it sit for a bit and maybe, when I am less emotional I will be able to say what I feel I need to say about her.
There has been a lot going on otherwise in life, this week I won entry for two into the Mesa, AZ Family History Expo. I entered a photo into the Luxegen Genealogy and Family History website. I entered my photo from the Hurt Family Cemetery, that I posted in October 2009. This is the link announcing my win. I am extremely excited about this. Thanks again to the Luxegen Genealogy and Family History.
Last but not least, I read a blog post by Amy at We Tree about Sticking My Toes in the DAR Pool and decided it was time for me to do the same. I filled out the Prospective Member form, clicked send and on its merry way it was sent into the DAR. Over the past few months, I had met a gentleman by the name of Bob, through GenealogyWise who stated he would assist anyone in searching for their patriot for the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). He found my patriot in one day and took my tree back 100 years! I was so excited. I have been sitting on my son’s forms for the SAR for about a month now (due to family illnesses). I am hoping to get them mailed out this week. Once Bob found my patriot, I started looking for the marriage license and Birth Certificates of the family members so that when I applied to the DAR, I would have the documentation that I needed. I need one more marriage certificate, but that one is for my parents, that will be easy to obtain. I wish that the DAR and SAR shared the same standards for proving your patriot. The SAR requires birth certificates to prove the line, no marriage certificate needed.
I will continue to blog about the process for both SAR and DAR as our family goes through them.
One of the conditions one assumes when accepting the Happy 101 award are to list 10 things that make me happy.
Here is my list:
Being able to spend time researching my family.
Spending time with family and friends.
Being able to share some of our families stories through this blog.
Having the time to take some online genealogy classes.
Being able to take road trips, I love the open road and adventure it can bring.
My children, they are growing up to be wonderful adults.
Reading, books or magazines.
Having old photographs from my Grandma, they are priceless.
Planning trips that coincide with me research.
Finding new family members through all of my research.
I am pleased to pass this on to other family history bloggers as well. As stated in Luxegen’s blog the genealogy blogging community is wonderful to be a part of. I am happy to be a part of it.
Today has been a horrible, yet good day. Does that make sense? Not really. Today is my oldest child’s 21st birthday. Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday she was toddling through the house. I am so proud of the woman she has become. She is strong, has a great worth ethic and loves her family (no matter how crazy we are).
Besides her birthday, today we celebrated the life of my Grandmother. It has been just over a week since she passed away. Her body finally arrived home in Chicago on Wednesday, the wake was yesterday, and today was the funeral. We had a simple service at the funeral home, were the normal scriptures were read. We also had Grandma’s niece Sue read a few personal statements made by her daughters, and then another niece, Debbie read two poems that were written especially for Grandma, by her niece Nancy. Nancy is so talented, her poetry is always beautiful and easily brings a tear to your eye as you listen to her words describing any family member. The service closed as any Christian service would, with prayer.
Following the funeral, we all went to the cemetery were there was another short service. This service was concluded when Debbie sang In The Garden. Debbie has the most beautiful voice. I cannot believe the talent that surrounds my family.
After all of our sadness today, the family came together and shared lunch at a local banquet facility. After that we went to my Aunt’s house, had dessert and got to just spend time together. We topped the night off with some home movies from our West Virginia trip in 2004, when we went with Grandma to West Virginia for a family reunion. The family movie was archaic, on VHS. We got many laughs out of it. But, at least I have some movie with Grandma and it is not just silent. I love the fact that I will always be able to remember how when she told a story, if the story tickled her, she would rock back and forth and laugh so hard. It is a priceless video and I cannot wait to get it converted to DVD so I can upload parts of her stories here.
Where you searching for a certain name and ended up here, please contact me and let me know. I am always looking to connect with family and anyone researching the same families.
I am currently researching:
O'Connell NY > IL.
Poray Russia > NJ.
Springer NY > IL.
Richmond VA > WV > IL.
Warden WV.
