52 Ancestors #1: Aunt Rose

My first post in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge belongs to my Great Great Aunt Rose Beyersdoerfer Pangburn. I never met Aunt Rose, but she holds a special place in my heart, which I will get to in a moment. For now, here is her profile:



Name: Rose A. Beyersdoerfer
Born: August 16, 1888
Died: ?
Father: John Beyersdoerfer Sr.
Mother: Emma Fleeman (Fliehmann)
Spouse: Emery Pangburn (1885-1976) - Married in 1914
Lived: Foster, Bracken County, Kentucky

What I know about Aunt Rose: I know she was the sibling of a pretty large family - about 7 siblings. She was the oldest daughter, but not the oldest child. The oldest child in the family was my Great Grandfather, John Jr. I know she was born in Bracken County and settled there with her husband Emery. I know she had at least two children: Elma and Virginia. I recently found out that her husband worked for the railroad and that she was listed as a homemaker.

What I don't know about Aunt Rose: Quite a lot. I was surprised to learn that I never recorded her death date. Nor am I quite sure where she is buried. I suspect she is buried in Lenoxburg Cemetery with many of her family members, but this gives me another person to look for when I head up there next time. She needs a good search just focused on her....many sibling lines get neglected too many times among my branches.

Anecdotes related to Aunt Rose:
The photo seen above is one of a tiny pair developed from a booth - an ancient selfie. The other side of the pair is this photo here with Aunt Rose in the back, with her younger sister Celia (called Ceely by family) in the lower right hand side, and a friend, Velma Morford (Mofford) on the left. According to family lore (My Great Grandmother Nellie Cox Beyersdoerfer), Velma was a dear family friend who was favored by the sisters to marry my Great Grandfather John Jr. - Therefore, Nellie couldn't stand her! Nellie got her man, but never forgot about Velma's favored place in the family - she even cut her photo out of a group shot one time - oooh, ancestor drama!!

The reason I feel a little drawn to Aunt Rose is this photo of her as a very young woman. It is probably my very favorite photo in the collection. The original is no bigger than a postage stamp, but I have enlarged it many times and have one such copy hanging in my office at KHS. The time frame is near to the sinking of the Titanic, and with the size of that hat, and the name Rose, I couldn't help thinking she looked as glamorous as the famous Rose of the movie Titanic. Even though she was a humble farmer's daughter, she certainly knew how to glam it up! I wish I knew what color the hat was as I'm sure it would rival any derby hat today!
Sure wish I could have known Aunt Rose, but I'm looking forward to learning more about her as my research grows.

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a blogging prompt for each week of 2014 and created by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

52 Ancestors Challenge....Deep Breath

This is just a quick intro to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge posted by Amy Johnson Crow on her her site No Story Too Small. As you can guess, this challenge is daring us to be faithful to blogging our ancestors, one at a time for each week of 2014. It is not meant to be too daunting - you needn't blog their entire life story - just a post about them in general: a story, photograph, biography, or research problem.

After thinking about this one, I am going to attempt to increase the challenge level: Due to the amazing family collection I was blessed with, I am going to try and pick out 52 ancestral individuals who are represented tangibly, either with a photograph or ephemera that represents them visually. That way, I will be sharing something new that I have not shared before (for the most part), which should not only make for an interesting post, but should entertain the family with little before seen gems.

If possible, I would also like to present them almost as wanted criminal profiles. The image should be present, followed by what I know about them, what I have researched, and what areas of research I lack. I am hoping this level of ancestry honesty will kick me in the pants as to the amount of gaps I have in my research. BTW, each post in this challenge will be labeled for easy following.

Be sure to monitor Amy's blog to catch up on the most entertaining and interesting posts that come out of this challenge. So far, she has over 150 participants signed up! This should make for a VERY entertaining 2014!

Pandora's Box: "Official Bloggers"

As the topic heats up over Banai Feldstein's post about the "Official" RootsTech bloggers over at the Genealogy Nitpicker, I have to add my two cents to this one....I've been watching, and reading, and making mental notes about this topic for years...but since Banai opened Pandora's box, let's take a peek inside, shall we?

Disclaimer: I may be a blogger, but I am in no way a super blogger. In fact, I blog when I want to write about something. Which for me, usually means I cannot force anything. I have to be somewhat inspired, or nothing is going to get written. Period. I would like to branch out into shorter, more frequent posts, but to be honest, it's just not my style - which is what I ADORE about blogging! I don't have to fit anyone's mold. I can be ME here, and if folks come to read it, fantastic...if not, I still have a place to exercise the writing demon, as it were, to let it out, before the pressure becomes too much for the host - most writers will know what I mean by this! Therefore, I am not speaking from a place that is seeking the designation - but I notice how many others should be considered for this honor based on their hard work, and who continue to be passed over.

In regards to Banai's post, I feel her frustration....not as one trying to be an "Official" blogger, but from a reader's perspective. I've been researching my family history and studying history for over 20 years, but I've been attending conferences for only about 5 years, and blogging for about 3 (2010). What I have observed has been both wonderful and perplexing.

When my adventure into blogging began, I was immediately enraptured by the concept! I love this creative space, and I LOVE reading the varied creative spaces of others! I began prior to this blog, in the library and gardening fields, but when I found the genealogy bloggers, I knew I was home. They were such an amazing group - unlike anything I had encountered before. And this group continues to amaze me! I learn from them at such an astounding rate. If something new comes out in our field, or if I need help with a tricky standard resource, the blogging community will usually have a post about it somewhere. This is something that I never want to see change - as they say, you are perfect the way you are - keep up the remarkable work!

However, the reaction to Banai's post has me a little concerned. As I have attended many national conferences these past few years (RootsTech twice in person - once virtually), I am one that loves reading the "Official" blog posts, and also, if there are any new "Official" bloggers, I love discovering these as well. But I understand the growing frustration over the same list being given to us as "Official" bloggers, year after year.

Here's why I too get a little frustrated:

1. Hobby versus Profession: Let me begin by saying that those chosen are 90% awesome choices! The genealogy blogging community has produced several blogging "celebrities" who continue to rise in popularity and put so much time and work into what they are doing, that NO ONE can compete with this level of production or quality. These upper-crust bloggers deserve to be there, but they have gotten there from a dedication level that is on the professional side, and not the occasional/hobby blogger side. As much as I love Thomas MacEntee, he has admitted that this is a job for him (a job he is very passionate about and loves), he is a professional at this, and he is not alone in that role. Many of the high ranking bloggers are now full-time social media professionals. Most may still be approachable on a social level, but they operate at a different blogging level. Period.

2. Blogger versus Social Media Guru: One thing that Banai mentioned was the low number of blog posts and low session attendance because of the time pressures involved in interviews, pod-casting,  video segments, Twitter, etc. (Reason given by the bloggers themselves) These are all wonderful, and I admit to using Twitter probably more than any of the Social Media tools out there....but hey, aren't "Official Bloggers" supposed to blog? I love the new video elements that are now easy and cost effective to produce, but to be honest, I'm not such a big fan of this new fad that is producing a gazillion new "interviews" in video format. I'm with Banai on this one: if you are an "Official Blogger", please attend a good portion of sessions and blog about what you learned or didn't learn. Staying in the exhibit hall and interviewing vendors is not really attending the conference, it's jumping on a band wagon that feels like pandering to a bigger crowd in the hopes of getting more "exposure". (Not talking about the video veterans out there that have been pioneering this wonderful element for years - I'm talking about the scads of copy-cats, or fantastic bloggers who think they have to rely on new video/interview segments to keep reader attention.)

3. Valuing Many Voices: Let's put aside the "celebrity" bloggers/Social Media gurus for a second and think about why we chose blogging to begin with. Our first love was sharing, both our experiences and stories, and thereby learning from each other. I love the welcoming community that developed from this genea-blogging journey! I have made so many amazing friends from this community, but it is sad to see the diverse voices not celebrated nor given the same opportunities to share their knowledge and experience. I agree with Banai about the RootsTech selections this year, and I mentioned it in my 2013 RootsTech post - the selections were expected on one level - and ridiculous on another. Yes, the main blogger staples were expected and as always do a wonderful job, but instead of expanding WITHIN the genea-blogging community, RootsTech chose to expand outward into non-genealogy bloggers. At first, I was very open-minded about this. As a librarian in a state research/genealogy library, I am constantly watching our patron base and looking for new ways to reach the younger, non-genealogy, audience. Which means, I was initially excited about this move to see how this new group of bloggers would react to RootsTech.....and then the opposite happened: They ignored, or in my book, snubbed the honor, and did not write ONE post about this conference! (With the exceptions noted by Banai and myself in an earlier post) If they were not going to even mention this conference in their blog as an "Official Blogger", they get an automatic "FAIL" from me....I was shocked by this and severely disappointed. If that is the reaction of the non-genealogy bloggers chosen for this honor, then PLEASE, RootsTech, next year, branch out WITHIN the genealogy community and reward those who have also worked hard by blogging their experiences, so we can learn from a much more diverse community!

4. Numbers: Ummm, yeah, when conferences branch out and consider their list of "Official" bloggers, could they please focus less on traffic volume and more on quality of blog content? **Note** I am NOT dissing the "celebrities'" content, but rather criticizing RootsTech's choice to use traffic as a main component for selection - they are seriously missing some great genealogy gems out there by picking the same list year after year. Newsflash, RootsTech, I understand marketing principles, and driving Social Media traffic your way to grow the conference, but let's play a little fair and sprinkle your list with some new genealogy voices to BALANCE the offerings and increase the content quality!

5. If you can't say anything nice....: First of all - Hey genea-celebrities - We LOVE you guys!! You teach us SO much ALL the time! You have dedicated your time and resources to educating us and bringing us together as a formidable group! This community would not exist as it does today without your dedication and we THANK YOU! However, this is not a community that should be afraid to criticize a bit when needed. In fact, I will never stay silent (regardless of low reader numbers) if I see an area that should be tweaked in our community. We are all members of this community, and despite non-celebrity status, we ALL have voices. I was just a bit disturbed by the attacks coming to Banai in the comments field. Sorry guys, but in the "Official Blogger" issue, she's right - and most of you know it. Let's not shoot the messenger. Instead, let's continue our respectable community by being self-critical where needed, which fosters growth.

Solution?

Here's how I think we can fix this issue:
1. Conferences - Back off of the "Official Blogger" title, unless the field rotates more and embraces

diversity - how about a teen genea-blogger - do we have any of those we could feature? You betcha! As I said, there are so many gems out there - let's celebrate our amazing voices! BTW, I will give kudos to NGS and FGS as they seem to be getting this principle pretty well. They appear to be experimenting with this designation over the past couple of years. Last year, NGS allowed anyone who wanted to sign up be designated as an "Official Blogger" and who therefore had access to the media booth for writing. I signed up for this last year, but as a speaker, and host at two different booths, I was way too busy to put my best blogging foot forward, which I fully admit and regret. Also, that poor media space was so empty. I used it a few times, but it ended up being  a bit too noisy as several folks used it as a lunch break area - no one was monitoring its use. However, I was so thrilled to see the big list, and found some great new bloggers this way! FGS coming up in August is experimenting with the "Ambassador" role which anyone can sign up for, and from that list they will select their "Official Bloggers" - that sounds like a great idea! Let folks compete for this status on an equal playing field!

2. New Designation? On the other hand, some really amazing personalities/celebrities have emerged over the years due to their hard work, dedication, and lifelong experiences. While we have rewarded a few with speaking and most with the automatic "Official Blogger" status, I think they have surpassed this role. They have truly become our Social Media and journalistic representatives - many on a professional basis. If they are going to spend more time on interviews, videos, etc, and leaving their first love, blogging, as a second thought, maybe this designation does not really fit them as it did once before? (obviously there are some exceptions here!) I know this might make some others mad, and maybe this is perpetuating the problem, but maybe something a bit more prestigious to honor their work? Leave the "Official Blogger" designation to those who really have kept blogging as their main focus and who will truly honor that designation by blogging their way through the conferences? Perhaps the upper-crust group fits more into a Social Media Press class, and not just bloggers? We are growing with the rate of technology, so why shouldn't our conference designations grow in the same manner? Or, on second thought, as Thomas mentioned, maybe it's time to forget the whole thing and chuck any designation? Hmmm, the two values I see in the designation: 1. Honors hard work and quality of commentary. 2. Brings attention to a new crop of great bloggers - if done right!

Thank heavens I don't make the rules! But from the words of a great comic, years ago: "It's good talk" (insert New York accent here)
Cheers!
C

P.S. Thanks Banai for pointing out the terrible search function for Blogger! Mine sucks too! It  may have pulled up any time I mentioned RootsTech, but did so out of date order. I am a librarian, so I tend to tag EVERYTHING - probably too much, but hopefully that will snag many. Great observation!

NGS2012 Reflections: Part 1 "Firsts"

It goes without saying that last week's National Genealogical Society Conference in Cincinnati was filled to the brim with exhausting fun. Most of us are trying to recover from the sheer exhaustion it produced, but while we rest and recover, our minds are still processing the wonderful experiences we will be sharing over the next several months. I plan on interspersing my regular posting with several parts of conference analysis as a way to convey my impressions and review of the proceedings. For this first part, I will cover my impression of "firsts": things I encountered for the first time with this particular conference, and how they influenced my overall conference experience. While this was not my first NGS conference, there were many new experiences for me that I have decided to share.

First time as an "official blogger": We have heard that anyone who "registered" or asked to be an official blogger was awarded the designation, but I kind of liked that open door selection. I think it was a great way to give more exposure to up and coming bloggers out there - who naturally have different views and opinions. Let me clarify that anyone awarded this designation was only given three things: an official blogger logo for their web site, an official blogger ribbon for their attendee badge, and use of the Media Center inside the exhibit hall. For some other conferences, official bloggers can be given complimentary registration, among other perks. I was delighted over all the little perks with this designation and used the Media Center on more than one occasion, but I was surprised over the lack of activity at this Media Center. At RootsTech, this center is in the middle of the room with lots of activity and a bit of fanfare. With this year's NGS, the Media Center was empty except for the tables with power strips. There was no one to monitor who went in to use it. In fact, I was using it heavily one morning when I was interrupted by a couple of people who walked in the side and just sat around chatting very loudly, and then eating their lunch, instead of using the Center for its true purpose. I gathered from the comment, "oh, so this is where you apparently get to do stuff", that they had no idea what purpose was behind the existence of this space. I am thinking the "official blogger" designation may not have been well thought-out, and maybe was a last minute addition. But, as I walked around talking to other "official bloggers", we all agreed that taking time to post anything while attending is extremely difficult - especially if you attend all of the extra evening events. You would literally have to skip sessions, or an evening event, or stay up incredibly late in order to finish one post per day. I managed one post as I was arriving, and one post while I was there. The rest will follow in the coming weeks!

First time as a speaker:
I have spoken at other conferences/venues, but not at a national conference, until now. This was interesting. I found the process to be very clean and straightforward. Syllabus was turned in months ahead of time, and preparation was not very different from other presentations I have had to give. I did have a bit of extra stress to contend with, but once I started talking, things went pretty smoothly. By the end, I had talked to so many wonderful people, and made so many new connections that I quickly declared this a hugely rewarding experience! One improvement I would suggest, proving projectors for the speakers. I found the task of bringing my own projector to be awkward and difficult. Especially when there was a set group of cords and cart already in place, assuming you had a projector that would fit these connections. Yes, I did, but I knew others with older and newer equipment who did not fare as well in this area. On the other hand, I understand how costly it would be for the NGS to ship in laptops or projectors to supply all of the sessions - perhaps this is an element that the venue could provide?

First time as an insider, or in some cases, VIP:

Prior to the conference, I was invited to many extra events/dinners and sessions that were often labeled "VIP". I was a bit uncomfortable with this label, but the information shared at these events was invaluable. They were very future focused, and I felt like I was privileged to hear in what future directions some of the major vendors were heading. It was also a wonderful place to meet new people!

First time attending the paid lunches:
I went ahead and splurged for some of the paid lunches, and besides some really lovely meals, the conversations and interactions with those at the table were priceless experiences! I loved this, and will try to pay for more in the future. I highly recommend these as ways to meet new genealogists and learn new insights!

First time at Librarians Day:
This day-long, pre-conference event was nicely tailored to librarians who serve genealogists. I loved this focus and learned so much from the speakers. I also met so many librarians who encountered the same challenges everyday. Although, a couple of the speaking topics chosen were a bit too broad on the historical level, and even a repeat of what was going to be covered in the main conference. I would have liked to have heard more library focused material.

First time close to home:
This was the first time I attended a national conference in my backyard, and indeed, in my home town. I grew up in Cincinnati, yet despite having left there almost 20 years ago, it was still familiar enough to take a layer off of the stress levels normally felt when travelling to a foreign city. I still live close enough to drive back and forth from my home for many of the nights - reducing even more stress.

Although, I will be blunt about Cincinnati. I have a love/hate relationship with the Queen City and this conference did not alter that relationship at all. A few reasons why my opinion of Cincinnati did not change:

Dirty - After travelling to other cities for different conferences, I was even more aware of Cincinnati's lack of overall cleanliness and state of disintegration - which was an impression I heard from outside visitors as well. Everything seemed to be such a hodgepodge of disrepair and faded, old elements interspersed with some new attempts at change. The convention center was nice, spacious, and somewhat up-to-date on the inside, but I heard more than one person complaining about the lack of elevators in convenient places, ice cold session rooms and parking nightmares.

Garages from hell: I started this conference by parking in the sixth street garage that can be seen from the windows of the conference room concourse. The garage was old and narrow, but the skywalk seemed ok. However, once I could see the outside state of the garage from the windows which revealed almost completely rusted out joints, I was embarrassed. The thing looked like it could crumble at any moment - what an ugly view from the convention hall windows! So, then I moved to the Hyatt garage on fifth street after the sixth had filled up - boy did things get even worse! The outside looked fine, but the inside - wow - only one out of the two elevators would actually go to all of the floors! I felt like I was in a carnival/ twilight zone elevator - if I pressed 4, I landed at 5. If I pressed 3, I landed at 6. I finally gave up, got out, and used the other elevator. Oh - and if you try to leave the  garage after a certain time, you are trapped! No automated way to pay when leaving, and the attendants are gone.

Skywalks: One of my favorite parts of downtown Cincinnati, but these have deteriorated to the point of wondering whether the rusted parts will sustain the weight of the people. Oh, and these too shut down at 10PM unless you are a guest at one of the hotels. I thought part of the skywalk concept was to have a safe mode of walking in the evening - not so if you walk after 10. To get where I needed to go, I had to walk out on the sidewalk and dodge the aggressive homeless that were waiting just outside the door - aggressive, as in, chasing after you! Seriously? Police anyone?

Good things: I still LOVE the Netherland Plaza. That thing is still incredibly stunning and dripping in historical atmosphere. The food is stellar as well! Arts are strong in Cincy, and easily accessible. Things to do along the river, baseball and shopping/eating (even if the best eating/shopping is on the Kentucky side). Airport is nicely done and easy to use. And of course: Skyline, Graeter's and LaRosa's!

Well, that's it for Part I.....stay tuned for the next segment....

Blogger's New Views - Pay Attention

Earlier today I was sent a link about Blogger's new "Dynamic Views" capability which has been rolled out on a trial or "optional" basis. Mashable has reported on this and interviewed the Blogger Project Manager to get some more information. The comments from the Project Manager are why I thought it necessary to warn my Blogger friends out there to pay attention to this new development.

The main reason I feel it necessary for us to monitor this one closely is due to the language used in the interview. Apparently, Google is trying to "revolutionize" and "modernize" the "blog consumption experience". I actually love new ways to present information, and find some of the new views quite fun, but with this new change comes some sacrifices. Each new "view" actually removes any of the standard info we are used to seeing along the peripheral sections of our blogs. In other words, these views take the raw RSS feed version of the posts and comments and allow this to be the only content seen in the new "views". This of course removes any of the peripheral information we have painstakingly added to our blogs, such as personal profiles, Twitter feeds, Surname links, theme icons, links, label list, and even ads. If this is meant to just be another way to view them in an RSS feed reader, fine, but that is not the language being used.

The second reason that I feel this might be one to keep a close eye on is the wording about "optional". For now, these "views" can only be accessed if you type in the word "/view" after your standard blog address, or bloggers can disable this function from their site altogether. However, "for now" is a scary thought. Apparently, the Project Manager has hinted that the optional views may be mandatory at some point.

After viewing my blog in some of these new "views", I can see how this change will happen someday. The entire internet as we know it is changing: becoming more fluid and visually dynamic. Google specifically noted HTML5 among other advancing technologies as a reason for this switch. But let's just slow the train down here. First of all, these new views are only supported by the very latest in browsers. My first attempt gave me a screen that listed the browsers these views supported, and apparently, my IE version was not one of them. This sent me scurrying for Firefox. Once I did get to play around with them, I liked some, but a couple were just plane silly. As a hobbyist photographer, I was instantly drawn in when I could see all of my blog photos displayed in the mosaic form - what a pretty representation of family history! But after the flash and ooohs and ahhhs.....I suddenly remembered....uh wait, isn't a blog a web log? We WRITE here. In fact, writing is the main element of a blog. Yes, photos are important, but NOT the main focus of most of the blogs out there. So in my "VIEW", these new Blogger "views" better not be the final versions.

As of right now, I'm against any FORCED Blogger change. We all put a lot of time and (sometimes painful) effort into getting our blogs to look as they do. Besides, many of the little elements on the side are not there just for visual stimulation. They provide helpful links, information, labels, affiliations and ads - which helps with revenue for bloggers who usually don't make squat writing about what we love in the first place. Besides, as a Blogger user, I think they should fix some of the other HIGHLY aggravating bugs of the current Blogger user interface (UI) before changing the entire view system! Cough, cough, photo editing, cough cough - just sayin. And then there is the track record with Google. Anyone remember Google Wave? Flash in the pan. Buzz? Fading faster than your ancestor's ink on non-archival paper! Google LOVES to make waves and shake things up.....and I LOVE many of their things (Blogger, Gmail, Docs, not to mention the staple search engine)......but wake up Google! Please don't reinvent the wheel with Blogger. Sure, it's time for a revamp, but make it better by fixing bugs first, give us new features, make editing easier (take a look at WordPress/Tumblr), but for heaven's sake, don't break what has been a stable, popular product! I think some of the changes are awesome.....but in proportion......please don't forget that blogging is about writing, otherwise, it would be a Flickr account.

So in short, I think as Bloggers, we should keep an eye out and voice our opinions on this one heavily (each view has a feedback portion as explained on the official Google site here)......before they turn "optional" into "permanent". To play with your own Blogger blog in the new "views" just add /view to the end of your blog address: http://www.journeyspast.blogspot.com/view  Below are some screen captures  of the different "views" and perhaps a note or two about layout. At the end is a new video Google has put out there to give you a better idea of what to expect.
Happy Blogging!
C

Sidebar View - Nice text to photo ratio, more like standard blogs -
like the comments number posted by title - comments can be
seen or hidden based on user's preference.

Mosaic view - all intro photos - hovering mouse over a certain pic
gives you the title of the post.



Snapshot view - EVERY photo from each blog post.
Hovering with mouse displays a piece of the opening paragraph.
Blog post titles are always present.



Timeslide view - feature posts on the side jump quite a bit chronologically.

Actual post view if anything is clicked from the new "views" navigation pages.

Flipcard view - each opening photo from your posts.
Hovering over them with a mouse flips the photo to
reveal the title and link to the post.

Flipcard also - the only view with multiple ways to
organize your list of posts -
in this case, according to date.



Also Flipcard - organized by label - poor use of screen space.
BTW, the label count is very wrong - cut my Daniels listing in half at least. 
The last option is a grouping by author (not shown),
but ends up being a clump since I'm the only author.



Ancestor Approved Award!

Just last week I was honored by receiving two nominations for the Ancestor Approved award! This is my little blog's first award, so I am both humbled and a little giddy....a sweet blog Christmas Present if ever I saw one! First, let me begin by thanking the two wonderful bloggers that selected Journeys Past for this award:

Alice Keesey Mecoy at John Brown Kin
&
Janny Lancelot at Are My Roots Showing?

The award comes with the requirement that you pay it forward in two ways.....the instructions are listed below:

1. List ten things that you have learned about your ancestors that surprised, humbled, or enlightened you.
2. Pass the award to ten other genealogy bloggers.

So here are my ten things:

1. After finding several skeletons in the closet (some of which I will list below), I have come to the conclusion that skeletons in our closets are merely proof that our ancestors were human just like us....boy were they!

2. As we grumble about getting older, my Grandmother always used to remind me to celebrate each birthday because at least you made it to another one, which I usually rolled my eyes at.......and then I discovered that my Great Grandmother on my Mom's side (Florence Warren Watts) died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis, just after giving birth to her third child. Since my Great Grandfather was handicapped, all three children were put up for adoption. The horrible things they lived through at such a tender age, and I grumble about nearing 40.

3. Surprise of a genealogical lifetime: discovering KKK rally photos in an old family album - from Ohio! After some outside research and good old fashioned asking, I found out that this family lived in Ohio and Indiana at the same time that the Klan had become a huge political movement in the north. Indiana was the capital of Klan activity in the 1920s and my Great Grandmother's family was heavily involved. No one ever talked about this skeleton at all until I found the photos. Involvement was actually denied, and explained away as "someone must have snuck through a fence to snap the photos". Which would have worked for me until I found a photo of Great Grandmother Ruth in a beautiful patriotic group photo - except for the Klan guy standing by a tree next to them! Then I asked the same questions again years later, and got the full confession - be tenacious about your family questions - if the answers don't make sense, dig further, ask others, or wait awhile and ask again!

4. Play on names - lunacy, and the in-laws! This one was discovered as I found a birth record that didn't make sense . My Great Grandmother (Nellie Cox Beyersdoerfer) was the granddaughter of Clarissa Hughbanks Cox. According to the Barton Papers (which I will blog about soon), an interview given by a neighbor about the Hughbanks sisters said that Clarissa and her sisters all died in their 40s after going crazy. One day, when I asked my Mother what Nellie's middle name was, she told me (Isabelle), but made me promise not to repeat that because Ma (Nellie) hated that name. I was shocked - it was so beautiful! But she said Nellie insisted that it was pronounced with a long I as in ice. So, back to the birth record: When Nellie gave birth to her first son at her in-law's farm, someone in the household went down to register the birth for the new parents, but listed Nellie's name as Icey. Obviously, they called her that to tease her about her middle name. However, later, I discovered that Clarissa also had a nickname: Ricey, which is so close to Icey. I suddenly realized that Nellie hated that middle name because her in-laws made fun of it and connected it to her "crazy" Grand Mother. I don't blame her in a way - how crude to use the nickname when reporting the actual birth record! Family politics and snarkiness - an age old problem! It taught me the lengths of detective work and serendipity that is so much a part of what we do!

5. Discovered another set of shocking photos among the family collection: a late 19th century trip to the Klondike! Still working on which ancestor they belong to, but after some outside research, have learned that this gold rush - made famous by Jack London - was the most photographed event of 19th century North America because Kodak gave the intrepid explorers (ahem, gold hunters) a large number of their new products as they went north: the portable camera.

6. One of my greatest enlightenments about our research: we search for facts, but if we are lucky we end up telling a story. Each one of those stories can serve as uplifting stories - re-discovering heroes to remember - or cautionary tales - exposing mistakes to avoid. All are pertinent as reflections on how we live our lives in the present.

7. Very surprised that people are astonished when you mention a connection to royalty or famous personalities. As researchers comb through Obama's family tree and make new announcements about his familial connection to another new celebrity, the reaction is usually amazement. As one of those "cousins" of Obama from the Duvall family, mathematically, this is not an astounding turn of events. It is estimated that over 35 million Americans are descendants of the Mayflower passengers. Of course, only 25,000 have proven that fact. Connections to the European royal families are even more common.....but be careful about spouting that fact unless you've researched it yourself. Might be a fun party factoid, but not something to rest your laurels on based on others' "online" research!

8. Always amazed at the reality of my ancestors' lives. I have been so guilty of researching them within a standard formula: birth, marriage, children, death. Sometimes forgetting that research outside the box is necessary to make a legitimate timeline. By taking time to think about motives behind life decisions I made startling discoveries about: divorces, illegitimacy, sexual abuse/incest, lost inheritances, law suits, public displays of drunkenness - you name it, our ancestors did it - sometimes just well hidden - which is where we come in.

9. Have become obsessed with the social or gossip sections of small local newspapers. By just pouring over them, I found an adorable post about the night my Great Grandparents eloped: "The bride was dressed in a blue serge coat suit with hat and gloves to match." 1915 Sometimes the daily events are as minor as one visiting another, or a single sentence to give a health report that "Lanson Cox is no better" (he died of Tuberculosis a few days later in 1911) - but each a precious fact to fill in some of their story.

10. Humbled by the fact that as much as we record, and think we know how something happened, each person's perspective of the same event can be entirely different. Have learned this through sibling interviews and descendant interviews. Each one remembered the same facts or events in slightly different ways. Trying to remind myself that as I interview loved ones, emotions can cloud or embellish or even cause pain after so many years. Each perception, even though different, is valuable as a life experience for the person telling the story - and should be recorded as told for future generations.

Ok, so here are my 10 new recipients of the Ancestor Approved Award!
1. Mary Jane's Genes

2. Villa Victoria Blog

3. Tomorrow's Memories

4. The Turning of Generations

5. The Wandering Vine

6. The Symbolic Past

7. The Pieces of My Past

8. The Misadventures of a Genealogist

9. Sharing Our Family's Memories

10. Samuel and Mary Clark Reed of Barnwell

Again - thanks for the honor!
CD 12/5/10