Category Archives: Family History

Family History Friday (FHF): Do what you can.

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So it’s Saturday…and I’m just doing my FHF. I’m always pushing myself and you to go, go, go! Not because I want to be annoying, but because I need the motivation. I’m psyching myself and hopefully some of you to do what you can. I know we all live in this hectic world and life happens, but I always want to be doing something every week with family history. I sincerely love my ancesters and want to know them, and want my children to know them. Sometimes you’re pooped. I was pooped yesterday. I am feeling much more energetic today. So my advice to you today is do what you can, but make it a priority. And don’t get frustrated if your not able to do everything you want, all the time. Remember, “slow and steady wins the race”.

Family History Friday (FHF): Research Continuation Form!

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 One of the problems with doing research is trying to remember what you were doing last time you did research. You won’t remember! Trust me, you won’t. And if you put it down on a little piece of paper, it will most likely get lost, or you will look at your notes and say to yourself, “I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote this.”
One of my favorite forms is called a
Research Continuation Form

At the top of the page, put the Family name and the date.

#1: What was I doing when I stopped?

Example: Looking for marriage for John and Mary James
#2: What was I trying to prove?

Example: That they were married at Cornwall, England 
in July of 1864.

#3: Where will I begin next time?

Example: With film # 211987, page 234, in the Parrish of Crowan.

If you were looking at a film you will write the film #, and the page you were on in the film. If you were researching in a book you will write the title of the book, the number of the book (Dewey Decimal #), and the page you were on in the book. If you were researching on the internet, you would write the web address for the website.
If you keep a form like this for each of your four grandparent’s names, then put the sheet at the front of your research binder, or with the research helps, for each family name. You will never wonder what you were doing when you finished researching ever again. (I hope.)
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Make a Timeline.

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Whether you’re doing your own history, or research on an ancestor, a timeline is amazingly helpful. The way a timeline works is this; you start at the beginning (birth), and start adding information like christening, baptism, injuries, moved to ________, started school, got married, trips taken, death, etc. Place these either on a line drawn horizontally on a page with dots next to about where they would be, or you could make a list vertically with the dates lined up on the left side. An example is found here. The reason why this is so helpful, is because as you put the information down, you have a visual of what information needs to be added or what research needs to be done. You can also use this information to write your personal history or a history of the person you are researching. As you write down events, they sometimes jog your memory of more things. Another example of things to put on a timeline is: world wars, events in the history of the world, natural disasters, who was president, what athletic teams won, how much things cost, etc. A fun thing might be to do a timeline of an average week for, say, your mom when she was young. One thing my mom always did as a past time is she went to the matinee on Saturday’s. I think she said it cost 25 cents for the movie. A nickel for popcorn and a nickel for a candy bar. I love that story. Start with you, make a timeline this weekend. It’s a fun activity to do with you family. Happy Family History! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): Keep a journal!

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I’ve heard it said
that you are the only one
who can write the history of you.
It’s true!
Others can write about you, but you’re the only one who knows how you feel and have felt about different things. One thing that might be fun would be to suggest a date in history to each of your family members and have each person answer three questions about that date.
#1 –Where were you?
#2 –What were you doing?
#3 –How did you feel about it?
For example: The flood in Utah during the summer of 1983-
Where were you? I was in Texas on my mission. My family would say they were in Utah.
What were you doing? I was serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My family would say they were going to school or working.
How did you feel about it? I would say I don’t remember being worried about it at all. In fact, I don’t even remember hearing much about it. I was more concerned after the fact, because I was unaware of it at the time. My family would say they were very wet. They may have been concerned or worried about the house flooding or being able to travel on the roads.
If you’re the type of person who doesn’t usually write in a journal, or someone you love doesn’t usually write in a journal, make an assignment once a month or week, of a date in history that you and your family could write about and answer the 3 questions above. Then you will have a history, a family history!  Here’s an assignment for you: December 31, 1999, now answer the questions and go from there.
 You can do it! Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): I Only Took Five Minutes.

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A memorable experience my Mom had back in 2002 went like this. Working as a volunteer at one of the Family History Centers for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she received a phone call from a woman in Norfolk, England, we’ll call her Kate. She was seeking information about a soldier who had died during WW II. She was a professional genealogist and was trying to find the family of this soldier. She did not have a birth date, but had a death date. Kate told my Mom a little about how she came to be interested in finding this soldier’s family. My mom then went to the computer and pulled up the Family Search and Ancestral File programs (the LDS research programs). She typed in the soldier’s name and guessed at about the year he was born, assuming he might be about 25 years old at his death. She said a little prayer that he would be there and clicked enter. His name came up on the screen and she was able to pull up the family record. “There he was with his parents and 13 brothers and sisters, he was #7. His date of death was 10 June 1944”. She didn’t find a location of his death. She was able to look at the sources of the record and noticed the he was born in St. George, Utah, and there were still siblings living. All of this information
was found in only five minutes, and my Mom was overjoyed that it was found so fast. She mailed copies of the information she found  to Kate in England and waited for a reply. Just one week later Mom was called to the phone again, it was Kate calling to tell her she had been in touch with the sister to this service man, and that she was sending the full story.
—————-
Kate was planning a trip to France and was asked by a past member of the SAS, Special Air Service Brigade, to find some 30 paratroopers of the SAS who were buried in a village in France. She found the cemetery and noticed another headstone that had the name of the soldier from St. George, Utah on it, but no other information- his squadron, base, home state- nothing. “Her interest was immediately aroused, think how little was known about him. Where in the states were his family, his loved ones?
She knew she must find out as she noted that he died the same day as the SAS members”. After wandering up and down some of the small towns streets, she came upon an older man who was quite leery of strangers. After convincing him that she was only doing research for a friend, he relaxed a little and told her that indeed the SAS were buried there and that they had been executed by the Germans. She asked about the American soldier and he said, “He was, too.” He told her that the soldier had been shot down over France and had been hidden by some of the towns people, but then was betrayed. The SAS and this soldier were executed as the Allied Forces advanced toward them. They were then buried in a mass grave. The German soldiers buried them in their uniforms, not knowing they would be identified, when they were discovered, because their names had been sewn in the inside of their uniforms. The American soldier, however, was dressed in French clothing. He was identified by other SAS who were out on a mission when the 30 were captured. The French man said the town had found the mass grave and had lovingly reburied the men in the cemetery. They had cared for the cemetery grounds and had a memorial service every few years to recognize these heroes from another land. They had never had family members of the US soldier attend. Kate thought to herself, “His family doesn’t know that he is buried here and maybe nothing of the circumstances of his death. I really need to do something about this.” The French man told Kate that another memorial service would be held in September.
—————
When she told the surviving family members of the soldier from St. George about the memorial, his younger sister said that members of his family would be in attendance. Where and how he had died and where he was buried had been unknown by the family for over 56 years.
What was done right?
1) Family members submitted information to Ancestral File so that he could be found.
2) Kate was prompted, and went the extra mile, then followed through to completion -she made contact with the family.
Kate said to me, “It’s too bad his parents never knew what happened to him.” But I told her that “They know, he has told them himself, even a long time ago.” -Joanne
As you can see from this story, miracles happen. See what miracles are waiting for you. Check out the new Family Search here.
Happy Family History Friday!! Merry Christmas too! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Been awhile!

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Family

I’m still here! Sorry, I haven’t posted for a little bit. I worked 46 hours this week and I am bushed. I had a party tonight, and I am hosting a party tomorrow. You should see my house! It’s gonna take a miracle to be ready for it. We are not really pack rats (I don’t think), but we are all busy, and just don’t put the first thing away before we get the next thing out. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have A.D.D. I am a cosmetologist, real estate agent, Mary Kay (whatever they’re called), not to mention, I am a genealogist, scrapbooker, I sew when the opportunity presents itself, I volunteer in the church and community and work a full time job (which by the way, I absolutely LOVE). If my house was always perfect it would be a miracle. I’ve always said that at our house “it’s 5 against 1”, meaning I’m the only one who cares what the house looks like. OK enough of that! For FHF I want to tell you how much I love my life. Every messy, disorganized and busy part of it. I don’t think I would be happy if I didn’t do all of the creative and busy things I do. I also want to tell you that the most important thing in Family History is Family! I know our Father in Heaven gave us families so that we could love and support each other as we live and learn here on earth. I have learned to relax alot and enjoy my time making memories and loving my family. Try it, try to relax a little more when things aren’t perfect around the house. I heard a poem that I love and it taught me this principle.

Some houses try to hide the fact
that children shelter there,
Ours boasts of it quite openly
the signs are eveywhere.
For smears are on the windows,
 little smudges on the door,
I should apologize I guess
for toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
 and we played and laughed and read,
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times, I’m forced to choose
the one job or the other,
I want to be a housewife, but first
I’ll be a Mother!
Let’s all make lots of great memories with our families.
Some of these memories become the favorite stories our families tell for generations.
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): Let’s go on a Trip!

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When you plan your next family vacation, you might want to go to a place where some of your families history began. It might not seem as fun or important to your children as Disneyland or Sea World, but if you do, they will leave with a sense of appreciation for their ancestors.
About ten years ago, we had the opportunity to go to Boston. Both my husband and I have family roots near there. If you read my story of Thanksgiving about Suzanna White, you might be interested to know, that she is one my husbands ancestors. We traveled all around the area. We saw the Mayflower II, and the Plimouth Plantation. You can read about it here. The kids were amazed at how small the ship was, and they couldn’t believe that half of the pilgrims died that first winter. I know it was the best vacation we could take at that time, and one of the most memorable.

Fairbanks Homestead
We also went to the Fairbanks home in Dedham, Massachusetts. It is the oldest timber framed home in America. Jonathan Fairbanks is my ancestor on my father’s side. You can see it here. We were able to go through the home and see some the furniture and things inside. The Fairbanks home was built in 1637/8 and is amazing to look at. The home has old timber beams put together with what they call a “double bladed scarf joint”, it is pretty amazing. It you want to, you can see it here. Maybe if more things were built with a double bladed scarf joint they would last, (like some marriages I know). Anyway, the home has seen a lot of history. When traveling to a place of historical significance to your family there are always other places to stop along the way. It’s a fun way to travel, and we always tell the kids, we’re having an adventure!! Plan your next trip to an important place, where your roots began, do it today! Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): A Tender Heart

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My maternal grandpa was the kind of person who was so tender on the inside that to protect himself, he sometimes came across crusty on the outside. As a young child growing up in Park City, he was always trying to find a way to earn money. I honestly believe, he wanted to make a contribution to his family income. I’m not sure whether he was required or not, but I believe he would want to help either way. Times were tough, and most people struggled then. Around Christmas time, it would not be unusual for him to go out into the woods and chop down a tree for the family. One year, instead of chopping down one tree, he chopped down several. One of them was for the family tree, a couple he would sell and earn a little extra money. The sweet part, and my favorite part of the story, was that he took a couple of them to the widows in town at no charge, so their little families could have a Christmas tree, too. What a tender heart! He spent a lot of time all through his life giving to those who were in need. I’m sure if others knew of his gift and they made a big fuss, it was embarrassing to him.

I remember my Grandpa carrying me on his shoulders, when I was just a little girl. He always had strong shoulders. Even after a stroke he was strong and came across as gruff. But I know that his heart was always tender. I miss him, and I know that in that one way at least I am like him; Strong shoulders, tender heart. Think about your ancestors, are some of your characteristics and personality traits like them? If so, share that with your family. Tell them why you’re like their ancestors, and maybe they’ll start to see how they are like you.
Happy Family History Friday. Love, Joy

A Story of Thanksgiving

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Susanna White was pregnant with her second child when she boarded the Mayflower and left for the new land. Her son Resolved was just 5 years old. She came with her husband William, hoping for religious freedom. They left England on September 9th, 1620 and arrived on November 11th, 1620. After two months on the ocean they anchored off the tip of Cape Cod and Susanna had her baby there. He was named Peregrine, which means wanderer. They then came across the bay to what would be known as Plimouth (Plymouth), Massachusetts. That first winter was very difficult and William died, leaving Susanna a widow with two small children.

The thing that amazes me the most about this story is, how brave these people were. I have trouble leaving home for a trip, I can’t imagine leaving home for good. They really didn’t know what was next. The courage they had, crossing the ocean, then landing in a foreign land with no idea what was going to happen when they arrived, if they arrived, is awe-inspiring. Add on top of that, the fact that Susanna was expecting a child makes me love and admire her more.
In the spring Susanna married Edward Winslow whose wife had passed away that first winter also. It was a blessing that they could have each other to go through life with, after such a tough time. What amazing people they were. That next November was when the “First Thanksgiving” took place, and I’m sure they were thankful to be alive in a new land.
I am most grateful for all of those who made this life better for all of us. Their stories alone bless my life. If they can do what they did, make the sacrifices that they made, go through the trials that they went through, and still come out of it and live a full life, I can too. But it’s not just the stories, it’s that I have the freedom, the rights and privileges that I have, because of others who paved the way for me to have them. I love them!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
From this moment on, I want to encourage you to
receive all things with thankfulness and your life will be blessed.