Blog – Page 50 – Family Locket

The Wonderful World of Webinars

Do you need to reignite your genealogy spark? No time or money for a genealogy conference? Maybe what you need is to try out a free webinar and see how easy it is to build your knowledge one hour at a time, from the comfort of your home. I had been hearing about webinars for years, but just hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon . . .until last month. I got an email about joining the Legacy Family Tree Webinars, clicked the link, and learned that if I registered for the webinar, I could watch it live for free. If I...

By Diana Elder April 6, 2016 Research Tips 2 Comments

Family History is for Everyone Spotlight: DNA Cousin Don Royston

Family history is all about people and meeting new cousins is often a highlight in our genealogy ramblings. Ten years ago, long before Ancestry's DNA became hugely popular, I participated in a YDNA test group that not only proved my connection to Thomas Royston, who arrived in Virginia in 1635, but led me to a new cousin. Today I’d like to introduce you to Don Royston, my DNA proven cousin and fellow Royston researcher. I met Don via email in November of 2005. I had been actively researching my Royston line for over two years, having only the name of my Texan...

By Diana Elder April 4, 2016 Creating and Sharing Family History, Family History is for Everyone Spotlights No Comments

Favorite Reads of the Week: 2 April 2016 – writing our own stories, translation, and teaching kids history with ancestor stories

"Each of us is a book waiting to be written, and that book, when written, results in a person explained." -Thomas M. Cirignano This was quoted in an article at Write My Journey about the value of writing your own story. Rosemary Osborne writes, "You can never know the difference family information will make to people’s lives not only in appreciating their heritage but also understanding the DNA of their personality, character and relationships." Many of the articles I read this week talked about the joy of sharing your own story and the inspiration that comes from reading our ancestors' stories -...

By Nicole Dyer April 2, 2016 Favorite Reads of the Month 1 Comment

“Dark Enough to see the Stars in a Jamestown Sky” – April Book Club Selection

Have you ever researched an ancestor so extensively that you felt like you knew them? Have you wished you could tell their story in a way that would do justice to their life experiences? Connie LaPallo did just that with our April book selection: “Dark Enough to see the Stars in a Jamestown Sky.” Her journey in writing the story of her ancestor, Joan Peirce, one of the few women who survived the Jamestown “starving time” in the spring of 1610 is remarkable. Join us this month as we step back in time and discover the story that Connie...

By Diana Elder April 1, 2016 Book Club, Creating and Sharing Family History No Comments

“Who’s Who in My Family?” by Loreen Leedy – Lesson Plan Ideas, Family Tree Diagram Activity, and Discussion Questions

For this month's Kids' Book Club we're reading Loreen Leedy's book, Who's Who in My Family Tree? It's perfect for teaching kids about family tree diagrams, second cousins, great uncles, and great grandparents, and you can even create a fun family tree when you're done reading. Who’s Who in My Family? By Loreen Leedy (This is an affiliate link. If you click the link and purchase the item, we receive a small commission but it doesn't change the price of the item.) Grades PreK-3 Who’s Who in My Family is about students in Ms. Fox’s class cutting, gluing, creating family trees and sharing them with the...

By Nicole Dyer April 1, 2016 Families and Children, Kids Book Club No Comments

3 Tips to Focus Your Research With An Objective

Have you ever been sucked into the whirlpool of internet record searches and an hour or two surfaced wondering where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished? It is so easy to get distracted by all the goodies that are available online: census records, birth certificates, cemetery records, and so much more. How can you put some order into your research? Try formulating an objective and watch your efforts come into focus. I recently started my Accreditation Study group with ICAPGen and my latest assignment was to craft an objective for my Four- generation Project. I readily admit that until lately I...

By Diana Elder March 30, 2016 Accreditation, Organizing, Research Tips No Comments

Strengthening Children Through Family History: Bruce Feiler’s Tips from RootsTech 2016

At the end of Bruce Feiler’s inspirational keynote talk at RootsTech in February, he encouraged listeners to do four things: 1 - “Find a way to connect your family story with the oldest stories ever told.” 2 - “Find a way to not just talk about the green and bountiful moments, but about the moments in exile, in desert, in pain.” 3 - “Find a way to take your passion for family history, and pass it on to subsequent generations and especially to our children - who need it in order to believe that they can have a life of...

By Nicole Dyer March 28, 2016 Creating and Sharing Family History, Families and Children, Sharing Stories 2 Comments

Favorite Reads of the Week: 26 March 2016

My favorite article this week is from Deseret News about starting with hearts, not charts, and the implications for involving the next generation in family history. CEO Steve Rockwood shares why this is FamilySearch's new mantra for recruiting beginners. He said, "Starting with a story ... would ultimately lead to the important data. ... "Let's start with something that everyone can participate in, everyone can get excited about.” 'Start with the heart vs. the chart' and share family stories An interview with Stephen Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch International, about the importance of discovering, preserving and sharing family stories. A thought provoking post at Sassy Jane...

By Nicole Dyer March 26, 2016 Favorite Reads of the Month 4 Comments

The Scraps of a Well-behaved Woman’s Life Part II: Three Steps for Understanding your Ancestor’s Leavings

How well do you know the women in your recent family’s history? Have you wondered how they weathered the changes of the 20th century? Do you know of their contributions to community? As part of Women’s History Month, I went in search of my 20th century ancestor to determine her involvement in public service. My reward was discovering facets of my grandmother’s life that just needed to be contextualized to give them meaning. Researching 20th century ancestors is rewarding. Unlike the previous centuries where we’re thrilled to find a handful of documents, our 20th century ancestors have a plethora of...