We all have them – ancestor stories that tend to be hushed up: illegitimate children, desertion, abuse, mental illness, etc. We call these life details “skeletons in the closet” because we like to imagine our ancestor’s lives as near perfect and may be tempted to bury these skeletons. What do we do when our family history research uncovers something unexpected? Recording these kind of details can be difficult. How do we tell our ancestor’s story with integrity and kindness?...
Do you have pioneer ancestors who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) in the 1800’s and came west to join the saints in Zion? The LDS church began emphasizing family history about 1890, so you may think that those branches of your family tree are complete and accurate. Just looking at your fan chart on FamilySearch’s Family Tree, it might seem that there are no more family members to discover. In...
Do you know of a diary or journal of a pioneer ancestor that used to be in the family and no one knows what happened to it? Would you like to hold the original and see your ancestor’s actual handwriting? If you suspect you might have an ancestor who left a diary or journal you can follow the same steps I did to locate, view, and share it. My ancestor, William Henry Kelsey, joined the Church...
Let’s make a simple picture pedigree chart! It’s perfect for printing at home, displaying on the wall, sharing with your kids, or impressing your cousins at the next family reunion. Read about how I printed this 36″ x 24″ chart for my family reunion here. Ready to get started? Here are the steps: 1. Create a folder on your computer with copies of the pictures you want to use. Crop your pictures to be tall rectangles,...
Picture Pedigree At our family reunion this summer, we had a “family tree gathering” on Monday night. Each family selected a story about one of our ancestors and created a skit about it. We all wore costumes, brought props, and performed the skits. In between each skit, I pointed out on the picture pedigree who the story was about. It was a memorable night! My picture pedigree chart made using PowerPoint This picture pedigree was inspired by the...
This is my new goal: Make a family mission statement, then attach several anecdotes from our family’s past that exemplify the values and principles outlined in our mission (honesty, hard work, etc). This is a work in progress but I will update the blog as we go along. Why do I want to do this? Well, I learned a couple years ago that sharing family stories with our children can be more than just an interesting pastime,...
