How much do you know about the military service of your family members? Do you wonder about the events that shaped their lives? How can you honor their sacrifice? In the next few weeks we have several opportunities to consider their part in preserving our country’s freedom: Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Independence Day. Like most World War II veterans, my dad didn’t talk much of his war experiences. When he passed away five years ago, all...
When Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy posted about contributing to the Honor Roll Project earlier this month, I knew it would be the perfect way for our family to celebrate Memorial Day this year. Heather started the project in 2010. Now every Memorial Day and Veterans Day she encourages people to photograph and transcribe war memorials in their area to contribute to The Honor Roll Project website. Publishing the transcriptions of names from the honor rolls online make...
By Wendy Locey Summer is right around the corner. Each summer we participate in a summer reading program. This summer we thought we would learn about one of our ancestors who walked 2,000 miles as part of the Mormon Battalion, then read the same number of pages as miles they walked. Over the past year, we have been learning about the Mormon Battalion, an active military unit during the Mexican-American War. Last August, we attended...
Memorial Day is coming up. Although the purpose of Memorial Day is honoring those who have died in the service of our country, many Americans visit memorials and cemeteries on Memorial Day for other ancestors too. Last year I received this email from FamilySearch.org before Memorial Day: “Your Ancestor is featured in a memorial page” email You can sign in to the FamilySearch Memorial Page and see your ancestors’ headstones plotted on a map (at least those that are connected...
Here are my picks for genealogy and family history news and interesting articles this week. I’m trying to make my list shorter but there are so many good articles out there! News Ancestry Acquires Adpay, Inc. at Utah Business – Adpay, the owner of Memoriams.com (an obituary input network), was acquired by Ancestry to go along with Ancestry’s Newspapers.com in strengthening newspapers’ presence in their communities. MyHeritage is Adding Free DNA Matching at the MyHeritage Blog – People...
How can we inspire our family members to join us in our family history research and memory keeping? Read on for three tips. Once someone is bitten by the genealogy bug, they become known to their family as the designated “family historian” or “family memory keeper.” There’s usually one in every family, and they’re often pretty busy trying to do all the genealogy for the family. Wouldn’t it be great if each family had several people working together on...
Today I’m interviewing my friend, Dafney Murray. She shares interesting insights into how her love for history has helped in her research, the benefits of sharing stories with her teenagers, and tips for researching enslaved ancestors. Tell us about yourself. Hi Nicole! I would describe myself as LDS for 25 years, an American of African descent, wife of 20 years, full time homemaker, mother of 2 teens and crazy about Family History! How did you get...
Have you been trying to involve your teenagers and children in your family history efforts to no avail? Try devoting a wall in your home to family history and see if you can spark some interest. In 2000, our family had outgrown our small starter home and we moved into a house with twice the square footage. With all that space came a lot of empty walls. I hadn’t started actively researching my ancestors yet, but...
As a young girl I often admired this sampler that hung in my Grandmother Florence’s bedroom. I didn’t know anything about it, only that I loved the intricate, colorful flowers against the black background. When she passed away my mother brought it home and hung it in her bedroom. It became a fixture, but every so often I’d read it and think of Grandma’s patience in working the needle and embroidery floss. The sampler came...
Why is genealogy important? Joey Caccarozzo says, “I think it is important to understand the decisions, challenges, and sacrifices that our ancestors made in order for us to be living our lives today.” For today’s spotlight, she shares how she got started in family history, school projects that inspired her, and the what she does now to share family history with her children. I met Joey at a genealogical society seminar in our area a few months ago. Despite being a...