Defining Family

While doing research into your family history you will run across lines that are confusing. There will be families who raise children who aren't theirs, but they didn't adopt them either. It is up to you as the research what you should do with this information. Should you include it into your genealogy or should you ignore, after all the person isn't related. It is up to your discretion.

Personally I normally include these people into my history because they are part of that family. They are part of the dynamic that help create the characteristics of how that family works, what they stand for and the opinions they had. When you introduce people into your family whether they are related or not they become part of the whole. They will influence decisions by offering their opinions or by their actions. If you add them into your history then you are helping to create the whole picture of the research. They will normally also help you to find additional information. They had to be brought into the family somehow and if you follow their link you might find the missing piece of information you were looking for.

How you handle your history is completely up to you. You can add people even if they aren't related, but if they aren't make sure you flag that in the history so future generations don't get confused. You can leave people out, do you have that one family member that hurt you completely, you have wipe them out of your family, you don't talk to them and no one mentions them to you. Then you have to decide if you are going to provide an actual account of your history or if you are going to swing it to your discretion, if you want to wipe that person completely out of the history books. It is up to you.

Thanks everyone and happy hunting
Patti

Where there is a Will there is a Way

Another type of document that can be very useful to you in your search for your history are wills. The amount of information that can be garnered from the will of someone in your history is priceless. Old courthouse records contain will along with family papers. If you can find the family papers then this will be a tremendous help.

Wills provide information on the person who died to include their children, spouse, possibly parents and siblings and also their grandchildren. It will list the property they owned, which is helpful because you can find out more information from land records, but that post is for another day. It also might provide valuable insight to that ugly vase you have sitting on your mantle, you knew it was a family heirloom, you just didn't know where it came from. This can be beneficial in appraising items.

These documents can also give you birth dates and places which could give you some valuable information on how to find out about the next in the line. With having the information on their siblings you might be more likely to find the parents, because someone could be researching a person and not know they had a sibling but with the information you found you can verify they did.

There are websites that will help you with wills and other documents that are beneficial to your family history research. If you know of any I haven't listed, let me know and I will add it to my list.

Thanks and Happy Hunting
Patti

The Tapestry

When most people think about history they think about old, dusty libraries with the old man in the corner with his tweed jacket on and a pipe clamped between his teeth. This is so far from the truth. History is a rich detailed tapestry that can come to life under the hand of the right person. If it is a person who doesn't have an interest or care about the lives and beliefs of the person they researching then the colors of the tapestry will be dull and faded. But if it is a person that enjoys researching and taking care with the history of those same people the tapestry will brighten the more someone researches. The colors will become vibrant and rich, showing the details of the past.

The reason I am prosing is because it is important to have an interest in history before you start your research. If you are someone who doesn't care about history then maybe doing family history research isn't for you. If you are encouraging someone to look into their history it is important not to alienate them from the history, show them something interesting and they just might catch the bug, but don't force it.

I can imagine sitting in that dusty old library and it touches me. It is a place where I would love to visit and spend long hours. I enjoy recreating the tapestry of my family's life, watching the colors come to life, renewing the vibrant colors for my family. Most of my family don't have an interest in researching but they do enjoy hearing the information that I am able to provide for them. This will help you in that it might stimulate their memory and help them to bring more information to life. So when you work on your tapestry, think about how you would like to create it. Do you want to recreate a tapestry that is dull and faded or do you want it to be vibrant and rich in detail? Whatever you decide will help you in your history, do you want the detailed information or just the bare bones to get you further back. The answer is up to you.

Census Records

I have found that census records are a great tool in the quest for your family history. The information provided on the newer census records are a great font of information. It is important to remember that census records are only released every tens years and only 70 years back. We currently have available the 1930's census and in 2010 the 1940's census will be released. The farther back you travel the less information you will receive. Eventually it will only list the head of the household.

When I use census records, I print out a copy of a blank census record and input the information into it for the specific person I am looking at. I do this because I am able to see and understand the information provided easier. Once I have input the information, I then input it into the computer program I use to keep track of my family history. When I have accomplished that, then I file the census record under the family that it belongs to.

It is important to verify the information on the census records, with land records, birth and death records, family bibles, church records, etc., because the older records were written by individuals and the ink has faded or been damaged and they didn't always write neatly. They also didn't always know how to spell the person's name and would write down what they thought.

Census records are a great tool for you. They will supplement the information you already have and possibly give you the lead you need to find the information you are looking for.

As always, Happy Hunting
Patti

WWI Draft Papers

I noticed when I pulled up my grandfather's WWI draft papers that it listed him being born in a different country than we have him from. I thought this was interesting and did a little bit of research into it. I located the town on a map of the Czech Republic and found that it wasn't far from the border of Austria. I do know that the borders changed during that time frame but haven't figured out if he was classified as Czech or Austrian. I do know that census records show that he was from Czechoslovakia, but haven't been able to find his immigration records because of a fire in Galveston that destroyed quite a bit of documentation.

When looking up different resources for information, it can really throw a wrench in the works if you find information contrary to what you currently have, but the important thing is to not get upset. If anything this information will help you find out more about your ancestor, because the more information we have the clearer picture we can create.

We were able to determine that at the time of my grandfather's immigration he was a Czech. We were able to determine this because we know the language he spoke was Czech. So I figured the information on the draft papers was listed as Austria because at the time Austria had changed it borders and taken over that town. If anyone else has any ideas I would love to hear them.

Thanks and enjoy your look into the past!
Patti

Research and Discouragement

There are times when you are going to feel discouraged. The only thing you can do in this instance is not let it get to you. If you let yourself get discouraged you won't keep going with your history and you will give up.

During times like this, I either step away for a little bit or I take all my information and lay it out, look over the last in my line again and decide which person I am going to work on. Once I decide what I am going to work on, then I look at the people I could research. This could be either the farthest person back or one of their spouses or even one of their children. This is a time when you could work on filling in the children's details, i.e. their birth dates, where they were born or the places they lived, their children's names, etc. By doing this you are filling in the gaps in your history and if you post it on the Internet, someone else may only have the information you are missing, but have the line farther back. This is a way to improve your information and at the same time keep from being discouraged.

A good way to find this information is through census records, the later records list the children and their age. You can also find this information from other people's records, but be careful that you double check the information because you don't know their source of information and it might be flawed.

I hope this information helps you and as always happy hunting.
Patti

Family Dynamics

I went and visited my parents this weekend and was able to find out some new information about my elusive grandparents, well actually my grandmother. According to my father she was from the area surrounding Prague, which is interesting because the information that I had before, placed her near the border of Austria in the same village as my grandfather.

Interviewing family members is a constant avenue to explore. You don't have to have a formal session about family, just general chit chat will reveal information you didn't expect. I now have a new avenue to explore for my grandmother. Hopefully I will get farther this time than I did last time.

You never know when you will receive new information or from whom. It is up to you what you do with it. I could have discounted the information I had received, because I had records stating where she was from. But remember not all records are 100% accurate, it all depended on who was writing down the information when your ancestor came into the country.

So remember to always keep all possibilities open in your mind, because you never know when one of them will pan out for you.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Patti