Thankful Thursday–Rootstech: 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week #24 - Genealogy Events

Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers posed the following challenge for this week’s 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy blog prompt: “When it comes to genealogy events, our cup runneth over lately. There are so many fabulous family history events being held across the globe. For which one are you most grateful? Is it an annual event or a one-time thrill? Who runs the event? Why is it special?”

While I haven’t actually attended any genealogy conferences in person yet, I did attend Rootstech 2012 via the Internet earlier this year.  I watched some of their virtual classes online and it was great!  I learned a lot and found it very worthwhile.

One of the classes I watched was Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 by Lisa Louise Cooke.  I was one of those genealogists who had never heard of Genealogy Blogs before.  I'm so glad that through this class I discovered the genealogy blogosphere!  I know there are more genealogists out there who are unaware of genealogy blogs.  I found this out firsthand.  I was speaking to our local genealogical society the other night (my topic was Indexing) and I brought up genealogy blogs.  I asked how many of them had heard of genealogy blogs and it was crickets!  I saw one lady nod her head.  So, what did I do?  Why, I took the opportunity to spread the word about genealogy blogs!  In fact, in my handouts I included a couple pages of links to various genealogy blogs, webinars and podcasts (no, mine wasn't on the list, ha ha!  I listed some of the "heavy hitters" in the genealogy blogosphere).  I've also started including the topic of webinars, podcasts and genealogy blogs in my Family History Class that I teach at my church.

So, why am I most grateful for Rootstech?  It was because of Rootstech that I discovered genealogy blogs and webinars, which have helped me to expand my knowledge of various genealogy topics.  And now I've even started my own genealogy blog, which I never thought I would do.  But it's been a fun experience so far, if not a bit intimidating.  I mean hey, I'm not a writer or genealogist by profession, so the self-doubt can start creeping in (what can I say that hasn't been said before, what if it's not good enough or well-written enough, etc.). But hey, my mom and brothers appreciate my little family history blog, so it's all good! And maybe someday my husband and kids will become regular readers too.  (One can dream, right?)

Thanks for reading!

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday - 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week #19: Blog Series

I started my genealogy blog on April 5, 2012.  I was and still am a total newbie to the blogging world.  I guess you could say I'm a "baby blogger," maybe starting into my toddlerhood.  Early on I submitted my blog to Geneabloggers and was accepted on their list.  I was so excited!  I also learned a lot by perusing other genealogy bloggers' blogs.  So, it’s difficult to decide on only one blog series that I’m thankful for and which has helped my blogging experience.  (Hmm, I can see I will need to post in the Follow Friday section of GeneaBloggers more often to list my other favorite blogs.)  Okay, so in keeping with the assignment to choose one blog series for this post, I'd say that I'd have to choose GeneaBloggers as the blog series I'm most thankful for.

GeneaBloggers is authored by Thomas MacEntee.  Thomas runs an amazing website!  He has been so welcoming to me as a new blogger!  And he has gone above and beyond in helping me with a technical difficulty I was having recently with my blog posts not getting uploaded to his fabulous GeneaBloggers website.  I love the Daily Blogging Prompts that help us bloggers with topic ideas for our own blogs.  And GeneaBloggers is also a great and fun way to get genealogy blogs noticed and read by fellow genealogy bloggers, as well as others searching for their ancestors.  And the Blog Resources section is very helpful.  All in all, it's just a great website!

So thank you Thomas MacEntee for your awesome website GeneaBloggers!

Thankful Thursday: 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week #18 - Historical Books

The Genealogy Community really is a generous and helpful group, and for that I am truly thankful!  I learned this firsthand early on in my family history research.  One instance that sticks out in my mind, and which was extremely helpful by the way, was back in 1997 when I found Mr. William Waterman from Ohio on Cyndi's List.  I contacted Mr. Waterman by email.  This is what I wrote to him -

“Hello Mr. Waterman, My name is Jana Last and I am trying to find the parents, grandparents, etc. of one of my ancestors named Asher Waterman.  I found your name on the home page of Cyndi and Mark Howell.  I wondered if you could check your genealogical records to see if there is an Asher Waterman in your ancestors.  This is what I know about my ancestor named Asher Waterman – He was born around 1792 in New York.  This is according to an 1850 census from Athens County, Ohio.  He married Bathshaba (Bathsheba) Paulk on December 22, 1816 in Athens, Ohio.  They had 12 children.  Their names were Eliza, William, Charles Wesley, Eunice, Homer, Jerusha, Jason, Nancy Jane, Cynthia Maria (my great-great grandmother), Sarah Amanda, Lucy, and Lewis (Louis).  Lucy and Lewis were twins.  Several, if not all, of these children were born in Ohio.  If you have any of these people in your records, I would really appreciate hearing from you.”

That same day, I got the following response from Mr. Waterman -

“Hi Jana, This must be your lucky day.  There are three Waterman Genealogy books that take us back to about 1635.  I have these books.  I can bring you up to date on all of Asher’s line."

Wow!  This was exciting!!  I was so amazed, grateful and happy that Mr. Waterman had the information on my Waterman family and was so willing to share it with me.  I, of course, emailed him back a.s.a.p!  Mr. Waterman was so kind and helpful.  He not only gave me information on Asher Waterman's family, he also gave me information on Asher's brothers and sisters too!  And he gave me information on the three Waterman Genealogy books he had and how I could buy copies of these books.  The books were authored by the renowned genealogist, Donald Lines Jacobus.  Here's the info. for these Waterman genealogy books:

1. The Waterman Family, Volume 1, Descendants of Robert Waterman of Marshfield, Massachusetts through seven generations.  Based on the public records and several collections of family data, notably that of Edgar Francis Waterman under whose direction these records were compiled for publication.  1939
2. The Waterman Family, Volume 2, Descendants of Robert Waterman of Marshfield, Massachusetts from the seventh generation to date.  Based on the public records and several collections of family data, notably that of Edgar Francis Waterman under whose direction these records were compiled for publication. 1942
3. The Waterman Family, Volume 3, Descendants of Richard Waterman of Providence, Rhode Island together with records of many other family groups of the Waterman name.  By Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman. 1954

The first two volumes pertain to my family tree, as I descend from Robert Waterman, but there are some additions to the Robert Waterman family in the third volume.

Now, as all good genealogists know, we shouldn’t just accept as gospel truth anything that is written in a book or that is found on the internet, etc.  We need to make sure the information is accurate.  The great thing about these Waterman books is that they are sourced very well.  With that being said, in general, it's still a good idea to check the accuracy of genealogical material you find, especially if it's unsourced.  I think the phrase, "trust, but verify" works well here.

Okay, back to these fantastic books...I purchased them from the Higginson Book Company.  The Higginson Book Company website says that they specialize in American local history, genealogy, Civil War books and historic maps.  If you click on the Genealogies tab, you will see alphabetized links to genealogy books available.

I also found that the Higginson Book Company had a two-volume book set on my Webster family history as well.  So, we were able to purchase those too.  For anyone descended from Governor John Webster of Connecticut, here’s the info. on these books:

History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut with Numerous Portraits and Illustrations. By the Late William Holcomb Webster, Washington D.C. and Rev. Melville Reuben Webster, D. D., Rochester, N. Y., Final Author, Editor and Publisher. Volumes 1 and 2, 1915.

I highly recommend you check out the Higginson Book Company website.  And thank you Mr. William Waterman for answering my email and for being so kind and generous!

Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012